Eddie Dunn Movies

Although coming in at an odd running time -- 40 minutes -- this interesting, low-budget drama looks at the adventures, or rather misadventures of a sailor (Paul von Schreiber) with a weekend leave in Los Angeles. The seaman is a country boy unused to the ways of big city women and so he gets his first shock when he picks up a comely lass and takes off with her for a few drinks together -- only to have her deliver a fanatical religious diatribe to the bar's customers. The second shock comes when a woman from a dance hall captures his fancy, then demands a ten-spot for the time she has spent with him. After the city, the ship may look pretty good. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

All but forgotten today, A Stranger in Town serves as an excellent showcase for the dramatic talents of Frank Morgan. The star plays Supreme Court justice John Josephus Grant, who decides to take a break from his hectic schedule by going on a hunting vacation. Travelling incognito, Grant stops over in a small town that turns out to be a hotbed of political corruption. Taking a liking to honest young mayoral candidate Bill Adams (Richard Carlson), Grant uses his legal know-how to help thwart Adams' crooked opponents. Jean Rogers, best-known to film buffs as Dale Arden in the first two "Flash Gordon" serials, is decorative as Grant's secretary, who (of course!) falls in love with the clean-cut Bill Adams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lois Andrews, best known in 1943 as the ex-wife of comedian Georgie Jessel, plays the title character in this cinemadaptation of Joseph P. McEvoy's popular comic strip Dixie Dugan. Swept up in the war effort, Dixie gets a job as secretary to government official Roger Hudson (James Ellison). Though Roger pursues her romantically, Dixie remains faithful to her defense-plant-worker fiancee Matt Hogan (Eddie Foy Jr.) Both Roger and Matt believe that a woman's place is in the home, but Dixie proves that their chauvinism is out of place during the National Emergency. Lois Andrews' inexperience is modified somewhat by the assured performances of Charlotte Greenwood and Charlie Ruggles as Dixie's parents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this tuneful comedy, a would-be actor and playwright is deeply in debt, and to keep away from his creditors, begins pretending to be his aged uncle. Unfortunately he ends up getting hit by a limousine. The rich woman inside takes the wounded "codger" home to her manhungry old aunt. The actor uses the old woman's desire to con her into financing his "nephew's" play. Things are going well until the actor's real uncle appears. Mayhem and a double wedding ensue. Songs include: "St. Louis Blues" (W.C. Handy, sung by the Delta Rhythm Boys), "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Duke Ellington, Bob Russell, sung by the Delta Rhythm Boys), "Liza" (George Gershwin, sung by the Tailor Maids), "That's the Way It Goes" (Milton Rosen, Everett Carter, sung by Mary O'Brien), "You're Driving Me Crazy" (sung by Jan Garber and his Orchestra), "Dark Eyes" (sung by Mary O'Brien, with Jack Teagarden and His Orchestra). Other songs were penned by Walter Donaldson and W.C. Handy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this entry, the detective must find two missing industrialists. They and $100,000 suddenly vanished while flying in a passenger plane. It does not take long for the supersleuth to discover that their disappearance is part of a conspiracy against the government. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this musical, a lovely and ambitious young woman masquerades as the daughter of a formerly beloved stage actress to help launch her Broadway career. She chooses one entertainment columnist in particular. But the starlet's carefully-made plans begin to unravel when a rival columnist learns of her ruse and tries to expose her. Songs include: "Let's March Together" (Saul Chaplin), "I Bumped My Head on a Star" (Cindy Walker), "Honk, Honk" (Roy Jacobs, Gene De Paul), "Timber Timber" (Don Reid, Henry Tobias), "Moon on My Pillow" (Charles, Henry, Elliot Tobias). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The first "Mexican Spitfire" entry of 1942, Mexican Spitfire at Sea is set mainly on a Hawaii-bound ocean liner. Combining business with pleasure, vacationing advertsing man Dennis (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) hopes to sign a contract with a wealthy client. Alas, these plans are scotched by the well-meaning idiocies of Dennis' peppery spouse Carmelita (Lupe Velez), and by a whole flock of Dennis' relatives who have invited themselves along for the voyage. Once again, it's up to Dennis' Uncle Matt (Leon Errol) to save the day-which inevitably requires old Matt to disguise himself as his British lookalike Lord Epping. Marion Martin, the blonde bombshell who'd caused so much trouble in the previous series entry Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941), is seen in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Universal's standing Show Boat sets get another workout in the 60-minute B-picture Mississippi Gambler. On the trail of mob hitman Mathews (Douglas Fowley), reporter Johnny Forbes (Kent Taylor) journeys from New York to Mississippi. Here he finds big-time gangster boss Carvel (John Litel), long thought dead but actually living pseudonymously as a respectable plantation owner. Despite his civilized veneer, Carvel continues mastermining his criminal empire, including a chain of gambling emporiums. With the help of leading ladies Beth (Frances Langford) and La Verne (Claire Dodd), Forbes manages to trap Carvel in his own den. Shemp Howard shows up as a zany taxi driver, doing a lot more for the film than it does for him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Brian Aherne stars as a successful murder-mystery novelist; his wife, Loretta Young, wishes Aherne would switch to writing love stories (Young doesn't have a very realistic grasp on the literary marketplace, but we'll let that pass). Young sweet-talks Aherne into vacating their apartment and moving into a Greenwich village basement, thereby hoping that he'll be inspired to pen words of romance. Unfortunately for Young (but not the audience), their new flat is a hotbed of murderous intrigue, sparked by the discovery of a corpse. The police are completely baffled, so Aherne sets about to solve the mystery himself-while Young, in spite of herself, starts behaving like The Thin Man's Nora Charles. Columbia Pictures had an absolute genius in the early 1940s for churning out fast-moving, star-studded programmers that delivered all the popular elements and left the public panting for more; A Night to Remember was no exception to this winning formula. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello invade the wild west in Ride 'Em Cowboy. The boys play Duke and Willoughby, a couple of rodeo peanut vendors who get mixed up in the travails of western novelist Bob Mitchell (Dick Foran). Ostensibly a true Son of the Frontier, Bob has actually never been west of Brooklyn in his life. To prove that he's got the "right stuff," Bob heads to a dude ranch, where he tries to curry favor with pretty ranchowner's daughter Anne Shaw (Anne Gwynne). Meanwhile, tenderfeet Duke and Willoughby run afoul of a local Indian tribe, whose chief Jake Rainwater (Douglass Dumbrille) demands that Willoughby marry Jake's porcine daughter (Babe London). The obligatory climactic slapstick chase finds Foran teaming up with authentic westerner Alabam (Johnny Mack Brown) to foil a gang of modern-day crooks, while Duke and Willoughby do their best to elude Jake and his war-whooping braves. Not quite as consistently funny as previous Abbot & Costello efforts, Ride 'Em Cowboy suffers from a bit too much directorial interference-especially during the classic "Crazy House" routine, which is weakened by director Arthur Lubin's attempts to make it more "cinematic." Even so, the film is an enjoyable melange of comedy and music, the latter commodity provided by Dick Foran, the Merry Macs, the Hi-Hatters, the Jivin' Jacks and Jills, and even Ella Fitzgerald! Best musical number: "I'll Remember April", brilliantly sung by Foran and gorgeously photographed by John W. Boyle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Well-known New York sports promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) is the prime suspect in the murder of Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), a successful model and would-be actress. Questioned relentlessly by the police, and particularly by hulking detective squad commander Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), he maintains his innocence. Meanwhile, Vicky's sister Jill (Betty Grable) is also being questioned. Their answers, given in adjoining interrogation rooms, become the basis for brief, neatly constructed interlocking flashbacks at the opening of the movie that explain a ton of plot in very little time. Both are released after admitting nothing, and the police begin working on other suspects, including journalist Larry Evans (Allyn Joslyn), aging actor Robin Ray (Alan Mowbray), and hotel clerk William Harrison (Elisha Cook Jr.) Jill had little use for Frankie, the man who had been promoting her sister's career, but the two are drawn together in the course of trying to sort out their lives and the murder of her sister, and her realization that Frankie is capable of truly loving a woman, and not just exploiting her. Meanwhile, Cornell makes it his business to pressure and torment Frankie, illegally entering his apartment and promising him an arrest and a death sentence. Eventually, the noose seems to tighten around Frankie as the circumstantial evidence piles up, until Frankie, trying to clear himself, uncovers a clue leading back to the real killer -- who was known to Cornell all along. Confronting the detective in his apartment, Frankie discovers a veritable shrine to Vicky -- copies of her magazine covers and photos filling the walls of his apartment -- and learns that the man had his own dark reasons for wanting to kill him. His psychosis finally catching up with him, his career and reputation in ruins, Cornell reveals the truth to Frankie as he proceeds to take his own life. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

The famous outlaw rides again in this fictionalized western that chronicles Billy's turn from criminal to fine upstanding citizen. The film received an Oscar nomination for its color cinematography. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this patriotic war drama, a unit of Army recruits train for a parachute corps. One is an arrogant football star who finds jumping a kick. Another is a coward who eventually finds his courage. Finally there is a chronic bumbler. The coward and jock find themselves competing for the affections of an indecisive young woman. The filmmakers of this movie paid careful attention to detail and was made with the cooperation of the 501st Parachute Battalion at Fort Benning, Georgia using actual paratroopers. The viewer is taken through every stage of a jump including folding the chute at the beginning. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi