Paul Hurst Movies

The titular valley is the locale for an inordinate amount of double-crosses and betrayals. Young prospector Carroll Nye thinks he's doing a good deed when he rescues heroine Rada Rae, whom he finds wandering aimlessly in the desert. Little does Nye realize that Rae is in cahoots with claim-jumping Raymond Wells, who intends to get his hands on a valuable gold mine, the location of which is known only by our hero. Upon realizing he's been duped, Nye begins to punch out the girl (a startling scene!), but comes to regret his rash behavior when it develops that Rae has been forced to betray him under threat of death. By film's end, however, it is the villainous Wells who suffers the most. Death Valley was remade, scene-for-scene, in 1946, with Helen Gilbert and Nat Pendleton in the main roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Joseph Kane adapted his own story Diamond Carlisle for the screenplay of In Old Sacramento--the third film version of Kane's original tale. Bill Elliot stars as masked bandit Spanish Jack, who behaves as badly as he wishes with few of the usual redeeming features plaguing most cinema desperadoes. In fact, in the earlier film versions of Diamond Carlisle, Elliot's character was the villain! After numerous hairbreadth adventures, Elliot dies in the arms of loving saloon singer Constance Moore. Also released as Flame of Sacramento, this was the first of a long line of films in which onetime "B" cowboy star Bill Elliot would portray a new kind of "B" western hero--one who drank at any opportunity, took advantage of unarmed foes, and lived by his own personal code rather than the edicts of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Owen Wister's 1902 novel was made into a movie several times, most notably in 1929, with Gary Cooper starring. This 1946 remake of the often-filmed saga gave Joel McCrea the title role as the standing-tall cowboy in Wyoming. The Virginian and his best friend Steve (Sonny Tufts) are rivals for the affections of Molly Wood (Barbara Britton), a schoolteacher who has migrated from the East and finds herself intimidated by the rough morality of the West. Steve is after a quick buck and hooks up with a nefarious cattle rustler, Trampas (Brian Donlevy). The Virginian warns his friend not to take up the life of crime, but to no avail. Much gunplay ensues. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two competing reporters get involved in a mystery when they find a gangster's corpse in a wax museum. As no one has reported the death, the two rivals begin racing to get the scoop. Unfortunately the uncooperative corpse keeps disappearing. Also looking for the body is the killer who does not want his murder to become public as he has also stolen some jewels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Dolly Sisters is the heavily Hollywoodized biopic of Jennie and Rosie Dolly, Hungarian-born entertainers who took Broadway by storm in the early 1900s. Betty Grable plays Jennie and June Haver plays Rosie; their uncle is the inevitable "funny foreigner" S.Z. Sakall, who manages their career from childhood. Passing an important audition for Oscar Hammerstein, the Dolly girls become international stage headliners, but in so doing they find that their private life is strained. Jennie in particular is perplexed by the dilemma of devoting herself to a career while still finding time to romance handsome composer John Payne. The Dolly girls are separated permanently when Rosie is fatally injured in an auto accident, but Jennie finds lasting happiness with her composer. Despite the pre-World War I ambience of the film, both Grable and Haver show off a lot more skin than would have been permissible in earlier times. But Dolly Sisters producer George Jessel knew what he was doing, and the Technicolor film was a major hit in 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

According to Hollywood lore, both John Wayne and director Frank Borzage refused to work with Vera Hruba Ralston, the Czech-born inamorata (and future wife) of Republic Pictures owner Herbert I. Yates. Yates somehow managed to convince Wayne to change his mind, but Borzage was replaced by contract director Joseph Kane. The result was Dakota, the company's major release of 1945, a potentially sprawling empire-building Western. Wayne and Ralston play newlyweds heading for Fargo, North Dakota, where they plan to buy land in anticipation of the coming of the railroad. They are opposed by saloon owner Jim Bender (Ward Bond), who also knows about the expansion and is coercing the homesteaders into selling their land to him and his chief lieutenant, Collins (Mike Mazurki). The latter has been elected president of the Wheat Growers Association, and soon the farmers find themselves indebted to Bender. But Wayne, with his wife's help, beats Bender and his henchman at their own game, making certain that the farmers are well compensated for selling their land to the railroad company owned by Ralston's father (Hugo Haas). Contrary to popular belief, Vera Hruba Ralston was not Dakota's chief liability. For some reason, Republic Pictures, normally a leader in action-oriented melodrama, chose to employ an inordinate amount of rear projection footage this time around, making for rather dull viewing. The Western only leaves the confines of the studio back lot for the climactic prairie fire scenes, filmed by a second unit under the direction of stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Apparently a better figure skater than an actress, Ralston actually shows a bit of spirit in some of her scenes but is rather obviously upstaged by the veteran Ona Munson as a kind-hearted saloon entertainer. Munson was borrowed from Warner Bros. and her singing of "Coax Me" by Andrew B. Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer remains one of Dakota's main pleasures despite editor Fred Allen's endless cross-cutting to Ralston's reactions. The latter was reportedly a very pleasant person devoid of a prima donna ego and would be cast opposite John Wayne again in The Fighting Kentuckian (1949). Republic serial heroines Linda Stirling and Adrian Booth can be spotted among Munson's dancing girls. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Arthur Lake took time off from his Blondie duties at Columbia to star in Republic's The Big Show-Off. Lake plays an obnoxious pianist who has eyes for beautiful Dale Evans (the same), but she is put off by his ceaseless boasting. Only when Lake is taken down a peg or two in a wrestling match does Evans exhibit any affection for the poor sap. This film looks suspiciously like a Joe E. Brown vehicle that was deferred to Lake when Brown either proved unavailable or too expensive. Dale Evans gets to sing twice in The Big Show-Off. Thankfully, Arthur Lake does not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime comedy, a prominent judge's vacation is interrupted during a sudden storm that forces him to seek refuge in a shady nightclub where he is mistaken by the mobsters for a highly esteemed racketeer. Unfortunately, mayhem erupts when a moll recognizes him as the judge who sent her low-life lover to prison and she blows the whistle. Fortunately, by the story's end, the judge has managed to reform them all. Law and order ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Cole Porter Broadway musical Something for the Boys was brought to the screen by 20th Century Fox with three new non-Porter tunes thrown in. The dated libretto (by Herbert and Dorothy Fields) involves a crumbling Southern plantation which is converted into a home for servicemen's wives. Running the operation are three cousins: Michael O'Shea, Vivian Blaine, and, from the South American branch of the family, Carmen Miranda. When money runs out, the threesome contrive to put on a fundraising show -- which of course looks far too expensive to break even, but since Carmen Miranda's in the picture, who knows. Perry Como makes his movie debut in Something for the Boys singing a handful of pleasant songs, while Judy Holliday shows up in a funny bit as a defense-plant welder with peculiar dental problems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those willing to accept Carmen Miranda as a "typical" 1920s type will be able to swallow the rest of the lavish but rather silly 20th Century-Fox musical Greenwich Village. Most of the action takes place in a New York speakeasy managed by tough guy Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Providing entertainment in this rowdy establishment is songwriter Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche), singing sensation Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) and fortune-teller/dancer Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). Harvey aspires to become a serious composer, while O'Mara has yearnings to produce a hit Broadway show. Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction by fadeout time, and Harvey (of course) falls in love with Bonnie. Specialty acts included the ballroom dance team of Tony and Sally De Marco, the precision-tap specialists The Four Step Brothers, and an up-and-coming group of nightclub comedians called The Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Alvin Hammer), whose main routine, alas, ended up on the cutting room floor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wally Brown and Alan Carney, RKO's own Abbott and Costello ripoffs, star in the comedy western The Girl Rush. As usual, Brown is cast as fast-talking Jerry Miles and Carney plays slow-witted Mike Strager. This time, Jerry and Mike are travelling showmen, stranded in San Francisco when the 1849 gold strike at Sutter's Mill commandeers all available transportation. Making the best of things, our heroes decide to stage a girl-filled musical revue for the entertainment-hungry miners. They also promise that the girls will prove to be excellent wives for the prospectors. Only one problem: where are the girls? This slapped-together effort would be utterly unmemorable were it not for the presence of Robert Mitchum, cast as a clever outlaw who at one point in the film disguises himself as a mail-order bride! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This ambitious filmed biography of writer-adventurer Jack London is somewhat compromised by its too-tight budget. Michael O'Shea is well cast as London, whose rugged adventures range from the high seas to the Klondike. London's insatiable wanderlust causes friction in his marriage to the lovely Charmian (Susan Hayward), but she stands nobly by his side in good times and bad (it should be noted that the script is based on Mrs. London's memoirs). In the interests of topicality, the film contrives to have London endeavor to warn America of Japanese military expansion some four decades before Pearl Harbor. It is this story element that makes Jack London a bit difficult to watch today, despite the strong performances of O'Shea, Hayward and a superb supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This now-classic indictment of mob rule was a pet project of both star Henry Fonda and director William Wellman, both of whom agreed to work on lesser 20th Century-Fox projects in exchange for this film. After a hard winter on the range, cowboys Gil Carter (Fonda) and Art Croft (Harry Morgan) ride into a fleabitten small town for a drink. Within minutes, they get mixed up in a barroom brawl, which earns them the animosity of the locals. By and by, word reaches town that a local rancher has been killed by rustlers. With the sheriff out of town, a lynch mob is formed under the leadership of Major Tetley (Frank Conroy), a former Confederate officer who hopes to recapture past glories. Worried that they'll be strung up, Carter and Croft reluctantly join the mob and head out of town. In the dark of night, the group comes across three sleeping transients: a farmer named Martin (Dana Andrews), a Mexican (Anthony Quinn), and a senile old man (Francis Ford). The fact that Martin carries no bill of sale written by the so-called murder victim is evidence enough for Tetley to demand that the three men be hanged on the spot. Carter knows that this is a gross miscarriage of justice, but he's helpless to intervene. Resolving himself to his fate, Martin gives Carter a letter to deliver to his wife. The three unfortunates die at the end of the rope, and the mob rides off, only to discover that there never was a murder of any kind. Based on a novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, The Ox-Bow Incident is not so much a western as a gothic melodrama, with deep, looming shadows and atmospheric underlighting worthy of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Though the film lost a fortune at the box office (a fact that Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck never tired of pointing out to Fonda and Wellman), it gains in stature with each passing year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide