Big Town is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had played in the film Five Star Final. Edward Pawley played the lead role longer, 1943–52, in plots that made the editor more of a hands-on crime-fighter. During the later Pawley years, Big Town was adapted to film and television series, and a comic book published by DC Comics.
Brute Force is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Jules Dassin, from a screenplay by Richard Brooks with cinematography by William H. Daniels. It stars Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford and Yvonne De Carlo.
Hillary Brooke was an American film actress.
Reed Hadley was an American film, television and radio actor.
Alma Mabel Conner, known professionally as Ann Gillis, was an American actress, best known for her film roles as a child actress. She performed the voice of Faline in the 1942 Disney animated film Bambi.
June Travis was an American film actress.
Crime Does Not Pay was an MGM anthology crime film series of shorts that ran from 1935 to 1947. Each episode was around 20 minutes in length and composer-conductor John Gart provided the music. Each installment began with an actor appearing as "your MGM crime reporter" introducing a law-enforcement official, who would inform the audience of a current criminal trend sweeping the country: drunk driving, underage crime, unscrupulous businessmen, scam artists, and so on. A case history of one such example would be shown. The approach was always dramatic with sobering, ironic, or bleak outcomes, from arrest and incarceration to disfigurement and death.
Joe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name.
Charles E. Arnt was an American film actor from 1933 to 1962. Arnt appeared as a character actor in more than 200 films.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Norman Taurog who had previously directed Huckleberry Finn (1931) with Jackie Coogan and Junior Durkin. The film starred Tommy Kelly in the title role, with Jackie Moran and Ann Gillis. The screenplay by John V. A. Weaver was based on the classic 1876 novel of the same name by Mark Twain. The movie was the first film version of the novel to be made in color.
Christmas Eve is a 1947 American portmanteau comedy drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring George Raft, George Brent and Randolph Scott. It is based on a story by Laurence Stallings and Richard H. Landau. An independent production by Benedict Bogeaus it was distributed by United Artists. It was re-released under the alternative title title Sinner's Holiday. It was one of several films Raft made with Edwin Marin and Benedict Bogeaus.
Vince Barnett was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in more than 230 films between 1930 and 1975.
Phillip Reed was an American actor. He played Steve Wilson in a series of four films (1947–1948) based on the Big Town radio series.
Richard Travis was an American actor in films and television.
Little Orphan Annie is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Ben Holmes, and written by Budd Schulberg and Samuel Ornitz. It is based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. The film stars Ann Gillis, Robert Kent, June Travis, J. Farrell MacDonald, and J.M. Kerrigan. The film was released on December 2, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
I Cover Big Town is a 1947 American drama film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Maxwell Shane. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Robert Lowery, Robert Shayne, Mona Barrie and Vince Barnett. It was released on February 27, 1947 by Paramount Pictures and was the second in the Big Town series of films.
Big Town Scandal is a 1948 American crime film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Milton Raison. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Stanley Clements, Darryl Hickman, Carl Switzer and Roland Dupree. It was released on May 27, 1948 by Paramount Pictures. The film was the fourth and last one in a series of four films based on the long-running radio program Big Town.
Big Town is a 1947 American crime film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Daniel Mainwaring and Maxwell Shane. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Robert Lowery, Veda Ann Borg, Byron Barr and Charles Arnt. The first in a series of four films based on the long-running radio program Big Town, it was released on May 23, 1947 by Paramount Pictures.
Insurance Investigator is a 1951 American crime film directed by George Blair and written by Gertrude Walker. The film stars Richard Denning, Audrey Long, John Eldredge, Hillary Brooke, Reed Hadley and Jonathan Hale. The film was released on March 23, 1951, by Republic Pictures.
Prairie Express is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Anthony Coldeway and J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Virginia Belmont, Marshall Reed, William Ruhl and Robert Winkler. The film was released on October 25, 1947, by Monogram Pictures.
