Tom London Movies

Sono Art-World Wide, an enterprising minor-league studio of the early talkie era, did its best to seek out subject matter that would guarantee a respectable box-office showing. Air Police has an alluring title and some first-class aerial photography, but otherwise is a standard cops-and-robbers caper. Kenneth Harlan plays a flying cop whose partner is murdered by smugglers. A showdown high above the clouds is a foregone conclusion, though most of the skullduggery is committed on terra firma by frog-faced gang boss Rychard Cramer. Second-echelon silent film leading lady is Kenneth Harlan's love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction -- and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II. The Road Back (1937) followed, and the film was remade for television in 1979. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Lively June (Jane Withers), teen-aged daughter of mystery writer Waldo Everett (Jon Qualen), who calls her "Angel," becomes involved in intrigue centering on movie star Pauline Kaye (Sally Blane) and her companion Stivers (Joan Davis). Reporter Nick Moore (Robert Kent), once sweet on Pauline, is convinced that her sudden disappearance is a publicity stunt, which is true -- until gangster Bat Regan (Harold Huber) decides to get involved. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Apart from the fact that screenwriter John Francis Natteford named his lead heavy "Cole Porter," this Ken Maynard Western from low-budget producer Tiffany is regulation sagebrush fare. The nasty Mr. Porter (Hooper Atchley) is in the business of buying cattle from the ranchers, only to kill the men afterwards and retrieve the money. One of the intended victims, the Arizonian (Maynard), is found wounded in the desert by Kay Moore (Lina Basquette), who nurses him back to health. But Kay's father (Murdock MacQuarrie) is the next murder victim and the girl suspects the Arizonian, who is forced to flee. He hooks up with Emilio Vasquez (Michael Visaroff), a gregarious Mexican outlaw, and together they successfully trap Porter and his gang. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A mystery man works behind the scenes in this tuneful Roy Rogers western in which the local theatre owner attempts to ruin the honest businessmen of Deadwood. Even the sheriff, Jordan (Monte Blue), answers to nasty Jake Marvel (Ralf Harolde), whose reign of terror forces the decent people to become outlaws themselves. Enter Bill Brady, aka Brett Starr (Rogers), a sharpshooter with Professor Mortimer "Gabby" Blackstone's (George "Gabby" Hayes) traveling medicine show. Although a fugitive from justice, Bill comes to the aid of the beleaguered citizens, discovering along the way that a trusted friend isn't quite who he claims to be. Roy sings his own and Fred Rose's "Sundown on the Rangeland", Rose and Ray Whitley's "The call of the Dusty Trail" and Jule Styne and Sol Meyer's "Joe O'Grady". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A courageous cowboy dons the guise of a Texas Ranger to keep murderous cattle rustlers from harming a beautiful young woman, the daughter of the dead lawman whose clothes he wears. This western follows his adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bob Kane's 1939 Detective Comics superhero The Batman came to the screens in serial form courtesy of Columbia Pictures and producer Rudolph C. Flothow. In time-honored serial fashion, Flothow chose Lewis Wilson for the title role, a relative newcomer, but one with an amazing facial resemblance to the cartoon character. Wilson's athletic ability, however, left a lot to be desired and Douglas Croft, cast as young sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder, looked too old for his role, especially when doubled by a hairy-legged stunt man. For censorship purposes, the serial Bruce Wayne was not a lone Gotham millionaire crusader but gainfully employed by the Unites States government. Said government is terrorized by evil Dr. Daka (J. Carroll Naish), an emissary from Emperor Hirohito complete with atom-smasher ray guns and a device that turns its wearers into zombies. (The device, placed on the skull of its victim, resembles something from a child's Erector set.) Batman and Robin are aided by lovely Linda Page (Shirley Patterson), whose uncle (Gus Glassmire) becomes one of Dr. Daka's first victims. From the Bat Cave, the three crusaders and Wayne's butler, Alfred (William Austin), venture forth to battle the forces of evil in general and a scenery-chewing Naish in particular -- travelling in a convertible and not the later so familiar batmobile. It takes them 15 chapters and a race through an amusement park to finally destroy the evil Daka and the title of the concluding chapter, "Doom of the Rising Sun," must have brought a ray of hope to a war-weary populace. The Batman was directed by Lambert Hillyer, a veteran who knew something about bats from having previously helmed Dracula's Daughter. The serial was popular enough to merit a sequel, although it would take six more years until Columbia debuted The New Adventures of Batman and Robin (1949). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this off-beat western, a cowboy is struck on the head and loses his memory. Opportunistic outlaws then assure him that he is in their gang. With no choice but to believe them, he begins a series of robberies. Another smack on the noodle restores his memory and he suddenly realizes that he's a good guy and so brings the villains to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this musical western, a rancher sends a man to prevent the marriage of his daughter. When the man arrives he finds a dude ranch and several murders which require solving. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Nearing the end of his starring days, Universal cowboy Ted Wells played Bob Shaw, the sheriff of Rimrock, in this quickly-made silent Western. Shaw and his deputies raid a gambling joint suspected of serving bootleg liquor, but owner Joe Kern (Tom London) manages to hide the contraband. Later, a truckload of hootch is prevented from entering Rimrock, its destination Kern's gambling establishment. John Bell (William Malan), the father of Bob's fiancée (Kathryn McGuire), shoots Joe Kern in self-defence and is chased out of town by the saloon-keeper's henchman (Buck Moulton). Before he dies, Kern exonerates Bell of any wrongdoing, and peace is soon restored to Rimrock. A pleasant enough personality, Ted Wells faced unemployment when Universal closed its Western units in anticipation of sound. No actor in any real sense of the word, Wells signed for a series of very late silent Westerns produced by Robert J. Horner who billed him "Pawnee Bill, Jr." The "Pawnee Bill" Westerns played in rural areas only, and Wells spent the remainder of his career in bit parts and doubling for William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A late entry in Monogram's Jimmy Wakely musical Western series, Brand of Fear features a nice performance by Gail Davis, television's Annie Oakley. Davis plays Anne Lamont, whose guardian, Marshal Black Jack Flint (Tom London), hires her as the new schoolteacher of Oreville, AZ. Black Jack, however, is really a reformed outlaw and is being blackmailed by crooked blacksmith Cal Derringer (Marshall Reed). Derringer is in league with outlaw Tom Slade (William H. Ruhl), who plans to rob a shipment of ore. On the side of law and order are trouble-shooter Jimmy Wakely and his sidekick Cannonball (Dub Taylor). They run down the villains, and with his dying breath, Derringer confesses that Black Jack was innocent of the charges leveled against him 20 years earlier and that he is actually Anne's natural father. In between battling the bad guys, Wakely finds time to sing "There's a Rainbow Over the Range" by Tim Spencer and "Cool Water" by the prolific Bob Nolan. Monogram could have done much worse than this tightly packaged piece of Western hokum, and often did. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

As might be expected, director Victor Fleming, who always did well with outdoorsy material, deftly handles this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel. Glenn Kilbourne (Richard Dix) was gassed during the war. When he comes home to New York he discovers that his fiancée, Carley Burch (Lois Wilson), has not only fallen in with a jazzy, wealthy crowd -- she's one of their leaders. Kilbourne can't cope with this and he has a relapse. A doctor recommends that he go to Arizona to recuperate, but once he has been there for a while he falls in love with the place and becomes a rancher. Carley goes out to see him, but she's disgusted by the rough life and goes back to New York. After visiting a hospitalized friend of Kilbourne's, however, Carley realizes that she's a quitter and she returns to Arizona. It's not a moment too soon -- Kilbourne is about to marry Flo Hutter (Marjorie Daw), a rancher's daughter. Flo knows that Kilbourne still loves Carley, so she willingly gives him up and returns to Lee Stanton (Leonard Clapham), who has been patiently waiting for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide