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You are here: Home / Archives for Movie Reviews

Classic Movie Reviews by Cliff Aliperti

Spoiler-free reviews of movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, especially the 1930s. Most reviews also include research into background of the film and, when relevant, the history surrounding the subject of the movie.

Paramount’s 24 Hours (1931) with Clive Brook, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins

February 13, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 5 Comments

24 Hours Paramount 1931

Paramount’s Marion Gering gives us Louis Bromfield’s 24 Hours (1931) in just 66 minutes. Featuring an alcoholic Clive Brook, fashionable Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins belting out a pair of songs in a pre-Code drama ripe for rediscovery.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1931, 24 hours, Adrienne Ames, bob kortman, Charlotte Granville, Clive Brook, Dramas, Gangsters, George Barbier, Kay Francis, louis bromfield, Lucille La Verne, Marion Gering, Minor Watson, Miriam Hopkins, Paramount, pre-Code, Regis Toomey, wade boteler

The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947) and the Hollywood Gossip Columnists

February 11, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 4 Comments

Hedda Hopper in The Corpse Came COD

Columbia’s The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947) was the most interesting of my blizzard viewing, though not because of stars George Brent and Joan Blondell but the quick flashes of Hollywood Gossip Columnists which helped put faces to a few more names.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews, News - Notes Tagged With: 1947, Adele Jergens, Columbia, Comedies, erskine johnson, George Brent, george fisher, Grant Mitchell, harrison carroll, Hedda Hopper, henry levin, jim bannon, jimmie fidler, jimmy starr, Joan Blondell, leslie brooks, louella parsons, Mysteries, sidney skolsky, the corpse came cod, Una O'Connor

The Farmer’s Daughter (1947) Starring Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten

January 31, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 3 Comments

Joseph Cotten in The Farmer's Daughter

A look at romance set in the world of politics in RKO’s The Farmer’s Daughter (1947) featuring Loretta Young in her Oscar winning performance. Also starring Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore and Charles Bickford, directed by H.C. Potter.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1947, Academy Awards, Anna Q. Nilsson, best actress, Charles Bickford, Charles Lane, Don Beddoe, dore sc, Ethel Barrymore, harry shannon, hc potter, James Arness, joseph cotten, keith andes, lex barker, Loretta Young, Oscars, political movies, rhys williams, Romantic Comedy, rose hobart, the farmers daughter

The Phantom of Crestwood (1932) with Ricardo Cortez and Karen Morley

January 24, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 2 Comments

Graham McNamee

America wondered “Who Killed Jenny Wren?” and RKO’s The Phantom of Crestwood revealed the answer in the first movie-radio tie-in. Starring Ricardo Cortez and Karen Morley with a large cast of familiar character actors and former silent stars in support.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1932, Aileen Pringle, Anita Louise, eddie sturgis, Gavin Gordon, George E. Stone, H.B. Warner, henry gerrard, hilda vaughn, Ivan F. Simpson, J. Walter Ruben, Karen Morley, mary duncan, matty kemp, Mysteries, old time radio, Pauline Frederick, pre-Code, Ricardo Cortez, RKO (Pathe), Robert McWade, Sam Hardy, Skeets Gallagher, the phantom of crestwood, Warner Archive

RKO’s Hell’s Highway (1932) Beats Other Chain Gang Movie to Theaters

January 23, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti Leave a Comment

Hells Highway Film Daily ad

It’s tempting to call RKO’s Hell’s Highway (1932) a knockoff on I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. However the Richard Dix movie came first. A long essay looking at Hell’s Highway, Dix, the Etude Ethiopian Chorus and that other Chain Gang movie.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1932, C. Henry Gordon, Charles Middleton, Clarence Muse, David O Selznick, eddie hart, etude ethiopian chorus, hells highway, i am a fugitive from a chain gang, john arledge, John Cromwell, Louise Beavers, louise carter, Oscar Apfel, Prison Films, Rating: 8/10, Richard Dix, RKO (Pathe), Rochelle Hudson, Rowland Brown, Sandy Roth, Stanley Fields, Tom Brown, Warner Richmond

First Impressions: Little Women (1933) Starring Katharine Hepburn

January 19, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 10 Comments

Katharine Hepburn in Little Women

RKO’s classic Little Women (1933) starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo Marsh with Joan Bennett, Frances Dee and Jean Parker as her sisters. Some notes based on the first time I watched the movie.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1933, Adaptations, David O Selznick, Douglass Montgomery, Edna May Oliver, Frances Dee, George Cukor, Henry Stephenson, Jean Parker, Joan Bennett, john lodge, Katharine Hepburn, little women, louisa may alcott, Paul Lukas, RKO (Pathe), samuel s hinds, Spring Byington

First Impressions: Little Men (1940) Starring Kay Francis

January 19, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti Leave a Comment

Kay Francis in Little Men

The RKO released Little Men (1940) starring Kay Francis as Jo is inferior sequel to Little Women (1933) but enjoyable tale of swindlers George Bancroft and Jack Oakie.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1940, Adaptations, ann gillis, Carl Esmond, elsie the cow, George Bancroft, Jack Oakie, Jimmy Lydon, Kay Francis, little men, little women, louisa may alcott, norman z mcleod, RKO (Pathe), The Plays the Thing

RKO’s Jalna (1935) Inspires Craving for More Mazo de la Roche

January 15, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 31 Comments

Ian Hunter in Jalna

Jessie Ralph plays 99 year old Gran in RKO’s 1935 movie adaptation of Jalna, the first of the Mazo de la Roche Whiteoaks novels. Also starring Kay Johnson, Ian Hunter and David Manners. Directed by John Cromwell.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1935, Adaptations, C Aubrey Smith, canada, clifford severn, David Manners, george offerman jr, Halliwell Hobbes, Ian Hunter, jalna, jalna series, Jessie Ralph, John Cromwell, Kay Johnson, mazo de la roche, molly lamont, Nigel Bruce, peggy wood, RKO (Pathe), the forsyte saga, Theodore Newton

Midnight Mary (1933) Starring Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone

January 9, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 16 Comments

Loretta Young in Midnight Mary

William Wellman directs and Loretta Young stars in MIDNIGHT MARY (1933) a fast-paced MGM pre-code movie that inherits a Warner Brothers feel from director, cinematographer and star.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1933, adrian, Andy Devine, anita loos, Charley Grapewin, Franchot Tone, Frank Conroy, Halliwell Hobbes, Harold Huber, Irving Thalberg, Ivan F. Simpson, james van trees, Loretta Young, Louis B. Mayer, Louise Beavers, lucien hubbard, Martha Sleeper, MGM, midnight mary, Mike Donlin, Nicholas Schenck, pre-Code, Ricardo Cortez, Robert Greig, Sandy Roth, Una Merkel, Warren Hymer, William A. Wellman

Gallant Sons (1940) Starring Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and Gene Reynolds

December 29, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti Leave a Comment

Gallant Sons cast

MGM gives Hardy director George B. Seitz a different group of kids for GALLANT SONS, a 1940 murder mystery starring Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and Gene Reynolds.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1940, Bonita Granville, edward ashley, El Brendel, Gail Patrick, gallant sons, Gene Reynolds, George B Seitz, Ian Hunter, Jackie Cooper, joe yule, June Preisser, leo gorcey, MGM, Minor Watson, Murder, Mysteries, tommy kelly, Warner Archive, william tracy

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