Wade Boteler Movies

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello invade the wild west in Ride 'Em Cowboy. The boys play Duke and Willoughby, a couple of rodeo peanut vendors who get mixed up in the travails of western novelist Bob Mitchell (Dick Foran). Ostensibly a true Son of the Frontier, Bob has actually never been west of Brooklyn in his life. To prove that he's got the "right stuff," Bob heads to a dude ranch, where he tries to curry favor with pretty ranchowner's daughter Anne Shaw (Anne Gwynne). Meanwhile, tenderfeet Duke and Willoughby run afoul of a local Indian tribe, whose chief Jake Rainwater (Douglass Dumbrille) demands that Willoughby marry Jake's porcine daughter (Babe London). The obligatory climactic slapstick chase finds Foran teaming up with authentic westerner Alabam (Johnny Mack Brown) to foil a gang of modern-day crooks, while Duke and Willoughby do their best to elude Jake and his war-whooping braves. Not quite as consistently funny as previous Abbot & Costello efforts, Ride 'Em Cowboy suffers from a bit too much directorial interference-especially during the classic "Crazy House" routine, which is weakened by director Arthur Lubin's attempts to make it more "cinematic." Even so, the film is an enjoyable melange of comedy and music, the latter commodity provided by Dick Foran, the Merry Macs, the Hi-Hatters, the Jivin' Jacks and Jills, and even Ella Fitzgerald! Best musical number: "I'll Remember April", brilliantly sung by Foran and gorgeously photographed by John W. Boyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Well-known New York sports promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) is the prime suspect in the murder of Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), a successful model and would-be actress. Questioned relentlessly by the police, and particularly by hulking detective squad commander Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), he maintains his innocence. Meanwhile, Vicky's sister Jill (Betty Grable) is also being questioned. Their answers, given in adjoining interrogation rooms, become the basis for brief, neatly constructed interlocking flashbacks at the opening of the movie that explain a ton of plot in very little time. Both are released after admitting nothing, and the police begin working on other suspects, including journalist Larry Evans (Allyn Joslyn), aging actor Robin Ray (Alan Mowbray), and hotel clerk William Harrison (Elisha Cook Jr.) Jill had little use for Frankie, the man who had been promoting her sister's career, but the two are drawn together in the course of trying to sort out their lives and the murder of her sister, and her realization that Frankie is capable of truly loving a woman, and not just exploiting her. Meanwhile, Cornell makes it his business to pressure and torment Frankie, illegally entering his apartment and promising him an arrest and a death sentence. Eventually, the noose seems to tighten around Frankie as the circumstantial evidence piles up, until Frankie, trying to clear himself, uncovers a clue leading back to the real killer -- who was known to Cornell all along. Confronting the detective in his apartment, Frankie discovers a veritable shrine to Vicky -- copies of her magazine covers and photos filling the walls of his apartment -- and learns that the man had his own dark reasons for wanting to kill him. His psychosis finally catching up with him, his career and reputation in ruins, Cornell reveals the truth to Frankie as he proceeds to take his own life. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Strawberry Blonde is the second, and by far the most well-regarded, of the three film versions of James Hogan's play One Sunday Afternoon. James Cagney stars as Biff Grimes, a turn-of-the-century dentist married to onetime suffragette Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). A former convict, Biff has great difficulty keeping his temper--and when alderman Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), the man responsible for Cagney's unjust prison term, shows up one Sunday afternoon to have a tooth pulled, the pugnacious dentist begins developing homicidal urges. In a lengthy flashback, we learn that Biff and Hugo, once the best of friends, were business partners in a construction firm. When one of their buildings collapsed due to shoddy materials, Biff was sent to jail for five years, while Hugo escaped scot-free. Even worse, Hugo stole Biff's girlfriend Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth), the "strawberry blonde" of the title. The flashback over, Biff sharkishly welcomes Hugo into his office, fully intending to bump off his old enemy. But during a reunion with his "dream girl" Virginia, Biff realizes for the first time that Amy was the right girl for him all along, and that Hugo did him a favor by taking the strident, shrewish Virginia off his hands. Letting Hugo off with little more than a sore jaw, Biff takes Amy in his arms--but not before settling a few old accounts with his fists, just for old time's sake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a manner of speaking, Humphrey Bogart had George Raft to thank for his ascendancy to stardom: after all, if Raft hadn't turned down both High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, Bogart might have continued playing second-billed gangsters to the end of his days. Adapted from W. R. Burnett's novel by Burnett and John Huston, High Sierra opens with gangster Roy Earle (Bogart) being paroled after a lengthy prison term. Though he enjoys the fresh air and sunshine of the outside world, Earle has no intention of giving up his criminal ways. In fact, his parole has been arranged by Big Mac (Donald MacBride), so that Earle can mastermind a big-time heist at a fancy California resort hotel. After a few unkind words with a crooked cop, Kranmer (Barton MacLane), in Big Mac's employ, Earle heads toward a fishing resort, where he is to commiserate with his inexperienced, hot-headed cohorts Babe (Alan Curtis) and Red (Arthur Kennedy). En route, he befriends a farm family, heading to LA in search of work. He falls in love with the family's club-footed daughter Velma (Joan Leslie)--though she never really gives him any encouragement--and makes a silent promise to finance an operation on her foot once he's gotten his share of the loot. At the mountain cabin rendezvous, Earle meets Marie (Ida Lupino), Babe's tough-but-vulnerable girlfriend. He angrily orders her to scram, but she stubbornly remains. Earle also finds himself the owner of a "jinxed" dog, whose previous masters have all met with early demises (a none-too-subtle foretaste of things to come). Marie is strongly attracted to Earle, but he refuses to have anything to do with her, reserving his affections for Velma. He arranges an operation for the girl with mob doctor Banton (Henry Hull), never suspecting that the self-serving Velma is planning all along to marry someone else. The robbery goes off without a hitch, save for the fact that "inside man" Mendoza (Cornel Wilde) panics and nearly gives the game away. While escaping, Babe and Red are killed in a car accident, but Earle and Marie escape. Having been disillusioned by Velma's indifference and by the fact that the untrustworthy Kranmer has taken over the late Big Mac's operation, Earle at last realizes that the only person he can truly depend upon is the faithful Marie. With the police hot on his trail, Earle tells Marie to look after herself, then heads alone into the High Sierras--where, in Greek Tragedy fashion, he "busts out" of life. As in Petrified Forest, Humphrey Bogart plays a burnt-out anachronism from an earlier era in crime in High Sierra; in the latter film, however, Bogart has an innate nobility that allows the audience to empathize with him throughout. It is nothing short of amazing that, despite his superb performance in this 1940 film, he still had to wait until The Maltese Falcon for top billing in an "A picture." High Sierra was remade in 1949 as Colorado Territory and in 1955 as I Died a Thousand Times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A sequel to The Green Hornet, The Green Hornet Strikes Again is a 15-chapter serial that was based upon characters from the popular radio and pulp series. The Green Hornet (Warren Hull) is actually Britt Reid, fearless newspaper publisher, who dons the Hornet's guise to battle criminals that have managed to escape the long arm of the law -- aided, of course, by his invaluable sidekick, Kato (Keye Luke). As Strikes Again opens, Reid and Kato are enjoying a well-earned vacation in Hawaii. Their respite is short-lived, however, as they discover that master criminal Crogan (Pierre Watkin) has ratcheted up his operations and is starting a whole new series of rackets that require the Hornet's attention. After a rough crossing, they begin closing down Crogan's rackets -- including selling bombs to foreign agents -- one by one. Along the way, the duo encounter a number of close calls involving a plane crash, an explosion in a laboratory, a roof cave-in, electrocution, and driving a car into a warehouse loaded with explosives. In the end, of course, the Hornet brings down Crogan and all is once again well. For Strikes Again, Warren Hull, who had already played super-heroes The Spider and Mandrake the Magician, replaced Gordon Jones, the Hornet from the original serial. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

William Powell and Myrna Loy re-team for this (literally) crazy screwball comedy about a happily married couple who, thanks to a visit from mother, find their marriage on the rocks and the husband committed to a mental institution. Poised to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary, Steven (William Powell) and Susan Ireland (Myrna Loy) find their domestic bliss shattered by a visit from Susan's mother (Florence Bates). Susan's mother sprains her ankle and extends her visit, just in time to draw the wrong conclusions when her son-in-law pays a friendly visit to his old girlfriend Isobel (Gail Patrick). Susan's mother eavesdrops and reports it all to Susan, who in a jealous rage tries to make Steven jealous. But she winds up being chased through the hallway of her apartment building by half-naked archery enthusiast Ward Willoughby (Jack Carson). The couple agree on a divorce, but Steven then has second thoughts. On the advice of his lawyer, George Renny (Sidney Blackmer), Steven pretends he is insane, since the law prohibits Susan from divorcing him if Steven is mentally ill. Unfortunately, Susan is wise to his charade and has him committed to an asylum. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Strange Alibi offered young Warner Bros. contractee Arthur Kennedy to carry a picture all by himself. The star is cast as detective Joe Geary, who is suddenly and unexpectedly fired from the police force. Appararently embittered, Geary joins a criminal gang. Actually, it's all part of a scheme cooked up between Geary and police chief Sprague (Jonathan Hale) to infiltrate the mob. But the crooks get wise, bump off Sprague, and frame Geary for murder. It takes a jail break and a wild chase before Geary is able to clear himself. Critics in 1941 noted that a Warner Bros. B picture would have seemed incomplete without at least one prison scene. And isn't that a young Jackie Gleason as one of the bad guys? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Possibly inspired by Universal's The Invisible Woman, Warner Bros.' The Body Disappears is an agreeably daffy comedy with science-fiction undertones. Passing out from overindulgence during his engagement party, young millionaire Peter De Haven is placed on a slab in a college dissecting room by his prankish friends. Before Peter can awaken, he is inadvertently kidnapped by eccentric Professor Shotsbury (Edward Everett Horton), who needs a "dead body" upon which to test his new life-restoring serum. Shotsbury's miracle drug succeeds only in making Peter invisible, leading to all manner of looney complications. Before the film's 72 minutes are over, Peter has discovered that his "loving" fiancee Christine Lunceford (Margerite Chapman) is merely a gold-digger, Prof. Shotsbury has been locked up in the nuthouse, and Shotsbury's perky daughter Joan (Jane Wyman) has become invisible himself, implictly cavorting about naked with no one any the wiser. Still fresh and funny after nearly six decades, The Body Disappears is sometimes shown on TV minus the "scared-rabbit" comedy routines of black actor Willie Best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man trying to make his dying father happy makes his love life very complicated indeed in this musical comedy starring Deanna Durbin. Jonathan Reynolds Jr. (Robert Cummings) is the playboy son of multi-millionaire business magnate Jonathan Reynolds, Sr. (Charles Laughton). Junior has told his father that he's finally met the woman he's going to marry while on a recent trip to Mexico, and Father, who has been given a very short time to live by his doctors, wants to meet her right away. However, the woman in question is not available, so Junior persuades Anne Terry (Durbin), a hat-check girl and aspiring singer, to pose as his fiancée for the sake of his father's peace of mind. Father takes quite a liking to Anne, which is fine and good until he defies all the expectations of his doctors and makes a complete recovery. Now Father is spending a great deal of time with the woman he thinks is going to be his future daughter-in-law, and Junior isn't sure how to tell him that Anne isn't really the woman he wants to marry. As usual, Durbin sings several songs, including "Clavelitos" by Valverde and "Going Home," adapted from Symphony for the New World by Dvorak. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a South American planter and his neighbors find themselves plagued by vandals who have been destroying their equipment thereby forcing them to sell their fruit at below cost. Meanwhile, the orchardist's foreman hires a vagabond, an escaped convict framed for murder. It is he who reveals that the vandals are a wicked trio of attempting to steal the planter's land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The 13-episode Universal serial The Green Hornet is based on the radio series of the same name. Gordon Jones stars as Britt Reid, crusading young publisher of the Daily Sentinel, who matches wits with the underworld by disguising himself as the Green Hornet. So far as police are concerned, the Hornet is himself a criminal; this misunderstanding enables Reid to operate "outside the law" to battle criminals and racketeers. In the course of the serial, Reid and his faithful valet Kato (Keye Luke), the only living person who knows the true identity of the Hornet, take on a crooked insurance racket, an auto-theft ring and a dishonest flying school. Others in the cast include Anne Nagel as Reid's secretary Lenore "Casey" Case, and Wade Boteler as thick-headed detective Michael Axford. A TV version of The Green Hornet appeared in 1966, with Van Williams as Reid and no less than Bruce Lee as Kato. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman (Deanna Durbin) attends a fair in Austria and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she will meet someone important and is destined for a happy marriage. Afterward she gets a job as a baker's assistant. She then meets a handsome army drummer (Bob Cummings) who secretly dreams of becoming a famous composer and conductor. Unfortunately the military forbids the young corporal to create his own music. But then Ilonka (Durbin) secretly sends one of the drummer's waltzes to the Austrian Emperor with his weekly order of pastries. Her act paves the way toward the tuneful and joyous fulfillment of the gypsy's prediction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Reporter Albertson works to solve a murder case in order to clear his name and get a great story for his paper. ~ All Movie Guide