Mantan's Back

 

 (imdb)

MR. WASHINGTON GOES TO TOWN-1941-Crazy goings on at a hotel inherited by new owner Schenectady (Mantan Moreland) and his partner in crime Wallingford (FE Miller). A blustery criminal businessman Brutus Blake (Maceo B. Sheffield) holds a mortgage on the place because he believes there's a fortune hidden there. Occasionally a parrot narrates the action. It was directed by the super-fast William Beaudine but the producer Jed Buell is credited.

Thanks for reading!

The Bowery Boys

 

 (imdb)

SPOOK BUSTERS-1946-In the fourth installment of "The Bowery Boys" series, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the boys (Bobby Jordan,Bill Bendict and David Gorcey) are exterminators who get a job in a haunted house. They are joined by their old pal Gabe (Gabriel Dell) just out of the navy, and his fiance Minon (Tanis Chandler). The house is actually being used by mad doctor Coslow (Douglas Dumbrille), his assistant Stiles (Charles Middleton) and a muscle head (Richard Alexander).

 He also has a Dr. Bender (Maurice Cass) as his assistant/captive. Coslow must really be mad 'cos he wants to put part of Sach's brain into that of a gorilla. There's a slow-motion fight and the gorilla (Art Miles) gets loose. Bernard Gorcey is Louie. 

Producer Jan Grippo was Leo Gorcey's agent while they made the series at Monogram. Busy William Beaudine must have taken a vacation in 1946 because he only director 5 movies! (Although he may have worked on 3 more...)

Thanks for reading!

Remake

 

 (imdb)

PHANTOM KILLER-1942-A janitor named Nicodemus (the one and only Mantan Moreland) finds the dead body of an executive after giving the suspected killer a light. He identifies the murderer as John Harrison (John Hamilton), a "society big shot" who also happens to be a deaf mute. (although he talked to Nicodemus). The police captain (J. Farrell MacDonald) and his Sargent (Warren Hymer) give the case to the DA. Prosecutor Clarke (Dick Purcell; two years later he played Captain America in the serial of the same name) believes Harrison is guilty but the DA will have none of it. Even his reporter girlfriend Barbara (Joan Woodbury;KING OF THE ZOMBIES) was with Harrison at a gathering. But Harrison is the killer and is not mute or deaf. Several more victims follow including the captain when he gets too close to Harrison's secret. 

It's pretty obvious what's going on but I liked this low budget crime drama with a twist (it's a remake of THE SPHINX from 1933 which starred Lionel Atwill) because of the big role Hamilton has and that the dumb Sgt. wises up after his boss is murdered. Mantan Moreland is (unfortunately) only in the first 15 minutes.

 “One Shot” William Beaudine was the director of this strange little Monogram picture. Lead actor Purcell died of a heart attack in 1944 at the age of 38. This was one of 14 feature films the legendary Manton Moreland was in in 1942. Of course John Hamilton later memorably portrayed Perry White on TV's “Superman”.

Thanks for reading!

Beaudine

 

GALLANT LADY-1942-Dr. Rosemary Walsh (Rose Hobart) in jail convicted of a mercy killing, is reluctantly involved in a jail break (she was handcuffed to one of the escapees). She decides to give herself up but is side tracked when she sets an old guy's broken leg. She meets Dr. Steve Carey (Sidney Blackmer) who knows she's an escaped con. He takes her under his wing but trouble brews when rumors about their relationship spread through town. After his sister Linda (Lynn Star) gets the lowdown, Steve admits he's in love and proposes marriage. Their plans don't work out so well as Steve punches the hick deputy. After Rosemary runs away, Steve is arrested. 

Rosemary takes refuge with Nick (Richard Clarke) & Nellie (Claire Rochelle) and henchman Baldy (Vince Barnett) the ones who broke her out in the first place. Bad move. They involve her in a bank robbery where a guard is killed and Nick is hit. Rosemary and Nellie rob a doctor at gunpoint for supplies so Rose can operate on Nick. Meanwhile Steve is taken a beating in his trial. Rosemary decides to go back and help but her bus crashes. When tending to the injured she's arrested. Steve is found not guilty and Rosemary is given a pardon. 

This run of the mill morality drama was directed by the super prolific William Beaudine and produced by the ultra cheap PRC. It also features one of the most horrible racist stereotypes of the only two black characters in the cast....

Thanks for reading!

Byron Foulger

THE PANTHER’S CLAW-1942-Police commissioner Thatcher Colt (Sidney Blackmer) investigates mysterious threatening letters sent to various individuals by “The Black Panther”. All the victims have a connection to an opera house. A recently fired baritone named Lombardi (Thorton Joaquin Edwards) comes under suspicion but seems like a clown. He’s also in love with the female star Nina Politza (Gerta Roza). All the clues seem to point at Mr. Everett Digberry (the great Byron Foulger), a wig maker and also would be victim. Colt and his assistant Abbott (Rick Vallin) discover that a murdered tenant is actually Politza in disguise. 

This low budget PRC production directed by the super fast William Beaudine is ok but it's great to see character actor extraordinaire Byron Foulger with such big and pivotal role! 

Earlier Adolphe Menjou had played the Colt character in two movies. This entry was suppose to be the first of a series but no more were made.

Thanks for reading!

Mongram

THE FACE OF MARBLE-1946-Two doctors perform an experiment that revives a dead man but a storm blows out their equipment and he dies again. Charles Randolph (John Carradine) is an eminent brain specialist. His wife Elaine (Claudia Drake) is a former patient who's life he saved. Their Maria Ouspenskaya like maid Maria (Rosa Rey) uses voodoo to try and make the younger doctor, David (Robert Shayne) fall in love with Elaine. Randolph kills Elaine's great dane Brutus and brings it back to life but now he's more vicious and transparent! When David's girlfriend Linda (Maris Wrixton from THE APE) arrives Elaine gets jealous. Transparent Brutus scares Linda then goes out and drinks the blood of other animals. When Maria accidentally kills Elaine (she was trying to kill Linda) the duo bring her back to life despite Randolph's doubts. Somehow Maria gains control of Elaine and has her kill Randolph. David is charged with his murder. Later Maria sics Elaine on Linda but David arrives in time to break it up. Maria commits suicide and Elaine and Brutus walk into the ocean (?).

William Beaudine directed this Monogram horror story which has a few twists and good acting to take a notch above the studio's usual routine low budget.

Thanks for reading!

I Just Wanted To Say a Few Words About William Beaudine.

What do movies like THE SPARROW, a silent film starring Mary Pickford, THE OLD FASHIONED WAY with WC Fields, THE APE MAN with Bela Lugosi, SPOOK BUSTERS with The Bowery Boys and THE CHINESE RING with Roland Winters as Charlie Chan all have in common?

Well, they were all directed by William Beaudine, perhaps the most prolific Hollywood director of all time.

Beaudine, from NYC, made his directorial debut in 1915 with a short called ALMOST A KING. Prior to this he had been assistant director to DW Griffin on BIRTH OF A NATION and INTOLERANCE. He made his first full length feature around 1922 and when the era of sound started he'd already had a considerable amount of work under his belt. He found jobs at many of the major studios (Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros.). While shooting a Mack Sennett short he used the pseudonym William Crowley. 

One story says he did this because he was contractually bound to different studio. Another story says it was because he was "blacklisted" after a clash  with a studio head at Columbia Pictures.

From 1934-1937 he was in England (along with Allan Dwan) making films. It's been said that when he returned to the US he had trouble getting back in with the major studios and so began his work on "Poverty Row" as the 1940's saw Beaudine work almost exclusively for Monogram and Producers Releasing Corp. (PRC) churning out things like the aforementioned THE APE MAN and VOODOO MAN (also with Geo. Zucco and John Carradine), PROFESSOR CREEPS with Mantan Moreland, The East Side Kids series (later reborn as The Bowery Boys), FACE OF MARBLE, LEAVE IT TO THE IRISH and BLACK MARKET BABIES.

In 1945 he directed the notorious "birth of a baby" film MOM AND DAD for Kroger Babb. 

The Internet Movie Database has this to say about MOM AND DAD in Beaudine's biography: 

"Some cinema historians say that "Mom and Dad" may well have been, on a return-on-investment basis, the most profitable film in history, grossing as much as $100 million. Babb later recounted that each one of his investors got back $63,000 for each $1,000 invested in the film. In a pre-"Kinsey Report" world filled with ignorance and misinformation--deliberate and otherwise--about biology and sex, "Mom, and Dad" filled a void and turned a handsome profit while doing so (it was playing at drive-ins in the South and Midwest at least until 1977, long after the sexual revolution of the "Swinging Sixties", so potent was the "birth of a baby" come-on to the rural audiences for whom it was made). "Mom and Dad" was likely the top-grossing picture of 1947. The film was so heavily promoted that "Time" magazine commented that the ad campaign "left only the livestock unaware of the chance to learn the facts of life." Until the advent of The Blair Witch Project (1999), many film historians regarded "Mom and Dad" as the purest and most successful exploitation film in history."

Far more notorious for me would be a little project he made in 1952 called BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA where old Bela as a mad scientist must contend with Martin and Lewis impersonators Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo!

By the late '50's Television was in full swing and intruding in nearly every home in America.

Somehow William Beaudine managed to hop on the band wagon and direct TV programs as well, mostly for Walt Disney but he also did episodes of CIRCUS BOY (with future Monkee Mickey Dolenz), BROKEN ARROW, NAKED CITY and RIN TIN TIN. His last two features of course were the double bill of BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA and JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER.

Beaudine finally did retire in the late '60's and died at age 78 in 1970.

This is just more of an overview of Beaudine's career but it was the best I could come up with in a short time. So watch THE APE MAN tonight and raise a glass to William Beaudine!

Thanks for reading! 




 

The Wild Weird West

BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA-1967-Vampirism in the old west. The legendary count (a very skinny John Carradine) set his sights and fangs on early settlers and American Indians. After killing off passengers on a stagecoach, Drac assumes the identity of James Underhill and takes over the Double B Bar ranch where he takes a liking to his “niece” Betty (Melinda Plowman). Fortunately her fiance is Billy The Kid (Chuck Courtenay). The Count flies around like a bat and whenever he's ready to bite someone a red light engulfs his face. He says things like: “You clumsy idiot” and “How dare you interfere!”. After he kills a squaw, Indians go on the warpath. Virginia Christine plays Eva, a superstitious Swedish woman who tries to convince Billy Uncle James is really King of the Vampires. Bing Russell is stupid jealous ranch hand who aids Drac and Richard Reeves is a bartender. Harry Carey Jr. is also in it as is his real life mother Olivia. The atmospheric finale takes place in an old mine where Dracula plans to make Betty his un-dead companion. This is the penultimate feature length film for veteran director William "One Shot" Beaudine. For more on him and his last film credit, see the next entry!

Thanks for reading!

In The Money

IN THE MONEY-1958-In the last installment of the the Bowery Boys series (which started as the Dead End Kids in 1937), Sach (Huntz Hall) is hired by some diamond smugglers to escort a dog on an ocean liner to England. It's a lot of talk and a lot of Sach acting goofy while Duke (Stanley Clements) tries to figure it all out. Eddie LeRoy as Blinky and of course David Gorcey as Chuck are along for the last ride. The three of them become stowaways while Sach is "romanced" by the smuggler's moll, Babs (Patricia Donohue). A running gag for a while is that the dog's name is Gloria but when Sach says things like "I have to give Gloria a bath" the others think he's talking about Babs. They land in England (not really) and spend some time worrying about Gloria when she gets sick. Somehow Sach winds up on an apartment ledge! 


Dick Elliot reprises his (un-billed) role as Mike who owns the "joint" the gang hangs out in. Snub Pollard, Ralph Gamble and Norma Varden also have un-billed roles. Once again most of it seems like s drawn out TV sitcom or short. English actor Paul Cavanagh is Inspector Sanders who is trailing the bad guys. 


Huntz Hall would go on to appear in several other films and many TV shows. His standout role would be portraying Jesse Lansky in Ken Russell's bizarre bio-pic VALENTINO. Stanley Clements (from Long Island, NY) would also make various TV appearances (many un-billed) and died at 55 in 1981. According to IMDB David Gorcey made only one more film and became a minister. He died at 63 in 1894. 


ITM was directed once again by William "One Shot" Beaudine who found time to direct episodes of BROKEN ARROW and THE NAKED CITY around the same time. BB screenwriting vet Ellwood Ullman co-wrote this last one with Al Martin, who wrote the screenplay for INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN the same year. 


OK, it's over...for now. There are a few I missed. Bowery Boys movies are hard to see these days. They used to be a mainstay of weekend comedy when I was a kid in the '60's but are seldom  talked about these days...


Thanks for reading! 

 

Up In Smoke

UP IN SMOKE-1957-In this Bowery Boys craziness Sach (still top billed Huntz Hall) sells his soul to the devil (the great Byron Foulger in dress suit and horns) to get the names of winning horses after losing some charity money on a crooked horse race. Of course every time he tries to make a bet something goes wrong (he has no money, he's put in jail...). Since gagman Jack Townley was one of the screenwriters many routines are rehashes of things seen in other places (notably Abbott & Costello). When Duke (Stanley Clements) catches Sach talking to a monkey (it's the devil in disguise) he takes him to a psychiatrist (Fritz Feld) named Dr. Bluzak. In the end Sach thwarts the devil and he loses his job! But Sach helps him get it back! 


Since Sach does so many stupid things a better ending would have been that this episode was the last of the series and the devil took the nitwit to hell! A little harsh I guess....


The other boys are David Gorcey as Chuck and Eddie LeRoy as Blinky. Joe Devlin, James Flavin and Benny Rubin also appear. A character named Dr. Bluzak also appeared in an episode of THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW that Jack Townley wrote! And Byron Foulger played him! 


William Beaudine was back to direct this second to last entry of the series. 


Thanks for reading!

Jail Busters

JAIL BUSTERS-1955-For some reason in this Bowery Boys entry, Chuck (David Gorcey) has become a newspaper reporter. His paper sends him undercover to the state pen to check out charges of corruption. He gets beaten up pretty badly and Slip (Leo Gorcey) vows revenge! 

He, Sach (Huntz Hall) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett) devise a plot to be put in jail to find out who's responsible. They think they are getting help from another reporter (Lyle Talbott; I've lost count how many of the series he's been in) but he just wants them to rob a jewelry store so he can pay off his gambling debts with the stolen goods. Of course this means "the boys" are sent to prison for real but don't realize it. Anthony Caruso is a jailed mobster, weasel voiced Percy Helton is the warden and Barton McLane is a corrupt prison guard. John Harmon, Fritz Feld, Henry Kulky and Emil Sitka all have un-billed roles. Bernard Gorcey as Louie is in it but only has a few scenes. Written by Edward Bernds and Ellwood Ullman. Directed by William Beaudine.

Thanks fro reading! 

High Society

HIGH SOCIETY-1955-Once again Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the Bowery Boys (minimally used David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett) get into trouble when some con-men try to use Sach to swindle a little boy (Ronald Keith) out of his inheritance. Amanda Blake (who would start a long run co-starring on TV in GUNSMOKE the same year) is a female swindler. One weird scene features a pianist who does a bad Liberace impersonation. William Beaudine returned to direct this one. 

Strangely, the next year MGM released a big budget Cole Porter musical with the same name starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly (in her last movie role). A mix-up with the two titles caused the Bowery Boys movie (written by Jerome Gottler and Bert Lawrence) to be inadvertently nominated for best screenplay! (It was changed before the awards took place). 

Thanks for reading!   

Paris Playboys

PARIS PLAYBOYS-1954-The Bowery Boys series moved from Monogram Studios to Allied Artists in 1954 and begins with Sach (Huntz Hall) bearing an uncanny resemblance to a famous French scientist who disappeared while working on a secret formula. Some French diplomats (one is played by Robin Hughes, later in THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE) invite him to Paris and of course he's mistaken for the real guy by some enemy agents. Although the movie is mostly Hall acting idiotically with a bad French accent, little Louie (Bernard Gorcey) has some funny scenes especially when he dresses to look like Toulouse-Lautrec! Veola Vonn (who was in MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE the same year) is the femme fatale this time and Fritz Feld is a waiter. Edward Bernds and Ellwood Ullman collaborated on the script while William Beaudine was brought back to direct. Ben Schwab produced the series once they came to AA. 

Thanks for reading!  

 

Jalopy

JALOPY-1953-This time the Boys are involved in auto racing. For some reason a scientist (Leon Belasco) is experimenting in a lab in the back of Louie's sweet shop. In their first race with Slip (Leo Gorcey) driving, Sach (Huntz Hall) causes all the cars to crash (he goes after his lost hat). Later Sach and the scientist invent a super fuel. Of course a rival race car owner (Robert Lowery) wants the formula and sends his "moll" (Jane Easton) to get it. It doesn't help that Sach (naturally) can't remember how to make it again! 

JALOPY was directed by William Beaudine and sort of reminded me of HERE COME THE CO-EDS. Also with regulars David Gorcey (using the name David Conlon), Bennie Bartlett and Bernard Gorcey as Louie who (unfortunately) isn't given much to do in this weak Monogram entry (co-written by Tim Ryan).

Thanks for reading!

No Holds Barred

NO HOLDS BARRED-1952-In this Bowery Boys outing Sach (Huntz Hall) somehow gets a special power from time to time. At first his head becomes very hard so Slip (Leo Gorcey) gets him into professional wrestling. He beats (real wrestler) Hombre Montana for the championship and runs afoul of his crooked manager (Leonard Penn). Henry Kulky (another real wrestler who later became a movie and TV character actor) is Mike the Mauler, Sach's trainer. When Sach loses his hard head he gets a powerful index finger and then a strong leg. Marjorie Reynolds is dispatched by the the manager to find out more about Sach's power. 

David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett are Chuck and Butch again but they could have used little Louie (Bernard Gorcey) more. 

Some other real wrestlers appear: Brother Frank Jares, Ted Christy, and John Smith as well as (non-wrestlers) John Eldredge, Sandra Gould and Tim Ryan (who co-wrote the script). 

It was one of 10 movies William Beaudine directed in 1953 (including BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA)!

Thanks for reading!

Feudin' Fools

FEUDIN' FOOLS-1952-The Bowery Boys go south! Sach (Huntz Hall) inherits a plantation (it looks like the house Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor lived in on TV's GREEN ACRES). He's of course joined by bossy Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Chuck (David Gorcey) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett). They get embroiled in a feud between hillbillies named Smith and Jones (Sach's full name is Horace Debussy Jones). Like Curly Howard did in a couple of 3 Stooges shorts instead of a coonskin cap Sach wears skunk! All goes well for a while and a female hillbilly (Dorothy Ford who was in JACK AND THE BEANSTALK with Abbott & Costello) falls for Sach. 

Naturally when things start to get dull little Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey) shows up and is mistaken for a revenuer ("In the Civil War I was neutral".) After a lot of tired gags and Sach's mugging Lyle Talbott shows up as a bank robber wounded during a robbery. Louie has to pretend he's a doctor and then the gangsters shoot it out with The Smiths (kind of like in NEXT OF KIN....not!).

Some of the Hillbillies are played by Oliver Blake, perennial hillbilly portrayer Robert Easton (who was also the dialect coach) and Paul Wexler (later the scary Indian headhunter in THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE). Fuzzy Knight is Traps and Arthur Space is a banker. Screenwriter Tim Ryan (who penned a few others in the series) was also an actor. William Beaudine directed again. 

Thanks for reading!

Bowery Battalion

BOWERY BATTALION-1951-All "the boys" join the army. Their drill sergeant is played by Edward MacBride (the familiar character actor who among other things was in ROOM SERVICE with The Marx Brothers) and is the highlight of this torpid entry.

Sach (Huntz Hall) acts really freaky at times and Slip (Leo Gorcey) tries unsuccessfully to imitate Lou Costello in a drill scene. After getting thrown into the brig for impersonating officers it turns out little Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey) was known as "the fighting corporal" during WW l and knows the plans for a top secret weapon. He's made a colonel and "the boys" become his orderlies. They run afoul of spies but foil them in the end. The last line of the film has MacBride talking to the camera.

Of course Billy Benedict as Whitey, Buddy Gorman as Butch and David Gorcey as Chuck are also present. Usual 3 Stooges foil Emil Sitka has a small role as a clumsy waiter. Once again the William Beaudine-Charles Marion team made this one.


Thanks for reading!

Lucky Losers

LUCKY LOSERS-1950-After the mysterious suicide of a popular banker Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the boys (Billy Bennedict, Buddy Gorman and David Gorcey) help their reporter/friend Gabe (Gabriel Dell) investigate. To get jobs at a crooked casino run by Lyle Talbott the boys get tutored by a street con artist named Buffer (Harry Tyler). Hillary Brooke is Countess Margo who works at the casino. Little Louie (Bernard Gorcey) winds up impersonating a Texas gambler in the funniest scenes. Also with Joe Turkel and Selmer Jackson.

Although this is a typical BB comedy it does have some serious overtones. As with the previous entry BLONDE DYNAMITE, William Beaudine directs from a screenplay by Charles Marion.

Thanks for reading!

Blonde Dynamite

BLONDE DYNAMITE-1950-Typical Bowery Boys comedy. When an escort agency rejects Slip (33 year old Leo Gorcey) and Sach (31 year old Huntz Hall) as escorts they decide to start their own agency. They trick Louie (Bernard Gorcey) into going on vacation and turn his sweet shop into their own escort service. Meanwhile their friend Gabe (Gabriel Dell) who works at the local bank gets blackmailed by gangsters thanks to his girlfriend (Adele Jurgens). With two of the other regular "boys" while Buddy Gorman steps in (taking Bennie Bartlett's place) as the new Butch. John Harmon is one of the gangsters. 

Director William "One Shot" Beaudine's film career started in 1915! Screenplay by Charles Marion. 

Thanks for reading!

  

Bela's Ape

THE APE MAN-1943-Crazy Monogram nonsense has Bela Lugosi (in another demeaning post-Dracula role) as Dr. James Brewster, who through unexplained experiments has become half man/half ape. He even sleeps in a cage with a real (man in a gorilla suit) ape! A fellow scientist (Henry Hall, also in THE APE with Karloff) brings Brewster's sister Agatha (Minerva Urecal), a famous "ghost hunter" home to help him out. Unfortunately Brewster needs human spinal fluid to cure himself. His friend won't help so he and the ape go out on nightly jaunts and kill to secure the vital liquid. This is easily done as Brewster can speak ape!

Wallace Ford (from FREAKS and THE MUMMY'S HAND) is a wisecracking reporter who suspects monkey business. Louise Currie (later in VOODOO MAN with Bela and still among the living at the time of this writing) is his photographer who doesn't have much to do until the climax. Jack Mulhall hangs around as a local yokel who's identity is revealed in the dumb comic ending. Emil Van Horn is the gorilla.

THE APE MAN is funny little horror film that doesn't go on too long (64 mins.) and doesn't drag thanks to William "One Shot" Beaudine's brisk direction. The story is by Karl Brown who supplied the story for THE APE! It would have been a lot better without Mulhall's character popping up all the time. Lugosi portrayed the monster in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN the same year. In 1943 he starred in a kind of sequel RETURN OF THE APE MAN.

THE APE MAN was one of seven movies Beaudine directed in 1943. He also made GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE where Bela met The Eastside Kids!

Thanks for reading!