Matty Kemp Movies

Like so many other films that were once considered "lewd" and "scandalous", The French Line seems as harmless as Pollyanna when seen today. Essentially a remake of The Richest Girl in the World, the film stars Jane Russell as Mary Carson, an incredibly wealthy Texas oil heiress. Lucky in investments but unlucky in love, poor Mary can never keep a fiance: either they're fortune-hunters or they don't want to marry anyone so rich and powerful. Thus, while on an ocean voyage to France, Mary poses as the model of dress designer Annie Farrell (Mary McCarthy), hoping to attract a man who is interested in her for herself, and not her millions. That man turns out to be dashing stage star Pierre (Gilbert Roland), but there's many comic complications and misunderstandings before the happy ending. What shocked the censors in 1954 was Jane Russell's sizzling musical number "Lookin' for Trouble", in which she performed an uninhibited bump-and-grind while wearing nothing more than a seven-ounce glorified bikini. While Ms. Russell herself was offended by her skimpy costume, she saw nothing wrong with the dance itself, pointing out that she intended it as a parody of a "burleycue" number. The professional blue-noses disagreed, however: the film was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and denied a Production Code Seal. Eventually, producer Howard Hughes got the Seal--along with a million dollars' worth of free publicity, which is what he intended all along. Filmed in 3D, The French Line is the film that was ballyhooed with the classically tasteless ad campaign "J.R. in 3D--It'll knock both your eyes out!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a novelist visits a local nightclub to do some research for her upcoming novel. Her husband, away on a business trip, knows nothing of her shenanigans. While in the club, the novelist sees her boss out with a stripper. To help her husband's flagging career, the writer begins blackmailing her employer into promoting him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Several popular radio personalities converge in the RKO Radio "comedy salad" Look Who's Laughing. Taking a vacation from his radio series, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen sets out in his private plane, accompanied by his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Developing engine trouble, Bergen makes a forced landing in the town of Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim and Marian Jordan). Here he gets mixed up in a municipal dispute between Fibber and Throckmorton Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) over the impending construction of a local aircraft factory. Before the film's multitude of complications can be straightened out, Fibber and Molly find themselves aloft in a runaway plane, while Charlie McCarthy falls in love with a squeaky-voiced little girl (who turns out to be Molly in disguise). Best scene: A disconsolate Charlie getting "wasted" on ice-cream sodas while counterman Sterling Holloway looks on sympathetically. Lucille Ball is largely wasted as Bergen's secretary, while Fibber McGee and Molly's radio announcer Harlow Wilcox shows up in a character bit. A box-office bonanza, Look Who's Laughing spawned an abundance of future screen assignments for Bergen, McCarthy, Fibber, Molly, and "Gildersleeve." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jack LaRue goes through his usual unsavory paces in the not-bad cheapie I Demand Payment. The film is one of several late-1930s exposes of the loan-shark racket, with LaRue playing head shark Smiles Badollo (five points for that name alone!) Among the victims of Badollo's usury are heroine Judith Avery (Betty Burgess) and doctor Craig Mitchell (Lloyd Hughes). When Judith's sister Rita (Sheila Terry) is murdered by the villains, it's the beginning of the end for Badollo and company. Cast as Jack LaRue's cowardly second-in-command is Matty Kemp, who later ruffled more than a few Hollywood feathers as Mary Pickford's no-nonsense business manager. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Law of the Texan is another of the above-average Buck Jones westerns produced by Coronet Films for Columbia release. Jones pulls the old ploy of posing as an outlaw to insinuate himself into Spencer's (Kenneth Harlan) criminal gang. This strategy leads Jones to the crooks' south-of-the-border hideout, where he mixes it up with the local desperadoes. The film's fight scenes are among Jones' best, with a maximum of fisticuffs and a minimum of bloodshed. Cast as the heroine is bright-eyed Dorothy Fay, later the wife of cowboy star Tex Ritter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flash Casey (Eric Linden), per his nickname, is an ace photojournalist--at least, he will be once he gets out of high school. After winning a prize in a photography contest, Flash vows that within two years of his graduation, he'll own his own newsphoto agency. To attain his goal, Flash goes after a big scoop, and nearly breaks his neck in the process. Co-starring as Eric's faithful girl is Boots Mallory, at one time the sister-in-law of James Cagney. Here's Flash Casey is an agreeable piece of non-think entertainment from the Grand National quickie mills. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young man is in danger of losing his inheritance in this muddled thriller from the waning Chesterfield Motion Picture Corp., a remake of the company's first talkie. After rescuing a pretty girl from a brute while crossing the English channel, Barry Wilding (Leslie Fenton) learns that he has inherited the large Hawk's Nest estate on the condition that he never sell the place. He also discovers that the girl, Julie Kenmore (Muriel Evans), lives on the estate along with her father (Morgan Wallace), a noted scientist. After agreeing that Julie and her father may remain on the estate for at least six months, Barry is dumbfounded when the girl prohibits him from visiting her. He does so anyway and is promptly confronted by nasty American gangster Dan Wharton (Noel Madison). What exactly is the gang lord doing at Hawk's Nest and why are the British authorities so reluctant to help the troubled heir? The answer, as Barry discovers soon enough, has something to do with a treasure hidden on the estate. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

A family loses its collective head going from rags to riches in this low-budget comedy from also-ran studio Chesterfield. Former slapstick comedian Andy Clyde starred as Grandpa Tom Hopkins who, after selling his junk business, moves in with daughter Molly (Lucille Gleason), her husband Ed (Roger Imhof), and their children Mary (Ann Doran), Edna (Paula Stone), George (Ben Alexander, and Willie (Frank Coghlan Jr.). Ed, who is a member of the town lodge "the Whales," is persuaded by Whitney (Sam Flint) the "Grand Harpoon," to buy $5,000 worth of shares in a promising gold mine, mortgaging the family home to do so. Soon the family is rich and everyone except Molly takes on airs. The walls come tumbling down, however, when Whitney is revealed to be a fraud. Happily, Grandpa Tom is able to bail out the family and, having learned a valuable lesson, everyone goes back to their old, more frugal ways. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Invincible Studios' Cross Streets is something of a watershed film, providing leading roles for fading silent stars Claire Windsor and Kenneth Thomson and relative newcomers Johnny Mack Brown and Anita Louise. The story is the old saw about the brilliant surgeon who disappears from view after a fatal misdiagnosis. Twelve years later, the surgeon, now a shabby hobo, returns home, where he redeems himself by performing a life-saving operation. But there's no happy ending for our hero, who through a convoluted plot twist is shot by the jealous husband of the Doc's prospective mother-in-law! Cross Streets might easily have been titled Crossed Wires, what with its tangled web of complex plotlines. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this syrupy tear-jerker a young girl is adopted by the judge who sent her daddy to prison. The father agreed to this relationship and soon the aging judge becomes very fond of his new charge. Unfortunately, his love for her blinds him to mounting evidence attesting to her real father's innocence and whenever the convict comes up for parole, the judge denies it. Frustrated and desperate to see his child, the convict finally engineers an escape and then heads for the judge's home for revenge. But after spying upon the older man and his daughter and seeing how happy she has become, the convict's heart changes and he selflessly returns to the pen to serve his sentence. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

World War I flying aces, American Bill (Lloyd Hughes) and German Otto (Norman Kerry), now perform for a carnival, and both are attracted to Eve, who's really in love with Otto. When they get to Bill's hometown, Eddie (Matty Kemp), Bill's younger brother who is training to be a pilot, meets Eve, and he, too, is drawn to her. Otto has criminal plans that require Eddie's involvement, so he uses Eve in an effort to enlist the younger man's aid. ~ Bill Warren, Rovi

Gary Curtis, aka Farnsbarns (Richardo Cortez), is really a former hoodlum hired to retrieve some compromising letters from gold digger Jenny Wren (Karen Morley). She, in turn, announces her retirement, but not before cajoling noted banker Priem Andes (H. B. Warner) into hosting a farewell party at his estate near Crestwood, "El Casa Andes." Also invited are three additional former "clients" of Jenny's: William Jones (Gavin Gordon), Senator Herbert Walcott (Robert McWade) and Eddie Mack (Richard "Skeets" Gallagher), all of whom are unaware of the purpose of the party and are therefore blithely bringing wives and girlfriends along. Also present at the Andes retreat are Jenny's kid sister Esther (Anita Louise),her boyfriend Frank (Matty Kemp, who just happens to be Andes' nephew, Jenny's wry maid Carter (Hilda Vaughn), and the banker's disdainful sister Faith (Pauline Frederick). The retiring gold digger's real purpose is revealed after she regales her former sugar-daddies with the tragic story of how her latest conquest, penniless, young Tom Herrick (Tom Douglas), threw himself off a cliff in the Adirondacks after she turned down his proposal of marriage. Victory, however, proves all too brief and the blackmailing gold digger is soon confronted with what appears to be the unfortunate young suitor's ghost. Soon, darts are flying everywhere, bodies fall, and trapdoors reveal hidden passageways. But Curtis, who arrives in the nick of time accompanied by assorted hoodlum friends, is never fooled by the fake Phantom of Crestwood and can reveal the real murderer shortly before the law arrives. The Phantom of Crestwood was based on the popular NBC "Hollywood-on-the-Air" radio program and the denouement of the film was the winning entry in a country-wide contest. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi