A washed-up fighter and a Prohibition-era nightclub hostess form an unlikely foster family for a 12-year-old orphan. Strong performances by George Bancroft and Wynne Gibson in Lady and Gent. Directed by Stephen Roberts. Academy Award nominated screenplay.
The Man Who Played God (1932) Starring Mr. George Arliss
George Arliss is a concert pianist who loses his hearing in an explosion. After learning to read lips he overcomes depression and despair by using his new talent to eavesdrop and help strangers overcome their own misfortune. With Bette Davis in an early supporting role.
Real-Life Society ‘Honor Slaying’ Inspires Two 1932 Films
A look at two pre-Code courtroom melodramas, Unashamed and Two Against the World, compared to the sensational real-life society murder that inspired the movies. Unashamed stars Helen Twelvetrees, Robert Young, and Monroe Owsley, while Two Against the World stars Constance Bennett and Neil Hamilton.
White Woman (1933) Starring Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard
The boys play rough in White Woman (1933) with Charles Laughton and Charles Bickford upstaging Carole Lombard at every turn. Poor Kent Taylor seems to be more in peril than Lombard. Jungle terror from a Malaysian rubber plantation run by Laughton’s “King of the River.”
Arsène Lupin (1932) Starring John and Lionel Barrymore
John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore share the screen together for the first time in MGM’s Arsène Lupin (1932). Excellent mystery also includes strong work from Karen Morley.
Dark Hazard (1934) Starring Edward G. Robinson and Genevieve Tobin
Edward G. Robinson stars as a flawed yet likeable gambler who takes a shine to a champion greyhound in Dark Hazard, a 1934 pre-Code release from First National.
Born to Be Bad (1934) Starring Loretta Young, Cary Grant
A pre-Code entry released so late into the period that it was boycotted and even banned. Loretta Young plays another customer’s girl in Born to Be Bad, co-starring Cary Grant and Jackie Kelk. One of fewer than two dozen 20th Century Pictures entries before they merged with Fox Films.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), Universal Horror With Bela Lugosi
Universal’s 1932 horror adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue made quite a few changes, the best of which was inclusion of Dr. Mirakle, the villain played by Bela Lugosi. Lugosi covered extensively, plus comparisons of the story to the film, and an overall positive appraisal of the movie as it was made. Except for the ape.
One Night at Susie’s (1930) – Movie Compared to Short Story, Plus Helen Ware Biography
A look at First National’s One Night at Susie’s, a 1930 crime film starring Billie Dove and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., but really showing off Helen Ware to advantage. Frederick Hazlitt Brennan’s 1929 short story from Liberty magazine is discussed and a biography of Miss Ware is also included. Plus, just exactly how long is this movie?
Five and Ten (1931) Starring Marion Davies and Leslie Howard
From a novel by Fannie Hurst, MGM’s Five and Ten stars Marion Davies and Leslie Howard, but this tale of the nouveau riche is at its weakest during their scenes. Strong support from Richard Bennett, Irene Rich, and Kent Douglass should have been even stronger. A recent MOD DVD-R release from Warner Archive.
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