James Adamson Movies

Fired after decades of loyal service to an investment firm, mousy Benjamin Stepp (John Qualen) retaliates by murdering his boss Mr. Baldwin (Sebastian Cabot). Imagine Stepp's astonishment when, the day after the murder, Mr. Baldwin shows up in the office alive and well -- and not only rehires Stepp, but gives him a raise and a promotion. Not surprisingly, Stepp cannot rely upon the evidence of his own eyes...but what happens after he has gotten over his initial shock is quite a surprise indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the Bomba series of jungle adventures, the jungle boy must retrieve a valuable Watusi statue after it is swiped by an Arab chieftain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Number Seven in Monogram's Bomba the Jungle Boy series was African Treasure. This time Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) agrees to help geologist Arthur Space and his team locate a hidden diamond mine. Unfortunately for our hero, Space and his cohorts Lane Bradford and Lyle Talbot are actually jewel thieves. For a while, it looks like the villains have the upper hand, but a convenient landslide changes things. The heroine is played by voluptuous pin-up girl Laurette Luez, whose acting ability is hardly a consideration here. Stock footage from African Treasure later popped up in Monogram's Bowery Boys entry Jungle Gents, which also co-starred Laurette Luez. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The real Matt Cvetic was a borderline alcoholic with a nasty disposition (he once allegedly beat his sister-in-law so badly she required hospitalization). But Cvetic was also a fervent anti-communist, and so, for a brief period in the early 1950s, he was a folk hero. I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. is the semi-true story of how Cvetic (played by Frank Lovejoy) renounced his friends and family and embraced the Red cause--on behalf of the F.B.I., for whom he was a volunteer undercover agent. The film recounts how Cvetic used his job as a Pittsburgh steelworker to contact various American Communist cell leaders, and how he exposed their insidious plans to overthrow the American government. Since the script infers that among the Reds' "subversive" plans was the Civil Rights Movement, I Was a Communist for the FBI is an embarrassing experience when seen today. Cvetic's memoirs were better dramatized by a 1951 radio series of the same title, starring Dana Andrews. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bright Leaf, a sprawling saga of the tobacco industry in North Carolina, began as a novel by Foster Fitzsimmons, a native Carolinian who for many years taught at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's theatre department. The film version of Bright Leaf has been simplified and reshaped to serve as a traditional Gary Cooper vehicle. Cooper stars as tenant farmer Brant Royle, who after being driven from his home town by autocratic tobacco tycoon Major Singleton (Donald Crisp) returns in triumph with a revolutionary cigarette-making machine. Royle's streamlined techniques soon drive Singleton out of business. Margaret Singleton (Patricia Neal), Royle's old flame, agrees to marry him to save her father from ruin--whereupon the Major commits suicide. The vengeful Margaret then does everything she can to destroy Royle. The question remaining: can Brant Royle save himself and find ultimate happiness with his true love, Sonia Kovac (Lauren Bacall)? Also appearing in Bright Leaf are Jack Carson as Royle's flamboyant business partner Chris Malley and Jeff Corey as John Barton, the inventor of the "miracle" cigarette-making apparatus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Barry Fleming, Colonel Effingham's Raid stars Charles Coburn in the title role. Upon retiring from the army, Effingham returns to his home town of Fredericksville, Georgia. Dismayed by the town's paucity of civic pride, the Colonel begins writing a newspaper column honoring Fredericksville's old traditions and chastizing those who would tear those traditions down. His pet peeve is the city administration's plan to rename Confederate Square after the pompous, mildly corrupt town mayor (Thurston Hall). When it seems that his protests are falling upon deaf ears, Colonel Effingham literally stage a "military assault" against City Hall, which in real life would get him thrown in the looney bin but which in a whimsical comedy of this nature results in a smashing success for the "good guys". If Colonel Effingham's Raid seems to be popping up on TV at a rate of once a day, it is because the film lapsed into public domain in 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Rouben Mamoulian completed a three-picture 20th Century Fox deal with this airy comic romance that attempted to ape the story and style of the previous year's The Lady Eve (1941) but without that film's success. While vacationing in Southern California, accountant John Wheeler (Henry Fonda) intends to purchase a boat, a luxury for which he's saved long and hard on his limited income. Maybelle (Spring Byington) and Warren (Laird Cregar), a pair of grifters on the prowl for a mark, overhear John discussing the upcoming transaction and mistake him for a millionaire. They persuade pretty sales clerk Susan Miller (Gene Tierney) to help them dupe John by pretending to be their daughter and fall in love with him. As the couple spends time together, however, Susan really does fall in love with John. She backs out of her agreement with the con artists, tells John the truth, and learns that he's not a man of means. The truth does nothing to diminish their feelings for each other, and the happy couple marries, but Warren and Maybelle are not quite done with Susan yet, and they embark on a scheme to find her a real millionaire. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Though based on a stage play by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter (previously filmed as an Ernest Truex vehicle in 1933), MGM's Whistling in the Dark was clearly inspired by the success of Paramount's Bob Hope comedy-mystery The Ghost Breakers. In his first film starring role, Red Skelton plays radio actor Wally Benton, better known to his fans as that intrepid crime-solver "The Fox". On the eve of his wedding to perennial fiancee Carol Lambert (Ann Rutherford), Wally is summoned to the mansion of cult leader Joseph Jones (Conrad Veidt). Though he preaches a message of "radiant contentment" to his followers, Jones is actually a racketeer who hopes to get his hands on a $1,000,000 inheritance. The only person standing in the way of Jones' windfall is the sole heir, mild-mannered Mr. Upshaw (Lloyd Corrigan), who is about to take a business trip by plane. Impressed by "The Fox"'s encyclopedic knowledge of crime, Jones wants Wally to plan a "perfect murder", one which will put Upshaw out of the way without detection. Naturally, Wally balks at this, but he is persuaded to go along with Jones when the latter kidnaps both Carol and Fran Post (Virginia Grey), the daughter of Wally's sponsor (Henry O'Neill). Considerately, Jones gives Wally till 11 o'clock to come up with his plan, leaving our hapless hero in the "care" of hulking henchman Sylvester (Rags Ragland). Fully aware that neither his life nor those of Carol and Fran will be worth five cents once Upshaw is murdered, Wally spends most of the evening trying to concoct a way out of his jam. Full of hilarious one-liners and sidesplitting slapstick, Whistling in the Dark is also quite suspenseful--especially in the final reel, wherein the best line is delivered by the pop-eyed potential murder victim. So well received was Whistling in the Dark that MGM rushed out two sequels, also starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford and a "reformed" Rags Ragland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dark Manhattan is an all-black melodrama, aimed at what were once known as "colored" movie houses. Ralph Cooper stars as anti-hero Curley Thorpe, the head of all protection rackets in Harlem. Curley begins to think about reforming when he falls in love with virginal nightclub chanteuse Cleo (Cleo Herndon). Alas, a rival gang begins encroaching upon Thorpe's territory, resulting in the climactic death of the poor fellow in a hail of bullets. Production-wise, Dark Manhattan is several notches above most of the cheapie all-black films of the era, with good direction and choreography compensating for the haphazard camerawork and uneven performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by director Paul Sloan from the novel by Will James, Lone Cowboy is an "outdoors" epic tailored to the talents of young Jackie Cooper. Actually the title character is not played by Cooper but by character actor Addison Richards, cast as a grizzled old rodeo rider named Dobe Jones. Placed in charge of Eastern lad Scooter O'Neal (Cooper), Dobe forms a strong friendship with the kid, but this does not dissuade him from his main purpose in life -- to track down his runaway wife Eleanor (Lila Lee) and her lover Jim Weston (Gavin Gordon). Finally catching up to the errant couple, Dobe shoots and kills Weston, a violent outburst that also seriously wounds Scooter. Evidently a more sombre ending was planned for Lone Cowboy than the hastily tacked-on happy denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide