Gregory Gaye Movies
Russian-born actor Gregory Gaye came to the U.S. after the 1917 revolution. Gaye flourished in films of the 1930s, playing a variety of ethnic types. He was Italian opera star Barelli in Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), an exiled Russian nobleman in Tovarich (1937), an indignant German banker in Casablanca (1942), a Latin named Ravez in the 1945 "Sherlock Holmes" effort Pursuit to Algiers (1946) a minor-league crook of indeterminate origin in the Republic serial Tiger Woman (1945) and the villainous interplanetary leader in the weekly TV sci-fi series Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1945). Gregory Gaye was active in films until 1979, when he showed up briefly as a Russian Premier in the disaster epic Meteor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1929
Will Rogers' first all-talking feature casts the beloved humorist as Pike Peters, owner of an auto repair shop in Claremore, OK (Rogers' real-life home town). Living in genteel but contented poverty, Pike and his family suddenly find themselves millionaires when an oil well in which he is part-owner comes in a gusher. Though Pike remains the same humble, down-to-earth fellow that he was before his good fortune, his social-climbing wife (Irene Rich) instantly begins taking on airs, insisting that the family spend a year in Paris. Reluctantly, Pike agrees, and before long he, his wife, his daughter, Opal (Marguerite Churchill), and son, Ross (Owen Davis Jr.) are seeing the sights in the City of Lights. Determined to crash Parisian high society and land a wealthy nobleman husband for daughter Opal, Mrs. Peters callously insists that her "embarrassing" husband keep his distance at all social gatherings. Not surprisingly, the Peters family unit begins to unravel, with Opal succumbing to the charms of silky gigolo Marquis de Brissac (Ivan Lebedeff), and Ross living a life of debauchery in the Latin Quarter with French floozy Fleury (Marcelle Corday). Though Pike manages to make a friend of exiled Russian grand duke Mikhail (Theodore Lodi), he simply cannot coordinate himself with his wife's incessant title-chasing, nor can he convince her that her new "friends" are only interested in her money. Cast out of the hotel suite he shares with his wife, the crestfallen Pike heads to a sidewalk café, where he renews his platonic friendship with vivacious cabaret entertainer Claudine (Fifi D'Orsay, whose saucy performance caused a bit of trouble with the local movie censors of the era). With her help, Pike cooks up a scheme to bring his family back together by pretending that he's "gone Parisian" and has taken Claudine as his mistress. Adapted from a 1926 novel by Homer Croy (and a subsequent stage version by May Savell Croy), They Had to See Paris remains one of Will Rogers' most entertaining talkies, with the star ad-libbing to his heart's content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1930
This version of Shakespeare's most famous love story is set in Scarsdale, New York. This time, the heroine comes from an old monied aristocratic family. Trouble ensues when the hero's newly wealthy, and terribly unsophisticated family from Iowa moves in next door. The young woman becomes interested in the young man when she hears him playing the ukulele. She asks him to teach her to play, and romance ensues. Naturally her snooty parents disapprove of the young man and his family of rubes. They remind the girl that she is already betrothed to a French count. This does not deter the young lovers who elope the night before her marriage to the count. Eventually the family's reconcile their differences and prosperous harmony ensues. Songs include: "I'm In The Market For You," "Eleanor," "High Society Blues," "Just Like In A Story Book," "The Song I Sing In My Dreams," and "I Don't Know You Well Enough For That." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1930
The widow in question is wealthy Tamarind Brooks (Gloria Swanson), who flits from one man to another with the rapidity of a butterfly. Beginning in New York and ending in Paris, Tamarind collects men like some people collect stamps. Among her most ardent suitors are lawyer Gerry (Owen Moore), violin virtuoso Baslikoff (Gregory Gaye), opera baritone Alvarado (Herbert Braggiotti), and cabaret dancer Victor (Lew Cody). After playing the field with gay abandon, Tamarind finally returns to square one (in a manner of speaking) and marries Gerry. Gloria Swanson is given opportunity aplenty to display her splendid singing voice, and even gets to hark back to her Keystone Comedy days by indulging in some gratuitous slapstick. In a sense, What a Widow was filmic valentine to Swanson from her sponsor-lover, producer Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's father). Audiences, however, were not quite as smitten as "Papa Joe," and the film was a box-office bust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Swanson, Owen Moore, (more)
- 1930
In this action-adventure opus, Deucalion (Warner Baxter), Machwurth (Noah Beery), Mordiconi (C. Henry Gordon) and Biloxi (George Cooper) are four members of a desert patrol fighting off godless villains amidst the sand dunes. The four soldiers are lured away from their mission by Eleanore (Myrna Loy), a beautiful but dangerous women who persuades them to abandon their cause and join forces with the enemy. In time, Deucalion and his men discover the evil that lurks beneath Eleanore's seductive exterior, but have they come to their senses in time to rejoin their comrades before the cause is lost? Keep an eye peeled for a pre-Dracula Bela Lugosi, who plays one of the bad guys (no great surprise there). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1931
In this comedy, a successful owner of a meat-packing plant tries to pass on his obsession for punctuality and rules to his two sons. But both of them are spoiled playboys who care little for time. One loves cafe society and the many girls he meets there; the other has bohemian affectations and hangs out with the artists in Greenwich Village. One day, their rigid stodgy father meets a lively Irish lass who inspires him to break free from his voluntary enslavement. He begins dressing stylishly and hanging out at the race track. The sons see him squiring the girl about town and they are appalled. When the father learns that the girl is being blackmailed, he rushes to her aid. The sons are so upset that they become responsible and more like he once was. Fortunately, it all turns out for the best when they discover that their father and the married girl only had a platonic relationship. She ends up reconciling with her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Lucien Littlefield, (more)
- 1932
Based on the stage comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, Once in a Lifetime is a satire of Hollywood's early-talkie era. A down-and-out vaudeville trio (Jack Oakie, Aline MacMahon, and Russell Hopton) takes advantage of the confusion attending the talkie revolution by heading to Hollywood and posing as voice experts. George (Oakie), the team's dimwitted straight man, falls in love with a pretty young miss (Sidney Fox) who has come to Hollywood to become an actress -- and won't let her utter lack of talent get in the way. Fast-talking themselves into jobs at the Glogauer Studios, the phony vocal specialists eventually wear out their welcome and are on the verge of being fired. But George, who has been listening to the complaints of a disillusioned screenwriter, suddenly spouts those complaints word for word to Mr. Glogauer (Gregory Ratoff) -- and is lauded as a genius for being the first man to stand up to the despotic studio head. George is made a producer, and immediately sets about filming an expensive movie vehicle for his girlfriend. Unfortunately, George had found the script for his film in a wastebasket, and winds up shooting the wrong picture. He and his vaudeville chums are fired, but when his picture (an incomprehensible farrago shot in darkness because George forgot to turn on the klieg lights) is previewed, it is hailed as a daringly original masterpiece. George is made the supervising producer of Glogauer Studios, and all ends happily for himself and his friends. An interesting precursor to the Singin' in the Rain school of Hollywood kidding itself, Once in a Lifetime has tarnished a bit over the years but is still well worth seeing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Aline MacMahon, (more)
- 1934
British Agent starred the Hungarian/British actor Leslie Howard in the title role, was directed by full-fledged Hungarian Michael Curtiz, and costarred American leading lady Kay Francis as a Russian spy. Based on the memoirs of R. H. Bruce Lockhart, who had been the unofficial British emissary to the Russian Revolutionary government in 1917, British Agent spends more time on its romantic subplot than in recreating the birth of Bolshevism. Leslie Howard's purpose in this film is to dissuade the Bolsheviks from signing a separate treaty with the World War I German regime. It is obvious to modern-day viewers that Howard is merely looking after Britain's interests and has no concern for the Russians; this was par for the course in a 1930s film, but does not play well with less jingoistic audiences of the 1990s. The most interesting aspect of British Agent is the performance of saturnine Irving Pichel as a young Josef Stalin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, (more)
- 1934
The mysterious death of a notoriously candid author provides the basis of this mystery. Investigators do not believe the suicide note found with his corpse. It seems the author had written a scandalous autobiography detailing his many affairs, with no regard to the feelings of the women involved. The police begin investigating these women and the story is told in flashback. It all began during a publisher's party for the author. Several of his ex-girl friends show up, and he entertains them. Afterward he returns to his study, but not before telling his butler that he plans to kill himself because life is simply too much to bear. It is the valet who suggests he leave a suicide note to protect the innocent. The distraught author does so and then fires the gun. Unfortunately, he only wounds himself. The butler runs in, sees an opportunity to at long last get revenge and finishes the job. He feels secure that he has committed the perfect crime. Unfortunately, he forgot about the second bullet embedded in the floor. Fortunately, the police find it and the butler gets his just desserts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Lukas, Leila Hyams, (more)
- 1934
In this domestic comedy, a small town druggist is married to a woman with social aspirations. To achieve her goal, she cons him into selling his store to a chain. She then puts on all sorts of phony airs and proceeds to make a pompous fool of herself. Meanwhile he amuses himself with hobbies. The two go on a New Orleans vacation. There a gigolo begins being overly attentive to his wife, who is still putting on the style. This makes her husband so jealous that he dons a Tarzan suit and winds up in jail. Later his wife settles down, he gets his store back, and harmony resumes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Peggy Wood, (more)
In this highly acclaimed adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel, Walter Huston plays Sam Dodsworth, a good-hearted, middle-aged man who runs an auto manufacturing firm. His wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) is obsessed with the notion that she's growing old, and she eventually persuades Sam to sell his interest in the company and take her to Europe. He agrees for the sake of their marriage, but before long Fran has begun to think of herself as a cosmopolitan sophisticate and thinks of Sam as dull and unadventurous. Craving excitement, Fran begins spending her time with other men and eventually informs Sam that she's leaving him for a minor member of royalty. While in Italy, Sam runs into Edith Cortright (Mary Astor), an attractive widow whom he first met while sailing to Europe. Edith seems to understand Sam in a way his wife does not, and they fall in love. However, Sam impulsively breaks off their relationship, only to discover in her absence just how deeply he cares for her. Dodsworth was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Walter Huston), and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), though only art director Richard Day walked away with an Oscar. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, (more)
- 1936
This light-hearted musical romance follows the exploits of Nikki Martin (Lily Pons), a beautiful French opera star who stows away on an ocean liner in hopes of escaping her jealous fiancee. Once aboard, she joins an American swing band and falls in love with its leader (Gene Raymond), who, after hearing her sing, eventually comes to reciprocate her feelings. That Girl From Paris received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Sound, and includes musical highlights such as, "Seal It With a Kiss," "The Blue Danube," "Una Voce Poco Fa," and "The Call to Arms." Directed by Leigh Jason, this movie also features actors Mischa Auer, Frank Jenks, Lucille Ball and Jack Oakie. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lily Pons, Gene Raymond, (more)
- 1936
"Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff" read the billing on the opening credits of Charlie Chan at the Opera. Karloff plays a once-famous opera star who has long been confined to an insane asylum. He escapes, ostensibly to seek revenge on the diva wife (Nedda Harrigan) who'd betrayed him years earlier. Karloff shows up during the performance of a new opera, and within minutes the murders start. Detective William Demarest figures the case is open and shut, but oriental sleuth Charlie Chan (Oland) is not thoroughly convinced of Karloff's guilt--nor is he certain that Boris is genuinely insane. To give away the ending would be churlish, but we can note that Charlotte Henry plays Karloff's daughter, who has been raised to believe that her father was dead. Considered by some Charlie Chan fans to be the best of the Warner Oland efforts, Charlie Chan at the Opera is distinguished by excellent production values, and by an original opera composed by Oscar Levant--who allegedly agreed to this assignment provided he could include the word "Silencio!" in his lyrics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, (more)
- 1936
Otto Preminger was able to make his directorial debut on Under Your Spell solely because Darryl Zanuck couldn't care less about the film's quality; it was a contractual obligation film for Lawrence Tibbett, who was proving a washout as a film star. In Spell, Tibbett plays Anthony Allen, a world famous singer who has grown tired of the trials that come with celebrity. Seeking to avoid the spotlight, ceaseless publicity and determined fans, Allen enlists the aid of his butler in secretly escaping to a ranch in Mexico. Allen's manager (Gregory Ratoff) is understandably upset with his client's behavior and so sets in motion a scheme of his own. He contacts celebrity-hunting heiress Cynthia Drexel (Wendy Barrie) and lets her know where to find the reluctant star. Drexel quickly hunts down her prey and sticks to him like glue. Although Allen initially is exasperated with her, he soon finds himself attracted to her. In addition to arias from The Marriage of Figaro and Faust, Tibbert performs Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's "Amigo," "My Little Mule Wagon" and the title song. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lawrence Tibbett, Wendy Barrie, (more)
- 1936
Hollywood Boulevard is a trenchant look at the underside of Tinseltown. Though the nominal hero is a disillusioned screenwriter played by Robert Cummings (whose dialogue anticipates the lines spoken by William Holden in 1950's Sunset Boulevard), the focus of the story is John Halliday as a washed-up film star. Desperately, Halliday accepts the offer from a sleazy "tell all" magazine to write his memoirs. The actor's estranged family is devastated by the resultant scandal, and out love for his daughter (Marsha Hunt), Halliday tries to break his contract. But the publisher (C. Henry Gordon) threatens to ruin Halliday's comeback attempt if he refuses to write the rest of his memoirs. In a scuffle, the publisher kills Halliday, and the blame falls on the actor's daughter. But wise guy screenwriter Cummings gets to the truth of the mystery. A slick B-plus crime melodrama, Hollywood Boulevard has the added bonus of several well-known silent film personalities (Charles Ray, Francis X. Bushman, Maurice Costello, Mae Marsh etc.) in cameo roles, as well as a guest appearance by Gary Cooper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Halliday, Marsha Hunt, (more)
- 1937
Even the mighty MGM had to keep the home fires burning with B pictures. The studio's Mama Steps Out is a harmless confection built around the considerable talents of Alice Brady. She plays her standard empty-headed flibbertygibbet, this time vacationing on the Riviera after inheriting a fortune. Alice, her husband Guy Kibbee and her daughter Betty Furness soon tire of their shallow new society chums, and head back home a little sadder and wiser. For what was basically a lower-berth comedy, Mama Steps Out has impeccable credentials: it was adapted by Anita Loos from a play by John Kirkpatrick, and produced by Ms. Loos' husband John Emerson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Kibbee, Alice Brady, (more)
- 1937
In this romance, a detective teams up with a count and travels to Budapest in search of an embezzler. While there, the two get involved with a female physician in whose house the criminal is concealed (the doctor doesn't know this). Soon the detective and the doctor are involved. Fortunately, by the story's end, he proves that she is innocent of harboring an international criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mischa Auer, Wendy Barrie, (more)
- 1937
Two members of the Russian monarchy pose as French servants while hiding the Czar's fortune. This unlikely plot is at the core of this successful 1937 Hollywood comedy-drama starring the French-born Charles Boyer as Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch Ouratieff. The prince and his wife, Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Claudette Colbert), are entrusted with a huge fortune by the Czar, which they take with them while fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. They arrive in Paris and put all the money in a bank, not wanting to take any for themselves. To fend off poverty, they take a job as servants in the home of wealthy businessman Charles Dupont (Melville Cooper) and his wife Fernande (Isabel Jeans). At a dinner party, their secret is exposed by one of the invited guests, a top Soviet official named Gorotchenko (Basil Rathbone), who had tortured and interrogated Ouratieff before the prince left Russia. Gorotchenko now asks for the fortune to help Russia, which is in economic trouble. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1937
Wise Girl is a medium-level screwball comedy with faintly serious undertones. Miriam Hopkins plays an heiress whose millions can't help her gain custody of her two nieces from their stubborn widowed father (Ray Milland), an impoverished Greenwich Village artist. Hoping to win the widower over without revealing her identity, the heiress disguises herself as a penniless "Bohemian" and infiltrates the Village's artists' colony. When he finds out he's been duped, the man stubbornly insists upon remaining in jail rather than hand over custody of his daughters to the headstrong heiress (yes, that's perennial Laurel & Hardy foil James Finlayson as the friendly jailer). It all turns out for the best when hero and heroine realize they're in love with each other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1937
Based on the 1935 Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Katharine Dayton, First Lady is not, as might be assumed, the story of the first woman president. The central character, played by Kay Francis, is the granddaughter of a president (though clearly inspired by Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice). Ms. Francis is married to Secretary of State Preston S. Foster, whom she hopes to propel into the White House. Her principal rival is the wife (Veree Teasdale) of a mildly corrupt supreme court justice (Walter Connolly). The rival is planning to divorce her husband and promote her own, younger presidential aspirant (Victor Jory). Kay retaliates by mounting a mock campaign for the befuddled justice--which snowballs into the real thing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, Anita Louise, (more)
- 1937
Set during World War I, Lancer Spy stars a young George Sanders as Michael Bruce, an officer in the British Navy who bears an uncanny resemblance to the recently-captured Baron Kurt von Rohbach (also Sanders). Rohbach is highly connected in the German aristocracy, and his capture has been kept quite secret. This allows Bruce to be drafted into service to impersonate the German officer, infiltrate the enemy at the top level, and send back information that can turn the tide in the war. Bruce does a remarkable job and fools just about everyone; only the head of the secret police Major Gruning (Peter Lorre) has his doubts, but he can hardly accuse someone of the Baron's standing on nothing more than suspicions. He therefore engages a comely nightclub singer Dolores Daria Sunnell (Dolores Del Rio) to seduce Bruce and find out if his suspicions are sound or baseless. Unfortunately for Gruning, the singer finds her heart genuinely stolen by the imposter. She discovers the truth, but refuses to out him. Meanwhile, Gruning has laid his hands on some evidence of his own, and he moves to capture Bruce. Having accomplished his mission, Bruce flees to Switzerland. Gruning captures Dolores instead and puts her to death for her betrayal. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, George Sanders, (more)
- 1938
Directed by Frank Tuttle, Paris Honeymoon stars Bing Crosby as Lucky Lawton, a wealthy Texan whose plans for a Parisian honeymoon with the noblewoman he has been romancing are interupted when he visits the city itself. Though he had intended only to make the proper arrangements, he falls in love with a beautiful-but-poor woman named Manya (Franciska Gaal). As he discovers that wealth does not define the worth of a human being, his former wedding plans are put indefinitely on the shelf. Songs include: "I Have Eyes", "Sweet Little Headache","Funny Old Hills", "Joobalai", "The Maiden by the Brook", "Work While You May" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin), and "I Ain't Got Nobody" (Roger Graham, Dave Peyton, Spencer Williams). Paris Honeymoon also features Akim Tamiroff, Shirley Ross, Edward Everett Horton, and Ben Blue.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Franziska Gaal, (more)
- 1938
In this musical comedy, the Ritz Brothers inherit a racehorse but are unable to make money from him because they cannot come up with the $1,000 needed to enter him in the big race. The two get involved with the race anyway when they overhear a group of Russian jockeys conspiring to ruin the race. The brothers then masquerade as the crooked riders and mayhem ensues. Songs include "With You On My Mind," "Why Not String Along With Me?" (Lew Brown, Lew Pollack; sung by Merman), "International Cowboys" (Ray Golden, Sid Kuller, Jule Styne). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Ritz Brothers [Al, Jimmy, Harry], Richard Arlen, (more)
- 1938
Thanks for Everything is an unjustly forgotten lampoon of media promotional stunts. Jack Haley wins a contest sponsored by an ad agency, which is looking for the perfect "average American." The contest's avaricious promoters (Adolphe Menjou and Jack Oakie) use poor Haley as a merchandising tool by having him endorse all sorts of products. When Haley's girl friend (Arleen Whelan) realizes that the hapless fellow is being exploited as a means of controlling the advertising industry, Haley insists that the promoters cease and desist or he'll blow the whistle. The promoters respond by discrediting Haley as a crackpot, but justice triumphs in the end. Thanks for Everything is capped by a bizarre sequence in which Menjou and Oakie convince Haley that World War II has broken out--a sequence filmed one year before this actually occurred! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Jack Oakie, (more)
- 1938
Alternating effortlessly between comedy and suspense and back again, Too Hot to Handle stars Myrna Loy as a famous aviatrix and Clark Gable as an opportunistic newsreel photographer. Gable and rival shutterbug Walter Pidgeon agree to accompany Loy on her search for her missing brother, sensing a good story and excellent photo op. Their odyssey takes them into the deepest jungles of the Amazon, where Gable's photographic prowess saves everyone's lives when hostile natives attack. Along the way, both Gable and Pidgeon fall in love with Loy. The classic opening sequence in Too Hot to Handle, in which the resourceful Gable fakes a bombing raid for the benefit of his cameras, was allegedly conceived by Buster Keaton, then a free-lance MGM gag man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, (more)
Though John Barrymore is top-billed in Bulldog Drummond's Peril, the aging matinee idol is consigned to the supporting role of Inspector Nielsen. Drummond is portrayed by John Howard; once more, he is on the verge of marrying the ever-patient Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell). And yet again, the ceremony is interrupted by a late-breaking crime. The villains this time are trying to steal synthetic diamonds. Bulldog Drummond's Peril was the 5th in Paramount's B-picture "Drummond" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, John Howard, (more)
