Douglas Cosgrove Movies
A graduate of the University of Texas Law School, steely eyed Douglas Cosgrove enjoyed a long stage career that included appearances in the U.K. and on Broadway (i.e. The Rise and Fall of Susan Lennox [1920] and The Blue Ghost [1930]). In films from 1931, Cosgrove usually played police officers but was the chiseling boss villain in his last, the John Wayne oater Winds of the Wasteland (1936). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Former pony express riders John Blair (John Wayne) and Larry Adams (Lane Chandler) don't buy the Brooklyn Bridge in this Republic Western, but the two greenhorns instead purchase a dilapidated stage line to a ghost town. While the unscrupulous seller, "Honest Cal" Drake (Douglas Cosgrove), count his loot, John and Larry learn that Crescent City is inhabited by Rocky (Lew Kelly), who claims to be mayor, postmaster, and sheriff, and Dr. William Forsythe (Sam Flint), a fellow victim of the duplicitous Drake. But despite its current condition, Crescent City has rich potential, especially if the newcomers can obtain a $25,000 government mail subsidy, the winner of which will be determined by a stagecoach race between nearby Buchanan City and Sacramento. Winds of the Wasteland was filmed on location in the Sierra Mountains and in the Sacramento Valley. Watch for future Universal star Jon Hall as one of John Wayne's pony express colleagues. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Phyllis Fraser, (more)
- 1934
Completed just before the Production Code went into effect, I've Got Your Number is delightfully racy, risque entertainment. Pat O'Brien is all wisecracks and left hooks as Terry, a troubleshooter for the New York telephone company. Terry puts his talents -- and his eavesdropping skill -- to good use when he decides to rescue his switchboard-operator girlfriend Marie (Joan Blondell) from taking the fall in a stolen-bond scheme. Not to be taken seriously for a moment, I've Got Your Number concludes with a belly-laugh as Terry's old telephone-linemen pals "bug" his honeymoon suite. The only false note struck by the film is the notion that know-it-all Joan Blondell could be slickered twice by the same gang of con artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1934
A love triangle amidst the world of musical entertainment provides the basis for this drama. The trouble begins when a gigolo begins wooing a mother and daughter simultaneously. This creates family disharmony as the mother begins resenting her daughter who resents the gigolo himself. The mother is murdered and the gigolo is the prime suspect. The daughter hires a detective to investigate. He discovers that it was the mother's husband that did the deed, but before he can tell anyone, the daughter and the gigolo have gotten back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith Allen, Reginald Denny, (more)
- 1934
James Cagney manages to retain his pre-Code cockiness within post-Code limitations in the likeable St. Louis Kid. Cagney and Allen Jenkins, Eddie Kennedy, and Buck Willetts play long-distance truck drivers who get entangled in a battle between a crooked trucking firm and striking milk farmers (a plot thread based on actual events). When one of the dairymen is killed by a hired goon, Eddie is accused of the crime. He breaks out of jail to track down the real killer then has to rescue his girlfriend Ann (Patricia Ellis), who's been kidnapped by henchmen of the truck company. It takes a bit of clever brainwork between Eddie and Buck, but our hero manages to flummox the bad guys and rescue the girl. James Cagney's sheer star power is such that the audience is willing to forgive the fact that, in the early passages of the film, his character is nothing more or less than a "scab." St. Louis Kid is the picture in which Cagney, tired of playing characters who settle differences with their fists, hit upon the novel idea of incapacitating his screen rivals by butting his forehead against theirs, knocking them cold without laying a hand on them! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Patricia Ellis, (more)
- 1934
The Man with Two Faces is based on The Dark Tower, a stage comedy-mystery by Alexander Woollcott and George S. Kaufman. Edward G. Robinson is at his hammy best as flamboyant, temperamental, but withal endearing theatrical actor-manager Dawson Wells. Mary Astor co-stars as Damon's beloved actress sister Jessica, making a stage comeback after a disastrously unhappy marriage. Alas, Jessica's caddish husband Stanley Vance (Louis Calhern) soon returns, exerting a Svengali-like hold on the poor girl and setting her back on the road to ruin. Unable to buy off Vance, Wells plots a clever revenge, and shortly afterward, Vance is visited by one Monsieur Chautard, an effusive European producer with murder on his mind. The central "gimmick" in Man With Two Faces, which was adroitly concealed in the original Dark Tower, is a bit more obvious on screen due to the dynamic personalities involved. Also, the play's ending, in which Vance's murderer is allowed to escape scot-free by a sympathetic detective, was obviously altered at the very last minute to appease the new Production Code. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, (more)
- 1934
In this drama, an old woman gets disgusted by her relatives and runs away from home. She then begins working as a cook in the home of a prominent antique dealer who works as a jewel thief on the side. As the chef, she gradually meets all of his gang members and takes a special liking to one young man and his girl friend, whom she encourages to reform. Eventually, the crook decides to heed her advice, but before he can safely leave, he must pull off a final caper. Worried, the cook follows him. When the boy is caught, she gets the jewels from him and tries to take the fall. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivan Simpson, Ben Taggart, (more)
- 1934
Written by the prolific Ben Hecht, Upper World is a clash-of-class melodrama set in New York City. Railroad tycoon Alexander Stream (Warren William) is neglected by his social-climbing wife Mary Astor. Quite unintentionally, through a chance encounter, he strikes up a reasonably chaste friendship with good-hearted showgirl Lilly Linder (Ginger Rogers). Lilly's ex-boyfriend Lou Colima (J. Carroll Naish) sees an opportunity to blackmail Stream; Lilly tries to block him from doing so, and is murdered for her troubles. Stream shoots Colima in self-defense and manages to cover up his involvement so that the crime scene looks like a murder-suicide, protecting his good name and marriage in the process. But a vitriolic cop (Sidney Toler), whom Stream had earlier gotten demoted over a traffic stop -- and who was on patrol in the vicinity of the crime -- involves himself in the case and gathers enough evidence to point the detectives and the press toward the wary tycoon. Though he must stand trial for Colima's death, Stream is supported in his ordeal by his suddenly attentive and affectionate wife.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren William, Mary Astor, (more)
- 1934
Cited by film historian William K. Everson as one of the fastest-moving crime melodramas of the 1930s (if not the fastest) Fog Over Frisco still manages to leave viewers breathless. Top-billed Bette Davis plays giddy heiress Arlene Bradford, whose perverse fascination with gangsters gets her mixed up in a stolen-securities scheme. Arlene's more sensible sister Val (Margaret Lindsay) tries to keep her out of trouble, but this proves impossible. Entering into the fray are hotshot society reporter Tony (Donald Woods) and goofy photojournalist Izzy (Hugh Herbert), who like Val get in over their heads when they stumble upon the body of the murdered Arlene. The identity of the killer remains a well-concealed secret until Izzy, of all people, stumbles across a vital clue. Things really begin to accelerate when Val is kidnapped by Arlene's gangster cohorts (who, interestingly enough, are very reluctant to take her prisoner and do so only when there's no other option!), leading to a mile-a-minute rescue and hasty plot wrap-up. Among the many good guys, bad guys and red herrings are Alan Hale as an Irish cop, Robert H. Barrat as a butler who isn't a butler, and Henry O'Neill as a gosh-knows-what who may be the murderer. Though physical action is at a minimum, Fog Over Frisco is kept constantly on the move by director William Dieterle, using every cinematic trick and optical effect (wipe dissolves, iris-outs, swish-pans etc.) at his disposal. The film was less effectively remade as Spy Ship in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Donald Woods, (more)
- 1933
The Man Who Dared was inspired by the career of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, here called "Jan Novak" and played by Preston S. Foster. The first portion of the film dwells upon Novak's early years in Chicago's Bohemian community, then follows him on the political trail. In the face of governmental corruption, Novak is scrupulously honest; despite the pressures of big-business barons, Novak tirelessly champions the working man. Elected mayor of Chicago during the Prohibition era, Novak stands his ground against gangsterism. At the end, he is shot down by a sniper who was aiming at President-elect Roosevelt (just as Anton Cermak was shot at the Chicago Century of Progress exhibition in 1933). As Novak dies, he expresses no regrets, declaring his gratitude that Roosevelt was spared. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Zita Johann, (more)
Slow moving, overly complicated, and badly acted in key roles, this low-budget melodrama from Poverty Row company Progressive Pictures was directed by silent screen actress Dorothy Davenport, the widow of the late matinee idol Wallace Reid. A girl detective, Barbara Hammond (Claudia Dell) is found with the corpse of the woman she has been investigating, radio singer Jane Merrick (Lola Lane). Barbara is arrested for the murder and her reporter husband, Jerry Beal (Richard Hemingway), sets out to find the real killer. The trail leads to a mysterious sanatorium where Dr. Wagner (Mischa Auer) is about to operate on a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Jane Merrick. Jerry is captured by Wagner's henchmen and threatened with a brain transplant. Happily, Jane's maid (Louise Beavers) intervenes by calling the authorities. Dr. Wagner explains that his patient is indeed Jane Merrick and that her operation was to remove an unsightly birthmark. At police headquarters, meanwhile, Barbara breaks down and confesses to Jane's murder in the presence of a handsome gangster named Dapper Dan (Paul Ellis). Suddenly the dead woman's "ghost" appears and a frightened Dan confesses to having killed Jane's twin sister by mistake after Jane had dumped him. Whereas veteran performers such as the always delightful Beavers, Jason Robards (as Jane's station manager), Mischa Auer (whose last name was misspelled "Aver" in the onscreen credits), and Lola Lane managed to rise above the material, comparative newcomers Claudia Dell, Paul Ellis, and Richard Hemingway were not quite so fortunate. In fact, Hemingway, who also appeared in Dorothy Reid's Road to Ruin (1934), was playing bit parts by 1935. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Dell, Lola Lane, (more)
We first lay eyes on Jimmy Cagney in Lady Killer while he's working as a movie theater usher. This job lasts just long enough for Jimmy to be swindled in a "badger game" orchestrated by hard-boiled Mae Clarke and a gang of crooks headed by Douglass Dumbrille. Knowing a good thing when he sees it, Cagney joins the mob, and soon is calling the shots. But though he's got larceny in his soul, Cagney draws the line at murder, and when gang member Raymond Hatton is bumped off, Cagney and Clarke board the Super Chief and head to California. With the cops laying for Cagney in LA, he's suspicious of everyone. A shifty-looking mug (William B. Davidson) takes after Cagney on the street; catching up to the winded Cagney, the mug explains that he's a movie director, and that Cagney is a perfect "type" for an upcoming prison picture. After several months as a bit player, Cagney befriends good-natured movie-star Margaret Lindsay, who encourages Cagney to seek out bigger parts. The enterprising Cagney engineers a phony fan-mail campaign encouraging the studio to give him starring roles. Though now a slick, pomaded romantic lead in pictures, Cagney is still Cagney; when a snooty critic pans Lindsay's most recent performance, Cagney forces the reviewer to literally eat his words! It must needs be that Cagney's old gang shows up in Hollywood, planning to use Cagney's influence to gain entree into movie stars' mansions, then steal their valuables. Cagney says ixnay to this, so the mob schemes to take him for a ride. Tipped off by Clarke, Cagney is able to rout the crooks, save the day, and claim Lindsay for his bride. Lady Killer is vintage Cagney, throwing virtually every one of his star-making attributes (including one cute reference to his legendary "grapefruit scene" in 1931's Public Enemy) into one entertaining 76-minute stew. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Mae Clarke, (more)
- 1932
The second film version of Ben Ames Williams' magazine serial Jubilo, and the second to star Will Rogers, Too Busy to Work takes considerably more liberties with the source material than the original 1919 Jubilo. Once again, Rogers is cast as a lovable hobo named Jubilo (after the old spiritual of the same name), but this time there is a compelling reason for his vagabond existence. While Jubilo was off fighting in WW1, his wife ran off with another man, taking their baby daughter Rose with her. Upon his return to the States, Jubilo took to the road, hoping some day to find his daughter (the wayward wife having died just before War's end). Arriving in a small town, Jubilo learns that his now-grown daughter Rose (Marian Nixon) has been raised by a widely respected judge and his wife, and is blissfully unaware of her true identity. Assessing the situation, Jubilo decides to leave well enough alone, and not tell the girl that he's her real daddy. But before he can shamble out of Rose's life, Jubilo must first smooth the path of true love by clearing Rose's sweetheart Dan Hardy (Dick Powell) of a false criminal charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1932
The moral of this drama could very well be for people to exercise caution with what they wish for as they just might get it. So it is with the lovely young woman who wins a beauty contest and the love of a millionaire, two things she had aspired to for ages. Unfortunately, her wealthy hubby is terribly possessive and occasionally, completely insane. One night, the husband really goes nuts and tries to feed his bride to the dogs. Fortunately, he slips and ends up dead himself. Later the sadder but wiser girl goes back to the man who has really loved her all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Spencer Tracy, (more)
- 1931
A woman trying to live down her past finds it coming back to haunt her in this drama. Steve Pelton (Owen Moore) is the leader of a gang of confidence men and petty criminals who have set up a base of operations in a large house they all share. One of Pelton's roommates is his girlfriend, Janet Gordon (Joan Bennett), who is convinced Pelton will propose to her someday. However, when Pelton and his mob are raided by the police, Gordon ends up in jail with the rest of them. With the help of kindly cop Dan Emmett (Douglas Cosgrove), Gordon gets an early release, and she meets Stuart Elliot (Hardie Albright), a wealthy and sophisticated man about town. Elliot falls for Gordon and they soon marry, but her happiness is shattered when Pelton is released and decides to blackmail Gordon, threatening to tell Elliot about her scandalous past unless she does his bidding. Hush Money also features George Raft and Myrna Loy in supporting roles as members of Pelton's gang. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Hardie Albright, (more)
