Richard Tucker Movies
Prosperous-looking American actor Richard Tucker went from the stage to the Edison Company in 1913, where he played romantic leads before the cameras. Even in his youth, the tall, regal Tucker exuded the air of corporate success, and was best suited to roles as bankers and stockbrokers. After World War I service, Tucker resumed his film career as a character man. In talkies, the newly mustachioed, grey-haired Tucker was seen in innumerable small authoritative roles. His two best-known assignments from this period were in the 1936 serial Flash Gordon, in which he played Flash's scientist father; and in the 1932 Laurel and Hardy feature Pack Up Your Troubles, wherein Tucker was the bank president who turned out to be Mr. Smith, the grandfather of the orphan girl Stan and Ollie were protecting. Actor Richard Tucker's hundreds of film credits are often erronously attributed to latter-day Metropolitan Opera star Richard Tucker, who was born several years after the earlier Tucker had already established himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1940
Directed in 1940 by S. Sylva Simon, Sporting Blood stars Robert Young as racing stable owner Myles Vanders. Shortly after traveling back to his ramshackle family estate in Virginia, he stirs up a long-term family rivalry with Davis Lockwood (Lewis Stone), who runs a neighboring stable. Vanders (Young), in order to get under Lockwood's (Stone) skin, initiates a romance with Lockwood's daughter Linda (Maureen O'Sullivan. As the big race approaches, however, Vanders slowly realizes he truly loves Linda. Though a stable fire harms his best racing prospect, Vanders' cockiness has waned significantly, and he enters Linda's best nag in the race against her father's stable. Following the competition, Vanders attempts to mend fences between himself and Lockwood. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
The story goes that such stars as Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie and Burns & Allen had turned down The Road to Singapore before the leading roles went to Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. More conventionally structured than future "Road" efforts, the film casts Crosby as Josh Mallon, the irresponsible son of shipping magnate Joshua Mallon IV (Charles Coburn). Though the elder Mallon wants his son to enter the family business and marry longtime fiancee Gloria Wycott (Judith Barrett), Josh would rather pal around with his carefree sailor buddy Ace Lannigan (Bob Hope). On the eve of his wedding, Josh escapes with Ace to Singapore, where the two of them cook up a get-rich-quick scheme involving a highly unreliable spot remover. The boys' friendship is strained when they both fall in love with cabaret dancer Mima (Dorothy Lamour), who is on the lam from her jealous partner Caesar (Anthony Quinn). Hiding out from the authorities, the three protagonists wind up in the midst of a native ceremony, where Ace and Mima rescue Josh from a hasty marriage to a local temptress. When Gloria shows up to drag Josh back to the altar, Mima nobly gives him up, pretending to be in love with Ace. Eventually, however, big-hearted Ace realizes that Mima belongs with Josh, and thus concocts another scheme to lure his pal back to the Far East. Though many of the earmarks of the "Road" series are evident in Road to Singapore (the "patty-cake" bit, the presence of such guest stars as Hope's radio stooge Jerry Colonna, etc.), the film lacks the spontaneous quality of the later Hope-Crosby-Lamour starrers. Even so, it's an awful lot of fun, especially when Bob and Bing team up on the novelty number "Captain Custard" and Dorothy croons her requisite "moon and stars" romantic ballads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, (more)
- 1939
This remake of 1932's Okay America is in many ways superior to the original. George Murphy scores in a rare unsympathetic role as Winchellesque radio columnist Dan Clifford, who doesn't care how many lives he has to destroy in pursuit of a good story. When a young debutante is kidnapped by gangsters, Clifford decides to act as the go-between between the criminals and the victim's parents himself. At first he cares only about outscooping the competition, but the deeper he becomes involved in the case, the more his essential decency seeps through. Still, he must pay for all his past sins, and pay he does in a spectacularly tragic but quite dramatically logical denoument. The stellar supporting cast includes Eduardo Cianelli as a snarling gangster, Dorothea Kent as Clifford's dumb-like-a-fox assistant, and El Brendel as a comedy-relief janitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Dorothea Kent, (more)
- 1939
In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta, which takes place in New Orleans, performed before a wintry Alpine backdrop! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Jones, Mary Martin, (more)
- 1939
Paramount's Sudden Money has all the earmarks of a Charlie Ruggles-Mary Boland vehicle, except that this time Ruggles is teamed with Marjorie Rambeau. It all begins when Sweeney Patterson (Ruggles) and his brother-in-law Doc Finney (Broderick Crawford) win $150,000 in the Irish sweepstakes. All of a sudden, Sweeney and his wife Elsie (Marjorie Rambeau) are besieged by relatives and "friends" whom they've never seen before, all of whom want a piece of the action. After a series of not-so-merry misadventures, the Pattersons decide that they were better off when they were poor. Not bad for such a familiar plotline, Sudden Money benefits from the byplay between Ruggles and Rambeau, who play together as if they'd been a team for years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjorie Rambeau, Charles Grapewin, (more)
- 1939
A talented South American singer heads for New York to keep her innocent brother from being convicted of arson in this tuneful mystery. She convinces her boyfriend, a news reporter to help her investigate and bring the real culprit to justice. They figure out that the real suspect is a shady club owner, who may have torched some of his other establishments. To find out for sure, the singer gets a job in his newest club and soon finds herself in serious danger. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Hull, Alan Baldwin, (more)
- 1939
In this entry in the comedy series the "Higgins Family," the group must cancel a cruise to South America after the check they needed does not arrive. To save face before their neighbors, the family embarks upon a wilderness fishing trip. The family made a wise decision to forego the cruise as the boat sinks and everyone is lost. This creates havoc for the Higgins family neighbors who believe they went down with the ship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Lucille Gleason, (more)
- 1938
On the Great White Trail was the second B-picture inspired by Laurie York Erskine's "Renfrew of the Royal Mounted" books. James Newill is back as Renfrew, who on this occasion tries to solve a robbery and murder. The villains are a gang of fur thieves who've been targeting the trading posts owned by Andrew Larkin (Robert Fraser). Renfrew's mission is compromised somewhat by the presence of Larkin's headstrong daughter Kay (Terry Walker), who insists upon participating in the manhunt. Originally produced by Criterion Pictures, On the Great White Trail was distributed by Grand National. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Newill, Terry Walker, (more)
- 1938
With The Higgins Family, Republic Pictures launched its own economical variation on MGM's popular "Andy Hardy" series. The gimmick here was that three of the members of the Higgins clan-dad Joe, mom Lillian, grown son Sidney-were played by real-life husband and wife James and Lucile Gleason and their son Russell (daughter Marian was portrayed by Lynne Roberts, while crusty old Grandpop was essayed by Harry Davenport). In this initial entry, Joe Higgins' future at the advertising agency where he works is jeopardized by the radio popularity of wife Lillian. Pretty soon the Higgins kids are taking to the airwaves, leading inexorably to a serious conflict of interests and a divorce-court showdown. In the course of the hearing, Joe and Lillian tearfully admit that they're still in love with one another, and everybody lives happily ever after-until the next "Higgins Family" entry, that is. The film was produced by Sol C. Siegel, who went on to such loftier projects as The African Queen and Lawrence of Arabia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Lucille Gleason, (more)
- 1938
More burdened with leaden production numbers than plot, Rosalie took Sigmund Romberg and George Gershwin's 1928 Broadway hit, threw out most of the songs, including "How Long Has This Been Going On?," but retained the spindly story of the incognito Princess Rosalie of Romanza (Eleanor Powell), who falls head-over-heels in love with All-American Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy), although she finds him conceited at first. But Dick gallantly flies to Romanza where the crooning Charles Lindbergh lands in the middle of yet another comic opera revolution. Rosalie, of course, is engaged to someone else, but after a series of misadventures and a colossal closing number, the star-crossed lovers decide to settle down together in democratic America. Cole Porter was hired to write a new score and Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy, and newcomer Ilona Massey perform "I've Got a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart," "Why Should I Care?," "Spring Love is in the Air," "It's all Over but the Shouting," "Who Knows?," "To Love and Not to Love," and, most memorably, "In the Still of the Night." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, (more)
- 1938
In the rough-and-tumble world of post-Civil War Texas, ex-Confederate soldier Kirk Jordan (Randolph Scott) crosses paths with ranch owner Ivy Preston (Joan Bennett). Although a loyal Southerner, Jordan can't get past the waste and tragedy of the four years that have just ended, but Ivy is eager to help keep the war for the Confederacy alive, running guns to her would-be lover, unrepentant ex-Confederate captain Alan Sanford (Robert Cummings), who is prepared to ally himself with the Mexican emperor Maximilian as a means of starting a new war against the "Yankee" government. Ivy is attracted to Jordan after he boldly helps her evade an army checkpoint, until she finds out how relatively peaceable he is. Jordan and his sidekick, Cal Tuttle (Raymond Hatton), are prepared to make a cattle drive to the new railhead at Abilene and sell at a handsome profit, but Ivy wants nothing to do with the United States or Yankee money, even as her more practically minded grandmother (May Robson) and her foreman, Chuckawalla (Walter Brennan), try to convince her otherwise. Only when Isaiah Middlebrack (Robert H. Barrat), the corrupt local administrator for the occupying Northern government, arrives announcing a head-tax on cattle does she change her mind and begin to see some worth in Jordan's ambition and boldness. Two deaths, of Middlebrack and a much-loved ranch hand, allow the ranchers and the occupying soldiers to reconcile and make the drive together to the border. Jordan and his outfit find a stricken, desperate Abilene, bereft of anything to be shipped on the new rail line. Jordan's arrival accomplishes everything he hopes for and more, and in the end Ivy sees and also glories in his vision, of a United States reunited and restored, growing and thriving as never before. But Jordan can't abide her continued affection for Alan, whose continued obsession with restoring the Confederacy is wearing on him and almost everyone else by now, and he plans on leaving. Ivy doesn't want to see that happen, but is torn over her lingering affection for Alan. But then she learns that he is planning to join a new organization, the Ku Klux Klan, intended to drive the Yankees out of the South, and she suddenly has to choose with which of these men her future lies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Randolph Scott, (more)
A master blend of high comedy and tense emotional drama, A Letter of Introduction reteams Adolphe Menjou, Andrea Leeds, and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, who'd previously costarred in the negligible Goldwyn Follies. Menjou plays John Mannering, a Barrymoresque actor who years earlier had divorced his wife and severed his relationship with his daughter Kay (Andrea Leeds). Now a grown woman, Kay aspires to an acting career, fully determined to make it on her own without her father's help. She goes so far as to change her last name to Martin, and to keep her actual relationship to Mannering a secret from the public. This set-up leads to a dizzying series of complications, including the breakup of Mannering's romance with a tootsie named Lydia Hoyt (Anne Sheridan), who falsely assumes that Kay is Mannering's mistress, and Kay's own romantic travails with vaudeville hoofer Barry Paige (George Murphy). Meanwhile, Kay's ventriloquist friend Bergen and his dummy McCarthy rise to superstardom on radio. It is, in fact, Bergen and Charlie who are instrumental in reuniting the estranged Mannering and Kay, paving the way for the film's tear-stained conclusion. Unavailable for many years, A Letter of Introduction re-emerged on the Public Domain circuit in 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Andrea Leeds, (more)
Drawing heavily on both Madame X and Stella Dallas, this cheap exploitation-melodrama was produced by the ill-named Progressive Pictures at the newly formed Grand National studios. The parents of the title are Edythe Ellis (Marjorie Reynolds) and Charles Wharton (Carlyle Moore Jr.), who are forced to marry in secrecy because of his socially prominent family. A child, Carol, is born, but Charles is forbidden to see Edythe and the little girl is adopted by the kindly Cardwells (Walter Young and Sybil Harris). Years later, Carol (Doris Weston), now a pretty teenager, falls in love with handsome Bruce (Maurice Murphy), much to the chagrin of her adopted cousin, Betty (Terry Walker), Bruce's former girlfriend. In spite, Betty reveals that Carol is adopted and the distraught girl leaves home to take a job as an entertainer in the Cuddle Club, a notorious establishment secretly owned by Charles Wharton (now Morgan Wallace). When Carol refuses to change her mind, Bruce solicits the aid of Edythe (now Helen MacKellar), who has become a famous judge. Keeping her identity a secret, Edythe warns Carol about an upcoming police raid and is eventually able to have Charles arrested. Tearfully but still incognito, Edythe then gives her blessing for Carol and Bruce to be married. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Weston, Maurice Murphy, (more)
- 1938
MGM's leading musical team of the 30's, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are paired once again in this fourth film version of David Belasco's creaky melodrama, featuring music by Sigmund Romberg and Gus Kahn. Jeanette MacDonald is Mary Robbins, the owner of a bawdy, rough-house saloon in a western mining town, who falls in love with the Mexican bandit Ramerez (Nelson Eddy), who has disguised himself as a cavalry officer. But when local sheriff Jack Rance (Walter Pidgeon) tracks down Ramerez and wounds him, Mary discovers Ramerez's ruse and begs Rance for the outlaw's freedom. The only problem is that Nance is also in love with Mary. Girl of the Golden West was originally tinted in a sepia-tone to create a look as burnished as the MGM production design. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, (more)
- 1938
Sons of the Legion is a showcase for Paramount's juvenile-talent pool-specifically, Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee and Billy Cook. The plotline is motivated by the formation of a Boy Scout-like organization, formed by members of the American Legion. Billy (Lee) and Davy (Cook) would like to join the group, but their father Charles (Lynne Overman) won't let them. It turns out that Charles was dishonorably discharged from the army, and hopes to keep this information a secret. Redeeming himself by capturing a dangerous criminal, Charles finally permits his boys to join the Sons of the Legion, secure in the knowledge that his past sins have been forgiven. Top-billed Donald O'Connor does a neat Mickey Rooney turn as soft-hearted tough kid Butch Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Billy Lee, (more)
- 1938
Joan Bennett plays a young woman who believes she's killed bigtime crook Sidney Blackmer. She changes her hair color from blonde to brunette and escapes from San Francisco to parts unknown. Police detective Fredric March is hired to track down Bennett, which he does in the company of two assistants, wisecracking Ann Sothern and dimwitted Ralph Bellamy. March's chase takes him all over the world (courtesy of back-projected shots of Tay Garnett's recent worldwide vacation); when he catches up with Bennett, he falls in love with her. Still, when they reach Frisco again, March turns Bennett in to the authorities, convincing Bellamy and Sothern that their boss is a no-good rat. But it's actually a clever ploy by March to bring the real murderer out in the open. Trade Winds was produced by Joan Bennett's future husband Walter Wanger, who noted the popularity of Bennett's new brunette status and advised her to stay that way...which she did. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1938
In this comedy, a woman is left destitute after her father dies. To make ends meet, she begins working as a secretary to a wealthy fellow. Soon the two fall in love and begin planning their wedding, much to the delight of the woman's creditors. When her fiancé learns that she is deeply in debt, he begins questioning her true motives for marrying him. He ends up putting off the union. The plucky lass then becomes determined to prove that she does indeed love him for himself. Mayhem ensues, but romance prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, (more)
- 1937
Two Minutes to Play is a cheap but energetic Sam Katzman-produced vehicle for Olympic champion Herman Brix. The star plays Martin Granville, an over-aged but undeniably muscular college football hero. Martin finds himself in competition with Jack Gaines (Eddie Nugent) for the affections of cute coed Pat Meredith (Jeanne Martel). In this way, Martin and Jack are emulating their respective fathers, who'd been bitter rivals ever since their own college days. As expected, the story, and its attendant conflicts, are resolved in the climactic Big Game. Herman Brix did rather better for himself when he moved to Columbia and changed his screen name to Bruce Bennett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Nugent, Jeanne Martel, (more)
- 1937
Seasoned newsreel cameraman Bob Adams (John Wayne) is assigned to cover the rebellion in the fictional Arab country of Samarai. Samari is chock full of tribal unrest, and in order for Adams (Wayne) to get footage of rebel leader El Kadar (Charles Brokaw), he must fight his way through a neverending stream of arms smugglers, agents, throat-cutting tribesmen, and a love affair with Pamela (Gwen Gaze), the beautiful daughter of a Colonel. Eventually, Adams gets his pictures, but not before he manages to save his brother Don (James Bush) and all of the British troops stationed in Samari. I Cover the War was directed by Trem Carr and also features actors Don Barclay, Pat Somerset, and Sam Harris. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Gwen Gaze, (more)
The seventh of RKO's Fred Astaire--Ginger Rogers musicals, Shall We Dance casts Astaire as a world-renowned ballet dancer and Rogers as a musical comedy headliner. Rogers' manager Jerome Cowan concocts a phony romance between his client and Astaire in order to garner publicity for them both. Eventually, of course, the twosome falls in love for real, but not before a cornucopia of confusion, complications and misunderstandings. Highlights include a number performed on roller skates and Astaire's dance solo in the art-deco boiler room of an ocean liner. The George and Ira Gershwin score (their last for Astaire and Rogers) includes "Slap That Bass," "Beginner's Luck," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "They All Laughed," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and the title number. Shall We Dance was slated as the last of the Fred-and-Ginger romps, but within a year they were together again in Carefree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1937
The poverty-row origins of Special Agent K-7 are made doubly obvious by its all-bit-player cast. Walter McGrail essays perhaps the largest role in his talkie career as police detective Lanny, who resents the ongoing interference of the local FBI branch. Hoping to show up the feds, Lanny tackles a baffling espionage case all by his lonesome. Things heat up when his gal-reporter sweetheart Ollie (Queenie Smith) is framed for murder by the villains. The actual killer is so obvious to the audience that one contemporary suggested that he shone like a beacon on the screen. Leading lady Queenie Smith, best known for her performance of the soubrette Elly in Show Boat (1936), went on to a long career in character roles, and for a while played the landlady in the "Bowery Boys" series of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter McGrail, Queenie Smith, (more)
- 1937
Carefully measuring the success of Republic's Clyde Beatty serial Darkest Africa, Columbia top-billed wild animal hunter Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive" Buck in the 15-chapter Jungle Menace. The story takes place in the mythical Asian province of Seemang, where rubber planter Edward Elliot (John St. Polis) owns a huge and profitable plantation. When one of Elliot's shipments is hijacked by river pirates, his daughter Dorothy (Charlotte Henry) and her planter friend Tom Banning (William Bakewell) narrowly escape with their lives. Things get worse when Elliot himself is shot by an unknown assailant, at which point soldier-of-fortune Frank Hardy (Buck) takes a hand in matters. For the rest of the serial, Hardy tries to ascertain the identity of the mysterious villain who wishes to drive Elliot off his property, while poor Dorothy is subjected to one jungle peril after another. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Buck, Reginald Denny, (more)
- 1937
Less than a week after the press preview of his second starring feature Man in Blue, Robert Wilcox was seen on-screen in his first starrer, Armored Car. Wilcox plays detective Larry Willis, who goes undercover as an armored-car guard. Larry deliberate messes up his job so that he'll be fired, thereby convincing a gang of hijackers that he's desperate enough to join them. Our hero works his way into the confidence of "intellectual" head crook Walinsky (Irving Pichel), much to the displeasure of the boss' distrustful henchman Petack (Cesar Romero). Things get hairy when the hoods threaten the life of heroine Ella (Judith Barrett), forcing Larry to blow his cover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wilcox, Judith Barrett, (more)
- 1937
The popular B-flick team of Frankie Darro and Kane Richmond star in the slick quickie Headline Crasher. Little Frankie and Big Kane play a pair of roving journalists who investigate a politician (Richard Tucker) up for re-election. When it seems as though the politico is being set up for a fall by yellow journalists, Darro and Richmond try to get to the truth of the matter. The original story for Headline Crasher is credited to Peter B. Kyne, creator of the "Broncho Billy" western stories. The film has all the pace of a cowboy opus, which is helpful in patching up the plot holes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, (more)
