Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about films which played first on a double bill between 1931 and 1949.
Columbia Pictures released Night of Terror (1933) on April 24, 1933. Made before the enforcement of the Production Code, the film contained a couple of situations, which would not be allowed in a year or two. In this film (affiliate link), Mary Rinehart frequently kisses a man she is not engaged to but remains the heroine. A maniac is killing
Columbia Pictures’ Lone Wolf series, starring Warren Williams as Michael Lanyard, is one of my favorite “B” film series. Williams played the debonair jewel thief, who somehow always ends up helping the police solve a series of crimes. Counter-Espionage (1942) (affiliate link) begins with Lanyard stealing top secret plans from Sir Stafford Hart’s safe. Scotland Yard’s Inspector Stephens rushes to
On April 7, 1939, Twentieth Century-Fox released the seventh of eight Mr. Moto “B” movies. Mr. Moto in Danger Island begins with Mr. Moto on a ship headed to Puerto Rico. Mr. Moto, played by Peter Lorre, and several passengers are watching a wrestling match. Twister McGurk, played by Warren Hymer, is wrestling Sailor Sam, played by Ward Bond. Mr. Moto
The Trap (1946) is the last Charlie Chan film (affiliate link) starring Sidney Toler as Inspector Chan. The eleventh of eleven Charlie Chan films that Toler made for Monogram Pictures, it marks the return of Victor Sen Yung as “No. 2 Son Jimmy”. Toler was deathly ill during the filming, so Jimmy and Birmingham Brown, played by Mantan Moreland, handle
From 1931 to 1954, Lum and Abner occupied a spot among the most popular shows during the Old Time Radio era. Chester Lauck and Norris Goff attended the University of Arkansas together. Lauck and Goff later developed their show Lum and Abner based on life in Arkansas. The show struck a cord with many listeners. My wife’s grandmother once told
The Vampire Bat (1933) is a genre bending film (affiliate link) starring Lionel Atwill. Ostensibly, it is a horror film but is actually more of a mystery. It would fall into the “B” movie category, a short film meant to be the appetizer for the main film on a double bill. Majestic Pictures produced the film, which was directed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released After The Thin Man (1936), the sequel to the popular Thin Man (1934), on Christmas Day 1936. The film is one of 14 films William Powell and Myrna Loy made together. Powell and Loy play Dashiell Hammet’s characters Nick and Nora Charles respectively. Nick Charles formerly worked as a private detective before marrying the wealthy heiress Nora.
On December 16, 1937, Paramount Pictures released the second “Bulldog” Drummond film starring John Howard as Drummond. Ronald Coleman and Ralph Richardson played Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond in the past. By the time Bulldog Drummond’s Revenge (affiliate link) was released, the series had become a formula “B” movie franchise. Despite Captain Drummond being married to Phyllis Clavering in The Return
On August 2, 1947, Max M. King Productions released Killer Dill (1947), a crime film that professional wrestler Mike Mazurki plays “Little Joe”, a henchman playing both sides of a gang feud. Stuart Erwin stars as Johnny “Killer” Dill, a lingerie designer and salesperson, who people mistake for a gangster. After accidentally involving himself in a gang war, his
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) (affiliate link) is the second of the Universal film versions of the stories and the fourth movie starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Lionell Atwill makes an appearance as Dr. Moriart This movie is set during the early years of World War II, when Holmes sneaks a scientist out