Burt Kelly Movies
Best known today as the producer of Columbia Pictures' Blondie series, former stock company manager Burt Kelly had entered the film industry as a booking agent for the Paramount Publix theater chain. He later functioned as an executive with Educational, a purveyor of comedy two-reelers, and Tiffany, a Poverty Row company with aspirations. Along with Sam Bischoff and William Saal, Kelly founded KBS Productions Inc. in 1932 (he was the "K"), which in effect took over Tiffany's production facilities and continued to produce low-rent Ken Maynard Westerns and such items as The Death Kiss (1933), with Bela Lugosi, and the Sherlock Holmes mystery A Study in Scarlet (1933). KBS, which for a time was known as Admiral Productions, survived until late 1933 and Kelly later joined Republic Pictures as an associate producer. He was with Universal in the early '40s and ended his screen career with Blondie's Secret in 1948. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1948
This 23rd entry in the "Blondie" film series stars, as ever, Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake as Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead respectively. It all begins as Dagwood prepares for a long-delayed vacation with the family. His boss Mr. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) has promised the Bumsteads that there'll be no more postponements for their holiday. But when something comes up that requires Dagwood's presence, Radcliffe hires a couple of thugs to steal Blondie and Dagwood's luggage so that they'll have to stay in town. And that's only the beginning of the frantic fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1948
The long-running "Blondie" series was slowly heading into the homestretch when Blondie's Reward came out in 1948. After bungling a real-estate transaction, Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) is demoted to office boy by his flustered boss Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan). Nor does Dagwood improve the situation by getting into a fight with the son-in-law of a prospective client. Right on cue, Dag's wife Blondie (Penny Singleton) steps in to solve everything for everyone. Based on the comic strip by Chic Young, Blondie's Reward was scripted by Edward Bernds, who was soon to take over as the series' principal director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1947
Blondie opens a bakery in her home to help fill the family cookie jar in this entry in the long-running domestic comedy series based on the popular comic strip. Her tasty cookies become so popular that a cookie magnate makes her an offer that is difficult to refuse. Unfortunately, this creates all kinds of problems for the Bumsteads. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
This 20th entry in Columbia's long-running "Blondie" series finds poor Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) in financial trouble once again. Unable to obtain a raise from boss Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan), Dagwood begins "playing the ponies" at the race track, which gets him in trouble with the Law-not to mention his long-suffering wife Blondie (Penny Singleton). But salvation is at hand in the form of bank president Samuel Breckinridge (Grant Mitchell), who expresses a lot of gratitude when Dagwood saves Mrs. Breckinridge (Mary Young), likewise a horse player, from being arrested in a bookie-joint raid. The "regular" cast of the "Blondie" series remains the same as before, with the exception of Bobby Larson, who for this entry only replaces Danny Mummert as Alvin Fuddle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1947
Blondie decides she wants to be a star and nearly turns her household upside down in this entry in the long-running domestic comedy series. Dagwood has mixed emotions about his wife's theatrical aspirations and eventually he decides to get her to quit. Disaster ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Capitalizing on Larry Parks' "overnight" success in The Jolson Story, Columbia Pictures rushed their hottest new star from one picture to another, whether he was suited to the role or not. In The Swordsman, Parks makes a valiant stab at swashbucklery, playing an 18th-century Scottish aristocrat named Alexander MacArden. The plot revolves around the "forbidden" romance between Alexander and Barbara Glowan (Ellen Drew) of the hated Glowan clan. Managing to effect a truce between the MacArdens and the Glowans, Alexander has his hands full when a couple of hot-headed clansmen starts up the feud all over again. Full-scale warfare explodes between the rival families, but so long as Alexander has his wits about him and a sword in his sheath, the audience can be assured that he'll straighten things out by the ninth reel. Famed dancer-choreographer Marc Platt is uncomfortably cast as a pugnacious member of the Glowan clan, moving one critic to postulate that Columbia must have had a grudge against Platt. The Swordsman was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, who'd previously helmed the production numbers in The Jolson Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Parks, Ellen Drew, (more)
- 1946
Daisy, the Bumstead's mischievous mutt, makes the family a little extra cash when she wins a contest to become a model for the Navy. From there she becomes the favorite calendar gal. All the attention to the dog, makes Dagwood feel that his position as master of the house is jeopardized. Meanwhile all the attention catches the greedy eyes of gangsters who abduct Daisy. Fortunately, everything works out for the best. This was one of many entries in the comic-strip based series of domestic comedies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1946
Blondie's Lucky Day, indeed! Not only must Blondie Bumstead (Penny Singleton) put on a brave face when her husband Dagwood (Arthur Lake) is fired for the umpteenth time by Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), but she must also tolerate the attentions paid to Dagwood by pretty WAC Mary Jane McDermott (Angelyn Orr). A whizz in business matters, Mary Jane sets up Dag in his own business, which replenishes the Bumstead coffers but which drives Blondie into a jealous frenzy. The film's highlight occurs early on, when Dagwood assumes Dithers' responsiblities for a single day--and makes a proper mess of things within five minutes. Blondie's Lucky Day was the 17th entry in the long-running film series based on the comic strip by Chic Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1946
Blondie Knows Best was writer/director Edward Bernds' first entry in the long-running "Blondie" series, and arguably his funniest. The story contrives to have Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) pose as his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) so that a big business deal can be consummated while Dithers avoids nearsighted process server Jim Gray (Shemp Howard). The upshot of all this is that Dagwood ends up in a lunatic asylum, forcing Blondie (Penny Singleton) to come to the rescue. Ed Bernds was a big fan of comedian Shemp Howard (whom he'd directed in several Columbia 2-reelers) and accordingly he gives Shemp free reign in his scenes, resulting in some hystericially funny moments. Blondie Knows Best represented Jonathan Hale's farewell to the series; in the next entry, Blondie's Big Moment, he would be replaced by Jerome Cowan as Mr. Radcliffe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1946
Meet Me on Broadway is a pocket Columbia musical about aspiring performers and a shoestring production (though the dialogue is careful to include a reference to Columbia's Cover Girl, just to prove that the studio was capable of an "A" product). Fred Brady plays an overbearing director who has been blackballed by Broadway and must settle for staging country-club charity events. Marjorie Reynolds plays the daughter of the country club's owner, who helps Brady mount his Big Comeback Show--which has the ancillary effect of making stars of the whole cast. Jinx Falkenberg is the show's leading lady, while Spring Byington and Gene Lockhart are around as stuffy society types who un-stuff themselves by film's end. Among the performers are the dance team of Gloria Patrice and Nita Bieber, who enjoyed a better showcase in the concurrently filmed Columbia "Three Stooges" short Rhythm and Weep (46). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Brady, Spring Byington, (more)
- 1946
In this comedy, a Chicago team of radio scriptwriters must split up when he takes a job with his bride-to-be's father, and the other must write commercial jingles. Their agent then appears and tells them they have a $1,000 per week assignment in Tinseltown provided they work together. They accept and board a train with their girl friends. There they meet the sponsor and a millionaire who offers them twice the money to work for him. They take the latter offer, but then two orderlies from an asylum board the train and grab the millionaire who turns out to be a nut case. They quickly go back to the sponsor and re-sign their contract. Unfortunately, once in California, the learn that it is the sponsor who is bonkers, not the millionaire. Now the two couple reboard the train and begin looking for the millionaire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willard Parker, Marguerite Chapman, (more)
- 1945
After a two-year layoff, Columbia revived its moneymaking "Blondie" series with 1945's Leave It to Blondie. Older but no wiser, Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead (Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake) enter a songwriting contest. It's all part of a plan to cover charity checks that they've signed separately but can't cover. Along the way, Blondie's blood boils when Dagwood gets innocently mixed up with beautiful music teacher Rita Rogers (Marjorie Weaver). The best scenes involve Dagwood's misguided efforts to cure a cold, leading to several motheaten but still reliable slapstick setpieces. Leave it to Blondie proved that the series hadn't lost its humor as Dagwood is arrested for murder, obliging our heroine to solve the case herself. Former bandleader Kirby Grant registers well as the nominal hero, while Milburn Stone scores as an imitation Walter Winchell (named "Winchester", no less!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1944
In this mystery, the artist behind a detective cartoon strip solves real police cases on the side. The police are rather irritated by him because he is better at it than they are. He does it again when the chairman of a fund-raiser suddenly dies during a benefit. The police report claims the man died of heart failure, but the cartoonist proves that he was poisoned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allyn Joslyn, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
- 1944
Nine Girls stars several of Columbia's loveliest contract actresses as sorority sisters at an exclusive California college. None of the girls is fond of nasty student Anita Louise--in fact, sometime dislikes her enough to kill her. Police detectives William Demarest and Willard Robertson are called in to solve the mystery, and as in most films of this type, there are plenty of suspects to choose from. The solution of the crime will be obvious to hardened movie buffs, simply by checking out the name of the film's top-billed actress. For the record, the Nine Girls of the title are Anita Louise, Evelyn Keyes, Jinx Falkenberg, Leslie Brooks, Lynn Merrick, Miss Jeff Donnell (as she was usually billed), Nina Foch, Marcia Mae Jones, and Shirley Mills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Harding, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
- 1942
Very much a product of its times, Priorities on Parade was disliked by everyone but the public when it was first released in 1942. The story takes place in a wartime aircraft plant, where a group of entertainers secure jobs putting on shows for the workers during lunch and dinner breaks. The troupe's duties also include a bit of spot-welding and assembly-line work as well, leading to a variety of mildly comic complications. Naturally, all plot roads lead to a big, morale-boosting musical finale, highlighted by choreographer Jack Donahue's precision-dance routines, wherein the entertainers elect to turn down a Broadway show in favor of defense-plant work (this is a fantasy, isn't it?) The four protagonists are played by zany Jerry Colonna, handsome Johnnie Johnston, and gorgeous Ann Miller (in a blonde wig) and Betty Rhodes, while Vera Vague supplies her usual dizziness as a Rosie-the-Rivetter type. The Frank Loesser-Jules Styne-Herb Magidson score includes the hit tune "You're in Love With Somebody Else But I'm in Love With You". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Miller, Johnny Johnston, (more)
- 1941
Midnight Angel was the title of this Paramount actioner when it was first released in December of 1941. But by the time the film reached the hinterlands, America had entered WW2, and thus it was that Midnight Angel was rechristened Pacific Blackout, which remained its title to this very day. Falsely convicted of murder (in one of those movie trials that takes only a few minutes!), young Robert Draper (Robert Preston) escapes custody during a practice blackout drill. Under cover of darkness, Draper hopes to find the real killer, who turns out to be a member of a Nazi sabotage ring. Our hero is helped along by Mary (Martha O'Driscoll), one of the most refreshingly self-reliant heroines in B-picture history. Among the secondary players are a young Hungarian immigrant named Eva Gabor and a portly German refugee named John Banner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Preston, Philip Merivale, (more)
- 1941
Universal's "Baby Sandy" series officially ended with Sandy Gets Her Man, but the infant star still had one picture left on her contract, so that's why Bachelor Daddy was born. Edward Everett Horton, Donald Woods, and Raymond Walburn carry the burden of the plot as the Smith Brothers, Joseph, Edward and George. Confirmed bachelors, the Smiths are forced to play nursemaid when a baby is accidentally abandoned at their doorstep. The laughs arise from the brothers' bumbling efforts at parenthood, culminating in a slapsticky finale wherein the runaway Baby Sandy takes charge of a hand-operated elevator. Ironically, one of the minor players in Bachelor Daddy is teenager Juanita Quigley, who once enjoyed brief stardom at Universal as "Baby Jane". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Baby Sandy, Edward Everett Horton, (more)
- 1941
Hold That Ghost was the second of Abbott and Costello's starring films, but was held back from release in favor of their third picture, the more "topical" In the Navy. In Ghost, Bud and Lou play a couple of service-station owners who happen to be hanging around when gangster Moose Mattson (William B. Davidson) is killed. According to the terms of Mattson's will, whosoever is present when "the coppers dim my lights for the last time" will inherit his estate, which consists of a deserted mansion in the middle of nowhere. Crooked attorney Russell Hicks, who knows that Mattson has hidden hundreds of thousands of dollars somewhere in the lodge, dispatches sinister Charlie Smith (Marc Lawrence) to escort Abbott and Costello to the house, with instructions to "take care" of the trusting boys once they've arrived. Charlie charters a bus to take A&C out to the mansion; also on board, going off to various other destinations, are handsome Dr. Jackson (Richard Carlson), lovely Norma Lind (Evelyn Ankers) and professional radio screamer Camille Brewster (Joan Davis). It is inevitable that this disparate group is stranded along with Abbott and Costello in the forbidding mansion on a dark and stormy night. Charlie Smith is promptly murdered by parties unknown; throughout the rest of the film, Charlie's body pops up at the most inopportune moments, reducing the already tremulous Costello to a quivering mass of jello. The plot is merely an excuse to showcase Abbott and Costello's superbly timed cross-talking routines, a riotous impromptu dance performed by Costello and Joan Davis, and, of course, the legendary "moving candle" bit, which may well be Costello's funniest-ever screen scene. Hold That Ghost was originally designed and previewed as a 65-minute programmer title Oh, Charlie, but Universal decided to expand the length and throw in a few guest stars to secure top-of-the-bill bookings. This is why Hold That Ghost begins and ends with barely relevant musical numbers featuring Ted Lewis and the Andrews Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1941
1941's The Black Cat is neither a remake of the 1934 Karloff-Lugosi film of the same name, nor does it bear the slightest relation to the same-named Edgar Allan Poe story (as if the 1934 picture did!) The fact that the heroes are played by Hugh Herbert and Broderick Crawford is indication enough that the 1941 film wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously. It all begins when elderly cat fancier Henrietta Winslow (played by legendary vaudeville impressionist Cecilia Loftus) is murdered by a scheming relative. At the reading of the will, Henrietta's heirs discover that the old dear has left her entire fortune to her pet felines. No one will get a penny until all the cats join their ancestors in Tabby Heaven. Several more murders occur, as suspicion is cast on such shady types as Mr. Hartley (Basil Rathbone), Abigail Doone (Gale Sondergaard) and family butler Eduardo (Bela Lugosi in yet another red-herring role). By the time that bumbling Mr. Penny (Herbert) and Hubert Smith (Crawford) figure out who the real killer is, heroine Elaine Winslow (Anne Gwynne) is on the verge of meeting her doom as well. Billed last, Alan Ladd has practically nothing to do as one of the heirs. Hardly one of the classic Universal horror efforts, The Black Cat at least has the advantage of some spook camerawork, courtesy of Stanley Cortez (Magnificent Ambersons). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, (more)
- 1940
Dispensing with the melodramatic excesses of Universal's previous "Invisible Man" films, 1941's The Invisible Woman aims strictly for laughs. Virginia Bruce stars as Kitty Carroll, an outspoken department store model fired from her job by tyrannical Mr. Growley (Charles Lane). Intrigued by an ad in the personal columns requesting the services of an "adventurous woman", Kitty offers her services to eccentric scientist Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore, doing a dead-on impression of his brother Lionel). Much to the dismay of his timorous butler George (Charles Ruggles), his housekeeper Mrs. Jackson (Margaret Hamilton), and his nephew-financier Richard Russell (John Howard), Gibbs has been experimenting with an invisibility formula, and Kitty turns out to be a most willing guinea pig. Cloaked in her new invisibility, our heroine gets even with her old nemesis Growley and sets out for new escapades, while Gibbs and his entourage anxiously search for the girl lest harm befall her. The whole affair ends up in the Mexican refuge of gangster Blackie (Oscar Homolka), who hopes to use Gibbs' formula for his own nefarious purposes. Given the fact that Blackie is saddled with such moronic henchmen as Bill (Ed Brophy) and Frankie (Shemp Howard), he doesn't stand a chance against the resourceful Kitty, who thoughtfully permits the nonplussed Richard into thinking that he's rescuing her. Shakespeare it isn't, but The Invisible Woman is consistently funny and inventive, enhanced by Universal's usual excellent special effects. Future leading lady Maria Montez shows up as one of the models in the early scenes, along with former Warner Bros. star Anne Nagel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, (more)
- 1940
Roland Young and Hugh Herbert make an unorthodox but amusing comedy team in the Universal programmer Private Affairs. Disowned by his wealthy family, Amos Bullerton (Young) ekes out a living as a chalk-board proprietor in a Wall Street brokerage. With the help of his erstwhile friend, cab-driver Angus McPherson (Herbert), Bullerton tries to smooth the path of romance for his daughter Jane (Nancy Kelly). Though engaged to snobbish Herbert Stanley (G. P. Huntley Jr.), Jane is really in love with Jimmy Nolan (Robert Cummings) who like Bullerton himself is on the outs with his well-to-do family. Given its Wall Street background, there's a stock-manipulation scheme at the heart of Private Affairs, which in its own way is as intricately funny as the Bull-and-Bear shenanigans in 1982's Trading Places. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kelly, Hugh Herbert, (more)
- 1940
The brief but lively film career of infant star Baby Sandy came to an end with Sandy Gets Her Man. In this one, Sandy is the granddaugther of town councilman Clark (William B. Davidson), while her widowed mother Nan (Una Merkel) finds herself torn between the affections of fireman Bill (Stu Erwin) and police captatin Tom (Jack Carson). The plot hinges on a municipal appropriation, which both Bill and Tom vie for. Sandy unwittingly expedites matters by allowing Bill to become a hero by rescuing her from a blazing building. One wonders if the producers of the 1994 "kid in jeopardy" comedy Baby on Board were weaned on the thrill-packed "Baby Sandy" vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Baby Sandy, Stuart Erwin, (more)
- 1940
This fine adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic tale about a cursed family opens with a title card that reveals how the Pyncheon family stole, cheated, lied, and murdered their way to wealth. But within the hearts of the family's bloodline lay fear of the curse of Matthew Maule, a man they crossed many years earlier. Jumping to the year 1828, upstart judge Jaffrey Pyncheon (George Sanders) is called to his family's beloved seven-gabled house where he is told by his father (Gilbert Emery) and brother Clifford (Vincent Price) that the home is to be sold in order to pay their debts. A bitter, loathsome man who deeply believes in Maule's curse -- and the legend that gold is hidden in the house -- Jaffrey takes the opportunity of his father's death to accuse the innocent Clifford of murdering their patriarch. Clifford is sentenced to life in prison, but in a bizarre quirk of legal fate, the house is left in the care of Clifford's lively fiancée Hepzibah (Margaret Lindsay), who immediately boots out the hateful Jaffrey. The passage of 20 years leaves the house in shambles and Hepzibah a bitter spinster. The arrival of two people -- Hepzibah's pretty young cousin Phoebe (Nan Grey) and a mysterious boarder named Matthew Holgrave (Dick Foran) -- spark Hepzibah into opening the old house as a business. Clifford is finally released from prison and returns home for a touching reunion, but after a serious a strange reports about him leak out, Jaffrey plots to have his brother committed. However, Clifford has some plans for his evil brother and a plan to end the family's curse. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
- 1940
The mystery surrounding the gender of infant film star Baby Sandy was finally solved in her penultimate vehicle, Sandy is a Lady. The plot involves the efforts of Sandy's parents Mary and Joe Phillips (Nan Grey and Tom Brown) to improve their financial status, which are alternately aided and endangered by the antics of two-year-old Sandy. The film's climax plays like something out of a "Sweepea" cartoon, with the toddling heroine perilously perambulating atop an unfinished skyscraper. Also on hand for a bit of adolescent deviltry are Butch and Buddy, better known for their appearances in W. C. Fields' Never Give a Sucker an Even Break and Abbott & Costello's In the Navy. And as was often the case in the Baby Sandy films, Sandy is a Lady is enhanced by the presence of such reliable character players as Mischa Auer (who was in all of Sandy's pictures), Edgar Kennedy, Billy Gilbert and Friz Feld. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Baby Sandy, Butch and Buddy, (more)
- 1940
Told in flashback as Dr. Ernest Sovac (Boris Karloff) is marched into the gas chamber, Black Friday concerns kindly college professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), who is seriously injured when he is caught in the middle of a gangster shootout. Kingsley's best friend Sovac performs an emergency "brain-ectomy", replacing Kingsley's gray matter with that of dying gangster Red Cannon. Though the operation is successful, the mild-mannered Kingsley occasionally lapses into Cannon's more brutal personality, and it is during one of these spells that he reveals the existence of a cache of stolen money. Hoping to use these ill-gotten funds to finance his neurological research, Sovac hypnotizes Kingsley into "becoming" Cannon, and while thus entranced the poor fellow commits several murders, including the elimination of his chief rival, mobster Eric Marnay (Bela Lugosi). Ultimately, Sovac is forced to kill Kingsley/Cannon "for the good of mankind", which brings us full circle to Death Row. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, (more)
