Earl Carroll Sketchbook

Super Speed

Pat O'Farrell, a rich young man, takes a job as a truck-driver for his uncle's milk company, and falls in love with Cliare Knight, daughter of the Knight Car Company.

The Man from the West

Art Louden, foreman of the Bar H Ranch, is contemptuous of the masculine city flappers and effeminate city sheiks who are vacationing on the ranch, and when reproached by the owner, Bill Hayes, for discourtesy to a guest, Art complains that there are no "she-women" left. Seeing a newspaper photo of Iris Millard, he is attracted by her apparent innocence; then she arrives with her father, and Art is disillusioned to find her as snobbish and as jazzily dressed as the others. His disdain, however, causes Iris to play up to his ideas.

The Lone Wolf's Daughter

Michael Lanyard, a reformed cracks-man, adopts Adrienne, the daughter of an old friend, and goes to Southampton to attend a party celebrating her engagement to Bobby Crenshaw, the son of a wealthy society couple. The Count and Countess Polinac, international jewel thieves, also attend the party, and Count Polinac forces Lanyard to open the safe containing the jewelry of the guests by threatening to expose Lanyard's criminal past. Lanyard forestalls the count, however, and protects the valuables. The count and countess are arrested, and Michael's secret is kept safe.

Jail House Blues

A prisoner about to be pardoned puts it off until he can put on one last variety show for his fellow inmates.

The Western Whirlwind

Jack Howard, returning from the war, learns that his father, Sheriff Howard, has been killed by an unknown assailant, and he induces the mayor of Gold Strike to swear him in as sheriff.

The Overland Stage

At a trading post in the Northern Dakotas, Hawk Lespard, an unscrupulous trader, is opposed by Jack Jessup, posing as a gambler but actually a scout for the Overland Stage Co., and Kunga-Sunga, a wizard with the lariat.

The Silent Stranger

Supposedly a deaf-mute, Jack Taylor arrives in Valley City at the same time that Postmaster Dad Warner is threatened with the loss of his job because of the many recent mail thefts. Taylor suspects Warner's clerk, Law Sleeman, and is consequently captured by a gang led by local politician Dick Blackwell.

Cheyenne

Cal Roberts can ride anything with four legs. He enters the contests held at big rodeo. He wins all honors and meets a girl who races horses to help her father clear pressing debts. Complications follow, but Cal wins the girl.

The Red Raiders

Lone wolf, who is stirring up the Indians against the wishes of his elders, gets the job of scout at the fort. When he hears of the approval of the new reservation, he sends his men to trap Scott and his troop before they can deliver the information.

Fugitive Lady

In this thriller, a young woman marries a dashing young man who, unbeknownst to her, is a jewel thief.

The Patent Leather Pug

The morning after his engagement party, wealthy young New York playboy Billy Hepburn awakens, battered and bruised, but without any memory of what happened the night before. Billy's valet then informs him that he and prize fighter Battling Burke had gotten into a brawl over Billy's fiancée, and Burke won. Determined to regain his honor, Billy goes into training, with his valet's help.

The Glorious Trail

After a work crew stringing telegraph wires across the Great Plains is slaughtered by Indians, Pat O'Leary, the company superintendent, must take out another supply train to make the dangerous trip across open country. The Indians attack and are driven off. On the day the wires are finally strung, the settlers gather to hear the first message from the East.

Thundering Hoofs

The border bandit Severn is after Estrada's money. He not only gets Estrada to promise his daughter to him in marriage but he also convinces him that Dave Marshall is the bandit. When Dave shows up to expose Severn, he is jailed.

Start Cheering

After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.

Heaven Only Knows

Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of an Eastern tenderfoot. The angel has been sent from Above to save Donlevy's soul, and to that end encourages the one-time villain to squire a minister's daughter (Jorja Curtwright) rather than his usual dance-hall girls. Donlevy is also given tips on winning against his enemies without resorting to gunplay. The gambler finally redeems himself with Heaven by rescuing the angel from a lynch mob (how can you lynch an angel?) Heaven Only Knows deserves an "E" for Effort for bringing a fresh twist to the venerable western genre.

The Black Cat

Greedy heirs wait in a mansion for a rich cat lover to die, only to learn her cats come first.