Ray Walker Movies
Lightweight American leading man Ray Walker moved from stage work to films in 1933. While he would occasionally earn a lead in a big-studio film -- he was Alice Faye's vis-à-vis in Music Is Magic (1935) -- Walker could usually be found heading the cast of programmers filmed at Hollywood's B-picture outfits. One of Walker's best screen roles was in Monogram's The Mouthpiece (1935), in which he was ideally cast as a swell-headed radio personality, brought down to earth by the loss of both his sponsor and his girlfriend (Jacqueline Wells). By the early '40s, Walker had eased into minor and supporting roles, even accepting the occasional short subject (he shows up as Vera Vague's ex-husband in the 1946 two-reeler Reno-Vated). Still, Ray Walker's previous reputation assured him a comfortable living; for his single scene as luggage shop proprietor Joe in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, Walker received his standard asking price of 1,000 dollars per day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1935
Ann Sothern and Jack Haley star in this inconsequential little musical. Haley is a struggling playwright of minimal talent, whose latest play is miraculously selected for a Broadway berth by producer Roger Pryor. The problem: Pryor isn't a producer at all, but an out-of-work actor anxious to get into anyone's play, even Haley's. After several ups and downs, the play actually makes it to Broadway, where it is regarded as the ultimate in ridiculous comedy and becomes a success! It would be stretching things to suggest that this was the inspiration for Mel Brooks' similarly plotted The Producers, since the backstage legend of a flop play becoming an accidental hit is as old as the Theatre itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sothern, Jack Haley, (more)
- 1935
In this children's movie, a married vaudevillian team learns that talent scouts are looking for the new Shirley Temple. Unfortunately, they have an adorable little boy. This does not prevent them from dressing up like Temple and entering him in a contest, which he, unfortunately for him, wins. He then finds himself bewigged and train-bound for Hollywood. The hapless lad, would rather die than face life as a little girl, and so leaps from the speeding train. He soon encounters a friendly vagabond and a gang of fugitive bank robbers who think the lad may be able to help them with their nefarious schemes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arline Judge, Ray Walker, (more)
- 1934
Ray Walker plays Jimmy Case, a combustible young man who loses one job after another because he can't keep his fists to himself. On the verge of losing his girl friend Grace (Dorothy Granger), Walker agrees to hold his temper and try once more. He lands a job as a process server, only to find out that his first assignment is to serve a summons to equally temperamental nightclub singer Eleanor Rogers (Virginia Cherrill, best remembered as the blind flower girl in Chaplin's City Lights). For an early Monogram film, this one is surprisingly high-budgeted, with a particularly impressive cabaret set. Scripted by a very young Dore Schary, He Couldn't Take It was remade three times, most famously as the 1946 "Bowery Boys" series entry Live Wires. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Walker, Virginia Cherrill, (more)
- 1934
Perhaps the best of Monogram's breezy Ray Walker vehicles, The Loudspeaker casts Walker as Joe Miller, a cocky would-be radio star. Armed with a minimum of talent and a maximum of chutzpah, our hero lands a job as emcee of a network radio program sponsored by "pancake king" Burroughs (Spencer Charters). Success rapidly goes to Miller's head, whereupon he loses the affections of his automat-employee sweetheart Janet Melrose (Jacqueline Wells). Forced to eat several heaping helpings of humble pie, Miller finally shows he's a swell guy underneath. Radio fans will enjoy the brief spoofs of Ed Wynn and The Boswell Sisters, while film buffs will have fun spotting such familiar faces as Mary Gordon and Rychard Cramer among the bit players. Worth the admission price in itself is the bizarre radio-studio set, dominated by a huge caricature of an Aunt Jemima-style "mammy," complete with moveable eyes! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Walker, Jacqueline Wells, (more)
- 1934
Based on a story by Zona Gale, When Strangers Meet concentrates on a small, interrelated community separated down the middle by a narrow path. The bungalow-dwelling residents on one side of the path consider their neighbors to be "beneath" them, and vice versa. Tensions come to a boil when a double murder is committed, with accusations flying back and forth. The solution to the crime comes about when a much-abused housewife (Sarah Padden) finally rebels against her tyrannical husband (played by the ever-hissable Charles Middleton). A good cast, headed by Richard Cromwell and Arline Judge, helps lift this independently-produced drama well above the "B"-picture norm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Cromwell, Arline Judge, (more)
- 1934
A European princess heads for New York in order to see if the U. S. will back her country's bond issue. Unfortunately, she is afflicted with the mumps and ordered to bed. This is an ill turn for the banker planning to issue the bonds for if the princess reneges upon her public engagements, the deal could fall through and he will lose a huge commission. Thinking quickly, he starts looking for a look-alike. He soon discovers an impoverished actress who fits the bill. Trouble brews when a prominent and somewhat xenophobic newspaper publisher gets wind of the entire scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1934
Unrelated to the same-named 1939 Sonja Henie vehicle, the 1934 Monogram release Happy Landing is an airborne cops-and-robbers affair. Ray Walker stars as brash U.S. border patrolman Nick Terris, on the trail of a gang of international crooks. Anticipating such later films as Assault on a Queen, the villains intend to rob an ocean liner. To keep the authorities at bay, the thieves threaten to drop a bomb on the ship from a stolen seaplane. Hero Terris is thus required to take to the air himself to foil the bad guys. Some nice aerial photography (credited to Archie J. Stout) is the principal redeeming factor of this standard effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Walker, William Farnum, (more)
Goodbye Love is a lampoon of what was once designated the "alimony racket." Refusing to meet his wife's exorbitant alimony demands, Sidney Blackmer volunteers to go to jail, where he finds that his cellmate is his own valet (Charlie Ruggles), incarcerated because he can't make his alimony payments. Finally able to raise enough money to secure his freedom, Ruggles heads to Atlantic City, where he makes the acquaintance of a gold-digger Veree Teasdale. Eventually Teasdale marries Blackmer for the express purpose of later divorcing him and claiming his bank account. When Blackmer learns the truth, he enlists the aid of Ruggles and newspaperman Ray Walker to get even with both his past and present wife. The frivolous storyline requires Charlie Ruggles to pose as a British nobleman and a big-game hunter, which he does with his usual comic aplomb. The final production of Jefferson Pictures Corporation, Goodbye Love was released by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Veree Teasdale, Mayo Methot, (more)
- 1934
This comedy tracks the relationship between an ailing railroad president and the dogged reporter who tries to infiltrate his inner council by impersonating a doctor's assistant. The president desperately needs a respite from all the pressures of his illness and his failing company, and so takes off on his private train. During his journey, he encounters two tramps. Meanwhile the reporter finds the president's lovely daughter. Upon his return, the old railroad man is much refreshed and gives the reporter his story. He then saves the company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Craven, Sally Blane, (more)
Shirley Temple's first starring vehicle casts her as the button-cute daughter of ex-convict Eddie Ellison (James Dunn) and his wife Kay (Claire Trevor). Ellison and his old cellmate Larry Scott (Ray Walker) manage to land jobs as chauffeurs for a wealthy family. When a valuable string of pearls disappears, both men are fired and Eddie is accused of the crime. Incredibly, it is little Temple who manages to locate the pearls and clear her father's name. Rather slow going for the most part, Baby Take a Bow comes to life in the final reel, as genuine thief Trigger Stone (Ralf Harolde) grabs Temple and uses her as a human shield during his desperate rooftop escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, James Dunn, (more)
- 1933
This Monogram melodrama gets off to a quick start as a young man is shot to death -- while he's being led to the electric chair! The condemned man was planning to make a startling last-minute revelation which would have put a noose around the neck of his murderer. Several other people shared the dead man's secret, and the murderer isn't averse to bumping them off as well. Assistant DA Preston S. Foster and intrepid newspaperwoman Peggy Shannon try to solve the mystery and trap the unknown assassin A good cast of "B"-picture regulars includes Bryant Washburn, George Hayes (still not "Gabby"), Jason Robards Sr., and, as the unfortunate hot-seat candidate, future John Ford regular Paul Fix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Shannon, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1933
Monogram's Skyway stars Ray Walker in his usual role as a brash troublemaker who can't hold down a job. This time he's a hot-shot aviator who loses a bank-clerk job, much to the chagrin of his sweetheart Kathryn Crawford, the bank-president's daughter. Making matters worse, Walker is being held responsible for thousands of dollars in missing funds. Climbing into his trusty plane, our hero chases down the actual miscreant, an embezzling vice president, simultaneously saving his reputation and his romance in the process. The film moves quickly enough for audiences to happily ignore the many plot holes. Elements of both Skyway and the like-vintage Ray Walker vehicle He Couldn't Take It were later reworked into the inaugural Bowery Boys entry Live Wires (1946). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Vinton, Jed Prouty, (more)
