TCM in October: Highlights

Happy October! It's time for a close-up look at this month's schedule on Turner Classic Movies.

Angela Lansbury is the October Star of the Month.

Lansbury was previously the Star of the Month in January 2012. This month TCM is honoring the centennial of Lansbury's birth. The actress was born October 16, 1925.

Lansbury's films will be shown on Thursday evenings, excepting October 30th. There will be a separate post on this month's Angela Lansbury films posted here in the next day or so.  (Update: Please visit: TCM Star of the Month: Angela Lansbury.)

October's Noir Alley schedule will consist of THE BIG STREET (1942) followed by three TCM premieres: NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (1955), BLACK TUESDAY (1954), and SOUTHSIDE 1-1000 (1950).

Mario Cantone will host "Creepy Cinema" again this October, introducing spooky films of all types on Friday evenings. Continuing the spooky theme, Alfred Hitchcock movies will be featured on Sunday nights.

October 30th and 31st will be given over to a two-day Halloween horror marathon.

Here are a few additional highlights from the October schedule. Please click on any hyperlinked title to read my extended review.

...The month begins on October 1st with a marvelous lineup of films released in 1950, followed by a prime time tribute honoring Julie Andrews on her 90th birthday. The evening will include the second-ever TCM showing of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), which made its TCM debut last August.

...An October 3rd day of films featuring femme fatales includes MURDER, MY SWEET (1944) starring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor.

...Dave Karger's Musical Matinee on October 4th features Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their first film together, FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933). A few years ago I attended a memorable rooftop screening of the film.

...One of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, REAR WINDOW (1954), will be showon on Sunday evening, October 5th. James Stewart and Grace Kelly star, ably supported by Thelma Ritter.

...Actor Chill Wills is honored on the evening of October 6th, with the films including one of my favorite lesser-known Westerns, GUN GLORY (1957), starring Stewart Granger and Rhonda Fleming. The lineup also includes three Francis the Talking Mule films, FRANCIS (1950), FRANCIS GOES TO THE RACES (1951), and FRANCIS GOES TO WEST POINT (1952); the latter two films are TCM premieres.

...For beautiful, very colorful musical entertainment check out THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967) on October 7th. Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Catherine Deneuve, and Deneuve's real-life sister Francois Dorleac star.

...There's a seven-film Randolph Scott lineup on October 8th. Titles include SHOOT-OUT AT MEDICINE BEND (1957) costarring James Garner.

...Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard star in I SEE A DARK STRANGER (1946), part of a day of films with the word "dark" in the title on October 9th.

...The Val Lewton classic CAT PEOPLE (1942) makes perfect October viewing; it will be shown on the 11th. Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, and Tom Conway star, directed by Jacques Tourneur.

...There's more great Hitchcock on Sunday evening, October 12th, with one of my all-time favorites: NOTORIOUS (1946) starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains.

...Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan star in DESPERATE JOURNEY (1942), part of a day of films focused on World War II's European front. It airs October 15th.

...Marco Cantone's Creepy Cinema on October 17th features Gene Tierney as the chilling killer of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945), followed by Tierney and Ginger Rogers costarring in BLACK WIDOW (1954). The latter is a 20th Century-Fox film rarely shown on TCM.

...The sequel to CAT PEOPLE, THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944), will be shown October 19th. Kent Smith, Simone Simon, and Jane Randolph again star, directed by Jacques Tourneur.

...WHERE THE BOYS ARE (1960) is a colorful, funny collegiate summer break film with a great cast headed by Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Paula Prentiss, and Jim Hutton. It's on October 22nd.

...There are some good military comedies on October 23rd, including Ida Lupino and Sydney Greenstreet in the amusing PILLOW TO POST (1945).

...Another Hitchcock favorite, SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), shows on Sunday evening, October 26th. This summer I was able to visit locations for the film in Santa Rosa, California, which will make my next viewing even more enjoyable.

...There's a fantastic lineup of pre-Code films on Tuesday evening, October 28th. It includes some of the best "jaw-droppers" of the era, including EMPLOYEES' ENTRANCE (1933) and NIGHT NURSE (1931).

...A day of Van Heflin films on October 29th includes the enjoyable MGM musical SEVEN SWEETHEARTS (1942) with Kathryn Grayson.

...Many of the films showing in the Halloween marathon on the 30th and 31st are a little too "much" for me, but happily there are also more good Val Lewton movies including THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) on the 30th.

For more on TCM in October 2025, please check out my posts TCM Star of the Month: Angela Lansbury and Quick Preview of TCM in October, along with TCM's online schedule.

Have a fun October, and happy Halloween!

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Tonight's Movie: Airport (1970) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The aviation disaster classic AIRPORT (1970) will be released this week by Kino Lorber.

The movie will be available in Blu-ray, which is the format I've reviewed, along with the 4K release. Coming out on the same date are single-title releases of the other Airport movies, AIPORT 1975 (1974), AIRPORT '77 (1977), and THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79 (1979).

The movies will also be available in a four-film set in late October.

Longtime readers may recall I'm a big fan of AIRPORT, which I first reviewed here in 2010; in 2014 wrote about seeing it on a big screen at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood along with AIRPORT 1975. I love the entire series.

I don't think I'd seen AIRPORT in over a decade, and it was quite a pleasure to revisit it thanks to this lovely new Blu-ray. The technical specs tell us the print is from a new HD master from a 4k scan of 35mm interpositive reduction elements and also features 5.1 Surround sound.

AIRPORT tells the story of the titular airport on a snowy night, as well as what happens to one specific flight which takes off from the airport and must later return.

In two hours and 17 minutes we meet a wide cast of characters, including Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), the manager of the airport; Joe Patroni (George Kennedy), the mechanic charged with moving a snowbound airplane off an urgently needed runway; Tanya Livingston (Jean Seberg), an airline employee who's attracted to the married Mel; and Harry Standish (Lloyd Nolan) of airport security.

Meanwhile Mel's brother-in-law Vern (Dean Martin) is two-timing Mel's nice sister Sarah (Barbara Hale) with a decades-younger stewardess (Jacqueline Bisset) who's just announced she's expecting his baby.

Vern's plane, copiloted by Anson Harris (Barry Nelson) and Cy Jordan (Gary Collins), will run into trouble thanks to a bomb carried onboard by a disturbed man (Van Heflin, looking absolutely awful).

The scenes with Heflin, his frantic wife (Maureen Stapleton), and a way-too-twee stowaway played by Helen Hayes (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) haven't held up well and are frankly fast forward-able, and it's also kind of wild that not one but both the film's leading men are cheating on their wives.

In the case of Lancaster's wife, played by Dana Wynter, it's a bit more understandable given her chilly, demanding demeanor, but it's also very sad as they have two daughters (Lisa Gerritsen and Illana Dowding).

But Martin sneaking around behind the back of lovely Barbara Hale just seems mean. At least his character shows some growth over the course of the film, but will he sustain it after movie's end?

Despite the above flaws and some very creaky dialogue -- including a few lines of the type that are "so bad they're good" -- AIRPORT sustains viewer interest for all of its fairly lengthy running time.

I especially enjoy the film's "procedural" aspects, the "ticktock" of how the airport runs and especially the pilots' interactions with very realistic-sounding air traffic controllers, who are creatively cut into the middle of the screen.

In short, I had a grand time watching it and loved the climactic excitement with Patroni struggling to move the stuck plane out of the way in time for the damaged plane to land. 

The movie, filmed in widescreen Technicolor by Ernest Laszlo, looks terrific on Kino Lorber's Blu-ray, and I'd add that Alfred Newman's booming final score sounds great as well.

The supporting cast includes Virginia Grey, Paul Picerni, Jessie Royce Landis, Mary Jackson, Larry Gates, and Whit Bissell, with a few more familiar faces tucked deep down in the credits.

The movie was written and directed by George Seaton, based on the novel by Arthur Hailey.

Kino Lorber presents AIRPORT as a Special Edition with a cardboard slipcase. The disc includes a new commentary track by Julie Kirgo and C. Courtney Joyner, along with the trailer (newly mastered in 2K) and a gallery of five additional trailers.

Incidentally, I learned from the trailer and confirmed via some Googling that Dana Wynter pronounced her first name like "Donna." I'd had no idea.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the movies in this series soon.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's TV: Emergency! (1972-79) - A Universal Blu-ray Review

EMERGENCY! (1972-79), one of the key TV series not only of my childhood but of '70s television, has just been released on Blu-ray.

All of the show's six seasons plus six follow-up TV-movies have been compiled into a single 28-disc Blu-ray set which runs over 111 hours.

Roughly two decades ago I painstakingly collected the series on DVD for my kids; suffice it to say that they loved the show as much as I did on first run in the '70s. I've been very happy to revisit the series via Blu-ray, and I plan to pass on the old DVD sets to my son.

I'm such a fan of EMERGENCY! that I attended a packed 50th anniversary tribute to the series in August 2022. You can read my account of the evening here. Many in the audience that night had been inspired to become fire fighters or paramedics thanks to EMERGENCY!

The anniversary tribute went into significant detail about the role of EMERGENCY! in the early establishment of paramedic programs across the country, beginning in Los Angeles, where the show was set. The show, created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb, was the first time many Americans ever heard the term "paramedic."

Technical experts worked hard on making the show as authentic as possible, and Cinader himself became such an expert on paramedic issues that he served for many years on the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission. Today the station where the show was filmed is the Robert A. Cinader Memorial Fire Station.

The double-length pilot episode, "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act," goes into the establishment of the paramedic program via two young trainees, Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and Johnny Gage (Randolph Mantooth). Tighe and Mantooth have great rapport, and indeed, when they appeared at the anniversary tribute I learned that they had become lifelong close friends.

Los Angeles emergency room doctor Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) has initial concerns about non-medical personnel treating patients before transporting them to the hospital, but is won over when DeSoto and Gage's skills save the life of Nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) when she's injured while helping at an accident scene.

Also key in the show's large ensemble cast is Bobby Troup as Dr. Joe Early, a neurosurgeon who often works emergency shifts. Dr. Early's perennially calm, easygoing demeanor provides a good contrast to Dr. Brackett's more uptight persona.

London -- who was in her mid '40s but rather hilariously described as 30 in the pilot -- was famously Webb's former wife and the current wife of Troup, but that was no barrier to Webb hiring both for the series. London and Troop certainly had fascinating careers, between acting, singing, and composing, including Troop's famed "Route 66."

I'd forgotten how strongly Dixie's romance with Dr. Brackett was pushed in the pilot episode, but their relationship was subsequently toned down. I also note that Dr. Brackett comes off as rather a male chauvinist in the pilot, particularly, but that also seems to improve as time goes on, and frankly it serves to humanize a character who often seems to have rather a high regard for himself.

Other series regulars included Marco Lopez and Mike Stoker, whose characters were the same as the actors' real names, and Tim Donnelly as Chet Kelly. (I did a double-take seeing Donnelly without his mustache in the first regular season episode, "Mascot.") I really appreciate the show's cast continuity, having the same faces in the station for years.

Series regular Ron Pinkard, who played hospital physician Dr. Mike Morton, shows up as early as the pilot, but curiously his character had another name, Dr. Gray, in that movie.

Many other familiar faces cross through the episodes, including Webb regular Virginia Gregg, who briefly plays a nurse. Also look for long-running DAYS OF OUR LIVES star Deirdre Hall as a nurse in a half-dozen episodes.

I've found going back to this series for the first time in years akin to a box of great candy; it's hard to stop! As I've reviewed this set I've often thought "Just one more..." and then booted up the next episode.

I love the "procedural" aspects of the show, which I've found are of interest to adult and child viewers alike, making this a great series for family viewing. And the exciting Nelson Riddle theme music still gets my pulse pumping!

Obviously it's going to take me many hours of viewing to watch the entire set, but the prints I've seen to this point have all been outstanding, looking very crisp and sharp.

Included as an extra is the "Lost and Found" crossover episode with ADAM-12. ADAM-12's Kent McCord and Martin Milner also appear briefly in the pilot.

I'm a big ADAM-12 fan as well and had the great pleasure of meeting Kent McCord last April at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. I'm hoping that ADAM-12 will be receiving a similar Blu-ray treatment before long.

EMERGENCY! was landmark, influential television which is also great storytelling. Recommended.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Universal for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection. It may be purchased from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...News from Kino Lorber Studio Classics: THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE (1939) comes to Blu-ray November 18th. She costars with a good cast including Warren William, Kent Taylor, and Ellen Drew. The previously announced French Noir Collection II will be out November 25th. And "coming soon" will be Fred MacMurray in THE TEXAS RANGERS (1936).

...In her Noir Nook column for Classic Movie Hub, Karen Burroughs Hannsberry shares several noir titles to enjoy this autumn.

...The wonderful 2002 book on the history of the Automat has just been republished by Horn & Hardart. You can read more about both the book and the Automat in my review of the documentary THE AUTOMAT (2021).

...The Great American Family Channel has announced its 2025 Christmas movie lineup.

...Colin's latest review at Riding the High Country is DIAL 1119 (1950).  For more on that film, I reviewed it after seeing it at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival a couple of years ago.

...Film historian J.B. Kaufman's "Movie of the Month" is LAW AND ORDER with Walter Huston (seen here) and Harry Carey (Sr.), which I reviewed here a few weeks ago.

...There are lots more fun random classic film reviews and photos from Greenbriar Picture Shows here and here.

...And over at The Hannibal 8, Toby Roan reviews the sci-fi classic THEM! (1954) on Blu-ray.

...It's fall cookbook season! Among this year's new titles: GOOD THINGS: RECIPES AND RITUALS TO SHARE WITH PEOPLE YOU LOVE by Samin Nosrat (SALT FAT ACID HEAT) and THE SHEET PAN from America's Test Kitchen.

...Notable Passing: Claudia Cardinale has passed away at 87. Among her many films were THE PINK PANTHER (1963), BLINDFOLD (1966), and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968). The Tinseltown Twins have posted a photo-filled tribute.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my September 20th column.

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Quick Preview of TCM in November

Here's a quick look ahead at what's coming to Turner Classic Movies this November!

TCM will celebrate the centennial of Rock Hudson's birth by honoring him as the November Star of the Month. 

Roughly 20 of Hudson's movies will be shown on Tuesday evenings, including the TCM premiere of ONE DESIRE (1955), costarring Anne Baxter and Julie Adams.

The November Noir Alley lineup will feature THE GREAT JEWEL ROBBER (1950), BLIND SPOT (1947), HIGH AND LOW (1963), THE STRIP (1951), and POSTMARK FOR DANGER (1955).

I'm especially enthused about the new-to-me BLIND SPOT, which stars Chester Morris and Constance Dowling; it will be a TCM premiere.

I saw the restored HIGH AND LOW at the Egyptian Theatre last month and loved it all over again. Seeing it on a big screen in a perfect print was mesmerizing.

The TCM Spotlight will be focused on political thrillers on Wednesday evenings. Titles range from THE 39 STEPS (1935) to ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) and many more.

November will also feature the TCM premieres of the silent films BEAU GESTE (1926) with Ronald Colman and JOHANNA ENLISTS (1918) starring Mary Pickford.

Several World War II classics will be shown on Veterans Day. Thanksgiving Day will feature family films such as THE SECRET GARDEN (1949) during the day, followed by musicals in the evening.

November programming themes will include circuses, hypnotism, socialites, murder mysteries, and characters "on the run."

Filmmakers honored with multifilm tributes in November include Darryl F. Zanuck, Claude Rains, Jerry Goldsmith, Ronald Colman, Richard Burton, Zita Johann, Jeff Bridges, Billy Wilder, Vincent Sherman, Eleanor Powell, Lionel Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Joan Crawford, and George Cukor.

I'll have much more on TCM's November schedule posted here around Halloween. In the meantime, October is around the corner next week, and Angela Lansbury will be the Star of the Month.

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Tonight's Movie: Invasion, U.S.A. (1952) - A Film Masters Blu-ray Review

I've always had a strong interest in films of the Cold War era, as they merge my love for movies with a topic I studied extensively in college.

Numerous science fiction and film noir movies of the '50s contain themes regarding Cold War fears, ranging from subtle allegories to more explicit stories.

At the far end of the scale are "Red scare films" meant to terrify their audiences into vigilance against possible Communist invasion.

I was thus fascinated to learn about the recent release of a two-film Blu-ray set of such "Red scare" films from Film Masters. The two-disc set contains INVASION, U.S.A. (1952) along with ROCKET ATTACK, U.S.A. (1960).

This impressive set also includes new featurettes and commentaries along with shorts; more on that at the end of this review.

INVASION, U.S.A. is a wild film which isn't especially well-made, including relying on copious amounts of stock footage, but at the same time, I think one could class it as unforgettable. Its memorable nature is due to a combination of genuinely scary bits mixed with moments which can only be described as high camp; some scenes manage both at once!

The bare bones plot finds a handful of people enjoying drinks in a New York City bar, served by a bartender named Tim (Tom Kennedy).

Tim's customers include a glamorous babe, Carla (Peggie Castle), a slightly oily TV newsman named Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), the mysterious and rather creepy Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy), and a couple men in New York on business (Robert Bice and Erik Blythe).

Strange stories begin to unfold on the bar's television (it's an Admiral! -- early "product placement"?). Enemy planes are flying over Alaska, then Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. Thousands are killed, and although the U.S. armed forces fight valiantly, they seem powerless to stop the ongoing invasion, which escalates across the country with astounding speed.

The film is thought-provoking from a variety of angles, including the filmmakers portraying Soviet Russia as such a menace that it easily overruns the U.S.

From a modern-day perspective, one of the interesting things about the film was the limited amount of information available to the characters about what was happening elsewhere in the country. That would certainly play out differently in the social media era, as long as communications aren't knocked out.

And indeed, with regular recent reports of Russian planes and drones being in places where they shouldn't be, enemy planes showing up over Alaska in this film hit a little closer to home than it should decades after it was made.

The ultimate ending is hinted at strongly enough that I wasn't surprised, and to some extent it could be said to explain the nightmarish scenes which have gone before.

Gerald Mohr is fondly recalled from his numerous appearances on TV's MAVERICK, including a couple episodes as Doc Holliday in the late '50s, and I'm a big fan of Peggie Castle, but the acting in this film admittedly isn't much.

What's more interesting are the situations, including a memorable scene where an airline clerk (Noel Neill) must inform a woman she can't buy a ticket to get home to her husband and children in Montana -- because the state has been nuked!

Speaking of Neill, she's one of two "TV Lois Lanes" who appear in the film; Phyllis Coates is also on hand in a very brief scene as the ill-fated wife of the cattleman played by Blythe.

The cast also includes Edward G. Robinson Jr., William Schallert, Richard Eyer, and Clarence A. Shoop, who had an impressive military career and was a frequent technical advisor to the film industry. Shoop was married to actress Julie Bishop; their daughter is actress Pamela Susan Shoop. There's more about Bishop in my recent review of LITTLE MISS ROUGHNECK (1938).

INVASION, U.S.A. runs 73 minutes. Except for the lengthy stock footage sequences -- I sped up the playback for a couple of these loooong scenes -- the movie is well-paced and holds the attention even at its most absurd. Viewers will doubtless be all over the map in their reactions to it, but it's a conversation-worthy film.

The movie was written by Robert Smith from a story he wrote with Franz Schulz. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and filmed in black and white by John L. Russell.

Film Masters' excellent Blu-ray print is from a 4K scan of 35mm archival elements. Sound quality is also strong.

The commentary track for INVASION, U.S.A. is by Jason A. Ney, with C. Courtney Joyner and Mark Jordan Legan doing the honors for ROCKET ATTACK, U.S.A.

Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, which specializes in documentaries for home viewing releases, produced a 37-minute documentary BETTER DEAD THAN RED: HOLLYWOOD VS. COMMUNISM IN THE 1950S, as well as an 18-minute interview with Anthony Mohr, son of Gerald Mohr. I'll be watching BETTER DEAD THAN RED in the near future; I quite enjoyed the Mohr interview.

Anthony (who incidentally was a Los Angeles Superior Court judge) reminisces about his father's career and his own childhood confusion seeing an INVASION, U.S.A. still of his bloodied father with a gorgeous woman he didn't know. I was gratified when Anthony mentioned how much both he and his father liked his work on MAVERICK.

The set also includes trailers; a stills gallery; numerous atomic era shorts; and booklet essays by Toby Roan (on Peggie Castle) and Don Stradley (on ROCKET ATTACK, U.S.A.).

As described above, Film Masters has put a great deal of effort into this set, which is recommended.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Film Masters for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased via Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Tonight's Movie: Ladies of the Big House (1931) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

A pair of Sylvia Sidney films from 1931 were recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

The "Pre-Code Classics" two-film set features CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED (1931) and LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE (1931).

I started off my viewing from this set with LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE, a "women in prison" film which immediately made me think of the later pre-Code LADIES THEY TALK ABOUT (1933). Like the later film, LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE is also very enjoyable.

Kathleen (Sidney) is a sweet young clerk in a florist's shop who, as the movie begins, is turning down a date with Kid Athens (Earle Foxe). Kathleen had previously gone out with him but has just learned that Athens is a mobster and wants nothing more to do with him.

Athens has to go on the lam for a while but threatens Kathleen that he's going to have her watched while he's away, and if he hears she dates anyone else...well, it won't be good.

As it happens, Kathleen immediately meets Standish McNeil (Gene Raymond), an engineer just returned to the U.S. from working abroad.

The two fall head over heels for each other and marry after a two-week courtship, with plans to immediately leave the country for Stan's next job. Kathleen hasn't mentioned Athens to Stan but knows leaving town will get them far from harm's way. She hasn't counted on the vengeful Athens framing her and her new husband for murder hours before they're due to sail.

They're convicted and sent off to prison, with Kathleen receiving a life sentence and Stan sentenced to death. How can the couple prove their innocence in time to save Stan's life?!

This film was based on a play by Ernest Booth, with added dialogue by William Slavens McNutt and Grover Jones. It's well-structured and quite entertaining thanks to good plotting and a terrific cast.

Sidney, with her soulful eyes and sweet disposition, is marvelous, and it's completely believable Stan would fall for her in a short time. Kathleen may have a gentle demeanor, but she also proves to be strong and absolutely dedicated to saving her husband, even if it requires desperate measures.

I especially loved a scene late in the film where Kathleen and Susie reach an understanding of sorts. It's quite moving.

Raymond was a handsome leading man in many films of the '30s -- WALKING ON AIR (1936) with Ann Sothern is a favorite -- then was offscreen for several years during the '40s while serving as an Army Air Force pilot. Earlier this year I was blown away by his tough performance engineering a gold heist in PLUNDER ROAD (1957).

Raymond is quite romantic in this film sweeping Kathleen off her feet. Despite the unfairness of his conviction, he conducts himself with dignity and does what he can to reassure his wife.

Like so many films of the era, a big part of the joy of LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE is its supporting cast. Louise Beavers, a longtime favorite of mine, plays a kindly prison mate who shows Kathleen "the ropes" and defends her from some of the tougher ladies. She's delightful.

Jane Darwell is a nice prison matron, while Wynne Gibson plays Susie, who had also dated Kid Athens and resents Kathleen for distracting his attention.

(As a side note which might be of interest to some readers, I've visited the final resting places of both Gibson and Beavers, at Forest Lawn Glendale and Evergreen Cemetery, respectively. Gibson has one of the most memorable gravestones I've ever seen.)

There are many more great faces in the cast, including Roscoe Karns, J. Carrol Naish, Esther Howard, Purnell Pratt, Mary Gordon, and Robert Emmett O'Connor.

Paulette Goddard is listed at IMDb as being part of a crowd of inmates, but I didn't notice her.

The movie was energetically directed by Marion Gering, running a crisp 77 minutes. The movie was filmed by David Abel.

The Blu-ray print is from a new HD master from a 4K scan. The picture may be a bit soft, in the way that films of this era often are, but overall it looks and sounds great, all the more so for a film of this vintage. It was a real pleasure viewing it in such good condition.

This set of Pre-Code Classics is presented as a Kino Lorber Special Edition with a cardbiard slipcase. Both films in the set have commentary tracks by David Del Valle and Stan Shaffer. There's also a gallery of five trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

I'll be reviewing CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED in the near future. (Update: Here is that review!) I thoroughly enjoyed LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE and hope that more Pre-Code Classics sets will be coming from Kino Lorber in the future.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's Movie: Gangs of Chicago (1940) at Cinecon

I've now reviewed all five of the feature films I saw on Labor Day earlier this month at the 2025 Cinecon Classic Film Festival. The review links to date may be found at the end of this post.

Now I'll back up to my first day at the festival, on Saturday, August 30th, and the Republic Pictures film GANGS OF CHICAGO (1940).

GANGS OF CHICAGO is a 66-minute "B" film starring Lloyd Nolan.

Nolan plays Matty Burns, who as the movie begins is a law student without much money.

Matty spends summers at the farm owned by the family of his roommate Bill Whitaker (Ray Middleton). Matty is accepted as one of the Whitaker family; he spends his days working on the farm and in the evenings is tutored in the law by Bill's father, Judge Whitaker (Howard C. Hickman).

Bill's sister June (Lola Lane, older sister of Rosemary and Priscilla) takes a shine to Matty as well, likely hoping they may have a future after law school.

Matty has the possibility of a good life ahead, but there's just one problem: He has reasons for hating the police and is learning everything he can about the law so that he can twist it inside out, using loopholes and tricks to get Chicago mobsters (including Jim Ramsey, played by Barton MacLane) off the hook for their crimes.

After graduation Matty's business serving the legal needs of shady characters quickly grows, and he also becomes financially secure.

The feds become suspicious of Matty's legal operations and start looking into his business...

The overall theme of one good and one bad adoptive brother or close friend is a familiar one to moviegoers, seen in movies such as MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (1934), ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938), EAST OF THE RIVER (1940), and NORTHWEST RANGERS (1942), to name just a few.

The storyline in GANGS OF CHICAGO follows a similar trajectory. I initially expected that the film would follow the path of a movie like HIDE-OUT (1934) and Matty would ultimately be reformed by the love of the farm girl and her family; however, his ending is closer to that of Clark Gable in MANHATTAN MELODRAMA or James Cagney in ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES.

Indeed, along with CITY GIRL (1938), GANGS OF CHICAGO was one of a couple films shown at Cinecon which strongly drove home the theme "Crime does not pay."

As always, Nolan is highly watchable, and he's surrounded by a good cast of pros in a fast-paced movie. Astrid Allywn is particularly interesting as a tough-as-nails woman on Matty's staff.

This is a very good "B," and I'd love to see more such films made by Republic Pictures.

GANGS OF CHICAGO was directed by Arthur Lubin and filmed in black and white by Woody Bredell. It was written by Karl Brown with uncredited input from future director Samuel Fuller.

The cast also includes Addison Richards, Charles Halton, Horace McMahon, Leona Roberts, and Jason Robards (Sr.).

Hard-to-find minor yet fun movies such as this one are why I love attending Cinecon!

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