George E. Stone Movies
Probably no one came by the label "Runyon-esque" more honestly than Polish-born actor George E. Stone; a close friend of writer Damon Runyon, Stone was seemingly put on this earth to play characters named Society Max and Toothpick Charlie, and to mouth such colloquialisms as "It is known far and wide" and "More than somewhat." Starting his career as a Broadway "hoofer," the diminutive Stone made his film bow as "the Sewer Rat" in the 1927 silent Seventh Heaven. His most prolific film years were 1929 to 1936, during which period he showed up in dozens of Warner Bros. "urban" films and backstage musicals, and also appeared as the doomed Earle Williams in the 1931 version of The Front Page. He was so closely associated with gangster parts by 1936 that Warners felt obligated to commission a magazine article showing Stone being transformed, via makeup, into an un-gangsterish Spaniard for Anthony Adverse (1936). For producer Hal Roach, Stone played three of his oddest film roles: a self-pitying serial killer in The Housekeeper's Daughter (1938), an amorous Indian brave in Road Show (1940), and Japanese envoy Suki Yaki in The Devil With Hitler (1942). Stone's most popular role of the 1940s was as "the Runt" in Columbia's Boston Blackie series. In the late '40s, Stone was forced to severely curtail his acting assignments due to failing eyesight. Though he was totally blind by the mid-'50s, Stone's show business friends, aware of the actor's precarious financial state, saw to it that he got TV and film work, even if it meant that his co-stars had to literally lead him by the hand around the set. No one was kinder to George E. Stone than the cast and crew of the Perry Mason TV series, in which Stone was given prominent billing as the Court Clerk, a part that required nothing more of him than sitting silently at a desk and occasionally holding a Bible before a witness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1948
All cruel jokes aside, actor Sonny Tufts did on occasion deliver something resembling a good screen performance. In the Columbia B-plus western The Untamed Breed, Tufts plays a Texas rancher hoping to improve his breed of cattle. The play is to purchase an expensive Brahma bull and allow the animal to commiserate with Tufts' bovine stock. Unfortunately the bull is not agreeable to this setup; it goes on a rampage, killing off much of the cattle on neighboring ranches. Untamed Breed wavers between some well staged dramatic sequences and the usual all-stops-out gunplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonny Tufts, Barbara Britton, (more)
- 1948
Who better to guard a priceless pearl necklace than an ex-thief? That's the logic behind Trapped by Boston Blackie, starring Chester Morris in the title role. Blackie finds himself posing as a guard at a society party, where the hostess (Sarah Selby) intends to display her new necklace. The private eye officially assigned to guard the pearls is mysteriously killed (or so it seems), whereupon the necklace vanishes. Blackie must locate the real crook before the cops arrest him on suspicion. Trapped by Boston Blackie was the twelfth in Columbia's "Boston Blackie" B series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, June Vincent, (more)
Daisy Kenyon stars Joan Crawford as the eponymous heroine, a Manhattan commercial artist. Daisy is torn between two men: a handsome, married attorney (Dana Andrews) and an unmarried Henry Fonda. Deciding to do the "right thing", Daisy marries Fonda, but carries a torch for the dashing Andrews. When the lawyer divorces his wife, he calls upon Daisy and tries to win her back. She is very nearly won over, but her husband isn't about to give up so easily. Both men argue over Daisy, who is so distraught by the experience that she nearly has a fatal automobile accident. In the end, Daisy realizes that she truly loves Fonda, and gives Andrews his walking papers. Daisy Kenyon is given a contemporary slant with a subplot about child abuse (in a Joan Crawford film!); and, in one scene set at New York's Stork Club, several celebrities (Walter Winchell, Leonard Lyons, John Garfield) make unbilled cameo appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Art Baker, (more)
In this thriller, psychiatrist Dr. Cross (Vincent Price) kills his wife and expects to get away with murder, until he discovers that the slaying was observed by a next-door neighbor, Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw). As Janet attempts to convince her husband (Frank Latimore) of the doctor's dastardly deed, Cross shows up to advise him that Janet is in dire need of some in-depth counseling. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, (more)
Doll Face is one of two attempts by 20th Century Fox to make a movie star out of crooner Perry Como (the other was If I'm Lucky). Actually, Como is but a cog in the wheel of the main plot, which involves Doll Face (Vivian Blaine), a stripteaser with artistic pretensions. On the advice of her manager/boyfriend, Mike Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe), Doll Face undergoes a "refinement" process. The next step for the girl is to write an intellectual autobiography, for which ghostwriter Gerard (Michael Dunne) is engaged. Forget the plot, and concentrate on the production numbers performed with gusto by Blaine, Como, and Carmen Miranda. Doll Face is based on The Naked Genius, a play by Louise Hovick -- better known as striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivian Blaine, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
- 1946
Abie's Irish Rose, the surprise hit of the 1922-23 Broadway season, was old-fashioned when it was first filmed in 1928, and this 1946 remake, though updated by playwright Anne Nichols, was even more anachronistic. It's the story of what happens when Jewish-American Abie Levy (Richard Norris) marries Irish-Catholic Rosemary Murphy (Joanne Dru, in her film debut). At first, Abie and Rosemary try to hide their ethnic differences from their feuding fathers Solomon Levy (Michael Chekhov) and Patrick Murphy (J. M. Kerrigan). When the truth comes out, the couple attempts to molify their families by going through three wedding ceremonies: Jewish, Catholic and Protestant. But the Cohens and the Murphys are reconciled only when Rosemary has a baby. Produced by Bing Crosby, Abie's Irish Rose was a terrific flop when first released, which may be one of the reasons why director Eddie Sutherland never again worked in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Dru, Richard Norris, (more)
- 1946
A real three-handkerchief affair, Sentimental Journey stars John Payne and Maureen O'Hara as a Broadway producer Bill and his actress-wife Julie. Unable to have children, Julie adopts orphaned girl Hitty (Connie Marshall). Shortly afterward, Julie dies of a heart attack, leaving Hitty in the care of the sullen Bill, who can't seem to "connect" with the girl. Eventually Hitty wins Bill's heart, but not without the implicit celestial intervention of the departed Julie. Much-needed comedy relief is provided by Mischa Auer and, to a lesser extent, William Bendix. Sentimental Journey was remade in 1958 as The Gift of Love, with Lauren Bacall in the Maureen O'Hara role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1946
This twelfth entry in Columbia's "Boston Blackie" series is essentially a remake of 1942's Alias Boston Blackie. In the original, a falsely accused convict (Larry Parks) escapes while Blackie (Chester Morris) is putting on a magic show for a men's prison, prompting Blackie to stop the escapee before he can kill the man who framed him. In the remake, Blackie stages yet another magic act, this time at a woman's prison. Sure enough, a female inmate (Constance Dowling) escapes, determined to wreak vengeance on the man who done her wrong. Implicated in the escape, Blackie manages to clear himself and to extract a recorded confession from the actual killer. In both the original and the remake, Chester Morris is given ample opportunity to show off his considerable skills as a magician. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Trudy Marshall, (more)
- 1946
If Republic's skating star Vera Hruba Ralston could go "dramatic", so too could Monogram's skating star Belita. Produced by the enterprising King Brothers, Suspense takes place in an ice-skating emporium owned by Frank Leonard (Albert Dekker). No-good heel Joe Morgan (Barry Sullivan) not only strongarms Leonard into sharing the establishment's profits, but also tries to move in on Leonard's wife Roberta (Belita). The plot thickens when Leonard is apparently killed by Morgan, only to return from the dead! But what really does Morgan in is his own checkered past, as personified by his vengeful ex-sweetheart Ronnie (Bonita Granville, in a truly offbeat characterization). Belita's ice-skating solos (staged by Nick Castle) and Philip Yordan's overly complicated script tend to weigh down the proceedings; still, Suspense deserves to be seen, if for no other reason than its dazzling opening sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Belita, Barry Sullivan, (more)
- 1946
In this episode of the popular mystery series, the crook turned sleuth must clear his name after he is accused of murder. To help him, Blackie enlists the aid of his pal. Together they reveal the real murderer before the Inspector can put Blackie back in jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1946
Boston Blackie is back and in hot pursuit of a jewel thief and killer in this mystery. The reformed thief soon tracks the thief to the domicile of a suspicious spiritualist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1945
In this drama, two competing reporters get involved in a mystery when they find a gangster's corpse in a wax museum. As no one has reported the death, the two rivals begin racing to get the scoop. Unfortunately the uncooperative corpse keeps disappearing. Also looking for the body is the killer who does not want his murder to become public as he has also stolen some jewels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Ann Savage, (more)
- 1945
The bland performance of star George Raft is the only drawback of this splashy 20th Century-Fox musical. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the film casts Raft as Barbary Coast saloonkeeper Tony Angel, who endears himself to patrons and pedestrians alike by tossing out silver dollars at the slightest provocation. Though Tony is loved by saloon singer Sally Templeton (Vivian Blaine), he only has eyes for Nob Hill socialite Harriet Carruthers (Joan Bennett). Upon marrying Harriet, Tony realizes he is sorely outclassed, and turns to the bottle as the result. It's up to "Little Miss Fixit" Katie Flanagan (Peggy Ann Garner) to bring Tony and Sally back together. Ample comedy relief is provided by Alan Reed and B. S. Pully, while the largely uncredited supporting cast includes such familiar faces as J. Farrell McDonald, Nestor Paiva, Bud Jamieson, and Frank McCown, who rose to fame under the new moniker of Rory Calhoun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1945
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous quite transcended its B-picture origins, and was easily the best of Columbia's "Boston Blackie" series. In this one, crook-turned-sleuth Blackie (Chester Morris) tries to track down homicidal maniac James Cook (Steve Cochran). This time it's personal: Cook has been committing a number of violent murders while posing as Blackie. Stuck in the middle is Sally Brown (Nina Foch), who is kidnapped by the villain so that Blackie will lay off. When asked in later years about Boston Blackie's Rendezvous, Nina Foch couldn't remember too many plot details, but did note with pride that costar Richard Lane (cast as Blackie's perennial nemesis Inspector Farraday) later became a prominent TV sportscaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Nina Foch, (more)
- 1945
In this lively entry in the Boston Blackie mysteries, Blackie gets in trouble when he helps a friend auction off a first-edition Charles Dickens book and discovers that it was counterfeit. As a result of his involvement in the con, Blackie must clear himself after being accused of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This comedy centers around an inept reporter who wouldn't recognize a hot story if it burned him on the hand. The trouble begins when he is assigned to do a story on a local wine festival. Meanwhile an escaped convict holds the heated interest of the rest of the newspaper employees. The bungler gets involved when he goes to the wrong location and ends up on a bus where someone is killed. He becomes a suspect, and later when he must stop at an inn, he finds his girl friend and a detective there too. At the inn, the proprietor has two priceless jeweled chess pieces that have been attracting a lot of attention from the public, and from the fugitive convict. Mayhem ensues when the crook shows up to claim the chessmen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Haley, Ann Savage, (more)
- 1944
Timber Queen is another of Pine-Thomas' rugged low-budget adventure films of the 1940s, most of which (like this one) starred Richard Arlen. It all begins when Russ (Arlen), a former Army pilot, comes home after a physical discharge. He befriends Elaine (Mary Beth Hughes), the widow of an Army buddy, who has inherited a financially-strapped timber camp. Elaine's financial future hinges on a huge timber shipment, which must arrive at its destination On Time-and that's where Russ and his little airplane come in. Sheldon Leonard is his usual surly self as Smacksie, a reformed racketeer who helps Russ complete his mission. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Beth Hughes, June Havoc, (more)
- 1944
A nebulously sinister title disguises the fact that this is actually a "Boston Blackie" mystery, the seventh in Columbia's series. Reformed criminal Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is accused of stealing the Niles diamond from a charity function. The police cut a deal with Blackie: If he'll locate the gem, they'll drop the charges. This time the cops go so far as issuing Blackie a police badge, which he uses with amusing abandon. One Mysterious Night, together with The Chance of a Lifetime (43) and The Phantom Thief (46), was given a non-identifiable title so that Columbia could coerce non-"Boston Blackie" fans into the theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Richard Lane, (more)
- 1944
Melodramatic gangster action characterizes this tough and freely fictionalized biography of notorious, murderous Chicago mobster Roger Touhy. Set during Prohibition, it centers on Touhy's rise from small time thug to the city's most powerful bootlegger whose empire is rivaled only by that of Al Capone (who is referred to, but never named in the story). It is his rival who frames Touhy for kidnapping and arranges for him to serve a life-long term in Stateville prison. Determined to be free again, the desperate Touhy and his cellmate Basil "the Owl" Banghart, begin plotting a violent break out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Victor McLaglen, (more)
- 1944
A bizarre love affair forms the basis of this drama. It all begins with a few love letters between a Marine sergeant stationed overseas and a young woman back in the States. As soon as his tour is finished, the sergeant begins looking for the woman back home. He finds the girl's mother and she informs him that her daughter has gone away. The man is heartbroken until a friend of the mother tells him that the mother never had a daughter; the whole affair was manufactured by the lonely woman. When the mother learns of her friend's betrayal, she kills her. She then tries to kill the Marine, but during the scuffle, a gigantic painting of her "daughter" slips off the wall and crushes her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The Devil Checks Up is the 1944 reissue title for the 1942 Hal Roach "screamliner" The Devil With Hitler. Alan Mobray plays The Devil Himself, who is in danger of losing his position because all the business in Hell has "Gone to Earth". Adolf Hitler (played as a pop-eyed buffoon by frequent Fuhrer impersonator Bobby Watson) is responsible for this--and now, he's in line for the Devil's job. To forestall this, the Devil heads to Berlin to force Hitler to perform one good deed, thereby disqualifying him from assuming the title of His Satanic Majesty. Joe Devlin co-stars as Mussolini, while George E. Stone plays a Japanese emissary named Suki Yaki. The film's humor is in atrocious taste (especially in the light of what we now know about Nazi atrocities), but director Gordon Douglas keeps the film's 44 minutes moving at a fast clip, valiantly rushing in where other directors might fear to tread. The Devil with Hitler was later released to television as The Furious Phony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
A priest relates the tale of his friend, a WWI veteran, to the Post-War Planning Committee. Unable to get a job upon his return from the war, he puts off his marriage and works for a bootlegger. He is forced to take a rap for his boss, goes to prison, and forms a gang. After his release, a gang war breaks out, resulting in his death. He leaves a note to his friend the priest asking that his story be told as a warning. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Ruth Terry, (more)
- 1943
This lively entry in the "Boston Blackie" series finds Blackie (Chester Morris) acting as spiritual leader of a group of ex-convicts. The plan is for the former inmates to redeem themselves by working in a defense plant. Only problem: some of the cons (Douglas Fowley, Arthur Hunnicutt et. al.) have no intention of going straight and are planning a major robbery. Predictably, suspicion falls upon the only honest one (Erik Rolf) in the bunch -- and upon Blackie, who is himself a previous "guest of the state." Chance of a Lifetime represents the first directorial effort of William Castle, who later claimed that, saddled with a hopeless project, he made the film "work" by re-arranging the reels in the editing room (it sure doesn't look like it was put together that way!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Erik Rolf, (more)
- 1943
In this entry in the "Boston Blackie" series, the reformed crook meets his former lover who tells him that her father has just been freed from prison and that he is heading out to a safe deposit box where he hid a sack of diamonds. The good daughter wants her father to return the rocks and reform and wants Blackie to help him. Unfortunately, the father is murded en route to the bank and the hapless detective is arrested for the crime. Following his escape, Blackie learns that the girl has been kidnapped by gangsters who want her to reveal the location of the valuable box. There is a major showdown in a local nightclub when Blackie bursts in on the mob. In the end, he stops the gang, saves the girl, and overcomes temptation and returns the jewels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Richard Lane, (more)
- 1942
20th Century-Fox hoped to make a film star out of Texas A&M football hero John Kimbrough, and to that end placed the gridiron hero in a brace of compact westerns. The first of these was Zane Grey's The Lone Star Ranger, previously filmed by Fox in 1931 with George O'Brien in the lead. Kimbrough plays Texas Ranger Buck Dunne, assigned to round up a gang of bank robbers. The leader of the gang turns out to be the "respectable" Judge Longstreth (Jonathan Hale), making life difficult for Dunne inasmuch as he's in love with Longstreth's niece Barbara (Sheila Ryan). Despite the herculean efforts of director John Tinling, John Kimbrough was consititutionally incapable of delivering a convincing performance in either Lone Star Ranger or its immediate followup Sundown Jim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Kimbrough, Sheila Ryan, (more)
