Will Cowan Movies

The Swing era conjures up images of sophisticated ladies, debonair gentlemen, and the big bands who entertained them with a certain élan. This program is the third volume in a series that captures that elegant era on film, with a look at the big bands. This episode features Gene Krupa, the Glenn Miller Band, the Ink Spots, and the Count Basie Orchestra. The viewer can enjoy 19 numbers, such as "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Red Bank Boogie," and "If I Didn't Care." Archival clips, photographs, and personal recollections of performers and fans recall the charm of this great time in American music. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

The Swing era conjures up images of sophisticated ladies, debonair gentlemen, and the big bands who entertained them with a certain élan. This program is the fourth volume in a series that captures that elegant era on film, with a look at the big bands. In this episode, the sounds of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Louis Prima, Buddy Rich, and Tex Beneke fill the airways. "Satin Doll," "Sophisticated Lady," and "That Old Black Magic" are among the many tunes presented in their entirety. Archival clips, photographs, and personal recollections of performers and fans recall the charm of this exuberant time in American music. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

A young woman plays with a divining rod and ends up finding much more than water in this horror movie. Instead of the desired liquid, the woman finds a 400-year-old human head, and it is still alive. The horrific creature, seeing that the woman is properly innocent, hypnotizes her into looking for the rest of his body. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Universal B-musical casts Desi Arnaz as himself: a Cuban bandleader making it big in the United States. Shawnee (Joan Fulton) schemes to draw Arnaz from his homeland and transform the Havana musician into a star in New York City by having him perform on a successful radio show. Adding urgency to her efforts is the show's sponsor, who threatens to pull out if Arnaz doesn't play. Her efforts prove ineffective until she gets support from Arnaz's beloved niece, who persuades him that the gig is worth taking. Songs include "El Cumbanchero" and "Rhumba Matumba". ~ Nicole Gagne, 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

In this musical, a chorus of convicts conspires to get a paroled crooner chucked back in the clink. Songs include: "Time Will Tell," "Now And Always," "Round The Bend," and "How Lovely." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A strong contender for the title of Universal's worst horror film of the 1940s, Jungle Woman continued the melodramatic exploits of "Ape-Woman" Paula Dupree (Acquanetta from Captive Wild Woman) including seemingly endless "flashback" footage. (Captive, of course, had itself "benefitted" from plenty of stock footage courtesy of the studio's 1933 Clyde Beatty film, The Big Cage.) Poor Dupree is found roaming an all-too familiar back lot jungle and is once again captured by a scientist (J. Carrol Naish), who proceeds to torment the girl to death. At his trial, Dr. Carl Fletcher is acquitted when he proves that the girl was not only more simian than human, but jealously stalked the good doctor's lovely daughter (Lois Collier). Fletcher is acquitted after an excursion to the morgue, where the body of Dupree has indeed transformed into that of an "Ape Woman." The film's odorous repute, even among the most ardent Z-movie apologists, stems mainly from its overuse of stock footage and some notoriously rotten acting. The studio's "Scream Queen," first-billed Evelyn Ankers, basically walked through her repeating role as Beth Mason and the film's only comedy relief was provided by the patently unfunny Edward M. Hyans, Jr., whose eventual demise thus came as a true relief. Worst of all, Irish-American character actor J. Carrol Naish, who was between Academy Award-nominated performances in Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), delivered perhaps the only bad performance of his long career as the not-so-mad doctor. Acquanetta (né Mildred Davenport), a former fashion model claiming to be the result of a liaison between an Arapaho princess and British royalty, was allowed to speak this time around, a fact which hasn't exactly enhanced the film's reputation either. Starlet Julie London was lucky; her small role as one of Lois Collier's friends landed on the cutting-room floor. The third and final installment in Universal's "Paula, the Ape Woman" trilogy, The Jungle Captive (1945), replaced Acquanetta (who had become a "goodwill ambassador" to South America for President Roosevelt) with 18-year-old starlet Vicky Lane. The series' strongest critic at the time, John T. McManus, actually took Universal to task for spreading "Nazi propaganda" through the work of legendary make-up artist Jack Pierce. "In Mein Kampf," McManus wrote, "Hitler calls the Negro a 'half-born ape.' Jungle Woman illustrates the point, changing a Hollywood glamor girl into an ape and vice versa with the Negro stage inserted right where Hitler says...Apparently it is to be an annual outrage unless somebody passes a law against propounding Nazi race theories in America." Still much debated today, Jungle Woman has a certain notoriety for modern audiences. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The third installment in Universal's low-budget "Inner Sanctum" mysteries, Dead Man's Eyes promises a great deal more than screenwriter Dwight W. Babcock can deliver. Lon Chaney Jr. stars as Dave Stuart, a struggling artist promising his fiancée Heather Hayden (Jean Peters) that he will marry her as soon as he finishes a portrait of beautiful Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta). The jealous Tanya causes Dave to have an accident that blinds him. According to eye specialist Dr. Sam Welles (Jonathan Hale), Dave's sight can only be restored by a cornea transplant and Heather's father, "Dad" Hayden (Edward Fielding), promptly wills the unfortunate young man his own eyes. When Dad is found killed, Dave becomes the obvious suspect but Welles nevertheless goes ahead with the operation. Tanya, meanwhile, has her suspicions about the identity of the killer, but before she can reveal the name to Heather, she, too, is killed. Although the operation seems at first to have been a failure, Dave regains his sight just in time to unmask the killer, who is made to confess. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A group of opportunistic gold diggers con an aging millionaire playboy into investing in a night club in this musical comedy. The trouble begins when the millionaire's daughter shows up to stop them from stealing all his assets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Stagecoach Buckaroo was Johnny Mack Brown's final Universal western of the 1941-42 season. A gang of holdup men has been plaguing the stagecoach line run by Denton (Henry Hall), the father of heroine Molly (Nell O'Day). Hoping to flush out the crooks, hero Steve (Johnny Mack Brown) rides shotgun on the next stage run, with his sidekick Clem (Fuzzy Knight) sitting inside the coach disguised as a female passenger! Clem's "drag" routine is played for as many laughs as it can get, then the film hunkers down to the business at hand-namely, gunfire and fisticuffs. Despite a short 58-minute running time, Stagecoach Buckaroo is able to accommodate four song numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rawhide Rangers is a satisfyingly equitable blend of western action, music and comedy relief. The villains are a group of frontier businessmen who set up a "protective" organization for the purpose of extorting money from the local ranchers. Enter hero Johnny Mack Brown, who has arrived in town to avenge the death of his brother. In short order, Brown deduces that the crooked businessmen were also responsible for his brother's murder, and then all heck breaks loose. Nell O'Day, one of the best horsewomen in Hollywood, is cast as the film's eminently self-reliant heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown launched his third season at Universal with the above-average entry The Masked Rider. Moseying into a sleepy South American town in search of jobs, Larry (Brown) and his pal Patches (Fuzzy Knight) are hired by a local mining concern. Our heroes soon discover that the mine's silver shipments are being plundered by a mysterious Masked Rider, who has recently added murder to his itinerary. Larry and Patches vow to expose the Rider's true identity and to stem his crime spree once and for all. Plot and action in The Masked Rider come to an abrupt half at the film's halway point, the better to spotlight the musical contributions of the Guadalajara Trio and the Jose Cansino Dancers; fortunately, this scene is entertaining enough to keep the fans happy while awaiting the next burst of action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Mack Brown saves the day in the Universal western programmer Law of the Range. Finding himself in the middle of a family feud, Brown endeavors to unruffle the combatants' feathers for the sake of leading lady Nell O'Day. He proves that there's nothing for the families to fight over when he corrals the instigator of the feud, "outsider" Alan Bridge. Brown wields his six-shooters, Ms. O'Day displays some fancy riding and roping skills, Riley Hill (billed as Roy Harris) makes an impressively nasty screen debut, and comic relief Raymond Hatton provides...comic relief. Law of the Range is a remake of the 1935 Buck Jones vehicle The Ivory-Handled Gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide