Frank Fenton Movies

This second entry in RKO Radio's "Falcon" series begins with Gay Lawrence (George Sanders), aka the Falcon, promising to give up his private-eye activities for the sake of fiancee Helen Reed (Wendy Barrie). This resolves lasts for about eight minutes, whereupon Lawrence tackles the case of a missing scientist named Waldo Sampson (Alec Craig), the inventor of a synthetic-diamond process. Kidnapped by Sampson's abductors, Lawrence manages to escape, only to be kidnapped again and later accused of murder. The resolution of the plot hinges on the old mistaken-identity device (one of the principal characters has an identical twin, and that's all that can be said without giving the game away). Carryovers from the first "Falcon" film include Allen Jenkins as Lawrence's dimwitted sidekick Goldie and character actor Hans Conried, here cast as a snotty hotel night clerk. A Date with the Falcon was unofficially remade as The Falcon's Adventure, the final entry in the RKO series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of Millionaires in Prison (which begs for the rejoinder "about time!") pertains to four individuals. Two of the incarcerated millionaires, Bruce Vander (Raymond Walburn) and Harold Kellogg (Thurston Hall) have become the fall guys in a corporate swindle; the other two are brokers James Brent (Morgan Conway) and Sidney Keats (Chester Clute), who scheme to arrange an illicit stock deal in the joint. Prisoner Nick Burton (Lee Tracy) - the unofficial leader of the convicts - runs the prison like a resort, and treats the other inmates like kings. In the central story, Dr. William Collins (Truman Bradley) - a physician locked up for driving recklessly - discovers the cure for Malta fever and uses four infected prisoners as test subjects. Director Ray McCarey obviously didn't put a high priority on credibility when making Millionaires in Prison; of this, Variety wrote, "Some situations are implausible, but good for laughs." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Little Orvie (Johnny Sheffield) is a small boy whose stern father (Ernest Truex) and by-the-book mother (Dorothy Tree) refuse to buy a dog. Orvie befriends a stray mutt, which of course follows him home and just won't leave. Failing to keep the dog's presence a secret, Orvie is ordered to give up the canine. Orvie's dad finally weakens his resolve and reveals himself to be a sentimentalist. Based on a story by Booth Tarkington, Little Orvie provided an unusually "normal" assignment for young Johnny Sheffield, best remembered for his appearances as Boy in the Tarzan pictures and his later starring stint in Monogram's "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Down on the Farm was yet another entry in the seemingly endless saga of the Jones Family. The plot is set in motion when the Joneses' Aunt Ida (Louise Fazenda) invites the family to spend the summer on her farm while their house is undergoing repairs (thanks to an unfortunate encouter with a fire hose). Patriarch John Jones wins a cornhusking contest, whereupon he is invited to run for a local political office. The usual complications ensue, culminating in a ribtickling "drunk" scene and the ultimate exposure of the community's crooked politicians. Many of the biggest laughs are provided by Eddie Collins as Aunt Ida's moon-faced husband. Elements of several earlier Will Rogers vehicles managed to work their way into the screenplay of Down on the Farm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a young girl dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star. The plucky gal decides to grab the bull's horns one day and goes there to see if her uncle, a movie director will help her launch her career. Unfortunately she discovers that her "famous' relative has fallen onto hard-times and consoles himself with copious amounts of booze. Without hesitation the vivacious girl decides to kill two birds with a single stone and haver her uncle make his comeback in a movie staring herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Wild and Woolly stars young Jane Withers as a hoydenish resident of a modern frontier town. Revelling in the town's 50th anniversary celebration, Jane is brought down to earth by the long-standing feud between her ex-desperado grandfather (Walter Brennan) and a pompous politician (Berton Churchill). The two oldsters challenge one another to a shootout, but at the last moment grandpa Brennan decides not to show up. Branded a coward, Brennan redeems himself by foiling a bank robbery scheme which has been overheard by Jane. If for nothing else, Wild and Woolly is memorable for teaming Jane Withers with Our Gang stalwart Carl Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This early feminist tale was a box-office flop that was released after years of script doctoring. Producer Samuel Goldwyn insisted that the story be made into film, because he wanted to pair his romantic stars Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins for a fifth time. Hopkins plays Virginia Travis, an architect who is chafing at the gender bias keeping her career in check. She approaches an aging, inept real estate developer, B.J. Nolan (Charles Winninger), promising to turn his latest suburban housing project into a winner. But Nolan is in debt, and his millionaire son Kenneth (McCrea) won't loan him any money. Virginia recruits two movie theater ushers to pose as the elder Nolan's servants in order to convince Kenneth that his dad is on the road to success. Virginia must also defeat Nina Tennyson (Leona Maricle), an attractive woman who is after Kenneth's money. Virginia gets Kenneth drunk and then has him sign a contract that will rescue the housing development. As they transact business, they fall in love. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The owner of a racehorse, the owner's lovely niece and a jockey must deal with a number of travails before the big race in this comedy. The uncle must win so he can afford to keep the bank from foreclosing on his horse farm. Unfortunately, his horse breaks his leg and all seems to be lost. Fortunately the girl finds a clever veterinarian who uses a new technique to repair the leg and therefore save the farm. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A notorious crook and a Parisian ballet dancer get involved with international intrigue in this low-budget action-adventure from Poverty Row company Mayfair Pictures Corp. It is all about an important manifesto that may re-establish President Alarcon as the ruler of the Republic of Luvania. The manifesto ends up in the hands of Boris Krinsky (José Crespo), and, to trap him, dancer Landra (June Collyer) sets up a meeting with the Luvanian conspirators at her castle above Monte Carlo. After quite a bit of derring-do, Krinsky is brought to the castle's torture chamber, where he is whipped by Alba (Lloyd Whitlock), his former captain in the Luvania Foreign Legion, but is rescued in the nick of time by New York gangster Spike Maguire (Wheeler Oakman), an old friend. In love with Landra, Krinsky removes a signature that may incriminate her and hands over the manifesto to the Luvanian delegation. Revenge at Monte Carlo was also released in a Spanish language version, Dos Noche, with Conchita Montenegro replacing June Collier and Antonio Cumellas standing in for Lloyd Whitlock. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide