Jack Rutherford Movies

The great Okefenokee swamp provides the setting of this drama that tells the tale of lifelong friends who choose disparate paths for their lives. One young man remains in his beloved swamp while the other becomes an engineer. After college, the engineer comes home and tries to convince the town that change is good. His friend offers the strongest protests. Mayhem ensues, but in the end the swamp-lover comes round and the embraces modernization of his community. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) is on the run from the law after killing one of the men who shot his partner. He passes through a town and stops at a saloon owned by singer Lorena Dumont (Yvonne de Carlo). The two seem a good, albeit tempestuous match, although Johnny has no plans to marry -- Lorena has other ideas and a shotgun wedding ensues. Blackie (Sheldon Leonard), an outlaw who is jealous of the marriage, informs Lorena of Johnny's wanted status, and he ends up getting caught by the law after their wedding night. He serves six years and returns to find that he and Lorena don't get along any better than they did before, and that he's also the father of a five-year-old girl (Beverly Simmons). Also lurking about is Blackie, whom he recognizes as one of the men who killed his partner, and Blackie wants Johnny out of the way so he can marry Lorena. Johnny and Lorena fight over custody of their daughter and Blackie nearly gets them each killed at one point or another. He kidnaps their daughter before Johnny dispatches him. He finally realizes that the only way he can win Lorena is to meet her cup for cup and blow for blow, until she understands that he loves her. The film, a sort of Western Taming of the Shrew, ends on a note of romance and reconciliation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Outdistancing all competing studios, tiny PRC managed to register the title Corregidor for copyright within hours after the surrender of the Allied forces at the real-life Corregidor. PRC even ponied up the money to commission a poem specially written for the film by the great Alfred Noyes. The film finds female Red Cross doctor Royce Lee (Elissa Landi) in love with a colleague named Michael (Donald Woods). Royce in turn is loved by Dr. Jan Stockman (Otto Kruger). But when the Japanese lay siege upon Corregidor, the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans. Actual combat stock footage (not from Corregidor) is intermingled with staged scenes of hand-to-hand combat between the Allies and the Japanese. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a manner of speaking, Humphrey Bogart had George Raft to thank for his ascendancy to stardom: after all, if Raft hadn't turned down both High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, Bogart might have continued playing second-billed gangsters to the end of his days. Adapted from W. R. Burnett's novel by Burnett and John Huston, High Sierra opens with gangster Roy Earle (Bogart) being paroled after a lengthy prison term. Though he enjoys the fresh air and sunshine of the outside world, Earle has no intention of giving up his criminal ways. In fact, his parole has been arranged by Big Mac (Donald MacBride), so that Earle can mastermind a big-time heist at a fancy California resort hotel. After a few unkind words with a crooked cop, Kranmer (Barton MacLane), in Big Mac's employ, Earle heads toward a fishing resort, where he is to commiserate with his inexperienced, hot-headed cohorts Babe (Alan Curtis) and Red (Arthur Kennedy). En route, he befriends a farm family, heading to LA in search of work. He falls in love with the family's club-footed daughter Velma (Joan Leslie)--though she never really gives him any encouragement--and makes a silent promise to finance an operation on her foot once he's gotten his share of the loot. At the mountain cabin rendezvous, Earle meets Marie (Ida Lupino), Babe's tough-but-vulnerable girlfriend. He angrily orders her to scram, but she stubbornly remains. Earle also finds himself the owner of a "jinxed" dog, whose previous masters have all met with early demises (a none-too-subtle foretaste of things to come). Marie is strongly attracted to Earle, but he refuses to have anything to do with her, reserving his affections for Velma. He arranges an operation for the girl with mob doctor Banton (Henry Hull), never suspecting that the self-serving Velma is planning all along to marry someone else. The robbery goes off without a hitch, save for the fact that "inside man" Mendoza (Cornel Wilde) panics and nearly gives the game away. While escaping, Babe and Red are killed in a car accident, but Earle and Marie escape. Having been disillusioned by Velma's indifference and by the fact that the untrustworthy Kranmer has taken over the late Big Mac's operation, Earle at last realizes that the only person he can truly depend upon is the faithful Marie. With the police hot on his trail, Earle tells Marie to look after herself, then heads alone into the High Sierras--where, in Greek Tragedy fashion, he "busts out" of life. As in Petrified Forest, Humphrey Bogart plays a burnt-out anachronism from an earlier era in crime in High Sierra; in the latter film, however, Bogart has an innate nobility that allows the audience to empathize with him throughout. It is nothing short of amazing that, despite his superb performance in this 1940 film, he still had to wait until The Maltese Falcon for top billing in an "A picture." High Sierra was remade in 1949 as Colorado Territory and in 1955 as I Died a Thousand Times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Curtiz directs this Technicolor Western based on the familiar story by Clements Ripley about the rivalry between farmers and miners in the Sacramento valley during the years following the California Gold Rush. Handsome engineer Jared Whitney (George Brent) from the Golden Moon mining company arrives in a small town to supervise their operations. He oversees boorish mining foreman Slag Minton (Burton MacLane), then goes to bar where he befriends Lance (Tim Holt), the son of prominent wheat farmer Colonel Chris Ferris (Claude Rains). He ends up falling in love with Lance's sister, Serena (Olivia deHavilland), despite their alliances with opposing forces. They are forbidden to see each other when her father finds out, so Jared goes back to San Francisco to work with his boss, Harrison McCooey (Sidney Toler), on a dam construction project. Meanwhile, Lance chooses the side of the miners over the farmers when he leaves the town to stay with his Uncle Ralph (John Litel). When local farmer John McKenzie (Russell Simpson) loses his family and his farm due to the destruction caused by the miners, Chris supports him in a law suit against the mining company. This all escalates into a violent armed confrontation between the farmers and the miners, leading up to an explosive conclusion and a romantic reunion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry and his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, are suspected of cattle rustling in this action-packed Republic Pictures Western directed by former actor Mack V. Wright. Actually, Gene and Frog (Burnette) had been chasing a couple of real cattle rustlers, Apache Kid (Max Hoffman Jr.) and Black Jim (Charles King), when they discovered the bodies of two lawmen. Realizing that the rustlers killed their pursuers, our heroes get the bright idea of masquerading in the apparel left by the outlaws. Heading for the border, things get even more complicated, but Gene and his pal manage to stay alive and catch the secret leader of the gang, Joe Stafford (Monte Blue), the supposed upstanding head of the cattlemen's association. When they're not chasing down rustlers, Autry, Burnette, and Al Clauser and his Oklahoma Outlaws perform "The Old Home Place," "Mexicali Rose," and the title tune, all by Sol Meyer, Jule Styne, and Raoul Kraushaar. Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm was partially filmed on-location in Lone Pine, CA, where the production took advantage of a terrific real-life storm. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) rescues a stranded schoolmarm (Muriel Evans) from a lecherous saloon owner (Onslow Stevens) in this the fifth entry in the long-running series which also served to re-introduce George "Gabby" Hayes as cantankerous sidekick Windy Haliday. While Hoppy is busy putting the prim Mary Stevens up at the Bar 20, Johnny Nelson (James Ellison) is wounded in an unsuccessful attempt at preventing saloon owner Pecos Kane's men from holding up the stage. The irate Pecos then frames Johnny for both the robbery and the shooting of the stage driver. About to be arrested by the corrupt sheriff (John St. Polis), the youngster is saved by a tough-talking Hoppy, but the two friends are soon at loggerheads over the pretty schoolmarm, who seems to prefer the more mature Hoppy. The latter, however, manages to turn one of Pecos' men (John Rutherford) and there is the inevitable climactic shootout at the Paradise Saloon. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A superior Tim McCoy Western, Justice of the Range featured a range feud between John Mclean (Edward J. LeSaint) and his neighbor, Lafe Brennan (Jack Rutherford), each believing the other to be behind a series of cattle rustlings in Apache Basin. Hired to look into the matter by commission agent Hadley Graves (Guy Usher), range detective Tim Condon (McCoy) discovers that neither is the culprit. But before he can do anything about it, he is framed in the murder of Pegleg Sanderson (George "Gabby" Hayes), a crime actually committed by a couple of Brennan's henchmen. Tim escapes the sheriff and, together with Brennan's estranged brother, Bob (Ward Bond), discovers that the real leader of the rustlers is Graves, who had hired Tim in order to divert attention from himself. About to take over the Mclean ranch, Graves and his henchmen are arrested by Sheriff Burns (Stanley Blystone) and Tim is free to continue his budding romance with lovely Janet Mclean (Billie Seward). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Affairs of Cellini is based on Edwin Justus Mayer's popular stage play The Firebrand, which in turn was based on the life and times of Renaissance artist/political reactionary Benvenuto Cellini. Fredric March plays the tempestuous, amorous Cellini, who spends as much time in swordplay with jealous husbands as he does in his artist's loft. When the duke of Florence (Frank Morgan) falls for Cellini's beautiful model (Fay Wray), Cellini is presented in court, whereupon he revives an ongoing affair with the duchess of Florence (Constance Bennett). Though a bumbling buffoon, the duke nonetheless holds the power of life and death over everyone in his domain, including Cellini. Thanks to his political activities and his overactive libido, Cellini is nearly executed, but a series of farce-like complications allows the plotline to turn out to the artist's advantage. Though hardly reliable as history, The Affairs of Cellini scores on its comic content, including the hilarious performances of Frank Morgan as the cuckolded duke and Fay Wray as the monumentally stupid artist's model. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The plot is in the title of Cowboy Counselor. Hoot Gibson plays a shiftless galoot who tries to make something of himself for the sake of his sister Sheila Mannors. Gibson sells law books door to door, which gets him mixed up with outlaws. Typically, this Gibson vehicle downplays action for the sake of comedy; much of the suspense derives from whether or not Hoot will pick up a gun to defend himself (he never wore a holster, you know). Hoot Gibson's comic sidekick in Cowboy Counselor is Skeeter Bill Robbins, who died shortly after the film was completed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mr. Lemon of Orange was advertised as comedian El Brendel's first starring feature, even though he'd previously dominated the proceedings in the lavish musical fantasy Just Imagine. This time, Brendel plays a dual role: in addition to his Dutch-dialect characterization as a dimwitted immigrant named Oscar, he also plays a tough, accent-less American gangster named Slippy McGee. On the lam from the law, Slippy decides to disguise himself as a simple-minded Swede, which results in poor Oscar, despite his German accent, being mistaken for the gangster. Most of the ethnic humor is quite offensive by today's standard (to be Swedish is to be stupid in this picture), but Brendel's essential likability saves the day. Some of the dialogue in Mr. Lemon of Orange was written by Eddie Cantor, who was decidedly not Scandinavian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide