Dorothy Reid Movies

Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb. Banner's press agent Eric Yeagar (Ray Milland) finds this hilarious, until he discovers that he's been appointed Rhubarb's guardian and business manager. One of the crosses Yeagar has to bear is the fact that his sweetheart Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), the daughter of Brooklyn team manager Len Sickles (William Frawley), is deathly allergic to cats. Still, Yeagar must keep Rhubarb with him at all times, especially when the cat turns out to be a good-luck charm for the perennially basement-dwelling Brooklyn ballplayers. Thanks to Rhubarb's inspiration, the team makes it to the Pennant Race, whereupon the plot really thickens. The first two-thirds of Rhubarb adheres to the original Smith novel, culminating with a zany sanity hearing brought about by Banner's disgruntled relatives to prove that the cat is mentally unfit to control the old man's money. But the final reels abandon the novel in favor of a Guys and Dolls-inspired plot strand, wherein crooked gamblers kidnap the cat to prevent a Brooklyn pennant win. As a result, H. Allen Smith's satiric barbs are somewhat blunted in the final scenes -- which, however, is not to suggest that the film is any less funny than before. One of the better baseball comedies of the era, Rhubarb maintains its merriment right to the end, which is capped by a cameo appearance by a well-known actor who happened to be married to leading lady Jan Sterling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Producer Hal Roach's postwar attempt to create a new bunch of "Our Gang" kids resulted in two misfire Cinecolor comedies, the second of which was Who Killed Doc Robbin. Heading this unappealing new crop of youngsters is Jackie Cooper lookalike Larry Olsen as Curley, who enters the story when sinister scientist Doc Robbin (George Zucco) disappears after a lab explosion as is presumed murdered. The most likely suspect is kindly old Dan (Whitford Kane), and Curley and his pals intend to prove Dan's innocence. To do this, they must snoop around Robbin's spooky old house, leading to a series of "fright" gags that were old when Harold Lloyd did them back in 1921. In the tradition of the earlier Our Gang comedies, Who Killed Doc Robbin features a pair of black kids, one of whom is Renee Beard, the brother of 1930s Our Gang favorite Matthew "Stymie" Beard. Originally released in tandem with the Hal Roach streamliner Here Comes Trouble, Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin was later combined with its predecessor Curley (1948) into a single feature titled Curley and His Gang in the Haunted Mansion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gorgeous June Lang, plays the title character in Redhead. Johnny Downs costars as a spoiled, ill-tempered rich boy. In desperation, his father pays Lang $10,000 to wrap Johnny around her little finger-and then steer him into a worthwhile life. Once this is accomplished, June, who's fallen in love with Johnny, turns down the money. Based on a novel by Vera Brown, Redhead was previously filmed in 1934, with Grace Bradley and Bruce Cabot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Longtime "Our Gang" director Robert McGowan wielded the megaphone for the laid-back Monogram drama Old Swimming Hole. Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones, whom the studio was hoping to develop into a screen team, star as Chris and Betty, bucolic sweethearts who hope to play matchmaker for Chris' mother (Leatrice Joy) and Betty's father (Charles Brown). Another plotline concerns Chris' hopes of attending medical school, which may not happen due to his family's lack of funds. After taking it easy for several reels, the film wraps up with an exciting climax wherein one of the main characters is rescued from drowning. Old Swimming Hole was based on a story by Dorothy Davenport Reid, widow of silent-screen favorite Wallace Reid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As conceived, Monogram's On the Spot was meant to be purely a Frankie Darro vehicle, with black comedian Mantan Moreland as comedy relief. As filmed, however, On the Spot offered Darro and Moreland as costars, contributing equally to the film's plotline and entertainment value. The story shifts into gear when a mysterious stranger shows up in the small-town drugstore manned by soda jerk Frankie (Darro), then promptly expires after leaving an important message with Frankie and his assistant Jefferson (Moreland). Gangster Smiling Bill (Leroy Mason) shows up soon afterward, demanding that Frankie and Jefferson turn over the message-only to be knocked off himself by a mysterious assailant. Doing a bit of detective work on their own, our heroes discover that the double murder was linked with a recent bank heist, masteminded by?.well, best not to give away the surprisie ending. Former "Our Gang" star Mary Kornman provides the love interest, but the largest female role, that of a big-city insurance investigator, is essayed by Maxine Leslie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a tuna fisherman is wrongly convicted for murder. Because he is a model, and oft-times heroic prisoner, he is up for early parole. While parole is better than prison, it is still not justice for the man as he is unable to travel far and marry his beloved. He decides that his only real option is to escape and begin looking for the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If the big-time studios could score in the "screwball comedy" genre, then small-time Monogram Pictures could join the club with A Bride for Henry. Warren Hull, fresh from a contract dispute with Warner Bros., played Henry, with fellow Warners refugee Anne Nagel as his bride. Henry Mollison, a newcomer from England, is the third spoke of the romantic triangle which motivates the story. The film slaps a new coat of paint on the old gag about a honeymoon continually being interrupted by a handsome ex-suitor. A Bride for Henry delivered plenty of laughs to a 1937 audience unaccustomed to seeing a comedy emerge from the action- and mystery-oriented Monogram studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a writer, dissatisfied with his flagging career, decides to raise some money by walking from New York to San Francisco in six months. Along the way, he will be writing about the experience. One of his buddies bets that the writer won't make it, and this makes him even more determined. Along the way, a terrible storm erupts forcing the intrepid ambler to take refuge in a cabin. There he encounters a runaway and her two little sisters. Trouble ensues when the cabin's owner and some mobsters show up to retrieve their loot. The writer is ecstatic. At last he has some decent material to write about. He joyfully begins to write. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Road to Ruin is a remake of notorious 1928 exploitationer of the same name, courtesy of the fly-by-night firm of True Life Photoplays (aka Willis Kent Productions). Neglected by her parents, a feisty teenager falls into a bad crowd. She ends up working for a call-girl operation, "servicing" wild parties. Imagine her dismay when, on one assignment, the heroine finds herself in a compromising situation with her own father (Richard Tucker)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mischa Auer's fake Swami Yomurda of Sinister Hands returned in Sucker Money, a crime drama set among newspaper reporters. Assigned to investigate the psychic rackets, cub reporter Jimmy Reeves (Earl McCarthy) goes undercover and is hired by the Swami to impersonate the clients' dead relatives. The gang, which also includes the alcoholic Mame (Mae Busch), Lukis (Fletcher Norton), and Chicago Kate (Mona Lisa), targets investment banker John Walton (Ralph Lewis), whose daughter, Clare (Phyllis Barrington), has become attracted to Jimmy. The latter tells her the truth, but his confession is overheard by one of the Swami's henchmen and soon everyone is locked up in a "death house," Walton being told to fork over 20,000 dollars (or else!). Convincing Lukis that she desperately needs a drink, Mame goes straight to Jimmy's city editor and the police raid the "death house." The Swami manages to flee with Clare, but is eventually killed by the pursuing cops. When the dust settles, Jimmy proposes to Clare, determined to leave the newspaper racket behind and become a banker in Oshkosh. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of the most overworked plots of the silent era was the one about an Eastern wastrel who toughens up on a Western ranch. The charismatic Douglas Fairbanks popularized the character in the mid 1910s, but George Duryea, the Eastern snob this time around, was no Fairbanks. Duryea hires out as a ranch hand on a dude ranch, and there is plenty of low comedy as the effeminate Easterner learns the tough ways of the West. There's a girl involved, of course (Lina Basquette) and a couple of rivals among the guests (including veteran movie star Francis X. Bushman), but this early talkie from low-rent Sono Art-World Wide was not worth anybody's while. Leading man Duryea later changed his name to Tom Keene and enjoyed a brief vogue as a "B"-western star. Later still, he became Richard Powers and played character roles. Lina Basquette married one of the Warner Bros., starred in a couple of flops, but was better known for her off-screen antics, all of which she described in salacious details in her often very funny memoirs DeMille's Godless Girl. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide