Fred Brady Movies

Taxi stars Dan Dailey as Ed Nielson, a been-there-done-that Manhattan cabbie. Nagged by his mother (Blanche Yurka) to find himself a wife, Ed must also contend with a blood-sucking loan company, demanding huge payments for his cab. His life is further complicated when he falls in love with one of his fares: Mary, a young Irish immigrant (Constance Smith), freshly arrived in New York in search of her husband. The girl discovers that her hubby is a louse, but she's forced to stay with him lest she face deportation. Despite his own problems -- not to mention the huge cab fare that Mary's running up while searching for her husband -- Ed vows to rescue his new love from an ungovernable fate. Though running only 77 minutes, Taxi boasts no fewer than six screenwriting credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Economically utilizing the Universal Studio itself as a "set," Hollywood Story is a murder mystery centered in the film capital. The story concerns a long-unsolved homicide case involving several silent-film stars (an echo of the William Desmond Taylor scandal of 1922). Producer Richard Conte decides to make a movie based on the case, and to this end rounds up its surviving participants, including a once-great star/director (Henry Hull) reduced to bit parts. The denouement holds no surprises for mystery fans, but is effectively staged by director William Castle. Hollywood Story is given the aura of verisimilitude by the presence of several silent-movie celebrities (including William Farnum and Francis X. Bushman) as "themselves." Also appearing in an unheralded bit part is Elmo Lincoln, moviedom's first "Tarzan." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In their never-ending efforts to create a movie series to match the success of "The Thin Man," MGM came up with the fast-paced programmer Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone. Based on characters created by Craig Rice, the film stars James Whitmore as lawyer and part-time sleuth John J. Malone (this character had previously appeared in several other films, as well as the radio series The Amazing Mr. Malone). In his efforts to track down an embezzler, Mr. Malone boards a train heading for New York. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hattie O'Malley (Marjorie Main), a raucous widow from Montana, is also travelling to New York to claim her prize money from a radio contest. During the journey eastward, the man whom Malone is seeking ends up dead. Thanks to Mrs. O'Malley's well-intentioned interference, Malone ends up being accused of murder. How this mismatched pair manages to solve the mystery and save their own hides is good for several laughs. Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone didn't result in a series, though James Whitmore and Marjorie Main make a surprisingly copacetic screen team. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a spoiled, temperamental and filthy rich aunt is committed to an asylum by her nephew after he learns that she has willed her fortune to her dog. Fortunately, the aunt escapes and is sheltered by the family of a poor barber. It is the barber's daughter that soothes the savage breast of the irritable aunt and turns her into a caring person. The family then helps her to prove her competence. They are richly rewarded for their kindness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Advertised as a typical Universal horror film, The Cat Creeps is more of a crime melodrama, and not a particularly distinguished one at that. Fifth-billed Fred Brady essays the leading role as a reporter named Terry Nichols, who endeavors to prove that a girl's suicide was actually murder. Though dead for nearly 15 years, the girl's soul has apparently manifested itself in a black cat, which functions as an avenging angel throughout the film. Several more murders occur before the villain and his mercenary motivations are revealed. Though blessed with an unusually strong supporting cast, The Cat Creeps is strictly B material, far below Universal's already unexacting standards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, Three Is a Family is a 1940s farce that frequently substitutes noise for humor. Charlie Ruggles plays a hubby whose bungled business schemes force his wife Fay Bainter to enter the workplace. The couple's daughter Marjorie Reynolds shows up with her twin babies in tow. Son Arthur Lake arrives with his pregnant wife (Jeff Donnell). And overbearing maiden aunt Helen Broderick also decides to move in. Because his wife is away at work, poor old Charlie Ruggles is not only housekeeper, but nursemaid and servant as well. If you like diaper and bottle-warmer jokes, you'll love Three is a Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This star-studded musical drama was largely financed by Theatre Guild, with all proceeds going to various wartime fundraising concerns. Most of the story takes place at the Stage Door Canteen, a Manhattan-based home away from home for soldiers, sailors and marines (the real-life Canteen on 44th street was too busy to lend itself to filming, thus the interiors were recreated in Hollywood). Within the walls of this non-profit establishment, servicemen are entertained by top musical, comedy and dramatic acts, and waited on by such Broadway luminaries as Lunt and Fontanne, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Cowl, Katherine Cornell, Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Hayes, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Sam Jaffe and Paul Muni. Though the plotline-one of the Canteen servers, a girl named Eileen (Cheryl Walker) falls in love with one of the visiting soldiers (William Terry), despite the establishment's strict "no dating" rules-is merely an excuse to link together a series of specialty acts, it is superbly and touchingly directed by Frank Borzage. Not all of the film has weathered the years too well: particularly hard to take is Gracie Fields' cheery ditty about "killing Japs!" For the most part, however, the film works, and the guest performers-including comedians Ray Bolger, Harpo Marx, George Jessel and Ed Wynn, and singers Ethel Waters and Kenny Baker-are in fine fettle. If nothing else, Stage Door Canteen offers the only appearance on film of the great Katherine Cornell, who offers a vignette of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Incidentally, the actor playing "Texas", Michael Harrison, later gained fame as cowboy star Sunset Carson. Originally released at 132 minutes, Stage Door Canteen is now generally available in the 93-minute TV version. The six big bands that appear and perform in the film are those of Kay Kyser, Count Basie, Xavier Cugat, Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman and Freddie Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide