Ralph Lewis Movies

The PRC "special" Danny Boy stars Ace the Dog in the title role. Danny Boy, a highly decorated war dog, is kidnapped by a nasty sort who gets his jollies out of mistreating animals. While he comes dangerously close to turning vicious and unmanageable, Danny Boy manages to escape with his basic good nature intact. After a torturous journey home, Danny Boy is reunited with his young master, Buzzy Henry. In real life, Ace the Dog was nowhere near as docile as the character he was playing, and it is obvious throughout that he'd just as soon take a bite out of Buzzy Henry as nuzzle the kid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this below-average western serial, a Texas ranger goes undercover as "The Scarlet Horseman," a legendary figure for the Commanche tribe whose leadership they respect. The reason for the ranger's sudden interest in Commanche affairs stems from a series of kidnappings of wives and daughters of senators in an attempt to force a partition of Texas. Behind the scheme is Matosca, a mysterious woman who turns out to be the daughter of a discredited senator. The cast of this serial is more interesting than the overly complicated plot or the rather pedestrian action sequences. Peter Cookson, a typically bland 4F leading man of the early '40s, earned star billing, although the title role is played by Paul Guilfoyle, a sneaky-looking character actor who usually played hoodlums. Even more surprising than Guilfoyle's sudden heroics is the presence of Virginia Christine ("Mrs. Olsson" of coffee commercial fame), a blond dialectician rarely found in such slam-bang surroundings. Victoria Horne, the wife of comedian Jack Oakie, played a treacherous Indian squaw and Janet Shaw, an all-purpose Universal starlet, was the little seen heroine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Dillinger, the was the ninth effort from the enterprising King Brothers, and their most financially successful film to date. Lawrence Tierney became an overnight cult favorite with his gritty portrayal of maverick bank robber John Dillinger, though top billing is bestowed upon Edmund Lowe as gang chieftain Specs. The film traces Dillinger's criminal career from his first petty theft to his spectacular 1934 demise outside Chicago's Biograph Theater (incidentally, this film was banned in Chicago for several years). Anne Jeffreys plays Dillinger's fictional moll Helen, while Elisha Cook Jr., Marc Lawrence, and Eduardo Ciannelli go through their usual crime-flick paces. The film's set piece is an elaborate armored-car holdup, lifted in its entirety from footage originally shot for Fritz Lang's You Only Live Once (1937). Screenwriter Philip Yordan, fresh from his Broadway triumph Anna Lucasta, earned an Academy Award nomination for Dillinger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this propaganda film, a courageous group of Chinese children risk their lives to assist downed American pilots escape the ruthless Japanese oppressors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Few B-picture factories ground out topical wartime dramas with as much regularity as Monogram. In Army Wives, Elyse Knox plays bride-to-be Jerry, who follows her GI fiance Barney (Rick Vallin) from camp to camp. Thanks to numerous complications, both foreseen and otherwise, Jerry and Barney never quite make it to the altar-at least not during the first five reels. That shameless old barnstormer Marjorie Rambeau effortlessly steals the film as Mrs. Shannahan, matriarch of a loud and rowdy brood which figures prominently in the storyline. Either by accident or design, Army Wives was followed in 1945 by Monogram's GI Honeymoon (not a sequel!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An engagingly silly Charlie Chan whodunit from Poverty Row company Monogram, The Jade Mask mixed science fiction with Old House melodramatics and a generous dose of comedy. The venerable Chinese detective (Sidney Toler) is this time assigned by the government to establish the whereabouts of Harper (Frank Reicher), a scientist experimenting with a formula that may turn wood into solid steel. Harper, of course, turns up very much murdered and his strange house is virtually teeming with suspects. There is the dead man's Mrs. Danvers-like sister (Edith Evanson), a vaudeville strongwoman (short subject regular Dorothy Granger), the ubiquitous British-accented butler (Cyril Delevanti), and a mute garage mechanic (Lester Dorr). Several additional murders occur right under Chan's nose -- which nobody seems to particularly mind, least of all hayseed sheriff Al Bridge -- and corpses appear to be walking up and down staircases. Despite interference from manservant Birmingham Brown (the always welcome Mantan Moreland) and the inevitably dense Number Four Son (Edwin Luke), good old Charlie manages to catch the killer -- or killers -- within the allotted 66 minutes. Moreland and Luke, the real-life brother of Number One Son Keye Luke, perform their usual comedic asides, but the best lines are awarded to Preston Sturges stock-company regular Al Bridge as the plainspoken, homily spouting sheriff. Incidentally, although masks are indeed featured in The Jade Mask, none of them is made of jade. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Judging by such films as Shadows of Suspicion, it's too bad that leading man Peter Cookson eventually elected to leave the movies in favor of the Broadway stage. Cookson is cast as Jimmy, an enterprising private detective who hits upon a most unusual method of solving a jewel robbery. With the help of his partner Northrup (Tim Ryan), Jimmy frames himself as the primary suspect, so that he can operate undetected to expose the genuine thief. Needless to say, the plan backfires by mid-film. But with pretty Marjorie Weaver as the unwitting courier of the stolen jewels, it's a safe bet that the truth will out before the film's 68 minutes have expended themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide