Louise Carter Movies

After minor film star Hope Hampton married her producer, Jules Brulatour, she went into semi-retirement. This independently made drama was one of her occasional forays back into filmdom. Novelist Howard Bronson (Dave Powell) is having trouble with the latest book he is writing and he brainstorms with illustrator Warren Carr (Lowell Sherman). Bronson is in luck because Carr's life provides him with the material he needs: Even though the artist is married to a wonderful woman, Hilda (Hampton), and they have an adorable little girl, he finds himself attracted to his vampy model, Nona Boyd (Mary Thurman). Carr ultimately breaks up with Hilda, who pleads with Nona to no avail. Carr marries the model and has a child, while his daughter with Hilda dies. Bronson befriends Hilda and tries to help her win her husband back. At his suggestion, she goes back to her former career as a cabaret dancer and sure enough, Carr comes around. But by then, Bronson has discovered he loves Hilda himself, even though he is sure his affection is not returned. He decides to burn his unfinished novel, but Hilda shows up on his doorstep and tells him that she has left Carr for good, and she has arrived to help him finish his book -- with the typical happy ending. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Madge Kennedy's spirited personality is wasted in this heavy-handed drama. She plays Sheila Kane, the actress wife of film star Neil Keeley (Niles Welch). Keeley, a womanizer and heavy drinker, severely neglects both his wife and his work. Along comes Harrison Halliday (Welch, in a dual role), looking for a job as an extra. Producer O'Malley (J. Moy Bennett), seeing Halliday's resemblance to Keeley, hires the young man to double for the star. Harrison is much needed -- during Keeley's frequent absences from the studio, the double is used for long shots. Ultimately, Keeley is killed in a car wreck, and the studio convinces Halliday to take over his identity. He falls in love with Sheila, but must overcome blackmail by a former girlfriend of Keeley's and a lawyer who knows his true identity. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

As corny as its Horatio Alger title, Striving for Fortune cast two-fisted action star George Walsh as Tom Sheridan. A minor employee of a major steamship company, Tom hopes to make a success of his life but is thwarted at every turn by a treacherous flunkey from another shipping firm. The villain's perfidy reaches its apex when he sabotages the revolutionary new ship developed by Tom's company. With pluck, luck, and lots of muscle, Tom saves the ship, routs the villain, and lands a big promotion. Oh, yes: he also gets the girl ($Beryl Roberts). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This adaptation of the Puccini opera jettisons all the music and retains only David Belasco's timeworn libretto. American actress Sylvia Sidney plays Japanese maiden Cio-Cio San, while Cary Grant is the dashing American navy lieutenant Pinkerton. The girl and the officer have a brief affair, resulting in a child. Cio-Cio San blissfully awaits the return of Pinkerton, who arrives back in Japan with his American wife in tow. The heartbroken Japanese girl bids farewell to her callous lover, then commits hara-kiri. The absence of Puccini's brilliant music makes the plot contrivances of Madame Butterfly seem creakier than ever, though Sylvia Sidney--in real life a New York Jewish girl-- is moderately convincing as the Oriental heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an old sea captain and his feisty daughter are squatting upon the land of another. The trouble begins when their humble home burns down and the old salt is falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned. To make matters worse, the daughter is then wrongly ostracized for being pregnant. This causes her boy friend, their landlord's son, to dump her. Fortunately, she ends up marrying him in the end and happiness finally ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Ernst Lubitsch gained international acclaim for his sophisticated romantic comedies, but he also had a talent for more serious themes, as evidenced by this 1932 drama. French musician Paul (Phillips Holmes) joined the Army at the height of WWI. On the field of battle, Paul shot and killed his German friend Walter Holderlin (Tom Douglas), another musician enlisted in his country's army. One year after the Armistice, Paul is still haunted by the memory of Walter's death, and he travels to Germany to locate Walter's father, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore). Holderlin, his wife (Louise Carter), and Walter's fiancee, Elsa (Nancy Carroll are still shattered by the death of their loved one. Paul informs them of his friendship with their son, but cannot bring himself to unveil his responsibility for Walter's death. The Holderlins welcome Paul in friendship, and gradually, he settles into the household, bringing to both parents a new lease on life. Because of his lingering guilt, he feels tempted to run away, but Elsa discovers the truth about Paul and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, the presence of a Frenchman drums up hostilities in the Holderlins' village and the local women gossip continually about the developing relationship between Paul and Elsa. Perhaps because moviegoers completely snubbed The Man I Killed (also released as Broken Lullaby) and turned it into a financial detriment for Paramount, Lubitsch returned to lighter themes after this anti-war drama, and it was the last "serious" picture he would make before his death in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Often referred to as an imitation of Warner's legendary prison drama I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), RKO's stirring Hell's Highway was actually released a few months earlier. The two films were in production at the same time, but RKO was determined to beat the competition (which also included Universal's Laughter in Hell, 1933) and not a few corners were cut. All three films were set in a generic Southern state (read Georgia) and depicted a horrid penal system more akin to the Middle Ages than the supposedly enlightened 1930s. In Hell's Highway, the chain gang prisoners wear uniforms with a large target printed on the back and the torture instrument du jour is a so-called sweatbox, in constant operation so that unscrupulous contractor Billings (Oscar Apfel) may construct his "Liberty Highway" on time and under budget. When a prisoner dies from exposure in the dreaded contraption, Duke Ellis (Richard Dix) concocts a plan to escape. The escape comes to an abrupt halt with the sudden arrival of his kid brother, Johnny (Tom Brown). The latter ends up in the sweatbox, but Duke has the kid transferred to office duty by using a bit of blackmail. There is a climactic prison riot, during which Duke is killed after saving his brother once again. Or at least that was what a preview audience saw. The death of the film's hero proved so shocking that RKO hastily filmed an alternative ending and Hell's Highway, as it survives today, concludes with Billings being charged with murder (the sweatbox situation) and Duke asked to testify against him. Typical of pre-code Hollywood, Hell's Highway features an openly gay prisoner (who bats his eyes at the prison guards), several scenes of torture, an appearance of near equality between black and white inmates, a bible-quoting polygamist (Charles Middleton), a wife-murdering guard (Warner Richmond), and, for added verisimilitude, a handicapped character who, when mortally wounded during the riot, signs his farewell to this world. Hell's Highway may not have enjoyed the status of I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, but it remains a powerful indictment of the Georgian penal system of 1931 and a fine, well-acted film in its own right. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Marion Davies and Billie Dove, both veterans of the real-life Ziegfeld Follies, star in the entertaining comedy-drama Blondie of the Follies. Having both grown up in the New York tenement district, Blondie (Davies) and Lurleen (Dove) hope to escape their shabby surroundings in favor of the show-business world. But while Lurleen takes "the easiest path," sleeping her way to the top and living in luxury as the kept woman of playboy Robert Montgomery, Blondie does her best to hold on to her virtue while climbing the rungs of fame and fortune. The rivalry between the two girls reaches a fever pitch when Lurleen inadvertently causes Blondie to suffer a debilitating injury during a particularly treacherous Follies production number. Sticking fast to her principles, Blondie ultimately wins Montgomery, whereupon she and Lurleen renew their rocky friendship. The film's highlight is a delightful party scene in which Marion Davies and Jimmy Durante perform a devastating send-up of Greta Garbo and John Barrymore in Grand Hotel. Blondie of the Follies might have even been better had it been shorter; at 90 minutes, however, it veers towards repetition and predictability in the final reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama, set within a boarding house, centers around a pregnant show girl abandoned by her boyfriend, a married man who conveniently returns to his wife. The despairing young woman considers ending her life, but is talked out of it by an aged couple. They themselves end up committing suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

John Ford directed this emotional drama, which was a considerable change of pace from the westerns and war pictures for which he was best known. Hannah Jessop (Henrietta Crosman) fears being abandoned by her son Jim (Norman Foster), and she doesn't approve of his romance with Mary Saunders (Marian Nixon). When Hannah discovers that Jim and Mary plan to wed, she sends her son off to fight in WWI, unaware that Mary is carrying his child. Jim is killed in combat just as Mary is giving birth, and while Hannah is crushed by the loss of her son, she cannot forgive Mary or abide her grandson, Jim, Jr. (Jay Ward). Years later, Hannah is prodded into joining a group of women who lost their sons in the war on a visit to the battlefields of Europe; en route, she meets Mrs. Hatfield (Lucille La Verne), whose warmth and gracious acceptance of her misfortune forces Hannah to take a look at herself and her attitudes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Overworked and fearing that life is passing her by, eminent plastic surgeon Margaret "Peggy" Simmons (Ann Harding) takes an impromptu trip to California in this lifeless romance from RKO. She meets and falls in love with playboy Bobby Preble (Robert Young), who seems to sustain himself by little more than the ability to party and fly an airplane. Much to the consternation of fellow physician Dr. Heppling (Nils Asther), Peggy accepts Bobby's impulsive proposal. But life among the young elite does not prove as fulfilling as Peggy had hoped for, especially when flighty debutante Lee Joyce (Sari Maritza) reenters the picture. "I let myself forget that I was grown up," our heroine sighs before falling into the arms of the always-accommodating Dr. Heppling. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

W.C. Fields stars in a remake of his silent comedy So's Your Old Man. Fields plays Sam Bisbee, an erstwhile inventor who is the laughingstock of his small town. Returning in defeat from a disastrous big-city demonstration of his latest invention, Sam makes the acquaintance of a beautiful young woman (Adrienne Ames) who happens to be an incognito foreign princess. After Bisbee tells her of how he'd like to be a success for the sake of his family, the princess decides to use her celebrity to Sam's benefit. She arrives in his town and lets it be known of her high regard for the downtrodden Bisbee. Suddenly Sam is the town's big shot, enabling him to merchandise his inventions and do right by his wife and daughter. Sam earns the respect he's so long deserved--but he's never completely convinced that the princess is who she claims to be, and keeps congratulating her on her "racket." Based on a story by Julian Street, You're Telling Me is climaxed by a sidesplitting recreation of W.C. Fields' Ziegfeld Follies golf routine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this fluffy romance, a young woman fights against the narrow-minded residents of her small town. The trouble begins when a young woman flees her boarding school to stay with her retired aunt, a former actress, who try as she might, has never been welcomed into the snobbish community in which she resides. The young woman too, is shunned and ends up being victimized in witchcraft trial and ducked into a pool of water. A handsome newspaper editor arrives to check out the story, and he and the girl fall in love. In the end, she moves to New York; when he gets a good job at a New York paper, he moves there too, and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide