Eddie Kane Movies
Tall, distinguished-looking Eddie Kane was never remotely a star in movies or television, but he played just about every kind of important supporting and bit role that there was to portray in a Hollywood career that stretched over a quarter century. Born in 1889, Kane entered show business by way of vaudeville and rose to the top of that field as a member of the team of Kane & Herman. Hollywood beckoned with the coming of sound and his first role was typical of the kind of work that he would do for the next 25 years. In MGM's The Broadway Melody, although uncredited, Kane played the important supporting role of Francis Zanfield (a thin burlesque of Ziegfeld), the theatrical producer whose interest in one of the two sisters, played by Anita Page and Bessie Love, gets the backstage plot rolling. In later films, the actor's parts varied from anonymous head waiters and hotel managers to essential supporting roles, small but telling in the plot. He was apparently at least a nodding acquaintance of James Cagney, playing important bit parts in two of Cagney's movies: in Something To Sing About, Kane portrayed the San Francisco theater manager who shelters Cagney from the crowds swarming around him on his return from an ocean voyage; in Yankee Doodle Dandy he played the actor in Little Johnny Jones who tells Cagney's George M. Cohan, in the title role of Jones, of the plan to fire a rocket from the ship when the evidence clearing him has been found. Kane's range of roles ran from business executives and impressarios to maitre d's and as he grew older and more distinguished-looking, his delivery grew even sharper onscreen. Kane is probably best known to audiences from the 1950s and beyond for his portrayal (uncredited, as usual) of Mr. Monahan, Ralph Kramden's boss at the Gotham Bus Company, in The Honeymooners' episode in which Kramden impersonates a bus company executive to impress an old rival. Kane retired from movies and television after the 1950s and died in 1969 of a heart attack at his home. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1942
Nurse Chapman begins to fall in love with a gangster and ends up entertaining miners until she manages to pull herself out of this bad situation. ~ All Movie Guide
A Star is Born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a "true behind-the-scenes" story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. Janet Gaynor stars as Esther Blodgett, the small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood stardom, a role later played by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand in the 1954 and 1976 remakes. Jeered at by most of her family, Esther finds an ally in her crusty old grandma (May Robson), who admires the girl's "pioneer spirit" and bankrolls Esther's trip to Tinseltown. On arrival, Esther heads straight to Central Casting, where a world-weary receptionist (Peggy Wood), trying to let the girl down gently, tells her that her chances for stardom are about one in a thousand. "Maybe I'll be that one!" replies Esther defiantly. Months pass: through the intervention of her best friend, assistant director Danny McGuire (Andy Devine), Esther gets a waitressing job at an upscale Hollywood party. Her efforts to "audition" for the guests are met with quizzical stares, but she manages to impress Norman Maine (Fredric March), the alcoholic matinee idol later played by James Mason and Kris Kristofferson. Esther gets her first big break in Norman's next picture and a marriage proposal from the smitten Mr. Maine. It's a hit, but as Esther (now named Vicki)'s star ascends, Norman's popularity plummets due to a string of lousy pictures and an ongoing alcohol problem. The film won Academy Awards for director William Wellman and Robert Carson in the "original story" category and for W. Howard Greene's glistening Technicolor cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, (more)
Olsen and Johnson's second starring vehicle for Republic was better than their first (Country Gentlemen), but a Hellzapoppin' it wasn't. Ole and Chic play a couple of itinerant vaudevillians, teamed with Sally the Singing Seal ("the eighth wonder of the world"). Heroine Joan Eldredge (Mary Howard) is about to lose the theater left to her by her father, so O&J offer to stage a gala fund-raising show. Unfortunately, one of the potential backers (Eddie Kane) is murdered -- and for a while, it looks like the killer was Sally the Seal! Our heroes decide to capitalize on this setback by offering to reveal the real killer's identity during a nationwide radio hookup -- but first they need a sponsor, so the boys perform their old vaudeville musical act for "The Mackerel King" (played by perennial Laurel & Hardy stooge Jimmy Finlayson). Kidnapped just before the broadcast, Olsen and Johnson escape in time to finger the murderer, whereupon the culprit leads them on a zany chase throughout the darkened theater. All Over Town never really pulls together, but the irrepressible Olsen and Johnson deliver what may well be their funniest joint screen appearance. Incidentally, nominal leading man Harry Stockwell was the singing voice of the Prince in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--and the father of present-day actor Dean Stockwell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, (more)
- 1933
In this grim drama, a conniving young man is brought up on charges of reckless driving. To "prove" his innocence and good character, he goes to a nursing home and adopts an old woman whom he presents as his loving mother. Unfortunately for him, she really gets into her role and when he falls in love with a seductive, shady lady, the old lady does all she can to protect him from her; this includes getting him tossed in jail and shooting the young trollop. Afterward, the old lady must stand trial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, Margaret Seddon, (more)
- 1943
Bob Kane's 1939 Detective Comics superhero The Batman came to the screens in serial form courtesy of Columbia Pictures and producer Rudolph C. Flothow. In time-honored serial fashion, Flothow chose Lewis Wilson for the title role, a relative newcomer, but one with an amazing facial resemblance to the cartoon character. Wilson's athletic ability, however, left a lot to be desired and Douglas Croft, cast as young sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder, looked too old for his role, especially when doubled by a hairy-legged stunt man. For censorship purposes, the serial Bruce Wayne was not a lone Gotham millionaire crusader but gainfully employed by the Unites States government. Said government is terrorized by evil Dr. Daka (J. Carroll Naish), an emissary from Emperor Hirohito complete with atom-smasher ray guns and a device that turns its wearers into zombies. (The device, placed on the skull of its victim, resembles something from a child's Erector set.) Batman and Robin are aided by lovely Linda Page (Shirley Patterson), whose uncle (Gus Glassmire) becomes one of Dr. Daka's first victims. From the Bat Cave, the three crusaders and Wayne's butler, Alfred (William Austin), venture forth to battle the forces of evil in general and a scenery-chewing Naish in particular -- travelling in a convertible and not the later so familiar batmobile. It takes them 15 chapters and a race through an amusement park to finally destroy the evil Daka and the title of the concluding chapter, "Doom of the Rising Sun," must have brought a ray of hope to a war-weary populace. The Batman was directed by Lambert Hillyer, a veteran who knew something about bats from having previously helmed Dracula's Daughter. The serial was popular enough to merit a sequel, although it would take six more years until Columbia debuted The New Adventures of Batman and Robin (1949). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lewis Wilson, Michael Vallon, (more)
Loretta Young, who became known almost exclusively for playing sweet, wholesome roles, is kind of a shocker in this romantic drama as Letty Strong, an unwed mother who survives by living life as a grifter and the next thing to a prostitute -- all for the good of her son Mickey (Jackie Kelk), who, not yet 10 years old, is turning into a street hustler every bit as devious and untrustworthy as she is. Then, one day, he's skating on the street and gets hit by a milk truck, which happens to be driven by Malcolm Trevor (Cary Grant), the owner of the dairy, who was spot-checking his operation. Letty and Mickey try to take Malcolm for a hefty sum in court until their case is blown out of the water, but Malcolm also finds himself appalled by the kind of life that Letty is setting up for the boy. He gets her to agree to let Mickey move in with him and his wife Alice ($Marion Burns), at their estate outside the city. And after some extremely rough patches, Mickey begins to see that there's more to being a boy -- or becoming a man -- than what you can steal or cheat off the next guy. But Letty isn't about to let her son get away that easily, or let Malcolm get away with taking him from her, even if he is right. She tries to wreck Malcolm's home and marriage, all to get her son back and take revenge on him in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1933
Broadway Bad stars Joan Blondell as a wisecracking but goodhearted chorus girl whose husband (Ricardo Cortez) is an abusive lout. Blondell's plight makes the headlines, which results in an upswing in her career. Rather than wallow in self-pity, she trades on the publicity to become a star, while hubby mutters dark promises of revenge. This film was based on the real-life relationship between Broadway star Hal Skelly and a promiscuous young actress who assumed several professional names. Though its cast and subject matter might suggest that Broadway Bad is a Warner Bros. epic, the picture was actually produced and released by Fox Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1940
In this remake of the classic prison story 20,000 Years in Sing-Sing, John Garfield plays Tommy Gordon, a jewel thief who has been sent up the river for a minimum of 25 years. Tommy isn't especially worried about prison, as he's convinced his well-connected friends will help him get out before long. But Tommy learns the hard way his friends aren't as helpful as he imagined, and he regrets causing so much trouble for reform-minded warden Walter Long (Pat O'Brien), who he comes to regard as a friend and ally. Tommy's girlfriend, Kay Manners (Ann Sheridan), is desperate to get him out of prison and enlists the help of shifty lawyer Ed Crowley (Jerome Cowan); however, when Crowley tries to extract a payment from Kay that has nothing to do with money, she puts up a fight and ends up seriously hurt. Long shows his sympathetic side by granting Tommy a pass to visit Kay, but when he arrives at her home, he discovers Crowley has also arrived to see her. A scuffle ensues, and Kay shoots Crowley. Rather than see her go to jail, Tommy takes the blame, but soon goes on the lam, betraying Long's trust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, (more)
- 1942
A nightclub singer becomes actively involved in the education of the son she has never seen. She uses almost everything she makes to pay his tuition and expenses. One day she goes to the college to see how well he is doing. She is horrified to see that he is squandering his opportunity by spending his time going to parties and carousing with women. Later she learns that the college is nearly bankrupt. To save it she opens a club near campus and uses the profits to help out. Meanwhile her son grows up a bit, understands why education is important and buckles down to become a serious student. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grace Hayes, Peter Lind Hayes, (more)
- 1941
Chester Morris makes his second screen appearance as crook-turned-detective Boston Blackie in this superior series entry. This time, Blackie gets into trouble when he attends an art auction with his millionaire pal Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan). It so happens that the auction gallery is run by thieves, which heroine Diane Parrish (Harriet Hilliard) has just discovered. To keep her quiet, head crook Joe Buchanan (Ralph Theodore) takes a shot at Diane, but though he only wounds her he kills sculptor Allison (Walter Soderling). Conclusion-jumping Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) assumes that Blackie fired the shot, forcing our hero to spend the rest of the film eluding both the police and the criminals. Highlights include a hilarious fit of rage perpetrated by secondary villainess Joan Woodbury, and an amusing if slightly sadistic running gag involving hapless ice-cream vendor Billy Benedict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Richard Lane, (more)
- 1934
As the title song says, you go to those shows to see those beautiful dames--and there's dames aplenty in this 1934 Busby Berkeley extravaganza. The wisp of a plot is motivated by one Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert), a silly millionaire who spearheads a national anti-fun movement. Ounce's distant cousin Dick Powell is a producer of musical comedies. Ounce's partner is Guy Kibbee, whose daughter is Ruby Keeler. Kibbee is also the "sugar daddy" of Joan Blondell, Powell's friend and co-worker. Fill in the rest of the blanks yourself. If the plot doesn't interest you (and there's no reason why it should), sit back and enjoy the humongous production numbers based on the Warren/Dubin songs "I Only Have Eyes for You", "The Girl on the Ironing Board", and of course the title number. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1945
In this comedy, a garbage truck driver stumbles across $5,000. He decides to use the money for a wild night on the town. He and his girlfriend do not know that the money represents the spoils of a blackmailer's scheme. Somehow, the trucker and his girl accidently run across the blackmailer and wind up getting him convicted. The victim is so thankful that he gives the trucker the money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Brady, Jeff Donnell, (more)
This Pine-Thomas actioner stars Robert Lowery as two-fisted forest ranger Don Bradley. Promoted to supervisor, Bradley finds his success hollow when his childhood sweetheart Kay (Ellen Drew) marries big-time gangster Steve Downey (Regis Toomey). In soon develops that Kay has wedded Downey against her will, and is being held prisoner in a remote mountain cabin. Bradley then dashes to the rescue, which culminates in a perilous car chase through dangerous mountain passages. Eddie Quillan provides comic relief as Bradley's pal Willie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Ellen Drew, (more)
- 1946
In this crime drama, two crooks dupe their friend, a professional gambler, into nipping some important government documents. The crooks then hope to sell the documents to a foreign country. The gambler gets the papers, but then realizes that he has been tricked. He enlists the aid of a detective and they thwart the criminals' plot. A snoopy journalist presents an obstacle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blair, Larry Blake, (more)
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
- Starring:
- John Day, Nancy Brinckman, (more)
- 1933
A man's addiction to betting on the horses severely disrupts his love life in this comedy. He, a plumber, and his fiancee, a manicurist, are getting ready for their nuptials when she learns that he is planning a honeymoon at the racetrack. She immediately calls off the wedding. The man is a gambling addict. He finds it doubly hard to quit since he started on a winning streak following his break-up with the girl. His father advises him to stop before it's too late, but his son doesn't listen until he loses everything. The humbled young man awakens and returns to his true-love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1941
In this comedy, funny Langdon and Rogers end up working at a bean factory and getting into deep trouble when they accidentally lose an irreplaceable bracelet in a can. Now, before it is too late, they must somehow find that can out of a thousand that look just like it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Tim Holt is, of course, a true red-blooded cowboy in this overly tuneful RKO Western and only pretends to be the title character in order to locate a kidnapped engraver. The latter (Byron Foulger) is forced by a crooked dude ranch owner (Eddie Kane) to print counterfeit money but a couple of bills find their way to the government offices in Reno. Tim isn't the only ranch guest operating under a disguise, however, the engraver's pretty daughter (Marjorie Reynolds) is also present and manages to get herself into plenty of trouble. As always, Holt is joined by sidekicks Lee "Lasses" White and Ray Whitley, the latter performing his own and Fred Rose's title tune as well as "Silver Rio," "End of the Canyon Trail," and "Echo Singing in the Wild Wind." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
- 1931
Any movie that teams Robert Armstrong with Jean Arthur is certainly worth at least one look. Armstrong plays Chester Binney, a small-town rube who hopes to impress local beauty Ethel Simmons (Arthur). Aware that Ethel is ga-ga about "men of the world," Chester invents a shady past for himself and poses as a citified roue. He is forced to prove the veracity of his fabricated past when movie queen Letta Lardo (Lola Lane) shows up in town for a location shoot. Our hero is rescued from making a total fool of himself when it turns out that his rival (Jason Robards Sr.) for Ethel's affections turns out to be an even bigger phoney-baloney than he is. Ex-Bad Boy is based on John Emerson and Anita Loos' stage play The Whole Town's Talking (which ironically served as the title for an unrelated 1935 film, likewise co-starring Jean Arthur). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1943
In the tradition of his earlier Carnival in Flanders and Tales of Manhattan, director Julien Duvivier's Flesh and Fantasy is a "pormanteau" film, consisting of several short stories. Linking the three tales unfolded herein are clubmen Doakes (Robert Benchley) and Davis (David Hoffman), who carry on a spirited debate about Destiny. In the first story, homely Henrietta (Betty Field) is made beautiful through the love of handsome Mardi Gras reveller Michael (Robert Cummings)-and the help of an enigmatic mask-maker (Edgar Barrier). The second story, based on Oscar Wilde's "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime", concerns a fortune teller named Septimus Podgers (Thomas Mitchell) who predicts that socialite Marshall Tyler (Edward G. Robinson) will commit a murder. In the final tale, psychic high wire artist Paul Gaspar (Charles Boyer) dreams that he will meet his doom during the performance of his act-and then falls in love with Joan Stanley (Barbara Stanwyck), who looks exactly like the girl who appeared in that dream. A fourth story, detailing the doomed romance between a fugitive from justice (Alan Curtis) and a blind girl (Gloria Jean), was cut from Flesh and Fantasy, then expanded and released separately as Destiny (1944). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1932
A newspaper journalist must choose between the two women he loves in this drama. On one hand, he is in love with a publisher's daughter. On the other, he also loves a stage star who came to Tinsel Town to seek her fortune but finds she can only get parts as an extra. The hard working reporter soon finds himself promoted to city editor after he provides a couple of gangland scoops. For a while, he stops seeing the actress in favor of the publisher's daughter. The jilted actress then becomes a gangster's moll. It is during a car chase in which the editor is chasing the crooks, that he must finally choose whether to continue chasing them or to follow the car containing the actress. Naturally, he chooses hers. Love ensues. Meanwhile, the publisher's daughter is left out in the cold. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Shilling, Rex Bell, (more)
- 1930
Framed represented the return of Evelyn Brent to her old home studio of FBO, which by 1930 had been rechristened RKO Radio. Brent plays Rose Manning, a sexy nightclub hostess who hopes to avenge the murder of her father. Holding the local police chief responsible (the chief is played by William Holden -- but not that William Holden), Rose sets about to seduce and compromise the chief's patrolman son Jimmy McArthur (Regis Toomey), only to fall in love with the boy. To save Jimmy from being put "on the spot," Rose double-crosses her crooked cohort, bootlegger Chuck Gaines (Ralf Harolde). Both contemporary critics and later film historians noted that Framed borrowed freely from such earlier "slice of life" crime mellers as Broadway (which also starred Evelyn Brent) and The Racket. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Brent, Regis Toomey, (more)
- 1934
Born on the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, Lady Lee (Barbara Stanwyck) rises to prominence as a professional gambler. Though she works in a somewhat shady casino, our heroine enjoys a reputation for utter honesty, refusing all entreaties to turn crooked. Impressed by this quality, wealthy young Garry Madison (Joel McCrea) falls in love with Lady Lee and asks her to become his wife. Madison's friends and family assume that Lady Lee is merely a gold-digger, but she proves them irrefutably wrong when she saves him from a murder charge. According to some sources, Tyrone Power can be spotted in a bit role in this "A-minus" Warner Bros. programmer. Gambling Lady would make an interesting double feature with the later Stanwyck vehicle The Lady Gambles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1938
Bob Hope and Jack Whiting are amorous sailors. Martha Raye is the "ugly duckling" sister of beautiful Betty Grable. The complication? Everyone's in love with the wrong person: Martha pines for Jack who pines for Betty who pines for Bob, and so it goes. The casting seems to be mixed up as well. Betty Grable would have been the likely candidate for the roles of Legs Larkin, but this in fact is the character name of Martha Raye, who (in the picture) defeats Grable in a beautiful legs contest! Because Paramount was trying to build up a Raye-Hope team, Martha ends up with Bob at fadeout time, while Jack and Betty have to make do with each other. Martha Raye is clearly the star of Give Me a Sailor, though Bob Hope, in his third feature film, has a few worthwhile moments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha Raye, Bob Hope, (more)
- 1931
A remake of Howard Hawks's 1928 effort A Girl in Every Port, Goldie is the sort of film for which the phrase "Male Chauvinist Pig" was invented. Finding a book of girl's addresses, a sailor named Spike (Warren Hymer) learns to his dismay that every one of the girls has been tattooed by her previous sweetheart. Vowing to beat up the man responsible for this, Spike finally tracks the perpetrator down; he turns out to be another sailor named Bill (Spencer Tracy), who winds up as Spike's closest friend. Later on, the boys find themselves in Calais, where Spike falls in love with carnival girl Goldie (Jean Harlow). Bill considers Goldie to be nothing more nor less than a gold-digger, but Spike refuses to believe him. Goldie shows her true colors when she "comes on" to Bill, whereupon the latter leaves behind another tattoo as a warning for the gullible Spike. Geez, ya just can't trust dem dames! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Warren Hymer, (more)
