Jack Wagner Movies

Gabriel Figueroa's evocative photography makes the Mexican-American co-production The Pearl seem a more significant piece of filmmaking than it really is. Based on John Steinbeck's short novel, The Pearl is the tragic fable of a simple Mexican fisherman (Pedro Armendariz) who finds a valuable pearl and begins fantasizing about untold wealth and luxury for himself and family. His more sensible wife (Maria Elena Marques) is uncertain as to whether the pearl is an omen of good luck, but soon she, too, falls under its spell. The couple's naivete leads to their being exploited and brutalized by sharpsters and thieves. Before the fisherman angrily hurls the pearl back into the sea, the gem brings about nothing but death and despair. Co-scripted by Steinbeck, director Emil Fernandez, and Jack Wagner, The Pearl was filmed on location in Mexico, using the facilities of the RKO-owned Churubusco Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a title like Jive Junction, this just has to be a wartime musical. In one of his few top-billed roles, teenaged actor Dickie Moore plays Peter, a student in a hidebound music conservatory. Rebelling against his old-fogey teachers, Peter organizes an all-girl swing band. When his father dies in the war, Peter overcomes his grief in true Mickey Rooney fashion, converting an old barn into "Jive Junction," a convivial gathering place for lonely servicemen. Much of the footage in Jive Junction is given over to newcomer Gerra Young, a pleasant and attractive singer who unfortunately never clicked in films. This standard B musical was directed by-of all people-cult favorite Edgar G. Ulmer! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second entry in Warner Bros.' popular detective series, Nancy Drew, Reporter presented young sleuth Bonita Granville at her busybody best. This time, the irrepressible Miss Drew has entered a junior newspaper-reporter contest and, determined to win, insinuates herself into the ongoing investigation of the Lambert murder. Despite overwhelming evidence, Nancy refuses to believe that the murder victim's young ward (Betty Amann) is the culprit and instead shadows a mysterious man (Jack Perry) sporting a cauliflower ear. The brutish stranger and his floozy of a girlfriend (Sheila Bromley) lead Nancy and her faithful sidekick, Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas Jr.), on a merry chase that, naturally, ends with the apprehension of the real murderer. Trapped in the Bledenburg Hotel along the way, Nancy and Ted ingeniously call attention to their plight by changing the hostelry's neon sign to "Bedbug Hotel." Juvenile stars Granville and Thomas are this time aided by teenage singer Mary Lee, of Gene Autry Western fame, and child actor Dickie Jones, the latter insisting on imitating Donald Duck. A highlight of the film has the four youngsters performing swing versions of nursery rhymes in order to pay for their Chinese dinner. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel and play by James M. Barrie, The Little Minister turned out to be Katharine Hepburn's best vehicle since Little Women. John Beal plays the Reverend Gavin, the sobersided new cleric of a tiny Scottish village. Almost against his better judgment, Beal falls in love with Babbie (Hepburn), a feisty gypsy girl whom the villagers regard as a pariah. Thanks to this "unholy" alliance, the little minister is nearly run out of town, but when he is accidentally stabbed in a fracas, the townsfolk come to their senses. Previously filmed in 1921, The Little Minister was afforded sumptuous production values by RKO Radio (its elaborate Scottish-village set would later pop up in innumerable films, notably Laurel & Hardy's Bonnie Scotland), and benefits immeasurably from the spirited performances of all concerned. Alas, the film was too expensive to post a profit, and despite respectable business it ended up $9000 in the red. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to utilize the original George Gershwin score, this silent version of the Broadway musical Lady Be Good concentrates on the "book" by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson, which in itself was pretty good. Vaudeville magicians Jack (Jack Mulhall) and Mary (Dorothy Mackaill) split up, whereupon Mary teams with dancer Murray (John Miljan). But when Murray tries to put the make on our heroine, she walks out on him, only to find herself stranded in a one-horse town. As luck would have it, Jack is doing his magic act at the local opry house, bombing disastrously before a spectacularly unenthusiastic audience. Mary secretly arranges to take the place of Jack's current partner. The act is a hit once more, prompting Jack to ask Mary to be his teammate again -- both onstage and off. Pickle-nosed James Finlayson of Laurel and Hardy fame has a funny part as an inveterate "radio bug." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stalwart movie hero Kenneth Harlan has the situation well in hand during most of The Fighting Edge. Disguised as half-breed, government agent Juan de Dios O'Rourke, Harlan sneaks across the Mexican border to rescue fellow agent Joyce (W.A. Carroll), who's in the clutches of smugglers. Together with Joyce's daughter Phoebe (Patsy Ruth Miller), O'Rourke hatches a foolproof escape plan. Things get dicey when O'Rourke and Phoebe must figure out a way to escape the smugglers themselves. Directing Fighting Edge was Henry "Pathe" Lehrmann, a veteran of the Keystone comedy mills. The film was based on a novel by William MacLeod Raine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide