Frank Jenks Movies

Nearly bankrupt because of his wife's gambling debts, ad executive Herman Albright (Erik Rhodes) tries to forget his problems by hitting on fashion model Grace Frye (Myrna Fahey). Angry and humiliated, Grace consults Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in an effort to break her contract with Albright's agency. As a result, Mason is on hand to defend Grace on a charge of murdering Albright--who actually may have been a victim of mistaken identity rather than revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While overseeing the atomic tests in the Nevada desert, Army colonel Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan) is exposed to extensive amounts of radiation. As a result, Manning grows, and grows, and grows, at the rate of ten feet per day. This sudden height gain adversely affects the poor man's mind, and soon he's as mad as a hatter. Looking for all the world like Mr. Clean in a diaper, the Colossal Man goes on a murderous rampage, laying waste to numerous landmarks. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Jessamyn West, Friendly Persuasion is set in Southern Indiana in the early days of the Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Jess Birdwell, patriarch of a Quaker family which does not believe in warfare. Birdwell's son Josh (Anthony Perkins) wishes to adhere to his family's pacifism, but is afraid that if he doesn't sign up for military service, he'll prove to be a coward. Josh joins the Home Guard, which disturbs his mother Eliza (Dorothy McGuire). But Jess Birdwell realizes that his son must follow the dictates of his own conscience. Josh proves his courage to himself when he is wounded during a Rebel raid, while the elder Birdwell is able to stay faithful to his religious calling by not killing a Southern soldier when given both a chance and a good reason to do so. Allegedly, writer Jessamyn West nearly scotched her deal with producer/director William Wyler and distributor Allied Artists when Gary Cooper, taking his fans into consideration, insisted upon including a scene in which he forsakes his pacifism and takes arms against the Rebels. If true, then wiser heads prevailed, since no such scene exists in the final release print. Though uncredited due to his status as a blacklistee, Michael Wilson wrote the screenplay for Friendly Persuasion--and even won an Oscar nomination. Also nominated was the film's chart-busting theme song, "Thee I Love" (by Dmitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster). The story was remade as a 2-hour TV pilot film in 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Bowery Boys--Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) et. al.--are suckered into buying a uranium mine near the western town of Panther Pass. Though the boys find none of the precious mineral, a gang of bad guys, led by Ron Haskell (Harry Lauter), are led to believe that mine is valuable. The crooks try to chase our heroes off their property, but before long the tables are turned, and the film wraps up with a zany jeep pursuit. Director Edward Bernds and screenwriter Elwood Ullman reuse several old Three Stooges gags in Dig That Uranium, including the poker game routine from the Stooges' Out West (1947). The film's best bit is an extended parody of High Noon, replete with really slow bullets. Incidentally, the doofus who sells the boys the uranium mine in the opening scene is none other than Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Filmed at Iverson's Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, Dig That Uranium was the final "Bowery Boys" outing for Bernard "Louie Dumbrowski" Gorcey, who died in a traffic accident shortly after filming was completed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Self-style western star John Carpenter is the "auteur" of the low-budget hayburner Outlaw Treasure. Carpenter not only stars in the film (billed as "John Forbes"), but also produced and wrote the picture as well; surprisingly, however, he handed over the directorial reins to Oliver Drake. The story concerns an Army scout (Forbes) who is assigned to get to the bottom of a series of gold-shipment hijackings. To make a long story short, he does. The Jesse James gang figures briefly in the proceedings, but they, like the heroine (Adele Jergens), are summarily dropped after serving their plot purpose. Modern viewers may be impressed at how closely John Carpenter resembles Montgomery Clift--at least, until he opens his mouth to speak. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lois (Noel Neill) writes a story about the discovery of an ancient necklace with alleged magic powers. It is said that whosoever wears the necklace will be protected from all harm. Gangster boss Jake Morrell (Lawrence Ryle) decides to kidnap Lois as part of a scheme to find out if necklace is all it is cracked up to be--but Morrell has reckoned without the intervention of Lois' fellow reporter Clark Kent (George Reeves), who happens to have an alternate identity as a flying superhero. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

No relation to the 1973 Burt Reynolds vehicle of the same name, White Lightning is a passable programmer about a champion ice hockey team. Stanley Clements plays Mike, an arrogant young hockey player who immediately alienates his new teammates. Team manager Jack (Steve Brodie) tries to convince Mike to quit grandstanding, but to no avail. The plot rears its ugly head when a group of gangsters try to coerce Mike into fixing a few games. At long last, Mike's responsibility to his fellow players is awakened, and a happy ending is had by all (except the gangsters). White Lightning was the first Monogram "B" picture to be released by Monogram's successor Allied Artists; it would not be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Johnny Sims, a two-bit burglar and sneak-thief, breaks into the apartment of Clark Kent (George Reeves) and chances upon the secret closet where he keeps his Superman costume (Kent isn't wearing it that night because he must take a check-up as part of an office insurance program). He steals the costume but manages to get shot by a pursuing police officer and makes his way to the apartment of Ace (Dan Seymour) and Connie (Veda Ann Borg), a pair of low-level criminals. The burglar dies, but not before he gives Ace the location of the apartment where he got the costume. Ace is skeptical but the notion that this is Superman's costume, and what it would mean if he could figure out Superman's secret identity, is too tempting to ignore. Meanwhile, Kent is almost panic-stricken over the loss of the costume and what it might mean if someone discovered his secret. He can't go to the police, so he calls in a friend, private detective Candy Meyers (Frank Jenks), who is understandably bewildered when he is asked to help Kent recover a stolen piece of property, but also informed that he can't be told what the property is. While he's following up on the prints left behind by the burglar, Ace and Connie are several steps ahead -- when they learn that Kent is a reporter for the Daily Planet, they know they're on the right track. But due to a misunderstanding, they think that Candy is Kent and kidnap the detective. Kent must save his friend and bring an end to this situation, and to do it he is forced to bring Ace and Connie to a remote mountain peak, to an isolated cabin, until he can figure out what to do about them. It's then that the pair make a disastrous decision about trying to escape. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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, Rovi

I Was an American Spy is a true story, based on a series of autobiographical Reader's Digest articles written by Claire Phillips. Ann Dvorak stars as Ms. Phillips, an American nightclub singer trapped in Singapore when the Japanese march in. Having lost her husband to the Bataan death march, Phillips agrees to join an American secret agent (Gene Evans) in undermining the Japanese occupation troops. She is captured by the enemy, tortured, and sentenced to be shot, but is rescued at the last minute by her American contact. I Was an American Spy handles its more brutal scenes with a marked degree of tastefulness, thanks to the careful direction of Lesley Selander. Just as in their wartime movie appearances, Chinese actor Richard Loo and Korean actor Philip Ahn are eminently hissable as the Japanese villains. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Arizona Cowboy" Rex Allen and his faithful horse Koko head the cast of Republic's Utah Wagon Train. Allen plays a modern-day cowpoke who agrees to shepherd a group of Easterners along the same route used by a long-ago wagon train. The purpose is to hopefully locate a fortune in gold, left behind by the original pilgrims. There's something suspicious about the whole enterprise: for starters, Rex's uncle is killed just before he was to join the expedition. The plot gradually evolves into a murder mystery, complete with the Least Likely Suspect who turns out to be the killer. Penny Edwards co-stars as the pert heroine who instigates the reconstructed wagon train, while Buddy Ebsen once more proves to be a suitable sidekick for the personable Rex Allen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lucky Losers is an uncharacteristically dramatic entry in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" comedy series. Incredibly enough, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) and Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) have gotten jobs in the office of Wall Street broker David J. Thurston (Selmer Jackson). Soon afterward, Thurston apparently commits suicide (not because of the boys' ineptitude, as one might suspect). Slip and Sach's TV-reporter pal Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell) suspects that Thurston was murdered, prompting the boys to search for clues in the dead man's office. The evidence trail leads to a gambling house, where Slip and Sach secure work as croupiers. Learning that their new boss, Bruce McDermott (Lyle Talbot), was somehow connected to Thurston, the boys report this to Gabe, who makes the information public--and gets beaten up for his troubles. Now it's up to Slip, Sach and the rest of the Bowery Boys to expose the protection racket in which McDermott is involved. There's too much plot and not enough laughs in this "Bowery Boys" entry; Fortunately, Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are in top form, making the most of their very few comic opportunities. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joe Kirkwood Jr. once more plays Ham Fisher's comic-strip creation Joe Palooka. This time around, Joe's faithful girl Ann Howe is essayed by Lois Hall, while James Gleason replaces Leon Errol in the role of Joe's manager Knobby Walsh. The story gets under way when soft-hearted pugilist Palooka witnesses a gangland rubout. Joe is all for testifying, but the police can do nothing: the body has disappeared, and all evidence has been destroyed. Even so, Joe publicly identifies the killers, leading to any number of perilous situations. The climax borrows heavily from the 1944 thriller Murder My Sweet, with a doped-up Joe suffering hallucinations in the boxing ring. Joe's pal Humphrey Pennyworth is played by Robert Coogan, a little chubbier than he was when last we saw him in Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi