Tonight's Movie: Danger Patrol (1937)

There was only time for a short movie tonight, so I chose a 59-minute programmer directed by Lew Landers, DANGER PATROL.

DANGER PATROL focuses on "soup handlers," men who have the ultra-dangerous job of delivering nitroglycerin to oil fields.

Dan Loring (John Beal) is an aspiring medical student who needs to put away some good money; when he reports for his first day on the job delivering nitro, his supervisor (Frank M. Thomas) shows him an empty picture frame. He tells Dan it's a photograph of what was left of a man who was careless on the job.

Dan is trained by Easy (Harry Carey Sr.) and falls in love with Easy's daughter Cathy (Sally Eilers), but Sally won't have anything to do with a man who's likely to make her a widow soon after making her a wife. As it is, she's spent years worrying about her father and watching the anxiety of women like Nancy (Lee Patrick), who's constantly on edge about the safety of her husband (Edward Gargan).

This Landers film is so-so, not on a level with Landers' best "B" films, but worth a look. The unusual subject matter is interesting to learn about, and the film is helped along by good performances by pros like Patrick, Thomas, and Carey. The lead romance, however, is on the dull side. Poor Sally Eilers -- also seen in Landers' WITHOUT ORDERS (1936) -- doesn't get to do much more than worry and complain. She has good reason, but watching someone in constant "whine" mode is wearing after a while; it becomes a little difficult to see why Dan finds her so appealing!

Although the film is reasonably absorbing, it builds to a very abrupt conclusion which leaves the viewer shaking one's head and muttering a bit.  It could have used at least another five minutes to give viewers are more satisfying ending.

John Beal was previously seen by me in two other Landers films, THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937) and STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942). He's not an especially interesting actor, but he's believable as a potential med student trying to make a big income fast. The cast also includes Paul Guilfoyle, Crawford Weaver, and Solly Ward; way down in the cast you can find Bruce Bennett, then billed as Herman Brix.

DANGER PATROL has been shown on Turner Classic Movies. It's not available on DVD or VHS.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: The Big Gusher (1951)

Tonight I continued to work my way through the long filmography of "B" movie director Lew Landers, watching THE BIG GUSHER (1951) which was recommended to me last year by readers John Knight and Blake Lucas.

THE BIG GUSHER reunited Landers with Preston Foster, who starred in Landers' very appealing DOUBLE DANGER (1938) a dozen or so years before. Foster teams with Wayne Morris playing Hank and Kenny, partners who get a bonus for bringing in an oil well; they plan to use the bonus money to go into business drilling for themselves.

They're not counting on Hank losing his head over some drinks and a pretty girl (Dorothy Patrick) who earns some needed money on the side manipulating Hank to buy a probably worthless oil lease from Jim Tolman (Emmett Vogan). It looks like Hank and Kenny's money is down the drain, until an old oil man (Paul E. Burns) convinces the partners there's oil on the property...

The plot device of having seemingly responsible Hank get drunk and lose money not once but twice is tiresome, especially as I like Foster and was disappointed in his character. I also wasn't expecting Betsy (Patrick) to be quite so calculating!

That said, this is, as Blake said, "fast and breezy," clocking in at just 68 minutes, and I had a good time watching it. As usual, Landers squeezes the most entertainment value possible out of the script he was handed to work with, and it's a nice way to spend an hour or so.

Foster and Morris have a good relationship, managing to stay on solid footing with each other despite financial and romantic problems, and since I'm a Foster fan I enjoyed that Betsy went for him rather than the younger Morris, who might have been the more conventional matchup. There are even a couple cute jokes about the age issue, and all in all I thought Hank and Betsy's sparring romance was well-handled and a nice change from the usual.

In addition to particularly being a Foster fan, I also like Dorothy Patrick, who starred in films such as BOYS' RANCH (1946) and FOLLOW ME QUIETLY (1949), to name just a couple.  I'm always glad to have her turn up in a good-sized role, as she does in this film. And how cool is it that Blake knew her when he was a kid?

Stock footage of oil drilling is smoothly mixed in with shots of the actors, and while the film must have had a shoestring budget it's nicely put together and edited. There's even a couple minutes for Cappy (Burns) to give Betsy, and by extension the audience, a brief lesson on oil drilling.

THE BIG GUSHER was written by Daniel Ullman, who also wrote a couple of Westerns I've really liked in the past year, WICHITA (1955) and CANYON RIVER (1956). He also wrote the Wayne Morris Western THE FIGHTING LAWMAN (1953), which unfortunately was a disappointment.

THE BIG GUSHER is out on a nice-looking DVD in the Sony Choice line.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), BORDER CAFE (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), CONDEMNED WOMEN (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), PACIFIC LINER (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942), AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Canal Zone (1942)

Chester Morris plays an aviation instructor teaching inexperienced pilots to ferry bombers in the CANAL ZONE (1942).

CANAL ZONE is an interesting little slice of WWII history, released just three months after Pearl Harbor. As new Lockheed bombers arrive in the Canal Zone, Morris's "Hardtack Hamilton" trains new recruits how to safely fly the planes to their final destinations in the Pacific. There's constant pilot turnover, as roughly two-thirds of the men join the military once they make their deliveries to the war zone.

John Hubbard plays pilot Harley Ames, a playboy looking for some fun and adventure. Harley's pretty obnoxious, but he's a good enough pilot that Hardtack keeps him on, after making him spend some time doing low-level chores and mechanical work. Unfortunately Harley still has too big a head on his shoulders, making bonehead flying moves which have tragic repercussions. Eventually, though, Harley may have a chance at redemption.

CANAL ZONE is by no means great drama, but I really enjoy this type of "B" movie which gives a bit of insight into the early days of the war, including the way films were used to rally support for the war effort. I'm also always interested in seeing aviation films so I found CANAL ZONE an enjoyable film.

Beyond favorite Chester Morris, the film's cast includes an actor who's recently become of interest, Forrest Tucker -- who looks impossibly young! The film also features character actor fave Louis Jean Heydt, who has a single scene, plus Lloyd Bridges, Larry Parks, Harriet Hilliard (Nelson), and Hugh Beaumont. I'd be hard-pressed not to have fun watching a movie with a cast like that!

I found it an entertaining 79 minutes, directed by Lew Landers, who almost always seems to turn out "B" movies I enjoy. There's quite a list of Landers movie reviews at the end of this post, and I encourage my readers to check out more of his work. Landers worked frequently with Chester Morris, and their aviation drama FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937) might my favorite of all the Landers films I've seen to date.

I haven't been able to find out where the CANAL ZONE air field scenes were filmed, but based on the mountain range in the background, I strongly suspect these scenes were filmed around Bishop, California, the same location used by John Ford for AIR MAIL (1932) a decade earlier.

CANAL ZONE is available on DVD from Sony Choice in an impressively sharp print. I rented it from ClassicFlix.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), BORDER CAFE (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), CONDEMNED WOMEN (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), PACIFIC LINER (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942), AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DYNAMITE PASS (1950), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), THE BIG GUSHER (1951), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Alias Boston Blackie (1942)

ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE is the third film in the long-running series starring Chester Morris as a reformed safecracker. It's an enjoyable mystery set during the yuletide season.

This time around Blackie takes a group of performers to entertain at a prison on Christmas Eve. The movie's off to a fun start when it becomes apparent that the bus driver is none other than Lloyd Bridges in a nonspeaking bit part -- one of 25 films Bridges appeared in which were released in 1942!

Having seen Lloyd Bridges this year in a very memorable role in TRY AND GET ME (1950), it's fun to see him when he was just starting out. It's also fun if the viewer knows that Larry Parks, who plays a prison inmate who escapes on the bus, was Bridges' closest friend. Bridges was best man when Parks married Betty Garrett, and she later became the godmother of Beau Bridges.

But enough trivia and back to the story! Parks plays Joe, who was sent up the river for a murder he didn't commit. Joe's sister Eve (Adele Mara) is one of the chorus girls Blackie takes to entertain at the prison. Needless to say, it's up to Boston Blackie to find the real murderer and clear Joe's name.

The movie is a well-paced 67 minutes, and the Christmas touches here and there make it a bit different from the usual series mystery. This would be a fun "outside the box" title for TCM to show at Christmastime. Jacqueline looked further at the Christmas angle in a post last December at Another Old Movie Blog.

Chester Morris gives another assured performance as Boston Blackie. Morris enjoyed doing magic tricks off the screen, and his abilities in that regard surely add an extra-smooth touch to Blackie's expertise removing handcuffs and pulling other sleight-of-hand tricks.

The usual series regulars are along for the adventure, including Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday, Walter Sande as Detective Matthews, Lloyd Corrigan as Blackie's friend Arthur, and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick, the runt.

Adele Mara appeared as Rita Hayworth's sister in YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER (1942) the same year ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE was released; as a matter of fact, Larry Parks had a small role in that film too.  Mara is seen here at the right in a YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER still along with Hayworth, Leslie Brooks, and Catherine Craig. Mara later married TV writer-producer Roy Huggins of MAVERICK and THE ROCKFORD FILES. Her brother, Luis Delgado, was James Garner's longtime stand-in and assistant.

This is the first of three Boston Blackie films directed by "B" movie specialist Lew Landers. I've been enjoying catching up with Landers' films in recent months; a complete list of Landers reviews can be found at the end of this post. Landers keeps the story moving along, including an entertaining chase scene with cars careening around the city streets of the Columbia backlot.

A small number of BOSTON BLACKIE films have been released on MOD DVD-Rs from Sony/Columbia, but this does not appear to be one of them.

Previous BOSTON BLACKIE reviews: MEET BOSTON BLACKIE (1941) and CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1941).

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Blind Alibi (1938)

The Richard Dix festival continues!

Having watched three Dix films in recent days, I decided to check out his 61-minute RKO "B" film, BLIND ALIBI (1938).

BLIND ALIBI was directed by Lew Landers, who specialized in turning out entertaining "B" movies. I've seen a great many of Landers' films -- reviews are linked at the bottom of this post -- and while there's a notable clunker in the group (DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT), on the whole they're consistently fast-moving, entertaining films.

BLIND ALIBI is another fun one from Landers, despite being hampered by a plot that strains credulity.

Dix plays Paul, a sculptor living in Paris. His sister Ellen (Frances Mercer, seen with Dix below), who is married to a high government official there, is being blackmailed. Paul and his friend Marcel (George Davis) take it upon themselves to retrieve the letters at the heart of the problem.

They don't quite succeed, but Marcel manages to get his hands on the letters long enough to hide them inside some sculptures -- which are immediately shipped to a museum in Los Angeles! The museum is run by Julia (Whitney Bourne, FLIGHT FROM GLORY), who as it happens had met Paul briefly in Paris.

Paul comes up with a novel plan to examine the art and find his sister's letters; he poses as a blind man, complete with seeing eye dog, and arranges for the museum to let him "study" the sculptures by touching them. He can thus handle all the sculptures without arousing suspicion.

The idea that a blind man would be allowed to manhandle the museum's treasures on a daily basis really didn't make much sense to me, but the story was nonetheless fun. Top honors go to Ace the Wonder Dog, who works as Paul's seeing eye dog; Ace adds a great deal of entertainment value to the movie.

I also love a movie where the veterinarian who opens the door near the end of the movie proves to be Regis Toomey! Can't beat that. Landers regulars Paul Guilfoyle and Richard Lane are also on hand, plus Eduoardo Ciannelli.

The movie was shot in black and white by Nicholas Musuraca.

I saw the film thanks to Turner Classic Movies.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937) (also here), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), BORDER CAFE (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), THE AFFAIRS OF ANNABEL (1938) (uncredited), ANNABEL TAKES A TOUR (1938), CONDEMNED WOMEN (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), PACIFIC LINER (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), CANAL ZONE (1942), ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942), AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DYNAMITE PASS (1950), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), THE BIG GUSHER (1951), ARCTIC FLIGHT (1952), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Crashing Hollywood (1938)

CRASHING HOLLYWOOD is one of my favorite Lew Landers "B" films seen to date, an engaging, sprightly comedy. It ranks at the top of my Landers list along with the director's FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937) and DOUBLE DANGER (1938).

Michael Winslow (Lee Tracy of BLESSED EVENT and BOMBSHELL) is an aspiring screenwriter who hooks up with a newly released ex-con, Herman Tibbets (Paul Guilfoyle), to sell Wonder Pictures on what becomes a popular series of crime films. The movies meet with great success; there are just a couple of problems -- the crime depicted in one of the "Hawk" films contains details from a real unsolved robbery, and lead actor Tom Darcy (Bradley Page) is a dead ringer for the actual crook (also played by Page).

I found the movie appealing right off the bat, as I love "train movies" and the opening scenes are set on a beautiful train; love that club car! The movie just gets better from there, filmed all around the RKO lot, which stands in for Wonder Pictures.

CRASHING HOLLYWOOD is filled with good lines and amusing situations; I was particularly tickled by Richard Lane as fast-talking production head Hugo Wells, whose solution to any problem is to offer a studio contract. His constant refrain to Winslow is "Eight pages a day!" One-time crook Tibbets' dream of being a duck farmer also leads to a couple cute scenes.

Young Jack Carson plays the director of the latest Hawk film in the final scenes. The cast also includes Lee Patrick as Tibbets' wife, Joan Woodbury (seen at left) as Winslow's young ladylove, and Tom Kennedy, George Irving, Frank M. Thomas, and Jimmy Conlin. Willie Best turns up for a few seconds as a train porter.

The film was shot by Nicholas Musuraca and Frank Redman, who both worked on other Landers films. The well-constructed script was based on a play called LIGHTS OUT.

This movie has not had a video or DVD release; hopefully it will be out in the future from the Warner Archive. It's been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

CRASHING HOLLYWOOD is 61 minutes of "B" movie fun. Recommended.

July 2016 Update: CRASHING HOLLYWOOD is now available on DVD from the Warner Archive. My review is here.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), and THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947).

Tonight's Movie: Without Orders (1936)

Today's Lew Landers film was WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), a highly diverting aviation film which includes a delightful line of dialogue, "We can't allow a homicidal maniac to pilot passenger planes!"

WITHOUT ORDERS, a 64-minute RKO programmer, paved the way for later films such as JULIE (1956) and AIRPORT 1975 (1974), with a plucky stewardess landing a passenger plane -- in a blizzard, no less!

Sally Eilers (MADE ON BROADWAY, CORONER CREEK) plays Kay, the air hostess. Prior to landing the plane she is romantically torn between two pilots, responsible Wad Madison (Robert Armstrong) and wastrel Len Kendrick (Vinton Hayworth, billed with the name Haworth in last night's NIGHT WAITRESS). Kay's sister Penny (Frances Sage) learns the hard way that Len is no good, but Kay is much slower to catch on.

Unlike later aviation disaster films, WITHOUT ORDERS takes a few steps to make Kay's ability to fly the plane a bit more believable. Wad's been teaching Kay to fly a private plane, and when he lands the passenger plane they make a verbal game of her giving him the landing instructions over his shoulder, with him critiquing her orders.

Armstrong, who was 18 years older than his leading lady, doesn't really do much for me as a leading man, but he's adequate. Hayworth makes a very slimy villain, with Charley Grapewin playing his too-tolerant father, the owner of Amalgamated Airlines.  (Love that name!)  Ward Bond is a friendly copilot who becomes incapacitated during the movie's final flight.

Alan Curtis of PHANTOM LADY (1944) can be spotted in one scene as Armstrong's copilot. The little girl whose family asks Wad about the delayed plane is Helen Westcott, whose father, actor Gordon Westcott, had died the previous year in a polo accident. As an adult, Helen would star in films such as THE GUNFIGHTER (1950).

Like Landers' later SKY GIANT (1938), WITHOUT ORDERS was filmed at Glendale Central Airport in Glendale, California. The curved arches at the front of the terminal make it easy to distinguish. AIR HOSTESS (1933) is one of several other films shot at the terminal.

I love the poster art for Landers films such as WITHOUT ORDERS, FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), and TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939). The colorful graphics almost look like old paperback book covers -- and I suppose some would say these programmers are the movie equivalent! WITHOUT ORDERS may not be a classic film, but it's a fast-paced hour of entertainment which I enjoyed very much.

WITHOUT ORDERS is not out on DVD or VHS. It has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), and THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947).

February 2019 Update: WITHOUT ORDERS is now available on DVD from the Warner Archive. My review of the DVD may be read here.

Tonight's Movie: Condemned Women (1938)

After writing this month's post on TCM's September highlights, I suddenly remembered that I had previously recorded one of the movies I mentioned, CONDEMNED WOMEN (1938), so I enjoyed it today.

CONDEMNED WOMEN is a 77-minute RKO programmer directed by Lew Landers from a story and screenplay by Lionel Houser. It stars Landers regulars Sally Eilers and Anne Shirley, who look so much alike it's confusing at times. They should have been cast as sisters!

This is an interesting little movie with a lot going on. It starts out with young Jack Carson as a plainclothes officer escorting a group of women to prison via ferry. The women include lovely young Linda (Eilers), who is silent and bitter, and Millie (Shirley), who gazes with longing at her boyfriend (Richard Bond), who is riding on the boat to wish her farewell.

Linda meets a doctor (Louis Hayward) on the ship, and he saves her from jumping overboard. They later meet again when he takes a position as the doctor at the prison where she's serving time.

Goings-on at the prison include a typhoid epidemic, a prison breakout, and forbidden love between Linda and the doctor, so things are never dull! Not to mention moments which are unintentionally entertaining for the modern-day audience, such as the doctor and his assistant lighting up cigarettes in a hospital ward full of typhoid patients. Those were the days!

This is another fun one from director Landers' long list of "B" films for RKO and Columbia; this one was for RKO. Hayward and Shirley are the most sympathetic characters in the cast, although the poor doctor took leave of his senses in courting Linda, a violation of rules which only leads to a whole lot of trouble. Eilers plays the role a bit too perpetually glum and bitter, which somewhat dilutes audience interest in Linda.

The supporting cast includes Lee Patrick as a nasty inmate, Esther Dale as an equally nasty prison matron, and George Irving as the ineffectual warden. Dorothy Adams, Edythe Elliott, Netta Packer, and Paul Stanton are also in the cast.

The movie was filmed by the great Nicholas Musuraca, who shot so many of these kinds of films early in his career.

CONDEMNED WOMEN was shown on TCM in a C&C Television Corp. print. 

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), BORDER CAFE (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), PACIFIC LINER (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942), AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)

DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT, was made by a favorite low-budget director, Lew Landers, and has appealing lead actors in George Montgomery and Ellen Drew. I was thus predisposed to like the film, but this mildly entertaining "B" Western was so cheaply made that the poor production values are downright distracting, and in all honesty the dramatic elements aren't much better.

Montgomery plays one Davy Crockett, who isn't the famous Davy Crockett of the Alamo, but a relative. It's the 1840s, and Davy is helping to guide settlers west along with his childhood friend, Red Hawk (Phillip Reed). Drew plays Frances, a teacher who joins the wagon train but isn't quite who she seems to be. Neither is her supposedly deaf-mute driver, Ben (Landers "regular" Paul Guilfoyle).

There's spying and Indian battles and of course the wagon train eventually reaches its destination (if that's a surprise, you haven't seen enough "B" Westerns). The leads do what they can, but some of the actors seem more like they're in a high school play than a nationally released movie; it doesn't help that some of their dialogue is pretty bad, too. The Indians wear awkwardly shaped, stiff wigs which are pretty much just like what was slapped on James Cagney's head when he was playing an extra playing an Indian in LADY KILLER (1933). I suspect a high school theatrical department could actually do better in that regard.

As for the other production values...what production values? There's lots of stock footage of places like Monument Valley, but the actors probably never got any further than Iverson Ranch, if they even went that far. Many of the scenes were done with ultra-obvious painted backdrops, and still more with back projections. Most egregious are battle scenes where the action cuts from the settlers with their guns to stock footage of approaching Indians, but the two groups never meet on screen! There's just the occasional arrow flying into the camp. This film probably had a lower budget than another ultra-cheap Western I saw last year, Bill Williams' THE WILD DAKOTAS (1956).

I've enjoyed any number of Westerns regardless of phony backgrounds if the stories were compelling, but the storyline and performances were just...awkward. The best performance in the film was by Noah Beery Jr., who is natural and lets fly with the best dialogue in the movie.  He's funny, and it's a relief whenever he comes on screen. I'm afraid this is one that the other actors would probably just as soon have erased from the memory banks.

The supporting cast also includes Robert Barrat, Addison Richards, Billy Wilkerson, Ray Teal, Iron Eyes Cody, and Chief Thundercloud. Cinematography was shared by George Diskant and John J. Mescall. The movie runs 71 minutes.

Kristina featured Philip Reed in an interesting profile at Speakeasy a while back. He bounced around in the film business for decades and was in many movies I've seen, yet to this point I still have trouble connecting his name and face.

I watched this United Artists release on a "manufactured on demand" DVD-R from MGM. 

DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT has also been shown on Turner Classic Movies. A trailer is available on YouTube.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: Border Cafe (1937)

BORDER CAFE is an enjoyable RKO "B" film from director Lew Landers, teaming Harry Carey Sr. and John Beal.

Beal plays Keith Whitney, a senator's son who can't seem to settle down to a steady job in the family law firm. He ditches his parents (George Irving and Leona Roberts) and fiancee Janet (Marjorie Lord) and heads for a border town.

Keith is on a permanent bender and seems headed for a short life as an alcoholic when he is taken under the wing of kindly rancher Tex Stevens (Carey). Keith is upset when he learns his parents are coming for a visit, as they'll realize he frittered away $2000 they wired him for a "business investment," thinking he was turning his life around.

Tex agrees to tell Keith's parents that Keith is his partner, and as Keith learns the ranching business so he can present a believable front to his parents, he learns to love ranching for real. He also learns to love Dominga (Armida), a singer in the titular border cafe who becomes a cook on the ranch.

This is a nice little 67-minute movie which made me smile from the moment the title BORDER CAFE started blinking as a neon sign in the opening credits. Armida has a couple pleasant musical numbers, and the storyline gains in strength as the film goes on and Keith finally starts to mature. I found this a very satisfactory "B" film.

One of the fun aspects is the chance to see 18-year-old Marjorie Lord in her very first film. I had the chance to see her interviewed in person at a screening of her 1943 film JOHNNY COME LATELY last spring; it's rather wonderful that someone who was an ingenue in the late '30s is still with us to share her memories! By coincidence, over the last few days I watched Lord's longtime spouse, John Archer, in THE BIG TREES (1952) and CITY OF FEAR (1959). Lord and Archer's daughter is actress Anne Archer.

Carey and Beal were also paired in the same year's DANGER PATROL (1937), another film directed by Landers. Over a decade later, Beal would narrate Disney's SO DEAR TO MY HEART (1948), which was Carey's final film role, as a judge at the county fair.

If you don't blink you'll spot Lee Patrick in the cast of BORDER CAFE. J. Carrol Naish and Paul Fix are also in the cast.

The movie was shot by Nicholas Musuraca, who would go on to shoot some of Hollywood's greatest film noir titles in the '40s and '50s, including OUT OF THE PAST (1947).

BORDER CAFE is not on DVD or video, but it can be seen on Turner Classic Movies.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

Tonight's Movie: They Wanted to Marry (1937)

The Lew Landers "B" movie marathon rolls on here today with a cute romantic comedy, THEY WANTED TO MARRY.

Gordon Jones, who starred in Landers' NIGHT WAITRESS (1936) the previous year, plays news photographer Jim Tyler. Jim crashes a society wedding on behalf of his newspaper and hits it off with the sister of the bride, Sheila Hunter (Betty Furness).

Jim and Sheila are soon spending all their time together, with Sheila helping Jim with his work, but Jim's career causes problems with Sheila's father (Henry Kolker) -- especially when Jim inadvertently publishes a photo of Mr. Hunter in a gambling den.

This is a cute little 60-minute movie. Jones and Furness have good chemistry and do a nice job communicating the fun that Sheila and Jim enjoy together. There are a couple original touches, such as Jim's use of a carrier pigeon to transport his negatives, while lovely Art Deco sets provide visual pleasure. The supporting cast is a big plus, with E.E. Clive as the Hunters' stuffy butler and Franklin Pangborn as a hotel employee.

The cast includes Charles Wilson, Frank M. Thomas, Diana Gibson, Patsy Lee Parsons, and William Benedict. This is also one of the many '30s films in which Dennis O'Keefe worked as an extra or bit player.

Dress extra extraordinaire Bess Flowers is in the film -- but only in a photograph! She's standing next to Mr. Hunter in the newspaper photo of him gambling.

The movie was photographed by future Oscar winner Russell Metty.

This film isn't out out DVD or VHS, but it has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), and THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947).

Tonight's Movie: Conspiracy (1939)

Tonight was a return to the world of director Lew Landers' programmers with CONSPIRACY, starring Allan "Rocky" Lane and Linda Hayes.

CONSPIRACY begins in slam-bang fashion with ship's radio operator Steve Kendall (Lane) held at gunpoint off the coast of a Fascist country. (Which one is never specified...signs seem vaguely Italian at some points and Eastern European at others.) It seems the ship has a mysterious cargo, later identified as poison gas, and Steve has inadvertently become involved in international intrigue.

Steve manages to jump overboard and make it to shore, where he is helped by resistance worker Nedra (Hayes), whose brother (Henry Brandon) was killed on the ship. A couple of ex-pat Americans, played by Robert Barrat and Charley Foy, join Nedra in helping Steve to escape the country before he's bumped off by the secret police.

The film has some interest as an indicator of how Hollywood viewed danger spots in the world before America's involvement in WWII. The plot isn't always completely clear, but the film has good atmosphere and moves like lightning. The amazing thing about a 58-minute movie like this is that by the time one thinks to look at a clock to check the time, the film is already half over! It's not a top-drawer "B" film but Landers fans should find it worth the hour.

Hayes, Lane, and Barrat all starred in plenty of Westerns over the years -- in fact, Barrat was in DENVER AND RIO GRANDE (1951) which I watched just last night.  Barrat amassed 160 credits over a half century, dying in 1970. CONSPIRACY was Hayes' third credit; her 17 films were all made between 1939 and 1942, when she retired from the movies. Hayes was the mother of actresses Cathy Lee Crosby and Lucinda Crosby; she passed away in 1995. Lane starred in dozens of "B" movies, later becoming best known as the voice of TV's MISTER ED; he died in 1973.

The black and white cinematography was by Frank Redman, who mainly shot programmers over the course of his career.

CONSPIRACY doesn't seem to have had a DVD or VHS release, but it's been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), and THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947).

Tonight's Movie: You Can't Beat Love (1937)

After watching half a dozen movies in a row directed by Lew Landers, it was time to switch gears just a bit. I stuck with another RKO programmer, but this time around it was directed by Christy Cabanne.

The movie was YOU CAN'T BEAT LOVE, an early Joan Fontaine film teaming her with Preston Foster. Foster, as it happens, starred in the first Landers film I watched last week, DOUBLE DANGER (1938).

Joan was 19 when she made YOU CAN'T BEAT LOVE, her fifth film. (Her previous film, in fact, was Lew Landers' THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF.) She plays Trudy Olson, daughter of a mayor (Frank M. Thomas) up for re-election.

Foster, who was 37 at the time, is playboy Jimmy Hughes. Through a series of circumstances he ends up running for mayor against Trudy's father, though he doesn't really want the job. He does, however, want Trudy!

The film has a promising start, with a bet inspiring Jimmy to go dig ditches early one morning in a top hat and tails! Unfortunately, it turns out to be a pretty sluggish movie, despite running only 62 minutes. The story is somewhat disjointed, and there's too much screen time for supporting characters and not nearly enough for Foster and Fontaine, who are charming together. Though it has a good moment scattered here or there, the movie is pretty much out of gas by the time it sputters to an ending.

Paul Guilfoyle seems to be turning up in every other movie I see this week; he plays Louie the Weasel in this one. It was particularly fun to discover a very young Milburn Stone (GUNSMOKE) as a newspaper reporter. Paul Hurst, William Brisbane, Herbert Mundin, Bradley Page, Harold Huber, Barbara Pepper, and Berton Churchill are among the large cast.

Fontaine looks especially lovely in a scene where she delivers a giant cake to Foster; she was photographed in black and white by future Oscar winner Russell Metty. Her gowns were by Edward Stevenson.

YOU CAN'T BEAT LOVE has been shown on Turner Classic Movies. It's not available on DVD or videotape.