Leif Erickson Movies

Although Larry "Buster" Crabbe earns top billing, the hero of Drift Fence is former Western star Tom Keene as Jim Travis, who, at a rodeo, meets city dweller Jim Traft (Benny Baker), who has come west to erect a fence that will prevent Clay Jackson (Stanley Andrews) from continuing his cattle rustling business. A tough Western type, Travis suggests that he impersonate Traft and the building of the fence soon begins. But Travis is opposed by Slinger Dunn (Crabbe) and his family, whose small ranch will suffer from the division of the land. A romance between Travis and Slinger's sister, Paula (Katherine DeMille), paves the way for a meeting of the minds, however, and Slinger switches sides completely upon learning that Travis is a Texas Ranger in disguise. An in-house production (as opposed to Harry Sherman's Hopalong Cassidy Westerns), Drift Fence was the closest Paramount came to a B-Western in the mid-'30s. Zane Grey's original novel was published in 1932. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Girl of the Ozarks is little Edie Mosely (Virginia Weidler), who's left on her own when her mother dies. Soft-hearted newspaper editor Tom Bolton (Leif Erikson) wants to adopt the little mischief-maker, but before he can do this he must find himself a bride. Edie plays matchmaker between Tom and eligible bachelorette Gail Rogers (Elizabeth Russell), but not before stirring up a passel of trouble in her small mountain community. The characters are pure "Beverly Hillbillies," right down to Henrietta Crossman as Edie's pipe-smokin' granny. Girl of the Ozarks was preteen Virginia Weidler's first starring feature, and she handles the assignment with the assuredness of a veteran. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The quaint genetic theories of the 1930s are satirized in College Holiday. Dotty matron Mary Boland runs a ramshackle summer resort, opening her doors to college students of both sexes--but only those collegiates with extra-special physical and mental skills. She hopes to encourage these select co-eds to meet and mate, then produce a breed of "perfect" children. What Boland doesn't count on is the supremacy of the Heart over Science. Engagingly silly, College Holiday devotes generous screen space to some of the biggest comic talents of the 1930s: Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye and Ben Blue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This happy-go-lucky musical comedy is set in beautiful Hawaii and follows a public relations man who works for a pineapple company (Bing Crosby) and his pal as they escort a beauty contest winner (Shirley Ross) and her loudmouthed friend (Martha Raye) on a tour of the islands. Unfortunately, the winning beauty finds the islands a crashing bore and plans to return to the mainland. This forces the P.R. man to take drastic and romantic measures to convince her to stay. The song "Sweet Leilani" won an Oscar. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

"Camp Romance," a place for the romantically challenged, provides the setting of this musical. The story centers on a frumpy secretary's crush on her handsome boss, the camp manager. The manager has been working on a musical. Just as he is about to finish it, the secretary gives herself a makeover, turns into a drop- dead knockout, and romantic bliss ensues. Songs include: "Keeno, Screeno and You," "I'll Follow My Baby," "Thrill of a Lifetime," "Paris in Swing," "Sweetheart Time," "It's Been a Whole Year," "If We Could Run the Country for a Day." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A filmed documentary of the last days in free Czechoslovakia before Hitler invaded. The film was not yet complete, or certain parts of it even processed, before German tanks came rolling into Prague. The raw footage was smuggled out piecemeal by the then-refugee filmmakers, who met in New York in 1939 to complete and screen the film, which ultimately played. It is, as one can imagine, heavily anti-fascist in tone, and remains a valuable document of life in Czechoslovakia between the wars. ~ David Lewis, All Movie Guide

MGM was doing so well in 1941 that it could afford the occasional "prestige" film with little box-office appeal. Based on the novel by J.P. Marquand, H.M. Pulham, Esq., stars Robert Young as a successful but stuffy Boston businessman. The glimmer of sadness in Young's eyes indicates that his ascension to the top was not without its cost. In flashbacks, we see how Young considered changing the track his life was on in order to marry Hedy Lamarr. After marrying his wife, however, the man never strays. The film utilizes the Strange Interlude approach of interior monologues heard on the soundtrack, and anticipates Citizen Kane (which hadn't yet been released when Pulham was filmed) by building its entire narrative on the flashback structure. H.M. Pulham, Esq. contains what may well be Robert Young's best performance, though few filmgoers in 1941 were interested enough to see it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this version of the oft-filmed stage play by James Montgomery, Nothing But the Truth stars Bob Hope as an up and coming young stockbroker working in Florida. He makes a bet with his coworkers that he can tell nothing but the absolute truth for 24 hours, and the other bettors are determined to keep tabs on him to make sure he doesn't falter. The rest of the action takes place aboard a yacht, where Hope's undiplomatic truthfulness gets him into hot water with a wealthy client, several other influential people, and his girl friend (Paulette Goddard). Hope's coworkers contrive to trick Hope into losing his wager, but African-American valet Willie Best foils their scheme. The picture ends with Hope having to explain his curious behavior for the past 24 hours without offending anyone (P.S.: he pulls it off). Nothing But the Truth was Paramount's third Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard costarring effort, all three based on past stage successes. The film lay unseen for years after its 1941 release due to legal tangles, but was finally made available again through the auspices of film historian Leonard Maltin in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With America's Air Force not completely mobilized in mid-1942, Universal paid tribute to those foresighted Yankee flyboys who joined England's Royal Air Force before America's entry into WW2 in Eagle Squadron. Robert Stack stars as Chuck Brewer, one of several US flyers participating in RAF bombing raids of Germany. The film stresses the importance of hands-across-the-sea teamwork in this massive undertaking, concluding with Brewer leading his British compatriots on a Commando raid behind enemy lines, the better to capture a revolutionary new Nazi war plane. Every so often, the story slows to a walk as Brewer romances British lass Anne Partridge, played by the unfortunate Diana Barrymore in her last truly important screen role. Producer Walter Wanger made special arrangements with the British government to incorporate several exciting shots of authentic air battles in the film's 108 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most often revived of Abbott & Costello's early-1940s films, Pardon My Sarong casts Bud and Lou as Chicago bus drivers Algy Shaw and Wellington Pflug. At the behest of millionaire playboy Tommy Layton (Robert Paige), Algy and Wellington hijack their own bus and speed off to California so that Tommy won't be late for an important yachting race. Our heroes are hotly pursued by bus-company troubleshooter Kendall (William Demarest), while Tommy's trail is dogged by rival yacht-owner Joan Marshall (Virginia Bruce). Eluding Kendall when they inadvertently drive their bus into the ocean, Algy and Wellington are rescued by Tommy and Joan, who through a plot wrinkle have been forced to share the same yacht. After several days of drifting aimlessly across the Pacific, the yacht ends up on a remote South Sea Island, where Algy and Wellington flirt capriciously with the local native girls. Through a fluke, Wellington is served up as a sacrifice victim and ordered to enter a sacred volcanic mountain-which happens to be the hideout for jewel thief Varnoff (Lionel Atwill) and his gang. The story wraps up with a zany Sennett-like chase, with Wellington attempting to rescue the kidnapped Joan from Varnoff's speedboat. Filled to overflowing with hilarious sight gags, cross-talk routines and throwaway lines, Pardon My Sarong scores on two levels: as a devastating send-up of Dorothy Lamour jungle epics and as a first-rate vehicle for Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. One one quibble: the film certainly could have done without the scene in which Bud invites Lou to commit suicide! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a harem in a Middle Eastern palace, the guardian leads the women he protects in telling the tale of Halroun-Al-Raschid (Jon Hall), the Caliph of Bagdad, who found himself an enemy close to home in the form of his half-brother Kamar (Leif Erickson), who was ineligible for the throne because of his mother's having been a slave. Halroun and his followers initially put down Kamar's attempt at usurpation, until Halroun's ambitious vizier Nadan (Edgar Barrier) changes sides. In the confusion of the ensuing battle, Halroun is wounded -- spotted by the young acrobat Ali (Sabu), he is sheltered by a group of traveling players led by Ahmad (Billy Gilbert), whose ranks also include a player and storyteller (and, if he is to be believed, former sailor) named Sinbad (Shemp Howard) and a man named Aladdin (John Qualen) who is searching for a magic lamp -- and a dancer named Scheherazade (Maria Montez), who had beguiled Kamar and welcomes his ascent to the throne, because she has been told that she is destined to marry a king. She loves the wounded man in her care, whose identity she doesn't know, but is intent on marrying Kamar, now that he is Caliph. But her plans are thwarted by Nadan, who wants no competition from her in his sway over Kamar, and has arranged to have her killed; but when an avaricious officer (Turhan Bey)instead sells her and the entire performing troup to a dishonest slave trader (Thomas Gomez). From that moment, complications ensue for all concerned, as the new Caliph goes after his beloved, the deposed king Halroun tries to protect her and regain his throne, and Nadan hopes to come out sitting on the throne himself. Treachery and narrow escapes, and even a few thwarted plans ensue on all sides as the hero Haroun has to watch out for Scheherazade and himself from several sides at once, all while keeping his identity from her. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide