Arthur Loft Movies
Character actor Arthur Loft was active in films from 1933 until his death in 1947. A fussy-looking man who appeared as though he been weaned on a lemon, Loft was usually cast as pushy types. He was seen in prominent officious roles in two Edward G. Robinson/Fritz Lang collaborations of the mid-1940s, The Woman in the Window (44) and Scarlet Street (45). Other typical fleeting Arthur Loft assignments included a carpetbagger in Prisoner of Shark Island (36) and an abrasive reporter in Blood on the Sun (45). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1942
A solid Jonathan Latimer screenplay is one of the "plusses" of the medium-budget mystery A Night in New Orleans. Preston S. Foster plays police lieutenant Steve Abbott, at present engrossed in a baffling murder case. As he pieces the clues together, Abbott comes to the sobering conclusion that his own wife Ethel (Patricia Morrison) may be intimately involved in the murder. It gets worse: soon Abbott himself is accused of the crime. The film is full of clever little touches, notably a scene in which the heroine is seen reading a book written by none other than Jonathan Latimer! Featured in the cast of A Night in New Orleans is Ginger Rogers' former stand-in Jean Phillips, whom Paramount briefly groomed for stardom in the early 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Patricia Morison, (more)
- 1943
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
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Marie McDonald, (more)
- 1939
The title tells all in Columbia's A Woman is the Judge. Frieda Inescourt stars as lady jurist Mary Cabot, who 20 years earlier had lost contact with her infant daughter Justine. Now a grown woman (played by Rochelle Hudson), Justine accidentally shoots a man who'd impugned the reputation of her mother, whom she's never met. As luck would have it, the presiding judge at Justine's trial is none other than Mary Cabot-who up until the film's climax never realizes that she's holding the fate of her own baby in her hands. Judge Cabot's solution to the problem is hardly a salutary comment on the American judicial system, but within the context of the film it's perfectly logical. Billed second, Otto Kruger plays prosecuting attorney Steve Graham, who harbors a secret crush on the good gray judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frieda Inescort, Otto Kruger, (more)
Ostensibly based on the life of World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, whose smiling visage opened each of the 13 chapters, this fanciful serial depicted the travails of a globe trotting airline company. It seems that a villain known only as The Dragon (Arthur Loft) is determined to sabotage the company, who in desperation hires daredevil pilot Ace Drummond (John King) to investigate. By the time of the serial's 13th and final chapter -- "The World Akin" -- Drummond has not only managed to destroy The Dragon but also reunited lovely Peggy Trainor (Jean Rogers) with her long lost father (Montagu Shaw) and discovered a hidden mountain containing a fortune in jade. A former band singer with Ben Bernie, the rather bland John King later became "Dusty" King and enjoyed a minor career in B-Westerns. A legendary serial queen, blonde Jean Rogers gained her lasting reputation that same year when Universal cast her as Dale Arden in Flash Gordon. An edited feature version of Ace Drummond was released later in 1936 as Squadron of Doom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1937
While Rita Hayworth was one of many starlets signed to one-year contracts at Columbia in 1936-37, she was one of the few who made the "cut" when option time rolled around. One of those who didn't was Patricia Farr, who starred in All-American Sweetheart before the Columbia execs showed her the door. Farr's top billing is perplexing, since the film's main characters are all male, all members of a college rowing team (an athletic endeavor utilized in no fewer than four 1930s films). The storyline of All-American Sweetheart involved the compromising of certain student rowers, courtesy of bribe-dispensing gangsters. One gets the impression that Columbia would have inserted gangsters into a movie about ping-pong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Farr, Scott Colton, (more)
Gary Cooper added "producer" alongside "star" on his resume with this light-hearted Western about a mild-mannered cowboy (Cooper) who drifts into a small town with his sidekick (William Demarest). Naturally, he's mistaken for a notorious highway robber (Dan Duryea), although he can barely handle a gun. His impersonation of the menacing gunman falls apart when his skills are put to the test, and he faces certain doom when challenged by the returning gunman himself. In the end, however, our hero defeats the villain and even ends up with his girl (Loretta Young). A send-up of both Western clichés and Cooper's own heroic persona, Along Came Jones is brisk, amusing entertainment. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1944
An unofficial remake of the 1935 Alice Faye-George Raft vehicle Every Night at Eight, And the Angels Sing stars Dorothy Lamour as Nancy Angel, unofficial leader of a struggling, Andrews-like singing sister act. Nancy is in love with saxophone player Happy Morgan (Fred MacMurray), self-appointed "protector" of the Angel Sisters. Unfortunately -- and as it turns out, unharmoniously -- Nancy's sister Bobby (Betty Hutton is also ga-ga over Happy, but he barely acknowledges her existence. Meanwhile, the third Angel sister, Josie (Diana Lynn), stands on the sidelines and cracks wise. Before a happy ending can be realized, virtually every person in the cast goes through an extended period of poverty, which at one juncture forces Happy to form a singing-waiter act with his longtime crony Fuzzy Johnson (Eddie Foy Jr.. Although the film's title song is (surprisingly) never performed, And the Angels Sing is otherwise a smorgasbord of typical 1940s tunes, with Betty Hutton taking front and center with her inimitable "scat" renditions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1945
PRC's Arson Squad stars Frank Albertson as an insurance investigator and Robert Armstrong as chief of the police department's arson troubleshooters. Albertson and Armstrong team up to solve a particularly vicious series of deliberate fires. A man has been killed in one conflagration, so the villains have a murder rap hanging over them. The "usual suspects" include such murder-mystery reliables as Byron Foulger and Charles Arnt. The leading lady of Arson Squad is Grace Gillern, who emerged as something less than a household name after this programmer was distributed in September of 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Albertson, Robert Armstrong, (more)
Gene Autry battles a crooked mine owner in this his signature western from Republic Pictures. Years earlier, Gene promised to take watch over his employer's son Tom (Edward Norris), a young hothead who enjoys the so-called finer things in life. Tom has to be corralled out of the wicked city after finally inheriting the old homestead but life in the supposedly pastoral Arizona hamlet of Solitude proves less than idyllic when greedy copper miner E.G. Blaine (Arthur Loft) begins poisoning the water supply. Not patient enough to let law abiding Gene handle things, Tom takes matters into his own hands and is promptly slapped with a murder charge. Since the local authorities are controlled by Blaine, Gene has Judge Bent (Edmund Elson secure a change of venue for the upcoming trial but the enemy may have an ace up his sleeve. When not shooting it out with Blaine and his henchmen, Gene, Smiley Burnette, leading lady Jacqueline Wells and girl singer Mary Lee perform "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown", "Swingin' Sam, the Cowboy Man", "When the Cactus is in Bloom", "I'm an Old Cowhand", "Where the River Meets the Range", "I'm in the Jailhouse Now", "You Are My Sunshine", "Ninety-Nine Bullfrogs" and Ray Whitley's title tune. Back in the Saddle has been restored to its original length by the Westerns Channel and Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
In this bargain-basement actioner, a determined young woman tries to prove that her incarcerated brother is innocent. She must hurry, for he has a fatal date with the electric chair. Desperate, she enlists the aide of a shady character and a kindly district attorney. Most of the action scenes were cut from minor serials. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Regis Toomey, Sheila Terry, (more)
- 1933
Action specialist B. Reeves Eason cools his jets as director of Behind Jury Doors. William Collier Jr. plays a hotshot reporter assigned to cover the murder trial of a prominent doctor. Once he meets the doc's pretty daughter Helen Chandler, Collier vows to prove the defendant's innocence. Problem is, someone on the jury has been bribed...maybe. Behind Jury Doors was one of the more polished productions to emerge from poverty-row Mayfair Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Davidson, Walter Miller, (more)
- 1945
The Blonde From Brooklyn is perky Susan Parker (Lynn Merrick), gainfully employed as a "jukebox singer", back in the days when jukebox patrons could request that their songs be performed live via telephone hookup. Teaming with showbiz-minded G.I. Dixon Harper (Robert Stanton), Susan passes herself off as a Southern belle in order to land a job singing radio commercials for a Dixiefied coffee company. The fun begins when Susan is mistaken for the heir to a Southern plantation, forcing her to keep up her "yew all"s and "sho' nuff"'s indefinitely. Director Del Lord (of Three Stooges fame) resurrects any number of old two-reel-comedy routines in this trivial Columbia musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stanton, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1946
Blondie Knows Best was writer/director Edward Bernds' first entry in the long-running "Blondie" series, and arguably his funniest. The story contrives to have Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) pose as his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) so that a big business deal can be consummated while Dithers avoids nearsighted process server Jim Gray (Shemp Howard). The upshot of all this is that Dagwood ends up in a lunatic asylum, forcing Blondie (Penny Singleton) to come to the rescue. Ed Bernds was a big fan of comedian Shemp Howard (whom he'd directed in several Columbia 2-reelers) and accordingly he gives Shemp free reign in his scenes, resulting in some hystericially funny moments. Blondie Knows Best represented Jonathan Hale's farewell to the series; in the next entry, Blondie's Big Moment, he would be replaced by Jerome Cowan as Mr. Radcliffe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
In his first film in two years, James Cagney stars as Nick Condon, the American editor of a pre-WW2 Tokyo newspaper. When two of his best friends are horribly murdered, Condon suspects that the "peaceful" Japanese military government is up to no good. He dedicates himself to getting his hands on the "Tanka Plan," a Japanese blueprint for conquering the world, and bringing this document to the attention of the Free World. As a result, he is targeted for persecution by the corrupt Tokyo police and betrayed by a traitorous fellow journalist. On a pleasanter note, Condon makes the acquaintance of half-Chinese Iris Hilliard (Sylvia Sidney), who agrees to help him foil the Japanese High Command. As was customary in wartime films, virtually all the Japanese characters in Blood on the Sun are played by Chinese, Korean, and Caucasian actors; for example, Robert Armstrong is cast as Colonel Tojo, while Premiere Tenaka is enacted by John Emery. Having lapsed into the public domain, Blood on the Sun is available from several distributors and also exists in a computer-colorized version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
- 1941
The high batting average of 20th Century-Fox's Michael Shayne detective series remained intact with Blue, White and Perfect. Having prevented his sweetheart Merle Garland (Mary Beth Hughes) from marrying a bigamous fortune-hunter (Ivan Lebedeff), Mike Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) offers to marry the girl himself (at long last!) Merle agrees, but only if Mike gets out of the private-eye racket and takes an honest job. Shayne manages to land a job at an aircraft factory, only to discover that he's been hired to protect the company's valuable supply of industrial diamonds. When the gems are stolen during a highly suspicious break-in, Mike follows the trail of clues to a fancy dress shop managed by one Mr. Hagermann (Henry Victor). Sending his fiancee off on a wild goose chase, Mike trails Hagermann to a Honolulu-bound ocean liner, where he renews an acquaintance with former lady friend Helen Shaw (Helene Reynolds) and is introduced to overly effusive young playboy Juan Arturo O'Hara (George Reeves). Detective-movie logic dictates that at least one of these characters is inextricably linked with the elusive Hagermann-who is no mere diamond thief but a very clever German spy. All sorts of serial-like thrills await Shayne before he manages to uncover the "Mister Big" behind the stolen diamond racket (and it's a real surprise to boot!) Like most of Fox's Michael Shayne series entries, Blue White and Perfect was based not on a "Shayne" novel by Bret Halliday, but on a whodunit originally written for another fictional sleuth: In this instance, the source was a novel by Borden Chase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Nolan, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1942
In this musical, which manages to look back with nostalgia upon prohibition and the depression (no small accomplishment), George Raft plays George, a hoofer looking back on his glory days. His memories are triggered when The Paradise Club, a nightspot where he used to work, is about to be turned into a bowling alley. In the Roaring '20s, George and his partner Billie (Janet Blair) were a star attraction at The Paradise, run by Nick (S.Z. Sakall). George wants his relationship with Billie to be as graceful off-stage as on, but he has several rivals vying for her affections, including gangster Steve (Broderick Crawford) and policeman Dan (Pat O'Brien). Marjorie Rambeau plays Lil, modeled after brassy nightclub owner Texas Guinan. Raft actually worked for Guinan in his early days as a dancer, and he gets a chance to show off his fancy footwork accompanied by a number of classic tunes, including "Alabamy Bound", "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", "Sweet Georgia Brown", and "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Broadway was a loose remake of the 1929 Merna Kennedy vehicle of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1941
Bob Hope plays a famous movie star who does his best to avoid the pre-war draft, but ends up in uniform all the same. Hope marries Dorothy Lamour, the daughter of Army colonel Clarence Kolb, in hopes that this union will help him sidestep military service. Stuck in boot camp, Hope is a class-A screw-up until redeeming himself during a sham battle--though his "heroic" commandeering of a tank began as yet another boo-boo. Still not entirely certain that Hope could carry a film by himself, Paramount teamed him with Eddie Bracken and Lynne Overman--a sort of Abbott and Costello plus One. Despite the efforts to make Bob Hope part of an ensemble, it is clear from the first frame to the last who is truly the star of Caught in the Draft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, (more)
- 1944
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Having ended its 11-year run at 20th Century-Fox, the "Charlie Chan" series set up shop at Monogram with the singularly uninspiring Charlie Chan in the Secret Service. Sidney Toler returns as the famed oriental detective, who, per the title, is now a government agent. His first assignment is to solve the murder of an inventor and recover the victim's secret plans. Two reels into the picture, all action grinds to a halt as Chan wearily interrogates the suspects. The identity of the murderer might have caught some filmgoers by surprise in 1944, but seasoned mystery fans will beon to the game the minute the culprit is introduced. The one saving grace of Charlie Chan in the Secret Service is the stereotypical but undeniably funny comedy relief of Mantan Moreland, making his first appearance as pop-eyed chauffeur Birmingham Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Toler, Gwen Kenyon, (more)
- 1947
In this musical comedy a young man and woman base their love on lies that eventually manage to come true. Songs include: "It's All In The Mind," "The More We Get Together," "How Can You Tell?" "They Won't Let Me Sing," "Honeymoon On A Dime." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
This tragedy has pathos to spare as it presents the story of a crippled orphan who finds support in a kindly storekeeper who loves her. To help her the older man must constantly deal with the well-intentioned welfare representative who constantly interfere. To pay for an operation for the stricken girl, the man sells his store. He loses everything when the state takes her back. The man successfully rallies to get her back only to die of a stress-related disease he caught while fighting for her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1940
Brothers end up on opposite sides of the law in this Western set during the Civil War. Posing as a Union officer, Don Mason, aka Don Burke (Milburn Stone), attempts to divert the Union troops from the struggle with the Confederacy by arming the Colorado Indian tribes. Unbeknownst to Don, however, his younger brother Jerry (Roy Rogers) is assigned by President Lincoln to investigate the uprisings in the territory and the youngster arrives just as Don is preparing to marry Lylah Sanford (Pauline Moore). With the aid of grizzled sidekick Gabby (George "Gabby" Hayes), Roy manages to disarm the crooked Indian commissioner (Arthur Loft) but Don slips away with Lylah as his hostage. Roy is wounded in the ensuing shootout and is nursed back to health by Lylah, with whom he has fallen in love. There is the inevitable showdown between the brothers but rather than face the hangman, Don makes a daring escape and is shot and killed by Sheriff Harkins (Fred Burns). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1946
True Confession was one of the unfunniest of the "screwball" comedies of the 1930s, and its musical remake, Cross My Heart, isn't much of an improvement. Betty Hutton steps into the old Carole Lombard role as Peggy, a compulsive liar who'll do anything to help her attorney fiance Oliver Clarke (Sonny Tufts) get ahead. When it looks as though an unsolved murder case will be Clarke's ticket to success, Peggy, sticking her tongue in her cheek (as she always does when she's about to tell a whopper), glibly confesses to the killing. Peggy's plan is to allow her boyfriend to prove her innocence, thereby cementing his reputation as a man of integrity-but things don't go quite as planned. The subsequent trial is enlivened by the antics of looney Russian actor Peter (Michael Chekhov), who may or may not be the actual murderer. Betty Hutton's song numbers are just about as mediocre as the rest of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, (more)
- 1935
Silent screen leading man Lawrence Gray stars in this low-budget thriller produced by legendary penny-pincher Sam Katzman. After selling his cargo of silk to merchant Nick Conrad (Bryant Washburn), Captain Matthews (John Elliott) is brutally robbed by a gang of thieves under Conrad's control. Fortunately, intrepid newspaper reporter Jerry Mason (Gray) manages to get hold of the money, which he hides in a sausage at the deli belonging to his friend Freddy (Fuzzy Knight). Just as the thieves descend on the deli, the sausage is purchased by police officer O'Brien (Fred Kelsey), and is thus out of their reach. Having decided to set sail on the Lottie Carson as soon as possible, Matthews and his daughter Lorraine (Sheila Mannors aka Sheila Bromley) are persuaded by Jerry to stash the money in Freddy's safe. But Conrad and his gang, who quickly descend on the defenseless couple, intercept a letter to Jerry from Matthews. Happily, Jerry and Freddy manage to arrive just in time at the Lottie Carson to save father and daughter from Conrad, who is summarily thrown overboard to his death. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Donald Barry plays the legendary outlaw of the title in this Roy Rogers Western which, needless to say, plays fast and loose with history. Returning to Missouri from the gold fields of California, Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes) is persuaded by his granddaughter, Mary (Pauline Moore), to deposit his earnings in the Northfield bank, which is then promptly robbed. Assigned by the Bankers' Association to track down the presumed culprits, Jesse James and his brother Frank (Harry Worth), Roy Rogers soon learns that the Jameses are innocent in this particular crime, which was instead committed by the bank's greedy president, Sam Wyatt (Arthur Loft). Before Rogers can capture the wily banker, he must contend with the interference of Captain Worthington (Harry Woods), a railroad detective more interested in pocketing the 50,000-dollar reward than see justice done. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
