Harry Green Movies

Filmed in the Scottish Highlands, this elaborate British TV adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans starred Kenneth Ives as intrepid 18th century Indian scout Hawkeye (aka Natty Bumppo) and John Abineri as his loyal Native American blood brother Chingachook. Set in Canada during the French and Indian Wars, the story found Hawkeye doing his best to safeguard the lives of Col. Munro (Andrew Crawford), his daughters Cora (Patricia Maynard) and Alice (Joanna David), and the other British settlers at Fort William Henry. The fly in the ointment was the villainous, bloodthirsty Indian warrior Magua (Philip Madoc), who had his own plans for the toothsome Munro girls. In contrast, noble Mohican Uncas hoped to save Alice and especially Cora from the evil Magua, and to bring the Indians and white settlers together in peaceful coexistence. Originally broadcast by the BBC from January 17 to February 28, 1971, the eight 45-minute episodes of The Last of the Mohicans were later shown in America on the PBS anthology Masterpiece Theater beginning March 26, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

King Shadov (Charles Chaplin), the newly deposed monarch of a small European country, arrives in New York to face a life in exile. No sooner does he get here, however, than he discovers that his prime minister has stolen the entire royal treasury and departed for parts unknown. Stranded in New York in a luxury hotel without any money, the king tries to adjust to life in America and elicit interest in his plan for the peaceful use of nuclear power. He finds America in 1957 to be too noisy for his taste, however -- a run-in with some rock & roll dancers leads to some slapstick antics, and he doesn't take much to modern movies or the blaring entertainment that goes with them. He meets a pretty young lady (Dawn Addams) in a slightly risqué slapstick encounter in which he is trying to "rescue" her, and she maneuvers him into helping to plug a deodorant on television. The king proves so beguiling on the small screen that he is deluged by offers from advertising agencies, which he rejects at first. But the king soon finds that advertising may be the only thing he can do to earn enough money to keep him living like a king in exile, and he tries to work the system to his advantage, his earnings from television enabling him to remain in the country and push his peaceful nuclear plan. He soon finds the true dark side of life in the United States, however, when he crosses paths with an unhappy little boy (Michael Chaplin, the star/director's own son) whose parents are about to be jailed as part of the anti-Communist hysteria of the period. In the end, the king provides a shelter to the boy but compromises himself in the process, and while he does make the Congressional committee investigating him look foolish, he sees that he has done all of the good that he can do for now in the United States and leaves. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In this domestic drama, a lonely widower decides that it is finally time to remarry. Although his family is opposed to it, he gives up his military career and marries. The bride has a rough go of things as they children fight her at every turn. She eventually wins their love and respect after she arranges marriages for his equally lonely daughters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this episode of the popular western series, Cisco stops a claim-jumping killer from the mine. He then makes sure the mine's rightful heir, an orphaned infant is cared for by the local school marm. Cisco has a brief tryst with her, but she loves another. Cisco soon finds a different love, a dance-hall girl. She saves him from being caught. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In his only musical-comedy appearance, Spencer Tracy stars as fast-buck promoter Smoothie King. Our hero's latest scam is to pass off Hollywood extra Wanda Gale (Pat Patterson) and forger Limey Brook (Herbert Mundin) as British nobility, getting both of them prestigious jobs at a movie studio. Eventually Wanda becomes a big star, falling out of love with Smoothie along the way in favor of her leading man Hal Reed (John Boles). But Smoothie takes it all in stride; after all, there's still a world full of chumps and suckers, ripe for fleecing. Future film producer Harold Hecht handled the choreography, while the songs were provided by such noteworthies as Harold Adamson, Burton Lane, Richard Whiting and Gus Kahn. The slaphappy screenplay for Bottoms Up was a joint effort by producer B. G. DeSylva, director David Butler and Tracy's comedy-relief co-star Sid Silvers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Loretta Young, who became known almost exclusively for playing sweet, wholesome roles, is kind of a shocker in this romantic drama as Letty Strong, an unwed mother who survives by living life as a grifter and the next thing to a prostitute -- all for the good of her son Mickey (Jackie Kelk), who, not yet 10 years old, is turning into a street hustler every bit as devious and untrustworthy as she is. Then, one day, he's skating on the street and gets hit by a milk truck, which happens to be driven by Malcolm Trevor (Cary Grant), the owner of the dairy, who was spot-checking his operation. Letty and Mickey try to take Malcolm for a hefty sum in court until their case is blown out of the water, but Malcolm also finds himself appalled by the kind of life that Letty is setting up for the boy. He gets her to agree to let Mickey move in with him and his wife Alice ($Marion Burns), at their estate outside the city. And after some extremely rough patches, Mickey begins to see that there's more to being a boy -- or becoming a man -- than what you can steal or cheat off the next guy. But Letty isn't about to let her son get away that easily, or let Malcolm get away with taking him from her, even if he is right. She tries to wreck Malcolm's home and marriage, all to get her son back and take revenge on him in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In this romance, a lovely young debutante falls in love with a jazz violinist. Her mother wants her to marry a wealthy young man, but the strong-willed girl initially demurs until the night of her debut. Her well-meaning social adviser fills the debutante's dance card with partners and this inflames the jealous violinist causing a heated argument between himself and the deb. Out of spite, she marries a wealthy fellow, who unfortunately turns out to be a drunk. Later everything turns out all right after he grants her an annulment, and she and the violinist finally come together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Cecil B. DeMille's This Day and Age was perhaps the most Draconian entry in Hollywood's early-1930s "vigilante" film cycle. Richard Cromwell heads a group of civic-minded teenagers in a small midwestern town. When a lovable old tailor (Harry Green) is murdered by a notorious gangster (Charles Bickford), Cromwell and his pals demand justice. But the local government is terrified by the influential gangster; in fact, many of the city fathers are on the take. Enraged, the kids take matters in their own hands. In the near-fascist climax, a mob of teenagers kidnap Bickford, spirit him away to the city dump, and suspend him over a pit of rats until he confesses to the murder! This Day and Age was the sort of Depression-engendered film of desperation that all but vanished once Franklin Roosevelt was elected. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Muller becomes the housekeeper of the man she loves, a member of Berlin society, in this romantic comedy. ~ Rovi

The 1916 Alice Duer Miller play Come Out of the Kitchen, previously filmed in 1921 with Marguerite Clark, was expertly transformed into early musical Honey. The story takes place in a poverty-stricken Virginia household, where blue-blooded brother and sister Olivia and Charles Dangerfield (Nancy Carroll and Skeets Gallagher) are reduced to renting out their mansion. Pretentious Yankee dowager Mrs. Falkner (Jobyna Howland) moves in with her spunky daughter Cora (Lillian Roth) in tow, while Olivia and Charles remain as servants. It isn't long before Cora has fallen in love with Charles, and Olivia has done likewise with Cora's former fiancee Burton Crane (Stanley Smith). The songs range from the self-spoofing "In My Little Hope Chest" to the lively "Sing You Sinners" (later used as a jazzy leitmotif in several Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons!) The Alice Duer Miller original was filmed again in 1934 as the British comedy Come Out of the Pantry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Considered the best of the all-star "studio" musicals of 1929 and 1930, Paramount on Parade utilized the talents of practically everyone on the Paramount Pictures payroll. Under the supervision of British musical-comedy favorite Elsie Janis, 11 top directors contributed to the project: Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, Edward Sutherland and Frank Tuttle. Introduced by masters of ceremonies Jack Oakie, Skeets Gallegher and Leon Errol, the film is a vaudeville-like maelstrom of musical duets, comedy sketches, occasional dramatic interludes, and spectacular production numbers. To mention all the highlights would take a book in itself but among them are Nancy Carroll's rendition of "Dancing to Save Your Sole" (performed inside a giant shoe!); Maurice Chevalier (and chorus) soaring heavenward in "Sweeping the Clouds Away" ; child actress Mitzi Green's dead-on impersonations of Chevalier, George Arliss, Moran & Mack and Helen "Boop-a-doop" Kane; Ernst Lubitsch's witty staging of an Apache dance in the style of a polite boudoir farce, with Chevalier (again) and Evelyn Brent; Clara Bow's saucy "I'm True to the Navy Now" ; the wish-fulfillment sketch "Impulses," in which George Bancroft and Kay Francis delightedly upset a dinner party by saying what's really on their minds; and best of all, "Murder Will Out," a murder-mystery parody wherein Fu Manchu (Warner Oland) bumps off Sherlock Holmes (Clive Brook) and Philo Vance (William Powell) when they refuse to give him proper credit for his killing of Jack Oakie. Only the dramatic sketch with Frederic March and Ruth Chatterton truly creaks when seen today. Originally released at 102 minutes, Paramount on Parade is presently available only in an 80-minute version, with all its Technicolor sequences missing: casualties include the elaborate "Drink to the Girl of My Dreams" number, directed by Edmund Goulding and featuring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Fay Wray, and Harry Green's dialect song "Isadore the Toreodor". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Light of Western Stars goes a long way towards using Paramount's fledgling sound system creatively; some scenes are filmed in complete darkness, allowing voices and sound effects to carry the day. Otherwise, this is a pleasantly familiar western concerning the relationship between drunken-cowpuncher Richard Arlen and new ranch-owner Mary Brian. Arlen's best friend was Brian's brother, who was killed under suspicious circumstances. Fred Kohler is the villain, but he's not as easily subdued as Arlen would prefer. Light of Western Stars was co-directed by Otto Brower and Edwin H. Knopf, but there seems to have been no dissension between these two journeymen; it was based on a novel by Zane Grey, which had previously been filmed twice and was good for another go-round in 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clara Bow's flat Brooklynese voice seems perfectly suited for the rowdy goings-on in True to the Navy. The "It" girl plays Ruby Nolan, owner of a drug store frequented by she-sick sailors. Each of the gobs assumes that he's the only man in Ruby's life, and when several of her boyfriends converge upon the pharmacy all at once, they tear the joint apart. Undaunted, Ruby pursues a romance with seafarin' man Gunner McCoy (Fredric March), who comes in mighty handy when our heroine is victimized by crooked gamblers. The spectacle of distinguished actor Frederic March in sailor togs, chewing gum and dispensing sez-you dialogue, is worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi