Bradley Page Movies

A young and vivacious woman finds amorous excitement in this sex comedy. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

After years of faithful supporting-player service to Warner Bros., Jerome Cowan was rewarded with two starring vehicles, the first of which was Find the Blackmailer. Cowan is cast as private eyes D. L. Trees, who is hired by mayoral candidate John M. Rhodes (Gene Lockhart) to prevent any sort of adverse publicity. It seems that, somewhere in town, there's this talking blackbird (!) who insists upon saying that Rhodes will commit a murder. When the killing occurs, Rhodes is implicated, and Trees is off on a hectic pursuit of the incriminating crow-and the actual murderer. Faye Emerson is decorative as the leading lady, while the supporting cast is festooned with such "usual suspects" as John Harmon, Bradley Page and Lou Lubin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Carter Case was the second and last Republic film based on the popular radio series Mister District Attorney. Like the first entry, this one is played mostly for laughs, with Radio's Mister District Attorney. James Ellison replacing Dennis O'Keefe as feckless assistant DA P. Cadwallader Jones. The publisher of a tony fashion magazine is murdered, requiring Jones to sift through a colorful array of suspects. He is helped (?) along by snoopy girl reporter Terry Parker (Virginia Gilmore), who by default is the brightest character in the picture. Once the mystery has been solved, the film devolves into a Mack Sennett-style slapstick chase, which on its own merits is quite good. Unique among mystery movies, The Carter Case offers a "surprise" killer who for once is really a surprise-in fact, the unmasking of the murderer is downright incredible! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

By Monogram standards, the cast of Isle of Missing Men was Academy Award calibre. John Howard and Gilbert Roland head a group of prisoners who try to escape from an island prison colony. Leading lady Helen Gilbert is willing to wait for her beloved Howard, but looks askance when he participates in the breakout. As was customary in such films, several of the more contentious prisoners are redeemed by sacrificing their lives for the sake of others. Alan Mobray, Bradley Page and George Chandler co-star in this adaptation of Gina Kaus and Ladislas Fodor's White Lady, while the direction is in the hands of German pioneer filmmaker Richard Oswald. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this patriotic film, a good-hearted boy donates his best friend to the Dogs for Defense, an government organization that trained household dogs for the military during WW II. Following training, the canine recruit is assigned to keep a defense plant safe from saboteurs. Coincidentally, the boy's boozy father also works at the plant. The father redeems himself, and the dog becomes a hero when they team up to stop the enemy from blowing up the factory. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In the last of the Marx Brothers' MGM films, The Big Store, Groucho Marx plays two-bit detective Wolf J. Flywheel, hired by department-store owner Martha Phelps (Margaret Dumont) to act as bodyguard for Martha's nephew and sole heir, Tommy Rogers (Tony Martin). Crooked store manager Grover (Douglas Dumbrille) is anxious to take over the operation and to hide the fact that he's been juggling the books; to expedite this, he has arranged several "accidents" to put Tommy out of the way. Despite his monumental ineptitude, Flywheel manages to protect Tommy from harm, with the help of his mute assistant, Wacky (Harpo Marx), and Tommy's music-teacher pal, Ravelli (Chico Marx). After a series of yawn-provoking complications, Grover tries once more to kill Tommy during a musical reception given in honor of the store's merger with the Hastings Brothers. When this also fails, he kidnaps Tommy's girlfriend, Joan (Virginia Grey), a bit of skullduggery captured on film by camera-wielding Ravelli. Grover's efforts to get his hands on the incriminating photo leads to a zany slapstick chase through the department store, culminating in the villain's capture ("I told you in the first reel he was a crook," observes Flywheel) and a happy ending for Tommy and Joan. The opening routine in Groucho's seedy office and Harpo's harp solo (in which, through trick photography, he accompanies himself on flute and bass violin) are the only scenes truly worth watching in The Big Store; the big-chase finale is compromised by the fact that the Marx Brothers' stunt doubles do all the work, while the film's major production number, "Tenement Symphony," is downright embarrassing. The Marxes were so disappointed with The Big Store that they vowed to quit moviemaking altogether -- only to return to the screen five years later in A Night in Casablanca. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Up-and-coming Universal leading man Robert Stack made his western-movie debut in Badlands of Dakota. Set in the Dakotas during the days of the Great Gold Boom, the story finds brothers Jim and Bob Holliday (Stack and Broderick Crawford) dukeing it out over the affections of pretty Anne Grayson (Ann Rutherford). While all this is going on, Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) does his best to neutralize the local criminal element-and to fend off the romantic overtures of boisterous Calamity Jane (Frances Farmer). The screenplay juggles the facts a bit, concluding with Calamity performing a self-sacrificing act straight out of Destry Rides Again to save her sweetheart from harm. Just to make sure that the audience doesn't mistake Badlands of Dakota for Real Life, Hugh Herbert is on hand with his patented "Woo woo!" comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Inspired by the long-running (1937-1949) radio series of the same name, Scattergood Baines came to the screen in 1941, with Guy Kibbee replacing the radio version's Jess Pugh in the title role. In his first movie outing, storekeeper Scattergood Baines, resident philosopher of the town of Coldriver, tries to prevent a group of shifty financiers from taking control of a local railroad line which he manages. For a while, Baines loses the confidence and support of his friends and neighbors, but in the end he prevails as usual. Carried over from the radio series is Francis "Dink" Trout as eccentric train conductor Pliny Pickett. Like its radio role model, Scattergood Baines is based on characters created by Clarence Buddington Kelland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Scattergood Meets Broadway was the third of RKO's film series based on the long-running radio favorite Scattergood Baines. Guy Kibbee once again plays the avuncular Mr. Baines, philosophical storekeeper of the mythical town of Coldriver. Though he has no use for the Big City, Scattergood heads to New York to save local boy Davy (William Henry), a would-be playwright, from being victimized by a team of clever Broadway con artists (Frank Jenks and Bradley Page). Before the final fade out, Scattergood is nearly suckered himself by the slickers, but he turns out to be a bit too smart for 'em. Some of the film's biggest laughs are provided by Joyce Compton as a deceptively dumb-blonde showgirl. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this espionage adventure, a courageous millworker must prove himself innocent of treason charges after the title spies purloin valuable blueprints from his plant. He also tries to bring the spies to justice, but soon finds himself in deep trouble. Fortunately, the good-guy spies show up at the crucial moment and justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Another worthwhile entry from the RKO Radio B-picture division, 12 Crowded Hours stars stalwart Richard Dix as crime-busting reporter Nick Green, who within the course of a single night (hence the title) topples a gangland empire. Hoping to gather enough evidence to send numbers racketeer Costain (Cyrus W. Kendall), Green enlists the aid of his fiancee Paula Sanders (Lucille Ball), whose brother Dave (Allen Lane) is innocently mixed up with Costain's mob. The villain tips his hand by murdering four people-including Green's night editor-when he loses $80,000 in a double-cross. Billed tenth in the cast list as Thelma is Dorothy Lee, former ingenue lead of RKO's Wheeler and Woolsey comedies. 12 Crowded Hours manages to pack a lot of entertainment value into its 64 crowded minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sad-eyed Ann Dvorak plays Jo, the "café hostess" of the title. Poor put-upon Jo doesn't know it, but she's being used by her gangster boyfriend Eddie Morgan (Douglas Fowley), who relies upon her as an alibi to cover up his recent crimes. Likeable sailor Budge (Bruce Bennett) is in love with Jo, but can't pry her loose from the possessive Mr. Morgan. This dilemma is resolved by Eddie's cast-off mistress Annie (Wynne Gibson), who resolves her problems with the business end of a revolver. It's up to detective Dan Walters (Preston Foster) to clean up the mess. Café Hostess was also released as Street of Missing Women. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi