Ralph Byrd Movies
Though he only vaguely resembled Chester Gould's jut-jawed comic strip detective Dick Tracy, Ralph Byrd played the character with such assurance and authority that it is well-nigh impossible to envision anyone else in the role. In films from 1936 after several years on stage, Byrd first appeared as Tracy in the 1937 Republic serial Dick Tracy, then reprised the role in the follow-up serials Dick Tracy Returns (1938) and Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939). When the film rights to the character shifted from Republic to RKO Radio in 1945, RKO attempted to create its own Tracy in the person of Morgan Conway. Fans protested, and Byrd was back in Tracy's fedora and trenchcoat in Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). Ralph Byrd died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 43, shortly after filming 39 episodes of the Dick Tracy TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Absolutely no relation to the 1960s rock-n-roll tune of the same name, Born to be Wild is a fast-paced Republic programmer boasting some fairly impressive credits. Ralph Byrd, better known as moviedom's Dick Tracy, plays truck driver Steve Weston, while Ward Bond, usually seen as a bad guy in the late 1930s, costars as Weston's friend and partner Bill Purvis. Accustomed to taking on dangerous assignments, Steve and Bill don't even bat an eyelash when they're hired to haul a load of dynamite over a patch of treacherous terrain. Will they be able to deliver their cargo to a dam-demolition site without getting demolished themselves? Nightclub and radio songstress Doris Weston is cast as Steve's sweetheart Mary Stevens, who in an amusing scene literally "ties the knot" with her boyfriend. Coscripted by novelist Nathaniel West (of Day of the Locust and Miss Lonelyhearts fame), Born to be Wild has often been cited as a principal inspiration for Clouzot's 1953 classic The Wages of Fear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Doris Weston, (more)
- 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)
- 1938
The trials faced by the US Army when it first attempted to trade horses for tanks provides the basis of this actioner. The tale centers upon the love affair between an Army post commander's daughter and a young tank specialist who is trying to prove that the new technology is better than horses. The old soldiers disagree and a race upon a special course is arranged. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madge Evans, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1937
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
- Starring:
- Rosalind Keith, Charles Quigley, (more)
- 1937
In this western, a citified writer of pulp westerns decides to head into the West to experience it first hand. Unfortunately, he finds himself entangled with an outlaw and then falsely accused of murder. Fortunately, the greenhorn is saved from hanging by a brave hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Virginia Carroll, (more)
- 1937
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
- Starring:
- Don Terry, Jacqueline Wells, (more)
- 1937
Chester Gould's jut-jawed plainclothesman Dick Tracy first came to the screen in this 15-chapter Republic serial. Ralph Byrd stars as Tracy, a role which both brought him fame and typecast him for life. For the purposes of cliffhanging suspense, the Republic writing staff altered the Tracy "mythos" as set forth in Gould's daily comic strip. As the serial begins, Dick's brother Gordon (Richard Beach) is being controlled by a criminal genius known as "The Spider." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd
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
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Bela Lugosi, (more)
- 1937
In this adaptation of the operetta by Rudolf Friml, secret agent Nina Maria Azara (Jeannette MacDonald) is working undercover for the King of Spain as a singer known as the "Mosca del Fuego" or "Firefly." Her mission is to uncover Napoleon's plot to invade Spain before it is too late. This film features a variety of songs including "Donkey Serenade," "Love Is Like a Firefly," " and "When a Maid Comes Knocking At Your Heart." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, (more)
- 1937
Movie trends always come in cycles: in 1937, motorboat melodramas were briefly the rage. In Columbia's Motor Madness, small-time boat manufacturer Cap McNeil (J. M. Kerrigan) enters an international cup race to raise enough money to keep his business afloat. Much to the delight of Cap's pretty daughter Peggy (Rosalind Keith), handsome mechanic Joe Dunn (Allan Brooks) is chosen to steer McNeil's motorboat to (hopefully) victory. Complicating matters is a cute orphan lad (George Ernest) whom Joe adopts and a gambling boat which serves as a safe haven for wanted criminals. While leading players Allan Brooks and Rosalind Keith didn't go very far in Hollywood, the supporting cast of Motor Madness is full of reassuringly familiar Columbia faces, including the ubiquitous Marc Lawrence and Joe Sawyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Keith, Allen Brook, (more)
- 1937
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
- Starring:
- Herbert Rawlinson, Ralph Byrd, (more)
- 1937
In this western, the Three Mesquiteers must find a killer and his band after they murder an official from the State Agricultural Service who had come to investigate an outbreak of anthrax. The killer is fearful that the official would quarantine his entire herd. Unfortunately for the foolish rancher, if the herd is not isolated, all of his cows and those of his neighbors will die anyway. The heroes are assisted by Buck the clever Great Dane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max "Alibi" Terhune, Ralph Byrd, (more)
- 1936
Hell-Ship Morgan (George Bancroft) is the brawny skipper of a small fishing schooner. Supplying fish for a San Francisco cannery, Morgan works hard and relaxes even harder, boasting not one but several girls in every port. Our hero's roving days come to an end when he marries Mary (Ann Sothern), who agrees to a honeymoon on Morgan's schooner. Once on the high seas, Mary can't help but fall in love with Morgan's first mate Jim (Victor Jory), but before Morgan can take retaliatory action, the tiny vessel is hit by a hurricane. In trying to save his crew from drowning, Morgan is crippled for life. Realizing now that he will never be a "complete" husband to Mary, he obligingly removes himself from the scene in a startlingly abrupt and permanent manner. A mainstay of early television, Hell-Ship Morgan is one of a handful of Columbia programmers currently available on the public-domain videocassette market. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Ann Sothern, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1936
Dick Tracy -- or rather his future portrayer Ralph Byrd -- found himself in the unfamiliar surroundings of the range in this Tim McCoy Western from low-budget company Puritan Pictures. Byrd played Tex Weaver, a G-man going undercover as a bank robber in order to flush out gang leader Buff Brayden (Ted Adams). Assisted by former agent Tim Ross (McCoy) and kindhearted gangster's moll Goldie Harris (Lois January), Tex learns of a forthcoming raid on the Bordertown bank. Unfortunately, while appearing with Tim's medicine show, Tex is killed by a bullet fired offstage simultaneously with Tim's. Accused of murder, Tim makes his escape, rejoins the Justice Department, and manages to not only foil the bank heist but also gather enough evidence to convict both Brayden and his boss, bank examiner Willey Taggart (J. Frank Glendon). McCoy, who had joined Puritan in 1935 after leaving Columbia Pictures, would make ten Westerns for the little company, all of them above-average oaters considering their limited budgets of only 10,000 dollars a picture. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Lois January, (more)
