Anthony Bushell Movies

A Woman Commands is often cited as silent screen star Pola Negri's first talking picture. Actually, it was her first American talkie and almost her last, posting a $265,000 loss for RKO Radio. Ordered to marry Serbian king Alexander (Roland Young), noblewoman Maria Draga (Negri) does what she's told, though her heart belongs to dashing army captain Pasitch (Basil Rathbone). Ultimately, the heroine nearly brings about Pasitch's total downfall, but she redeems herself by sacrificing her life to save his. Negri's thick Teutonic accent is not as much of a detriment as some historians have claimed: the problem lies in the terrible dialogue she is called upon to speak. Such was the failure of A Woman Commands that Pola Negri immediately returned to her adopted homeland of Germany, where she remained until WWII necessitated her second Hollywood comeback in 1943's Hi Diddle Diddle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Nicholas Ray's WWII drama, two British officers, Captain Leith (Richard Burton) and Major Brand (German character actor Curd Jürgens, who would later play Bond foe Karl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me), a South African, are being considered to lead a daring raid to steal crucial documents from a Nazi stronghold in Libya. The two don't seem particularly fond of each other. Brand's wife, Jane (Ruth Roman of Strangers on a Train), arrives on the base. There's an odd awkwardness when Brand introduces her to Leith at the officers' club. It turns out the two already know each other, intimately. They were romantically involved long ago, until Leith broke it off without warning. Jane later met Brand. Leith and Jane keep their relationship a secret from Brand, but he realizes something's up when he goes out for a bit and comes back to find them dancing together. He later gets angry when his wife slips up and refers to Leith as "Jimmy." Brand and Leith are chosen to lead the mission together. Jane says goodbye to Leith, and Wilkins (Nigel Green of The Ipcress File) and some other soldiers see them together. The raid goes fairly smoothly, until Brand can't bring himself to kill a German sentry, and Leith feels compelled to step in and do it for him. Brand's resentment of Leith grows. The team steals the documents and heads out across the desert to make their escape. They're attacked by a German patrol, and after the melee, Brand arouses suspicious when he orders Leith to stay with three badly wounded soldiers while the rest of the group leaves for the rendezvous point. Bitter Victory is based on the novel by René Hardy. Jean-Luc Godard famously said of the film in his review, "Nicholas Ray is cinema." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

This World War I romance stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Anthony Bushell as two British officers who happen to be brothers. Both men fall for the same girl (Rose Hobart) while on furlough, resulting in dissention at the Front. What might have been a festival of cliches emerges as a superior drama, thanks to the clever (but unobtrusive) direction of Allan Dwan. In one of his first truly worthwhile roles, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is utterly convincing as a young Briton who must balance duty with desire; Anthony Bashell is far less believable, but can be forgiven his excesses since he later retired from acting to become a director. Previously produced as a silent film, Chances was based on a story by A. Hamilton Gibbs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this murder mystery, Vicar Casson looks into the poisoning of a wealthy man. He soon finds that the man they convicted, the fiance of the rich man's niece, was innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A fair stab at yet another World War II comedy, this film by Michael Relph features the humorous antics of an ENSA troupe (the British equivalent of the American USO) and an absurd involvement with an army major (Alfred Marks) that leads to the capture of a German commanding officer (Marius Goring). The troupe of entertainers includes a pair of seasoned crooners, a level-headed piano player, a leader who seems to fail equally well at comedy and singing, his wife, and a few others. This disparate group gets mixed up in the Brit Major's agenda and precipitates a series of unexpected circumstances that somehow lead everyone to bumble through to ultimate triumph. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Although Neil Grant's stage play Dusty Ermine enjoyed a 250-performance run in London, screenwriters Du Garde Peach and Michael Hankinson could not resist the temptation to "improve" the play for its 1936 film version. Surprisingly, the film actually did turn out to be better than the play, no small thanks to its star, the ever-delightful Roland Young. The story concerns a master forger named Jim Kent (Young) and his equally larcenous nephew Gilbert (Arthur Macrae). Upon discovering that Gilbert has followed in his crooked footsteps, Jim determines that the boy shall turn honest, and to that end he takes the blame when Gilbert is arrested in the company of an international counterfeiting gang. But Gilbert has no intention of going straight and continues manufacturing "funny money." Realizing at long last that Jim is not the culprit -- after all, he's safely behind bars -- the police track down Gilbert, rescuing him from an Alpine avalanche and finally convincing him to pursue a less-risky occupation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dolores Costello spent the twilight months of her Warner Bros. contract in such trifles as Expensive Women. The star is cast as wealthy society girl Constance Newton, a "girl of whims" who flits from one man to the next like a butterfly. After a couple of desultory affairs with Bobby Brandon (Joe Donahue) and Neil Hartley (Warren William), she finds true love in the form of Arthur Raymond (Anthony Bushell). Even so, she's hesitant about making a lifetime commitment -- and besides, Arthur is already married. A few days later, Constance is back with the reckless Bobby, a reunion that ends in disaster when Arthur kills Bobby in a fight. Not wishing to ruin two lives, Constance takes the blame for the killing, which is ruled by the jury as a suicide. Having learned her lesson, Constance is consoled by Neil Hartley, who returns from nowhere to make her his wife. It was supposed to be a heavy drama, but audiences tended to laugh in the wrong places. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the stage play by former newspaperman Louis Weitzenkorn, Five Star Final is an uncompromising look at the consequences of journalistic irresponsibility. Hounded by his publishers to pep up circulation with a sensational story, newspaper editor Edward G. Robinson decides to revive public interest in a long-ago murder case. He discovers that a woman (Sally Starr) who'd shot her lover nearly three decades earlier is now living under a new name and is married to a pillar of society (H.B. Warner). The woman's daughter (Marian Marsh) is just about to marry the son (Anthony Bushell) of another wealthy couple. Robinson sends one of his slimier reporters (Boris Karloff), a onetime divinical student who'd been expelled for sexual misconduct, to visit the woman and secure a photograph. The underhanded reporter disguises himself as the clergyman who will officiate at the wedding, worms his way into the family's confidence, and appropriates the photo. When the story hits the papers, the woman desperately tries to call Robinson and ask him to cease and desist, but Robinson is unmoved. The disgraced woman commits suicide, as does her husband a few moments later. The groom's parents snobbishly try to call off the wedding, but the groom stands by his fiancee's side and is disinherited. The grief-maddened daughter breaks into Robinson's office with a gun, threatening to kill him for ruining her mother. She is calmed down by her fiance, who warns Robinson that he himself will come back for revenge if the newspaper ever mentions the dead woman's name again. Five Star Final was remade in 1936 as Two Against the World, this time set in a radio station instead of a newspaper office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

High Treason is a British espionage thriller filmed in the style of such American "docudramas" as The House on 92nd Street. Enemy saboteurs infiltrate the industrial suburbs of London, intending to plant high-powered bombs at several factory sites. Their motivation is to cripple the British economy and enable subversive forces to insinuate themselves in the government. The saboteurs are thwarted not by the traditional counterintelligence agents but by workaday London police officers. Director Roy Boulting also cowrote the screenplay of High Treason, which moves swiftly enough for its plot inconsistencies to be ignored. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

R.C. Sherriff's forceful drama about men at war, a long running hit in London as well as New York, is brought to the screen in this film adaptation. Capt. Denis Stanhope (Colin Clive) is the commander of a military unit during World War I; constantly bombarded by enemy fire and hemmed in by his superiors, Stanhope no longer believes in the cause for which he fights, and is despondent over the thought he is sending young men to a pointless death. Depressed, Stanhope has turned to drink, and often squabbles with Lt. Osborne (Ian MacLaren), his second-in-command, as well as berating nd Lt. Raleigh (David Manners), whose sister is Stanhope's beloved. As his confidence begins to collapse, Stanhope believes he has lost the respect of his men, until he secretly obtains a letter Raleigh is writing to his sister. Journey's End was the first major success for director James Whale; he soon signed a deal to work in the United States, and he cast his Journey's End leading man, Colin Clive, in one of his first American projects, Frankenstein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Richard Dix plays a working stiff who submits to an odd experiment. It is scientist Allen Kearns' contention that a man and a woman can be made to fall in love via prearranged circumstances. Kearns introduces Dix as a society gent and sets up a marriage with wealthy Renee Macready. Nature proves stronger than Nurture, and Dix ends up with Lois Wilson--Kearns' own fiancee. Lovin' the Ladies was actually based on the stage play I Love You, written by the film's producer, William LeBaron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Widely regarded as one of the best and most intelligent British war dramas of the 1950s, The Battle of River Plate is the story of Britain's first significant naval victory in WW2. John Gregson heads the cast as Captain Bell, skipper of the Exeter, one of several vessels engaged in pursuit of the "indestructable" Geman battleship Graf Spee. Taking refuge in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, the Graf Spee is covertly protected by the Uruguayan government. Eventually, however, German captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch) is faced with a difficult decision: either stand his ground and fight a losing battle against the Exeter and its sister ships, or scuttle the Graf Spee and save the lives of his crew. Battle of the River Plate was released in the US as Pursuit of the Graf Spee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide