Ann Dvorak Movies

In this musical comedy, a crooked record producer uses his mob connections to force performers to do their stuff. The trouble really begins when the gangster's strong-arm tactics nearly cause a singer to lose his fiancée. A wide variety of entertainers appear including cowboy crooner Gene Autry, baseball hero Joe DiMaggio, and big band stars Cab Calloway, Ted Lewis, and the Kay Thompson Singers. Songs include "Mamma I Wanna Make Rhythm," "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round," "Heaven?," "I Owe You," and "It's Round-up Time in Reno." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of the first major Hollywood films to seriously address America's ongoing mistreatment of its Indian population, Massacre is more admirable for its intentions than its execution. The film was inspired by the activities of John Collier, commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term. A staunch advocate for Native American rights, Collier had been far more effective than his predecessors in this pursuit, effectively purging much of the corruption and bigotry then prevalent in the administration of the Indian Reservation system. The film's John Collier counterpart, a man named Dickinson (Henry O'Neill), turns out to be less important to the storyline than Joe Thunder Horse, the "assimilated" college-educated Sioux portrayed by Richard Barthelmess. Upon the death of his father, who was the tribal chieftain, Joe returns to the reservation of his youth, only to discover that his people are dying of various diseases and are being systematically cheated of their possessions and basic rights by crooked Indian agents. He heads to Washington in hopes of righting these wrongs, only to experience prejudice and hatred all along the way. Eventually successful in his efforts, Joe casts away the last vestige of his "white" existence by giving up socialite Norma (Claire Dodd) in favor of Sioux maiden Lydia (Ann Dvorak). The optimism of the final reels is sorely at odds with the rest of the picture, which paints a bleak portrait of an oppressed people under the thumb of corrupt, rapine petty tyrants (colorfully represented by Dudley Digges as the worst of the batch). The deck-stacking is a bit hard to take at times (surely there must have been some Indian agents who weren't substance abusers and lechers), but it's undeniably effective in the usual over-the-top Warner Bros. tradition. The film's oddest scene (and the one which has drawn the most attention from William K. Everson and other prominent film historians) finds a stereotyped African American valet (Clarence Muse) looking disdainfully upon the Indians as his racial inferiors! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a gambler must hide-out from the mob and ends up in a spinster's apartment. The old woman, is unused to company as she has spent her life in seclusion after a failed romance in her youth. When the crime lord is killed, the gambler, his younger brother, is arrested for the murder. To protect him, the spinster perjures herself in court by telling the judge that he was with her on the night the crime was committed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In their never-ending efforts to create a movie series to match the success of "The Thin Man," MGM came up with the fast-paced programmer Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone. Based on characters created by Craig Rice, the film stars James Whitmore as lawyer and part-time sleuth John J. Malone (this character had previously appeared in several other films, as well as the radio series The Amazing Mr. Malone). In his efforts to track down an embezzler, Mr. Malone boards a train heading for New York. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hattie O'Malley (Marjorie Main), a raucous widow from Montana, is also travelling to New York to claim her prize money from a radio contest. During the journey eastward, the man whom Malone is seeking ends up dead. Thanks to Mrs. O'Malley's well-intentioned interference, Malone ends up being accused of murder. How this mismatched pair manages to solve the mystery and save their own hides is good for several laughs. Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone didn't result in a series, though James Whitmore and Marjorie Main make a surprisingly copacetic screen team. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joyfully preparing for her high-school graduation, and her 18th birthday, Gail Macauley (Ann Blyth) stumbles across a family secret. Contrary to what she's been raised to believe, Gail's parents (Jane Wyatt, Donald Cook) are not her biological parents; she was adopted. Setting a precedent that would be followed by many adoptees of the 1970s and 1980s, Gail will not rest until she tracks down her natural mother. A soap opera deluxe, Our Very Own should not be too closely scrutinized in terms of plot and logic. It is best to revel in the performances by such surefire veterans as Ann Dvorak (as Gail's biological mother) and Gus Schilling (as a flustered television installer), and by such talented "youngsters" as Joan Evans, Phyllis Kirk and Natalie Wood. And as a bonus to Baby Boomers, the film offers a glimpse of the legendary "Indian Head" TV test pattern (yes, it goes back that far!) Our Very Own was written by F. Hugh Herbert, produced by Sam Goldwyn, and directed by David Miller, none of whom make a false move throughout the film's 93 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Professional horsewoman Ann Dvorak is the Racing Lady in this hit-and-miss romantic comedy. The story begins breaking into a trot when millionaire auto tycoon Steven Wendel (Smith Ballew) (later a movie "singing cowboy") purchases a thoroughbred horse and engages the services of Ruth Martin (Dvorak) as a trainer. She begins to fall in love with Steven, but renounces him upon discovering that his "affection" for horses is motivated by his desire for publicity. Harry Carey, no stranger to horseflesh himself, co-stars as Dvorak's crusty father. The Ann Dvorak-Smith Ballew combination in Racing Lady proved unsatisfactory, with Dvorak handily out-acting her stiff-necked co-star throughout the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Completed in mid-1930, Scarface, based on Armitage Trail's novel of the same name, might have been the first of the great talkie gangster flicks, but it was held up for release until after that honor was jointly usurped by Little Caesar and Public Enemy. Paul Muni stars as prohibition-era mobster Tony Camonte, a character obviously patterned on Al Capone (whose nickname was "Scarface"). The homicidal Camonte ruthlessly wrests control of the bootlegging racket from his boss, Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins), and claims Lovo's mistress, Poppy (Karen Morley), in the bargain. But while Poppy satisfies him sexually, Tony has a soft spot in his heart only for his sister Cesca (Ann Dvorak). The film's finale is one of the longest and bloodiest of the 1930s, maintaining suspense and concern for the characters involved even though Muni has deliberately done nothing to make Tony likeable to audience. The grimness of Scarface is leavened by a few choice moments of black humor. Forced to leave a stage production of Rain in order to commit a murder, Tony returns to his theater seat and anxiously asks his buddies how the play came out. Some of the film's funniest moments belong to Vince Barnett as the mentally deficient, illiterate gangster secretary, who at one juncture gets so mad at a caller on the phone that he shoots the receiver. Scarface features a famous "'X' Marks The Spot" logo, inspired by news photos of gangland murders: whenever a character is killed, the letter "X" appears on screen in one form or another. Example: When a rival gangster (played by Boris Karloff) is killed at a bowling alley, the camera cuts to his bowling ball knocking down all the pins -- a strike, denoted, of course, by an "X." Producer Howard R. Hughes couldn't release Scarface until he toned down some of the violence, reshot certain scenes to avoid libel suits, added the subtitle "The Shame of the Nation" to the opening credits, and shoehorned in new scenes showing upright Italian-Americans banding together to wipe out gangsterism. After its first run, Scarface was completely withdrawn from distribution on Hughes' orders; the film would not be seen again on a widespread basis until it was reissued by Universal in 1979, shorn of 8 of its original 99 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama set in San Francisco, a businesswoman gives a job to an unemployed, homeless sailor. Later she becomes his wife. They are happy for a while, but then one day a woman shows up and claims that the sailor fathered her child. The couple adopts the child, but then the wife's sister tries to steal the sailor, who had been known to wander a bit. But the sailor has found himself in fatherhood and has decided to remain true blue to his wife and son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This WW II espionage drama chronicles the efforts of Nazi spies who go undercover to Britain. One of them is disguised as a member of the RAF and tries to bomb a Belgian burg so as to make it appear as if the Allies are blowing up civilians. Fortunately, underground Allied agents capture him and try to send him to England. Now the wicked German agent finds himself pursued by both the Allies and his own Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sad-eyed Ann Dvorak plays Jo, the "café hostess" of the title. Poor put-upon Jo doesn't know it, but she's being used by her gangster boyfriend Eddie Morgan (Douglas Fowley), who relies upon her as an alibi to cover up his recent crimes. Likeable sailor Budge (Bruce Bennett) is in love with Jo, but can't pry her loose from the possessive Mr. Morgan. This dilemma is resolved by Eddie's cast-off mistress Annie (Wynne Gibson), who resolves her problems with the business end of a revolver. It's up to detective Dan Walters (Preston Foster) to clean up the mess. Café Hostess was also released as Street of Missing Women. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rudy Vallee made his third feature-film starring appearance in the breezy Warner Bros. musical Sweet Music. Vallee is appropriately cast as singer-bandleader Skip Houston, who falls in love with aspiring dancer Bonnie Haydon (Ann Dvorak). Though Bonnie feels the same way about Skip, the two leads indulge in a movie-long quarrel before the long-awaiting final clinch. This is one musical comedy where there's definitely more comedy than music, what with a chucklesome supporting cast including Ned Sparks, Allen Jenkins, Alice White and veteran vaudevillians Joseph Cawthorn and Al Shean (of "Gallegher and Shean" fame). Despite such heady competition, the film is stolen by the hilarious Frank and Milt Britton Band, a zany precursor to the Spike Jones aggregation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Andrew Stone's The Bachelor's Daughters has much of the nonsensical breeziness of Stone's earlier screwball comedy Hi Diddle Diddle; the stylistic link between the two properties is emphasized by the presence in both films of stars Adolphe Menjou and Billie Burke. The title characters are four merrily mercenary salesgirls: Eileen (Gail Russell), Terry (Ann Dvorak), Marta (Jane Wyatt) and Cynthia (Claire Trevor). Persuading distinguished-looking floorwalker Mr. Moody (Menjou) and shop assistant Molly (Burke) to pose as their wealthy parents, the girls rent a lavish Long Island mansion and pretend to be heiresses, for the express purpose of landing rich husbands. Eileen catches millionaire Bruce Farrington (John Whitney), Terry goes after Broadway impresario Diane (Russell Hicks), and Marta ends up with Schuyler Johson (played by famed concert pianist Eugene List), son of the owner of the store where she works. Only Cynthia fails in her mission, but there's still hope for her yet at the finale. In the process of snaring their mates, the bachelor's daughters learn the hard way that (all together now) Money Isn't Everything, while middle-aged Moody and Molly find true love without a price tag attached. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide