Ted Oliver Movies

Bob Kane's 1939 Detective Comics superhero The Batman came to the screens in serial form courtesy of Columbia Pictures and producer Rudolph C. Flothow. In time-honored serial fashion, Flothow chose Lewis Wilson for the title role, a relative newcomer, but one with an amazing facial resemblance to the cartoon character. Wilson's athletic ability, however, left a lot to be desired and Douglas Croft, cast as young sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder, looked too old for his role, especially when doubled by a hairy-legged stunt man. For censorship purposes, the serial Bruce Wayne was not a lone Gotham millionaire crusader but gainfully employed by the Unites States government. Said government is terrorized by evil Dr. Daka (J. Carroll Naish), an emissary from Emperor Hirohito complete with atom-smasher ray guns and a device that turns its wearers into zombies. (The device, placed on the skull of its victim, resembles something from a child's Erector set.) Batman and Robin are aided by lovely Linda Page (Shirley Patterson), whose uncle (Gus Glassmire) becomes one of Dr. Daka's first victims. From the Bat Cave, the three crusaders and Wayne's butler, Alfred (William Austin), venture forth to battle the forces of evil in general and a scenery-chewing Naish in particular -- travelling in a convertible and not the later so familiar batmobile. It takes them 15 chapters and a race through an amusement park to finally destroy the evil Daka and the title of the concluding chapter, "Doom of the Rising Sun," must have brought a ray of hope to a war-weary populace. The Batman was directed by Lambert Hillyer, a veteran who knew something about bats from having previously helmed Dracula's Daughter. The serial was popular enough to merit a sequel, although it would take six more years until Columbia debuted The New Adventures of Batman and Robin (1949). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Though set in 1865, The Son of Monte Cristo is a thinly disguised indictment against 20th century dictatorships. Louis Hayward plays the title character, Edmond Dantes Jr., who while posing as an epicene dandy works tirelessly to topple the regime of fascistic Balkan despot Count Gurko (George Sanders). Under cover of night, Hayward dons mask and cape as "The Torch", a Zorro-like dogooder rallying the peasantry to rise up against Gurko and his ilk. As a bonus, he rescues the lovely Grand Duchess Zona (Joan Bennett) from an arranged marriage with the usurping Count. Produced by Edward Small as a followup to his 1939 version of Man in the Iron Mask, The Son of Monte Cristo benefits from a carefully chosen supporting cast, including Clayton "Lone Ranger" Moore and Ralph "Dick Tracy" Byrd. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The marvelous rapport between stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner makes MGM's Honky Tonk seem far more substatianal than it really is. About to be tarred and featherd by an angry mob, frontier con artists Candy Johnson (Gable) and his pal Sniper (Chill Wills) manage to make a quick getaway via train. While on board, Candy strikes up a friendship with Boston-bred Lucy Cotton (Turner), whose "respectable" daddy Judge Cotton (Frank Morgan) turns out to be as big of a sharpster as Candy. For Lucy's sake, Candy decides to use his huckstering skill to good use by helping to build a small-town church, but soon he's up to his old tricks, managing a dance hall and gambling emporium. Growing more ambitious by the minute, Candy intends to take over the whole town with the covert assistance of Judge Cotton. But when Candy marries Lucy (who still doesn't know that he's really a crook at heart!), the enraged Judge exposes Candy's takeover scheme, only to be shot down by the gambling hall's straw boss Hearn (Albert Dekker). In his efforts to set things right and atone for past misdeeds, Candy is separated from Lucy time and time again, but there's never any doubt that a happy ending awaits them both. A TV remake of Honky Tonk surfaced in 1974, with Richard Crenna in the Gable role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The last of MGM's "Nick Carter" trilogy, Sky Murder is a tad too cute and clever for its own good, but its mystery angle holds up pretty well. Returning from a weekend party, amateur sleuth Nick Carter (Walter Pidgeon) boards a private plane, where urbane Fifth Columnist Andrew Hendon (Tom Conway) is murdered in a locked compartment. Suspicion immediately falls upon refugee Pat Evans (Kaaren Verne), who was being blackmailed into helping Hendon smuggle secrets to the Nazis. Dividing his time between the land and the air, Carter is eventually able to expose the real murderer, and to smash the Nazi spy ring for good and all (or at least until the next spy movie). The film is hampered by the excessive comedy relief of Carter's self-appointed assistant Bartholomew the Bee Man (Donald Meek), who once upon a time was an amusing character. Far better attuned to the film's framework is perennial dumb blonde Joyce Compton, here cast as deceptively scatterbrained female detective Chris Cross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wallace Beery trots out his "lovable lout" act for the zillionth time in Man From Dakota. Beery plays a Union army sergeant who, along with his superior officer (John Howard), is captured and incarcerated in a Confederate prison. Upon escaping, Beery and Howard cross the path of Dolores Del Rio, playing a Russian refugee (with a Mexican accent). Dolores helps the escapees in their efforts to reach Northern lines and deliver secret information to General Grant. Based on a novel by MacKinlay Kantor, The Man From Dakota was distorted and truncated so that Wallace Beery would end up with the largest role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Kenneth Roberts' fact-based novel Northwest Passage would seem too raw and explicit a book to be considered for an MGM film adaptation-much less one in Technicolor. Amazingly, MGM retained many of the grim episodes from the Roberts' novel, though - thanks to the Hays Code - most are discussed rather than shown. The film is set in 1759, when the headstrong and gifted young artist Langdon Towne (Robert Young) is expelled from Harvard much to the chagrin of his parents and his fiancee, Elizabeth Browne (Ruth Hussey). Towne and his tough-as-nails sidekick, Hunk Marriner (Walter Brennan) get soused one night in a pub and - while intoxicated - viciously insult Elizabeth's father, Rev. Browne (Louis Hector). The two men are nearly arraigned for the incident, but escape just in time and ultimately wind up at the camp of famed Indian hunter Major Robert Rogers (Spencer Tracy). Rogers then invites Towne to join his troupe as a cartographer, and suggests that Marriner tag along. Together, the hundreds of Indian fighters under Rogers's aegis team up and chart their way through the wilderness, headed straight for St. Francis, the base of the French-supported Abenaki tribe, notorious for bloodily wiping out British-controlled colonies, after which they will forge the titular 'northwest passage' to the Pacific. Along the route, the boys counter such obstacles as traitorous Native American guides and exploding gunpowder. Metro Goldwyn-Mayer originally slated this production for Tracy, Wallace Beery, Robert Taylor and Franchot Tone, but only Tracy signed on; the studio reeled in Brennan and Young as last-minute additions, to support Tracy's lead. Northwest Passage marked Vidor's first Technicolor film. William V. Skall and Sidney Wagner received Oscar nominations for their outstanding cinematographic work on the film. Nineteen years after its premiere, Northwest Passage later became an NBC TV series between 1959-60, starring Keith Larsen in the Tracy role, Buddy "Jed Clampett" Ebsen in the Brennan role, and Don Burnett in the Young role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Through a miscarriage of justice, John Ingram (Edward G. Robinson) is convicted of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to a long stretch on a chain gang in the deep South. In time, Ingram flees to Oklahoma, where he makes a living fighting oil fires under an assumed name. Several years later, he has a successful business, a loving wife (Ruth Hussey), and a child. But he still lives in fear that his secret will be revealed, and one day he's visited by William Ramey (Gene Lockhart). Ramey admits that he committed the crime for which Ingram was convicted; he proposes that they meet with the authorities together, and Ramey will sign a confession that will clear Ingram's name. But Ramey instead double-crosses Ingram, putting him back on the chain gang while Ramey lays claim to his business. Before long, Ingram learns that his wife and child are nearly broke thanks to Ramey's gutting of his once-thriving business, and he decides that he must once again escape if he is to protect the safety of his family. Blackmail marked one of Edward G. Robinson's first "good guy" roles after making his name in a series of gangster epics; a year later, he would be starring in prestigious biopics, such as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet and A Dispatch From Reuters. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Capitalizing on the success of MGM's Thin Man series, virtually every major studio of the 1930s came up with its own husband-and-wife detective team. Columbia's entry was There's Always a Woman, starring Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell. Douglas and Blondell are the married proprietors of an unsuccessful private eye. On the verge of quitting the business, Douglas is given a $300 retainer by Mary Astor for a seemingly simple trackdown job. Disinterested, Douglas turns the case over to his wife--but reenters the scene when a murder occurs. Rita Hayworth appears in a 30-second bit, cut down from a full supporting role when the picture threatened to run too long. There's Always a Woman was supposed to be the first of a Douglas/Blondell series, but that notion ended with the comparative failure of their next vehicle, There's That Woman Again (39). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wealthy socialite Melsa Manton (Barbara Stanwyck) is taking her pooches for a walk in the dead of the night when she stumbles upon a dead body and a car fleeing the scene of the crime. She alerts the police but the corpse has disappeared by the time they arrive, and the lieutenant, knowing of her madcap reputation, believes she was playing a practical joke. After newspaper editor Peter Ames (Henry Fonda) takes her to task in print, she sues him for libel and enlists the aid of her society friends in tracking down the body and finding the killer. Eventually, Ames comes around to believing Melsa's story and aids her in her search. It isn't long before the two antagonists find they're attracted to each other -- but they have to catch the murderer before they can settle down and live happily ever after. Fonda and Stanwyck would team up again in You Belong to Me and The Lady Eve. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Contrary to earlier published reports, Columbia's Let's Get Married was not directed by Leo McCarey. Nor would McCarey have evinced much interest in this minor-league romantic comedy set in, of all places, a weather bureau. Ralph Bellamy plays the diligent chief weatherman who falls in love with the daughter (Ida Lupino) of a wealthy politician (Walter Connolly). The girl's father would rather she marry socially acceptable Reginald Denny. Usually neither Bellamy nor Denny ever gets the girl, but someone has to be around for the final clinch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One is immediately aware that The Plainsman is a Cecil B. DeMille production in the opening scene, wherein President Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.), on the verge of signing crucial legislation which will determine the future of the American West, is dragged away from his Cabinet by a scolding Mrs. Lincoln (Leila McIntyre), who informs her husband that he'll be late for the theater! The story proper picks up in the years just following the Civil War, as crooked arms dealer John Lattimer (Charles Bickford) schemes to sell a huge shipment of repeating rifles to the Indians. Constantly thwarting Lattimer's schemes is lawman Wild Bill Hickok (Gary Cooper), who soon forms a strong alliance with Indian scout Buffalo Bill Cody (James Ellison). Rambunctious Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur) is crazy about Wild Bill, but he refuses to have anything to do with her, contemptuously wiping his mouth whenever he kisses her. He prefers the company of winsome Louisa (Dorothy Burgess), but gallantly steps aside when Louisa marries Buffalo Bill. Upon learning that a band of Indians armed with Lattimer's rifles have attacked a military garrison, Wild Bill tells General Custer (John Miljan), who in turn sends Buffalo Bill to the garrison with a consignment of weapons. Wild Bill then tries to arrange a peace conference with Indian chief Yellow Hand (Paul Harvey), but is sidetracked when he sees Calamity Jane being captured by two Indian braves. Riding to her rescue, Wild Bill is himself captured and tortured in the hope that he'll reveal the whereabouts of Buffalo Bill and his weapons. He refuses to talk, but Calamity, horrified at the agony endured by Wild Bill, tells all. Her breach of confidence leads indirectly to Custer's death at the Little Big Horn (not seen, but described by a young Indian played by DeMille's then son-in-law Anthony Quinn), whereupon Wild Bill disgustedly breaks off all communication with her. Hoping to make up for her past sins, Calamity warns Wild Bill that Lattimer has come to town a-gunning for him. Wild Bill makes short work of Lattimer, only to be shot in the back by the villain's snivelling confederate Jack McCall (Porter Hall). As he breathes his last, Wild Bill forgives Calamity for revealing the whereabouts of the ammunition; with tears in her eyes, Calamity plants a kiss on Wild Bill's lips that he'll never wipe off. As can be seen, accuracy is not the strong suit of The Plainsman; DeMille, like Buffalo Bill before him, was more interested in putting on a helluva good show than offering a dry history lesson. Unfortunately, the film often promises more than it can deliver, thanks to DeMille's insistence upon filming more of his big scenes indoors and relying far too heavily on grainy process screens. Still, the DeMille version of The Plainsman is infinitely more entertaining than the 1966 remake with Don Murray and Abby Dalton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this lively adventure aimed at youthful audiences, a wiseacre fireman soon finds himself in trouble with his fire captain after the smarty pants begins dating the captain's sister. Mayhem ensues, culminating in a fist fight. In the end, the young fireman saves the captain from certain death in a great fire and the two reconcile their differences. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

College mineralologist Bob (Richard Dix) decides to put his education to good use by prospecting for gold out West. Teaming with desert rat Solitaire (Andy Clyde), Bob strikes it rich, but while en route to town to stake their claim, he stops long enough to rescue Nellie (Leila Hyams) from a gang of stagecoach robbers. Alas, in the meantime villainous Hanway (Onslow Stevens) has jumped our hero's claim. The rest of the picture concerns Dix's efforts to get back his gold, a dilemma solved in the traditional climactic gunfight. Surprisingly threadbare for a Richard Dix vehicle, Yellow Dust is one of the few RKO Radio westerns that really looks like a "B" picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi