A.E. Thomas Movies
- 1937
Good Old Soak was based on a story by Don Marquis, creator of the immortal "Archy and Mehitabel." Wallace Beery is well-cast as town drunk Clem Hawley, a blot on the escutcheon of a small Prohibition-era Midwestern town. When a large sum of bank money is stolen, Clem immediately falls under suspicion. His previously spineless son Clemmie (Eric Linden) rushes to his dad's defense, insisting that he, and not Clem, is the thief. But the "good old soak" manages to recover the money and expose the thief, a respectable "social" drinker and stock-market swindler whose hypocrisy is in stark contrast to Clem's bibulous honesty. In one of his last film roles, Ted Healy manages to steal quite a few scenes from Beery (no small feat) as a cheerful bootlegger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Una Merkel, (more)
- 1936
Everybody's Old Man looks like a stray Will Rogers project, temporarily shelved when Rogers was killed in a 1935 plane crash. Rogers' old pal Irvin S. Cobb assumes the title role; he plays a business executive who takes a year off to reflect on things when a close friend dies suddenly. Insinuating himself into his late friend's household, Cobb manages to straighten out the dead man's irresponsible offspring. He does the job so well that he's invited to stay on indefinitely. Everybody's Old Man bears a marked resemblance to the 1933 George Arliss vehicle The Working Man -- as well it should, since the 1936 film is a remake of the earlier picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irvin S. Cobb, Rochelle Hudson, (more)
- 1935
MGM regularly churned out films in the 1930s that were all "star power" and very little plot. No More Ladies is a good example of this. Joan Crawford marries bon vivant Robert Montgomery, hoping to mend his wastrel ways. Montgomery refuses to assumes the proper responsibilities of a husband, so Crawford tries to make him jealous by taking up with Franchot Tone. Everyone involved has limitless money, beautiful clothes and all the time in the world to spend on the trivialities of the plotline. Depression era audiences loved to see good-looking people in sumptuous sets, so No More Ladies was a success. The fact that, when asked, these audiences couldn't remember a single thing about the story was beside the point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, (more)
- 1931
This melodrama tells the tale of young American pilots who felt strongly about WWI before the US intervened. These men decided to do their part by working with the Royal Air Force. The German forces are using observation balloons to gather information about allied activities. Several American pilots are sent to destroy the balloons and one flier (played by Humphrey Bogart) is lost. His friend (played by Charles Farrell) says that Bogart was responsible for the success of the mission. Farrell also attempts to locate the widow of the slain flier. He finds a woman who claims that is she. The two of them begin a romance. Soon she is pegged as a German spy who has cost many fliers their lives. When the truth is discovered, that somebody else is responsible for tipping off the Germans, the young lovers are reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elissa Landi, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1931
Though he'd been given top billing at other studios, Charles Ruggles attained star status at his home lot of Paramount for the first time in 1931's The Girl Habit. Hoping to escape the murderous wrath of a gangster, wealthy middle-aged playboy Charlie Floyd (Ruggles) tries to get himself arrested. He finally succeeds, only to be thrown into the same cell as the gangster! Then there's the problem of getting out of jail, which comes about when Charlie uncovers evidence revealing the warden to be a crook. And all of this comes about simply because Charlie's sweetheart Sonya (Tamara Geva) tried to cure our hero of his flirtatiousness. Based on a play by A.E. Thomas and Clayton Hamilton, The Girl Habit was something of a enigma, garnering huge laughs in some theaters and stony silence in others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Tamara Geva, (more)
- 1930
Le Grande Mare is the French-language version of Paramount's The Big Pond (1930), with Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert in their original roles as Pierre Mirande and Barbara Billings. Pierre is a Venetian tour guide, who falls in love with wealthy American tourist Barbara. Her male relatives think that Pierre is merely a fortune-hunter, but Barbara's mom persuades her husband to give Pierre a job in his chewing-gum factory. The menfolk finally approve of Barbara's choice when Pierre comes up with the brilliant, money-making idea of coating the gum with liquor! Both La Grande Mare and The Big Pond were filmed simultaneously at Paramount's Long Island studios, but if the stars were tired out by this procedure, one would never know it from their enthusiastic performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andree Corday, Claudette Colbert, (more)
- 1926
In this adaptation of a play by A. E. Thomas, Richard Barthelmess stars as Prince Rupert of Koronia, who becomes tired of palace life and yearns to be among the common folk. On a visit to America, Rupert gets his wish, and even goes so far as to fall in love with down-to-earth Linda Lee Stafford (Lois Moran). Unfortunately, Rupert's brother, the Crown Prince (Harry Short) dies, and our hero, next in line for the throne, is called back to his own country. Rupert is finally freed to wed his beloved Linda when the Crown Prince's wife, who's been pregnant for ever so long, gives birth to the new regent of Karonia. Cast in the role of the King was one "George Spelvin," which is the nom de stage usually assumed by an actor whenever he doesn't wish to identify himself by his own name. Further down the cast list is a real-life "royal," Prince Rokneddine, playing a private secretary; also featured in a secondary role is Geoffrey Kerr, who played Prince Rupert in the original stage version of Just Suppose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, Lois Moran, (more)
- 1923
Although Lois Wilson was lovely to look at, some of her best work was in character roles. Here, the 28-year-old star plays the widowed mother of 20-year-old twins. After the death of her strait-laced husband, Mrs. Stanley (Wilson) longs for romance. Her daughter Lucy (May McAvoy) and son Bob (Robert Agnew) are not of the same mind, however, and they thoroughly hate it when their mother takes up with Charles Giddings (Elliott Dexter), a college professor. They are even more horrified when Mrs. Stanley transforms from a drab lady nearing middle age into a lively woman who brightens up the furnishings of her formerly dull home. Mrs. Stanley is finally forced to choose between her love for her children and her love for Giddings. She chooses her children, but they come to realize that their mother is better off with her beau. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- May McAvoy, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1922
At the time this film was released, its star, Wallace Reid, was supposedly spending some time in a sanitarium, getting a much needed rest. The truth was that he had been hospitalized for his morphine addiction, which would kill him within a few months. Reid looks tired and strained here, and this poor excuse for a farce was all wrong for him. It was based on a Broadway play by A.E. Thomas and Clayton Hamilton, but did not translate at all well to the screen. Reid plays John Cadwalader Floyd, who gets himself into a lot of trouble when hot-headed Italian Giacomo Polenta (Hershall Mayall) finds him in the arms of his wife, Rosa (Carmen Phillips). The situation is completely innocent, but Polenta won't even consider that. To get away from the man, who is to depart for his home country in 28 days, Floyd begs his pal, Judge Hooker (Charles Ogle) to lock him away in jail for a whole month. The only problem is that Polenta has been thrown into the clink too. Things get even worse for Floyd when his fiancee, Lucy Ledyard (Wanda Hawley) finds him there. Then there's the bear-like presence of the warden, Marcel (Kalla Pasha, of Mack Sennett fame), to add even more complications. Floyd gets in good with Marcel by finding a shortage in the books and is pardoned early. Polenta also gets out but Floyd and his friends manage to capture him, roll him up in a rug and get him to the steamer that will take him out of America, and out of Floyd's life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Reid, Wanda Hawley, (more)
