Marceline Day Movies

A society woman (Margaret Lockwood) is accused of murdering her businessman husband (Orson Welles). Called to piece the clues together is Inspector Trent (Michael Wilding), on the verge of retiring from detection. He learns that the dead man was a louse, providing the wife with plenty of motive. But the truth comes out: The so-called murder was actually a carefully choreographed suicide. End of story? Not quite. Trent's Last Case was previously filmed as a part-talkie in 1929, with comedian Raymond Griffith in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although venereal disease was considered as delicate a subject then as it is now, this was nonetheless the third filmed version of Eugène Brieux' 1901 play Les Avariés, known in English-speaking lands as Damaged Lives. Don is a shallow, naïve former ship's officer trying to make the transition to an executive position in the shipping company. He breaks a dinner engagement with his longtime fiancée Joan in order to make a night on the town with one of his company's clients. The client ends up drunk, and at the end of the long night Don ends up with Elise, a woman of dubious reputation who nevertheless lives in an impressive, Art Deco-styled apartment. Although he feels guilty about the affair, Don swiftly marries his sweetheart, only to get the phone call from "the other woman" saying she must see him immediately. Elise confronts Don discreetly that she has given him the gift that keeps on giving, which he refuses to believe. Elise then promptly kills herself, but later Don gets another call from a VD clinic which is treating his wife. After a harrowing visit to a series of "too-far-gone" patients, Don sees the light and agrees to get treatment. But the psychological effect on Joan has different results, and Don must rise to the occasion to save them both. Damaged Lives was initially released in Canada and a few cities in the United States but was stopped by censors in most American towns. In 1937 it was re-released as The Shocking Truth with a 29-minute lecture on VD added onto the end of the film to satisfy censors. Most current video releases do not include this extra material. A week after it opened, a competing domestic version of Damaged Lives also appeared, and with its similar storyline it is often confused with this Canadian film. There is no comparison stylistically, as Edgar G. Ulmer put far more into Damaged Lives than the property and its 18,000-dollar budget deserved. ~ David Lewis, All Movie Guide

Flash, yet another German shepherd in a long line of would-be Rin Tin Tin successors, took center stage in this obscure action-melodrama, which came complete with supernatural overtones. Stowing away on his master's plane, a parachuting Flash rescues Jim Robbins (John David Horsley) from drowning in the ocean between Los Angeles and Hawaii when Jim's aircraft catches fire during a fierce lightning storm. They both make it safely to Tabu Island where Sally James (Marceline Day), the skinny-dipping daughter of the local missionary, guides them to the nearby trading post. Said operation is lorded over by Von Krantz (Noah Beery), a nasty trader who is getting rich from exploiting the native villagers. Irredeemably villainous, Von Krantz not only attempts to ravage a native girl, much to the dismay of his floozy girlfriend, Molly (Carmelita Geraghty), but shoots the local high priest (Mischa Auer) when the latter takes umbrage to the goings-on. Soon, an uprising is under way, during which the high priest is resurrected in a cave, but in the end it is Flash who saves the day for all and sundry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Former silent screen cowboy star Jack Hoxie played a Pony Express rider in this, the fourth of six low-budget oaters produced by Majestic. Delivering a valuable deed to El Rio Rancho, Buck Carson (Hoxie) is ambushed by Clem Porter (Matthew Betz) and his gang, who steal the deed. Meanwhile, at El Rio Rancho, Betty Castlear (Marceline Day) releases her horse, Dynamite, into the desert. The animal has been conscripted to the cavalry by Lt. Bob Gray (Lane Chandler), Betty's fiancée. Bringing the wayward horse back to the ranch, Carson stumbles over Porter, who forces him to go to the gang's hangout at the Bar X Ranch. With the aid of sidekick Pancho Gonzales (Julian Rivero), Carson manages to recover the deed, after which he sets the ranch on fire. In retribution, Porter holds Betty and her friend June (Doris Hill) hostage at El Rio Rancho, but they are eventually saved by Carson, Lt. Gray, and the cavalry. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In 1932, Monogram Pictures was essentially the clearing house for the films of independent production firms. Monogram was responsible for the Southeastern distribution of Trojan Productions' Arm of the Law. Rex Bell, the handsome cowboy-star husband of actress Clara Bow (and later lieutenant governor of Nevada) plays the leading role. Bell wears city duds as a newspaper reporter who tries to solve the murder of nasty nightclub singer Lina Basquette. A whole slew of silent movie veterans pop up as the suspects, including Marceline Day, Bryant Washburn, Donald Keith, Wallace MacDonald, and William V. Mong. A well-crafted little mystery quickie, Arm of the Law was based on Arthur Hoerl's The Butterfly Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Crusader was one of the earliest efforts from Majestic Pictures, for many years the most ambitious of the independent production firms. H.B. Warner plays the title character, incorruptible district attorney Phillip Brandon. Hoping to silence Brandon, a gang of crooks uncover some unsavory information about his wife Tess's (Evelyn Brent) past. The villains further lure Brandon's daughter Marcia (Marceline Day) into a compromising situation, in which Joe Carson (Walter Byron) clearly intends to deflower the girl against her will. When all of this intrigue results in murder, it is Tess's former sweetheart, amiable bootlegger Jimmie Dale (Lew Cody), who comes to the rescue of the good guys. Modern audiences will likely be astounded by the liberal use of profanity in The Crusader, notably the moment in which unscrupulous reporter Eddie Crane (Ned Sparks) shouts "Hot damn! What a story!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Pocatello Kid must have been sheer ambrosia for Ken Maynard fans, offering their idol in a dual role. Maynard is cast as the title character, a good-bad outlaw, and his exact double, a bad-bad corrupt sheriff. When the sheriff is killed, the Pocatello Kid is persuaded to take his place by a local rustler. It is the rustler's hope that the outlaw will follow the sheriff's crooked footsteps, but the Kid spoils this scheme by suddenly going straight. While the film hasn't got the budget for expensive split screens and optical effects, Ken Maynard does a nice job differentiating the two distinct personalities he's called upon to play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sky Raiders may be a talkie, but its plotting and performances are strictly from the silent era. Lloyd Hughes plays Bob, a daredevil aviator in love with Grace (Marceline Day). Bob's recklessness and fondness for bootleg hootch causes the death of Grace's brother, whereupon she storms out of his life. Our hero redeems himself by rounding up a gang of flying hijackers who've been robbing gold shipments in mid-air. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sunny Skies was the first of two attempts by Tiffany Studios to make a major talkie star out of Jewish dialect comedian Benny Rubin. The story takes place on a college campus, where over-aged freshman Benny Krantz (Rubin) is the roommate of football hero Jim Grant (Rex Lease). Rather full of himself, Grant goes out on a toot with a "fast lady," and as a result is booted out of college just before the big game. Managing to redeem himself on the day of the crucial gridiron contest, Grant is again detained when he gallantly submits to a blood transfusion to save Krantz's life. Will he make it to the game on time? Will he score the winning touchdown? Marjorie "Babe" Kane, best known for her ingenue work in the Bing Crosby 2-reelers for Mack Sennett, does a cute imitation of her boop-a-doop namesake Helen Kane. Sunny Skies was followed in short order by Hot Curves, which also co-starred Benny Rubin, Rex Lease and Marceline Day and was also set against a sports background. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of comedian Benny Rubin's two starring features for Tiffany Studios, Hot Curves is a spoof of baseball manager John McGraw's publicity-conscious efforts to put a Jewish player on the New York Giants. Rubin plays Benny Goldberg, a soda jerk who joins the Pittsburgh Cougars along with his egotistical pal Jim Dolan (Rex Lease). While Benny works himself up to star-player status, Jim falters badly, thanks mostly to his ever-expanding ego and his romantic misadventures with manager's daughter Elaine McGrew (Alice Day) and predatory Margie (Natalie Morehead). He pulls himself together in time to lead his team to victory during the World Series, but not before he's put through the emotional wringer when Benny is reported killed in a plane crash. Featured in the cast as Benny's Irish-Catholic girlfriend is Pert Kelton, three years before her "official" screen bow in RKO's Bed of Roses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the silent comedy team of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur made some very entertaining films in the latter half of the 1920s (Rookies, for example, was a winner), this feature didn't quite live up to the duo's potential. That said, having Dane play a big, dumb hotel detective and placing the boyish, diminutive Arthur in the role of a bellhop was inspired casting. The two of them are rivals for the heart of Lois, a typist at the hotel where they are working (Marceline Day). There's a jewel thief at the hotel and for all his bragging, Dane can't seem to get a handle on solving the case. Determined to win Lois and show up Dane, Arthur gets on the case himself. Their investigation takes both of them to a strange house miles outside of town which contains trap doors and secret passageways. The thief, who has been posing as a professor of Egyptology, is finally rounded up, and the jewels recovered -- by the bellhop. He and Lois walk off together, leaving the hotel detective -- whose presence has more often hindered than helped -- to suffer the scorn of the cops. There are a few truly amusing moments, most notably when Arthur dresses up as a maid and can't get Dane to stop pawing him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this film, the irresponsible Stella Ames (Clara Bow) spends her college career attending parties rather than studying. However, when she ends up in the difficult class of the handsome, but stern, Professor Gil Gilmore (Fredrick March), she develops a crush on him which creates a series of dilemmas for both of them. The Wild Party, directed by one of the first female directors, Dorothy Arzner was Clara Bow's first talkie film, and -- while dated -- is still good, trashy fun to watch. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide