Harry Holden Movies

When a car crash ends the life of a fabulously wealthy patron of the arts, the decedent's $20,000,000 fortune is inherited by one Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) of Mandrake Falls, Vermont. Already a reasonably successful local businessman, Deeds doesn't really feel the need for anything extra in his life: he just wants enough time to practice his tuba and compose greeting-card doggerel. When Deeds is convinced to move to New York, hard-boiled newspaper reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur) is dispatched to get the inside scoop on "The Cinderella Man." Babe's stories of Deeds' eccentricities and no-nonsense dealings with phonies and poseurs provide excellent headline fodder; but she begins to regret her actions, having fallen in love with the big lug. Deeds ultimately sets up a foundation to dispense his fortune to the country's neediest souls, on the proviso that the recipients do their best to get back on their feet, a turn of events that leads his lawyer John Cedar (Douglas Dumbrille) to try to have him declared insane. By the end of the sanity hearing, the judge (H. B. Walker) declares: "Not only are you sane, but you're the sanest man who ever walked in this courtroom!" A joyously unadulterated hunk of Frank Capra-corn, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was adapted by Robert Riskin from Clarence Buddington Kelland's short story "Opera Hat." In addition to the pleasure of watching the country bumpkin outwit city slickers, the movie is a film buff's dream, boasting one of the best character-actor casts ever assembled for a single film. Nominated for four Academy Awards, the film won Frank Capra his second Oscar (out of three) as Best Director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Show Boat was a part-silent, part-talkie adaptation of the book by Edna Ferber. The film traces the life of Magnolia Hawkes (Laura La Plante), daughter of Captain Andy of the Cotton Blossom, a 19th century show boat. Magnolia's head is turned by handsome gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Joseph Schildkraut), who woos and weds her. He turns out to be a poor husband and provider, eventually deserting Magnolia and her daughter. But Magnolia, harking upon her performing experiences while on her father's show boat, becomes a successful stage star and raises her daughter all by herself. Though filmed just two years after the Broadway debut of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein Jr. musical Show Boat, this film is more closely based on the source novel than the stage play. While the immortal "Ol' Man River" was retained, the rest of the Broadway version's songs were jettisoned in favor of several forgettable tunes written by entrepreneur Billy Rose, who convinced the movie's producers that the public had grown tired of hearing the Kern-Hammerstein score! Show Boat would be remade twice, with most of the original songs intact and without Rose's "improvements," in 1936 and 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most readily available features of the silent era, The Yankee Clipper is happily also one of the best. A pre-Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd plays Hal Winslow, the scion of a prominent Boston shipbuilding family. Manning the helm of the Yankee Clipper, Winslow prepares to race The Lord of the Isles, a British vessel; the winner will control China's tea trade to America. The race begins at Foo Chow Harbor, where Winslow is paid a courtesy visit by Lady Jocelyn (played by Elinor Fair, then the wife of star Boyd), the daughter of the rival English captain. Lady Jocelyn is escorted by her fiance Paul de Vigny (John Miljan), whom we will learn in due time is a cad and bounder. The Yankee Clipper shoves off while Lady Jocelyn and de Vigny are still on board. They demand to be put ashore, but Winslow, anxious not to lose any sailing time, refuses. Lady Jocelyn's presence on board is resented by cabin boy Mickey (Junior Coghlan), who hates all "wimmin"; on the other head, crew member Iron Head Joe (Walter Long), "mongrel whelp of the high seas", begins drawing up plans to rape the girl at the first opportunity. An outsized typhoon imperils the Yankee Clipper, its crew and passengers, but stalwart Captain Winslow manages to save everyone from drowning. After the storm, the water supply is rationed. Angrily demanding more water, the crew joins a mutiny fomented by the treacherous de Vigny. Meanwhile, Iron Head Joe chases Jocelyn and Mickey to the very top of the rigging, intending to kill the boy and have his way with the girl. Both of the film's villains are foiled in very permanent fashion before the thrill-packed finale at Boston Harbor. One of the videocassette versions of The Yankee Clipper is introduced by surviving cast member Junior Coghlan, now better known as Frank Coghlan Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy was the last film directed by cinema pioneer Elsie Jane Wilson. Ruth Clifford plays Ruth Elliott, who travels to the big city, determined to forge a career as an artist. Because she writes home of her exciting life and marvelous successes, her friend, Mildred Colburn (Mildred Lee), is dying to come out and visit. Ruth, of course, has been spinning tall tales this whole time and is in a panic over what to do. Her answer is to spend her last 15 dollars on an automobile tour, and she begs the chauffeur, Peter Neyland (Al Ray), to pose as her employee. They show Mildred a wonderful time, but it turns out that she is planning to stay for a whole week. With Neyland's help, Ruth continues her ruse, although it almost lands the both of them in jail. In the end, she finds romance with Neyland who, it happens, is not a chauffeur at all, but comes from a wealthy family. Wilson, who was married to fellow director Rupert Julian, gave up her career once she finished this picture, claiming that directing was a man's work. Her words have been proven wrong by a number of female film directors ever since. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jilted by his actress sweetheart Marie Beauchamp (Gretchen Lederer), Kenneth Scott (Emory Johnson) heads to the country to start life afresh. He promptly falls in love with rural lass Daphne Sawyer (Ella Hall), little realizing that she is the sister of the girl who just dumped him. Scott's already tangled-up love life is further complicated when Marie shows up in town to open a cabaret. He is tempted to return to his ex-sweetie, but Daphne emerges the winner. New Love for Old was a rare "adult" endeavor for director Elsie Jane Wilson, who usually specialized in juvenile-oriented pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kenneth Harlan stars as the enigmatic Mr. Tiller, who may or may not be a notorious jewel thief. Eluding both criminals and the authorities alike, Tiller manages to restore a packet of valuable gems to their rightful owners. He also orchestrates the reformation of a fledgling gang moll, played by Ruth Clifford. The direction for Midnight Madness was credited to Rupert Julian, but the trade magazine Variety doubted this, noting that the film was far below Julian's usual standards. In this instance, however, Variety was wrong: Substandard though it may have been, the film was definitely a Rupert Julian production, and was in fact a sequel to his 1917 effort The Mysterious Mr. Tiller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cricket was a vehicle for child actress Zoe Rae, who plays two roles in the course of the story. Living in poverty in Paris' Latin Quarter, the orphaned Cricket (Rae) is jointly "adopted" by a trio of starving artists. As the girl's three foster fathers go through the usual quarrels and reconciliations, our heroine quietly begins a stage career, playing the "lead fairy" in a pantomime production. Years later, the grown-up Cricket (now played by Penn Rogers) has become a popular stage star, while her ubiquitous "daddies" devote their time to finding a suitable sweetheart for the heroine. Evidently they succeed, since in the final scene Cricket's daughter (also played by Zoe Rae) is afforded several close-ups. Like most of Zoe Rae's films, Cricket was directed by Elsie Jane Wilson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide