Walter Long

Betty Grable's Wabash Avenue is an agreeable remake of Grable's 1943 hit Coney Island. The locale is changed from New York to Chicago, but the plot remains basically the same. Once again, the star is cast as a honky-tonk singer, Ruby Summers, who is groomed for classier show-business endeavors by a handsome producer -- in this case, Andy Clark (Victor Mature). Saloon owner Uncle Mike (Phil Harris) doesn't want to lose Ruby (Grable) for both professional and personal reasons, but Clark is more persuasive, and, frankly, better-looking. Once she reaches the top in a Hammerstein show, Ruby's head is turned by Clark's suave, sophisticated partner English Eddie (Reginald Gardiner). Margaret Hamilton has a wonderful cameo as a Carrie Nation-style saloon basher, while old-time vaudevillian James Barton steals the show with his rendition of such standards as "Harrigan" and "Green River." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A girl reporter discovers that her own father runs a shady "school of fine arts" (read brothel) in this independently made potboiler directed by former silent screen actor Elmer Clifton. When several naive young girls turned "nightclub entertainers" end up dead, snoop sister Nora Page (Astrid Allwyn) enrolls herself in the Crescent School of Fine Arts, a recruiting center for King Peterson's (Philip Van Zandt) notorious nitery. Things get a bit dicey when Nora's ally, a young district attorney (John Archer), is found in a compromising situation with one of the girls (Patricia Knox) but Nora, with the assistance of Police Captain McVeigh (H. B. Warner), follows a different trail, a trail that leads directly to her own father, a supposedly upstanding theatrical agent (Boyd Irwin). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Hidden Gold was the 29th installment in the "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. It perhaps goes without saying that "Hoppy" is played by William Boyd, while his sidekick Lucky Jenkins is essayed by Russell Hayden. The eponymous hidden gold is being covertly mined from an equally hidden mine by a gang of outlaws, who take time out to stage a series of stagecoach holdups. Hoppy and Lucky arrive in town to put an end to the robberies, but first they have to determine the identity of the outlaw leader. After five reels' worth of "cat and mouse", the action is laid on thick and heavy in reel six. Future singing cowboy star Eddie Dean shows up in a very minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fighting Mad was the second of producer Phil Krasne's "Renfrew of the Royal Mounted" films to be released by Monogram (taking over from the defunct Grand National Pictures). In this endeavor, Renfrew (James Newill) and his young pal Kelly (Dave O'Brien) take on American gangster Cardigan (Milburn Stone), who muscles his way into the Great White North. Cardigan has enlisted the reluctant aid of heroine Ann (Sally Blane), who out of fear of being arrested on a trumped-up charge is helping the villain smuggle stolen loot across the border. Comedy relief is provided by Benny Rubin as a Lower East Side type who aspires to become a mountie. In the next "Renfrew" outing, Murder on the Yukon, the heroine was played by Polly Ann Young, sister of Fighting Mad's Sally Blane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though it probably isn't saying much, Flaming Lead is the best of Ken Maynard's starring vehicles for low-budget Colony Pictures. The story begins, curiously enough, at a nightclub where Maynard is wowing the customers with his expert lariat tricks. One of the patrons is ranch owner Dave O'Brien, who invites our hero to head out west for a "working vacation." Once he's arrived in the Wide Open Spaces, Maynard is obliged to find out who's been depleted O'Brien's herd of horses, thereby endangering his contract with the US Army. For this outing, the increasingly portly Ken Maynard lost several unflattering pounds, a fact duly noted by fans and critics alike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bar 20 Justice is the 16th entry in the durable "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. As ever, William Boyd stars as Hoppy, this time teamed with Windy Halliday (Gabby Hayes) and Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden). On this occasion, our heroes take on a bunch of crooks who've taken over a mining concern. In order to capture the criminal responsible for murdering the husband of heroine Ann Dennis (Gwen Gaze), Hoppy is obliged to head deep, deep, deep into a forbidding mineshaft. The excitement level of the closing scenes is enhanced by an intricate musical score. The bad-guy lineup on this occasion includes the swarthy Walter Long and the outwardly respectable Pat O'Brien. Bar 20 Justice was directed by Lesley Selander, who would eventually helm 27 of the 66 "Cassidy" films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Monogram claimed that Jack Randall received an average of over 1,000 fan letters a week, the studio was quietly losing interest in the star's Westerns. Despite fine location filming at Lone Pine, CA, Man's Country was saddled with indifferent direction by veteran hack Robert F. Hill and a less than inspiring story by Poverty Row regular Robert Emmett Tansey. Silent screen villain Walter Long played twin brothers, one a rancher and the other a bandit. The good Long is unaware that there is oil on his land, a fact the bad Long uses to his own advantage. Enter ranger Jack Hale (Randall) who saves the good Long from being kidnapped by his evil brother and foils the plans to take over the property. Marjorie Reynolds, destined to star opposite Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in Paramount's Holiday Inn (1942), appeared as good Long's lovely daughter, and moon-faced Ralph Peters supplied a bit of stale comedy relief. Man's Country was the first Randall Western under the aegis of Scott R. Dunlap, whose budgets were even leaner than those of the series' previous producer, Maurice Conn. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Film collectors take note: Hal Roach's Pick a Star is not a Laurel and Hardy picture, though the popular comic duo does make a brace of amusing cameo appearances halfway through the film. A remake of Buster Keaton's Free and Easy, this is the story of how small-town gas-station owner Joe Jenkins (Jack Haley) tries to help his sweetheart Cecilia Moore (Rosina Lawrence) realize her ambition to become a movie star. At the behest of travelling entrepreneur Stone (Russell Hicks), Jenkins organizes a talent contest, the first prize being a trip to Hollywood and a screen test. When Stone turns out to be a crook and skips town with the proceeds of the contest, Cecilia is heartbroken, but Joe promises to go to Hollywood himself and make the right connections to assure her rise to stardom. Alas, the best Joe can manage in Tinseltown is a busboy job at the Colonial Club, a fact he tries to conceal from Cecilia and her wisecracking sister Nellie (Patsy Kelly) when they unexpectedly arrive in California as guests of movie-matinee idol Rinaldo Lopez (Mischa Auer). In desperation, Joe pretends to be a nightclub entertainer, but when this ruse is revealed, Cecilia angrily walks out on him, accompanying Rinaldo first to his movie studio and then to his apartment. Naturally Rinaldo has seduction on his mind, but innocent Cecilia doesn't realize this until Joe storms into the apartment with blood in his eye. Ashamed for his lascivious behavior, Rinaldo arranges for Cecilia to have a screen test for producer Klawheimer (Charles Halton). At the last moment, Cecilia suffers an attack of "camera fright," but Joe gently coaches her through her test, and there's a happy ending for all concerned -- even for sister Nellie, who's been relentlessly cynical about the storyline from first scene to last. Cast as "movie stars," Laurel and Hardy show up briefly in the movie-studio scenes to participate in a reciprocal-destruction sequence with their old screen nemesis Walter Long, and to perform an amusing musical routine with "dueling" harmonicas. Pick a Star has been reissued as Movie Struck, while the Laurel & Hardy scenes were released separately to TV as the ersatz two-reeler A Day at the Studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There are those western fans who feel that cowboy star Tom Keene did better work at low-budget Crescent Pictures than he ever had at mighty RKO Radio. Set in the years following the Civil War, Glory Trail casts Keene as John Morgan, a former Confederate captain presently employed to protect railroad workers from Indian attacks. John is in love with Lucy Strong (Joan Barclay), but her father (E. H. Calvert), a Yankee colonel, hates "Johnny Rebs" with a passion. Suffice to say that John proves himself a worthy son-in-law through a series of conspicuous acts of bravery. The villainy is provided by bull-necked Walter Long, former D. W. Griffith player and comic foil for Laurel & Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bold Caballero, Republic Pictures' first color film, was also the first talkie version of the "Zorro" legend (as originally set down by Johnston McCulley in The Curse of Capistrano). Robert Livingston essays the dual role of foppish Spanish-Californian aristocrat Don Diego, who when the necessity arises dons the mask and black cape of righter-of-wrongs Zorro. As usual, the Z-man spends his time defending the California peasantry from the wicked machinations of the corrupt, quasi-fascistic commandante (Sig Rumann), who has murdered the provincial governor and shifted the blame to Zorro. The film contains such marvelous set-pieces as Diego's advice to the leering commandante as to how to romance the fair Isabella (Heather Angel), and a bizarre "drag" scene in which the hero disguises himself as the heroine's duenna. Alas, current prints of The Bold Caballero are available only in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of MGM's phenomenally profitable Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy musicals, Naughty Marietta takes several beneficial liberties with the libretto of the original Victor Herbert operetta. MacDonald plays an 18th-century French princess who escapes an arranged marriage by posing as a "cake girl," a mail-order bride sent to the New World to marry a colonist. En route, MacDonald and the other brides are captured by pirates, but are rescued by mercenary Eddy and his roistering companions. To avoid marrying some lowly farmer or frontiersman, simon-pure MacDonald intimates that she is a woman with a "history," which makes her attractive to the glitterati of old New Orleans. Only Eddy sees through MacDonald's feigned "naughtiness," and in the end claims her for his own. The most memorable of the Herbert songs retained for the film version of Naughty Marietta was "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life", which remained one of Jeanette MacDonald's signature tunes ever afterward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a dark and stormy night. The butler of a large mansion is annoyed by the howling of a cat. He fires a few gunshots at the annoying feline, which rouses the attention of two dimwitted cops. Before long, nearly everyone in New York has converged on the mansion--including a couple of bona fide criminals. Lightning Strikes Twice can't make up its mind to be a straight melodrama or a slapstick comedy, and therein lies both its weakness and its charm. The film is of greatest interest to fans of 1930s "B" pictures, thanks to a vintage cast including Chick Chandler, Thelma Todd, Steffi Duna and Walter Catlett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In their fourth two-reeler for Columbia, the Three Stooges are mistaken for college football heroes by a beautiful gangster's moll. The latter was played by a very young Lucille Ball, who would always credit the Stooges with introducing her to "slapstick and physical comedy." According to Jack White, brother of Stooges producer Jules White, Lucille quickly left the studio because "Harry Cohn didn't want to bother with her. He didn't think she had any talent!" ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide