Barbara Worth Movies
- 1949
Eight-year-old Beau Bridges essayed his first leading role in Zamba. Bridges plays a young boy who, with his mother (June Vincent), is stranded in the middle of the African jungle. Through circumstances beyond their control, mother and son are separated. She manages to reach civilization and organize a searching party for her son. Meanwhile, the boy is adopted by a friendly gorilla named Zamba (actually veteran stuntman Ray Corrigan in an ape suit). Comedy relief is provided by George O'Hanlon, taking a break from his "Joe McDoakes" short subjects. One wonders if clips from Zamba will resurface when Beau Bridges receives his AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2019. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Vincent, Jane Nigh, (more)
- 1948
With Maurice Conn as producer and Peter Stewart (aka Sam Newfield) as director, one suspects that 20th Century-Fox's The Counterfeiters was actually produced by one of the minor companies like Film Classics or PRC. Scotland Yard investigator Jeff McAllister (John Sutton) teams with the FBI to track down a gang of clever counterfeiters, headed by Philip Drake (Hugh Beaumont). The plot becomes as thick as London pea soup when McAllister falls in love with Drake's daughter Margo (Doris Merrick). After attempting to protect her father from prosecution, Margo realizes that she's on the wrong side and throws in with McAllister. Lon Chaney Jr. does another variation of "Lennie" from Of Mice and Men as Drake's moronic henchman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Sutton, Doris Merrick, (more)
- 1947
In this suspenseful, convoluted low-budget mystery, a Scotland Yard inspector travels to the Big Apple to investigate the activities of international jewel thieves. The investigation begins after the corpse of a diplomatic courier, who has upon him a number of smuggled jewels, is found on the beach. The inspector is assisted by a pretty flight attendant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
In this drama, Dan is a horse trainer whose winning horse is disqualified when it is discovered that the animal has been drugged. The trainer is innocent, but is still suspended for one year. During that time, he investigates the incident, reveals the perpetrator, regains his good name, and winds up winning an even bigger race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Feeling stifled by her wealthy existence, flighty heiress Kay (Joan Crawford) falls in love with poor archaeologist Terry (Brian Aherne). The couple seems happiest when they're yelling at one another, indicating perhaps that screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz was none too fond of either character. Anyway, Terry decides that a marriage to Kay would be a big mistake, so he talks her into jilting him at the altar, thereby making a public declaration that their romance is through. But Kay "double-crosses" Terry by showing up at the wedding anyway, allowing the couple to live scrappily ever after. It's hard to tell if this is supposed to be a rip-off of It Happened One Night, but it sure plays that way in the first few reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, (more)
- 1934
Kermit Maynard, the talented brother of western favorite Ken Maynard, launched his own starring series for Ambassador Films with The Fighting Trooper. Maynard is cast as fledgling Royal Canadian Mountie Burke, who hopes to avenge the murder of his best friend. Disguising himself as a trapper, Burke infiltrates the hideout of the supposed murderer. Upon falling in love with the "killer's" sister (Barbara Worth), our hero endeavors to prove the fugitive's innocence. More carefully produced than most independent westerns, The Fighting Trooper kept Maynard on horseback for the most part, allowing this strapping six-footer to do what he did best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kermit Maynard, Barbara Worth, (more)
- 1931
The first of four ultra cheap Buddy Roosevelt Westerns produced and directed by Jack Irwin, this film was released to an already crowded states rights market by the poverty row company Syndicate Film Exchange. A former silent screen cowboy who had enjoyed some success in independent oaters of the mid 1920s, Roosevelt (real name: Kenneth Sanderson) was still a box-office draw in smaller venues when Irwin signed him in 1931. In Lightnin' Smith's Return, he plays John Smith, a writer of Western fiction without ever having set foot in the West. A reader, Helen Parker (Barbara Worth), invites him to visit her ranch and learn the real way of the West. The girl goes so far as to arrange a fake holdup for his benefit upon arrival. The entire town is in on the joke as Helen, dressed as the notorious masked bandit, Lightnin' Smith, hands over the "stolen" loot to the stunned Smith. The real Lightnin' (Tom London) turns up in the middle of all this, of course, offering Smith the opportunity to prove himself once and for all by saving Helen and her father (Sam Tittley) from the real outlaw. Leading lady Barbara Worth was also known as Hazel Keener. Although not an official remake, the 1934 Tom Tyler Western Mystery Ranch bears a striking resemblance to Lightnin' Smith's Return. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1929
Also-ran silent screen cowboy Jack Perrin starred in this minor western from the Universal assembly line. Perrin is cast as a preacher who saves not only Rex the Wonder Horse from the glue factory but also a pretty saloon-belle (Barbara Worth) from her lecherous employer (David Dunbar). Voted a 1924 Wampas Baby Star by the Hollywood publicists, Worth spent almost her entire career in westerns. She later changed her name to Hazel Keener and appeared thus billed in six westerns opposite Fred Thomson, a major genre star who, coincidentally, was a former preacher in real life. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Perrin, Barbara Worth, (more)
- 1929
Below the Deadline is a late-silent independent production with postdubbed music and sound effects. Young Arthur Rankin is framed on an embezzling charge. On the eve of his incarcertaion, Rankin is inexplicably set free. It's all handiwork of detective Frank Leigh, who believes in the boy. Leigh gives Rankin a set timeframe to prove his innocence. Barbara Worth costars as Rankin's lady love. Below the Deadline is no relation to the later talkie films of same title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1929
Ace acrobat Richard Talmadge heads the cast of the entertaining cheapie Bachelor's Club. Talmadge plays the president of a club wherein the members have disavowed any contact with women. Punishment for infraction of the rules is a severe paddling by the sergeant-at-arms. But when he falls in love with beautiful Barbara Worth, Talmadge insists that the prescribed punishment be meted out to him. After this jocular opening, the film settles down to the sort of traditional action-melodrama fare which Richard Talmadge fans had come to expect -- and indeed, demand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Worth, Edna Murphy, (more)
- 1928
Universal cowboy Fred Humes comes to the rescue of a beleaguered prospector in this average silent Western helmed by house director Edgar Lewis. Someone is trying to steal old Jeff Lane's (Buck Connors) claim to a valuable mine and cowboy Larry Day (Humes), in love with Lane's pretty daughter (Barbara Worth), goes investigating. The culprit, as it turns out, is the town's outwardly meek druggist (William A. Steele), whose name, "Dr. Lucifer Blade," alone ought to have been a dead giveaway of his nefarious intentions. Getting in the way of things were Universal's hayseed comedy team of Ben Corbett and Gilbert "Pee Wee" Holmes, an acquired taste at best. Leading lady Barbara Worth was formerly known as Hazel Keener. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Humes
- 1927
No relation to the later Rodgers-Hart Broadway musical, On Your Toes was a star vehicle for personable Universal Pictures breadwinner Reginald Denny. Harking back to his old "Leather Pushers" two-reelers, Denny plays Kane Halliday, the son of a celebrated prizefighter. Though he wants to follow in his father's footwork, Kane is dissuaded by his pacifistic grandmother (Mary Carr), who insists that the boy pursue a career as a ballet dancer (!) Circumstances force Kane into the boxing ring, but to pacify his grandma he persuades the palookas at his training camp to pose as "aesthetic" dancers. Eventually, of course, the truth is revealed, whereupon granny becomes Kane's biggest fan. One of the film's running gags, wherein Kane's ears begin to wiggle whenever he's riled, was reused by Laurel and Hardy in A Chump at Oxford (1940). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Barbara Worth, (more)
- 1927
This average Universal series western starred Hoot Gibson as Andy Barden, a cowboy who along with two others inherit a gold mine. Of course, one of the new co-owners, Dan Murdock (Albert Prisco), is a crook and Barden is soon up to his neck in trouble. Barbara Worth who played Gibson's love interest in this mild western was actually an alias for Hazel Keener, a 1924 WAMPAS Baby Star. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson
- 1927
Another of Reginald Denny's money-spinning Universal vehicles, Fast and Furious casts Denny as "speed demon" Tom Brown. Fascinated with fast roadsters, Tom enjoys nothing more than "opening up" on the highway -- at least, until he's run off the road by another reckless driver. After emerging from the hospital, Tom discovers that he's developed a mortal fear of automobiles -- in fact, he jumps three feet in the air whenever he hears a honking horn. Naturally, the outcome of the plot hinges on Tom's willingness to man the controls of a racing car for the sake of his sweetheart Ethel (Barbara Worth). All that prevents Fast and Furious from being a "perfect" Reginald Denny picture is a moment near the climax, when our jailed hero is released from his cell when his father bribes the guard: undoubtedly, Denny's fans would have preferred that he figure a way out of his dilemma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Barbara Worth, (more)
- 1926
Warner Brothers' Broken Hearts of Hollywood is still another of the "mother love" dramas that festooned the silent era. Louise Dresser plays a selfish woman who deserts her child in pursuit of movie stardom. The years pass, and the girl grows up to be Patsy Ruth Miller. With no mother to guide her, Patsy falls in with the wrong crowd and gets mixed up in a murder. Louise nobly takes the blame for the killing, facing execution on behalf of the daughter who doesn't even know her. Featured in the cast is 18-year-old Douglas Fairbanks Jr., as well as two "regular" cast members of the films of Douglas Fairbanks Sr: Anders Randolf and Sam DeGrasse, cast respectively as the prosecuting and defense attorney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Ruth Miller, Louise Dresser, (more)
- 1923
John Craig and Mary Eileen Anderson are childhood sweethearts who grow up in a small town in this melodrama taken from the poem by James Whitcomb Riley. John becomes the owner of the local paper and dedicates himself to the public good. His childhood friend Stuff Shade (Lloyd Whitlock) promotes an oil-speculation scheme in the paper. Soon the townsfolk are pooling their money in hopes of getting rich on the oil reserves. John discovers the scheme is all a ruse and tries to warn the people that they are being swindled. After the perpetrators are exposed, a gusher comes in that makes people rich. Pat Moore and Elliot Dexter play John as child and grown-up respectively. Mary Jane Irving and Helen Jerome portray Mary Eileen, and Turner Savage is the young Stuff Shade. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat Moore, Elliott Dexter, (more)
