Ralph Byrd Movies

The sixth of RKO's Fred Astaire -Ginger Rogers pairings of the 1930s, Swing Time starts off with bandleader Astaire getting cold feet on his wedding day. Astaire's bride-to-be Betty Furness will give him a second chance, providing he proves himself responsible enough to earn $25,000. Astaire naturally tries to avoid earning that amount once he falls in love with dance instructor Ginger Rogers. Numerous complications ensue, leading to the "second time's the charm" climax, with Ginger escaping her own wedding to wealthy Georges Metaxa in order to be reunited with Astaire. The film's most indelible image is that of Fred Astaire, immaculately attired in top hat and tails, hopping a freight car--a perfect encapsulation of the film's Depression-era cheekiness. The Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields score includes such standards-to-be as "Pick Yourself Up," "A Fine Romance," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Never Gonna Dance" and "Bojangles of Harlem." The peerless supporting cast of Swing Time includes Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Eric Blore, and Landers Stevens, the actor-father of the film's director, George Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia's Criminals of the Air is another entry in the "alien-smuggling" movie cycle -- and as such includes the obligatory scene in which the airborne smugglers escape detection by pulling a lever and disposing of their human cargo. Hoping to collar the crooks, detective Mark Owens (Charles Quigley) poses as a down-and-out pilot looking for work. He is hired by the "Honeymoon Express," ostensibly designed to transport newlyweds across the Mexican border and back again, but actually a front for smuggling activities. Fearless girl reporter Nancy Rawlings (Rosalind Keith) covertly covers Owens' activities, ultimately landing in a heap o' trouble when the crooks catch on. In one of her last "B"-picture assignments, Rita Hayworth plays a voluptuous Latina dancer in a Mexican cabaret sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marked Woman was the most famous of the late-1930s films based on New York DA Thomas Dewey's attack on vice lord Lucky Luciano; Paid to Dance was among the least famous. All-purpose Columbia leading lady Jacqueline Wells plays Joan Bradley, a long-suffering hoofer in the seedy dime-a-dance joint controlled by racketeer Jack Miranda (Arthur Loft). Like her fellow "hostesses," Joan is expected to clip the customers for their bankrolls -- and, it is implied, offer their bodies as well as their terpsichorean skills (though we're assured that Joan is still pure of heart and every other portion of her anatomy). Crusading detective William Dennis (Don Terry) vows to save Joan and her ilk from Miranda's clutches, but it takes plenty of brains and muscle to topple the villain's criminal empire. Billed last, Ralph "Dick Tracy" Byrd has a marvelous moment when he takes on two hoodlums at once -- and wins! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his third of four action serials, horror star Bela Lugosi played Boroff, an internationally notorious fiend who's attempting to pawn off his deadly invention, a disintegrating gas, to the highest bidder. Before the gas can be manufactured, however, Boroff must go in search of certain hard to come by ingredients and the villain is thwarted at every step by US coastguard agent Terry Kent (Ralph Byrd and crusading newspaper woman Jean Norman (Maxine Doyle. In the serial's 12th and final chapter, "The Deadly Circle," Boroff is finally destroyed by his own invention, civilization thus saved for Democracy. Down on his luck by 1937, Lugosi could only watch as Republic Pictures' screenwriters Barry Shipman and Franklyn Adreon wickedly named his character "Boroff," an obvious reference to Lugosi-rival Boris Karloff. S. O. S. Coastguard nevertheless emerged as one of the Hungarian star's better vehicles, in no small measure due to its vigorous hero, Ralph Byrd, a handsome actor perhaps better remembered from Republic's Dick Tracy serials. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of a slew of prison reform picture that flourished during the Great Depression, this melodrama was banned in Finland. Pat O'Brien stars as Steve Jameson, a former Army officer who is hired at the infamous California prison of the title and quickly brings military order to the facility, separating the general population from the most violent offenders. In the meantime, Steve is falling for a singer, May (Ann Sheridan), but he keeps his profession a secret when she reveals that her brother Joe (Humphrey Bogart) is serving time in San Quentin. May eventually learns of Steve's deception and their romance hits the skids. When a jealous rival guard, Lt. Druggin (Barton MacLane), arranges for Joe to discover the romance between Steve and his sister, Joe begins plotting escape and revenge. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Silver-haired silent film leading man Herbert Rawlinson plays Scotland Yard inspector Sir James Blake in this 15-episode serial. Blake has financed a death ray designed by young inventor Ralph Byrd. The ray will be a boon to mankind (sure!) so long as it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Those hands belong to "The Scorpion", a hooded mystery villain in league with a Teutonic munitions manufacturer. After several weeks' worth of hidden panels, explosions, kidnappings and other activity, the Scorpion is revealed to be....Aw, you'll guess it in episode one. Blake of Scotland Yard was put together with spit and vinegar by pinch-penny independent producer Sam Katzman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 15-chapter Republic serial Dick Tracy Returns also represents the return of Ralph Byrd in the role of Chester Gould's stalwart comic-strip detective. For the purposes of the film, Tracy has joined the G-Men in pursuit of criminal mastermind Pa Stark (Charles Middleton) and his killer brood. Things get off to an rousing start when Stark and his five sons rob an armored car and murder Tracy's pal Ron Merton (David Sharpe). One by one, the Starks are killed off by Tracy and the good guys until at last only Pa and eldest son Champ (John Merton) are left. Gathering together a daunting supply of dynamite and nitroglycerin, the surviving gang members draw up plans to blow Tracy and the other G-Men to Kingdom Come, but things don't quite work out that way. Like the other three "Dick Tracy" serials, Dick Tracy Returns was also released in an abridged feature-length version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

In this heartwarming drama, a crook endeavors to raise his son in the slums until he kills a teller during a bank robbery. At first he sends the lad to his grandma, but when government agents threaten to catch him, he grabs the kid and hightails it. They high-jack a school bus filled with children and accidently run it into a snowdrift. The honorable son refuses to leave the freezing children and finally, the father goes out in search of help. Unfortunately, he is shot. The young man is then left to save the children. He does so by building a campfire, and thereby, becomes a hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dick Tracy's G-Men is the second of three Republic serials starring Ralph Byrd as Chester Gould's granite-jawed comic strip plainclothesman. Tracy's foe in this one is notorious international spy Zarnoff (Irving Pichel), who will stop at nothing to sabotage America's military defense system. Not even death can stay Zarnoff from his appointed rounds: after being "killed" by Tracy and the G-Men, the villain is revived by miracle drugs. At one point, Zarnoff masterminds the explosion of a dirigible, permitting Republic to blithely (and tastelessly) insert newsreel footage of the "Hindenburg" disaster. After 15 pulse-pounded chapters, Tracy finally catches up with Zarnoff in the middle of the desert for a grim denoument. Having literally nothing to do as the nominal heroine is young Phyllis Isley, who went on to a rather more rewarding screen career as Jennifer Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This touching romance is based on a play by Rachel Crothers. An aging sea captain squanders his fortune on a bad business deal. Now he faces having to put his beloved wife in a poor house. He himself also has no place to live. Desperate for cash, he sells interest in a ship he has nothing to do with. This money gets her in a decent home for old ladies. To be with her, he dresses as an old woman and goes to live in the home with her. Eventually the administrators allow him to stay and the other residents begin calling him "Old Lady 31." The fortunes of the couple changes after the brave old salt saves a shipwrecked schooner. The salvage rights restore his fortune and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hollywood films about the Revolutionary War almost invariably lost money at the box office, and The Howards of Virginia was no exception, despite the presence of Cary Grant in the lead. Most of the story takes place in the colonial capital city of Williamsburg, Virginia, where Matt Howard (Cary Grant) dedicates himself to the causes of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Remaining faithfully at Matt's side through his early years as a frontiersman and on into his life among the "landed gentry" is his wife Jane Peyton Howard (Martha Scott), the sister of unregenerate royalist Fleetwood Peyton (Cedric Hardwicke).

Most of the high points of the Revolution are herein recreated, including the Stamp Act riots, the Boston Tea Party, and Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty" speech. Curiously, however, director Frank Lloyd stages these scenes in a flat, near-throwaway fashion; even the inflammatory Henry (Richard Gaines) is hampered by unimaginative camera angles. Other historical personages parading through the film include Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, played respectively by Richard Carlson and George Houston. Though it's rather rough sledding in its feature-length version, The Howards of Virginia plays quite well in the half-hour abridgement prepared by Columbia for schoolroom showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide