Edgar Edwards Movies

Two of Hal Roach's short-subject stalwarts, Patsy Kelly and ZaSu Pitts, are teamed in the Roach-produced feature Broadway Limited. The whole story unfolds on a Chicago-to-Manhattan express train; among the passengers are Hollywood starlet April (Marjorie Woodworth), her producer Ivan (Leonid Kinskey) and her wisecracking secretary Patsy (Kelly). Hoping to stir up publicity for April, Patsy and Ivan conspire to adopt a baby for their client. Trouble is, the authorities are convinced that the child has been kidnapped, causing no end of trouble for such innocent bystanders as engineer Mike (Victor McLaglen), bookish young doctor Harvey North (Dennis O'Keefe) and garrulous clubwoman Myra (Pitts). The film is stolen by infant performer Gay Ellen Dakins, who spends most of her scenes smiling at the camera, oblivious of the adult slapstickery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Officially, America had no intention of entering the Second World War in 1940: Why, then, were there so many "preparedness" pictures like The Fighting 69th? This film, based on the experiences of military priest Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), is set during World War I. The US 69th division was a national guard contingent comprised of Irish Americans, who fought with the Rainbow Division in the years 1917-1918. Into this Hibernian stronghold comes cocky Jerry Plunkett (Jimmy Cagney), a streetwise tough who is certain that he can lick the Germans single-handedly. But during his first taste of real combat, Plunkett turns coward and inadvertently reveals the 69th's position. Held responsible for the deaths of his companions, Plunkett is sentenced to a firing squad. Thanks to a conveniently dropped bomb that levels the stockade in which he is held, Plunkett redeems himself on the battlefield by sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers. The beauty of James Cagney's star performance is that he is as thoroughly convincing as a "yellow belly" as he is a hero. In addition to father Duffy, the real-life personages depicted in The Fighting 69th include future OSS leader Wild Bill Donovan (George Brent) and poet Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn). Other Irish "regulars" include Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Dennis Morgan, and Sammy Cohen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Amid the political chaos sweeping across the world in 1939, a new terror arises -- the Purple Death -- and people around the world succumb at random by the hundreds, then thousands, with the identifying symptom being a purple spot on the victim. The authorities are baffled as to the cause or the treatment, and panic is spreading. Dr. Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon) determines that the Purple Death is linked to extraterrestrial events. Along with Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) and Dale Arden (Carolyn Hughes), Zarkov finds an alien spaceship, which they recognize as being from the planet Mongo, home of their old enemy, Ming the Merciless, spreading some sort of dust in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov head for Mongo, where they discover that Emperor Ming (Charles B. Middleton), whom they believed had been killed at the end of their battle with him on Mars (told in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars), is still alive. He is threatening not only to conquer all of Mongo, but is attacking Earth again, using a "Death Dust" spread by his spaceships that will eventually destroy everyone on Earth.

Flash, Dale, and Zarkov form an alliance with their old friend, Prince Barin (Roland Drew), the rightful ruler of Mongo, who with his wife, Princess Aura (Shirley Deane) -- Ming's own daughter -- rules the peaceful kingdom of Arboria, resisting Ming's military might with their small fleet of ships, the aid of neighboring free kingdoms, and the help of a tiny handful of officers within Ming's own palace who remain loyal to the prince. Their first task is to secure a neutralizing agent for the Death Dust, which exists in the frozen northern kingdom of Frigia, but before they can do that, they have to free the imprisoned Frigian military leader General Lupi (Ben Taggart), who has been captured by Ming. Flash rescues the general, who is about to be used as the subject of a scientific experiment, and secures the aid and gratitude of the Frigians. This barely slows Ming in his plans for conquest, however, and over the next 11 chapters, Flash Gordon and his friends and allies -- including Ronal (Donald Curtis), Roka (Lee Powell), and Captain Suden (William Royle) -- take their battle for the safety of the Earth and the freedom of Mongo to the far reaches of the planet. Battling Ming and his villainous henchmen -- including Captain Torch (Don Rowan) and Lady Sonja (Anne Gwynne) -- from Mongo's frozen northern wastes to its uncharted deserts, Flash and his allies outmaneuver and generally outfight and outwit Ming's larger, better equipped army and spaceship fleet, but they are nearly undone by the spies that Ming has placed in Barin's own household. The bravery of the Earth hero and his friends, and the patriotism and sacrifices of Mongo's people ultimately prove too much for the evil emperor, who finally faces impending destruction from one of his own fiendish inventions. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Versatile character actor (and offscreen golf pro) John Gallaudet is afforded a leading role in the 1939 cheapie Murder is News. When business magnate Edgar Drake (William McIntyre) decides to get even with his cheating wife Pauline (Doris Lloyd) and her attorney lover David Corning (John Hamilton), it's dollars to doughnuts that someone's going to wind up dead. Problem is, the victim is Drake himself. So who "done it": The wife, the lover, or Drake's own son, a popular orchestra leader? With the help of his "leg man" Brains McGillicudy (George McKay), Winchellesque radio commentator Jerry Tracy (Gallaudet) hopes to crack the case. The presence of Columbia contractees Gallaudet, McKay and Iris Meredith suggests that Murder is News was originally a Columbia picture, sold to fly-by-night Warwick Films for a quick turnover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though it sure looks like a Columbia Production, Special Inspector was distributed by a States' Rights firm called Syndicate Films. Charles Quigley and Rita Hayworth, the William Powell and Myrna Loy of Columbia's B unit, star respectively as government treasury agent Tom Evans and his sweetheart Patricia Lane. When Patricia's brother is murderd by a gang of fur hijackers, she offers her services to the feds as an undercover operative. In other words, it is Paula, and not Tom, who is the "Special Inspector" of the title. The most surprising aspect of the film is that it contains practically no action at all, not even a climactic fistfight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this, the premiere entry in the "Brass" Bancroft series (starring the man who would-be President, Ronald Reagan), Brass is seen as an ex-Army pilot who works as a commercial airline pilot. One day he quits his well-paying, safe job to become an agent for the Secret Service. His first assignment is to look into a gang of smugglers who are suspected of sneaking illegal aliens into the US via airplanes. This gang is really bad, and whenever they fear that they will be caught, they simply open their hatches and drop the hapless aliens like so many bombs. Bancroft is enraged at their inhumanity, and in the end, he and the ring leader battle it out in a plane spinning out of control. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This minor but entertaining screen version of the Monte Barrett-Russell E. Ross comic strip The Adventures of Jane Arden stars Warner contractee Rosella Towne as the title character. Dapper villain Dr. Vanders (James Stephenson) has been using beautiful, gullible young women as pawns in a clever smuggling ring. After rather nastily disposing of socialite Lola Martin (Peggy Shannon), Vanders is virtually a marked man himself: intrepid gal reporter Jane Arden vows to bring the criminals to justice, and never mind that her managing editor sweetheart Ed Towers (William Gargan) warns her off the case. Jane's adventures range from a dangerous ocean voyage to an exciting equestrian chase across the California countryside, with nary a pause for breath (after all, the picture runs only 55 minutes). Benny Rubin and Dennie Moore provide barely relevant comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide