Charles Arnt Movies

This breezy Pine-Thomas actioner is all about a team of ace news photographers. Chester Morris plays Larry Burke, editor for a weekly photo magazine. Impressed by the work of photojournalist Pat Marvin, Burke hires Marvin sight unseen, only to discover that "he" is a "she" (Nancy Kelly). Having evidently never heard of Margaret Bourke-White, Burke insists that the shutterbug racket is no job for a dame, but Pat intends to prove him wrong. In the process, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, forcing Burke to come out from behind his desk and solve the mystery himself (Chalk up another victory for male chauvinism!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this adventure the young lively daughter of wealthy Virginia parents bridles under the stern tutelage of her new English nanny who insists she forego her tomboy ways and act like a perfectly lady. This nanny runs the household with an iron hand and the little girl is terribly unhappy until she finds a lost German shepherd. While following the wanderer, the girl tumbles into a well. The dog gets help. The girl names him "Wolf" and is delighted to have a new best friend. Naturally, the nanny is terribly upset because the dog is terribly disruptive. One day, the nanny finds out that Wolf is an AWOL Army dog and sees that he is returned. Brokenhearted, the girl runs away to Washington, DC to have a private audience with the secretary of war. Tearfully she tells how her parents neglect her and how lonely she is without wolf. The secretary is moved but explains that Wolf has a more patriotic role to play. The girl understands and returns home filled with pride for Wolf. Things get better at home when her relieved parents fire the hated nanny and start spending more time with her. As an added bonus, the secretary sends the girl a brand new puppy that looks just like wolf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Those willing to accept Carmen Miranda as a "typical" 1920s type will be able to swallow the rest of the lavish but rather silly 20th Century-Fox musical Greenwich Village. Most of the action takes place in a New York speakeasy managed by tough guy Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Providing entertainment in this rowdy establishment is songwriter Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche), singing sensation Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) and fortune-teller/dancer Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). Harvey aspires to become a serious composer, while O'Mara has yearnings to produce a hit Broadway show. Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction by fadeout time, and Harvey (of course) falls in love with Bonnie. Specialty acts included the ballroom dance team of Tony and Sally De Marco, the precision-tap specialists The Four Step Brothers, and an up-and-coming group of nightclub comedians called The Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Alvin Hammer), whose main routine, alas, ended up on the cutting room floor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is said that producer Sam Goldwyn had a habit of addressing his new star of the 1940s, Danny Kaye, as "Eddie", confusing Kaye with Eddie Cantor. If true, it may be because Kaye's first starring film for Goldwyn, Up in Arms, was a remake of Cantor's Whoopee--which in turn was a musical version of that old theatrical chestnut The Nervous Wreck. Kaye plays Danny Weems, a hopeless hypochondriac who finds himself drafted into the army. While a passenger on an overseas transport ship, Danny is obliged to hide his girl friend Mary Morgan (Constance Dowling), who has stowed away on board, from the authorities. The plot (what there is of it) contrives to have Danny and Mary, together with Virginia (Dinah Shore), who's in love with Danny, and Joe (Dana Andrews), who's in love with Mary, arrive simultaneously on the same South Sea island. After numerous comic and romantic complications, Danny emerges as the hero of the hour by capturing a whole bunch of Japanese soldiers. The film shows signs of post-production tampering-an offscreen narration, an abrupt ending-indicating that, as yet, Sam Goldwyn wasn't quite sure how to package Danny Kaye for the screen. Despite its erratic editing and uneven scenario, Up in Arms contains some priceless moments, including Kaye's rapid-patter songs "The Lobby Number" and "Melody in 4F", both written by Sylvia Fine (Mrs. Kaye) and Max Liebman. There are also a few cute "inside" jokes referring to the illogical nature of the plotline and such esoterica as the out-of-nowhere appearances of the Goldwyn Girls (one of whom was Kaye's future leading lady Virginia Mayo). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, Gildersleeve is assigned to be a contentious jury foreman who refuses, despite the opinions of all the other jurors, to believe that the gangster being tried is really guilty. He seems oblivious to the wealth of evidence around him. His redemption comes when the gangsters catch him and make him drive the getaway car. To stop them, he crashes into a tree and they are captured. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

For this entry in the popular Henry Aldrich series, bumbling typical high school student Henry (Jimmy Lydon) catches sight of the new band teacher Louise Elliott (Marian Hall) and really likes what he sees. Quickly developing a mad crush on her, Henry goes so far as to join the band just to be near her. Although he's initially upset that she likes "square" music, she surprises him with her diversity -- it turns out she can play a mean boogie woogie when necessary. Hoping to impress the teacher, Henry agrees to take up the violin. Henry, of course, does not have a violin, which means he has to try to convince the rather tightfisted Mr. Aldrich to buy one. His task is made easier when Miss Elliott makes the request herself and Mr. Aldrich sees for himself why Henry is so anxious to impress his teacher. Henry gets the violin, but in typical fashion, it somehow gets switched with the priceless instrument of a visiting concert violinist. Before Henry discovers the mix-up, he somehow misplaces the rare violin -- and must then track it down and recover it before it's too late. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Though billed fourth in This Gun For Hire, Alan Ladd was catapulted to stardom in the role of Phillip Raven, a ruthless professional killer with a long-suppressed streak of decency. After successfully pulling off his latest murder, Raven reports to his boss, effeminate fifth columnist Willard Gates (Laird Cregar). He collects his $1000 fee, only to discover later that Gates has double-crossed him with marked bills. This was done at the behest of Gates' boss, crooked business executive Alvin Bewster (Tully Marshall), who wants no loose ends left around to connect him with a plot to sell poison gas to the Axis. As Raven ducks and dodges the police, detective Michael Crane (Robert Preston) is hot on the trail of Bewster and Gates. Crane talks his girlfriend, nightclub singer-musician Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), into taking a job at Gates' nightclub. While on the train to the club, Ellen makes the acquaintance of the escaping Raven. Gates boards the train, spots Ellen innocently sitting next to Raven, and assumes that the two are in cahoots. Later, Gates kidnaps Ellen and spirits her away to his mansion, intending to do away with her the first chance he gets. Instead, Raven, still seeking revenge for being set up, bursts into the mansion in search of Gates. Having previously been impressed by Ellen's kindness, he rescues her, though he intends using her as hostage should the police catch up with him. As they hide out together in the rail yards, Ellen and Raven get to know each other. Learning of Raven's miserable, abusive childhood, Ellen tries to chip away his murderous veneer, hoping to reform him. But when the cops arrive, Raven reverts to his instincts, shooting his way out of his hiding place. As Crane escorts Ellen out of harm's way, Raven rushes towards a bloody showdown with Bewster and Gates. Based on Graham Greene's A Gun For Sale, This Gun For Hire was remade in 1958 as Short Cut to Hell, then again under the original title as a 1990 made-for-TV film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young America is not so much a Jane Withers vehicle as a 73-minute advertisement for the 4-H clubs of America. Cast against type, Withers plays a spoiled-brat urban girl who is shipped off by her exasperated parents to work on a 4-H farm. At first, she manages to alienate every one of her youthful coworkers, but she has a change of heart as she becomes more deeply involved in the organization's good works. Our heroine finally proves that she's a good kid withal by pitching in enthusiastically during crop-harvesting time, and by winning a county-fair prize for raising the best Hereford bull. And as a bonus, she finds a sweetheart in the form of handsome farm boy Robert Wilde. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When George Sanders announced that he was leaving the "Falcon" series, RKO Radio came up with the perfect replacement: Sanders' own brother, Tom Conway. The transition was handled with style in The Falcon's Brother, with private detective Gay Lawrence (Sanders), aka The Falcon, incapacitated early in the proceedings. Anxious to break up an Axis spy ring, Gay calls upon his brother Tom (Tom Conway) to help out. The villains intend to foment a rift in the relationship between North and South America, which Tom, with the aid of intrepid heroine Marcia (Jane Randolph) and dopey sidekick Goldy (Don Barclay), hopes to prevent. By film's end, Tom Lawrence has assumed his brother's mantle as the Falcon, and the Falcon he would remain for the next eight entries in the series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

That Other Woman in this 20th Century-Fox programmer turns out to be Emily (Virginia Gilmore), faithful secretary to master architect Henry Summers (James Ellison). Hoping to trap her boss into marriage, Emily begins sending "mash notes" to Henry, purportedly from a mysterious female admirer. She then coerces her old pal Ralph (Dan Duryea) to pose as her jealous Southern-fried boy friend of the nonexistent letter-writer. Poor Henry, convinced that Ralph is the gangster who's been threatening him with bodily harm, skeedaddles to parts unknown. Our heroine spends the rest of the picture chasing Henry until he finally catches her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the first of five profitable RKO Radio quickies based on the popular radio series The Great Gildersleeve. Harold Peary, a normally slender actor who went through an arduous fattening-up process before shooting started, repeats his radio role as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, pompous water commissioner of the town of Springfield. While trying to wend his way through the complicated political system in his tiny metropolis, "Gildy" endeavors to escape the various matrimonial traps set by wealthy spinster Mary Field. He also must find a way to maintain custody of his niece Margie (Nancy Gates) and nephew LeRoy (Freddie Mercer). Other characters carried over from the radio version of The Great Gildersleeve include Gildy's friendly enemy Judge Hooker (Charles Arnt) and cheerful houskeeper Birdie (Lillian Randolph)-but where's Peavy the druggist? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made just before America's entry into World War II, Paris Calling is one of the earliest French Underground adventures. When the German march into Paris, a polyglot of French patriots organize to undermine the Nazi occupation troops (represented by Lee J. Cobb, who plays his character with a surprising amount of depth). Elizabeth Bergner plays a French aristocrat who learns that her ex-fiance (Basil Rathbone) is a collaborator; she agrees to help the Underground, even unto killing her former lover. Gale Sondergaard, normally a villain, is sympathetically cast as a blowsy waterfront entertainer whose waterfront dive serves as Resistance headquarters. And how do the neutral Americans figure into all of this? Yankee-doodle-dandy Randolph Scott parachutes into view as a pilot for the RAF. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide