David Sharpe Movies

Bob Steele once again goes in search for the outlaw who murdered his father in this average Western released by Republic Pictures. The killer, Jim Hatfield (Warner Richmond), is holed up in a South-of-the-Border cantina from whence he runs a series of cattle rustlings and assorted other crimes. The Hatfield gang kidnaps Don (David Sharpe), the young brother of waitress Jean Williams (Lorraine Hayes), and forces him to sign over some traveler's checks to Hatfield. Allowing himself to be captured by the gang, newly deputized Dave Austin (Steele) is sentenced to die at sundown, but by using trickery, the youngster manages to turn the outlaws against each other. Doomed at Sundown was filmed at Newhall and Chatsworth, CA. Leading lady Lorraine Hayes, aka Lorraine Randall, was the sister of popular screen actress Bernadene Hayes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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, Rovi

Where Trails Divide was the second entry in Tom Keene's western series for Monogram. Not as good as the first (God's Country and the Man), it still contained much to admire, especially for a run-of-the-mill "B" western. Keene plays a frontier lawyer who hangs up his shingle in a lawless town. When the opportunity presents itself, our hero reveals that he's really a federal agent, assigned to clean up the local criminal element, led by stagecoach robber Warner Richmond (who delivers the film's best performance). With a minimum of gunplay, Keene accomplishes his goal, winning the undying affection of heroine Eleanor Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third of six Rex Bell Westerns produced by the Alexander brothers, Arthur and Max, The Idaho Kid was the first to be distributed by newcomer Grand National. Bell appeared in the title role, a drifter who returns to the old homestead only to find his adopted family engaged in a range war with his natural -- but estranged -- father, Clint Hollister (Earl Dwire). The latter's foreman, Bib Slagel (Charles King), and his men attempt to force Endicott (Lafe Mckee) out of business by depriving his cattle of water from a shared stream. There is a final confrontation during which Hollister shoots the Idaho Kid, learning only afterwards that he is his long-lost son. Happily, Idaho survives his wounds and the feud comes to an end. Popular B-Western heroine Marion Shilling played Bell's foster sister-turned-love interest and former Paramount star Lane Chandler appeared in a small supporting role as Lafe McKee's foreman. Bell was the husband of silent screen star Clara Bow and later ran successfully for the office of lieutenant governor of Nevada. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

As one of Harry Carey's mid-1930s independent westerns, Ghost Town is noted for its good, atmospheric cinematography (as evidenced by the film's production stills). The star assumes his familiar guise as Cheyenne Harry, a wandering do-gooder with a questionable background but the noblest of intentions. His path intersects with that of an old pal with designs on a vacant mining town; the friend is killed, and Carey blamed for the murder and incarcerated.
~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first of 20th Century-Fox's college musicals, Pigskin Parade is also close to the best of them in musical terms -- though they were all at least pretty good on that level -- principally thanks to the presence of 13-year-old Judy Garland, playing an Arkansas farm girl with surprising sincerity and success (in addition to belting out a couple of numbers with the depth and sincerity of a performer at least twice that age). The plot starts rolling when the Yale University football team, looking for a credible but not too tough opponent for a charity game, accidentally invites the team from tiny Tesax State University (enrollment 700) instead of the University of Texas (enrollment 7500). Texas State has also just gotten a new football coach, Slug Winters (Jack Haley), who's had a lot of success coaching high school back in Flushing, New York but still has to prove himself with college players -- he arrives with his brassy, outspoken wife (Patsy Kelly) just ahead of the invitation from Yale, which nearly sends them running back to New York. Through sheer luck and Mrs. Winters' brainstorm, however, they figure out a way they can meet the Yale team on the field and not get steamrollered -- they come up with a fast, highly mobile brand of football that makes them contenders, but then they lose their star-player. Mrs. Winters manages to stumble onto Amos Dodd (Stuart Erwin), an Arkansas farm boy who developed his arm by tossing watermelons around, and brings him and his sister (Judy Garland) to the college. But now they have to make Amos -- who never finished high school -- eligible, and keep him interested enough in the team and the college to get him to the game. It's all a lot of fun, with lots of comic antics and a song spicing up the pace every few minutes, and Haley and Kelly are a delight to watch together. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Working on the theory that the only thing funnier than Laurel and Hardy is two sets of Laurel and Hardys, Our Relations milks its central mistaken-identity situation for all it's worth. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two solid citizens, happily married and highly respected in their community. One morning, Hardy receives a letter from his mother, containing an old photo of himself and Laurel with their twin brothers, Alf Laurel and Bert Hardy. Mamma also reveals that Alf and Bert turned out to be "bad lads" and ran off to sea, and that reportedly they'd been hanged for taking part in a mutiny. "Isn't that calamitous!" remarks Hardy, who conspires with Laurel to hide the facts about their no-good brothers from their wives. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the S.S. Periwinkle pulls into port. Among the crew members are the selfsame Alf and Bert, who have decided to entrust their pal Fin (James Finlayson) with their month's salary. Fin has promised to invest the dough so that the boys will become millionaires "before you can say Jack Robinson". Alf and Bert are then summoned to the cabin of their captain (Sidney Toler), who orders them to pick up a valuable package for him, then meet him later at Denker's Beer Garden. While waiting for the captain at Denker's, Alf and Bert are captivated by a pair of waterfront floozies, Alice (Iris Adrian) and Lily (Lona Andre). Talked into buying the girls a huge meal for which they haven't the necessary funds, Alf and Bert decide to go back to Fin and reclaim their money, leaving the contents of the captain's package-a valuable pearl ring-with tough waiter Joe Groagan (Alan Hale) as security. Later, Laurel and Hardy take their wives Betty (Betty Healy) and Daphne (Daphne Pollard) to lunch-and, inevitably, they end up at Denker's Beer Garden, where the equally inevitable mix-ups begin to occur. Things snowball from bad to worse before both sets of twins, an angry captain, a disgruntled Fin, the wives, the floozies, a genial drunk (Arthur Housman) and a brace of smooth gangsters (Ralf Harolde and Noel Madison) all converge at the upscale Pirate Club. Several slapstick complications later, Laurel and Hardy are captured by the gangsters, who threaten to dump the boys in the river with their feet encased in cement if they don't cough up the pearl ring. Alf and Bert come to the rescue, and all is well, at least until the film's boffo punchline. Based on W.W. Jacobs' short story The Money Box, Our Relations is perhaps the most plot-heavy of Laurel and Hardy's features for Hal Roach Studios. It is also one of their funniest, as well as their most lavishly produced. The film was officially listed as "A Stan Laurel Production"-as if Laurel hadn't been the prime creative force behind all of the team's previous films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a paranoid heiress begins believing her guards are really holding her hostage. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Originally released on September 9, 1933, "Bedtime Worries" was the first of two "Our Gang" comedies in which the vaudeville team of Emerson Treacy and Gay Seabrook (a second-echelon Burns and Allen) were cast as the parents of little Spanky McFarland. On the day he is promoted to head clerk (or "head cluck," as Spanky puts it), Treacy declares that it is high time Spanky stopped sleeping in his parents' room and go to bed in his own room. During his first night alone, Spanky envisions all sorts of imaginary horrors, from a bat (actually a moth) to "the boogeyman." Thus, when a burglar (Harry Bernard) climbs into Spanky's window, the boy's dozing parents fail to believe his story. Passing himself off as Santa Claus, the burglar steals everything that isn't nailed down until the rest of the Our Gang kids come to the rescue. A quote from Mae West caps this delightful two-reeler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A real four-hankie picture, "Fly My Kite" is one of "Our Gang"'s most poignant episodes, though it also manages to be hilariously funny at times. Margaret Mann makes a return appearance as the gang's adopted Grandma, who reads Wild West stories to the kids, gives them boxing tips and dispenses valuable advice about honesty and decency. The fly in the ointment is Grandma's hateful son-in-law Dan (played by James Mason -- not the famous British actor) who orders the old lady to pack up and get out so that he and his new wife (Mae Busch) can move in. On cue, the Gang attacks Dan en masse and forces him to make a hasty retreat, though he warns Grandma that she'd better be gone by the time he gets back. While on his way out, Dan peeks into Grandma's mailbox and finds a letter stating that she is in possession of old gold bonds now worth $100,000. Returning, Dan tells her that the bonds are worthless, hoping to get his own grimy hands on the valuable documents. But Grandma, still unaware of her financial windfall, informs Dan that the bonds did "go up" after all: She has tied them to the tail of the kids' kite, which is now flying high in the air. The rest of the film is a slapstick tour de force, as the Gang uses any weapon at their disposal ---rocks, nails, broken bottles, etc. --- to prevent Dan from retrieving the kite. Utilizing one of LeRoy Shield's lushest musical scores (including such unforgettable tunes as the plaintive "Prelude" and the helter-skelter &"Hide and Go Seek"), "Fly My Kite" is among those rare "Our Gang" films that extends its appeal even to non-fans of the series. Originally released on May 30, 1931, the film represented the last "Our Gang" appearance of series stalwart Allen "Farina" Hoskins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Kenneth Hawks (Howard's brother) collaborated with Fox contractee David Butler on the direction of the late silent Masked Emotion. The story takes place along the seacoast of California, where sailboat skipper Brandlet Dickey (George O'Brien) stumbles upon a scheme to smuggle Chinese aliens into the country. Complicating matters is the fact that Dickey's younger brother Thad (played by crack stuntman David Sharpe) is sweet on Emily Goodell (Nora Lane), daughter of the captain (James Gordon) of the smuggling vessel. There's plenty of he-man action as Dickey simultaneously trounces the villains and guides his wounded brother back to shore. Ben Ames Williams' A Son of Anak was the source for this typically two-fisted O'Brien vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi