William Courtwright Movies

An indisputable classic, the "Our Gang" comedy "Teacher's Pet" is introduced by a brace of pretty twin girls (Beverly and Bette Mae Crane), who recite the opening credit titles. The story proper begins with the Gang members facing the first day of school with fear and loathing. Their beloved teacher Miss McGillicuddy has gotten married, and her replacement is one Miss Crabtree, whom the kids fear will be as ugly and foreboding as her name. Meanwhile, Jackie Cooper hitches a ride from a beautiful and charming young lady. Immediately at ease with his travelling companion, Jackie tells her that he and his pals have conspired to humiliate their new teacher Miss Crabtree with a variety of practical jokes --- and then spend the rest of the day fishing, having been released from school via a series of contrived excuses. Imagine Jackie's surprise when, upon arriving at school, he discovers that Miss Crabtree and the gorgeous woman who gave him a ride are one in the same! At turns hilarious and poignant, "Teacher's Pet" is as entertaining today as it was upon its first release on October 11, 1930. As a bonus, the film represented two firsts: The first appearance of the lovely June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree, and the first utilization of the unforgettable "Our Gang" theme song "The Good Old Days", written and orchestrated by LeRoy Shield. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fred Thomson, arguably Tom Mix's closest rival in the late 1920s, was one of the few series-western leads to portray historical heroes. Thomson was Jesse James in a 1927 whitewash of that legendary bandit before starring in the title-role of Kit Carson. The famed frontiersman saves Indian girl Sings-In-the Clouds (Dorothy Janis) from being attacked by a huge bear. She, in turn, saves him when he is captured by an Indian war party and later stows away on an expedition. Again and again, Carson must save the stupid girl -- mainly from the lecherous advances of gargantuan trapper Shuman (Raoul Paoli) -- but in spite of her love for him, the frontiersman, in accordance with the miscegenation laws of the time, chooses white-girl Josefa (Nora Lane). This major Thomson effort was filmed on grandiose locations at Lake Mary, Arizona where nearly 500 local Indians, mostly Navajos, were used as extras. Despite all that, the film was not a huge success, and a planned epic depicting the life of Davy Crockett was shelved. As it turned out Kit Carson proved Thomson's final film. He died of pneumonia on Christmas Eve, 1928. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

It's the Fourth of July and the mother of Our Gang member Joe Cobb is doing a brisk business at her fireworks stand. Briefly left in charge of the stand, Joe does his best not to blow up himself or his friends, but a poorly-aimed skyrocket owned by Allen "Farina" Hoskins triggers a somewhat premature but undeniably spectacular display of pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, the gang's dog Pansy swallows several capsules that supposedly contain nitroglycerine. Though the capsules are basically harmless, they are combustible, and before long Pansy is spitting up explosions all over town. Originally released on June 26, 1927, the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy The Glorious Fourth is also available in a shortened, TV version, Fireworks, which ends with a cautionary subtitle: "Remember, Kids: If this lesson you've learned/You'll never get burned! DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Silent cowboy star Fred Thomson raised quite a bit of controversy by portraying the famous outlaw in a sympathetic vein -- there were still a few oldsters around in those days who remembered the furor raised by the James gang. This role was a surprising turn for Thomson, whose films were generally known for their non-violent, clean-living heroes. Here, he polishes up Jesse James' character, gives him a love interest (Nora Lane), then uses the better part of the film to do what Thomson always did best -- perform elaborate tricks with his horse Silver King. The only difference from his prior films was a higher production value -- this was his first film for Paramount. While Hollywood features, for the most part, have dispensed with history in favor of drama (or the star's or director's whims), Thomson's take on Jesse James was not taken lightly, and this disapproval was quite a turnaround from the widespread esteem the actor was used to receiving. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Fred Thomson's first film of 1927 told the exciting story of Don Miguel, part Spaniard, part Irish, who rescues a party of settlers stranded in the desert. The leader of the group, Pettingell (Noah Young), pays him back by filing a claim against Don Mike's land and making lewd overtures toward his girlfriend (Ruth Clifford). When the local mayor (Albert Prisco) is found murdered, Don Mike is blamed and forced to flee. He returns disguised as a monk and unmasks the real killer, none other than his old enemy Pettingell. Thomson's horse, Silver King, earned second billing in this film and was even awarded a character name: "Rey de Plata." Like most of Thomson's FBO Westerns, Don Mike was written by the star's wife, Frances Marion, under the pen name "Frank M. Clifton." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Pint-sized slapstick comedian Monty Banks stars as Monty Milde, who gets mixed up with dumb detectives and brutal bootleggers while stopping over at a big-city hotel. Halfway through the film, the plot is cast to the winds in favor of one of those outsized chase sequences so common to Banks' vehicles. This time around, our hero finds himself dangling from a ladder, which itself is resting in the back seat of a driverless roadster. The subsequent serpentine race along a treacherous mountain road was done without the benefit of process screens or trick photography, expertly combining bellylaughs with hair-raising thrills. According to many sources, Stan Laurel plays an uncredited role as an elevator operator in Atta Boy, but Laurel and Hardy scholars remain unconvinced. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For Wives Only was based on the stage play The Critical Year. The story takes place in Vienna, where handsome Dr. Rittenhaus (Victor Varconi) spends most of his time avoiding the amorous advances of his adoring female patients (shades of Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle). Hoping to use Rittenhaus' influence to secure a well-paying job, Professor Von Waldstein (Claude Gillingwater) talks the young medico into entertaining Countess Von Nessa (Dorothy Cumming), a wealthy hospital patroness. Certain that her husband is cheating on her with the Countess, Rittenhaus' wife Laura (Marie Prevost) concocts an elaborate scheme to arouse his jealousy. Part of her plan requires her to pledge eternal devotion to three of her husband's colleagues -- and from this point on, it's "Oh, Doctor!" all the way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Throughout the '20s and '30s westerns were, for the most part, made cheaply and tossed out to the masses. Rare was the western star who made it to the big, major city movie houses. Those who made the leap were William S. Hart, Tom Mix, and with The Two-Gun Man, Fred Thomson. Thomson earned his stripes; he and his highly-trained horse, Silver King, had been working in the lower-budget field since the early '20s and had built an impressive fan base. In this feature, Thomson plays Dean Randall, a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. He saves a family in a wagon train -- a father (William Courtwright), daughter Grace (Olive Hasbrough), and three orphan children. Back at the ranch, Dean discovers that his father (Joe Dowling) has been conned out of his cattle by rustlers. In addition, the rustlers have gotten a mortgage on the ranch and are threatening to evict the old man. The strain kills Dad Randall, but Grace convinces Dean not to take violent revenge. So he uses his wits instead (plus a lot of impressive stunts with Silver King) to get back the cattle and see that justice is served against the rustlers. This film, and the ones that followed it, showed a lot of promise for Thomson's future; sadly, his death in 1928 kept that promise from being fully realized.
~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Former Mack Sennett comedian Ford Sterling practically steals this show in this Malcolm St. Clair-directed picture, which Moving Picture World called, "As spicy as a French domestic farce and yet as clean as a hound's tooth." William Hyatt (Tom Moore) runs an exclusive shoe store, and his happy marriage to Grace (Florence Vidor) is nearly derailed by his well-meaning, but hopelessly gauche pal, Al Hennessy (Sterling). Dagmar, a Parisian shoe designer (Esther Ralston) has come to town to meet with Hyatt and Hennessy, and Hennessy describes the situation to Grace in the worst possible manner, convincing her that her husband is having an affair. The more information Hennessy offers, the more incensed Grace becomes until she and Hyatt decide to take a break from each other. Hyatt goes to a summer hotel, and the suspicious Grace follows after him, expecting to catch him in the midst of a torrid romance. Instead, she finds that Hennessy has married Dagmar, who was an innocent party this whole time. As a result, Hyatt and Grace quickly reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Betty Bronson, who found overnight success when she played the title character in Peter Pan, has the ingenue lead in this curiously named domestic drama. Mr. and Mrs. Hazlitt (Adolphe Menjou and Florence Vidor) have never learned the give and take of a marriage relationship and have decided to divorce for reasons of incompatibility. Their daughter, Lita (Bronson), is away at boarding school, and she's devastated by the news. She read that estranged parents can be brought back together if their child is in danger, and she decides to use this to her advantage. When she is accused of writing a romantic letter to a movie star that her roommate actually penned, she writes a suicide note and runs away from the school. While her parents are in a panic over her whereabouts, she is sleeping in the easy chair of Dr. Dacer (Lawrence Grey), the handsome young physician at the girls' school. Dacer is not even aware that she's there until the morning, when he finds her. By that time, the Hazlitts have reconciled, and Dacer proposes to Lita. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Charles Ray returns to playing a bashful rural boy in this character study, loosely based on the James Whitcomb Riley poem. He's John Middleton, who protests furiously when his mother (Edythe Chapman) tells him that she has adopted an orphan girl. But John grows to love Mary (Patsy Ruth Miller) -- in fact, he falls in love with her. On their way home from a dance, he proposes but she turns him down, explaining that she is already engaged to his rival, Willie Brown (Ramsey Wallace). The startled John loses control of the horses and is thrown out of the carriage. While going through a semi-conscious dream state, he has a pair of visions. In the first he embraces Mary so violently that he kills her. In the second, he shoots Willie and then himself. He awakens from these nightmares determined to overcome these inner demons. Although broken-hearted, he stays out of Mary and Willie's romance. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Although he is forgotten today, Douglas MacLean was one of the best purveyors of light comedy during the 1920s. While there was nothing particularly striking about this particular Western comedy (which was produced by Thomas Ince), MacLean and director James W. Horne (famous later for his work with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy) gave it a lively touch. When good-natured James Henry MacTavish (MacLean) comes into an inheritance, he travels East to claim it with the determination that he will "scatter sunshine" along the way. But MacTavish almost immediately lands himself in hot water. He naively gets tangled up with a loving couple (Josephine Sedgwick and Barney Furey) who turn out to be a pair of robbers and then he winds up in jail for impersonating himself. His childhood sweetheart, June Carpenter (Edith Roberts), is the only one from his hometown who recognizes him, but MacTavish refuses to admit he is himself because he wants June to go ahead and marry her rich fiancé. Confused yet? Eventually everything gets straightened out, and in spite of his efforts to the contrary, MacTavish wins June. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi