Robert Taylor Movies
Robert Taylor's cumbersome given name, Spangler Arlington Brugh, can be blamed on his father, a Nebraska doctor. As a high schooler, Taylor participated on the track team, won oratory awards, and played the cello (his first love) in the school band. Attending Pomona College to study music, Taylor became involved in student theatricals, where his uncommonly good looks assured him leading roles. Spotted by an MGM talent scout, the 23-year-old Taylor was signed to a contract with that studio -- though his first film, Handy Andy (1934), would be a loanout to Fox. Taylor was given an extended, publicly distributed "screen test" when he starred in the MGM "Crime Does Not Pay" short, playing a handsome gangster who tries to avoid arrest by purposely disfiguring his face with acid. It was another loanout, to Universal for Magnificent Obsession (1935), that truly put Taylor in the matinee-idol category. Too "pretty" to be taken seriously by the critics, Taylor had to endure some humiliating reviews during his first years in films; even when delivering a perfectly acceptable performance as Armand in Camille (1936), Taylor was damned with faint praise, reviewers commenting on how "surprised" they were that he could act. Nobody liked Taylor but his public and his coworkers, who were impressed by his cooperation and his willingness to give 110 percent of himself and his time on the set. Though never a great actor, Taylor was capable of being a very good one, as even a casual glance at Johnny Eager (1942) and Bataan (1942) will confirm. Taylor's contributions to the war effort included service as an Air Force flight instructor and his narration of the 1944 documentary The Fighting Lady. His film career in eclipse during the 1950s, Taylor starred for three years in the popular weekly police series Robert Taylor's Detectives (1959-1962); and when his friend, Ronald Reagan, opted for a full-time political career in 1965, Taylor succeeded Reagan as host/narrator of the Western anthology Death Valley Days. Robert Taylor was married twice, to actresses Barbara Stanwyck (they remained good friends long after the divorce) and Ursula Theiss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1934
Helen Hayes reportedly turned down the opportunity to play the title role in this dreary melodrama about self-sacrificing motherhood; the opportunity, if that's the word, instead went to Viennese import Mady Christians. After killing her abusive husband (Paul Harvey) in self-defense, downtrodden Naomi Trice (Christians) dusts herself off and moves to another city with her four young children, vowing to pay for her crime when the youngsters are old enough to make their own way in life. Years later, Naomi is not only the proprietor of a successful dress designing business but is also courted by a kind newspaper editor, Pat Naylor (Charles Bickford). But when her oldest son Curtis (William Henry) is badly hurt in a fight with his sister's unsympathetic boyfriend (a very young Robert Taylor), Naomi vows to live up to her old promise if only he will pull through. The young man recovers and Naomi goes on trial for the murder of her husband but refuses to allow her children to give crucial testimony that may lead to an acquittal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mady Christians, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1934
In this domestic comedy, a small town druggist is married to a woman with social aspirations. To achieve her goal, she cons him into selling his store to a chain. She then puts on all sorts of phony airs and proceeds to make a pompous fool of herself. Meanwhile he amuses himself with hobbies. The two go on a New Orleans vacation. There a gigolo begins being overly attentive to his wife, who is still putting on the style. This makes her husband so jealous that he dons a Tarzan suit and winds up in jail. Later his wife settles down, he gets his store back, and harmony resumes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Peggy Wood, (more)
- 1934
In this melodrama, a devoted father begins feeling unappreciated at home and so embarks upon a clandestine friendship with a former employee. The children see them together and assume it's an affair. They beg him to end the relationship. Later the woman herself talks to the kids, assuring them that the friendship is platonic and chiding them gently on their thoughtless behavior towards their dad. In the end, the family reconciles and the woman goes on with her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Morgan, Binnie Barnes, (more)
- 1935
In this drama, a prominent Broadway producer's daughter inherits a fortune when her father dies. Included in the estate is a nightclub managed by an unscrupulous louse who teams up with the sneaky executor to steal her inheritance. Fortunately, after meeting his pretty young victim, the manager changes his tune and decides to help her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1935
Big Mike (Wallace Beery) is a tough Army flyer who longs to see his son Little Mike (Robert Young) take to the air like himself. Little Mike's excessive attraction to Dare (Rosalind Russell) strains his relationship with his father, but eventually he finds the right woman -- Skip (Maureen O'Sullivan), the daughter of Army commandant General Carter (Lewis Stone) -- and an airborne Little Mike does his father proud. Bit-Part Alert: Watch for the brief appearance of then up-and-coming MGM contract player Robert Taylor as Jaskerelli. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Robert Young, (more)
- 1935
A man who has ruined a woman's life attempts to make good on his debt to her (and his conscience) in this sudsy drama based on a best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. Bobby Merrick (Robert Taylor) is an alcoholic ne'er-do-well whose recklessness causes the death of Dr. Hudson, a respected physician. Helen Hudson (Irene Dunne), the doctor's widow, turns away from Merrick's apology, only to walk into traffic. She's struck by a car and blinded. Shaken by the tragic events, Merrick gives up alcohol and begins studying to become a doctor and right the wrong he's done to Helen. As he begins spending time at the family's estate through a mutual friend, Helen grows fond of his frequent visits, and they begin to fall in love. However, when Helen learns that Merrick is responsible for her husband's death and her own accident, she moves away to a place where he cannot find her. In time, Merrick becomes a gifted eye surgeon, and he learns that he could restore Helen's sight with a delicate and dangerous operation that he has never performed before. Magnificent Obsession was a box-office success that spawned a 1954 remake directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1935
The Broadway Melody of 1936 was designed as the first of many annual follow-ups to "MGM"'s early-talkie triumph Broadway Melody (1929). Jack Benny is atypically cast as a Walter Winchell type who carries on a feud with Broadway producer Robert Taylor. Into this fray comes Taylor's childhood sweetheart Eleanor Powell, who wants to play a role in Taylor's upcoming production. Already under fire from Benny for exhibiting favoritism, Taylor says no. Powell gets into the show anyway, disguising herself as a celebrated Parisian stage star. The film's song highlights (one of them sung by Robert Taylor!) include "I've Got a Feeling You're Fooling", "Broadway Rhythm", and a holdover from the original Broadway Melody, "You Are My Lucky Star." Spotlighted in several numbers is the song 'n' dance team of Buddy and Vilma Ebsen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell, (more)
- 1935
Having gained considerable audience attention for his appearance in the 1935 "Crime Does Not Pay" 2-reeler Buried Loot, new MGM contractee Robert Taylor was awarded with his first starring feature, the modestly budgeted Murder in the Fleet. Taylor is cast as Lt. Tom Randolph, one of several naval officers confined to his ship when a murder occurs. The victim was in the process of delivering the components for a new electrical flight-control device, thus everyone concerned is suspected of being a killer, or a foreign agent, or both. Several more murders occur before Lt. Randolph takes matters in his own hands and tracks down the culprit. The supporting cast is a film-buff's dream, including such favorites as Mischa Auer, Tom Dugan and Ward Bond in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1935
A crusading physician supervises his own life-threatening operation in this farfetched potboiler from MGM, which marked Robert Taylor's first co-starring assignment. Taylor plays handsome Dr. Tommy Ellis, whose proposal of marriage is at first turned down by surgical nurse Madge Wilson (Virginia Bruce). But when Madge's paramour, the upstanding young Dr. Bill Morgan (Chester Morris), takes a leave of his principles to cater to a rich hypochondriac (Billie Burke), she gives Tommy her "yes." Shot by an escaping convict (Arthur Vinton), Bill survives a risky operation conducted by Tommy under his own guidance, and when he recovers, he finally pops the question to Madge. With Tommy's blessing, the nurse agrees to become Mrs. Morgan. Society Doctor, which was originally reviewed as Under Eight Hours, was directed by George B. Seitz, the veteran craftsman who later helmed MGM's "Dr. Kildare" films. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1936
In this drama, a vicious valet plans to kill another servant after he learns that she has secretly married his boss's son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
One Horse Town is the TV title for MGM's 1936 version Small Town Girl (the new title was bestowed to avoid confusion with the 1953 remake). Robert Taylor plays an irresponsible playboy who is arrested in a backwater town for drunken driving. While intoxicated, Taylor proposes to local girl Janet Gaynor. She accepts, knowing full well that he wouldn't have popped the question had he been sober. Gaynor spends the rest of the film trying to reform Taylor and to get him to fall in love with her while he's got all his faculties--no small trick, in that her competition is sophisticated Binnie Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1936
In this polished soap opera from MGM, Robert Taylor plays Chris Claybourne, a dedicated scientist researching a possible cure for spotted fever. However, Chris has a dark side; he has a weakness for gambling and has fallen into debt with a gangster named Fish Eye (Joseph Calleia). While visiting a casino, Chris meets Rita Wilson (Barbara Stanwyck), a gambler's shill who does some modeling on the side. Chris and Rita quickly fall in love, and when Chris is due to leave for South America on a research expedition, Rita begs him to stay with her. However, Fish Eye has been leaning on Chris for his money, and when he asks his brother Tom (John Eldridge) for a loan to pay off the debt, he agrees under one condition -- that Chris leave for South America right away, and without Rita. When Chris ships out, Rita believes that he left her behind because he didn't care for her, and to hurt him, she marries Tom and takes Chris's IOU. However, by the time Chris returns, Rita's marriage with Tom is in tatters and she's desperate to win back Chris's affection. In real life, Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck were an item while shooting His Brother's Wife, and they married three years later. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1936
Private Number is the old saw about the wealthy young man who marries his family's serving girl. This time Richard Winfield (Robert Taylor) is the handsome, aristocrat hero, while Ellen Neal (Loretta Young) is the gorgeous, low-born heroine. Though they oppose the match, Richard's parents cope with the situation as best they can, but arrogant family butler Wroxton (Basil Rathbone) works overtime to break up the happy couple. Wroxton, of course, is not entirely motivated by snobbery -- he has a craving for Ellen himself. Private Number is based on Cleave Kinkead's stage play Common Clay, previously filmed twice under that title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1936
The Gorgeous Hussy purports to be based on the life of Margaret "Peggy" O'Neill, the controversial wife of early 19th-century politician John Eaton, who served as cabinet minister during the Andrew Jackson presidency. Snubbed by the Washington elite because of her questionable background as a tavernkeeper's daughter, "Pothouse Peg" is championed by her longtime friend Jackson, who chooses to ignore the gossip-mongers and the scandal-provokers of the era. He even stands by Peggy's side when one of her admirers (Melvyn Douglas) is ignominiously killed by his enemies. Some historians believe that the "gorgeous hussy" and Jackson were themselves lovers, but this is never hinted at in the film, which is described in a foreword as "fiction founded upon historical fact." Joan Crawford wears an exhausting succession of gorgeous gowns as Peggy Eaton, but she can't do much to enliven her sketchily written role; one is aware that she brings disgrace to everyone she meets, but one is hard-pressed to understand why. Much better within the framework is Lionel Barrymore as Jackson, Beulah Bondi as "Old Hickory"'s pipe-smoking wife, Rachel, and Sidney Toler (two years away from Charlie Chan) as Daniel Webster. James Stewart is also in the film as one "Rowdy" Dow, a role he later chose to forget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, (more)
Greta Garbo enjoyed one of her greatest triumphs in this glossy adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' oft-filmed romantic tragedy. Here, Garbo stars as Marguerite Gauthier, who is born into humble circumstances but in time becomes Dame aux Camille, one of the most glamorous courtesans in Paris. Camille is kept by the wealthy and powerful Baron de Varville (Henry Daniell), but after many years of earning a good living from her beauty without finding true love, Camille's heart is stolen by Armand (Robert Taylor), a handsome but slightly naive young man who doesn't know how she came by her fortune. Armand is just as attracted to Camille as she is to him, and she's prepared to give up the Baron and his stipend to be with Armand. However, Armand's father (Lionel Barrymore) begs Camille to turn away from his son, knowing her scandalous past could ruin his future. Realizing the painful wisdom of this, Camille rejects Armand, who continues to pursue her even as Camille contracts a potentially fatal case of tuberculosis. Remarkably, even though this was one of Garbo's greatest commercial and critical successes, she would make only three more films before her retirement in 1941; Camille, however, would be filmed several more times following this version (most memorably by elegant sexploitation auteur Radley Metzger in 1969's Camille 2000). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1937
Based on fact, this turn-of-the-century crime drama stars Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck (husband and wife at the time). Taylor plays a seemingly disreputable young man who joins a gang of murderous bank robbers, headed by Victor McLaglen. Stanwyck is a beer-hall entertainer, who disapproves of Taylor's activities and tries to reform him. She needn't bother: Taylor is in reality an undercover detective, on a top secret mission for President William McKinley. So anxious is Taylor to bring McLaglen to justice that he allows himself to be convicted of murder. The agent is confident that the president will keep him from hanging--but McKinley is assassinated before he can intervene. Stanwyck rescues Taylor by pleading his case with McKinley's successor, Teddy Roosevelt (Sidney Blackmer). The plot of This is My Affair was impressive enough to inspire at least one imitation: Night Riders, a 1939 Republic western wherein the martyred president who shares the hero's secret is James A. Garfield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1937
A golddigger finds that romance doesn't always equal finance in this comedy. Crystal Wetherby (Jean Harlow) is an American widow left stranded in London with a stack of debts incurred by her late husband and barely a shilling to her name. Raymond Dabney (Robert Taylor) is the black sheep of a formerly wealthy family who has just been released from prison for fraud and is looking for work. Crystal hires Raymond to watch over her home so that her creditors won't repossess her belongings; Raymond soon learns that Crystal is being courted by his brother Claude (Reginald Owen), much to Raymond's amusement, since both Crystal and Claude are motivated less by love than the mistaken belief that the other has money. However, Crystal and Raymond become increasingly fond of each other, even though they know they're both flat broke. The supporting cast features two of Old Hollywood's favorite U.K. expatriates, E.E. Clive and Una O'Connor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Harlow, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1937
This third entry in MGM's "Broadway Melody" series may not have been the biggest or best, but thanks to a masterpiece of casting it is one of the most memorable of the batch. Signed by MGM in 1935, 15-year-old Judy Garland made her first feature-film appearance under the aegis of Leo the Lion, immediately capturing the hearts of moviegoers everywhere by singing "You Made Me Love You" to a photograph of Clark Gable (a sequence that has since been excerpted countless times in TV and movie documentaries). She later shares a song-and-dance number with gangly Buddy Ebsen, making an impressive entrance in a white midget car (Ebsen would later be cast as the Tin Man in Judy's The Wizard of Oz, only to be replaced by Jack Haley when he fell ill during shooting). The presence of Garland, coupled with several superlative dance solos by Eleanor Powell and a spectacular musical finale, tends to make one forget about the plot, which has something to do with a racehorse owned by heroine Sally Lee (Powell). The horse wins the Grand Steeplechase, the prize money is poured into the stage production previously bankrolled by Steve Raleigh (Robert Taylor), and the Show Goes On. Movies fans of the 1930s with long memories were gratified to see such old vaudeville favorites as Sophie Tucker and Willie Howard in the cast, even if their material wasn't quite up to standard. Interestingly, one of the best comic turns is performed by "professional sneezer" Robert Wildhack -- leaving another famed movie sneezer, Billy Gilbert, with virtually nothing to do! On the other hand, Robert Benchley is his usual droll self, managing to score a comic bullseye despite all the lavish and noisy competition around him. Broadway Melody of 1938 was followed by a 1940 sequel, distinguished by the "challenge dance" between returnee Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell, (more)
- 1938
- NR
Based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, Three Comrades represented one of the few successful screenwriting efforts of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in Germany in the years just following World War I, the film stars Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone and Robert Young as three battle-weary, thoroughly disillusioned returning soldiers. The three friends pool their savings and open an auto-repair shop, and it is this that brings them in contact with wealthy motorist Lionel Atwill--and with Atwill's lovely travelling companion Margaret Sullavan. Taylor begins a romance with Sullavan, who soon joins the three comrades, making the group a jovial, fun-seeking foursome (this plot element bears traces of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, as well as the 1931 film The Last Flight). Though Sullavan suffers from tuberculosis (her shady past is only alluded to), she is encouraged by her male companions to fully enjoy what is left of her life. This becomes increasingly difficult when one of the comrades, Young, is killed during a political riot (it's a Nazi riot, though not so-labelled by ever-careful MGM). In the end, the four comrades are only two in number, with nothing but memories to see them through the cataclysmic years to come. Despite its Hollywoodized bowdlerization of the Remarque original, Three Comrades remains a poignant, haunting experience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Margaret Sullavan, (more)
- 1938
Not a remake of the 1932 James Cagney vehicle of the same name, The Crowd Roars is set in the sweat-stained world of professional boxing. Handy with his fists, young Tommy McCoy (Robert Taylor) is virtually pushed into the ring by his alcoholic father Brian (Frank Morgan). During his climb to the championship, Tommy accidentally kills one of his opponents in the ring, and is thereafter tagged "Killer McCoy". He then falls in with crooked gambling czar Jim Cain (Edward Arnold), who uses various methods of persuasion to get Tommy to do his bidding. Though the film at first seems to holding the fickle fight fans responsible for the cesspool that professional boxing had become by 1938, the blame is ultimately laid squarely on the shoulders of men like Jim Cain. The Crowd Roars was remade by Mickey Rooney as Killer McCoy (1947). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold, (more)
- 1938
A Yank at Oxford was filmed in England at MGM's "sister studio", Elstree. Robert Taylor plays Lee Sheridan, an arrogant young American scholar/athlete who intends to show the "Brits" a thing or two while attending Oxford University. His abrasive attitude grates against the Oxonian students, who retaliate by subjecting Sheridan to a rather humiliating hazing. Romance enters the picture in the form of Molly Beaumont (Maureen O'Sullivan), the sister of Sheridan's chief academic rival Paul Beaumont (Griffith Jones). When Paul faces disgrace over a breach of student ethics, Sheridan nobly shoulders the blame, simultaneously endangering his own future at Oxford and proving that he's really a "right guy" underneath. All is forgiven during the annual rowing competition against Cambridge, with Sheridan coming through in jolly good fashion. Cast as campus vamp Elsa Craddock is the stunningly beautiful Vivien Leigh, still two years away from Gone With the Wind. A Yank at Oxford was remade in 1984 as Oxford Blues, and mercilessly lampooned by Laurel & Hardy in 1940's A Chump at Oxford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1939
An heiress gets a crash course in the simple life when she marries a penniless man in this comedy. Calvin Jordan (Henry O'Neill) is the prosperous owner of a successful steel mill, and the apple of his eye is his daughter Cora (Myrna Loy). Cora stands to inherit Calvin's firm, and he's taken it upon himself to find a good husband for her. However, free-spirited Cora doesn't think much of her father's skills as a matchmaker, and makes it clear she's going to marry whomever she pleases. One day, Cora meets Bill Overton (Robert Taylor), a jobless and homeless man camping out on a park bench. After bumming fifty cents from a cop, Bill offers to take Cora out to dinner; instead, they end up gambling, and turn the four bits into a bankroll. After a few too many celebratory drinks, Bill and Cora decide true love and good fortune are shining upon them, and they get married the same evening. However, the next day the newlyweds realize they are indeed husband and wife, and after defying her father Cora can't count on her dad's help in paying the bills anymore. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1939
It's "Never the Twain Shall Meet" time again in the MGM romantic melodrama Lady of the Tropics. The lady in question is half-caste Manon De Vargnes (Hedy Lamarr), a resident of prewar Saigon. American playboy Bill Carey (Robert Taylor) falls madly in love with Manon, but both have their crosses to bear: she is affianced to an Indochinese prince, and he is unable to secure a passport to bring her back to the United States. Adding to the dilemma is influential bureaucrat Pierre Delaroch (Joseph Schildkraut), who agrees to arrange an exit visa for Manon in exchange for a few "favors." Nothing good can come from this, and nothing does. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, (more)
- 1939
Directed with customary haste by Woody Van Dyke, Stand Up and Fight is an excellent dual vehicle for veteran Wallace Beery and up-and-coming Robert Taylor. Set in the American west in the mid-19th century, the story concerns the efforts of empire-building Blake Cantrell (Taylor) to construct a railroad across the wide open spaces. Cantrell is faced with obstacles at every turn, none more obstreperous than stagecoach-line owner Captain Boss Starkey (Beery), The film traces Cantrell's progress from drunken roisterer to pioneering visionary, and Starkey's parallel transition from deadly foe to trusted friend. The villlain of the piece is slave-trader Arnold (Charles Bickford), who exploits his friendship with Starkey to Cantrell's disadvantage. Romance enters the picture in the form of Southern belle Susan Griffith (Florence Rice), who has almost nothing to do but look demure and lovely in a series of attractive period costumes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Robert Taylor, (more)
