Byron Foulger Movies

Bret Harte's short story The Luck of Roaring Camp had previously been woven into the plot of RKO's Outcasts of Poker Flat when this Monogram "special" made its appearance late in 1937. The basic story remains intact, with an orphaned baby magically bringing good fortune to a rough-and-tumble mining camp. Among those to benefit from the kid's presence are earnest young miner Davey (Owen Davis Jr.), rough-edged but likeable camp singer Elsie (Joan Woodbury) and shifty-eyed gambler Oakhurst (Charles Brokaw). At base a good yarn, Luck of Roaring Camp suffers from an excess of corn, especially in the closing scenes. It was the final directorial effort of Irvin Willat, a once-prominent figure in the world of silent films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While not a box-office success, this drama, directed by Leo McCarey, developed a potent reputation among film critics and movie buffs for its sensitive and perceptive treatment of the problems of the elderly. When McCarey won the Oscar for Best Director the same year for The Awful Truth, he remarked that the Academy gave him the award for the wrong movie. Barkley and Lucy Cooper (Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi) are a couple in their late 60s who have fallen on hard times and have been given the bad news that the bank is foreclosing on their house. Barkley and Lucy turn to their five children for help, but none are willing or able to do much for them; their son George (Thomas Mitchell) says that Lucy can stay with him and his wife Anita (Fay Bainter), while Nellie (Minna Gombell) and her husband Harvey (Porter Hall) can take in Barkley, but neither couple have the space or the means to house them both. Living with their children and their new families proves stressful for everyone involved, and Lucy decides to take up residence in a home for older women. She and Barkley realize that this will probably mean a permanent separation for the two of them, and they try to enjoy one last outing together before they part. Remarkably, Beulah Bondi was only 46 years old when this film was made, making her less then ten years older than several of her on-screen children; make-up wizard Wally Westmore used his bag of tricks to age her the appropriate two decades for the role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama a championship boxer retires and marries a rich, aristocratic woman. The woman's father is furious, but comes to accept the situation. When the father gets in trouble for making a major business mistake, the dutiful boxer returns to the ring and wins the money his father-in-law needs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ronald Colman stars in David O. Selznick's classic production of Anthony Hope's swashbuckling adventure. The film takes place in a mythical Central European kingdom with Colman in a dual role as King Rudolf V and Rudolph Rassendyl, a visitor from England who's a distant cousin to the prince. Arriving in the city of Strelsau, the inhabitants are startled by Rudolph's resemblance to the prince. Spotted by two of the prince's aides, Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven) and Colonel Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith), the Englishman is taken to meet the prince at his hunting lodge. The two lookalikes have dinner together as the prince tells Rudolph of the preparations for his upcoming coronation as king. The next morning, Zapt wakes Rudolph and informs him the prince had been drugged the night before and is now in a coma. Because of their similar appearance, Zapt prevails upon Rudolph to impersonate the prince at the coronation, otherwise the prince's evil brother Black Michael (Raymond Massey) will be crowned in his place. With the assistant of Zapt and von Tarlenheim, Rudolph bluffs his way through the coronation, successfully fooling Michael, who is shocked to see his brother alive. Crowned king, Rudolph then meets Princess Flavia (Madeleine Carroll), the prince's fiancee. As they proceed to the reception, Princess Flavia is amazed how kindly the prince is now treating her. Rudolph is falling in love with her, but Michael suspects something foul and dispatches Rupert of Hentzau (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) to investigate the matter further, preparing to gain control of the throne at any cost. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Test Pilot is one of those irresistible MGM potboilers of the 1930s that coast along on sheer star power. Clark Gable plays a courageous test pilot, who compromises his achievements with his frequent bouts of drinking. Gable's mechanic, Spencer Tracy, does what he can to keep his boss out of trouble. While testing a new aircraft, Gable is forced to land on a Midwestern farm, where he meets and falls in love with Myrna Loy. Gable and Loy marry, whereupon he is fired by his boss Lionel Barrymore, who is of the opinion that flying and dames don't mix. Gable goes off on another bender, compelling Loy to leave him. Once more, Tracy comes to Gable's rescue by reuniting the couple and arranging for Barrymore to give Gable his job back. Later, Gable and Tracy are assigned to test a huge army bomber. Something goes wrong, and the plane goes into a dive. The self-sacrificing Tracy sees to it that Gable is saved from a flaming death--at the cost of his own life. Gable is so devastated by Tracy's death that it looks as though he'll never fly again. But with Loy's help, Gable regains his self-confidence. As one can see, there's little in Test Pilot that hasn't been done before. But with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy at the controls, the film proved a real audience-pleaser in 1938. In fact, it's still pretty good today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a 12-year-old boy becomes an orphan after seeing a detective shoot his father. Later the detective feels bad and offers to become his friend, but his intentions are not entirely honorable as the detective really wants to know the location of the loot his father stashed during a robbery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Drawing heavily on both Madame X and Stella Dallas, this cheap exploitation-melodrama was produced by the ill-named Progressive Pictures at the newly formed Grand National studios. The parents of the title are Edythe Ellis (Marjorie Reynolds) and Charles Wharton (Carlyle Moore Jr.), who are forced to marry in secrecy because of his socially prominent family. A child, Carol, is born, but Charles is forbidden to see Edythe and the little girl is adopted by the kindly Cardwells (Walter Young and Sybil Harris). Years later, Carol (Doris Weston), now a pretty teenager, falls in love with handsome Bruce (Maurice Murphy), much to the chagrin of her adopted cousin, Betty (Terry Walker), Bruce's former girlfriend. In spite, Betty reveals that Carol is adopted and the distraught girl leaves home to take a job as an entertainer in the Cuddle Club, a notorious establishment secretly owned by Charles Wharton (now Morgan Wallace). When Carol refuses to change her mind, Bruce solicits the aid of Edythe (now Helen MacKellar), who has become a famous judge. Keeping her identity a secret, Edythe warns Carol about an upcoming police raid and is eventually able to have Charles arrested. Tearfully but still incognito, Edythe then gives her blessing for Carol and Bruce to be married. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's whimsical Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play You Can't Take It With You was transformed into a paean to populism by director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin. This is the story of the zany Sycamore household, presided over by Grandpa Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore), a former businessman who has turned his back on commerce to enjoy life. At the Sycamores', everyone does just what he or she pleases. Penny Sycamore (Spring Byington), Grandpa's daughter, has become a novelist because someone delivered a typewriter to her home by mistake. Penny's husband makes firecrackers in his basement with the help of Mr. DePinna (Halliwell Hobbes), an iceman who showed up at the Sycamore doorstep one day and never left. Their daughter, Essie (Ann Miller), imagines that she's a prima ballerina, even though her dour teacher, Boris (Mischa Auer), assesses her work with, "Confidentially, it steenks!" Essie's husband, Ed (Dub Taylor), who'd rather play a xylophone than work, spends his free time selling Essie's candy, wrapping each package in paper from a used printing press that dispenses anarchistic slogans. The one normal member of the household is Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), in love with wealthy Tony Kirby (James Stewart).

Naturally, when the stuffy, aristocratic Kirbys come to the Sycamores' for dinner, the event is a disaster, capped with the arrest of everyone in the household. Hart and Kaufman's third act found the previously judgmental Kirby softening his attitude toward the freewheeling Sycamore clan, admitting that he's never had so much fun in his life. Screenwriter Riskin altered the focus of the play by throwing out the third act and concentrating upon Tony Kirby's father, Kirby Sr., who as played by Edward Arnold is transformed from a stock stuffed shirt into a ruthless, grasping tycoon, eager to buy up every house on the Sycamores' block to make room for a munitions plant. The film thus became the story of Kirby's regeneration at the hands of the carefree Sycamores. Enough of the play's screwball elements are retained to compensate for Riskin's speechifying and plot distortions (though the softening of one of the play's vital ingredients, Grandpa's refusal to pay his income tax, borders on the sacrilegious). You Can't Take It With You earned several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Capra's third Oscar). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1932 W.C. Fields comedy of the same name, Million Dollar Legs is a college picture starring most of Paramount's younger contract players. The college is in financial trouble, so the students pin their hopes on a race horse--the "million dollar legs" of the title. As it turns out, the college's salvation rests with its rowing team, captained by Jackie Coogan (who was once upon a time a leading-man type). At the time Million Dollar Legs was made, Coogan was married to his costar, Betty Grable. A few years later, Grable would parlay her own lovely legs into a career worth several millions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a gangster uses an innocent newsboy to manipulate the jury just prior to his manslaughter trial. The 10-year-old newsboy idolizes the gangster. Eventually the lad's admiration comes to deeply affect the gangster who begins to soften up. Meanwhile his moll plans to rob him. The newsboy intervenes and stops her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this third installment of MGM's "Dr. Kildare" series, Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) comes to the rescue when his supervisor/mentor Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) nearly collapses from overwork. Gillespie is seeking a permanent cure for pneumonia, and must ask Kildare for assistance when the task proves beyond his physical ability. The older doctor eventually does collapse, and the diagnosis is cancer. Gillespie recovers, while Kildare finds his hands full in juggling both the pneumonia cure and the case of a woman (Helen Gilbert) suffering from psychosomatic blindness. But what's the "secret" of Dr. Kildare? Well...that's a secret (until you see the film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide