Charles Giblyn Movies

This Side of Heaven is an early, muted example of what would refine itself into the "screwball comedy" genre. Lionel Barrymore plays an accountant, who's also the head of a large family consisting principally of dizzy buffoons. Not only that, but the Barrymore clan is selfish, totally unappreciative of Dad's efforts in their behalf. But when Barrymore is falsely accused of embezzlement, the family members rally to his aid and prove their hidden worth. Amazingly, all the problems in This Side of Heaven are ironed out within a 24-hour span (and 78 minutes' screen time). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy-mystery, an ex-vaudevillian becomes an amateur sleuth and begins helping the police locate an international ring of smugglers who have been sneaking diamonds into the US inside coffee cans. Scotland Yard nabs a female gang member. They then have the ex-music hall performer impersonate the crook and use him to entrap the other smugglers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Night World is an astonishingly compact 57-minute extravaganza, all of which takes place at the upscale (but somewhat less-than-swank) nightclub owned by good-natured racketeer Happy MacDonald (Boris Karloff) (complete with a winning, grinning smile). In a story arc of no more than a couple of hours, MacDonald is betrayed by his faithless wife (Doris Revier), who has been cavorting with the club's stage producer (Russell Hopton), and who sets her husband up to be killed by a rival; the gentle, articulate African-American doorman (Clarence Muse) learns the fate of his beloved wife, whose stay in the hospital has been a source of worry for him all night; despondent socialite Michael Rand (Lew Ayres), the son of an acquitted murderess, meets chorus girl Ruth Taylor (Mae Clarke), who turns out to have a heart-of-gold; and gets to confront his mother (Hedda Hopper), a viciously self-centered and venal woman. But Michael and Ruth soon find themselves caught in the midst of the mob's attempt on Happy's life, and facing a pair of assassins who would just as soon kill them as look at them. All of these story threads are interspersed between a good deal of backstage banter -- including a tense pair of vignette with tough-guy Ed Powell (George Raft, about as scary as he ever looked on screen) -- and a Busby Berkeley-choreographed dance number that, despite the low-budget and obviously fast shooting schedule of this picture, manages to work in the latter's celebrated overhead camera angles and other requisite visual touches. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this sparkling musical comedy, a bungling waiter (Maurice Chevalier) loses his job at a tony restaurant. His employment prospects look grim until the opportunistic restaurateur learns that his ex-employee is slated to receive a vast inheritance. Hastily, he hires the youth back and then tries to convince him to fall in love with his very eligible daughter. Unfortunately for the scheming employer, the waiter finds out about the money and disdains the girl while continuing to work at the restaurant just to bedevil his boss. At night though, the young fellow becomes a notorious, club-hopping playboy until he insults an aristocrat and finds himself challenged to a duel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. made his talkie debut in the low-budget but imaginative "exploitationer" Party Girl. Fairbanks plays carefree young bachelor Jay Roundtree, the son of a wealthy industrialist. Though Jay is in love with his dad's secretary, his class consciousness compels him to keep his distance from her. One night, he joins his fraternity pals for a wild penthouse bash, where a group of "party girls" (a 1930 code word for prostitutes) encourage the guests (mostly "dirty old men" in tuxedoes) to wash their inhibitions away with bootleg liquor. Imagine Jay's surprise when, in the course of the evening, he discovers that his office sweetheart was once a party girl herself -- though that's nothing compared to what he discovers about his own father! Though economically produced, Party Girl contains some astounding visual effects, including a hydraulic "car lift" which transports the revellers to their secret rendezvous and a remarkably convincing suicidal plunge from a skyscraper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warner Oland makes the first of four screen appearances as Sax Rohmer's insidious oriental Dr. Fu Manchu.The film makes an effort to explain Fu's hatred of all whites by showing the death of the Doctor's family during the Boxer Rebellion. Twenty years later, Fu Manchu is a full-blooded villain, using a hypnotized Jean Arthur to help wipe out the British family Fu holds responsible for the deaths of his loved ones. But when Arthur falls in love with potential victim Neil Hamilton, Dr. Fu is forced to add her to his death-list. Weakened only by the excessive "silly-ass Englishman" comedy relief of William Austin, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu is a rapid-fire adventure devoid of early-talkie clumsiness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Noose was based on a story by H. H. Van Loan -- or rather, the play adapted from that story by Willard Mack. Cheap crook Nickie Elkins (Richard Barthelmess) is the son of equally dishonest Buck Gordon (Montague Love). When his ex-wife (Alice Joyce) marries Governor Bancroft (Robert T. Haines), Gordon sees an opportunity for blackmail. To save his mother from disgrace, Elkins kills his own father. The outcome of the story is in the hands of poor Mrs. Bancroft: If she tells the truth, she will cause the ruination of her husband's political ambitions; if she remains silent, her son will be hanged. Strong dramatic support is provided by Lina Basquette as Nickie's faithful sweetheart Dot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of Colleen Moore's best films, Her Wild Oat is nowhere near as "naughty" as its title. Moore is cast as Mary Brown, the orphaned owner of a tiny lunch wagon. Carefully salting away her money, Mary hopes to escape her tenement surroundings and take a long vacation. She gets the opportunity when she hires an assistant, handsome Philip Latour (Larry Kent), whom she assumes to be even worse off than she. In truth, Philip is quite wealthy, but out of love for Mary he pretends to be his own chauffeur. Checking out his story, Mary visits the hotel where Philip's "boss" is supposedly staying, only to end up being mistaken for the Duchess of Granville. This results in a ticklish situation involving Philip's flirtatious father, not to mention virtually everyone else in the hotel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grace Barrow (Hope Hampton) has become a cabaret dancer in New York, and when she hears her ailing mother needs money, she accepts an offer from Kenneth Bellwood (Arthur Edmund Carew). The crooked Bellwood wants to keep Robert Casson (Harrison Ford) in New York so that he'll miss out on a valuable Brazilian option, and he wants Grace to help. So Grace accompanies Casson on a round of parties and revelry. But then she finds herself falling in love with him and begins to feel guilty. Meanwhile, her sister Alice (Mary Astor) comes to town and falls under Bellwood's influence. Bellwood dumps his mistress, Evelyn Dolores (Dagmar Godowsky), and she angrily confronts him. Their argument ends when Evelyn kills Bellwood, but Alice is accused of the crime. Grace finally confesses Bellwood's scheme to Casson, who forgives her. Evelyn has committed suicide and in her note, she reveals that she killed Bellwood. Alice returns home, and Casson weds Grace. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama glorified the lowly postman, which probably warmed the heart of Will H. Hays, the head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association -- he was a former postmaster general. Dan O'Brien (Brandon Tynan) loyally stays at his mailman job, even when his pal Michael O'Hara (Charles McDonald) offers him a chance to go into business. O'Hara's son Tom (Chester Morris) secretly marries the O'Brien's adopted daughter Peggy (Faire Binney). When O'Brien retires, his pension isn't enough to live on, so his son Terrence (William Collier Jr.) gets a job at the post office to help out. O'Brien allows Brady (Tom Blake) to spend the night at his house, and he gratefully leaves some money. But Brady is a mail robber and the cash is marked, so O'Brien is arrested. Brady and one of his associates attempt to rob a mail train, but Terrence, who is clerking, stops them. Brady escapes, however, and attempts yet another robbery. Once again, he is foiled by Terrence. Finally he confesses and clears O'Brien's name. O'Brien is officially thanked by the postmaster general, and when the marriage between Peggy and Tom is revealed, it brings the two families together again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In one of her several attempts to escape the physically demanding serial genre, Pearl White (of Perils of Pauline fame) starred in this society melodrama about a young girl, who is deserted by all and sundry after the death of her greedy father. When all hope for a decent life seems over for Ellen Schuyler (White), John Barrett (Harry C. Browne) proposes marriage. Unhappily, John's nasty mother (Estar Banks) makes life miserable for Ellen and after three years of agony she is ready to leave home and hearth for society scion Roy Phelps (Wilfred Lytell). But Phelps proves as bad as her late father and Ellen is persuaded to return to her forgiving husband and young son. White, who had suffered a serious injury in one of her earlier serials, was never accepted in drawing room dramas. After one last American chapterplay, Plunder (1923), and one produced in France, she retired. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tiger (Frank Evans) is one of those shifty gamblers often found in movies set in the Alaskan wilds. His daughter, known only as "the Cub" (Pearl White), is a spirited young lass who is devoted to her invalid mother. Tiger and his partner, Bill Slark (J. Thornton Baston), cheat Colonel Summers (John Woodford) out of his mine and so he won't complain, they murder him and call it suicide. They go into hiding until things cool off, and during that time the Cub meets Summers' son, David (Thomas J. Carrigan). They fall in love, but Tiger surfaces and forces her to marry Slark by threatening to toss her mother out into the cold if she refuses. So they wed, but before Slark can consummate the forced marriage, David comes to the rescue. Slark, it turns out, already was married, and his deserted wife reappears and shoots him dead. Tiger is arrested for Summers' murder, and it is discovered that he is not really the Cub's father after all. Although Pearl White was mostly known for her serials The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine, she did make her share of features. This one was filmed years after her famed serial days were through. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The Dark Mirror is the first of two Hollywood films of that title dealing with "doppelganger" twin sisters. The later film, made in 1946, concerns a murder committed by one of the siblings. The earlier Dark Mirror, lensed in 1920, is constructed more along Count of Monte Cristo or Prince and the Pauper lines. Dorothy Dalton does double duty as a girl of the slums and her high-society identical twin. It is inevitable that the twins will somehow trade places around Reel Three. The Dark Mirror is based on a story by Louis Joseph Vance, of Lone Wolf fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide