Gladys Unger Movies
American playwright Gladys Unger occasionally adapted her works for the screen in the silent era. Unger's stage efforts London Pride and Goldfish were filmed under their original titles, while Starlight came to the screen as The Divine Woman (1928). She co-scripted Cecil B. De Mille's first two talkies, Dynamite (1929) and Madam Satan (1930). Gladys Unger later specialized in literary adaptations, notably Universal's Charles Dickens films of the 1930s, Great Expectations (1934) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1937
Partners in Crime was Paramount's follow-up to its successful Murder Goes to College; both films were based on a series of mystery novels by Kurt Steel. Lynne Overman and Roscoe Karns are back as insouciant private eye Hank Hyer and his bibulous partner-in-crimesolving Sim Perkins. Our heroes are currently engaged in protecting a reform-ticket mayoral candidate from a blackmail scheme. When this fails, Sim himself runs for mayor, and through the sort of miracles that only happen in movies he wins the election. A clever last-minute plot twist loses him his office, but at least the good guys did triumph for a while. Alas, Partners in Crime went the way of most sequels; lacking the freshness and spontaneity of the first film, it was less successful at the box office, precluding any more follow-ups. On the other hand, it did afford an excellent early acting opportunity for new Paramount contractee Anthony Quinn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynne Overman, Muriel Hutchison, (more)
- 1937
Anna May Wong, who cornered the 1930s market in Eurasian heroines, stars in Daughter of Shanghai. Wong is on the trail of the criminals who murdered her father. The villains are running an illegal-alien operation, smuggling cheap Chinese and Mexican labor into San Francisco and killing those unlucky souls who prove "inconvenient". Wong takes a job as an exotic dancer in a Central American nitery, hoping to trap the murderers in the act. Though J. Carroll Naish and Buster Crabbe are top-billed, the actual hero of Daughter of Shanghai is Chinese actor Philip Ahn, playing an FBI agent protecting Wong from the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna May Wong, Philip Ahn, (more)
- 1937
A remake of 1929's The Greene Murder Case, Paramount's Night of Mystery was the first "Philo Vance" thriller not to use the words "Murder Case" in the title. The story is set in the Greene Mansion in midtown New York, where a passel of greedy relatives attend the wealthy and reclusive Mrs. Tobias Greene (Elizabeth Patterson). When murder inevitably rears its ugly head, dilettante sleuth Philo Vance (Grant Richards) shows up to investigate, condescendingly second-guessing DA Markham (Purnell Pratt) and Sgt. Heath (Roscoe Karns). Among the clues is a revolver which keeps appearing and disappearing, seemingly at will. Part of the appeal of the original Greene Murder Case was the offbeat casting of then-ingenue Jean Arthur. In Night of Mystery, the Arthur role is filled by Ruth Coleman, who is almost as ill-suited for the part as is the colorless Grant Richards as Philo Vance. Strange that director E. A. Dupont, one of the giants of the German silent cinema, couldn't inject any more excitement into this weary yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grant Richards, Roscoe Karns, (more)
- 1935
The first major film about psychiatry, Private Worlds stars Claudette Colbert as a psychiatrist with more than a few problems of her own. Colbert's appointment to a top mental hospital is frowned upon by head doctor Charles Boyer, who doesn't have much confidence in woman doctors of any kind. A secondary storyline involves Boyer's sister Helen Vinson, who lusts for a young married doctor (Joel McCrea). The doctor's wife (Joan Bennett) subsequently goes insane in an "off-angled" scene anticipating the techniques of film noir by nearly a decade. Meanwhile, doctors Boyer and Colbert establish a mutual respect which deepens into love. Based on a novel by Phyllis Bottomes, Private Worlds is stronger in its vignettes (including a scene in which Boyer comforts a dying patient by speaking a few words in the patient's native tongue) than in its longer "plot" scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1935
Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, has been a source of speculation and controversy ever since its posthumous publication. Even so, the ending concocted by scenarists John Balderston and Gladys Unger for the 1935 film version of Edwin Drood met with near-unanimous approval from Dickens buffs, who felt that Balderston and Unger had remained faithful to the author's original intention. Claude Rains stars as John Jasper, the seemingly respectable choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral. What no one suspects is that Jasper is an opium addict, given to fits of paranoia and jealousy. Pushing him over the edge is the fact that his beautiful ward, Rosa Bud (Heather Angel), has fallen in love with handsome Edwin Drood (David Manners). That Drood is murdered by Jasper is made abundantly clear: it is the mystery of how he was murdered and how Jasper disposed of the body that holds the viewer's interest. The film's relatively short running time required the screenwriters to drop several of Dickens' more colorful supporting characters: of those retained, Francis L. Sullivan is a standout as Mr. Crisparkle. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was transformed into a Broadway musical in 1980s (which offered several alternate endings), then was refilmed in 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Douglass Montgomery, (more)
- 1935
In this romantic comedy, a man marries his Russian lover and discovers that she has a large extended family. He is utterly overwhelmed and decides that the only way he will be able to free himself of their burden will be to make them famous. Along the way, he keeps running into the bold lover of his new bride. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pryor, June Clayworth, (more)
- 1935
Bebe Daniels, all of 34, portrays an ageing movie star who refuses to admit she's too old for the ingenue role in an upcoming musical. Alice Faye is a hopeful chorus girl, while Ray Walker is a would-be director. All the young people get their deserved breaks when Daniels gets wise to herself and settles for a character role in the film--and also admits that the young girl (Rosina Lawrence) whom she's been passing off as her sister is really her daughter. Both Alice Faye and Bebe Daniels are given plenty of opportunities to sing and dance, which is as it should be. But Music is Magic falls short of perfection thanks to the doggedly unfunny comic relief of Frank Mitchell and Jack Durant, who may well be the worst team in motion picture history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Faye, Ray Walker, (more)
This big-budget 1936 RKO Studios picture lost money, perhaps due to a cool box-office reception to the idea of leading lady Katharine Hepburn in drag, and a rare-for-its-day screen kiss between two women. Edmund Gwenn plays the title character's father Henry, who is obsessed with gambling. His daughter Sylvia (Hepburn) has stolen some expensive lace which they hope to smuggle from France to England. To elude police, she cuts her hair short and disguises herself as a man. She and her father board a ship, and a drunken Henry confesses their scheme to Jimmy Monkley (Cary Grant), a jewel smuggler. To divert attention away from him, Jimmy snitches on Henry to the customs officials, and Henry has to pay up or be arrested. Later, Sylvia confronts Jimmy on a train and punches him. Jimmy apologizes and cuts them in on a scheme to steal jewels from a wealthy family, using his friend Maudie (Dennie Moore), a maid in the house. But Sylvia, still disguised as a man, talks Maudie out of it, and she responds with a kiss. Maudie and Sylvia's father fall in love and Maudie, an aspiring actress, invests money in a show to open in a seaside resort. There they are invited to the mansion of a wealthy artist, Michael Fane (Brian Aherne), who is unsettled by Sylvia's obvious affections before finally discovering that she's a woman. Jimmy is attracted to Michael's roommate, the Russian-born Lily (Natalie Paley) -- and from there, the romantic entaglements between the aformentioned parties proceed like a Shakespearean comedy. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1935
Rendezvous at Midnight shifts from "low" to "drive" when corrupt city commissioner Myles Crawford (Arthur Vinton) is murdered. His assistant, Bob Edmonds (Ralph Bellamy), originally assigned to investigate the commissioner's administration, now tries to solve his murder. The prime suspect is Sandra Rogers (Valerie Hobson), the last person to see Crawford alive. Despite the most damning evidence, Edmonds refuses to believe that Sandra is guilty, and he sets about to prove it -- even if it means compromising his own honesty. This mild whodunit has curiously been included in TV's "Shock Theater" package, right along with Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolf Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Bellamy, Valerie Hobson, (more)
- 1935
Little Mary Dow (Baby Jane, aka Juanita Quigley) disappears from hearth and home on her 3rd birthday. Eighteen years later, Mary's fatally ill mother Evelyn (Katherine Alexander) makes a deathbed request to see her daughter one last time. Hoping to grant Evelyn's final request, wealthy Henry Dow (Henry O'Neill) prevails upon hard-boiled waitress Sally Gates (Sally Eilers) to pose as the long-lost Mary. She agrees, but only because there's money involved. Eventually, Sally mends her mercenary ways and becomes as good and loyal a daughter as ever the real Mary Dow could have been -- and who knows, she might actually be Mary after all! Ray Milland (still billed as Raymond) is the nominal leading man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Eilers, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1934
Another of director William Wyler's "apprenticeship" films, Glamour is based on a story by Edna Ferber. The original story covered 24 hours in the life of actress Linda Fayne (Constance Cummings), who is so busy with her career that there's no time left over for her baby. This plotline was used as a small component of Doris Anderson's screenplay, wherein we discover how Linda came to be a mother in the first place. During her climb to the top of the acting profession, our heroine falls in love with aspiring songwriter Victor Banki (Paul Lukas). Having read somewhere that no actress has ever reached greatness until after she became a mother, Linda all but forces Valenti to impregnate her. Sure enough, she becomes an overnight star, whereupon she marries Victor. Later on, Linda leaves her husband in favor of handsome singer Lorenzo Valenti (Philip Reed), but her maternal instincts win out and she returns to Victor and her child. No way that all this could happen within 24 hours! Bobby Watson, foremost Adolph Hitler impersonator of the 1940s, shows up in Glamour as a gay dance director, a characterization he'd previously done in Wheeler and Woolsey's Hips Hips Hooray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Lukas, Constance Cummings, (more)
- 1934
Looking for all the world like a 2-reel comedy bloated to 6-reel proportions, Embarrassing Moments was directed by Edward Laemmle, one of the many salaried relatives of avuncular Universal chieftain Carl Laemmle. Chester Morris plays Jerry Randolph, an inveterate and obnoxious practical joker. Things take a serious turn when it looks as though Jerry's latest prank has resulted in the death of his best friend. But the audience is way ahead of Jerry: the whole "tragedy" has been staged to teach the jolly jokester a lesson. Billed third in Embarrassing Moments is Broadway singing star Walter Woolf, who as Walter Woolf King enjoyed a lengthy career as a supporting actor in such films as The Marx Bros.' Night at the Opera and Laurel & Hardy's Swiss Miss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1934
One of the lesser-known directorial efforts of cinematographer Karl Freund, The Countess of Monte Cristo stars Fay Wray as the title character. A lowly extra in a Viennese movie studio, young Janet (Wray) gets fed up with her lot in life. Hoping to have one final fling before trudging off to the poorhouse, Janet steals a fancy automobile and a fur coat from the movie studio and heads off to a coastal resort, where she registers as the Countess of Monte Cristo. Janet's best pal and reluctant travelling companion Mimi (Patsy Kelly) is certain that they'll both be exposed as phonies within a day or so, but our heroine manages to carry off the ruse with great success, even attracting the attentions of two well-heeled gentlemen, Rumowski (Paul Lukas) and The Baron (Reginald Owen). Alas, Janet's holiday comes to an abrupt end when it turns out that her two suitors are actually international jewel thieves! The Countess of Monte Cristo was remade on a considerably reduced budget in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fay Wray, Paul Lukas, (more)
- 1934
Twelve years before David Lean's definitive filmization of Dickens' Great Expectations, Hollywood had a go at the novel, with mixed results. The story is the familiar one of young Pip (George Breakstone as a boy, Phillips Holmes as an adult) whose future wealth is assured through the auspices of a mysterious benefactor. It turns out that Pip's "guardian angel" is condemned convict Magwich (Henry Hull), repaying a favor the lad had done for him years earlier. The film is a faithful if rather rushed adaptation of the Dickens original, encompassing within its 100-minute running time such unforgettable characters as the vindictive recluse Miss Havisham, the arrogant Estella, the likeable blacksmith Joe Gargery and Joe's less likeable wife. Henry Hull is overly mannered as Magwich and Florence Reed is distressingly dull as Miss Havisham, but Jane Wyatt and Alan Hale are perfectly cast as Estella and Gargery, respectively. Francis L. Sullivan, playing lawyer Jaggers, repeated the role in the 1946 David Lean film. And if you pay close attention, you'll spot Walter Brennan as one of Magwich's fellow convicts. The 1934 Great Expectations is neat and precise, but nowhere near as inspired as the celebrated remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Hull, Phillips Holmes, (more)
- 1934
Previously filmed in 1919 and 1927, Max Marcin's stage success Cheating Cheaters made its talking-picture bow courtesy of Universal in 1934. Fay Wray stars as seductive Nan Brockton, seemingly in the employ of a gang of slick jewel thieves. The crooks disguise themselves as high-society types, as do the members of a rival gang. Nan falls in love with her crooked "opposite number" Tom Palmer (Cesar Romero), then reveals that she's not what she seems to be, enabling Tom to wipe the slate clean and start anew on the side of Law and Order. Originally released on a double bill with the Fox documentary The First World War, Cheating Cheaters represented the first big-studio directorial effort of Richard Thorpe, previously a mainstay of low-budget Chesterfield Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fay Wray, Cesar Romero, (more)
- 1934
Universal's Romance in the Rain is a satire of network radio, a popular target of early-'30s movies. On behalf of dithery magazine publisher J. Franklyn Blank (Victor Moore), press agent Charlie (Roger Pryor) stages a "Cinderella contest" in search of new female talent for the airwaves. The winner turns out to be Cynthia (Heather Angel), a slum girl whom Charlie had previously befriended during a heavy rainstorm. Cynthia is madly in love with Charlie, but he doesn't realize it until his "Cinderella" has nearly been wed to someone else. Meanwhile, Blank has a few romantic travails of his own with his aggressive self-appointed fiancee Gwen (Esther Ralston), who literally drags him to the Justice of the Peace at film's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pryor, Heather Angel, (more)
- 1934
In this romance, a lovely young debutante falls in love with a jazz violinist. Her mother wants her to marry a wealthy young man, but the strong-willed girl initially demurs until the night of her debut. Her well-meaning social adviser fills the debutante's dance card with partners and this inflames the jealous violinist causing a heated argument between himself and the deb. Out of spite, she marries a wealthy fellow, who unfortunately turns out to be a drunk. Later everything turns out all right after he grants her an annulment, and she and the violinist finally come together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Dee, Gene Raymond, (more)
- 1932
In this drama, a rich man's wife finds herself victimized by her cruel mother-in-law who doesn't think the girl is good enough for her son. Not only does she try to destroy their marriage, the meddlesome mom also tries to steal their baby. The wife takes the baby and flees. In the end, the couple overcomes their difficulties and happily reunite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen, (more)
- 1931
Young Joan Bennett and Lew Ayres make an attractive couple in the Universal programmer Many a Slip. Because of her imperious attitude, beautiful young debutante Pat Coster (Bennett) can't find a boy friend until Jerry Brooks (Ayres) comes along. Anxious not to lose Jerry, Pat leads him to believe that she's pregnant. Only after they've exchanged wedding vows does Pat reveal that no baby is forthcoming, whereupon the angry Jerry walks out on her. Trouble is, Pat is now pregnant for real! This is one film in which stars definitely outshine the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Lew Ayres, (more)
- 1930
The second of Cecil B. DeMille's talkies (as well as his second for MGM), Madam Satan is an exercise in incoherence, but this doesn't detract one iota from its entertainment value. Kay Johnson plays the sedate wife of philandering Reginald Denny, who is currently carrying on with "jazz baby" Lillian Roth. In a desperate effort to win back her husband, Johnson disguises herself as the alluring, provocatively clothed "Madame Satan." In this guise, she attends a lavish charity costume party being thrown by socialite Roland Young on a dirigible moored high above New York Harbor. Failing to recognize his mousey little wife, Denny arranges for a rendezvous with Madame Satan. When she reveals her true identity, Denny is outraged and threatens divorce. Suddenly, the dirigible is struck by lightning; it breaks loose from its moorings, tossing its terrified passengers around and about. Denny behaves heroically in shepherding the passengers into their parachutes; meanwhile, Johnson gives up her own parachute to save Roth. Coming to the mutual realization that each is worthy of the other's love, Johnson and Denny are reunited. Though when taken out of context, the dirigible sequence appears to be the ultimate in campy melodrama, this scene and all the scenes that built up to it are played for laughs: DeMille didn't take this farrago any more seriously in 1930 than we do today. Highlights include several unexpected and charmingly innapropriate musical numbers, including a bizarre "Ballet Mechanique" featuring dancer Theodore Kosloff. Though DeMille carefully threw in every ingredient that he hoped would appeal to a mass audience, Madam Satan was one of his few box office flops. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1930
Filmed in 1929 and released early in 1930, Dynamite was Cecil B. DeMille's first all-talking feature. As one observer has noted, this 128-minute opus has enough plots for seven pictures. The basic storyline here involves spoiled heiress Cynthia Crothers (Kay Johnson) who will lose her fortune if she isn't married right away. Her love Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel) isn't interested in marriage, so Crothers decides to wed convicted murderer Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford). Her plan: Derk will die, then she'll be a millionaire, free to chase after Towne without benefit of clergy. Unfortunately for Crothers, Derk is pardoned at the last minute when the real killer (Leslie Fenton) confesses. Crothers tries to drive Derk out of her life by humiliating him at a fancy party, only to discover that the conditions of her inheritance require that she live with her husband for a set period of time. She swallows her pride and heads for Derk's home town, a grimy mining village. Touched by Crother's inept efforts to keep house and cook dinner, Derk eventually falls in love with her--though he makes it clear that he wants no part of her money. Crothers, in turn, falls genuinely in love with her brutish but basically decent husband. It must needs be that fortune-hunting Towne arrives in the mining village, leading to a powerful climax wherein Derk, Crothers and Towne are trapped in a mine cave-in. Though the dialogue is occasionally quite silly (after the killer commits suicide in a crowded restaurant, one of the patrons is heard to complain "It's ruined my dinner!") and the performances overripe at times, Dynamite actually holds up better than you'd expect. DeMilles' utilization of sound is both innovative and imaginative, especially during the noisy climactic sequences. The film was a success, paving the way for DeMilles' camp classic Madame Satan (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Kay Johnson, (more)
- 1929
Marion Davies made her talkie debut in this early musical romance set during World War I. Marianne (Davies is a beautiful French girl who is engaged to marry a soldier fighting on the front. However, she soon attracts the attentions of Pvt. Stagg (Lawrence Gray), an American soldier fighting in France. Marianne is infatuated with the dashing Yank, yet remains faithful to her intended. But when her fiancé returns from the war blind and embittered, Marianne wonders if she might have been better off with Stagg. Marianne also features Cliff Edwards (also known as Ukulele Ike), Benny Rubin, and George Baxter; Arthur Freed, later a top producer of musicals at MGM, co-wrote the song "Blondy" that is sung by Lawrence Gray in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, Cliff Edwards, (more)
- 1928
One of the great directors of the silent era, Victor Sjostrom, teamed with fellow Swede Greta Garbo for this drama. The great Garbo plays Marianne, a young woman from Brittany who was neglected by her impoverished parents. Marianne longs to be an actress and moves to Paris, where theatrical producer Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman) takes her under his wing; Henry was romantically involved with Marianne's mother years ago and feels a semi-paternal affection for the young woman. Marianne falls in love with Lucien (Lars Hanson), a man who has deserted from the Army and is on the run from the law. To prove his devotion to her, Lucien steals a dress for Marianne, but this only attracts the police and Lucien winds up in jail. With Lucien behind bars, Henry's attentions become less friendly and more romantic, and Marianne must decide if she should wait for the man she loves or devote herself to the man who wants her. Sadly, no complete prints of The Divine Woman are known to exist; one reel of the eight-reel feature was discovered in a Russian film archive, but the remainder of the picture remains lost. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, (more)
- 1927
A stage play by Gladys Ungar was the source for Fox's Two Girls Wanted. In her first above-the-title starring role, Janet Gaynor is cast as Marianna Miller, who together with her sister Sarah (Marie Mosquini) pounds the pavements, looking for a job. After a period of starvation and deprivation -- through which both girls smile inanely -- Marianna is hired as secretary to duplicitous businessman Philip Hancock (Joseph Cawthorn). Upon falling in love with Hancock's young rival Dexter Wright (Glenn Tryon), our heroine sets about to warn Wright about a crooked business deal cooked up by Hancock. In a reversal of expectations, it is the heroine who rescues the hero when the chips are down in the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Glenn Tryon, (more)
- 1924
Pert comedienne Constance Talmadge is virtually the whole show in Goldfish. A newly married husband (Jack Mulhall) and wife (Talmadge) make a curious agreement: should either party want to terminate the relationship, that party will present the other one with a bowl of goldfish (there has to be some justification for the film's title, hasn't there?) One bowl and two husbands later, the wife is at the pinnacle of social respectability, while her songwriter ex-husband is still struggling away in poverty. Eventually, her first husband achieves success, whereupon the woman presents her latest fiance with a bowl full of fish and returns to hubby number one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Talmadge, Jack Mulhall, (more)
