Jack LaRue Movies

PRC's Machine Gun Mama is the sort of comedy that tries to get laughs by invoking the name of Brooklyn. Wallace Ford and El Brendel play a couple of American dimwits who find themselves travelling through Latin America with an elephant. Why an elephant? So Wally and El can sell the pachyderm to a broken-down carnival, thereby making the acquaintance of Armida, who is the prettier half of a trick-shooting act. What we have here is essentially a two-reel comedy, inflated to 61 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lee Tracy once more plays a fast-talking, slightly amoral newspaper reporter in PRC's The Payoff. Tracy is cast as Brad McKay, who at present is investigating the murder of a special prosecutor. The dead man was on the verge of delivering damning evidence against racket boss John Angus (Jack LaRue), and it looks as though the killing was an "inside job", committed by one of the victim's associates. Aiding and abetting McKay are cub reporter Guy Morris (Tom Brown), the publisher's son; Phyllis Walker (Tina Thayer), daughter of the murdered man; and Alma Dorene (Evelyn Brent), a femme fatale who is Not What She Seems. Way, way down on the cast list is Pat Costello, the brother of comedian Lou Costello. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second entry in Monogram's low-budget "Trail Blazers" B-Western series, The Law Rides Again marked the final directorial effort of Alan J. Neitz (alias Alan James), a veteran genre specialist whose career dated back to 1916. Aging lawmen Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson are this time assigned to determine why an Indian tribe is breaking their treaty with the United States government. Aligning themselves with a notorious criminal (Jack LaRue), Ken and Hoot discover that the tribe is being cheated out of their government sanctioned cattle by a crooked Indian agent (Kenneth Harlan) and his Indian co-cohort (Chief Many Treatise. Filmed on the cheap at Corriganville, actor Ray "Crash" Corrigan's movie ranch in Simi Valley, California, The Law Rides Again's only novelty was stunt-rider Betty Miles) playing a female stage driver. Chief Thundercloud, here playing the Indian chief, would later replace the increasingly difficult Ken Maynard in the final two "Trail Blazers" entries, Outlaw Trail and Sonora Stagecoach (both 1944). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

An amoral gambler tries to beat a murder rap by adopting an orphaned newsboy in this drama. He takes in the lad to show the court that he is really a "sweetheart" and would never think of killing someone. Unfortunately, it looks as if the ruse will fail and so he takes the boy and leaves town. He is far out in the country and there meets a highly-principled young woman who helps him think about people other than himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In their last starring film, The Ritz Brothers play the Three Funny Bunnies, a trio of nightclub comedians. The plot contrives to have our heroes pose as tough Chicago gangsters, which gets them mixed up with genuine hoodlums Tony (George Zucco) and Joey (Jack LaRue), a sexy pickpocket named Flo (Mary Beth Hughes), and a fortune in stolen jewels. With all this going on, who cares about nominal romantic leads Julie Russell (Frances Langford) and Dick Manning (Stuart Crawford)? There are some cute bits during the film's 60 minutes, and a clever closing gag, but all in all Never a Dull Moment seldom lives up to its title. Even so, the film received better reviews than some of the Ritzes' earlier efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1935 Lon Chaney Jr. vehicle of the same name, Republic's A Scream in the Dark is based on The Morgue is Always Open, a novel by Jerome Odlum. Robert Lowery plays Mike Brooker, a police reporter and amateur sleuth. Mike finds himself up to his neck in danger and intrigue when tracking down an elusive killer. The murders are committed by a stiletto-tipped umbrella, and there is no shortage of suspects. With only 53 minutes' running time, Mike is forced to assemble the clues in record time, with nary a pause for breath or logic. Marie "The Body" McDonald is better than usual as the hero's sweetheart, while Elizabeth Russell, a fixture of Val Lewton's RKO horror films, is suitably sinister as an oft-widowed suspect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mike Hallett (Barton MacLaine) is A Gentle Gangster in this satisfactory Republic programmer. A big shot during prohibition, Hallett quit the rackets back in 1923 when his future wife Ann (Molly Lamont) threatened to leave him. Twenty years later, Hallett and his former cohorts Steve (Dick Wessel) and Joe (Ray Teal) are living peaceful, respectable lives in a small town. But when gangster Hugo (Jack LaRue) tries to exert pressure on the local businessmen, the three former beer barons join forces to thwart the intruder. Originally 57 minutes, A Gentle Gangster was cut to 54 and then 48 minutes for TV release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally slated for release through Paramount Pictures but ultimately distributed by United Artists, American Empire is a western "special" from Hopalong Cassidy producer Harry "Pop" Sherman. Set during the Reconstruction period, the film stars Richard Dix and Preston S. Foster as Dan Taylor and Paxton Bryce, two longtime friends seeking their fortune in postwar Texas. With the considerable assistance of Dan's sister and Paxton's wife Abby (Frances Gifford), the two comrades establish a thriving cattle business. Alas, Paxton is seized with the ambition to become a emperor in his own domain, thereby alienating himself from Dan and Abby. Only through a profound personal tragedy does Paxton come back to his senses. Ironically, critics in 1942 suggested that the Mexican accent adopted by supporting player Leo Carrillo was more than a little reminiscent of "The Cisco Kid" -- and this was still several years before Carrillo was established as Pancho in the "Cisco" "B"-film and TV series! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a wealthy playboy decides to "slum it" for a while to see how regular people live. Trouble ensues when he inadvertently gets involved in a mob murder. He finds himself pursued by both the police and the criminals. As he escapes, he finds and falls in love with an impoverished servant. He is soon forced to reenter his aristocratic world. There he uses his wealth and power to hire the best attorneys and defeat the mobsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Footsteps in the Dark is a comedy/mystery, starring Errol Flynn as a wealthy investment counselor who secretly doubles as a dilettante detective, the better to write mystery novels. Brenda Marshall plays his wife, who can't understand why he is never home and begins to suspect hanky-panky. In fact, Flynn is investigating the murders of a jewelry smuggler and an exotic dancer. The trail of evidence leads to the Least Likely Suspect -- portrayed, as is often the case, by an actor who's always the one who "did it" in murder mysteries. Not nearly as funny a film as the producers seem to think it is, Footsteps in the Dark is an obvious attempt by Warner Bros. to create a "Nick and Nora Charles" team, in emulation of MGM's popular Thin Man series. Footsteps ends with wife Marshall vowing to join hubby Flynn in his next murder mystery, leaving the door wide open for a sequel...which was never filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hard Guy (British title: Professional Bride) stars singer Mary Healy (later of "Peter Lind Hayes and?" fame) as Julie, a nightclub cigarette girl with a mission. Julie is determined to ascertain the identity of the man who murdered her sister, hence her current employment at the tawdry nightery owned by mobster Vic (Jack LaRue). Since the aforementioned Vic has a habit of knocking around his female employees whenever they get out of line, the unmasking of the murderer isn't much of a surprise. Before this happens, however, Julie falls in love with gangly Oklahoma-born detective Steve (Kane Richmond), whose inbred skill with a six-gun comes in handy during the inevitable shootout finale. Hard Guy was directed by Elmer Clifton, who'd been helming six-day quickies for so long that one wonders how he would have handled a seven-day shooting schedule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even those film buffs who derive pleasure from the output of poverty-row PRC Pictures are hard put to say anything nice about Swamp Woman. Famed striptease artist Ann Corio, a much better actress than many have claimed, stars as Annabelle, a cabaret dancer who returns to the Florida bayous whence she came. Here she finds that her ex-sweetheart Pete (Jack LaRue) is engaged to marry her niece Lizbet (Mary Hull). When escaped convict Jeff (Richard Deane) stumbles onto the scene, Annabelle teams up with Pete to prove Jeff's innocence. Figuring prominently in the proceedings is Annabelle's sleazy agent Brand (Jay Novello) who all but wears a sign on his forehead proclaiming I'M THE VILLAIN! Poorly written, photographer and directed, Swamp Woman is emblematic of all that was wrong with the worst of PRC; the only person to emerge from this fiasco without embarrassment is Ann Corio, who on the strength of her performance herein was signed up for future film appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the 1580s, the Sea Hawks -- the name given to the bold privateers who prowl the oceans taking ships and treasure on behalf the British crown -- are the most dedicated defenders of British interests in the face of the expanding power of Philip of Spain. And Captain Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) is the boldest of the Sea Hawks, responsible for capturing and destroying more than 50 Spanish ships and ten Spanish cities. His capture of a Spanish galleon, however, leads to more than he bargained for, in a romance with the ambassador's niece (Brenda Marshall) and the first whiff of a plan to put Spanish spies into the court of Elizabeth I (Flora Robson). Thorpe's boldness leads him to a daring raid on a treasure caravan in Panama which, thanks to treachery within Elizabeth's court, gets him captured and, with his crew, sentenced to the life of a slave aboard a Spanish ship. Meanwhile, Philip of Spain decides to wipe the threat posed by Elizabeth's independence from the sea by conquering the island nation with his armada. Thorpe, though chained to an oar, knows who the traitor at court is and plans to expose him and Philip's plans, but can he and his men break their bonds and get back to England alive in time to thwart the plans for conquest?

The Sea Hawk was the last and most mature of Flynn's swashbuckling adventure films, played with brilliant stylistic flourishes by the star at his most charismatic, and most serious and studied when working with Flora Robson, whom he apparently genuinely respected. Boasting the handsomest, most opulent production values of a Warner Bros. period film to date, The Sea Hawk was made possible in part by a huge new floodable soundstage. Another highlight was the best adventure film score ever written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold; and the script's seriousness was nailed down by various not-so-veiled references not to 16th century Spain but 20th century Nazi Germany. The movie was cut by over 20 minutes for a reissue with The Sea Wolf, and the complete version was lost until a preservation-quality source was found at the British Film Institute. Since then, that 128-minute version -- which actually contains a one-minute patriotic speech by Robson as Elizabeth that was originally left out of U.S. prints, as well as amber tinting in all of the Panamanian sequences -- has become standard. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide