Robert Paige Movies

As originally conceived by detective novelist Frederick Nebel, hotshot girl reporter Torchy Blaine was a male news-hound named Kennedy. For the purpose of Warner Bros.' Smart Blonde, the character's name and gender was changed -- thereby inaugurating one of the most popular and enjoyable movie series of the 1930s. Glenda Farrell, she of the mile-a-minute mouth, was an inspired choice for Torchy Blaine, while burly Barton MacLane was equally well cast as Torchy's boyfriend-nemesis, police lieutenant Steve McBride. In this first series entry, the only one actually based on a Nebel story, Torchy and Steve join forces to solve -- what else? -- a baffling murder case. McBride thinks that crook-gone-straight Tom Carney (Craig Reynolds) is the guilty party, but Torchy determines that the killing was the handiwork of one of Tom's old underworld cronies. It takes a second murder for McBride to admit that Torchy is right as usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The most enjoyable of the Warner Bros.-Dick Foran singing Westerns, this film pitches lawyer Foran against unscrupulous land swindler Edmund Cobb. A "sooner" who cheated the starting gun in the Oklahoma Land Rush (shown via stock footage from William S. Hart's Tumbleweeds), Cobb becomes the de facto owner of the town of Big Rock while doing a bit of cattle rustlings on the side. The town's acting mayor (Tom Brower) soon has had enough of Cobb's schemes and finds an ally in Foran. With the assistance of Brower's pretty daughter, Jane Bryan, and young son, Tommy Bupp, Foran succeeds in bringing the villain and his gang to their knees, not by using his fists or gun but by his superior courtroom dexterity. Foran's introduction in the film is only one of many highlights: Warbling "Along the Old Frontier," he is shot at, not by a music critic, but by a target practicing Tommy Bupp. One of the more palatable of screen kids, the then 12-year old Bupp later performs an engaging duet with Foran and is given some of the film's better lines, basically functioning as the comic relief. One of the studio's best young actresses, Jane Bryan never lives up to her potential here, but she is certainly an improvement over such former Foran heroines as Anne Nagel and Alma Lloyd. A veteran silent Western star, the tight-lipped Edmund Cobb makes a formidable villain this time around, but future leading man Robert Paige (billed as David Carlyle) is wasted as a friend of Foran's. All in all, The Cherokee Strip remains one of the more entertaining horse operas of the era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A cast of Warner Bros. B-movie players struggles valiantly with a leaden script in this medical drama about foster brothers Steven (Donald Woods) and Jerry Brace (Gordon Oliver) following in their physician father's footsteps. But when Jerry, the natural son, loses two patients on account of drunkenness, he cowardly blames Steven, who is subsequently barred from practicing medicine. Dr. Brace Sr. (Joseph King) suffers a fractured skull in a struggle with Jerry, but the latter is once again too drunk to operate. To the rescue comes the disgraced Steven who not only saves the life of his foster-father but also regains the love of pretty Paula Nordland (Jean Muir). Once a Doctor was an unofficial remake of Alias the Doctor, a 1934 melodrama featuring Richard Barthelmess and Marian Marsh. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this boxing drama, a prizefighter spies a young man during a street fight. Deciding that the lad shows promise, he begins training him for the ring. The young man's sister gets romantically involved with the trainer and this creates problems. More trouble ensues when the young man is slated to fight against his trainer. Because his mentor is engaged to his sister, he cannot bring himself to fight him. Finally the trainer enlists the aid of a sportscaster and tricks the young boy into the ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Who Killed Gail Preston? gets off to a rousing start with a nocturnal prison break which turns out to be the prelude for a nightclub musical number, masterminded by bandleader Traynor (Robert Paige). Gail Preston (Rita Hayworth), Traynor's vocalist, is much-despised by practically everyone, so it comes as no surprise when she's bumped off in the third reel. The most likely suspect is a weaselly hanger-on (Dwight Frye) who removes himself from consideration when he takes a header from a fourth-floor roof. This leaves such disreputable types as Marc Lawrence, Arthur Loft and John Gallaudet for detective Connolly (Gene Morgan) to choose from. Set almost entirely in Columbia's standard nightclub set, Who Killed Gail Preston? is a remake of 1934's The Crime of Helene Stanley, which took place at a movie studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama chronicles the different paths taken by former partners in law. One of them, an avaricious attorney who will stop at nothing to find success, becomes a lawyer for the mob. His dreams are soon realized, but their achievement cost him his marriage, family and partner. Meanwhile his ex-associate becomes assistant DA. The two lawyers must then go head-to-head in court. Despite his best efforts, the honest lawyer cannot win a case against his former partner until the dishonest lawyer comes clean and provides him with the much needed incriminating evidence to destroy the gangsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When G-Men Step In is Columbia's spin on Paramount's "FBI" B-picture series. On this occasion, the feds are after a gang of clever racketeers who've stuck their dirty thumbs in several pies, from charitable organizations to advertising agencies. The main conflict boils down to the antagonistic relationship between gangster boss Frederick Garth (Don Terry) and his G-Man brother Bruce (Robert Paige). As the plot thickens, Bruce comes to realize that Frederick has been working on the "right" side all along. The inescapable Jacqueline Wells is the girl in the case, while Horace MacMahon provides some unexpected chuckles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the verge of superstardom, Rita Hayworth played in scores of minor dramas like Homicide Bureau, an entertaining little crime story released a scant three months before her big breakthrough, Howard Hawk's Only Angels Have Wings. She plays J.G. Bliss, a girl scientist assigned to help the city's beleaguered homicide squad. When an accused murderer, Chuck Brown (Marc Lawrence), is released for lack of evidence, J.G. and Lieutenant Jim Logan (Bruce Cabot) do their best to have the decision reversed. Jim discovers that Brown is a member of a secret society hiding behind the seemingly innocent name of "the Junk Dealer's Trade Organization," which in reality is engaged in selling scrap metal to a certain enemy power (read: Germany). But with the adoring J.G. at his side, the intrepid hero not only saves his boss, Captain Haines (Moroni Olsen), from a kidnapping, but manages to catch the entire gang of crooks, including their leader, Ed Briggs (Norman Willis). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A champion Great Dane is the murder victim in this mystery. Investigating the case is the youthful assistant of a travelling salesman and telepathist. Unfortunately, the young man's attempts to find the show dog's killer fail. He winds up getting both himself and his boss in trouble. Now it is up to the young man's mentor to solve the case. The prime suspect is a friend of the dog owner's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Parole Fixer is another entry in Paramount's unofficial "J. Edgar Hoover" series, purportedly based on an actual case in the files of the FBI. The plot revolves around the activities of crooked attorney Paul McGrath, who secures paroles for big-time criminals by pulling a number of political strings. Feeling particularly expansive, McGrath masterminds the kidnapping of socialite Virginia Dale, using ex-con chauffeur Robert Paige as an "inside man". When another of McGrath's stooges, Anthony Quinn, bumps off FBI agent Jack Carson (established as a happy family man in the early scenes, thereby signing his own death warrant!), Carson's partner William Henry vows to bring the whole rotten bunch of crooks to justice. Directed with split-second timing by Robert Florey, Parole Fixer is a masterpiece of its kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Future Universal contractees Robert Paige and Grace MacDonald (in her film debut) star in the Paramount mini-musical Dancing on a Dime. The story concerns an entertainment troupe financed by the government's Work Projects Administration. When the WPA drops its funding, the young performers despair until they come across an abandoned roll of money. Unaware that the cash is counterfeit, the kids use this windfall to finance their upcoming show, but the Feds catch up with them on opening night. Will a last-minute miracle permit the film to end on a happy note? The Frank Loesser-Burton Lane songs included one bonafide hit, "I Hear Music". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this B movie actioner, a plucky female cub reporter is determined to get her boss a front page scoop and so finagles a way to spend a few days with two drivers in the title squad. While with them she finds herself reporting a huge fire at a chemical plant. She gets herself in real danger when she begins looking into a disaster-plagued tunnel construction site and finds that a racketeer is in cahoots with a crooked contractor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide