Gordon Westcott Movies

Marshall Neilan had fallen from the top ranks of directors by the time he helmed the Jane Withers vehicle This is the Life, but he still had it in him to deliver a first-rate job. Withers is cast as pint-sized vaudeville artiste Geraldine Revier. Tired of being professionally exploited by her parents (Gloria Roy and Gordon Westcott), Geraldine disguises herself as a boy and runs away from home. While on the road, she teams up with Michael Grant (John McGuire), a fugitive from justice. Naturally, Michael is innocent, and equally naturally, it is Geraldine who proves it. Future "Charlie Chan" Sidney Toler is a riot as blowhard medicine-show entrepreneur Professor Breckenridge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Broadway legend Al Jolson and his second wife Ruby Keeler costarred in this thin backstage musical. In keeping with Jolson's earlier starring films, the plotline is melodramatic to the point of risibility. Jolson plays an irresponsible performer whose unprofessional antics incur the wrath of Actor's Equity. Suspended from the stage, Jolson spends all his money on gambling, but is "cured" after his wife (Ruby) is wounded when Jolson shoots it out with a rival. Musical highlights include "A Latin From Manhattan", "A Quarter to Nine" (Jolie's at his best here) and the title number. The script of Go Into Your Dance is predictably full of references to the offstage Jolson/Keeler relationship; reportedly, Al's on-set adlibs became more insulting and abusive as the marriage deteriorated. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joe E. Brown's extensive circus and burlesque training serve him well in this familiar but likeable yarn. Brown and Ann Dvorak stars as small-time vaudevillians Joe and Fay Wilson, presently employed by a seedy burlesque troupe. Also on tour with the Wilsons is society girl Peggy (Patricia Ellis), who's merely joined the troupe for a few laughs. Publicity agent Daniel Wheeler (William Gargan) offers Joe a big-time contract, but only if he will team up with Peggy. Surprisingly, Fay goes along with this, though she soon has reason to regret her generosity. The film's many intrigues give way to slapstick when Joe commandeers an airplane to expedite a reconciliation with his ever-loving spouse. The film's comic highlight is Joe E. Brown's "drunken mouse" routine, which later caused him courtroom trouble when comedian Bert Wheeler insisted that the bit was his personal property. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a mystery novel by Mignon Eberhart, The White Cockatoo concerns three mysterious murders at a French chateau. The villain seems determined to bump off all the friends and relatives of Sue Talley (Jean Muir) and Jim Sundean (Ricardo Cortez), hoping thereby to get his (or her) hands on the fortune they've inherited. Clouding the issue is the curious behavior of ostensible hero Sundean, who may very well be behind the killings. Though reviewers complained that they couldn't make heads or tails of the storyline, audiences didn't seem to share this confusion. Still, it would have been nice if screenwriters Ben Markson and Lillie Hayward had been more faithful to the Eberhart original. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A popular fad of the early 1930s provided the framework for this Joe E. Brown romp. Hoping to impress his girlfriend Phyllis (Maxine Doyle), champion bicyclist Wilfred Simpson (Brown) enters a bike-racing marathon at Madison Square Garden. Newsreel shots of genuine six-day races are incorporated into the footage, but the film loses all touch with reality at the climax, as Wilfred leapfrogs over the heads of the other riders and accidentally disposes of his rivals with chloroformed cotton wads. And, of course, he lets loose with the famous Joe E. Brown howwwwwl whenever the pace slows down. Even though the fad which inspired it has passed into history, Six-Day Bike Rider remains fresh and funny today. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Now known simply as Fashions, the lavish Warner Bros. musical Fashions of 1934 stars the unlikely but copacetic team of William Powell and Bette Davis. It all begins when genial con artist Sherwood Nash (Powell) transfers his base of operations from New York to Paris. Sensing that the fashion "racket" is a hot commodity, Nash puts all his energies into promoting heroine Lynn (Davis) as France's foremost fashion designer. Along the way, of course, Nash and Lynn fall in love, but first the plotline must find a nice way to dispose of Nash's former partner-in-crime The Duchess (Veree Teasdale), currently posing as a White Russian Countess. Fashions is the picture in which a bevy of Busby Berkeley beauties are dressed (but just barely) as harps, prompting the apocryphal admonition from a chorus girl's mother, "Mr. Berkeley, I didn't raise my daughter to be a human harp!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two wealthy neighbors, who make no secret of despising one another, both claim that they're married to Bessie Foley (Mary Astor). When one of the claimants is murdered, Bessie is the prime suspect. Brilliant defense counsel Perry Mason (Warren William), whose spacious offices look like something out of the Taj Mahal, takes Bessie's case, aided and abetted by faithful secretary Della Street (Helen Trenholme). Like his later TV counterpart, Mason isn't above suppressing evidence to benefit his client, much to the dismay of district attorney Claude Drumm (Grant Mitchell) and obnoxious but efficient Sgt. Holcomb (Allen Jenkins). The solution to the mystery manages to have its cake and eat it too, but to tell more would spoil it. This initial entry in Warner Bros.' "Perry Mason" film series is also the least fascinating of the bunch, due mainly to Warren William's surprisingly somber approach to the role (he'd lighten up considerably in his subsequent "Mason" outings). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cited by film historian William K. Everson as one of the fastest-moving crime melodramas of the 1930s (if not the fastest) Fog Over Frisco still manages to leave viewers breathless. Top-billed Bette Davis plays giddy heiress Arlene Bradford, whose perverse fascination with gangsters gets her mixed up in a stolen-securities scheme. Arlene's more sensible sister Val (Margaret Lindsay) tries to keep her out of trouble, but this proves impossible. Entering into the fray are hotshot society reporter Tony (Donald Woods) and goofy photojournalist Izzy (Hugh Herbert), who like Val get in over their heads when they stumble upon the body of the murdered Arlene. The identity of the killer remains a well-concealed secret until Izzy, of all people, stumbles across a vital clue. Things really begin to accelerate when Val is kidnapped by Arlene's gangster cohorts (who, interestingly enough, are very reluctant to take her prisoner and do so only when there's no other option!), leading to a mile-a-minute rescue and hasty plot wrap-up. Among the many good guys, bad guys and red herrings are Alan Hale as an Irish cop, Robert H. Barrat as a butler who isn't a butler, and Henry O'Neill as a gosh-knows-what who may be the murderer. Though physical action is at a minimum, Fog Over Frisco is kept constantly on the move by director William Dieterle, using every cinematic trick and optical effect (wipe dissolves, iris-outs, swish-pans etc.) at his disposal. The film was less effectively remade as Spy Ship in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this sudsy hospital melodrama, a married nurse finds herself falling in love with one of two surgeons when her husband goes mad and needs an operation. One of the surgeons regards his pursuit a lark, while the other harbors genuine affections for the nurse. At first, she is attracted to the cad, but after her husband follows the suggestion of another insane patient and dives out of a window to his death, she seeks consolation in the arms of the other surgeon. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Before retiring from films to become Mrs. Charles Boyer, actress Pat Paterson was a popular and appealing Fox Studios leading lady. In Call it Luck, Paterson plays Pat Laurie, the daughter of humble London cabbie Herbert Bigglewade (Herbert Mundin). Thanks to a winning sweepstakes ticket, Pat is catapulted into great wealth, thereby becoming easy prey for a team of con artists. Suckered into buying a broken-down race horse, our heroine nonetheless emerges a winner thanks to some quick thinking by her crafty dad. The nominal love interest is played by Charles Starrett, who went on enjoy a longer association with horses as star of Columbia's "Durango Kid" western series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

What isn't Heroes for Sale about? Within its 71-minute time frame, this film (co-written by "professional cynic" Wilson Mizner) tackles such issues as disenfranchised war veterans, misguided hero worship, drug addiction, the Depression, capitalism, labor relations and communism. Richard Barthelmess plays a wounded war hero whose hospital stay has turned him into a morphine junkie. He wanders from town to town looking for work during the Depression, only to be turned away with a "we've got our own to watch out for!" Eventually, Barthelmess befriends millionaire-in-the-making Robert H. Barrat, who has invented a revolutionary washing machine. Becoming Barrat's partner, Barthelmess attempts to quell a strike by workers who've been stirred up by Red agitators. With all this going on, Barthelmess still finds time to romance Loretta Young. Heroes for Sale is very much a product of its time, though its entertainment value has remained solid for well over six decades. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This well-wrought drama chronicles the rise and fall of a midwestern family dynasty from the mid 1800s through the Great Depression. Most of the tale centers on a young Dakota farm boy whose grand schemes and ambition lead him on a cattle drive to Texas. From there he hooks up with the owner of a major Chicago slaughterhouse and then falls in love with his new partner's beautiful daughter. They marry and after the youth figures out how to use refrigerated train cars to ship his beef, begin living the lives of the nouveau riche. When his partner dies, he leaves the young man his considerable fortune making him an instant meat-packing magnate. With a good wife, two beautiful children and a terrific home, life for him couldn't be better. Unfortunately, his self-centered wife is discontent. Thinking her husband's profession is preventing her from becoming a true society dame, she begins badgering him to selling the meat business and becoming a more respectable stockbroker. Unfortunately, her attempted machinations fall on deaf ears and the resulting frustration drives her insane. The tycoon's son has his own troubles with his beautiful blue-blooded wife and brokerage business that is destroyed when the market crashes in 1929. His father, who did eventually sell the meat business and invest in his son' brokerage, is also nearly wiped out. In order to support his wife and save face, the son begins embezzling. Unfortunately he gets caught. When he learns that his own wife has betrayed him, the despondent youth is beyond help and tragedy ensues for both the son and his elderly father. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi