Roscoe Karns Movies

Though Republic Pictures had discontinued its "Higgins Family" series in 1940, the studio continued filming its stray "Higgins" scripts under new titles. In The Gay Vagabond, Roscoe Karns plays the "Pa Higgins" counterpart, a henpecked small-towner named Arthur Dixon. Karns also doubles up as Dixon's carefree, globetrotting twin brother Jerry. Inevitably, the two brothers' identities become confused when prodigal son Jerry returns home after a mysterious adventure in China. By being mistaken for Jerry, milquetoast Arthur is finally permitted to shed his inhibitions and assume his "proper" place as master of his domicile. Matching Roscoe Karns' performance laugh for laugh are Ruth Donnelly as Mrs. Dixon and such reliable supporting players as Ernest Truex and Margaret Hamilton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third film version of Maxwell Anderson's play Saturday's Children stars Claude Rains as the impecunious but proud father of a large brood. Rains' daughter Anne Shirley marries idealistic John Garfield, a would-be inventor who works for Shirley's father. Feeling that he's been tricked into marriage, Garfield gives every indication of turning out to be as much "failure" as Rains. Only when Garfield and Shirley are on the verge of breaking up do they realize that material gain is not the only barometer of success in life. Previous filmizations of this story include Saturday's Children (29), starring Corinne Griffith, and Maybe It's Love (35), costarring Ross Alexander and Gloria Stuart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a test pilot plies his trade on a prototype medical plane. Unfortunately, when the craft is stolen, he becomes the prime suspect and is grounded. Fortunately, a female flying ace convinces her brother to employ him. Later it is revealed that the brother leads a gang of plane thieves. They take the stolen birds, including the medical plane, and sell them to other countries. To get the crook to confess, the test pilot kidnaps the thief's beloved sister. The ploy works and the purloined plane is returned, the test pilot resumes his old job, and he and the girl fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

They just don't make 'em like They Drive By Night anymore. This slam-bang Warner Bros. attraction stars George Raft and Humphrey Bogart as Joe and Paul Fabrini, owners of a small but scrappy trucking firm. The film deftly combines comedy with thrills for the first half-hour or so, as the Fabrini boys battle crooked distributors and unscrupulous rivals while establishing their transport company. Things take a potentially tragic turn when the overworked Paul Fabrini falls asleep at the wheel and cracks up, losing an arm in the accident. He's pretty bitter for a while, but, with the help of his loving wife, Pearl (Gale Page), Paul eventually snaps out of his self-pity and goes to work as a dispatcher for the Fabrinis' company. Meanwhile, Joe's on-and-off romance with wisecracking waitress Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan) is threatened by the presence of seductive Lana Carlsen (Ida Lupino), the wife of glad-handing trucking executive Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale). At this point, the film metamorphoses into a remake of the 1935 Paul Muni-Bette Davis vehicle Bordertown. Desperately in love with Joe, Lana murders her husband, making it look like an accident, then offers Joe half-interest in Carlsen's organization. Joe accepts the offer, but spurns Lana's romantic overtures, whereupon the scheming vixen accuses Joe of plotting Carlsen's murder. Thus, the stage is set for a spectacular courtroom finale, completely dominated by a demented Lana, whose "mad scene" rivals those of Ophelia and Lucia di Lammermoor. In addition to the full-blooded performances by the stars and the virile direction by Raoul Walsh, They Drive By Night benefits immeasurably from the nonstop brilliant dialogue by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay -- especially in an early lunch-counter scene between Ann Sheridan and George Raft, generously seasoned with hilarious double- and single-entendres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, a hardworking man struggles to save enough money to buy his own barber shop. This film features a number of ice-skating sequences starring Irene Dare. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Lana Turner (a mere 19 years old at the time) stars in this lighthearted musical comedy as Patty Marlow, a dancer fighting her way up the show business ladder. Famous hoofer Freddie Tobin (Lee Bowman) is about to start work on a new movie when his dance partner becomes pregnant and drops out of the project. Press agent Joe Drews (Roscoe Karns) dreams up a publicity stunt to find Freddie's new co-star: he'll stage a contest on college campuses to find a dancer among the student body. However, the contest is merely a ruse, and, when Joe and his cronies spot Patty, they realize she is the perfect girl for the job. Now, they have to pass Patty off as a studious co-ed for the sake of the "contest," which has begun to attract the suspicious attention of student journalist Pug Braddock (Richard Carlson). Artie Shaw and his band perform several numbers (Shaw and Turner would marry two years later), and keep an eye peeled for Veronica Lake in a bit part (she was still known as Constance Keane at the time). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Having made a mint with his Bobby Breen films, producer Sol Lesser decide to groom another talented youngster for stardom. Everything's on Ice was specifically designed to suit the talents of six-year-old skating sensation Irene Dare, who'd previously played as supporting role in Breen's Everything on Ice. Little Ms. Dare plays an ice-skating whiz who is passed off as an heiress by her wheeler-dealer uncle (Roscoe Karns). Starring in an oversized ice show at a Florida resort, the pint-sized heroine also stage-manages a romance between her 19-year old sister (Lynne Roberts) and a handsome young sprout (Eric Linden), while uncle tries to land a wealthy husband for Sis, never realizing that her sweetheart is himself a millionaire. Billed last in Everything's on Ice is Paul Winchell, a young ventriloquist who'd rise to fame and fortune on television in the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film is one of acclaimed director Fritz Lang's less noted achievements, a mixture of romance, comedy, drama, and satire. It includes three songs by the famed Kurt Weill, including "The Right Guy for Me." George Raft plays Joe Dennis, an ex-convict working in a department store. The store's boss, Mr. Morris (Harry Carey), likes to hire ex-cons. Joe falls in love with Helen (Sylvia Sidney), who hides the fact that she is on parole until after they marry. Since parolees can't wed, the marriage is illegal. Distraught, Joe organizes a gang to rob Morris' store. Helen intervenes and tries to convince the gang members that the potential take isn't worth the risk of returning to prison. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The popularity of both Bob Hope and the sentimental tune "Thanks for the Memory" by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin in The Big Broadcast of 1938 led to this plodding little domestic comedy-drama in which Hope plays a stay-at-home author and Shirley Ross his working wife. The situation is, of course, ripe for misunderstandings, and soon each spouse accuses the other of infidelity, with everything neatly solved in the final reel. In addition to the title tune, Hope and Ross also perform Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser's "Two Sleepy People." The film was an unofficial remake of the 1931 production Up Pops the Devil. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tip-Off Girls is a worthwhile entry in Paramount's "FBI" series, based on the various writings of
J. Edgar Hoover. The title refers to a group of pretty young women who are ordered by their gangster bosses to pick up tips on incoming merchandise shipments, thereby expediting a sophisticated hijacking operation. The girls are also expected to keep the freight drivers occupied while the crooks go about their business. G-Man Bob Anders (Lloyd Nolan) eventually smashes the racket with the help of decoy Marjorie Rogers (Mary Carlisle). Equipped with a Greek accent this time out, J. Carrol Naish plays the supposedly respectable head of the hijackers, while the rest of the cast is populated with such reliable Paramount stock-company players as Roscoe Karns, Buster Crabbe, Anthony Quinn, Benny Baker, Evelyn Brent, Irving Bacon and Stanley Andrews. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1921 with Wallace Reid, Booth Tarkington's stage comedy Clarence proved a worthwhile screen vehicle for Roscoe Karns. The title character is a resourceful young man who knows a whole little about a whole lot of things, and who concentrates by playing his saxophone. Clarence ingratiates himself with the wealthy and eccentric Wheeler family, though daughter Cora can't stand the boy. Ultimately, of course, she realizes that the feckless but likeable Clarence would be a far better catch than her fortune-hunting fiance Tobins (Theodore Von Eltz). As the flustered patriarch of the zany Wheeler clan, Eugene Pallette offers a virtual reprise of his role in My Man Godfrey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a professor is thought to be a member of a very strange family. They take him right in. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide