Harry C. Bradley Movies

Two rich and wealthy millionaires who have a lot of money bet that reporter Robert Pryor can't spend $720,000 in twelve hours. If you're asking "Why $720,000?", the answer is: because this Republic programmer is titled $1000 a Minute . Anyway, a couple of cops spot Pryor flashing a roll of bills, and deduce that he's the bank robber they're looking for. For the rest of the film, Pryor must race around to spend his money, while remaining two steps ahead of the Law. The supporting actors in $1000 a Minute are delightfully cast to type, from Edgar Kennedy as a detective to Sterling Holloway as a helpful cabbie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an old woman gets disgusted by her relatives and runs away from home. She then begins working as a cook in the home of a prominent antique dealer who works as a jewel thief on the side. As the chef, she gradually meets all of his gang members and takes a special liking to one young man and his girl friend, whom she encourages to reform. Eventually, the crook decides to heed her advice, but before he can safely leave, he must pull off a final caper. Worried, the cook follows him. When the boy is caught, she gets the jewels from him and tries to take the fall. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Just after completing It Happened One Night, director Frank Capra churned out a bread-and-butter picture titled Broadway Bill. Warner Baxter plays the carefree scion of a wealthy, highly-respected family. Baxter's cold but socially correct wife Helen Vinson forces her husband into the family business, but Baxter would rather spend his time at the racetrack. He buys a nag named Broadway Bill and tries to build the horse into a winner--if he doesn't bankrupt himself first. Only Baxter's sister-in-law Myrna Loy and black stable hand Clarence Muse have faith in Broadway Bill. The horse wins a crucial race, but dies suddenly at the finish line. Baxter is comforted and given encouragement by Loy, who is now his sweetheart, Vinson having long since washed her hands of her "irresponsible" husband. Broadway Bill was remade by Capra as Riding High (1950), utilizing generous portions of stock footage and even going so far as to rehire several of the original film's cast members (Douglass Dumbrille, Clarence Muse, Charles Lane, Raymond Walburn, Margaret Hamilton, Frankie Darro) to recreate their roles and match up their scenes from the earlier production. Long withheld from distribution due to Riding High, Broadway Bill was made available for videocassette in the mid-1980s. Keep an eye out for Lucille Ball as a blonde telephone operator and Alan Hale Sr. as a racetrack announcer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Long before Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock joined forces in Speed (1994), there was the strikingly similar Warner Bros. B-picture Busses Roar. A gang of Axis spies decide to use a California passenger bus to secretly transport a demolition bomb to a coastal oil field. The bomb is set to go off upon arrival, wiping out the passengers along with the oil deposits. Among those passengers is Army sergeant Ryan, who senses that something's amiss and then races against time to save himself and the others from being blown to smithereens. Another of the hapless commuters is played by Eleanor Parker, making an excellent impression in her first feature film appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in the woodlands of Wisconsin, Come and Get It stars Edward Arnold as a logger-turned-lumber tycoon. In his rise to the top, Arnold loses out on a chance for lasting happiness by spurning earthy dance hall girl (Frances Farmer), who marries his best pal (Walter Brennan) on the rebound. Marrying for position rather than love, Arnold becomes a society leader in Milwaukee. His son (Joel McCrea) falls in love with the daughter of Arnold's first love (Frances Farmer plays both mother and daughter). Himself smitten by the daughter, Arnold battles with his son over the girl's affection, only to be shocked back into his senses when the girl reprimands his son, "Don't hit him! He's an old man!" Based on a novel by Edna Ferber, Come & Get It carries two directorial credits: William Wyler was dismissed early on by producer Sam Goldwyn, and when Howard Hawks took over, it was on the proviso that Wyler be given co-directing billing. For his performance as Edward Arnold's Scandinavian cohort, Walter Brennan won the first-ever "best supporting actor" Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Danger on Wheels is one of the 14 Richard Arlen-Andy Devine adventure films ground out by Universal Pictures between 1939 and 1941. Arlen is cast as daredevil test-car driver Larry Taylor, while Devine brings up the rear as Larry's mechanic. A rivalry develops between Larry and hotshot motorist Bruce Cowley (Jack Arnold), culminating in Bruce losing his job before an important race. Larry takes Bruce's place in the contest, whereupon he accidentally kills the brother of his sweetheart Pat (Peggy Moran). Our hero redeems himself in everyone's eyes by proving the efficiency of a new oil-burning motor invented by Pat's father (Herbert Cothrell). Danger on Wheels is allegedly based on the exploits of real-life stunt driver Lucky Teeter, who is represented throughout via stock footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three different Universal pictures made between 1922 and 1941 bore the catchall title Don't Get Personal. The 1941 film stars Hugh Herbert as a ditzy pickle manufacturer whose favorite radio program stars Jane Frazee and Robert Paige. The couple plays a bickering husband and wife on the air, and Herbert mistakes their scripted bouts for the real thing. He heads to the radio station to patch up their differences, but succeeds in embroiling the actors in a real battle. Don't Get Personal seems to have been made at the same time as Universal Hellzapoppin' (41), with at least four actors (Hugh Herbert, Robert Paige, Jane Frazee and Mischa Auer) appearing in both films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warren William plays a high-powered ambitious executive who unflinchingly steamrolled his way to the top without regard for the havoc he left in his wake. As the manager of a Macy-like department store, he constantly browbeats his flunkies into submission, and ends-up driving at least one to suicide. Loretta Young plays the wife of one of William's minor employees (Wallace Ford), with whom the Big Boss has a brief affair during an office party. Eventually William gets his comeuppance, and Loretta is vindicated in the eyes of her hubby. A terrific example of pre-Motion Picture Production Code raciness, Employees' Entrance still causes audiences to gasp at its audaciousness when seen today--and also invokes loud laughter when William rebukes one of his errant vice presidents, asking him "What am I paying you so much for? Fifteen thousand a year!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Our Gang member Janet Burston believes that her family is neglecting her, so she decides to run away from home. The other gang members try to help Janet get adopted (or "adapted") by a more agreeable family, choosing a kindly elderly couple (Sarah Padden and Harry C. Bradley) for the honor. But when the old couple discover that Janet is a runaway, they decide to teach her a lesson by creating a home atmosphere so unpleasant and demanding that she'll be begging to return to her own kinfolk. The only noteworthy aspect of this Our Gang copy is the supporting-cast presence of British actress Elspeth Dudgeon, who previously played the centenarian patriarch of the eccentric Femm family in the 1932 horror classic The Old Dark House. The one-reel Family Troubles was originally released on April 3, 1943. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Amid the political chaos sweeping across the world in 1939, a new terror arises -- the Purple Death -- and people around the world succumb at random by the hundreds, then thousands, with the identifying symptom being a purple spot on the victim. The authorities are baffled as to the cause or the treatment, and panic is spreading. Dr. Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon) determines that the Purple Death is linked to extraterrestrial events. Along with Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) and Dale Arden (Carolyn Hughes), Zarkov finds an alien spaceship, which they recognize as being from the planet Mongo, home of their old enemy, Ming the Merciless, spreading some sort of dust in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov head for Mongo, where they discover that Emperor Ming (Charles B. Middleton), whom they believed had been killed at the end of their battle with him on Mars (told in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars), is still alive. He is threatening not only to conquer all of Mongo, but is attacking Earth again, using a "Death Dust" spread by his spaceships that will eventually destroy everyone on Earth.

Flash, Dale, and Zarkov form an alliance with their old friend, Prince Barin (Roland Drew), the rightful ruler of Mongo, who with his wife, Princess Aura (Shirley Deane) -- Ming's own daughter -- rules the peaceful kingdom of Arboria, resisting Ming's military might with their small fleet of ships, the aid of neighboring free kingdoms, and the help of a tiny handful of officers within Ming's own palace who remain loyal to the prince. Their first task is to secure a neutralizing agent for the Death Dust, which exists in the frozen northern kingdom of Frigia, but before they can do that, they have to free the imprisoned Frigian military leader General Lupi (Ben Taggart), who has been captured by Ming. Flash rescues the general, who is about to be used as the subject of a scientific experiment, and secures the aid and gratitude of the Frigians. This barely slows Ming in his plans for conquest, however, and over the next 11 chapters, Flash Gordon and his friends and allies -- including Ronal (Donald Curtis), Roka (Lee Powell), and Captain Suden (William Royle) -- take their battle for the safety of the Earth and the freedom of Mongo to the far reaches of the planet. Battling Ming and his villainous henchmen -- including Captain Torch (Don Rowan) and Lady Sonja (Anne Gwynne) -- from Mongo's frozen northern wastes to its uncharted deserts, Flash and his allies outmaneuver and generally outfight and outwit Ming's larger, better equipped army and spaceship fleet, but they are nearly undone by the spies that Ming has placed in Barin's own household. The bravery of the Earth hero and his friends, and the patriotism and sacrifices of Mongo's people ultimately prove too much for the evil emperor, who finally faces impending destruction from one of his own fiendish inventions. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide