Kane Richmond Movies

In their first 20th Century-Fox vehicle, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are cast respectively as the butler and chauffeur of wealthy young Dan Forrester (Dick Nelson). Tired of being pampered and coddled by his overprotective aunts (Mae Marsh, Ethel Gryffies), Dan is delighted when he is drafted into the Army. To make certain that no harm will befall their "frail" master, Stan and Ollie also don uniform and accompany Dan to US Cavalry training camp. While the boys get mixed up in one disaster after another-at one point, they find themselves behind a moving target on the rifle range-Dan pursues a romance with photo-shop proprietor Ginger Hammond (Sheila Ryan), much to the consternation of Ginger's erstwhile beau Sergeant Hippo (Edmund MacDonald). Convinced that Ginger is a gold-digger, Stan and Ollie try to break up the romance, to no avail. All plotlines are resolved during a climactic "sham battle", wherein Dan proves his courage and grit while Laurel & Hardy end up captured by the "enemy". Obviously inspired by the success of Abbott & Costello's Buck Privates (it's even more obvious in the earlier drafts of the script), Great Guns is a major letdown from Laurel & Hardy's previous starring features at Hal Roach Studios, with Stan and Ollie looking most uncomfortable as they mouth the inanities written for them by Lou Breslow. Still, a few good bits emerge, including a surrealistic routine with a faulty light bulb and an amusing bridge-building sequence. Watch for Alan Ladd in a jaunty bit role as a camera-store customer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Knute Rockne-All American was Pat O'Brien's finest hour: thanks to intensive rehearsals and numerous makeup applications, he so closely resembled the title character that, in the words of Rockne's widow, "I almost expected him to make love with me". The life of the legendary Notre Dame football coach is recounted from his childhood, when young Rockne (played by Johnny Sheffield) startles his Norwegian-immigrant parents by announcing at the dinner table that he's just been introduced to "the most wonderful game of the world." As an adult, Rockne works his way through Indiana's Notre Dame university, under the watchful and benevolent eye of Father Callahan (Donald Crisp) A brilliant student, Rockne is urged by Father Nieuwland (Albert Basserman) to become a chemist, or at the very least remain a chemistry teacher. Newly married to Bonnie Skilles (Gale Page), Rockne at first sticks to academics, but the call of the gridiron is too loud for him to ignore, and before long he has built his reputation as the winningest college football coach in America. One of his most significant contributions to the game is the invention of the tactical shift, inspired by the precision choreography of a team of nightclub dancers! Among the players nurtured by Rockne are the immortal Four Horsemen-Miller (William Marshall), Stuhlreder (Harry Lukats), Laydon (Kane Richmond) and Crowley (William Byrne), and of course the tragic George Gipp, superbly enacted by Ronald Reagan. His career continues unabated until his death in a plane crash in 1931. The screenplay of Knute Rockne-All American tends to be all highlights and little story, with several of the more dramatic passages telegraphed well in advance (just before her husband's death, Bonnie Rockne comments forebodingly "It's gotten cold all of a sudden"). Still, the film remains one of the best and most inspirational sports biographies ever made, with a heart-wrenching conclusion guaranteed to moisten the eyes of even the most jaundiced viewer. Ironically, the film's most famous scene, George Gipp's deathbed admonition to "Win one for the Gipper", was for many years excised from all TV prints due to a legal entanglement stemming from an earlier radio dramatization of Rockne's life; fortunately, this and several related scenes were restored to the film in the early 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A gold-digger facing middle-age decides to pass her special talents on to a younger woman. Her young student learns quickly and is soon raking in the dough from wealthy suckers, but when she falls in love with a handsome Texan, she abandons her golddigging ways. The older woman is appalled that she would go for mere romance when she could have glorious money. But the girl makes a good choice, especially when she discovers that her Texan is a cattle magnate worth millions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Murder Over New York finds Honolulu-based detective Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arriving in the Big Apple for a policeman's convention. No sooner has he arrived than Charlie is up to his neck in a murder mystery. This time the killing is tied in with a gang of enemy saboteurs, bent upon scuttling the test flight of a revolutionary new bomber plane. With the "help" of willing but inept Number Two Son (Victor Sen Yung), Charlie wades through a sea of suspects to finger the genuine killer. Among the film's highlights is a very funny "line-up" bit by an uncredited Shemp Howard; its low point is a lamentable stretch of racist humor involving black actor Clarence Muse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Mexican version of the popular southwestern series, Cisco barely escapes the deadly bullets of a firing squad. He later meets a lovely señorita and falls in love, but before he can dally romantically, he must first help her and her papa get back the money they were bilked out of. More trouble ensues when the woman's old lover reappears and she would rather be with him. to take care of that, Cisco sends the man on a suicidal assignment. Fortunately, he changes his mind, captures the crooks himself, saves the man, and rides away. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Barry Benefield, Chicken Wagon Family affords nearly equal screen time to child star Jane Withers and veteran character actor Leo Carrillo. Tired of living in the boonies, itinerant merchant J. P. B. Fiffany (Carrillo) packs his family into his ramshackle wagon and sets out for New York. Alas, Fiffany has a fondness for poker, losing his hard-earned wages as quickly as he gets them. Fortunately, his enterprising daughter Addie (Jane Withers) is a human cornucopia of money-making schemes, and it is she who saves the day. Chicken Wagon Family was originally purchased by Fox as a Will Rogers vehicle, but was put on the back burner when Rogers died in 1935. Musical highlights include Jane Withers' boisterous rendition of "Daughter of Mademoiselle," originally performed by Louise Hovick (aka Gypsy Rose Lee) in The Battle of Broadway (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The exploits of female pilots are followed in this high-flying drama. These women are extremely competitive and will stop at nothing to win their cross-country races. The story centers on one such determined pilot who is forced to leave the race circuit after her plane crashes. To become re-airborne she convinces several people to sponsor her. One wealthy socialite refuses because she is a pilot too. The two women end up competing in the air and on the ground for the love of the same fellow. Because the heroine is so well liked by the other racers, they help her win. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A master blend of high comedy and tense emotional drama, A Letter of Introduction reteams Adolphe Menjou, Andrea Leeds, and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, who'd previously costarred in the negligible Goldwyn Follies. Menjou plays John Mannering, a Barrymoresque actor who years earlier had divorced his wife and severed his relationship with his daughter Kay (Andrea Leeds). Now a grown woman, Kay aspires to an acting career, fully determined to make it on her own without her father's help. She goes so far as to change her last name to Martin, and to keep her actual relationship to Mannering a secret from the public. This set-up leads to a dizzying series of complications, including the breakup of Mannering's romance with a tootsie named Lydia Hoyt (Anne Sheridan), who falsely assumes that Kay is Mannering's mistress, and Kay's own romantic travails with vaudeville hoofer Barry Paige (George Murphy). Meanwhile, Kay's ventriloquist friend Bergen and his dummy McCarthy rise to superstardom on radio. It is, in fact, Bergen and Charlie who are instrumental in reuniting the estranged Mannering and Kay, paving the way for the film's tear-stained conclusion. Unavailable for many years, A Letter of Introduction re-emerged on the Public Domain circuit in 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nancy, a jilted bride-to-be, is played by Janet Gaynor in one of her last starring films. The three loves are novelist Robert Montgomery, publisher Franchot Tone, and gormless nebbish Grady Sutton (Sonny TUFTS??). In New York to find her runaway groom Sutton, Janet runs across Montgomery and Tone. More selective since her unfortunate near-wedding, Gaynor decides to have the two swains demonstrate their worthiness, leading to a brief (and chaste) menage-a-trois in which all three are under the same roof. Three Loves Has Nancy is a sedate screwball comedy, carried completely by the charm of its stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spencer Tracy won his second Oscar for his portrayal of Father Edward J. Flanagan--then promptly turned the statuette over to the real Father Flanagan out of gratitude. The priest's philosophy that no boy will grow up bad if given a chance in life culminates in his formation of Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska. Unable to raise funds through "proper" channels, Flanagan finds that his staunchest supporters are the workaday folks who have faith in him; none is stauncher than Jewish pawnbroker Henry Hull, who digs deep into his pockets to help Flanagan realize his dream. The story of the struggle to get Boys Town on its feet paralleled with the regeneration of punkish Mickey Rooney, the younger brother of criminal Edward Norris. At first a wise-guy rebel, Rooney rises to a position of authority, responsibility and respect in Boys Town's self-maintained government. Boys Town, by the way, is the source of the classic line "He ain't heavy--he's my brother." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Frankie Darro-Kane Richmond vehicle benefits from the brisk direction of onetime serial star Charles Hutchison. Richmond plays Bomber Brown, a pugilist forced to go on the lam after he punches out crooked gambler Smoothy (Jack LaRue). Travelling incognito bomber befriends aspiring boxer Baby Face (Darro) and trains the boy for the Championship. Smoothy tries to sabotage Baby Face's career, but Bomber cleans the villain's clock once and for all. Produced independently by the parsimonious Maurice Conn, Born to Fight is at its best in the boxing scenes, photographed with all the slick efficiency of an "A" production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this youthful adventure, a young brother and sister dream of becoming newsreel photographers. They get their chance when they shoot footage of an elusive heiress and help save the foundering career of a cameraman. As an added bonus, they become friends with the wealthy woman. Later they help save her from the criminals who are trying to steal her fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a newly deputized state trooper gets killed on his very first day. His younger brother, desiring to follow in his brother's footsteps swears vengeance. His sister's fiance helps him find the gangsters who did the killing. They find them and then trick the crooks into entering a boarding house where they claim gold is hidden. There the heroes discover that the crime boss is a crippled boarder who lives there. Just when it looks like curtains for the heroes, the cops arrive and bring the crooks to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide