Gene Raymond Movies

An early effort from director Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Assigned to Danger was a worthwhile showcase for Gene Raymond, who'd been absent from the screen for several years. Raymond plays insurance investigator Dan Sullivan, at present trying to gather clues from a payroll heist. Someone doesn't want Sullivan to solve the case, as witness the number of times he's beaten black-and-blue. The film's bizarre climax takes place at the hideout of gang boss Frankie Mantell (Robert Bice), where Sullivan, posing as a doctor, is expected to operate on the wounded criminal! Director Boetticher is at his best in the closing reels, slowly and methodically building tension upon tension as Sullivan seeks an avenue of escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A nightclub singer with a strong work ethic marries a freeloading heir in this romantic drama. Trouble ensues when the singer, desiring that her new spouse learn the value of work, convinces his father to cut off his allowance. The ploy does not work, and the young man ends up spending most of his days at the racetrack. In frustration, the singer leaves. As a result, the son changes his life and his name. He begins working at a new, challenging job. The singer's helpful boss at the nightclub intervenes and forces her to meet with her estranged spouse. She is impressed with him. Happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eleanor Browne's novel Highway to Romance was the source for this moneyspinning RKO Radio comedy. Obviously inspired by It Happened One Night, the story is set in motion by runaway heiress Diane (Wendy Barrie), who hopes to escape from her impending marriage. Stowing away in the trailer owned by San Francisco-bound doctor Larry (Gene Raymond), Diane proves to be a most contentious travelling companion, though the audience is well aware that the couple will cease bickering and start smoothing somewhere around Reel Five. Adding to the comic intrigue is the fact that Larry is unaware of Diane's true identity, leading to several uncomfortable scrapes with the Authorities. Cross Country Romance marked the return to the screen after a two-year absence by Gene Raymond; his director on this auspicious occasion was Frank Woodruff, late of radio's Lux Presents Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John (Randolph Mantooth) seethes with jealousy and impatience as another paramedic, Tom Wheeler (Gary Crosby), is transformed into a media hero by virtue of several very minor rescues. Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) is likewise in a foul humor as the result of a clash of wills with a wealthy and powerful patient (Gene Raymond). Elsewhere, a captain is trapped in the rigging of his own ship, resulting in an embarrassing bout of seasickness for one of the firemen; a child falls down a well; and a horse is mired in a deep pit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The top-billed stars in the extravagant RKO musical Flying Down to Rio are Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Forget all that: this is the movie that first teamed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We're supposed to care about the romantic triangle between aviator/bandleader Raymond, Brazilian heiress Del Rio and her wealthy fiance Raul Roulien, but the moment Fred and Ginger dance to a minute's worth of "The Carioca", the film is theirs forever. Other musical highlights include Rogers' opening piece "Music Makes Me" and tenor Roulien's lush rendition of "Orchids in the Moonlight". Then there's the title number. The plot has it that Del Rio' uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Astaire and Raymond save the day by staging the climactic "Flying Down to Rio" number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls shimmying and swaying while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. It is one of the most outrageously brilliant numbers in movie musical history, and one that never fails to incite a big round of applause from the audience--even audiences of the 1990s. Together with King Kong, Flying Down to Rio saved the fledgling RKO Radio studios from bankruptcy in 1933. The film was a smash everywhere it played, encouraging the studio to concoct future teamings of those two stalwart supporting players Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hit the Deck is the second film version of the same-named 1927 hit Broadway musical. Though updated for the 1950s, the basic plot remains the same. Sailors Tony Martin, Vic Damone and Russ Tamblyn spend their entire shore leave in pursuit of three beautiful gals. Martin is "that way" about Ann Miller, Damone is stuck on Jane Powell, and Russ Tamblyn only has eyes for Debbie Reynolds. Some fun is extracted from the fact that Tamblyn is the son of by-the-book admiral Walter Pidgeon. Additional comedy relief is provided by Alan King (the same!) and Henry Slate as a pair of dumb-dumb shore patrolmen. The Vincent Youmans-Leo Robin-Clifford Grey-Irving Caesar score includes such standards as "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know that You Know", and the showstopping "Hallelujah". The 1930 version of Hit the Deck, starring Jack Oakie, was filmed by RKO; that version was purchased by MGM and hasn't been seen publicly in nearly 70 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

International musical-comedy favorite Lillian Harvey is as delightful as ever in the bizarre romantic tunefest I Am Suzanne. In a plotline curiously similar to the much-later Lili, Harvey is cast as Suzanne, a crippled dancer in love with young, self-involved puppeteer Tony (Gene Raymond), who finds it easier to talk to his wooden-headed creations than to human beings. Growing jealous of her puppet "rivals," Suzanne actually shoots a puppet designed in her image -- which leads to a bizarre dream sequence, in which the heroine is put on trial by the King and Queen of Puppet Land (played by Podrecca's Piccoli Marionettes). In time, Suzanne recovers from her lameness and enjoys a happily-after-ever denouement with Tony, no thanks to her Svengali-like manager Baron (Leslie Banks). Rowland V. Lee's direction of I Am Suzanne is almost as Germanically symbolic as his later handling of Universal's Tower of London and Son of Frankenstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by Robert Andrews, If I Had a Million is a multipart comedy-drama employing Paramount's top directorial and acting talents. Refusing to leave his fortune to his grasping relatives, dying millionaire Richard Bennett selects several people at random from the phone book and bestows upon each of them a check for one million dollars. The first recipient is henpecked husband Charlie Ruggles, who cheerily enters his former place of employment, a china shop, and smashes every bit of crockery in the place. Prostitute Wynne Gibson uses her money to escape from her sordid lifestyle and finally sleep in a bed all by herself. Forger George Raft finds that he can't convince anyone that his check is genuine, and ends up handing the check to a flophouse manager--who promptly burns it. Husband and wife W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth, dismayed that their new car has been destroyed by a "road hog," utilize part of their million dollars to purchase a fleet of cars and then smash up every road hog in sight! Convicted murderer Gene Raymond hopes that his million will help finance a new trial, but the execution is carried out on schedule. Newly rich clerk Charles Laughton calmly makes his way through a series of offices, reaches his boss' desk, and delivers a loud Bronx cheer. Gary Cooper, Roscoe Karns and Jack Oakie play three brawling marines who think the check's a joke and sign it over to an illiterate lunch-counter owner. The last million-dollar recipient is May Robson, an elderly woman confined to a dismal nursing home. She spends her money to turn the home into a joyful resort for old people, forcing the formerly repressive nursing-home staffers to earn their paychecks by sitting all day in rocking chairs. The millionaire who started the plot rolling is given a new lease on life by May Robson's example, and he recovers from his "fatal" illness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There may be blood in the streets when the chief of staff of the "Second Force", a paramilitary vigilante group ostensibly set up to fight crime, is murdered. Despite his distaste for the group's racist rantings, Ironside dedicates himself to solving the man's murder before the vigilantes begin exacting vengeance against their supposed enemies. In the course of events, the Chief uncovers the group's true motives--and they are not pure in any way, shape or form. TV talk show host Les Crane appears as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Love on a Bet is a lightweight programmer from the "Get Rich Quick Wallingford" school of comedy. Gene Raymond stars as Michael, a fresh young sprout who needs $15,000 to produce a Broadway play. His rich uncle Carlton (William Collier Jr.) agrees to pony up the money, but only on the condition that Michael leave New York City in nothing but his underwear and show up in Los Angeles 10 days later in a new suit, with a hundred dollars, and a sweetheart -- which happens to be the plotline of the play that Michael wants to produce! As he embarks upon his hitchhiking "tour" of the U.S., Michael is given a lift by wisecracking Charlotte (Helen Broderick) and her pretty niece Paula (Wendy Barrie). At this point, everyone in the audience will know how Love on a Bet ends up, but getting there is all the fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Hitchcock's rare foray into comedy (courtesy of a wittily risque script by Norman Krasna), Mr. Smith (Robert Montgomery) makes the mistake of telling Mrs. Smith (Carole Lombard) that if he had it to do all over again, he might not have married her. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Smith discovers that his marriage is invalid. Rather than say goodbye, the newly aroused Mr. Smith attempts to entice Mrs. Smith into the bedroom, thrilled at the prospect of an "illicit" romance. But Mrs. Smith has also been apprised that her marriage is no more--and, remembering Mr. Smith's "second thoughts", she kicks him out of the house. This comedy of misunderstanding rolls merrily along from this point onward, accommodating an uproarious scene at a fancy restaurant, a near-liaison between Mrs. Smith and new beau Gene Raymond on the World's Fair parachute jump, and a farcical denouement at a ski lodge, with Mrs. Smith's conjugally crossed skis symbolizing the carnal pleasures ahead for both Mr. and Mrs. Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide