Lou Lubin Movies

An unofficial remake of The Champ, The Clown concerns Dodo Delwyn (Red Skelton), a down-and-out performer with abundant and obvious talent, but also a self-destructive tendency to overindulge his drinking and gambling habits. Once a Ziegfeld headliner, Dodo is now lucky to get jobs playing a clown at cheap amusement parks and even cheaper burlesque. Dodo's addictions cost him his marriage, but he somehow is able to maintain custody of his son Dink (Tim Considine), whose love for and faith in his father knows no bounds. Dink and Dodo's desperate need for each other is threatened when Dink's mother -- married again and capable of providing him with a better life -- reappears and explains that she wants to take care of the boy herself. Dink goes behind his father's back to locate his old agent, and begs him to help Dodo; but the agent cannot do anything. Dink goes away with his mother, but is miserable and runs back to his father. The agent, meanwhile, has managed to wrangle a TV show for Dodo -- and now that his son is back and needs him, Dodo resolves to find the courage to take up this offer and make a success of it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the long-running Bowery Boys series, Sach becomes a mind-reader after he is punched in the nose. To capitalize on his new talent, he and the boys open the Eagle Eye Detective Agency. Their first client, a forgetful fellow, desperately needs them to find the combination to the vault where he placed an envelope containing secret information about a group of gangsters. The young detectives then don disguises and sneak in to the gangsters' lair to stop them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Blue-collar gal Henrietta Smith (Anne Sheridan) is mistaken for a woman of wealth by plumber Fred Newcombe (John Lund). Henrietta goes along with Fred's error when the opportunity presents itself to bring in much-needed revenue for herself and her inebriate father (Cecil Kellaway). The comic situations pile up thick and fast, culminating in an imagined romantic quadrangle involving Henrietta, Fred, banker Walter Medford (Robert Keith) and Medford's dizzy wife Gertrude (Natalie Schafer). One would have thought that Anne Sheridan had outgrown this sort of nonsense back in the 1940s, but she gamely attacks the material as though everything in the storyline is happening for the first time. The expert lineup of supporting laughmakers includes Harvey Lembeck, Alan Mowbray and Burt Mustin (playing old men even back then!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The direction of Reginald LeBorg and the cinematography of Stanley Cortez go a long way to dissipate the essential tawdriness of Models, Inc. Colleen Gray stars as seductive Rusty Farraday, who maneuvers model-agency owner John Stafford (John Howard) into marriage. Once the matrimonial knot has been tied, Rusty's no-good former boyfriend Lennie Stone (Howard Duff) reenters her life. Stone comes up with a plan to exploit Stafford's gorgeous models for the purposes of what journalist Walter Winchell used to call "feelthy peectures." The girls are forced to pose in the near-nude for the pleasure of the low-lifes who pay Stone for the privilege. Models Inc was hastily assembled by a firm called Mutual Pictures for the grind-house circuit; less than a year after its theatrical release, the film was making the TV Late Show rounds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fish-market worker Johnny O'Hara (James Arness) is named as a suspect when his boss -- with whom he had a dispute the previous day -- is shot to death in an apparent robbery. When he's arrested, his family appeals to their old friend James Curtayne (Spencer Tracy), who was once a renowned criminal attorney but is now in civil practice. He resists their entreaties until he realizes that no decent attorney will handle the case properly; his daughter (Diana Lynn) watches with alarm, however, for we soon learn that Curtayne is an alcoholic, and that the major factor in his life that pushed him over the edge was the stress of having someone's life in his hands. He discovers soon enough just how much Johnny's life is in his hands when his client refuses to level with him about his real whereabouts on the night of the murder. He also realizes as the trial starts precisely how rusty he is in the courtroom, and the old stresses return -- and with them, his drinking. Curtayne not only manages to lose the case but destroys his career when he tries to buy off a larcenous prosecution witness. His client facing a death sentence and his own life and career in ruins, he's seemingly hit bottom, but then new evidence surfaces, of a nature that not even the ambitious prosecutor (John Hodiak) can ignore. Recognizing that his client was actually innocent and also acting in his silence -- however stupidly -- from the noblest of motives, Curtayne is willing to redeem himself by putting his own life on the line, confronting a killer who has taken more than one life without any compunction whatsoever, and who has no reason to spill anything.

The People Against O'Hara was a well-made, largely location-shot crime drama set in New York City, but it wouldn't have been nearly so prestigious a movie were it not for the presence of Spencer Tracy in the role of Curtayne. Ironically enough, he only agreed to do the film on the condition that his friend Pat O'Brien, who hadn't been in a major studio release in a couple of years, be given a large role, which he got as the lead detective on the case, and O'Brien and Tracy get a couple of really good scenes together. The film also includes an unbilled appearance by Charles Bronson, who was still working as Charles Buchinski in 1951, and is highlighted by a superb prominent supporting performance by William Campbell, who seems to quietly relish every nuance of his portrayal of a totally slimy character. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Director Mervyn Leroy lends a burnished MGM gloss to this sordid tale of infidelity among rich New York East Siders. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Jessie Bourne, a charming society woman whose finds out that her husband Brandon (James Mason) is guiltily indulging in an illicit affair with the earthy Isobel Lorrison (Ava Gardner). Jessie bears her husband's indiscretion with a gallant dignity, and when Isabelle is killed, Jesse realizes that she doesn't care for Brandon anyway. Van Heflin is also on hand as ex-cop Mark Dwyer, who admires Jessie's stoic dignity. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Barry Fitzgerald's distinctive brand of Irish blarney, which was wonderful in small doses, leaned towards the precious and boring when he was given a leading role. In Easy Come, Easy Go, Fitzgerald portrays an inveterate horse player who refuses to allow his grown daughter (Diana Lynn) to get married. His motives are less paternal than materialistic: Fitzgerald has been spending all his daughter's hard-earned money at the racetrack. The old duffer reforms by fade-out time, allowing Lynn to choose between her pompadoured swains Sonny Tufts and Dick Foran. This bears no relation to the 1968 Elvis Presley musical of the same name, beyond the fact that both pictures were released by Paramount. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1935 Jean Harlow-Spencer Tracy vehicle of the same name, RKO Radio's Riff-Raff is an action-packed vehicle for aging but still virile Pat O'Brien. At large in Panama, American private eye Dan (O'Brien) hopes to get his hands on a valuable map showing priceless oil concessions. He finds himself up against a formidable cartel of villains headed by Molinar (Walter Slezak), who likewise want to get their mitts on the map and are willing to commit murder to do so. Mixed up in the proceedings is worldly nightclub singer Maxine (Anne Jeffreys), whose reputation is such that O'Brien immediately distrusts her--an opinion he has good reason to reverse as the film rolls along. Percy Kilbride provides a few chuckles as a dry-witted Panamanian taxi driver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inspired by the radio program of the same name, Night Editor features Charles D. Brown as the editor of the New York Star. In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant William Gargan, who forsakes his happy home life for the love of no-good society dame Janis Carter. Both Gargan and Carter begin cheating on their respective spouses, and while on a romantic rendezvous the couple witnesses a murder. They can't report the crime without revealing their own infidelities, a dilemma which leads to blackmail, double-crossing and a second murder attempt. A twist ending caps this snappy little 65-minute morality play. The script of Night Editor was based on the story "Inside Story" by Scott Littleton, previously dramatized on the Night Editor radio series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Masterfully directed by Fritz Lang, Scarlet Street is a bleak film in which an ordinary man succumbs first to vice and then to murder. Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a lonely man married to a nagging wife. Painting is the only thing that brings him joy. Cross meets Kitty (Joan Bennett) who, believing him to be a famous painter, begins an affair with him. Encouraged by her lover, con man Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea) Kitty persuades Cross to embezzle money from his employer in order to pay for her lavish apartment. In that apartment, happy for the first time in his life, Cross paints Kitty's picture. Johnny then pretends that Kitty painted to portrait, which has won great critical acclaim. Finally realizing he has been manipulated, Cross kills Kitty, loses his job, and because his name has been stolen by Kitty, is unable to paint. He suffers a mental breakdown as the film ends, haunted by guilt. Kitty and Johnny are two of the most amoral and casual villains in the history of film noir, both like predatory animals completely without conscience. Milton Krasner's photography is excellent in its use of stark black-and-white to convey psychological states. Fritz Lang is unparalleled in his ability to convey the desperation of hapless, naïve victims in a cruelly realistic world. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Part of the series of Universal B-musicals teaming Martha O'Driscoll and Noah Beery Jr., this film is also a remake of the 1937 comedy Love in a Bungalow. Patty Callahan (O'Driscoll) offers residence in a model home to soldier Jeff (Beery) and soon falls in love with him. Although the pair are unmarried, they enter a marital contest intended to celebrate the "Happiest G.I. Couple." Winning the contest brings on all sorts of farcical troubles until the couple are able to be united for real. Songs include "Don't Sweetheart Me" and "Best of All." ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

After years of faithful supporting-player service to Warner Bros., Jerome Cowan was rewarded with two starring vehicles, the first of which was Find the Blackmailer. Cowan is cast as private eyes D. L. Trees, who is hired by mayoral candidate John M. Rhodes (Gene Lockhart) to prevent any sort of adverse publicity. It seems that, somewhere in town, there's this talking blackbird (!) who insists upon saying that Rhodes will commit a murder. When the killing occurs, Rhodes is implicated, and Trees is off on a hectic pursuit of the incriminating crow-and the actual murderer. Faye Emerson is decorative as the leading lady, while the supporting cast is festooned with such "usual suspects" as John Harmon, Bradley Page and Lou Lubin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Ritz Bros' third low-budget musical for Universal was the pointlessly titled Hi'ya, Chum! In this 61-minute timekiller, the Ritzes play The Merry Madcaps, a trio of itinerant entertainers who purchase a restaurant in a California boom town. While leading ladies Jane Frazee and June Clyde hold down the fort at the restaurant, the Ritz boys do their best to thwart the crooked schemes of gambler Edmund McDonald. Robert Paige, Ms. Frazee's vis-a-vis in Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', plays the nominal romantic lead. Outside of an amusing ballet parody, Hi 'Ya, Chum! is about 61 minutes too long. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide