Ernie S. Adams Movies

District attorney Walter Pidgeon pursues the conviction of criminals so diligently that word has gone out in the state prison to "get" Pidgeon at the first opportunity. The DA has several enemies on the outside as well, one of whom frames him on a bribery charge. Pidgeon is sentenced to the prison where he has sent so many miscreants in the past. Dodging attempts on his own life, Pidgeon makes several valuable convict friends and manages to clear himself during a climactic jailbreak. 6,000 Enemies runs only 61 minutes--an average of about 100 enemies per minute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper added "producer" alongside "star" on his resume with this light-hearted Western about a mild-mannered cowboy (Cooper) who drifts into a small town with his sidekick (William Demarest). Naturally, he's mistaken for a notorious highway robber (Dan Duryea), although he can barely handle a gun. His impersonation of the menacing gunman falls apart when his skills are put to the test, and he faces certain doom when challenged by the returning gunman himself. In the end, however, our hero defeats the villain and even ends up with his girl (Loretta Young). A send-up of both Western clichés and Cooper's own heroic persona, Along Came Jones is brisk, amusing entertainment. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In their third and final "Trail Blazers" Western together, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson and Bob Steele witness what appears to be a gang of Indians raiding a stagecoach. Investigating, the three lawmen discover that the attackers are actually white bandits dressed as Indians and that their leader is one Polini (Ian Keith), a gangster smuggling diamonds in the axle grease of the stagecoach wheels. Aided by young Donny Davis (Don Stewart) and pert Ruth Hampton (Myrna Dell), the "Trail Blazers" survive several clashes with death -- including being trapped inside a cave -- before Polini and his cohort, Banker Steve Lynch (Karl Hackett), are apprehended. In only her second Western, blonde heroine Myrna Dell was not exactly in awe of her veteran leading men who, as she later recalled were "old enough to be my grandfather!" Maynard, in fact, had come to the end of his long starring career. Unable to get along with his more athletic co-star Bob Steele, the often cantankerous left the series and only returned to films in rare cameo appearances. His place in the final two "Trail Blazers" Westerns was taken by Chief Thundercloud. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A courageous cowboy dons the guise of a Texas Ranger to keep murderous cattle rustlers from harming a beautiful young woman, the daughter of the dead lawman whose clothes he wears. This western follows his adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

English-born character star Victor McLaglen made his Hollywood debut in this highly successful Western melodrama about brothers, separated in early childhood, who wound up as opponents in a side-show wrestling match. There is a dance-hall girl (Marguerite de la Motte) and the usual Western trappings but the film's true highlight is the climactic wrestling match between McLaglen and co-star William Russell, a battle that reminded several reviewers of the legendary slugfest in the first version of The Spoilers (1914). The Beloved Brute was directed with a great deal of verve by J. Stuart Blackton, one of the founders of the Vitagraph Company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Beyond the Last Frontier was the first entry in Republic's "John Paul Revere" western series. Journeyman actor Eddie Dew stars as Revere, a Texas Ranger who goes undercover to smash an outlaw gang. Meanwhile, the villains install an informer amongst the Rangers, meaning that Revere will have to take care of this guy before he can complete his assignment. While Eddie Dew was OK in the lead, his thunder was stolen by the young actor cast as "Trigger Dolan"-future superstar Robert Mitchum. The plot was a bit too complicated for a film of this nature, thus future John Paul Revere installments were a bit easier to follow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a slight change of pace, low-budget Western star Bob Steele plays a cowboy-turned-race car driver in this otherwise typical Paul Malvern production directed by the star's father Robert North Bradbury. Steele's happy-go-lucky Speed Brent gets involved with escaped prisoner Killer Joe (Ernie Adams), who hires him to drive him to the Mexican border. Knocked unconscious by one of Joe's henchmen, Speed recovers to find Judge Stafford (John Elliott) seriously wounded and the victim of theft. Along with the judge's bearded foreman Chuck Wiggins (George "Gabby" Hayes), Speed vows to track down the gang and later hooks up with Sonia (Marion Byron), a government agent masquerading as a saloon girl. Killer Joe, meanwhile, attempts to escape by car, but is chased down by Speed, who forces him over a cliff to his death. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Just after completing It Happened One Night, director Frank Capra churned out a bread-and-butter picture titled Broadway Bill. Warner Baxter plays the carefree scion of a wealthy, highly-respected family. Baxter's cold but socially correct wife Helen Vinson forces her husband into the family business, but Baxter would rather spend his time at the racetrack. He buys a nag named Broadway Bill and tries to build the horse into a winner--if he doesn't bankrupt himself first. Only Baxter's sister-in-law Myrna Loy and black stable hand Clarence Muse have faith in Broadway Bill. The horse wins a crucial race, but dies suddenly at the finish line. Baxter is comforted and given encouragement by Loy, who is now his sweetheart, Vinson having long since washed her hands of her "irresponsible" husband. Broadway Bill was remade by Capra as Riding High (1950), utilizing generous portions of stock footage and even going so far as to rehire several of the original film's cast members (Douglass Dumbrille, Clarence Muse, Charles Lane, Raymond Walburn, Margaret Hamilton, Frankie Darro) to recreate their roles and match up their scenes from the earlier production. Long withheld from distribution due to Riding High, Broadway Bill was made available for videocassette in the mid-1980s. Keep an eye out for Lucille Ball as a blonde telephone operator and Alan Hale Sr. as a racetrack announcer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first part of this Three Stooges comedy is pretty amusing, but it's even funnier if you realize that the actor playing the Stooges' long-suffering mother is writer Monte Collins in drag (he co-wrote the story to this picture). Ma Stooge lives with her boys in a humble farmhouse, but Curly has a plan to make them wealthy -- he has invented a "gold collar button retriever." The Inventors Association sends him a letter calling the contraption "incomprehensible and utterly impractical." With that bit of encouragement, the boys leave their ma, the cow and the chickens, and go to the big city to make their fortune -- the big city happens to be just across the street. Immediately a conman gets a hundred dollars out of them by selling them the rights to a lost mine -- and the map that tells them how to get there. Out in gold country, Curly puts the collar button retriever to use as a gold locator and sure enough, they come upon the lost mine. They also run into a dangerous pair of desert rats who want the mine's gold. Once inside the mine, getting the gold is easy enough -- the Stooges find a lever they can pull like a slot machine. But they still have to get away from the desert rats and they hide in the safe of a closed-down hotel. The rats drill a hole in the safe and push a stick of dynamite through. The Stooges push it back. The rats push it in again and the Stooges are blown through the hotel's wall. One bit of trivia -- this short is on a compilation reel along with Whoops! I'm an Indian and Rockin' Thru the Rockies, and in all of them Curly is wearing the same skunk (not coon) skin cap! ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The story to this melodrama came from one of the "Limehouse" stories written by Thomas Burke, the same author who wrote the original Broken Blossoms story. Unfortunately this tale is no Broken Blossoms -- Shirley Mason, while being a fine little comedienne, is no Lillian Gish, and director Maurice Elvey was certainly no D.W. Griffith. Big Bill Branigan (Wallace MacDonald), one of the tough characters of London's Limehouse district, falls in love with Curlytop (Mason) because of her sweet innocence. He leaves his sweetheart, Bessie (Diana Miller), for her and resolves to go straight. When he sets out to find a job, the jealous Bessie gets Curlytop drunk and hacks off her long curls. Curlytop runs away and gets a job as a waitress on a floating barge owned by Shanghai Dan (Warner Oland), the head of a gang of Chinese crooks. Branigan returns to find Curlytop gone, and when he finds her curls in Bessie's possession he forces her to reveal her whereabouts. He saves Curlytop just as she is about to be hypnotized by Dan. Another ship crashes into the barge and Dan is killed, while the couple are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Deadline at Dawn represented not only the sole film directorial effort of Broadway's Harold Clurman, but also the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate, screenwriter Clifford Odets. While on shore leave in New York, sailor Alex (Bill Williams) is slipped a doped-up drink by B-girl Edna (Lola Lane). When he awakens, Alex discovers that she has been murdered. Though he believes that he's the killer, our hero is talked into locating the actual miscreant by philosophical cab driver gus (Paul Lukas) and nightclub dancer June (Susan Hayward). Adapted from a novel by Cornell Woolrich, Deadline at Dawn leans towards pretentiousness at times, but is redeemed by the no-nonsense performance by Susan Hayward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Befitting his status as a genre star, Boris Karloff earns top billing over leading man Ralph Byrd in RKO's final Dick Tracy caper. The former Frankenstein monster plays an escaped convict masterminding a daring bank robbery. To get in and out of the bank without being noticed, the gang uses an asphyxiating gas that leaves anyone inside momentarily frozen in place. Everyone, that is, except for bank customer Tess Truehart (Anne Gwynne), who is able to contact Dick Tracy (Byrd) from a phone booth in the bank. With little or no clues, Tracy and his man Friday, Pat Patton (Lyle Latell), question the bank customers but none can shed any light on the mysterious goings-on. The disappearance of Dr. A. Tomic (Milton Parsons) and the odd behavior of his associate, Dr. I.M. Learned (June Clayworth), crack the case wide open, however, and Tracy is eventually able to track down both Gruesome and the surprising identity of his boss, L.E. Thal (Edward Ashley). According to some reports, RKO wanted to release Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome as "Dick Tracy Meets Karloff" but that title was vetoed by Karloff himself. The legendary horror star apparently later accepted his own box-office value and a 1949 Universal comedy was released as Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

With the increasing popularity of Republic's sagebrush crooner Gene Autry), rival company Columbia found it necessary to add a musical element to this Charles Starrett Western released in early 1937. As Starrett himself was no singer, the studio hired Donald Grayson to warble Lonesome River, Out in the Cow Country and Pancho's Widow, all by Ned Washington and Sam H. Stept. Grayson played Slim, a tenderfoot learning the ropes on a cattle run from Texas to Dodge City. The teacher is foreman Steve Braddock (Starrett), but training is interrupted by the news that the stagecoach has been held up by the Dawson gang and that Marian Phillips (Marion Weldon) is missing. Saving the girl from her kidnappers, Steve discovers that her father, Kenyon (Russell Hicks) is in cahoots with the gang, Suspecting that the man may be blackmailed by Dawson (Al Bridge), Steve infiltrates the gang by impersonating an outlaw. But Dawson sees right through the masquerade and demands to have him killed. Fortunately, the sheriff's posse arrive at that very moment and Steve can soon resume his courtship of Marian. Dodge City Trail was the first of many Starrett Westerns in which the hero's name is "Steve." The moniker was considered a lucky omen and Starrett retained it when playing his most enduring character, that of "The Durango Kid." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide