Lucio Villegas Movies

Even star Joan Bennett and director Fritz Lang regarded The Secret Beyond the Door as the weakest of their collaborative efforts. Bennett plays spoiled socialite Celia, who falls recklessly in love with the handsome but emotionally complex Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave, in his first American film). After their wedding, Celia becomes uncomfortably aware that Mark's mild distrust of women is actually a deep-set, and potentially dangerous, hatred. Even when facing the possibility that she'll be murdered in her sleep, Celia remains loyal to her unbalanced husband. The slowly mounting tension is enhanced by the mood-drenched cinematography of Stanley Cortez and the feverish musical score by Miklos Rozsa. But when it's all over, The Secret Beyond the Door fails to linger in the memory in the manner of such earlier Lang-Bennett efforts as The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pirates of Monterey is set during the early 19th century, at a time when California was asserting its independence from Mexico. Rod Cameron plays Phillip Kent, a devil-may-care mercenary hired to transport a shipment of rifles to the American army detachment at Monterey. Along the way, he is forced to do battle with Mexicans, Indians and various and assorted thieves. Somehow, he finds time to pitch woo with the tempestuous Marguerita (Maria Montez), whose fiery Mexican dance routines are something to behold. Less exciting to watch than it is to read about, Pirates of Monterey at least has the advantage of Technicolor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The three men of the title in this superior B-Western are Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden), and, making his series debut, grizzled old California Carlson (Andy Clyde). Carlson is the braggart cook of the Gardner outfit, a gang preying on defenseless ranchers, but when apprehended by Texas Ranger Hoppy, the old fool admits to having overstated his famous exploits. The bemused Hoppy takes California along to his namesake state, where Lucky is having a tough time bringing law and order to Santa Carmen, a community terrorized by greedy saloon proprietor Bruce Morgan (Morris Ankrum). Always the hothead, Lucky is determined to show Hoppy that he can handle things himself without any help. A bullet in the shoulder settles the matter once and for all, however, and the three work together to capture Morgan and his gang of cutthroats. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Set during the turn-of-the-century Moro uprising in the Philippines, The Real Glory stars Gary Cooper as an American Marine doctor and David Niven and Broderick Crawford as a pair of rowdy mercenaries. While staving off the insurgent Moros, Cooper must also combat a cholera outbreak. Once this matter is disposed of, Cooper joins Niven and Crawford in attempting to blow up a dam built by the Moros to cut off the American fort's water supply. After all this activity, it's small wonder that Cooper elects to return to private practice in the States with his new bride Andrea Leeds. While The Real Glory never skimps in the action department, the film is somewhat lacking in historical accuracy: the Moros were hardly the bloodthirsty savages depicted herein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Virtually a textbook example of Howard Hawks' "macho" mode, Only Angels Have Wings takes place high in the Peruvian Andes. Cary Grant heads a ramshackle airmail and freight service, forced to fly in the most perilous of weather conditions to the most treacherous of destinations. Facing death on a near-hourly basis, Grant and his flyers have adopted a casual, all-in-day's-work attitude towards mortality. If a pilot cracks up and dies, it's simply because he didn't have what it took, and that's that. Stranded showgirl Jean Arthur can't stand this cavalier attitude at first, but before long she becomes, in true Hawksian fashion, "one of the guys". Complicating the story is the presence of Richard Barthelmess, who has been persona non grata with the other pilots ever since his carelessness cost the life of one of their number. In addition to a surfeit of guilt, Barthelmess is saddled with a faithless wife, played by Rita Hayworth in her first important A-picture role. Hayworth makes a play for Grant, but he spurns her, finally realizing that, in spite of himself, he's in love with Arthur. Grant himself is riddled with guilt when near-blind pilot Thomas Mitchell insists upon taking on one final flight. Having lost his best friend, Grant drops his hard-bitten shell, and for the first time opens himself up emotionally to Arthur-which of course leads to a nail-biting climax wherein Arthur suffers mightily as Grant faces certain death. Scripted by Jules Furthman from a story by Hawks, Only Angels Have Wings is a treasure trove of terse, pithy dialogue: our favorite scene occurs when, upon discovering that he's about to die, Thomas Mitchell says he's often wondered how he'd react to imminent death-and, now that death is but a few moments away, he'd rather that no one else be around to witness his reaction. Though sometimes laid low by obvious miniatures, the aerial scenes in Only Angels Have Wings are by and large first-rate, earning a first-ever "best special effects" Oscar nomination for Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The old west collides with the new in this fine remake of RKO's 1932 Come On, Danger!. Or, rather, veteran RKO star George O'Brien is at odds with his eventual successor at the studio, Tim Holt -- at least part of the way. They play Texas Rangers assigned to bring in suspected murderess Judith Alvarez (Rita Hayworth). But young Holt, who gets himself fired for an altercation in the local cantina, defies his older colleague and instead joins Judith's band of renegades. O'Brien is sympathetic to Judith's claim that local political boss Ben Sanderson (William Royle) is usurping the local ranches by means of phony taxes, but maintains that the girl must make her argument in court. In the end, the greedy Sanderson shows his true face and Judith and her vigilantes are found innocent of all charges. In between the action -- which is fast and plentiful -- resident RKO balladeer Ray Whitley yodels "Move Slow, Little Doggie" by Willia Phelps, and Cecilia Callejo, as Holt's love interest, performs a Mexican dance. Borrowed from Columbia Pictures, a ravishing Rita Hayworth is not the usual placid prairie flower but takes an active part in all the ridin' and shootin'. After all, as her character explains, "I wouldn't have my men do anything I wouldn't do." Renegade Ranger was filmed a third time by RKO in 1943, under its original title, Come On, Danger!, and starring Tim Holt, now a full-fledged B-Western star. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The last of Fox Studios' Hollywood-made Spanish-language films, Rose de Francia (Rose of France) stars Rosita Diaz as the title character. Diaz plays Luisa Isabel de Orleans, the French-born wife of Spain's Prince of Asturias. Because of their distrust of France, the Prince's parents refuse to allow him to consummate the marriage. Unaware of the reasons behind her husband's abstinence, Luisa Isabel tries to rouse the Prince by making him jealous. The plan works, the parents are foiled, and the film fades out discreetly as the royal couple scamper into their boudoir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Spanish-language version of Reliable Pictures' Midnight Phantom, this whodunit features Jose Luis Tortosa as an unbending police chief murdered with a poisoned dart. Suspicion centers on Police Lieutenant Alberto Burke (Juan Toreno), the boyfriend of the murdered man's daughter (Adriana Lamar), but as criminologist Professor Graham (Ramon Pereda) proves, the real culprit is someone entirely different and unsuspected. Filmed simultaneously with Midnight Phantom, El Crimen de Media Noche premiered in New York City February 1, 1936 under the title El Fantasma de Media Noche. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This low-budget precursor to Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings stars Jack Holt as Bob Kent, the head of a charter-airplane service in South America. When not risking his life flying mail and supplies through the treacherous Andes, Kent must contend with the earthbound hostilities between his Bolivian and Paraguayan employees. He also gets into hot water by attempting to romance Theresa (Mona Barrie), never suspecting that she's the wife of Bolivian major Tovar (Antonio Moreno). The conclusion finds Kent taking to the air in mortal combat against a renegade pilot. For a man who was reportedly deathly afraid of flying, Jack Holt certainly made more than his share of aviation pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mae West is Goin' to Town in this elegant post-Production Code vehicle. West plays Cleo Borden, a nouveau riche cattle rancher who hopes to crash into high society. Though she is willing to subject herself to "refinement" lessons, she still has a high old time puncturing the pretensions of those around her: when aristocratic Ivan Valadov (Ivan Lebedeff) haughtily announces that he is the backbone of his family, West gives him the once-over and replies "Then your family'd better see a chiropractor." Through the connections of her husband-by-convenience Fletcher Colton (Monroe Owsley), Cleo is able to move freely among the glitterati of Southhampton but is forced to rely on her tried-and-true "street smarts" when she crosses swords with haughty villainess Grace Brittony (Marjorie Gateson) at a Buenos Aires race track. Through it all, aristocratic British engineer Edward Carrington (Paul Cavanaugh) awaits the opportunity to claim Cleo for his own -- as if anyone could ever "own" our fiercely self-reliant heroine. The film's highlight is a society operatic gala, in which Mae West delivers a serious (and most effective) rendition of "My Heart at Thy Still Voice" from Samson and Delilah. In a more characteristic vein, the star gets down and dirty (well, at least semi-dirty) with "He's a Bad Bad Man, But He's Good Enough for Me." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Glamorous American jewel-thief Sophie Lang (Gertrude Michael) not only regularly outwits Scotland Yard, but has great fun doing it. Returning to the U.S., Sophie comes under the scrutiny of New York detective Inspector Parr (Arthur Byron), who surprisingly doesn't try to make an arrest. That's because Parr is hoping that European jewel-thief Max Bernard (Paul Cavanaugh) will lead him to Sophie, who will then theoretically lead Parr to a gang of more dangerous criminals. Max and Sophie spend the rest of the picture chasing each other around, ultimately falling in love and promising that they'll reform. This bit of folderol was popular enough to yield a brace of sequels, The Return of Sophie Lang and Sophie Lang Goes West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide