Preston S. Foster Movies

Newspaper editor Steve Drum (Preston Foster) is willing to pull any dirty trick in the book to boost his rag's circulation. Drums's latest escapade is to blame a former criminal, now a respected politician, for a series of murders. Once the damage has been done, Drum puts on his "crusader" hat and stirs up enough public sympathy to save the politician from the electric chair. Only he's been forced to eat a few heaping helpings of humble pie does Drum redeem himself in the eyes of his long-suffering star reporter Maxine Thomas (Lynn Bari). Real-life newspapermen were mildly amused with the liberties taken in this fanciful "stop the presses" seriocomedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The late cinema historian William K. Everson once wrote an article titled "Movies Out of Thin Air", referring to films that were comprised almost exclusively of stock footage from earlier productions. A prime example of this sort of patchwork entertainment is the 1939 Paramount production Geronimo, which though advertised and distributed as an "A" picture was largely and economically cobbled together from existing film vignettes. Essentially a western remake of Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), the film concentrates on the rocky relationship between crusty Cavalry general Steele (Ralph Morgan) and his shavetail lieutenant son (Richard Cromwell). The boy is taken under the wing of kindly Captain Starrett (Preston Foster), who is also occupied with bringing renegade Indian warrior Geronimo (played by Native American actor Chief Thundercloud, unbilled despite his title-character status) to justice. The fly in the ointment is treacherous gunrunner Gillespie (delightfully played as a snivelling coward by Gene Lockhart) who for a price agrees to help Geronimo decimate the local white population. Nominal heroine Ellen Drew has one of the least demanding assignments in movie history, spending two-thirds of the film in a coma after being injured in a stagecoach accident! Among the previous Paramount epics represented in Geronimo via stock footage are Frank Lloyd's Wells Fargo and Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A transport pilot is ordered to fly a risky mission. The pilot, Scott, refuses the dangerous mission and is fired from his job. Scott starts up a pilot school which struggles to stay in business. As an inspector for the government, Foster gives Scott trouble about his school, Scott hopes a new government pilot program will help him out. ~ All Movie Guide

When German director Joe May was working on such silent classics as The Indian Tomb and Asphalt, he probably never imagine that he'd one day wind up at Universal turning out something called Society Smugglers. Preston Foster stars as Treasury agent Sully, at present trying to break up a vicious smuggling ring. To this end, Sully assigns undercover agent Joan Martin (Irene Hervey) to go to work for gang boss Massey (Walter Woolf King). A bit more inventive than most films of its ilk, Society Smugglers contrives to have the crooks use a slogan contest and a trip-to-Europe first prize as part of their scheme. Featured in the cast is Regis Toomey, who halfway through the film performs another one of his patented death scenes (in "A" pictures, Toomey was generally bumped off in the first reel). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set during World War I, Submarine Patrol stars Preston S. Foster as a naval officer demoted for dereliction of duty. He is forced to commandeer a battered old submarine chaser and its ragtag crew. Anxious to redeem himself, Foster transforms his loser underlings into a crack combat team, chalking up numerous enemy sinkings. Richard Greene costars as Foster's junior officer, a rich wastrel who matures into a worthwhile individual during his tour of duty. Deftly directed by John Ford, Submarine Patrol was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike in 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Storm is standard hard-guy stuff starring three of Hollywood's hardest: Charles Bickford, Barton MacLaine and Preston S. Foster. The film is set aboard a ship, where hostilities run high between two radio operators who happen to be brothers. During the climactic storm at sea, however, everyone pulls together to survive the ravages of Mother Nature. Universal contractees Nan Grey, Tom Brown and Andy Devine weave in and out to temper the steroid level of all those he-man goings on in the radio room. The Storm ran 75 minutes, allowing it to run as part of a double bill or as the solo feature depending on the whim of the exhibitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This "Crime Club" series entry is based on a novel by Jonathan Latimer. Preston Foster and Frank Jenks make return appearances as Latimer's freewheeling private eyes Bill Crane and Doc Williams, here assigned to protect millionaire John Essex (Ray Parker) and John's sister Linda (Frances Robinson) from harm. Someone has been sending Linda threatening notes, eventually carrying out those threats by kidnaping the girl and holding her for ransom. Piecing clues together with the aplomb of two veteran jigsaw-puzzle aficionados, our heroes expose the Least Likely Suspect as the culprit, leading to even more surprises before fadeout time. Perennial dumb blonde Joyce Compton enlivens the proceedings as Doc's addlepated girl friend Dawn Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's Double Danger for detective-story writer Robert Crane (Preston Foster) whenever he pursues his "secret life" as a suave jewel thief. Eluding police commissioner David Theron (Samuel S. Hinds) at every turn, Crane intends to snatch the famed Konjer diamonds from under the nose of jeweler Gordon Ainsley (Donald Meek). Things take a sinister turn when a humorless professional crook (Paul Guilfoyle) tries to cut himself in for a piece of the action. RKO Radio starlet Whitney Bourne delivers perhaps her best performance as giddy female thief Carolyn Morgan. Had Preston S. Foster been so inclined, RKO could have built a profitable series around the adventures of devil-may-care Robert Crane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a tough Coast Guard officer endeavors to marry his lovely daughter to a handsome sailor. The trouble is, she is already in love with another rambunctious and contentious Coast Guardian. To stop the romance, the officer transfers the young man to his command and hopes that he will squeeze the wildness from him by assigning him to a dangerous dynamiting operation. Unfortunately, things go awry and the handsome sailor is relegated to Davy Jones' locker. Fortunately, that leaves the burly brawler free to marry his love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Its title notwithstanding, We Who Are About to Die has nothing to do with Roman Gladiators. Rather, the film is based on the true story of San Quentin inmate David Lamson, who spent 13 agonizing months on Death Row before the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. Renamed John (and played by John Beal), the Lamson character knows he's innocent but also knows that the date of his execution is drawing ever nearer. Meanwhile, his sweetheart Connie (Ann Dvorak), in collaboration with private eye Matthews (Preston S. Foster), races against time to unearth new evidence and expose the guilty party. Rather pokey for the most part, We Who Are About to Die turns into a real nail-biter during the final 15 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Westland Case was the opening volley in Universal's "Crime Club" series. The film was based on Headed for a Hearse, a novel by Jonathan Latimer which had to be toned down considerably for the filmgoers' consumption. Latimer's cynical private-eye team of Bill Crane and Doc Williams are here played by Preston S. Foster and Frank Jenks, who'd repeat these roles in subsequent entries. This time out, Bill and Doc try to clear a wrongly condemned man before his date with the electric chair. This they do on behalf of the poor fellow's desperate fiancee Emily Lou (Carol Hughes) -- who, like most of the other characters in the film, knows a lot more than she's telling. If The Westland Case doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it certainly can't be faulted for a lack of energy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When New York police commissioner Lewis J. Valentine instructed his men that the best way to handle criminals was to "muss 'em up," he probably had no idea that he was supplying the title for this RKO Radio crime drama. It all begins when millionaire Paul Harding's (Alan Mowbray) dog is murdered. This might have merely been a case for the ASPCA, but it soon leads to a kidnapping, an exorbitant ransom demand, and a murder. Turns out that the whole plot was concocted by Nancy Harding (Molly Lamont), who's been posing as the millionaire's long-lost daughter, and by a mysterious mastermind whose identity won't be revealed here. Preston S. Foster, as New York detective Tip O'Neil, solves the case. Based on the novel The Green Shadow, Muss 'Em Up was released in Britain as The House of Fate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Love Before Breakfast was the scintillating title Universal chose over Spinster Dinner, the Faith Baldwin novel upon which this airy comedy is based. Carole Lombard is a Park Avenue beauty squired by Preston S. Foster and Cesar Romero. Since neither gentleman is a prize catch, Lombard is fey and fickle throughout the film. That's all there is to Love Before Breakfast, which might have been completely forgotten had it not been for a famous 1930s-era painting in which a detailed poster for the film is the focus of attention. There's one iconoclastic alteration in the painting: Carole Lombard has been given a black eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide