Walter Wills Movies

Venerable minstrel-show impresario Walter Wills makes his third and final Our Gang appearance in the one-reel comedy Doin' Their Bit. Hoping to entertain the military troops stationed in Greenpoint, Mr. Wills organizes the Our Gang kids into a junior USO troupe. In addition to performing a distressingly unfunny "boot camp" sketch (which attempts to garner laughs by making jokes about "dead Japs"), the gang participates in a brace of production numbers, slickly choreographed by Bud Murray. In the final analysis, the regular Our Gang members are virtually expendable: Most of the entertaining is done by a batallion of talented young dancers and singers. Doin' Their Bit was originally released on July 18, 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode of the Three Mesquiteers series of westerns the trio must help two rival sides involved in a range war settle their differences. The story is set in 1906, and the rivals are homesteaders trying to take advantage of Roosevelt's Reclamation Act and the landowners who oppose the act and want to see the Act repealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This "Three Mesquiteers" western is based upon the exploits of one James Addison Reavis, a clever 19th century con artist who through a series of elaborate land swindlers tried to declare himself owner of the state of Arizona (Reavis' checkered career was later the basis for Samuel Fuller's The Baron of Arizona, starring Vincent Price). George Douglas plays the Reavis character, here named Talbot. Establishing himself as dictator of an unnamed western territory, Talbot taxes the citizens beyond endurance. Enter the Three Mesquiteers-Stony Brooke (John Wayne), Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune)-who don capes and masks to do battle with Talbot's minions under cover of darkness. Part of the plot hinges on the fact that only President Garfield knows that the Mesquiteer's "crimes" are being committed on behalf of Liberty and Justice For All-and when Garfield is assassinated, our heroes are up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Co-directed by former supporting player Mack V. Wright and Sam Nelson, The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is considered by connoisseurs of the genre the best serial Columbia Pictures ever made. The star, former supporting actor Gordon Elliott (born Nance) changed his first name to Bill for the occasion and emerged a full-fledged star. He later went all the way and became known as William "Wild Bill" Elliott, hero of first-rate Republic Westerns and for years a top sagebrush moneymaker. Robert J. Fiske played Wild Bill's adversary, Morrell, a nasty character who leads his Phantom Raiders in attacks on both the old Chisholm Trail and the encroaching railroad. Wild Bill Hickok is appointed U.S. marshal and assigned to ensure safe passage for both cattle and the railroad. Columbia screenwriters George Rosener, Charles A. Powell, G.A. Durlam, Tom Gibson, and Dallas Fitzgerald made sure that there was something for everyone in this serial, including a shapely heroine (Carole Wayne) to please the adults in the audience and no less than three juvenile actors -- Frankie Darro, Sammy McKim, and Dickie Jones -- for the small fry to root for. Roscoe Ates, he of the bobbing Adam's apple, and veteran slapstick comic Monte Collins provided laughs, and producer Jack Fier rounded up a fine supporting cast that included such veterans as Monte Blue, Kermit Maynard, Chief Thundercloud, George Cheseboro, Edmund Cobb, Hal Taliaferro, Art Mix, Tom London, and Lew Meehan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When silent star Colleen Moore nervously faced a microphone for her first "sound" test, the results were so positive that virtually every member of the First National executive board shouted unanimously, "Thank God! She can talk!" In the long run, however, it probably wouldn't have mattered if she could have talked or not, since most of her early talkies -- including Smiling Irish Eyes -- were produced by her then-husband John McCormick, who was disinclined to fire his own wife! In her first musical appearance, Moore plays Kathleen O'Connor, an Irish lass in love with would-be songwriter Rory O'More (James Hall). Upon achieving success on Broadway, O'More forgets all about Kathleen and begins dallying with such sophisticated tootsies as Frankie West (Betty Francisco) and Goldie DeVeer (Julanne Johnston). Heading to America herself to be reunited with O'More, Kathleen finds nothing but disappointment and heartache -- not to mention ample opportunities to sing. Adding to the ethnic mix of Smiling Irish Eyes is the presence of two stereotypical Jews, played by William Strauss and Otto Lederer; also on hand is future cowboy sidekick George "Gabby" Hayes, plus teeth and minus beard, as a New York cabbie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide