Frank Puglia Movies

In this western, a dashing caballero makes a wager with his gang that he can court a beautiful dancer and lure her back to their lair. Unfortunately the woman loves another so the outlaw kidnaps them both. At the Mexican border, he has a change of heart and sets the lovers free. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a U.S. border patrol agent stationed in Tijuana loses his job and gets into deep trouble after a friend is shot while the agent was doing an investigation. When the agent discovers that it was he, not his friend, who was targeted for the hit, he decides to get revenge upon the gang that did it. As he investigates, he is nearly blown up in a booby-trapped truck. He eventually succeeds and the gang gets its just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As in all his early westerns, Roy Rogers battles true Old West outlaws in the fine In Old Caliente. He is, as usual, Roy Rogers, but this time a trusted hand at the Olde California ranchero belonging to Don José (Frank Puglia). Unbeknownst to the Don, however, his "half-breed" foreman, Suguaro (Frank La Rue), is in league with Calkins (Harry Woods), the nasty Gringo behind a series of gold-shipment robberies. With Suguaro's help, Calkins manages to pin the crimes on Roy and Gabby (George "Gabby" Hayes) and the Don has them imprisoned. But Rita (Katherine DeMille), Don José's Eastern-bred daughter, believes them to be innocent and secures their release. The ensuing chase leads straight to the Pacific Ocean and the evil Suguaro is killed in the surf. Roy Rogers performs "Sundown on the Range", by Fred Rose, "The Moon, She Will be Shining Tonight" and, in a duet with George "Gabby" Hayes, "We're Not Coming Out Tonight", the latter two penned by Walter Samuels. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Perhaps the best of Jane Withers' 20th Century-Fox vehicles, Rascals is also the one that pops up most frequently on televisoin. Withers plays Gypsy, the youthful queen of a band of wandering vagabonds. Joining Gypsy and her fellow gypsies is amnesia victim Margaret Adams (Rochelle Hudson), who soon becomes the tribe's top fortune-teller. The gypsies finance an operation that will restore Margaret's memory, only to discover that she has been slated for a loveless marriage with a buffoonish baron (Jose Crespo). She is rescued from this fate by the resourceful Gypsy, who orchestrates a romance between Margaret and the misogynistic Tony (Robert Wilcox). Musical highlights are provided by the always-delightful Withers and by harmonica virtuosos Borrah Minevitch and His Gang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The visual wizardry in this period action picture about Alaskan fishermen won a special honorary Oscar in the years before special effects got its own category. Henry Fonda stars as Jim Kimmerlee, a salmon fisherman in Alaska who has become at odds with a childhood friend, Tyler Dawson (George Raft). While Jim attempts to make an honest living, Tyler, whose frustrated dreams of buying his own schooner don't look to be realized anytime soon, has signed on with a Russian crew that steals the catch from others' nets. While the rivalry between the two one-time pals heats up, Jim begins romancing Dian Turlan (Louise Platt), the daughter of a local newspaperman and renowned tippler, Windy Turlon (John Barrymore). Spawn of the North (1938) was remade as Alaska Seas (1954). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Barefoot Boy is a throwback to the sort of bucolic family fare in which Monogram Pictures specialized in the early 1930s. Loosely inspired by the John Greenleaf Whittier poem of the same name, the film stars Jackie Moran as Billy Whittaker, a country lad whose idyllic lifestyle is thrown into confusion upon the arrival of arrogant reform-school graduate Kenneth Hale (Bradley Metcalf). Not only does Kenneth tear down everything that Billy holds dear, but he also has the audacity to make a play for Billy's sweetheart Pige Blaine (Marcia Mae Jones). Eventually Kenneth reforms his ways and becomes a "regular guy", but not without a bit of bare-knuckle persuasion from Billy and a brief escapade involving a gang of out-of-town bond swindlers. The film was directed by Karl Brown, a former cinematographer with an unerring eye for gorgeous exterior shots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sharpshooters was the initial entry in what was to have been a series of six "Camera Daredevils" adventures. Brian Donlevy and Wally Vernon star as Steve and Waldo, intrepid newsreel cameraman on assignment in the mythical kingdom of Mitovania. It isn't long before our heroes discover that Michael (Martin Joseph Spellman Jr.), the young Mitovanian prince, has been targeted for assassination by usurping Count Maxim (Douglass Dumbrille). Literally punching their way into the palace, Steve and Waldo do their best to rescue Michael and his pretty tutor Diana Woodward (Lynn Bari) from Maxim's evil minions. It's all strictly formula stuff, and darned if it doesn't work beautifully. For reasons unknown, 20th Century-Fox discontinued its "Camera Daredevils" series after the second entry, Chasing Danger (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnar, The Bride Wore Red stars Joan Crawford as the eponymous heroine. A singer in a seedy Budapest dive, Anni (Crawford) is mistaken for a socialite thanks to a practical joke perpetrated by the cynical Count Armalia (George Zucco). Though a bit confused about her new favored status, Anni happily hobnobs with the "best people" on the Tyrol, including handsome Rudi Pal (Robert Young), who falls in love with her. She manages to pull off her charade for two full weeks, at which time the Count callously reveals the truth. Rudi Pal gallantly offers to marry Anni anyway, but she settles for a happier -- if less financially advantageous -- union with humble village postman Guilio (Franchot Tone, Crawford's husband at the time). When all is said and done, The Bride Wore Red is essentially a showcase for MGM's wardrobe department, with Joan Crawford garbed in a variety of gorgeous gowns, each one more dazzling than the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Norwegian skating star Sonja Henie reached an early pinnacle with this romantic comedy co-starring Tyrone Power as a Ruritanian prince impersonating an American reporter. They fall in love, of course, and the whirlwind romance threatens to interrupt an important treaty between three rival principalities. In between Henie's skating extravaganzas -- which reportedly involved more that 100 skaters and a rink 100 by 145 feet in length -- vocalist Leah Ray and the company perform "My Secret Love Affair," "Over Night," and "My Swiss Hilly Billy," all by Lew Pollack and Sidney D. Mitchell, while comedienne Joan Davis takes care of "I'm Olga From the Volga" by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. Both Thin Ice and Paramount's simultaneous (and better) Easy Living were partially based on a 1922 Hungarian play, Der Komet, leading Fox to briefly entertain the idea of suing the rival company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this tuneful, romantic drama, an Australian opera star (Grace Moore) wants to perform in a major U.S. festival but cannot enter the country unless she is married. To this end, she hires a handsome artist (Cary Grant) temporarily marry her. At first it is all strictly business, but in time, the artist starts falling in love. Songs include: "Our Song," "Minnie the Moocher" (this number is usually cut out in 98m televised version of the film), "Siboney," and "The Waltz Song." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The third of MGM's profitable Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy songfests, Maytime opens in the early 20th century, with a young girl arguing with her boyfriend over her wishes to become an opera singer. The girl's neighbor, a lonely old woman whom we gradually recognize as a convincingly "aged" Jeanette MacDonald, tells the girl of her own career in opera. The old lady was once the radiant young diva Marcia Mornay. In 1868 she was the toast of Europe, thanks to the tutelage of her voice instructor Nikolai Nazarov (John Barrymore). He proposes marriage, and Marcia accepts, more out of gratitude than love. In a euphoric pre-nuptial state, Marcia finds herself on Paris' Left Bank, where she meets handsome café crooner Paul Allison (Nelson Eddy). They meet again at a lavish Maytime festival, falling in love (to the accompaniment of Sigmund Romberg's most dazzling duets) in the process. Sadly, Marcia returns to Nazarov, while Paul goes off to America to lick his wounds. Seven years later, Marcia, making her New York debut in a fictional opera based on the works of Tchaikovsky, finds that the leading baritone is none other than Paul. Unable to envision life without her new love, Marcia begs Nazarov for a divorce. He smiles slyly and promises to give her her freedom-whereupon he heads to Paul's apartment and kills the poor fellow. The flashback done, Marcia advises her pretty young neighbor that one can never have both love and a career. Out of tragedy grows the happy ending, in which the spirit of the now-deceased Marcia is reunited with Paul in a blossom-filled Hereafter. On paper, Maytime may seem to be the ultimate in Hoke, but even in recent revival showings the film never fails to cast its spell over an audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second of Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" thrillers, Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (John Howard) is finally about to marry longtime fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell) when the girl is kidnapped. The hijackers, Mikhail Valdin (J. Carroll Naish) and his sister, Erena Soldanis (Helen Freeman), are wanted for the murder of an American millionaire, and Scotland Yard Inspector Neilson (John Barrymore) warns Bulldog that he may be next. But the intrepid hero pays no heed and is soon off on a dangerous journey that culminates at the Mere, a supposed haunted house. Bulldog Drummond Comes Back was based on H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's 1928 novel The Female of the Species, who, an opening credit warns, is "more deadly than the male." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide