John Hamilton Movies
Born and educated in Pennsylvania, John Hamilton headed to New York in his twenties to launch a 25-year stage career. Ideally cast as businessmen and officials, the silver-haired Hamilton worked opposite such luminaries as George M. Cohan and Ann Harding. He toured in the original company of the long-running Frank Bacon vehicle Lightnin', and also figured prominently in the original New York productions of Seventh Heaven and Broadway. He made his film bow in 1930, costarring with Donald Meek in a series of 2-reel S.S.Van Dyne whodunits (The Skull Mystery, The Wall St. Mystery) filmed at Vitaphone's Brooklyn studios. Vitaphone's parent company, Warner Bros., brought Hamilton to Hollywood in 1936, where he spent the next twenty years playing bits and supporting roles as police chiefs, judges, senators, generals and other authority figures. Humphrey Bogart fans will remember Hamilton as the clipped-speech DA in The Maltese Falcon (1941), while Jimmy Cagney devotees will recall Hamilton as the recruiting officer who inspires George M. Cohan (Cagney) to compose "Over There" in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Continuing to accept small roles in films until the mid '50s (he was the justice of the peace who marries Marlon Brando to Teresa Wright in 1950's The Men), Hamilton also supplemented his income with a group of advertisements for an eyeglasses firm. John Hamilton is best known to TV-addicted baby boomers for his six-year stint as blustering editor Perry "Great Caesar's Ghost!" White on the Adventures of Superman series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1946
Director Frank Borzage and star Ginger Rogers both came acropper in the lavish but dull historical biopic Magnificent Doll. The usually ebullient Rogers seems encased in wax as Dolly Madison, first lady of the United States in the early 19th century. The story begins as young Washington socialite Dolly Payne, previously and unhappily wed to one John Todd (Horace McNally), can't make up her mind romantically between idealistic politician James Madison (Burgess Meredith) and firebrand Aaron Burr (David Niven). Burr solves that problem when he flees the country after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, leaving the field clear for Madison. What should have been the film's highlight, Dolly's rescue of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution during the 1812 burning of Washington, is treated as a throwaway. Told in flashback, the film ends just before Madison's ascendancy to the White House, with Dolly chastely charming the current chief executive Thomas Jefferson (Grandon Rhodes). Magnificent Doll is anything but . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Erville Alderson, (more)
- 1946
A would-be nightclub entertainer finds her life jeopardized after she inadvertently witnesses a gangland murder while heading for an audition. Fortunately, a brave photographer is there to save her and this crime drama ends on a happy note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Adhering to the long tradition of casting non-action leads in their serials, Republic Pictures hired former 20th Century-Fox light leading man Robert Kent to headline no less than two chapterplays in 1946, King of the Royal Mounted and The Phantom Rider. In the latter, the amiable, good-looking Kent played James Sterling, an earnest young medical doctor attempting to establish an Indian police corps on the Big Tree Reservation. Facing continuing sabotage by unknown forces, the young medico takes up the guise of "Phantom Rider," a mysterious avenger righting the territory's many wrongs. Sterling is secretly opposed by Fred Carson (LeRoy Mason), whose outward friendliness hides a sinister desire to dominate the reservation, but finds loyal allies in Indian friend Blue Feather (George J. Lewis), pretty schoolmarm Doris Shannon (Peggy Stewart), and Nugget (Hal Taliaferro), a tough but lovable miner. Kent, who was doubled by ace Republic stunt-man Dale Van Sickel, headed a superior cast of serial stalwarts that also included Roy Barcroft as a marshal, Tom London, as a henchman, and, in a bit part, future cowboy hero Monte Hale. An edited feature version of the serial was released simultaneously as Ghost Riders of the West. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Making his starring debut, Republic cowboy Monte Hale strums his guitar and sings Over the Rainbow Trail by Ken Carson, The Sons of the Pioneers and Down at the Old Hoe-Down by Gordon Foster, and Take Your Time by Glenn Spencer; on the last of these, he is accompanied by Bob Nolan. In between all the warbling, Hale finds enough time to prove that little Bobby Blake's pet bear isn't the one causing death and destruction among the area's cattle. For some reason, Republic chose the Hale series to launch their newly developed Magnacolor scheme, thus making the rather wooden Hale the first of the studio's illustrious cowboys to appear in (almost) natural hues. Adrian Booth (formerly Lorna Gray) made the first of seven appearances opposite Hale as little Bobby's sister, antagonistic at first toward the hero but falling properly in love with him before the fade-out. Little Bobby Blake (formerly Mickey Gubitosi of Our Gang fame) later became Robert Blake and the star of television's Baretta. Monte Hale never quite accepted the tag of "singing cowboy," and his series, which lasted until 1950, became increasingly less musical with each new entry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Hale, Adrian Booth, (more)
- 1946
Sidney Toler seems listless and barely awake throughout the intrigues of the Monogram "Charlie Chan" opus Shadows over Chinatown. This time out, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and his erstwhile assistants, son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham (Mantan Moreland), investigate a clever insurance scam. The crooks are using a series of brutal "torso murders" to rip off an insurance company by claiming that the long-missing Mary Conover (Tanis Chandler) is a victim of the unknown murderer. Actually, Mary is in hiding from the insurance hucksters themselves, forcing Chan to race against time (if "race" is the correct word) to save the girl from certain doom. Perennial movie drunk Jack Norton has all the film's best lines as a garrulous boozer who isn't quite what he seems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, (more)
- 1946
In this espionage drama, a WW II veteran teams up with a government secretary and begins hunting a gang of Nazi agents who are seeking the secret documents carried by the G-man they killed. The two heroes are hindered on their hunt by fellow government agents who believe the two are responsible for the FBI agent's death. Mayhem ensues until the two prove their innocence, capture the culprits, and save the US from fascism. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lawrence Tierney, Anne Jeffreys, (more)
Produced by Gower Gulch maverick Robert L. Lippert and filmed in not-so-glorious two-strip Cinecolor near Idyllwild, California, this Northwest Mounted melodrama starred the veteran Bob Steele as a rather surly mountie who, against his own better judgment, is persuaded to escort a patronizing Eastern girl (Joan Woodbury through the wilderness to her uncle's logging camp. Constantly bickering with her guide, the girl is carrying $20,000 in her purse, payroll money which is promptly stolen. At the logging camp, Steele runs into trouble with the local sergeant, Means (John Litel), who may not be all he appears to be, a wife-beating saloon-keeper (George Meeker, and sundry other more or less mysterious persons, most of whom were aware of Miss Woodbury's travel plans. Steele, who was nearing the end of his starring career (four Grade-Z Westerns were to come), also headlined Wildfire (1945), another Cinecolor "experiment" for Lippert's Action Pictures. Northwest Trail, however, was all but stolen by Miss Woodbury, whose feisty character made up for Steele's aging inertia. Troubled silent star Madge Bellamy made her final screen appearances as the mistreated wife of the saloon proprietor and real-life circus performer Poodles Hanneford played himself Like so many low-budget mountie melodramas, this one implied a non-existent connection to pulp writer James Oliver Curwood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
This WW II drama is the first to deal with the fateful atomic bomb attack on Japan. Originally, the film centered on the acquisition of a new kind of gun, but as it was in production during the time the Bomb was dropped, the producers were quick to change the story to suit the times. It tells the story of a straight-arrow American pilot who was raised in Japan and is asked to return there to get a captured scientist to garner valuable information about the A-bomb. The pilot, Major Ross, realizes that he will not survive the mission, but as he has just lost his lover, he cares little for life. Before he goes, his face is surgically altered so he looks Japanese and he then infiltrates the camp where the scientist is being held. There he finds his girl friend, an army nurse, who has also been captured. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with a fellow inmate. The determined Major Ross remains focused and completes his mission, but not before encountering considerable danger at the hands of enemy officers. The end of the film features actual newsreel footage of nuclear bombings from Pathe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Hale, Richard Loo, (more)
Strange Illusion is really several movies in one, part dark psychological chiller, part unsettling murder mystery, and part breezy B-movie thriller, although most of its plot is derived from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Jimmy Lydon, best-known to audiences for his screen portrayal of Henry Aldrich during the early '40s, plays Paul Cartwright, the son of a respected judge who died under mysterious circumstances two years earlier. Paul is haunted by nightmares in which his father warns him of danger to his mother, and in which a mysterious stranger seems to threaten him and his family. He dismisses these dreams until his mother (Sally Eilers) introduces him to a new man in her life, Brett Curtis (Warren William), who says some of the very same things that Paul heard from the mystery man in his dream. There's a lot to dislike about Curtis despite his smooth, genial ways -- he seems too eager to please, and also offers an oily solicitousness to Paul's teenaged sister that's downright disturbing. Paul openly distrusts Curtis and opposes his mother's impending marriage to him. Most of those around him think Paul is overreacting and he is maneuvered into checking himself into a sanitarium run by a psychiatrist friend (Charles Arnt) of Curtis'. Trapped there and kept under constant surveillance, Paul is in danger, but he manages to find a clue that proves not only that his father's death was no accident, but that Curtis was involved in it. His discovery may be too late, however -- not only is his life in jeopardy, but it turns out that Curtis is really a career criminal that Paul's father had pursued from the bench for years, and that his real goal, having killed the judge, is to destroy the judge's family, including Paul's mother and sister. The plot of Strange Illusion works on many levels, as mystery and a dark psychological study, and it is told so smoothly and well by director Edgar G. Ulmer and his cast, that it may require multiple viewings to fully appreciate, though it is enjoyable on any level. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1945
No relation to the later Shelley Fabares song hit of the same name, RKO Radio's Johnny Angel was adapted by Steve Fisher and Frank Gruber from a short story by Charles Gordon Booth. In one of his better performances, George Raft plays sea captain Johnny Angel, who doggedly pursues the no-good rats who murdered his father and swiped a shipment of gold bullion. Along the way, Johnny crosses paths (and words) with Lilah (Claire Trevor), the faithless wife of his boss, and French stowaway Paulette (Signe Hasso), apparently the only witness to the murder-hijacking. Aiding and abetting Johnny is philosophical cab driver Celestial O'Brien, engagingly played by songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Considered a second-echelon effort by RKO, Johnny Angel proved to be a surprise hit, toting up a box-office take of $1,192,000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1945
In this comedy, a PR man saves a struggling radio station from ruin. Songs include: "Slap Polka", "Walk A Little Faster", "Moonlight Fiesta", and "Where The Prairie Meets The Sky". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Abbott and Costello's The Naughty Nineties offers a million laughs and a nickel's worth of plot. Most of the film takes place aboard a 19th century showboat, owned by kindly Captain Sam (Henry Travers). Bud Abbott plays the showboat's leading man Dexter Broadhurst, while Lou Costello is handyman Sebastian Dinwiddie. A group of slick gamblers (Alan Curtis, Rita Johnson and Joe Sawyer) cheat Captain Sam out of his boat, turning the place into a floating gambling palace, but Dexter and Sebastian foil the villains and save the day. The film is a virtual encyclopedia of wheezy but still hilarious comedy routines, many of them devised by veteran Laurel & Hardy and Three Stooges gagman Felix Adler. The film's highlight is a full-length performance of Abbott and Costello's verbal classic "Who's on First?"-and if one listens very closely, one can hear the cameramen and crew members laughing! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
Circumstantial Evidence is so expertly acted and directed that the audience is willing to forget its gaping logic holes. Pugnacious family man Joe Reynolds (Milo O'Shea), blowing his top as usual, threatens violence to an unlikeable storekeeper (Ben Welden). When the latter is killed, Joe is arrested for murder. Thanks to circumstantial evidence and faulty eyewitness accounts, Joe is sentenced to death in what seems to be a matter of days-and never mind that the defense attorney hasn't the presence of mind to enter medical testimony into the record. While awaiting his fate on death row (one of the nicest, most inviting death rows in cinema history), Joe is regularly visited by his young son Pat (Billy Cummings), who has always believed in his dad's innocence. For Pat's sake, Joe escapes from prison on the eve of his execution. Meanwhile Pat and a family friend, postman Sam Lord (Lloyd Nolan), have sought out the eyewitnesses whose testimony cinched Joe's conviction; with a little gentle persuasion, the witnesses probe their memories and realize that they were mistaken, and that the victim's death was accidental. Armed with this new evidence, Pat and Sam convince Joe to break back into jail so that his release can be secured through the proper channels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael O'Shea, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
This ambitious independent production was packaged by producer W. Lee Wilder, brother of Billy Wilder, and distributed by Republic. The title character, played with relish (and a bit of mustard) by Erich Von Stroheim, is an arrogant vaudeville artiste specializing in a trick-gunshot act. A dyed-in-the-wool misogynist, Flamarion at first pays little attention to his beautiful assistant Connie (Mary Beth Hughes)-just as well, since Connie is already married to Flamarion's other assistant, Al Wallace (Dan Duryea). Bored with marriage, Connie begins playing up to her boss, the result being the "accidental" death of Al during Flamarion's act. Having committed murder for Connie's sake, Flamarion fully expects to be sexually compensated-but he doesn't know the treacherous Connie as well as the late Al did. Future cult favorite Anthony Mann's direction is rather perfunctory, suggesting perhaps that he was somewhat intimidated in the presence of the flamboyant Von Stroheim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Beth Hughes, Dan Duryea, (more)
- 1945
Jack Oakie and Peggy Ryan head the cast of the Universal "B plus" musical On Stage Everybody. As indicated by the title, this is a "Let's put on a big show" affair, set this time at a radio station. Veteran vaudevillian Michael Sullivan (Jack Oakie) refuses to admit that his brand of entertainment is all but dead, though his partner-daughter Molly (Peggy Ryan) is a little more progressive. After resisting the "newfangled" radio for several years, Michael becomes an enthusiastic supporter of the Airwaves, even unto helping organize a bigtime variety show spotlighting new talent. Based on the ABC radio network program of the same name, On Stage Everybody spotlights several promising newcomers (none of whom, alas, went on to stardom), along with such established favorites as the King Sisters. Previewed at 75 minutes, the film was eventually released in a 65-minute form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ryan, Jack Oakie, (more)
- 1944
Port of 40 Thieves is a so-so suspenser completely dominated by the formidable Stephanie Bachelor. The statuesque, sophisticated Republic leading lady is cast as Muriel, the scheming widow of the fabulously wealthy Hartford Chaney 3rd. Muriel's husband has disappearance under mysterious circumstances, freeing her to marry her playboy paramour Frederick St. Clair (George Meeker). Nancy Hubbard (Lynne Roberts), Chaney's daughter from a previous marriage, suspects that her father has been murdered, compelling Muriel to plot and plan a few convenient accidents-including the death of the now-dispensable St. Clair. The film's most memorable scene finds Muriel diligently studying a technical manual so that she can sabotage an elevator! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephanie Bachelor, Lynne Roberts, (more)
- 1944
Based on the comic book by the same name, the hero takes on a crazed scientist who creates deadly machines for his own villainous schemes. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The overcrowding in WWII-era Washington, D.C., provided the concept for this comedy, as well as another film from the previous year, The More the Merrier (1943). Lee Stevens (Fred MacMurray) is an executive from a toy company owned by T.J. Todd (Edward Arnold). In hopes of landing a lucrative wartime production contract, Todd has dispatched Stevens and Jane Rogers (Paulette Goddard), a secretary, to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with a political fat cat. Once there, Jane foolishly cancels their hotel reservations, unaware that the capitol is so jammed that there is nowhere else to stay. She devises a plan -- she and Lee will pose as servants in the home of wealthy Ira Cromwell (Roland Young), where their lodging will be part of their salary. Lee is a disaster as a domestic, and when the very same politician they've come to meet arrives for a formal dinner, disaster looms. Standing Room Only (1944) was the third of five films in which MacMurray and Goddard would appear together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard, (more)
- 1944
Exiled from his own country during WW2, French filmmaker Leonide Moguy worked briefly in Hollywood, where he directed the patriotic thriller Action in Arabia. George Sanders stars as Gordon, an American newspaperman at large in Damascus. When a colleague is murdered, Sanders wants to find out why. He is helped along by glamourous secret agent Yvonne (Virginia Bruce), who is on the trail of a group of Nazi saboteurs. It turns out that the murder is tied in with a plan to destroy the Suez Canal in the name of Der Fuehrer. Though economically produced, Action in Arabia benefits from several rather spectacular-looking scenes of desert combat-most of these lifted from a never-finished 1933 filmed biography of Lawrence of Arabia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1944
This 91-minute Republic "special" stars Michael O'Shea as Matt Braddock, an aggressive Henry Kaiser-like shipbuilder operating in 1880s California Though his business innovations are brilliant, Braddock's pugnacious attitude loses him the support of the locals when he plans to build a big new shipyard in a small coastal community. Eventually he perseveres, bringing the story to a rousing conclusion. Along the way, however, there's a bit too much emphasis on the hot-and-cold romance between Braddock and the lovely Diana Kennedy (Anne Shirley). Tommy Bond, the former Butch in the "Our Gang" comedies, registers well in a sympathetic supporting role (Bond later noted that this was one of his favorite films). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael O'Shea, Anne Shirley, (more)
Popular latter-day serial queen Linda Stirling starred in the title role in this well-made 12 chapter serial produced by genre specialist Republic Pictures. Stirling plays Barbara Mededith, a pretty girl who takes over her murdered brother's crusading newspaper. She also assumes the dead sibling's identity as "The Black Whip," righting the wrongs of Crescent City very much in the manner of her famous ancestor, Zorro. Off course, "being a mere woman," Barbara needs the assistance of a stalwart young man, in this case Vic Gordon (George J. Lewis), a government secret agent. Arguably the most popular serial heroine since the days of Pearl White, Linda Stirling's other top-billed serial role was as The Tiger Woman (1944). The choice of Lewis as Stirling's male lead was surprising; the Mexican-born Lewis, although handsome enough and a veteran of Universal's popular "Collegians" 2-reelers, had recently played mostly villains. Produced by Ronald Davidson, Zorro's Black Whip benefitted from second unit direction by stunt-man extraordinaire Yakima Canutt and special effects by the famed Theodore Lydecker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1944
In this musical romance, an ice skater comes to America to represent her country at a Lake Placid carnival. Unfortunately, while she is there the war breaks out and she is unable to go home. While in America, she is cared for by her rich uncle. She soon falls in love with his handsome junior partner who is already engaged to another. When she discovers this, the skater runs away. Her lover follows and true love ensues. Songs include: "Deep Purple", "My Isle of Golden Dreams", "National Emblem March", "Winter Wonderland", "Intermezzo", "Waiting for The Robert E. Lee", "When Citrus is in Bloom", "Drigo's Serenade", "While Strolling in the Park". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vera Ralston, Eugene Pallette, (more)
- 1944
Part of the series of Universal B-musicals teaming Martha O'Driscoll and Noah Beery Jr., this film is also a remake of the 1937 comedy Love in a Bungalow. Patty Callahan (O'Driscoll) offers residence in a model home to soldier Jeff (Beery) and soon falls in love with him. Although the pair are unmarried, they enter a marital contest intended to celebrate the "Happiest G.I. Couple." Winning the contest brings on all sorts of farcical troubles until the couple are able to be united for real. Songs include "Don't Sweetheart Me" and "Best of All." ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha O'Driscoll, Hattie McDaniel, (more)
- 1944
A sleepy hay-seed filled Arkansas town gets spotlight fever when a local sow bears an unprecedented 10 piglets. Suddenly poor Pitchfork is inundated with greedy interlopers anxiously rooting around trying to make silk purses out of the unusual situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
In this musical comedy, a pair of small-potatoes performers try to make it to the big-time after winning an amateur talent contest. Though this leads them to a few professional gigs, something is missing from their act and they are not popular. Believing a little cash will boost their career, the girl heads for Washington, D.C. to see if her wealthy daddy will help them. En route she is mistaken for the wife of a well-known pilot and ends up in his suite having to pretend she is his spouse. When the pilot meets her, romantic sparks fly. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Shirley, Dennis Day, (more)
