John Shelton Movies

Ham Fisher's comic-strip pugilist Joe Palooka is once more visualized on-screen in Monogram's Winner Take All. In this one, soft-hearted boxer Joe (Joe Kirkwood) is approached by a trio of gamblers, who want him to throw an upcoming bout. Naturally he refuses, but has cause to regret this decision when the crooks claim to have kidnapped Joe's young ward Tommy (Stanley Clements). When he discovers that the abduction is a hoax, Joe wins the fight and settles accounts with the bad guys. William Frawley costars as Joe's trainer Knobby Walsh (a role played in subsequent "Joe Palooka" entries by Leon Errol), while Elyse Knox, real-life wife of athlete Tom Harmon, plays Palooka's ever-loving fiancee Ann Howe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warren Douglas plays an average Joe who bears a striking resemblance to a famous gangster. A group of rival hoods beat up the innocent lookalike, which gives the police an idea. They set Douglas up as the real crook in hopes of forcing his gang out in the open. An outsized (but economically staged) gunfight brings this tense little tale to its conclusion. Incident is one of the slicker directorial accomplishments of B-picture maestro William "One Take" Beaudine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical, an orphan is under the false impression that her newly found relatives are filthy rich. Lacking the heart to tell her the truth, the relatives move into an abandoned mansion to entertain her and her fiance. Songs include: "That's Good Enough for Me", "A Man Is a Brother to a Mule", "Judy and Dick", and "Cheer for the Team". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While perhaps not Abbott & Costello's best film, The Time of Their Lives is certainly their most unusual. Lou Costello plays a Revolutionary War-era tinker, whose prized possession is a letter from George Washington, commending Costello as a loyal patriot. Costello's lady love is Anne Gillis, maidservant to aristocratic Jess Barker. Costello's rival in romance is Barker's butler Bud Abbott, who locks the tubby tinker in a trunk to keep him away from Gillis. Meanwhile, Gillis stumbles onto a plot to betray the Colonial Armies, masterminded by Barker. The girl is kidnaped and spirited away, but not before Barker has appropriated Costello's letter from Washington and hidden it in a mantelpiece clock. All this is witnessed by Barker's fiancee Marjorie Reynolds, who disguises herself as a man, the better to make her way through the lines to warn the Colonial troops of Barker's plot. She frees Costello from his trunk and enlists his aid in locating Washington. Mistaken for traitors, Costello and Reynolds are shot dead. Their bodies are thrown in a well as a colonial officer curses their souls to remain on the grounds of Barker's estate "until the crack of doom," unless some evidence should prove them innocent of treason. A few moments later, Costello and Reynolds materialize as ghosts. They try to escape the grounds, but a supernatural force holds them back. Flash-forward nearly two centuries to 1946: Costello and Reynolds, still confined to the estate, resent the intrusion by Barker's descendants, who plan to renovate the mansion and open it to tourists. The two ghosts decide to haunt the estate, resulting in a series of amusing and well-conceived invisibility gags. Much to their surprise, Costello and Reynolds find none other than Costello's old nemesis Bud Abbott as one of the house guests. No, Abbott isn't a ghost: he's a famed psychiatrist, a descendant of the butler who double-crossed Costello back in 1780. Costello has a high old time playing tricks on the nervous Abbott (a fascinating reversal of the usual Abbott-Costello relationship) before the rest of the house's occupants decide to hold a seance to find out what's annoying the two ghosts. In a genuinely spooky sequence, sinister house servant Gale Sondergaard, possessed by the spirit of Jess Barker, reveals that the ghosts have been falsely accused of treason, and that their salvation lies in locating that letter from Washington. Driven by a feeling of remorse over the sins of his ancestor, Abbott does his best to help the ghosts. Before the plot is resolved, there is time for a standard Abbott-and-Costello chase scene, with the invisible Costello driving a car wildly around the estate, with a terrified Abbott cringing in the back seat. More than a little inspired by The Canterville Ghost, The Time of Their Lives was the second of two Universal films that attempted to recast Abbott and Costello as individual characters rather than smart guy-dumb guy team members. While the film is an unmitigated delight when seen today, it failed at the box office in 1946, compelling Bud and Lou to return to their standard formula in their next film, Buck Privates Come Home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director William "One Take" Beaudine slapped together Foreign Agent in a week or so, enabling Monogram to ship the picture to theaters before its subject matter grew stale. Set in a Hollywood movie studio (sure looks like the cramped Monogram headquarters), the story concerns a gang of Nazi agents who want to get their filthy mitts on a searchlight filter developed by studio technician Jimmy (John Shelton). Unable to alert the authorities, Jimmy is forced to turn sleuth himself to rout out and round up the villains-all played by such overly obvious types as Hans Schumm and Ivan Lebedeff (a Lithuanian actor, here cast as a Japanese!). Heroine Gale Storm sings two songs, including the deathless "It's Taps for the Japs." Jack Mulhall, who used to star in films of this nature, plays a bit role as a studio film editor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In addition to his supporting-player duties at MGM, Frank Morgan could always be counted upon to star in the studio's B-picture product. In Keeping Company, Morgan plays real estate broker Harry C. Thomas, blessed (or saddled) with three growing daughters. Mary (Ann Rutherford), oldest of the Thomas girls, leaves the nest to marry handsome Ted Foster (John Shelton). Thanks to the well-meaning parental interference of Thomas and his wife (Irene Rich), the young couple ends up on the verge of divorce. Leave it to tomboyish kid sister Harriet (Virginia Weidler) to patch things up by fadeout time. Intended as the first entry in a series that never materialized, Keeping Company was based on a story by Herman J. Mankiewicz, who obviously didn't take this assignment as seriously as he did Citizen Kane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This soapy drama stars Hedy Lamarr as a would be model who meets a research doctor en route to the US from Europe. They meet when Dr. Spencer Tracy prevents her from taking a suicidal plunge from the upper decks of the ocean liner. It seems that Lamarr had been involved with married man Kent Taylor. When he reneged on his promise to divorce his wife Mona Barrie, she decided to end it all. Finding her extraordinarily beautiful, the doctor suggests she join him in his research. The two end up at a slum clinic and it doesn't take long for the doctor to fall completely in love with her. He convinces her to marry him and soon after the wedding, he exchanges life in the clinic for an upscale practice uptown. Servicing the rich is lucrative and soon he has provided his high maintenance wife with a luxurious life. Unfortunately for him, she appreciates his work and sacrifices not a whit, and as soon as she can attempts to respark a romance with Taylor whom she has never stopped loving. Fortunately for the doctor, Lamarr eventually comes to her senses and marital bliss ensues. This film had a troubled history with all of it due to Louis B. Mayer's obsession with making Lamarr the brightest star in the MGM galaxy. Originally the film was directed by Joseph von Sternberg, but he grew frustrated and tired by Mayer's constant interference and quit the film as did the next director, Frank Borzage. As a result an enormous amount of footage was discarded. Finally reliable W.S. Van Dyke was placed on the production and it was completed. Unfortunately, despite all that effort, the film bombed at the box office. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Appointed resident assistant at the Byng State Hospital by his mentor Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore), young Doctor James Kildare (Lew Ayres) has every reason to celebrate. His euphoria, however, is short-lived: Kildare is forced to return to his hometown when his general-practitioner father (Samuel S. Hinds) collapses from overwork. At first, the townsfolk are suspicious of Kildare's "newfangled" medical methods. But when the young medico is able to diagnose the malady afflicting Leading Citizen George Winslow (George Lockhart), Kildare is wholeheartedly accepted by his new flock. But will Dr. Kildare stay home, or will he return to the Big City for new adventures? Hint: there were still four "Kildare" episodes to go before Lew Ayres left the series in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Viennese-born Luise Rainer plays a young Parisian girl who attends an exclusive drama school, working nights at a factory to pay the tuition. Despite the jealousies of her fellow students, Luise allows nothing to discourage her from her goal to become as great an actress as her idol (Gale Sondergaard). The girl wins the coveted role of Joan of Arc in an upcoming play, but the victory has a bitter taste when she realizes she's beaten out her idol for the part. At the end, Luise manages to have both a happy career and a successful marriage, even though her friends (and enemies) insist that such a combination is impossible. Dramatic School is a film buff's banquet; virtually every bit player in the cast (Ann Rutherford, Lana Turner, Dick Haymes, Hans Conried, etc.) later graduated to show-biz prominence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ghost City was one of eight Monogram westerns which teamed veteran cowboy star Bill Cody with juvenile performer Andy Shuford. The motivating factor in this one is a valuable gold mine which rightfully belongs to heroine Helen Foster. The deed to the mine is currently (and illegally) in the possession of villain Walter Miller, but Cody aims to alter this status quo. The film is dominated by fight scenes and riding interludes, with scant attention paid to the romantic subplot (much to the relief of Bill Cody's younger fans). Jack Carlyle, who later had a career in "exploitation" pictures, plays a surly deputy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide