Tom Trout Movies

Behind his respectable veneer as owner of the posh Jockey Club, Dink Conway (David Brian) is actually in charge of all organized crime in St. Louis. Backed up by his top gun Whitey Deering (Leo Gordon), Conway forces all the other hoods in town to play ball with him--and systematically bumps off those with whom he can't see eye-to-eye. When a minor mobster pulls off a mail truck heist without permission, Conway has the man killed, then goes to great lengths to get his own grubby hands on the stolen loot. It is up to Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) to put an end to Conway's operation before every potential witness is rubbed out. This episode marks the last appearance of Jerry Paris as "Untouchable" Martin Flaherty, and the first appearance of Anthony George as new team member Cam Allison--who turns out to have a personal reason for putting Conway behind bars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If ever there was an actor born to play Billy the Kid, it was the combustible Audie Murphy. In Kid from Texas, Murphy is cast as a relatively benign Billy. Hoping to put down his guns and go straight, the Kid takes a job as a ranchhand. When his kindly boss is murdered, however, all bets are off, and Billy goes on a killing spree. By the time he's reached the age of 21, he's killed 21 men -- and that's when sheriff Pat Garrett (Frank Wilcox) enters the scene. There's no romance to speak of, though Billy does develop a fondness for Irene Kain (Gale Storm), the wife of fair-minded attorney (Albert Dekker). While Kid from Texas scores as a character study (albeit none too accurate), it falls surprisingly short in terms of action content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the sixth and final Thin Man whodunit, Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) look into the mysterious killing of bandleader Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed). The police quickly hone in on the owner of a gambling ship, Phil Brant (Bruce Cowling), who was about to lose Drake's band to a competitor. Also among the many and varied suspects are: Phil's new wife, socialite Janet Thayar (Jayne Meadows); the band's voluptuous vocalist, Fran Page (Gloria Grahame); and the troubled clarinetist, Buddy Hollis (Don Taylor). With the assistance of jive-talking "Clinker" Krause (Keenan Wynn) and the clever terrier Asta, Nick and Nora are soon able to gather all the suspects at the reopening of the floating gaming establishment. In between the skullduggery and the usual wisecracks, Gloria Grahame performs a sultry version of Herb Magidson and Ben Oakland's "You're Not So Easy to Forget." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This tender but fluffy romantic comedy centers on the romantic travails of a beautiful European princesss who goes to New York to find the newspaper reporter she fell for when he was visiting her mythical country. She stays at the Big Apple's finest hotel and while there finds herself mistaken for a maid by a sweet-natured bellhop. Charmed by his confusion, she insists that he become her personal escort. She does not realize that the impressionable fellow has fallen in love with her and so misconstrues her every kindness. When not with her, the bellhop is visiting a beautiful invalid, who is secretly in love with him. Meanwhile the princess eventually finds the reporter. She makes him a proposition, but he, believing them to be too different, rejects the offer. Later, she takes the bellhop and goes to the reporter's favorite bar in hopes of seeing him. Unfortunately, the joint gets raided and she ends up in jail until the reporter shows up to bail her out. Soon afterward, she learns that her father has died and that she is now queen. Things get sticky then, as both the bellboy and the new queen find themselves faced with choosing between wealth and power or true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The oft-used movie title Between Two Women was resurrected once more for this entry in MGM's "Dr. Kildare" series. Though Kildare is nowhere to be found, Lionel Barrymore is very much in evidence as Dr. Leonard Gillespie, crusty chief surgeon of Blair General Hospital. Gillespie's assistant is Dr. Red Adams (Van Johnson), who spends the early part of the film fending off the romantic advances of social worker Ruth Edley (Marilyn Maxwell)-a carryover subplot from the previous "Kildare" entry Three Men in White. Adams is also romantically involved with ailing socialite Cynthia Grace (Lucille Bremer), who suffers from a life-threatening blood clot. As the story draws to a close, Adams must choose between a lucrative practice in the Big City, or a lower-paying but more professionally rewarding post in a small town. Here's a hint to the outcome: in the next (and last) "Kildare" film, Dark Delusion, Gillespie's assistant is played by James Craig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide