James Dunn Movies
American actor James Dunn's early career embraced bit parts in silent pictures, vaudeville, and Broadway before he made his talking picture bow in Bad Girl (1931). For the next several years, Dunn appeared in sentimental "lovable scamp" leading roles; he also helped introduce Shirley Temple to feature films by co-starring with the diminutive dynamo in Stand Up and Cheer, Baby Take a Bow, and Bright Eyes, all released in 1934. When Fox merged with 20th Century Pictures in 1935, the type of domestic comedy-dramas and free-wheeling musicals in which Dunn specialized came to an end; by the end of the 1930s Dunn's appearance were confined to "B" pictures and poverty-row quickies. Dunn was given a comeback chance as Peggy Ann Garner's irresponsible alcoholic father in the 1945 drama A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The actor won an Academy Award for his performance. Eight years passed before Dunn would be seen in films again, though he found occasional solace in TV work, including his tenure as the star of a 1955 sitcom, It's a Great Life. Dunn's final movie role, filmed two years before his death, was a minor part as an agent in the all-star "trash classic" The Oscar (1966). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1934
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
- Starring:
- George White, Rudy Vallee, (more)
- 1934
"That girl" is newspaper sob-sister Tony Bellamy (Claire Trevor), whose nose for news gets her into one jam after another, especially when she poses as an exotic dancer to get the goods on a gangster. Most people are fed up with Tony's intrusiveness, except for Irish detective Barney Sullivan (James Dunn), who's secretly in love with the girl. Accordingly, it is Barney who comes to the rescue when Tony's journalistic enthusiasm ends up getting her kidnapped. The film's highlight is Tony's courtroom fan dance, performed at the demand of the capricious Barney to teach her a lesson. Hold That Girl was the third co-starring assignment for James Dunn and Claire Trevor, previously teamed in Sally and Jimmy; one wonders if either star ever imagined that they'd both win Oscars within the next 15 years! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1934
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
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, James Dunn, (more)
Based on an idea by Will Rogers, the story concerns the efforts by the President of the United States to get the public's mind off the Depression. To this end, he appoints Broadway impresario Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter) to the new cabinet position of "Secretary of Amusement." Wasting no time, Cromwell sets about to nationalize the entertainment industry, organizing singers, dancers, actors and other variety artists into batallion-like touring units. Cromwell is fought at every turn by a cartel of wealthy industrialists, who've been profiting from the Depression and have no desire to see America pull itself upward. Happily, every effort to bribe or cajole Cromwell into giving up his mission is thwarted and the Department of Amusement goes on to help the the country at a time when its citizens most needed it. Among the highlights are an energetic "revival-meeting" musical number by Aunt Jemima (Theresa Gardella), and 6-year-old Shirley Temple's rendition of "Baby Take a Bow." Originally released at 80 minutes, Stand Up and Cheer was edited to 69 minutes for reissue, then to 65 minutes (removing most of Stepin Fetchit's scenes) for television: it was this last version which was computer-colorized in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Madge Evans, (more)
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Alice Faye, (more)
Shirley Temple's first starring vehicle casts her as the button-cute daughter of ex-convict Eddie Ellison (James Dunn) and his wife Kay (Claire Trevor). Ellison and his old cellmate Larry Scott (Ray Walker) manage to land jobs as chauffeurs for a wealthy family. When a valuable string of pearls disappears, both men are fired and Eddie is accused of the crime. Incredibly, it is little Temple who manages to locate the pearls and clear her father's name. Rather slow going for the most part, Baby Take a Bow comes to life in the final reel, as genuine thief Trigger Stone (Ralf Harolde) grabs Temple and uses her as a human shield during his desperate rooftop escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, James Dunn, (more)
- 1933
A large urban hospital provides the setting for this drama. The staff there has seen it all and this is reflected in their hard-bitten demeanor, their cynicism, and the cruel jokes they play. One of them, an excellent surgeon gains a new outlook on life after he gets involved with investigating the death of a mobster, fatally shot in his hotel suite during a card game. The police call him to the scene to look at the corpse. There he discovers a lipstick-stained cigarette butt. He begins to search for the woman who smoked it. Later that day, the woman, severely beaten, shows up in the hospital emergency room. The surgeon miraculously saves her, and then falls for her. As she lays healing, she is seen by a mobster who had come to pay his respects to the cop who killed two members of his rival gang. The mobster later sends one of his thugs to make sure that the woman stays eternally quiet. The thug's attempt to kill her is thwarted by a young intern who is wounded in the ensuing scuffle. The gangster then gets himself admitted into the hospital where he plans to kill the woman himself. This proves to be a fatal mistake as the vengeful intern "accidently" injects the gangster with a deadly poison and then claims that the mobster was D.O.A. The woman is now safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1933
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1933
In this family drama, a married couple work in a department store. He is a shipping clerk; she works in the dress department. The husband loses his job when he is framed for a robbery by a sleazy security guard. His unemployment spawns marital discord until the very end when the truth is at last discovered. Happiness then ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1933
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Boots Mallory, (more)
- 1933
Take a Chance was based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name, though only one of the original songs, Eadie Was a Lady, has been retained. The thinnish plot involves the misadventures of a pair of pickpockets, played on Broadway by Jack Haley and Sid Silvers and on film by James Dunn and Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards. Tired of fleecing the suckers in a travelling carnival, our heroes head to Broadway, where they get mixed up with gangsters. The soubrette role originally played on stage by Ethel Merman is herein essayed by Lillian Roth, hardly a fair trade. Billed last in the huge cast is Marjorie Main, 15 years before stepping into her trademark role as Ma Kettle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Cliff Edwards, (more)
- 1933
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1933
While travelling through Arizona, carnival huckster Smiley Wells (James Dunn) makes the acquaintance of sweet small-town girl Lynn Martin (Joan Bennett). Upon learning that a gang of slick operators has swindled a huge sum of money from Lynn's mother, Smiley decides that money lost through larceny can be won back the same way. With the help of his fellow conmen Kingfish Miller (Herbert Mundin) and Morris Blitz (Sammy Cohen), our hero devises an elaborate "sting" to out-maneuver the crooks and recover Lynn's mom's dough. But it's essential to their scheme that Lynn can successfully pass herself off as a hard-boiled "street dame." Arizona to Broadway was remade in 1943 as Jitterbugs, with Laurel and Hardy and Vivian Blaine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1932
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1932
By rights, Spencer Tracy should have played the leading role of prizefighter Johnny Malone in the 1932 romantic drama Society Girl. But at the time, James Dunn was a bigger name, thus Dunn was cast as Malone, while Tracy was relegated to the standard "best friend and severest critic" part of Johnny's manager, Briscoe (the sort of role that Tracy would later essay opposite top-billed Clark Gable when he moved from Fox to MGM). The film's title character is flighty debutante Judy Gellett (Peggy Shannon), with whom the oafish Johnny falls in love. Arriving at training camp, Judy manages to take Johnny's mind off his work to such an extent that Briscoe tries to intervene, explaining that boxing and dames don't mix. Angrily, Johnny tells Briscoe to take a hike, whereupon Briscoe does just that. Sure enough, the out of shape Johnny loses the big fight, but there are at least two surprising plot twists ahead for our thick-eared hero (and, by extension, for the audience). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Peggy Shannon, (more)
- 1932
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
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Boots Mallory, (more)
- 1931
Three guesses as to the profession of the heroine in Sob Sister. That's right: Jane Ray (Linda Watkins) is a girl reporter, both fearless and foolhardy. Jane's great rival is news-hound Garry Webster (James Dunn), whose love for the girl never gets in the way of his tireless pursuit of "big scoops." Eventually, Jane proves to be too smart for her own good and is captured by the villains. She is rescued not by Garry but by six-year-old kidnap victim Billy Stotesley (future "Our Gang" member Wally Albright), who cuts the ropes which bind our heroine. Naturally, this leads Garry to declare that he wants to marry Jane to keep her from harm's way -- but there's always another hot headline story just around the corner. Leading lady Linda Watkins, a Broadway veteran, returned to the stage shortly after appearing in Sob Sister, only to be "rediscovered" as a TV and movie character actress in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Linda Watkins, (more)
- 1931
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
- Starring:
- Sally Eilers, James Dunn, (more)
- 1931
Inspired by Will Carleton's lachrymose 19th century poem about parental sacrifice, Over the Hill stars Mae Marsh as the mother of two children. Marsh gives her boys everything their little hearts desire, at great cost to herself. She is forced to work in one menial job after another so that her children will never go without. Marsh's efforts are "rewarded" by callous indifference; her grown-up son (Olin Howlin) connives to ship her "over the hill" to the poorhouse. The stooped, white-haired woman is finally rescued from her miserable existence by her kinder, more compassionate son, played by James Dunn. The third film version of this moth-eaten tale, Over the Hill is elevated by the artistry of 38-year-old star Mae Marsh, who'd been a film actress since 1912. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Marsh, James Kirkwood, (more)
