Mauritz Hugo Movies

Diminutive Danny (Frankie Darro) is Wanted by the Police in this Monogram actioner. Danny is basically a good boy, but he's fallen into bad company-specifically, a gang of toughs who have a habit of taking automobiles that belong to others. The hero's Irish mother (Lillian Elliot) finally figures out what's been going on and begs Danny to cease and desist. When this fails, Mom enlists the aid of Danny's sister Kathleen (Evalyn Knapp) and Kathleen's police-officer boyfriend Mike (Robert Kent) to right old wrongs and set Danny on the proper course. Wanted by the Police was partially remade as the 1948 "Bowery Boys" entry Angels Alley, which also featured Frankie Darro. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Johnny Mack Brown heads the cast of Monogram's Outlaws of Stampede Pass. Per the title, the film concerns a western community held in the grip of a gang of desperadoes. Brown and his dusty sidekick Raymond Hatton set about to round up the bad guys. We know what's going to happen, but as always, Johnny brings a sense of freshness and spontaneity to the proceedings. Outlaws of Stampede Pass was adapted from a story by Johnston McCulley, of "Zorro" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

More so than most wartime films, Mission to Moscow must be viewed within the context of its times. Requested by President Roosevelt to make a film supportive of America's Russian allies, Warner Bros. turned to the memoirs of Ambassador Joseph H. Davies, who spent several years prior to WWII in the Soviet Union. As played by Walter Huston, Davies is a pillar of incorruptable integrity, reporting the facts "as I saw them" (only in later years was Davies revealed to be something less than a paragon of virtue who was willing to alter opinions for political, personal and financial expedience). Sent to Moscow by FDR as a means of finding out if Russia is a potentially trustworthy ally in case of war, Davies and his family are given the royal treatment by the Commissars, who display the social, technological, agricultural and artistic advances made under the Stalin regime. Invariably, the Russian citizens are shown to be singing, smiling, freedom-loving rugged individuals-in contrast to the Nazis, who are depicted as humorless automatons. In its efforts to present the USSR in the best possible light, the film glosses over the notorious Purge Trials of 1937, presenting the trials as scrupulously fair and the defendants as unabashed traitors to the Soviet cause. At one point, Russia's annexation of Finland in 1939 is "justified" by Davies' explanation that the Soviets merely wanted to protect their tiny neighbor from Nazi domination! It is unfair to label Mission to Moscow as Communistic or even left-wing, since it was merely parroting the official party line vis-a-vis US/Soviet relations in 1943. Even so, screenwriter Howard Koch found it very difficult to get film work after the war because of his contributions to this "Pinko" project (conversely, Jack Warner pulled a Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of the matter by insisting that he was strongarmed into making the film). Seen objectively, Mission to Moscow is top-rank entertainment, superbly and excitingly assembled in the manner typical of Warners and director Michael Curtiz. The huge cast includes Gene Lockhart as Molotov, attorney Dudley Field Malone as Winston Churchill, Maynart Kippen as a benign, pipe-smoking Stalin, Charles Trowbridge as Secretary Cordell Hull, Leigh Whipper as Hailie Selassie, Georges Renavent as Anthony Eden and Alex Chirva as Pierre Laval, along with the more familiar faces of Ann Harding (as Mrs. Davies), George Tobias, Eleanor Parker, Moroni Olsen, Minor Watson, Jerome Cowan, Duncan Renaldo, Mike Mazurki, Frank Faylen, Edward van Sloan, Louis-Jean Heydt, Monte Blue, Robert Shayne and even Sid (sic) Charisse. Original prints of Mission to Moscow include a 6-minute prologue delivered by the real Joseph Davies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A bit "artier" than most Republic melodramas, Jealousy was directed by Gustav Machaty, the Czech expatriate famous for the 1933 exercise in erotica Extase. Nils Asther plays failed novelist Peter Urban, who is married to gorgeous Janet Urban (Jane Randolph). While trying to replenish the family coffers by working as a cab driver, Janet meets and befriends handsome physician David Brent (John Loder). Shortly afterward, a murder occurs, which is made to look like a suicide. Without tipping off too much of the plot, it's worth noting that Brent's associate is the bewitching Dr. Monica Anderson (Karen Morley) , and that such mysterious types as Hugo Haas and Mauritz Hugo are also in the picture. Jealousy was based on a story by Dalton Trumbo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Number Three in PRC's "Michael Shayne" B-series was the fair-to-middling Blonde for a Day. Hugh Beaumont stars as Shayne, while his real-life wife Kathryn Adams (no, he wasn't married to Barbara Billingsley) costars as his secretary Phyllis. This time, Shayne gets involved with police reporter Helen Porter (Marjorie Hoshelle), who has in her possession damning evidence against a gambling ring. Since Helen has written several biting attacks on the police force, she turns to Shayne for help when her life is threatened. The climax finds Helen in the clutches of the crooks, forcing Shayne to resort to a clever subterfuge to effect her rescue. Purportedly, Blonde for a Day was based on Brett Halliday's very first "Michael Shayne" story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Technicolor swashbuckler Bandit of Sherwood Forest stars Cornel Wilde as Robert of Nottingham, son of the legendary Robin Hood (Russell Hicks). Robert elects to follow in his father's footsteps when oppression rears its ugly head in the form of a despotic Regent (Henry Daniell) and his partner in perfidy Fitz-Herbert (George Macrady). Our hero reunites the Merrie Men, including Friar Tuck (Edgar Buchanan) and Will Scarlet (John Abbott), determined to force the wicked Regent to recognize the Magna Carta. He also finds time to carry on romance with high-born Anita Louise, who has disguised herself as a scullery maid. If the film's huge castle set looks familiar, it is because it was reused in several of Columbia's Three Stooges comedies, most memorably The Hot Scots (1948). Based on a novel by Paul A. Castleton, Bandit of Sherwood Forest was more or less remade four years later as Rogues of Sherwood Forest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With an ingenious script by Roy Chanslor, this modest, but imaginative film noir is notable for the strong performance by lead actor Dan Duryea Alcoholic musician Martin Blair (Duryea) becomes the prime suspect when his cheating wife is murdered, until it is determined that he was "sleeping one off" at the time of the killing. Another man (John Phillips), who was being blackmailed by the murdered woman, is sent to prison for the crime. The condemned man's wife (June Vincent) believes in her husband's innocence and sets about to prove it, enlisting the aid of Blair, who has flashes of memory about the night of the crime. Recalling that he saw a stranger leave his wife's apartment, Blair endeavors to track down this stranger. The real murderer is revealed in the film's last moments...to everyone's surprise, including the guilty party! Black Angel was based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich. Normally assigned to villainous roles, Dan Duryea gives a surprisingly impressive performance as an affectingly romantic character and is by far the most interesting and sympathetic character in the film. His performance makes the plot twist at the end, both startling and believable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Regular "Red Ryder" series villain Roy Barcroft took a well-earned breather in Homesteaders of Paradise Canyon. The equally disagreeable Gene Stutenroth (aka Gene Roth proved a fair enough substitute, however, as Bill Hume, a homesteader so disgusted over the fact that the government land he was promised for free instead goes for two dollars per acre that he hooks up with villainous newspaper publisher A.C. Blaine (Milt Kibbee). Having guided the homesteaders to Paradise Valley in the first place, Red Ryder (Allan Lane) manages to persuade his charges to remain despite the exorbitant price of land, much to the chagrin of Blaine and his cohort Langley (Emmett Vogan), who do their level best trying to scare the settlers away from the potentially lucrative valley. When Red goes undercover as a driver for Blaine's stagecoach line, young settler Steve Dill (John James) accuses him of treason and incites the settlers against him. It all comes to a showdown at the Hume ranch, where Bill's brother Rufe Mauritz Hugo) is shot before he can confess to his brother's treachery. Bill manages to get away, but Red mounts Thunder and tracks him down. Implicating his bosses Blaine and Langley, Bill is carted off to jail. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Adapted by Moss Hart from the novel by Laura Z. Hobson, this film stars Gregory Peck as recently widowed journalist Phil Green. With a growing son (Dean Stockwell) to support, Green is receptive to the invitation of magazine publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) to write a series of hard-hitting articles on the scourge of anti-Semitism. In order to glean his information first hand, Green decides to pose as a Jew. As the weeks go by, Green experiences all manner of prejudice, the most insidious being the subtle, "gentleman's agreement" form of bigotry wherein anti-Jewish sentiments are merely taken for granted. Green's pose takes a toll on his budding romance with Minify's niece Kathy (Dorothy McGuire), who comes to realize by her own example that even those who insist that they harbor no anti-Semitic feelings are also capable of prejudice. Watching from the sidelines is Green's lifelong Jewish friend Dave (John Garfield, in what may be his best performance), who despite his inherent rage over the iniquities of racism has learned to be philosophical about the failings of his fellow man-but not to the extent that he's willing to give up the fight against blind hatred. Though warned by several Jewish film moguls that to produce the film would merely "make trouble," 20th Century-Fox chieftan Daryl F. Zanuck (who was not himself Jewish) saw the project through to its conclusion. The wisdom of Zanuck's decision was proven when Gentleman's Agreement not only made a fortune for Fox, but also won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan) and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an egomaniacal producer freely treads upon those around him without regard to the harm he does. The devoted wife of a novelist sees this after the producer foists himself on her during a party; she tries to warn her novelist husband who wants the man to produce his play, but he does not listen. Later the producer tries to destroy his own girl friend's career by spreading vicious rumors; he succeeds and she loses her contract. Meanwhile the writer and his wife, thanks to the producer's manipulation, have separated. The writer is then forced to revise the play. The result is so bad that he cannot attract the actor he wanted to play his leading man. The novelist's wife gets her revenge on the producer by showing an original draft of the play to the actor her husband wanted. He is impressed and helps her find another producer. When the husband hears about his wife's actions he immediately returns, but not before punching the egotistical producer in the eye. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey play a couple of small-time vaudevillians, at least until Dailey gets a big Broadway break. Success swells his head to cataclysmic dimensions; he becomes an alcoholic, loses his stardom and winds up in the drunk ward. Grable divorces Dailey to marry rancher Richard Arlen, but Dailey's old pal Jack Oakie tries to rehabilitate the fallen star. Oakie's mission seems hopeless until Grable rejoins the act, and everything is patched up...at least professionally. If the plot of When My Baby Smiles at Me seems familiar, perhaps you've seen the previous two versions of the George Manker Watters/Arthur Hopkins play Burlesque: The Dance of Life (1929) and Swing High, Swing Low. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this compelling and unusual psychological melodrama Ann Sutton (Gene Tierney), a woman tormented by her secret kleptomania seeks help from a unscrupulous hypnotist David Korvo (Jose Ferrer). Although she is married to a successful psychiatrist (Richard Conte), and has no need to steal the items which she could easily purchase, she finds herself powerless to control her urge. She is finally caught when she attempts to steal a brooch from a department store but she is saved by Korvo who persuades the store not to prosecute. Grateful and desperate for help, Ann allows Korvo to treat her. Korvo, taking advantage of Ann's vulnerability, hypnotizes her and sends her to the home of a former mistress whom he has stolen money from and subsequently murdered when she threatened to turn him in to the police. Ann is charged with the murder. Convinced of his wife's innocence, Richard must crack Korvo's seeming airtight alibi. Richard tricks Korvo into returning to the scene of the crime to find some evidence in the exciting conclusion. This unusual tale of murder and mental illness was written by a blacklisted Ben Hecht under the pseudonym "Lester Barstow" and bears a striking resemblance to another Hecht thriller, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Republic's Trucolor "special" Susanna Pass stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, King and Queen of the West. Rogers plays "himself," while Evans is cast as female doctor Kay Parker. The villains this time around are trying to force a fish hatchery owner out of business so they can drill for underwater oil. The film's action content never impedes its musical highlights (and vice versa); among the vocal contributors are Estrelita Rodriguez (who figures prominently in one of the cliff-hanging action setpieces) and Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Susanna Pass represented the on-screen reteaming of Rogers and Evans, after several attempts by Republic to link up their Number One cowboy star with other leading ladies. Surprising, Rogers isn't teamed with a comical sidekick, though Estrelita Rodriguez is admittedly pretty funny as a flirtatious senorita. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi