Jack Mulhall Movies
Elegant silent film leading man Jack Mulhall launched his career as a boy singer on the tent-show circuit, then moved up the ladder to vaudeville and stock companies. Appearing in his first film in 1913, Mulhall rose to full stardom in the 1920s, playing light romantic leads opposite some of Hollywood's most glamorous female stars; his most frequent co-star was Dorothy Mackaill, with whom he appeared in several popular Warner Bros. films of the late silent era. His well-modulated voice, seasoned with a touch of the brogue, assured him a seamless transition to talking pictures. In 1929's Dark Streets, Mulhall essayed the first dual role ever attempted in talkies. By the early '30s, however, Mulhall's star was in eclipse, and he was taking whatever he could get: leads in Poverty Row detective mellers, supporting roles in serials, bits in A-pictures like DeMille's Cleopatra, and so on. Outwardly taking his fall from grace in stride, Mulhall remained perplexed at this reversal of fortune until the end of his days. His best showing in the 1940s was as one of the headliners of the long-running Los Angeles stage revue Ken Murray's Blackouts. Jack Mulhall remained active in films until 1960, keeping busy in his last years on the board of the Screen Actors Guild. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Seasoned serial director Spencer Gordon Bennett helmed this story of a one-eyed, octopoidal space alien, wreaking havoc upon atomic subs at the North Pole. The monster is determined to take over the world, though it seems ill equipped for that purpose. Heroes Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, and Brett Halsey head underwater to neutralize the alien's submerged flying saucer. The cast is peopled with such veterans as Tom Conway, Bob Steele, Victor Varconi, Selmer Jackson, and Jack Mulhall. Movie buffs may wish to take note of the exterior scenes in Atomic Submarine; several of them are played out in front of the easily recognizable studios of Allied Artists, formerly Monogram and later the home of LA's PBS channel 28. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, (more)
- 1958
Every so often, the prestigious 1950s CBS anthology Playhouse 90 would digress from its "live" format and offer a sumptuously produced film presentation. One of these was the suspenseful 1958 offering No Time at All, a fascinating precursor to the Airport films of the 1970s. On a routine night flight from Miami to New York, an airliner loaded with passengers is suddenly plunged into darkness due to an electrical failure. Losing contact with the plane, the ground crew in New York worries that all on board may be lost--especially since the weather has turned ugly. In a brilliant dramatic device, the viewer never sees the plane in flight nor its passengers and crew: Instead, the play stays on solid land, concentrating on the reactions of the friends and families of those on board. This Playhouse 90 entry boasts perhaps the most impressive cast ever assembled for the series, among them dramatic actors Bill Lundigan, Jane Greer, Betsy Palmer, Sylvia Sidney and Keenan Wynn; comedians Buster Keaton, Chico Marx (with a Jewish accent), and Harry Einstein (aka "Parkyakarkus", and the father of contemporary comic actors Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks); and musical-comedy favorites Jack Haley (in a rare unsympathetic role) and Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the 1940 cartoon feature Pinocchio). Also seen in the supporting cast is an up-and-coming young player named Charles Bronson, here cast as a sentimental boxer; and "Floyd the Barber" himself, Howard McNear--who, indirectly, is the hero of the piece. Long considered a "lost" film, No Time at All was made available on the home-video market in the early years of the 21st century, complete with the original commercials and a preview of the next week's Playhouse 90. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Lundigan, Jane Greer, (more)
- 1958
This is the very last entry in the long-running Bowery Boys saga. This time the gang gets involved with English diamond smugglers after they are hired to safely escort a valuable poodle on a Transatlantic voyage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
While the train he is riding on is temporarily stalled by a blizzard, effusive old rancher Mr. Kilmer (Chill Wills) regales the other passengers with one of his tall tales. Throughout Kilmer's monologue, he is constantly interrupted by an obnoxious eight-year-old boy named Johnny (Peter Lazer). Finally, Kilmer offers Johnny a silver dollar if he can remain quiet for ten minutes. Dutifully, Johnny shuts up -- while outside, the blizzard rages on, and the search for an escaped mental patient continues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this entry in the long-running "Bowery Boys" series Sach sells his soul to the Devil so he can atone for spending a charity fund at the track. The bargain enables the young man to successfully predict winning horses at the track. Soon Sach finds himself pursued by greedy mobsters who want him to work with them. Sach demurs and then ends up riding a horse in the big race. Despite his efforts to force the steed to slow down and lose, it wins. Fortunately, the horse is disqualified because Sach was an illegal rider. This has the added benefit of proving the Devil wrong and nullifying their contract. To pay for his crimes, Sach must work in a diner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The story you are about to see would probably be more at home on a contemporary "procedural" series like CSI or Bones. While playing in the hills just outside LA, two kids stumble upon a human skeleton. When it turns out the bones or those of a man who was killed 25 years earlier, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) try to determine what happened to the poor fellow. Evidently, however, there are only two people in town who care about the outcome of the case: the dead man's former sweetheart--and the person who murdered him. This is one of a handful of black and white Dragnet episodes written especially for television, with no prior radio version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
Awakening in a strange bed and suffering from a terrible headache -- not to mention the mysterious bruises all over her body -- alcoholic Karen Stewart (Phyllis Thaxter) tries to piece together the events leading up to her present condition. All she can recall at first is her most recent promise to her boyfriend Jeff (Warren Stevens) that she will stop drinking, and stop drinking for good. But Jeff had heard that song many times before, and he was in no mood to put up with her subsequent drunken binge. From this point forward, Karen's mind is a blank...but the blank will soon be filled in a horrific fashion. In light of the serious nature of the story, host Alfred Hitchcock foregoes his usual humorous epilogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The lovely assistant of an evil hypnotist has no idea that she is the descendant of a horrifying prehistoric sea monster she is mesmerized by her boss. When the monster comes forth, she goes on a killing spree. A promoter learns about the hypnotist's shenanigans and figures a way to cash in on the death and destruction. Meanwhile, each time the assistant is hypnotized and the monster emerges, she is able to better control it. The monster costume was created by master make-up artist Paul Blaisdell and is considered one of his best. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Marla English, (more)
- 1952
Just for You is based very loosely on Stephen Vincent Benet's Famous. Widowed Broadway producer Jordan Blake (Bing Crosby) is too busy with work to pay much attention to his teenaged kids Jerry (Robert Arthur) and Barbara (Natalie Wood). One thing he hasn't noticed is that Jerry isn't really a kid any more. This point is driven home when Jerry develops a crush on Blake's latest leading lady--and erstwhile sweetheart--Carolina Hill (Jane Wyman). Only Allida de Bronkhart (Ethel Barrymore), owner of the girl's school attended by Barbara, is wise enough to figure out a satisfactory solution to everyone's dilemmas. Capitalizing on their previous successful musical teaming in Here Comes the Groom, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman perform several sprightly tunes, both solo and in tandem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, (more)
- 1952
Friday (Jack Webb) investigates the theft of $10,000 worth of medicinal narcotics from a Catholic Hospital. The trail of clues leads to movie bit player Leonard Castle (Whit Connor)--who, in a typically ironic touch, is currently acting in a B-picture called "Crime Report." Based on a radio episode of Dragnet which originally aired on August 10, 1950, this TV version marks the final appearance of Barton Yarborough as Friday's partner Ben Romero (Yarborough died on December 19, 1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Set virtually in its entirety in an airborne TWA Constellation (evidently the company agreed to the use of its name in exchange for free advertising), Sky Liner stars Richard Travis as FBI agent Steve Blair. At the beginning of the film, a government courier is murdered by a foreign spy during a transcontinental flight. Blair manages to collar the spy, who is then promptly murdered himself. Now Blair is forced to play detective, sifting out the guilty party (or parties) from the passenger list. Pamela Blake and Rochelle Hudson play the standard "good" and "bad" girls, while the rest of the cast is a film-buff's dream: Steven Geray, Bess Flowers, Jack Mulhall, George Meeker et. al. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Travis, Pamela Blake, (more)
- 1949
Set in the 1920s and 1930s, 20th Century-Fox's You're My Everything borrows elements from several true-life showbiz stories, include the rise to fame of Fox's own Shirley Temple. Vaudeville hoofer Timothy O'Connor (Dan Dailey) sweeps proper New England gal Hannah Adams (Anne Baxter) off her feet. Hannah joins O'Connor's act, eventually soaring to popularity as a silent-film star. When talkies come in, Hannah is finished, but her precocious daughter Jane (played by Shirley Temple sound-alike Shari Robinson) becomes America's sweetheart. Musical highlights include the title song, "The Good Ship Lollipop" (featuring Dan Dailey in politically incorrect blackface), and one new number, "I Want to be Teacher's Pet." Featured in the supporting cast are Alan Mowbray as a bombastic director and Buster Keaton in an unbilled guest shot. In his autobiography, Keaton recalled that he came onto the set, dropped a tray full of dishes, performed a pratfall, and collected $1000, without ever knowing what the film was about! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, (more)
- 1949
My Friend Irma was supposed to be a straightforward adaptation of the popular radio sitcom of the same name. The film's focus therefore was supposed to be on air-headed Irma Peterson (Marie Wilson), her levelheaded roommate, Jane Stacy (Diana Lynn, taking over from the radio series' Cathy Lewis), and their various romantic misadventures. But the audience tended to ignore Irma, Jane, and the others in favor of two movie newcomers: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, cast respectively as would-be singer Steve Laird and dumb-dumb restaurant employee Seymour. Having risen to the top of the heap in the nightclub world, Martin and Lewis were discovered for films by producer Hal Wallis, who decided to test the boys out in secondary roles in an established property. Wallis felt that while Martin had potential as a singing star, Lewis was hopelessly inept as an actor. As the whole world knows by now, it was Lewis who ended up as the team's main attraction with his own inimitable brand of wacko humor. Even as early as Irma, Lewis manages to dominate every scene he's in, often by sheer force of will. Pretty soon, the viewer has forgotten the gossamer-thin plot (Irma's Runyonesque boyfriend, Al, played by John Lund, tries to promote Dino into stardom) and is waiting anxiously to get back to Jerry. When time came for the 1950 sequel, My Friend Irma Goes West, virtually the entire plot revolved around Martin and Lewis, with the official "stars" relegated to supporting roles. Like Marie Wilson, several of the My Friend Irma cast members were holdovers from the radio series, including Hans Conried as Professor Kropotkin. Felix Bressart had originally been slated to play Kropotkin on film, but when he died during shooting, Conried was brought in to complete his scenes (Bressart can still be glimpsed in a few medium and long shots). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lund, Diana Lynn, (more)
- 1946
In this crime drama, two crooks dupe their friend, a professional gambler, into nipping some important government documents. The crooks then hope to sell the documents to a foreign country. The gambler gets the papers, but then realizes that he has been tricked. He enlists the aid of a detective and they thwart the criminals' plot. A snoopy journalist presents an obstacle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blair, Larry Blake, (more)
- 1946
Neath The Canadian Skies was one of a quartet of 45-minute "northerns", all produced by Golden Gate Productions and released by Screen Guild. Russell Hayden stars as a stalwart Mountie who poses as a criminal, the better to solve the murder of a prospector. Allegedly based on a story by James Oliver Curwood, the film ends rather abruptly; a second off-length film, North of the Border, ties up some of the loose plot ends of Neath The Canadian Skies, suggesting that these two short films were originally one long one. Confirming this suspicion is the fact that the supporting casts of both films (Inez Cooper, Douglas Fowley, I. Stanford Jolley etc.) were identical. A second pair of 45-minuters starring Russell Hayden, Where the North Begins and Trail of the Mounties, showed up in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Russell Hayden, formerly of the Hopalong Cassidy Westerns, stars in this mini-Western as "Utah" Nyes, a young rancher searching for his partner, Bill Lawton, in the Canadian Northwest. When Bill's body turns up, nasty "Nails" Nelson (Douglas Fowley), whom the murder victim had accused of stealing valuable pelts, frames Utah for the deed. When another victim of Nails' reign of terror (Guy Beach) bites the dust, Utah is again the most obvious suspect but he eventually manages to clear his name with the help of newfound ally Ivy Jenkins (I. Stanford Jolley). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Hayden, Inez Cooper, (more)
- 1946
Monsieur Beaucaire, Booth Tarkington's novel about an 18th-century French barber who poses as a swashbuckling aristocrat, was the surprising source for this Grade-A Bob Hope comedy. While in the original novel the tonsorial hero pretended to be someone he wasn't by choice, in this 1946 film Hope is coerced into posturing as a nobleman on the threat of death. It's "out of the frying pan" time here, since Hope will be a target for execution the moment he weds a Spanish princess in place of genuine noble Patric Knowles. Bob's actions will prevent a war between Spain and France, but it's likely he won't be around to celebrate the Peace. Hiding his cowardice by cracking wise at every opportunity, Hope manages to save both the day and himself; he even rescues Joseph Schildkraut, the film's nominal villain, from the guillotine. The female contingent is represented by Joan Caulfield as Bob's covetous girl friend, Marjorie Reynolds as a princess, and Hillary Brooke as a haughty schemer (who is given her just desserts in an early slapstick set-piece). Woody Allen has long expressed his affection for Monsieur Beaucaire, an affection made doubly obvious in "homage" fashion by Allen's 1975 costume comedy Love and Death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Joan Caulfield, (more)
- 1946
The troublesome years "between the wars" provide the backdrop for the romantic drama The Searching Wind. Adapted by Lillian Hellman from her own stage play, the film stars Robert Young as Alex Hazen, an idealistic but incredibly naïve US ambassador who fails to heed the warning signals when Mussolini and then Hitler ascend to power in Europe. Feeding into Hazen's ingenuousness is his beautiful but shallow wife Emily (Ann Richards), who is far more preoccupied with tuxedos and dinner gowns than with brown shirts and Nazi armbands. Only journalist Cassie Bowman (Sylvia Sidney), a character obviously based on playwright Hellman, can foresee the impending horror-even when her judgment is occasionally clouded by her undying love for Hazen. Benefiting from the mistakes of his elders is the Hazens' son Sam (Douglas Dick), who represents the "Never Again" viewpoint of the post-WW2 years. The Searching Wind was the sort of politically supercharged fare that earned Hellman condemnation as a "premature anti-fascist" during the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
A policeman teams up with a drama critic to solve a mystery in this drama. They look into a case involving a wealthy, famous uncle who is killed backstage. His death destroys the Broadway debut of the uncle's niece whose father, also a very popular actor, becomes the prime suspect as the recently bankrupt fellow was in line to inherit the uncle's fortune. It is a complex case, but somehow the critic and the cop are able to sort through it all and reveal that the killer's identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave "Tex" O'Brien, Alan Mowbray, (more)
- 1944
A priest relates the tale of his friend, a WWI veteran, to the Post-War Planning Committee. Unable to get a job upon his return from the war, he puts off his marriage and works for a bootlegger. He is forced to take a rap for his boss, goes to prison, and forms a gang. After his release, a gang war breaks out, resulting in his death. He leaves a note to his friend the priest asking that his story be told as a warning. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Ruth Terry, (more)
- 1944
Freely adapted from a successful Broadway musical by Moss Hart, this story stars Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliott, the editor of a popular fashion magazine. Despite her beauty, wealth, and success in business, Liza is unhappy and out of sorts. And while three men are vying for her affections -- advertising director Charley Johnson (Ray Milland), newly single Kendall Nesbitt (Warner Baxter), and youthful and handsome Randy Curtis (Jon Hall) -- Liza has been unlucky in love, and she feels that she's come to the end of her emotional rope. She begins seeing Dr. Brooks (Barry Sullivan) in hopes of resolving her emotional crises and finding happiness, and her self-searching explorations of her past take the form of a handful of musical numbers. While the stage version of Lady in the Dark featured songs written by the estimable team of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, several of them were replaced for this screen adaptation; "The Saga of Jenny", "One Life to Love", and "Girl of the Moment" were the most notable among the Weill/Gershwin tunes that survived the editing process. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1944
Universal's yearly quota of cheap, 60-minute musicals occasionally yielded such likeable diversions as South of Dixie. David Bruce stars as Danny, a popular composer of southern ballads. Striking while the iron is hot, Danny's partner Brains (Jerome Cowan) promotes a filmed biography of the southern-fried songsmith. Trouble is, Danny is a fraud-he was born in the North, with nary a relative below the Mason-Dixon line to his name. Anxiously, Brains "invents" a southern lineage for Danny, going so far as to hire a voice tutor named Dixie (Anne Gwynne) and to cook up a romance between the hero and the daughter (Ella Mae Morse) of Southern colonel Morgan (Samuel S. Hinds). Inevitably, South of Dixie features several black performers in stereotypical roles, including Louise Beavers and Mantan Moreland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Gwynne, David Bruce, (more)
Ghosts on the Loose (which features no ghosts whatsoever) is perhaps the best-known of Monogram's "East Side Kids" series. This time, Muggs (Leo Gorcey), Glimpy (Huntz Hall), and the rest of the kids offer to decorate the honeymoon cottage of Glimpy's sister, Betty (Ava Gardner), and her new husband, Jack (Rick Vallin). Unfortunately, the boys end up at the wrong house, a sinister mansion that serves as the headquarters for a Nazi spy ring headed by Emil (Bela Lugosi). The rest of the film is an extended chase -- first the Nazis chasing the boys, then the boys chasing the Nazis. Incidentally, this is the film in which Bela Lugosi allegedly sneezes out an obscenity. Ghosts on the Loose has been reissued under several titles, notably The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bela Lugosi, Ava Gardner, (more)
At 70 minutes, the Roy Rogers musical western Idaho was packaged and promoted as a "special", rather than just another B-flick. The story concerns the efforts by kindly judge Grey (Harry Shannon) to establish a "Boy's Town"-style establishment for wayward youngsters. The judge is opposed by gambling-house proprietress Belle Bonner (Ona Munson), who is a prositute in everything but name. Belle hopes to discredit Grey by revealing the judge's criminal record, but state ranger Roy Rogers comes to the rescue. The climax finds Rogers, heroine Terry Grey (Virginia Grey) and the ex-delinquent kids (played by members of the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir) capturing Belle's bandit gang. Gabby Hayes, Roy Rogers' former sidekick, is conspicuous by his absence in Idaho; Hayes was replaced on this occasion by the ubiquitous Smiley Burnette, as always cast as "Froggy Millhouse." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1943
The musical quickie Hi'Ya Sailor was produced by Universal, the same studio responsible for Hi'Ya Chum, Hi, Buddy, Hi, Beautiful and Hi, Good Lookin'. Donald Woods plays Bob Jackson, a song-writing sailor who is taken to the cleaners by a crooked song-publishing racket. Left in the cold, Bob and his buddies make the rounds of the legit publishers in hopes of making a sale. Along the way, he falls in love with perky Pat Roger (Elyse Knox). The plotline is merely a thread to tie together such musical guest stars as bandleaders Ray Eberle and Wingy Manone, The Delta Rhythm Boys, the Lou Diamond Quartet, Mayria Chaney and her Dance Trio and the Nilsson Sisters. All this in a mere 61 minutes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Woods, Elyse Knox, (more)
