Stanley Fields Movies

In this western, a wealthy eastern returns from a polo match to find that his father has been murdered. Later, he is riffling through his father's papers when he discovers that his family may have had a different name. He then finds evidence that causes him to suspect that a certain western rancher may be implicated in the killing. He hops in a plane and heads West, but he doesn't make it as he plane ends up crashing into the bathroom of a pretty woman. She falls in love with him, but this causes great friction with her lover, a ranch foreman. Meanwhile the bad rancher orders the foreman to bring the son to him--unarmed. Fortunately, the young man escapes and goes to meet the rancher for a final showdown. He then learns that he is his real father. The rancher then tells him that the other man's death was accidental, that he had only gone back East to confront him as he had stolen his wife and son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Autograph hound Al Babson (Eddie Cantor) accidentally disrupts the filming of a movie about Ali Baba, and is injured in the process. The filmmakers try to buy him off, but nurse Dinah (Virginia Field) suggests he be hired as an extra. He takes an overdose of painkillers, and his Arabian Nights dreams combine with the plot of the movie. His name leads the populace to think he's the son of Ali Baba, and he's taken to the palace of Sultan Abdullah (Roland Young), who's so impressed by Al that he makes him prime minister. Princess Miriam (June Lang) is in love with Yusuf (Tony Martin), the leader of the peasants, while Al has fallen for Deenah (also Virginia Field), whose father Omar (Maurice Cass) is trying to make a carpet fly. Meanwhile, the evil Prince Musah (Douglas Dumbrille) is conspiring with Sultana (Louise Hovick), one of Abdullah's many wives, to capture the princess, take over Bagdad, and kill Abdullah and Al as well. Miriam and Yusuf are unhappy because royalty and commoners cannot marry, so Al comes up with a plan to help his friends, but the plan spectacularly backfires, and Abdullah orders him to be boiled in oil. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

This follow-up to MGM's 1932 John Barrymore vehicle Arsene Lupin stars the ineluctable Melvyn Douglas. Reported to be dead, suave gentleman jewel thief Arsene Lupin (Douglas) resurfaces under the assumed name of Rene Farrand. Intending to follow the straight and narrow path, Lupin/Farrand reverts to his old larcenous ways when the opportunity to pilfer $250,000 in gems presents itself. Slowing down our hero somewhat is the presence of hotshot American private eye Steve Emerson (Warren William) and glamorous adventuress Lorraine de Grissac (Virginia Bruce). Ironically, both Melvyn Douglas and Warren William also played thief-turned-sleuth Michael Lanyard, aka "The Lone Wolf", over at Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This gangster film is based upon fact as it tells the tale of a determined reporter who has decided to make sure a certain notorious gangster gets his just desserts. It takes a long time, but eventually the reporter succeeds and the gangster is sent up river. Unfortunately, once there, he becomes the leader of the prisoners and, though incarcerated, is soon up to his old tricks of trying to corrupt local politicians and the warden. The obsessed journalist is infuriated and so gets himself sent to prison to stop the gangster once and for all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Trouble follows an American photojournalist in Paris when he meets an exotic woman in Marseille. Initially he had come to France to chronicle an Arab rebellion masterminded by a jewel thief who was supposed to have died. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Never one to hide his talent under a bushel basket, director Rouben Mamoulien proudly proclaimed that, while there were ten killings in his 1931 gangster drama City Streets, the audience never sees any of them. This was not the only innovation in this fascinating early talkie, in which straight-arrow movie hero Gary Cooper is cast as a racketeer known only as The Kid. He has chosen a life of crime out of love for Nan (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of mob henchman Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee). Eventually railroaded into prison by her crooked cohorts, Nan implores The Kid to give up the rackets, but he refuses. Things go downhill very rapidly after that, culminating with The Kid and Nan being taken "for a ride" by rival thugs. Cast in a role originally intended for Clara Bow, Sylvia Sidney does a magnificent job and was soon typecast as a downtrodden Depression victim, born with two strikes against her. Conversely, Gary Cooper never again played anything quite like "The Kid." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ostensibly a "team" vehicle for Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Cracked Nuts is half over before Bert and Bob even get together! The first scenes belong to Wheeler, cast as spendthrift millionaire Wendell Graham, who is in love with Betty Harrington (Dorothy Lee). Betty's aunt Minnie (Edna May Oliver) considers Wendell to be an irresponsible jerk, so our hero decides to prove his worth by financing a revolution in the mythical country of El Dorania, thereby becoming ruler of the postage-stamp kingdom. Meanwhile, Zander U. Parkhurst (Woolsey), aka Zup, has won the crown of El Dorania in a crap game with King Oscar (Harvey Clark) -- who is glad to be rid of the country, inasmuch as he's been targeted for assassination. Unaware that he's been set up as a dead duck, Zup quickly assumes command of El Dorania, wearing a variety of outlandish "official" costumes. When Wendell shows up to stake his claim to the country, he is greeted effusively by his old pal Zup, but the reunion turns sour when scheming General Bogardus (Stanley Fields) orders Wendell to kill Zup. The day of the assassination is a gala event for the El Doranians, who set up concession stands and provide a team of cheerleaders for the occasion. Not wishing to do his pal harm, Wendell arranges for "cockeyed Ben" (Ben Turpin) to fly the plane that is to drop the fatal bombs on Zup and further sees to it that the bombs are disarmed. Alas, the explosions surrounding Zup are all too real, and soon both he and Wendell are fleeing for their lives. Fortunately, one of the bombs brings forth an oil gusher, which has the salutary effect of bringing the revolution to an end -- and also makes Wendell a worthy bridegroom for Betty (remember her?) In recent years, Cracked Nuts has taken on near-legendary status because of its pre-Duck Soup political satire, its Abbott-and-Costello style comedy patter, and the presence of Boris Karloff as one of the revolutionaries. But in the cold light of day, the film doesn't live up to its reputation; though laughs are plentiful, Cracked Nuts must be ranked as a disappointment for all but Wheeler and Woolsey's most fervent fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An airy screwball comedy, Danger--Love at Work explores the lives of a wealthy but wacky family. Ann Sothern plays the daughter, the only remotely "normal" member of the clan. Poor Jack Haley enters the scene as a feckless attorney who tries to get the family to finalize an important land deal. Sothern falls for Haley, and through the machinations of her looney parents the timorous lawyer winds up the object of a "shotgun wedding." The amusing but inconsequential Danger--Love at Work was the second American film of director Otto Preminger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1932 Tom Mix version of Destry Rides Again bears no more relation to the original Max Brand novel than does the 1939 James Stewart remake. Thanks to his crooked partner (Earle Foxe), Jim Destry (Mix) is thrown into jail. Finally released, he "rides again" to prove his innocence and bring the guilty parties to justice. The action highlights include the hero's leap from a train to his horse and back again (it doesn't look as if doubles were used). Claudia Dell, best known to present-day audiences as Spanky's mother in the "Our Gang" films, is the heroine, while ZaSu Pitts, of all people, supplies the comedy relief. Though Tom Mix expressed displeasure with the film, Destry Rides Again remains one of his best talkies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Flirting with Fate is one of the lesser Joe E. Brown vehicles for independent producer David L. Loew. Brown is cast as Dixon, the manager of a third-rate vaudeville troupe stranded in a mythical South American country. Completely broke, Dixon hits upon a plan to finance the actors' trip home: he'll take out a huge life insurance policy, then arrange to get himself killed by bandit chieftan Sancho (Leo Carrillo). Unfortunately, Sancho has no interest whatsoever in knocking off our hero, nor can he be insulted into committing the deed. By the final reel, of course, Dixon has decided to go on living-and that's when his life is really in danger, courtesy of a cannister of nitroglycerine. Hungarian-born Steffi Duna provides unintentional laughs as an offkey Latin American songstress. The title Flirting with Fate had previously been used by Douglas Fairbanks in 1917; coincidentally, that film also had a leading character with suicidal notions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1930 George & Ira Gershwin musical smash Girl Crazy was refashioned for the screen in 1932 as a vehicle for comedians Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. Most of the original play's romantic plotline has been jettisoned, shifting the emphasis to cabdriver Jimmy Deegan (Wheeler) and his larcenous passengers Slick and Kate Foster (Woolsey and Kitty Kelly). After a tortuous cross-country trip, Jimmy, Slick and Kate end up in Custerville, Arizona, where each of the new sheriffs is routinely bumped off by local reprobate Lank Sanders (Stanley Fields) and his gang. When the newly-opened nightclub of city slicker Danny Churchill (Eddie Quillan) proves successful thanks to the singing talents of Kate Foster, Lank Sanders, owner of a rival cabaret, plots to run for the sheriff's office so that he can close down Danny's establishment. Hoping to stave off this eventuality, Danny conspires with Slick to nominate Jimmy as sheriff (Slick figures that a dead man won't be able to collect his gargantuan cab fare!). With the help of his tagalong kid-sister Tessie (Mitzi Green), Jimmy wins the election then has to run for his life when Lank comes a-gunnin' for him. Ending up south of the border in Mexico, Jimmy and Slick manage to get the drop on Lank, and all's right with the world. Contrary to previously published reports, only three of the original Gershwin songs were retained for the film version of Girl Crazy: I Got Rhythm, performed Ethel Merman-style by Kitty Kelly; But Not for Me, rushed through by nominal romantic leads Eddie Quillan and Arline Judge, then parodied by juvenile impressionist Mitzi Green (who does quickie imitations of George Arliss, Bing Crosby and Edna May Oliver); and Bidin' My Time, used as background music for an opening scene in which the camera slowly pans across the tombstones of Custerville's former sheriffs. Bert Wheeler and his perennial screen vis-a-vis Dorothy Lee deliver the film's best number, You've Got What Gets Me, originally written by the Gershwins for their 1927 production Funny Face. Long unavailable thanks to the 1943 MGM remake, Girl Crazy was resurrected in the late 1970s; though it proved a disappointment for Gershwin purists, it won a whole new fan following for Wheeler & Woolsey, who are very funny throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ray Walker plays Jimmy Case, a combustible young man who loses one job after another because he can't keep his fists to himself. On the verge of losing his girl friend Grace (Dorothy Granger), Walker agrees to hold his temper and try once more. He lands a job as a process server, only to find out that his first assignment is to serve a summons to equally temperamental nightclub singer Eleanor Rogers (Virginia Cherrill, best remembered as the blind flower girl in Chaplin's City Lights). For an early Monogram film, this one is surprisingly high-budgeted, with a particularly impressive cabaret set. Scripted by a very young Dore Schary, He Couldn't Take It was remade three times, most famously as the 1946 "Bowery Boys" series entry Live Wires. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the long-running series, the Dead End Kids are freshly out of reform school when they find themselves victimized by the tough, corrupt head of the Hell's Kitchen Shelter. A reformed racketeer tries to help out, but he winds up violating his parole and getting sent back to prison. As he goes, he gets some satisfaction out of seeing the crooked superintendent sent up the river too. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide