Howard P. Bretherton Movies

Cowboy star Whip Wilson keeps whipping along in Monogram's Night Raiders. This time, Wilson and saddle pal Tom Farrell are federal marshals, assigned to stop the activities of a nocturnal terrorist group. These so-called Night Raiders lay waste to local ranches, but curiously never steal anything. The trail of clues leads to a motivation (fixing an upcoming election) and, inevitably, a Least Likely Suspect who turns out to be the brains of the organization. Fuzzy Knight supplies laughs, while Terry Frost and Marshall Reed provide menace. Whip Wilson's Night Raiders co-star Tom Farrell was the son of actress Glenda Farrell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the more notorious "sex hygiene" exploitation melodramas of the 1940s, Because of Eve began its long life in 1948 as The Story of Life. Bob (John Parker) and Sally (Wanda McKay) are expecting their first child when Sally learns that Bob had once suffered from venereal disease. Although kindly Dr. West (Joseph Crehan) assures the young woman that there is no remaining trace of the malady, Sally declares that she will sooner be married to a leper and storms out. Realizing that the couple needs education on the topic, the good doctor trots out two documentaries on venereal diseases and their effects and cures. Not only are Bob and Sally treated to these clinical films on screen but so were the paying customers who went to see the much ballyhooed Because of Eve. In most places, the screening then came to an abrupt halt as a certain "Mr. Alexander Leeds" proceeded to lecture the auditorium, while actresses dressed up as nurses sold pamflets with titles such as "Love and Marriage; As it Concerns the Modern Teenager," and "The Frigid Husband." Produced by one William Daniel Bacon (whom some careless historians have confused with famed cinematographer William Daniels), Because of Eve was "road-shown" for years around the country, often employing the so-called "four-walling" method of renting a local theater outright for a flat fee. Joseph Crehan, a dignified character actor who twice had played Ulysses S. Grant on film, acted essentially the same crusading doctor in the similar Street Corner (1948). Brunette Wanda McKay is today perhaps best remembered for her many roles in Monogram potboilers and such B-Westerns as The Medico of Painted Springs (1941) and The Royal Mounted Patrol (1941), both with Charles Starrett. Needless to say, Because of Eve was not exactly a shining moment in their careers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) helps out an actress justly terrified for her own life after her fellow actors slowly begin to die horrible deaths. The homicides transpire at a Malibu beach house; Chan gathers all of the clues into one location and hones in on the killer. This marked Toler's last film appearance; Roland Winters inherited the role from him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Columbia Pictures, as usual, cast a lesser-known player -- in this case the handsome but rather stolid Robert Lowery -- in the starring role of The Monster and the Ape, a rough-and-tumble serial released in 15 chapters. Lowery played Ken Morgan, an agent for a company manufacturing the newly invented Metalogen, a metal that can render a robot invincible. An evil professor (the wonderfully hammy Ralph Morgan, brother of Frank) attempts to steal the metal, using a trained gorilla as his weapon. Not one of the studio's better chapterplays -- to put it mildly -- The Monster and the Ape stayed mercifully forgotten until reappearing on early-morning television in the late '60s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Undoubtedly inspired by Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, filmed the same year by United Artists as And Then There Were None, this 15 chapter serial told the drawn-out story of a family who is about to be decimated, one by one, by a mysterious master criminal. Just like in the classic Christie whodunit, the culprit fakes his own death to be able to continue his rampage undetected. Adhering to serial traditions, the murderer makes himself heard occasionally as "The Mystery Voice." Former Fox leading man Robert Kent played the detective, who in the final chapter unmasks "The Guilty One," with Amelita Ward as the love interest and vaudeville comic Tim Ryan providing comedic relief. The serial was produced for Columbia by penny-pinching entrepreneur Sam Katzman. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Predating 20th Century-Fox's Somewhere in the Night by at least a year, Identity Unknown is one of the first (if not the first) 1940s melodramas centering around an amenisiac ex-GI. Richard Arlen plays Johnny March, who returns from WW2 with nary a clue as to his true identity or the details of his past. March begins a long and arduous trek across America, visiting a wide variety of people who've lost loved ones in the war, in hopes of piecing together his own previous existence. In the manner of The Fugitive, March profoundly affects the lives of everyone he meets, helping them understand what the sacrifices of the war were all about and enabling them to face the future with optimism and pride. Though it may have been merely coincidental, Identity Unknown was released around the same time that the United Nations' first San Francisco Conference was about to convene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a young man infiltrates a vicious gang of bank robbers in order to capture his father's killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lorna Gray, shortly before changing her professional name to Adrian Booth, plays the title character in Republic's The Girl Who Dared. Gray is one of several vacationers who makes a side trip to a remote island in Georgia. It isn't long before one of the tourists is murdered. As an act of self-preservation (she is both a suspect and a likely future victim), Gray decides to play detective and solve the mystery. Clocking in at a neat 54 minutes, The Girl Who Dared was based on Medora Field's short story "Blood on Her Shoe." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Wild Bill" Elliott heads the all-star (by B-flick standards, at any rate) western Hidden Valley Outlaws. Elliott does battle with a cartel of ruthless landgrabbers, who are victimizing settlers throughout the Southwest. With such formidable villains as Roy Barcroft, Kenneth Duncan, Leroy Mason and Bud Geary to contend with, he certainly has his hands full. Anne Jeffreys provides the romantic interest, while George "Gabby" Hayes makes with the usual "Consarn it"s and "Gol'durn whippersnapper"s. It's uncanny how much sheer entertainment value Republic Studios was able to pack into a mere 56 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Saddle pals Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton give as good as they get in the action-packed Monogram oater Law of the Valley. In trying to rescue a small western town from the grip of the villains, Brown and Hatton are pummeled and shot at from all directions. But, as every Brown fan can tell you, the tables will be turned by the last reel. Pretty Lynne Carver is the romantic interest, while unpretty Charles King is among the nastier of the villains. Director Howard Bretherton knows his way around westerns, all right; there's nary a dull moment in Law of the Valley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, Wild Bill and his assistant, try to learn why a young med school graduate is being spurned by the members of his own Native American tribe. The heroes learn that the clan's medicine man is a phony in cahoots with a corrupt Indian agent and that these two are working for a wicked rancher who has been polluting the local drinking water with his illegal irrigation project. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide