Ferris Taylor Movies

It's nearly the End of the Road for condemned prisoner Chris Martin (John Abbott), slated to be executed for a murder he says he didn't commit. Martin manages to convince crime novelist Robert Kirby (Edward Norris) of his innocence, but Kirby can't get the cops to go along. Thus, the novelist turns sleuth, reassessing the clues and seeking out the real murderer. Only when heroine Kitty McDougal (June Storey) is herself nearly bumped off by the villain does Kirby solve the case. Without tipping off the identity of the killer, it can be noted that the supporting cast includes such murder-mystery stalwarts as Jonathan Hale, Kenne Duncan, Pierre Watkin and Edward Van Sloan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

An Iowa drugstore owner (Don Ameche) becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence. The grieving father is shown the error of his assumption by the ghost of his grandfather (Harry Carey), who through flashbacks details the good things about the son's short term on Earth, and the wonderful life that the druggist himself has enjoyed. Frances Dee plays Don Ameche's wife, while Ann Rutherford portrays his son's girl (who in turn is played in a flashback sequence by former Little Rascal Darla Hood). Happy Land was suitable wartime propaganda, though it doesn't play quite as movingly today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry's friends think he's a coward because he refuses to fight a local bully, but his reason for refusing had more to do with wanting to impress Elise, the daughter of the chemistry teacher. While in her father's lab, Elise tells Henry he misunderstood her, and points out how brave her own father is: he uses himself as a guinea pig in experiments. As Henry is holding a test tube containing his latest experimental formula, a flash of lightning scares him and he reflexively swallows the formula. Henry starts for home, but the drug starts taking affect and he wanders into Kenniston manor, a supposedly haunted house, before going home and passing out. When he awakens the next day, he has an expensive ring in his hand. He soon learns that Mr. Quid, a teacher, and Mr. Bradley, the school principal, had been in the manor at the same time he was. He also learns that Bradley has disappeared, as has the famous Kenniston ring, and that Quid has been charged in connection with these events. Afraid that, under the influence of the drug, he is responsible for Bradley's disappearance, Henry and his friends set out to discover what really happened in the haunted house. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Nurse Chapman begins to fall in love with a gangster and ends up entertaining miners until she manages to pull herself out of this bad situation. ~ All Movie Guide

Tom Brown, an actor who "borrowed" his professional name from 1932's Tom Brown of Culver, finds himself back in the collegiate pool in 1942's Hello Annapolis. Brown and up-and-coming Larry Parks sign up at the titular Naval academy, battling both in and out of uniform over the affections of Jean Parker. This pre-Pearl Harbor comedy has plenty of energy and little in the way of truth, but who wanted 62 minutes' worth of truth on the bottom half of a double bill? Silent movie buffs might want to keep a lookout for veterans Herbert Rawlinson and Mae Busch in the supporting cast. Hello Annapolis is augmented with background footage lensed at the real-life Annapolis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fresh from his Broadway triumph as "The Stage Manager" in Our Town, veteran actor-playwright Frank Craven heads the cast of Columbia's The Richest Man in Town. Craven is cast as wealthy banker Abb Crothers, who has carried on a lifelong feud with newpaper publisher Pete Martin (Edgar Buchanan). After a particularly vitriolic exchange of words, Martin gets even by publishing Crothers' obituary somewhat ahead of schedule. The repercussions of this capricious act eventually cause the miserly Crothers to reassess his priorities in life. A romantic subplot concerns Martin's daughter Mary (Eileen O'Hearn) and glib touring-show promoter Tom Manning (Roger Pryor). Though Frank Craven is officially the star, Richest Man in Town was intended in part as a showcase for Edgar Buchanan, who'd skyrocketed to prominence on the strength of his villainy in Columbia's Arizona. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Welcome to Midville, an appropriately named small town that has carried moderation to extremes. Run for over a generation by a bluenose civic league, the town doesn't allow driving faster than 12 mph -- and drivers can get a summons for not having a running-board, a part of a car that went out of style after the 1920s; no movies start after dark, and there are no late nights allowed at the soda shop or in the park. It's so bad that the soldiers from the nearby army base shoot right through the town for parts far away when they go on leave, and there hasn't been a wedding in the town in two years, because it's impossible for anyone under the age of 60 to start a romance, much less consummate one. One young couple (Richard Clayton, Elyse Knox) who would like to marry are thinking of leaving town, and that's the last straw from Miss Pandora Polly (ZaSu Pitts), who likes both of them -- she's as prim and proper a small-town spinster as you'll ever see, but that doesn't mean she wants everyone to be that way. And with unintended help from an intoxicating beverage brewed up by her comically inept gardener (Slim Summerville), she loses enough of her inhibitions to finally take a stand. At the next meeting of the civic league, she shows up ready to throw a few stones back at the bluenoses sitting in judgment of the town, and turn over a few rocks littering their pasts. Pitts and Summerville, who'd previously worked together in the Hal Roach-produced comedy Niagara Falls, prove just as effective here as a comedic elderly couple, and Pitts is at her most charming and beguiling in this gentle satire of small-town living, made on the eve of America's entry into World War II and all the more nostalgia-laden because of it. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee). Man Betrayed can be viewed from the vantage point of the 1990s as an attempt by Republic Pictures to broaden the range of its biggest star, John Wayne. That it doesn't quite work is forgotten as the audience luxuriates in the sheer professionalism of the whole endeavor--and besides, the Duke does get to put up his dukes on more than one occasion. Man Betrayed has been released under two alternate titles: Wheel of Fortune for American television, and Citadel of Crime (coincidentally the title of a like-vintage Republic "B" picture) for British audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic Pictures obviously hoped to build vaudevillian Eddie Foy Jr. into a major screen comedian, as witness such efforts as Country Fair. Foy plays Johnny Campbell, glib campaign manager for gubenatorial candidate Stogie McPhee (William Demarest). Having impulsively promised Johnny that she'll marry him if McPhee wins, heroine Pepper Wilson (June Clyde) begins canvassing the voters on behalf of rival candidate Gildersleeve (played by Harold Peary, who'd created "Gildy" on radio's Fibber McGee and Molly). But the race is won by a dark horse, blacksmith Gunther Potts (Guinn Williams), who single-handedly cleans out the corrupt element in the local government. Where this leaves Johnny and Pepper is a problem solved in the final footage. In addition to Harold "Great Gildersleeve" Peary, Country Fair spotlights such radio favorites as Lulubelle and Scotty, the Vass Family and the Simp Phonies. There's also an appearance by someone named Whitey Ford, though chances are it may not be the hall of fame New York Yanee pitcher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Characterized by some critics as a "South African western", Diamond Frontier stars Victor McLaglen as ruthless diamond hunter Regan. The villain's reign of terror as he searches for the precious gems is checked by Charles Clayton (John Loder), freshly escaped from a brutal penal colony. A wild escape through the jungle enables Universal Pictures to exercise its usual prerogative of lifting great chunks of celluloid from its stock-footage library. Anne Nagel is the faithful heroine who anxious awaits the falsely-convicted Clayton's return, while Cecil Kellaway plays the standard comedy-relief mercenary. The primary source for Diamond Frontier is indicated by the title of the story upon which the screenplay was based: A Modern Monte Cristo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Of the many MGM Our Gang comedies focused on whiny child actor Robert Blake, the one-reel All About Hash is often cited as the worst of the bunch. It seems that little Mickey (Blake) is upset over the fact that his parents (Louis Jean Heydt and Peggy Shannon) spend every Monday night arguing. The reason: Mickey's mom invariably serves hash from the Sunday-dinner leftovers, and Mickey's dad hates hash. To teach the two adults a lesson, the Our Gang kids stage a skit on a local radio program, ending with a heartfelt plea by Mickey to stop the quarrelling. All About Hash was originally released on March 30, 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stalwart Warner Bros. contract player George Reeves, better known as TV's Superman, was given an early opportunity to "carry" a picture in the 1940 quickie Always a Bride. Wealthy Rosemary Lane, dissatisfied with her dishwater-dull fiance John Eldredge, throws him over in favor of Reeves. To make certain that her new beau will be acceptable to her parents, Lane contrives to have Reeves enter a mayoral campaign. As election day draws close, criminals complicate matters (one of the "disreputables" is Ben Welden, later a frequent Superman guest star) The 58-minute Always a Bride was pared down from a three-act play by Barry Conners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide