Al Bridge Movies
In films from 1931, Alan Bridge was always immediately recognizable thanks to his gravel voice, unkempt moustache and sour-persimmon disposition. Bridge spent a lot of time in westerns, playing crooked sheriffs and two-bit political hacks; he showed up in so many Hopalong Cassidy westerns that he was practically a series regular. From 1940's Christmas in July onward, the actor was one of the most ubiquitous members of writer/director Preston Sturges' "stock company." He was at his very best as "The Mister," a vicious chain-gang overseer, in Sturges' Sullivan's Travels, and as the political-machine boss in the director's Hail the Conquering Hero, shining brightly in an extremely lengthy single-take scene with blustery Raymond Walburn. Alan Bridge also essayed amusing characterizations in Sturges' Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1946), Unfaithfully Yours (1948, as the house detective) and the director's final American film, The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1932
In his third Allied Pictures release of 1932, veteran screen cowboy Hoot Gibson played his favorite role, that of a happy-go-lucky rodeo rider. This time, Gibson plays Johnny Ringo, a former lawman turned rodeo champ who returns to the old homestead to find his brother Bud (longtime Gibson protegee Fred Gilman) in trouble with a couple of crooked livestock-brokers cum cattle rustlers (Hooper Atchley and Al Bridge). Pretending to be a bumbling fool -- a favorite Gibson ploy -- "The Hooter" gains access to the villains' lair and is able to rescue a pretty kidnap victim (Doris Hill). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Doris Hill, (more)
Thirteen years after a dinner party where the wealthy host dropped, the thirteen guests are invited to reassemble at the dinner table. First to arrive is Ginger Rogers--who is promptly killed. It turns out that the dead woman was an impostor, hired to impersonate a real guest (Ginger Rogers again). Playboy detective Lyle Talbot is called in to investigate. It seems that the man who died 13 years ago was just about to announce the heir to his fortune, thus all the guests fall under suspicion. The culprit's true identity is hidden by a hood; the culprit's method of murder is a complex electrocution device. In an excitingly staged finale, Ginger is kidnapped by the hooded killer, but is rescued by Lyle Talbot. Made on a shoestring by Monogram Pictures, Thirteenth Guest is a marvelous "old house" mystery, with Ginger Rogers giving her all as the damsel in distress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, (more)
- 1932
Ostensibly based on a story by pulp writer William Colt McDonald, this minor Western, filmed at Lone Pine, CA, starred Lane Chandler, a former Paramount player. Chandler plays Keen Wallace, a wanted outlaw with a price on his head, who returns to the old homestead only to find his father murdered and the killer (Al Bridge), having forged his victim's last will and testament, residing in his place. Outfoxing the local sheriff (Harry Fox), Wallace (aka the Lone Wolf) not only wins the love of the lawman's pretty daughter (Adele Tracy) but also manages to bring the villain to justice and clear his own name. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lane Chandler, Adele Tracy, (more)
- 1932
In his fourth of six inexpensive Westerns for Allied Pictures in 1932, veteran cowboy ace Hoot Gibson played a foreman inheriting his place of employment along with the late owner's daughter (Marion Shilling). She finds him uncouth and not worth her while at first, but hatred of a common enemy, unscrupulous banker Robert Ellis, brings them together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Wales
The second of two projected John Wayne serials produced by genre expert Mascot Pictures, this film used the budget-saving device of having its master criminal wearing variously fiendish rubber masks, offering him the opportunity to resemble every red herring in the large cast. Known only as "The Wrecker" ("That's him, The Wrecker!" people continuously scream throughout the serial), the villain is attempting to sabotage the L. & R. Railroad in order to bolster a competing airline service. Wayne plays a commercial pilot whose father, the railroad's chief engineer (J. Farrell MacDonald), is murdered early on. Shirley Grey, as the daughter of a railroad man falsely accused of sabotage, is the damsel-in-distress (although, despite some poster art, she is never actually tied to the tracks), and Tully Marshall plays the president of the railroad. As Wayne had no drawing power whatsoever in 1932, Marshall, a veteran from the early silent era, was actually given star billing along with Conway Tearle, who portrayed the little seen company lawyer. The Hurricane Express survives in a truncated 70-minute feature version, a screening of which actually feels like watching an entire serial in one sitting. The serial was co-directed by J.P. McGowan, a veteran actor-director who had begun his long love affair with railroad themes directing his then-wife Helen Holmes in The Hazards of Helen (1915). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Also known as From Broadway to Cheyenne, this Rex Bell vehicle is an excellent amalgam of the western and gangster genres. Bell stars as a frontier detective who finds out that the territory has been invaded by a mob of New York gangsters. Displaying their usual strong-arm tactics, the villains set up a protection racket, targeting the local ranchers. But these citified thugs are no match for the tenacious Westerners, and pretty soon it is they who are screaming for help. Some genuinely hilarious comedy relief is provided by George Hayes, still several years removed from his familiar "Gabby" persona. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marceline Day, Matthew Betz, (more)
- 1932
Film editor Lloyd Nosler was afforded his first opportunity to direct with the Tom Tyler western Galloping Thru. Tyler plays a young galoot who returns to his hometown after several years' absence, only to see his father shot down in front of him. The local constabulary doesn't seem to be too anxious to seek out the murderers, so Tyler takes the job on himself. Meanwhile, our hero's sweetheart Betty Mack is slowly being wooed away by Tyler's best friend (some friend!) The action is consistently exciting throughout, especially during the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Mack, Al Bridge, (more)
- 1932
"Klopstokia: A Far-Away Country. Chief Exports: Goats and Nuts. Chief Imports: Goats and Nuts. Chief Inhabitants: Goats and Nuts." This introductory title ushers in Million Dollar Legs, one of the zaniest comedies ever to emerge from a major studio. W.C. Fields stars as the president of Klopstokia, who will hold on to his office so long as he can best the secretary of the treasury (Hugh Herbert) in their daily arm-wrestling contests. Like most of the Depression-era world, Klopstokia is broke, forcing the government to take drastic measures to raise money. Fortunately, everyone in the country is a super-athlete, inspiring visiting Fuller Brush salesman Migg Tweeney (Jack Oakie) to come up with a brilliant idea: Klopstokia will enter the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Alas, the subversive cabinet members, hoping to overthrow the president, plot to undermine the Klopstokian athletic team with the aid of sexy seductress Mata Machree (Lyda Roberti), "the woman no man can resist." Words can hardly describe the nonstop parade of gags and verbal insanity in Million Dollar Legs: Ben Turpin, playing a cloaked-and-caped spy, pops in and out with neither rhyme nor reason; the conspirators' outdoor hideout is incongruously equipped with hydraulic lifts and elevators; Mata Machree's butler informs the villains that "Madame can only be resisted from 2 to 4,"; and, when asked why all the Klopstokian men are named George and the women named Angela, the president's daughter (Susan Fleming, later the wife of Harpo Marx), replies "Why not?" then launches into the national anthem -- a double-talk version of "One Hour With You." Among the writers were Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Henry Myers, who were also responsible for the wacky Wheeler andWoolsey political satire Diplomaniacs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, W.C. Fields, (more)
- 1931
Produced by Trem Carr, this enjoyable B-Western featured the strapping Tom Tyler, a cowboy performer who historically worked well with children. The child in this case was freckled Andy Shuford, a tough little boy rider. Little orphaned Sandy is adopted by a reformed outlaw (Tyler, of course), but when the townsfolk discover Tyler's true identity they conspire to take the tyke away from him. The express office is robbed and Tyler is the obvious suspect. He is provided with a seemingly airtight alibi by the kid, who swears to have seen two of Tyler's enemies commit the crime. After the real culprits have been apprehended, young Sandy confesses that he never really saw anything but only "guessed correctly." Although based on an original screenplay by Wellyn Totman, Rider of the Plains bore a certain resemblance to the same year's The Sheriff's Secret, a Robert J. Horner misfire starring Jack Perrin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Andy Shuford, (more)
- 1931
Although dismissed in its day as just another cheap Western, God's Country and the Man proves to be a surprisingly well-made sagebrush thriller, whose fiddling master villain, Al Bridge, is a revelation. Bridge, who co-wrote the scenario with director J.P. McCarthy and Wellyn Totman, plays Livermore, the gun-running boss of De Vina, a border town inhabited by cutthroats. Strapping Tom Tyler, as Texas lawman Tex Malone, arrives in Da Vina with his latest bounty, Irish-brogued Stingaree Kelly (George Hayes, long before he earned the nickname "Gabby"), there to infiltrate Livermore's gang of smugglers. Malone, using the alias of Steve Rollins, falls for the villain's French mistress, Rose (Betty Mack), and together they set a trap for the bandits. Rose proves to be yet another investigator in disguise -- and not French at all -- and in the final shootout, Stingaree Kelly sacrifices himself so that she and Malone can plan a future together. The surprising demise of the comic relief, and a boss villain who initiates every one of his crimes by playing a sad dirge on his fiddle, are just a few of this strange Western's many breaks with tradition. Produced by Trem Carr for the low-rent Syndicate Pictures Corp., God's Country and the Man remains a startling, well-acted example of a near-Gothic B-Western. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Betty Mack, (more)
- 1931
Bob Steele's first Western of 1931, The Ridin' Fool presented the bantamweight star as Steve Kendall, a young cowboy saving gambler Boston Harry (Ted Adams) from being hanged by a group of vigilantes who accuse him of having killed Jim Beckworth. The fugitives hide out at Juanita's hacienda and while their mercenary hostess (Jacqueline Velez) decides how to best fleece her guests, the posse arrives. Escaping once again, the two friends end up at Poker City, where they become rivals for the attention of pretty Sally Warren (Frances Morris). Never able to stay out of trouble for long, both are soon arrested for a crime actually committed by Nikkos (Al Bridges) and Sally's no-good brother Bud (Eddie Fetherston). Sally, however, helps our heroes escape, and during the ensuing shootout, a mortally wounded Bud confesses to the killing of Beckwith, thus vindicating Boston Harry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
