Ray Mala Movies
Mala, born Ray Wise to an Anglo trader and an Eskimo mother in Alaska, played leads in a number of Hollywood action films from the early '30s through the early '50s. As a supporting actor, he was often cast as "an exotic." Occasionally, he appeared as Ray Mala on the credits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1966
In this adventure re-edited from the 1938 serial Hawk of the Wilderness, a savage white man (Bruce Bennett) rescues a band of shipwreck survivors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Red Snow utilizes several reels of documentary footage around which to construct a fictional Cold War plotline. Guy Madison stars as a US pilot, sent to the Bering Straits to investigate suspicious activities. Madison teams with Eskimo soldier Ray Mala to discover that the rascally Russians--only 35 miles away from Alaska--are up to no good. It's up to the Good Guys to stop the Reds from developing a top-secret weapon. Much of Red Snow is taken up by pedestrian footage of real Eskimos going about their usual daily activities, while the narrative contrives to impose a hidden meaning on the most innocent of gestures and reactions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Madison, Ray Mala, (more)
This period swashbuckler film is based on the adventure novel Benjamin Blake by Edison Marshall, who also wrote The Vikings (1958). When his brother dies, scheming Arthur Blake (George Sanders) kidnaps his own nephew, Benjamin (played as a youth by Roddy McDowall and as an adult by Tyrone Power). Arthur's purpose is to claim his brother's dukedom for himself. Put to work as a stable boy, Benjamin grows up and develops a crush on his own cousin Isabel (Frances Farmer). When Arthur discovers this, he mercilessly beats Benjamin, who runs away and sails to India on a cargo ship to make his fortune. In Polynesia, he and a friend, Caleb (John Carradine), jump ship and set up camp on a tropical island paradise. There, Benjamin and Caleb become rich mining pearls, while Benjamin falls in love with a native girl, Eve (Gene Tierney). Now that he has amassed wealth, however, Benjamin is determined to return to England and get his revenge on Uncle Arthur. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1942
Considering the fact that it was the only Universal horror film directed by cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis, it's a shame that Mad Doctor of Market Street isn't better than it is. Lionel Atwill dominates the proceedings as Dr. Benson, an addlepated medico obsessed with the notion of restoring the dead to life. After his experiment on the unfortunate William Saunders (Hardie Albright) goes awry, Benson escapes from the authorities by boarding a passenger ship. When the vessel sinks during a storm at sea, Benson and several survivors manage to pull ashore on a remote tropical island. Here the mad doctor wows the natives with his scientific knowhow, and before long he is appointed king of the tribe. In this capacity, he hopes to marry helpless heroine Patricia (Claire Dodd) and to use the rest of the shipwreck survivors as guinea pigs for his experiments. The main problem with Mad Doctor of Market Street is the inclusion of youthful Una Merkel as the heroine's aunt, a role obviously intended for an older, less prominent actress. Obliged to radically alter and "beef up" Merkel's part, the screenwriters were forced to shortchange the rest of the picture, and as a result Mad Doctor of Market Street is nowhere near as frightening or atmospheric as it should have been. Still, the film is worth the price of admission for its chilling closing sequence alone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Una Merkel, Lionel Atwill, (more)
- 1941
While in Hawaii, Velez begins the film as a risque nightclub act and due to her involvement with a group of sailors becomes a beauty queen. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1941
Hold Back the Dawn begins with a shabby immigrant (Charles Boyer) wandering onto a Paramount sound stage and telling his life story to director Mitchell Leisen (who actually directed this film). In flashback, we see that Boyer was once a conscienceless gigolo, desperate to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. He makes it to Mexico, where he pretends to fall in love with shy schoolteacher Olivia de Havilland. It is his plan to marry her, thus be able to enter the United States; then he intends to dump her and pursue the woman he really loves. Boyer's regeneration, and the price he pays for his previous callousness, brings Hold Back the Dawn to its tearful conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1940
In this drama, a devoted, caring physician leaves his home and moves to Alaska to escape arrest after he performs euthanasia upon his terminally ill father. In the ever-snowy reaches of northernmost Alaska, the doctor begins administering to the poverty-stricken Inuit. While he has willingly exiled himself there and cares about the people, his new nurse is another story. She hates the outpost and holds the people there in contempt. She does not try to understand their lifestyle and therefore, considers them disgusting. Unbeknownst to the good doctor, he is being hunted by a detective determined to return him to the lower 48 to stand trial for the mercy killing of his father. Unfortunately, the gumshoe is caught in a blizzard and is blinded by the snow. The doctor saves his life. The grateful detective, seeing the doctor's good work, decides that he never saw him and returns home empty handed. Meanwhile, the nurse gets a grip on her ethnocentrism and decides to stay to be with the doctor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Jane Wyatt, (more)
- 1940
Lola Lane and James Craig play explorers working on behalf of the British government. Lane and Craig have been assigned to venture deep into the wilds of Africa to retrieve the sacred skull of a long-deceased Sultan. Whoever possesses the skull will have total control over the native population--which is why several sinister gentlemen with Teutonic accents (America wasn't in the war yet, so no nationalities, please) also covet the skull. A reactivated volcano provides a rip-roaring climax for this Universal second feature. Zanzibar was based on a pair of short stories written by Maurice Tombragel and Maurice Wright, who collaborated on the screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lola Lane, James Craig, (more)
- 1940
Cecil B. De Mille directed this lavish all-star spectacular paying tribute to America's neighbors to the North. In 1885, as Louis Riel (Francis J. McDonald) tries to organize Indians and French settlers into a fighting force that will battle against the ruling British, Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers (Gary Cooper) arrives in Canada to arrest Jacques Corbeau (George Bancroft), one of Riel's associates who is wanted for murder in the U.S. Rivers promptly falls for nurse April Logan (Madeleine Carroll), which triggers jealously in the straightlaced Mountie sergeant Jim Brett (Preston S. Foster), who is also in love with April. Meanwhile, April's brother, Ronnie Logan (Robert Preston), also a member of the North West Mounted Police, is in love with Louvette (Paulette Goddard), Corbeau's sister and a fiery "half-breed" who lives among the Indians. When Dusty arrives in Canada, he joins forces with the mounties, who are looking for Corbeau on another murder charge, and soon joins the fight against Riel's rebel factions. De Mille imported 300 pine trees for his "forest" set, believing that a woods created on the controlled environment of a soundstage would look more "real" onscreen than location shooting in Canada. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, (more)
- 1939
Cecil B. DeMille takes us back to the 1860s, then rebuilds the first intercontinental railroad in Union Pacific. The real-life spectacle is occasionally interrupted by the fictional adventures of railroad overseer Joel McCrea, postmistress Barbara Stanwyck (with an incredible Irish brogue), and McCrea's best pal Robert Preston. Unfortunately Preston has fallen in with Brian Donlevy, who is dedicated to destroying the Union Pacific railroad on behalf of a crooked political cartel. During an Indian attack, McCrea and Preston fight side by side to save Stanwyck, prompting Preston to turn honest. On the day in 1869 that the "Golden Spike" is to be driven at Promontory Point, Preston is killed saving McCrea from Donlevy's bullets. Union Pacific owes a great deal to John Ford's 1924 film on the same subject, The Iron Horse, even restaging one or two major action sequences from the earlier film. This DeMille spectacular was a big hit with audiences of 1939, who craved a booster shot of flag-waving now and again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1939
One part high-seas adventure and one part western, Mutiny on the Blackhawk opens as a pair of heroes take a stand against mutineers and a ship load of freed slaves. Eventually the ship docks off the California coast and the twosome disembark. While traveling the land, they end up trying to prevent Mexican soldiers from destroying a village. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Andy Devine, (more)
In this saccharine Klondike adventure, a brave female reporter who has a rapport with wild animals heads north to cover a story. Included in her animal entourage are a pair of bear cubs, a talking rook, and a homeless collie. After she gets lost, a handsome guide shows up to lead her out of the wilderness. It is an arduous journey fraught with many natural dangers, and the travelers nearly die from hunger until another man shows up to save them. When he begins pursuing the reporter, the guide gets jealous and a terrible fight erupts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Beverly Roberts, (more)
- 1936
Eskimo actor Ray Mala (real name: Ray Wise) relocates to the South Seas in Last of the Pagans. Mala (as he is billed) is cast as Taro, one of dozens of natives exploited by the white owners of the tin mine. The story is based on Herman Melville's Typee, which was in part a condemnation of white intervention in the South Sea islands. This aspect of the story is completely forgotten when Taro rescues a white overseer during a cave-in, leading to happiness, harmony and understanding all around. There's also a hurricane and a few hula dancers thrown into the stew. Lotus Long, who'd previously co-starred with Mala in MGM's Eskimo, is here cast as Taro's island sweetheart Lilleo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lotus Long
