Milt Kibbee Movies

In this war movie, set during WW II, a pilot must crash land in the Pacific after he is shot down. As he floats upon the waves, he begins remembering the mythical island of Barbaree that his grandfather used to tell him about. To keep his wounded companion alive, he begins telling his life story. Via flashback, his youth, his love affairs, and his naval enlistment are chronicled. It is one of his lovers that talks her father into organizing a search party to find him. Meanwhile his companion dies. The pilot too, is half-dead by the time they find him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Former army pilot Robert Taylor is accused, on the basis of strong circumstantial evidence, of his wife's murder. Suffering from periodic blackouts, Taylor isn't so certain of his innocence himself. When offered a brain operation, Taylor refuses, knowing that if he is proven sane he will be executed for murder. Instead, he opts for confinement in a high-walled veteran's mental institution. A compassionate lady doctor (Audrey Totter) falls in love with Taylor, convincing him to have the operation. Even after emerging from the ether, Taylor cannot remember any of the details concerning his wife's death--but he does recall that the dead woman had recently taken a job with a publisher (Herbert Marshall) of religious books. While the killer's identity is tipped off by this revelation, the audience is never certain that Robert Taylor isn't a murderer--especially since he'd previously appeared as a homicidal maniac in the 1946 film Undercurrent. The best moment in High Wall is the casual disposal of the sole witness to the murder, via a long, dark elevator shaft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A curmudgeonly small-town doctor resents the presence of a new younger physician and his newfangled ways. He is especially dismayed by the new doctor's tendency to sing, a behavior the older fellow deems inappropriate. When the new doc meets a pretty young school teacher, romantic sparks fly. Unfortunately, she is engaged to the town pharmacist. This coupled with the older doctor's disapproval convinces the new fellow to leave town. The elder physician's maid intervenes and changes the young ones mind. It's a good thing too, for he saves the older one from a near fatal attack of appendicitis and earns both the veteran medic's gratitude and respect. Later the two take on a snooty new surgeon whose ambition has blinded him to simple common sense. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

George Taylor (John Hodiak) is a war veteran suffering from amnesia with only two clues to his past: the bitter letter from a woman who hates him and another mysterious letter signed "Larry Cravat." Taylor goes to Los Angeles to meet Cravat. It turns out that Cravat is wanted for murder and the robbery of $2 million. George becomes involved with a singer, Christy (Nancy Guild) and is chased by mobsters while on a search for the stolen money. There ensue a series of chases, an interesting plot twist and a surprise ending as John learns the true identity of Cravat.Somewhere in the Night is the quintessential "amnesia victim" as protagonist film, somewhat slow, but nevertheless, engrossing and suspenseful. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This Technicolor musical remake of the 1936 comedy classic Libeled Lady isn't quite up to the standards of the original, but on its own terms is quite entertaining. Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn expertly assume the roles originally played by William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. Faced with a libel suit from socialite Connie Allenbury (Williams), newspaper editor Warren Haggerty (Wynn) cooks up a plan to beat Connie at her own game. To do this, he must rely upon the romantic chicanery of ex-employee Bill Stevens Chandler (Johnson), with Haggerty's fiancee Gladys Benton (Ball) caught in the middle. The comedy high point of the original Libeled Lady, in which William Powell is forced to demonstrate his (non-existent) prowess as a fisherman, is ably repeated in Easy to Wed when Van Johnson must prove his skills at duck-hunting. The songs aren't anything special, but Lucille Ball's superb comic performance is worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Red Ryder and his comical sidekick take on a new batch of bad-guys in this western, the 16th in the Red Ryder series. This time the heroic duo try to save a female rancher from a greedy financier who wants her land so he can exploit the enormous oil fields lying under it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Larceny in Her Heart was the second entry in PRC's revival of the "Michael Shayne" series, with Hugh Beaumont as Brett Halliday's two-fisted sleuth. It all starts when Shayne agrees to track down the stepdaughter (Marie Harmon) of a local bigwig. But when his client's corpse turns up at his doorstep, our hero finds himself reluctantly involved in yet another murder mystery. Along the way, he must fend off femme fatale Phyllis (Cheryl Walker), who may or may not be intimately involved in the killing. He also endures a chilling episode at an alcoholic ward that's straight out of The Lost Weekend, by way of Murder My Sweet. It says in the credits that Larceny in Her Heart is based on a novel by Brett Halliday, though liberties were obviously taken. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

High School Hero is all about a high school hero (what else?), played by Monogram musical star Freddy Stewart. A student at Whitney High, Freddy agonizes when the Big Football Game approaches with the school's principal rival, who have emerged victorious in all previous gridiron clashes. Director Arthur Dreifuss makes things easy for the audience by dressing the "good" football players in white and the "bad" ones in black, which is perhaps the film's comic highlight. To amplify the budget, the film is rife with "product placement" advertising plugs, a practice that would reach its nirvana in 1949's Love Happy (and would be revived, with a vengeance, in the 1980s). In addition to Freddy Stewart's perennial leading lady June Preisser, High School Hero costars Noel Neill, later to achieve TV fame as Lois Lane on Superman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, Bill and Susan Cummings (Mark Stevens and Joan Fontaine), a couple from the Bronx, look back at the early days of their marriage. When they meet in 1938, Bill is working as a machinist, and Susan is a clerk in a bookstore. They fall in love and decide to wed, but it's not long after the honeymoon that Bill is drafted and sent to war. When Bill comes marching home, he finds that it's not easy to find a new job, and economic hardship puts their marriage to the test. The supporting cast includes Harry Morgan and Bobby Driscoll. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Elizabeth MacDonald (Claudette Colbert) is a newly married corporate librarian in 1918 Baltimore working for a chemical company owned by the Hamilton family and managed by Larry Hamilton (George Brent). Just as she is celebrating the armistice and anticipating the return of her husband John (Orson Welles), she learns he was killed in action, just days before the cease fire. Pregnant with their child and alone in the world, she is taken in by Larry Hamilton, who has loved her from afar and is driven by sympathy for her plight. She has her baby, a boy named Drew, and she and Larry marry, raising the child as his own and never telling the boy of his real father. Meanwhile, in an Austrian hospital, a horribly wounded and disfigured American officer (Welles) without any identification insists to the doctor treating him (John Wengraf) that he be allowed to die. The doctor saves his life, but the shock of his injuries and the strain of his recovery causes him to lose his memory, and he ends up adopting a new identity. Cut to 1939, and the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe. Drew (Richard Long) is about to graduate from college and wants to join his fraternity brothers, who are planning on going to Canada, signing up with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and heading to England to fly against the Germans. Drew is not yet 21, however, and needs the permission of his parents, but Elizabeth is appalled by the notion of losing Drew to war the same way that she lost John.

Into their family comes a visitor, Erich Kessler (Welles), a crippled, ailing Austrian refugee and chemical expert hired by Hamilton's company, who arrives in Baltimore with his young daughter Margaret (Natalie Wood). Kessler starts to recognize places in the city, including the home where Elizabeth lived, and when they meet, despite her discomfort at having an Austrian army veteran in the house, she does her best to welcome him. Elizabeth also starts to notice little aspects of Kessler that remind her vaguely of John. But much as she is haunted by these strange similarities, she is appalled when Kessler seems to encourage Drew to pursue his goal of fighting the Nazis. Even Kessler's presence in their home, despite his genial and deferential manner, is a vexation to Elizabeth, bringing the horror of the war and what the Nazis represent into their midst and making Drew even more fervent in his desire to join up and fight. When Margaret displays terrible fears and nightmares, it comes out that she isn't really Kessler's child at all, but the daughter of the doctor who saved his life (he and his wife had been executed by the Nazis).

Larry, meanwhile, must watch from the sidelines, not aware of Kessler's real identity and unable to resolve the conflict between his admiration for Drew's intentions and his love for his wife. When Drew decides to ignore his parents' wishes and go to Canada and enlist without their permission, Kessler follows and stops him (despite his own weakened condition), and brings the young man home. A confrontation ensues upon their return, and Kessler explains to her that, whomever she thinks he might have been, the past has passed. Elizabeth finds the strength and courage to face the future, and the coming of the new war and what it may bring. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this musical, a messenger boy does a remarkable imitation of Bing Crosby and finds himself surrounded by luscious little bobby-soxers. One woman is so impressed by his Crosbiesque crooning that she takes him New York and convinces investors to bank on him. Unfortunately, she accidentally sells the shares for 125 percent of the profits. Fortunately, by the end, the situation is rectified. Songs include: "June Comes Around Every Year," "Out Of This World" (Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen), "I'd Rather Be Me" (Eddie Cherkose, Felix Bernard, Sam Coslow), "All I Do Is Beat That Golden Drum" (Coslow, sung by Cass Daley), "It Takes A Little Bit More" (Coslow), "A Sailor With An Eight-Hour Pass" (Ben Raleigh, Bernie Wayne, sung by Daley) and "The Ghost Of Mr. Chopin" (Coslow). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of the more remarkable aspects of this "East Side Kids" comedy is that, for the first time, one of the "Kids" is a girl, played by June Carlson. Otherwise, it's standard stuff, with the Kids forming a shaky friendship with police commissioner James Mitchell (Addison Mitchell). Muggs (Leo Gorcey), the Kids' leader, invites Mitchell's wimpy son Gilbert (Johnny Duncan) to join the gang as part of a plan to "toughen up" the boy. Unfortunately, Gilbert gets his new pals in trouble when he links up with gambler Silk Henley (George Meeker). Arrested during a confrontation with Silk, Muggs is disqualified from fighting in an upcoming boxing tournament. The chastened Gilbert takes Muggs' place in the ring, proving that he's a "right guy." Come Out Fighting was the final entry in Monogram's "East Side Kids" series; the following year, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and the rest would re-emerge as "The Bowery Boys." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The real Diamond Horseshoe was a Las Vegas nightclub created by impresario Billy Rose, which spotlighted old-time stars from the early 20th century recreating the songs and skits that had made them great. Rose allowed 20th Century-Fox to use the name "Diamond Horseshoe" for a Technicolor musical, but only on the proviso that Rose's name be included in the title. Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe does have the occasional old-timer specialty, but for the most part the plot concentrates on Betty Grable, a young entertainer who romances would-be songwriter Dick Haymes. The affair is frowned upon by Haymes' father (William Gaxton), the manager of the Diamond Horseshoe, who is determined that his son pursue a medical career. The predictability of the storyline is redeemed by Haymes' rendition of the song hit "The More I See You", and by the comedy turns of Phil Silvers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide