Jewel thief “Diamond” Ed Barnaby (Walter Baldwin) has just been paroled from prison, and his loving daughter Betty (Ann Savage) is anxious to make a new life with him…but “Diamond” Ed has a few loose ends to tie up. His last job netted him a nice little haul of diamonds that he feels rightly belong […]

Aspiring songwriter Harry Miller (Jack Oakie) is long on ambition…and short on talent.  With his piano-playing partner Teddy Jordan (Milton Berle), Harry is barely making the rent on the apartment they share in NYC—their main source of income derives from the mail-order songwriting “lessons” they send to Van Buren, Arkansas native Lester Robin (Bob Burns) […]

Though the title of the fourth entry in Columbia’s Boston Blackie series—which stars Chester Morris as reformed safecracker/jewel thief Horatio Black, the hero created by pulp fiction author Jack Boyle—affirms that Blackie and his sidekick The Runt (George E. Stone) are headed for the motion picture capital…it’s technically not the original destination on their itinerary.  […]

The man born Hans Georg Conried, Jr. on this date ninety-seven years ago in Baltimore, Maryland is described by author Leonard Maltin in his book The Great American Broadcast as “one of the most prolific performers in the medium,” demonstrating a proficiency for “a dazzling range of dialects” and taking on “both serious and comic […]

Effervescent chanteuse Sally Baker (Frances Langford) is a success at a nightclub owned by racketeer Lucky Maddox (Sheldon Leonard)—but when Maddox’s attentions start to drift towards a more amorous direction, she decides to go west, young man, go west.  She’s received communication from an agent named Phil Merwin (Ray Walker) that he’ll be able to […]

The actor who entertained fans on radio, television and in the movies as Hopalong Cassidy’s sidekick California Carlson was born on this date one hundred and twenty-two years ago in Blairgowrie, Scotland.  Yes, Andrew Allan Clyde was what California would call a “furriner”…and was born into a show business family.  His father was actor-producer-manager John […]

Character great Jack Joseph Kruschen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on this date in 1922.  A dues-paying member of the “Hey!  It’s That Guy!” show business fraternity, you’ve seen Jack in scores of films and TV shows.  Modern audiences remember him fondly as George “Papa” Papadopoulos, Sr. from the popular family sitcom Webster, which starred […]

It’s Christmas Eve, and reformed safecracker Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black (Chester Morris) has arranged for a vaudeville troupe to entertain the prisoners at his “alma mater” in the spirit of fellowship and good cheer.  One of the dancing girls in the company, Eve Sanders (Adele Mara), risks violating the prison rules by coming along.  She’s […]