Poverty Row - The Best
PRC , Monogram , Grand National , Chesterfield , Screen Guild
not counting some of the late 40s / 50s films by small independents .
See also Pine / Thomas productions , technically Paramount movies , but shot like poverty row films .
not counting some of the late 40s / 50s films by small independents .
See also Pine / Thomas productions , technically Paramount movies , but shot like poverty row films .
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- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsTom NealAnn SavageClaudia DrakeThe life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
- DirectorMax NosseckStarsLawrence TierneyEdmund LoweAnne JeffreysJohn Dillinger begins his life of crime as a petty thief, meets his future gang in prison and eventually masterminds a series of daring robberies.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsBelitaBarry SullivanBonita GranvilleFrank Leonard, the proprietor of an ice-skating revue promotes Joe Morgan, a peanut vendor at the show, to a management position based on suggestions he made to improve the act of the show's star Roberta, who also happens to be the owner's wife. However, he soon begins to notice that Joe is paying more attention to his wife than he believes is appropriate, and begins to suspect that he has designs not only on his wife but on his business. Meanwhile, someone from Joe's past shows up with information that could wreck his plans.
- DirectorGordon WilesStarsBarry SullivanBelitaJoan LorringShubunka (Barry Sulivan) is a cynical gangster who controls the Neptune Beach waterfront. He runs a numbers racket with the local soda shop owner. The police are in his pocket and the local hoods are on his payroll.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsJohn CarradineJean ParkerNils AstherIn Paris, an artist hires portrait models, and after he finishes their portraits, he strangles them.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsJean GillieEdward NorrisRobert ArmstrongA mortally wounded female gangster recounts how she and her gang revived an executed killer from the gas chamber, to try and find out where he buried a fortune in cash.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJean ParkerPeter CooksonTim RyanDragging along her spineless boyfriend Johnny, hare-brained secretary Kitty O'Day is unstoppable as she tries to determine her boss's murderer. In her exuberance she and Johnny keep running into more corpses, as well as the unbelievabley inept team of Inspector Clancy and his sergeant, Mike. Their luck seems to run out, though, as they deliver themselves right into the hands of the murderer.
- DirectorAlfred ZeislerStarsClaudia DrakeWolfgang ZilzerDonald WoodsYoung Dr. Paul Joseph Göbbels, an unsuccessful playwright, is forced, in order to support himself, to take a position as tutor in the household of Herr Quandt. His first attempt to force himself upon women comes when he becomes interested in a young actress, Maria Brandt, daughter of Colonel Brandt at whose home he is lodging. He is driven from the house by Colonel Brandt. That night, acting as an usher for a meeting of the new German Socialist Party, Göbbels hears Hitler speak, and becomes an ardent follower. He is made propaganda head, becomes known as the "Scoundrel of Berlin", and his machinations strike terror into the hearts of innocent girls. Maria Brandt, who is working as a bit player in a theater in Hannover, again meets Göbbels. Through his efforts, although unknown to her, Maria is made an overnight star. He then procures a contract for her at the famous UFA studios of Berlin. Maria, who has become interested in a young doctor, Hans Traeger, shuns the attention on Göbbels.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsRobert MitchumKim HunterDean JaggerA naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJean ParkerPeter CooksonTim RyanWhen a girl and her boyfriend are suspected of murdering her employer, they have to clear their names and find the real killer.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsBela LugosiJohn ArcherWanda McKayKindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Bela Lugosi uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJohn BealWanda McKayWarren HymerA honeymoon couple in New York for one night of wedded bliss before he's to join the army, become involved with gangsters after they find a cadaver under their bed.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsJohn 'Dusty' KingMarjorie ReynoldsGeorge ClevelandThe Phantom Robber gets a fortune in jewels and some valuable papers from a robbery on the crack train "The Midnight Limited" and Val Lennon and his pretty assistant, Joan Marshall, are on his trail. But the Phantom strikes three more times and adds murder to his list. Val decides to use himself as bait, although Chief Harrigan and Joan beg him not to risk his life. But Val, disguised as a wealthy Canadian, boards the train for a rendezvous with a killer.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsWarren DouglasJane FrazeeRobert OsterlohStockbroker Joe Downey(Warren Douglas), mistaken in the dark for gangster "Slats" Slattery (Robert Osterloh), is brutally beaten by a rival gangster, "Knuckles" Morgan (Meyer Grace), and Downey winds up in jail on a drunk charge. His sweetheart, Marion Roberts (Jane Frazee), and friend, Bill (Harry Lauter), obtain his release, and then the three set out to find and warn the intended-victim. This pulls them into some violent incidents, including a hijacking and a murder.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsKane RichmondAudrey LongConrad NagelThe police find the body of hostess Helen Howard (Wanda McKay), disposed of by petty racketeer Nick Mantee (Kane Richmond) after she was shot in his Bluejay night club by Benny Nordick (John Gallaudet) because she knew too much about Mantee's rackets. Police Lieutenant Williams (Conrad Nagel) and police Sergeant Tom Ramey (Ralph Byrd) inform the dead girl's parents and sister Nancy (Audrey Long) of the run-away's death. Nancy, inpatient waiting for the police to get a solid case together, signs with the Mercer Agency operated by Nordick, training girls for an excessive sum which they work off as hostesses at the Bluejay Club. Nancy becomes a hostess at the club and after a party for Latin-American night club owner Barda (Anthony Warde), she uncovers evidence that places Helen at the club. She accuses Nick and Benny of the murder and the two mobsters realize they must do away with her.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsDon CastleElyse KnoxRegis ToomeyA dancer is pinned for murder after his shoe prints are found at the scene of the crime. His wife follows the trail of clues to the genuine killer.
- DirectorJohn ReinhardtStarsLee TracyDon CastleJulie BishopA fast-moving automobile fails to make a sharp turn of the highway from Malibu to Los Angeles. It overturns and its occupants, Tim Slade, Newspaper man turned private investigator, and Hugh Fresney, managing editor of the Los Angeles Currier, are pinned underneath. Both are seriously injured and are unable to move. As they wait for the tide to come in and cover them, Fresney recounts that his boss, Clint VAughn has been killed, presumably by gangsters in the pay of Nick Dyke, who Fresney has fought against through his newspaper columns. Slade had been hired to avenge Fresney if Dyke's gang killed him in retaliation, Slade, one-time sweetheart of Vaughn's dipsomaniac wife Julie Vaughn, believed she still loved him, but he had fallen for Dana Jons, Vaughn's beautiful secretary. Police Detective O'Haffey investigated Vaughn's death and unearthed several suspects, including Slade, Julie, Dykes and Dana, but Slade was not satisfied and looked elsewhere.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsGilbert RolandChris-Pin MartinEvelyn BrentEduardo Belmonte overhears his new step-mother, Maria, and her lover, Don Ricardo Gonzales plotting to take over the Belmonte rancho on the night of the fiesta given by her husband, Don Carlos Belmonte. Eduardo offers Maria money if she will depart the hacienda premises, but she refuses and then accuses Eduardo of making love to her. The old Don doesn't take kindly to his son hitting on his step-mother and attacks him in a rage. The lights go out, the father is killed and Maria blames Eduardo, who escapes from the house, chased by Ricardo's men. The Cisco Kid and Pancho rescue Eduardo, who has been shot, and hide him while they investigate. Cisco discovers that bullets from Maria's gun, a handy little derringer, are the same type that killed Don Carlos. But the Alcalde arrests Cisco and Pancho, and Cisco is "supposedly" executed by a firing squad, but IS NOT shot and escapes by a trick. And now Maria and Ricardo are in real trouble with Cisco on the loose.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsNancy ColemanMichael O'SheaSheldon LeonardUndercover reporter Ann Mason infiltrates a neo-fascist group that recruits disgruntled veterans, but amnesia prevents her from exposing them.
- DirectorJohn ReinhardtStarsBonita GranvilleDon CastleRegis ToomeyTwo guys sharing an apartment meet twin girls (both Bonita Granville). One's sweet, the other a major piece of bad news. The nice one is murdered and her boyfriend is accused of the crime. The wrong man/wrong victim plot strikes again.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsTeala LoringRobert ArmstrongLeo PennTom Cochrane (Leo Penn'), full of dope (cocaine) and covered with blood, is picked up by the police and then questioned by detectives Shannon (Douglas Fowley) and Taylor (Harry Strang), but manages to escape. His girl friend Lois Walter (Teala Loring) , against the wishes of her guardian, Jim Grosset (Charles Arnt), assists Tom and his police-officer brother-in-law Mac McLane (Robert Armstrong) in trying to clear Tom of a possible murder charge. Tom only recalls meeting a man in a bar and going to a party. Tom and Mac find the man, Joe (Elisha Cook Jr.), who takes them to the party scene, the apartment of the Sindells. They find the body of a murdered girl in the apartment above.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsKay FrancisPaul CavanaghRobert ShayneCareer-slipping movie star Carole Raymond (Kay Francis) buys in as a real estate partner of Jeff Caldwell (Paul Cavanagh). As it happens, through his secretary Nola Reed (Veda Ann Borg), Caldwell runs a matrimonial bureau, and aided by his associate Lee Kirby (John Gallaudet), they defraud and blackmail a large group of lonely people. Carole is unknowingly used as bait for one of their victims, Walter Desmond (Barton Yarborough), who apparently commits suicide. Reporter William Tyler (Robert Shayne) thinks otherwise, and posing as a rich rancher, he contacts Miss Raymond. The latter, now being blackmailed by Caldwell, is forced to persuade Tyler to invest in a fraudulent oil deal. In her own attempt to break the racket, Carole uncovers Mildred Hayes (Teala Loring), another innocent victim of the Desmond case. Despite leading each other on for their own purposes, Carole and Tyler fall in love and combine their efforts.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsKane RichmondBarbara ReadGeorge ChandlerA jade statue, "The Missing Lady", is stolen and its owner killed. Lamont Cranston, alias the Shadow, sets out to catch the killer but is blamed for the murders himself as each time he investigates some facet of the case another suspect is killed.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsWarren DouglasRamsay AmesJan WileyA veteran, Joe Hilton (Warren Douglas), returns from the war to find that his brother Jeffrey Hilton (George Meeker), a gangster, has been killed. His quest for revenge leads him to take over his brother's illegal operations but his sweetheart, Lynn Turner (Ramsay Ames), persuades him to change his ways and return to the straight and narrow.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsKane RichmondBernadene HayesPeter CooksonTwo card sharks, pretending to be brother and sister, clean out a small-town banker, then take over a crooked gambling joint.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonWilliam BeaudineStarsKane RichmondBarbara ReadGeorge ChandlerLamont Cranston, aka the Shadow, has his hands full as the murder of blackmailing reporter Jeff Mann is blamed on him. Not only does the real murderer seem one step ahead of him as Lamont tries to discover his identity, but he is continually hampered from gaining crucial evidence by his jealous, interfering fiancée Margo Lane. Cranston perseveres and is rewarded with the clue he needs at one of Mann's victims' nightclubs.
- DirectorAlfred ZeislerStarsPeter CooksonWarren WilliamAnne GwynneIn this Americanized retelling of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, a medical student--broke, hungry and desperate for money--murders a loan shark to whom he owes money. After the killing, he's tormented by guilt over what he's done. A police captain, who's convinced the student committed the crime but can't prove it for lack of evidence, plays on the young man's guilt in order to get him to confess to the crime.
- DirectorPhil RosenWilliam BeaudineStarsKane RichmondBarbara ReadTom DuganSuper-sleuth Lamont Cranston, (aka "The Shadow") investigates the theft of jewels from a grave.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsRalph MorganKane RichmondJayne HazardThis George Morris story was based on an article that appeared in "Woman's Home Companion" and later reprinted in "Reader's Digest." Eddie Condon, a two-bit racketeer, teams up with an alcoholic doctor, Judson, to set up a maternity home with free facilities to expectant mothers, with the proviso that the women sign away all rights to their newborns. The babies are then offered for adaptation to couples willing to make a substantial "contribution" to the home. Things go well for this borderline within-the-law business until a baby is still-born. Conden had already sold the baby for $5,000 and has no intention of returning the money, so he substitutes the child of the sister of his wife. There is a slip-up on the filing of the certificates and the District Attorney's office gets involved.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsEdmund LoweJean RogersDonald DouglasFamed magician Mr. Gregory is visited back stage one night by an amateur magician and his wife. Immediately smitten with Ellen Randall, Gregory plots to win her over.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsKay FrancisPaul KellyOtto KrugerStory of women who marry GIs just so they can receive the soldiers' pay and their life insurance if they are killed in action.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsKay FrancisBruce CabotHelen MackA woman who has been married and divorced five times comes back to her small hometown, where she proceeds to complicate, and potentially destroy, the marriage of her childhood boyfriend.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsBilly GilbertMaxie RosenbloomShemp HowardA pair of gangsters are under the mistaken impression that three goofballs know the location of a valuable stolen necklace.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsRobert LoweryMarjorie WeaverTim RyanWhen a top fashion model is murdered, a stockboy is suspected of the crime. He and another model set out to clear his name and find the real killer.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsBela LugosiJohn CarradineGeorge ZuccoDr. Richard Marlowe uses a combination of voodoo and hypnosis in an attempt to revive his dead wife by transferring the life essences of several hapless young girls he has kidnapped and imprisoned in the dungeon beneath his mansion.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsJackie CooperGale StormPatricia MorisonA teenager is accused of murdering a gas station owner.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsGail PatrickNancy KellyWilliam HenryMargot Bracken returns home to Germany after several years of absence, and is horrified at the degraded status which has been forced on the women of her homeland. Toni Hall is prevented from marrying her sweetheart. Both women speak out against the terrorist reign and are imprisoned. Pagan baptisms, "mercy" killings, sterilizations, government-encouraged vice and the cruelties of the Gestapo are only a few of the practices they see or endure.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsHelen ParrishDick PurcellTim RyanA woman of twenty-one opens her grandfather's will left to her thirteen years earlier, per his instructions. Murder soon follows.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsEddie QuillanJoan WoodburyMaxie RosenbloomBecause of his hot, often-flaring temper, Jimmy Kelly loses another job, much to the disappointment of his mother and the disgust of his fiancée, Margie. Margie is a secretary for lawyer L. Herbert Oakley, who advises Jimmy to study law, but that doesn't last long. His friend, Sammy Cohen gets him a job with him as a process server. He serves a summons on a night club dancer, Carmencita, who says she owes a bill because she had a fight with her sweetheart - one L. Herbert Oakley. The district attorney delegates Jimmy and Sammy to serve subpoenas on a "Trixie Belle," who turns out to be a formidable gangster, plus one on a mysterious "Mr.7". Trixie holds Jimmy a prisoner in an apartment, but gets drunk and reveals that Oakley is Mr. 7, the leader of an oil-swindle operation. Sammy helps Jimmy escape and they learn that Oakley is about to leave for Montreal, and is taking Margiue with him. Jimmy rescues Margie and serves the summons on Oakley. Just before he and Margie are to be married the next day, Jimmy receives a notice from the draft board demanding his appearance that afternoon. As he departs, his mother assures Margie that, since Jimmy never held a job more than two months, the war will soon be over.
- DirectorJames TinlingStarsFrank GrahamEdgar KennedyGale StormAn amateur detective and a janitor try to find a kidnapped heiress.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsEdward NorrisJoan WoodburyJack La RuePlayboy Johnny Gray is framed and sent to prison after his stolen car is found at a holdup committed by Rico, and while the latter is not suspected, his henchman Harry, Creeper and Red are convicted with Johnny. Stung by the injustice, when even his fiancée believes him guilty, Johnny becomes an unruly prisoner and is put in a cell with Cain, head of the prison gang planning a break. The new warden, Frank Sanders, wins Johnny over by changing his cell mate and giving him a chance to work in the prison gardens. Here, he meets Amy Duncan, daughter of prison guard Duncan. In an failed escaped, engineered from the outside by Rico, who is killed, one of Rico's men confesses that Johnny is innocent.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJames DunnJoan WoodburyPaul McVeyA retired detective, Nick Trayne, is hired to look for a missing banker. During the investigation, the aforementioned banker returns in a zombie-like state. Trayne must track down the madman responsible for the banker's state.
- DirectorHarold YoungStarsRicardo CortezRochelle HudsonWilliam HenryGilin, is just released from prison and now that the government has clamped down on the sale of tires, decides to enter the tire-stealing-for-resell racket. Driving home, he has a car wreck with defense workers Bill Barry and Mary Dale. His girlfriend Nikki persuades the gangster to settle Bill's claim by giving him the old car belonging to his Chinese servant Tom, who is about to enter the army. Gilin sets up auto lots all over town where he sells cars and tires stolen by his gang. He also sells faulty synthetic tires and Mary's brother Freddy is killed when one of those blows out. Bill and a group of defense workers try to trace the tire by its treads and finally locate one of Gilin's car lots as the place where it was sold. Gilin orders Nikki to set a trap for Bill so he can be eliminated. But Nikki warns Bill through Mary. Bill, feeling that Nikki knows the source of the "hot rubber" goes to see her at Gilin's apartment, where Gilin knocks him out. Tom, in his newly-issued Army uniform, pleas with his old boss to give up this unpatriotic racket and is shot by Gilin.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsEdward NorrisMarlo DwyerEleanor LawsonA man is brought back from death at the same time a vicious criminal dies in the electric chair. However, the man's soul is now taken over by the electrocuted gangster, who embarks on a vengeful crime wave.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsFrank AlbertsonJoan WoodburyDick ElliottCrime reporter Larry Doyle, who contributes to the capture of the Padroni gang, is later framed for murder by the gang leader.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsRicardo CortezJoan WoodburyPat GleasonJust prior to his execution, a condemned murderer decides to tell the authorities who hired him to commit the murder. However, he's killed by a poison dart in front of a roomful of officials and reporters before he can divulge the name. An assistant district attorney and a pretty newspaper reporter team up to discover the "mystery man" behind the murders.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsHarry LangdonCharley RogersCathy LewisThe owner of an American bean cannery and his wife are expecting the arrival of two orphans from war-torn England, but the "youngsters" arrive and are two addled-brain adults, Albert (Harry Langdon) and Alfred Prattle (Charles Rogers). Making a worse deal out of a bad one, the owner puts them to work in his cannery where, among other mishaps, they manage to place a $100,000 gem in a can of beans. The word gets out and customers, hoping to buy the can with the gem, clear the market place of the company's beans.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsFrankie DarroMarcia Mae JonesJackie MoranRawley University is about to receive a star athlete who could give it the first championship rowing team it's ever had. Unfortunately, he gets drafted into the army before he's able to join the team. Two of the team's members get the bright idea of passing off a burly truck driver as the "athlete". Complications ensue.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMarjorie ReynoldsMantan MorelandA none-too-popular (nor good) radio singer, Rita Wilson is murdered while singing on the air in a radio studio. Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan, and his janitor pal, Jeff, solve the mystery for the none-too-sharp police.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsFrankie DarroMarcia Mae JonesJackie MoranTwo friends take jobs as truck drivers, unaware that the trucking company is being targeted by a gang of saboteurs who will stop at nothing, including murder, to stop them.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsDick PurcellJoan WoodburyMantan MorelandOn a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsJean ParkerWallace FordJed ProutyWhile on their honeymoon, a reporter and his new bride stumble upon a ring of fifth columnists.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroKay SuttonMantan MorelandAn elevator operator and a janitor team up to solve two murders that may be connected to an illegal gambling operation.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsKeye LukeLotus LongGrant WithersDetective James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBobby JordanLeo GorceyHal E. ChesterStreet kids get sent to the country, where they get mixed up in murder and a haunted house.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBobby JordanLeo GorceyClarence MuseGang member, Muggs, aspires to be a jockey and tries to cheat his way to the top.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanJoan BarclayA group of young men who work at an aviation factory begin to suspect that a doctor who runs an air ambulance service is secretly a spy transporting secret information from the plant to enemy agents.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanHuntz HallWhile a cop steers a kid street-fighter away from being a public nuisance, a petty hoodlum leads a studious kid into a life of crime.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsBela LugosiLeo GorceyBobby JordanThe boys are stranded in a small rural town, they hear about a "monster killer" roaming the countryside. At night, they sneak out. Peewee is shot by a grave-digger, and they are forced to seek aid at an old mansion.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanHuntz HallImpoverished boys get sent to reform school while an adult older brother to one of them gets put on death row - all innocent of their charges.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanHuntz HallThe East Side Kids take on a gang of Japanese spies.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyBobby JordanHuntz HallDanny comes into money for capturing an elusive criminal - money which Mugs insists he split equally with the gang while gangsters want to split open Danny.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanThe East Side Kids uncover the body of a murder victim, but must protect the innocent girl accused of the crime.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanWhen gamblers kidnap Muggs to throw a fight, friend Danny steps in and wins the scheduled boxing bout, leaving Mugs jealous, resentful and wrongfully suspicious.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanMuggs' rich Uncle Pete comes to visit. Unfortunately, Muggs' late father bragged that he had seven kids, so Muggs recruits members of the gang to pose as his family.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanThe East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by mysterious men.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallGabriel DellIn ridding the area of muggers, the East Side Boys acquire a wealthy benefactor whose privileged son, unbeknownst to him, has fallen in with thugs.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallWilliam 'Billy' BenedictCopy boys Muggs and Glimpy investigate a murder. They locate the ex-wife of the murdered man and become convinced she is innocent. They hide her from the police while they investigate.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallWilliam 'Billy' BenedictAfter having been framed by gamblers, Muggs is barred from riding in horse races. Since he can no longer race, he takes up a collection so Ma Brown, who owns the horses, won't have her stable foreclosed on. One of the gamblers involved in the frame, however, falls for Ma Brown's daughter and decides to come clean, confessing to the police about the frame. The other gamblers hear about it and set out to shut him up and discredit Muggs and Ma Brown once and for all.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallWilliam 'Billy' BenedictThe police commissioner asks some local street kids to toughen up his sissy son.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsCharles BickfordIrene RichJune CarlsonSadie owns a riverboat that gold-miners are using to travel to their claims, while gambling and drinking on the way. The Yukon Mining Company sends Thorne to take over Sadie's boat and then cheat the miners out of their claims.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJ. Farrell MacDonaldWarren HullPolly Ann YoungA veteran firefighter is forced to retire at age 65 by the Fire Department.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMary KornmanMantan MorelandFrankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an attempted killing suddenly swing Midvale into national prominence. Frankie and his pal, Jefferson, become involved when a wounded gangster starts to tell them where $300,000 in stolen loot is hidden, but he is murdered before he can give them all of the information. The search is on.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMarjorie ReynoldsMantan MorelandA delivery boy for a flower shop, who thinks of himself as an amateur detective, finds out that his boss is mixed up with a foreign espionage ring.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsFrankie DarroMantan MorelandDick PurcellBuzzy O'Brien is a bellhop in a hotel where a guest is murdered. The police blame Kitty Monahan and Buzzy succeeds in helping her escape and hides her at his home with his mother.
- DirectorRaymond CannonStarsRalph MorganKay LinakerBen AlexanderBob Terry is in love with Lois Borden the daughter of his employer, John Borden. When some bonds are missing from the office, Bob is accused and because of Borden's strong sense of obligation to his stockholders, Bob is railroaded to prison. A few years later, the real thief is apprehended and Bob is released. He now begins his plan for revenge against Borden with the aid of his prison cell mate Todd and a gangster, John Carmody. Soon, some bonds are missing again and Borden knows Bob is involved but because Bob has suffered at his hands before, Borden assumes the responsibility and is about to be sentenced to prison. Todd is shot while trying to steal the bonds back from Carmody, but gets the bonds back to Bob and, before he dies, begs Bob to return them to the owner.
- DirectorLewis D. CollinsStarsCharles StarrettPauline BrooksGeorge E. StoneA college economics professor's "radical" ideas about capitalism get him fired. When he decides to put those ideas into practice, he finds that they actually do generate him huge amounts of money. Soon a local banker and others who scoffed at his ideas see the amount of money he's making and try to cheat him out of his system.
- DirectorVin MooreStarsRobert ArmstrongEdgar KennedyWilliam CagneyThree brash and cocky powder mixers are sent to South America to work at a dynamite plant there.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsLionel AtwillSheila TerryTheodore NewtonA man known to be a mute is suspected of committing a murder, as he was noticed at the scene. However, witnesses saw and heard him talking as he was leaving the scene of the crime. The police must determine if he is the actual killer or if he is being framed.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsAlan CurtisSheila RyanTala BirellPublisher Martin Jamison sends for Philo Vance as he wants to hire him as a technical advisor on the crime stories he publishes. Paul Morgan, Jamison's partner, regards the plan as foolish. Jamison tells his secretary Mona Bannister to bring Vance to his home that night and he will reveal the solution to the seven-year mystery of the killing of Haddon Phillips, former partner in the firm. Phillips ex-wife, now a receptionist for the company, is alarmed when she overhears. As Vance and Mona drive up, two shots are heard and Jamison's body is later found in the trunk of Vance's car.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsWilliam WrightVivian AustinLeon BelascoPlayboy Larry Blendon (Damian O'Flynn) introduces his grandmother Stella Blendon (Clara Blandick) to his fiancee, radio singer Virginia Berneaux (Ramsay Ames). Despite Larry's record of broken romances and divorces, Virginia decides she will marry him. Virginia is slain that night and Blandon telephones his friend Philo Vance (William Wright) to help find the killer. Even as they talk, the killer strikes again and Philo hears Larry fall dead. Philo begins his investigation with Alexis Karnoff (Leon Belasco), Virginia's manager, and the two go to Larry's home, where Stella tells them that the motive for the killing might be Larry's will that names the six women in his life as heirs and if any die before the will is probated, the others will divide the shares. They also learn that Katherine Corbett (Phyllis Planchard), the first of Larry's wives, has been murdered. Suspicion now falls on Lorena Sims (Vivian Austin), a former wife who has been a patient at a sanitarium suffering from a nervous ailment. All of the deaths have been by poison and Lorena had access to it at the sanitarium. Philo uncovers another piece of information that leads him to break into the Blandon home just as Stella is about to give Lorena a glass of warm milk.
- DirectorBasil WrangellStarsAlan CurtisVivian AustinFrank JenksPhilo goes after a gang of murderous jewel thieves.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsHugh BeaumontCheryl WalkerPaul BryarA private detective, who has been shot, stumbles into the office of Michael Shayne (Hugh Beaumont), and dies before Shayne can question him. Shayne finds a baggage ticket in his hand. He claims it and finds the checked-bag contains the loot from a robbery. Now, he has about fifty minutes left of the running time to find the crooks, bring them to justice and return the money to the rightful owners. And needs all of it.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsHugh BeaumontCheryl WalkerLyle TalbotPrivate eye tries to find a killer.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsHugh BeaumontTrudy MarshallRalph DunnMichael Shayne accepts an assignment to investigate a gang of pari-mutual race tickets counterfeiters over the protests of his secretary, Phyllis Hamilton, who wants him to join her on a vacation. Shayne contacts Mayme Martin who offers him information, and sends his friend Tim Rourke to get it. Tim arrives to find Inspector Rafferty there as Mayme has been murdered. Shayne has gone to the race track to see Jim Payson and Al Hardeman, the operators. Two thugs, Joe and Punk, take shots at Shayne and he is wounded. He later learns that a printer, Madden and his engraving foreman Edwards served time for counterfeiting Irish sweepstake tickets and Shayne thinks he has the case solved... until Madden and Edwards turn up murdered.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsHugh BeaumontCheryl WalkerRalph DunnIn the second of the PRC "Michael Shayne" series,civic crusader Burton Stallings hires private detective Michael Shayne to locate the former's missing step-daughter Helen. Shayne discovers that Stallings himself has had Helen confined in an asylum in order to obtain her money.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsHugh BeaumontKathryn AdamsCy KendallA newspaper reporter, Tim Rourke (Paul Bryar) keeps writing articles attacking the police department for its failure to solve a chain of murders, and this nearly leads to the reporter's death. He calls in private-detective Michael Shayne (Hugh Beaumont), and Shayne turns up a blonde and a blackmailer.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsMargoWalter AbelWilliam Collier Sr.The discovery of an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve brings new meaning to a lonely and depressed Los Angeles dancer.
- DirectorFrank WisbarStarsDon CastleJune LangJohn LitelOlder Hank Armitage and younger Sam Wells lead a combined lonely existence in their relative seclusion as a lighthouse keeper and his assistant, respectively, their lighthouse built on what would otherwise be a small pile of rocks off the coast. One or the other will make the necessary trip via boat into town once a week for supplies as someone needs to be at the lighthouse at all times. Sam has been stringing along a local girl, Connie, on the eventual promise of marriage when the time is right. Connie has her own troubles without Sam, as she has attracted some unwanted attention which led to her being fired from her job at the cannery, unemployment which makes her want marriage to Sam be sooner than later in her loneliness. When Connie, upon meeting Hank, learns that Sam may not be the forthright guy she knew and loved, with Hank having no reason to lie in only telling what he believed to be benign truths and not knowing about Sam and Connie being in a relationship, Connie, solely in an act of spite, decides instead to marry Hank who has fallen in love with her, she to move out to the lighthouse. Those confined quarters with newlyweds Hank and Connie, and spurned Sam who believes Connie still truly loves him and will never love Hank, lead to an environment of tension, the only one not knowing what is going on being Hank. What happens in this triangle is affected by what each wants with respect to the other two, and as time goes on what each thinks the other two want.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsRondo HattonTom NealJan WileyA facially-deformed and mentally-unhinged man wreaks his revenge, with a series of brutal murders, on those who deformed him.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsErich von StroheimJeanne BatesWilliam WrightA stage illusionist's comeback attempt results in his humiliation. He plots to revenge himself by hypnotizing people into committing murders for him.
- DirectorFrank WisbarStarsRosemary La PlancheRobert BarratBlake EdwardsA number of swamp land men have died by strangulation and the inhabitants believe that an innocent man they hanged is seeking revenge on all of the male descendants of those responsible for his death. Maria, granddaughter of the guilty ferryman, decides to operate the ferry service. Chris Sanders, a son of one of the men who did the hanging, and Maria fall in love. The "strangler" seizes Chris and Maria offers her life if Chris is spared.
- DirectorFrank WisbarLew LandersStarsMary WareRick VallinAddison RichardsLinda Hamilton is told that she has only one year to live. She hesitates to tell her father, who is devoting his energies to wiping out illegal gambling.
- DirectorAlbert HermanStarsJ. Edward BrombergIsabel RandolphFrank JenksA feud between rival newspapermen Kruger (Bromberg) and McDonald (Guilfoyle) goes deadly when blackmailing McDonald ends up murdered and his corpse planted in the trunk of Kruger's car.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsJack HaleyAnn SavageBarton MacLaneThe jumpy chess editor at a newspaper accidentally gets involved in some murders at a sleazy tavern run by a pair of bizarre brothers.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsMary Beth HughesHugh BeaumontEdmund MacDonaldAn estranged wife shows up after a nearly 7 year disappearance to prevent her husband from marrying his new love, and someone kills her.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsLeo CarrilloTom NealMartha TiltonA crusading reporter uses his friendship with a mobster to expose the machinations of organized crime in his city.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsJimmy LydonSally EilersWarren WilliamPaul dreams that his father's fatal accident actually was murder. When details of his dream repeat themselves in reality he seeks the help of psychiatrist Dr. Vincent, and they attempt to solve the riddle - with dangerous consequences.
- DirectorTerry O. MorseStarsGeorge ZuccoLionel AtwillJerome CowanAn inventor recently released from prison invites a group of former business associates to a holiday in his island home, intending to exact revenge on them.
- DirectorArch ObolerStarsClaude RainsBob StebbinsBarbara BateA man returns from a trip to find fascists have taken over the U.S. government.