Gertrude Short Movies

Man Alive is an inventive and consistently amusing farce dominated by stars Pat O'Brien and Adolphe Menjou. The former plays Speed, a moderately successful garage owner. Wrongly convinced that his wife Connie (Ellen Drew) has fallen in love with his old friend Gordon (Rudy Vallee), Speed goes off on a toot. During a long and drunken night, he gives his clothes and his car to an old tramp named Willie the Wino (Jack Norton). With Speed as his passenger, Willie piles the car into a river; he is drowned, but Speed is rescued by showboat entrepreneur Kismet (Menjou). When the car is recovered, it is assumed that the body inside is Speed's. At first determined to prove to his grieving "widow" that he's still alive, Speed is convinced by Kismet to test Connie's loyalty, leading to a series of zany consequences. Former "Our Gang" member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer figures prominently in the hectic closing scenes. Alas, Man Alive failed to make back its cost when first released, convincing RKO Radio to lay off such whimsical fare in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tip-Off Girls is a worthwhile entry in Paramount's "FBI" series, based on the various writings of
J. Edgar Hoover. The title refers to a group of pretty young women who are ordered by their gangster bosses to pick up tips on incoming merchandise shipments, thereby expediting a sophisticated hijacking operation. The girls are also expected to keep the freight drivers occupied while the crooks go about their business. G-Man Bob Anders (Lloyd Nolan) eventually smashes the racket with the help of decoy Marjorie Rogers (Mary Carlisle). Equipped with a Greek accent this time out, J. Carrol Naish plays the supposedly respectable head of the hijackers, while the rest of the cast is populated with such reliable Paramount stock-company players as Roscoe Karns, Buster Crabbe, Anthony Quinn, Benny Baker, Evelyn Brent, Irving Bacon and Stanley Andrews. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a wealthy, aristocratic New Yorker, thinking his son is a bit of a panty-waist, decides to make a real man of him and sends him to work in a lumber camp to prove himself. Unbeknownst to the father, the boy is already a famous wrestler known as the mysterious Masked Marvel. Meanwhile, at camp, the young man manages to expose two shady foreman, beat up the loggers, and save the logging operation of a pretty young girl who falls madly in love with him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This lesser Astaire/Rogers vehicle is one of several screen versions of the venerable Hubert Osborne stage play Shore Leave. For reasons unknown, Fred and Ginger are virtually supporting players here, spending most of their time trying to patch up the romance between Fred's fellow sailor Randolph Scott and Ginger's sister Harriet Hilliard (better known as Harriet Nelson, of Ozzie and Harriet fame). One of the sillier aspects of the plot hinges on raising enough money to renovate a broken-down old ship; to do this, Fred and Ginger stage a lengthy musical number that must have cost five times as much money as they raised! But that number, a languorous dance rendition of Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance", compensates for all the nonsense that has gone before. One fringe benefit of Follow the Fleet is spotting two fresh-faced starlets named Betty Grable and Lucille Ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In G Men, Warner Bros. "bad boy" James Cagney plays James "Brick" Davis, a young lawyer whose education has been financed by soft-hearted racketeer McKay (William Harrigan). When Cagney's best pal, detective Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey), is killed in a gangland shooting, James decides to become a G-Man. Though scrupulously honest, Davis is looked upon with suspicion by his fellow agents because of his association with the crooked McKay. He proves he's a "good guy" when his former girlfriend, Jean Ann Dvorak, now the wife of mobster Brad Collins (Barton MacLane), tips him off to a "Little Bohemia"-style gangster hideaway. Jean later sacrifices her own life to help James rescue his new girl, nurse Kay McCord (Margaret Lindsay), from the vengeful Collins. Based on Gregory Miller's book Public Enemy No. 1, G-Men was reissued in 1949, with an added prologue featuring David Brian as an FBI trainer who advises his students not to laugh at the old-fashioned costumes and slang in the 1935 film; seen today, it is Brian's superfluous opening comments that seem hopelessly dated, while the film itself is as exciting and entertaining as ever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of four MGM "B"-pictures ground out in quick succession by director George B. Seitz, Woman Wanted is a crime melodrama with occasional bursts of comedy relief. Wrongly convicted of murder, heroine Ann (Maureen O'Sullivan) escapes from the police when the car bearing her to prison is involved in an accident. In truth, however, the crash was arranged by gangster boss Smiley (Louis Calhern), who wants to find out how much Ann knows about his involvement in the murder. Fortunately, young lawyer Tony (Joel McCrea) shows up at the accident site ahead of Smiley's minions. Risking a charge of complicity, Tony spends the rest of the picture protecting Ann from both the cops and the crooks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Birdlike ZaSu Pitts and gangly Slim Summerville are together again in the Universal programmer Love Birds. The stars are cast respectively as schoolmarm Araminta Tootle and chicken farmer Henry Whipple, both of whom are sold the same abandoned ranch by the same fast-talking con artist. Neither Araminta nor Henry are entranced by the idea of sharing the property, but they try to make the best of things for the sake of precocious orphan boy Gladwyn (Mickey Rooney), whom the teacher hopes to adopt. The plot goes off on a new tangent when Henry loses a gold tooth filling, which when found on his property is mistaken for a gold nugget by a grizzled old prospector, leading to a slapstick finale in which the tiny ranch is invaded by all manner of suspicious-looking characters -- including the sharpster who sold the hero and heroine the property in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Cagney manages to retain his pre-Code cockiness within post-Code limitations in the likeable St. Louis Kid. Cagney and Allen Jenkins, Eddie Kennedy, and Buck Willetts play long-distance truck drivers who get entangled in a battle between a crooked trucking firm and striking milk farmers (a plot thread based on actual events). When one of the dairymen is killed by a hired goon, Eddie is accused of the crime. He breaks out of jail to track down the real killer then has to rescue his girlfriend Ann (Patricia Ellis), who's been kidnapped by henchmen of the truck company. It takes a bit of clever brainwork between Eddie and Buck, but our hero manages to flummox the bad guys and rescue the girl. James Cagney's sheer star power is such that the audience is willing to forgive the fact that, in the early passages of the film, his character is nothing more or less than a "scab." St. Louis Kid is the picture in which Cagney, tired of playing characters who settle differences with their fists, hit upon the novel idea of incapacitating his screen rivals by butting his forehead against theirs, knocking them cold without laying a hand on them! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hoping to immediately cash in on its blockbuster hit King Kong (1933). RKO Radio commissioned producers Willis O'Brien and Ernest B. Schoedsack to hastily slap together a sequel. Son of Kong begins where King Kong left off, with foolhardy entrepreneur Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) facing hundreds of thousands dollars in lawsuits from the damages inflicted by the mighty Kong on the city of New York (remember?) Denham's partner Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher) suggests that they escape to Malaya, where they make the acquaintance of Hilda (Helen Mack), the daughter of drink-besotted circus-owner Peterson (Clarence Wilson). When her father is killed in a fire caused by Norwegian sea captain Helstrom (John Marston), Hilda is comforted by Denham, who has taken a liking to the unfortunate girl. It turns out that Helstrom was the sailor who sold Denham the map to Skull Island, where King Kong once ruled unchecked. Hoping to escape prosecution for the fatal fire, Hellstrom claims that there's a fabulous treasure buried somewhere on Skull Island and offers to lead Denham and Englehorn back to the Pacific flyspeck. With no place else to go, Hilda stows away on Englehorn's boat and joins the expedition. After an unpleasant confrontation with the natives whom Kong trampled and chewed up in the earlier film, Denham and Hilda explore another part of the Island -- and there they find Little Kong, a 12-foot-high white gorilla who is as lovable as his "old man" was nasty. As the treacherous Hellstrom meets his doom elsewhere on the island, cute Little Kong protects his new friends Denham and Hilda from a variety of marauding dinosaurs, ultimately sacrificing his own life to save the human hero and heroine from a native war party. Largely played for laughs (at one point Little Kong makes an "Oy vey" gesture, as the soundtrack plays a snatch of a Jewish dance!), Son of Kong is nowhere near the classic stature of its illustrious predecessor. On the other hand, the stop-motion photography is quite impressive, at times even better than the animation seen in the original King Kong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marlene Dietrich stars as Helen Faraday, a German cabaret singer in the States whose husband, Ned, falls ill and his only hope is to receive expensive medical treatment at a clinic in Europe. Struggling to afford his care and to support their son Johnny, she works at a nightclub and succumbs to the advances of wealthy playboy Nick, whose gifts assist in her husband's recovery. Soon Ned recovers and returns, but when he discovers that Helen has been unfaithful, he divorces her, threatening to take their son. After running with little Johnny, she ends up a prostitute in New Orleans, where she is found by the detective hired by Ned. The boy is taken from her and Helen flees to Paris where she becomes a cabaret sensation. Upon witnessing a performance, Nick begins seeing her again and when the show moves to NYC, he secures a meeting between her and her ex -- who is finally made aware of the motivation behind her affair years before. This is the feature containing the well-known scenes where Dietrich performs stage numbers in an ape-suit and a white tuxedo (complete with top hat). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Last Dance was loosely based on the real-life story of a newspaper mogul who married a Broadway taxi dancer. For the purposes of the film, Jason Robards Sr. plays wealthy Tom Malloy, while Vera Reynolds is cast as dime-a-dance damsel Sally Kelly. Though she enjoys Tom's company, Sally has no intention of "clipping" him, but a shyster lawyer has other ideas. The ambulance chaser convinces Sally to sign a breach-of-promise complaint against Tom, but Sally isn't aware of the complaint's contents until she gets to court (no one ever said this picture was believable). The ensuing newspaper-tabloid headlines cause a great deal of embarrassment for both hero and heroine; all the same, everything ends happily for both. A visual gimmick unique to The Last Dance has each song number preceded by a superimposed close-up of the sheet music: the film's one big song, "Sally, I'm Looking For You Sally", is warbled not by Vera Reynolds, as might be expected, but by comedy-relief George Chandler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Floyd Dell and Thomas Mitchell, Little Accident stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as bridegroom-to-be Norman Overbeck. On the eve of his wedding to Madge (Sally Blane), Norman is visited by his first wife Isabel (Anita Page), who tells him that he's just become a father. Stuck with a kid on his hands, our hero is forced to postpone the wedding and "play daddy." He comes to like the job so much that he ends up marrying Isabel all over again -- but not before a long and drawn-out custody battle. Considerably toned down from the original play (in which the baby was illegitimate), Little Accident is a bit too antiseptic for its own good. The film was remade under the same title as a "Baby Sandy" vehicle in 1939, then again as the Gary Cooper starrer Casanova Brown in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide