Minna Gombell Movies

Peter Piper (Charles Farrell) and Sidney Taylor (Marian Nixon) are deeply in love, and saving to get married, but their mothers have other ideas. Mrs. Piper (Josephine Hull) is jealous of Sidney, refusing to allow the couple to move in with her after they marry. Elsie (Minna Gombell), Sidney's mother, is disgusted with her husband Willie (William Collier, Sr.) and has an affair with their border Mr. Jarvis (William Pawley); she wants Sidney to marry a rich man. When he fears his embezzlement will be found out, Jarvis persuades Elsie to leave the country with him. After they're gone, Willie finds the note Elsie left for Sidney in which she reveals she never loved him; as a result Willie has a heart attack. Peter and Sidney are forced to use their savings for his hospitalization, and then Sidney fears Peter is attracted to another woman. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Bachelor Andrew Hoyt (Adolphe Menjou), beginning to feel his age, convinces himself that he can become rejuvenated if he takes a young wife. Unfortunately, he chooses dimwitted Eva Mills (Joan Marsh), who lives to party, party, party! Unable to keep up the pace, Andrew finally gives up Eva to the true love of her life, Oliver Denton (Arthur Pierson). This is good news for Andrew's longtime lady friend Jane (Irene Purcell), a sensible lass who has loved him all along. All Bachelor's Affairs lacks is a strong comedy director at the helm: Alfred Werker also seemed more comfortable with such melodramatic fare as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lively riverboat musical shows off the vocal and terpsichorean talents of former Ziegfeld Follies star Barbara Stanwyck as it tells the tale of two newlyweds who must postpone their honeymoon when the groom gets in a fight with a villain, decks him and, believing he has killed him, flees upon a riverboat, leaving his bride to take up with a womanizing photographer. She and the cameraman head for New Orleans and this is where most of the action, music and romantic mayhem takes place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Clark Gable is "Big John" and Spencer Tracy is "Square John"; both "Johns" seek their fortunes in the Texas oil fields. They simultaneously fall in love with Claudette Colbert, but it's "Big John" who wins out. When both Johns grow rich on oil, "Big John" lets money go to his head, and he begins neglecting wife Colbert for Hedy Lamarr, the "been around" companion of businessman Lionel Atwill. "Square John", who still carries a torch for Colbert but doesn't want to see her heart broken, tries to buy off Lamarr; when this fails, he decides to ruin "Big John" financially. But when "Big John" is charged with violating anti-trust rules by the crooked Atwill, "Square John" rushes to the side of his old pal. Both men end up where they started--broke but happy. "Big John" returns to faithful Colbert, while "Square John" stands by with an ear-to-ear grin. Boom Town was the last film to co-star Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy; though Tracy was fond of Gable, he resented playing "eunuch" in their on-screen romantic triangles. Claudette Colbert's scenes with Clark Gable are pleasant enough, but the sparks that had ignited their scenes in It Happened One Night are largely absent here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a homely country girl makes herself over into a gorgeous New York Fashion model. Suddenly men flock to her and one night she is in a speakeasy when she meets a suave, handsome and rich fellow. The cops raid the place and after she gets out of the hoosegow, the woman goes to Paris, and for some strange reason takes on the name of the man she met in the nightclub. The man has followed her to Europe and is so persistent that her friends begin to think they are married. Word spreads back to the States, and the poor girl tries to rectify the misunderstanding by claiming that the marriage disintegrated. Things only get worse when the truth finally comes out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1919 and 1927, Max Marcin's stage success Cheating Cheaters made its talking-picture bow courtesy of Universal in 1934. Fay Wray stars as seductive Nan Brockton, seemingly in the employ of a gang of slick jewel thieves. The crooks disguise themselves as high-society types, as do the members of a rival gang. Nan falls in love with her crooked "opposite number" Tom Palmer (Cesar Romero), then reveals that she's not what she seems to be, enabling Tom to wipe the slate clean and start anew on the side of Law and Order. Originally released on a double bill with the Fox documentary The First World War, Cheating Cheaters represented the first big-studio directorial effort of Richard Thorpe, previously a mainstay of low-budget Chesterfield Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite the presence of Busby Berkeley in the director's chair, Comet Over Broadway contains nary a single musical number. Instead, the film concentrates on the lachrymose private life of stage star Eve Appleton (Kay Francis). While appearing in amateur theatricals, Eve indirectly causes the death of a fellow actor at the hands of her husband Bill (John Litel). When Bill is thrown into jail, Eve goes on the road, appearing in one cheap stock company after another to earn enough money for her husband's parole. Seven years pass, during which time Eve becomes the toast of Broadway. Falling in love with playwright Bert Ballin (Ian Hunter), Eve almost forgets the reason that she climbed to stardom in the first place, but by the final reel she elects to give up personal happiness to remain loyal to her incarcerated husband. Way, way down the cast list of Comet Over Broadway is Linda Winters, who as Dorothy Comingore achieved stardom in Orson Welles'Citizen Kane (1941). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Professional ballroom dancing provides the framework of this romantic drama. The story begins when two aspiring dancers fatefully meet. They soon agree to work as a team. They begin their career in the smaller dance clubs. They soon begin dancing in a really popular club where they become an instant hit. Unfortunately jealousy tears them asunder when the man believes that a wealthy cad is horning in on his partner. He decides to pursue a solo career and fails miserably. Eventually the partners reunite and fox-trot into the sunset. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The trials of being a doctor's wife are presented in this drama. The story centers upon the problematic marriage of one couple. Their troubles begin when the doctor makes a housecall to a seductive woman with designs upon him. His suspicious wife follows him and spies on him. She thinks they are getting romantic when he is actually trying to extricate himself from his predatory patient. She decides to get revenge with his best friend, but nothing happens. The doctor later finds out that she saw him. He then becomes suspicious because it is she who is now seldom home. He confronts his friend about the alleged adultery. The friend becomes distraught and tries to kill himself. The doctor operates to save his friend's life. He then discovers that his wife has been taking nursing classes so she could work beside her husband and see him more often. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Louis Armstrong steals the show as the groom to Jeepers Creepers, a skittish racehorse that can only settle down and run when Armstrong croons him the horse's namesake song. The main story concerns a plucky, ingenious salesman, who needing business, poses as a steeplechase jockey and endears himself to a prominent stable owner and his lovely niece. Romantic sparks fly between the girl and the sly fellow and his ruse works well until he is assigned to ride Jeepers Creepers, in the big race. The trouble is, the salesman doesn't know how to ride. On the day of the big race, the horse is extra nervous until Armstrong and a full band ride up beside him and begin performing. The horse then runs like the champ he is, insuring that the salesman gets his girl. Sure, it's a lot of horsefeathers, but who watches these old musicals for the plot? The story was filmed twice before as Hottentot and Polo Joe. Look for Ronald Reagan in a minor role as the stable owner's playboy son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Love turns into an unhealthy obsession in this offbeat drama. Millie (Zasu Pitts) and Peggy (Boots Mallory) are two friends who leave behind the small town where they were raised to try their luck in New York City. Before long, Millie and Peggy meet Jimmy (James Dunn) and Mac (Terrance Ray); Millie is immediately attracted to Jimmy, but much to her displeasure she learns he's more interested in Peggy. Determined to have Jimmy as her own, Millie attempts to sew discord between Jimmy and Peggy by telling each of them foul lies about the other; when this fails, Millie becomes desperate and attempts to kill herself as an attention-getting device. The production history of Hello, Sister! was in many ways more interesting than the film itself. Originally titled Walking Down Broadway, the film was the first sound picture from the legendary Erich von Stroheim; hoping to mend the reputation as an egocentric spendthrift he acquired while directing epic-scale silent films, von Stroheim managed to bring in Walking Down Broadway on time and on budget. However, executives at 20th Century Fox were a bit puzzled by the film, which originally had a sub-plot suggesting a lesbian relationship between Millie and Peggy and other sexual undercurrents which were quite daring for the time. Uncertain about audience reactions to the movie, Fox brought in the less-than-distinguished Alfred Werker to re-shoot and re-edit von Stroheim's urban melodrama, and the resulting picture, entitled Hello, Sister!, was released without an on-screen directorial credit, and died a quick and little noticed death at the box office. No print of von Stroheim's original cut is known to exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In a manner of speaking, Humphrey Bogart had George Raft to thank for his ascendancy to stardom: after all, if Raft hadn't turned down both High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon, Bogart might have continued playing second-billed gangsters to the end of his days. Adapted from W. R. Burnett's novel by Burnett and John Huston, High Sierra opens with gangster Roy Earle (Bogart) being paroled after a lengthy prison term. Though he enjoys the fresh air and sunshine of the outside world, Earle has no intention of giving up his criminal ways. In fact, his parole has been arranged by Big Mac (Donald MacBride), so that Earle can mastermind a big-time heist at a fancy California resort hotel. After a few unkind words with a crooked cop, Kranmer (Barton MacLane), in Big Mac's employ, Earle heads toward a fishing resort, where he is to commiserate with his inexperienced, hot-headed cohorts Babe (Alan Curtis) and Red (Arthur Kennedy). En route, he befriends a farm family, heading to LA in search of work. He falls in love with the family's club-footed daughter Velma (Joan Leslie)--though she never really gives him any encouragement--and makes a silent promise to finance an operation on her foot once he's gotten his share of the loot. At the mountain cabin rendezvous, Earle meets Marie (Ida Lupino), Babe's tough-but-vulnerable girlfriend. He angrily orders her to scram, but she stubbornly remains. Earle also finds himself the owner of a "jinxed" dog, whose previous masters have all met with early demises (a none-too-subtle foretaste of things to come). Marie is strongly attracted to Earle, but he refuses to have anything to do with her, reserving his affections for Velma. He arranges an operation for the girl with mob doctor Banton (Henry Hull), never suspecting that the self-serving Velma is planning all along to marry someone else. The robbery goes off without a hitch, save for the fact that "inside man" Mendoza (Cornel Wilde) panics and nearly gives the game away. While escaping, Babe and Red are killed in a car accident, but Earle and Marie escape. Having been disillusioned by Velma's indifference and by the fact that the untrustworthy Kranmer has taken over the late Big Mac's operation, Earle at last realizes that the only person he can truly depend upon is the faithful Marie. With the police hot on his trail, Earle tells Marie to look after herself, then heads alone into the High Sierras--where, in Greek Tragedy fashion, he "busts out" of life. As in Petrified Forest, Humphrey Bogart plays a burnt-out anachronism from an earlier era in crime in High Sierra; in the latter film, however, Bogart has an innate nobility that allows the audience to empathize with him throughout. It is nothing short of amazing that, despite his superb performance in this 1940 film, he still had to wait until The Maltese Falcon for top billing in an "A picture." High Sierra was remade in 1949 as Colorado Territory and in 1955 as I Died a Thousand Times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The ultra-sentimental I'll See You in My Dreams is based on the life and work of composer Gus Kahn. The story is told from the point of view of Kahn' wife Grace, who was still alive when the film was made (Kahn died some ten years earlier). Danny Thomas stars as the prolific tunesmith, whose fortunes take an upswing in 1908 when he meets and falls in love with Grace LeBoy (Doris Day, who receives top billing, not to mention most of the best musical numbers). Kahn's career ascends to spectacular heights via such hits as "Pretty Baby", "My Buddy", "Toot Toot Tootsie" and "Making Whoopee", only to go into eclipse when he loses his savings in the 1929 stock-market crash. Convinced that he's lost his touch and that he's sacrificed true happiness to the evil goddess success, Kahn is ultimately gratified by the love and recognition of his peers. Among the famous personages imitated in I'll See You In My Dreams are Kahn's writing partner Walter Donaldson (Frank Lovejoy) and producers Sam Harris (Jim Backus) and Flo Ziegfeld (William Forrest). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide