A look at actor Ricardo Cortez, subject of today’s TCM movie marathon and the new biography, The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez, by film historian Dan Van Neste.
Ten Cents a Dance (1931) Starring Barbara Stanwyck
A pre-Code set around a dance hall starring Barbara Stanwyck with Monroe Owsley and Ricardo Cortez, and I didn’t like it? Uh uh. Here’s what I didn’t like about Ten Cents a Dance (1931).
Bad Company (1931) Starring Ricardo Cortez
RKO-Pathe pre-Code gangster film Bad Company (1931) stars Ricardo Cortez with Helen Twelvetrees and John Garrick. Directed by Tay Garnett.
Lightning Review: A Lost Lady (1934) Starring Barbara Stanwyck
Lightning review takes brief look at Warner Bros. A Lost Lady (1934) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Morgan, directed by Alfred E. Green.
The Walking Dead (1936) – Lindbergh Heart Resurrects Boris Karloff
Warner Brothers mixes crime and horror in THE WALKING DEAD where mobsters put down Boris Karloff but Edmund Gwenn brings him back to life with a Lindbergh Heart. Karloff’s fine performance highlighted along with some background information about Lindbergh’s “robot heart.”
Her Man (1930) Starring Helen Twelvetrees and Phillips Holmes
Tay Garnett’s Her Man from Pathe is an overlooked pre-Code classic starring Helen Twelvetrees in the first screen adaptation of the Frankie and Johnny ballad. With Phillips Holmes, Ricardo Cortez and Marjorie Rambeau.
Sidebar: Farnesbarnes, or Is That Farnsbarns? – Origins Undetermined
Humorous references to Farnesbarnes, or Farnsbarns, in two early 1930s movies sent me in search of the name’s origins. Unfortunately the earliest I could find dates to BBC’s Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh in 1944, over a decade after the RKO film utterances.
The Phantom of Crestwood (1932) with Ricardo Cortez and Karen Morley
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.
Midnight Mary (1933) Starring Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone
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.
First Impressions of TCM’s Barbara Stanwyck Pre-Code Mini Marathon
A quick peek back at the four early Barbara Stanwyck pre-code movies aired by TCM on July 20: Shopworn (1932), Ten Cents a Dance (1931), Illicit (1931) and Forbidden (1932).
