Paul Ellis Movies
Handsome, swarthy Paul Ellis played an unscrupulous party-giver luring young girls in general and innocent Harley Wood in particular into a life of drug dependency in the 1936 exploitation thriller Marihuana. This "sensational" melodrama -- road-shown for years and making its creator, entrepreneur Dwain Esper, a wealthy man -- was actually the nadir in the long screen career of this dancer/writer/actor from Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Hollywood from the mid-'20s, Ellis (born Benjamin Ingenito) also appeared under another nom de cinema, Manuel Granados). Often cast as cads, Ellis caused Corinne Griffith's downfall in Three Hours (1927), attempted to corrupt Constance Bennett in The Common Law (1931), and portrayed General Castrillion in the low-budget Heroes of the Alamo (1937). In between his work in English-language films, Ellis appeared in Spanish versions of The Good Bad Girl (1931), Men in Her Life (1931), Revenge at Monte Carlo (1933), and danced in both the English and French versions of The Merry Widow (1934). Rarely seen in America after 1941, Ellis' final credited performance came in the Argentinean La Tiera del Fuego se Apaga (1955). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez, Blood and Sand is the beautifully rendered story of the rise and fall of a young, cocksure Spanish bullfighter, played by Tyrone Power. Working his way slowly up the ladder to success, Power achieves fame when he is praised to skies by fatuous, fickle critic Laird Cregar. A country boy at heart, Power finds himself way over his head with sophisticates, and is soon torn between his pious and faithful wife Linda Darnell and sexy, mercenary Rita Hayworth. It is Darnell, however, who comforts Power after his final, fatal goring in the bull ring. The film's best scenes depict the curious combination of horror and fascination with which bullfighting aficionados treat this most barbaric of "sports." Blood and Sand was previously filmed in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino; a Valentino contemporary, Alla Nazimova, plays Power's mother in the remakes. Portions of this film turned up as stock footage in the 1945 Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1941
Though based on a stage play by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter (previously filmed as an Ernest Truex vehicle in 1933), MGM's Whistling in the Dark was clearly inspired by the success of Paramount's Bob Hope comedy-mystery The Ghost Breakers. In his first film starring role, Red Skelton plays radio actor Wally Benton, better known to his fans as that intrepid crime-solver "The Fox". On the eve of his wedding to perennial fiancee Carol Lambert (Ann Rutherford), Wally is summoned to the mansion of cult leader Joseph Jones (Conrad Veidt). Though he preaches a message of "radiant contentment" to his followers, Jones is actually a racketeer who hopes to get his hands on a $1,000,000 inheritance. The only person standing in the way of Jones' windfall is the sole heir, mild-mannered Mr. Upshaw (Lloyd Corrigan), who is about to take a business trip by plane. Impressed by "The Fox"'s encyclopedic knowledge of crime, Jones wants Wally to plan a "perfect murder", one which will put Upshaw out of the way without detection. Naturally, Wally balks at this, but he is persuaded to go along with Jones when the latter kidnaps both Carol and Fran Post (Virginia Grey), the daughter of Wally's sponsor (Henry O'Neill). Considerately, Jones gives Wally till 11 o'clock to come up with his plan, leaving our hapless hero in the "care" of hulking henchman Sylvester (Rags Ragland). Fully aware that neither his life nor those of Carol and Fran will be worth five cents once Upshaw is murdered, Wally spends most of the evening trying to concoct a way out of his jam. Full of hilarious one-liners and sidesplitting slapstick, Whistling in the Dark is also quite suspenseful--especially in the final reel, wherein the best line is delivered by the pop-eyed potential murder victim. So well received was Whistling in the Dark that MGM rushed out two sequels, also starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford and a "reformed" Rags Ragland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, (more)
- 1941
To those under the age of 60, it should be noted that the title of this lively Universal filler was inspired by a popular song of 1941. Carrying over their antics from RKO Radio's "Mexican Spitfire" series, Lupe Velez and Leon Errol star respectively as Havana nightclub entertainer Madame La Zonga and South American aristocrat Senor Alvarez. What the audience knows but La Zonga doesn't is that Alvarez is a phony, who's no more Latin than a Coney Island hot dog. While the stars carry the comedy burden of the film, a romantic subplot develops between ambitious bandleader Steve (Charles Lang) and his Cuban sweetie Rosita (Helen Parrish). Astonishingly, this 62-minute film manages to crowd in an abundance of musical numbers, including the title tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Leon Errol, (more)
- 1941
One of the less laudable results of the United States' wartime "good neighbor" policy with South America was the relentlessly unfunny comedy They Met in Argentina. Looking about as Latin as corned beef and cabbage, Maureen O'Hara stars as spoiled Argentine heiress Lolita, who meets her match in the form of stubborn Texan Tim Kelly (James Ellison). He has been instructed to purchase a champion race horse from Lolita's wealthy father at any price; she is determined not to allow the sale to go through. All sorts of "hilarious" hijinks take place before shrewish Lolita is tamed by the persistent Kelly. No one emerged from They Met in Argentina covered with glory, certainly not tunesmiths Rodgers and Hart, who contributed one of their least memorable scores ever. Losing twice as much money as it cost, the film was an ill-fated comeback effort by former RKO Radio production executive Lou Brock, who ended his days as a hotel night clerk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, Gene Raymond, (more)
- 1939
Pulp-novel detective Nick Carter was created in the 1880s, but most film versions of the character have been updated to modern times. Such was the case with MGM's three-episode "Nick Carter" series, which got off to a good start with Nick Carter, Master Detective. Walter Pidgeon plays the title character, who in this episode gets mixed up with industrial espionage. Posing as one "Robert Chalmers", Nick gets the goods on a gang of foreign spies (no country names, please!), bringing them to heel during a serial-like waterfront chase. Rita Johnson essays a rare sympathetic role as stewardess Lou Farnsby, while Donald Meek steals the show as Bartholomew the beekeeper (a character who would grow increasingly annoying as the series went on). Nick Carter, Master Detective was coscripted by Bertram Millhauser, who also penned several of the Rathbone-Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Pidgeon, Rita Johnson, (more)
- 1939
South-of-the-border singing sensation Tito Guizar stars in Cuando Canta la Ley. Guizar is cast as Mexican secret-service agent Alberto Gallindo, dedicated to tracking down the murderer of a fellow agent. With the aid of his erstwhile sidekick Adobe (Martin Garralaga), Alberto follows the trail of evidence to the hacienda owned by pretty Maria Luisa Pineda (Tana). In the tradition of Hollywood's Gene Autry, our hero gets to sing a lot and romance his lady fair before hunkering down to the detection business at hand. Cuando Canta La Ley was distributed in Mexico and in North American Spanish-speaking communities by Paramount Pictures, for whom Tito Guizar had appeared in The Big Broadcast of 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tito Guizar, Martin Garralaga, (more)
- 1938
Latin-American singing sensation Tito Guizar is the sole raison d'etre for the Spanish-language musical Mi Dos Amores (My Two Loves). Guizar is cast as Julio Bertolin, a struggling medical student who hopes to finance his education without the help of his wealthy father. To pick up a few extra bucks, Bertolin begins singing in a barrio cabaret, and before long he's the toast of Los Angeles. The plot rears its ugly head when Bertolin is innocently involved in a fatal shooting, but by film's end he is free to sing again and again. Taking advantage of the more relaxed censorship in South America, the film's producers include a couple of rather torrid love scenes -- though by the standards of the 1990s, these scenes are downright puritanical. Featured in the cast is child actress Evelyn Del Rio, best known to comedy fans as W.C. Fields' obnoxious daughter in The Bank Dick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tito Guizar
Produced by Greek-born Gower Gulch "tycoon" Anthony J. Xydias, this film was a remake, with plenty of stock footage, of Xydias' silent With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1926). In the new version, however, Crockett (played by a far-too-young Lane Chandler) is almost a bit part, the film concentrating instead on newlyweds Almerian and Anne Dickinson (Bruce Warren and Ruth Findley), heroic Texans based on real-life Alamo victims Almeron and Suzanna Dickinson. The siege of the Alamo by General Santa Anna (Julian Rivero) is mainly depicted via poorly-inserted stock footage from Xydias' silent version, but all the famous elements are there: Travis' (Rex Lease) line in the sand, Bowie (Roger Williams) crossing that line despite his illness and the death of all three mythical American heroes. The sole survivor is Anne Dickinson (a true flight of fancy), who is present when Sam Houston (Edward Peil, Sr.) utters the famous line, "Remember the Alamo!" Consisting of numerous gaffes (the defenders of the Alamo perform a rendition of The Yellow Rose of Texas, written years later, to mention but one example) and enacted on laughably cheap sets, Heroes of the Alamo was dismissed by an overwhelmingly hostile press. Xydias, who had come out of retirement for this, and a proposed series of historical Westerns, never produced another film. Heroes of the Alamo was later shortened to about half of its 80 minutes running time and sold as an educational short subject under the title Remember the Alamo. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Earl Hodgins, Ruth Findlay, (more)
Magazine publisher Clark Gable is happily married to Myrna Loy. Clark's devoted, super-efficient secretary Jean Harlow may have once harbored a secret desire for her boss, but she's perfectly content with boyfriend James Stewart. Accompanying Gable on a crucial business trip, Jean answers the phone in her boss' suite. Myrna, on the other end of the line, misunderstands, thereby setting the stage for a series of subsequent misunderstandings. As one can see, nothing much really happens in Wife vs. Secretary. The film is a vehicle in every sense of the word, totally reliant on the appeal of its stars. But it works beautifully, and remains as entertaining now as it did sixty years ago. One film historian has wondered what Wife vs. Secretary would have looked like had it been made before the imposition of the production code: would Jean have really had an affair with Clark, thereby giving Myrna something to really worry about? No matter; while it may have been racier, it's not likely the film could have been any more entertaining than it already is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, (more)
The "Crime Club" detective-novel series spawned a film counterpart in 1935, which for the next four years bounced around such studios as Warner Bros., Universal, and Chesterfield. The last-named company's contribution was Murder at Glen Athol, based on a novel by Norman Lippincott. Usually cast as an oily villain, John Miljan heads the cast as detective Bill Holt, who has suspects aplenty to choose from when the titular murder takes place. The catalyst for the killing -- and all follow-up killings -- is faithless wife Muriel Randall, an uncharacteristic assignment for brassy blonde character-comedienne Iris Adrian. As was usually the case in the Chesterfield product, Murder at Glen Athol is populated by several former silent-movie favorites, including Barry Norton, Betty Blythe (heavily disguised as an old lady, which she wasn't at the time) and Robert Frazer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Miljan, Irene Ware, (more)
This companion to Reefer Madness is an early anti-weed faux documentary which chronicles one girl's descent into crime and prostitution, the result of her marijuana dependency. It was originally released as Marijuana - The Devil's Weed. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Based on a novel by Meredith Nicholson, The House of 1000 Candles is one of the slickest films ever to emerge from the Nat Levine unit at Republic. Phillips Holmes stars as diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel (Rosita Moreno), who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered by sinister master spy Sebastian (Irving Pichel), owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles. Realizing that Tony is the only person who can decipher the message, Sebastian kidnaps Tony's sweetheart Carol (Mae Clarke), threatening to kill her if our hero doesn't cooperate. Rescued by his faithful valet (Fred Walton), Tony and Carol make their escape then expose the secret behind Sebastian's insidiously complex espionage network. Many reviewers in 1936 compared House of 1000 Candles to the best that Alfred Hitchcock had to offer -- quite a coup for director Arthur Lubin, a man best known for his Abbott & Costello and "Francis the Talking Mule" pictures! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillips Holmes, Mae Clarke, (more)
- 1935
Former silent screen serial queen Dorothy Gulliver stars in this very low-budget Western as the owner of a mine terrorized by a gang of ruffians. Looking into several troubling occurrences at the site, including the murder of a mining engineer, Pat (Gulliver) learns that Devil Jackson (George Chesebro) and his henchmen are using the location for their counterfeiting operations. Happily, a couple of undercover agents, Joaquin (Rex Lease) and Pedro (Earl Douglas), are present to save Pat from certain death in the hands of the gang. Fighting Caballero was released by an outfit calling itself Superior Talking Pictures, Inc. -- a distinct misnomer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1935
A homely woman gets the best kind of revenge upon her philandering husband in this drama. Tired of his constant cheating, the woman puts on make up, takes their daughter, and starts a new, more modern life. She becomes an acclaimed dress designer while her daughter falls in love with a stodgy young doctor. The daughter then gets involved with less reputable types and mayhem ensues until she goes back and settles down with the physician. The wife eventually tires of her own life and decides to go back to her chastened husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Minna Gombell, Gavin Gordon, (more)
- 1935
In this romance, a young woman falls in love with a bacteriologist who is married to a hot-tempered opera star. When his wife leaves him, the girl sees her chance for love. Unfortunately, the singer returns and reconciles, forcing the girl to get in a relationship with a less colorful, younger man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lois Wilson, Crane Wilbur, (more)
- 1935
Set up essentially to produce cheap westerns, low-budget Puritan Pictures occasionally ground out a contemporary actioner like Rip Roaring Riley. Lloyd Hughes stars as Riley, a two-fisted G-Man who is dispatched to faraway Diamond Island. Riley's mission is to capture the sinister Major Grey (Grant Withers) who is busily manufacturing poison-gas bombs. Our hero must also rescue the inventor of the noxious gas, Professor Baker (John Cowell), and Baker's shapely daughter Ann (Marion Burns). Former silent comedians Eddie Gribbon and Kit Guard provide laughs as a pair of two-bit thugs who spend the bulk of the film outsmarting themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Hughes, Grant Withers, (more)
- 1935
Tarzan, "The Police Dog," stars in this ultra low-budget thriller from independent producer Bert Sternbach. The human leads, Marion Shilling and Charles Delaney, play reporters assigned to cover the wedding between members of warring Tong families. Expected to end generations of feud between the Lings and the Wongs, the nuptials turn into tragedy when a mystery intruder clad in Ling family attire valuable snatches the necklace from the bride. As the groom (Wing Foo) attempts to stop the fleeing thief, he is brutally shot and killed and his father calls for the feud to continue. Meanwhile, cub reporter Ann Parker (Shilling) is kidnapped by the murderer (Paul Ellis), who thinks she may be able to identify him. But Tarzan, the police dog, races to the rescue with Bob Martin (Delaney) in tow and the killer is unmasked in the nick of time. The Lings are cleared of suspicion and peace between the families is restored. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tarzan the Horse, Marion Shilling, (more)
- 1935
Not to be confused with the prominent British film Never Too Late to Mend, which was released in the U.S. in 1937 as Never Too Late, this minor action-adventure from low-budget Reliable Pictures Corp. starred former silent-era stunt man Richard Talmadge and vaudeville performer Thelma White. Talmadge plays a detective on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves headed by the swarthy Paul Ellis. White, meanwhile, gets caught up in the crime, but is in reality only trying to protect her sister (Mildred Harris), the indiscreet wife of the local police commissioner (Robert Frazer). The jewels change hands several times, but the bad guys are finally caught after an exciting rooftop chase. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Talmadge, Thelma White, (more)
- 1934
After several false starts, opera star Grace Moore became a motion picture success in the sublimely assembled One Night of Love. Moore opens the film by losing a radio talent contest in New York. She disconsolately heads to Europe, where the best job she can come up with is singing in a restaurant. Here she is discovered by brilliant voice-teacher Tulio Carminatti, who carefully nurtures Moore until she becomes the toast of the European opera world. The two fall in love, but jealousy nearly destroys them both. Happily, Moore recovers to the extent of making a triumphant return to the US as reigning diva of the Metropolitan Opera. One Night of Love represents Grace Moore's finest screen work. The film's musical manifest includes such operatic standards as Lucia di Lammermoor, Madame Butterfly and Carmen; the "contemporary" musical lineup was composed by such hands as Louis Silvers (who won an Oscar for his efforts), Victor Schertzinger (who also directed), and Gus Kahn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grace Moore, Tullio Carminatti, (more)
- 1934
Ernst Lubitsch directs the 1934 musical comedy The Merry Widow, based on the 1905 operetta by Franz Lehar. In 1885, King Achmed (George Barbier) strives to protect the financial interests of his small, poor kingdom of Marshovia in Central Europe. When the kingdom's wealthiest widow, Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald), goes off to Paris, the king sends the village's greatest lover, Prince Danilo (Maurice Chevalier), off to marry her. The king demands that Danilo must romance and marry Sonia so she will return to the small kingdom with her riches. If he doesn't succeed, he'll be arrested. While in Paris, Danilo is distracted from his royal task when he finds himself in the company of many lovely Parisian women. Unbeknownst to him, one of the ladies is really Sonia pretending to be an escort girl. After a dance number and some songs, the Ambassador (Edward Everett Horton) announces that they are to be married. When Sonia refuses to marry Danilo, he is arrested and sent back to the small kingdom. Eventually Sonia returns to Marshovia, where she visits him in jail. She testifies on his behalf and they are finally married. The Merry Widow was filmed several other times, including the 1925 silent version directed by Erich Von Stroheim and the1952 version starring Fernando Lamas as Danilo. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, (more)
Slow moving, overly complicated, and badly acted in key roles, this low-budget melodrama from Poverty Row company Progressive Pictures was directed by silent screen actress Dorothy Davenport, the widow of the late matinee idol Wallace Reid. A girl detective, Barbara Hammond (Claudia Dell) is found with the corpse of the woman she has been investigating, radio singer Jane Merrick (Lola Lane). Barbara is arrested for the murder and her reporter husband, Jerry Beal (Richard Hemingway), sets out to find the real killer. The trail leads to a mysterious sanatorium where Dr. Wagner (Mischa Auer) is about to operate on a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Jane Merrick. Jerry is captured by Wagner's henchmen and threatened with a brain transplant. Happily, Jane's maid (Louise Beavers) intervenes by calling the authorities. Dr. Wagner explains that his patient is indeed Jane Merrick and that her operation was to remove an unsightly birthmark. At police headquarters, meanwhile, Barbara breaks down and confesses to Jane's murder in the presence of a handsome gangster named Dapper Dan (Paul Ellis). Suddenly the dead woman's "ghost" appears and a frightened Dan confesses to having killed Jane's twin sister by mistake after Jane had dumped him. Whereas veteran performers such as the always delightful Beavers, Jason Robards (as Jane's station manager), Mischa Auer (whose last name was misspelled "Aver" in the onscreen credits), and Lola Lane managed to rise above the material, comparative newcomers Claudia Dell, Paul Ellis, and Richard Hemingway were not quite so fortunate. In fact, Hemingway, who also appeared in Dorothy Reid's Road to Ruin (1934), was playing bit parts by 1935. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Dell, Lola Lane, (more)
- 1933
A whole slew of former silent-film favorites shows up in Mayfair's Secret Sinners. Dilettante songwriter Jack Mulhall falls in love with chorus girl Sue Carol and promises to marry her -- as soon as he can get a divorce from his wife Natalie Morehead. As the months pass, Carol becomes convinced that Mulhall has been stringing her along. Out of spite, she begins a romance with fellow hoofer Nick Stewart. When it turns out that Mulhall was sincere all along, Stewart obligingly steps out of the picture to allow our heroine a happy-ever-after. No secrets, no sinners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Mulhall, Sue Carol, (more)
- 1933
A minor entry from small-scale Progressive Pictures, Under Secret Orders starred the rather pallid Donald Dillaway as Henry Ames, a bank employee assigned to bring valuable bonds from San Francisco to a client, Franklyn Lawrence (Lafe McKee), in South America. En route, Henry hits the bottle once too often and gets himself involved with a gang planning to steal the valuable bonds and fund a revolution. Happily, the boozy hero is helped by one John Burke (J. Farrell MacDonald) and the bonds are safely delivered to their destination. Forsaking the evil drink, Henry wins the love of Lawrence's daughter, Jane (Phyllis Barrington). Under Secret orders was produced by Poverty Row entrepreneur Willis Kent and released as a "Phyllis Barrington Special." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Dillaway, John Farrell MacDonald, (more)
