TRAPPED

Barbara Payton and Lloyd Bridges

TRAPPED (1949). Director: Richard Fleischer. 

Chris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), a prison inmate due to his counterfeiting activities, allegedly agrees to cooperate with the authorities in order to help find some near-perfect phony currency plates, but instead escapes and hightails it to the side of his girlfriend, Meg (Barbara Payton of Bride of the Gorilla). Chris makes a deal with a man named Jack Sylvester (James Todd) to exchange some counterfeit currency for legitimate cash, and contacts John Downey (John Hoyt of The Glass Cage), a confidence man who hangs out at Meg's club and is always trying to date her; Downey will come up with the cash. But Chris is unaware that the authorities are already watching Meg -- and him -- and that Downey may not be quite the man he thinks he is. 

Payton with John Hoyt

Trapped is a fast-paced, entertaining, and quite well-acted crime meller that pulls you along and makes you interested in what might happen next. There are a couple of problems with the film, however, and that includes Chris' assertion that he can get rich without acquiring those all-important bank plates, which Sylvester wants to hang on to. Also the last section of the film, while an exciting enough chase on its own terms, centers on a supporting character instead of the lead, who is off-screen for the entire final section of the movie. Bridges offers an adroit performance as a bad guy who is nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, and Payton again proves that there was more to her than blatant sexiness and big red lips. John Hoyt offers an unusual and adept portrayal for him of a man who is almost an aging lover boy. Russ Conway and Robert Karnes have supporting roles and are fine. 

Verdict: Just misses being a special film noir. **3/4. 

COVER UP

Dennis O'Keefe and William Bendix

COVER UP (1949). Director: Alfred E. Green. Colorized.  

Insurance investigator Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe) comes to a small town to look into a certain man's alleged suicide. Sheriff Larry Best (William Bendix) isn't too helpful, and other townspeople are downright hostile. Sam is befriended by Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton), who takes him home to meet her father, Stuart (Art Baker). But even Mr. Weatherby tries to persuade Sam to forget the whole business. Virginia Christine plays the dead man's niece, and she also makes Sam suspicious. Then the town doctor is found dead ... 

Barbara Britton with O'Keefe

Cover Up is a respectable enough little B mystery with good performances, especially from Bendix, and a nice turn from the ever-delightful and taciturn Doro Merande as the Weatherby maid, Hilda, who always speaks her mind whether you want to hear it or not. Prolific director Alfred E. Green directed several films with Bette Davis as well as Paris Model. The year before this O'Keefe starred in Raw Deal, which was a better showcase for him. Barbara Britton co-starred with Charles Laughton in Captain Kidd. Doro Merande also plays a comical maid in The Gazebo.

Verdict: Reasonably intriguing mystery film with a good cast. **1/2. 

GHOST OF ZORRO

Clayton Moore as grandson of Zorro

GHOST OF ZORRO (12-chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon. Colorized version. 

Ken Mason (Clayton Moore), grandson of Don Diego Vega, the original Zorro, is in New Mexico after the Civil War where Rita White (Pamela Blake) hopes to build a telegraph line beginning in Twin Bluffs. Bad guys George Crane (Gene Roth) and Hank Kilgore (Roy Barcroft), along with a host of other desperadoes, fear that the telegraph will help bring law and order to the territory. Ken is importuned by his buddy, Moccasin (George J. Lewis), to ride as Zorro to combat the various schemes of Crane and the others, and this he does. Explosions, attacks by Indians working with Crane, wagons flying over cliffsides, and more will not keep Zorro and Rita from completing that telegraph line. 

George J. Lewis and Pamela Blake

A sort of sequel to Son of Zorro, this is a cut below that serial but still entertaining and frequently exciting. Marshall Reed and Tom Steele are two of the nasty gunsels, and the latter gets a bit more to do than usual. George J. Lewis proves his versatility, as he often played bad guys as he did in Federal Operator 99 and many others. Pamela Blake was in a number of serials as well as Daltons' Women with Lash LaRue, but in this production she is competent but lacks enough oomph. Cliffhanger serials aren't always logical, but I'm still scratching my head over a scene in chapter two in which Mason/Zorro, riding behind Rita in a wagon, jumps off his horse, climbs a cliff, and somehow manages to jump into said wagon which is now, impossibly, behind him. (If the wagon went around some kind of curve, the logistics of this aren't shown.) Still, Ghost of Zorro is fun.

Verdict: Probably not the last gasp for Zorro. **3/4. 

THE LITTLE SISTER Raymond Chandler

THE LITTLE SISTER. Raymond Chandler. 1949.  

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by a young lady whose brother has gone missing. As he looks for this fellow, who seems a bit on the shady side, Marlowe keeps tripping over dead bodies. The trail leads to a glamorous movie star, Mavis Weld, who is afraid of scandal, and her friend and rival, a tempestuous Spanish beauty who makes more than one play for Marlowe. There's a lot of discussion about a photograph taken of Mavis in a nightclub in which she is sitting with a gangster who was supposed to be in jail at the time. And there are more corpses and murderers before the story is done.

Perhaps it's because so many years have gone by since the publication of Little Sister, but the book today almost reads like a parody. Of course there have been so many similar types of stories in the years between, and Chandler -- who is a good writer -- was one of the earlier practitioners of the 

genre, but much of the book borders on the idiotic, and the dialogue doesn't often ring true. The worst thing I can say about the book is that it is neither especially suspenseful nor even entertaining. Were this the first book of Chandler's I'd ever read, I would probably not have read another. There are some good sequences, however, such as when Detective French defends his police department. The story was filmed as Marlowe with James Garner playing the private eye.

Verdict: Chandler has written better books, but this one hasn't stood the test of time. **. 

RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING

Plane trouble: Jean Dean and Kirk Alyn

RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING (12 chapter 1949 Republic serial). Director: Fred C. Brannon. COLORIZED.  

Franklyn Lord (Tristram Coffin) assigns two of his best agents -- Chris Calvert (Kirk Alyn) and Joan Hughes (Jean Dean) -- to track down the so-called Spy King, a man named Baroda (John Merton). Now that the war is over Baroda is trying to build an anti-radar device that he can sell to the highest bidder, and Chris and Joan -- along with Lt. Manuel Agura (George J. Lewis) -- are out to stop him. Baroda has several evil associates, the worst of whom is Nitra (Eve Whitney), although Ricco (Anthony Warde) is also pretty nasty. Along the way there are traps consisting of explosions, deadly gas, cars driving off of cliffs, and a closed laundry basket that rolls out of the back of a truck with Joan (supposedly) inside it. There's even a remote control truck with no driver. 

John Merton and Eve Whitney hold Jean Dean captive

Radar Patrol vs. Spy King is a lot of fun, moves at an extremely brisk pace., and has a great, exciting score by Russell Garcia and Stanley Wilson that embellishes each and every sequence. Alyn and Dean make assured and capable agents, and Joan can be as feisty as she needs to be, clobbering bad guys with her purse and shooting with the best of 'em. Although John Merton is rather colorless as Baroda, Eve Whitney makes one stylish and sophisticated she-spy. Five years later she sort of played herself as a model who comes to the Ricardo's home and inspires jealousy in Lucy and Ethel on the classic I Love Lucy episode "The Charm School." Actually this and Lucy were probably Whitney's largest roles, as most of her film appearances were uncredited bits. This is too bad, as Whitney makes a positive impression in Radar Patrol. Anthony Warde makes a highly capable gunsel as usual. The hideout used by Nitra and Baroda is a plane hidden in the forest. 

Colorized serials on youtube are hit or miss, as sometimes the original print is too poor to work well with the colorizing process. Fortunately, this print is pretty clear and very watchable, even if it isn't remastered. Although this print contains the entire serial, the credits -- aside from the opening -- have been edited out so the serial proceeds at a really rapid pace. 

Verdict:  Eve Whitney steals the show! ***

ABANDONED

Gale Storm and Dennis O'Keefe

ABANDONED (1949). Director: Joseph M. Newman. Colorized. 

Newspaper man Mark Sitko (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with Paula Considine (Gale Storm) when the latter discovers that her sister is dead and her baby has disappeared. Meanwhile Paula is constantly followed by a corrupt private eye named Kerric (Raymond Burr). Kerric reports to a woman named Donner (Marjorie Rambeau) who is sort of in business with the nasty Decola (Will Kuluva) as babies are sold through illegal means. Now that Mark and Paula are learning more about this operation -- and have come to the conclusion that the sister was murdered -- their lives are definitely in danger, especially when they go undercover to get evidence to bring to Police Chief McRae (Jeff Chandler). 

Marjorie Rambeau and Raymond Burr

Abandoned certainly has an interesting cast. Playing a more or less serious part, Storm gives a good accounting of herself while O'Keefe displays his customary charm. As bad guys, Burr, Kuluva [Solo] and Rambeau adroitly emit varying levels of evil. Chandler is also adept, although he has little to do in the picture. Others in the cast include Jeannette Nolan as Major Ross of the Salvation Army, Mike Mazurki as a thug, Frank Cady as the city editor, David Clarke as itchy gunsel Harry, and Sid Tomack [The Kettles in the Ozarks] as a cop-bureaucrat. Clifton Young makes an impression in a brief bit as bartender Eddie. 

Storm and O'Keefe with Jeff Chandler in the background

Despite this cast, Abandoned didn't work for me at all. Maybe it needed more dynamic stars, a better script, or something, because the film seems to get duller just when it should be at its most exciting. There are certainly plenty of lively scenes -- for instance Burr and Mazurki getting into a deadly tussle -- but the movie just never becomes remotely riveting. Five years later Joseph M. Newman directed the much more entertaining science fiction film This Island Earth. The picture is generally well-colorized despite some glitches, such as O'Keefe's red nose on the left! 

Verdict: Just never gets out of the starting gate. **. 

THE JAMES BROTHERS OF MISSOURI

Robert Bice and Keith Richards as Frank and Jesse James

THE JAMES BROTHERS OF MISSOURI (12 chapter Republic serial/1949. Director: Fred C. Brannon. 

Frank and Jesse James (Robert Bice of Captive Women and Keith Richards) only want to forget their past, go straight, and live their lives in peace. They are befriended by Lon Royer (John Hamitlon), a former member of the James Gang, and his daughter, Peg (Noel Neill), who are running a freight business in the town of Rimrock. Unfortunately, Ace Marlin (Roy Barcroft of Manhunt of Mystery Island), who is running a rival business, wants to obliterate the competition and murders Lon. Marlin's silent partner, who pretends to befriend the grieving Peg, is Belle Calhoun (Patricia Knox), who owns the general store. Frank and Jesse, masquerading as Peg's cousins, John Howard and Carroll, do everything they can to help Peg and her business, and counteract the increasingly violent and sinister actions of Marlin. 

Roy Barcroft and Patricia Knox

The James Brothers of Missouri is the third and last of the three Jesse James serials produced by Republic Pictures. Clayton Moore was Jesse in the first two serials, and while Richards is fine as Jesse James, Moore is still missed. Neill appeared in the previous serial, The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, but she plays a different character this time. This is also true of Roy Barcroft, who is very adept in his villainy. Patricia Knox is also quite credible as a woman who seems to have a heart of gold but is really as nasty and manipulative as any hooker-hard gun moll. Lane Bradford [The Invisible Monster], Tom Steele, and Marshall Reed are familiar serial stalwarts who play various thugs in Marlin's employ. 

Keith Richards

The acting in this is fine, but Fred C. Brannon, who often co-directed these serials, proves that he has as assured a sole directorial hand as any other Republic fixture. The serial moves at a brisk pace and features some thrilling chase sequences, as well as cliffhangers in which Jesse is unconscious in the back of a runaway wagon, which blows up, and Peg is nearly scalded by acid. In this serial, Frank and Jesse are not anything like the real desperadoes, who were thugs, unrepentant criminals, and who even attacked and murdered civilian abolitionists. The story that they robbed the rich and gave to the poor like Robin Hood is also a load of crap. Keith Richards amassed nearly 200 credits, most of them on television or in bit parts in the movies. He played a drunken saloon patron in Jesse James Rides Again, then played Jesse himself -- a rare starring part -- two serials later. 

Verdict: The "heroes" in this weren't really heroes, but the serial is good and exciting western fun. ***. 

JIGSAW

 

JIGSAW (aka GUN MOLL/1949). Director: Fletcher Markle.

Howard Malloy (Franchot Tone) investigates a secret organization that appeals to people's racism in order to sell uniforms and other materials for profit. Charles Riggs (Myron McCormick) is a crusading reporter who detests racism and is out to expose the group no matter what. Angelo aka "The Angel" Agostini (Marc Lawrence of Inside Job) is a hood who gets sexy model Barbara Whitfield (Jean Wallace) to romance Malloy. Grace Hartley (Winnifred Lenihan) is a political widow and one of Malloy's mentors. There are interesting elements to the movie, but it never quite jells, and the most notable thing about the production is seeing famous guest stars doing cameos -- Marlene Dietrich walks out of a nightclub called The Blue Angel where Henry Fonda is a waiter! Seeing these two in such a cheapie production as this is a little bit surreal. Another plus: the ending is quite unexpected. The actors are at least professional.

Verdict: Okay but no cigar. **.

KING OF THE ROCKET MEN

The Rocket Man takes to the air

KING OF THE ROCKET MEN (12 Chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon. 

Jeffrey King (Tristram Coffin) is the director of security for a group called Science Associates, and also happens to be a rocket propulsion expert. When a series of scientists are killed in "accidents" Jeff helps Professor Millard (James Craven) fake his own death so that he can work in secret against the person responsible. Millard creates an atomic-powered rocket suit that Jeff (and at one point Millard) wears as "Rocket Man." His opponent is the mysterious Dr. Vulcan, whom both Jeff and Millard suspect is one of the members of the Science Associates board. 

Mae Clarke and Don Haggerty

King of the Rocket Men is the first of three Republic serials -- four if you count Commando Cody, the serial/TV series -- that use the rocket man suit and feature a flying hero who has various identities. This serial is exciting and suspenseful as our hero dodges a river of lava in a cave (chapter six) and other dastardly traps. The cliffhangers generally aren't that inventive, but there is still a lot of action and fun. The climactic chapter features Dr. Vulcan unleashing his "decimator" and practically destroying Manhattan, wherein stock footage from the old disaster flick Deluge -- still impressive -- comes in. Jeff's partner is Burt Winslow (House Peters Jr.) and both men suspect the other of being in league with Vulcan at various points during the serial. 

Tristram Coffin

Other cast members include Mae Clarke, famous for Frankenstein and the grapefruit scene in Public Enemy, who plays feisty reporter Glenda Thomas. At 39 Clarke was older than the typical serial heroine or female colleague. Don Haggerty makes an impression as the persistent thug Dirken who works for Dr. Vulcan. Stanley Wilson's music score keeps things hopping, and everything moves at a very swift pace. Tristram Coffin was offered a very rare leading role in this serial; he appeared in a number of previous serials in supporting or villainous roles. Coffin amassed 260 credits, and appeared in numerous movies and TV shows such as the "Country Club Dance" episode of I Love Lucy. 

Verdict: Great fun for serial devotees. ***.