Posts about “B” films from the 1930s and 1940s.
On January 24, 1946, Columbia Pictures released the tenth film in the Boston Blackie Series, A Close Call for Boston Blackie. Jack Boyle created the character Boston Blackie for short stories in magazines beginning in 1914. Blackie was a jewel thief and burglar. Boston Blackie was a thief and burglar although a heroic one in the first film, Meet Boston […]
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Dressed to Kill (1946) is the fourteenth and final Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Universal Pictures released the last film (affiliate link) 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 […]
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On July 12, 1939, Paramount Pictures released the final film (affiliate link) in their “B’ series adaptation of the Bulldog Drummond story. Bulldog Drummond’s Bride (1939) starred John Howard for the seventh final and time as Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond. Heather Angel returns as Phyllis Clavering, Drummond’s long time fiancé. Phyllis has given Bulldog Drummond one last chance to marry […]
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On July 7, 1939, Twentieth Century-Fox Films released the final Mr. Moto “B” film starring Peter Lorre as Inspector Kentaro Moto. Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation finds Mr. Moto accompanying the Queen of Sheba’s Crown from its discovery in an Egyptian archaeological site to a San Francisco museum. Mr. Moto suspects the arch criminal Metaxess, who authorities believed was dead, intends […]
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Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise (1940) is one of the eleven Charlie Chan films starring Sidney Toler for Twentieth Century-Fox Films. In this film, a strangler has killed Charlie’s friend Inspector Duff in Charlie’s office. Inspector Duff had been trailing a strangler on a cruise ship from New York that docked in Honolulu on its way to San Francisco. Inspector Chan […]
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Castle in the Desert (1942) is the last Twentieth Century – Fox production of the Charlie Chan series starring Sidney Toler as Inspector Chan. The series would move to Monogram Pictures with Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944). The series went out with a bang with a little different mystery starring a number of strong supporting characters. In this […]
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Monogram Pictures released So’s Your Aunt Emma! (1942) on April 17, 1942. Zasu Pitts stars as Aunt Emma Bates. In her youth, Aunt Emma was engaged to up-and-coming professional fighter Jim O’Banion. Her sister didn’t approve of the match, so they sent her on a trip to break up the couple. Aunt Emma regretted it and starts following the career […]
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Twentieth Century – Fox Film Company released the fourth Mr. Moto film, Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938), on June 24, 1938. Lou Breslow and John Patrick set the film in Cambodia allowing Twentieth-Century Fox to use stock footage of the recently discovered ruins of Angkor Wat. The discovery of Angkor Wat captured the attention of the American public. Many […]
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The Woman in Green (1945) is the ninth of twelve Sherlock Holmes produced by Universal Pictures. Basil Rathbone returns as Holmes in the eleventh of fourteen turns as the English sleuth. The film is one of the few “B” series films, which could have been an “A” film. Sherlock Holmes investigates the murder of several young London women. After they […]
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The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935) is an adaptation of one of the Ellery Queen novels. Two cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee, who wrote a number of detective novels under the pseudonym of the title character. In this film, Ellery Queen is taking a vacation to California with his friend Judge Macklin. Of course, they are not long into their […]
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