Si Jenks Movies

A Day at the Races was the Marx Brothers' follow-up to their incomparable A Night at the Opera. Groucho Marx is cast as Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a veterinarian who passes himself off as a human doctor when summoned by wealthy hypochondriac Emily Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) to take over the financially strapped Standish Sanitarium. Chico Marx plays the sanitarium's general factotum, who works without pay because he has a soft spot for its owner, lovely Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan). Harpo Marx portrays a jockey at the local racetrack, constantly bullied by the evil Morgan (Douglass Dumbrille), who will take over the sanitarium if Judy can't pay its debts. After several side-splitting routines--Chico selling Groucho tips on the races, Chico and Harpo rescuing Groucho from the clutches of femme fatale Esther Muir, all three Marxes conducting a lunatic "examination" of Margaret Dumont--the fate of the sanitarium rests on a Big Race involving Hi-Hat, a horse belonging to the film's nominal hero, Allan Jones. Virtually everything that worked in "Opera" is trotted out again for "Races", including a hectic slapstick finale wherein the Marxes lay waste to a public event. What is missing here is inspiration; perhaps this is due to the fact that MGM producer Irving Thalberg, whose input was so essential to the success of "Opera", died during the filming of "Races". Even so, Day at the Races made more money than any other previous Marx Brothers film--the result being that MGM, in the spirit of "they loved it once", would continue recycling Races' best bits for the studio's next three Marx vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a citified writer of pulp westerns decides to head into the West to experience it first hand. Unfortunately, he finds himself entangled with an outlaw and then falsely accused of murder. Fortunately, the greenhorn is saved from hanging by a brave hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sunset Carson plays a wandering cavalier who rides into the Badlands (hence the title). Heroine Peggy Stewart is bedeviled by bandits who've been raiding the livestock of her ranch. Carson plays his cards close to the vest for 45 minutes, then goes after the baddies in the film's last reel. Also in the cast is Monte Hale, not far removed from his own Republic series. Bandits of the Badlands is kept on the move by director Tommy Carr, who manages to convey the illusion that Sunset Carson has genuine acting ability. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The zippy world of auto-racing provided the basis of this off-beat actioner that centers on an auto magnate who is relentlessly driven to break every speed record with his cars. Unfortunately, his drivers keep dying on the track. This doesn't stop the obsessed manufacturer from continuing his quest. One day the tycoon and his daughter are at the race track scouting new drivers when he spots a talented young hayseed who wins the race. Impressed, he signs the naive lad on. The magnate's daughter meets the driver and soon falls in love with him. Even though the rube is well aware that his predecessors have died, he vows that he will succeed. He does, but not before learning the real reason behind the mysterious string of deaths. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

California began life as a remake of Paramount's silent western epic The Covered Wagon, but by the time it emerged on-screen in 1946, the project had metamorphosed into a standard Technicolor frontier "spectacular", concentrating more on star power than anything else. Set during the 1848 mass migration to California, the film stars Ray Milland as Army deserter Jonathan Trumbo and Barbara Stanwyck as "shady lady" Lily Bishop. Since it is clear from the outside that the purportedly disreputable Trumbo and Lily will emerge as the film's true hero and heroine, it is easy to ignore the melodramatic plot convolutions and concentrate on the outsized, well-directed wagon train sequences. George Coulouris has a few ripe moments as a sagebrush Hitler who intends to set up his own despotic empire in California, while Barry Fitzgerald does his usual Irish-blarney routine as an itinerant farmer. As a bonus, Barbara Stanwyck sings a couple of newly-minted "cowboy" songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda plays Chad Hanna, a New York country bumpkin of the mid-nineteenth century who joins a travelling circus. He falls in love with beauteous bareback rider Dorothy Lamour, but she spurns him. Chad Hanna then finds himself attracted to another runaway, country girl Linda Darnell. Though everybody assumes that the boy is slow on the uptake, Chad Hanna manages to save the circus from financial ruin. He also secures the services of a trained elephant; when asked how he acquired such a prize, Chad laconically responds "I gave him half interest in the circus." A lightweight period piece, Chad Hanna is visually impressive, and best viewed in its original pristine Technicolor state. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Stewart's last Hollywood film before entering military service, Come Live with Me teams Stewart with the hauntingly beautiful Hedy Lamarr. Lamarr plays a wealthy Austrian emigree, in love with a married American publisher. The girl must quickly find an American husband or she'll be deported. Along comes Stewart, an idealistic (and starving) writer given to quoting poetry in moments of crisis. He marries her on a "strictly business" basis...but Love finds a way, especially after Stewart wins fame by writing a story about his companionate marriage. Come Live with Me served as the screen debut of 80-year-old actress Adeline de Walt Reynolds, who as Jimmy Stewart's grandmother launched a twenty year career as everyone's favorite matriarch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed (in 16 mm) at Big Bear Lake, CA, and directed by stuntmen Richard Talmadge and Harvey Parry, this minor comedy-drama featured hayseed second banana Britt Wood and newcomer John Day (aka John Daheim) as a couple of travelers stranded at a mountain resort. After rescuing a group of girls from a runaway carriage, Steve (Day) and Speedy (Wood) are hired as drivers by Tom Barton (Edward Kane), the owner of the Grey Mountain Lodge. The place, however, is soon overrun by a gang of payroll robbers, the leader of whom, Gerald (Eddie Parker), is Tom's nephew. The police are called when a necklace is reported stolen during a party and Officer Kelsey (Fred Kelsey) suspects Tom to be the culprit. The real thief, of course, is Gerald, who attempts to flee in the gang's airplane. Happily, Steve and Speedy are in hot pursuit in the lodge's food delivery truck and the gang is rounded up. Detour to Danger was the third and final of three low-budget films produced by Jack Seaman and Richard Talmadge and released on states' rights. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Guy Kibbee, moviedom's archetypal small-town bigshot, stars in RKO Radio's Don't Tell the Wife. On this occasion, Kibbee, playing Malcolm Winthrop, has greatness thrust upon him when he buys a few shares of supposedly worthless mining stock. Though it looks as though he and the entire town will be ruined financially, Winthrop emerges triumphant when he manages to outwit up a gang of stock swindlers. Lynne Overman has some good moments as one of the crooks, Steve Dorset by name, who intends to go straight for the sake of his spouse Nancy (the "wife" of the title, played by Una Merkel), but he can't resist trying to pluck a fat goose like Winthrop. The supporting cast of Don't Tell the Wife is filled to overflowing with familiar faces, none more familiar than RKO contractee Lucille Ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eve Knew Her Apples is an pinchpenny musical reworking of Frank Capra's Oscar-winning It Happened One Night. Musical star Ann Miller takes over the Claudette Colbert role; this time she's not a runaway heiress but a runaway radio star, escaping her stuffy fiance rather than her autocratic father. William Wright assumes the Clark Gable part as the man who helps the girl on her flight for his own mercenary interests, but who eventually falls in love with her. Clocking in at 64 minutes rather than It Happened One Night's 105, Eve Knew Her Apples is more successful as a showcase for the terpsichorean talents of Ann Miller than as a romantic comedy. Columbia Pictures would attempt to musicalize It Happened One Night again with 1956's You Can't Run Away From It, filmed with ten times the budget but only half the entertainment value of Eve Knew Her Apples. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Casting an envious eye towards the huge box-office take of Columbia's Grace Moore vehicles, Republic hoped to strike gold in a similar fashion by fashioning a screen property for Kansas-born Metropolitan Opera diva Marion Talley. As it turned out, Follow Your Heart was Talley's first and last film, but Republic at least deserved a gold star for effort. The star is cast as Marian Forrester, the daughter of onetime opera star Madame Bovard (Henrietta Crossman). Recalling the many heartbreaks and disappointments attending her own stardom, Mme. Bovard refuses to allow Marian to pursue a singing career. But with the surreptitious help of handsome Michael Williams (Michael Bartlett, another real-life singer) and bumbling but lovable voice teacher Henri Forrester (Nigel Bruce), Marian makes her Met debut, and her mother gracefully bows to the inevitable. Though there's plenty of "straight" singing throughout Follow Your Heart, the film's highlight is a burlesque of the "Sextet" from Lucia di Lammermoor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fritz Lang's first American film is a vigorous and perceptive indictment of mob law, starring Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney. Katherine (Sidney) leaves her boyfriend, Joe Wilson (Tracy), behind in their Midwestern hometown when she takes a job in another city. Joe is a decent, hard-working soul, who wants to save up to buy a gas station and looks forward to the future when he and Katherine can get married. A year later, Joe is traveling to meet Katherine so that they can be married. Driving through a small town, Joe is stopped by a deputy sheriff waving a shotgun. Apparently there has been a kidnapping, and the fact that Joe has peanuts in his pocket circumstantially incriminates him in the crime. Joe is arrested and jailed. As Joe sits in his jail cell, the local townspeople begin to talk and whisper and spread rumors. Finally, a lynch mob forms and heads toward the jail. The mob tries to storm the jail and frustrated over their inability to penetrate the prison walls, they set the jail on fire. Joe barely manages to escape ("I could smell myself burning"), but the mob thinks that Joe has been burned to death. Behind the scenes, and with the help of his brothers, Joe tries to rig the verdict in the impending trial of the 22 vigilantes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Film editor Lloyd Nosler was afforded his first opportunity to direct with the Tom Tyler western Galloping Thru. Tyler plays a young galoot who returns to his hometown after several years' absence, only to see his father shot down in front of him. The local constabulary doesn't seem to be too anxious to seek out the murderers, so Tyler takes the job on himself. Meanwhile, our hero's sweetheart Betty Mack is slowly being wooed away by Tyler's best friend (some friend!) The action is consistently exciting throughout, especially during the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide