Charles Knight Movies

Ostensibly a remake, this Three Stooges comedy was basically stock footage from the earlier Who Done It? (1949) with a few new scenes added for good measure. Emil Sitka, Christine McIntyre (who had retired in 1954), and Duke York all appear in the old footage only. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Three Stooges are wannabe detectives in this comic short. They show up at Scotland Yard wearing fake facial hair to answer a wanted ad. Inspector McCormick is puzzled by this until they remind him that the notice requested "experienced yard men." So he sends them out to locate some "missing papers" -- in other words, clean up the trash outside of Scotland Yard. The boys get their chance to crack a case when an assignment blows off the inspector's desk and lands at their feet. Dressed in kilts and talking in phony Scotch accents, the Stooges head for Glenheather Castle. After introducing themselves as McMoe, McLarry, and McShemp, they are given the task of guarding the prized possessions of the castle's owner. This is a stroke of luck for the crooks, who, dressed as spooks, proceed to ransack the joint and terrorize the Stooges. Eventually, the Stooges, through no real talent of their own, manage to knock the crooks (who turn out to be the servants) unconscious. The last one to be captured is Lorna Doone (Christine McIntyre), who is making a run for it when the castle's owner returns. To reward the boys, he offers to treat them to some 200-year-old Scotch, but when he opens the cabinet they find a skeleton playing bagpipes. This scares the Stooges witless and they dive out the castle's windows. The beautiful and obviously expensive castle set was not built for this film (or the other two Stooges pictures where it can be seen). It was actually a set for the Columbia feature Lorna Doone, and the shorts department borrowed it. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Screen Guild's Killer Dill trods a comedy path previously taken by such films as Mr. Lemon of Orange and The Whole Town's Talking. Stuart Erwin stars as Johnny Dill, milquetoast door-to-door salesman who happens to be the exact double of a notorious Prohibition gangster. When the bad guy murders a rival, poor Dill is really in a pickle. Our hero finds himself stuck between the forces of good, represented by crusading attorney Allen (Frank Albertson), and the minions of evil, played by such veteran movie heavies as Mike Mazurki, Anthony Warde and Ben Welden. Erwin's well-thought-out performance helps to cover the gaping story holes and logic gaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this period drama, Joan Fontaine stars as Ivy Lexton, a woman with an unusual hunger for men. Though she already has a husband, Jervis (Richard Ney), and is having an affair with Roger Gretorex (Patric Knowles), Ivy becomes obsessed with Miles Rushworth (Herbert Marshall), and is determined to have him. However, Miles has no interest in married women and rejects Ivy's advances. Angered, Ivy plans to get her revenge by poisoning Miles and pinning the blame on Roger. Cedric Hardwicke plays the inspector assigned to look into Miles' mysterious death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two secret agents must somehow prevent a group of post WW II Nazis hiding in the Hartz mountains from successfully making an atomic bomb as they plan to use the weapon on large Allied cities to help the Germans again rise to power. The two good agents find themselves entangled with beautiful German spies, but this does not keep them from fulfilling their mission just before the evil Germans are to bomb Paris. Interestingly, the Federation of American Scientists did not approve of the movie's use of the bomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Lodger was the third film version of Mrs. Marie Belloc-Lowndes' classic "Jack the Ripper" novel, and in many eyes it was the best (even allowing for the excellence of the 1925 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation). Laird Cregar stars as the title character, a mysterious, secretive young man who rents a flat in the heart of London's Whitechapel district. The Lodger's arrival coincides with a series of brutal murders, in which the victims are all female stage performers. None of this fazes Kitty (Merle Oberon), the daughter of a "good family" who insists upon pursuing a singing and dancing career. Scotland Yard inspector John Warwick (George Sanders), in love with Kitty, worries about her safety and works day and night to solve the murders. All the while, Kitty draws inexorably closer to The Lodger, who seems to have some sort of vendetta on his mind?..Some slight anachronisms aside (for example, the villain falls off a bridge that hadn't yet been built at the time of the story), The Lodger is pulse-pounding entertainment, with a disturbingly brilliant performance by the late, great Laird Cregar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pals of the Saddle is one of the more engaging entries in Republic's Three Mesquiteers Western series. Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune repeat their standard roles of Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin; the role of Stony Brooke, recently vacated by Bob Livingston, is here played by none other than John Wayne. The Mesquiteers films fluctuated between period stories and contemporary tales. This time around, we're in 1938, and Stony is chasing after foreign agents who are trying to steal and smuggle a secret weapon, the deadly chemical "monium," out of the United States. Director George Sherman paces this 55-minute effort like a Republic serial, with excellent results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide