Ann Sheridan Movies

One of a slew of prison reform picture that flourished during the Great Depression, this melodrama was banned in Finland. Pat O'Brien stars as Steve Jameson, a former Army officer who is hired at the infamous California prison of the title and quickly brings military order to the facility, separating the general population from the most violent offenders. In the meantime, Steve is falling for a singer, May (Ann Sheridan), but he keeps his profession a secret when she reveals that her brother Joe (Humphrey Bogart) is serving time in San Quentin. May eventually learns of Steve's deception and their romance hits the skids. When a jealous rival guard, Lt. Druggin (Barton MacLane), arranges for Joe to discover the romance between Steve and his sister, Joe begins plotting escape and revenge. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This hard-hitting, socially conscious drama, the sort of story that Warner Bros. made their hallmark in the 1930s, concerns a factory worker named Frank Taylor (Humphrey Bogart), who is convinced that a big promotion is right around the corner for him. However, the promotion goes to a harder-working Polish immigrant named Joe Dombrowski (Henry Brandon). Angry and upset, Frank is approached by members of a secret organization called the Black Legion, who believe in "America for Americans" and want to drive away immigrants and racial minorities through violent means. Wearing black robes, Frank and the other members of the Legion go on a torchlight raid, driving Dombrowski and his family from their home. With Dombrowski gone from the plant, Frank gets the job, which means more money and a higher standard of living for him and his family. But his outlaw activities with the Legion begin taking up more of his time (and his money, as they make a healthy profit selling robes, weapons, and racist geegaws to their membership), which drives a wedge between Frank and his wife Ruth (Erin O'Brien-Moore). Frank begins drinking and starts slapping Ruth around; she leaves him, and Frank takes up with a floozie named Pearl (Helen Flint). Ed (Dick Foran), a good friend of Frank's, sees that his buddy is drinking too much and ruining his life, so he tries to step in and express his concern. His tongue loosened by alcohol, Frank tells Ed about his secret life with the violent Legion; the next morning, Frank is afraid that Ed might inform on him to the police, so he tells the Legion leadership what has happened. They subsequently order Ed to be captured and executed. While Warner Bros. attempted to avoid the wrath of Black Legion and Ku Klux Klan members by stating that all characters and institutions were entirely fictional, Black Legion was still a brave attack on hate groups, given that lynchings were not uncommon in parts of the United States in the mid-1930s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Gat Brady (John Litel) is a wealthy gangster, though he's never killed anyone, an he is devoted to his teenaged daughter Annabel (Mary Maguire). When he's arrested for tax evasion on the eve of a European trip, he has Annabel's governess Flo Allen (Ann Sheridan) continue on the trip with the girl anyway. Red Carroll (Ben Welden), who hates Gat, kidnaps Annabel, but is caught and sent to the same prison as Gat. A fight with Red results in Gat being sent to the maximum-security prison on Alcatraz Island but, still bent on revenge, Red later arranges to have himself sent there, too. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Adapted from one of Dashiell Hammett's best novels, The Glass Key is a lively and straightforward melodrama of political corruption and urban intrigue. George Raft plays Ed Beaumont, the right-hand man to genial ward heeler Paul Madvig (Edward Arnold), who wants to clean up his political act. On the eve of a major election, Madvig is implicated in a murder, and it's up to Beaumont to help him out. Intimately involved in the case is Janet Henry (Claire Dodd), the sister of the murdered man and the daughter of "above reproach" Senator Henry (Charles Richman). Though no babe-in-the-woods, Beaumont is in for quite a few disillusionments as he pursues his investigation, though he does rather better romantically than the redoubtable Madvig. The Glass Key was remade (and improved) in 1942, with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Brian Donlevy; neither version, however, has as much bite and vitriol as the Hammett original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Holy Wars are given the usual overblown Cecil B. DeMille treatment in The Crusades. It all begins in the 12th-century AD, when Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Saracens, and the Christians are slaughtered or sold into slavery. A holy man known as The Hermit (C. Aubrey Smith) rallies the rulers of England and Europe to launch a Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem in the name of Christianity. Among those embarking upon this massive undertaking is England's King Richard the Lion-Hearted (played as a swaggering roughneck by Henry Wilcoxon), who finances his knights by marrying wealthy French princess Berengaria (Loretta Young) sight unseen. Saladin (Ian Keith), the elegant and well-spoken ruler of the Saracens, attempts to stave off the crusaders by kidnapping Berengaria and holding her hostage. Sensing that he can never win against so formidable a collection of foes, Saladin eventually opens the gates of Jerusalem to all but Richard the Lion-Hearted, with whom he has a personal score to settle. In the film's most memorable scene, the fundamental difference between the boorish Richard and the cultured Saladin is demonstrated when the Saracen ruler delicately cleaves Berengaria's silk scarf in twain with his gleaming sword. It took a great deal of nerve to depict the film's hero as a thuggish brute and the nominal villain as the most sympathetic character in the story, but DeMille gets away with it in The Crusades, and still has time left over to deliver his usual quota of thrills, pageantry, convoluted history and campy dialogue. And yes, that is Ann Sheridan as a Christian captive in the opening scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former child star Jackie Coogan made a somewhat awkward transition to adulthood in Home on the Range. Based on Zane Grey's novel Code of the West, the film casts Coogan and Randolph Scott as the Hatfield brothers, Tom and Jack. Owners of a racing stable, the boys figure that one of their ponies, a magnificent animal named Midnight is a sure winner. Before they're able to prove this, however, Tom and Jack fall victim to a gang of race-fixers who use high-powered rifles to ensure that their horses will win. This doesn't stop Tom from risking his life to ride Midnight to victory. Radio crooner Joe Morrison, whose chief claim to fame was the western ballad "Last Roundup", shows up in Home on the Range long enough to sing the title tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kermit Maynard once again dons a Mountie uniform in Ambassador Films' Red Blood of Courage. The plot gets underway when Mark Henry (Reginald Barlow), the owner of a valuable oil deposit, is kidnapped and replaced by an outlaw look-alike (also Barlow). The masquerade fools everyone, even his niece Beth (Ann Sheridan, in one of her first leading roles). But RCMP officer Jim Sullivan (Maynard), himself travelling incognito to track down the murderer of his best friend, isn't so easily taken in by the phony landowner. Things get hairy when the false Mark Henry is murdered by his henchmen and blame for the killing is placed on Sullivan. But the real Henry shows up in time to help our hero track down the heavies and rescue the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his first starring role (after being second-billed to Claudette Colbert in The Gilded Lily), Fred MacMurray plays officer Ross Martin of the Michigan State Police. After completing his training, Martin is pitted against dignified Professor Anthony (Sir Guy Standing), who uses his academic status as a cover for his bank-robbery activities. Keeping himself abreast of police maneuvers by listening to car radios and unobtrusively hanging around headquarters, Anthony ultimately uses his technological know-how to paralyze the police communications systems. But with the cooperation of the Massachusetts police department, whose radios are in full working order, rookie Martin and rustic sheriff Pete Arnot (Frank Craven) combine forces for a final assault upon Anthony's hideout. Its sometimes illogical plot twists notwithstanding, the screenplay is based on a series of factual articles, first published in Saturday Evening Post. Also given a career boost in Car 99 is another new Paramount contractee, Ann Sheridan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Radio baritone Joe Morrison was being groomed for stardom by Paramount when he was top-billed in One Hour Late. Morrison is cast as shipping clerk Eddie Blake, whose girlfriend Betty Dunn (Helen Twelvetrees) is secretary to big boss Stephen Barclay (Conrad Nagel). A trusting soul, Betty sees nothing wrong in accepting Barclay's invitation to visit his home for the weekend. But Eddie suspects the worst and tags along to make sure that Betty's virtue remains intact. As it happens, Eddie's fears are groundless -- as are those of Barclay's wife Ellen (Gail Patrick), who was poised to walk out on her husband at the first sign of extramarital hanky-panky. The script contrives to have a radio station located in the building where Eddie works, permitting Joe Morrison to croon a medley of his hit "The Last Roundup." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a Zane Grey story, Wagon Wheels is a remake of the 1931 Gary Cooper starrer Fighting Caravans. Randolph Scott assumes Cooper's role, playing a trail guide named Clint Belmet. The plot follows the progress of a typical wagon train journey from Missouri to Oregon, with the usual quote of Indian attacks and outlaw treachery. Murdock (Monte Blue), the main villain, foments trouble between the whites and Indians on behalf of a carter of foreign fur traders, adding a bit of international intrigue to the proceeding. Gail Patrick, still in her "ingenue" period, portrays the heroine along more intelligent and self-reliant lines than usual. Generous amounts of stock footage from Fighting Caravans were liberally sprinkled throughout the 57-minute time span of Wagon Wheels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Earl Carroll Vanities, a popular Broadway revue of the 1930s and '40s, is the setting for this murder mystery interspersed with an assortment of variety acts, including Duke Ellington performing "Ebony Rhapsody" and a novelty number called "Marijuana." Victor McLaglen stars as Bill Murdock, a detective investigating a series of murders during the opening night of a new edition of the Vanities. When private detective Sadie Evans (Gail Patrick) is found murdered, Murdock must investigate between musical numbers to find the killer. When Rita Rose (Gertrude Michael) next turns up dead, Murdock concludes young ingenue Ann Ware (Kitty Carlisle) is the next person marked for death. Murdock has to find the murderer before the ending of the show or else he or she could disappear in the departing crowd of theatergoers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

It's "Never the twain shall meet" time again, this time in London's Limehouse district. George Raft stars as Harry Young, a half-caste saloonkeeper who shelters beleaguered white girl Toni (Jean Parker) from her tormentors (shades of Broken Blossoms). Harry falls in love with the girl, but mixing of the races was still a Hollywood no-no in 1934, so tragedy results -- except for Toni, who finds happiness in the arms of Eric Benton (Kent Taylor), a man of "her own kind." The highly eclectic cast includes Anna May Wong as Raft's obligatory cast-off sweetheart Tu Tuan, former 2-reel comic Billy Bevan, and in a tiny uncredited role, Ann Sheridan. To avoid confusion with another Limehouse Blues, this one was retitled East End Chant for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide