Matthew Betz Movies

Inasmuch as diminutive Frankie Darro was Hollywood's foremost portrayer of jockeys, it should come as no surprise that Darro heads the cast of Racing Blood. The story begins when young Frankie Reynolds (Darro) rescues a crippled nag from the glue factory. With faith and perserverance Frankie builds the horse into a champion racer, only to be kidnapped by the villains on the eve of the Big Race. Escaping from his captors, our hero commandeers an ambulance (a bit "borrowed" from Joe E. Brown's Alibi Ike) and makes it to the racetrack in the nick o' time. Darro's frequent costar Kane Richmond plays stable owner Clay Harrison, who in the last reel proves a suitable love interest for Frankie's sister Phyllis (Gladys Blake). Minimal comedy relief is provided by black actor Fred Toones, once again demeaningly billed as "Snowflake". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Russell Gleason, the personable and talented son of actors James and Lucille Gleason, is afforded a rare starring role in the bottom-budgeted Fury Below. The story centers on a group of courageous miners, digging away despite innumerable dangers and mishaps. Gleason is cast as mine operator Jim Cole III, who tries his best to run the business despite a considerable lack of experience. During a cave-in, Cole proves his mettle, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with foreman Dorsky (Rex Lease) to rescue the trapped workers. John Merton contributes a fine performance as a fear-crazed driller, while screenwriter Phil Dunham, a graduate of two-reel comedies, essays a bit role as Cole's father. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Warren William stars as Dr. Phillip Wendel Jones, a doctor whose patient dies under questionable circumstances. He is acquitted of murder, but is discredited in the eyes of his community. Dr. Jones settles in another town under an assumed name, where he sets up practice and falls in love with Margaret Stevens (Karen Morley). When his past is revealed, Dr. Jones is rescued from a angry mob by cantankerous old lawyer Anthony Abbott (Lewis Stone). The Outcast is a minor entry given major treatment through the ever-fascinating direction of Robert Florey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Florida-bound train is filled with romance and intrigue in this comedy. Among the passengers is a millionaire bon vivant carrying $1 million in diamonds. He is fully aware that a gang of would-be jewel thieves have followed him and so pretends to be an invalid with an ice bag perpetually stuck to his head. Of course, the bag actually contains the diamonds. He puts some fakes in a different place to keep the thieves entertained. When the train reaches its destination, the police are waiting for the crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The first of three inexpensive serials produced by Louis Weiss for Poverty Row company Stage and Screen Productions, The Black Coin centered around 12 black coins, who together form a treasure map. The plot was as old as the Hollywood Hills, and didn't quite deliver the same punch by 1936, despite the addition of the popular G-men to the proceedings. Secret Service agents Ralph Graves and Ruth Mix go in search of the villains who are using the Caswell Shipping Company as a front to their smuggling operation when they stumble over the secret of The Black Coin. Ruth Mix, the daughter of Tom, furnished much-needed name value to all three Stage and Screen serials. William Desmond, a major serial star in the silent era, plays a bit as a bartender in The Black Coin, while, more amusingly, veteran stunt man Yakima Canutt appears as a character named "Ed McMahon." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Buster Keaton is on the lam from the law in this Educational two-reeler. He attempts to elope with his fiancée (Dorothea Kent), but they escape her parents by driving off in a car that's actually owned by a wanted gangster. When they hear on the radio that the police are looking for them, they dump the car and hide out near a farmhouse. But the farmer's radio also broadcasts the couple's description, so they run away and start hitchhiking, only to be picked up by two policemen. They manage to flee into a railroad yard and hop a train that turns out to be refrigerated. Finally they decide to turn themselves in -- just as they learn that the real crooks have been apprehended. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

Based on a Peter B. Kyne short story, The Final Assignment (which was also the film's alternate title), Fighting Coward features silent-screen star William Farnum as Jim Horton, a former prison inmate falsely accused of killing a district attorney. Although engaged to his boss' daughter Marie Russell (Joan Woodbury), police officer Bob Horton (Ray Walker) resigns from the force in order to clear his father's name. Before he can rescue Jim, who is under the influence of the vile Krane (Matthew Betz), Bob is himself accused of a crime, this time of taking a bribe. After a tip from jealous Detective Hendricks (Syd Saylor), Marie and her father trail Bob to Krane's hideout but are overpowered by Baker (Roger Williams), the villain's chief lieutenant. They are saved in the nick of time by Bob and Jim, the latter losing his life courageously taking a bullet meant for Russell. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Shirley Grey plays The Girl Who Came Back in this Chesterfield Pictures "special". Grey is cast as Gilda, a former gun moll who turns her back on her crooked past and heads west to start life anew. Under an assumed name, she gets a job as a bank teller, only to be reunited with her former gangland cohorts (Noel Madison and Matthew Betz) during a bank robbery. The crooks kidnap Gilda's sweetheart Rhodes (Sidney Blackmer), forcing her to confess her past sins to the police in order to expedite Rhodes' rescue. The film concludes with a lively outdoor chase, a rarity in the usually soundstage-bound Chesterfield product. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy with musical numbers set in the Old South, Bing Crosby plays a singer (talk about a casting stretch!) from Philadelphia named Tom Grayson, who has fallen in love with Southern heiress Elvira Rumford (Gail Patrick). Tom wants to marry Elvira, but a man called Major Patterson (John Miljan) has announced his desire to do the same, and he challenges Tom to a duel to decide who will have Elvira's hand. Tom is not at all agreeable to this idea, which leads Elvira's father (Claude Gillingwater) to proclaim Tom to be a coward and deny him permission to wed his daughter. Elvira's sister Lucy (Joan Bennett), who is infatuated with Tom, thinks that he's merely being sensible, but Tom thinks that Lucy is too young for a serious relationship. In need of work and not especially welcome in the Rumford's community, Tom takes a job performing on a riverboat piloted by the blustery Commodore Orlando Jackson (W.C. Fields). One night, Tom finds himself in a barroom brawl with a man named Captain Blackie (Fred Kohler), who dies accidentally from a shot fired by his own gun. Hoping that his infamy will draw crowds, Jackson begins billing Tom as "The Singing Killer." Tom comes to realize that Lucy may be the right woman for him after all, but Lucy is not interested in a man with blood on his hands, and now Tom must convince her that he's not a killer at all. Noted gambling aficionado Fields has a hilarious poker-playing bit, and he steals most of his scenes from the rest of the cast. Mississippi was loosely based on the play "Magnolia" by Booth Tarkington. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Columbia Pictures workhorse Lambert Hillyer was both writer and director of Men of the Night. Bruce Cabot plays Kelly, a Hollywood detective, assigned to capture a holdup gang. While dallying with carhop Mary (Judith Allen), Kelly jumps to the hasty conclusion that the girl is somehow tied in with the crooks. Acting on this misapprehension, he nearly gets both Mary and himself killed by the villains (headed by Charles Sabin, a stage actor who never quite clicked in films). Ward Bond, a mere supporting player in 1934, goes into his comedy-relief mode as Cabot's dimwitted partner. Men of the Night ran 58 minutes, just long enough to fit comfortably on the bottom half of a Columbia double bill. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After being framed in a warehouse robbery, a police officer goes undercover as a drunk in order to get the goods on the real culprit in this low-budget affair from Mayfair Pictures Corp. starring Jack La Rue. Arriving at the resort owned and operated by the suspect in the warehouse case, Louis Cantor (Matthew Betz), Officer Jim Trent (La Rue) pretends to be drunk and disorderly and is arrested during a police raid on the premises. Jim's fiancée, Molly (Ada Ince), and best friend, Turner Bates (Arthur Belasco), do their best to rescue the rowdy former policeman, not realizing that he is working undercover and is in constant communication with the police commissioner (DeWitt Jennings). Believing in Jim's subterfuge, Cantor hires him to get rid of the pesky Turner, but with the help of Molly, who has discovered his real purpose, Jim is able to arrest the gang leader and is reinstated in the police force. Most of the talent involved with this potboiler -- from producer Lester F. Scott Jr. to director Spencer Gordon Bennet to leading lady Ada Ince -- were better known for their contribution to Grade-Z Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

A minor entry from small-scale Progressive Pictures, Under Secret Orders starred the rather pallid Donald Dillaway as Henry Ames, a bank employee assigned to bring valuable bonds from San Francisco to a client, Franklyn Lawrence (Lafe McKee), in South America. En route, Henry hits the bottle once too often and gets himself involved with a gang planning to steal the valuable bonds and fund a revolution. Happily, the boozy hero is helped by one John Burke (J. Farrell MacDonald) and the bonds are safely delivered to their destination. Forsaking the evil drink, Henry wins the love of Lawrence's daughter, Jane (Phyllis Barrington). Under Secret orders was produced by Poverty Row entrepreneur Willis Kent and released as a "Phyllis Barrington Special." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this crime drama, a highway patrolman gives an oil magnate a ticket. He later quits the force to begin working for the tycoon as a guard for the refinery. He is to prevent gangsters from sabotaging the operation for the duration of a price war. In the end he single-handedly defends the refinery from the mobsters. He also finds time to fall in love with the tycoon's lovely daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi