Bennie Bartlett Movies
- 1948
Smugglers' Cover was Number Eleven in Monogram's moneymaking "Bowery Boys" series. Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) receives notice that he's inherited a mansion. Actually, the real owner is another Terence Aloysius Mahoney (Paul Harvey), who is less than delighted when Slip, Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other Bowery Boys show up to take possession. But before a battle over ownership can get under way, the boys must deal with Martin Kosleck, who runs a smuggling operation from a subterranean tunnel beneath the mansion. Also showing up is the "intelligent" Bowery Boy Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell), arm in arm with his new war bride (Jacqueline Dalya)--who never again appears in the series. Though weighed down by an inappropriate musical score, Smugglers' Cove is an agreeable mixture of laughs and shivers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1948
In this entry in the long-running "Bowery Boys" series, Slip Mahoney and his boys witness a murder, but cannot identify the killer. Upon seeing the victim in the newspaper, Slip and Sach head for the morgue and launch their own investigation. There they meet the victim's daughter; she owns the hotel where the boys witnessed the crime. To help them work undercover, she hires them on as bell boys. Later, a gangster mistakes Sach for someone else and gives him some valuable information about the murder which he immediately passes on to his policeman friend. Unfortunately, the policeman has been suspended for neglecting his daily duties. Fortunately, the Boys still manage to solve the murder, but not before embarking upon a crazy chase through a laundry chute. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1948
Angels Alley was the ninth entry in Monogram's Bowery Boys series. This time around, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) welcomes his cousin Jimmy (Frankie Darro) into his home. Fresh out of jail, Jimmy takes a job with a ring of car thieves. Slip covers for Jimmy to the extent of confessing to a crime that his cousin has committed. A contrite Jimmy decides to turn the tables on the thieves, and with the help of Slip's buddies Sach (Huntz Hall), Whitey (Billy Benedict) and the rest (sweet shop owner Louie [Bernard Gorcey] isn't around for this trip), the crooks are rounded up by the cops. Any attempts by the makers of Angels Alley to pass off their film as a serious crime melodrama are dissipated when, at the end of the picture, Huntz Hall whines to Leo Gorcey "This is the last time I make a movie with you!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Billy Benedict, (more)
- 1947
The second of three "Bowery Boys" rip-offs produced by bargain-basement Producers Releasing Corporation, Gas House Kids Go West finds the kids in question vacationing at a California ranch. City boys all, the Kids have a lot of difficulty adjusting to western life, none more so than former "Our Gang" members Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Tommy Bond. Unbeknownst to everyone but the audience, the ranch is being used as a hiding place for stolen cars. But Alfalfa and his compadres manage to thwart the bad guys and save the day, after numerous low-budget slapstick situations. Gas House Kids Go West was followed by Gas House Kids in Hollywood, released a scant two months later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Barnett, Bennie Bartlett, (more)
- 1947
Adventures of Don Coyote is the third of five "streamliners", a group of under-an-hour features made by Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers' Comet Productions. Richard Martin, best known for his semicomic portrayal of Irish-Mexican adventurer Chito Rafferty in RKO's Tim Holt westerns, plays the title character. Accompanied by his singing sidekick Sancho Val Carlo, Don Coyote defends a Mexican ranch against an incursion of Yankee villains. Frances Rafferty, who later played Spring Byington's daughter on TV's December Bride, plays the ranch-owner heroine. Attractively photographed in two-tone Cinecolor, Adventures of Don Coyote is one of the better Comet efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Martin, Frances Rafferty, (more)
- 1946
Teenaged Junior (Scotty Beckett) gets into trouble when he tries to bring a gun to school. To explain why he's packing a rod, Beckett fabricates a story involving his parents Bill (Dennis O'Keefe) and Constance (Helen Walker). To hear Junior tell it, once upon a time Bill was a telephone lineman who made the chance acquaintance of the eloping Constance. Both parties were forcibly detained by fleeing criminal Carter (Tom Powers), who shepherded hero and heroine to the home of Petrucie (Charles Judels). Here Bill overpowered Carter, winning Constance's love in the process. His tale told, Junior explains that he's carrying a gun to arrest his principal-who happens to be Carter! As a result of the boy's prevarications, his parents and the principal end up in jail, but are rescued when Junior solves the 15-year-old mystery that prompted his incredible tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, (more)
- 1943
In this musical drama, a Vermont farm lad goes to the Big Apple to become a member of the National Dairy Association. He happens to bring with him his beloved trombone. Soon, with the help of bandleader Skinnay Ennis, the boy gets a job in a nightclub and subsequently becomes a popular radio star. His girlfriend back home is not amused. Eventually she slides on back into his life. Songs include: "My Melancholy Baby," "My Devotion," "Ain't Misbehavin," "Swingin' the Blues," "Spellbound," "Hilo Hattie," "The Army Air Corps," "Rosie the Riveter," and "Don't Tread on the Tail of Me Coat." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Quillan, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1943
Even non-fans of the East Side Kids will get a goodly share of laughs out of the 1943 series entry Clancy Street Boys. The story commences when Muggs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) learns that his wealthy Uncle Pete (Noah Beery Sr.) is coming to town for a visit. The problem: Muggs' mom (Martha Wentworth) has claimed that she has seven children so that big-hearted Pete will continue sending much-needed money to her fatherless family. To avoid disillusioning Pete, Muggs' pals are enlisted to pose as his siblings, with Glimpy (Huntz Hall) posing as sister Annabelle (it is explained that Scruno, the black member of Muggs' gang, was "adopted"). Uncle Pete and his pretty daughter Judy (Amelita Ward) are taken in by the ruse until local crook George Mooney (Rick Vallin) spills the beans. But all is forgiven when Muggs, Glimpy and company rescue Pete from kidnappers. Best bit: About to go into a huddle, the East Side Kids turn "en masse" towards the camera, politely tip their hats and say "Excuse us!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1943
In this musical, the teenage daughter of a popular movie star tires of being ignored by her separated parents and decides to make it as a star on her own. She does. Songs include: "It Had to Be You," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
In this comedy, a milque-toast bookkeeper buckles under his overbearing girl friend's constant nagging and begins investing his money so he won't have to wait for a raise from his boss. His girl friend pushes him, because she wants to marry him and he refuses to until he has enough money. Luckily he invests wisely and suddenly finds himself with enough cast to buy the company from stingy boss. As soon as he does, the former clerk fires his employer. He eventually decides to hire his employer back, but only if he adheres to one condition. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Erwin, Evelyn Venable, (more)
Amateur fighter and all-around bully Muggs McGinniss (Leo Gorcey) tries to cheat in a pool game with hustler Harry Wycoff (Gabriel Dell). He is thwarted by his own friend Danny Lyons (Bobby Jordan), who has some strong ideas about right and wrong and wants to keep his friend honest. Muggs has to knock Wycoff down with his fists to avoid paying off, and promises to get even with Danny and criticizing him as a coward, without the "killer instinct" it takes to win, in boxing or anything else, as far as Muggs is concerned. In revenge for his pummeling, Wycoff, who works for a local bookmaker, arranges to have Muggs kidnapped ahead of the amateur boxing match in which he's supposed to fight. Danny goes into the ring in his place and wins, but Muggs is convinced that Danny arranged the kidnapping. They clash over and over throughout the movie, in an amateur dance contest and as rivals for a job at a local garage, and over Danny's wish to marry Muggs' sister, and then Muggs finds out that he was all wrong -- that Danny had nothing to do with thekidnapping. But by then he's jealous of Danny, and continues riding him mercilessly, and Danny can't fight back because he's promised his mother never to fight in the street like a common hooligan. Muggs gets even more fierce in his resentment when Danny joins the army showing himself to be more of a man than Muggs and becoming a hero to the neighborhood in the bargain. Finally, Danny realizes that if Muggs is ever to grow up, someone is going to have to stand up to him. The two agree to settle their differences with their fists. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1943
Practically everybody on the Warner Bros. lot shows up in the wartime morale-boosting musical extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. Believe it or not, this one has a wisp of a plot. A pair of enterprising producers, played by S.Z. Sakall and Edward Everett Horton, want to hire singer Dinah Shore for their upcoming Cavalcade of Stars. Unfortunately, this means they must deal with Shore's boss, radio comedian Eddie Cantor. The egotistical Cantor insists upon joining the show himself, driving everyone crazy with his take-charge attitude. Meanwhile, singer Dennis Morgan, hoodwinked by a crooked agent into thinking he's signed a contract with Cantor, shows up backstage at Sakall and Horton's rehearsal, only to be given the boot. While all this is going on, aspiring actress Joan Leslie has befriended a bus driver named Joe Simpson--who happens to be a dead ringer for Eddie Cantor (and why not? Ol' "Banjo Eyes" plays both parts). Turns out that Joe is another showbiz wannabe, but he has been denied a break because he looks too much like Cantor. You see what's comin' now, right, folks? Morgan and Leslie will get their big breaks when Joe Simpson impersonates Eddie Cantor, who's been kidnapped by Indians (bet you didn't see that one coming!) All of this expository nonsense is merely an excuse to show off Warners' talent roster in a series of engaging specialty numbers: John Garfield talk-sings Blues in the Night, Jack Carson and Alan Hale do a buck-and-wing, a jitterbug number is performed by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias, Hattie McDaniel and Willie Best strut their stuff in Ice Cold Katie, and so on. Highlights include Errol Flynn's That's What You Jolly Well Get, an English music hall-style sendup of Flynn's movie heroics, and Bette Davis' peerless (and endearingly off-key) rendition of They're Either too Young or Too Old. As a bonus, Humphrey Bogart shows up long enough to be browbeaten and intimidated by S.Z. Sakall ("Gee, I hope none of my movie fans see this!" moans Bogart as the soundtrack plays a mocking rendition of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?) Subtle and sophisticated it isn't, but Thank Your Lucky Stars is so entertaining that you'll forget all about its multitude of flaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Cantor, Dinah Shore, (more)
- 1942
The Three Mesquiteers are back in the saddle in Republic's Code of the Outlaws. In this outing, the Mesquiteers are played by Bob Steele (as Tuscon Smith), Tom Tyler (as Stony Brooke) and Rufe Davis (as Lullaby Joslin). Bennie Bartlett costars as the son of outlaw Weldon Heyburn, who refuses to inform on his dad's outlaw gang even after Heyburn is shot dead. Our three heroes try to set Bartlett on the right path-and, incidentally, attempt to round up the gang on their own. Reviewers in 1942 felt that Code of the Outlaws was one of the best "Mesquiteers" entries since the series' salad days of the late 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, (more)
The first of director Frank Capra's independent productions (in partnership with Robert Riskin), Meet John Doe begins with the end of reporter Ann Mitchell's (Barbara Stanwyck) job. Fired as part of a downsizing move, she ends her last column with an imaginary letter written by "John Doe." Angered at the ill treatment of America's little people, the fabricated Doe announces that he's going to jump off City Hall on Christmas Eve. When the phony letter goes to press, it causes a public sensation. Seeking to secure her job, Mitchell talks her managing editor (James Gleason) into playing up the John Doe letter for all it's worth; but to ward off accusations from rival papers that the letter was bogus, they decide to hire someone to pose as John Doe: a ballplayer-turned-hobo (Gary Cooper), who'll do anything for three squares and a place to sleep. "John Doe" and his traveling companion The Colonel (Walter Brennan) are ensconced in a luxury hotel while Mitchell continues churning out chunks of John Doe philosophy. When newspaper publisher D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), a fascistic type with presidential aspirations, decides to use Doe as his ticket to the White House, he puts Doe on the radio to deliver inspirational speeches to the masses -- ghost-written by Mitchell, who, it is implied, has become the publisher's mistress. The central message of the Doe speeches is "Love Thy Neighbor," though, conceived in cynicism, the speeches strike so responsive a chord with the public that John Doe clubs pop up all over the country. Believing he is working for the good of America, Cooper agrees to front the National John Doe Movement -- until he discovers that Norton plans to exploit Doe in order to create a third political party and impose a virtual dictatorship on the country. The last of Capra's "social statement" films, Meet John Doe posted a profit, although Capra and Riskin were forced to dissolve their corporation due to excessive taxes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1941
Previously brought to the screen as a Marion Davies vehicle in 1927, Russ Westover's long-running comic strip Tillie the Toiler was again cinematized in 1942 with Kay Harris (who looked not at all like the original "Tillie") in the lead. While attending stenographer school, Tillie Jones meets office boy Mac (William Tracy), who falls in love with her at first sight. Though Tillie likes Mac as a friend, she continually throws him over for handsomer men, but ultimately comes to realize that faithful Mac is the one for her (in the original comic strip, she didn't come to this realization until 1959!) Before this happens, however, Tillie manages to bungle one assignment after another, finally saving her job with a fashion show, evidently designed to show of Columbia's 1942 crop of starlets. Diminutive Daphne Pollard, best known for her Mack Sennett starring 2-reelers and her supporting work in Laurel & Hardy comedies, is well cast as Tillie's down-to-earth mother. Intended as the first of a series, Tillie the Toiler never got any farther than this "pilot" entry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Harris, William Tracy, (more)
- 1940
Though he lacked the casual charisma of his brother Bing, bandleader Bob Crosby starred in a series of reasonably successful films of his own. In Let's Make Music, Crosby and his "Bobcats" turn a dreadful football-victory song penned by elderly schoolmistress Malvina Adams (Elisabeth Risdon) into a hit by treating it as a novelty tune. When Malvina is brought to New York to capitalize on her unexpected success, she is accompanied by her pretty niece Abby (Jean Rogers), who is determined that her aunt won't be exploited or humilated. Sure enough, Abby and Crosby fall in love during Malvina's fifteen minutes of fame. Comedy relief is supplied by Yiddish Art Theater veteran Joseph Buloff, soon to gain Broadway immortality as Ali Hakim in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma. The songs in Let's Make Music include the enduring Crosby classic "Big Noise From Winnetka". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rogers, Bob Crosby & Orchestra, (more)
- 1940
Radio humorist Bob Burns plays the title role in Alias the Deacon. Based on a stage play by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clements (previously filmed in 1927 with Jean Hersholt), the story concerns a philosophical drifter named Deke Caswell (Burns) who is mistaken for the new deacon of a small town. A gambler by nature, Caswell decides to continue the clerical pose so that he can divest the locals of their hard-earned dollars. Instead, he turns honest, eventually solving all of the town's problems. A subplot concerns the "scandalous" (but wholly innocent) relationship between truck driver Johnny Sloan (Dennis O'Keefe) and hitchhiker Phyllis (Peggy Moran). This being a Universal film of the early 1940s, it was all but mandatory for Mischa Auer to show up in an incongrous but amusing supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mischa Auer, Peggy Moran, (more)
- 1939
My Love for Yours is the alternate title for Paramount's Honeymoon in Bali. Madeline Carroll pulls a "Rosalind Russell" as a hard-shelled businesswoman with no time for romance. Fred MacMurray is determined to melt down her resistance, hoping to do so during a vacation to Nassau. Carroll almost capitulates, but backs off when she mistakenly believes that MacMurray loves someone else. Contrary to the film's "other" title, the situation is resolved not in Bali but in cold old New York. Allan Jones, stuck with a standard-issue "other man" role, is at least given a few opportunities to sing. Scandanavian actress Osa Massen makes her American debut in the comparatively thankless role of the gal who doesn't land MacMurray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, (more)
- 1939
Hugh Herbert is the head of The Family Next Door; he's a plumber of modest means and questionable skills. The rest of Herbert's family would love to climb the social ladder and improve their lot, but their dreams are always compromised by papa's ineptitude. In time-honored fashion, Hugh saves the day at the last minute with a sudden act of acute competence. Ruth Donnelly plays Herbert's beleaguered wife, while Eddie Quillan is the oldest son. Universal Studios' The Family Next Door looks like it was intended as the vanguard of a "B" series which never materialized. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1939
The Carter Family finds itself in serious financial difficulty when its patriarch, druggist Doc Carter (Frank Craven), is all but forced out of business by a neighboring chain store. Doc isn't worried so much for himself and his wife Emma (Fay Bainter) as he is for his five children, played by Scotty Beckett, Bennie Bartlett, Donald Brenon, Mary Thomas and Gloria Carter (who real name is the same as her "reel" name). But there may be a way out: wealthy Bill and Gloria Hastings (Edmund Lowe, Genevieve Tobin), longtime friends of the Carters, have offered to adopt the couple's polio-stricken son Dickie (Beckett) for a substantial fee. Doc and Emma refuse this offer, but their somewhat more practical children offer themselves up for adoption rather than separate little Dickie from his parents. The ultimately happy denoument suggests that Paramount Pictures hoped to develop a "Carter Family" series, though no such project developed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fay Bainter, Frank Craven, (more)
- 1939
In this comedy drama, young high school student Henry Aldrich tries to tone down his natural mischievousness and shuck the reputation of being the worst student in school. It isn't easy and his father, who was an excellent student at Princeton, doesn't help. Fortunately, by the story's end, the young man is able to overcome all obstacles and prove himself. Following this film, the character of Henry Aldrich became popular and so several subsequent films were made around him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Betty Field, (more)
Gang Bullets was one of a myriad of late-1930s Monogram crime pictures, bearing such interchangable titles as I Am a Criminal, Convict's Code and Federal Bullets. Morgan Wallace plays a Capone-like racketeer named Anderson, who after being chased out of one town by the authorities immediately sets up shop in another. Unable to get any tangible evidence against Anderson, DA Wayne (Charles Trowbridge) orders his assistant Carter (Robert Kent) to dig up some dirt on the gangster boss. To do this, Carter pretends to turned crooked, joining Anderson's gang in order to accumulate evidence. Alas, Carter's girl friend Patricia (Anne Nagel) knows nothing of her boyfriend's subterfuge, and she suspects the worst. With such formidable henchmen as John Merton and Carleton Young at his beck and call, it's something of a surprise when Anderson comes a-cropper in the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Nagel, Robert Kent, (more)
- 1938
Once they had twin child actors Billy and Bobby Mauch on their payroll after The Prince and the Pauper, Warner Bros. had to work overtime to come up with suitable vehicles. One of the Mauch twins' best efforts was Penrod and His Twin Brother, based loosely on the "Penrod" stories by Booth Tarkington. Actually, 14-year-old "All American boy" Penrod (Billy Mauch) isn't really the brother of tough kid Danny (Bobby Mauch), but they do look exactly alike, leading to trouble for Penrod when he gets blamed for Danny's misdeeds. Eventually, Pen and Danny team up to vanquish a common enemy: a gang of mobsters who've squirreled themselves away in a desolate hideout. Among the supporting players are two recent "Our Gang" graduates, Jerry Tucker and Philip Hurlic. Penrod and His Twin Brother did well enough to warrant a follow-up, Penrod's Double Trouble. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Mauch, Bobby Mauch, (more)
Just Around the Corner is the film in which little Shirley Temple ends the Depression all by herself! The story starts realistically enough, with 10-year-old Penny Hale (Temple) sharing a basement apartment with her widowed father Jeff (Charles Farrell, in his final Fox film). Once a prosperous architect, Jeff has been working as a hotel janitor-engineer ever since the Wall Street Crash. Ordered by pompous hotel concierge Waters (Franklin Pangborn) to keep her place, Penny nonetheless has fun wandering the lobbies of the posh establishment under the watchful and protective eyes of her friends, Kitty the maid (Joan Davis), Gus the chauffeur (Bert Lahr) and Corporal Jones the doorman (Bill Robinson). Having been told by her dad that the only person who can pull the country out of the Depression is Uncle Sam, Penny becomes convinced that goateed billionaire tycoon S. G. Henshaw (Claude Gillingwater Sr.) is Uncle Sam come to life. Charming her way into the heart of the irascible Henshaw, Penny convinces him to help the economy get started again. Not only does Uncle Sam accomplish this by creating thousands of new jobs, but he also manages to give Penny's father Jeff a new start in life, much to the delight of Jeff's sweetheart Lola (Amanda Duff). The film's highlights are Shirley Temple's always-delightul dance duets with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson; less easy to take when seen today is the closing "Buttons and Epaulets" production number, performed by a chorus of servile blacks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Joan Davis, (more)
- 1938
Sons of the Legion is a showcase for Paramount's juvenile-talent pool-specifically, Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee and Billy Cook. The plotline is motivated by the formation of a Boy Scout-like organization, formed by members of the American Legion. Billy (Lee) and Davy (Cook) would like to join the group, but their father Charles (Lynne Overman) won't let them. It turns out that Charles was dishonorably discharged from the army, and hopes to keep this information a secret. Redeeming himself by capturing a dangerous criminal, Charles finally permits his boys to join the Sons of the Legion, secure in the knowledge that his past sins have been forgiven. Top-billed Donald O'Connor does a neat Mickey Rooney turn as soft-hearted tough kid Butch Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee, (more)
