Movies by Johnny Downs

Boys Will Be Joys

Boys Will Be Joys

Adults have the Pike and Coney Island amusement parks, so the rascals put up their own rides in a large vacant lot. Mickey's got big plans for expansion when surveyors show up to begin work on a factory. The gang travels by donkey cart to the office of Henry Mills, President of Pan American Export Company, to protest. Henry, in his 60s, is still a boy at heart: he has his chauffeur stop the car so he can join a sandlot game. He bails on a meeting with his board of directors, going with the kids to the factory site where he stops the workers ...

Freckles Comes Home

Freckles Comes Home

Freckles Winslow comes home from college and the sheriff accuses him of murder, gangsters put him on the spot, and his girl friend, Jane, falls in love with a confidence man.

Red Pepper

Red Pepper

An ordinary day - so an eventful one - of Tom Katt, a young man who works as a drugstore owner's assistant: his - very acrobatic - bike ride to his place of work; the - fanciful - way he performs his job; the - ingenious - subterfuge he finds to help his employer, who has money problems; the - swift - way he escapes the cops chasing him...

Redhead

Redhead

A wealthy businessman's irresponsible son and a down-on-her-luck model enter into a marriage of convenience, and end up falling in love.

Melody and Moonlight

Melody and Moonlight

Jane Frazee made her starring film debut in the Republic B-plus musical Melody and Moonlight. The plot is motivated by the show-biz aspirations of bellboy Danny O'Brien (Johnny Downs). With the help of a wealthy chiropodist (Jerry Colonna), O'Brien not only gets to star on a big-time radio show, but also sprinkles stardust upon his sweetheart Kay Barnett (Jane Frazee)-who, unbeknownst to everyone but the audience, is the daughter of the show's sponsor.

Swing, Sister, Swing

Swing, Sister, Swing

In this musical comedy, two star-struck small town kids head for the Big Apple and become famous for their jitterbug act. Their fame doesn't last long, but they had fun anyway. Songs include: "Baltimore Bubble," "Gingham Gown," "Just a Bore," "Wasn't It You," "Kaneski Waltz" (Frank Skinner, Charles Henderson).

Sing Another Chorus

Sing Another Chorus

In this musical, an idealistic college graduate is bitten by the show business bug after he finds success writing and producing the campus variety show. Wanting to launch his career, he convinces his father to allow him to create a production using the workers at the old man's clothing factory. Unfortunately, the young man is naive and an unscrupulous producer bilks his father's advance money from him.

Hawaiian Nights

Hawaiian Nights

Bandleader Tim Hartley's father objects strongly to his son's occupation choice and packs him off to Hawaii to manage the family hotel holdings. This proves to be a wrong move as Hawaiia has more bands than it does pineapples.

Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot

Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot

In this musical, a con man makes a good living by promoting bogus charity shows. He gets the communities all revved up and then skips town with all their money. But then he meets three earnest people wanting to garner financial support for an orphanage. This time the con man's loyal assistant finally catches on to the wicked scam and turns him in to the police. Meanwhile, the newly reformed assistant and one of the charity workers fall in loves.

The First Baby

The First Baby

When a couple become parents for the first time, they discover grandmothers can be almost as demanding as a newborn.

Twilight on the Prairie

Twilight on the Prairie

In this musical western, a cowboy band is offered the chance to appear in a Hollywood movie and begins the journey to the West Coast. Unfortunately, the band ends up stranded in Texas and must take a job running a ranch. Musical mayhem ensues: Songs include: "Let's Love Again," "Where the Prairie Meets the Sky," "Don't You Ever Be a Cowboy," "Texas Polka," "No Letter Today," "I Got Mellow in the Yellow of the Moon," "Sip Nip Song," "Salt-Water Cowboy," "The Blues," "Little Brown Jug" and "And Then."

The Virginia Judge

The Virginia Judge

Walter C. Kelly, Marsha Hunt, Stepin Fetchit

Laugh It Off

Laugh It Off

Four former actresses decide to restart their careers by opening up a nightclub.

Harvest Melody

Harvest Melody

Farmer Tommy and his girl Jane come in from the country for a night at the Hollywood Trocadero. There, they meet Chuck, Hollywood's Number One press agent, and his Girl Friday, Daisie. Hearing of the hardships imposed down on the farm by the war-related labor shortage, Chuck offers the help of his clients, movie star Gilda Parker, heavyweight boxer Canvas, and Eddie Le Baron and his whole orchestra, to help harvest the crops.

Hunted Men

Hunted Men

Notorious racketeer Joe Albany kills James Flowers when he discovers he is embezzling from the club they own. Joe escapes through a window and hails a taxi, but when he gets nervous at the sound of sirens, he jumps out. Hardware salesman Peter Harris accidentally hits Joe with his car, and unharmed, Joe seizes this opportunity to hide in Peter's car. Peter is so drunk that Joe is able to con him into believing that he is Charles Edwards, a fellow hardware man who was with him at a convention, and in the guise of friendship, accompanies Peter...

Parents on Trial

Parents on Trial

According to Hollywood, the parents were generally at fault when good kids went bad. This theory is elucidated in Columbia's Parents on Trial, wherein strict disciplinarian James Westley (Henry Kolker) fails to understand or appreciate the real needs and feelings of his teenaged daughter Susan (Jean Parker).

Cruisin' Down the River

Cruisin' Down the River

A New Yorker inherits an old river boat and decides to turn it into a night club while falling in love with Sally Jane, the granddaughter of his worse enemy.