Claudia Dell Movies

Burlesque queen Ann Corio took time out of her runway activities in the 1940s to star in three Monogram features, of which Call of the Jungle was the last. Unlike the earlier Corio vehicles, Jungle is not an escapist musical but a somber drama-or at least, that was the intention. Wrapped in a fetching sarong, the star plays Tana, a South Sea damsel who doubles as an amateur detective. Unfortunately, Tana does not inform the authorities that she's taken it upon herself to track down a pair of jewel thieves, and as a result she is suspected of being a crook herself. With all the other leading man serving in WW2, Tana's romantic interest is played by James Bush, a capable if colorless character actor. Billed forth in Call of the Jungle is Claudia Dell, who once played Spanky's mom in the "Our Gang" series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Speed Limited is an apt title; the speed in this quickie is limited to that of the proverbial tortoise. Ralph Graves heads the All-Hasbeen cast, playing an FBI agent. Graves spends most of the film's molasses-slow 52 minutes chasing down a vicious kidnapping ring. He also juggles with the affections of a mystery woman (Evelyn Brent) and a dizzy heiress (Claudia Dell). Filmed in 1936, Speed Limited gathered dust for four years before it was picked up for distribution by the fly-by-night Regent corporation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Hollywood remake of the French Pepe le Moko adheres so slavishly to its source that it utilizes stock footage from the original film, and even picked its actors on the basis of their resemblance to the French cast. Contrary to legend, star Charles Boyer never says "Come wizz me to zee Casbah"; as master criminal Pepe le Moko, he's already in the Casbah, a crook-controlled safe harbor which protects Pepe from the French authorities. Pepe's friendly enemy, police inspector Joseph Calleia, treats his pursuit of Pepe like a chess game, patiently waiting for his opponent to make that one wrong move. The ever-careful Pepe has the misfortune to fall hopelessly in love with tourist Hedy Lamarr (in her first American film). A combination of events, including the betrayal of Pepe by his castaway lover Sigrid Gurie and Hedy's tearful return to her ship when she is misinformed that Pepe is killed, lures the hero/villain into the open. Arrested by Calleia, Pepe begs for one last glance at his departing sweetheart. At this point in the French version, Pepe cheated the hangman by killing himself; this would never do in Production Code-dominated Hollywood, so Algiers contrives to have Pepe shot while trying to escape. Algiers was remade in 1948 as a musical, Casbah, starring Tony Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first entry in a proposed series of six Westerns starring Ken Maynard and produced for Grand National by M.H. Hoffman, Boots of Destiny featured a script written for Hoffman's previous star, Hoot Gibson. Maynard, whose personality was far removed from the lackadaisical Gibson, played Ken Crawford, a cowboy getting himself involved in a range feud between the Mexican Vascos and the Yankee Wilsons. Hired by Alice Wilson (Claudia Dell), Ken and sidekick Acey Ducey (Vince Barnett) discover that the Wilson foreman, Harmon (Edward Cassidy), is the brains behind a series of cattle rustlings. Harmon attempts to get rid of Ken by framing him in a killing, but the cowboy escapes and saves Alice from both the raiding Vascos and Harmon. A rather downbeat Western featuring a tired-looking Claudia Dell, Boots of Destiny came to life only when Maynard and his horse, Tarzan, performed part of their circus act. Maynard broke his foot prior to filming and was forced to wear a special boot enlarged to accommodate his plaster cast. This less than pleasant situation made the often difficult star even more so and after Trailin' Trouble (1937), Hoffman gave up and sold Maynard's contract to the Alexander brothers, Max and Arthur. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Having peaked as a big-studio leading man, Conrad Nagel accepted a brief contract at cost-conscious Pacific Pictures in 1936. Yellow Cargo is the first of the quartet, with Nagel costarring with Eleanor Hunt as a dog-and-cat team of government agents. Their job is to halt the activities of a gang of smugglers specializing in Chinese aliens (catch that bad-taste title!), which operates under the cover of a movie studio. The film provides intriguing backstage glimpses at Grand National Studios (formerly Educational Pictures), with a few picturesque side trips to Catalina Island. The remaining pictures in the Conrad Nagel/Eleanor Hunt "G Man" series were Navy Spy, The Gold Racket and Bank Alarm (all 1937). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lawyer Oliver Keith (Reginald Denny) in love with his secretary Ella Carey (Patricia Farr), but refuses to do anything about it during office hours. Thus, it's up to Ella to ardently pursue Oliver in her spare time. Their romance is temporarily shelved when Oliver and Ella combine forces to solve two seemingly unrelated murders. Lady in Scarlet is yet another spin on the Thin Man formula, this time from low-budget Invincible Pictures. No one expressed much enthusiasm over the film, though Reginald Denny garnered some of his best reviews in years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Produced by Mitchell Leichter's low-rent Beaumont Pictures, this inexpensive but fairly effective oater was the first of four to star veteran silent leading man Conway Tearle. Tearle plays "Trigger" Jim Malloy who, newly released from prison, goes in search of the men who sent him to prison. Wounded by one of the villains (the ubiquitous Fred Kohler), "Trigger" Jim is nursed back to health by lovely widow Janet Moorehead (Claudia Dell) and is even elected sheriff. A veteran leading man who had entered films in 1914, New York-born, British-raised Conway Tearle (born Frederick Levy) might have been an odd choice for B-Western stardom but the energetic actor almost pulled it off and was defeated only by subpar production values. Tearle's steed, Black King, was billed, grandiosely, as "the Horse With a Human Brain." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The first in a brace of "Our Gang" fantasy outings, "Mama's Little Pirate" begins when the mother of Spanky McFarland refuses to allow him to participate in a treasure hunt in a nearby cave (actually a spooky standing set left over from the 1934 Laurel and Hardy feature Babes in Toyland). Confined to his room, Spanky argues with his "inner self", who advises him to disobey his mother and join the rest of the Gang in their search for buried treasure. Though the kids miraculously unearth a fortune in gold and jewels, their triumph nearly turns to disaster when they encounter a surly giant (played by 7'6" Tex Madsen). Originally released on November 3, 1934, "Mama's Little Pirate" is enchanced by LeRoy Shield's brilliant background music composition "Cascadia", originally written for the equally thrilling "Boy Friends" comedy Air Tight (1931). Though he has never admitted it, Steven Spielberg may well have used this humble two-reeler as the inspiration for his own comedy-adventure feature The Goonies (1985). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The legendary so-bad-it's-good serial The Lost City manages to keep the audience on its toes for 12 full chapters. It all begins when Hero Bruce Gordon (Kane Richmond) invents a device to track the mysterious electrical disturbances which are causing turmoil all over the world. The invention leads Gordon to Central Africa, where he comes upon a gigantic "Magnetic Mountain" which shelters the lost city of Liguria. This art-deco dominion is ruled by mad scientist Zolok (played by William "Stage" Boyd with what one historian described as "alcoholic intensity"), who gleefully monitors the activities of his minions via television and who fiendish plans to create an army of zombie giants with which to rule the world. Zolok's reluctant assistant is the brilliant Dr. Manyus (Josef Swickard), who is being forced to cooperate lest harm befall his beautiful daughter Natcha (Claudia Dell). Manyus' chief claim to fame is a machine that will turn black people white -- prompting the sensitivity-challenged Gordon to exclaim "That's wonderful!" The story careens wildly from one incredible peril to the next, suggesting that the writers were making it all up as they went along. The film's most enjoyable character is renegade trader Butterfield (George "Gabby" Hayes), who goes from good guy to villain to good guy again, depending on the dictates of the script. Cheap, silly and overacted, Lost City is also a lot of good campy fun. The serial is also available in two separate feature versions, one of which is titled City of Lost Men. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Slow moving, overly complicated, and badly acted in key roles, this low-budget melodrama from Poverty Row company Progressive Pictures was directed by silent screen actress Dorothy Davenport, the widow of the late matinee idol Wallace Reid. A girl detective, Barbara Hammond (Claudia Dell) is found with the corpse of the woman she has been investigating, radio singer Jane Merrick (Lola Lane). Barbara is arrested for the murder and her reporter husband, Jerry Beal (Richard Hemingway), sets out to find the real killer. The trail leads to a mysterious sanatorium where Dr. Wagner (Mischa Auer) is about to operate on a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Jane Merrick. Jerry is captured by Wagner's henchmen and threatened with a brain transplant. Happily, Jane's maid (Louise Beavers) intervenes by calling the authorities. Dr. Wagner explains that his patient is indeed Jane Merrick and that her operation was to remove an unsightly birthmark. At police headquarters, meanwhile, Barbara breaks down and confesses to Jane's murder in the presence of a handsome gangster named Dapper Dan (Paul Ellis). Suddenly the dead woman's "ghost" appears and a frightened Dan confesses to having killed Jane's twin sister by mistake after Jane had dumped him. Whereas veteran performers such as the always delightful Beavers, Jason Robards (as Jane's station manager), Mischa Auer (whose last name was misspelled "Aver" in the onscreen credits), and Lola Lane managed to rise above the material, comparative newcomers Claudia Dell, Paul Ellis, and Richard Hemingway were not quite so fortunate. In fact, Hemingway, who also appeared in Dorothy Reid's Road to Ruin (1934), was playing bit parts by 1935. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Midnight Lady is a low-budget variation of the evergreen stage and screen meller Madame X. In one of her rare starring roles, Sarah Padden is cast as Nita St. George, the hard-boiled owner of a big-city speakeasy. Unexpectedly, Nita is reunited with her daughter Jean (Claudia Dell), who has been raised to believe that her mother is dead. When Jean is accused of murdering her no-good boyfriend, Nita selflessly takes the blame, never letting the girl know that she is really her mother. Just when it looks as though Nita will be convicted of murder, Jean is tricked into a confession -- but as it turns out, she didn't do it either! Unfortunately, this not uninteresting poverty-row drama is laid low by bad camera work and uneven acting. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The descriptive phrase "melting pot" is elucidated in the sentimental drama Hearts of Humanity. Jean Hersholt stars as a golden-hearted Jewish pawnbroker whose daughter Caludia Dell falls in love with Irish-Catholic policeman Charles Delaney. When another Irish cop is killed by a burglar, Hersholt adopts the dead man's son Jackie Searl (here taking a break from his usual "nasty kid" roles). Jackie repays the favor by proving to be more loyal and upright than even Hersholt's own son (George Humbert). Evidently, the film was supposed to end with the young Searl's death; his miraculous recovery would seem to indicate that the preview audiences had something to say about the film's denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi