Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Calaboose (1943) ** (out of 4) Hal Roach comedy was directed by the famous producer's son, Hal Roach, Jr.. Jimmy Rogers and Noah Beery, Jr. play two cowboys who ride into a small town where Beery falls in love with a girl (Mary Brian). Beery learns that the only way to get close to her is by getting arrested because the girl loves going to jail and trying to change criminals. This film runs 45-minutes and it makes good for the most part, although it's never as funny as it thinks it is. Rogers and Beery and pretty good in their roles but the screenplay doesn't allow them much. There's a subplot about gangsters who come into town but this here doesn't add anything or go anywhere. This was the second of three films in the "Streamliners" series.

This is one of the 3 feature screen liner series that feature Jimmy Rogers and Noah Beery Jnr and directed by Hal Roach Jnr.The main features of all 3 being that they are only 5 reels long and are painfully unfunny.This was really an attempt by Hal Roach to combat the effect of the double feature,so that exhibitors could for example show 2 screen liners claim that this was a double feature programme and therefore get in maybe two or three shows more per day.However since his studio ceased production when he was enlisted in 1942 this theory was never strongly put to the test.It has to be said that the material is very thin and there are virtually no laughs to be had.So that at even 45 minutes or so it drags along.Roach made a big mistake in letting go of Laurel & Hardy and it was all downhill from there on in.