Judith Barrie Movies
- 1933
Tom Mix goes undercover as a prison inmate in this Western from Universal. The reason for Tom's masquerade is a bank robbery that wiped out his pretty boss, Nora Lane (Judith Barrie). The perpetrators, Doc (Donald Kirke), Spike (Raymond Hatton), and Big Ben (Eddie Gribbon), were all sent to the big house, but without revealing where they hid the loot. It is Tom's job to find out and a prison break offers him the perfect opportunity to do so. But the cowboy's disguise works all too well and soon both Nora and the law believe him to be in cahoots with the escapees. According to Hidden Gold's publicity, an actual forest fire was used in the film, the crew having been enlisted by the fire brigade during location filming in the hills north of Los Angeles. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judith Barrie, Tom Mix, (more)
A serial remake of a 1926 Western feature starring William Boyd, The Last Frontier became an early opportunity for young Lon Chaney, Jr. -- still billed Creighton Chaney -- to prove himself worthy of the Chaney name. But young Creighton, handicapped as he was by stilted dialogue and sub-par action sequences -- did not quite live up to the task and would be reduced to supporting roles until his true breakthrough as Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1939). In The Last Frontier, Chaney played Tom Kirby, a crusading newspaper editor opposed to "Tiger" Morris (Richard Neill, an outlaw whose reign of terror is meant to drive the settlers off their valuable land. Kirby dons the disguise of a masked avenger and together with such noted historical personages as General Custer (William Desmond) and Wild Bill Hickock (Yakima Canutt), the crusading reporter manages to curtail Morris' evil schemes. Dorothy Gulliver, of the silent screen, and Judith Barrie were added to the cast to lend a bit of feminine appeal under Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Storey's direction. The Last Frontier was an independent serial produced by Van Buren for RKO release. The 1948 Sam Katzman serial Tex Granger was a very unofficial remake. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1931
As the low-budget Liberty Pictures Corporation emerged from the chrysalis of the late Tiffany Studios, the new company inherited the 1931 Tiffany production Ex-Flame. Marian Nixon plays Lady Catherine Hamilton, whose fascination with a dashing criminal results in an unpleasant divorce and a messy custody battle between herself and her titled husband (Neil Hamilton). Years later, a disguised Lady Catherine shows up as a nurse, in order to be close to her dying young son. If you recognize this plot, then you're familiar with East Lynne, the hoary old stage piece upon which Ex-Flame is based. The film's attempt to update the story only serves to emphasize its creaky plot contrivances. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Neil Hamilton, Marian Nixon, (more)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. made his talkie debut in the low-budget but imaginative "exploitationer" Party Girl. Fairbanks plays carefree young bachelor Jay Roundtree, the son of a wealthy industrialist. Though Jay is in love with his dad's secretary, his class consciousness compels him to keep his distance from her. One night, he joins his fraternity pals for a wild penthouse bash, where a group of "party girls" (a 1930 code word for prostitutes) encourage the guests (mostly "dirty old men" in tuxedoes) to wash their inhibitions away with bootleg liquor. Imagine Jay's surprise when, in the course of the evening, he discovers that his office sweetheart was once a party girl herself -- though that's nothing compared to what he discovers about his own father! Though economically produced, Party Girl contains some astounding visual effects, including a hydraulic "car lift" which transports the revellers to their secret rendezvous and a remarkably convincing suicidal plunge from a skyscraper. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Jeanette Loff, (more)
- 1929
In this crime drama, the girls of an escort service get into trouble with the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
