Theresa Maxwell Conover Movies

This brief (56-minute) MGM B-picture was adapted from Ivor Novello's play The Truth Game. Naturally, a few plot twists and supporting characters had to be eliminated, but at its base, the film follows the original plotline with reasonable fidelity. Hoping to land wealthy wives, a father-and-son team of sharpsters, Max and Florian Clemington (Robert Cummings and Nigel Bruce), pretend to be members of the landed gentry. Max romances the much-older Lady Joan Culver (Judith Anderson) before finding true love in the form of pretty heiress Martha Gray (Ruth Hussey). Imagine his embarrassment when Max discovers that Martha is as big a phony as he! Because of the 1941 Free and Easy, Buster Keaton's same-named 1930 vehicle had to be retitled Easy Go on television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of Thorne Smith's slyly naughty fantasy novels, Night Life of the Gods was transferred to the screen with reasonable fidelity to the original in 1934. Alan Mowbray plays the eccentric Hunter Hawk, inventor of a ray gun that can turn human beings into statues. Much to his surprise, Hawk is also able to turn statues into humans; consequently, he brings to life eight marble effigies of such Greco-Roman mythological gods as Apollo, Bacchus, Diana, Mercury, Venus and Perseus. All flimsily clad within an inch of the Production Code, the now-lively gods have a high old time adapting to Manhattan night life: in one of the funniest scenes, Neptune (Robert Warwick) playfully spears a bevy of bathing beauties with his trusty trident. Along the way, Hawk falls in love with 900-year-old "baby goddess" Megaere (Florine McKinney). The wry original ending of Smith's novel was watered somewhat by having the whole thing turn out to be a dream, but it's fun while it lasts. Night Life of the Gods was the final directorial effort of Lowell Sherman, who died shortly before the film went into release. Unfortunately, copies of this delightful bit of risque whimsy are few and far between; indeed, Night Life of the Gods may well become a "lost" film if the preservationists don't get on the stick as soon as possible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy with musical numbers set in the Old South, Bing Crosby plays a singer (talk about a casting stretch!) from Philadelphia named Tom Grayson, who has fallen in love with Southern heiress Elvira Rumford (Gail Patrick). Tom wants to marry Elvira, but a man called Major Patterson (John Miljan) has announced his desire to do the same, and he challenges Tom to a duel to decide who will have Elvira's hand. Tom is not at all agreeable to this idea, which leads Elvira's father (Claude Gillingwater) to proclaim Tom to be a coward and deny him permission to wed his daughter. Elvira's sister Lucy (Joan Bennett), who is infatuated with Tom, thinks that he's merely being sensible, but Tom thinks that Lucy is too young for a serious relationship. In need of work and not especially welcome in the Rumford's community, Tom takes a job performing on a riverboat piloted by the blustery Commodore Orlando Jackson (W.C. Fields). One night, Tom finds himself in a barroom brawl with a man named Captain Blackie (Fred Kohler), who dies accidentally from a shot fired by his own gun. Hoping that his infamy will draw crowds, Jackson begins billing Tom as "The Singing Killer." Tom comes to realize that Lucy may be the right woman for him after all, but Lucy is not interested in a man with blood on his hands, and now Tom must convince her that he's not a killer at all. Noted gambling aficionado Fields has a hilarious poker-playing bit, and he steals most of his scenes from the rest of the cast. Mississippi was loosely based on the play "Magnolia" by Booth Tarkington. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Wallace Beery plays P.T. Barnum in this comic biography of the renowned showman. As the story opens, Phineas Taylor Barnum is operating a dry goods store in New York City with his friend Bailey Walsh (Adolphe Menjou), and he is looking for a way to boost business. He strikes upon the idea of adding a sideshow of human oddities and curious individuals, much to the annoyance of his wife Nancy (Janet Beecher). But the sideshow brings in a large audience, and soon it begins to overtake the retail store; however, Barnum's venture comes to a halt when it is revealed that Zorro The Bearded Lady (May Boley) has fake facial hair,and that Joyce Heth (Lucille LaVerne) wasn't really George Washington's nursemaid, as she claims. Despite this setback, Barnum has developed a taste for show business, and he brings noted English singer Jenny Lind (Virginia Bruce) to the U.S. for a concert tour, where she becomes the toast of New York. Barnum soon becomes infatuated with Lind, and while his attempts to woo her are often fumblingly inept, they're effective enough to alienate Nancy, who leaves him and New York City for good. Between his attempts to romance Lind and his shameless ballyhoo for performing midget General Tom Thumb (George Brasno), Barnum finds himself on Walsh's bad side, who has taken to drinking to ease his anger. After his budding romance with Lind fails, Barnum suffers an even greater indignity when his museum, featuring his sideshow freaks and other wonders and oddities, is burned to the ground by angry rivals. However, Barnum's performers show their loyalty by offering their savings to Barnum to help him rebuild, and Nancy returns to Barnum's side in his moment of need. Walsh also appears, ready to bury the hatchet and show off his latest acquisition -- an elephant named Jumbo who could be used in a traveling act, or perhaps even a circus.... The Mighty Barnum was based on the play by Gene Fowler and Bess Meredyth, who also wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Joan Crawford is at her most glamorous (a different outfit and hairdo in each scene!) in the romantic melodrama Chained. Crawford plays Diane Lovering, the mistress of prominent Manhattan businessman Richard Field (Otto Kruger). Though she really isn't in love with him, she feels obligated to marry him when he divorces his wife (Margaret Gateson) for Diane's sake. By the time the divorce is final, Diane has fallen for wealthy South American rancher Mike Bradley (Clark Gable), but, out of loyalty to Field, she abruptly cuts off her relationship with Mike, who does his best to hide his pain. It looks as though both Diane and Mike will continue to suffer stoically until the plot is resolved by the understanding and remarkably generous Field. Clarence Brown's glossy direction helps to make this star vehicle seem more important than it really is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a newcomer to a Western community is suspected of precipitating a crime wave. To prove his innocence and catch the real perpetrator's. the new rancher teams up the general store owner. They succeed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In director Leo McCarey's film The Kid From Spain, actor Eddie Cantor plays mischievious college boy Eddie Williams, who, with his buddy Ricardo (Robert Young), is kicked out of college for sneaking into the women's dormitory. Ricardo (Young), on his way back to Mexico, suggests Eddie (Cantor) come along. First, however, Ricardo must stop at the local bank for some cash. Unfortunately, the bank is robbed as the two boys are leaving, and the fleeing thieves mistake Eddie for their getaway driver. In a panic, Eddie races off towards the Mexican border in hopes of getting way from them. Realizing that the bank robbers will go after him--Eddie, after all, is the only one who saw their faces--he convinces a skeptical border guard that he, too, is a Mexican. Once in Mexico, he's mistaken for a renowed bullfighter, and plays along with his newly assigned identity in order to avoid the American detective on his trail. Mayhem ensues, and Eddie eventually falls in love with Rosalie (yda Roberti), a young Mexican woman with an over-protective father. The musical numbers in The Kid From Spain were staged by a young Busby Berkeley and feature the oldwyn Girls, whose ranks in this film include Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Jane Wyman. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

In this heart-tugging musical, a Southern boy loses his parents during the Civil War and is forcibly wrenched away from his beloved mammy and sent to New York to live with his Yankee grandma. At first the family resents the rebel upstart, but soon he charms them into loving him with his singing ability. The story is also called Rainbow on the River. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Film critics (at least those who weren't employed by the Hearst Corporation) frequently complained about the amount of money newspaper magnate and motion picture producer William Randolph Hearst spent on the pictures starring his companion Marion Davies. When it came to this historical adventure, they certainly had fodder to lambaste the film; it cost 1.5 million dollars, a real fortune in 1922 cash. But in spite of the over-inflated budget, critics had to admit that even at a lengthy 12 reels, this was solid entertainment -- and Davies was good in it. The picture was based on the novel by Charles Major, and what it lacked in historical accuracy it certainly made up for in the sumptuous Joseph Urban sets. Mary Tudor (Davies), the younger sister of King Henry VIII (Lyn Harding), falls in love with commoner Charles Brandon (Forrest Stanley). There are other plans for Mary, however; she is supposed to make a politically strategic marriage to the elderly King Louis XII of France (William Norris). Brandon is framed for murder, but Mary, disguised as a boy, helps him to escape. Henry tracks down his sister and her lover at a Bristol Inn, and Mary agrees to wed the French king if Brandon's life is spared. After Brandon is exiled, Mary goes ahead with the wedding, but King Louis, in his attempt to prove he is lively enough for such a pretty young bride, drops dead. His nephew and heir to the throne, Francis (William Powell, in his first really important film role), wants to wed Mary, but Brandon comes to the rescue. When Henry discovers that his sister and Brandon have married, he remarks, "I should have consented in the first place, and saved us all this trouble." The Hearst machine used the film's great expense as a promotional device, and this won the criticism of one newspaper writer, who felt that Davies' talent stood on her own. Instead of being incensed, Hearst was pleased that Davies was so passionately supported, and he hired the reporter, Louella Parsons. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

There seems to be some debate over exactly who directed this amusing Constance Talmadge picture. Since John Emerson directed so many of her films (and co-wrote the screenplays with his wife, Anita Loos), he has automatically been given credit by several sources. However, trade paper Motion Picture News lists Joseph Plunkett as director, and Loos, in her memoir The Talmadge Girls, recalls that Emerson was involved with the Broadway actor's strike in New York, and only marginally available as a screenwriter, much less a director. Perhaps this just proves the strength of a good script, because, review-wise, most of the kudos go to Loos and Emerson's story. Polly Meacham (Talmadge) is a small town girl with a passion for the stage. She puts on an amateur theatrical which broken up by her straight laced uncle, Silas (Horace Knight), and plays a burlesque Cleopatra for a matinee at the Old Soldiers' Home. The next stop for Polly, of course, is new York and the Follies. Florenz Ziegfeld (Bernard Randall) puts her to work, and then Polly makes sure her pal, Alysia Potter (Billie Dove), is hired, too. But Polly blows her opportunity on her first night by coming down off the stage to welcome the folks from back home. She's fired and Alysia is given her part. But Alysia's fiancé, Bob Jones (Kenneth Harlan), has come to love Polly, while Alysia has decided to pursue a career. So even if Polly loses her slot in the Follies, she wins a husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Sylvia (Barbara Castleton) is struggling along in a cheap boarding house. When she gets a job modeling for Madame Lillian's modiste shop, her life picks up. She meets the newly rich, socially ambitious Hicks -- husband Zebulon (Jack Drumier) and wife Octavia (Gertrude Berkeley). Out of the blue, the Hicks are visited by "Count de Boeuf" and "Princess Karalyn of Sylvania" -- actually a pair of con artists, Frank (Anthony Merlo) and Anna (Eloise Clement). Sylvia also meets the Hicks' grown son, Henry (Johnny Hines) when she is at a country club, posing as a Countess to model some of Madame's outfits. She is invited to the Hicks' place where she is surprised to find Anna being called "Princess." The cons wheedle a huge sum out of the family and steal Mrs. Hicks' jewels, but Sylvia thwarts them. However she's accused of the jewel theft until a representative a Sylvania appears and addresses her as Princess Karalyn. Frank and Anna take off, while Sylvia turns down a kingdom to marry Henry. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide