Jason Robards, Sr. Movies

In this comedy, a milquetoast clerk is betrothed to the socialite whose aunt holds a big account with his company. When the agency owner hears that the generous aunt is preparing to close her account and give all the money to the happy couple, the boss decides to stop the wedding. To do so, he hires the seductive blonde wife of a vaudevillian friend to play a "practical joke" upon the hapless clerk. The joke almost succeeds when he comes very close to losing his beloved. Fortunately, the gal is loyal and totally trusting. The marriage takes place and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This spy thriller is centered upon the actions of the Cipher Bureau, a part of a government agency devoted to intercepting and decoding secret messages. The protagonist must destroy a ring of thinly disguised German spies. The film contains a lot of interesting information about how codes are deciphered and other things such as the ways that broadcast music can contain secret codes. The spies on both sides get involved in a gun battle. The good guys save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Mystery Plane is one of the better-known entries in Monogram's "Tailspin Tommy" series, if only because of its frequent TV showings. In this one, aviation ace Tommy (John Trent) and his pal Skeeter (Milburn Stone) develop a revolutionary new bombsight which they hope to turn over to the Army Air Corps. But a gang of international spies would also like to get their mitts on the invention, and to that end they exploit the friendship between Tommy and his on-the-skids mentor Brandy (Peter George Lynn), now employed as the villains' pilot. An outsized climactic fistfight and the ultimate regeneration of Brandy bring the story to a rousing conclusion. In a charming fadeout bit, the main characters-Tommy, Skeeter and girlfriend Betty Lou (Marjorie Reynolds) come "out" of the picture to invite their fans to watch the next "Tailspin Tommy" entry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Range War was the 22nd entry in the durable "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. William Boyd and Russell Hayden return as Hoppy and Lucky, while Britt Wood handles the comic-sidekick duties normally assigned to Gabby Hayes. In this outing, land baron Buck Collins (Willard Robertson) receives advance word that the railroad plans to build in the territory. Realizing that the laying of rails will cut him out of the heavy tolls he's been charging those who ride through his spread, Collins begins cooking up methods to sabotage the railroad. But with Hoppy and Lucky slapping leather on behalf of the good guys, Collins is doomed from the start. Like most of the "Cassidy" entries of the 1930s, Range War is exceptionally well cast, with silent film star Matt Moore as railroad magnate Jim Marlow and Pedro de Cordoba as saintly Padre Jose, among many others. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A fearless young pilot helps turn around the lives of some young punks in this exciting episode of the "Tailspin Tommy" trio of films. Tommy helps them get off the street and into building working model airplanes. He and the kids then figure out how to use the models to do some skywriting, a trick that ultimately saves Tommy's life after a terrible crash of his real plane. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Those popular MGM co-stars William Powell and Myrna Loy take a break from their usual Thin Man duties to star in the zany comedy I Love You Again. The film opens with Loy prepared to divorce her dull businessman husband Powell. A blow on the head causes Powell to remember his former life as a notorious con man. No one in town has any knowledge of Powell's criminal past, a fact he hopes to use to his advantage. Loy, astounded at Powell's sudden surge of amorous ardor, reconsiders her divorce. When she learns of his true identity, she is even more fascinated. Another blow on the head restores the non-criminal Powell--at least, that's what he and Loy would like you to believe. The film's highlight is a screamingly funny sequence in which Powell plays scoutmaster to a group of surly youngsters (including Our Gang veterans Carl Switzer and Mickey Gubitosi, aka Robert Blake). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Fatal Hour was the fourth entry in Monogram's "Mr. Wong" series, based on the gentlemanly oriental detective created by Hugh Wiley. Boris Karloff returns as Wong, supported by Grant Withers as dyspeptic police captain Street and Marjorie Reynolds as brash gal reporter Bobbie Logan. On this occasion, Mr. Wong investigates the murder of a police officer, nearly ending up murdered himself during a climactic jewelry-store robbery. The principal suspect is Belden (Craig Reynolds), the son of a crooked businessman (John Hamilton) whose perfidy has apparently caused all the trouble in the first place. The Fatal Hour was scripted by Joseph West, a pseudonym for director George Waggner (who didn't direct this one). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Andrews Sisters headline this musical. They play the lead act at a popular nightclub. The trouble begins when they hire a few students from a financially foundering dance school for their newest production. One of the dancers, a rich young socialite, desperately wants to be in it too, but her prurient maiden aunts refuse to allow her to disgrace their family by becoming a common chorine. She and the club owner (who must have the aunt's permission because the girl is underage) try to convince them, but it's not easy. Meanwhile the talented girl finds herself falling hopelessly in love with the club bandleader. In desperation, the ingenious club owner has the obliging Andrews dress up as the aunties and sign the consent forms. The real aunts are infuriated when they discover the ruse and in a tizzy rush down to the club. They arrive just in time to catch the girl's performance and a predictably happy ending ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

During WW II, Universal cornered the market on "quickie" musicals, wrapping up songs, laughs and pretty girls in neat 60-minute packages. In Sing a Jingle, Allan Jones plays popular radio crooner Roy King, who goes to work in a war plant after being declared 4F. He falls in love with Muriel Crane (June Vincent), the boss' daughter, who is at first unaware of the fact that King is the heartthrob of millions (he's gotten the job under an assumed name). The whole thing ends with a huge war-bond rally, with King singing his heart out for Uncle Sam. Comedy relief is provided by the hoydenish Betty Kean and persimmon-faced Gus Schilling; also on hand is the Kings' Men Quartet, who much later provided the A Capella musical accompaniment for TV's Wyatt Earp and Jim Bowie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With famed journalist Drew Pearson appearing in the film's prologue and epilogue, it was easy in 1945 to confuse Betrayal from the East with Real Life. Lee Tracy is once again cast as a seemingly disreputable type with a heart of gold, in this case an expatriate ex-GI named Eddie. Believing that he'd be willing to sell out his country, a Japanese spy ring approach Eddie and ask him to get his hands on secret American war plans. But Eddie is still a true-blue Son of Uncle Sam; at the behest of Army Intelligence, Eddie agrees to play counterspy, using dictaphones, phony messages and other such devices to pull the wool over the enemy's eyes. The results aren't very pretty for either Eddie or his fellow counterspy Peggy (Nancy Kelly), though the audience can take some comfort in the fact that their sacrifice was for the good of Democracy. Fairly slow going during most of its 82 minutes, Betrayal From the East comes to a startling conclusion as Peggy suffers mightily at the hands of her Japanese captors. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the few failures for RKO Radio's resident "prestige programmer" producer Val Lewton, Mademoiselle Fifi is based on two Guy De Maupassant tales, with emphasis on Boule de Suif. The story takes place during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, though it is clearly an allegorical representation of the German mindset of WW2. "Mademoiselle Fifi" is the derisive nickname of a brutal Prussian officer (Kurt Krueger) who rules the roost in a tiny French village. When a stagecoach rides into the village, the passengers are detained by the Prussian tyrant, who threatens to kill them all at any given moment. Desperately, the passengers demand that one of their own, a laundress of dubious morals named Elizabeth (Simone Simon), surrender herself sexually to the Prussian to secure their freedom. Previously the object of scorn and ridicule from her fellow passengers, Elizabeth is bitterly amused by their change of heart, but she's too loyal to France to refuse their request. How she completes her "mission" and eliminates "Mademoiselle Fifi" in the process is the film's dramatic core. Though superbly directed by Robert Wise, Mademoiselle Fifi is laid low by its pretentiousness-not to mention the uneveness of the performances, none more uneven than Jason Robards Sr., who at one point declaims in his flat midwestern tones "We must not forget that we're all Frenchmen!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dick Tracy, Detective (originally just Dick Tracy) was the first of four RKO Radio B-pictures based on Chester Gould's classic comic strip. Though Ralph Byrd is most closely associated with the role of Tracy, the title character is played herein by Morgan Conway (Byrd would be seen as Tracy in the last two series entries). The jut-jawed detective takes on a vicious criminal named Splitface (Mike Mazurki), who upon escaping from jail vows to murder the jurors who found him guilty and their alternates. He manages to knock off three before the police force figures out what's happening. Galvanized into action, Dick Tracy and his partner Pat Patton (Lyle Latell) track Splitface to a deserted riverboat (a leftover set from the 1945 RKO feature Man Alive) where the villain is holding Tracy's girlfriend Tess Truehart (Anne Jeffreys) and adopted son Junior (Mickey Kuhn) captive. When asked about Dick Tracy Detective in 1990, Anne Jeffreys flatly denied she'd ever played Tess Trueheart until she caught up with the film on videotape. She'd completely forgotten the whole experience. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi