Rex Downing Movies

The "He" of the title is Richard Basehart, a clever but psychopathic burglar (based on real-life criminal Erwin Walker) Basehart stays one step ahead of the law by listening in to the police band on his radio. To avoid detection, he changes his M.O. on each crime, making it seem that the string of burglaries is the work of several thieves. But Basehart trips himself up when he kills a cop. His own personal Waterloo occurs in the Los Angeles sewer system--a stylish predecessor to the similar (and more widely praised) climax in Sir Carol Reed's The Third Man. Though the direction is credited to Hollywood old-timer Alfred Werker, most of He Walked By Night is the handiwork of an uncredited Anthony Mann. Featured in the film's cast is Jack Webb in the small role of a police lab technician. Impressed by first-hand experience with police procedure and by the semi-documentary quality of He Walked By Night Webb expanded on these elements for his own radio and TV project, Dragnet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having struck gold with the previous season's Dillinger, the King Brothers returned to Monogram as producers of The Gangster. Adapted by Daniel Fuchs from his own novel Low Company, the film stars Barry Sullivan as flint-faced racketeer Shubunka. Shown to be a product of the slums, Shubunka spends his adulthood in pursuit of power and riches, with no time for friendship or romance. Wounded in a gangland shootout, Shubunka ruminates on his past, present and (unlikely) future, wondering if it's all been worth it. Promoted as a "psychological" drama, The Gangster has plenty of gunplay and bloodshed to satiate action fans, and a surfeit of sex appeal in the form of gangster's moll Nancy (played by Monogram's resident skating star Belita). Prominent in the supporting cast is the ineluctable Sheldon Leonard as Shubunka's chief rival, delivering a subtler variation on his patented tough-guy screen persona. The Gangster was directed by Oscar-winning art director Gordon Wiles, later a mainstay of such TV series as Land of the Lost and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an ex-vaudevillian dancer opens up a dance band agency and help street kids at the same time by hiring them to help out. Unfortunately, the local gang of hood's leader resists his attempts. More trouble ensues when the dancer helps a convict gain parole by hiring him. It later turns out that the ex-con is only interested in trying to use the agency as a front for extortion. Songs include the Oscar nominated "When There's a Breeze on Lake Louise," "Your Face Looks Familiar," "Heavenly, Isn't He?" "Let's Forget It," "You're Bad For Me," and "A Million Miles From Manhattan." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

British army pilot Stephen (George Brent) falls in love with jewel-thief Felice (Isa Miranda), tricking her out of some stolen diamonds. Stephen and South African Police Commissioner Lansfield (Nigel Bruce) set a trap for her partner Barclay (John Loder), but Felice falls for it instead. She's given parole in order to help Stephen and Lansfield trap a new, murderous ring of thieves, and she and Stephen start to fall in love. ~ Bill Warren, Rovi

William Wyler's Wuthering Heights is one of the earliest screen adaptations of the classic Emily Brontë novel. A traveler named Lockwood (Miles Mander) is caught in the snow and stays at the estate of Wuthering Heights, where the housekeeper, Ellen Dean (Flora Robson), sits down to tell him the story in flashback. In the early 19th century, the original owner of Wuthering Heights, Mr. Earnshaw (Leo G. Carroll), brings home an orphan from Liverpool named Heathcliff (Rex Downing). Though son Hindley Earnshaw despises the boy, daughter Catherine develops a close kinship with Heathcliff that blossoms into love. When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up together on the Moors and seem destined for happiness, even though Hindley forces Heathcliff to work as a stable boy. When Cathy (Merle Oberon) meets wealthy neighbor Edgar Linton (David Niven), Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) gets jealous and leaves. Cathy marries Edgar, and Heathcliff returns with his own wealth and sophistication. He buys Wuthering Heights from the alcoholic Hindley (Hugh Williams) and marries Edgar's sister, Isabella Linton (Geraldine Fitzgerald), out of spite. Still obsessively in love with each other, Cathy gets deathly ill while Heathcliff grows into a bitter old man. Ellen continues telling Lockwood the story as Dr. Kenneth (Donald Crisp) enters and reveals the fateful ending. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

This drama chronicles the life and times of a notorious gangster. The story begins at his funeral. There a reporter, assigned to do a brief biography, interviews a doctor who tells the gangster's sad tale. In flashback, the crook is first seen getting released from prison. His father pleads with him to go straight, but the son doesn't listen. He immediately robs a warehouse. His father rats upon him and the crook's gang abducts the district attorney's daughter to bargain for his release. Later it is discovered that the girl is really his daughter whom he and his lover put up for adoption. A policeman, a good friend of the gangster, helps the criminal escape and save his daughter from the gang. He is killed during the rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Even allowing for the fact that it's only a one-reeler, the "Our Gang" comedy "The Pigskin Palooka" goes by so rapidly that the viewer will be gasping for breath! Having written of his football heroics in military school, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer returns home to a hero's welcome. No sooner has he stepped off the train than his old pal Spanky McFarland, manager of the gang's football team, informs Alfalfa that he's been slated to be star player in an upcoming gridiron battle --- which is to be staged within the next few hours. Only one problem: Alfalfa has been exagerrating his athletic prowess, and in fact has never played football in his life. Will Alfie survive this dilemma, or will he be blitzed into the next county? "The Pigskin Palooka" was released just in time for football season on October 23, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hoping to win a 50-dollar prize, the Our Gang kids enter a radio talent contest. Despite the scene-stealing efforts of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, leader George "Spanky" McFarland selects four-year-old vocalist Darla Hood to represent the gang with her stirring rendition of "I'm in the Mood for Love." But come the day of the broadcast, Darla is nowhere to be found. While Spanky searches for the missing singer, a nervous Alfalfa walks up to the microphone in her place, and it is his squeaky, interminable rendition of "I'm in the Mood for Love" that miraculously saves the day. A genial spoof of the radio series Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour, The Pinch Singer was originally released on January 4, 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In his first of 16 Westerns for independent producer A.W. Hackel, Johnny Mack Brown is Branded a Coward when instead of preventing a saloon hold-up, he is spotted cowering behind the bar. The reason for Johnny Hume's reticence is to be found in his background: 20 years earlier, little Johnny was orphaned when his parents' wagon was attacked by a gang of outlaws headed by the infamous "Cat" (Yakima Canutt). As the grown Johnny explains to stuttering sidekick Oscar (Syd Saylor), he has been "yellow ever since." Johnny's courage is tested once again when the two friends witness a stage hold-up. After chasing the outlaws away, Johnny and Oscar escort the stage into the town of Lawless, AZ, where female passenger Ethel Carson (Billie Seward) extols Johnny's prowess with a gun. To his embarrassment, Johnny is elected deputy marshal. Secrets from the past keep resurfacing and Johnny must constantly fight his own fears. In the end, the former coward proves his real worth in a final face-to-face struggle with the leader of the stage robbers (Robert Kortman), a villain patterning himself after the original Cat. During the fight, an unusual birthmark on the outlaw's arm reveals him to be Johnny's own brother Billy. Long thought killed in the massacre, Billy has instead been raised by the original, now deceased Cat. Unable to prevent his henchmen from attacking, Billy bravely stops a bullet meant for Johnny. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The first of "Our Gang"'s musical revues, this one gets under way as master of ceremonies Spanky McFarland entices the local kiddies to attend the Gang's "big show," staged in Spanky's basement. "There's dancing music, and hotcha too," Spanky sings, "It's only a penny --- it won't break you." Highlights include, in order of presentation, an opening chorus number (&"Hello, Hello, Hello"); The Bryan Sisters' rendition of "How You Gonna Keep Him Down on the Farm" (with the not inconsiberable assistance of Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas); Darla Hood, making her "Our Gang" debut with a zingy performance of "I'll Never Say 'Never Again' Again"; the spooky "Ghost Frolic" (a segment often cut to ribbons on TV); Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's version of the Pinky Tomlin hit "The Object of My Affection"; and the grand finale, "The Florydory Girls", with Spanky and the male cast members pressed into service as "drag" performers. One of the best and most successful "Our Gang" entries of all, "Our Gang Follies of 1936" was originally released on November 30, 1935. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi