Dorothy Dix Movies

Guns and Guitars could have served as the title of any Gene Autry picture released in 1937. In this one, medicine-show entertainer Gene runs afoul of a crooked town boss who moonlights as an outlaw. The villain murders the local sheriff and pins the blame on poor Gene. With the help of comical sidekick Smiley Burnette, our hero breaks out of jail to clear his name. Though Guns and Guitars contains more action than usual for an Gene Autry picture, it pales in comparison to such superior 1937 Autry vehicles as Rootin' Tootin Rhythm and Boots and Saddles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Carnival barker Spencer Tracy befriends elderly concessionaire Henry B. Walthall, who owns a picturesque but stodgy display depicting Dante's Inferno. Walthall is more interested in the spiritual aspects of Man's fascination with Hell, but Tracy uses hoopla and exaggeration to get the suckers into the Inferno. His interest isn't altruistic; Tracy is enamored of Walthall's niece, Claire Trevor. Through his publicity savvy, Tracy builds the Inferno into a major attraction, complete with full orchestra and scantily clad "devil girls". He also buys up the rest of the carnival, using cold-blooded tactics that result in the suicide of a fellow concessionaire. Within five years, Tracy is a millionaire tycoon of the Entertainment industry. While loved by his wife (Trevor) and son (Scotty Beckett), Tracy conducts his business ruthlessly, bribing a city official to look the other way regarding structural defects in his Inferno display. When this duplicity results in a disastrous accident at the exhibit, the bribed official kills himself. Tracy is exonerated thanks to legal chicanery, but his wife is fed up; she walks out on him, taking their son along. Injured in the accident, Inferno creator H. B. Walthall warns Tracy of the pitfalls of success, using an illustrated edition of Dante to make his point. For nearly ten minutes, the movie audience is treated to a lavish depiction of Hell, magnificently photographed by Rudolph Mate. When the plot resumes, Tracy is on hand for his latest venture, a sumptuous gambling ship. Thanks to the drunken negligence of the crew, the ship catches fire, and it is only upon learning that his son has sneaked aboard that Tracy realizes the consequences of his greed. Tracy labors heroically to rescue the passengers--and, incidentally, to atone for his past sins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western, a miner heads back East and ends up traveling with a wagon train. He carries with him a map of his recently discovered claim. Among his comrades is a group of outlaws planning to ambush the train so they can get hold of the map. To do this, they start the local Indians on the warpath. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Set during an ugly divorce proceeding, a faithless second wife is found guilty of adultery (with a wealthy nobleman whom she wants to marry) after the wronged husband's first wife shows him irrefutable evidence. Soon after the judge's gavel falls the newly freed husband and his first bride joyously reunite. Melodramatic but tuneful tripe. ~ Rovi