Fred Walton Movies

David O. Selznick's first independent production upheld the producer's tradition, established at Paramount, RKO and MGM, of bringing the "classics" to the screen. Adapted by Hugh Walpole from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Little Lord Fauntleroy is set in the late 19th century. After establishing Freddie Bartholomew as a likeable Brooklyn boy who can handle himself in a scrap--with the assistance of his roughneck pal Mickey Rooney, of course--the film introduces us to Bartholomew's mother, played by Dolores Costello-Barrymore (though divorced from John Barrymore, Mrs. Costello-Barrymore was still billng herself by her married name). Costello-Barrymore is the widow of a titled Englishman, whose father, the aristocratic Sir C. Aubrey Smith, detests all Americans with equal fervor. Upon discovering that Bartholomew is the rightful heir to his fortune, Smith demands that Costello-Barrymore deliver the boy to his sprawling English country estate. Now addressed by one and all as Lord Fauntleroy, Bartholomew chafes at the restrictions imposed upon him by his station in life. The boy's good nature and forthrightedness wins his grandfather's respect-and, eventually, the old man's love. When pasty-faced Jackie Searl, a false claimant to Bartholomew's title, shows up, Bartholomew's American pals, led by Rooney, set things right. His hard heart softened at last, Smith stage-manages a happy reunion between Bartholomew and Costello-Barrymore. Expertly sidestepping the "sissy" onus that has been unfairly placed upon the original Burnett novel, Little Lord Fauntleroy scored well at the box office. Other versions of this venerable tale have starred Mary Pickford (as both Fauntleroy and his mother) and Ricky Schroder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Meredith Nicholson, The House of 1000 Candles is one of the slickest films ever to emerge from the Nat Levine unit at Republic. Phillips Holmes stars as diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel (Rosita Moreno), who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered by sinister master spy Sebastian (Irving Pichel), owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles. Realizing that Tony is the only person who can decipher the message, Sebastian kidnaps Tony's sweetheart Carol (Mae Clarke), threatening to kill her if our hero doesn't cooperate. Rescued by his faithful valet (Fred Walton), Tony and Carol make their escape then expose the secret behind Sebastian's insidiously complex espionage network. Many reviewers in 1936 compared House of 1000 Candles to the best that Alfred Hitchcock had to offer -- quite a coup for director Arthur Lubin, a man best known for his Abbott & Costello and "Francis the Talking Mule" pictures! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Capra's seminal screwball comedy, which won all five major Academy Awards for 1934, is still as breezy and beguiling today. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled heiress who has married fortune-hunting aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas), despite her father (Walter Connolly)'s objections. To keep Ellie from marrying this lothario, her father has been holding her prisoner aboard his yacht. But Ellie bolts from the yacht, swims ashore in her clothes, and eventually slips onto a Greyhound bus bound for New York. Aboard the bus is newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who has recently been fired for drinking on the job. Peter gets the last seat on the bus -- but when he gets up to argue with the bus driver, Ellie takes his seat. Since it is the last seat on the bus, they have to share it. When Ellie has her purse stolen and she refuses to report it, Peter begins to suspect something. The next morning, they both miss the bus after a leisurely breakfast, and Peter reveals that he knows her identity. She makes a deal with him: if he helps her get to New York, he can write a scoop about her for his paper. Peter thinks she is a spoiled brat, however, and refuses a monetary bribe: "I'm not interested in your money or your problem. You, King Westley, your father -- you're all a lot of hooey to me!" But as they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the gruff newspaperman and the spoiled rich girl, thrown together by circumstances, fall in love with each other. This movie set the pace for the "screwball" comedy, the witty and romantic clash of temperaments between a man and a woman mismatched in both personality and social position, a type of movie often associated with Katherine Hepburn in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and, with Spencer Tracy, Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), and Desk Set (1957), among others. The only other movies to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay) were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Comparatively little known, this Monogram thriller is a remarkably concise adaptation of Wilkie Collins' lengthy 1868 mystery novel The Moonstone. On a dark and stormy night, Franklin Blake (David Manners) and his Hindu manservant Yandoo (John Davidson) arrive at Vandier Manor to deliver the Moonstone, a priceless gem stolen from an Indian temple way back in 1799. The recipient is Anne Verinder (Phyllis Barry), who despite being warned to lock the Moonstone away in the family vault, chooses to place it under her pillow. Sure enough, the gem is stolen during the night, right from under the sleeping Anne. Scotland Yard inspector Cliff (Charles Irwin) has quite an array of suspects to choose from, the most obvious of whom is usurious Septimus Lucker (Gustav von Seyfertitz). One murder and one assault later, Inspector Cliff reveals the genuine culprit -- who, in time-honored tradition, is the least likely and most cooperative of the suspects. The Moonstone is a prime example of what can be accomplished on a small budget with a little extra time and care. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1926 as Red Dice, The Big Gamble stars future "Hopalong Cassidy" Bill Boyd as a heavily-in-debt gambler. The suicidal Boyd makes a deal with mobster Warner Oland, whereby Oland will collect Boyd's huge insurance policy--provided he facilitates the gambler's entry into The Next World. When Boyd meets beautiful Dorothy Sebastian (then the actor's real-life wife), he finds a new reason for living. Oland, however, refuses to go back on the agreement, and proceeds with his plans to plant Boyd six feet under. The melodramatic elements of The Big Gamble are offset by the welcome comedy relief of James Gleason and ZaSu Pitts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in 1929 and released early in 1930, Dynamite was Cecil B. DeMille's first all-talking feature. As one observer has noted, this 128-minute opus has enough plots for seven pictures. The basic storyline here involves spoiled heiress Cynthia Crothers (Kay Johnson) who will lose her fortune if she isn't married right away. Her love Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel) isn't interested in marriage, so Crothers decides to wed convicted murderer Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford). Her plan: Derk will die, then she'll be a millionaire, free to chase after Towne without benefit of clergy. Unfortunately for Crothers, Derk is pardoned at the last minute when the real killer (Leslie Fenton) confesses. Crothers tries to drive Derk out of her life by humiliating him at a fancy party, only to discover that the conditions of her inheritance require that she live with her husband for a set period of time. She swallows her pride and heads for Derk's home town, a grimy mining village. Touched by Crother's inept efforts to keep house and cook dinner, Derk eventually falls in love with her--though he makes it clear that he wants no part of her money. Crothers, in turn, falls genuinely in love with her brutish but basically decent husband. It must needs be that fortune-hunting Towne arrives in the mining village, leading to a powerful climax wherein Derk, Crothers and Towne are trapped in a mine cave-in. Though the dialogue is occasionally quite silly (after the killer commits suicide in a crowded restaurant, one of the patrons is heard to complain "It's ruined my dinner!") and the performances overripe at times, Dynamite actually holds up better than you'd expect. DeMilles' utilization of sound is both innovative and imaginative, especially during the noisy climactic sequences. The film was a success, paving the way for DeMilles' camp classic Madame Satan (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Last Dance was loosely based on the real-life story of a newspaper mogul who married a Broadway taxi dancer. For the purposes of the film, Jason Robards Sr. plays wealthy Tom Malloy, while Vera Reynolds is cast as dime-a-dance damsel Sally Kelly. Though she enjoys Tom's company, Sally has no intention of "clipping" him, but a shyster lawyer has other ideas. The ambulance chaser convinces Sally to sign a breach-of-promise complaint against Tom, but Sally isn't aware of the complaint's contents until she gets to court (no one ever said this picture was believable). The ensuing newspaper-tabloid headlines cause a great deal of embarrassment for both hero and heroine; all the same, everything ends happily for both. A visual gimmick unique to The Last Dance has each song number preceded by a superimposed close-up of the sheet music: the film's one big song, "Sally, I'm Looking For You Sally", is warbled not by Vera Reynolds, as might be expected, but by comedy-relief George Chandler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bespectacled Creighton Hale and 1923 Wampas Baby Star Virginia Brown Faire headlined this domestic drama from low-budget Chesterfield. Maintaining that Harvey Baremore (Hale) is stealing from his company, his employer John Kimball (Lloyd Whitlock) suggests that Mrs. Baremore (Faire) pays her husband's debt with her "friendship." As it turns out, the whole affair is concocted by Kimball to expose Baremore for the adulterer that he is: Discovered with a gold-digging blonde (Florence Dudley), Harvey makes a quick escape but is killed in a car accident. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This nicely made Paramount feature benefits from the humanity and wit of writer/director William C. DeMille, and the spark of Bebe Daniels, who was fully coming into her own as a star and comedienne. Daniels plays Jenny, a female Raffles character, who breaks into the home of the wealthy Bob Van Dyke (Neil Hamilton). Van Dyke catches her, but instead of turning her over to the police, he convinces her to go straight. While Jenny is making her way in the world, however, Van Dyke's life is going to hell, and finally he is broke. In desperation, he decides to rob 20,00 dollars from his old housekeeper. Jenny finds out about his plans, and to save him from himself, she gathers up her old associates and they steal the money before he can get to it. When the cash turns up missing, Jenny takes the blame, but Van Dyke realizes what she was trying to do, and the money is returned. Van Dyke straightens his life out and romance blooms with Jenny. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This warm comedy, based on the play by Frank Craven, was typical of William C. deMille's directing work. Thomas Bates Sr. (Robert McWade) takes his broom manufacturing business very seriously, and his idle son, Tom Jr. (Neil Hamilton), calls him a grouch. As a result, Bates decides to teach his son a lesson by putting him in charge of the business for a year. While the elder Bates is getting a chance to live it up for once in his life, Tom is having all sorts of difficulties, from learning how to pay all the bills he used to run up to dealing with employees who abuse their privileges -- and their new boss. On top of that, Tom falls in love with Geraldine Marsh (Bessie Love), who has come to the Bates home to work as a housekeeper. He even drops his fickle fiancée, Florence Levering (Phyllis Haver), for her. But then he finds Geraldine kissing his father and orders her out of the house. His father insists on going with her. At the end of the year, both of them return. It turns out that Geraldine and Bates were not involved after all, so Tom rushes her to the altar. Bates takes over his business once again. Although his son has all but ruined the company, the experience has also made a man of him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide