Douglas Fowley Movies
Born and raised in the Greenwich Village section of New York, Douglas Fowley did his first acting while attending St. Francis Xavier Military Academy. A stage actor and night club singer/dancer during the regular theatrical seasons, Fowley took such jobs as athletic coach and shipping clerk during summer layoff. He made his first film, The Mad Game, in 1933. Thanks to his somewhat foreboding facial features, Fowley was usually cast as a gangster, especially in the Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto and Laurel and Hardy "B" films churned out by 20th Century-Fox in the late 1930s and early 1940s. One of his few romantic leading roles could be found in the 1942 Hal Roach "streamliner" The Devil with Hitler. While at MGM in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Fowley essayed many roles both large and small, the best of which was the terminally neurotic movie director in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Fowley actually did sit in the director's chair for one best-forgotten programmer, 1960's Macumba Love, which he also produced. On television, Fowley made sporadic appearances as Doc Holliday in the weekly series Wyatt Earp (1955-61). In the mid-1960s, Fowley grew his whiskers long and switched to portraying Gabby Hayes-style old codgers in TV shows like Pistols and Petticoats and Detective School: One Flight Up, and movies like Homebodies (1974) and North Avenue Irregulars (1979); during this period, the actor changed his on-screen billing to Douglas V. Fowley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1936
Hoping to prove to her insurance-investigator uncle that she's a good detective in her own right, Jane Martin (Claire Trevor) pretends to be a jewel thief so that she can infiltrate a criminal gang. She quickly ingratiates herself with suave but deadly crook Frank Peyton (Cesar Romero), and before long Jane herself is in charge of the gang! Once Peyton begins to suspect that Jane has ulterior motives, he does his best to trip her up, even committing a murder in her presence, but she manages to keep up her facade long enough to enable detective Walsh (Lloyd Nolan) to round up the criminals. Despite the cold-blooded nature of his character, Frank Peyton emerges as the most appealing character in the picture; also, while Peyton enjoys a brief onscreen romance with the heroine, nothing of a similar nature develops between Jane and nominal hero Walsh. In short, 15 Maiden Lane is not your average "B"-grade crime meller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Cesar Romero, (more)
- 1940
As indicated by the title, 20 Mule Team is all about pioneering borax miners in territorial Arizona. Wallace Beery goes through his usual paces as Skinner Bill Bragg, a fugitive from justice who forms an uneasy alliance with slick outlaw Stag Roper (Douglas Fowley). The two scoundrels plot to jump a valuable borax claim in Death Valley, but Bragg changes his minds when Roper begins to have unsavory designs on virginal heroine Jean Johnson (Anne Baxter, in her film debut). Ever on the prowl for a new Wallace Beery-Marie Dressler screen team, MGM pairs up Beery with Marjorie Rambeau this time out, with mixed results. 20 Mule Team was originally released in Sepiatone, a tinting process MGM had previously utilized in the "Kansas" scenes of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1962
Based on the book Heidi, by Johanna Spyri, this children's film follows the beloved Heidi as her birthday gifts teach her some important lessons. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1953
"Slight" is right: this harmless comedy programmer is as inconsequential as it is enjoyable. It's the tale of two Army buddies: go-getter Geechy Cheevers (Mickey Rooney) and sedate family man Freddie Clopp (Eddie Bracken). Inveigling his way into Freddie's household, Geechy drives everyone bonkers with his get-rich-quick schemes. After convincing Freddie to quit his job and mortgage his home in order to set up a gas station, Geechy cooks up an underhanded scheme to tap the gas pipe of a rival station. Standing on the sidelines is Geechy's long-suffering girlfriend Beverly (Elaine Stewart) and Freddy's far-from-understanding wife Emily (Marilyn Erskine). An obligatory slapstick chase finale caps this exercise in lunacy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Eddie Bracken, (more)
- 1951
Clark Gable is the largely nonheroic hero of the sprawling western Across the Wide Missouri. A cunning trapper who lives purely by his wits, Gable avoids being scalped by the Blackfoot Indians by marrying Maria Elena Marques, the chief's daughter. This marriage of convenience also allows Gable to trap to his heart's content in Blackfoot territory. After bearing a child, Marques is killed by a warring tribe; the opportunistic Gable at first considers abandoning the child, but at long last does right by the boy. Adolphe Menjou steals the show as an eternally inebriated French trapper, while Ricardo Montalban and J. Carroll Naish are convincing (and noncondescending) in their Native American characterizations. Evidently, Across the Wide Missouri tested poorly when it was first previewed: the final release version runs a surprisingly brief 78 minutes, with narrator Howard Keel (who otherwise does not appear) filling in the continuity gaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, (more)
His Aunt Sophie (Helen Westley) and his teacher Professor Heinrich (Jean Hersholt) are sure that Roger Grant (Tyrone Power) will be a famous classical violinist, but Roger's more interested in popular music. He and his friend, pianist Charlie (Don Ameche), audition at a saloon in San Francisco's Barbary Coast, using sheet music left by singer Stella Kirby (Alice Faye), which had been sent to her by a friend in New York, Irving Berlin. The number, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," proves to be a sensation, and Stella goes along with Charlie's plea to sing with the band, which soon becomes famous for its ragtime numbers. Charlie has fallen in love with Stella by the time they open at the Cliff House, but he soon realizes that she and Roger are in love. Stella is invited to New York by a famous producer, but Roger's against this, and angrily fires her, so Charlie quits, too. When Roger returns from World War I, he meets Stella, only to learn she and Charlie have been married for a year. Another year passes, and Charlie and Davey have formed a new band with Jerry Allen (Ethel Merman) as their lead singer. Charlie knows Stella still loves Roger, so he divorces her, but Roger sails for Europe with the new band. Back in New York, Roger is set for a major concert in swing at Carnegie Hall. Charlie tells Roger about the divorce, and that Stella still loves him. Unable to get a ticket, Stella listens to the concert in a cab. Explaining that he is playing it for one particular person, Roger and his band perform "Alexander's Ragtime Band" as their encore, bringing Stella into the theater, where she's reconciled with Roger. He brings her onstage to perform the number with his band. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, (more)
A tuneful Roy Rogers Western, Along the Navajo Trail finds Dale Evans' Lazy A Ranch under siege from nasty J. Richard Bentley (Douglas Fowley), who is in cahoots with a greedy oil company aiming to erect a pipeline through the property come what may. Drifter Rogers, who is really a U.S. Marshal in disguise, eventually gets the goods on the villains with the assistance of Nestor Paiva's band of Mexican gypsies, comedy sidekick George "Gabby" Hayes, and vivacious Estelita Rodriguez. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1944
An unofficial remake of the 1935 Alice Faye-George Raft vehicle Every Night at Eight, And the Angels Sing stars Dorothy Lamour as Nancy Angel, unofficial leader of a struggling, Andrews-like singing sister act. Nancy is in love with saxophone player Happy Morgan (Fred MacMurray), self-appointed "protector" of the Angel Sisters. Unfortunately -- and as it turns out, unharmoniously -- Nancy's sister Bobby (Betty Hutton is also ga-ga over Happy, but he barely acknowledges her existence. Meanwhile, the third Angel sister, Josie (Diana Lynn), stands on the sidelines and cracks wise. Before a happy ending can be realized, virtually every person in the cast goes through an extended period of poverty, which at one juncture forces Happy to form a singing-waiter act with his longtime crony Fuzzy Johnson (Eddie Foy Jr.. Although the film's title song is (surprisingly) never performed, And the Angels Sing is otherwise a smorgasbord of typical 1940s tunes, with Betty Hutton taking front and center with her inimitable "scat" renditions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1938
In this sunny western, a mischievous young girl living in the Arizona territory during the 1870s, causes all kinds of trouble while trying to prove that her foster-daddy did not steal a gold shipment. Later, the step-dad, a former outlaw, re-gathers his gang to find the real culprit -- a shady sheriff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Withers, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1950
Some auteur critics feel that director Richard O. Fleischer did his best work while laboring in the "B" mills of RKO Radio. Fleischer's minimalist noir exercise Armored Car Robbery stars William Talman as the chief crook and Charles McGraw as the detective dogging his trail. A shade smarter than his gang underlings, Talman manages to elude capture, and even travels freely about in the company of his flashy lady friend Adele Jergens. But McGraw's persistence eventually pays off. Don McGuire, later a prolific TV producer/director, provides a welcome touch of comic relief as McGraw's rookie-cop assistant. A powerful (and slightly gruesome) climax caps this low-budget gem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1949
Robert Lowery stars in the 65-minute actioner Arson Inc. Lowery plays a fireman in search of a seemingly random arsonist--or arsonists. Putting two and two together, our hero figures out that culprits are a gang of thieves who've been torching businesses to cover up their robberies. Much of the film has a semidocumentary quality, as director William Berke concentrates on the real-life methods and firefighting equipment of the LA Fire Department. Curiously, the film's co-scripter was Arthur Caesar, one of Hollywood's foremost humorists. Trade-shown in May of 1949, Arson Inc. hit the neighborhood theatre screens in June. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Anne Gwynne, (more)
- 1947
This minor 20th Century-Fox B picture received a great deal of TV play in the late 1950s. In a series of flashbacks, the audience learns that attorney John Morland (John Eldredge) has given a lift to a hitchhiker (Douglas Fowley) who turns out to be a murderer. As a result, Morland himself is implicated in a killing. A pair of detectives (Larry Blake and Richard Travis) discover that Morland has been having business problems and no end of difficulties with his wife Catherine (Jean Rogers). The trail of clues leads to a surprising revelation-especially surprising for those filmgoers conditioned to believe that the most obvious suspect is never guilty. Backlash is also available in a computer-colored version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rogers, Larry Blake, (more)
- 1949
Director Kurt Neumann, more closely associated with science fiction and mystery programmers, delivers a powerhouse of a pocket western in Bad Men of Tombstone. Barry Sullivan and Broderick Crawford head the cast as a pair of gunslingers who hold no regrets and evidently harbor no consciences. They ride into a mining camp during the Gold Rush days and set about staking a claim--and woe be unto him who gets in the way. A blood-splattered gunfight is the logical conclusion when the two gunfighters have their final falling out. Screenwriters Philip Yordan and Arthur Strawn clearly hold their leading characters in contempt, but can't help imbuing them with a certain degree of fascination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
- 1956
Bandido is set during the Mexican civil war of 1916. Robert Mitchum stars as a sleepy-eyed soldier of fortune who finds himself in the middle of the fracas. At first refusing to take sides, Mitchum eventually casts his lot with insurrectionist Gilbert Roland. On the opposite side of the fence is gun-runner Zachary Scott, whose attractive wife Ursula Theiss has a yen for Mitchum. Lensed on location in Mexico, Bandido offers little in the way of provocative plotting or clever dialogue, but it definitely delivers the goods so far as action and adventure are concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Ursula Thiess, (more)
- 1943
At 54 minutes, Bar 20 is the shortest of the 1943 quota of Hopalong Cassidy pictures. William Boyd, Andy Clyde and George Reeves return to their series roles as Hopalong Cassidy, California Carson and Lin Bradley. Also on hand for villainous purposes is Victor Jory, who'd menaced Hoppy and his pals in the previous Cassidy flick Colt Comrades. The story concerns a gang of outlaws who've pilfered a cache of jewels in a stagecoach holdup. Unfortunately, they've also stolen Hoppy's cattle money, and that makes him reeeeeal mad. Two echoes from the silent-movie days are present in Bar 20; former leading lady Betty Blythe, and Dustine Farnum, the daughter of the late matinee idol Dustin Farnum and niece of veteran western player William Farnum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Andy Clyde, (more)
This 1962 Biblical epic was adapted by Christopher Fry from the novel by Pär Lagerkvist. Anthony Quinn stars as Barabbas, the thief who was pardoned in place of Jesus. For the rest of his life, the guilt-ridden criminal tries to justify his existence and to determine his place in the scheme of things. Along the way he encounters the self-righteous pomposity of Pontius Pilate (Arthur Kennedy), the stoning of Sara (Katy Jurado), the gladiatorial sadism of Torvald (Jack Palance), and the burning of Rome. The film's unbilled Christ is played by Roy Magnano, the brother of Quinn's second-billed costar Silvia Mangano. Watch for the genuine solar eclipse during the Crucifixion sequence, an effect that director Richard Fleischer spent several days preparing for. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, (more)
Incoming MGM production head Dore Schary ramrodded Battleground into the studio's schedule over the virulent protests of MGM boss Louis Mayer. The result was an award-winning box-office hit, as well as the beginning of the end of Mayer's power. This dramatization of the battles of Bastogne and the Bulge in the waning days of World War II concentrates on a single infantry unit. Van Johnson and John Hodiak are the ostensible stars, but the film is stolen by James Whitmore as the cigar-chomping, battle-stained sergeant. Also appearing is Ian MacDonald as General McAuliffe, whose legendary response to the Nazi's suggestion that the Americans surrender consisted of a single four-letter expletive: "Nuts". Whitmore's final scenes of near-delirium before the relief troops arrive are unforgettable. Battleground tries within MGM limits to be wholly realistic, though it is slightly compromised by the scripters' inability to use Army profanity, and by pointless subplot involving actress Denise Darcel. The film doesn't hold up as well as such wartime efforts as The Story of GI Joe or Walk in the Sun, but in 1949 Battleground was regarded as an important milestone in the field of truthful, de-glamorized combat flicks. Please avoid the colorized version: this is a black-and-white subject if ever there was one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Johnson, John Hodiak, (more)
Behind the locked doors of a mental institution resides crooked politico Judge Drake (Herbert Heyes), free from prosecution so long as he pretends to be crazy. To get the goods on Drake, private detective Ross Stewart (Richard Carlson) has himself committed to the asylum as a patient. Meanwhile, reporter Kathy Lawrence (Lucille Bremer), posing as Stewart's wife, acts as his liaison to the outside world. But when Drake figures out what's going on, he pulls strings to have Stewart meet with an "accident" during his stay at the institution. Ralf Harolde, who memorably portrayed a seedy psychiatrist in Murder My Sweet, contributes another excellent performance in Behind Locked Doors as a sympathetic attendant with Something To Hide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucille Bremer, Richard Carlson, (more)
- 1950
After 12 years and 28 films, Columbia's Blondie series came to a close with 1950's Beware of Blondie. The plot is "business as usual," with Mr. Dithers leaving Dagwood (Arthur Lake) in charge of the office for a short period. Poor old Dag manages to gum things up when he falls for a confidence scam engineered by the duplicitous Toby Clifton (Adele Jergens). He even finds himself in a compromising position that seriously endangers his future connubial happiness with wife Blondie (Penny Singleton). Once again, it's up to Blondie to straighten out the mess. Mr. Dithers is played by an uncredited Edward Earle, who is seen only from the back; Earle's voice is dubbed over with an old recording of Jonathan Hale, the series' original Dithers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1936
Joan Bennett is a manicurist who becomes a newspaper reporter. She joins forces with jaunty detective Cary Grant to get the goods on a particularly vicious insurance racket. Bennett unwittingly puts her life in danger by dating a supposedly above-board socialite (Walter Pidgeon) who is actually the brains behind the criminal operation. Big Brown Eyes is an enigma; every time we think we're in for a screwball comedy, something awful happens to jolt us back to reality. It's hard to lightly dismiss such scenes as the shooting death of a baby in its stroller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1948
Worthless from a historical aspect, Black Bart is nonetheless an enjoyable fabrication about the fabled Western outlaw. Rescued from a "necktie party," outlaws Charles E. Boles (Dan Duryea) and Lance Hardeen (Jeffrey Lynn) decide that it would be best to part as friends and go their separate ways. When next seen, Boles is a prosperous rancher who supplements his income by robbing the Wells Fargo gold shipments under the alias of Black Bart. Upon learning this, Hardeen rides back into Boles' life demanding a piece of the action. Both of the hero-villains are foiled when they succumb to the charms of the bewitching international courtesan Lola Montez (Yvonne DeCarlo). The story is related in flashback-from a jail cell by the outlaws' erstwhile partner Jersey Brady (Percy Kilbride). Obviously forgotten or ignored by the screenwriters was the fact that the actual Black Bart was really black, an ex-slave who "made bad" in the Wild West . Black Bart was remade in 1967 as Ride to Hangman's Tree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, (more)
- 1977
In this Roger Corman production, co-producer Jesse Vint stars as Jingo Johnson, a stuntman who goes to work for a backwater mining company. Jingo unearths a hotbed of corruption, partially orchestrated by redneck sheriff, Grimes (Albert Salmi). The hero and heroine (Karen Carlson) are forced into any number of serial-like perils while eluding the villains. Black Oak Conspiracy is enlivened by the presence of several veteran character players, including Douglas Fowley, Peggy Stewart and Vic Perrin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesse Vint, Karen Carlson, (more)
- 1965
Dancer Barrie Chase, best known for her appearances on the TV specials of Fred Astaire, guest-stars in this Bonanza episode, written by her brother Frank Chase. Hoss Cartwright takes it upon himself to rescue racuous Kellie Conrad (Barrie) from dancing in saloons as her father Ned (Douglas Fowley) fiddles. Thanks to Hoss, Kellie realizes her dream of becoming a prima ballerina, with famed ballet master Paul Mandel (Warren Stevens as her mentor. One of the weaker Bonanza episodes, "The Ballerina" first aired January 24, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1939
There was no getting around the fact that child star Jane Withers was growing up in a hurry by the time she made The Boy Friend. To its credit, Withers' home studio 20th Century-Fox took into consideration the star's blossoming womanhood by allowing her to have her first on-screen romance. The plot concerns the efforts of police officer Jimmy Murphy (Richard Bond) to get the goods on gangster Ed Boyd (Douglas Fowley). To do this, Jimmy pretends to join Boyd's gang, a subterfuge that causes a great deal of grief for his hero-worshipping kid sister Sally (Withers). With the help of her military-school cadet boyfriend Bill Bradley (George Ernest) and dimwitted patrolman Greenberg (Warren Hymer), Sally tries to save Jimmy from disgracing himself by trapping Boyd and his minions in their lair-and, of course, nearly gets herself killed in the process. The fact that the villains use a nightclub for their hideout is excuse enough for Jane Withers to belt out a few forgettable songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Withers, Arleen Whelan, (more)
- 1965
Pop singer Tommy Sands guest stars as Richard Bain, a young West Point cadet. Facing expulsion for defending Jason McCord's behavior at the Battle of Bitter Creek, Bain is given 30 days to recant his words--or face a dishonor and disgrace comparable to that suffered by McCord (Chuck Connors). As the story progresses, McCord must weigh the option of salvaging his own reputation by ruining Bain's. Prominent in the supporting cast is celebrated "film noir" veteran Marie Windsor ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
