Blue Washington Movies

Having accidentally caused a merchant ship to blow up, stowaways Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are shipwrecked on the African coast. Commandeering a convenient camel (who takes time to ad-lib a spit in Hope's eye!), Bob and Bing are off on the road to Morocco, an event they celebrate in song. With nary a penny in their pockets, the boys try various methods to scare up a meal. Old reliable Bing shows up with the necessary funds; when Bob asks where the money came from, Bing calmly informs his pal that he's been sold into slavery. Bob is dragged off to parts unknown; later, Bing, his conscience bothering him, scours the town in search of his buddy. He stumbles into a luxurious palace, where Bob is being treated like a rajah. Even more puzzling, Bob is being kissed and cosseted by Moroccan-princess Dorothy Lamour, who announces plans to marry him in a few days! Neither Bing nor Bob can figure this out, but the audience knows that Dorothy has been advised by her astrologers that her first husband will suffer a violent death, and that her second marriage will be long and happy. Since Dorothy is affianced to desert sheik Anthony Quinn, ol' buddy Bob is once more set up as a dead duck. But Dorothy finds herself attracted to Bing, and forgets all about her pre-arranged marriage to Quinn (just as well, since Quinn is the heavy of the piece). On the eve of the wedding, the astrologers find they've made a mistake, and that Dorothy is now free to marry the man of her dreams-who, by this time, is Bing. Bob must console himself with handmaiden Dona Drake, who's some looker herself. As the wedding procession proceeds, Quinn comes riding into town, kidnaps Dorothy, and leaves Bob and Bing trussed up in the desert. Freeing themselves, Bob and Bing make their way through the desert wastes ("This must be where they empty the old hourglasses") in search of Quinn's camp. After an amusing series of mirages, the boys sneak into camp and attempt to rescue Dorothy and Dona. Imprisoned by Quinn, the boys muff an opportunity to use a magic ring, but still manage to escape. Using exploding cigars and hotfoots, our heroes sabotage a peace conference between Quinn and rival sheik George Givot, prompting a talking camel to remark "This is the screwiest picture I've ever been in." Bob, Bing and the girls escape to New York, but not before Crosby spoils Hope's chances at getting an Academy Award by interrupting Bob's "mad scene." Generally regarded as the best of the "Road" pictures, Road to Morocco is as fresh and funny today as it was back in 1942; even in repeated viewings, the rapid-fire one liners and comic setpieces result in boffo bellylaughs. An Oscar was bestowed upon Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen's ballad "Moonlight Becomes You". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Ford welded four of Eugene O'Neill's one-act plays about the sea, Bound East for Cardiff, The Long Voyage Home, The Zone, and Moon of the Caribees, into this melancholy film about wayfaring seamen, changing the setting from the turn of the century to WWII. This was O'Neill's favorite of the films based on his work, and he watched it often enough to eventually wear out his print. After a night of revelry in the West Indies, the crew of the SS Glencairn return to the tramp steamer and set sail for Baltimore. They're a varied lot, from middle-aged Irishman Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell), to the young Swedish ex-farmer Ole Olsen (John Wayne), to the brooding Lord Jim-like Englishman Smitty (Ian Hunter). After the ship picks up a load of dynamite in Baltimore, the rough seas they encounter become especially nerve-racking to the crew, who are also concerned that Smitty might be a German spy. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

To say that Smoking Guns is one of Ken Maynard's strangest Westerns is understating the case. The film wastes no time getting started, with Ken Masters (Maynard) in mid-sentence accusing the villain (Harold Goodwin) of murdering Masters' father. Framed for murder himself, our hero is forced to escape to the swamplands of Louisiana, where he is pursued by lawman Dick (Walter Miller). Rescuing Dick from a pack of hungry alligators, Masters is forced to perform an emergency leg amputation, which, combined with a bad case of jungle fever, unfortunately results in the lawman's death. Astonished at the close resemblance between himself and Dick (the two men are actually about as similar as Abbott and Costello!), Masters decides to assume Dick's identity and return to the dead man's hometown. He manages to pull off his masquerade with everyone, even Dick's fiancee Alice (Gloria Shea), thereby giving himself free reign to finally trap the bad guys in a spooky old mansion. Decked out with a serpentine plotline that would do Erich Von Stroheim proud, Smoking Guns doesn't make much sense, but that's part of the fun -- as is the astonishing final shot, wherein the heroine's low-cut blouse threatens to slip from her shoulders as she and the hero ride off together. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of The Duke's earlier efforts, this John Wayne vehicle sees our hero using his wits against not only gold hunters, but also the evil specters that haunt the land's treasures. A labyrinth of underground paths provides the backdrop for many of the action scenes. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Western hero Ken Maynard lifted his voice in a campfire song, making the near tone-deaf actor the first "singing cowboy." Other than Ken's warbling and sound in general, Mountain Justice told the rather timeworn Western story of a young man searching for his father's killer. Jud McTavish (Otis Harlan) is ambushed and shot on his Oklahoma ranch. The only clue to the killer's identity is a letter of warning and the old man's dying words: "Kettle Creek -- Kentucky!" Young Ken McTavish travels to Kettle Creek posing as deaf in the hope that handwriting will disclose the author of the mysterious letter. It does -- in time -- but an old feud between the McTavishes and the Harlands complicates matters. As it turns out, the letter was written by lovely Coral Harland (Kathryn Crawford, who sings several songs in the film) and the two youngsters fall in love. Universal, who resumed production of series Westerns after acquiring the services of Maynard, gave the star more or less free reign on this film, which was released as a "Ken Maynard Production." Thus, Maynard was responsible for the appearance in this film of black comedian Blue Washington, whose stereotyped mugging remains awfully hard to accept for modern audiences. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this silent police drama, a New York cop struggles to clear his name after he is convicted of tippling on the job. After the judgement, the poor fellow is demoted and humiliated in front of his peers. He feels so badly that he refuses to attend his daughter's wedding. She is marrying another officer and he doesn't want to embarrass them with his disgrace. Fortunately, before that happens, he is able to prove his innocence, bring the real culprits to justice, get promoted and give his daughter away at the ceremony. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Passion Song was directed by Harry Hoyt, a talented hack best known today for his work on the landmark sci-fi/fantasy endeavor The Lost World. Set in South Africa, the film stars Gertrude Olmstead as Elaine Van Rynn, the wife of Dutch military officer John Van Rynn (Noah Beery). When Elaine falls in love with Van Rynn's best friend, British-born Keith Brooke (Gordon Elliot), the latter loyally resists her attractions. Even so, Van Rynn orders that Brooke be tortured to death by a local native tribe. All that saves the hero from this horrible fate is Van Rynn's murder at the hands of vengeful Chief Ulamba (Blue Washington). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

That indefatigable old trouper Hobart Bosworth topped the cast of the Columbia "B"-plus feature The Blood Ship. The villain of the piece is Captain Swope (Walter James), a "Wolf Larsen" type who shanghais his crewmen, beats them into submission, then allows them to jump ship so he won't have to pay their wages. Swope meets his match when old sea dog Newman (Hobart Bosworth) signs on board. Having searched lo these many years for the man who double-crossed him, broke up his happy home, and framed him on a murder charge, Newman finally catches up with the no-good rat -- who, of course, is none other than our old friend Swope. After rescuing the hero (Richard Arlen) and heroine (Jacqueline Logan) from Swope's clutches, Newman metes out a horrible retribution. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi