Stanley Blystone Movies

This episodic satire of the Machine Age is considered Charles Chaplin's last "silent" film, although Chaplin uses sound, vocal, and musical effects throughout. Chaplin stars as an assembly-line worker driven insane by the monotony of his job. After a long spell in an asylum, he searches for work, only to be mistakenly arrested as a Red agitator. Released after foiling a prison break, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of orphaned gamine (Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. He takes on several new jobs for her benefit, but every job ends with a quick dismissal and yet another jail term. During one of his incarcerations, she is hired to dance at a nightclub and arranges for him to be hired there as a singing waiter. He proves an enormous success, but they are both forced to flee their jobs when the orphanage officials show up to claim the girl. Dispirited, she moans, "What's the use of trying?" But the ever-resourceful Chaplin tells her to never say die, and our last image is of Chaplin and The Gamine strolling down a California highway towards new adventures. The plotline of Modern Times is as loosely constructed as any of Chaplin's pre-1915 short subjects, permitting ample space for several of the comedian's most memorable routines: the "automated feeding machine," a nocturnal roller-skating episode, and Chaplin's double-talk song rendition in the nightclub sequence. In addition to producing, directing, writing, and starring in Modern Times, Chaplin also composed its theme song, Smile, which would later be adopted as Jerry Lewis' signature tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Three Stooges play firemen in this comic short. While the other firemen are off fighting a fire, the Stooges are still in the shower. As a result, the Captain wants to fire them, but they beg for another chance. He gives in, but orders them to clean the hoses. Curly rolls them out onto the street, where they are sliced into little pieces by a couple of passing trolley cars. Then, one evening, while the boys are supposed to be on duty, Curly sneaks out to spend time with his girl, who has invited two of her friends to come along. The hefty friend is especially boy-crazy and very disappointed that the other Stooges couldn't make it. Curly gets the bright idea of making a false alarm to get the boys over. Not surprisingly, all the firemen head off to the call, but Moe and Larry get left behind and lock themselves in a room. After breaking down the door and finding the others gone, they decide to borrow the Captain's shiny new car and race down there. They beat their fellow firemen to discover that it was just Curly wanting them to come party. The girls and the Stooges pile into the Captain's car and after a number of hair-raising misses, the inevitable happens -- the car is wrecked. There's an interesting variation on the traditional Stooge eye poke in this comedy -- Moe gives it to Curly over the phone. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Even a run-of-the-mill Three Stooges short had its moments, as this one proves. It begins in November, 1918, and Larry, Moe and Curly are sleeping through the end of World War I. The sergeant (Stanley Blystone) wakes them up to tell them the war is over -- and to abuse them, blacking Curly and Larry's eyes and mercilessly twisting Moe's arm. But the Stooges release their pent-up anger at the sarge once they have their discharge papers, and he winds up much the worse for wear. Seventeen years later, it's the depths of the depression and the Stooges are broke and hungry. When they see a diner sitting in front of a sumptuous feast, they get a stray dog to run in and grab the roast chicken. The dog, of course, won't give it up, and the diner is ready to throttle them. Instead, he tricks them into re-enlisting in the Army. The worst part about being back in uniform is that once again they're stuck with the same nasty sergeant. During one drill with a cannon, they are sent out to get the shells and gun powder. When they return they don't realize that target practice has been canceled and proceed to shoot everything in sight, including the admiral's flagship (at this point it's pretty obvious that Columbia thanked its lucky stars for stock footage!). The boys are proud of their work, and the sergeant cheerfully lines them up. But instead of the reward they're expecting, he points the cannon at them and fires. All that's left of the Stooges is their smoking boots. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The "ex" of the title is daffy mystery-writer Jean Arthur, former wife of urbane doctor William Powell. When Powell becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, Arthur endeavors to solve the case herself -- and to reclaim her ex-hubby in the process. After a well-directed semiclimax at a race track, the killer is revealed during one of those expository scenes in which all the suspects are gathered together in one room. The murderer attempts to escape, and Powell is knocked cold in the process. When he awakens, he discovers that Arthur has set up some projection equipment, and is running a film of a minister reciting the wedding vows. Curses! Trapped again! Like William Powell's previous RKO effort Star of Midnight, The Ex-Mrs. Bradford was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Powell's Thin Man films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yet another Zorro imitation, this adventure serial starred Robert Livingston as Don Loring, whose father and brother are killed by the evil General Burr (Fred Kohler). Seeking revenge, Loring dons a black cape and mask, calls himself "The Eagle," and goes about bringing Burr and his men to justice. As a daytime cover, the hero assumes the role of a kind, simple-minded church organist, a disguise that manages to fool Burr and his collaborator, the nasty Russian Count Raspinoff (Robert Warwick), for the serial's 12 installments. Guinn "Big Boy" Williams co-starred as Salvation, the leader of a motley gang of outlaws who assist Loring in his quest, while brunette Kay Hughes added much needed feminine touch to the proceedings. Produced for Republic Pictures by genre specialist Nat Levine, the serial was co-directed by former actor Mack V. Wright and Ray Taylor. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, 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

Perhaps the best of Mascot Pictures' feature-film releases, Ladies Crave Excitement is also one of the fastest 69 minutes ever put on film. Norman Foster and Eddie Nugent play Don and Bob, a pair of ace newsreel cameraman for The March of Events, forever keeping one step ahead of their competition. Swept up in the boys' adventures is thrill-seeking heiress Wilma Howell (Evalyn Knapp), who eventually proves to be a valuable member of the team. After a dizzying series of hairbreadth escapes, Don once again scoops his rivals by rounding up a gang of crooks, with the not inconsiderable help of the resourceful Wilma. One interesting aspect of Ladies Crave Excitement is the suggestion that newsreel photographers regularly "stage" events to make things more exciting; in one amusing scene, a storm at sea is re-created on a studio soundstage, as "captain" Christian Rub is doused with bucket after bucket of cold water. Future TV favorites Milburn Stone and Marie Wilson pop up unbilled as a sailor and his date, while perennial Superman villain Herb Vigran appears as a wisecracking photographer. Serving as film editor on Ladies Crave Excitement was director-in-training Joseph H. Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taking refuge from a rainstorm in a deserted farmhouse, young married couple Joe and Loretta Martin (Edward Norris and Rochelle Hudson) soon discover to their horror that the house is being used as a hideout for a gang of kidnappers. Gang leader Tobey (Cesar Romero), a comparatively reasonable sort, elects not to kill the couple because they have an ailing baby with them. But Tobey's psychotic henchman Pitch (Bruce Cabot) is not quite so sentimental, and awaits the opportunity to knock off all three "intruders." When the G-Men, tipped off by the serial numbers on some ransom money, manage to track down the crooks, Tobey is killed, leaving Loretta and her baby at the mercy of Pitch -- at least until she picks up a machine gun and mows him down! As brutal as it was possible to get under the newly strengthened Production Code, Show Them No Mercy (inspired by the real-life Weyerhauser kidnapping case) is an excellent entry in the "FBI cycle" of the mid-1930s. The film was remade in a western setting as Rawhide (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Saved from electrocution by the sudden appearance of a trap door operated by the traitorous Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), Gene Autry overhears the Muranian conspirators plan to destroy the universe by means of several hideous weapons invented by Rab (Warner P. Richmond). After subduing both Rab and Gaspar (Stanley Blystone), Gene is able to contact Frankie (Frankie Darro) at the Radio Ranch. Believing that Gaspar has betrayed her, Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) orders the Junior Riders to be destroyed by a guided radium bomb. Gene bravely fights his way to the surface armament tower and manages to change the bomb's trajectory away from the kids. Unfortunately, the device makes a u-turn instead and explodes the armament tower. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In his first starring role, Gene Autry must perform daily on Radio Ranch or forfeit his contract. Meanwhile, local kids Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy Baxter (Betsy Ross King) establish a group of Junior Thunder Riders to emulate a mysterious band of horsemen that seems to vanish into thin air. In reality, the real Thunder Riders disappear 25,000 ft. below the earth's surface to the "Scientific City of Murania," an underground empire lorded over by Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), a blonde Amazonian who constantly compares her superior society with that of the pitiful world above. But Gene's broadcasts draw too many curious onlookers, among them Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and a group of crooked scientists who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get their hands on Murania's wealth of radium. While Queen Tika is busy preventing an insurrection lead by the evil Lord High Chancellor (Wheeler Oakman), the scientists do their level best to keep Gene from performing his daily broadcast, which includes such favorite Autry tunes as "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" and "I'm Getting a Moon's Eye View of the World". Comic sidekicks Smiley Burnette and William Moore add to the overall fun with their rendition of I'm Oscar, I'm Pete" and other comical selections. The Phantom Empire has been credited with inspiring not only Republic Pictures' similar Undersea Kingdom (1936) but also Universal's superior Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials and was remade as part of the short-lived 1979 television series Cliffhangers. No less than two reedited feature versions of The Phantom Empire were released in 1940, Men With Steel Faces, distributed by Times Pictures, and Radio Ranch, distributed by Nat Levine and carrying the now defunct Mascot label. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although the Thunder Riders sever his rope, Gene Autry manages to grab hold of a tree limb, climb to safety and return to Radio Ranch in time to join Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) for a hearty rendition of Burnette's "I'm Oscar; I'm Pete". The Ranch performers then reenact a stage robbery for the listening audience but nasty Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) has tampered with Gene's rifle and the crooner's partner, Baxter, is killed. Accused by Beetson of murder, Gene manages to escape but is followed from the air by the sheriff. Queen Tika of Murania (Dorothy Christy) watches everything on her surface television and orders the Thunder Riders to capture Autry and shoot down the plane carrying the sheriff and stowaways Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Seconds before his automobile crashes over a cliff, Gene Autry is saved by Frankie (Frankie Darro), Betsy (Betsy Ross King) and the Junior Thunder Riders. Still wanted for the murder of his Radio Ranch partner, Gene is forced to broadcast from Frankie's secret laboratory in the barn. Meanwhile, down below in Murania Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) is troubled by the rebellious Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), who is eager to blow up Radio Ranch once and for all. Finishing his broadcast with a rendition of "Uncle Henry", Gene manages to escape before Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and his men break down the door to the laboratory but spilled gunpowder creates an explosion in the getaway tunnel. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide