Virginia Belmont Movies

Opera star Beniamino Gigli stars as The Singing Taxi Driver. When not picking up fares and bursting into song, Gigli searches for the parents of a cute baby who was left in the back seat of his cab. Along the way, our hero suffers one setback after another, but he always recovers with a song in his heart and a smile on his lips -- or is it the other way around? The film's romantic angle is handled by Danielle Godet and Virginia Belmont. Comedy relief is in the capable hands of Aroldo Tieri, doing a "Mischa Auer" turn as a vainglorious nobleman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's a dash of patriotism in the morbidly titled Italian costume drama Il Bacio di Una Morta (Kiss of a Dead Woman). The story is set in the mid-19th century, when Italy finally managed to purge itself of its Austrian tormentors. The historical events dovetail nicely into the fictional plotline, involving an arranged marriage between a young aristocrat (Peter Trent) and an industrialist's daughter (Virginia Belmont). Both husband and wife are in love with others, but they're forced to go through with the wedding. The climactic routing of the Austrian army serves to solve practically everyone's problems--with one unfortunate exception. Filmed on location in Milan, Il Bacio di Una Morta boasted some of the biggest battles scenes ever staged in a late-1940s Italian picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two communities fight to become county seat in this Jimmy Wakely music western from Monogram Pictures. When Rainbow's End, one of the two towns in question, experiences a stage holdup, State Commissioner Walton (J.C. Lytton) looks to Yuba Junction where, unbeknownst to him, the local undertaker, Beasley (I. Stanford Jolley), is buying up all the surrounding land by means of terror. At first confused with a notorious, but highly fictitious, outlaw named "The Melody Kid," Jimmy obtains the job of deputy sheriff in Rainbow's End with a mandate to go after both the stage robbers and their secret boss, Beasley. Accompanied by "Fiddlin'" Arthur Smith, Dick Reinhart and Don Weston, Wakely performs his own and Smiley Burnette's "On the Strings of My Lonesome Guitar" and "Oklahoma Blues", Tiny Stokes' "Judy" and the traditional "The Old Chisholm Trail". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This action adventure centers on the attempts of the courageous Canadian cops to stop crooks from finding a fabulous hidden treasure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown stars in this above-average B-Western from Monogram, penned under the pseudonym of Jess Bowers by veteran genre specialist Adele Buffington. Mack Brown plays Johnny Murdoch, a drifter arriving in Gold Flats in search of his prospector father. From old-timer Dusty Hanover (Raymond Hatton), Johnny learns that Old Man Murdoch was murdered for his claim by Rex Hillman (Holly Bane), a hireling of Carter Morgan (Bill Kennedy). The latter proves to be a representative of Brandon Enterprises, a company that is grubstaking local prospectors in order to appropriate their claims when they suddenly, and mysteriously, expire. But Dusty is in possession of an old poster that proves Marc Brandon (Steve Darrell), the owner of the crooked company, to be a wanted outlaw. When Johnny accuses Brandon of killing both his father and fellow prospector Matt Cramer (Ted Adams), the elderly outlaw takes his own life. Rumors of a valuable strike at Dead Man's Basin start a gold rush and Morgan uses this opportunity to rid himself of the prospectors by having them attacked by henchmen masquerading as Indians. The entire wagon train is wiped out, except for Matt Cramer's widow, Mary (Virginia Carroll); her son, Bud (Lanny Rees); and Brandon's willful daughter, Marcia (Virginia Belmont). They are all rescued in the nick of time by Johnny and Dusty. It all comes down to a brutal fistfight between Morgan and Johnny, with the latter emerging the victor. With peace and tranquility restored, Johnny asks Marcia to marry him. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown comes to the aid of a beleaguered female freight line operator in this standard Monogram oater directed by veteran Lambert Hillyer. Having saved his old friend Faro Jenkins (Raymond Hatton) and young Dave Porter (Robert Winkler) from marauding outlaws, Ranger Johnny Hudson (Mack Brown) learns that the attack may be part of a concerted effort by bandits to drive Dave's sister Peggy (Virginia Belmont) out of the freight business. Unbeknownst to Johnny and the Porters, the crimes are committed on behalf of local banker Gordon Gregg (William H. Ruhl), who wants to bankrupt the freight business in order to take over the valuable Porter ranch. Taking umbrage to Johnny's interference, Gregg orders his henchman Collins (Carl Mathews) to kill the ranger but he misses his mark. Tracking the unfortunate Collins to the gang's hideout, Johnny and Faro are taken prisoners but the former manages to cut his ties with a piece of broken glass. The gang is rounded up and sent to jail, but a desperate Gregg manages to free his henchmen after killing the trusting sheriff (I. Stanford Jolley). After discovering the murder weapon, a knife, Johnny orders every man in town to be fingerprinted, realizing full well that the culprit will attempt to steal the evidence. Hiding in the sheriff's office, Johnny and Faro catch Lem (Ted Adams) in the act but, the suspect is killed by Gregg, who explains that Lem had threatened his life. Sent on a wild goose chase by Gregg, Johnny and Faro manage to turn the tables and capture the entire gang, Johnny killing Gregg in self-defense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Like the same-named 1934 and 1935 films, RKO Radio's 1945 musical George White's Scandals uses the eponymous Broadway revue as a framework for a fabricated plotline. The main story concerns the romance between stage comedienne Joan Mason (Joan Davis) and back-bay Bostonite Jack Williams (Jack Haley), which is staunchly opposed by Jack's spinsterish sister Clarabelle (Margaret Hamilton, who of course had previously costarred with Haley in The Wizard of Oz) A secondary romance involves the hot-and-cold relationship between British socialite Jill Martin (Martha Holliday) and Tony McGrath (Philip Terry), the assistant to Broadway impresario George White (played not by the real White but by Glenn Tryon). Musical specialties are provided by Gene Krupa and his band, organ virtuoso Ethel Smith and pianist Rose Murphy. The film's highlight is "Who Killed Vaudeville?", a tour-de-force for Joan Davis and Jack Haley which was later excerpted in the RKO musical pastiche Make Mine Laughs (prompting a lawsuit from Haley!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the later Shelley Fabares song hit of the same name, RKO Radio's Johnny Angel was adapted by Steve Fisher and Frank Gruber from a short story by Charles Gordon Booth. In one of his better performances, George Raft plays sea captain Johnny Angel, who doggedly pursues the no-good rats who murdered his father and swiped a shipment of gold bullion. Along the way, Johnny crosses paths (and words) with Lilah (Claire Trevor), the faithless wife of his boss, and French stowaway Paulette (Signe Hasso), apparently the only witness to the murder-hijacking. Aiding and abetting Johnny is philosophical cab driver Celestial O'Brien, engagingly played by songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Considered a second-echelon effort by RKO, Johnny Angel proved to be a surprise hit, toting up a box-office take of $1,192,000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jim Lacy (Robert Mitchum), Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin), and Dusty (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) are three cowpokes working what was then known -- in the 1850's -- as the western Utah Territory. They know cattle, not mining, and they can't help but feel like they're missing out on something amid the influx of prospectors trying to work the Comstock Lode. But then they see most of these claims come to nothing, as the surface gold always seems to run out and leave owners with nothing but useless blue waste -- and the three are prone to count their blessings. But the machinations of a crooked mining company head Cash Burridge (Craig Reynolds) and a shoot-out at a crooked casino leave the trio on the run, and Lacy -- taking the alias "Nevada" -- headed into mining country with both the law and outlaws on his trail. And that's how he crosses paths with the Ides, a prospecting family, and their pretty daughter Hattie (ancy Gates), and also with saloon singer Julie Dexter (Anne Jeffreys), who's close to Burridge but starts to like Nevada's honesty and sincerity. Burridge knows the truth about that "useless" blue slag -- it's some of the richest silver ore ever assayed in the United States -- and plans to swindle his neighbors to get control of the Comstock Lode; and Julie cares enough about Burridge that she's ready to go along, up to the point where it involves murder, especially when Burridge's cover-up of his crime may end up with Nevada at the end of a rope. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide