Wynne Gibson Movies

Nurse Chapman begins to fall in love with a gangster and ends up entertaining miners until she manages to pull herself out of this bad situation. ~ All Movie Guide

Admirals All was based on the British stage farce by Ian Hay and Stephen-King-Hall. Wynne Gibson takes over from the stage version's Laura La Plante as temperamental American movie star Gloria Gunn. While on board a battleship for publicity purposes, Gloria is kidnapped by a band of comic-opera Chinese pirates. Even though no one is particularly anxious to get the girl back, gormless petty officer Dingle (Gordon Harker) scurries off to her rescue (Dingle was but a minor character in the play, but Harker was a major box-office draw). George Curzon, best remembered as the eye-twitching murderer in Hitchcock's Young and Innocent, scores a comic bull's-eye as the oafish pirate captain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this four-hanky drama, a young wife is desperate to save her foundering marriage and so takes in two adorable foundlings, a boy and his paralyzed sister. The woman arranges for the poor little girl to have an operation. At first, the woman only does this to sway the judge in her favor, but in time, she comes to truly love the kids. In the end, she keeps them both and her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Arthur M. Brilant, The Case of Clara Deane stars Wynne Gibson, repeating her original Broadway role. Accused of a crime she didn't commit, young mother Clara Deane is forcibly separated from her baby daughter then coerced into surrendering all claims to the child. Fifteen years later, Clara is released from prison, as is her no-good husband Frank (Pat O'Brien). Hoping to pick up some quick cash, Frank threatens to reveal the tawdry past of his now-grown daughter Nancy (Frances Dee) to her wealthy fiancee Norman (Russell Gleason). To make certain of her daughter's future happiness, Clara shuts Frank up permanently, then turns herself over to the police. Believe it or not, after all this maudlin mother-love melodrama, there's still a happy ending in store for the long-suffering heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

In this action film, an officer is thrown off the force by his father the chief of police. The bitter ex-cop then joins a racketeering operation. The ring leader assigns him to drive a truck-load of armed hoods to ambush his father. Unbeknownst to the crooks, the ex-cop is still active on the force. The whole affair was a ruse to capture them. The brave cop succeeds in warning his peers of the ambush and the bad-guys die in a hail of bullets. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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

For all his Broadway success, George M. Cohan was never able to "make it" in motion pictures. In 1934, he made another try at movie success with Gambling, a self-produced adaptation of his own stage play. Cohan stars as Al Draper a high-rolling casino operator whose beloved ward Dorothy Kane (Dorothy Burgess) is murdered. With his usual sang-froid smoothness, he dedicates the rest of the picture to tracking down the girl's killer, even though the police have officially closed the case. Cheaply filmed in an abandoned New York warehouse, Gambling disappeared from view not long after its release. Though not technically a "lost" film (copies reportedly exist in the hands of private collectors), it might as well be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the actress girlfriend of a rich man is pursued by a producer, the rich man hires bodyguard Lowe to protect her, but Lowe falls in love with her, too. ~ All Movie Guide

Based on a story by Robert Andrews, If I Had a Million is a multipart comedy-drama employing Paramount's top directorial and acting talents. Refusing to leave his fortune to his grasping relatives, dying millionaire Richard Bennett selects several people at random from the phone book and bestows upon each of them a check for one million dollars. The first recipient is henpecked husband Charlie Ruggles, who cheerily enters his former place of employment, a china shop, and smashes every bit of crockery in the place. Prostitute Wynne Gibson uses her money to escape from her sordid lifestyle and finally sleep in a bed all by herself. Forger George Raft finds that he can't convince anyone that his check is genuine, and ends up handing the check to a flophouse manager--who promptly burns it. Husband and wife W.C. Fields and Alison Skipworth, dismayed that their new car has been destroyed by a "road hog," utilize part of their million dollars to purchase a fleet of cars and then smash up every road hog in sight! Convicted murderer Gene Raymond hopes that his million will help finance a new trial, but the execution is carried out on schedule. Newly rich clerk Charles Laughton calmly makes his way through a series of offices, reaches his boss' desk, and delivers a loud Bronx cheer. Gary Cooper, Roscoe Karns and Jack Oakie play three brawling marines who think the check's a joke and sign it over to an illiterate lunch-counter owner. The last million-dollar recipient is May Robson, an elderly woman confined to a dismal nursing home. She spends her money to turn the home into a joyful resort for old people, forcing the formerly repressive nursing-home staffers to earn their paychecks by sitting all day in rocking chairs. The millionaire who started the plot rolling is given a new lease on life by May Robson's example, and he recovers from his "fatal" illness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1917 and 1922, Willard Mack's barnstorming stage melodrama Kick In was exhumed again in 1931 as a Clara Bow vehicle. The "It" girl plays Molly, the wealthy but long-suffering sister of young coke-head Charlie (Leslie Fenton). When ex-crook Chick Hewes (Regis Toomey) tries to dissuade Charlie from committing a robbery, the no-good punk pins the blame for the crime on Chick. It takes the intervention of Molly, who's fallen in love with Chick, to set things right. Billed sixth in the cast is James Murray, who skyrocketed to stardom in the 1928 King Vidor production The Crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of four films directed by Stephen Roberts in 1932, just four years before the filmmaker passed away prematurely, Lady and Gent stars George Bancroft as aging prizefighter Stag Bailey. After Stag loses his last match to hotshot up-and-comer Buzz Kinney (a 25-year-old John Wayne in an early role), his manager Pin Streaver (James Gleason) is killed during a hold-up. Whether they like it or not, Stag and his speakeasy-owning lady friend Puff (Wynne Gibson) find themselves responsible for Pin's parentless son Ted. As Ted grows up and the three of them form a strong familiar bond, Stag and Puff attempt to disuade Ted from following in the boxing footsteps of his adopted father. Also known as The Challenger, Lady and Gent was nominated for the 1932 Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In this tearjerker, a 10-year old orphan and his crippled sister struggle to survive. The newsboy is devoted to his little sister and will do anything to help her. After their parents die, a local woman, embroiled in a messy divorce, endeavors to help them by taking them in. She also wants to help herself by proving to the courts that she is a good person. She is surprised to find herself falling for the children. They, in turn, bond with her too. When the husband sees how good his wife is with the two, he has a change of heart and stops the divorce. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide