Frances Dade Movies

Though produced by Supreme Pictures and distributed by Artclass, the poverty-row sex drama Pleasure is neither supreme, arty, nor classy. Conway Tearle stars as a wealthy, conservative author who is saddled with libertine wife Carmel Myers. Bored by her husband, Myers inaugurates an affair with Paul Page, Tearle's starving-artist brother. In true "tit for tat" fashion, Tearle subsequently falls in love with Page's model, Lina Basquette. Even at 53 minutes, Pleasure moves with the swiftness of molasses; its main purpose seemed to be to extend the careers of several former silent-film favorites. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"I am....Drac-u-la. I bid you velcome." Thus does Bela Lugosi declare his presence in the 1931 screen version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Director Tod Browning invests most of his mood and atmosphere in the first two reels, which were based on the original Stoker novel; the rest of the film is a more stagebound translation of the popular stage play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Even so, the electric tension between the elegant Dracula and the vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) works as well on the screen as it did on the stage. And it's hard to forget such moments as the lustful gleam in the eyes of Mina Harker (Helen Chandler) as she succumbs to the will of Dracula, or the omnipresent insane giggle of the fly-eating Renfield (Dwight Frye). Despite the static nature of the final scenes, Dracula is a classic among horror films, with Bela Lugosi giving the performance of a lifetime as the erudite Count (both Lugosi and co-star Frye would forever after be typecast as a result of this film, which had unfortunate consequences for both men's careers). Compare this Dracula to the simultaneously filmed Spanish-language version, which makes up for the absence of Lugosi with a stronger sense of visual dynamics in the lengthy dialogue sequences. In 1999, a special rerelease of Dracula was prepared featuring a new musical score written by Philip Glass and performed by The Kronos Quartet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Considered by many the prototypical low-budget Ken Maynard oater, Range Law starred Maynard as Hap Connors, a prisoner making a daring escape -- in a garbage truck, no less -- to search for the villain who framed him. En route, he obtains a job on a ranch belonging to blond Ruth Warren (Frances Dade), whose fiancé, Blont (Frank Mayo), proves to be the villain who framed the innocent cowboy in the first place. Arrested by the sheriff (Jack Rockwell), Hap manages to escape with the help of one of Blont's henchmen, Blont hoping to get a better shot at his rival. The scheme, of course, backfires and a vindicated Hap is reunited with Ruth. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Two romances are included in this film. In the first, a freeloading novelist abandons his devoted girlfriend and latches onto the wealth of a lonely widow. Another man witness the spurning, gives the writer what for and the proceeds to court the jilted girl himself. The story is adapted from S.N. Behrman's play The Second Man. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

George Cukor received his first film directorial credit for Grumpy, though he was contractually bound to share billing with Broadway director Cyril Gardner. Cyril Maude recreates his stage role as a cranky retired lawyer with the requisite 14-carat heart. The lawyer's daughter (Frances Dade) has a boyfriend who is accused of stealing a valuable diamond. Setting his nightcap and pacing around his living room in his pajamas, "Grumpy" solves the case. Adapted from the play by Horace Hodges and Thomas Percival, Grumpy was previously filmed in 1923 with Theodore Roberts in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi