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Louise Campbell Movies

Educated in her home town of Chicago, Louise Campbell also launched her acting career in the Windy City. She supplemented her income as a dramatics instructor at her alma mater of DePaul University, working as a dental assistant when acting opportunities dried up. Louise was brought to Hollywood by Paramount in 1937, where, after serving a "B"-picture apprenticeship in a trio of Bulldog Drummond pictures, she was elevated to more important roles. Campbell seemed to make the most of the least promising assignments; her best film was the offbeat comedy/mystery/melodrama/romance Scandal Street (1937). Louise Campbell retired from films upon her marriage to character actor Horace MacMahon, briefly returning before the cameras in 1947's Devil Ship. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
1977  
 
Contract on Cherry Street represented Frank Sinatra's TV movie debut--an event deemed worthy of a TV Guide cover story. Sinatra plays NYPD veteran Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes, in charge of a special unit set up to battle organized crime. The murder of Hovannes' partner, coupled with departmental restrictions and legalities, leads the Inspector to organize a semi-vigilante group with three other like-minded officers. They murder an underworld honcho, in hopes of triggering a mob war that will result in the decimation of every gangster in the Big Apple. Edward Anhalt's script for Contract on Cherry Street can't make up its mind whether to emulate The Godfather or Kojak. Sinatra's own Artanis Productions was responsible for this film, so any praise or blame must ultimately fall upon Ol' Blue Eyes' shoulders. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Frank SinatraMartin Balsam, (more)
 
1971  
 
Crawlspace is a quirky made-for-TV movie about a strange young drifter (Tom Harper) who arrives in a small New England town. He is sheltered by a generous middle-aged couple (Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Wright), but he insists upon living in a tiny crawlspace in the couple's cellar. His hosts had hoped that the boy would fill an emotional gap in their childless lives, but the young visitor refuses to leave his cramped living area, where he harbors disturbing notions of taking revenge on a world he feels has wronged him. Crawlspace was adapted from the suspense novel by Herbert Lieberman. It should not be confused with a 1986 slasher flick also titled Crawlspace, wherein Klaus Kinski hides in the homes of the beautiful girls he intends to murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1947  
 
It's nice to see perennial supporting player (and future TV sportscaster) Richard Lane in a full-fledged leading role, even in an inconsequential "B" like Columbia's Devil Ship. Lane plays a tuna-boat skipper whose business is in the dumpster. To pad his income, he agrees to ship convicts to Alcatraz Island. You don't need a crystal ball to predict what happens next. The Devil Ship was produced by Martin E. Mooney, a real-life ex-jailbird who put together several low-budget prison pictures in the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Richard LaneLouise Campbell, (more)
 
1940  
 
This sequel to 1934's Anne of Green Gables stars Anne Shirley as Anne Shirley, the plucky Canadian orphan girl created by novelist Lucy Maude Montgomery. Now all grown up, Anne takes on the job of vice-principal of the only school in Windy Poplars Unfortunately, she must contend with the opposition of the community's most powerful and contentious family, the much-hated Pringles. Helping matters a bit is the fact that handsome Tony Pringle (James Ellison) falls in love with Anne. It takes a near-tragedy to wash away all misunderstandings, prejudices and hypocricies and restore happiness and stability to the community. Based on L. M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Windy Willows, Anne of Windy Poplars was remade for Canadian television in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Anne ShirleyJames Ellison, (more)
 
1940  
 
In this B movie actioner, a plucky female cub reporter is determined to get her boss a front page scoop and so finagles a way to spend a few days with two drivers in the title squad. While with them she finds herself reporting a huge fire at a chemical plant. She gets herself in real danger when she begins looking into a disaster-plagued tunnel construction site and finds that a racketeer is in cahoots with a crooked contractor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
William HenryLouise Campbell, (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, Rovi

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Starring:
Dennis O'KeefeLouise Campbell, (more)
 
1939  
 
The Star Maker is the story (with variations) of vaudeville enterpreneur Gus Edwards, here played by Bing Crosby. Determining that he can attain the uppermost showbiz rungs by spotlighting new, untried talents, Edwards rises to fame by hiring preteen boys and girls for his touring acts, the most famous of which is his "schoolroom" routine. Among Edwards' more prominent discoveries were Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Bert Wheeler, Walter Winchell and Mae Murray, none of whom are depicting in the film (though composer Walter Damrosch is portrayed "By Himself"). Paramount intended The Star Maker as a showcase for a whole new crop of "stars in the making", though the studio's own discoveries were destined for obscurity--with the exception of Janet Waldo, who in 1997 was still providing the voice of Judy Jetson for a series of TV commercials. Louise Campbell provides the nominal romantic interest as Edwards' super-supportive wife, while a welcome note of cynicism is introduced by the ineffable Ned Sparks. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Bing CrosbyLouise Campbell, (more)
 
1938  
 
In this often funny crime melodrama, a librarian moves to a small town and finds herself the butt of local gossip. While the town young men strut their stuff before her, the old biddies make her the topic of many bridge parties. The initially harmless gossip takes a nasty twist when a murder occurs and the girl finds herself shouldering the blame. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Lew AyresLouise Campbell, (more)
 
1938  
 
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Though John Barrymore is top-billed in Bulldog Drummond's Peril, the aging matinee idol is consigned to the supporting role of Inspector Nielsen. Drummond is portrayed by John Howard; once more, he is on the verge of marrying the ever-patient Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell). And yet again, the ceremony is interrupted by a late-breaking crime. The villains this time are trying to steal synthetic diamonds. Bulldog Drummond's Peril was the 5th in Paramount's B-picture "Drummond" series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
John BarrymoreJohn Howard, (more)
 
1938  
 
Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer stars Fredric March, complete with curly hair, pencil moustache and florid "Sacre Bleu!" French accent, as 18th century pirate Jean Lafitte. Operating out of a "buccaneer's haven" of the coast of New Orleans, Lafitte plunders all passing ships for their wealth, but refuses to attack any vessel flying the American flag. During one seafaring skirmish, he rescues Dutch maiden Gretchen (Franziska Gaal) from a sunken ship. Gretchen falls madly in love with the dashing Lafitte, but he has eyes only for aristocratic Louisana belle Annette (Margot Grahame). During the War of 1812, Lafitte is offered a pardon by Andrew Jackson (Hugh Sothern) if he and his pirates will fight on the American side. As good as his word, Lafitte stands shoulder to shoulder with Jackson as they ward off the British at the Battle of New Orleans. During a Victory Ball in his honor, Lafitte is confronted with evidence that he unknowingly caused the death of Annette's younger sister Marie (Louise Campbell) during a previous act of piracy. The assembled guests are all for hanging Lafitte on the spot, but General Jackson offers the pirate an hour's head start out of New Orleans, provided he never set foot on American soil again. This naturally costs Lafitte the love of Annette; fortunately, Gretchen is awaiting him on board his ship with open arms. From the opening scene in which Dolly Madison (Spring Byington) rescues the Declaration of Independence during the burning of Washington to the closing clinch between Lafitte and Gretchen, The Buccaneer is one of DeMille's most exhilarating films. It was remade less successfully in 1958 under the direction of Cecil B's son-in-law Anthony Quinn, who played the supporting role of Beluche in the original film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Fredric MarchFranziska Gaal, (more)
 
1938  
 
Brash and vigorous director William Wellman always had a place in his filmography for movies glorifying the early years of aviation -- from the start of his career (Wings), until the end (Lafayette Escadrille). But, perhaps, never has his devotion to aviation been made more vivid than in his 1938 drama Men With Wings. Wellman, in this film, attempts to dramatize the history of aviation from the early days of the Wright Brothers until the 1930s, when airline transportation first became viable. The story centers upon two contrasting aviation types: the barnstormer, Pat Falconer (Fred MacMurray), and the methodical scientist of flight, Scott Barnes (Ray Milland). Through these two archetypes, Wellman follows Pat and Scott from childhood to adulthood. Pat marries childhood sweetheart Peggy Ransom (Louise Campbell) and they have a child. Scott, who had always loved Peggy, remains in the background, not wanting to break up his solid friendship with Pat. But Pat is clearly doomed by his recklessness and breakneck individuality. After fighting in the skies during World War I, he refuses to sit back and do the methodical work of flight research like Scott. Always searching for another war to fight, Falconer leaves Scott and Peggy behind, taking off for China to help the Chinese fight Japanese invaders. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Fred MacMurrayRay Milland, (more)
 
1937  
 
In the second of Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" thrillers, Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (John Howard) is finally about to marry longtime fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell) when the girl is kidnapped. The hijackers, Mikhail Valdin (J. Carroll Naish) and his sister, Erena Soldanis (Helen Freeman), are wanted for the murder of an American millionaire, and Scotland Yard Inspector Neilson (John Barrymore) warns Bulldog that he may be next. But the intrepid hero pays no heed and is soon off on a dangerous journey that culminates at the Mere, a supposed haunted house. Bulldog Drummond Comes Back was based on H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's 1928 novel The Female of the Species, who, an opening credit warns, is "more deadly than the male." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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Starring:
John BarrymoreJohn Howard, (more)
 
1937  
 
A remake of 1932's Guilty as Hell, Night Club Scandal also borrows a page from 1934's Murder at the Vanities by depicting the "friendly adversary" relationship between a reporter (Lynne Overman) and a cop (Charles Bickford). Top-billed John Barrymore plays a respectable doctor married to a nightclub singer (Evelyn Brent), who murders his wife and frames the victim's lover for the crime. Overman and Bickford spot holes in Barrymore's story, bringing him to justice by Reel Seven. The murder plot is standard stuff, but the main attraction of Night Club Scandal is the aggressively masculine love/hate byplay between tipsy Lynne Overman and flint-eyed Charles Bickford. The best moment occurs at the end, when the wide-eyed ingenue (Louise Campbell) doesn't marry the fellow the audience expects her to! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
John BarrymoreLynne Overman, (more)
 
1937  
 
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In the fourth of Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" action-thrillers, the intrepid adventurer (John Howard) makes the grizzly discovery of a severed hand. Even more startling, attached to the wayward limb is a case filled with hextonite, a new and highly explosive substance desired by the enemy in general and one Draven Nogais (Frank Puglia) in particular. With his faithful servant, Tenny (E.E. Clive), fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell), and friend Algy Longworth (Reginald Denny) along for the ride, Captain Drummond trails the villain on board a train leaving Victoria Station for Paris. At first, the wily Nogais manages to elude his pursuers by disguising himself as a woman, but his plans to escape with the explosives are halted on the ferryboat to France. Despite the relative brevity of his role as Scotland Yard inspector Neilson, John Barrymore earned star billing in this series entry, which was based on H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's 1932 novel The Return of Bulldog Drummond. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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Starring:
John BarrymoreLouise Campbell, (more)
 
1937  
 
In this crime drama, a tightwad accountant for a newspaper becomes friends with a reporter. The bookkeeper goes on vacation, and while there he learns of a kidnapping conspiracy. He quickly phones the paper and they order him to follow up on the story and stay off the phone so the reporter (whom he secretly has a crush on) can use it. The paper also gives him a $25,000 expense account. He uses this money to make sure no other reporters can reach them. This insures that he will always get the scoop. His ploy increases sales of the paper and brings the crooks to justice. He also wins the heart of the reporter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Louise CampbellLynne Overman, (more)