TIP OFF GIRLS

The cast of "Tip Off Girls"

TIP OFF GIRLS (1938). Director: Louis King. 

Joseph Valkus (J. Carrol Naish) is head of a criminal outfit that hijacks trucks. He uses a hard-boiled gal named Rena (Evelyn Brent of Holt of the Secret Service) to snare drivers on the road and in coffee shops, then -- boom! Valkus' secretary, Marjorie (Mary Carlisle), is at first unaware of what's going on, but later works with undercover agent Bob Anders (Lloyd Nolan) to trip up the gang. Working for Valkus are Red Deegan (Buster Crabbe of King of the Congo), Tom Benson (Roscoe Karns) and chief enforcer, Marty (Anthony Quinn). Tip Off Girls certainly has an interesting and adept cast and is fast-paced and reasonably snappy. The plot seems strictly poverty row, but this was actually released by Paramount. Or course Pierre Watkin is in the cast -- as he seems to be in every other movie ever made -- and is as utterly forgettable as ever. Anthony Quinn makes an effective tough guy but you wouldn't necessarily have suspected that much bigger things were in store for him in only a few years.

Verdict: Not bad little melodrama. **12/

CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT

Warner Oland and Rita Cansino (Hayworth)

CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT (1935). Director: Louis/Luis King.

Charlie Chan is investigating the theft and forgery of certain antiquities when he discovers that archaeologist Professor Arnold (George Irving) has been missing for weeks. Then the professor turns up in an unexpected place, setting in motion a series of often clever murders. There's the tomb that has hidden secrets and time-lost chambers that hold their own promise of death. Characters include Arnold's daughter, Carol (Pat Paterson), her sensitive violin-playing brother, Barry (James Eagles of The Story of Temple Drake), the family physician Dr. Anton Racine (Jameson Thomas of The Curtain Falls), Carol's fella Tom Evans (Thomas Beck), and Snowshoes, the whiny if lovable servant (Stepin Fetchit of Show Boat). A young Rita Hayworth, billed here as Rita Cansino, plays a servant girl, and is fine. There are perhaps not enough suspects, and some of the cast members over-act badly, but Charlie Chan in Egypt is fun.

Verdict: Not even dank tombs can stop Charlie. ***.

SEVENTEEN (1940)

SEVENTEEN  (1940). Director: Louis King.

Based on Booth Tarkington's novel, albeit very loosely I imagine, this is the story of one Willy or William Baxter (Jackie Cooper), who is nearly 18 and wants his family and friends to treat him like a man. He tells everyone he hasn't got time for girls, as he has too much studying to do for his future, but his attitude changes when he meets a supposedly sophisticated young lady from Chicago named Lola (Betty Field). Before long his whole life centers around this spoiled, silly creature, and his future doesn't matter half as much as having proper clothing for a swank night club and the right car to take his girl out for a spin in. In some ways this slight film seems modeled more on the Andy Hardy or Henry Aldrich series than on Booth Tarkington. [The Hardy series began in 1937, while Cooper starred in what would turn out to be the first of the Henry Aldrich films, What a Life, in 1939.] But as easy as it would be to dismiss Seventeen, it's so well-acted by Cooper, as well as Ann Shoemaker and Otto Kruger as his parents, that they help the film's sentimental charm come through; Cooper is really excellent as the young, proud sap who gets his first taste of heart break. Betty Field affects a strange irritating voice and makes much less of an impression as Lola. Peter Lind Hayes plays George, a rival for Lola's affections, and "Snowflake" Toones is cast as Genesis, the likable handyman.

Verdict: Good-natured, with a winning Cooper. ***.