Joe Frisco Movies

Anxious to remain active in the 1950s, director Frank Capra wanted to prove to Paramount Pictures that he could deliver an "A" picture on a modest budget. To that end, Capra bought the rights of his 1934 film Broadway Bill from Columbia, and remade it under the title Riding High. He then hired many of the supporting actors who'd appeared in Broadway Bill -- including Clarence Muse, Douglass Dumbrille, Ward Bond, Charles Lane and Frankie Darro -- so he could match up his newly shot scenes with stock footage from the earlier film. Capra even kept the musical costs down by having star Bing Crosby sing such public-domain favorites as "Camptown Races" (though there is one delightful original song, "We Ought to Bake a Sunshine Camera" performed without dubbing by Crosby, Muse, and leading-lady Colleen Gray). Crosby steps into the old Warner Baxter role as Dan Brooks, scion of a wealthy family who prefers hanging around racetracks to the responsibilities of his family business. Scheduled for a "proper" marriage to Margaret Higgins (Frances Gifford), the snooty daughter of millionaire J. L. Higgins (Charles Bickford), Dan infinitely prefers the company of Margaret's younger sister Alice (Coleen Gray), who loves horses as much as he. Hoping to declare his financial independence, he pins his future on a racehorse named Broadway Bill. Though not in the same league as Capra's earlier classics, Riding High is lots of fun. It is especially enjoyable for film buffs, thanks to Capra's decision to fill the picture with uncredited celebrity cameo appearances -- including Oliver Hardy, minus Stan Laurel, as an apoplectic horse player. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama, a former card shark finally gets paroled and decides to take his singing niece to Chicago to make a new start. Unfortunately, the musical niece ends up working at a gangster's nightclub and the gambler, unable to resist the lure of easy money, returns to card playing. Later an investigating attorney falls in love with the singer whose boss he has been assigned to ultimately prosecute. Songs include: "In Love with Love," "Mam'selle Is on Her Way" (George Waggner, Milton Rosen), "Tango" (Edgar Fairchild), and "Cuddle Up a Little Closer" (Karl Hoschna, Otto Harbach). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Unique among the Gene Autry starrers of 1940, Ride Tenderfoot Ride actually contains more action than music. In this one, Autry falls heir to a meat-packing firm which has been targetted for a hostile takeover by the villains. June Storey plays Ann Randolph, owner of a rival meat concern, who is unaware until the last reel that her subordinates have been plotting to ruin or murder our hero. By the time Gene and Ann decide to merge-both professionally and romantically---the bad guys have been soundly trounced by Autry and his saddle pal Frog (Smiley Burnette). Legendary Broadway entertainer Joe Frisco is somewhat wasted in a minor role as a stuttering haberdasher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This second of four film versions of Ralph Spence's stage comedy-melodrama The Gorilla stars legendary Broadway comedian Joe Frisco, he of the eternal cigar and funny stammer. Frisco and former Keystone Kop Harry Gribbon play Garrity and Mulligan, a pair of dumb detectives who are summoned to an old dark house to protect heiress Alice Denby (Lila Lee) and zoologist Cyrus Stevens (Edwin Maxwell) from harm. Several killings have taken place in the vicinity, and the most likely suspect is a huge gorilla, recently escaped from its trainer. But in their own inimitable, bumbling fashion, Frisco and Gribbon prove that the murderer is actually a human being in gorilla guise -- but not before dressing up in monkey suits themselves. Fourth-billed Walter Pidgeon plays his role as if longing for his agent to tell him that his Warner Bros. contract has expired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi