Hugh Trevor Movies

A wimpy king is forced to take responsibility for his little North Sea island kingdom after his iron-fisted wife goes on a vacation to the US in this comedy. Soon after she leaves, his subjects launch a revolt and the flighty fellow must quickly figure out what to do. Things get worse when his daughter tells him that she plans to marry a commoner. Fortunately, once the king makes his decisions, things settle down and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Exercising his usual creative prerogative, Lowell Sherman was both star and director of RKO's The Pay Off. Sherman plays Gene Fenmore, a jaded gangster boss who falls in love with innocent young Nancy Porter (Marian Nixon). When Nancy's sweetheart Tommy Brown (William Janney) faces execution for a crime he didn't commit, Gene's first impulse is to let the boy fry so that he can have a clear field with the heroine. Ultimately, however, Gene proves he's a decent sort by clearing Tommy and philosophically keeping that date with the electric chair himself.
Released in Great Britain as The Losing Game, The Pay-Off was remade in 1938 as Law of the Underworld, with Chester Morris in the old Lowell Sherman role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Cuckoos began life as The Ramblers, a Broadway musical vehicle for the comedy team of Clark and McCullough. By the time the property reached the screen, it had been retailored to the talents of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey -- and the improvement was enormous. The scene is a fancy Mexican resort, where Sparrow (Wheeler) and The Professor (Woolsey), a pair of petty crooks, try to pick up a few bucks as fortune-tellers. Also staying at the resort is pompous matron Fannie Furst (Jobyna Howland), who is determined that her niece Ruth Chester (June Clyde) marry oily aristocrat Baron de Camp (Ivan Lebedeff). When Ruth evinces a preference for handsome aviator Billy Shannon (Hugh Trevor), the Baron, anxious not to let Ruth's millions slip through his fingers, orders a local band of gypsies to kidnap the girl and spirit her away to his private estate. Billy rushes to Ruth's rescue, as do Sparrow and The Professor -- though "rush" is hardly the appropriate word, since they play for time by singing "Goodbye" to the female chorus and waste even more precious minutes attempting to pilfer a keg of bootleg booze. Actually, our heroes are motivated less by chivalry than by cowardice: Gypsy king Julius (Mitchell Lewis) has threatened to kill both of them because of Sparrow's romance with sexy gypsy maiden Anita (Dorothy Lee). The boys manage to save Ruth from the Baron's clutches, but not before Sparrow distracts the gypsies by posing as a beautiful women. The Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby score includes such standards as "All Alone Monday" and "Wherever You Are," both indifferently performed by June Clyde and Hugh Trevor. Far more entertaining are Wheeler & Woolsey's "Oh! How We Love Our Alma Mater!" (in which they pay tribute to all the prisons they've attended), Wheeler and Dorothy Lee's "I Love You So Much," and Lee's sizzling dance number "Dancin' the Devil Away." Though little more than a photographed stage play, The Cuckoos is a lot of fun, especially when Wheeler &Woolsey take center stage. For years available only in its 75-minute TV version, the film has recently been restored to its full 95 minutes with the inclusion of several long-unseen Technicolor sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young boxer on his way to the top is scheduled for an important championship fight in this sports melodrama. He meets a beautiful woman and, wanting to impress her but not having any money, finds himself being pressured to throw the fight for a huge bribe. What he doesn't know, though, is that the woman and a racketeer have planned this all along so the gangster can place a large bet against him and they can both make a fortune. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

An early sound film for flapper star Olive Borden, this low-budget effort from FBO featured the erstwhile "Joy Girl" as Zarah, "a beautiful Arabian" saving irrigation engineer Bob Winslow (Hugh Trevor) from being abducted by bandit leader Abdullah (Noah Beery). The latter naturally takes umbrage to this and threatens a massacre if Zarah does not return as his bride. The plucky girl does return but is rescued in the nick of time by Bob, who kills Abdullah in a climactic fistfight. A 1925 Wampas baby Star, brunette Olive Borden became one of the many victims of the sound revolution and ended her life on Los Angeles' Skid Row. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This small-scale but entertaining Western was yet another outing for Buzz Barton, FBO's pint-sized cowboy ace, and his scruffy-looking sidekick Frank Rice. This time, Red Hepner (Barton) and Hank Robbins (Rice) obtain jobs on the Bruce ranch after saving Janet Bruce (Gloria Lee) from drowning in quicksand. With the assistance of handsome Hugh Trevor (there to provide a bit of grown-up romance), the two friends rescue the Bruce ranch from falling into the grubby hands of a city slicker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Wallflowers was based on a novel by Temple Bailey. The central character, a scheming social climber played by Mabel Julienne Scott, intends to force her stepson Hugh Trevor into a marriage of convenience. But Trevor has developed a fondness for shy Jean Arthur, the "wallflower" of the title. How Arthur overcomes her shyness, and Trevor outmaneuvers his overbearing mother, was the dramatic crux of the film. Leading lady Jean Arthur was in 1928 shuttling from one inconsequential film to another; true stardom would not be bestowed upon her until the talkie era. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dry Martini was wittily adapted from the droll novel by John Thomas. Wealthy American Willoughby Quimby (Albert Gran) divorces his wife, then spends the next decade in Paris. His girth notwithstanding, Quimby keeps himself amply supplied with wine and women, and sometimes women and wine. Upon discovering that his grown daughter Elizabeth (Mary Astor) is coming to Paris to pay him a visit, Quimby decides to put up a respectable veneer, giving up both liquor and ladies for the duration. Unfortunately, Elizabeth finds her father to be dull as a dishrag, and begins spending her time with rakish artist Paul de Launay (Albert Conti). Just as she's about to lose the traditional struggle for her virtue, Elizabeth is rescued from De Launay by Quimby's young pal Freddie Fletcher (Matt Moore). Once his daughter is safely married to the basically decent Freddie, Quimby breathes a sigh of relief and happily returns to his old hedonistic habits. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title character in this breathless actioner is Ranger the Dog, played by -- Ranger the Dog. Eastern dude Bob Fleming (Hugh Trevor) becomes Ranger's friend for life when he removes a porcupine's quill from the canine's paw. Our doggie hero returns the favor by helping Fleming in his efforts to locate a lost gold mine. Ranger is also on hand to rout the villains, and he's there to look on approvingly as Fleming falls in love with Felice MacLean (Lina Basquette). Bernard Siegel, one of Hollywood's busiest portrayers of "noble Indians," plays a dual role as Felice's father and a stoic Native American chieftain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi