Edward Ellis Movies

Having done just fine at the box office with 1942's Apache Trail, MGM turned out another "pocket" western, The Omaha Trail. The story boils down to a battle of wits and sixguns between hero Pat Candel (James Craig) and villain Pipestone Ross (Dean Jagger). The latter is a wagon-train entrepreneur who doesn't want the railroad to encroach upon his territory, and he backs up this resolve with hired hooligans. Comedy relief Chill Wills sings two songs (one of them written by director Eddie Buzzell, a former musical-comedy star), while Pamela Blake is the antiseptic heroine. Unschooled in the making of budget westerns, MGM seemed uncertain whether to take Omaha Trail seriously or to play it tongue-in-cheek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee). Man Betrayed can be viewed from the vantage point of the 1990s as an attempt by Republic Pictures to broaden the range of its biggest star, John Wayne. That it doesn't quite work is forgotten as the audience luxuriates in the sheer professionalism of the whole endeavor--and besides, the Duke does get to put up his dukes on more than one occasion. Man Betrayed has been released under two alternate titles: Wheel of Fortune for American television, and Citadel of Crime (coincidentally the title of a like-vintage Republic "B" picture) for British audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this courtroom drama a countrified prosecutor deliberately fails in his attempt to convict a notorious gangster so he can protect his adopted daughter, the gangster's moll. As a result the lawyer loses his job. When his troubled girl gets accused of murder, he does all he can to defend her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set in a tiny midwestern town, this sentimental drama centers on the rivalry between two life-long acquaintances whose early friendship falls apart when they woo the same woman. She makes her choice and marries the one who eventually takes over the town bank. Meanwhile the other man becomes a shopkeeper and marries another. One couple has a daughter and the other a son. The offspring grow up and of course they fall in love. In the midst of the romance, the banker gets accused of double-dealing his customers and a panic ensues. To make it worse, the young couple break up because the man would rather go to medical school than get married. The storekeeper causes the ultimate ruination of the bank when he withdraws $33,000. It doesn't get better from there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Child star Shirley Temple was getting a bit long in the tooth (at age 10!) by the time she made Little Miss Broadway. Facing the possibility that Temple's appeal was beginning to slip, the producers overstocked the film with top musical-comedy performers and character actors. The curly-topped actress is cast as orphan girl Betsy Brown, discharged in the care of her uncle Pop Shea (Edward Ellis), the manager of a theatrical boarding house. Before long, Betsy is the darling of the clientele, including bandleader Jimmy Clayton (Jimmy Durante), animal trainer Ole (El Brendel), and a pair of wisecracking midget entertainers (George and Olive Brasno). Snooty Sarah Wendling (Edna Mae Oliver), owner of the hotel building, is fed up with "show people" and demands that they pay their back rent or move out post-haste. But Sarah's nephew Roger (George Murphy), in love with Pop Shea's daughter Barbara (Phyllis Brooks), comes to the aid of the hotel's occupants. With the help of Betsy and her friends, Roger pleads his case in the courtroom of judge Claude Gillingwater by staging a lavish musical revue. The specacle of George Murphy dancing with Shirley Temple will prove particularly amusing to those aware of both stars' future political careers. Songs include "Be Optimistic", "If All the World Were Paper", "Hop Skip and Jump" and the title tune. Incidentally, outtakes of Little Miss Broadway exist showing Shirley Temple doing a frighteningly accurate impersonation of her costar Jimmy Durante (ha-cha-cha-cha-cha!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Howard stars as Dr. Paul Martin, intent upon instituting sweeping medical reforms in his community. He is opposed in this by the corrupt political machine headed by Pete Lindsey (Edward Ellis). Thanks to Lindsey's chicanery, the town is a hotbed of health hazards, and no one but Martin has the power or fortitude to do something about it. A fortuitous last-minute confession signed by a dying "machine" judge enables Martin to triumph over his enemies. As a bonus, our hero is able to stem an outbreak of infantile paralysis -- and to win the hand of winsome heroine Judith Marshall (Nan Grey), the daughter of a man destroyed by Lindsey's crooked regime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claudette Colbert is a young freethinking woman living in Salem, Massachusetts during the notorious 17th century "witch trials". Colbert falls in love with adventurer Fred MacMurray, causing no end of scandal with the Puritan townsfolk. A hateful little girl (Bonita Granville) pretends to be "possessed", thereby convincing the Salemites that Claudette is a witch. Tried and convicted of sorcery, the poor girl is sent to be burned at the stake, but is rescued in the nick of time by MacMurray, who convinces the townsfolk that they've been the victim of a hoax. Maid of Salem earned a footnote in entertainment history in 1937 when it was booed off the screen of New York's Paramount theatre by fans who wanted to see the evening's real attraction--a performance by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Maxwell Anderson combined the Sacco-Vanzetti story with elements of the still-unsolved disappearance of Judge Crater, and the result was the blank-verse theatrical piece Winterset. Burgess Meredith, Margo and Eduardo Cianelli repeat their Broadway roles, respectively playing the grown son of an executed political radical, the woman who loves and stands by Meredith, and a menacing gangster with plenty to hide. 15 years after the execution, Meredith endeavors to clear his father's name, and to that end seeks out the judge (Edward Ellis) who presided over the trial, now a drunken, guilt-ridden derelict. Screenwriter Anthony Veiller remove most of Anderson's flowery dialogue and substituted a happy ending for the original play's cynically tragic denouement. Neither of these changes hurt the property, and in fact were heartily endorsed by Maxwell Anderson himself. But depression-era audiences, too wrapped in their own current problems to shed tears over the long-dead Sacco and Vanzetti, stayed away from Winterset in droves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stagestruck Vermont girl Jenny Yates (Anne Shirley) manages to land a job with a ragtag stock company. This she does over the objections of her grandfather (Edward Ellis), who'd disowned Jenny's mother when she became an actress. After a series of amusing and bemusing setbacks, Jenny is discovered by a big-time producer and cast in the Broadway production "Virtue's Reward." Both the girl and the show are flops, but she finds a happily-ever-after with handsome Phil Greene (Phillips Holmes). Based on a play by David Carb, Chatterbox contains some knowing insights about provincial theater and the vagaries of show business. Lucille Ball makes a brief but amusing appearance as a snobbish small-time leading lady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Zane Grey adaptation stars Dean Jagger as Adam and Gail Patrick as Ruth, two rugged individuals heading to gold country by riverboat. The couple's burgeoning romance is interrupted when Adam inadvertently gets involved in a murder. On the lam from the authorities, he links up with grizzled old prospector Dismukes (Edward Ellis), the titular wasteland wanderer. In typical Zane Grey fashion, hero and heroine are ultimately reunited by a series of convenient coincidences -- but there's still villainous Big Ben (Buster Crabbe) to contend with. Hefty vaudeville headliner Trixie Friganza also shows up in a choice supporting role. Previously filmed by Paramount in 1924 (in Technicolor, no less), Wanderer of the Wasteland was remade by RKO Radio in 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama presents a dim view of life in a small town populated by back-stabbing, narrow-minded, hypocritical and maliciously gossipy bigots who meet at the town general store to spread their vicious lies. The current slander centers upon a young man who has an innocent crush on another man's wife. The constant snickers and asides of the husband's neighbors cause him to believe that his wife really is involved with the young man. Enraged he tries to kill the young man. This near-tragedy does nothing to stop the gossip-mongers from choosing a new victim, whom they hope to drive to suicide so they can spice up their dull lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The mysterious death of a notoriously candid author provides the basis of this mystery. Investigators do not believe the suicide note found with his corpse. It seems the author had written a scandalous autobiography detailing his many affairs, with no regard to the feelings of the women involved. The police begin investigating these women and the story is told in flashback. It all began during a publisher's party for the author. Several of his ex-girl friends show up, and he entertains them. Afterward he returns to his study, but not before telling his butler that he plans to kill himself because life is simply too much to bear. It is the valet who suggests he leave a suicide note to protect the innocent. The distraught author does so and then fires the gun. Unfortunately, he only wounds himself. The butler runs in, sees an opportunity to at long last get revenge and finishes the job. He feels secure that he has committed the perfect crime. Unfortunately, he forgot about the second bullet embedded in the floor. Fortunately, the police find it and the butler gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eight people, many of them strangers to one another, are summoned to a ritzy Manhattan penthouse apartment by an unidentified host. Once everyone has arrived, the servants are dismissed and all the doors and windows are automatically locked. The unseen host's voice is then heard emanating from a radio loudspeaker, explaining that all of the guests are old enemies of his, and that all are doomed to die this very evening! A couple of foolhardy souls try to escape, only to be electrocuted by one or another of the mysterious host's booby traps. Who is the "hidden" murderer --- and whoooooo will survive? Remarkably similar to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (which hadn't been written yet!), Columbia's The Ninth Guest was remade -- without acknowledgment -- as the 1939 Boris Karloff vehicle The Man They Could Not Hang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide