Author Archive: Retro

A World War II Hollywood propaganda film detailing the dark underside of Nazism and the Third Reich set between two brothers, Kurt and Erik Franken, whom are SS officers in the Nazi party. Kurt learns and exposes the evils of the system to Erik and tries to convince him of the immoral stance that marches under the symbol of the swastika.

A gentleman is shot dead in his study. The police come in to solve the crime. A young detective weaves his way through danger and an intricate set of clues to catch the killer. Watch for the scene were a murder is committed by shooting a gun through a mail slot in a door. The climax is terrific and similar to Secret of the Blue Room.

A pilot (Richard Arlen) and his brother fall in love with the same woman (Jean Parker).

The second of comedian Benny Rubin’s two starring features for Tiffany Studios, Hot Curves is a spoof of baseball manager John McGraw’s publicity-conscious efforts to put a Jewish player on the New York Giants. Rubin plays Benny Goldberg, a soda jerk who joins the Pittsburgh Cougars along with his egotistical pal Jim Dolan (Rex Lease). While Benny works himself up to star-player status, Jim falters badly, thanks mostly to his ever-expanding ego and his romantic misadventures with manager’s daughter Elaine McGrew (Alice Day) and predatory Margie (Natalie Morehead). He pulls himself together in time to lead his team to victory during the World Series, but not before he’s put through the emotional wringer when Benny is reported killed in a plane crash. Featured in the cast as Benny’s Irish-Catholic girlfriend is Pert Kelton, three years before her “official” screen bow in RKO’s Bed of Roses.

After learning how to look inside himself, a poetic bum sells people vivid dreams.

A journalist poses as a doctor’s assistant to infiltrate a railroad magnate’s inner council.

John Dawson loses control of his factory when he is crippled in an accident caused by a rival. Destitute, he travels the country organizing the homeless to help him regain control of his steel mill.

Jim Hanvey is a genial but top-notch detective who has retired to his country home. An insurance company hires him to find a missing emerald so they won’t have to pay out the $100,000 for which the jewel is insured. It doesn’t take him long to find the emerald, but he discovers that finding it was the easy part; the difficult part is getting it back to its rightful owner, and he winds up involved in a murder in which an innocent man is framed.

A married woman’s affair with a dashing young officer has tragic results.