Bullet Scars is a 1942 American film produced and distributed by Warner Bros.[1][2] It was directed by D. Ross Lederman with top-billed stars Regis Toomey, Adele Longmire[3] and Howard da Silva.[4]
| Bullet Scars | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | D. Ross Lederman |
| Screenplay by | Robert E. Kent |
| Based on | an idea by Charles Belden and Sy Bartlett |
| Produced by | no credit |
| Starring | Regis Toomey Adele Longmire Howard da Silva |
| Cinematography | Ted McCord, A.S.C. |
| Edited by | James Gibbon |
| Music by | Howard Jackson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 59 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
editGangster Frank Dillon is on the run with his gang after a bank robbery in which one of them, Joe Madison, was badly wounded. The gang stops at a doctor's office, but when the doctor tries to call the police about the gunshot wound, Dillon kills him.
Dillon hides in a lodge and sends for nurse Nora Madison, who comes because she is Joe's sister. Knowing that she does not have the skill to treat her brother, she insists on a doctor. Dillon finds Dr. Steven Bishop, who is preparing to leave for a research assignment. Dillon promises to build Bishop a complete research lab and pay him $500 a month if he will stay and heal Joe. Bishop accepts, not realizing who Dillon is.
Bishop and Nora operate on Joe, who remains paralyzed and unable to speak. The two gradually become closer, to Dillon's displeasure, as he feels that Nora belongs to him. Bishop gradually begins to understand who Dillon is and, when Joe dies, Nora explains that Dillon will now kill them both. They conceal Joe's death, and Bishop asks Dillon to send two members of the gang to the pharmacist for medicine. Bishop writes a prescription in what he tells Dillon is pharmaceutical Latin, but it is actually information about the gang's location.
The pharmacist calls the sheriff, who calls in state troopers, resulting in a climactic shootout in which the gang is wiped out. Bishop and Nora find their happy ending.[5]
Cast
edit- Regis Toomey as Dr. Steven Bishop
- Adele Longmire as Nora Madison
- Howard da Silva as Frank Dillon
- Ben Welden as Pills Davis
- John Ridgely as Hank O'Connor
- Frank Wilcox as Mike
- Michael Ames as Joe Madison
- Hobart Bosworth as Dr. Carter
- Roland Drew as Jake
- Walter Brooke as Leary
- Creighton Hale as Jess
- Hank Mann as Gilly
- Sol Gorss as Dude
- Don Turner as Mitch
| William Hopper | bank teller who is shot after stepping on alarm button |
| George Meeker | police radio announcer of bank robbery |
| Fred Kelsey | police chief answering reporters' questions about pursuit of bank robbers |
| Frank Mayo | Frank, police chief's deputy who ushers the reporters into the chief's office |
| Glen Cavender | reporter who asks the chief, "Was one of them shot?" |
| Stuart Holmes | reporter who asks the chief, "Have you got any witnesses to identify the mob chief?" |
| Charles Drake | reporter who asks the chief, "What about the washout at Pinehurst [or Penhurst]? Are they blocking off the detours?" |
| Vera Lewis | car driver's wife who says, "What's the meaning of this? Charles you drive right ahead. We've done nothing wrong." |
| Leo White | Charles, the car driver who says, "but officer, I... I..." |
| Jack Mower | roadblock officer who says, "That's all right, brother. I know just how you feel. My wife tells me how to drive too." |
| Ray Montgomery | news photographer at police shootout with robbers who says, "This is terrific." |
Reception
editIn a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Thomas M. Pryor called Bullet Scars "a lot of 'bang bang' noise; nothing more" and wrote: "The Warners must have been kidding when they solemnly renounced the production of B pictures a while back, for 'Bullet Scars' ... has a familiar buzz about it."[6]
References
edit- ^ "AMUSEMENTS / Majestic Theatre" (The Daily Times, Beaver and Rochester, June 21, 1942, p.Four)
- ^ "At Strand" (Lewiston Journal Magazine Section, July 3, 1942, p.A–5)
- ^ "Addenda / Adele Longmire, the ingenue in Old Acquaintance on Broadway last season, will make her screen debut at Warners in Bullet Scars with Regis Toomey" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 17, 1941, p.29)
- ^ ""BULLET SCARS"". Warner Bros. pressbook. March 1942. Retrieved March 12, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "FILMS / BULLET SCARS". America. April 4, 1942. p. 723. Retrieved March 12, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Pryor, Thomas M. (April 24, 1942). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times. p. 21.
External links
edit- Bullet Scars at IMDb
- Bullet Scars is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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