Milt Kibbee Movies

The quintessential "backstage" musical, 42nd Street traces the history of a Broadway musical comedy, from casting call to opening night. Warner Baxter plays famed director Julian Marsh, who despite failing health is determined to stage one last great production, "Pretty Lady." Others involved include "Pretty Lady" star Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels); Dorothy's "sugar daddy" (Guy Kibbee), who finances the show; her true love Pat (George Brent); leading man Billy Lawlor (Dick Powell); and starry-eyed chorus girl Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler). It practically goes without saying that Dorothy twists her ankle the night before the premiere, forcing Julian Marsh is to put chorine Peggy into the lead: "You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" Delightfully corny, with hilarious wisecracking support from the likes of Ginger Rogers, Una Merkel, and George E. Stone, 42nd Street is perhaps the most famous of Warners' early-1930s Busby Berkeley musicals. Based on the novel by Bradford Ropes (which was a lot steamier than the movie censors would allow), 42nd Street is highlighted by such grandiose musical setpieces as "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "Young and Healthy," and of course the title song. Nearly fifty years after its premiere, it was successfully revived as a Broadway musical with Tammy Grimes and Jerry Orbach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The taciturn William Elliott stars in this above-average entry in Columbia's "Wild Bill Hickock" B-Western series. Returning to town with Larry Armstrong (Richard Fiske), an old friend he has just saved from a lynch mob, Hickock learns that Mitch Carew (Dick Curtis), a prison parolee, has killed Dan Woodworth (John Dilson), and is now attempting to buy Woodworth's store as a front for his nefarious schemes. Larry, who is embittered about the low wages being paid by the area's ranchers, opts to join Carew's gang of thugs. Wild Bill, meanwhile, is courting Woodworth's Eastern-bred niece Ann (Luana Walters), but the girl scoffs at his old-fashioned western ways. Alarmed that Larry has been involved in a stage robbery, Bill arranges to meet his old friend. Their rendezvous turns hostile and as Wild Bill is about to leave, Stringer (Leroy Mason), one of Mitch's stooges, takes a shot at him. Returning fire, Bill accidentally shoots and kills Larry. Blaming himself for the death of his friend, Bill vows to bring Mitch to justice. But when Ann once again denounces her suitor's western code of ethics, Bill offers to give up his guns and become "a peaceful man." When he learns that Mitch is waiting for him, our hero straps on his guns once again and goes to meet his destiny. A shootout in the street finally ends Mitch's reign of terror. Realizing that he will never be able to forsake the code of the west, Bill bids Ann a fond farewell and leaves town. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Gat Brady (John Litel) is a wealthy gangster, though he's never killed anyone, an he is devoted to his teenaged daughter Annabel (Mary Maguire). When he's arrested for tax evasion on the eve of a European trip, he has Annabel's governess Flo Allen (Ann Sheridan) continue on the trip with the girl anyway. Red Carroll (Ben Welden), who hates Gat, kidnaps Annabel, but is caught and sent to the same prison as Gat. A fight with Red results in Gat being sent to the maximum-security prison on Alcatraz Island but, still bent on revenge, Red later arranges to have himself sent there, too. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

The combination of star Gloria Jean and director Arthur Dreifuss resulted in several pleasant if unmemorable late-1940s musicals. In An Old-Fashioned Girl, Jean is cast as Polly Milton, the poor relation of a prosperous 19th-century Boston family. Rather than accept financial support from her stuffy relatives, Polly elects to support herself as a music teacher. Mistreated and misunderstood by practically everyone she meets, our heroine at last finds true love in the arms of businessman Mr. Sydney (John Hubbard). The supporting cast includes former child star James Lydon and future adult star Elinor Donahue, as well as violin prodigy Sandra Berkova. An Old-Fashioned Girl is based on the story of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Zany actress Annabel goes on a promotional tour in this lively comedy, the second in the Annabel series. During her tour, she allows her promoter to "leak" a story that she is having a romantic fling with a famous romance novelist. The ploy is successful, until she really does fall in love with the writer and decides to abandon her acting career to be with him. Unfortunately, he is already married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

MGM tried to recapture the magic of the Wallace Beery/Marie Dressler films of the 1930s with Barnacle Bill. Beery is teamed with Marjorie Main, a Dressler "type" who had a roughneck style all her own. In the film, grumbly old fisherman Beery spends most of his screen time avoiding Main, who intends to trap him into matrimony. The rest of the time, Beery must contend with a daughter he never knew he had and with landlubbers who want to rob him of his seagoing livelihood. Barnacle Bill was one of six MGM films costarring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main, an experience neither star enjoyed very much. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Small-but-wiry Bob Steele plays the title role in the PRC western Billy the Kid's Range War. Once again rewriting history, the script contrives to have honest Billy falsely accused of a series of killings. The actual murderers are trying to sabotage an under-construction stagecoach road. Hiring on as a stage driver, Billy not only clears his name but corrals the crooks. He also exposes the brains behind the scheme, who turns out to be a supposedly respectable peacekeeper. Ubiquitous PRC cowboy sidekick Al St. John shows up in his customary role of Fuzzy Q. Jones to offer Billy some much-needed assistance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another good entry in Warner Bros' Dick Foran western series, Blazing Sixes casts Foran as Red, an undercover federal agent. Sent Westward to break up a gang of stage robbers, Red poses as a bandit himself, whereupon he robs the robbers! Impressed by his nerve, outlaw chief Jim Hess (John Merton) invites Red to join the gang, which fits right into our hero's plan to bore from within. Fortunately for the film, he doesn't bore from without. Like most of the Foran vehicles, Blazing Sixes was directed by Noel Smith, a graduate of the Warners editing staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Williams and Jane Nigh, the stars of Monogram's Blue Grass of Kentucky, are reunited in the strikingly similar Blue Blood. Based on Peter B. Kyne's story Dog Meat, the film traces the efforts made to rescue a thoroughbred from being ground into hamburger by a dog-food factory. Harry Shannon carries the film's dramatic weight as an elderly trainer who prizes his horses above all else. It is giving away nothing to reveal that the film's climax occurs during the obligatory Big Race. The Cinecolor process is put to excellent use during this sequence, with the color red figuring crucially in the race's outcome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Holden plays Boots Malone, a dishonest--and impoverished--jockey's agent. Malone sees a chance to crack the big time through the talents of young jockey John Stewart. Stewart's wealthy mother wants to remove the boy from the rarefied world of the race track, but it is Malone himself who destroys his friendship with Stewart by ordering the boy to throw the race, or else they'll be put on the spot by gangsters. Malone's last-minute regeneration restores Stewart's faith in him. Filmed on location, Boots Malone is a satisfying horse-race drama, though one might expect a little something extra from star William Holden and director William Dieterle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two-fisted New York police detective Edward G. Robinson is so volatile that he manages to get himself thrown off the force in disgrace. The local gangsters are delighted, in that Robinson had been breathing down their necks. When Robinson goes to crime boss Barton MacLaine insisting that he's through with law enforcement and wants to switch to the other side, MacLaine's chief henchmen Humphrey Bogart doesn't buy the story, but has to go along since he doesn't want to incur the wrath of MacLaine. Robinson offers to show his former enemies how to circumvent the law, making him an invaluable participant in gang activities. Actually, Robinson hasn't gone crooked at all; he's operating undercover, with the full knowledge of the city police inspector, in hopes of locating the "big boys" who've been financing the mob. His diligence costs him his life, but Robinson, with the help of bad-girl-gone-good Joan Blondell, busts the rackets wide open. Former crime reporter Martin Mooney was responsible for the story upon which Bullets or Ballots was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Orson Welles first feature film -- which he directed, produced, and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role -- proved to be his most important and influential work, a ground-breaking drama loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst which is frequently cited as the finest American film ever made. Aging newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies in his sprawling Florida estate after uttering a single, enigmatic final word -- "Rosebud" -- and newsreel producer Rawlston (Phil Van Zandt) sends reporter Jerry Thompson (William Alland) out with the assignment of uncovering the meaning behind the great man's dying thought. As Thompson interviews Kane's friends, family, and associates, we learn the facts of Kane's eventful and ultimately tragic life: his abandonment by his parents (Agnes Moorehead and Harry Shannon) after he becomes the heir to a silver mine; his angry conflicts with his guardian, master financier Walter Parks Thatcher (George Coulouris); his impulsive decision that "it would be fun to run a newspaper" with the help of school chum Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten) and loyal assistant Mr. Bernstein (Everett Sloane); his rise from scandal sheet publisher to the owner of America's largest and most influential newspaper chain; his marriage to socially prominent Emily Norton (Ruth Warrick), whose uncle is the President of the United States; Kane's ambitious bid for public office, which is dashed along with his marriage when his opponent, corrupt political boss Jim Gettys (Ray Collins), reveals that Kane is having an affair with aspiring vocalist Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore); Kane's vain attempts to promote second wife Alexander as an opera star; and his final, self-imposed exile to a massive and never-completed pleasure palace called Xanadu. While Citizen Kane was a film full of distinguished debuts -- along with Welles, it was the first feature for Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, and Ruth Warrick -- the only Academy Award it received was for Best Original Screenplay, for which Welles shared credit with veteran screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide