Roy Chanslor Movies

With a little extra effort, Washington Melodrama might have passed muster as an A picture. Frank Morgan stars as millionaire philanthropist Calvin Claymore, who comes to Washington in hopes of promoting a Senate bill on behalf of European war relief. Away from his wife (Fay Holden) and daughter Laurie (Ann Rutherford) for the first time in years, Claymore succumbs to tempation and spends a night on the town with chorus girl Mary Morgan (Anne Gwynne). Though nothing of a sexual nature transpires, Claymore finds himself in a compromising-and possibly fatal-position when Mary later turns up murdered. Blackmailed by slimy nightclub emcee Whitney King (Dan Dailey), Claymore is unable to turn to the police, and must stand by helplessly as the trail of clues leads inexorably to himself. Making matters worse, reporter Walt Thorne (Kent Taylor), the principal investigator on the case, has fallen in love with Claymore's daughter Laurie. It's a melodrama, all right, done up in style by MGM and a topnotch cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Flying Cadets is basically a vehicle for William Gargan and Edmund Lowe, doing a Flagg-and-Quirt act as a pair of eternally bickering ex-WWI pilots. The "official" plot is carried along by Frank Albertson as Bob Ames, a young airplane fancier who hopes to create a school for aspiring aviators. He also wants to land a government contract for the development of a speedy new aircraft that he's designed in his spare time. Both of these goals are intertwined when Ames is able to establish his school, with grouchy-but-loveable Trip (Gargan) as his assistant and Trip's grouchier-but-more loveable brother Rocky (Lowe) as chief flying instructor. Flying Cadets has the "look" of one of Universal's Richard Arlen-Andy Devine adventure quickies, even down to its heavy reliance on stock footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reporter Albertson works to solve a murder case in order to clear his name and get a great story for his paper. ~ All Movie Guide

One Hour to Live affords John Litel, usually cast as rock-solid businessmen and incorruptable attorneys, the opportunity to play a double-dyed villain. Litel is cast as crooked fight manager Rudy Spain, who orders the murder of a boxer (Jack Carr) who has turned honest. By having his dirty work done by his sinister henchman Stanley Jones (Paul Guilfoyle), Spain remains above suspicion-to everyone but police lieutenant Sid Brady (Charles Bickford), who's still sore that Spain stole his girlfriend Muriel (Doris Nolan) away from him. Spain eventually manages to incriminate himself by trying to kill Muriel, but as it turns out, he is only a small cog in a much larger criminal machine. And when Lt. Brady finds out who's really the brains behind that machine, is he in for a surprise (as is the audience!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this lively musical western, a cowboy's wife heads for Reno for a quickie divorce. Meanwhile her husband finds himself in competition with a suave Easterner who has fallen in love with her. The cowboy is dismayed and embarrassed when the city-slicker easily out rides him during a bronc-riding exhibition. Fortunately, for the red-faced cowboy, his wife comes back and happiness ensues. Songs include: a snippet from "La Boheme", "I Gave My Heart Away", "Ridin' Home" and "Tonight Is The Night" (Jimmy McHugh, Harold Adamson). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This melodrama chronicles the enduring friendship between four boys in New York's Hell's Kitchen. As boys, the made a pact that they would meet annually to renew their friendship. Trouble ensues when one of the boys accidently sets fire to a building. Another boy took the blame. He went to reform school. Years pass before he is reunited with his pals. Now the man is a professional gambler and nightclub owner. He sees two of his friends, who have become cops, when they come into his club to investigate a murder. As they look into the death, one of the cops is killed. The fourth friend, now a priest, makes sure that justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jim Turner (Barton MacLaine) loves "wine, women and horses," though not always in that order. Our hero's revelry is interrupted by his shrill and prudish wife Marjorie (Peggy Bates), who tells him to stay away from the racetrack or she'll walk. Presumably to the cheers of the audience, Turner ultimately dumps her, enjoying a happily-ever-after denouement in the arms of down-to-earth Valerie (Ann Sheridan), who has loved Jim all along, warts and all. Critics looked down their noses at this harmless bit of frivolity, but like most Warner Bros. programmers of the period the film posted a profit. On the strength of its title alone, Wine, Women and Horses was included in a popular 1970s book devoted to the worst films of all time (though one suspects that the authors never bothered to see the picture). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A stagecoach race, murder and a singing cowboy are the main ingredients in this pleasant western from Warner Bros. The singing cowboy is Bill Harkins (Dick Foran) who, after losing a Pony Express contract, bids against the Banton brothers for a lucrative stage line deal. But Roy Banton (Edmund Cobb), who is also Bill's rival for the lovely Mary Tolliver (Linda Perry), does what he can to sabotage the race and later frames Bill for a stage robbery and the murder of Mary's father (James Farley). Fortunately, Bill's mount, Smoke, fully lives up to his nickname of "Wonder Horse" and eventually leads the innocent youngster to the real murderer. While not engaged in such manly pursuits as stagecoach racing and fist fighting, Dick Foran warbles M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl's "Love Begins at Evening" and, backed by Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers, "Ridin' the Mail". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, based on a George M. Cohan play, a hick comes to the city to attend his old buddy's wedding. The rube is such a bumpkin that trouble ensues every time he speaks. Thanks to him, the wedding is nearly called off. Fortunately it all works out in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The all-purpose title Man Hunt was trotted out for this 1936 Warner Bros. "B". Aging country newspaper editor Chic Sale is laughed off by the rest of his community for his tall tales. When an escaped Public Enemy (Ricardo Cortez) shows up in the vicinity, Sale decides to prove his worth by tracking down the criminal himself. The G-Men on the case tell Sale to mind his own business, but it is the old codger who collars Cortez and drags him in. No one made gangster pictures as well as Warner Bros., so even a low-priority item like Man Hunt has its moments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gloria Stuart's trouble only begins when she inherits a newspaper in this routine, but at times, quite hilarious comedy from Universal. Overhearing a chauvinistic remark from senior editor Hank Gilman (Edmund Lowe), Joan Langford decides to begin her newspaper business career from the bottom and incognito. Gilman, however, quickly discovers the ruse and sends the girl out on the most arduous assignments he can find. After threatening to quit, the heroine unwittingly gets herself involved with a gang of blackmailers but Hank is watching over her and together they bring the gang to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Front Page Woman was one of those bread-and-butter vehicles that forced Bette Davis to go on strike against Warner Bros., demanding more worthwhile scripts. On its own terms, the film is a briskly entertaining newspaper yarn about two warring reporters (Davis and George Brent). In their efforts to out-scoop each other, Bette and George frequently land in hot water, especially after phoning in contradictory information concerning a murder trial. In the climax, Davis and Brent are both sent to cover a spectacular fire. While competing over interviews and evidence, the two newshounds discover that they're in love with each other. Front Page Woman was remade nearly scene-for-scene as the "Torchy Blaine" B picture Blondes at Work (37). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lyle Talbot stars as "Three Star" Halsey, a hotshot West Coast aviator with a reputation for recklessness. Time and time again, Halsey promises his stewardess sweetheart Judy Wagner (Ann Dvorak) that he'll stop taking risks, and time and again he breaks his word. After several misadventures, Halsey becomes a hero when he prevents a top-secret explosive formula from falling into the hands of the villains -- and as a bonus, solves four airborne murders. Much of the aerial photography in Murder in the Clouds would be reused in such future Warners programmers as Fly-Away Baby and Fugitive in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide