Roger Pryor Movies

Two rich and wealthy millionaires who have a lot of money bet that reporter Robert Pryor can't spend $720,000 in twelve hours. If you're asking "Why $720,000?", the answer is: because this Republic programmer is titled $1000 a Minute . Anyway, a couple of cops spot Pryor flashing a roll of bills, and deduce that he's the bank robber they're looking for. For the rest of the film, Pryor must race around to spend his money, while remaining two steps ahead of the Law. The supporting actors in $1000 a Minute are delightfully cast to type, from Edgar Kennedy as a detective to Sterling Holloway as a helpful cabbie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nurse Chapman begins to fall in love with a gangster and ends up entertaining miners until she manages to pull herself out of this bad situation. ~ All Movie Guide

Unrelated to Monogram's series of "Bowery Boys" B pictures, Republic's Bowery Boy stars Dennis O'Keefe as a crusading slum doctor. Actually, O'Keefe doesn't play the title character: that honor goes to Jimmy Lydon, a tough street kid who tries to block the plans made by O'Keefe and nurse Louise Campbell to build a health clinic. But when mobster Roger Pryor sells tainted meat that results in an outbreak of botulism, Lydon becomes O'Keefe's biggest booster. Also in the cast is Jimmy Lydon's younger brother Ormund, who plays...Jimmy Lydon's younger brother. Bowery Boy served as the directorial debut of former film editor William Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A good wife's innocence is shattered when she learns that her wealthy husband is actually an amoral big-shot jewel thief. She learns this when he brazenly robs some of their vacationing friends. Naturally she wants to leave him, but he won't let her and makes her return to Chicago and stay quiet. He doesn't realize that a detective is in hot pursuit. Once in Chi-town, the thief abandons the wife and she gets a divorce. Unfortunately, she ends up accused of the latest heist. After good friends help to clear her, she meets the detective. Together they plot an ingenious revenge that culminates in the capture of the crook and a new chance at happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Flying Blind was the third of William Pine and William Thomas' independent productions for Paramount release. The cast includes such Pine-Thomas "regulars" as Richard Arlen and Jean Parker, and like its two predecessors dealt with the more dramatic aspects of aviation. Arlen plays Jim Clark, operator of a honeymoon air service which shuttles between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The plot shifts into melodramatic gear when Clark is forced to deal with a gang of foreign spies, determined to steal a new transformer designed for American fighter planes. A wild and largely impossible airborne chase brings this one to a rousing conclusion. For the record, Jean Parker plays Clark's secretary Shirley Brooks, who not-so-secretly hopes that her boss will fly her to Vegas for matrimonial purposes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 55-minute remake of the 75-minute Warner Bros. crime drama Special Agent retains a surprising amount of the original's plotline. Wayne Morris plays crusading journalist Jim Carter, who hopes to get the goods on crime boss Greg Morella (Gilbert Roland), the owner of a posh gambling ship anchored just outside the 12-mile limit. Trouble is, every time a witness is lined up for the federal district attorney (John Litel), said witness is either bought off or killed off, thanks to a stool pigeon in the DA's office. Eventually, Carter must rely upon the eyewitness testimony of Laurie Ogden (Jane Wyman), Morella's bookkeeper. To prevent this, Morella has Laurie kidnapped and hidden away on his ship, but Carter comes to the rescue. The film's central gimmick, a roulette wheel with a concealed camera, evidently caught the fancy of director George Amy, since this particular prop is given more close-ups than the two stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The vice squad takes on escort services in this crime drama. Two services are depicted. One escort agency is legitimate, offering fine upstanding girls with no funny business. The other agency has a more tawdry reputation (though the none of the women there are prostitutes) and makes most of its money by blackmailing clients. The trouble begins when a basically good woman finds herself mixed up with the bad escort service. Fortunately, an investigating officer is looking into both of them and saves her from a criminal's life and fate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this musical, an insurance agent falls in love with a pretty girl. When the self-righteous agent discovers that she is a cabaret singer, he dumps her. Soon after, his sister quits her telephone operator's job to become a chorine. Songs include: "Blue Sky Avenue", "Let's Put Two and Two Together", "I Like It That Way", and "Goin' to Town". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lee Tracy once again plays a Winchellesque newspaper reporter in Universal's I'll Tell the World. More interested in his sex life than his career, news hawk Brown (Tracy) nonetheless agrees to cover the activities of a European archduke (Onslow Stevens) on behalf of his wire service. To circumvent rival reporter Briggs (Roger Pryor), Brown adopts a variety of disguises, and while travelling under an alias he makes the acquaintance of Jane (Gloria Stuart), a princess posing as an American tourist. The finale is a melange of romance, international intrigue, and journalistic double-crosses, culminating in Brown saving Jane's kingdom from revolution. The 1945 Universal minimusical I'll Tell the World is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Lady Bodyguard of the title is pretty but somewhat physically frail A. C. Baker (Anne Shirley). An advertising representative for an insurance company, A. C. gets into trouble when she okays several $1000 life-insurance policies as a publicity stunt. One of the recipients is Terry Moore (Eddie Albert), who, thanks to a typographical error, finds that he's been insured for one million dollars. Desperately, A. C. tries to talk Terry into cancelling the policy, but his avaricious beneficiaries don't want this to happen. There are laughs and thrills aplenty as a sleep-benumbed Terry pilots an airplane carrying A. C. and all of those vultures who'd benefit mightily from his demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Man From Oklahoma is set during a 20th century renactment of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush, but if patrons wanted to assume that the film had something to do with the Broadway musical hit Oklahoma!, that was certainly their privilege. Roy Rogers is on hand to help Peggy Lane (Dale Evans) stake her rightful land claim, despite the machinations of the villains. This time, Roy's comical sidekick Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) gets to have a romantic entanglement of his own, in the ample form of Peggy's self-style duenna Grandma Lane (Maude Eburne). The musical portion of the program includes several juke-box hits along with the usual quota of cowboy ballads and hillbilly novelty songs. As was customary in the Roy Rogers vehicles of the era, action takes a back seat to music in Man From Oklahoma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A couple of naïve girls get themselves unwittingly involved in the gambling racket in this Poverty Row production directed by the redoubtable Phil Rosen. Runaway Ann Jason (Ann Doran) finds shelter in big, bad New York City with the Traveler's Aid Society, one of those organizations run by bored socialites. The socialite in question is Dorothy Benson (Muriel Evans), the daughter of a state senator (Wallis Clark) who is advocating a bill that would legalize gambling and make the profits taxable. But the senator is murdered by gangster Ben Davis (Noel Madison), who is confident that the blame will fall on racketeer Dan Collins (Sidney Blackmer), the senator's foe. Investigating newspaper reporter Jimmie Dugan (Roger Pryor), meanwhile, would rather go to prison than divulge his sources but changes his mind when Davis kidnaps Ann and Dorothy. Disguised as a hobo, Jimmie locates both the girls and the gangsters and after the inevitable showdown reveals that he is an undercover G-Man. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Vaudeville performer George Dwight (Roger Pryor) finds himself stranded in the small town of Walkerville, and talks his way into a job at a music store owned by Sally Upton (Mary Brian). Dwight's personality and piano playing, and his way with plugging a song help make the store a success, but his real goal is a shot at the big time as a songwriter, and he gets it when he sells one of his compositions. That sends him running to New York -- much to Mary's disappointment -- and he manages to wangle a job with a pair of Broadway producers. Over the next couple of years, working closely with leading lady Elsie Warren (Lillian Miles), George Dwight becomes one of the most successful songwriters on the Great White Way, and when he and Elsie tire of the manipulations of their bosses, they decide to break away so that George can produce his work himself. This gives him the chance to write in a more serious mode than he's ever had the opportunity to do before, something that Elsie isn't thrilled with -- George wants to do a show that's not only popular, but also important, with memorable music and an important message. Sally walks back into his life in the midst of the production, and now he wants to resume the romance that she'd hoped would blossom in Walkerville. But he's soon beset by problems when his former producers try to steal the production out from under him, and he's forced to go to a professional gambler, Nick Pappacroplis (Leo Carrillo) to rescue the show. And just when it looks like he's got his chance, along comes Nick's friend Sport Powell (Herbert Rawlinson), who has eyes for Sally and his own designs on the production. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide