Edwin Argus Movies

The agent of the title is George Brent, a journalist sent by the Government to get the goods on a crime syndicate. Brent befriends Bette Davis, bookkeeper for suspected crime boss Ricardo Cortez. Bette's cooperation nearly costs her life, but both she and Brent manage a tricky escape during a final shoot-out. The IRS busts Cortez' gang on income tax evasion: Can you say "Al Capone"? Special Agent was remade in 1940 as Gambling on the High Seas, with Wayne Morris and Jane Wyman in the leading roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of several poverty-row films which vanished from sight during the 1935-36 movie season, Beacon Productions did its best to stay afloat as long as possible with such potboilers as What Price Crime? Future cowboy hero Charles Starrett is cast as G-Man Allan Grey, hot on the trail of a gang of firearms smugglers. Going undercover, Grey poses as an aspiring prizefighter in order to gain the confidence of gang leader Douglas Worthington (Noel Madison). The plot becomes as thick as pea soup when our hero falls in love with Worthington's sister Sondra (played by Virginia Cherrill, previously the blind flower girl in Chaplin's City Lights). Despite its urban setting, much of What Price Crime was economically filmed out-of-doors. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this early talkie, a vicious crime lord (played by Lew Ayres in a rare villainous role) decides that he has had enough and much to the shock of his colleagues decides to give the business to his second in command (James Cagney in hi second film role) and retire to Florida after marrying his moll. Unfortunately, he has no idea that she and Cagney are lovers. Part of the reason the don wants to leave is to keep his young brother, who idolizes him, from learning the awful truth about his avocation. Soon after moving down to Florida, former rivals kidnap the brother and kill him, causing the reformed gangster to come back for deadly revenge. This was an innovative film and featured a lot of elements that would become standards in the gangster genre including tommy guns carried in violin cases, terrible shoot-outs, and lots of rum-running rivalry. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Newspaper magnate and movie producer William Randolph Hearst created this massive epic about the American Revolution to showcase the talents of his mistress Marion Davies. The results were far better than anyone could have imagined, given these circumstances; both film content and Marion were artistic successes. The story literally covers the whole Revolution and has Davies' character, Janice Meredith, playing a key part -- in Hearst's world, Marion/Janice is the one ultimately responsible for sending Paul Revere on his famous ride! However, America's fight for freedom (including the Boston tea party, Valley Forge, etc.) shares space with the picture's love story: Janice, who comes from a family of wealthy Tory sympathizers is in love with a servant named Charles Fownes (Harrison Ford). Fownes, of course, is a rebel and joins George Washington's (Joseph Kilgour) staff. Their love survives through many political and war intrigues until the day Fownes insists that Janice cut ties with all British associates, including her father (Maclyn Arbuckle). She refuses and goes home to marry Philemon Hennion (Olin Howland), but Fownes leads a rebel raid that thwarts the wedding. The Meredith lands are taken by the rebels and Hennion is arrested for his work with the British. Finally, as the Revolution nears its triumphant end, Janice and Fownes wind up together. W.C. Fields, as a British sergeant, provides a small bit of comic relief from all this drama. While Janice Meredith received honestly enthusiastic reviews (not just from the Hearst papers), its negative cost of nearly a million dollars -- a fortune in those days -- prohibited it from making a profit. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi