Tamara Geva Movies
- 1948
This "B" effort from the 20th Century-Fox stable stars John Emery and Tamara Geva as John Newberry and Maria Ivar, a pair of quarrelsome stage stars. Realizing that their constant bickering is ruining their professional and personal lives, John and Maria separately consult psychiatrists Harold Matson (Leif Erickson) and Susan Nash (Virginia Gregg). To hide the fact that they're seeking therapy, John and Maria pretend that Harold and Suan are old school friends. It doesn't take long before the psychiatrists are arguing with each other, thereby "curing" John and Maria. Director Ray McCarey may have been the brother of Leo McCarey, but Ray's The Gay Intruders isn't in the same league as Leo's hilarious marital comedy The Awful Truth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Emery, Tamara Geva, (more)
- 1946
Ben Hecht wrote and directed this bizarre comedy/suspense/dance film, featuring a discordant musical score by George Antheil. The film concerns a love affair between young, innocent ballerina Haidi (Viola Essen) and her psychotic genius dance partner Andre Sanine (Ivan Kirov). The crux of the tale concerns whether the newly married dance team will last through a performance of the Spectre of the Rose ballet -- since the ballet sets Andre's brain into a murderous rage that compels Andre to plunge a knife into his new wife. Also on hand for the festivities is Judith Anderson as La Sylph (an aging ballerina who runs a ballet academy), Lionel Stander as Lionel Gans (a frustrated poet), and Michael Chekhov as Max Polikoff (a pre-politically correct gay ballet impresario). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith Anderson, Michael Chekhov, (more)
- 1942
An adequate wartime filler, Night Plane from Chungking features Robert Preston as the captain of the titular aircraft. En route from Chungking to India, the plane crashes, leaving captain and passengers stranded in a jungle surrounded by Japanese troops. It has been learned that one of the passengers is a Nazi spy; Preston hopes it isn't the lovely Ellen Drew. Night Plane from Chungking was a remake of the earlier, and more expensive, Paramount adventure Shanghai Express, substituting planes for trains. When movie villains shifted from Nazis to Communists in the 1950s, the story was filmed once more as Peking Express (53). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Preston, Ellen Drew, (more)
In his last screen appearance, bandleader Glenn Miller plays--are you sitting down?--a bandleader. The film's main plot involves small-town girl Ann Rutherford, who impulsively marries George Montgomery, a trumpeter in the Miller band. Rutherford soon finds that she isn't particularly suited for life on the road, nor is she prepared for the petty jealousies and backstabbings prevalent among the other orchestra wives (Lynn Bari, Carole Landis et. al.) She eventually leaves Montgomery, an event which coincides with the breakup of the band. But both the band and the marriage are salvaged through the benign conspiratorial schemes of Glenn Miller and a repentant Rutherford. Those who aren't interested in the various plots and subplots in Orchestra Wives will be captivated by the endless supply of blue-ribbon tunes, including I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, At Last, and Serenade in Blue. Guest stars include Tex Beneke, The Modernaires and the Nicholas Brothers. Watch for an uncredited Jackie Gleason as a bass player and Dale Evans as Ann Rutherford's friend in the soda-fountain scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, (more)
- 1937
In this musical comedy, a crooked record producer uses his mob connections to force performers to do their stuff. The trouble really begins when the gangster's strong-arm tactics nearly cause a singer to lose his fiancée. A wide variety of entertainers appear including cowboy crooner Gene Autry, baseball hero Joe DiMaggio, and big band stars Cab Calloway, Ted Lewis, and the Kay Thompson Singers. Songs include "Mamma I Wanna Make Rhythm," "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round," "Heaven?," "I Owe You," and "It's Round-up Time in Reno." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1934
In this comedy, two sisters work as assistants to a magician. The trouble begins when the day before a big show, the magician's psychic quits. In desperation he enlists the aide of one of the assistants. The three end up hired by a woman who is trying to help her wealthy, widowed sister see that her doctor is a charlatan by holding a bogus seance in the widow's creepy mansion. During the ritual, the widow tries to contact her late husband. When the ghost really does appear, the "medium" is shocked; she is more shocked when the spirit tells her he was murdered. The three performers become sleuths, solve the murder, and prove that the physician is a money-grubbing fake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- ZaSu Pitts, George "Slim" Summerville, (more)
- 1931
Though he'd been given top billing at other studios, Charles Ruggles attained star status at his home lot of Paramount for the first time in 1931's The Girl Habit. Hoping to escape the murderous wrath of a gangster, wealthy middle-aged playboy Charlie Floyd (Ruggles) tries to get himself arrested. He finally succeeds, only to be thrown into the same cell as the gangster! Then there's the problem of getting out of jail, which comes about when Charlie uncovers evidence revealing the warden to be a crook. And all of this comes about simply because Charlie's sweetheart Sonya (Tamara Geva) tried to cure our hero of his flirtatiousness. Based on a play by A.E. Thomas and Clayton Hamilton, The Girl Habit was something of a enigma, garnering huge laughs in some theaters and stony silence in others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Tamara Geva, (more)
- 1929
Apparently, The Night Club was planned as a feature-length adaptation of a popular novel by Katherine Brush. What emerged was a 52-minute crazy quilt, comprised of selected scenes from 24 all-talkie Paramount short subjects, filmed in 1928 by director Robert Florey. This series was intended to spotlight the New York nightclub scene by featuring the biggest "acts" at work before enthusiastic audiences. After a few introductory comments by actor-playwright Donald Ogden Stewart, the film segues into a series of musical specialties, featuring such celebrated performers of the period as Fanny Brice, Anne Pennington, Tamara Geva and Pat Rooney. Also included is a dramatization of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story "Pusher-in-the-Face," Most critics regarded Night Club as little more than a glorified "trailer," promising much and delivering little. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, (more)
