Creighton Hale Movies

Probably as a reward for her energetic performance in Torchy Plays with Dynamite, pert Jane Wyman was given another Glenda Farrell-like leading role in Private Detective. Wyman plays gorgeous P.I. Myrna Winslow, the principal rival of male gumshoe Jim Rickey (Dick Foran). The case at hand concerns the murder of a millionaire, with the dead man's wife and her boy friend as principal suspects. Also adding to the intrigue is an enormous trust fund, set up in the name of the millionaire's adopted son. A goodly portion of the film takes place in a deserted mansion at midnight, with Myrna snooping where she shouldn't. The finale finds Myrna and Jim joining forces to capture the real murderer in a well-staged donnybrook. Private Detective runs 57 minutes-and "runs" is the right word here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a remake of The Crowd Roars, two auto racing brothers become rivals on the racetrack when the older brother tries to keep his younger one from dropping out of school and becoming a driver too. The stubborn younger brother just gets behind the wheel of someone else's car and the race is on. During the reckless running of the race, the older brother's best friend is killed precipitating the beginning of the end for the older driver. The brother pulls himself out of his personal nose dive when he must take over for his younger brother during the Indy 500. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, set in Shanghai, a gunrunner gets entangled with a conspiracy to deliver customs certificates. Unfortunately, his contact has died and the money has disappeared. He being pursued by other smugglers when Japanese bombs are dropped. He is saved from the firestorm by a French singer. Together they flee the city and board a refugee ship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The 1936 comedy-mystery The Princess Comes Across might well have been inspired by a real-life incident during the silent-movie era, in which a crafty San Francisco stenographer hoodwinked the Hollywood elite into believing that she was a Spanish princess. Carole Lombard stars as an alluring Swedish beauty who travels under the name of Princess Olga. Everyone whom she meets en route to America on the steamship Mammoth bows and scrapes to the Princess, while Hollywood anxiously awaits her arrival to star her in a big-budget film. Only the ship's bandleader, King Mantell (Fred MacMurray), refuses to defer to Olga, sensing that she may not be all she claims. Mantell's instincts are right on target: the "Princess" is a brass-nickel phony, a Brooklyn girl named Wanda Nash who has cooked up her royal guise with drama coach Gertrude (Alison Skipworth) as a publicity stunt to crash into movies. Unfortunately, a weaselly blackmailer Darcy (Porter Hall) gloms onto Wanda's true identity and offers to keep quiet in exchange for a huge cash settlment. At the same time, Darcy is attempting to shake down several other passengers on the Mammoth, including King Mantell. Inevitably, Darcy is found murdered in the "Princess"'s stateroom, and Wanda finds herself one of several likely suspects, among them Mantell. A quintet of international detectives, travelling to a convention in America, sets out to solve the mystery, which becomes even more mysterious when one of the detectives also turns up dead. Taking matters in his own hands, Mantell vows to clear Wanda's name, and in the course of things he realizes that he's madly in love with her--but will Wanda give up her hoax, and her future showbiz career, for Mantell's sake? Among the many highlights in this engagingly daffy film is Fred MacMurray's rendition of the enchantingly forgettable song "My Concertina." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by poverty row organization Stage and Screen, this less-than-faithful serialized version of the historical battle seems to have rounded up every B-Western player not otherwise engaged at the time. That fact added to a couple of impressive sets drew favorable reviews for the serial's initial chapters, but the overall verdict proved negative. A secret arrow and the secret key to a hidden stash of gold is lost during one of several skirmishes brought about by Young Wolf (Chief Thundercloud). The arrow is recovered by Major Trent (Josef Swickard) and his daughter Barbara (Nancy Caswell) who, unaware of its secret purpose, become the target of various nefarious villains, including Blade (Reed Howes), a renegade Indian. Scout Kid Cardigan (Rex Lease) and General George Armstrong Custer (Frank McGlynn, Jr.) attempt to prevent an all-out war over the arrow, but their endeavors only lead to the infamous Last Stand. A tragic event in American history is thus once again reduced to a mere fight for mammon. A great many well-known B-Western players parade in and out of the serial briefly portraying various historical figures, including Helen Gibson as Calamity Jane, Ruth Mix (Tom's daughter) as Elizabeth Custer, Ted Adams as Buffalo Bill Cody, Howling Wolf as Sitting Bull, Allen Greer as Wild Bill Hickock and High Eagle as Chief Crazy Horse. Stage and Screen and associate producer George M. Merrick announced ambitious plans to film four additional serials, but the company was dissolved in late 1936, yet another victim of the Great Depression and an inability to secure distribution. Custer's Last Stand was also released in a 90-minute feature version. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Hollywood Boulevard is a trenchant look at the underside of Tinseltown. Though the nominal hero is a disillusioned screenwriter played by Robert Cummings (whose dialogue anticipates the lines spoken by William Holden in 1950's Sunset Boulevard), the focus of the story is John Halliday as a washed-up film star. Desperately, Halliday accepts the offer from a sleazy "tell all" magazine to write his memoirs. The actor's estranged family is devastated by the resultant scandal, and out love for his daughter (Marsha Hunt), Halliday tries to break his contract. But the publisher (C. Henry Gordon) threatens to ruin Halliday's comeback attempt if he refuses to write the rest of his memoirs. In a scuffle, the publisher kills Halliday, and the blame falls on the actor's daughter. But wise guy screenwriter Cummings gets to the truth of the mystery. A slick B-plus crime melodrama, Hollywood Boulevard has the added bonus of several well-known silent film personalities (Charles Ray, Francis X. Bushman, Maurice Costello, Mae Marsh etc.) in cameo roles, as well as a guest appearance by Gary Cooper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title refers to those special government agents who go undercover to flush out criminal gangs. In his second starring role, Fred MacMurray plays a government man who travels incognito as he trails a team of crooks from Brooklyn to Kansas. Lynne Overman is MacMurray's easygoing partner, who (naturally) is rubbed out by the hoods. MacMurray inveigles his way into the gang and brings them to justice--the ones who survive, that is. Released at the very beginning of Hollywood's G-Man cycle, Men without Names was instrumental in securing more prestigious acting assignments for Fred MacMurray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Legendary Broadway impresario George White made his Hollywood debut with this musical, which he wrote, co-directed, and starred in as himself. Reporter Miss Lee (Gertrude Michael) is looking for a story and approaches White as he's assembling the latest edition of his famous revue. As it turns out, she has lots of backstage gossip to choose from; Mona Vale (Alice Faye), White's latest discovery, is making her Broadway debut in the show, and she's fallen in love with the star, Jimmy Martin (Rudy Vallee). Jimmy, however, only has eyes for Barbara Lorainne (Adrienne Ames), a snooty high society type also in the cast. A quarrel between Mona and Barbara leads to a fight, with Jimmy coming to Barbara's rescue; a despondent Mona decides to leave the show if she can't have the man she loves. Meanwhile, comedian Happy Donnelly (Jimmy Durante) finds himself torn between his feelings for Mona and another young dancer in the show, Patsy Day (Dixie Dunbar), who is also thinking about quitting in disappointment. Amidst the romantic turmoil, a wacky salesman (Gregory Ratoff) keeps trying to make a sale with White, and the cast periodically breaks into song, belting out ten numbers, including "Oh You Nasty Man," "My Dog Loves Your Dog," "Every Day Is Father's Day with Baby," "Sweet and Simple," and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a tough and bitter woman working in a beauty salon in Panama takes a young, naive woman under her wing. Later when her mentor becomes deadly ill, the young woman decides to sell herself so she can scrape up the money to save her friend. Fortunately, her first client turns out to be a really nice guy. Soon after, the ailing woman's husband, an admiral in the Chinese navy, is passing through the canal and comes to her aid. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, an ambitious young dress designer decides to make an upward career move by making a play for her employer. Later that night, the two go out, but they are involved in an auto accident. Knowing that a major scandal will erupt if it is discovered that the two are dating, the employees at the store try to create a believable cover story. Because the boss' daughter and her fiancé were also in the car, they have the girl trade places with the daughter. The fiancé takes her home and en route they fall in love. At the same time, a corrupt executive tries to extort money from the hapless employer, who suspects that the dress designer is in cahoots on the scam. In the end, her innocence is revealed, she gets to marry the man she loves, and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Confined to a neck brace, poor little rich boy Dickie Moore would like to play with the neighborhood kids, but his overprotective mother (Lillian Rich) won't let him. On the sly, however, Dickie sneaks out of his bedroom in search of adventure in the company of his best pal, Matthew "Stymie" Beard. Purchasing a ride on the donkey-driven "taxicab" piloted by Breezy Brisbane (Kendall McComas), the boys, along with hitchhikers Spanky McFarland and Jacquie Lyn, experience enough thrills and excitement to last a lifetime when the taxi begins rolling down a steep hill ---with no brakes! A classic "Our Gang" entry (who could forget the shot of the "runaway" spare tires, or Stymie's instant "cure" of Dickie's stiff neck?), Free Wheeling was originally released on October 1, 1932. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery-thriller, set on Broadway, a cynical reporter looks into the killing of a New York actor who was found strangled in his dressing room. The reporter also must deal with the death of the lead actress, who is shot. One more person dies before he can solve the murders and drag the murderer into the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide