In 1928, Bryan Foy directed Warner Bros.' first all talking feature, Lights of New York. But he spent most of the 1930s producing and supervising the studio's lowercase program pictures without screen credit, including the Torchy Blane and Nancy Drew series. 1937's Men in Exile is a curious little adventure drama about the Caribbean island of Caribo, run by a dictator who has no extradition treaties. The isle is therefore a haven for men like Jimmy Carmody (Dick Purcell), an unjustly convicted fugitive who refuses to join in with criminal and gunrunners attempting to overthrow the dictator, Colonel Gomez (Victor Varconi). Jimmy ends up framed for murder and slated for execution. Less than an hour long, the film attracted scant attention, although the trade reviews did praise the creative direction of its ambitious director, John Farrow. First-billed Dick Purcell would never reach top star status, but he does have the distinction of playing Captain America in Columbia's 1944 serial. After spending three years playing girlfriends in minor Warners pictures like this one, beautiful June Travis married well and left the industry behind. Supporting player Veda Ann Borg had worse luck in the form of a disfiguring traffic accident, but recovered well enough to continue acting, and eventually married director Andrew V. McLaglen. Screenwriter Roy Chanslor continued writing genre and adventure movies, but two of his novels were adapted into classic westerns: Johnny Guitar (1954) and Cat Ballou (1965).

By Glenn Erickson