Earl Hodgins Movies

"This town ain't big enough to hold both of us," saloon owner Dink Davis (Cliff Clark) tells his new rival Steve Mawson (John Phillips) in the opening of this lighthearted Hopalong Cassidy Western. Schoolmarm Lucy Abbott (Anne O'Neal) couldn't agree more; in fact, the spinsterish teacher is outraged that Mawson is establishing his den of inequity more or less in her own backyard and decides to take matters into her own hands. But before she can do much more than hurl a couple of apples through the barroom window, Miss Abbott finds herself the victim of a gang of kidnapping thugs. "I'll box your ears," the aggrieved school mistress promises her abductors, all of whom used to be her pupils. Back in town, Mawson appears the most likely suspect of this newest outrage, but Hoppy (William Boyd) has his doubts. With California Carlson (Andy Clyde) left behind as a substitute teacher, Cassidy and sidekick Lucky Jenkins (Rand Brooks) do a little digging and come up with a most surprising result. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Legendary stunt coordinator and second-unit director Yakima Canutt was the man in the director's chair for Republic's Oklahoma Badlands. Canutt makes certain that his star, former Notre Dame football player Allan "Rocky" Lane, is given a real workout in the course of the film's 59 minutes. The plot finds Lane posing as the new owner of a ranch, the better to foil the villains who plan to take over the ranch for their own nefarious purposes. Our hero's ruse is exposed when it is revealed that the actual owner is a young woman, one Leslie Rawlins (Mildred Coles). This places both Lane and Leslie in dire peril at the hands of main villain Sanders (Roy Barcroft). Perhaps as a favor for past services rendered, director Canutt casts one of his fellow stuntmen, Dale Van Sickel, in an important speaking role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical drama, loosely based on a popular radio program, a country performer and his band aspire to fame and fortune via the assistance of a theatrical agent. They want the fortune to help replace the local church that accidentally caught fire while they were practicing. Songs include: "Walking the Floor over You" and "You Nearly Lose Your Mind," "Oakie Boogie," "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right," "If It's a Dream," and "Only Teasing Me." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the sixth and final Thin Man whodunit, Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) look into the mysterious killing of bandleader Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed). The police quickly hone in on the owner of a gambling ship, Phil Brant (Bruce Cowling), who was about to lose Drake's band to a competitor. Also among the many and varied suspects are: Phil's new wife, socialite Janet Thayar (Jayne Meadows); the band's voluptuous vocalist, Fran Page (Gloria Grahame); and the troubled clarinetist, Buddy Hollis (Don Taylor). With the assistance of jive-talking "Clinker" Krause (Keenan Wynn) and the clever terrier Asta, Nick and Nora are soon able to gather all the suspects at the reopening of the floating gaming establishment. In between the skullduggery and the usual wisecracks, Gloria Grahame performs a sultry version of Herb Magidson and Ben Oakland's "You're Not So Easy to Forget." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Reading-of-the-will melodramatics substitute for the usual B-Western shootin' and fightin' in this late entry in the long running Hopalong Cassidy series, which has sidekick California Carlson (Andy Clyde) as one of six heirs to the supposedly worthless Baxter property. During the reading of Hiram Baxter's will, one of the heirs, Phineas Phipps (Joel Friedkin), is murdered, presumably by the same mystery figure who had earlier taken pot shots of the arriving Hoppy (William Boyd), Lucky (Rand Brooks), and California. Soon panels are sliding, spectral voices are heard, and shots are fired. Yet another heir, Ralph Baxter (Nedrick Young), is murdered and crooked attorney Potter (John Parrish) points the finger at Lucky. Meanwhile, Hoppy discovers that there is oil in them thar hills, a fact that Potter and co-conspirator Ogden (Robert B. Williams) conveniently forgot to mention to the heirs. After performing a bit of detective work, Hoppy catches the mystery killer in the act, so to speak, and the ranch is eventually returned to the surviving heirs, Ruth Baxter (Patricia Tate), housekeeper Mathilda Hackett (Una O'Connor), ranch hand Joshua Colter (Earle Hodgins), and California. The latter, however, relinquishes his share in favor of returning to the Bar 20 with his friends. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Marise Aubert (Greer Garson) has begun seeing a psychiatrist to treat her overwhelming guilt. It seems that Marise was married to Paul (Robert Mitchum), who was sent overseas in World War II. She loved Paul deeply and remained faithful to him. She then receives tragic news that Paul died in action, and months later is visited by Jean Renaud (Richard Hart), one of Paul's friends from the Army. Jean tells Marise that he and Paul were captured by enemy troops, and Paul died in the midst of a heroic attempt to escape. Marise senses that Jean is as lonely and heartbroken as she is, and she allows him to stay at her house. They fall in love, but the situation becomes complicated when a letter arrives from Paul. Jean hides it from Marise, hoping that she will not discover that her husband is still alive. He tries to convince her to sell her home and move away from her troubling memories, but before the sale can go through, Paul appears at the doorstep. While Paul can forgive Marise for betraying him, she is unable to forgive herself. Desire Me was released without a director's credit; the bulk of the principal photography was supervised by George Cukor, but by all accounts it was a troubled shoot, and eventually Mervyn LeRoy] and Jack Conway both worked to finish the picture. Garson nearly drowned while filming one scene, and Mitchum claimed that Cukor put Garson through 125 takes of another scene before she could say the word "No" to his satisfaction. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Accomplice was the "pilot" for a proposed PRC series based on Frank Gruber's short-tempered detective hero Simon Lash. Commendably, Richard Arlen plays Lash as written-brusque, nasty, antisocial. The plot gets under way when socialite Joyce Bonniwell (Veda Ann Borg) hires Lash to located her missing husband Jim (Edward Earle). The fact that Joyce is Lash's former sweetheart heightens the detective's interest in the case-so much so that, for most of the film's running time, he doesn't realize that he's being set up by a pair of extremely clever con artists. Four murders later, however, Lash ties up all the loose ends and turns the crooks over to the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of William Boyd's self-produced "Hopalong Cassidy" films, Fool's Gold maintains the standards set by the first (Devil's Playground), though it's a step down from the vintage Cassidy films of the late 1930s-early 1940s. Once again, Hoppy (Boyd) is teamed with California Carson (Andy Clyde) and Lucky Jenkins (Rand Brooks). Our three heroes try to help Hoppy's old army buddy, whose son has been keeping company with a gang of crooks. Posing as a disgraced army captain, Cassidy infiltrates the gang and tries to save the boy from himself-if he can avoid detective by The Professor (Robert Emmet Keane), erudite leader of the criminals. Originally released at 63 minutes, Fool's Gold was cut to 54 minutes for its TV release, through the simple expedient of lopping off the entire first reel! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This initial entry in Monogram's Bowery Boys series is also the second remake of the 1933 film He Couldn't Take It (the original script was by no less than Dore Schary, billed for reasons best known to himself as Jeb Schary). Leo Gorcey stars as Slip Mahoney, a pugnacious type whose volatile temper loses him one job after another. Slip's sister Mary (Pamela Blake), secretary to construction executive Sayers (John Eldredge), persuades her boss to use his influence to get Slip a job as a process server. After successfully repossessing a car belonging to nightclub thrush Jeannette (Claudia Drake), Slip and his fellow "skip tracer" Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) endeavor to serve a subpoena to homicidal gangster Patsy Clark (Mike Mazurki). Though the boys get quite a going over from the "playful" Patsy, they not only successfully complete their mission, but also prove that the supposedly respectable Sayers is a criminal mastermind. Essentially a vehicle for Leo Gorcey, Live Wires pushes the rest of the Bowery Boys (Bobby Jordan, Billy Benedict et. al.) into the background; it wasn't until the second series entry In Fast Company that the former "East Side Kids" truly became a team again. Bernard Gorcey, who later played sweet-shop owner Louie Dumbrowski, is seen herein as a small-time gambler. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

A much celebrated bout between legendary prize-fighters Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons becomes a hot issue in the Nevada community of Carson City in this above-average entry in Republic Pictures popular "Red Ryder" series. Leading citizen Molly McVey (Peggy Stewart) considers boxing to be a display of barbarism and does her utmost to have the fight cancelled. Red Ryder (Allan Lane), in contrast, permits Corbett (George Turner) and his manager Bill Delaney (Roscoe Karns) to use the Duchess's ranch as their headquarters. Our hero, however, almost comes to regret that decision when nearly ambushed by villainous Mckean (Roy Barcroft), who conspires to take off with the prize money. No sooner is McKean dispatched when Red finds himself kidnapped by a couple of ruffians hired by Molly, who still attempts to prevent the carnage. Molly, however, discovers her error and Red returns just in time to witness Corbett losing to Fitzsimmons (John Dehner). Supporting actor George Turner, who bears no resemblance to the real life Jim Corbett (1866-1933), later played the title role in the 1947 serial Son of Zorro. Coprbett, who had won the world heavyweight championship in 1892, did indeed lose the title to Fitzsimmons (1863-1917) in Carson City, NV, March 17, 1897. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Andrew Stone's The Bachelor's Daughters has much of the nonsensical breeziness of Stone's earlier screwball comedy Hi Diddle Diddle; the stylistic link between the two properties is emphasized by the presence in both films of stars Adolphe Menjou and Billie Burke. The title characters are four merrily mercenary salesgirls: Eileen (Gail Russell), Terry (Ann Dvorak), Marta (Jane Wyatt) and Cynthia (Claire Trevor). Persuading distinguished-looking floorwalker Mr. Moody (Menjou) and shop assistant Molly (Burke) to pose as their wealthy parents, the girls rent a lavish Long Island mansion and pretend to be heiresses, for the express purpose of landing rich husbands. Eileen catches millionaire Bruce Farrington (John Whitney), Terry goes after Broadway impresario Diane (Russell Hicks), and Marta ends up with Schuyler Johson (played by famed concert pianist Eugene List), son of the owner of the store where she works. Only Cynthia fails in her mission, but there's still hope for her yet at the finale. In the process of snaring their mates, the bachelor's daughters learn the hard way that (all together now) Money Isn't Everything, while middle-aged Moody and Molly find true love without a price tag attached. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide