James Dunn Movies

Based on a novel by Vina Delmar, Bad Girl stars Sally Eilers as heroine Dot Haley. The title notwithstanding, Dot isn't bad at all. She enters into a decent marriage with a decent guy, radio store clerk Eddie (James Dunn), and sticks with her man through thick and thin (mostly thin). But Eddie misunderstands Dot's seeming indifference to the new apartment which he has rented and furnished as a first-anniversary surprise. Eddie doesn't know what Dot and the audience do: there's a baby on the way, and that's all that Dot can think about. Once this misunderstanding is cleared up, Eddie takes on all sorts of extra jobs to pay for a pricey obstetrician, even moonlighting as a prizefighter. So impressed is the baby doctor by Eddie's devotion that he refuses to charge a cent when delivering Dot's baby (the bill, by the way, is a daunting $40). Curiously, some synopses of Bad Girl suggest that the hero and heroine never get married, which is hardly the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Professional ballroom dancing provides the framework of this romantic drama. The story begins when two aspiring dancers fatefully meet. They soon agree to work as a team. They begin their career in the smaller dance clubs. They soon begin dancing in a really popular club where they become an instant hit. Unfortunately jealousy tears them asunder when the man believes that a wealthy cad is horning in on his partner. He decides to pursue a solo career and fails miserably. Eventually the partners reunite and fox-trot into the sunset. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this children's comedy, a young woman is left in charge of two little hellions when her sister dies. She finally finds love with a handsome assistant district attorney, but the resentful children scare him off. They soon feel bad for their bratty behavior and go to his apartment to apologize. There they are captured by two assassins who have gone there to kill the lawyer. Fortunately, one of the tykes escapes and rallies the neighborhood kids who launch an all-out assault on the hit-men and defeat them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Given a title like Jimmy and Sally, one might assume that this Fox production is another in the popular series of co-starring vehicles for James Dunn and Sally Eilers. Sure enough, Dunn does play Jimmy, but Eilers was in the midst of a contract dispute with the studio, thus the role of Sally was filled by Claire Trevor. Jimmy is a wiseguy press agent whose efforts to promote a meat-packing firm come to naught. Our hero is fired from his job, whereupon his sweetheart Sally steps in, immediately succeeding where Jimmy had failed. Meanwhile, Jimmy gets entangled with cabaret singer Pola Wenski (Lya Lys), which puts quite a strain on his relationship with Sally. The third-act intervention of gangsters brings the story to swift and action-packed finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Love turns into an unhealthy obsession in this offbeat drama. Millie (Zasu Pitts) and Peggy (Boots Mallory) are two friends who leave behind the small town where they were raised to try their luck in New York City. Before long, Millie and Peggy meet Jimmy (James Dunn) and Mac (Terrance Ray); Millie is immediately attracted to Jimmy, but much to her displeasure she learns he's more interested in Peggy. Determined to have Jimmy as her own, Millie attempts to sew discord between Jimmy and Peggy by telling each of them foul lies about the other; when this fails, Millie becomes desperate and attempts to kill herself as an attention-getting device. The production history of Hello, Sister! was in many ways more interesting than the film itself. Originally titled Walking Down Broadway, the film was the first sound picture from the legendary Erich von Stroheim; hoping to mend the reputation as an egocentric spendthrift he acquired while directing epic-scale silent films, von Stroheim managed to bring in Walking Down Broadway on time and on budget. However, executives at 20th Century Fox were a bit puzzled by the film, which originally had a sub-plot suggesting a lesbian relationship between Millie and Peggy and other sexual undercurrents which were quite daring for the time. Uncertain about audience reactions to the movie, Fox brought in the less-than-distinguished Alfred Werker to re-shoot and re-edit von Stroheim's urban melodrama, and the resulting picture, entitled Hello, Sister!, was released without an on-screen directorial credit, and died a quick and little noticed death at the box office. No print of von Stroheim's original cut is known to exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While U.S. sailor Jimmy Harrigan (James Dunn) is on leave in San Pedro, he unexpectedly falls in love with the beautiful Sally Brent (Sally Eilers. Though Sally (Eilers) promises to be faithful after Jimmy (Dunn) ships out to San Francisco, Jimmy becomes jealous. Furious at the news that Sally has entered a marathon dance contest sponsored by the lecherous Baron Portola (Victor Jory) , Jimmy and several of his Navy buddies go to the ballroom on the night of the dance marathon in an attempt to change Sally's mind and win her back. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this movie also features actors Sammy Cohen and Frank Moran. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Despite stiff competition like Poor Little Rich Girl and Heidi, Bright Eyes is arguably the best of Shirley Temple's 1930s vehicles. The little curly-top is cast as Shirley Blake, daughter of Mary Blake (Lois Wilson), the widowed housemaid of snooty J. Wellington and Anita Smythe (Theodore Von Eltz and Dorothy Christy). Though continually terrorized by the Smythe's obnoxious, doll-destroying daughter Joy (Jane Withers), Shirley finds comfort in the fact that she is the darling of the airplane-pilot buddies of her late father. Especially fond of our heroine is flyboy Loop Merritt, who arranges a birthday party for the girl. Alas, even as Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to a gathering of beaming airmen, her mother Mary is run over by a car while shopping for her daughter's birthday cake. It thus becomes Loop's painful duty to tell Shirley that her mother "cracked up," just like her father did (if this scene doesn't move the viewer to tears, the viewer is made of granite). Fortunately, the Smythe's irascible Uncle Ned takes a liking to Shirley, securing her financial future at the expense of his repulsive relatives. But before this happy ending can come about, Shirley must be rescued from an imperiled passenger plane by the resourceful Loop. Though Shirley Temple is inarguably the main drawing card in Bright Eyes, 9-year-old Jane Withers is equally terrific as the pint-sized "villainess"; indeed, some critics felt that Withers stole the show, and it was this as much as anything else that earned Withers her own starring series at 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Legendary Broadway impresario George White made his Hollywood debut with this musical, which he wrote, co-directed, and starred in as himself. Reporter Miss Lee (Gertrude Michael) is looking for a story and approaches White as he's assembling the latest edition of his famous revue. As it turns out, she has lots of backstage gossip to choose from; Mona Vale (Alice Faye), White's latest discovery, is making her Broadway debut in the show, and she's fallen in love with the star, Jimmy Martin (Rudy Vallee). Jimmy, however, only has eyes for Barbara Lorainne (Adrienne Ames), a snooty high society type also in the cast. A quarrel between Mona and Barbara leads to a fight, with Jimmy coming to Barbara's rescue; a despondent Mona decides to leave the show if she can't have the man she loves. Meanwhile, comedian Happy Donnelly (Jimmy Durante) finds himself torn between his feelings for Mona and another young dancer in the show, Patsy Day (Dixie Dunbar), who is also thinking about quitting in disappointment. Amidst the romantic turmoil, a wacky salesman (Gregory Ratoff) keeps trying to make a sale with White, and the cast periodically breaks into song, belting out ten numbers, including "Oh You Nasty Man," "My Dog Loves Your Dog," "Every Day Is Father's Day with Baby," "Sweet and Simple," and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The career of dance instructor Sally (Jean Parker) comes to an abrupt end when she is crippled in an accident on the eve of her wedding. Sally's far-from-supportive fiancé (Paul Page) walks out on her, but good old Jimmie (James Dunn), who has loved her all along, offers to marry her and help shoulder the burden of her handicap. This in itself would make a good story, but MGM got nervous an added a gangster subplot. Interspersing their usual never-fail comedy relief are Una Merkel and Stu Erwin, who might have starred in this picture had it been made by any other studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A midwestern girl heads for Hollywood in hopes of becoming a star. She is accompanied by two good buddies and this comedy chronicles their adventures in Tinseltown. It all begins when the new arrivals enroll in a bogus acting school run by two con artists. A wealthy entrepreneur shows up looking to invest his money. One of the greedy grifters persuades him into financing a film starring the new girl from Peoria, but he gives one condition to the businessman: if the film fails, the conman gets to keep the money. To insure failure, the fellow hires a washed up boozer of a director. The director takes the job seriously and wants to prove that he is not a has-been. This doesn't set well with the "producer" who has his partner take the starlet to a remote cabin and leave her stranded after he gets drunk and passes out. By this time, the director has fallen in love with the girl. Meanwhile, her buddies have found that they'd rather go home and resume their old jobs. The director begins looking for the girl so he can save her and his career. Her buddies hear of her predicament and they too rush to her rescue. It is they who return her safe and sound to the studio. The director makes his film and it is a smash hit. The girl becomes a star and the conmen go to jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The hero of The Pay-Off is somewhat denser than usual, making his ultimate victory all the more amazing. James Dunn plays newspaper columnist Joe McCoy, who is inveigled by his no-good wife Maxine (Claire Dodd) to become the dupe of crooked sports promoter Marty Bleuler (Alan Dinehart). So devoted is Joe to Maxine that he's willing to overlook the fact that she's committed murder to achieve her own goals. But the guilty must be punished eventually, and Maxine comes to an ignoble end, leaving Joe free to marry his co-worker Connie (Patricia Ellis), who's loved him all along. This 1936 The Pay-Off is not a remake of the 1930 film of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bad Boy Eddie Nolan (James Dunn) spends more time in the poolroom than he does looking for work. Even so, Sally Larkin (Dorothy Wilson) is willing to marry Eddie, certain that he'll hunker down and seek employment once he acclimates himself to the responsibilities of marriage. But this doesn't happen, and soon the impecunious Eddie is shipping Sally back to her parents. Things take an upward turn when our hero manages to corral a gang of crooks, thereby earning himself a fat reward and unlimited job opportunities. Though running only 56 minutes, Bad Boy managed to secure top-of-the-bill bookings thanks to James Dunn's fan following. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide