Cy Feuer Movies
New York-born Cy Feuer has enjoyed a multi-tiered career in music and movies, as a composer and department head at Republic Pictures during the 1930s and '40s and as a stage and screen producer from the '50s through the '70s. A student at the Juilliard School of Music, Feuer played trumpet in the Radio City Music Hall orchestra and the Roxy Theater orchestra (in the days when such theater orchestras were a major part of entertainment) during the '30s. He headed to California at the end of the decade and joined the music department at Republic Pictures in 1938. Starting with the serial Fighting Devil Dogs (one of the greatest chapterplays ever produced), Feuer was the music director for upwards of 125 movies over the next decade, with a three-year interruption (1942-1945) during which he served in the military in World War II. His work as a composer (usually uncredited) also turned up in some 90 feature films and serial releases during this period, including The Adventures of Captain Marvel and Drums of Fu Manchu; some of his music was also later tracked into The Lone Ranger television series. In 1947, Feuer left the studio and headed back to New York, where he became a producer on the Broadway stage. Apart from a short period working on the radio series Escape, his composing credits more or less disappeared in subsequent years, but Feuer was responsible for bringing such musical successes as Frank Loesser's Where's Charley (which he also later produced for the screen), Guys and Dolls, Cole Porter's Can-Can and Silk Stockings, and Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to the stage, all of which were later adapted into hit motion pictures. Feuer's crowning triumph, however, was the film of Cabaret (1972), which he produced; it became the biggest success of his career, earning tens of millions of dollars and eight Academy Awards. He was also later involved with bringing A Chorus Line to the screen. In 1996, Feuer's early career as a film composer was recalled in a series of CD releases by the CinemaSound Orchestra devoted to Republic's music, issued on the Varese Sarabande label. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Broadway's celebratory musical about rejection makes it to the screen in a fizzless adaptation by Richard Attenborough that misses the whole point of the Broadway show -- i.e. the dancing and the dancers. Instead, the dancers become a limp Greek chorus for the dead love affair between a choreographer, Zach (a pre-Gordon Gekko Michael Douglas) and his old flame, Cassie (Alyson Reed) the star dancer. Zach is holding try-outs for a new Broadway musical and, as armies of dancers are brought on stage to audition for Zach, he sits in the darkened recesses of the theater, puffing on a cigarette, as he winnows out hopeful dancers who want to become part of the chorus line for Zach's new show. Finally, Zach has reduced the dancers to 16 men and women, and he asks each of them to step to the footlights and tell him about their lives and their dreams. But backstage, while the dancers are confessing their pasts to Zach, Zach's past walks through the stage door. Cassie, Zach's ex-lover, whom Zach met, courted and broke up with in the theatrical environs, has returned. Once a big star, Cassie has returned to the theater -- not to see Zach but to audition for Zach's musical. She needs the work. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Terrence Mann, (more)
- 1941
Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee). Man Betrayed can be viewed from the vantage point of the 1990s as an attempt by Republic Pictures to broaden the range of its biggest star, John Wayne. That it doesn't quite work is forgotten as the audience luxuriates in the sheer professionalism of the whole endeavor--and besides, the Duke does get to put up his dukes on more than one occasion. Man Betrayed has been released under two alternate titles: Wheel of Fortune for American television, and Citadel of Crime (coincidentally the title of a like-vintage Republic "B" picture) for British audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1942
In this mystery, a married pair of sleuths enjoy solving the cases that stump the cops. The husband uses his popular radio show to solve the crimes; this does not endear him to the police. The pair end up being chased by the cops after they go to a friend's apartment and find the occupant slain. During their flight, the two bicker a bit and go to find the real culprit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Howard, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
One of John Wayne's most mystical films, Angel and the Badman is also the first production that Wayne personally produced. The star plays a wounded outlaw who is sheltered by a Quaker family. Attracted to the family's angelic daughter Gail Russell, the hard-bitten Wayne undergoes a slow and subtle character transformation; still, he is obsessed with killing the man (Bruce Cabot) who murdered his foster father. The storyline traces not only the regeneration of Wayne, but of the single-minded sheriff (Harry Carey) who'd previously been determined to bring Wayne to justice. Not a big hit in 1947, Angel and the Badman has since become the most frequently telecast of John Wayne's Republic films, thanks to its lapse into Public Domain status in 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Joan Barton, (more)
- 1941
The down-home Weaver family stars in this countrified drama set in Peaceful Valley where if things went any slower they'd be going backwards. Things pick up a bit when someone steals $50 from a widow. The townsfolk are outraged and Judge Weaver finds himself accusing the widow's cleaning lady of the crime. Unfortunately, the judge is very wrong. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, (more)
A mystery man works behind the scenes in this tuneful Roy Rogers western in which the local theatre owner attempts to ruin the honest businessmen of Deadwood. Even the sheriff, Jordan (Monte Blue), answers to nasty Jake Marvel (Ralf Harolde), whose reign of terror forces the decent people to become outlaws themselves. Enter Bill Brady, aka Brett Starr (Rogers), a sharpshooter with Professor Mortimer "Gabby" Blackstone's (George "Gabby" Hayes) traveling medicine show. Although a fugitive from justice, Bill comes to the aid of the beleaguered citizens, discovering along the way that a trusted friend isn't quite who he claims to be. Roy sings his own and Fred Rose's "Sundown on the Rangeland", Rose and Ray Whitley's "The call of the Dusty Trail" and Jule Styne and Sol Meyer's "Joe O'Grady". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1940
Little Mary Lee, Republic's 1940 answer to Shirley Temple, stars in the bucolic musical comedy Barnyard Follies. Essentially a feature-length endorsement of the 4-H clubs of America, the story concerns a group of wrong-headed provincials, headed by vain Mrs. Uppington (Isabel Randolph) of Fibber McGee and Molly radio fame, who try to block the establishment of a 4-H project in their rural community. In order to raise the $5000 necessary to keep the project alive, cutesy radio personality Bubbles Martin (Lee) stages a benefit. Among the featured acts is Rufe Davis, who offers his repetoire of funny animal sounds. Also on hand are such country-western favorites as Harry "Pappy" Cheshire, the Kidoodlers, and the Cackle Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Lee, Rufe Davis, (more)
- 1940
As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter with a penchant for sticking his neck out too far. Frank Albertson costars as a cub reporter fresh out of journalism school, whose presence is resented by Nolan and his fellow workers. But it is Albertson who, after running afoul of the law, is instrumental in breaking up a ring of racketeers. Behind the News was remade by Republic as Headline Hunters (55). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Nolan, Doris Davenport, (more)
- 1940
Unrelated to Monogram's series of "Bowery Boys" B pictures, Republic's Bowery Boy stars Dennis O'Keefe as a crusading slum doctor. Actually, O'Keefe doesn't play the title character: that honor goes to Jimmy Lydon, a tough street kid who tries to block the plans made by O'Keefe and nurse Louise Campbell to build a health clinic. But when mobster Roger Pryor sells tainted meat that results in an outbreak of botulism, Lydon becomes O'Keefe's biggest booster. Also in the cast is Jimmy Lydon's younger brother Ormund, who plays...Jimmy Lydon's younger brother. Bowery Boy served as the directorial debut of former film editor William Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Louise Campbell, (more)
Originally a 1966 Broadway musical, this groundbreaking Bob Fosse musical was in turn based on Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, previously dramatized for stage and screen as I Am a Camera with Julie Harris as Sally Bowles. Fosse uses the decadent and vulgar cabaret as a mirror image of German society sliding toward the Nazis, and this intertwining of entertainment with social history marked a new step forward for the movie musical. Michael York plays a British writer who comes to Berlin in the early 1930s in hopes of becoming a teacher. He makes the acquaintance of flamboyant American entertainer Sally Bowles, played by Liza Minnelli. Sally works at the Kit Kat Klub, a George Grosz-like Berlin cabaret where each night the smirking, androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces a jazz-driven "girlie show" to his debauched audience. Virtually all the film's musical numbers are staged within the confines of the Kit Kat Klub, and each song comments on the plot and on Germany's "progression" from hedonism to Hitlerism. Most of the Broadway score by John Kander and Fred Ebb was retained, with the welcome addition of "The Money Song." Although it lost Best Picture to The Godfather, Cabaret won eight Oscars, including awards to Minnelli, Grey, and Fosse. A heavily expurgated 88-minute version of Cabaret has been prepared for commercial TV presentations, regarded by many as dramatically inferior to the full cut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Michael York, (more)
- 1947
In this Republic musical, all heck breaks loose when the girlfriend of an aspiring composer becomes a model for the starving artist who lives next door. The story takes place at the turn of the 19th century and is set in Miss Rich's boardinghouse, the temporary home of many young artists and performers hoping to make it big in New York. Songs include "Have I Told You Lately?" and "A Bluebird Is Singing to Me." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Arnt, Jane Frazee, (more)
- 1939
In this patriotic spy adventure, a young gangster joins an enemy espionage agency and agrees to enlist in the Marine Corps so he can pilfer the plans for a newly developed aerial torpedo. To get in, the crook steals an innocent young man's papers and forges them for himself. Later, he gets his chance and nabs the plans. Unfortunately, the man whom he pretends to be finds out and gets the crook tossed into jail. Later the enemy agents help him escape. But by this time, the gangster has decided not to betray his beloved country. He puts up a fight and manages to flee the spies and return to the Marines where he works to bring the enemies to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Helen Mack, (more)
- 1940
Brothers end up on opposite sides of the law in this Western set during the Civil War. Posing as a Union officer, Don Mason, aka Don Burke (Milburn Stone), attempts to divert the Union troops from the struggle with the Confederacy by arming the Colorado Indian tribes. Unbeknownst to Don, however, his younger brother Jerry (Roy Rogers) is assigned by President Lincoln to investigate the uprisings in the territory and the youngster arrives just as Don is preparing to marry Lylah Sanford (Pauline Moore). With the aid of grizzled sidekick Gabby (George "Gabby" Hayes), Roy manages to disarm the crooked Indian commissioner (Arthur Loft) but Don slips away with Lylah as his hostage. Roy is wounded in the ensuing shootout and is nursed back to health by Lylah, with whom he has fallen in love. There is the inevitable showdown between the brothers but rather than face the hangman, Don makes a daring escape and is shot and killed by Sheriff Harkins (Fred Burns). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1938
This Roy Rogers musical western (his second starring vehicle for Republic) concerns itself with a group of Texas Rangers, forced to disband when Texas is admitted the Union. The state brings in members of the U.S. Cavalry to provide law enforcement in the Rangers' stead, yet the Cavalry officers become hopelessly confused and muddled -- not only from their ignorance of the territory, but by the guerilla tactics of Texas bandits and local political corruption. When ex-ranger Rogers's brother is killed, he recognizes that the Cavalry will not be able to respond with proper force, and asks his fellow ex-rangers to take up arms in vengeance. The film co-stars Mary Hart, Raymond Hatton, J. Farrell MacDonald and Purnell Pratt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, Mary Hart, (more)
- 1941
Republic Pictures obviously hoped to build vaudevillian Eddie Foy Jr. into a major screen comedian, as witness such efforts as Country Fair. Foy plays Johnny Campbell, glib campaign manager for gubenatorial candidate Stogie McPhee (William Demarest). Having impulsively promised Johnny that she'll marry him if McPhee wins, heroine Pepper Wilson (June Clyde) begins canvassing the voters on behalf of rival candidate Gildersleeve (played by Harold Peary, who'd created "Gildy" on radio's Fibber McGee and Molly). But the race is won by a dark horse, blacksmith Gunther Potts (Guinn Williams), who single-handedly cleans out the corrupt element in the local government. Where this leaves Johnny and Pepper is a problem solved in the final footage. In addition to Harold "Great Gildersleeve" Peary, Country Fair spotlights such radio favorites as Lulubelle and Scotty, the Vass Family and the Simp Phonies. There's also an appearance by someone named Whitey Ford, though chances are it may not be the hall of fame New York Yanee pitcher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Foy, Jr., June Clyde, (more)
- 1940
Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" western series hopscotched all over the calendar, with some entries taking place in the present, others in the far-distant past. As indicated by its title, Covered Wagon Days is a period piece, with heroes Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton) and Rico Rinaldo (Duncan Renaldo) riding into a silver mining camp. The villains keep busy by smuggling the valuable ore across the border, and to add insult to injury have framed Rico's brother Carlos (Paul Marion) on a murder charge. This time it takes only 56 minutes for the Mesquiteers to rout the villains and allow justice to triumph. As always, Covered Wagon Days is enhanced by excellent production values, thoroughly transcending the film's pinchpenny budget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Raymond Hatton, (more)
Donald Barry plays the legendary outlaw of the title in this Roy Rogers Western which, needless to say, plays fast and loose with history. Returning to Missouri from the gold fields of California, Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes) is persuaded by his granddaughter, Mary (Pauline Moore), to deposit his earnings in the Northfield bank, which is then promptly robbed. Assigned by the Bankers' Association to track down the presumed culprits, Jesse James and his brother Frank (Harry Worth), Roy Rogers soon learns that the Jameses are innocent in this particular crime, which was instead committed by the bank's greedy president, Sam Wyatt (Arthur Loft). Before Rogers can capture the wily banker, he must contend with the interference of Captain Worthington (Harry Woods), a railroad detective more interested in pocketing the 50,000-dollar reward than see justice done. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1941
Produced and directed by George Sherman, Death Valley Outlaws starred James Cagney-lookalike Donald Barry as Johnny Edwards, a cowboy saving lovely Carolyn Johnson (Lynn Merrick) from a gang of vigilante raiders. When his friend, Bill Weston (Michael Owen), becomes the next target of the vigilante gang, Jim promises the dying boy to avenge him. He does so by infiltrating the gang disguised as an outlaw, learning along the way that the leader is bank president Charles Gifford (Karl Hackett). The latter's right-hand man, Jeff Edwards (Milburn Stone), is Johnny's long-lost brother, but the undercover cowboy can only watch as Jeff is mortally wounded by his boss. Enraged, Johnny rushes to the bank where Gifford and the crooked sheriff (Rex Lease) are in the midst of robbing the store, so to speak. Alerted by local veterinarian Doc Blake (Robert McKenzie) and his African-American servant, Snowflake (Fred Toones), the angry citizenry help Johnny round up the gang. A former producer/director/actor from the silent era, rotund and jovial Robert McKenzie was given several good opportunities to shine in the Red Barry series, which was otherwise without a continuing comic sidekick. Less appealing were several appearances by Toones, who in Death Valley Outlaws was treated more or less in the same vein as Barry's horse, Cyclone, and dog Duke. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1941
Bantam-weight western star Don "Red" Barry certainly deserved his designation as "The Cowboy Cagney" in Republic's Desert Bandit. Barry is cast as two-fisted Texas Ranger Bob Crandall, who after being dishonorably discharged heads to the Mexican border to start life anew. He falls in with a gang of gun runners, headed by corrupt lawman Largo (William Haade). It turns out, of course, that Crandall's "disgrace" was merely a ruse to allow him to work undercover in bringing Largo and his minions to justice. More realistic than most Republic B oaters, Desert Bandit is climaxed by a tension-filled shootout between hero and villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, (more)
- 1941
In this medical melodrama, a young MD finds himself in love with a woman who doesn't love him. She is interested in an older, more sophisticated doctor. After she discovers that the older medic has a sleazy side, she decides to go for the younger doctor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
The cornpone comedy of the Weaver Brothers & Elviry permeates this ramshackle Republic musical. The plot gets under way when the government tries to buy up some of the Weavers' property for a dam project. The hillbilly family wants nothing to do with the "furriners", but eventually they change their minds when construction engineer John (Ralph Byrd) falls in love with the Weavers' pretty daughter Mary (June Storey). Featured as John's sidekick is bespectacled crooner Pinky Tomlin, whose principal vocal contribution is a musical nursery rhyme. Down in Arkansaw wasn't aimed at the New York intelligentsia: its target audience was rural, and by delivering exactly what its fans wanted the film succeeded spectacluarly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, (more)
- 1947
Allan Dwan directs the family-oriented drama Driftwood, starring nine-year-old Natalie Wood. Orphan Jenny Hollingsworth (Wood) is found in a rural small town in Nevada that is ravaged by Rocky Mountain fever. She meets the local doctor, Steve Webster (Dean Jagger), who is working on a research project. Steve plans on leaving the girl with his girlfriend, Susan Moore (Ruth Warrick), while he goes to San Francisco to do research. However, enny's dog attacks a little boy and gets taken away by Sheriff Bolton (James Bell). Jenny develops Rocky Mountain fever from the dog and gets deathly ill. Also starring Walter Brennan as Murph, Charlotte Greenwood as Mathilda, and Jerome Cowan as Mayor Snyder. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Brennan, James Bell, (more)
Every time that sinister Oriental megalomaniac Dr. Fu Manchu is ready to kill, sounds of strange drums can be heard coming from -- well, nowhere really. In 1939, Republic Pictures purchased the rights to the first six of British pulp fiction writer Sax Rohmer's popular "Fu Manchu" stories. The result became the studio's second longest action serial and one of its most enduringly popular. The head of a sinister conglomeration known as the Si-Fan, Dr. Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon) goes in search of the Sacred Scepter of Genghis Khan, with which he hopes to rule all the tribes of the Orient and evict the foreign infidels. Helping the good doctor is Fah-Lo-Suee (Gloria Franklin), his Eurasian daughter, and a seemingly unlimited supply of Dacoits, henchmen turned into slaves by having undergone frontal lobotomies. Dr. Fu Manchu is, as always, opposed by Sir Neyland Smith (William Royle) of the British Foreign Office. This time, however, Sir Neyland is not only aided by his very own "Dr. Watson," Dr. Petrie (Olaf Hytten), but also by a young American, Allan Parker (Robert Kellard), whose father (George Cleveland) had become yet another of Fu Manchu's many victims. Complicating the search is the attractive presence of Mary Randolph (Luana Walters) who, like most of her ilk, has a tendency to get herself into serious trouble at the most inopportune moments. Although the Oriental fiend appears all-powerful at times, Sir Neyland and his friends once again save the free world from enslavement -- although it takes them 15 chapters to do so. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Brandon, William Royle, (more)
- 1946
Though Republic had decided to forego plans for an annual film edition of Earl Carroll's Vanities, their reciprocal deal with the Broadway impresario was still very much in effect in 1946: Hence the creation of the musical extravaganza Earl Carroll Sketchbook. The highly forgettable plot involves a serious composer named Tyler Brice (William Marshall) who "sells out" to write radio commercials. Artistically redeemed by heroine Pamela Thayer (Constance Moore), Brice decides to lend his talents-both as composer and singer-to producer Earl Carroll's newest nightclub revue (Richard Lane plays the Carroll character, here named Richard Starling). The Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn tunes are hardly classics, though "I've Never Forgotten" has possibilities. The film also revives Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler's "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues", first introduced in the 1932 edition of Vanities. TV prints of Earl Carroll's Sketchbook have been retitled Hats Off to Rhythm ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Moore, William Marshall, (more)
- 1940
Earl of Puddlestone was released minus a director credit out of respect for megger Gus Meins, who committed suicide shortly after its completion. This latest entry in Republic's "Higgins Family" series once more stars James Gleason, his wife Lucille and his son Russell as Joe, Lil and Sidney Higgins. Thanks to a joke perpetrated by Grandpa Higgins (Harry Davenport), poor Joe finds himself posing as one Henry Potter-Potter, aka the Earl of Puddlestone. He manages to successfully pull off the ruse until the real Potter-Potter (William Halligan) arrives on the scene, leading to a hectic finale. The role of Higgins daughter Betty, played by a variety of actresses in the past (including Russell Gleason's wife Shirley Deane), is herein portrayed by Lois Ranson, a singer-dancer whom Republic was hoping to groom for stardom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Lucille Gleason, (more)
