Roscoe Ates Movies

Based on the long-running comic strip by Gene Byrne, PRC's Reg'lar Fellers was intended as the first of a series of 6-reel comedies built around the talents of juvenile performers Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Billy Lee. The plot is set in motion by Hetty Carter (Sarah Padden), a wealthy dowager who hates all kids because of her son's ill-fated marriage. With her boy in jail on a trumped-up charge, Hetty takes out her hostilities on her long-suffering daugther-in-law Caroline (Maren Mayo) and her grandson. Hetty eventually changes her ways thanks to the intervention of "Reg'lar Fellers" Pinhead (Lee), Bump Hudson (Switzer), Jimmy Dugan (Buddy Boles), Aggie Reilly (Janet Dempsey), Skeeter (Jerry Wilson) and Pudd'nhead (Malcolm Hutton), who foils the plans of con artists Ferrell (Don Stowell) and Lubec (Lew Luana) to swindle the old lady. Silent film devotees were gratified to see two old favorites, Marguerite de La Motte and Pat O'Malley, in substantial supporting rolls. Reg'lar Fellers was pleasant enough, but no series was ever forthcoming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Author Hartzell Spence's popular biography of his preacher father was the source for One Foot in Heaven. Fredric March stars as Methodist cleric William Spence, whose calling requires him to move his family from parish to parish on a near-monthly basis. The children resent the fact that they're never able to sustain friendships, while Reverend Spence is equally upset by what he perceives to be encroaching immorality in the early 20th century. Spence's stubbornness loses him as many parishioners as he gains, but he is gradually humanized by a series of random events. In the best of these, the Reverend, who has railed against movies from the pulpit, attends a "scandalous" picture show--and as the picture reaches its climax, he finds himself cheering on the good guys as loudly as everyone else! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rather than play famous outlaw Cole Younger in this film, Warner Bros. contract star Humphrey Bogart chose suspension. Ronald Reagan was considered, and so were James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and George Raft, but, happily, the role eventually went to the more age-appropriate Dennis Morgan, a former band singer. Like MGM's Billy the Kid, also from 1941, Bad Men of Missouri emerged as a complete whitewash of the title outlaws. Returning from fighting on the Confederate side in the Civil War, the Younger brothers -- Cole (Morgan), Bob (Wayne Morris), and Jim (Arthur Kennedy) -- find their money no longer viable currency and their homestead about to be usurped by carpetbagger William Merrick (Victor Jory). Standing up to Merrick and his chief henchman, Greg Bilson (Howard DaSilva), old Hank Younger (Russell Simpson) is shot dead, and, in frustration, the sons take up train and bank robbing, eventually joining the even more notorious James brothers, Jesse (Alan Baxter) and Frank. Of course, the celluloid Youngers steal only from the rich to give to the displaced poor. When they are finally caught in Minnesota, the citizenry of Missouri, viewing the Youngers as local heroes, take up a petition for their immediate release. Despite the many historical inaccuracies, Bad Men of Missouri makes for exciting, fast-paced Western entertainment; quite the opposite, in fact, of MGM's staid, overly glamorous depiction of Billy the Kid. Filmed at Sonora, CA, and cast with veterans such as Erville Alderson, Sam McDaniel (who replaced Willie Best in the role of the Younger's devoted servant), and a very funny Walter Catlett, the film premiered in Harrisonville, MO, the birthplace of the Younger brothers and the town where the elder Younger had once been elected mayor. Jane Wyman appears as the nominal heroine, the upstanding girlfriend of Jim Younger, and the film marked the screen debut of Faye Emerson as Cole Younger's ill-fated fiancée. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When a young man is in trouble, his sister puts herself in danger to save him. ~ All Movie Guide

Set during the war of 1812, Hal Roach's Captain Caution is an unusual swashbuckler in that the "hero" is actually the heroine. Louise Platt plays Corunna, the daughter of Captain Dorman (Robert Barrat), skipper of the American vessel The Olive Branch. When Dorman is killed in battle, Corunna courageously assumes command of the ship, with the help of muscular first mate Dan Marvin (Victor Mature). While trying to bring a valuable cargo to America, the Olive Branch is captured a number of times by the British, but on each occasion Corunna and Marvin manage to wriggle free and carry on their mission. Making life tougher for Corunna is the presence of the lacivious Slade (Bruce Cabot), who'd like to claim both the girl and the ship as his own personal property. Based on a novel by Kenneth Roberts (Northwest Passage), Captain Caution is currently available on video in a computer-colorized version; the reader is advised to hold out for the black-and-white original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda plays Chad Hanna, a New York country bumpkin of the mid-nineteenth century who joins a travelling circus. He falls in love with beauteous bareback rider Dorothy Lamour, but she spurns him. Chad Hanna then finds himself attracted to another runaway, country girl Linda Darnell. Though everybody assumes that the boy is slow on the uptake, Chad Hanna manages to save the circus from financial ruin. He also secures the services of a trained elephant; when asked how he acquired such a prize, Chad laconically responds "I gave him half interest in the circus." A lightweight period piece, Chad Hanna is visually impressive, and best viewed in its original pristine Technicolor state. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote community from a deadly epidemic. He has come North to visit and ends up stealing a wife from her husband. When the epidemic hits, he and the wife begin their arduous journey. At one point, they are stranded. Fortunately, the husband and a dogsled saves them, but the husband later freezes to death. Happiness ensues because after saving the community, the doctor and the wife are free to pursue their love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gone With the Wind boils down to a story about a spoiled Southern girl's hopeless love for a married man. Producer David O. Selznick managed to expand this concept, and Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel, into nearly four hours' worth of screen time, on a then-astronomical 3.7-million-dollar budget, creating what would become one of the most beloved movies of all time. Gone With the Wind opens in April of 1861, at the palatial Southern estate of Tara, where Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) hears that her casual beau Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) plans to marry "mealy mouthed" Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland). Despite warnings from her father (Thomas Mitchell) and her faithful servant Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), Scarlett intends to throw herself at Ashley at an upcoming barbecue at Twelve Oaks. Alone with Ashley, she goes into a fit of histrionics, all of which is witnessed by roguish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), the black sheep of a wealthy Charleston family, who is instantly fascinated by the feisty, thoroughly self-centered Scarlett: "We're bad lots, both of us." The movie's famous action continues from the burning of Atlanta (actually the destruction of a huge wall left over from King Kong) through the now-classic closing line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Holding its own against stiff competition (many consider 1939 to be the greatest year of the classical Hollywood studios), Gone With the Wind won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar). The film grossed nearly 192 million dollars, assuring that, just as he predicted, Selznick's epitaph would be "The Man Who Made Gone With the Wind." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Co-directed by former supporting player Mack V. Wright and Sam Nelson, The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is considered by connoisseurs of the genre the best serial Columbia Pictures ever made. The star, former supporting actor Gordon Elliott (born Nance) changed his first name to Bill for the occasion and emerged a full-fledged star. He later went all the way and became known as William "Wild Bill" Elliott, hero of first-rate Republic Westerns and for years a top sagebrush moneymaker. Robert J. Fiske played Wild Bill's adversary, Morrell, a nasty character who leads his Phantom Raiders in attacks on both the old Chisholm Trail and the encroaching railroad. Wild Bill Hickok is appointed U.S. marshal and assigned to ensure safe passage for both cattle and the railroad. Columbia screenwriters George Rosener, Charles A. Powell, G.A. Durlam, Tom Gibson, and Dallas Fitzgerald made sure that there was something for everyone in this serial, including a shapely heroine (Carole Wayne) to please the adults in the audience and no less than three juvenile actors -- Frankie Darro, Sammy McKim, and Dickie Jones -- for the small fry to root for. Roscoe Ates, he of the bobbing Adam's apple, and veteran slapstick comic Monte Collins provided laughs, and producer Jack Fier rounded up a fine supporting cast that included such veterans as Monte Blue, Kermit Maynard, Chief Thundercloud, George Cheseboro, Edmund Cobb, Hal Taliaferro, Art Mix, Tom London, and Lew Meehan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Rivalry, romance, and brotherly love in logging camps are chronicled in this drama. The trouble begins when the brother of a lumber company owner arrives from Paris to work for him. Upon seeing the beautiful owner of the rival logging camp, the newly arrived brother immediately defects to begin working for her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Preston S. Foster is the "hero" of The People's Enemy only in the sense that his is the largest male role. Foster plays a detestable gangster who works his way up to millionaire status. To gain a veneer of respectability, he marries lovely Lila Lee. But when the going gets rough, he deserts both his wife and his young daughter (Sybil Elaine). Upon Foster's arrest, noble and upright Melvyn Douglas is on hand to comfort Lee and her child. The People's Enemy was independently financed by Select Productions and released through RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama was adapted from a minor story by Dashiell Hammett and chronicles the attempts of an ex-con to stay on the straight and narrow. It's difficult for he is volatile and tends to get into fistfights when riled. It is his explosive temper that got him put away for three years after he accidentally killed a man while fighting over a woman. His newest troubles also center upon a woman. She bursts into his cabin one day as she tries to run from her abusive, obsessive partner who is pursing her. When he shows up, the young man tries to defend her. He hits an accomplice of the abuser and the abuser gets a warrant for the ex-con's arrest. He and the girl become fugitives from the law. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide