Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about films which played first on a double bill between 1931 and 1949.
On March 18, 1938, Paramount Pictures released Bulldog Drummond’s Peril (1938). John Howard portrays Drummond for the third time. In this film (affiliate link), Drummond and his fiance’ Phyllis Clavering are traveling to Switzerland to complete their long-awaited wedding plans. The Longworths, Drummond’s and Clavering’s best friends, arrive in Switzerland for the wedding. Gwen Longworth gives Phyllis a perfect synthetic
In his first time playing the role of Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond, John Howard plays the captain desperately trying to rescue his kidnapped fiancé’. Paramount Pictures released Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (affiliate link) on September 24, 1937. Prior to John Howard taking over the role, Ronald Coleman and Ralph Richardson both played the fictional British hero. The film begins with
On January 26, 1934, United Artists released Palooka (1934) (affiliate link), a feature film based on the popular comic strip. Stuart Erwin plays Joe Palooka but Jimmy Durante steals the show as his manager Knobby Walsh. Joe Palooka is the son of former world boxing champion Pete Palooka. When Joe was a baby, his mother Mayme, played by Marjorie Rambeau, takes
On March 19, 1942, RKO Radio Pictures released the second film starring the Old Time Radio comedy team Lum and Abner. The Bashful Bachelor (1942) (affiliate link) starred Chester Lauck as Lum Edwards and Norris Goff as Abner Peabody, the owners of the Jot’Em Down Store in Arkansas. In this film, longtime bachelor Lum Edwards wants to become a hero
Dressed to Kill (1946) is the fourteenth and final Sherlock Holmes film (affiliate link) starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Universal Pictures released the last film in the series on June 7, 1946. Once World War II ended, the series returned to non-war related crime stories. Cyril Delevanti plays a thief serving at Dartmoor
In one of the last films in the series, British authorities recruit Sherlock Holmes to protect the young heir to a European throne. Universal Pictures released Pursuit to Algiers (1945) on October 26, 1945. Basil Rathbone returns for the twelfth of fourteen times as Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Bruce again plays his assistant Dr. John Watson. As the film begins, Sherlock
On March 16, 1945, Universal Pictures released The House of Fear (1945), the eighth of twelve Sherlock Holmes films (affiliate link) produced by the studio. Basil Rathbone returned as Holmes for the tenth time. Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes twice for Twentieth Century – Fox before Universal started producing the series. Despite its late entry into the series, the film stands
Black Raven (1943) is a “B” film (affiliate link) from Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). George Zucco plays Amos Bradford aka the Raven, the owner of the Black Raven Inn. Bradford ends up hosting several unexpected guests, who are escaping a raging thunderstorm. The storm washed out all the bridges and stranded the visitors, which include a couple trying to elope,
The Thirteenth Guest (1932) is the film version of an Armitage Trail story. Monogram Pictures released the early “B” film (affiliate link) starring Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot. Ginger Rogers was only 21 at the time but would go on to great stardom as Fred Astaire’s most regular dance partner. Lyle Talbot made a living through most of the late
When Twentieth Century-Fox decided to drop the Charlie Chan series after Castle in the Desert (1942), Sidney Toler purchased the rights to the series and took it to Monogram Pictures. After making 11 films with Twentieth Century-Fox, Toler would make 11 Charlie Chan films with Monogram Pictures. Shadows Over Chinatown (1946) was the ninth film that Toler made for Monogram