John McDermott Movies

Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live at Monterey captures the entire set performed by the legendary guitarist at the one and only Monterey Pop Festival. The setlist includes "Wild Ting," "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe," and a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone. Jimi concludes the set memorably by lighting his guitar on fire. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The concert film Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight features the legendary guitarist performing 15 songs including covers of "All Along the Watchtower," and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," as well as renditions of "Foxey Lady," "Purple Haze," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and "Machine Gun." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Paramount Pictures' annual college musical of 1934 is a pip, as they used to say. Jack Oakie plays Finnegan, a conceited gridiron hero whose prowess on the football field is exceeded only by his appreciation of the ladies. But his strutting manner and accompanying overbearing ego have alienated his one-time best friend Larry Stacey (Lanny Ross), a serious, more scholarly type who deeply resents the adulation heaped on Finnegan. Things go wrong for Finnegan after he graduates, as he pins his hopes on a job offer from a business firm that folds soon after. He finally shows up at Stacey's department store, where Larry -- the owner's son -- has taken over as general manager; and Larry, finally having the advantage over Finnegan, seeks to humiliate him in the course of helping him out with a menial job. But as it turns out, Larry is no sterling success either -- he's turned his father's once-thriving department store into a haven catering only to the very rich, of whom there were precious few in the midst of the Great Depression; Larry is also such a self-involved prig in his own way, wallowing in self-pity where Finnegan wallows in self-adulation, that he scarcely notices that his own secretary (Helen Mack) is almost dying in her unrequited love for him. In order to save his business, Larry's father, J. P. Stacey (eorge Barbier), turns to Finnegan, the football hero who used to sell 60,000 tickets a week on the playing field -- Finnegan understands ballyhoo, and what the public wants, and is put in charge of the store, and also becomes captain of a football team fielded by the store. Soon the place is jumping, especially when Finnegan brings back his old college team waterboy Joe (Joe Penner) and his duck mascot Goo-Goo, and fetching blonde cheerleader/singer Mimi (Lyda Roberti). Larry is reduced to running a department in the store and finally decides its time to step up and take on Finnegan head-to-head, joining the store's football team. But there's treachery and dirty tricks afoot -- in between a bright score by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel -- when Stacey's takes on a team fielded by their arch-rival store, Whimple's, in a bitter grudge-match fueled by the two owners' mutual dislike for each other. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

The Cohens and the Kellys, those ever-feuding in-laws introduced in the 1925 play Two Blocks Away, are at large again in this fourth entry in the Cohen-Kelly series. Once again, George Sidney stars as Jewish shopkeeper Cohen, while Charlie Murray co-stars as Irish cop Kelly. On vacation with their wives (Vera Gordon and Kate Price) our heroes arrive in Scotland to buy up as much plaid fabric as possible, intending to sell the material at a handsome profit to a foreign prince, likewise in Scotland to participate in a national golfing tournament. It must needs be that Cohen and Kelly find themselves on the golf links, with hilarious results. Most of the gags arise from the ongoing comparison between Jewish and Scottish stinginess, the sort of exaggerated ethnic humor that would be purged from Hollywood films after the strengthening of the Production Code in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

She's a Sheik borrows more than a little from the Rudolph Valentino vehicle, Son of the Sheik, but refreshingly, the Valentino character here is a woman, played by the dashing comedienne Bebe Daniels. She is Zaida, half-Spanish and half-Arab, and determined to marry a Christian man. The Arabian bandit Kada (William Powell doesn't care what she wants -- he's determined to have her as his own. Zaida, as swashbuckling as any male, goes sword-to-sword with him...and comes out ahead. She meets up with the French Captain Colton (Richard Arlen), decides he is for her, and kidnaps him to her desert camp. After spending a few days in captivity, Colton finally succumbs to Zaida's formidable charms. The film climaxes with a battle between French and Arab troops, with the French outwitting the Arabs, helped out by a pair of motion-picture showmen (played by Bill Franey and James Bradbury, Jr.). The company runs a clip of an attacking army on a large screen; this is enough to frighten the naive Arabs. Meanwhile Zaida and Colton close out She's a Sheik with the requisite clinch. A lot of people, though, would have preferred to see Daniels and Powell together at the end -- the pair had a real chemistry in the few films in which they appeared together. The good-looking Arlen just didn't have Powell's flair. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

It stands to reason that the sartorially splendid Adolphe Menjou would star in a picture called Evening Clothes. At the beginning of the film, however,Menjou is crude, shabbily dressed French farmer Lucien D'Artois. Attracted by his wealth, avaricious Germaine (Virginia Valli) marries D'Artois, then leaves him for a more sophisticated man. D'Artois retaliates by moving to the city and learning the proper social graces. His new life style proves to be too expensive for him, and at the end he is left with nothing but one suit of evening clothes and his now contrite wife. The legendary Louise Brooks, sporting curls rather than her trademarked Dutch-bob hairstyle, has a lively secondary role as a Parisian flapper named Fox Trot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Crown Prince of Maurainia (Norman Kerry) is a fun-loving rascal who prefers affairs of the heart to affairs of state. The Maurainian chancellor (Nigel Barrie) arranges with the King of Norvia (Marc MacDermott) to unite their kingdoms by marrying the Prince to the King's niece Norrinne (Greta Niessen). Not wanting any part of this, the Prince bolts the castle in search of entertainment. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful young blonde, vowing then and there to relinquish his throne and marry the girl. He contrives to insult every member of the Norvian court, certain that the wedding will be called off. Imagine his surprise when his intended bride Norrinne turns out to be the selfsame blonde he met the night before. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Former serial queen Ruth Roland was well cast as a haughty Western gal who kidnaps a rich Easterner in this low-budget oater released by Gower Gulch company Truart. Wanting to bring a little city glamour into her humdrum life, Roland abducts rich Easterner Matt Moore, who, needless to say, falls in love with her. A couple of real bandits engage in a bit of kidnapping themselves, an act that brings the real man out in Moore. Defeating the bandits, Roland and Moore plan to wed and settle in Manhattan. Despite its meagre budget, this Western-comedy employed an attractive supporting cast that included Roy Stewart as a tough cowboy, Grace Darmond as Moore's sister, and 1923 WAMPAS baby star Derelys Perdue as a society girl. The film's cameraman was future director Byron Haskin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

For this tale of old California, producer Benjamin F. Zeidman put together an all-star cast. The governor of California (Joseph J. Dowling) relies on his trusted secretary, Mendoza (Robert McKim), for many of his decisions. But Mendoza uses the governor's faith in him to have him ousted from office. When Mendoza takes over rulership, the Governor's son, Don Marcello (Gaston Glass) joins up with a group of revolutionists. Paula, Don Marcello's sweetheart (Alice Lake), accidentally gives away Marcello's new association and this results in the arrest of many of the revolutionaries. Marcello's comrades believe he is a traitor, and several of them throw him into the sea. He is rescued by a fisherman, and when he discovers the whereabouts of his arrested associates, he helps them to escape. With their help, Mendoza is usurped from power, and the old Governor takes over his old post. In spite of the misunderstanding, Don Marcello and Paula are united. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Eleanor Boardman and William Haines came to Hollywood when they were winners in the same contest held by the Goldwyn studios. While Boardman's star rose faster than Haines' (with Brown of Harvard, he would eventually catch up), they appeared together in this comedy-drama adapted from the play by Austin Strong. Claude Gillingwater, who played Findley on Broadway, reprises his role. Three men -- Findley (Craig Biddle Jr.), James Trumbull (Creighton Hale), and Gaunt (Raymond Hatton) -- are all in love with the same woman. Although none of them win her, the men remain lifelong pals. As old bachelors (Findley is played by Gillingwater, William H. Crane is Trumbull, and Gaunt is Alec B. Francis), they're surprised when Sydney Fairchild (Boardman) shows up. Sydney is the grown daughter of the girl they lost, and her mother has willed her to the three men. She brings light into their lives until a con who knows her father tries to kill Trumbull, a judge. Findley's nephew, Gordon Schuyler (Haines), helps her untangle the mess, and weds her in the bargain. Eventually, a real-life wedding would happen as a result of the film -- director King Vidor met Boardman while casting the picture, and they married in 1926. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This comedy, which was based on a stage play, got high marks from Moving Picture World, but would undoubtedly not be welcomed today -- "Among the amusing features," notes the trade paper, "is an amateur circus and the formation of a miniature Ku Klux Klan." The street urchins who are busy playing miniature Klansmen are found by Patsy, a tomboy (ZaSu Pitts who, even though she was in her early twenties, somehow manages to play a credible young adolescent). Dressed as a boy, Patsy ran away from an orphanage and has been traveling around the country. The kids initiate her into their gang and eventually she takes over as their leader. Patsy also finds an adult supporter in Pops, an inventor (John McFarlane). Swindlers are trying to trick Pops out of his land, but Patsy comes to his aid, along with reuniting him with his long-lost daughter, Margaret (Marjorie Daw). ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Dinty O'Sullivan (Wesley Barry) is the son of poor Irish immigrants. His father was killed the day he and his mother arrived in the U.S. so he supports his sick mother by working as a newsboy. He goes on to form a syndicate of newsboys and his 12-year-old ambitions are only temporarily damped by the death of his mother. Meanwhile, after his son is sentenced to death, an opium smuggler seeks vengeance on Judge Whitely (J. Barney Sherry) by kidnapping his daughter. Through his fellow newsboys, Dinty finds out about this plot and rescues the girl. As a result, the judge takes the resourceful boy into his home. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi