BELLE OF THE YUKON

Randolph Scott and Gypsy Rose Lee

BELLE OF THE YUKON (1944).  Director: William A. Seiter. 

Former con man "Honest" John Calhoun (Randolph Scott of Captain Kidd) owns an Alaskan nightclub and saloon which is managed by Pop Candless (Charles Winninger). Pop's daughter, Lettie (Dinah Shore), is breathlessly in love with handsome piano player, Steve (William Marshall), but there is a rumor that Steve may have a wife and children. Then John's old girlfriend, an entertainer named Belle De Valle (Gypsy Rose Lee), turns up as the star attraction at the saloon  -- and with marriage in mind. When Honest John decides to open a bank and importunes everyone to put their money in it, the trouble really begins. 

Dinah Shore and William Marshall

Belle of the Yukon is one of those movies that is perfectly pleasant while it's unfolding, but when it's over you realize that there really wasn't much to it. There's no great plot to speak of aside from the misunderstandings between Lettie and Steve and John and Belle, and attempts to make off with the bank's gold engineered by George (Robert Armstrong) and Sheriff Maitland (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). The songs by Burke and Van Heusen [Duffy's Tavern] are no great shakes although "A Slay Ride in July" is one that could grow on you. Scott is stalwart but not really a deft comedian; Gypsy Rose Lee (the subject of Gypsy) is okay but nothing that special; Dinah Shore sings quite well and is reasonably appealing; and William Marshall has little to do but look quite dreamy and now and then punch out the sheriff. Charles Winninger and Florence Bates as Lee's companion easily walk off with the movie, which so often was the case. 

Verdict: Amiable if minor-league piffle with some good performances. **1/2. 

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Robert Armstrong and Gale Robbins

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1955). Director: R. G. Springsteen.

Marge (Gale Robbins of Three Little Words) is married to the drunken Sam Baggott (Robert Armstrong), who has trouble coming up with the rent money. Marge gets some comfort from the handsome used car salesman, Jeff (Jack Kelly), and when they discover Sam is getting blackmail payoffs, figure they should get themselves some of the loot. Sam's victim is wealthy Emmett Devery (John Litel), whose daughter, Barbara (Allison Hayes), is dating attorney Mark Hill (Rod Cameron) and who can sense something's up with her father. Then somebody dies ... Double Jeopardy is well-acted for the most part, especially by Armstrong [Sky Raiders] and Litel, and Hayes offers a lovely and sympathetic portrayal for a change, but Robbins is just a bit superficial as the femme fatale and Cameron is as stiff as a board. Minerva Urecal [Who's Guilty?] adds some spice in her portrayal of a disapproving landlady. There are a couple of tense sequences but the script lets the audience down in the long run. There's some suspense but no surprises. From Republic studios.

Verdict: Armstrong steals the show. **1/2.

MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)

Joe goes into his dance while Jill plays piano

MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949). Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack.

Hoping to incorporate a wild new theme into his new nightclub, entrepreneur Max O'Hara  (Robert Armstrong) travels to Africa wherein he encounters a huge gorilla who goes by the name of Joe Young. From infancy Joe has been the pet of Jill Young (Terry Moore), the only person who can control the very big ape [not quite of King Kong-proportions, but much large than the normal gorilla]. Smitten with a cowboy named Gregg (Ben Johnson), who works for O'Hara, and starry-eyed at all the thoughts O'Hara puts into her head, Jill agrees to take Joe and fly off to Hollywood. The two do an act that involves a rising piano, and in a great scene Joe plays tug of war with a dozen famous strongmen [leading to a brief and funny fight between him and Primo Carnera], but when patrons start throwing coins -- and then bottles -- at him, Joe gets a little upset. Jill isn't too thrilled by the fact that he can't roam free as he did on her ranch but has to be kept in a cell every night. Before long you know there has to be a disaster and Joe eventually runs riot in the nightclub in a rousing sequence ... Mighty Joe Young taps into the King Kong mystique but never achieves its mythic stature [and probably wasn't meant to] but on its own terms it's a wonderful picture with superb special effects and a certain amount of sentiment. Brought to life via stop-motion by Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, and others, Joe is a memorable creation, equally frightening and pitiable, with priceless sensitive facial expressions. The harrowing conclusion, which features a fire in an orphanage and is in color, is notable. Along with Joe, the three human leads all give good performances, and child actress Lora Lee Michel is a charming stand-out playing Jill as a little girl [she was also in The Snake Pit]. Schoedsack co-directed King Kong. Nice score by Rob Webb. Regis Toomey plays Jill's father in the opening sequence, and Nestor Paiva is a drunk in the nightclub who plays a role in the riot that occurs.

Verdict: King Kong "lite" perhaps but very entertaining and well-done. ***1/2.

SEARCH FOR BEAUTY

Ida Lupino and "Buster" Crabbe

SEARCH FOR BEAUTY  (1934). Director: Erle C. Kenton.

"Baby, come to Mama!"

Larry Williams (Robert Armstrong) and Dan Healy (James Gleason), with the help of Jean Strange (Gertrude Michael), try a new con by putting out a "health" magazine and hiring above-board Olympic winners (Ida Lupino and "Buster" Crabbe) as editors to make it all look legitimate. Before long the editors are clashing with the publishers, who confuse a fitness mag with something a little bit racier. There's a search for perfect male and female physical specimens to work at a health farm, where Williams and company find they must adhere to the strict regimen along with all of the other guests even though they'd rather drink and watch pretty gals dancing on tables. The film is ful of risque dialogue and attractive performers -- and the lead actors are all swell -- but this pre-code movie ultimately doesn't amount to much.

Verdict: If only there were more solid laughs and a better story. **.

DECOY (1946)

DECOY (1946). Director: Jack Bernhard.

Margo (Jean Gillie) wants all the good things in life, but the problem is that her boyfriend Frank (Robert Armstrong), in prison on death row, simply won't tell her or anyone else where he's hidden all the loot that he stole. So she cooks up a wild scheme along with another boyfriend (Edward Morris) and a doctor (Herbert Rudley) who happens to do work at the very prison where Frank is incarcerated. Sheldon Leonard plays, of all things, a cop who's trying to put everything together [Leonard still seems like a hood]. This is a fast-paced, well-acted film noir crime thriller with a terrific Gillie in control of all the men in her life and then some -- or so she thinks. Although Gillie (who was married to director Bernhard) was "introduced" in this picture, she had actually already appeared in several movies. An early death cut short what may well have been a promising career. Snappy and absorbing stuff.

Verdict: Possibly Monogram studios best picture ever? ***1/2.

SON OF KONG

SON OF KONG (1933). Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack. 

"Next time leave the big monkey alone!" -- Charlie the cook 

Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) and Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher) from King Kong flee Manhattan and numerous creditors and process servers and set sail once more, coming across the man, Helstrom (John Marston), who first told Denham about Kong's island. Now Helstrom claims there's a treasure on the island just waiting to be found. Taking off with a singer named Helene (Helen Mack) as a stowaway, they sail off again to find a fortune. But what they find first is "little Kong," the big ape's much more benevolent son, who bonds with them after they rescue him from a quicksand bog on the island. There are some good effects and fluid stop-motion animation in this [although the model work is nowhere near as good as in the original] , as well as an exciting climax with an earthquake and tidal wave, but this is pretty much a pale shadow of King Kong. Passably entertaining, however. 

Verdict: Not a chip off the old block. **1/2.

KING KONG (1933)

KING KONG (1933). Directed by Cooper and Schoedsack. 

Nearly 90 years after its initial release, King Kong remains an outstanding film and one of the most exciting motion pictures ever made. While some may consider them "crude" today, the fact is that many of the stop-motion effects by Willis O'Brien and company are still eye-popping and extremely effective, with Kong himself being a wonderful creation -- both playful [flapping the cracked jaw of a defeated T Rex with amusing curiosity] and extremely dangerous, to say the least. The picture is fast-paced, intense, and at times quite disturbing. (You can feel sorry for Kong if you want to; the one who gets my sympathy is that poor terrified woman who's grabbed out of her bed in the hotel and dashed to the ground -- not to mention all of the big ape's other victims]. Max Steiner's excellent score imbues the film with atmosphere, as do the elaborate sets, beautiful matte paintings, and other FX work. All in all, King Kong is a kind of epic tragedy for all concerned. This is still the best version of the story bar none. NOTE: You can read more about this and other monster movies in Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Cinematic and magical. ****.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932). Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel.

Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) is the only survivor of a shipwreck near a small island owned by the sinister Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks). Safe on land in the count's gothic castle, he learns that Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) and her brother Martin (Robert Armstrong) are also ship-wrecked "guests" waiting patiently for the count's launch to be repaired -- only Eve tells Bob that she's heard the launch going out at night. It turns out that the sociopathic Zaroff deliberately causes shipwrecks and then hunts down "the most dangerous game" -- human beings -- from the survivors. The first half of the film is suspenseful enough, but the second half is non-stop excitement as Bob and Eve try desperately to outwit the count, his men, and his killer dogs and survive until dawn. Thrilling right up until the very last shot. Made concurrently with King Kong (as the FX of that film were being completed) this utilizes some of the same, very recognizable sets. Robert Armstrong gives a more flavorful, less wooden performance than usual and is very good as the ill-fated brother. The shipwreck sequence is very well-done, the effects work is excellent, and the castle settings are atmospheric and intriguing. Although he has been criticized as being "campy," Leslie Banks actually offers a very effective and comparatively low-key portrait of the psychopathic count and never gnoshes on the scenery. His versatility is shown with his much more benign character in The Tunnel. The Most Dangerous Game is highly entertaining although it could probably have used a few more minutes of character development. Suitably rousing score by Max Steiner.

Verdict: A classic! ***1/2.

GANGBUSTERS

GANGBUSTERS (1942). Directed by Ray Taylor and Noel Smith.

Based on the radio show of the same name, this is one of the very best Universal serials, with a fast-pace, rapid editing, an effective musical score, and plenty of two-fisted action throughout. Ralph Morgan plays Professor Mortis (his I.D. is revealed in the first chapter), who is out for revenge against the city authorities (this is supposed to be New York but looks more like the typical Hollywood back lot). He is the head of the League of Murdered Men, allegedly bringing various gunsels back to life and keeping them alive with pills that enforce their loyalty. Kent Taylor is the stalwart detective Bill Bannister, and Robert Armstrong is his associate Tim Nolan (as usual Armstrong pretty much just plays himself). Irene Hervey is the intrepid girl reporter. There’s some good character actors in supporting roles but William Haade makes the biggest impression as Mike Taboni, a hood who murders Bannister’s kid brother, commits "suicide," and is revivified by Professor Mortis.

Although pretty much a dim bulb, Taboni is smart enough to ask Mortis who brought him, Mortis, another "suicide," back to life. "An intelligent question," says Mortis, "One best left unanswered." Understandably. I believe we never learn who’s sending Mortis all those notes delivered by the newsboy, either. There are some good cliffhangers in this serial, including one in which a car plunges several stories down a shaft, and a bit involving Hervey switching from the running board of one car to another. The pace never flags. An amusing aspect of the serial is that the secret entrance to the gang’s underground HQ is a trapdoor located right in the middle of the subway tracks. Of course, placing the trapdoor off to the side of the tracks would eliminate the danger as well as the ending that you know is coming. It’s interesting that instead of doing brief recaps at the start of each episode, the serial instead inserts brief new sequences that help the audience catch up with what’s going on – a nice touch. This may not quite be in the "classic" league, but it’s certainly a pretty good serial. And from Universal, no less.

Verdict: Good show! ***.

ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS

ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (1943). 13 chapter Universal serial. Directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins.

Johnny Downs is a troubled cadet [of the L.A. Air School]. Danny Collins, who, with some buddies, is accused of being responsible for a series of murders actually committed by The Black Hangman. The victims belonged to a group of seven men who traveled to Africa to find a cave which supposedly holds valuable elements coveted by the Germans. We learn early on that the Black Hand is actually Arthur Galt (Robert Armstrong) who feigns friendship with the boys while trying to trip them up or kill them at every turn. Although there are some exciting moments in the serial – such as an aerial descent and near-crash into a flaming crater – Adventures of the Flying Cadets is rather leisurely-paced. It was also a major mishap to reveal the villain's identity so early in the serial.

Verdict: As cliffhanger serials go, this one is pretty minor. **.

SKY RAIDERS

SKY RAIDERS (1941). 12 chapter Universal serial. Directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor. 

 A fairly standard but reasonably entertaining serial with bad guys trying to get the secrets of a new plane away from the bad guys. The characterizations are a little more interesting than usual, and there's even a love triangle between hero Captain Dayton (Donald Woods from the Mexican Spitfire series) ) and buddy Ed Carey (Robert Armstrong from King Kong.) who both are hot for pretty secretary Mary Blake (Kathryn Adams). Armstrong even gives Miss Blake a hot lingering kiss at one point, a rare occasion in serials! Billy Halop (Eastside Kids) is along for the ride as a young wannabe pilot, Timothy Bryant. Eduardo Cianelli is the villain of the piece, the wonderfully named Felix Lynx. The bad guys employ an exact lookalike of Dayton for a couple of episodes, and there's a sinister countess (Jean Fenwick) who doesn't hang around very long. No really spectacular cliffhangers in this, unfortunately. 

 Verdict: Not so great. **.