William Wellman Movies
A one-time juvenile petty criminal and hockey player, William Wellman went on to serve in the French Foreign Legion and later became a World War I air ace. Having lived a life that seemingly could only have come out of a movie, Wellman entered pictures after an accidental meeting with Douglas Fairbanks Sr., after accidentally landing his barnstorming plane on the latter's estate. Between 1920 and 1923, he rose from bit actor to studio gofer to director. After a stint in westerns, Wellman was chosen in 1927 to direct Wings, a major drama dealing with pilots during World War I that was highlighted by air combat and flight sequences that remain impressive over 60 years later. The movie earned the first Academy Award ever given for Best Picture, and Wellman's career was made. In the '30s, he proved adept at handling a variety of subjects, including the violent and controversial The Public Enemy, the original version of A Star Is Born, and the viciously satirical Nothing Sacred. Wellman's '40s work was similarly distinguished, and included The Ox-Bow Incident, The Story of G.I. Joe, and the Battle of the Bulge re-enactment Battleground, broken up by the occasional comedy such as Lady of Burlesque. Wellman's best work of the '50s was done in association with John Wayne, in Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty, both about aviation. His final film was Lafayette Escadrille, about the unit in which Wellman had flown during World War I. Wellman's films, whether comedies or dramas, are usually vehicles for their male leads (or, in the case of Lady of Burlesque, the heroine) to successfully chew up the scenery as actors, and present themselves as bold--if occasionally fatally flawed--figures, often wrestling with personal demons that they don't fully understand themselves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Barbara Stanwyck shines in her second portrayal of a showgirl in less than two years (the first was in Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire in 1941). In Lady of Burlesque -- which, at times, has a Hawksian edge to the dialogue -- she portrays Dixie Daisy, a striptease artist at a Broadway theater in New York at the end of the 1930s. In the course of fending off the unwanted advances of brash comic Biff Brannigan (Michael O'Shea), with whom she is teamed in several numbers, and staying clear of the dressing room feuds of her fellow dancers -- including a very nasty dispute between Dolly Baxter (Gloria Dickson) and Lolita La Verne (Victoria Faust) -- she finds herself up to her neck in trouble when one of the women is found strangled with her own G-string. The police don't know what to make of it, especially as the victim was already dying of a fatal dose of poison, which means that there are two murderers somewhere in the theater; and when a second woman turns up strangled inside a prop that Dixie was supposed to be hiding in onstage, she looks like a good suspect. Between the backstage comedy-drama, and the songs, dances, and on-stage comic routines, with the police breathing down both their necks at different times, Dixie and Biff manage to solve the mystery and find each other in this briskly paced, funny, yet amazingly gritty comedy-thriller. Lady of Burlesque was allowed to fall out of copyright in 1971, and since then it was seen in substandard editions until the May 2001 DVD release from Image Entertainment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea, (more)
- 1942
This rambling historical drama covers 109 years in the life of one woman. Encased in convincing old-age makeup, Barbara Stanwyck reminisces on her experiences in the American West. As a young woman, she is squired by gambler Brian Donlevy, but her heart belongs to dreamer Joel McCrea. She chooses McCrea, and the first years of their marriage are poor but happy. Then McCrea strikes oil, becoming one of his state's richest men. With Stanwyck at his side, McCrea climbs up the ladder of success all the way to the political arena--while Donlevy lurks in the background in hopes of reclaiming his girl. The Great Man's Lady is a surprisingly sedate vehicle for both Stanwyck and action director William A. Wellman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, (more)
On a secluded base in Arizona, veteran World War One pilot Steve Britt (Preston Foster) trains flyers to fight in World War Two. One of his trainees, Englishman Peter Stackhouse (John Sutton), competes with Britt for the affections of Kay Saunders (Gene Tierney), the daughter of a local rancher. Despite their differences, Britt makes sure Sutton passes his training and becomes a combat pilot -- even though he loses Kay to the young man in the process. Note the photos of director (and former flying ace) Wellman, which are used as the pictures of Sutton's father displayed by Britt and Sutton's grandmother, Lady Stackhouse (Dame May Whitty). ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Tierney, Preston S. Foster, (more)
Based on the Ben Hecht/Charlie McArthur play Chicago, Roxie Hart is a short-but-sweet satire of highly publicized court trials. Ginger Rogers plays showgirl Roxie Hart, whose no-good husband kills a man and insists that Roxie take the blame, since juries seldom send a woman to the chair. She agrees, figuring that the publicity will be beneficial to her career. Roxie's case is taken by grandstanding attorney Adolphe Menjou, who regards the sacred halls of justice as his own three-ring circus. George Montgomery plays the reporter covering the trial, who falls in love with Roxie and eventually marries her after she dumps her cowardly hubby. Roxie Hart plays fast and loose with legal ethics, but is no less hilarious because of it. Some of the best moments belong to Iris Adrian, as an imprisoned "Bonnie Parker"-type killer who's jealous that Roxie is stealing all the headlines. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, (more)
- 1941
Wessel Smitter's semicomic novel FOB Detroit was the source material for Reaching for the Sun. Joel McCrea plays a North Woods clam digger who orders an outboard motor for his business. Figuring he'll save shipping money by picking the motor up himself, he heads for Detroit. Here he decides to take a job at an auto plant, the better to support wife Ellen Drew and the couple's baby. Paramount remembered that Joel McCrea's fans expected a few action scenes, and obligingly included a sequence in which a jealous coworker tries to kill McCrea with a grappling iron. Reaching for the Sun is easy to take, though not quite on the level of Joel McCrea's later work with director Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew, (more)
- 1939
Based on a classic tale from Rudyard Kipling, this melodrama chronicles the desperate attempt of a painter to finish his greatest painting before he goes blind. His affliction is due to a war wound and his final project is to paint a portrait of London's most notorious prostitute. Trouble begins when the hooker falls deeply in love with the artist. Unfortunately, social mores forbid their union and this frustrates the wanton woman. Meanwhile, the artist feverishly continues to paint her. The result is exquisite. Unfortunately, by this time, the whore can no longer contain her frustrated rage, and unbeknownst to the painter whose sight is nearly gone, viciously slashes it. Later the artist takes his prized work and shows it to his best friend, a military officer, in a heartbreaking scene. Afterward the two colleagues head down to fight in the Sudan. There, the devastated painter begs the officer to allow him to participate in one final, glorious charge atop a shining white stallion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Walter Huston, (more)
This second of three movie versions of P.C. Wren's adventure novel Beau Geste is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1927 silent version. We open on the now-famous scenes of a remote, burning desert fort, manned by the dead Foreign Legionnaires, then flash back to the early lives of the Geste brothers. As children, the Gestes swear eternal loyalty to one another and to their family. One of the boys, young Beau (played as a youth by Donald O'Connor), witnesses his beloved aunt (Heather Thatcher) apparently stealing a valuable family jewel in order to finance the Geste home; Beau chooses to remain silent rather than disgrace his aunt. Years later, the grown Beau (Gary Cooper) again protects his aunt by confessing to the theft and running off to join the Foreign Legion. He is joined in uniform by faithful brothers John (Ray Milland) and Digby (Robert Preston), who in turn are pursued by a slimy thief (J. Carroll Naish). The crook is in cahoots with sadistic Legion Sgt. Markov (Brian Donlevy, in one of the most hateful portrayals ever captured on celluloid), who is later put in charge of Fort Zinderneuf, where Beau and John are stationed. When the Arabs attack, Markov proves himself a valiant soldier; it is he who hits upon the idea of convincing the Arabs that the fort is still fully manned by propping up the corpses of the casualties at the guard posts. Beau is seriously wounded, and while the greedy Markov searches for the jewel supposedly hidden on Beau's person, he is held at bay by loyal John. The suddenly enervated Beau kills Markov, then dies himself--but not before entrusting two notes to John, one of which requests that John give Beau the "Viking funeral" he'd always wanted (this is why the fort is in flames at the beginning of the film). After the battle, Digby Geste, a bugler with the relief troops, comes upon Beau's dead body, and appropriates the notes. As it turns out, John Geste is the only one who survives to return to England. He gives his aunt Beau's letter, which explains why Beau had confessed and run off--"a 'beau geste', indeed" comments his tearful aunt. No one missed nominal leading lady Susan Hayward in this essentially all-male entertainment. For years available only in muddily processed or truncated versions, Beau Geste was restored to its pristine glory by the American Film Institute in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1938
Brash and vigorous director William Wellman always had a place in his filmography for movies glorifying the early years of aviation -- from the start of his career (Wings), until the end (Lafayette Escadrille). But, perhaps, never has his devotion to aviation been made more vivid than in his 1938 drama Men With Wings. Wellman, in this film, attempts to dramatize the history of aviation from the early days of the Wright Brothers until the 1930s, when airline transportation first became viable. The story centers upon two contrasting aviation types: the barnstormer, Pat Falconer (Fred MacMurray), and the methodical scientist of flight, Scott Barnes (Ray Milland). Through these two archetypes, Wellman follows Pat and Scott from childhood to adulthood. Pat marries childhood sweetheart Peggy Ransom (Louise Campbell) and they have a child. Scott, who had always loved Peggy, remains in the background, not wanting to break up his solid friendship with Pat. But Pat is clearly doomed by his recklessness and breakneck individuality. After fighting in the skies during World War I, he refuses to sit back and do the methodical work of flight research like Scott. Always searching for another war to fight, Falconer leaves Scott and Peggy behind, taking off for China to help the Chinese fight Japanese invaders. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, (more)
"This is New York, Skyscraper Champion of the World...Where the Slickers and Know-It-Alls peddle gold bricks to each other...And where Truth, crushed to earth, rises again more phony than a glass eye..." With this jaundiced opening title, scripter Ben Hecht introduces his classic comedy Nothing Sacred. Fredric March plays Wally Cook, a hotshot reporter condemned to writing obituaries because of his unwitting complicity in a fraud. Anxious to get back in the good graces of his editor Oliver Stone (Walter Connolly), Cook pounces on the story of New England girl Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), who is reportedly dying from radiation poisoning. Actually, Hazel isn't dying at all; she's been misdiagnosed by Moscow's eternally drunk doctor (Charles Winninger). But when Cook offers to take her on an all-expenses-paid trip to New York in exchange for her exclusive story, it's too good an offer to pass up. Once in the Big Apple, Hazel is feted as a heroine by the novelty-seeking populac; she enjoys the adulation at first, but soon (and with the help of gallons of alcoholic beverages) suffers the pangs of conscience. She confesses her deception to Cook, who by now has fallen in love with her. Cook and Stone conspire to keep the public from discovering the truth, eventually dreaming up a phony suicide. Travelling incognito to avoid arrest, Wally and Hazel marry and go on a honeymoon, secure in the knowledge that New York City has forgotten all about her and moved on to their next fad. Brimming with witty, acerbic dialogue and hilarious bits of physical business, Nothing Sacred is among the best "screwball" comedies of the 1930s. The musical score by Oscar Levant both mocks and celebrates the George Gershwinesque musical style then in vogue. As an added bonus, the film is lensed in Technicolor (avoid those two-color reissue prints), allowing modern viewers to see what New York City looked liked back in 1937. Nothing Sacred was later adapted into a Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, which in turn was filmed by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as Living It Up (1954), with Lewis in the Carole Lombard role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Fredric March, (more)
A Star is Born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a "true behind-the-scenes" story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. Janet Gaynor stars as Esther Blodgett, the small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood stardom, a role later played by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand in the 1954 and 1976 remakes. Jeered at by most of her family, Esther finds an ally in her crusty old grandma (May Robson), who admires the girl's "pioneer spirit" and bankrolls Esther's trip to Tinseltown. On arrival, Esther heads straight to Central Casting, where a world-weary receptionist (Peggy Wood), trying to let the girl down gently, tells her that her chances for stardom are about one in a thousand. "Maybe I'll be that one!" replies Esther defiantly. Months pass: through the intervention of her best friend, assistant director Danny McGuire (Andy Devine), Esther gets a waitressing job at an upscale Hollywood party. Her efforts to "audition" for the guests are met with quizzical stares, but she manages to impress Norman Maine (Fredric March), the alcoholic matinee idol later played by James Mason and Kris Kristofferson. Esther gets her first big break in Norman's next picture and a marriage proposal from the smitten Mr. Maine. It's a hit, but as Esther (now named Vicki)'s star ascends, Norman's popularity plummets due to a string of lousy pictures and an ongoing alcohol problem. The film won Academy Awards for director William Wellman and Robert Carson in the "original story" category and for W. Howard Greene's glistening Technicolor cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, (more)
- 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
Warner Baxter does a variation of his Oscar-winning "Cisco Kid" characterization in Robin Hood of El Dorado. Baxter plays the real-life Mexican bandit Joaquin Murietta, which the screenplay depicts as a South of the Border Jesse James. Murietta has turned criminal to avenge the death of his wife and brother at the hands of the Federales, and per the title robs the rich to give to the poor. A bit topheavy in its comic context, Robin Hood of El Dorado works on the level of a good program western. Director William Wellman cowrote the script, which was based on a pulp novel that emphasized the sensuality of Murietta's various lady friends. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Ann Loring, (more)
- 1935
The third screen version of Jack London's classic adventure story was also the first with sound, and it toyed with the original story a bit to add a love interest for leading man Clark Gable. Jack Thornton (Gable) is a would-be prospector who has headed to Alaska hoping to cash in on the gold rush. However, he loses most of his stake in a poker game and instead ends up buying a Saint Bernard named Buck. He's able to pick up Buck for a song because he's too ill-tempered to pull a sled; Smith (Reginald Owen), Buck's former owner, treated him with cruelty and the dog mangled Smith's hand in retaliation. Jack loves the dog, though, and treats him with care and kindness. Buck bonds with Jack and soon becomes a loyal companion and a good sled dog. Angry and astounded, Smith bets Jack that Buck can't pull a half-ton sled 100 yards; while the old Buck would never have done it, with Jack's urging the dog manages the feat and Jack now has the funds to set out with his friend Shorty (Jack Oakie) to stake their claim. While searching for gold, Jack and Shorty discover Claire Blake (Loretta Young), the wife of a miner who abandoned her to look for a fresh vein of gold. A warmth grows between Claire and Jack in the frozen North, but Jack is forced to help her husband when he runs afoul of thieves trying to steal his claim. Six more films based on The Call of the Wild would follow this to the screen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1934
Richard Dix plays the title-role, of a dashing highwayman and bandit in 1870's Australia, in this strangely delightful mix of swashbuckler and musical. But the real star is Irene Dunne as Hilda Bouverie, an impoverished serving girl who wants to sing. Left orphaned and homeless by the deaths of her parents, Hilda is now a servant in the home of the Clarksons, the wealthiest family in the province. Hilda is glad to have a roof over her head and three meals a day, but won't really be happy unless she gets a chance to sing, and she has the voice to match her aspirations. Mr. Clarkson (Henry Stephenson) is kind and encouraging enough to her, but his wife (Mary Boland) is a harridan who treats Hilda and her other maid Annie (Una O'Connor) as little better than slaves; and Mrs. Clarkson is especially jealous of Hilda, as she also aspires to a singing career (but is sorely lacking a voice), and is eagerly awaiting a visit by London-based composer and impressario Sir Julian Kent (Conway Tearle). And then in rides Stingaree (Richard Dix), a highwayman new to the province, who is already a legend elsewhere in Australia. The authorities, led by the boorish Inspector Radford (George Barraud), know he is there and are set to catch him, but he's smarter than they are and faster on his feet, and outwits them. Stingaree kidnaps Sir Julian and, learning of the Clarksons and their wealth, plans to rob them masquerading as Sir Julian. But when he chances to hear Hilda singing, and gets to meet her, he abandons his plan and, instead, decides to help her -- his ruse is uncovered, however, and he is forced to flee, and takes the unwilling girl with him. Together in his lair in the forest, Hilda discovers that Stingaree truly does love her -- he is a man who takes whatever he wants and wants everything, but, as he tells her, "You are as safe here as you wish to be." Stingaree arranges a daring raid on the Clarkson home that allows Hilda's singing to be heard by Sir Julian -- the impressario offers her the chance to go to London, and at a career as an opera singer. She's reluctant to accept because Stingaree has been captured, but the highwayman insists that she do it, telling her that he happily gave up his freedom to give Hilda hers. And she conquers the operatic stages of Europe, in a career that takes her to Berlin, the Paris Opera, La Scala, and London's Covent Garden, and leading roles in Trovatore, Martha, and the rest of the major operatic repertory of the period. But she can't forget the sacrifice that Stingaree made for her, or the love they share for each other, and decides that even if it means giving up everything, she must return to Australia to find him. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Richard Dix, (more)
- 1934
Based upon a novel anonymously written by Rex Stout, The President Vanishes has as its title character a peace-loving man with distinct anti-interventionist views. As the picture opens, President Stanley Craig (A.S. Byron) finds himself in a bit of a bind: he fervently believes that the United States should stay out of the war in Europe, but the tide of public opinion seems to be turning against him, influenced by a loud and demonstrative fascist group (the Gray Shirts), influential arms manufacturers and powerful pro-war publishers. Congress seems to be unflinchingly pro-war, and is about to meet to "discuss" whether America should get involved in the deadly conflict. Suddenly, a surprise announcement is made: the President has been kidnapped. Overnight, public opinion regarding the war reverses. The American people, knowing of the President's strong anti-war stance, believe that the pro-war forces are behind the abduction, resulting in rioting and national unrest. Eventually, after the nation comes to back the President's view, he is found -- and the audience discovers that the kidnapping was staged by the President and his advisors as a way of altering public opinion. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Beecher, Paul Kelly, (more)
- 1934
Joe Graham (Spencer Tracy), a troubleshooter for the telephone company, suspects that his beloved Ethel (Constance Cummings) is working for a crook. Joe and his partner Casey (Jack Oakie) investigate her boss, Dan Sutter (Morgan Conway), but they're caught by Sutter's goons and left to die in a fire. Joe however is able to set off the alarm, saving their lives. When Sutter turns up dead, Ethel is suspected of his murder, but Joe and Casey are able to track down the real killer: Pearl La Tour (Judith Wood), Sutter's former girlfriend, who gives them a confession that exonerates Ethel. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Constance Cummings, (more)
- 1933
What isn't Heroes for Sale about? Within its 71-minute time frame, this film (co-written by "professional cynic" Wilson Mizner) tackles such issues as disenfranchised war veterans, misguided hero worship, drug addiction, the Depression, capitalism, labor relations and communism. Richard Barthelmess plays a wounded war hero whose hospital stay has turned him into a morphine junkie. He wanders from town to town looking for work during the Depression, only to be turned away with a "we've got our own to watch out for!" Eventually, Barthelmess befriends millionaire-in-the-making Robert H. Barrat, who has invented a revolutionary washing machine. Becoming Barrat's partner, Barthelmess attempts to quell a strike by workers who've been stirred up by Red agitators. With all this going on, Barthelmess still finds time to romance Loretta Young. Heroes for Sale is very much a product of its time, though its entertainment value has remained solid for well over six decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1933
Those who only know Pat O'Brien from his later, slightly more avuncular roles may be surprised to see him pumping out almost as much energy as his friend (and sometime co-star) James Cagney, in the lead and title role of College Coach. As James Gore, the head football coach for Calvert College, he leads his team to victory at any cost, including fair-play, decent (if not good) sportsmanship, and honesty -- he's even got his hooks into the financial end of a stadium deal. But all isn't well with those around Gore -- his best and most honorable player, Sargeant (Dick Powell, really wants to get an education while playing college ball, and finally backs out when he sees the hypocrisy around him; and his other top player, Weaver (Lyle Talbott), is a self-centered headline hound with an IQ in low double-digits who is a detriment to the team whenever he isn't scoring touchdowns. And his work seems to be unraveling when his tactics bring about a tragedy on the playing field. But it's when he discovers that his own wife (Ann Dvorak) is feeling so neglected that she's been pushed toward infidelity -- with Weaver -- that he realizes he's gone too far. With Calvert College about to lose much of what it stands for academically over the collapse of its football team, help comes from unexpected places, including a wife who still loves him and the one player Gore had who is smart enough to see the bigger picture. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, (more)
- 1933
This earnest, socially-conscious road drama centers on two California teenagers who find their comfortable lives thrown into turmoil during the Great Depression. To find work for themselves, the adventurous lads sneak aboard a Chicago-bound train. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Dorothy Coonan, (more)
- 1933
Jenny (Ruth Chatterton) becomes pregnant by a young man who is killed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Bearing her child in secret, Jenny gives up custody to a wealthy couple. The years pass, and through the auspices of a crooked politician (Louis Calhern), Jenny becomes the number one "madame" of San Francisco, with interests in several other illicit activities. Crusading district attorney Dan Reynolds Donald Cook decides to rid the city of Jenny's operations -- little suspecting that the notorious woman is actually his own mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Donald Cook, (more)
- 1933
Loaned to MGM by her home studio of Warner Bros., Loretta Young suffers her way through the title role in Midnight Mary. A good girl led astray, Mary (Young) endeavors to save the life of her boyfriend Tom (Franchot Tone) by killing the aptly named Leo the Rat (Ricardo Cortez). As her case is heard in court, the clerk goes over Mary's record, and at this point the flashbacks begin, stretching all the way back to her days as an unwanted orphan. One bad break leads to another, and by the time she reaches adulthood Mary is mixed up with a gang of crooked gamblers. For the sake of Tom, a well-connected socialite who loves her unquestioningly, Mary tries to go straight, but her past, and the ill-fated Leo the Rat, catch up with her. No matter what disaster befalls her in Midnight Mary, Loretta Young always manages to look as though she's just stepped out of a beauty salon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1933
Aerial footage distinguishes this romantic-triangle melodrama set among pilots in a flying circus. Jill (Sally Eilers) loves Jim (Richard Barthelmess), but he insists that fliers shouldn't marry, so the disappointed Jill marries his younger brother Neil (Tom Brown) instead. The resulting tensions disrupt their lives and careers. Bit-part alert: Watch for John Wayne as Neil's co-pilot. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1933
This weepie, adapted from a play by Philip Dunning and George Abbott, is a vehicle for Ruth Chatterton as the titular Lilly. Her sufferings begin when she marries a man who later turns out to be a bigamist. She has their baby but marries another man so the child can have a father. The new husband is alcoholic and so Lilly falls in love with someone else, but when her husband breaks his back protecting her, she elects to stay with him. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, (more)
- 1933
Ruth Chatterton tears up the screen in this fast-paced, lusty comedy. Alison Drake is an automobile magnate, a hard-nosed, hardboiled business woman making dozens of important decisions a day. In her private life, however, she is passionate and bold in her pursuit of male companionship, which she frequently finds among the ranks of her own employees and executives; the problem is that these men can't abide the fact that back at work, she's all business again; and she keeps having to get their long, mopey faces out of her presence by transferring them elsewhere. Then she meets Jim Thorne (George Brent), a gifted engineer who is attracted to Drake but isn't a callow, cowtowing yes-man, and isn't awed by her millions. After a few awkward encounters, they find a balance in their lives together, or so she thinks, until he proposes marriage. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, (more)
- 1932
This second of three film versions of Edna Ferber's novel So Big stars Barbara Stanwyck as Ferber's resilient heroine Selena Dejong Peake. Widowed early in the proceedings, Chicago truck farmer Selena sacrifices everything for her son Dirk (Dickie Moore as a child, Hardie Albright as a grown-up), living for the day that the boy will become a successful architect. But the callow Dirk breaks his mom's heart by becoming a bond salesman. Selena vows that Rolf Pool (Dick Winslow as a boy, George Brent as an adult) will not prove a similar disappoint to his parents, taking it upon herself to encourage Rolf's dreams to become a sculptor. Bette Davis plays a supporting role as Dallas O'Mara, a young artist who hopes to convince Dirk to fulfill his mother's dreams. Previously filmed in 1925 with Colleen Moore, So Big was remade in 1953 with Jane Wyman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, (more)
