Matty Roubert Movies
A child star of the early silent era, Matty Roubert was advertised as the "Universal Boy." Often appearing in melodramas produced and/or directed by his real-life father, William L. Roubert, Matty's popularity remained high through the 1910s but waned as he grew into young adulthood. Continuing in films well into the sound era, Matty Roubert made something of a specialty playing newsboys or messengers, usually unbilled. He left the screen in the late '40s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1937
Girl with Ideas was Universal Pictures' version of MGM's matchless Libeled Lady. Wendy Barrie plays a society girl miffed at the bad press she's been getting in a local newspaper. Unable to convince publisher Walter Pidgeon to cease and desist, Barrie takes her case to court. She wins not only the case but the newspaper itself, whereupon Pidgeon uses his sneakiest journalistic wiles to force new editor Kent Taylor into bankruptcy. Though plainly derivative of earlier heiress vs. editor epics, Girl with Ideas was praised for its originality by contemporary critics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Barrie, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1933
Broadway Bad stars Joan Blondell as a wisecracking but goodhearted chorus girl whose husband (Ricardo Cortez) is an abusive lout. Blondell's plight makes the headlines, which results in an upswing in her career. Rather than wallow in self-pity, she trades on the publicity to become a star, while hubby mutters dark promises of revenge. This film was based on the real-life relationship between Broadway star Hal Skelly and a promiscuous young actress who assumed several professional names. Though its cast and subject matter might suggest that Broadway Bad is a Warner Bros. epic, the picture was actually produced and released by Fox Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1929
This tuneful tale revolves around a shy warehouse clerk who, at the encouragement of his girlfriend finally musters up his courage and decides to break into show business with his little band. The bandleader must work hard to inspire his musicians. He does. Musical numbers abound. Songs include: "She's So I Dunno," "I Want To Go Places and Do Things," "I'm All A-twitter, I'm All A-twirl," and ""Twelfth Street Rag."" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Harry Green, (more)
- 1937
A jockey is thrown off the track after it is discovered that gangsters drugged his horse. This drama follows his attempts to redeem himself. First he and his buddy get jobs working on a horse-breeding farm. There he finds himself attracted to the farmer's pretty daughter. The farmer is unhappy with this, but is even more unhappy when he learns that the rider has secretly been training a promising young horse and has entered him in the Big Race without permission. Just before the start of the race, the gangsters try to drug the horse again, but this time the jockey is ready for them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Arledge, John Farrell MacDonald, (more)
- 1937
What would an "exploitation" film of the 1930s be without Wheeler Oakman in the cast and Sam Newfield in the director's chair? In Crusade Against Rackets, Oakman is his usual slimy self as Jim Murray, the head of a big-city vice ring. His "cover" is an outwardly respectable beauty parlor, where the girls perform services far above and beyond the call of duty. Innocent manicurist Dona (Lona Andre) is targeted as the ring's latest victim, and boy, does she suffer at the hands of Murray and his confederates. Much of the action takes place in a nightclub, featuring several genuine (and hilariously superfluous) cabaret acts. Among the more grotesque supporting villains is "Good Looking Freddie" (Matty Roubert), who is anything but. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lona Andre, Donald Reed, (more)
- 1936
After several years away from the Our Gang series, the gang's longtime mentor Robert F. McGowan briefly resumed his directorial activities with the sidesplitting Divot Diggers. The action takes place at an expansive California golf course, where the Our Gang kids merrily play their own ragtag version of golf with their own makeshift clubs. When the course's regular caddies quit en masse, the desperate caddy master hires the gang members as replacements. The kids -- and their gibberish-spouting pet chimpanzee -- proceed to drive an adult foursome crazy, then put the finishing touch on an imperfect day by accidentally commandeering a lawn-mowing tractor. To list the film's best verbal and visual gags would require a website in itself; suffice to say that the film packs an inordinate amount of laughs into its brief 14 minutes. Augmented by a terrific LeRoy Shield musical score (including such familiar Hal Roach leitmotifs as "Hot and Dry," "Standing on the Corner," and "Beyond the Rainbow"), Divot Diggers made its theatrical debut on February 8, 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1934
Filmed between the original Thin Man and the first of its sequels, Evelyn Prentice re-teamed William Powell and Myrna Loy as another husband-and-wife team knee deep in a murder mystery. In this one, Powell is John Prentice, a prominent lawyer with an eye for women other than his own wife. His latest interest is Nancy Harrison (Rosalind Russell, in her film debut), a client accused of manslaughter, whom Prentice successfully defended. Loy plays John's wife, Evelyn, who loves him but is hurt by his inattention and the loneliness that ensues. This leads her to engage in a flirtation of her own, with a charming writer (Harvey Stephens). The writer, however, is interested in Evelyn only for what he can get out of her and threatens to blackmail her. In a panic, she shoots him and runs away, discovering later that he has been found dead and that another woman, Judith Wilson, has been accused of his murder. Hoping that his expert legal skills will the innocent woman her acquittal, Evelyn convinces her husband to take on Wilson's defense. As the film progresses, Evelyn feels increasingly pressured to admit that she is responsible for the man's death. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Loy, William Powell, (more)
- 1940
In this western, a cowpoke is framed for the murder of his best friend. Interspersed between the main plot are subplots involving a feud between competing stage lines, and the hero's love affair with a female stage driver. The film's climax involves a stagecoach race. The winner gets the contract. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Betty Moran, (more)
In this musical western, ranch owner "Lucky" Langham (Robert Homans) dies unexpectedly, and in his will he leaves his spread to his daughter Cody (Carol Hughes). However, "Lucky" added the proviso that ranch foreman Gene (Gene Autry) is to be the executor of his will, and must give his OK before Cody can marry. Larry Cummings (Craig Reynolds) is a man from the city with eyes for Cody and her ranch; Gene has a feeling that Larry isn't to be trusted, and refuses to allow them to wed. Gene turns out to be a shrewd judge of character when Larry involves Cody in a kidnapping, and Gene (who is also drawn to Cody's charms) must come to the rescue. As usual, Smiley Burnette co-stars as Gene's sidekick Frog, and Gene warbles five songs of the sagebrush. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Frank Capra's seminal screwball comedy, which won all five major Academy Awards for 1934, is still as breezy and beguiling today. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled heiress who has married fortune-hunting aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas), despite her father (Walter Connolly)'s objections. To keep Ellie from marrying this lothario, her father has been holding her prisoner aboard his yacht. But Ellie bolts from the yacht, swims ashore in her clothes, and eventually slips onto a Greyhound bus bound for New York. Aboard the bus is newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who has recently been fired for drinking on the job. Peter gets the last seat on the bus -- but when he gets up to argue with the bus driver, Ellie takes his seat. Since it is the last seat on the bus, they have to share it. When Ellie has her purse stolen and she refuses to report it, Peter begins to suspect something. The next morning, they both miss the bus after a leisurely breakfast, and Peter reveals that he knows her identity. She makes a deal with him: if he helps her get to New York, he can write a scoop about her for his paper. Peter thinks she is a spoiled brat, however, and refuses a monetary bribe: "I'm not interested in your money or your problem. You, King Westley, your father -- you're all a lot of hooey to me!" But as they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the gruff newspaperman and the spoiled rich girl, thrown together by circumstances, fall in love with each other. This movie set the pace for the "screwball" comedy, the witty and romantic clash of temperaments between a man and a woman mismatched in both personality and social position, a type of movie often associated with Katherine Hepburn in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and, with Spencer Tracy, Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957), among others. The only other movies to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay) were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, (more)
- 1934
In this drama, a fighter's fiancee refuses to marry him until he can overcome his insane jealousy. He does and they marry. The jealousy resurfaces when he finds his wife and her boss in a hotel room. He goes mad with rage and kills her boss. His wife is blamed for the killing. Just before the verdict is announced, the guilt-ridden man confesses and himself receives the death-penalty. Time passes and his finally hour arrives. He asks the attending priest to offer him a 10-count. Just as the priest hits nine, his voice becomes that of a referee and the boxer is seen slowly awakening from being knocked on conscious during a fight. The whole story was but a dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, George Murphy, (more)
- 1914
The talent line-up for this 6-reel melodrama was quite impressive by 1914 standards: It was produced and directed by its star, Hobart Bosworth, scripted by actress-director Lois Weber, and adapted from a novel by Jack London. Based on London's own desperate (and, sadly, losing) battle against alcoholism, the film details the unhappy life and times of a gentleman identified only as Jack. Played at various junctures of his life by Matty Roubert, Antrim Short and Elmer Clifton, Jack is shown as a slave of Demon Rum from childhood onward. Apparently predestined for a life of drunken dissolution, Jack is ultimately saved through the love of a good woman (played by Viola Barry). Filmed in and around San Francisco, John Barleycorn was as potent an argument against booze as The Lost Weekend or The Days of Wine and Roses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The most unlikely cowboy hero of them all, whip-wielding, black-garbed "Lash" La Rue made his starring debut in this moderately entertaining B-Western from low-budget PRC. "Lash" La Rue plays the Cheyenne Kid, a prospector saving pretty shopkeeper Jane Hilton (former Fox starlet Mary Scott) from being harrassed by uncouth stage robber Lefty (Lee Roberts in a fine multi-layered performance). The latter follows Jane and her father (John Elliott) on an errand to Cheyenne's camp but is disarmed by the black-clad stranger's whip. Going slowly "loco" from being cooped up in a cabin for days with Cheyenne's uncommunicative sidekick Fuzzy (Al St. John) and the incessant ticking of a clock as sole company, Lefty is finally released by a seemingly magnanimous Cheyenne. Naturally, the henchman leads Cheyenne and Fuzzy straight to his boss, Decker (Jack O'Shea). In the climactic shootout, Cheyenne not only reveals himself to be a U.S. marshal in disguise, but that "Decker" is in reality the notorious wanted criminal "Dude" Bracken. Slightly better than its rather tawdry reputation, the La Rue Cheyenne Kid series was ostensibly launched because a jaded post-war audience liked the idea of a cowboy hero resembling Humphrey Bogart rather than Gene Autry. An equally valid reason for the series' modest success, however, was the enduring appeal of St. John's Fuzzy Q. Jones character, a hold-over from PRC's late Buster Crabbe/Billy the Kid Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lash LaRue, Lee Roberts, (more)
- 1934
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Cabot, Judith Allen, (more)
- 1940
Bantam-weight western star Don "Red" Barry, Republic's answer to James Cagney, is perfectly cast in One Man's Law. When plans to build a railroad are threatened by an outlaw gang, hero Jack (Barry) arrives in town to set things right. Jack's reputation as a two-gun terror with a price on his head has preceded him, thanks to his garrulous pal Nevady (Dub Taylor). Only trouble is, the reputation is totally fabricated: Jack is a peace-loving soul who originally came to town looking for a job as a cowhand. Soon, however, Jack begins to live up to his phony rep, donning a sheriff's badge and routing the baddies. It would appear that someone at Republic had seen Universal's Destry Rides Again more than once before embarking upon One Man's Law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Janet Waldo, (more)
- 1948
Someone is stirring things up between the ranchers and the homesteaders in Phantom Valley and Marshal Steve Collins (Charles Starrett) is assigned to look into matters. The situation becomes even more critical when one of the nesters, Jim Durant (Sam Flint), is abducted after having withdrawn the group's money from the local bank. But who is behind the crimes? Is it elderly attorney Sam Littlejohn (Joel Friedkin), whose cane has a highly unusual double purpose? Or is the secret menace Bob Reynolds (Robert Filmer), the head of the ranchers' association? Despite the unwanted assistance by correspondence-course detective Smiley Burnette), Steve, alias The Durango Kid, manages to get goods on the mystery villain. In between muddling up the investigation and feuding with young apple-munching Chips (Teddy Infuhr), Smiley Burnette performs "I'll Be Glad to See You" while Ozie Waters and His Colorado Rangers take care of "Streets of Laredo (The Cowboy's Lament" and "The Big Corral. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1946
Filmed in two-toned Cinecolor, Romance of the West was the second of PRC's western vehicles for singing cowboy Eddie Dean. Our hero is cast as a government agent, bound and determined to prevent an Indian war. The villains are a gang of outlaws who are fomenting discord between the Indians and the white settlers for their own gain. The plan is to have both sides wipe each other out, so that the crooks can move in and claim the silver-rich land. Emmet Lynn, Dean's comedy relief, would be replaced in later entries by Roscoe Ates, all for the better. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dean, Joan Barton, (more)
- 1936
It was standard operating procedure at MGM to cast their favorite singing team of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in new versions of old operettas, then retain only the music, drastically altering the plotlines to conform to popular tastes. This was the treatment afforded the Rudolf Friml-Herbert Stothart-Oscar Hammerstein-Otto Harbach musical Rose Marie--and thank heaven that MGM decided to jettison the original's creaky libretto about a woman who offers her body to the villain to save the hero from a trumped-up murder charge (this chestnut seemed old-fashioned even in 1928, when Joan Crawford starred in the silent version). In lieu of this wearisome storyline, the Eddy-MacDonald version casts MacDonald as a spoiled, temperamental Canadian opera star who learns that her uncontrollable brother (James Stewart), serving a prison sentence, has escaped to a cabin in the North Woods and needs someone to tend his wounds. MacDonald travels to northern Canada incognito, where in a hilarious sequence she tries and fails to pass muster as a dance-hall girl. Upon meeting likeable mountie Nelson Eddy, who unbeknownst to her has been assigned to locate her brother, MacDonald fabricates a story about needing an escort for a rendezvous with her lover. Such latter-day parodies as Dudley Do-Right notwithstanding, the Eddy-MacDonald sequences are often deliberately played for laughs, even when Nelson is uttering such lines as "Heavy? Why, I could carry you for hours!" Gradually, Nelson and MacDonald fall in love, only to fall out of love when Nelson tracks down and captures MacDonald's brother. Despite this rift, a happy--and logical--ending is not long in coming. It might be hard to watch such Eddy-MacDonald duets as "Rose Marie" and "Indian Love Call" with a completely straight face; it is reassuring, however, to find out that the filmmakers knew that "Rose Marie" was ripe for ridicule, and decided to laugh at themselves first in order to disarm the audience. To avoid confusion with the 1955 remake, the 1936 Rose Marie was retitled Indian Love Call for TV showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, (more)
- 1939
Roy Rogers is forced to chase down his own kid brother in this exemplary Republic Pictures oater produced and directed by Joseph Kane. Roy Rogers Sr. (Lane Chandler) is brutally murdered by nasty Ed Tasker (Frank M. Thomas), who takes off with the only witness to the killing, Rogers' youngest son, Tim (Buz Buckley). Years later, Roy Rogers Jr. returns to the family's Circle R ranch under the name of Roy Reynolds and quickly resumes a lost romance with the neighbor's now-grown granddaughter, Ann Meredith (Doris Day). Tasker is still around as well, alas, nastier than ever and extracting protection fees from the local farmers and ranchers. Although seemingly willing to pay his way out of trouble, Roy secretly organizes a vigilante committee to "protect the valley from protection" and ends up hunting down not only Tasker but his own brother, a now grown-up Tim (Don "Red" Barry). The Saga of Death Valley was filmed at Lone Pine, CA, rather than the arid location indicated by the title. Leading lady Doris Day is not the later singer-star but a brunette Republic starlet under contract to the studio from September 9, 1939 to January 28, 1940. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1938
This Roy Rogers starrer is set in motion by a range war between ex-partners Brower (William Farnum) and Jackson (Stanley Andrews). Adding to Brower's headaches is the fact that Jackson is a crook who's not above stealing cattle to suit his purposes. When Jackson manages to frame Brower on a trumped-up criminal charge, that's when hero Rogers swings into action. Roy's leading lady this time out is Lynne Roberts, herein billed as Mary Hart, reportedly because Republic wanted its own "Rogers and Hart" team. The 1944 Warner Bros. musical Shine on Harvest Moon bears no relation to this 1939 Republic oater. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Mary Hart, (more)
A police raid on a roadhouse leads to a war on vice that results in the downfall of a vicious gangster and the sadistic madam who runs his prostitution ring in this sordid crime drama from director Elmer Clifton. While she may be beautiful on the outside, on the inside Belle Harris (Florence Dudley) is a hateful monster who relishes the opportunity to turn innocent young girls into money-grubbing prostitutes as she oversees the day-to-day duties at the Berrywood Roadhouse. Though Belle may be a cold corrupter, her physically abusive boss, Jim Murray (Wheeler Oakman), is even worse. As the police close in on Murray's lawless syndicate and his empire comes crumbling down, the truth comes out for all to see when the city reporters descend upon the hapless women he has so callously enslaved. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1945
The Kid (Duncan Renaldo) masquerades as a government inspector in this pleasant, and pleasantly tuneful, Cisco Kid series entry. Learning that his old friends have been killed and Manuel Gonzales (Tito Renaldo) wrongly accused of cattle rustling by corrupt district officer Miguel Sanchez (George J. Lewis), the Kid assumes the identity of the murdered government official. In town, Cisco discovers Manuel's sister, Dolores (Lillian Molieri), whom Sanchez is brutally forcing to sing for her supper, but using his usual cunning and with a bit of help from sidekick Pancho (Martin Garralaga) and jealous cantina girl Pepita (Armida), our hero soon gets the goods on the villainous district officer and his chief lieutenant Torres (Francis McDonald). A rather obviously dubbed Renaldo joins Armida, Lillian Molieri and The Guadalajara Trio in warbling "Adios Amor", by Louis Herscher and J. Castelleone), and a couple of standard Spanish ballads. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Duncan Renaldo, Martin Garralaga, (more)
- 1946
Eddie Dean, PRC's low-budget answer to Gene Autry, starred in this lethargic singing western which benefited from Dean performing his own title-tune, "Fifteen Hundred and One Miles to Heaven" and "Sands of the Old Rio Grande", the last mentioned co-written with B-Western supporting actor Glenn Strange. Dean is a Cattlemen's Association agent investigating a serious rash of rustlings along with sidekicks Soapy (Roscoe Ates) and Waco (Lee Bennett. The latter bears a striking resemblance to Lawrence ranch foreman Bert Ford (also Bennett, who has been the target of several assassination attempts. Rancher Lawrence (Lee Roberts and Eddie decide that Waco shall impersonate Ford, who is hiding out in a hotel room. The leader of the gang of rustlers attempts to turns the tables by calling in a circuit judge (William Fawcett) but Ford, from his hotel room, recognizes the man as an imposter. Loading up on fireworks and dynamite, Eddie, Soapy and Ford defend the hotel from gang leader Ringo Evans (Jack O'Shea) and his men until the law arrives. Stars Over Texas was produced and directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates, (more)
- 1934
Ernst Lubitsch directs the 1934 musical comedy The Merry Widow, based on the 1905 operetta by Franz Lehar. In 1885, King Achmed (George Barbier) strives to protect the financial interests of his small, poor kingdom of Marshovia in Central Europe. When the kingdom's wealthiest widow, Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald), goes off to Paris, the king sends the village's greatest lover, Prince Danilo (Maurice Chevalier), off to marry her. The king demands that Danilo must romance and marry Sonia so she will return to the small kingdom with her riches. If he doesn't succeed, he'll be arrested. While in Paris, Danilo is distracted from his royal task when he finds himself in the company of many lovely Parisian women. Unbeknownst to him, one of the ladies is really Sonia pretending to be an escort girl. After a dance number and some songs, the Ambassador (Edward Everett Horton) announces that they are to be married. When Sonia refuses to marry Danilo, he is arrested and sent back to the small kingdom. Eventually Sonia returns to Marshovia, where she visits him in jail. She testifies on his behalf and they are finally married. The Merry Widow was filmed several other times, including the 1925 silent version directed by Erich Von Stroheim and the1952 version starring Fernando Lamas as Danilo. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, (more)
- 1935
Spencer Tracy plays a hard-driving newsman with a special instinct for solving sensational murders before the police can. This earns him the grudging respect of his peers, but his editor always puts him in his place. Tracy spends most of his time solving cases and almost never sleeps at home. This worries his lovely colleague Virginia Bruce who secretly loves him and wants him to settle down. Trouble comes after Tracy's estranged wife commits suicide and con-artists destroy the life of Tracy's dad. Vengefully, Tracy begins plotting the perfect murder of these larcenous crooks. This was Tracy's first film for MGM. He would remain with the studio for the next twenty years. Murder Man also marks the debut of Jimmy Stewart who appears as a cub reporter jokingly named "Shorty." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce, (more)
