Arnold Belgard Movies

This jungle adventure provides a wonderfully corny look into the mysteries of the Amazon and the African Congo as it chronicles the journeys of two intrepid explorers. There each of them must face assorted dangers including enormous iguanas, diminutive pygmies, voracious crocodiles, and man-eating natives who like to prepare their ritual meals atop an alter made of human skulls. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Perennial loser Claude Miller (John Fiedler) becomes a winner overnight when he strikes a rich silver lode. Determined to get even with the people who had previously subjected him to ridicule, Claude buys out his tormentors' mortgages. Alas, once a loser, always a loser: Claude's plans for revenge are undermined by his new partner, a crooked deputy. The supporting cast includes Florence Sundstrom as Daisy, J. Pat O'Malley as Clancy, Jay Lanin as Slauson, Ken Mayer as Tarbosh, and Ken Drake as Claude. First shown on May 12, 1963, "Rich Man, Poor Man" was scripted by Richard P. McDonagh and Barbara and Milton Merlin, from a story by Arnold Belgard and Robert Fresco. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At the behest of a local bureaucrat, good-for-nothing Jock Henry (Eddie Firestone) becomes Virginia City's tax collector. Jock also becomes drunk with power, levying huge, unfair assessments against everybody in the vicinity. Thus it is when Jock is faced with a series of profound personal crises, no one in town will come to his aid-no one, that is, except Hoss Cartwright. Kathie Browne, who later played Adam Cartwright's fiancee Laura Dayton in several fifth-season Bonanza episodes, is here cast as Ellen, while Russ Conway plays Dave Hart. Written by Arnold Belgard, "Tax Collector" was originally broadcast on February 18, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released as La Granda Caccia, East of Kilimanjaro was filmed on location in Africa. Marshall Thompson plays American photojournalist Marsh Conners, assigned to cover a cattle epidemic. Falling in love with research scientist Dr. Marie Avedon (Gaby Andre), Conners attempts to help her convince the Masai tribesmen to have their cattle inoculated, and to locate the source of the disease. While the plot proper ends happily, the romantic subplot is less satisfying. East of Kilimanjaro was also distributed as The Big Search. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Bop Girl, this diverting musical time capsule features several of the best Calypso performers of the late 1950s. Real-life jazz musician Bobby Troup stars as a college music student, writing a graduate thesis on rock 'n' roll. For research purposes, Troup persuades nightclub singer Judy Tyler to perform one of her numbers to a calypso beat. Before you can say "Harry Belafonte", a brand-new musical craze is born. The veteran supporting cast includes Lucien Littlefield as Bobby Troup's professor mentor, former 20th Century-Fox starlet Margo Woode as a eugenics expert, and George "Joe McDoakes" O'Hanlon as comedy relief. Among the musical acts are the Mary Kaye Trio, The Goofers, the Lord Flea Calypsonians, Nino Tempo, The Titans and The Cubanos. Bop Girl Goes Calypso was the final film appearance of up-and-coming actress Judy Tyler, who was killed in a particularly nasty car accident shortly after filming wrapped. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 20th Century-Fox "B" unit under Sol M. Wurtzel was still alive and kicking as late as 1949. Wurtzel's Trouble Preferred stars Peggy Knudsen and Lynne Roberts as policewomen-in-training Dale Kent and Madge Walker. In Charlie's Angels fashion, the ladies are bored by the humdrum assignments they're given. Soon however, they get thrills and spills in spades when they come to the rescue of a would-be suicide. Equal portions of drama and comedy keep the film simmering for a full 63 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "B"-picture unit at 20th Century-Fox was slowly being phased out when Miss Mink of 1949 was produced. Lois Collier heads the cast as Alice Forrester, an office clerk who wins a $10,000 mink coat in a radio contest. This windfall proves disastrous to Lois' husband Joe (Jimmy Lydon), who goes deeply into debt so that his wife can live in the style in which she has suddenly become accustomed. Horror of horrors, the mink is stolen, the first of several setbacks for poor Alice and Joe. The mess is straightened out--sort of--in a wild courtroom finale. Veteran supporting players Richard Lane, Dorothy Granger, Paul Guilfoyle and Iris Adrian add a little salt and pepper to the more sugary passages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a detective encounters a woman in a nightclub. He finds that she is being blackmailed by a dancer who is murdered that very night. Of course, the woman becomes the main suspect. She and the gumshoe team up and begin searching for the real killer. The police are in hot pursuit. It does not take them long to find the culprit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While appearing in the stage production Harvey, comedian Joe E. Brown was persuaded by director Harold Schuster to accept the atypically serious starring role in The Tender Years. Though hardly his first dramatic film appearance, it was undoubtedly Brown's best. The star is cast as kindly turn-of-the-century rural minister Will Norris, who takes it upon himself to rid his community of the brutal sport of dog-fighting. Discovering that the dog to which his own son Ted (Richard Lyon) has become attached is being used for fighting purposes, Reverend Norris steals the animal, knowing full well that he'll stand trial for his "crime." Moved by the reverend's dedication and sincerity, the authorities decide to call off his trial -- and, eventually, to illegalize all dog-fighting activities. Though basically a "family" film, The Tender Years contains some rather tense scenes with the battling dogs, so it might be best to exercise of bit of parental discretion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a young juvenile delinquent convinces other teens to join his gang. The gang raids a warehouse and there he ends up killing the school's most beloved teacher. The boy is tried. In court the D.A.'s adopted daughter stands up for the boy. Years before, when they were both orphans, he had done the same for her. The D.A. is unmoved an tries to prosecute to the full extent of the law. The defense, says the real blame should be upon the boy's parents. The boy is given a life sentence. Unbeknownst to the self-righteous D.A., the boy is his long-lost son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though the 45-minute Calaboose was the second of three Hal Roach "streamliners" teaming Jimmy Rogers (son of Will) and Noah Beery Jr., it was the third to be released. Rogers and Beery play a couple of laid-back itinerant cowobys who wander into a small western town. Here they meet sheriff's daughter Doris Lane (Mary Brian), a staunch believer in the rehabilitation of criminals. Smitten by Doris, the boys contrive to get themselves arrested by her dad (William B. Davidson), who, in accordance with Doris' wishes, runs his jail like a luxury hotel. The plot thickens when desperate gangster Sluggsy Baker (Marc Lawrence) shows up in town-and Sluggsy just can't see things Doris' way so far as reforming is concerned. For its 1980s TV release, Calaboose was coupled with another 45-minute Roach streamliner, Dudes are Pretty People. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When millionaire bachelor John Hubbard takes a run-out powder at his own wedding, Hubbard's vengeful fiancee Polly Ann Young has the luckless fellow committed to an insane asylum. Hubbard escapes with certified looney Adolphe Menjou; together they join a carnival run by Carole Landis. Hubbard and Menjou not only save Landis from bankruptcy, but also convince Hubbard's allegedly normal uncle Charles Butterworth (who races fire engines as a hobby) to arrange for the carnival to be set up right next to the family mansion. Directors Hal Roach, Hal Roach Jr. and Gordon M. Douglas deliberately blur the thin line between sanity and insanity throughout Road Show. Just who's crazier: the delusional Menjou, who takes photographs with an invisible camera, or lovestruck Indian George E. Stone, who spends his free time chasing after carnival employee Patsy Kelly? And are the freewheeling carney folk any goofier than the flibbertigibbet society folk? The Charioteers, a black singing group who'd previously appeared in the Broadway production of Hellzapoppin, act as a sort of Greek chorus, commenting on the action with several refrains of the Hoagy Carmichael song "Calliope Jane". The amiable wackiness of Road Show is capped by a car-chase finale. The film was based on a novel by Eric Hatch, who four years earlier had worked on Roach's Topper. Watch for several familiar comedy faces among the uncredited bit players, including Shemp Howard of Three Stooges fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide