Kit Guard Movies

Carrie is based on Sister Carrie, a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser's clumsy, unwieldy prose is streamlined into a neat and precise screenplay by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. Jennifer Jones stars as Carrie, who leaves her go-nowhere small town for the wicked metropolis of Chicago. Here she becomes the mistress of brash traveling salesman Charles Drouet (Eddie Albert), then throws him over in favor of erudite restaurant manager George Hurstwood (Laurence Olivier). Obsessed by Carrie, George steals money from his boss to support her in the manner to which he thinks she is accustomed. Left broke and disgraced by the ensuing scandal, Carrie deserts George to become an actress. Years later, the conscience-stricken Carrie tries to regenerate George, who has fallen into bum-hood. If Laurence Olivier seems a surprising casting choice in Carrie, try to imagine what the film would have been like had Cary Grant, Paramount's first choice, accepted the role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fort Defiance stars Dane Clark as Civil War deserter Johnny Tallon. Despite his checkered past, Johnny is idolized by his blind brother Ned (Peter Graves). All this changes when Ben Shelby (Ben Johnson), whose brother's death was caused by Johnny, comes to town in seeking revenge. Though it hardly seems possible at this juncture, Johnny sets about to redeem himself by defending the denizens of Fort Defiance against a Navajo attack. The wholly dispensable heroine is played by Tracey Roberts. Fort Defiance was lensed in Cinecolor, which was more eye-pleasing during the exterior scenes than during the interior dialogue passages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When in doubt, drag out the "old dark house/mad scientist" formula. That's the philosophy of Master Minds, the 16th entry in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series. It all begins when Sach (Huntz Hall), suffering from a toothache, develops the ability to read minds. Sach's pal Slip (Leo Gorcey), knowing a good thing when he sees one, exploits Sach's talents on the carnival-sideshow circuit. Soon, however, the demented Dr. Druzik (Alan Napier) comes calling, hoping to transplant Sach's brain into the body of ape-man Atlas (Glenn Strange). This film's funniest moments occur when the hulking Glenn Strange imitates Huntz Hall's familiar gestures and body language. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quick-draw legend Bat Masterson is summoned to Kansas to end a small-town feud between local farmers and criminal ranch owners in this western starring Randolph Scott. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

If Grecian storyteller Aesop really did exist, he was most likely a black slave. He wasn't an Austrian actor with an Egyptian name, but that's who played him in A Night in Paradise. Turhan Bey portrays the fable-spouting Aesop, who tries to escape his bondage by disguising himself as an old man. It is at the lavish court of King Croesus that the greyed-up Aesop first meets luscious Grecian princess Merle Oberon. The low-born talespinner is smitten, and determines to win the princess for his very own. Moral: If Universal buys a novel by George S. Hellman titled The Peacock's Feather, transforms it into a picture called A Night in Paradise, and appoints onetime Abbott and Costello cohort Arthur Lubin as director, you know what you're in for. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joan Davis, the daughter of a famed woman detective, has inherited none of her mother's deductive prowess. Nonetheless, Joan teams with patrolman Leon Errol to solve a series of blowgun murders. The two erstwhile Sherlocks track down the alleged murder weapon to a theatre, where it is being used as a prop in a play. After disrupting the performance, Davis determines that the murders weren't committed by blowgun, and that the culprit is a mild-mannered gentleman to whom murder is a "hobby." The title She Gets Her Man clues us in on the finale, and also refers to the shaky but affectionate relationship between Joan Davis and Leon Errol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of their most genial comedies -- based on a Damon Runyon story -- Bud Abbott and Lou Costello have to help one friend (Cecil Kellaway) replace his beloved carriage horse, and another friend (Leightno Noble) put together a US Army camp show. Through a misunderstanding, they take what they think is a worthless nag from a racetrack stall, only to discover that they've actually stolen "Tea Biscuit," the world's greatest racehorse. Not only are the authorities after the pair -- who try to hide the horse in their hotel room -- but so is freelance trouble-shooter Eugene Pallette (who already has had one unrelated run-in with the boys), and complicating matters even further are three racetrack touts (led by Shemp Howard) who want to cash in on the mistake. Grace McDonald and Patsy O'Connor), along with bandleader Noble and the Step Brothers, provide the music and dancing in this wild romp, that takes us from New York's Central Park to the racetrack at Saratoga. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Produced by silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, My Favorite Spy is a vehicle for bespectacled bandleader Kay Kyser, who resembles Lloyd more than somewhat. Just before embarking on his honeymoon with new bride Terry (Ellen Drew), Kyser is drafted into the Army. Proving to be a monumentally inefficient soldier, our hero is nonetheless pressed into service by US intelligence officer Major Allen (Moroni Olsen). It seems that Nazi agents have been passing secrets in the nightclub where Kyser's band performs, and Allen wants Kay to act as a counter-espionage agent. To maintain his cover, Kay is discharged from the army in disgrace, and is ordered to noisily make himself a "security risk", so that Nazi chieftan Robinson (Robert Armstrong) will invite Kay to join his spy operation. Trouble is, Kyser must keep his espionage activities secret from everyone-even his wife Terry, who is growing ever more impatient over Kay's unexplained absences from her boudoir. Making matters worse, Kyser is teamed with glamorous blonde secret agent Connie (Jane Wyman), whom Terry understandably suspects of being Kay's clandestine sweetheart. A multitude of slapstick situations follow, culminating in a wild chase through an abandoned theater, with Kay Kyser making like Harold Lloyd to rescue his wife from the Nazis. As directed by Tay Garnett, Kyser's ongoing marital woes seem more pathetic than funny; in addition, his Secret Service cohorts come off as the most sadistic bunch of "good guys" in screen history, bursting with laughter every time Kay's wife throws him out of their apartment. Even so, My Favorite Spy has a few genuine laughs, especially in the final reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1939's Days of Jesse James, the title character was played by Don "Red" Barry, with official star Roy Rogers carrying the brunt of the plotline. Two years later, Rogers was cast as ol' Jesse himself in Republic's Jesse James at Bay. Since Jesse is herein depicted as a "good guy", whose train-robbery rampage is motivated by the chicanery of a crooked railroad executive, someone else would have to handle the film's villainy. That someone was also Roy Rogers, cast as Jesse's lookalike, a local outlaw named Clint Burns. Typical of the anachronisms festooning the script of Jesse James at Bay is the presence of not one but two female newspaper reporters, played by Gale Storm and Sally Payne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When World War I hero Alvin York agreed to sell the movie rights to his life story to Warner Bros., it was on three conditions: (1) That the film contains no phony heroics, (2) that Mrs.York not be played by a Hollywood "glamour girl" and (3) That Gary Cooper portray York on screen. All three conditions were met, and the result is one of the finest and most inspirational biographies ever committed to celluloid. When the audience first meets young farmer Alvin York (Cooper), he's the cussin'est, hell-raisin'est critter in the entire Tennessee Valley. All of this changes when York is struck by lighting during a late-night rainstorm. Chalking up the bolt from the blue as a message from God, York does a complete about-face and finds Religion, much to the delight of local preacher Rosier Pile (Walter Brennan). Despite plenty of provocation, York vows never to get angry at anyone ever again, determining to be a good husband and provider for his sweetheart Gracie Williams (Joan Leslie). When America goes to war in 1917, York elects not to answer the call when drafted, declaring himself a conscientious objector. Forced to go to boot camp, he proves himself a born leader, yet still he balks at the thought of killing anyone. York's understanding commanding officer Major Buxton (Stanley Ridges) slowly convinces the young pacifist that violence is sometimes the only way to defend Democracy. Later on, while serving with the AEF in the Argonne Forest, Sergeant York sees several of his buddies, including his Bronxite best pal Pusher Ross (George Tobias), killed in an enemy ambush. His anger aroused, York personally kills 25 German soldiers, then single-handedly captures 132 prisoners. As a result, York becomes the most decorated hero of WW1, celebrated by no less than General John J. Pershing as "the greatest civilian soldier" of the war. The film won Gary Cooper his first Academy Award, and also picked up an Oscar for Best Film Editing. Not surprisingly, it ended up as the highest-grossing film of 1941. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this 15-episode serial, Detective Spike Holland must solve the mystery of Garr Castle. He does so after he is hired to look into the disappearance of Valerie Howett's sister Elaine. Within the haunted walls of the castle he finds a maze of secret passages, tunnels, trapdoors, and the enigmatic masked man, the Green Archer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

On the verge of superstardom, Rita Hayworth played in scores of minor dramas like Homicide Bureau, an entertaining little crime story released a scant three months before her big breakthrough, Howard Hawk's Only Angels Have Wings. She plays J.G. Bliss, a girl scientist assigned to help the city's beleaguered homicide squad. When an accused murderer, Chuck Brown (Marc Lawrence), is released for lack of evidence, J.G. and Lieutenant Jim Logan (Bruce Cabot) do their best to have the decision reversed. Jim discovers that Brown is a member of a secret society hiding behind the seemingly innocent name of "the Junk Dealer's Trade Organization," which in reality is engaged in selling scrap metal to a certain enemy power (read: Germany). But with the adoring J.G. at his side, the intrepid hero not only saves his boss, Captain Haines (Moroni Olsen), from a kidnapping, but manages to catch the entire gang of crooks, including their leader, Ed Briggs (Norman Willis). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide