Big-city mouthpiece Richard Dix seeks to bring his brother’s killers to justice in a Nevada mining town in Special Investigator, a 1936 RKO “B” entry based on an Erle Stanley Gardner story.
Lightning Review: The Arizonian (1935) Starring Richard Dix
Lightning review takes brief look at RKO Western The Arizonian (1935) starring Richard Dix, Margot Grahame, and Preston Foster, directed by Charles Vidor.
Ace of Aces (1933) Starring Richard Dix and Elizabeth Allan
Richard Dix stars as a pacifist sculptor turned bloodthirsty World War I Ace of Aces. Morality story with good action, complicated character. With Elizabeth Allan.
Men Against the Sky (1940) – Richard Dix’s Ace of Aces Goes Modern
The public was air-minded when RKO released Men Against the Sky (1940), an exciting “B” film starring former “Ace of Aces” Richard Dix, with Kent Taylor, Wendy Barrie, and Edmund Lowe. A look at why the public was so fascinated by flying at that time, and how the four stars and other elements of the film worked so well together.
Richard Dix – His Life and Film Legacy
Five thousand words about the life of Richard Dix including a look at his most important movies: The Vanishing American (1925), Cimarron (1931) and The Ghost Ship (1943) plus, author’s choice, Ace of Aces (1933).
Secret Service (1931) – William Gillette’s Civil War Melodrama Comes to RKO
Digging deep into RKO’s 1931 adaptation of William Gillette’s Secret Service starring Richard Dix and Shirley Grey. Comparing the movie to the 1896 play. What was added and what was kept and how classic scenes were interpreted on film.
Richard Dix Reckons Himself The Public Defender (RKO, 1931)
Richard Dix is a harmless playboy until trouble calls and with the assistance of Boris Karloff and Paul Hurst he becomes The Reckoner in RKO’s The Public Defender (1931).
His Greatest Gamble (1934) Starring Richard Dix
RKO’s His Greatest Gamble (1934) successfully offers Richard Dix one of his most dramatic roles as the carefree father of a girl whose mother keeps her under the strictest control. Also starring Dorothy Wilson, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Bruce Cabot and Edith Fellows.
The Lost Squadron (1932) Starring Richard Dix, With Erich von Stroheim
RKO’s The Lost Squadron (1932) is a war movie that isn’t a war movie. Veterans return home to find work as Hollywood stunt fliers under Erich von Stoheim’s command. Starring Richard Dix, Robert Armstrong, Joel McCrea, Hugh Herbert, Mary Astor and Dorothy Jordan. Directed by George Archainbaud.
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.