CRASHIN' BROADWAY

Rex Bell

CRASHIN' BROADWAY (1933). Director: John P. McCarthy.

In 1902 Tad Wallace (Rex Bell of The Tonto Kid) is a cowboy who has come east to try his hand at a Broadway career even though he can neither sing nor dance. He hooks up with Sally Sunshine (Doris Hill), but even as a couple they get booted off the stage. They decide to join with the other actors and hoofers at the boarding house run by the formidable Mrs. MacTavish (Anne Howard) and head west where they somehow have an engagement near Kansas City as the Bon Ton Players. The money for their fare is given to Sally by a man named Jeffries (Charles King of Jungle Raiders).  Unfortunately when they arrive the theater's owner, Griswold, has some bad news for them, and the cause of his problems seems to be their benefactor, Jeffries. Shakespearean actor J. Talbot Thorndyke may have to use all of his thespian skills to bring the bad guys to heel. 

Gabby Hayes and Vane Calvert

It is no surprise that in Crashin' Broadway handsome star Rex Bell has charm to spare and gives quite a good performance. What is a surprise is that both Griswold and Thorndyke -- who impersonates Griswold at one point -- are both played by Gabby Hayes [Romance on the Range]! Playing Roy Rogers' rather irritating sidekick for so many years hid the fact that Hayes was actually a very gifted and very versatile actor who was apparently not given nearly enough opportunities to show what he could really do. Other notable cast members, besides those already mentioned, include Vane Calvert as a kindly rancher lady, and Lewis Sargent as Griswold's son, Billy. In the amusing ending the participants in a double-wedding ceremony look anything but happy! The movie is an amiable look at old-time theater troupes, but one wishes it had been better directed. 

Verdict: Bell's charming appeal, and Hayes' versatility, lift up this minor but likable old movie. **3/4. 

JUNGLE RAIDERS

Bad Gals: Carol Hughes and Veda Ann Borg

JUNGLE RAIDERS (15 chapter Columbia serial/1945). Director: Lesley Selander.

Jake Rayne (Charles King) runs a trading post on the outskirts of the jungle, and is keeping Dr. Reed (Budd Buster) prisoner in his basement because he thinks he knows the location of some treasure. Cora Bell (Veda Ann Borg) a hard-as-nails associate of Rayne's, brings Reed's daughter, Ann (Janet Shaw) to Rayne in order to use her to force her father to comply, but Ann is fortunate to meet up with Bob Moore (Kane Richmond) and his buddy, Joe (Eddie Quillan). Bob's father, Dr. Moore (John Elliot) is a colleague of Dr. Reed who hopes to find a certain fungus in the jungle that may prove as much a boon to mankind as penicillin. In addition to Rayne's team of bad guys, the heroes and Ann have to contend with the evil witch doctor (Ted Adams) of the Arzec tribe, who know the secret of both the fungus and the treasure, and their High Priestess, Zara (Carol Hughes), who is always calling for sacrifices. When they aren't slapping each other around, Cora and Zara are uneasy allies and both come to a fitting end in the final chapter. The natives of Jungle Raiders seem more like Indians than Africans, and one chieftain sounds as if he just got off the bus from Brooklyn! There isn't much "jungle" to be seen in Jungle Raiders, and the serial is overlong and meandering, but there are a couple of good cliffhangers, such as when Bob and his father are hung over a pit with sharp stakes at the bottom of it, and also when old Dr. Moore is nearly drowned and eaten by gators at the same time, and has his head placed under a big boulder by bitchy Zara. Whatever its flaws, the serial is reasonably entertaining, and Borg offers a vivid portrait of a heartless tough gal only out for herself. Kane Richmond is stalwart, as usual, and Quillan offers the same vaguely comical character as ever.

Verdict: Hard-boiled Veda vs. Zara. **1/2.