Russell Hicks Movies
Trained in prep school for a career as a businessman, Baltimore-born Russell Hicks chucked his predestined lifestyle for a theatrical career, over the protests of his family. As an actor, Hicks came full circle, spending the bulk of his career playing businessmen! Though he claimed to have appeared in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), Hicks' earliest recorded Hollywood job occured in 1920, when he was hired as an assistant casting director for Famous Players (later Paramount). Making his stage debut in It Pays to Smile, Hicks acted in stock companies and on Broadway before his official film bow in 1934's Happiness Ahead. The embodiment of the small-town business booster or chairman of the board, the tall, authoritative Hicks frequently used his dignified persona to throw the audience off guard in crooked or villainous roles. He was glib confidence man J. Frothingham Waterbury in W.C. Fields' The Bank Dick (1940) ("I want to be honest with you in the worst way!"), and more than once he was cast as the surprise killer in murder mysteries. Because of his robust, athletic physique, Hicks could also be seen as middle-aged adventurers, such as one of The Three Musketeers in the 1939 version of that classic tale, and as the aging Robin Hood in 1946's Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). Russell Hicks continued accepting film assignments until 1956's Seventh Cavalry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1935
Two rich and wealthy millionaires who have a lot of money bet that reporter Robert Pryor can't spend $720,000 in twelve hours. If you're asking "Why $720,000?", the answer is: because this Republic programmer is titled $1000 a Minute . Anyway, a couple of cops spot Pryor flashing a roll of bills, and deduce that he's the bank robber they're looking for. For the rest of the film, Pryor must race around to spend his money, while remaining two steps ahead of the Law. The supporting actors in $1000 a Minute are delightfully cast to type, from Edgar Kennedy as a detective to Sterling Holloway as a helpful cabbie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pryor, Leila Hyams, (more)
- 1936
Hoping to prove to her insurance-investigator uncle that she's a good detective in her own right, Jane Martin (Claire Trevor) pretends to be a jewel thief so that she can infiltrate a criminal gang. She quickly ingratiates herself with suave but deadly crook Frank Peyton (Cesar Romero), and before long Jane herself is in charge of the gang! Once Peyton begins to suspect that Jane has ulterior motives, he does his best to trip her up, even committing a murder in her presence, but she manages to keep up her facade long enough to enable detective Walsh (Lloyd Nolan) to round up the criminals. Despite the cold-blooded nature of his character, Frank Peyton emerges as the most appealing character in the picture; also, while Peyton enjoys a brief onscreen romance with the heroine, nothing of a similar nature develops between Jane and nominal hero Walsh. In short, 15 Maiden Lane is not your average "B"-grade crime meller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Cesar Romero, (more)
- 1937
Douglas MacLean, who starred in the original 1919 version of this World War I comedy, produced this remake starring James Ellison as Sgt. Gray. One day at training camp, Gray bets his buddies that he'll be having breakfast with the General (Paul Harvey) the next morning. Through a series of comic episodes, Gray accomplishes his goal, surprising his fellow soldiers. Arthur Lake (Dagwood in the Blondie series) co-stars in this average comedy, which is bolstered by some okay songs from Sammy Stept and Ted Koehler. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Terry Walker, (more)
- 1946
In this episode of the popular mystery series, the crook turned sleuth must clear his name after he is accused of murder. To help him, Blackie enlists the aid of his pal. Together they reveal the real murderer before the Inspector can put Blackie back in jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1937
This drama chronicles the education of a naive, rich young woman who inherits a steel mill. To help her keep it running she unites with a man. Meanwhile two crooks try to destroy her production in order to force her to sell it to them for very little money. They are thwarted at the last moment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Terry, Rosalind Keith, (more)
- 1945
RKO Radio's A Game of Death was the first official remake of Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game, given a contemporary WW2 twist. Novelist Rainsford (John Loder) and brother-and-sister shipwreck victims Ellen (Audrey Long) and Robert (Russell Wade) are among the innocents stranded on remote island at the mercy of Nazi madman Krieger (Edgar Barrier). Fancying himself a sportsman, Krieger offers his captives an hour's head start before he begins hunting them down like animals. The by-now-familiar plotline is not as compelling as in the original 1932 version of Most Dangerous Game or the 1956 Mexican-based remake (Run for the Sun), thanks to the pedestrian acting of everyone except Edgar Barrier. Still, Robert Wise imbues the story with plenty of tension, especially in the closing reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Audrey Long, (more)
- 1945
Future film producer Ross Hunter heads the cast of Columbia's A Guy, a Gal and a Pal. Hunter is the "guy", serviceman Jimmy Jones; the "gal" is Jimmy's sweetheart Helen Carter (Lynn Merrick), while the "pal" is the couple's self-appointed chaperone, 10-year-old Butch (Ted Donaldson). Helen's dilemma: should she marry Jimmy, or settle for financial security in the form of civilian Granville Breckinridge (George Meeker)? A clue to her decision: this is a Hollywood movie, and guys with names like Granville Breckinridge never get the girl in Hollywood movies. A Guy, a Gal and a Pal was directed by Oscar Boetticher Jr., who like Ross Hunter went on to bigger and better things-but only after changing his billing to Budd Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ross Hunter, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1941
Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee). Man Betrayed can be viewed from the vantage point of the 1990s as an attempt by Republic Pictures to broaden the range of its biggest star, John Wayne. That it doesn't quite work is forgotten as the audience luxuriates in the sheer professionalism of the whole endeavor--and besides, the Duke does get to put up his dukes on more than one occasion. Man Betrayed has been released under two alternate titles: Wheel of Fortune for American television, and Citadel of Crime (coincidentally the title of a like-vintage Republic "B" picture) for British audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1940
For the purposes of this inconsequential 61-minute musical, Paramount Pictures shelled out a great deal of money to film on location at showman Earl Carroll's Hollywood cabaret, and to highlight several of the performers appearing therein on a nightly basis. Since Carroll claimed to have "The Most Beautiful Girls in the World" in his chorus line, audiences could be forgiven if they didn't remember the particulars of the film's plotline. For the record, the story hinges on the kidnapping of Carroll and his star players so that the show won't go on. But retired showgirl Ramona Lisa (Rose Hobart) and press agent Barney Nelson (Ken Murray) save the day by slapping together an "instant" floor show featuring an entourage of veteran vaudevillians. Heavy doses of politically incorrect humor are provided by comic drunk Jack Norton and by Blanche Stewart and Elvia Allman in their radio characterizations of man-hungry spinsters Brenda and Cobina. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Murray, Rose Hobart, (more)
Set in wartime (WW II), this film finds the fat guy, skinny guy comedy duo not much good at any attempted professions; they can't even enlist in the war effort. None of the services want them. But they do become air raid wardens, at least for a while, until their misadventures continue. They get all boozed up and are kicked off the air raid squad, too! But things get better when they thwart a spy ring and save the day. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1945
PRC's Apology for Murder is aptly named: the production values in this 67-minute quickie are pretty sorry. If you're willing to look past the mildewed sets and murky lighting, however, this well-paced film noir is pretty enjoyable. Hugh Beaumont (yes, that Hugh Beaumont) plays a tough reporter whose honesty is compromised by scheming Anne Savage. Unable to unwrap himself from Savage's little finger, Beaumont agrees to go in on her plan to murder her husband Russell Hicks. They then contrive to frame an innocent man for their perfidy. You've seen this before as Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice, but the actors are energetic and the direction by the overworked Sam Newfield is better than usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Savage, Hugh Beaumont, (more)
- 1941
The down-home Weaver family stars in this countrified drama set in Peaceful Valley where if things went any slower they'd be going backwards. Things pick up a bit when someone steals $50 from a widow. The townsfolk are outraged and Judge Weaver finds himself accusing the widow's cleaning lady of the crime. Unfortunately, the judge is very wrong. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, (more)
- 1951
In the early 1940s, producer Hal Roach turned out several entertaining and profitable "streamliners" (each running approximately 45 minutes) about an army recruit with a photographic memory and his long-suffering sergeant. William Tracy portrayed Private (and later Sergeant) Doubleday, while Joe Sawyer was his topkick Sgt. Ames. In 1951, Hal Roach Jr. decided to revive the series, but only two 6-reel films resulted. The first, As You Were, finds Doubleday re-enlisting, much to the consternation of the bombastic Ames. This time both men find themselves at odds with their new "fellow" sergeant, lovely WAC Joan Vohs. Like its sequel Mr. Walkie Talkie, As You Were was released by Lippert Films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
An early effort from director Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Assigned to Danger was a worthwhile showcase for Gene Raymond, who'd been absent from the screen for several years. Raymond plays insurance investigator Dan Sullivan, at present trying to gather clues from a payroll heist. Someone doesn't want Sullivan to solve the case, as witness the number of times he's beaten black-and-blue. The film's bizarre climax takes place at the hideout of gang boss Frankie Mantell (Robert Bice), where Sullivan, posing as a doctor, is expected to operate on the wounded criminal! Director Boetticher is at his best in the closing reels, slowly and methodically building tension upon tension as Sullivan seeks an avenue of escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Raymond, Noreen Nash, (more)
- 1934
Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis' satirical novel of the American "middle class" was first filmed as a silent in 1924, then as a talkie ten years later. In this second version, Guy Kibbee portrays George Babbitt, a small town businessman whose sense of self-importance has turned him into a pompous ass. Only Babbitt's loving wife (Aline MacMahon) sees the decent man behind the fatuous facade. Babbitt's ego gets the better of him when he is inveigled by a lovely but duplicitous young lady (Claire Dodd) into promoting a shady land deal. On the verge of ruin, Babbitt is rescued by his wife, though there's every indication that he hasn't completely learned his lesson. While the sting of Sinclair Lewis' original novel has been blunted, One couldn't ask for a better George Babbitt than Guy Kibbee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee, (more)
- 1949
Quickie king Sam Katzman was responsible for the 64-minute swashbuckler Barbary Pirate. Set mostly in the bay of Tripoli in the early 19th century, the film stars Donald Woods as American army officer Tom Blake. Hoping to trap the titular pirates, Blake gains the confidence of Yussef, the ruler of Tripoli (Stefan Schnabel). After much swordplay and miles of stock footage, the good guys emerge triumphant. One of actor Donald Woods' fringe benefits in agreeing to star in Barbary Pirate was the presence of two lovely leading ladies. Trudy Marshall (the mother of actress Deborah Raffin) is the traditional damsel in distress, while Lenore Aubert is the dusky native girl who doesn't survive to the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Woods, Trudy Marshall, (more)
- 1933
Based on a 1933 play, this mediocre whodunit was independently produced in New York City with a Broadway cast. Lora Baxter plays Elsie Manning, a famous actress who suddenly finds herself stuck with the dead body of her former lover, James Nichols (Russell Hicks). Dr. Gruelle (Leo Carrillo) offers to take the dead man off her shoulders and pretend that Nichols died from natural causes while under his care. But Elsie disagrees with the arrangement that includes part of the 200,000 dollars she stands to inherit. As it turns out, the good doctor proves to be a homicide detective in disguise and the real murderer is unmasked. Before Morning marked the only feature film of stage actress/playwright Lora Baxter and the screen debut of Louis Jean Heydt, a member of the play's original Broadway cast. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Carrillo, Lora Baxter, (more)
- 1942
To say that Behind the Eight Ball is the best of the Ritz Brothers' quartet of Universal vehicles is faint praise indeed, but it's fact that the Ritzes pack an awful lot of laughs in the film's 60-minute running time. The story takes place at a summer theater in the Berkshire Mountains, where heroine Joan Barry (Carol Bruce) is staging a Broadway-bound musical comedy. Only one problem: two guest stars are shot and killed on two successive evenings, right in front of the audience. Hoping to solve the mystery, detective William Demarest demands that everyone -- actors and theatergoers alike -- return the following weekend to restage the show. But with no major performer willing to assume the fatal guest-star slot, Joan is forced to hire the Three Jolly Jesters (Al, Harry and Jimmy Ritz), Manhattan washroom attendants with showbiz aspirations. Though they're not keen on being set up as targets for the murderer, our three heroes gamely do as they're told -- and miracle of miracles, ultimately reveal that the killings are tied in with a nest of Axis spies! Highlights of this lightning-paced programmer include the Don Raye-Gene Paul hit song "Mister Five by Five" and the Ritz boys' specialty number "Charles Atlas Did It for Me". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Ritz Brothers [Al, Jimmy, Harry], Carol Bruce, (more)
- 1940
This British-American, coproduction was released in England by Pathe, and in the US by Monogram. Blind Fools is the old bromide about all those parents who are too rich and busy to pay attention to their teenaged children. The kids' restlessness translate into Big Trouble, culminating in the standard-issue courtroom scene. The veteran actors in the cast-Herbert Rawlinson, Clare Whitney, Russell Hicks-are far more interesting than young nonentities playing their offspring. The lurid advertising campaign accompanying Blind Fools is offset by the film's austere approach to its material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez, Blood and Sand is the beautifully rendered story of the rise and fall of a young, cocksure Spanish bullfighter, played by Tyrone Power. Working his way slowly up the ladder to success, Power achieves fame when he is praised to skies by fatuous, fickle critic Laird Cregar. A country boy at heart, Power finds himself way over his head with sophisticates, and is soon torn between his pious and faithful wife Linda Darnell and sexy, mercenary Rita Hayworth. It is Darnell, however, who comforts Power after his final, fatal goring in the bull ring. The film's best scenes depict the curious combination of horror and fascination with which bullfighting aficionados treat this most barbaric of "sports." Blood and Sand was previously filmed in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino; a Valentino contemporary, Alla Nazimova, plays Power's mother in the remakes. Portions of this film turned up as stock footage in the 1945 Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1950
As indicated by its title, Blue Grass of Kentucky is a horse-racing opus. Bill Williams plays Lin McIvor, the owner of a horse named Blue Grass. He doesn't know it, but the horse was sired by a Kentucky Derby winner, owned by Armistead (Russell Hicks). The aristocratic Armistead had previously refused to mate his prize horse with McIvor's best mare, but the union was orchestrated in secret by Armistead's sympathetic daughter Pat (Jane Nigh). Highlighted by actual scenes from the annual Derby at Churchill Downs, Blue Grass of Kentucky was pleasingly lensed in Cinecolor. The film is ample proof that prolific "B"-flick director William "One Take" Beaudine was capable of turning out first-rate work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Williams, Jane Nigh, (more)
- 1951
Mistakenly believing that America has gone to war, the Bowery Boys (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Billy Benedict, et al.) join the army. Our heroes get off to a bad start when they crash a party at the Officer's Club, a breach of protocol that earns them the undying enmity of Sergeant Frisbie (the ever-flustered Donald MacBride). Meanwhile, sweet-shop owner Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey), feeling lonely without the boys around to cheat him out of sodas and candy, heads down to the recruiting office to enlist. Because of his stellar World War I record, Louie is promoted to the boys' commanding officer, a job he takes quite seriously. A gang of sinister spies kidnaps Louie in the hope of extracting vital top secrets, but the boys come to the rescue. Even non-Bowery Boys fans will find this an enjoyable diversion; the film was one of the best of the series' several "service" comedies (Let's Go Navy, Here Come the Marines, Clipped Wings, etc.). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1939
It may sound like a teenage-romance comedy, but Boy Trouble is actually a sentimental effort about middle-aged parents. Charlie Ruggles stars as a small town shopkeeper whose wife (Mary Boland) adopts a pair of rambunctious orphan boys (Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee). Ruggles is at first hostile towards this invasion of his peace and quiet, but his paternal feelings are aroused when the children become victims of a scarlet fever epidemic. The screenwriters for Boy Trouble were satirist S. J. Perelman and his wife Laura, hardly the most logical candidates for this domestic comedy/drama. The film was meant to launch a B-series titled The Fitch Family, but didn't do well enough at the box office to justify any sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1947
After serving with a notable lack of distinction in WW2, Corporal Slicker Smith (Bud Abbott) and Private Herbie Brown (Lou Costello) return to the US. Unbeknownst to their sourpussed sergeant Collins (Nat Pendleton), Slicker and Herbie have smuggled cute little war orphan Evie (Beverly Simmons) past the immigration authorities. In their efforts to find a decent home for Evie, our heroes return to the prewar "jobs" as sidewalk salesmen, then make a disastrous attempt to collect their GI bonus money. They also struggle to save Evie from deportation, hiding her from the prying eyes of the ubiquitous Collins, who has likewise returned to his civilian job as a police officer. The climax finds Herbie participating in a big-money midget-car race, feverishly dodging pedestrians and motorists as he tries to escape the authorities. The film also includes a romantic subplot involving Tom Brown and Joan Fulton (later known as Joan Shawlee). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
