Huntly Gordon Movies
Canadian actor Huntley Gordon began his film career in 1918, then spent the next two decades alternating between American and British productions. Gordon's Hollywood assignments include the role of jazz-baby Joan Crawford's father in Our Dancing Daughters (1928). His talkie credits include 1935's Daniel Boone, in which he was cast as Sir John Randolph, and 1937's Stage Door, in which he and several other distinguished character actors were seen in the play-within-a-play. Huntley Gordon was also busy in the world of network radio during the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the last of Monogram's "Mr. Wong" whodunits, Keye Luke takes over from Boris Karloff as the Chinese detective Jimmy Lee Wong, more of an amateur sleuth, really, than his eminent predecessor. The subject for Wong's examination is the poisoning of Dr. Benton (Charles F. Miller), the leader of an expedition to Mongolia and the possessor of a mysterious and seemingly deadly scroll. With Captain Street (Grant Withers) and the dead man's Chinese secretary (Lotus Long alternately aiding and obstructing the investigation, Wong gets to the bottom of things within the expected 68 minutes or so by using himself as a decoy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keye Luke, Lotus Long, (more)
- 1940
The notoriously temperamental Miriam Hopkins is ideally cast as equally contentious theatrical prima donna Mrs. Leslie Carter in The Lady With Red Hair. As rapidly paced as any Warner Bros. gangster picture, the film charts Caroline Carter's rise to fame on Broadway through the auspices of impresario David Belasco (Claude Rains). The screenwriters take great pains to cast Carter in a sympathetic light, suggesting that she turned to the lucrative world of the theater to regain custody of her son (Johnnie Russell), won by her husband in their acrimonious 1889 divorce settlement. Though at first she meets with nothing but failure, our heroine perseveres, and by 1904 she is the idol of millions throughout the world. Along the way, she marries visionary producer Lou Payne (Richard Ainley), but by film's end she is reunited with her mentor Belasco. A young Cornel Wilde makes his screen debut as an aspiring actor in a boarding-house sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains, (more)
A mysterious visitor is found murdered in Mr. Wong's study in this, the third of Monogram's low-budget thrillers, featuring Hugh Wiley's Chinese detective. A startled Wong (Boris Karloff) learns from enterprising girl reporter Bobby Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) that the murder victim is Princess Lin Hwa (Lotus Long), in San Francisco to buy airplanes for her brother's army. Both the princess' traveling companion (Bessie Loo) and a mysterious dwarf (Angelo Rossitto) become victims of a mystery killer, who uses an ancient Chinese dart as his weapon of choice. The trail leads to a steamer in the San Francisco harbor, whose captain, Jalme (William Royle), is highly suspicious. Also among the would-be murderers are a phony airplane manufacturer (Peter George Lynn) and a local banker (Huntly Gordon). Although kidnapped by Jalme, Mr. Wong manages to unmask the real culprit. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grant Withers, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
- 1938
Harold Lloyd plays a professor of Egyptology, frightened by the notion that he has fallen under an ancient Egyptian curse. Lloyd has the opportunity to join an archeological expedition to search for a missing tablet that will determine his fate, but he has to travel from Los Angeles to New York before the party sails to Egypt. Alas, Lloyd is also required to appear in court to answer charges of "indecent exposure" (it's a long story). The rest of the film is a frantic chase with the authorities pursuing the fugitive professor across the country, highlighted by a daredevil sequence atop a moving train. Most of the individual gags are funny, but Professor Beware is several notches below the standard set by Harold Lloyd's silent films. The lukewarm boxoffice response to this film would convince Lloyd that he should retire from performing--which he did, returning to the screen only for 1947's Sins of Harold Diddlebock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Welch, Raymond Walburn, (more)
- 1938
Too old to play the cute MGM urchin any longer, 16-year-old Jackie Cooper signed with Monogram for a group of above-average programmers. Gangster's Boy was the second of this series, all of which followed a predestined pattern of shame and redemption. Young Cooper is a high-school honor student who is revealed to be the son of an ex-gangster (Robert Warwick). Shunned by former friends, Cooper nonetheless stands by his dad, defending him to a hostile community. Father and son eventually prevail over provincial bigotry, though Cooper seems happier about the whole thing than the ever-sullen Warwick (an actor better suited to the role of a business executive or Shakespearean ham). Sentimental to the nth degree, Gangster's Boy was a success, prompting a third Cooper Monogram "special" with a similar plotline, Streets of New York (39). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Lucy Gilman, (more)
- 1937
Lady lawyer Portia Merryman (Frieda Inescourt) defends woebegone Elizabeth Manners (Heather Angel), who is on trial for shooting her lover Earle Condon (Neil Hamilton). Ironically, Portia herself had once had an affair with Earle's father, powerful publisher John Condon (Clarence Kolb). She has a pretty good idea of what is going on in Elizabeth's head, since she herself was on the verge of killing Condon when he ruthlessly took custody of her illegitimate son (not Earle, though that certainly would have brought things full circle). As Portia toils and strains to free her client, she carries on a romance with Dan Foster (Walter Abel) -- the attorney for the prosecution. LA Law and The Practice have nothing on this one! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Abel, Frieda Inescort, (more)
- 1937
A couple of American soldiers of fortune are hired by the wife of a Chinese general to deliver a priceless diamond to a shopkeeper in Shanghai in this low-budget whodunit from the RKO "B"-unit. Just as the gem reaches its destination all hell breaks lose. When the dust settles, the diamond is gone and Tom Baldwin (Vinton Haworth) and sidekick Joe Dugan (Gordon Jones) are left with a group of highly suspicious witnesses. The entire assembly, including pretty but mysterious Jane Dunn (Constance Worth), then boards a liner headed for San Francisco. After several shipboard murders and the revelation that Jane is a custom agent, the culprit is caught red-handed. A lady detective ought to have made a refreshing change but, sadly, China Passage delivers few surprises and the armchair detective is never truly tested. Usually a supporting player of little merit, Vinton Haworthproves a rather weak-chinned hero and is certainly no match for the ash-blonde Worth, an Australian actress turned Queen of Hollywood B-movies. The rest of the supporting cast perform their assignment in the expected manner, Dick Elliott being the standout as an eternally tipsy traveler. China Passage was directed by Edward Killy, who later helmed the studio's series of Tim Holt B-Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Worth, Vinton Haworth, (more)
Adapted from the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman play, Stage Door is a comedic portrait of the theatrical community in New York. Katharine Hepburn stars as Terry Randall a young woman who comes from a wealthy, socially connected family. Aspiring for a career on the stage, Terry opts to see if she can make it on her own gumption and moves into a boarding house with several other wannabe Broadway starlets attempting to make a mark for themselves in show business. Terry's sassy roommate Jean (Ginger Rogers) just might get the opportunity to do that when she meets a lecherous producer, but at what cost? Unamused by Terry's attempts to pull herself up by her bootstraps, her father offers her an opportunity for a starring role in a show that's sure to fail. Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller are among the other residents of the boarding house. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1937
Signed for a series of B pictures by Universal in 1936, John Wayne alternated between westerns and modern-day adventure yarns. Idol of the Crowds stars Wayne as a hockey player, threatened with more bodily harm than usual when he refuses to cheat. Leading lady Sheila Bromley falls in love with Wayne due to his "no funny business" stance. Alas, honesty has its price: Wayne's enemies contrive to seriously injure the hockey team's 12 year old mascot Billy Burrud. Idol of the Crowds was produced by Paul Malvern, the man responsible for John Wayne's earlier western series for Lone Star/Monogram. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Charles Brokaw, (more)
- 1936
Mae West butts heads with Victor McLaglen in Raoul Walsh's Klondike Annie, but the real victor was the Legion of Decency, whose censorship strictures transformed a saucy and spicy gumbo into something closer to chicken noodle soup. West plays Rose Carlton, the kept woman of Chan Lo (Harold Huber), who takes her from walking the streets to pacing the floors of her high rent apartment. Rose ends up killing Chan and beats it from San Francisco to the frozen north. She boards a ship where burly sea captain Bull Brackett (McLaglen) takes a shine to her; when he finds out she killed Chan, he blackmails her into coming up and seeing him sometime. Boarding the ship in Seattle is missionary Annie Alden (Helen Jerome Eddy), who dies on the way to Alaska. Rose assumes Annie's identity and, upon arrival in Alaska proceeds to preach the Good Book, saving sinners by unorthodox methods. Mountie Jack Forrest (Philip Reed) arrives in town searching for Chan's murderer and he falls in love with Rose, unaware that the woman he loves is the killer he seeks. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae West, Victor McLaglen, (more)
This lesser Astaire/Rogers vehicle is one of several screen versions of the venerable Hubert Osborne stage play Shore Leave. For reasons unknown, Fred and Ginger are virtually supporting players here, spending most of their time trying to patch up the romance between Fred's fellow sailor Randolph Scott and Ginger's sister Harriet Hilliard (better known as Harriet Nelson, of Ozzie and Harriet fame). One of the sillier aspects of the plot hinges on raising enough money to renovate a broken-down old ship; to do this, Fred and Ginger stage a lengthy musical number that must have cost five times as much money as they raised! But that number, a languorous dance rendition of Irving Berlin's "Let's Face the Music and Dance", compensates for all the nonsense that has gone before. One fringe benefit of Follow the Fleet is spotting two fresh-faced starlets named Betty Grable and Lucille Ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1936
In this crime comedy, a street-savvy gangster involves himself with a Miami socialite. Together, they conspire to turn her familial mansion into a secret gambling casino. The hood is convinced her beauty will draw customers and with the ensuing profits, the two will be able to pay their debts. Unbeknownst to him, his own gang members, fearing that he will abandon his "roots" in favor of the high-life, are conspiring to break up his partnership with the girl. They hire two grifters to impersonate a British colonel and his niece; they then try to convince the hood that he and the high-society dame are a bad match. When the gangster meets the "niece," he falls head-over-heels in love and forgets all about the socialite. When she, who is really after his money, returns his affections, the gang suddenly realizes that their scheme has backfired. Fortunately, by the story's end, the hood figures it all out and returns to the loyal socialite whose love remained undaunted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Ida Lupino, (more)
- 1935
This fast-paced Warner Bros. comedy stars James Cagney and Pat O'Brien as brothers who fight over the same girl. Mrs. O'Hara (Mary Gordon) is the loving mother of three sons: fireman Mike (Frank McHugh), policeman Pat (O'Brien), and the boxing promoter Danny (Cagney). Mike wants to marry Lucille Jackson (Olivia deHaviland), the daughter of his boss, Captain Jackson (John Farrell MacDonald). However, Lucille falls for Danny, causing a fued between the two brothers at the Fireman's Ball. Danny believes he can make a fortune when he meets up with boxer Carbarn Hammerschlag (Allen Jenkins), who starts fighting whenever he hears a bell. On the night of his big fight against champion boxer Joe Delancey (Harvey Parry), Carbarn gets a toothache and Mike gives him some gin. He ends up getting drunk in the locker room and Danny has to fight Delancey in his place. With the help of his brothers, Danny wins the fight and the girl. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1935
Front Page Woman was one of those bread-and-butter vehicles that forced Bette Davis to go on strike against Warner Bros., demanding more worthwhile scripts. On its own terms, the film is a briskly entertaining newspaper yarn about two warring reporters (Davis and George Brent). In their efforts to out-scoop each other, Bette and George frequently land in hot water, especially after phoning in contradictory information concerning a murder trial. In the climax, Davis and Brent are both sent to cover a spectacular fire. While competing over interviews and evidence, the two newshounds discover that they're in love with each other. Front Page Woman was remade nearly scene-for-scene as the "Torchy Blaine" B picture Blondes at Work (37). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, George Brent, (more)
- 1935
Ellery Queen, the scholarly amateur detective created in 1928 by cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee (who also used "Ellery Queen" as a joint pseudonym), was introduced to the screen in the low-budget mystery The Spanish Cape Mystery. Donald Cook plays Ellery Queen in a low-key, poker-faced fashion, which may not be terribly exciting but is actually closer to the original concept than most of the movie Queens. It all begins when Ellery and his friend Judge Macklin (Berton Churchill), vacationing at a California seaside resort, enter a lavish beach house and find pretty Stella Godfrey (Helen Twelvetrees) tied to a chair. More infuriated than frightened, Stella tells Ellery what the audience has already seen: while spending time with one of her relatives the previous evening, Stella was waylaid by a mysterious gunman (Rychard Cramer), who then knocked out her relative and carried him off into the night. Apparently Stella's relative has been murdered, one of several killings which occur during the film's brief running time. The mystery and motive are solved when Stella permits herself to act as bait for the killer, but the generous Ellery allows local sheriff Moley (Harry Stubbs) to take the credit. Originally released at 65 minutes, The Spanish Cape Mystery was edited to 54 minutes for TV showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Cook, Helen Twelvetrees, (more)
- 1935
The great wilderness explorer Daniel Boone has many exciting adventures in this family-oriented outdoor actioner that primarily centers on the big man's attempts to quell an Indian uprising and capture the ornery villain who has been stirring up all the trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Heather Angel, (more)
- 1935
William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions moved from MGM to Warners with Page Miss Glory--along with Cosmopolitan's biggest commodity, actress Marion Davies. The plotline has something to do with a composite photo prepared for a magazine contest: The combined facial attributes of Garbo, Dietrich, Harlow and Kay Francis make up this picture, which wins an award for photographer Pat O'Brien. When pressed to produce his fictional "Miss Glory," O'Brien scours the country in search of the girl whose face matches the composite. And that's where lowly chambermaid Marion Davies comes in. After a dizzying taste of fame and fortune, Davies renounces her new celebrity for the love of Dick Powell. The title song of Page Miss Glory was given a more entertaining showcase in the "art deco" Warner Bros. cartoon Miss Glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1935
A famous movie actress takes a trip to New York City. While there, she gets involved with a wisecracking cab driver who is in need of $200. Recognizing her, he devises a plan to get the money he needs from her. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lyle Talbot, Gertrude Michael, (more)
One of Bela Lugosi's least remembered films, this ultra low-budget whodunit with science fiction overtones features the murder of a professor who had recently perfected the new invention of television. Suspects are plentiful and include Bela Lugosi's rivaling academician Dr. Perry. Alas, the good doctor proves yet another Red Herring and is soon enough found stabbed to death himself. Or is he? Perry suddenly appears to have risen from the grave and the real culprit quickly confesses. Produced by perhaps Hollywood's cheapest entrepreneur, William Pizor, Murder by Television was filmed at the low-rent Talisman Studios and came complete with a song, "I had the Right Idea", composed by future Academy Award winning songwriter Oliver Wallace and performed by June Collyer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1934
Looking for all the world like a 2-reel comedy bloated to 6-reel proportions, Embarrassing Moments was directed by Edward Laemmle, one of the many salaried relatives of avuncular Universal chieftain Carl Laemmle. Chester Morris plays Jerry Randolph, an inveterate and obnoxious practical joker. Things take a serious turn when it looks as though Jerry's latest prank has resulted in the death of his best friend. But the audience is way ahead of Jerry: the whole "tragedy" has been staged to teach the jolly jokester a lesson. Billed third in Embarrassing Moments is Broadway singing star Walter Woolf, who as Walter Woolf King enjoyed a lengthy career as a supporting actor in such films as The Marx Bros.' Night at the Opera and Laurel & Hardy's Swiss Miss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1934
Universal's Bombay Mail adheres to the pattern established by Paramount's Shanghai Express, with a group of Calcutta-bound train passengers thrust into a life-or-death situation. In the course of the 36-hour journey, a high-ranking British official (Ferdinand Gottschalk) and an equally prominent Maharajah (Douglas Gerrard) are both murdered. Police inspector Dyke (Edmund Lowe) would like to make an arrest, but is stymied by a lack of evidence -- or even a murder weapon. Complicating matters is a scheme hatched by a couple of other passengers to steal a valuable ruby. It turns out that a poisonous cobra is the instrument of death, and that the murderer is...well, no fair giving it away here. Future gossip queen Hedda Hopper appears as one of the most suspicious-looking suspects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Shirley Grey, (more)
- 1934
A love triangle amidst the world of musical entertainment provides the basis for this drama. The trouble begins when a gigolo begins wooing a mother and daughter simultaneously. This creates family disharmony as the mother begins resenting her daughter who resents the gigolo himself. The mother is murdered and the gigolo is the prime suspect. The daughter hires a detective to investigate. He discovers that it was the mother's husband that did the deed, but before he can tell anyone, the daughter and the gigolo have gotten back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith Allen, Reginald Denny, (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)
- 1933
Preston Foster, Mischa Auer, and Evalyn Knapp star in this tale of political intrigue centering on the quest of a powerful mayor to clear his name. Political leaders are being assassinated - stealthily shot dead by bullets made of ice - and when the blame falls on the mayor he must race to find the real killer before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, Preston S. Foster, (more)
Silent screen legend Mary Pickford makes her final movie appearance in Secrets, adapted from the play by Rudolph Besier and Mary Edgerton. Edgerton plays a 19th century New England belle who accompanies her husband Leslie Howard to the wilds of California. Pickford's first baby is killed when her cabin is besieged by desperadoes. Howard's reaction to the tragedy is to play around with other women, but Pickford stands steadfastly by her husband for the next half-century. The film ends with an aged Pickford surrounded by her grown children in her luxurious mansion, prattling on about secret joys, secret sorrows, lovely secrets and dreadful secrets. Evidently this film was released in secret, for it failed at the box office and convinced Ms. Pickford (who produced the picture) that her starring days were over. Previously filmed as a Norma Talmadge starrer in 1924, Secrets seemed antiquated in the 1930s, but Mary Pickford's scenes with her dead baby proved that her great talent was undiminished. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, (more)
