Robert Armstrong Movies
Forever remembered by film buffs as the man who brought King Kong to New York, American actor Robert Armstrong was a law student at the University of Washington in Seattle when he dropped out in favor of a vaudeville tour. Learning by doing, Armstrong worked his way up to "leading man" roles in a New York stock company run by veteran character man Jimmy Gleason. Gleason's play Iz Zat So? led to a film contract for Armstrong, whose first picture was The Main Event (1927). The actor's stage training served him well during Hollywood's switchover to sound, and he appeared with frequency in the early talkie years, at one point costarring with Broadway legend Fanny Brice in My Man (1930). An expert at playing sports and showbiz promoters, Armstrong was a natural for the role of the enthusiastic but foolhardy Carl Denham in King Kong (1933). Armstrong enjoyed some of the best dialogue of his career as he coerced erstwhile actress Fay Wray to go with him to Skull Island to seek out "money, adventure, the thrill of a lifetime", and as he egged on his crew to explore the domain of 50-foot ape Kong. And of course, Armstrong was allowed to speak the final lines of this imperishable classic: "It wasn't the planes...It was beauty killed the beast." Armstrong played Carl Denham again in a sequel, Son of Kong (1933), and later played Denham in everything but name as a shoestring theatrical promoter in Mighty Joe Young (1949), wherein he brought a nice giant gorilla into civilization. Always in demand as a character actor, Armstrong continued to make films in the 1940s; he had the rare distinction of playing an American military officer in Around the World (1943), a Nazi agent in My Favorite Spy (1942), and a Japanese general in Blood on the Sun (1945)! In the 1950s and 1960s, Armstrong was a fixture on TV cop and adventure programs. Perhaps the most characteristic moment in Armstrong's TV career was during a sketch on The Red Skelton Show, in which Red took one look at Armstrong and ad-libbed "Say, did you ever get that monkey off that building?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1947
Nice guys don't always finish last as can be seen in this crime drama. The story begins as a perfectly nice fellow finds himself arrested for murder. The trouble is, the man cannot remember a thing about the night of the murder. Though he insists he is innocent, all the evidence tells a different story. He was found at the scene with a bloody knife in his hand. Fortunately, a policeman friend, believes him. He gets him out of jail and together, they begin looking for the real killer. They soon find that the set-up was perpetrated by his uncle who strongly disapproved of his dating his ward. The woman who died had been the uncle's lover who was blackmailing him. To get even with them all, the uncle drugged his nephew, killed his mistress and planted the knife upon his unconscious relative. In the end, the uncle is arrested and the nephew and his lover live a long and happy life together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Not precisely the best film of 1947, the Republic comedy-mystery Exposed is nevertheless consistently enjoyable. Adele Mara is a delight as wisecracking female private eye Belinda Prentice, who has to put in a lot of overtime when her first client is murdered. Following the clues to an apartment house chock-full of suspicious characters, Belinda predicts-correctly, as it turns out--that there'll be several more killings unless she can pinpoint the guilty party and ascertain his or her motives. Meanwhile, her police-inspector father (Robert Armstrong) wishes aloud that Belinda would give up the p.i. business and settle down with a nice young fellow. Some choice moments are provided by Joyce Compton as Belinda's garrulous secretary, William Haade as her cloddish assistant, and Bob Steele as a neurotic gunman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adele Mara, Robert Scott, (more)
- 1946
This gripping, gritty film noir begins as a mortally wounded physician staggers into the apartment of a vicious vixen, the leader of a notorious gang of thieves. Shots ring out, and the police rush to the scene. Sergeant Leonard gets there to find the doctor dead, and the woman failing fast. As she lay gasping she decides to tell the sergeant the whole terrible story that began when she got involved with a cop-killing robber who was captured and sentenced to death. Before his fateful date with the gas chamber, he lets the rest of the gang know where he hid the $40,0000 they netted from the caper; he, with her help, also arranges to ingest the doctor's newly developed drug, an antidote to cyanide, to escape his "execution." The plot works, and eventually, the gangster is back in business. He gives his girl half of the map, but unfortunately gets shot by a rival before he can give her the other half. The ruthless woman and another gang member then force the doctor to assist them with their search. They are heading off to the location, when the double-crossing she-devil kills the other gangster in a horrible manner and continues on with the doctor. They find the chest containing the loot and they get an awful surprise. The woman begins laughing hysterically as if on the verge of a full-blown break down. She shoots the doctor and then flees, thereby bringing the story up to the present. Just before she dies, the ruthless woman reveals the astonishing contents of the chest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gillie, Edward Norris, (more)
- 1946
Republic Pictures certainly didn't believe in obscure or misleading film titles, as G.I. War Brides amply proves. Ann Lee plays Linda Powell, a British lass who desires to enter the United States without dealing with the immigration authorities. To this end, Linda trades places with Joyce Giles (Carol Savage), a war bride whose American husband no longer loves her. Arriving at the home of Joyce's husband Steve (James Ellison), Linda convinces her "husband" and his family to maintain the artifice lest she be sent back to England. Complicating matters is a snoopy reporter (Robert Armstrong) and Linda's real boyfriend Capt. Roger Kirby (William Henry). A few isolated comic-relief scenes aside, GI War Brides is pretty slow going. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Louis Austin, (more)
- 1946
Martha O'Driscoll fills the title role quite nicely in Blonde Alibi. The plot of this rapid-fire programmer involves a murder. Aviator Tom Neal is accused of the crime, thanks to the idiotic intervention of absent-minded professor Samuel S. Hinds. It is up to O'Driscoll, Neal's secretary, to prove that her boss is innocent (Universal Pictures would later retool this plotline for their above-average "film noir" Phantom Lady). Ironically, the career of Blonde Alibi co-star Tom Neal would come to an end when, in 1965, he killed his real-life wife Gail Evatt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha O'Driscoll, Tom Neal, (more)
- 1946
The biggest surprise in Republic's Gay Blades is that the studio's resident skating star Vera Hruba Ralston doesn't appear. Allan Lane plays hockey star Andy Buell, whose prowess on the rink brings him to the attention of Hollywood leading lady Nancy Davis (played not by the real Nancy Davis, worse luck, but by Jean Rogers). Casting about for a leading man for her upcoming production The Behemoth, Nancy decides that Andy fills the bill. For a while, Andy "goes Hollywood", but in the end it is Nancy who gives up her career in favor of romance. The film's best performance is delivered by Paul Harvey, who as studio executive J. M. Snively offers a cute takeoff of Republic head man Herbert J. Yates. At the bottom of the cast list is Nedrick Young, later a top Hollywood screenwriter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rogers, Edward Ashley, (more)
- 1946
Elevating Criminal Court above the B-picture norm is the inventive direction by Robert Wise and the better-than-usual performances by all concerned. In a break from his heroic "Falcon" role, Tom Conway stars as Steve Barnes, a criminal attorney known for his unorthodox courtroom tactics. After accidentally killing a crooked nightclub owner, Barnes is stuck on the horns of a dilemma when his sweetheart, cabaret singer Georgia Gale (Martha O'Driscoll), is arrested for the crime The problem: How can Barnes clear Georgia of the murder without implicating himself? As for the solution...well, best not to reveal that here. All that keeps Criminal Court from A-picture status is its 62 minute running time; on the other hand, the film's impact might have been blunted had it been any longer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Conway, Martha O'Driscoll, (more)
- 1945
Filmed extensively on location, The Falcon in San Francisco is one of the best of RKO Radio's "Falcon" series. This time around, amateur sleuth Tom Lawrence (Tom Conway), aka The Falcon, comes to the aid of 10-year-old Annie Marshall (Sharyn Moffet). While trying to solve the murder of Annie's nurse, Lawrence is accused of kidnapping the kid. Several beatings, warnings and murders later, Lawrence discovers that the solution of the mystery is tied in with a gang of silk smugglers, headed by none other than?.Oh, no! The surprise ending isn't going to be tipped off here! Director Joseph H. Lewis' occasional utilization of "cinema verite" techniques would later develop full-blown into such noir classics as Gun Crazy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Conway, Rita Corday, (more)
- 1945
In time-honored fashion, a couple of supporting players -- George Dolenz and Bill Kennedy -- found themselves elevated to starring roles in this minor Universal serial. They played Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers investigating the murder of a miner. The story, of course, was less important than speed and action, which directors Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins delivered in typical slap-dash Universal style. Starlet Daun Kennedy did not make much of an impression as the imperiled leading lady, and former star Robert Armstrong (of King Kong fame) was wasted in a subordinate role. Rondo Hatton, a non-actor whose grotesque appearance (caused by acromegaly, the so-called "Elephant Man" disease) was tastelessly exploited by Universal in the '40s, appeared as one of the outlaws. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
In his first starring role in several years, Robert Armstrong essays a dual role in Gangs of the Waterfront. Armstrong is seen as ruthless gangster Dutch Malone, who happens to be the exact double of mild-mannered taxidermist Peter Winkly. Hoping to avenge the death of his brother at Dutch's hands, Winkly poses as the gang boss, with the covert assistance of DA Brady (William Forrest). One of the curiouser bits of casting finds Martin Kosleck, usually seen in wartime films as Joseph Goebbels, as an Italian gangsters. Filmgoers with long memories would note that Gangs of the Waterfront bore a resemblance to the 1935 Edward G. Robinson vehicle The Whole Town's Talking. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Stephanie Bachelor, (more)
In his first film in two years, James Cagney stars as Nick Condon, the American editor of a pre-WW2 Tokyo newspaper. When two of his best friends are horribly murdered, Condon suspects that the "peaceful" Japanese military government is up to no good. He dedicates himself to getting his hands on the "Tanka Plan," a Japanese blueprint for conquering the world, and bringing this document to the attention of the Free World. As a result, he is targeted for persecution by the corrupt Tokyo police and betrayed by a traitorous fellow journalist. On a pleasanter note, Condon makes the acquaintance of half-Chinese Iris Hilliard (Sylvia Sidney), who agrees to help him foil the Japanese High Command. As was customary in wartime films, virtually all the Japanese characters in Blood on the Sun are played by Chinese, Korean, and Caucasian actors; for example, Robert Armstrong is cast as Colonel Tojo, while Premiere Tenaka is enacted by John Emery. Having lapsed into the public domain, Blood on the Sun is available from several distributors and also exists in a computer-colorized version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
- 1945
PRC's Arson Squad stars Frank Albertson as an insurance investigator and Robert Armstrong as chief of the police department's arson troubleshooters. Albertson and Armstrong team up to solve a particularly vicious series of deliberate fires. A man has been killed in one conflagration, so the villains have a murder rap hanging over them. The "usual suspects" include such murder-mystery reliables as Byron Foulger and Charles Arnt. The leading lady of Arson Squad is Grace Gillern, who emerged as something less than a household name after this programmer was distributed in September of 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Albertson, Robert Armstrong, (more)
- 1944
The year is 1942: Mr. Winkle (Edward G. Robinson), a mild-mannered bank clerk, decides to quit his job and open a fix-it shop in his garage. Winkle's wife Amy (Ruth Warrick) disapproves of this, and orders her husband to move into his little shop. Tired of being browbeaten, Winkle is delighted when his draft notice shows up. Fitted for a uniform, Winkle has the wind taken out of his sails in basic training, but soon finds that army life agrees with him; when given a chance to go home when the draft age is lowered to 38, he refuses to do so. Transferred to the South Pacific, Winkle instinctively performs a conspicuous act of bravery. He returns home a much-decorated hero, but he's too shy to partake in the ceremonies in his honor, opting instead to return to his shop, and to his now-loving wife Amy. A tailor-made Edward G. Robinson vehicle, Mr. Winkle Goes to War was adapted by Waldo Salt, George Corey and Louis Solomon from a novel by Theodore Pratt. Watch for Robert Mitchum, Hugh Beaumont and Miss Jeff Donnell in unbilled bits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Warrick, (more)
- 1944
Exiled from his own country during WW2, French filmmaker Leonide Moguy worked briefly in Hollywood, where he directed the patriotic thriller Action in Arabia. George Sanders stars as Gordon, an American newspaperman at large in Damascus. When a colleague is murdered, Sanders wants to find out why. He is helped along by glamourous secret agent Yvonne (Virginia Bruce), who is on the trail of a group of Nazi saboteurs. It turns out that the murder is tied in with a plan to destroy the Suez Canal in the name of Der Fuehrer. Though economically produced, Action in Arabia benefits from several rather spectacular-looking scenes of desert combat-most of these lifted from a never-finished 1933 filmed biography of Lawrence of Arabia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Virginia Bruce, (more)
Belle Of The Yukon is standard backstage musical fare, featuring Randolph Scott as a reformed con man who has fled north from the law and opened a successful dancehall/ gambling establishment in the upper reaches of Malamute. Meanwhile, his former lover Belle (Gypsy Rose Lee), who he deserted when he went on the lam, arrives as part of a new show troupe and finds her ex-boyfriend's new ways powerfully attractive. But Lettie Candless (Dinah Shore) also has designs on our hero. A thin plot and light characterizations are kept afloat by bouncy performances, glitzy production, and the usual clutch of sprightly musical numbers. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Gypsy Rose Lee, (more)
- 1944
In this drama a big-city reporter moves to a tiny town to begin running the newspaper he half-owns. His in-your-face reporting style does not make him very popular; especially when he begins causing trouble for the incumbent mayor's opposition. It is the candidate's pretty niece who teaches the arrogant journalist a valuable lesson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Ruth Terry, (more)
Johnny Jersey (Robert Lowery) learns The Navy Way in this typical Pine-Thomas actioner. A product of the streets, Johnny has no time for authority and protocol, thus has a lot of difficulty adjusting to the regimen at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station (where much of the film was shot). Gradually, however, Johnny comes to appreciate the value of cooperation and teamwork. It helps a bit, of course, that he falls for pretty WAVE Ellen Sayre (Jean Parker). But even after losing Ellen to fellow seaman Mal Randall (Bill Henry), Johnny remains loyal to the Navy and all it stands for (which is evidently quite a lot!) Not so much a movie as a patriotic tract, The Navy Way is definitely a product of its times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1943
- Add Adventures of the Flying Cadets [Serial] to QueueAdd Adventures of the Flying Cadets [Serial] to top of Queue
Four enterprising air cadets are suspected of a series of murders actually committed by The Black Hangman, a mysterious Nazi agent. A typical war-time serial, this Universal offering basically wasted the talents of one of the best screen villains in Hollywood history, the demonic-looking Eduardo Cianelli. Cianelli plays Karl Von Heiger, alias The Black Hangman, who has discovered a lost helium deposit in Darkest Africa. To safeguard the location, Von Heiger and mining engineer Arthur Galt (Robert Armstrong) kill the members of an expedition except for Professor Mason (Selmer Jackson) and his lovely daughter Andre (Jennifer Holt), whom they imprison. To clear their names, the four cadets -- Danny Collins (Johnny Downs), Jinx Roberts (Bobby Jordan), Scrapper MacKay (Ward Wood), and Zombie Parker (Billy Benedict) -- go in search for the villains, rescuing Mason & daughter along the way. By the 13th and final chapter, "The Toll of Treason," the boys have more or less singlehandedly wiped out the Nazi presence in Africa. Top-billed Johnny Downs, a former child actor, was better known for a series of lightweight campus comedies. Leading lady Jennifer Holt was the daughter of veteran action star Jack Holt and sister of Tim Holt. She spent most of her screen career in B-Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Downs, Bobby Jordan, (more)
- 1943
In this '40s film Kay Kyser parades an entertainment group all over the globe providing laughs for the boys in battle. This film realistically portrays the role of the USO during the WW II time period. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mischa Auer
Like several other Harry Sherman Productions of the 1942-43 season, The Kansan was originally slated for a Paramount release, then redirected to United Artists. Richard Dix and Jane Wyatt, stars of the previous Sherman effort Buckskin Frontier, are reunited herein as western lawman John Bonniwell and rancher's daughter Eleanor Sager. After chasing the James Gang out of town, Bonniwell is appointed marshal by local bigwig Steve Barat (Albert Dekker). It turns out, however, that Barat is a crook with delusions of grandeur, hoping to use Bonniwell as a glorified henchman in his rise to power. Meanwhile, an unorthodox romantic triangle develops between Bonniwell, Eleanor as Barat's brother Jeff (Victor Jory). A powerhouse cast makes this modestly-budgeted western seem more expensive than it really was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, (more)
- 1943
The Mad Ghoul may well be the definitive George Zucco horror melodrama. The star plays Dr. Alfred Morris, a distinguished scientist who obsession with an ancient Egyptian life-preserving process has tipped him over into madness. In love with young concert singer Isabel Lewis (Evelyn Ankers), Morris is extremely jealous of Isabel's boy friend Ted Allison (David Bruce), who happens to be the doctor's lab assistant. Killing two birds with one stone, Morris uses Ted as a guinea pig for his eternal-life experiments. Ted is transformed into a mindless zombie, though he occasionally lapses back into his normal self, with no memory of his zombified state. To stay alive, Ted must maintain a fresh supply of human hearts-and to that end, Morris programs the poor fellow to kill innocent victims and tear their hearts right out of their bodies. When Morris programs Ted to kill Isabel's new beau (Turhan Bey), he goes too far, and becomes a zombie himself. A British film critic wryly summed up The Mad Ghoul thusly: "To be a ghoul must be disconcerting enough, but to be a mad ghoul must be the height of personal embarrassment." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, (more)
Even by Monogram standards, Wings Over the Pacific is a modest effort. In his final film role, Montague Love plays WW I veteran Butler, who during WW II prefers to take an isolationist stance and squirrels himself away on a remote Pacific island. Alas, Butler's solitude is interrupted when American Naval aviator Allan (Edward Norris) and German fighter pilot Kurt (Henry Guttman) both land on the island. While Allan romances Butler's daughter Nona (Inez Cooper), Kurt, discovering that the island is rich with oil, tries to signal the Japanese fleet. Shaken out of his complacency, Butler is forced to take sides in the global conflict, with explosive results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Inez Cooper, Edward Norris, (more)
- 1942
Produced by silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, My Favorite Spy is a vehicle for bespectacled bandleader Kay Kyser, who resembles Lloyd more than somewhat. Just before embarking on his honeymoon with new bride Terry (Ellen Drew), Kyser is drafted into the Army. Proving to be a monumentally inefficient soldier, our hero is nonetheless pressed into service by US intelligence officer Major Allen (Moroni Olsen). It seems that Nazi agents have been passing secrets in the nightclub where Kyser's band performs, and Allen wants Kay to act as a counter-espionage agent. To maintain his cover, Kay is discharged from the army in disgrace, and is ordered to noisily make himself a "security risk", so that Nazi chieftan Robinson (Robert Armstrong) will invite Kay to join his spy operation. Trouble is, Kyser must keep his espionage activities secret from everyone-even his wife Terry, who is growing ever more impatient over Kay's unexplained absences from her boudoir. Making matters worse, Kyser is teamed with glamorous blonde secret agent Connie (Jane Wyman), whom Terry understandably suspects of being Kay's clandestine sweetheart. A multitude of slapstick situations follow, culminating in a wild chase through an abandoned theater, with Kay Kyser making like Harold Lloyd to rescue his wife from the Nazis. As directed by Tay Garnett, Kyser's ongoing marital woes seem more pathetic than funny; in addition, his Secret Service cohorts come off as the most sadistic bunch of "good guys" in screen history, bursting with laughter every time Kay's wife throws him out of their apartment. Even so, My Favorite Spy has a few genuine laughs, especially in the final reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Drew, Jane Wyman, (more)
Based on a popular radio series, this Universal serial, produced in 13 chapters, starred two of the studio's better B-movie leads, Kent Taylor and Irene Hervey. Despite their fine work, the serial's preposterous plot -- a mad scientist assembling a League of Murdered Men to wreak havoc on the city -- proved too much even for die-hard serial fans. The League consisted of criminals who were injected with a death-stimulating drug and declared officially dead, only to rise from their graves fortified by Professor Mortis' reviving drug. The gangbusters of the title consisted of the mustachioed Mr. Taylor, his assistant Robert Armstrong and girlfriend Irene Hervey. The latter played a news photographer and mostly got in the way of what little action the serial offered. The leading villain was played by Ralph Morgan, brother of MGM stalwart Frank Morgan, an always watchable character actor who nevertheless often seemed to be called in whenever a studio failed to engage Boris Karloff or Lionel Atwill. Morgan had very little to work with this time around; considering Universal's proud heritage, the professor's scientific lab looked surprisingly mediocre. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1942
It Happened in Flatbush is a likable baseball comedy inspired by the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers' pennant win. Lloyd Nolan portrays an ace ballplayer who was disgraced while still in college and is only able to secure work as a team manager. He takes charge of an unnamed Brooklyn team and whips in into a World Series contender. The players resent Nolan's drill-sergeant tactics, and when Nolan falls in love with the pretty owner of the team (Carole Landis), the players use this as an excuse to circulate a petition demanding Nolan's ouster. The manager pays no attention to the petition and leads his team to a league pennant, finding time along the way to help out a trouble-prone young ballplayer (George Holmes) on the verge of throwing away his career. Bolstered by film clips of actual Dodgers games (including one in which an anxious fan jumps out of the stands and attacks the umpire), It Happened in Flatbush is an enjoyable second-feature effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Nolan, Carole Landis, (more)
