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- 1943
Jinx Falkenburg supplies the music and beauty and Bert Gordon provides the chuckles in Columbia's Laugh Your Blues Away. In his standard "Mad Russian" characterization ("How do you doooooo!"), Gordon plays an unemployed actor who poses as one Count Boris Rascalnikoff at the home of Texas cattleman Conklin (Dick Elliot). Also along for the ride is the actor's pretty sister Pam (Ms. Falkenburg), who impersonates the Countess Olga. It's all part of a scheme engineered by the social-climbing mother (Isobel Elsom) of Jimmy Westerly (Douglass Drake) to marry off her son to Conklin's daughter Priscilla (Phyllis Kennedy). But when Jimmy falls in love with Olga-er, Pam-the borscht hits the fan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jinx Falkenburg, Bert Gordon, (more)
- 1943
In this musical, a lovely and ambitious young woman masquerades as the daughter of a formerly beloved stage actress to help launch her Broadway career. She chooses one entertainment columnist in particular. But the starlet's carefully-made plans begin to unravel when a rival columnist learns of her ruse and tries to expose her. Songs include: "Let's March Together" (Saul Chaplin), "I Bumped My Head on a Star" (Cindy Walker), "Honk, Honk" (Roy Jacobs, Gene De Paul), "Timber Timber" (Don Reid, Henry Tobias), "Moon on My Pillow" (Charles, Henry, Elliot Tobias). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jinx Falkenburg, Tom Neal, (more)
- 1942
When a young woman inherits $1 million she finds herself the target of a criminals who wants her money too! ~ 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
- 1942
In this musical comedy, a musical comedy star is finally reunited with her estranged son whom she hasn't seen in 20 years. She is so happy she buys him a little restaurant which he and his friends turn into a dinner theater. Soon they make the place a great success. Songs include: include "Annabella," "It Makes No Difference When You're in the Army" (Johnny Lange, Lew Porter), "Put Your Trust in the Moon" (June Baldwin, Charles Callender), "Zis Boom Bah" (Elaine Cannon), "Good News Tomorrow," "I've Learned to Smile Again" (Neville Fleeson). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Columbia's belated effort to cash in on the popularity of Abbott & Costello's Buck Privates was the raucous and generally amusing wartime comedy Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. Jackie Gleason (the same!) and Jack Durant are teamed for the first and only time as Hank and Jed, a pair of dimwitted barbers who are forced into bankruptcy because all their customers have marched off to war. Figuring that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Hank and Jed try to join the Army themselves, only to be rejected for a variety of reasons (When asked to read the eye-chart, Hank says he can't-not because he can't see, but because he can't read). Still wishing to serve their country, our heroes set up a "home guard" unit, and in this capacity manage to trap a gang of homicidal crooks. To his credit, Jackie Gleason does not try to imitate his idol Lou Costello, but the A&C influence is felt throughout this trivial little laughspinner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Jack Durant, (more)
- 1942
This final "Tarzan" entry from the MGM assembly line is arguably one the least effective of the series, though it certainly has its adherents. It all begins when Boy (Johnny Sheffield), adopted son of Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), is kidnapped from the jungle by crooked circus promoters Rand (Charles Bickford) and Shields (Paul Kelly) and spirted off to America. This requires Tarzan and his mate to adopt "civilized" clothes and head to New York City, with the troublesome Cheeta the Chimpanzee along for the ride. There are some amusing moments as Tarzan tries to acclimate himself with the Big Apple, and some less amusing ones as Cheeta gets hold of a powder puff and lays waste to an expensive hotel room. The film's highlight, Tarzan's leap from the Brooklyn Bridge, comes at the film's halfway point, and accordingly things slow down considerably during the final reels. Tarzan's New Adventure works better as a stunt than as an official series entry, but it is still preferable to some of the so-so RKO Radio Tarzan films which were to follow. One racially questionable sequence involving black comedian Mantan Moreland has been understandably removed from some TV prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, (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)
The first of director Frank Capra's independent productions (in partnership with Robert Riskin), Meet John Doe begins with the end of reporter Ann Mitchell's (Barbara Stanwyck) job. Fired as part of a downsizing move, she ends her last column with an imaginary letter written by "John Doe." Angered at the ill treatment of America's little people, the fabricated Doe announces that he's going to jump off City Hall on Christmas Eve. When the phony letter goes to press, it causes a public sensation. Seeking to secure her job, Mitchell talks her managing editor (James Gleason) into playing up the John Doe letter for all it's worth; but to ward off accusations from rival papers that the letter was bogus, they decide to hire someone to pose as John Doe: a ballplayer-turned-hobo (Gary Cooper), who'll do anything for three squares and a place to sleep. "John Doe" and his traveling companion The Colonel (Walter Brennan) are ensconced in a luxury hotel while Mitchell continues churning out chunks of John Doe philosophy. When newspaper publisher D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), a fascistic type with presidential aspirations, decides to use Doe as his ticket to the White House, he puts Doe on the radio to deliver inspirational speeches to the masses -- ghost-written by Mitchell, who, it is implied, has become the publisher's mistress. The central message of the Doe speeches is "Love Thy Neighbor," though, conceived in cynicism, the speeches strike so responsive a chord with the public that John Doe clubs pop up all over the country. Believing he is working for the good of America, Cooper agrees to front the National John Doe Movement -- until he discovers that Norton plans to exploit Doe in order to create a third political party and impose a virtual dictatorship on the country. The last of Capra's "social statement" films, Meet John Doe posted a profit, although Capra and Riskin were forced to dissolve their corporation due to excessive taxes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, (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)
- 1941
Skating star Sonja Henie and the Glenn Miller Orchestra share the spotlight in Sun Valley Serenade. Henie plays a Norwegian refugee adopted by band pianist John Payne, who mistakenly thought that the full-grown Miss Henie was a 10-year-old little girl. Payne's girlfriend, Lynn Bari, is a soloist with the Miller band, and also a violently jealous sort. When Bari quits Miller out of pique, Henie stages an elaborate ice show as a substitute. This impromptu spectacular thrills the audience at the Sun Valley resort hotel where most of the action takes place. Joan Davis and Milton Berle provide comic relief to the music and romance (you haven't lived until you've seen Berle on skis), while The Nicholas Brothers and Dorothy Dandridge perform a lively chorus of "Chattanooga Choo Choo." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonja Henie, John Payne, (more)
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of commercial radio, 20th Century-Fox cooked up the pageantlike entertainment The Great American Broadcast. Opening with clips of such airwaves favorites as Dick Powell and Fred Allen (courtesy of earlier Fox films like Thanks a Million), the picture gets under way in 1918, as ambitious army buddies Bix Martin (John Payne) and Chuck Hadley (Jack Oakie) try and fail to establish themselves in the business world. At long last, our heroes enter the new field of radio broadcasting, where after several technical and tactical mishaps they achieve success. But Bix and Chuck are strictly small-timers, and soon they're left behind by the big-city stations. The partners break up, while Bix's songstress wife Vicki Adams (Alice Faye) seeks out a loan to get her husband back on his financial feet. When she approaches her wealthy ex-boyfriend Bruce Chadwick (Cesar Romero), Bix burns up and walks out on her. But old pal Chuck comes to the rescue, staging a reunion between Bix and Vicki during the first-ever coast to coast network broadcast. Rather shaky as history, The Great American Broadcast works best on a nostalgia level, offering guest appearances by such specialty performers as The Ink Spots, The Nicholas Brothers, and The Wiere Brothers (of Road to Rio fame). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, (more)
- 1941
In this drama, a young woman shows two dogs at the championship competition at Madison Square Garden and when the two dogs get into a fight, they are both disqualified. The girl decides that she cannot keep them both and decides to sell her least favorite. Unfortunately, her servant loves that dog and secretly smuggles it aboard his mistress' plane on the way back for Canada. When the plane crashes, the dog survives and runs off to bring back help. Some of the racial stereotypes contained in this film may be offensive to contemporary viewers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Whalen, Grace Bradley, (more)
- 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)
- 1941
In this musical, an idealistic college graduate is bitten by the show business bug after he finds success writing and producing the campus variety show. Wanting to launch his career, he convinces his father to allow him to create a production using the workers at the old man's clothing factory. Unfortunately, the young man is naive and an unscrupulous producer bilks his father's advance money from him. Fortunately, the loyal and clever employees help out and the show is a tremendous success. Songs include "Two Weeks Vacation with Pay," "Mister Yankee Doodle," "Rug-Cuttin' Romeo," "Boogie Woogie Man," "Dancing on the Air," "Walk with Me," "We Too Can Sing" (Milton Rosen, Everett Carter). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Downs, Jane Frazee, (more)
- 1941
For his first feature-film appearance in two years, comedian Bert Wheeler (of Wheeler & Woolsey fame) teamed up with bandleader Phil Regan. The story gets under way when a quartet of vaudevillians-Bill Stevens (Regan), Stu Grant (Wheeler) and Norma and Mildred Jennings (Constance Moore, Lillian Cornell) show up in Vegas with nary a cent between them. Norma manages to win big at a gambling joint, whereupon the money is put in Stu's care. Alas, Stu makes a beeline to the gaming tables, where he manages to lose all. The winsome foursome is saved from utter ruin by a real estate operator who happens to be the father of one of the protagonists. Even Bert Wheeler admitted that Las Vegas Nights was a bomb, noting on "a picture like that can come back and haunt you." Still, it holds some historical value as the film that introduced Frank Sinatra, here appearing as the uncredited vocalist for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Bert Wheeler, (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
Two Latins From Manhattan was Columbia's 1941 contribution to the "Good Neighbor Policy" towards South America. Joan Davis heads the cast as pushy nightclub press agent Joan Daley, while Jinx Falkenberg and Joan Woodbury are costarred as Joan's roommates, aspiring showgirls Jinx Terry and Lois Morgan. Having heavily promoted the upcoming nightclub appearance of a famous Cuban singing-sister team, Joan is left in the lurch when the sisters fail to show up. But not to worry: our heroine gives Jinx and Lois a crash course in Cuban dialects, and in a twinkling the two Manhattanites are successfully posing as the Cubanos. The fun begins when the real Cubans show up unannounced. Evidently, Columbia was so enamored with this plotline that the studio used it again, with only minimal changes, as Two Senoritas From Chicago (1942), which also featured Joan Davis and Jinx Falkenberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Davis, Jinx Falkenburg, (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)
A retired fireman teams up with an insurance investigator when an old buddy is killed in an arson fire in this surprisingly potent comedy-drama from low budget company Monogram. Jim Hadley (J. Farrell MacDonald finds retirement difficult and is only too happy to oblige when daughter Joan (Polly Ann Young) and her insurance agent boyfriend Frank Rogers (Warren Hull) suggest that he look into the death of old colleague Burt Stafford (Joel Friedkin). A statue of the god Vulcan leads Jim to an antique dealer and, in time, to a maniacal arsonist who doesn't shy away from murder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Farrell MacDonald, Polly Ann Young, (more)
Boasting Tony Martin and Rita Hayworth and bandleader Andre Kostelanitz as its leading players, it's surprising that Music in My Heart isn't better than it is. Martin plays European-born actor Robert Gregory, who while rehearsing for a Broadway musical falls in love with chorine Patricia O'Malley (Rita Hayworth). She likewise falls in love with him, even though she's scheduled to marry millionaire Charles Gardner (Alan Mowbray). The relationship is endangered when Gregory faces deportation to his own country, but baton-wieldig Kostelanitz comes to the rescue by making Gregory a radio singing sensation. Talented child actress Edith Fellows, who in previous films had been given top billing over Rita Hayworth, is somewhat wasted in the role of Rita's kid sister. Of the film's six songs, "It's a Blue World" is the singular highlight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Martin, Rita Hayworth, (more)
Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Jean Arthur, (more)
While James Stewart was filibustering from his senator's pulpit in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Gene Autry battled congressional bureaucracy in Rovin' Tumbleweeds, which barely could call itself a Western. Gene runs for a congressional seat in order to pass a flood control bill that would save a group of dispossessed ranchers and farmers, the victims of a disastrous storm. But once elected, the hero's best efforts are thwarted by greedy meat packing plant owner Holloway (Douglas Dumbrille), who lobbies against him. With another storm brewing and Autry's only political ally, Senator Nolan (William Farnum), killed in a car accident, all hope seems gone. But when Gene rallies his troops in a climactic battle, even Holloway catches the community spirit and the valley is saved. Taking time out from fighting both political corruption and the elements, Gene, Smiley Burnette, and the Pals of the Golden West perform "Paradise in the Moonlight," "Ole Peaceful River," Rovin' Tumbleweeds," and other favorite selections. Rovin' Tumbleweeds has been restored to its original length by Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1939
In this comedy, a young waitress is given $1,000 from her grandfather. She desires to buy a race horse and so trustingly gives the money to a man at the track. The trouble begins when he loses the money. To make up for his mistake, he gives her a ticket for the Irish sweepstakes and then sells her a broken-down horse. Not surprisingly, both end up winners and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Wilson, Johnnie Davis, (more)
- 1939
In this newspaper drama, a young man's father, a prominent newspaper publisher is violently murdered by famous gangsters. The young man uses the power of his newly inherited press to get revenge upon the killers by exposing them. Unfortunately, the young man's schemes go awry when he learns the identity of the trigger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Hull, Marsha Hunt, (more)
