WALL STREET COWBOY

WALL STREET COWBOY (1939). Director: Joseph Kane.

Roy Rogers, playing himself in this "modern" western, never actually gets to Wall Street, so banish those images of the cowboy walking into the boardroom and busting ass. Instead Roy learns that there's gold on his property, and there are nefarious forces who want to acquire the land and cheat him out of it. Gabby Hayes -- as "Gabby," naturally -- is along for the ride as Rogers' pal, and we've got the perennial Pierre Watkin as the no-nonsense, blustering John Hammond, who always seems ready to be furious with Roy and his pals until his daughter, Peggy (Ann Baldwin), intercedes. Craig Reynolds [The Perils of Pauline] plays a lawyer-type helping the bad guys who gets socked by Roy, Adrian Morris [Fighting Marines] is another creep, and Louisiana Lou, a singer in a bar, is played by, well, Louisiana Lou. Roy [Son of Paleface] substitutes for a downed jockey at one point and rides in a steeple race.

Verdict: About standard Roy Rogers movie. **.

RADIO PATROL

Rentschler, Hughes, and Withers

RADIO PATROL (12 chapter Universal serial/1937). Directors: Ford Beebe; Clifford Smith.

"He acts like he knows something." -- Policeman Pat, referring to the dog. 

Scientist John Adams (Harry Davenport of Pardon My Past) has invented a formula for flexible steel which could make planes impervious to bullets and have other amazing uses. When Adams is murdered, the chase is on to not only find out who killed him, but keep the formula out of the hands of the bad guys. Cops Pat O'Hara (Grant Withers) and his partner Sam Maloney (Adrian Morris) join up with Adams' young son, Pinky (Mickey Rentschler); Molly Selkirk (Kay or Catherine Hughes), whose brother is at first accused of the Adams' murder; and Pinky's smart-as-a whip and spirited doggie, Irish (Silver Wolf). Bad guys include the sinister Egyptian, Tahata (Frank Lankteen), and slimy entrepreneur W. H. Harrison (Gordon Hart). Early on in the serial there are a couple of good cliffhangers -- Pat nearly winds up in a smelter furnace; and is almost smashed by a crushing door on a hydraulic hinge --  but other than that there's not much to recommend in this comparatively dull cliffhanger. Withers was in The Secret of Treasure Island, Jungle Jim, and other serials. Adrian Morris, sort of a Charles Laughton-lookalike, was the brother of Chester Morris. Beautiful Silver Wolf had only three film appearances. This serial was based on the comic strip of the same name; "Pinky," a youthful protagonist, came from "Pinkerton, Jr.," the original name of the strip. [In the the opening sequence a crime wave occurs and it is noted that the cops need radios in their cars to keep up with the bad guys; otherwise there is no real "radio patrol" in the storyline.] Withers and Morris also appeared together in the terrible serial Fighting Marines.

Verdict: When the dog is the most interesting character -- and actor -- and it isn't a Rin Tin Tin movie, you know you're in trouble. **.

FIGHTING MARINES

FIGHTING MARINES (1935). 12 chapter Mascot serial. Directed by B. Reeves Eason and Joseph Kane.

Grant Withers and Adrian Morris star as a Marine corporal and sergeant who come up against a saboteur named the Tiger Shark who works out of Halfway Island. Ann Rutherford, who is nearly unrecognizable from her gig as “Polly Benedict” in the Andy Hardy series, plays the love interest, although there ain't much romance in this serial. The Tiger Shark is after a gyro-compass [“designed to aid blind flying”] invented by Rutherford's brother. The Tiger Shark wears goggles and a black leather aviator's outfit and flies an auto-gyro – he's certainly more striking and heroic in appearance than either of the potato-headed heroes. The opening sequence with the Marines fighting pirates on Halfway Island is busy but dull, and the rest of the serial, alas, isn't much better. Aside from a well-done sequence involving a closing, crushing wall, the cliffhangers are pretty lame and there are far too many flashbacks. This is a mostly by-the-numbers serial that fails to sustain suspense even though the identity of the villain is withheld until the very end. Mascot did some pretty good serials with John Wayne as star, but Fighting Marines is a major disappointment.

Verdict: Several hours of your life that you can't get back! *1/2.