Jay Eaton Movies

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

Colleen Moore's starring vehicles were never as "naughty" as their titles suggested. In Synthetic Sin, for example, Moore is cast as virtuous small-town girl Betty. An aspiring actress, Betty scores a huge flop in her local stage debut. Deciding she hasn't "lived" enough to be a good actress, our heroine heads to the Big City, hoping to experience a life of sin and heartbreak. Nothing of the sort happens, of course, and by film's end the girl has managed to find success with her virtue still intact. Based on a play by Frederic and Fanny Hatton (two prolific comedy specialists of the period), Synthetic Sin was released with a synchronized Vitaphone musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The piquant Leatrice Joy starred in this frothy marital comedy about a wife who leaves her boring husband (John Boles) to be the companion of a kept woman (Seena Owen). The latter, however, leaves in a huff when she suspects that her gentleman friend (H.B. Warner) may be paying a bit too much attention to the newcomer. Sure enough, the lecherous Warner does indeed propose a similar arrangement for Miss Joy, who promptly turns him down in favor of returning to home and hearth. With her close-cropped and rather mannish hairstyle, Leatrice Joy was one of the era's great trendsetters and excelled at playing naughty but nice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This Sessue Hayakawa film was based on the Lloyd Osborne novel East Is East. T'Su Wong Shih (Hayakawa), a Chinese prince, is in love with Qwan Yin, the gardener's daughter (Gloria Payton). His uncle, however, demands that he stick to custom and enter into a marriage that has already been arranged. When Shih refuses, the uncle sends him to America to be educated, hoping that this will bring him around. The young prince marries Yin before he leaves, and keeps her in his mind the whole time he is away. When he finally graduates from the university, he visits San Francisco's Chinatown with some pals and happens on an auction of a Chinese slave girl. The girl turns out to be Yin. To save her, Shih bids five thousand dollars, which he doesn't have. He convinces the auctioneer to give him some time and manages to win the money in a lottery. A gangster forces the auctioneer to hand over Yin to him instead. Shih goes after the gangster and gives him a thrashing to retrieve his girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide