Smart Guy (Monogram) (1943)

ADVERTISING © PUBLICITY * EXPLOITATION For A MONOGRAM PICTURE THE CAST Johnny........RICK VALLIN Bobby.: ... BOBBY LARSON Lee...... VEDA ANN BORG iets ois WANDA McKAY Taylor........ JACK LA RUE Maggie.... MARY GORDON Killbourne.... PAUL McVEY District Attorney ......... _.:. ADDISON RICHARDS Kearns..... ROY DARMOUR Ewes oo JON DAWSON CREDITS Produced by JOHN T. COYLE Directed by LAMBERT HILLYER Photography MACK STENGLER Film Editor CARL PIERSON Musical Director EDWARD KAY Screenplay by CHARLES R. MARION and JOHN W. KRAFFT Original Story by HARRISON JACOBS Sound GLEN GLENN Technical Director DAVE MILTON with HERE'S THE SMART STORY (Not for Publication) Charged with manslaughter, Johnny Reagan, head of a string of gambling houses, hires press agent Matt Taylor to build him up in the public's eye as a humanitarian. Taylor gets Johnny to adopt a newsboy, Bobby, of whom Johnny becomes very fond. Taylor and Johnny’s girl-friend, Lee, carry on an affair behind Johnny's back, and double-cross him. Bobby overhears their plans, but resolves not ‘o “squeal.” When Lee lies about Bobby, Maggie, the kindhearted cook, tells Johnny the truth. He throws Lee and Taylor out of the house, thereby losing his witness in Lee, as she was present at the time of the accident. Johnny decides the only thing to do is skip town and hide from the police, as he is now sure he will be convicted. Johnny tells Bobby goodbye, but the boy hides in his benetactor's car, and the two go to the mountain resort owned by Jean Wickers. The three have a wonderful time, and Johnny and Jean fall in love. Bobby unthinkingly telephones Maggie to tell her where they are, and the police, listening in for any calls to Johnny's house, are thus able to locate him. That atfternoon Bobby and Jean find that the police have surrounded the place, and when the boy runs to warn Johnny, the police take a shot at him. Johnny, seeing what is happening, rushes to Bobby's aid, and thereby gives himself up to the law. Johnny is taken away to stand trial, but Jean and Bobby know that he will return to them when he can. BE A SMART GUY WITH YOUR MONEY -BUY JU. S. WAR BONDS & STAMPS! RICK VALLIN ® VEDA ANN BORG © BOBBY LARSON ® WANDA McKAY Tearful Drama On Local Screen (Advance) One of the most entertaining and heart-warming films of the season comes to the screen of the ........ theatre: OF? a. 3 eee with the opening of Monogram’s newest film, “Smart Guy.” Rick Vallin, Bobby Larson and Wanda McKay are the central characters in the film, which opens with Vallin, operator of a string of gambling houses, charged with manslaughter. AS a means of swaying the public’s opinion to his favor, he hires a press agent, played by Jack LaRue. LaRue suggests the adoption of a young, freckle-faced newsboy, Bobby Larson, as a means oi establishing himself as a humanitarian. Later LaRue and the gambler’s girl friend, Veda Ann Borg, double-cross him and leave town. How the hard-boiled gambling czar is softened by the loyalty of this innocent-eyed youngster and his new sweetheart, Wanda McKay, makes for a story that will not soon be forgotten. “Smart Guy” was produced for Monogram by John T. Coyle and directed by Lambert Hillyer. Phoography was handled by Mack Stengler, with music supervised and recorded by Edward Kay. The screenplay was supplied by John W. Krafft and Charles R. Marion, from an original story idea by Harrison Jacobs.