Frank Yaconelli

The CinemaScope process gets a rugged workout in Henry Hathaway's The Racers. Kirk Douglas stars as an Italian bus driver who dreams of entering the Grand Prix as a world-famous race car driver. Being Kirk Douglas, he achieves his goal, racing in all the major events around the globe. Dedicated to the philosophy of "winning is the only thing", Douglas alienates his fellow racers and everyone else with whom he comes in contact. Only when he is on the verge of losing his sweetheart Bella Darvi does our hero put his priorities in order. Adapted from a novel by Hans Ruesch, The Racers was remade in a 60-minute version as Men Against Speed, an entry in the weekly TV anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though out of favor with many Abbott and Costello buffs, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is actually a lot of fun, so long as the viewer parks logic and dignity at the door. Captain Kidd is played by no less than Charles Laughton, who reportedly agreed to sign up for this film because he wanted to learn how to perform a comedy double-take. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are cast as Rocky and Puddn'head, waiters at a pirate hangout on the island of Tortuga. Entrusted with a love letter written by the beautiful Lady Jane (Fran Warren) to cabaret singer Bruce Martingale (Bill Shirley), Puddn'head manages to get this missive mixed up with a treasure map coveted by both Captain Kidd and his rival, lady pirate Captain Bonney (Hillary Brooke). The upshot of all this finds Rocky, Pudd'nhead, Lady Jane and Bruce being shanghaied by Kidd, setting the stage for a climactic treasure hunt and chase on a faraway island. Laughton takes to broad slapstick comedy like a fish to water; indeed, at times he's a lot funnier than Bud and Lou! Filmed in Cinecolor, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd was the second of the team's independent productions for Warner Bros. release; like the first, Jack and the Beanstalk, it was well received by the public, even while critics tore their hair and gnashed their teeth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1931 under its original title, Theodore Dreiser's bulky but brilliant novel An American Tragedy was remade in 1951 by George Stevens as A Place in the Sun. Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman, a handsome and charming but basically aimless young man who goes to work in a factory run by a distant, wealthy relative. Feeling lonely one evening, he has a brief rendezvous with assembly-line worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), but he forgets all about her when he falls for dazzling socialite Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). Alice can't forget about him, though: she is pregnant with his child. Just when George's personal and professional futures seem assured, Alice demands that he marry her or she'll expose him to his society friends. This predicament sets in motion a chain of events that will ultimately include George's arrest and numerous other tragedies, including a vicious cross-examination by a D.A. played by future Perry Mason Raymond Burr. A huge improvement over the 1931 An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, A Place in the Sun softens some of the rough edges of Dreiser's naturalism, most notably in the passages pertaining to George's and Angela's romance. Even those 1951 bobbysoxers who wouldn't have been caught dead poring through the Dreiser original were mesmerized by the loving, near-erotic full facial closeups of Clift and Taylor as they pledge eternal devotion. A Place in the Sun won six Oscars, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, although it lost Best Picture to An American in Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Rockwell, Republic Pictures' resident all-purpose hero, stars in Alias the Champ. This time, Rockwell plays Lt. Ron Peterson, who doubles as a homicide detective and local administrator of the professional wrestling code. When real-life rassler Gorgeous George (that's how he billed himself) is framed for murder by a gang of crooks, Lt. Peterson tries to prove George's innocence. It isn't just the job that motivates Peterson: he's sweet on the wrestler's pretty manager Lorraine (Audrey Long). Fans of the current WWF and WCW TV wrestling extravaganzas might get a kick out of the scenes wherein Gorgeous George, Bomber Kulkavitch, Billy Varga, Jack "Sockeye" MacDonald, the Super-Swedish Angel (aka Tor Johnson) and their confreres hunker down to business in the ring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western comedy, a milquetoast gunsmith from the East Coast goes to Arsenic City, Arizona because he has heard that everybody their carries guns. His trip West is an exercise in misfortune. Everything that could go wrong on the journey, does. At least he meets a pretty woman, also en route to Arsenic City. She goes there in search of her late father's gold mine. They fall in love and work together to find her father's killer and reclaim the mine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An average "Cisco Kid" Western-adventure, South of Monterey features ace villain Harry Woods as Bennett, a nasty tax collector foreclosing on the poor to benefit himself. Young rancher Carlos Mandreno (George J. Lewis) refuses to give in and is supported by Maria Morales (Marjorie Riordan), the sister of the chief of police, who promises her brother, Arturo (Martin Garralaga), that she will marry Bennett if he will leave Carlos alone. Carlos' cattle, meanwhile, is rustled by a mystery villain known only as "The Silver Bandit" and Arturo arrests the Cisco Kid (Gilbert Roland). The latter, however, escapes with the aid of a fiery saloon singer (Iris Flores) and manages not only to hunt down the evil Bennett, but also unmask the real "Silver Bandit." Iris Flores sings "Tacos de Amor" and "Anoche Hable con la Luna," both by Gladys Flores and Monogram house composer Edward Kay. South of Monterey was the second of six "Cisco Kid" Westerns Gilbert Roland would do for the little Poverty Row studio. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Cisco Kid attempts to break up an arranged marriage in this romantic B-Western from Monogram. Learning that nasty Raoul (Ted Hecht) is marrying lovely Dolores Ramirez (Inez Cooper) out of greed only, the Kid (Gilbert Roland) goes undercover as famous California adventurer Don Luis Salazar. The ruse works, and after a swordfight or two, Dolores is free to marry whomever she chooses. Teala Loring, as Raoul's true girlfriend, sings "Mi Amor Ya Volvia" by Gladys Flores and Edward Kay. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Gilbert Roland dominates the action in a colorful performance as the bandit hero the Cisco Kid, this time up against a surprisingly vicious plot by a local doctor to steal land from the local peasants and small ranchers by poisoning them to drive them off, and then reselling the property to absentee European landlords. He finds an unexpected ally in Jeanne DuBois (Ramsay Ames), who starts out as part of the plot but is turned around by Roland's charm and charisma after a few fireworks. The direction is uneven, with William Nigh not quite able to make the flatter parts of the script as entertaining or smooth as they ought to be. Evidently, the producers knew they were in trouble with this downbeat script and took steps to rescue the picture. Seeing the sparks fly in the scenes in the first third of the picture, in which Ames is disguised as a man (which evokes echoes -- albeit very distant -- of Shakespeare's As You Like It) and verbally jousts with Roland, more material was written on the spot for the two of them, depicting a competition that becomes much more heated when her gender is revealed. By her own account, Nigh and Ames were friends, and she was a good sport on this shoot whatever they had her doing, and it's a pity they didn't go further with the rivalry between Roland's and Ames' characters, who might've been the Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones of their era. Roland also wrote some of his own dialogue and poetry for this effort, which seems very hackneyed today, but played just fine for audiences in 1946. (Note: In early TV prints of Beauty And The Bandit, all references to the Cisco Kid and O. Henry in the credits were blacked out, and mentions of the Cisco Kid and "Cisco" in the dialogue awkwardly dubbed over as "Chico" -- one suspects this was because the exclusive TV rights to the Cisco Kid had been sold to another producer for the TV series starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Barton MacLane dominates the proceedings in the PRC quickie Man of Courage. Taking a break from his usual gangster and convict roles, MacLane plays a crusading district attorney. His number one target is mob boss Lyle Talbot, who enjoys the protection of several crooked politicos. With perserverance, MacLane collars his quarry and brings him to trial. MacLane also cowrote the script, so he has only himself to blame for lines like "I remember when I used to plow on the farm...BOY! Did I love ta PLOW!" Newpaper columnist Erskine Johnson appears as "himself" in Man of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prince the wonder horse and his gallant rider gallop off to protect hapless ranchers from the ruthless Nazi bad guys who are trying to steal their land so they can exploit the valuable tungsten deposits in this WW II western. Mayhem ensues, but soon the villains are vanquished and America's tungsten deposits are safe once more. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Monogram's Tom Keene western series continued its winning streak with 1942's Western Mail. As was customary, Keene is a good guy posing as a bad guy to get the goods on the other bad guys. While operating undercover, Keene befriends Lucky (Fred Kohler Jr.), the gone-astray brother of heroine Julia (Jean Trent). When the chips are down, Lucky proves he's still a right guy by laying down his life for Keene, thereby paving the way for a happy ending for our hero and the lovely Julia. Frank Yaconelli does his usual as Keene's Mexicano comic sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia's Two in a Taxi is perfect "Late Late Late Show" fare, just the sort of brisk, breezy film with which one would want to greet the new sunrise. Cab driver Jimmy Owens (Russell Hayden) hopes to push a hack just long enough to raise enough money-300 bucks, to be exact--for his own gas station. He also intends to marry his longtime sweetheart Bonnie (Anita Louise) as soon as he's on his feet financially. Alas, this plan hits a snag when the couple breaks up over a silly misunderstanding; in addition, Jimmy manages to lose his nest egg at every turn, even after collecting $1000 for capturing a gang of bank robbers. The conformist travails of Jimmy and Bonnie are counterpointed by the the faintly Communistic speeches delivered by a radical cabbie known as The Professor (Henry Brandon), whose presence in the film adds a welcome (but never overdone) dash of vitriol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide