Edgar Dearing Movies

In this crime drama, a remake of Forgotten Faces (1936), a convict busts out of prison to protect his daughter from her conniving mother so that the girl will be able to marry a decent guy in the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

To date, this D.W. Griffith epic is the only talking-picture effort to encapsulate the entire life of Abraham Lincoln, from cradle to grave. The script, credited to Stephen Vincent Benet, manages to include all the familiar high points, including Lincoln's tragic romance with Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel, allegedly cast because of her resemblance to Griffith favorite Lillian Gish), his lawyer days in Illinois, his contentious marriage to Mary Todd (Kay Hammond), his heartbreaking decision to declare war upon the South, his pardoning of a condemned sentry during the Civil War, and his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth (expansively portrayed by Ian Keith). This was D.W. Griffith's first talkie, and the master does his best with the somewhat pedantic dialogue sequences; but as always, Griffith's forte was spectacle and montage, as witness the cross-cut scenes of Yankees and Rebels marching off to war and the pulse-pounding ride of General Sheridan (Frank Campeau) through the Shenandoah Valley. Thanks to the wizardry of production designer William Cameron Menzies, many of the scenes appear far more elaborate than they really were; Menzies can also be credited with the unforgettable finale, as Honest Abe's Kentucky log cabin dissolves to the Lincoln Memorial. As Abraham Lincoln, Walter Huston is a tower of strength, making even the most florid of speeches sound human and credible; only during the protracted death scene of Ann Rutledge does Huston falter, and then the fault is as much Griffith's as his. Road-shown at nearly two hours (including a prologue showing slaves being brought to America), Abraham Lincoln was pared down to 97 minutes by United Artists, and in that length it proved a box-office success, boding well for D.W. Griffith's future in talkies (alas, it proved to be his next-to-last film; Griffith's final effort, The Struggle was a financial disaster). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Botany teacher Norman Logan (Dick York) is surprised to find that his bank account is short 200 dollars. Reporting this loss as an error, Norman confronts officious clerk Mr. Tritt (Philip Coolidge), who insists that the bank never, but never, makes a mistake. To prove Tritt wrong, and to extract a personal vengeance, Norman decides to get his money back by way of a nocturnal robbery -- with the "dusty drawer" of the title figuring prominently in the outcome of the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the early 1940s, producer Hal Roach turned out several entertaining and profitable "streamliners" (each running approximately 45 minutes) about an army recruit with a photographic memory and his long-suffering sergeant. William Tracy portrayed Private (and later Sergeant) Doubleday, while Joe Sawyer was his topkick Sgt. Ames. In 1951, Hal Roach Jr. decided to revive the series, but only two 6-reel films resulted. The first, As You Were, finds Doubleday re-enlisting, much to the consternation of the bombastic Ames. This time both men find themselves at odds with their new "fellow" sergeant, lovely WAC Joan Vohs. Like its sequel Mr. Walkie Talkie, As You Were was released by Lippert Films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this final episode of the Boston Blackie mystery series, our hero and his side-kick find themselves accused of murder after they are seen exiting a Chinese laundry where the proprietor is soon found murdered. Blackie must find the real killers before he gets in real trouble. Action and mystery ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jewish comic Max Davidson stars in this Hal Roach farce that would most likely have been completely forgotten had not Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Charley Chase turned up in cameo appearances. Davidson, wife Lillian Elliott, and son Spec O'Donnell are attempting to sell their house, which is located right next door to an insane asylum inhabited by a group of would-be radio announcers (the Messieurs Laurel, Hardy, Chase and James Finlayson). At the end of their ropes, the Davidsons finally find a buyer willing to swap houses, "no questions asked." The proud little family takes possession of their new abode, the street number of which is 1313, but it proves to be a lemon of gargantuan proportion where everything is topsy-turvy. A housewarming party ends in a free-for-all that nearly wrecks the house, and, after surveying the damage, the Davidsons discover that the insane asylum has relocated as well -- to right next door. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A couple of American soldiers of fortune are hired by the wife of a Chinese general to deliver a priceless diamond to a shopkeeper in Shanghai in this low-budget whodunit from the RKO "B"-unit. Just as the gem reaches its destination all hell breaks lose. When the dust settles, the diamond is gone and Tom Baldwin (Vinton Haworth) and sidekick Joe Dugan (Gordon Jones) are left with a group of highly suspicious witnesses. The entire assembly, including pretty but mysterious Jane Dunn (Constance Worth), then boards a liner headed for San Francisco. After several shipboard murders and the revelation that Jane is a custom agent, the culprit is caught red-handed. A lady detective ought to have made a refreshing change but, sadly, China Passage delivers few surprises and the armchair detective is never truly tested. Usually a supporting player of little merit, Vinton Haworthproves a rather weak-chinned hero and is certainly no match for the ash-blonde Worth, an Australian actress turned Queen of Hollywood B-movies. The rest of the supporting cast perform their assignment in the expected manner, Dick Elliott being the standout as an eternally tipsy traveler. China Passage was directed by Edward Killy, who later helmed the studio's series of Tim Holt B-Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Film historian William K. Everson once observed that the secret to the success of Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra is that DeMille subtly reshaped the known historical events into a contemporary "gold-digger makes good" scenario. Exhibiting the same determination with which Barbara Stanwyck sleeps her way to the top in 1933's Baby Face, Queen Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) uses her feminine wiles to become sole ruler of Egypt. By turns kittenish and cold-blooded, Cleopatra wraps such otherwise responsible Roman worthies as Julius Caesar (Warren William, who wittily plays his role like one of his standard ruthless business executives) and Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) around her well-manicured little finger. To emphasize the "contemporary" nature of the film, DeMille adds little modernistic touches throughout: The architecture of Egypt and Rome has a distinctly art-deco look; a matron at a social gathering clucks "Poor Calpurnia...well, the wife is always the last to know"; and, after Caesar's funeral, Mark Anthony is chided by an associate for "all that 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' business!" Cleopatra's barge scene and her suicide from the bite of a snake marked two of the most memorable sequences in DeMille's career. Remarkably, for all the enormous sets and elaborate costumes, Cleopatra came in at a budget of $750,000 -- almost $40 million less than the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rosalind Russell stars as a no-nonsense judge who dabbles in sculpting in her spare time. Walter Pidgeon costars as a reporter assigned to discredit Rosalind after she rules against his boss (Edward Arnold) in a divorce case. Pidgeon plans to frame the judge in a compromising situation, then blackmail her into reducing the alimony. He succeeds in humiliating Rosalind, but regrets his actions when he realizes he's fallen in love with her. All ends happily in this glossy derivative of MGM's earlier Libelled Lady (36). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having previously introduced Cole Porter's hit song "Don't Fence Me In" in Hollywood Canteen, Roy Rogers performs the song once again in this same-named Republic "special." When he's not singing, Rogers is dealing with nosy female journalist Toni Ames (Dale Evans), who hopes to learn the truth about Wildcat Kelly a notorious outlaw who flourished back at the turn of the century. Said outlaw has supposedly been dead for 40 years, but garrulous old-timer Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) offers to give Toni the lowdown on Kelly. After a series of convoluted complications, Roy and Toni discover what the audience has suspected all along: Gabby Whittaker and Wildcat Kelly are one in the same. Perhaps because of its saleable title, Don't Fence Me In was treated with more industry respect than most Roy Rogers westerns, earning excellent reviews and choice play-dates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paramount spent a record one million dollars on its 1937 Mae West vehicle Every Day's a Holiday. La West portrays a turn-of-century confidence trickster who poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest. In this guise, she manages to expose crooked police chief Lloyd Nolan and smooths the path for reform mayoral candidate Edmund Lowe. A strong cast of supporting comedians, including Charles Winninger, Charles Butterworth and Walter Catlett, match Mae quip for quip. Elaborately produced and snappily directed by Eddie Sutherland, Every Day's a Holiday should have been the hit that Mae West needed to save her flagging film career. Unfortunately, her vogue had passed, plus she was under fire from America's bluenoses because of her previous "racy" vehicles and her recent "lewd and lascivious" appearance on Edgar Bergen's radio show. (When heard today, West's "Adam and Eve" sketch seems harmless enough, but remember the formidability of the Bible Belt back in 1938.) As a result, Every Day's a Holiday lost every penny it cost and then some -- and effectively ended Mae West's relationship with Paramount, the studio she had single-handedly rescued from bankruptcy with She Done Him Wrong back in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide