William Benedict Movies
Oklahoma-born William Benedict is fondly remembered by fans for his shock of unkempt blond hair; ironically, he lost his first job at a bank because he refused to use a comb. Stagestruck at an early age, the skinny, ever-boyish Benedict took dancing lessons while in high school and appeared in amateur theatricals. After phoning a 20th Century-Fox talent scout, the 17-year-old Benedict hitchhiked to Hollywood and won a film contract (if for no other reason than nerve and persistence). He appeared in the first of his many office-boy roles in his debut film, $10 Raise (1935), and spent the next four decades popping up in bits as bellboys, caddies, hillbillies, delivery men and Western Union messengers. He portrayed so many of the latter, in fact, that Western Union paid tribute to Benedict by giving him his own official uniform -- an honor bestowed on only one other actor, Benedict's lifelong friend Frank Coghlan Jr. (the two actors costarred in the 1941 serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel). In 1939, Benedict played a bicycle messenger in the Little Tough Guys film Call a Messenger; four years later he appeared with another branch of the Little Tough Guys clan, the East Side Kids, in Ghosts on the Loose. He remained with the Kids as "Skinny," then stayed on when the East Siders transformed into the Bowery Boys in 1946. As "Whitey," Benedict was the oldest member of the team, a fact occasionally alluded to in the dialogue -- though Leo Gorcey, two months younger than Benedict, was firmly in charge of the bunch. Benedict left the Bowery Boys in 1951, gradually easing out of acting; for several years, he worked as an assistant designer of miniature sets for movie special-effects sequences. He returned to performing in the 1960s, still playing the newsboy and delivery man roles he'd done as a youth. Film and TV fans of the 1970s might recall Billy Benedict as a world-weary croupier in the early scenes of The Sting (1973), and in the regular role of Toby the Informant on the 1975 TV series The Blue Knight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1938
In this comedy, an American golf pro falls in love with a woman while visiting France; before long they are married and in the US. Upon their arrival, they are dismayed to discover that the golfer's parents have arranged for him to marry a wealthy socialite so they can use her money to support their business. The dutiful son then lies about his recent marriage and feigns affection for the heiress. They begin planning their "wedding," but eventually, he tells his new fiancee the truth about his marital status. She decides to help him and then the fun begins. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Olympe Bradna, (more)
- 1938
Not a remake of the 1932 Erich Von Stroheim film of the same name (which was ultimately released as Hello Sister), Walking Down Broadway owes more to the old Warner Bros. melodrama Three on a Match. The story concerns six Broadway chorus girls, who, when their latest show folds on New Years' Eve, make a pact to stage a reunion one year later. And what a year it is! Two of the girls die in accidents, one is framed on a manslaughter charge, and the other three land husbands, one of whom is fabulously wealthy. The most successful of the six is the group's "den mother" Joan Bradley (Clare Trevor), who not only finds the man of her dreams, but also achieves success in the business world. For the record, the other five girls are played by 20th Century-Fox contractees Phyllis Brooks, Leah Ray, Dixie Dunbar, Lynn Bari and Jayne Regan, who like their cinematic counterparts would have mixed success in their future careers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Phyllis Brooks, (more)
In this drama, a young man aspires to a life of wealth and power in the newspaper business. Unfortunately, it takes time and money to be successful. The young man's girl is not patient and decides to dump him in favor of a wealthy gangster. This inspires the jilted youth to achieve his dreams. He begins newspaper delivery business that becomes so successful that he can afford a penthouse on Park Avenue. Still he has not forgotten the girl he once loved. This is fortuitous as she has become fed up with the gangster. Eventually, the young man loses his business and his fancy flat, but in exchange, he regains the affections of the woman he always loved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Helen Mack, (more)
- 1938
In this socially conscious drama a sextet of juvenile delinquents flee a crime screen in their seedy ghetto and wind up getting invited to a posh mansion by a wealthy criminal. Their attempts to accustom themselves to the opulent surroundings nearly results in the destruction of the manse. Eventually they boys decide that they must return to the city and pay for their crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mischa Auer, Mary Boland, (more)
Despite the title, the plot of Young Fugitives is carried by an oldster. Civil war veterans Harry Davenport and Clem Bevans save a nest egg of $50,000. When Bevans dies, Davenport sets out to find Bevans' son and heir Robert Wilcox. The younger man proves to be a wastrel and cheat, but Davenport decides to reform him. Dorothea Kent, in a brief respite from dumb-blonde roles, plays Wilcox's girl friend. Young Fugitives is based on a short story by Edward James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wilcox, Dorothea Kent, (more)
- 1937
- NR
Edward G. Robinson offers an excellent turn as a crime lord obsessed with the welfare of his son in this melodramatic crime story. The lad is born while the notorious Robinson serves 10 years. Unfortunately, the press hound the babies mother and constantly derider her until a kinder reporter takes pity and begins writing stories to support her. This angers his editor who fires him. One day Robinson's wife goes to visit him and he behaves like a brute. She is so shocked that she ends her marriage and hooks up with the reporter. Together, they move far away to start successful new lives. A decade later, Robinson gets out and begins searching for his boy. Unfortunately, he also gets talked into his gangster activities by an old cohort. The gang, however turns on him and forces him to reveal the location of a large cache of loot that he hid before entering the slammer. Tough old Robinson won't tell them, so they kidnap his son.
Fortunately, Robinson and the lad escape. The gangster tries to get to know his boy, but the child wants nothing to do with him. Angered, Robinson swears vengeance upon his ex and her new spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Fortunately, Robinson and the lad escape. The gangster tries to get to know his boy, but the child wants nothing to do with him. Angered, Robinson swears vengeance upon his ex and her new spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, (more)
- 1937
Raymond McCarey, the prolific if less-inspired brother of Leo McCarey, called the directorial shots for Universal's Love in a Bungalow. Nan Grey stars as young real estate agent Mary Callahan, whose job it is to guide potential house-buyers through a "model" bungalow. Enter Jeff Langan (Kent Taylor), a handsome young indigent who moves into the bungalow and steadfastly refuses to move out. Falling in love with the stubborn but charming Jeff, Mary conspires with him to enter a radio contest in hopes of winning the bungalow rent-free. But there's a catch: Jeff and Mary have to pretend to be married. Never a studio to throw anything away, Universal recycled the plot of Love in a Bungalow for one of its mini-musicals of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nan Grey, Kent Taylor, (more)
- 1937
The "they" who want to marry in this RKO Radio programmer are news photographer Jim Tyler (Gordon Jones) and cute society deb Sheila Hunter (Betty Furness). The heroine's father (Henry Kolker) disapproves of the union, requiring Gordon to take a "respectable" job in daddy's advertising agency. Our hero manages to strike out on Madison Avenue, but redeems himself with a big news scoop in the final reel. E.E. Clive has all the good lines as the Hunter family's dry-witted butler. Four decades later, leading lady Betty Furness would later make a name for herself in the journalistic world as NBC's consumer reporter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Furness, Gordon Jones, (more)
- 1937
In this adventure, a young man allows criminals to talk him into cracking a safe. He is caught and sent to prison. After three years, he is released. The criminals again force him to do more crimes. He does, but as soon as the crooks no longer need him, they kill a policeman and frame the lad for the crime. This time, the boy and a waitress hit the road. A gentle peddler assists them until the young man can clear his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rochelle Hudson, Robert Kent, (more)
- 1937
The film is called Laughing at Trouble, but feisty female newspaper publisher Glory Bradford (Jane Darwell) doesn't waste much of her time laughing. Using her paper as a forum, Glory does her best to clear innocent John Campbell (Allan Lane) of a trumped-up murder charge. When John escapes from jail, he hides out in Glory's home, a circumstance she takes in her usual stride. Figuring out the identity of the actual murderer, the publisher employs a bit of unorthodox (and frankly unethical) trickery to force a confession. Laughing at Trouble puts the lie to the long-held assumption that Jane Darwell never played a movie leading role until The Grapes of Wrath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Darwell, Sara Haden, (more)
- 1936
With her RKO Radio contract nearing an end, Ann Harding had little choice but accept such trifles as The Witness Chair. Engaged to widower Trent (Walter Abel), Paula (Harding) discovers to her horror that Trent's daughter Connie (Frances Sage) intends to elope with no-good embezzler Whittaker (Douglass Dumbrille). Unable to talk Whittaker out of ruining Connie's life, Paula murders the cad then does her best to destroy all the evidence. Alas, she succeeds only in convincing the authorities that Trent is the guilty party! The courtroom finale, which should have been the film's highlight, is not, due to funereal pacing and unimaginative camera angles. The Witness Chair convinced Ann Harding that she was through in Hollywood, whereupon she packed her bags and headed to London, briefly retiring from films the following year upon her marriage to symphony conductor Werner Janssen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Harding, Walter Abel, (more)
- 1936
Loosely based on a story by frontier writer Bret Harte, this romantic western drama tells the story of an innocent, carefree mountain-raised girl who causes quite a stir every time she comes to town to bring her boozy father home from the bar. One day, the flirtatious gal is kissed by the town schoolmaster. Utterly confused as to the gesture's significance, she goes to the town brothel for professional advice. The film was made twice before in 1918 and 1922. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Shirley, John Beal, (more)
Previously filmed as a vehicle for Baby Peggy Montgomery in 1922, Laura E. Richard's Captain January was warmed up as a Shirley Temple picture 14 years later. Temple plays Star, a child of divorce who is looked after by crusty-but-lovable lighthouse keeper Captain January (Guy Kibbee). Truant officer Agatha Morgan (Sara Haden) determines that the Captain is not providing Star with suitable surroundings or a proper education, and before long our sobbing heroine is whisked away to a boarding school. She is rescued by kindly Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (George Irving and Nella Walker), distant relatives who try to provide the girl with a decent home, but the poor child still yearns for the company of Captain January and his friends Paul (Buddy Ebsen) and Nazro (Slim Summerville). All ends happily when January and his two chums are hired as crew members on the Morgans' yacht. One of Shirley Temple's best films, Captain January would be memorable if only for her singing-dancing duet with Buddy Ebsen, "At the Codfish Ball." Thanks to a legal loophole, the film has lapsed into public domain, joining A Little Princess as the most accessible of Temple's vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Guy Kibbee, (more)
Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and William Powell star in this crackling screwball comedy about a cut-throat newspaper editor's scheme to prevent a libel suit that ends up exploding in everybody's face. Tracy plays Warren Haggerty, the managing editor of a newspaper that mistakenly prints a story declaring the rich Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) has stolen away another woman's husband. Connie retaliates by suing the paper for $5 million. This happens right before Warren is about to marry his fiancee Gladys (Jean Harlow). As he has done several times in the past, Warren delays the wedding in order to stop the libel suit. Warren hires Bill Chandler (William Powell), a former employer who is desperate for a job, to marry Gladys in name only and then court Connie. That way, Gladys can sue Connie for alienation of affections and get Connie to agree to drop her lawsuit if Gladys will drop hers. Bill hops an ocean liner to accompany Connie and her father (Walter Connolly) back to the United States, but along the way Bill and Connie fall in love and Bill tries to convince Gladys to drop her suit so it won't hinder his relationship with Connie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Harlow, William Powell, (more)
- 1936
Rex Stout's overweight, under-exercised detective Nero Wolfe was first brought to the screen in 1936 in the portly person of Edward Arnold. As brusque and short-tempered as ever, Wolfe tackles the case of a college professor who met his doom while playing golf, a tragedy followed by the seemingly unrelated death of a young mechanic. Dispatched to do Wolfe's leg work is his acerbic aide Archie Goodwin (Lionel Stander), who manages to discover that both deaths were tied in with a new weapon which silently shoots poisoned needles. Rex Stout wasn't too pleased with the expurgated screen treatment of his fictional sleuth, whose fondness for imported beers was changed by the censors to a predilection for hot chocolate! Well directed by Broadway vet Herbert Biberman, Meet Nero Wolfe was followed in 1937 by The League of Frightened Men, with Walter Connolly as Wolfe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, Lionel Stander, (more)
- 1936
The well-publicized (and overexploited) birth of Canada's Dionne Quintuplets in 1934 formed the basis of The Country Doctor. Jean Hersholt starred as Dr. Allan Dafoe, the real-life medico who delivered the famous quints (who appear in person towards the end of the film). The film recounts Dafoe's difficulties in ministering to the somewhat backward residents of his tiny Canadian community, and his battle with a local bigwig who wants to bring in a "modern" doctor. The Dionne births transform Dafoe into a local hero, leading to his winning of the Order of the British Empire. In real life, Dr. Dafoe effectively wrested custody of the Dionne quints away from the parents, then cashed in on the subsequent merchandising; later on, public opinion would turn against Dafoe, defiling him as an opportunistic cad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, June Lang, (more)
- 1936
First filmed in 1910, the venerable Helen Hunt Jackson novel Ramona was remade in 1936 in full Technicolor (20th Century-Fox's first such production). Loretta Young plays Ramona, a half-Indian girl raised by a white family in Spanish California. She falls in love with the young man of the household (Kent Taylor), but her joy turns to sorrow when the matriarch of the household expresses disgust at "race-mixing." Ramona turns instead to the family's Native American servant (Don Ameche), a relationship that proves fatal for him. Ramona is rare for a 1930s film in that it depicts its racist characters as being totally in the wrong, rather than treating them compassionately so as not to offend the bigots in the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1936
After six years' worth of tragic and noble roles, Irene Dunne began a new phase in her career as a top comedienne in Theodora Goes Wild. She plays a prim small-town schoolteacher, raised in an oppressive environment by two maiden aunts. Seeking surreptitious adventure, Dunne writes a steamy romance novel in her spare time--which becomes a scandalous best-seller. Heading to the big city to meet her publisher, Irene has a fling with the artist (Melvyn Douglas) who has designed the dust jacket for her book. Though on surface a Manhattan sophisticate, Douglas is just as trapped as Dunne had been in her small town; he's saddled with a nasty wife and insufferable parents. Both Douglas and Dunne free themselves of those who'd hold them down, and find happiness together. To round out the happy ending, Dunne's small town, which had ostracized her for writing her "hot" novel, welcomes her back with a brass band when the book puts the town on the map. If Theodora Goes Wild doesn't seem quite as funny now as it did in 1936, it is only because most of its satirical targets (notably the shocked spinster aunts) have ceased to exist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
- 1935
Doubting Thomas is the 1935 film version of George Kelly's satirical comedy The Torch Bearers, tailored for the talents of Will Rogers. Billie Burke, Will's wife, becomes so involved in a local amateur theatre group that she has no time for her husband. In retaliation, Will pretends to "go Hollywood," proving that he is stage-struck by doing an extended imitation of Bing Crosby. The film's highlight is the "opening night" scene, a cornucopia of missed cues, inappropriate costumes and collapsing scenery. An earlier, silent version of The Torch Bearers has unfortunately been lost to the ages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Billie Burke, (more)
- 1935
Taking refuge from a rainstorm in a deserted farmhouse, young married couple Joe and Loretta Martin (Edward Norris and Rochelle Hudson) soon discover to their horror that the house is being used as a hideout for a gang of kidnappers. Gang leader Tobey (Cesar Romero), a comparatively reasonable sort, elects not to kill the couple because they have an ailing baby with them. But Tobey's psychotic henchman Pitch (Bruce Cabot) is not quite so sentimental, and awaits the opportunity to knock off all three "intruders." When the G-Men, tipped off by the serial numbers on some ransom money, manage to track down the crooks, Tobey is killed, leaving Loretta and her baby at the mercy of Pitch -- at least until she picks up a machine gun and mows him down! As brutal as it was possible to get under the newly strengthened Production Code, Show Them No Mercy (inspired by the real-life Weyerhauser kidnapping case) is an excellent entry in the "FBI cycle" of the mid-1930s. The film was remade in a western setting as Rawhide (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rochelle Hudson, Cesar Romero, (more)
- 1935
The indomitable May Robson is firmly in the driver's seat of this Runyonesque comedy-drama. While riding through Central Park, peppery millionairess Mary Jane Baxter (Robson) is thrown from her carriage and rescued by three scruffy orphans (Frankie Darro, Billy Benedict, Billy Burrud). The kids take her to the home of their guardian, Italian barber Tony (Henry Armetta), with the intention of letting her recuperate. Upon awakening, Mary Jane assumes that she's been kidnapped and imperiously demands to be released. Eventually won over by her lovable young "abductors," Mary Jane is able to rise to the occasion magnificently when a real kidnapping occurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- May Robson, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1935
This tragic melodrama is a remake of Griffith's 1920 film, Way Down East. The story centers upon a starving, impoverished gamin who lost everything after a wicked millionaire tricked her into a marriage and impregnated her. The baby doesn't survive the ordeal and the poor girl ends up sheltered by a puritanical farm family. While there, she falls in love with the son. Unfortunately, as soon as they learn of her checkered past, the woman is tossed out. The distraught young woman is trying to cross a frozen river when a sudden thaw strikes, stranding her upon the treacherous floes. As they drift inexorably towards a deadly waterfall, her lover tries to save her. Unfortunately he cannot, and as the film ends, she is seen tumbling over the falls to certain doom. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rochelle Hudson, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1935
The Silk Hat Kid is Lew Ayres, a babyfaced gangland "torpedo." Circumstances force the Kid to hole up in a slum settlement house, where priest William Harrigan puts him to work as a boxing instructor. The Kid begins to reform, and falls in love with tenement girl Mae Clarke. When rival Paul Kelly shows up, the Kid has the urge to kill, but Father Harrigan orders the two men to settle their differences in the ring. The Silk Hat Kid is handicapped by the miscast Lew Ayres, but it serves as an interesting precursor to the Dead End Kids school of filmmaking which became popular towards the end of the '30s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, (more)
- 1935
In this drama, a mild-mannered bookkeeper has trouble asserting himself in both his personal and professional life. His boss is a real tightwad and the poor clerk is basically working for nothing. To show his gal that he isn't a total wimp, he finally screws up his courage and asks for a well-deserved raise. At first things don't turn out as well as he had hoped. Fortunately, his future is assured when he learns that some land he owns is worth a fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Everett Horton, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1935
Henry Fonda made his screen debut in this filmization of his Broadway success The Farmer Takes a Wife. The story is set along the Erie Canal in the 1850s. Fonda plays a farmer who takes a river job to make ends meet. He falls in love with Janet Gaynor, daughter of a canal-boat cook, who thinks very little of farmers. Nonetheless, Fonda and Gaynor marry, much to the displeasure of canal skipper Charles Bickford, who'd assumed that Janet was his girl. When Fonda avoids a fight with Bickford, Janet believes that he's yellow, but he eventually proves otherwise. It is said that during his first day on the set, movie novice Henry Fonda, noting the camera direction "dolly with Dan and Molly" in the script, asked director Victor Fleming who Dolly was. Adapted from the play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly, The Farmer Takes a Wife was remade with Betty Grable and Dale Robertson in 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Henry Fonda, (more)
