Edward Earle Movies
One of the first stars to emerge from the old Edison film company, Canadian-born actor Edward Earle had toured in vaudeville and stock before settling on movies in 1915. The blonde, muscular Earle quickly rose to the rank of romantic lead in films like Ranson's Folly (1915), The Gates of Eden (1916), and East Lynne (1921). In the '20s he could be seen supporting such luminaries as George Arliss (The Man Who Played God [1922]) and Lillian Gish (The Wind [1928]). In talkies, Earle became a character player. Though his voice was resonant and his handsome features still intact, he often as not played unbilled bits, in everything from prestige pictures (Magnificent Obsession [1935]) to B-items (Laurel and Hardy's The Dancing Masters [1943] and Nothing but Trouble [1944]). In Beware of Blondie, Earle assumed the role of Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers -- but his back was turned to the camera and his voice was dubbed by the Blondie series' former Dithers, Jonathan Hale. Earle's best sound opportunities came in Westerns and serials; in the latter category, he was one of the characters suspected of being the diabolical Rattler in Ken Maynard's Mystery Mountain (1934). Edward Earle retired to the Motion Picture Country Home in the early '60s, where he died at age 90 in 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1937
The popular B-flick team of Frankie Darro and Kane Richmond star in the slick quickie Headline Crasher. Little Frankie and Big Kane play a pair of roving journalists who investigate a politician (Richard Tucker) up for re-election. When it seems as though the politico is being set up for a fall by yellow journalists, Darro and Richmond try to get to the truth of the matter. The original story for Headline Crasher is credited to Peter B. Kyne, creator of the "Broncho Billy" western stories. The film has all the pace of a cowboy opus, which is helpful in patching up the plot holes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, (more)
- 1937
Jack Benny had one of his first starring film roles in this breezy comedy with plenty of music. Benny plays Mac Brewster, an advertising man trying to hold on to his biggest client, a silver company run by Alan Townshend (Richard Arlen). Elsewhere in the office, Paula Sewell (Ida Lupino) longs to compete in the Artists and Models Ball and win the title of Queen. However, professional models are frowned upon at the Ball, and all entrants must be debutantes, which is two strikes against Paula; besides, snooty Cynthia Wentworth (Gail Patrick) looks to be a shoo-in to win. But Paula has a plan, and if it works she'll have won more than a crown at the end of the night. Comedy stars Ben Blue and Judy Canova highlight the supporting cast; the great Louis Armstrong performs a tune with Martha Raye. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Benny, Ida Lupino, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, an sheltered heiress bets her father that she can make it in New York city on only $150 per week. She does this to prove to her father that she will be able to live a scaled down existence with her fiancé, who is not wealthy. Her father agrees to the bet, and she goes to the Big Apple where she does very well indeed. Unfortunately, trouble ensues when she meets another impoverished fellow, another resident in the boarding house she is in, and falls in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyatt, Louis Hayward, (more)
- 1936
Love Before Breakfast was the scintillating title Universal chose over Spinster Dinner, the Faith Baldwin novel upon which this airy comedy is based. Carole Lombard is a Park Avenue beauty squired by Preston S. Foster and Cesar Romero. Since neither gentleman is a prize catch, Lombard is fey and fickle throughout the film. That's all there is to Love Before Breakfast, which might have been completely forgotten had it not been for a famous 1930s-era painting in which a detailed poster for the film is the focus of attention. There's one iconoclastic alteration in the painting: Carole Lombard has been given a black eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1936
When wealthy Mr. Ames is murdered, his beautiful wife Hope (Madeleine Carroll) is the principal suspect. She is acquitted through lack of evidence, but it's hardly a happy ending: her son Bobbie (Scotty Beckett) is taken away from her by spiteful relatives, who poison the boy's mind against her. Making matters worse, assistant DA Matt Logan (George Brent) is still convinced that Hope is guilty. Upon seeing Hope's devotion to her child, Logan softens a bit and alters his strategy. He offers a huge reward for additional information pertaining to the case, ostensibly to prove Mrs. Ames' guilt, but actually to clear her name so that she and her son can be reunited. If the outcome of The Case Against Mrs. Ames seems predictable, it is only because the actor who plays the real murderer was nearly always revealed as the "surprise" culprit in the final reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Carroll, George Brent, (more)
The MGM historical "spectacular" San Francisco was allegedly based on a three-sentence synopsis, submitted verbally to producer B.F. Zeidman by studio troubleshooter Bob Hopkins. The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) hires demure young singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley (Jack Holt), Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. For the rest of the film, Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 (a special effects tour de force for art directors Arnold Gillespie and his uncredited associate James Basevi). Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation. At the end, an unidentified bit player shouts defiantly "We'll build a new San Francisco!" -- and by golly, they do! The Hollywood censors were not so much bothered by the sexual subtext of San Francisco or its harrowing earthquake finale as they were by a scene in which Father Mullin is knocked down by an unrepentant Blackie. To "purify" this potentially blasphemous sequence, screenwriter Anita Loos quickly added an earlier scene in which Mullin and Blackie, both dressed in turtleneck sweaters, genially duke it out at an exercise gym, whereupon the priest cold-cocks Blackie with the greatest of ease. By establishing that Mullin could have punched out Blackie, but chooses not to in the controversial later scene, not only allows that scene to pass, but also strengthened the priest's character. San Francisco proved to be one of MGM's biggest hits, remaining in almost constant reissue for the next three decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, (more)
- 1936
The sequel to 1934's The Notorious Sophie Lang, The Return of Sophie Lang once more stars Gertrude Michael in the title role. Before reforming, Ms. Lang was a jewel thief; now she is the scrupulously honest traveling companion of an elderly dowager (Elizabeth Patterson). When the old lady's diamonds disappear during an ocean voyage, suspicion immediately falls upon Sophie. The ex-thief turns amateur sleuth, tracking down the guilty party in order to escape incarceration. A young but very self-assured Ray Milland provides the romantic angle in The Return of Sophie Lang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gertrude Michael, Guy Standing, (more)
- 1935
When a playboy becomes entangled in the affairs of gamblers he eventually locates an underwater treasure. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1935
A man who has ruined a woman's life attempts to make good on his debt to her (and his conscience) in this sudsy drama based on a best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. Bobby Merrick (Robert Taylor) is an alcoholic ne'er-do-well whose recklessness causes the death of Dr. Hudson, a respected physician. Helen Hudson (Irene Dunne), the doctor's widow, turns away from Merrick's apology, only to walk into traffic. She's struck by a car and blinded. Shaken by the tragic events, Merrick gives up alcohol and begins studying to become a doctor and right the wrong he's done to Helen. As he begins spending time at the family's estate through a mutual friend, Helen grows fond of his frequent visits, and they begin to fall in love. However, when Helen learns that Merrick is responsible for her husband's death and her own accident, she moves away to a place where he cannot find her. In time, Merrick becomes a gifted eye surgeon, and he learns that he could restore Helen's sight with a delicate and dangerous operation that he has never performed before. Magnificent Obsession was a box-office success that spawned a 1954 remake directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1935
More a whodunit than a straight Western, this Tim McCoy series entry from Columbia featured a cowboy returning to his homestead to find his brother, the sheriff, killed and the family of his girl somehow involved. Dissatisfied with the investigation by newly appointed Sheriff Ludlow (Jack Clifford), Tim O'Neil (McCoy) discovers that Jed Harmon (Frank Sheridan), the father of Myra (Billie Seward), Tim's sweetheart, is being blackmailed by Kramer (Edward Earle). Ludlow, who is in cahoots with Kramer, arrests Jed but Tim helps the old man escape. Confessing in writing to an old crime, Jed is left alone when Tim is called out on an errand. Kramer enters the room and shoots Jed, making it look like a suicide. But Tim later demonstrates how Kramer could have left the body in a room bolted from the inside. There is a final confrontation between Tim and Kramer, which leaves the villain dead and Tim with a final resolution to avenge his brother's murder. As it turns out, Jed is still alive and proven innocent in the old charge of murder to which he earlier confessed. Tim McCoy's handsome sidekick in this and two subsequent Westerns, Robert Allen, would later star in his own B-Western series for Columbia. The Revenge Rider was remade by Columbia in 1938 as Riders of the Black River, a vehicle for McCoy's successor at the studio, Charles Starrett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy
- 1935
Poor Peggy Shannon goes from bad to worse in this ultra-cheap melodrama from one of Hollywood's few women executives, Fanchon Royer. A lowly but ambitious secretary, Dora (Shannon), marries wealthy Jimmy Hanford (Edward Woods), but Jimmy's society mother (Betty Blythe) quickly ruins the relationship. Dora then takes up with aging libertine "Breck" Breckenridge (Edward Earle), falls in love with handsome George Davis (Jack Mulhall), and goes on a cruise. George asks her to marry him and she agrees despite warnings that she is once again marrying "out of her class." The union, needless to say, fails miserably and George returns to his erstwhile and more suitable fiancée, Sally Newton (Marion Lessing). Jimmy, meanwhile, has fallen on hard times and commits suicide. In his will, Dora is left 50 dollars, "for services rendered," and the resulting scandal forces her to divorce George. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Dore Schary, several years removed from his tenure as head of MGM, was screenwriter for the modest Universal actioner Chinatown Squad. Lyle Talbot plays Ted Lacey, a disgruntled ex-cop reduced to driving a sightseeing bus in Chinatown. When a man who has been collecting funds for the Chinese communist cause is murdered, Lacey leaps at the opportunity to solve the case in hopes of getting his badge back. The killing is tied in with some stolen airplanes -- and, this being Hollywood's version of Chinatown, there's an abundance of sinister-looking suspects. Eighteen-year-old Valerie Hobson is the pretty if antiseptic heroine. For reasons best known to the folks at Universal, Chinatown Squad was included in TV's "Shock Theatre" package, lumped together with the studio's Frankenstein and Dracula pictures! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lyle Talbot, Valerie Hobson, (more)
- 1935
This espionage thriller with romantic comedy touches was loosely based on the book American Black Chamber by the real-life head of the U.S. Secret Service during World War I, Herbert O. Yardley. Bill Gordon (William Powell) is a newspaper puzzle editor who becomes a lieutenant in 1917 when he enlists to fight in the First World War. Before shipping out, Bill meets and becomes attracted to Joel Carter (Rosalind Russell), the niece of John Carter (Samuel Hinds), the Assistant Secretary of War. When Joel learns about Bill's former occupation, she arranges for his transfer to the War Department, where he is put to work code breaking for Major Brennan (Lionel Atwill). When Brennan is murdered as the result of a German-Russian spy ring's machinations, Bill investigates the spies and a comely secret agent (Bonnie Barnes), which jeopardizes his newfound romance with Joel. Russell received the role because MGM's first choice, Myrna Loy, was refusing to work for the studio at the time. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Rosalind Russell, (more)
- 1934
Actually this film should have been titled "Here Comes Jimmy Cagney Again, so Duck!". James Cagney is a bantam-cock sailor who runs up against chief petty officer Pat O'Brien. Seems that Cagney and O'Brien had come to blows early in the film when O'Brien stole Cagney's date at a dance hall. O'Brien resents both Cagney and Cagney's attentions towards O'Brien's sister (Gloria Stuart). The animosity intensifies when O'Brien court-martials Cagney for going AWOL. But all passions are spent when Cagney heroically rescues his shipmates from a raging fire. Here Comes the Navy proved to Jimmy Cagney's fans that he could still deliver the goods even with the tighter movie censorship imposed in 1934. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (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)
- 1934
- NR
Perhaps the most memorable of all of the movies based on Damon Runyon's story because of the winning presence of Shirley Temple (although it was remade three times), this is the story of a little girl who is left as a marker for a $20.00 bet. Temple's father kills himself and the bookie doesn't know what to do with the young girl. Needless to say, she wins over the hearts of all and sundry and the bookie turns over a new leaf to make this little girl happy. Through all the complications the bookie runs in to, including eventually marrying his long-time girlfriend to provide a home for the child, there is a tenor of love and joy that was not matched in any of the remakes. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Dorothy Dell, (more)
In the first of two proposed serials for Mascot Pictures, Western hero Ken Maynard goes up against a murderous fiend known as "the Rattler." Wearing a strange disguise consisting of eye glasses, a fake nose, and crepe-hair mustache, the Rattler, aka "the Menace of the Mountain," attempts to control the mountain -- and its hidden gold -- from a secret cave filled with strange electronic gadgets. Maynard is Ken Williams, a young cowboy coming to the aid of Jane Corwin (Verna Hillie), whose railroad worker father (Lafe McKee) was the Rattler's first victim. Just as in a previous Mascot serial, The Hurricane Express (1932), the masked villain of Mystery Mountain uses a seemingly endless supply of rubber masks that enables him to perform his skullduggery disguised as almost every member of the cast. He is finally brought to ground in chapter 12, "The Judgment of Tarzan" ("Tarzan" being Maynard's faithful steed), and is revealed to be supposedly solid citizen Edward Earle. The denouement, of course, was a typical Mascot "cheat," the masked villain having up to that point been played by Edmund Cobb. Maynard, whom Mascot producer Nat Levine had gotten on the cheap at 10,000 dollars a week, proved almost not worth the trouble he created. The difficult star demanded that the serial be filmed at his old stomping grounds, Universal City, and kept changing the script and direction to suit himself. Although Mystery Mountain proved the most successful Mascot serial up to that time, Levine had had enough of the obstinate Maynard and replaced him with newcomer Gene Autry in The Phantom Empire (1935). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Tarzan the Horse, (more)
- 1934
This bottom-barrel quickie is elevated by its cast, comprised chiefly of old silent-film favorites. Ralph Graves stars as private eye Clay Holt, perennial "friendly enemy" of police lieutenant McGinniss (James Burke). Time and time again, McGinniss is forced to rely on Holt's expertise to crack a difficult case, leading to a never-ending stream of wisecracks and insults. On this occasion, our heroes are determined to solve a robbery-murder involving $50,000 in stolen pearls. Among the suspects is Courtney Mallory, played by former screen star Charles Ray just before his descent into extra roles. Lola Lane, of the Lane sisters, plays Holt's "girl Friday" secretary Peggy Cummings, whom our hero considers a drudge until she removes her glasses (Yes, that old gimmick is in here, too!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Graves, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1934
Dedicated to "the memory of Florence Nightingale," White Parade might have been better dedicated to the cliche experts at Fox Studios who put this highly entertaining, highly predictable film together. The film chronicles the probationary period of a new team of student nurses in a midwestern hospital. Loretta Young has top billing, so we know she'll make first cut. In fact, Young is so magnificent she practically walks on water; even when offered the opportunity of marrying wealthy John Boles, she chooses to devote her life to nursing. Adapted from a novel by Ryan James, The White Parade managed to cop an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture of 1934--one of eleven nominees that lost to It Happened One Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, John Boles, (more)
- 1933
A notorious crook and a Parisian ballet dancer get involved with international intrigue in this low-budget action-adventure from Poverty Row company Mayfair Pictures Corp. It is all about an important manifesto that may re-establish President Alarcon as the ruler of the Republic of Luvania. The manifesto ends up in the hands of Boris Krinsky (José Crespo), and, to trap him, dancer Landra (June Collyer) sets up a meeting with the Luvanian conspirators at her castle above Monte Carlo. After quite a bit of derring-do, Krinsky is brought to the castle's torture chamber, where he is whipped by Alba (Lloyd Whitlock), his former captain in the Luvania Foreign Legion, but is rescued in the nick of time by New York gangster Spike Maguire (Wheeler Oakman), an old friend. In love with Landra, Krinsky removes a signature that may incriminate her and hands over the manifesto to the Luvanian delegation. Revenge at Monte Carlo was also released in a Spanish language version, Dos Noche, with Conchita Montenegro replacing June Collier and Antonio Cumellas standing in for Lloyd Whitlock. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Collyer, José Crespo, (more)
- 1933
A wife is on trial for murdering her husband's former spouse in this inexpensive melodrama from low-budget Mayfair Pictures Corp. In flashback, it is shown that Joan Armstrong (Helen Chandler), an unemployed stenographer, is hired to act as corespondent for architect John Thurman (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) in his divorce from Eloise Thurman (Charlotte Merriam), a callous woman who cares more for her pet Pekinese than her husband and who is granted a huge settlement. Joan goes to work for John, with whom she has fallen in love, and they eventually marry and have a son. Several unfortunate events bankrupt John and he is on his way to purchase medicine for his dying son with his last 20 dollar bill when stopped by a process server acting on behalf of Eloise. Little John Jr. dies and when Joan learns that the 20 dollars earmarked for medicine instead went to pay the first Mrs. Thurman's veterinarian bills, she becomes temporarily insane and kills the greedy woman. Back in the courtroom, a weeping jury returns a verdict of "not guilty" and Joan and John are reunited. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Chandler, Edward Earle, (more)
- 1932
A newspaper journalist must choose between the two women he loves in this drama. On one hand, he is in love with a publisher's daughter. On the other, he also loves a stage star who came to Tinsel Town to seek her fortune but finds she can only get parts as an extra. The hard working reporter soon finds himself promoted to city editor after he provides a couple of gangland scoops. For a while, he stops seeing the actress in favor of the publisher's daughter. The jilted actress then becomes a gangster's moll. It is during a car chase in which the editor is chasing the crooks, that he must finally choose whether to continue chasing them or to follow the car containing the actress. Naturally, he chooses hers. Love ensues. Meanwhile, the publisher's daughter is left out in the cold. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Shilling, Rex Bell, (more)
- 1931
In this romantic comedy, a woman is utterly bored by her nice life and devoted husband, so she decides to find a lover. She chooses her husband's best friend, and together they plan to elope to a mountain cottage. But unbeknownst to her, the best friend is more loyal than he looks for soon after they arrive to their retreat, the husband appears and begins wooing her in earnest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Earle, Ernest Hilliard, (more)
- 1931
In this dramatic adventure a shady lady becomes a spy for the Austrian intelligence agency and ends up involved with a man suspected of being a German spy. She only pretends to love him to discover the truth. The man she really loves is a young naval officer, but in order to serve her country, she must end her love affair. Later the counter-spy commits suicide to avoid detection, while at the same time, the woman is wounded. Though she only has a few months left to live, the officer marries her. His family objects because they think she has a venereal disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Twelvetrees, William Bakewell, (more)
