Margot Grahame Movies

The first of the wonderful Aldwych Theater farces to hit the silver screen was the frantically hilarious Rookery Nook. The title refers to a country house where Gerald Popkiss (Ralph Lynn) heads for a good long rest. Gerald sends word to his wife Clara (Margot Grahame) to join him then retires for the night. Meanwhile, pajama-clad Rhoda Marley (Winifred Shotter), who has been thrown out of her home by her stepfather, takes refuge in the Rookery Nook living room. It isn't long before Gerald's cousin Clive (Tom Walls), sent to the country house to make certain that Gerald behaves himself, makes the acquaintance of the startled Rhoda -- and that's when the fun begins. Best bits include the lifeboat drill presided over by the scatterbrained Poppy Dickey (Doreen Bendix) and such dialog exchanges as "I'm a man of peace"/ "You'll be a man of pieces in a minute". Filmed exactly like a photographed stage play, Rookery Nook is hardly an advance in the art of the cinema, but that doesn't stop it from being unbearably funny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two half-sisters begin fighting after they fall for the same man. The fight is resolved when one of the girls gets pregnant and must marry and the other ends up in a convent. Later murder, forgery, and extortion ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a wife vows to make her husband jealous and gets a golden opportunity when a few others come over to play bridge. While they play, a burglar creeps in. He hides out in a bedroom with a wife. The trouble is, none of the husbands know which wife it is. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a rebellious son of a powerful industrialist returns home to prepare to take over the company. While their he marries a boarding-house servant because she helped him heal from a hangover. His actions enrage his family. The rest of the movie chronicles the sly father's attempts to destroy the relationship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this British crime comedy, an Englishman is bequeathed a Chicago dairy by his late uncle. Once there, he learns that the operation is a front for racketeers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, a man takes his butler and heads for the African hinterland after he and his fiancee quarrel. The woman is terribly upset and decides to follow her lover to the legendary land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic operetta, a prince heads for the Riviera after he is forcibly dethroned and exiled. There he falls in love with an actress whom he decides to marry, much to the consternation of his regal aunt. But while his auntie is not amused, the former regent's betrothed, a princess who never loved him, is delighted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an aspiring writer leaves her husband, a composer, to pursue a career as a playwright. After six months, the woman finds herself courted by a handsome baron who uses her to facilitate his own divorce. Fortunately, she figures out his scheme before it is too late. She reconciles with her husband and her first play is a big hit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this interesting drama, an opera singer, falsely convicted of murdering his wife's lover, must escape from Devil's Island. His success inspires him to write an opera. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This first talkie version of Dumas' The Three Musketeers had been planned by RKO Radio as a John Ford production, with Francis Lederer as D'Artagnan. By the time the film emerged on screen, Rowland V. Lee was in the director's chair, with the talented but uncharismatic Walter Abel in the D'Artagnan role. Equally unengaging were Paul Lukas, Moroni Olsen and Onslow Stevens as Athos, Porthos and Aramis, while Margot Grahame was more petulant than menacing as Milady De Winter. Like most filmed adaptations of the Dumas novel, this Three Musketeers concentrates on the episode of the Queen's purloined necklace; the story ends on a misleadingly happy note, with heroine Constance (Heather Angel) alive and kicking at film's end (which she certainly wasn't in the novel). Except for some excellent swordplay -- especially during the opening credits -- this is considered the dreariest of the many versions of The Three Musketeers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Informer, Liam O'Flaherty's novel of the the Irish "troubles" of the early 1920s, was first filmed in England in 1929, with Cyril McLaglen in the lead. When director John Ford remade The Informer in 1935, the role of the tragic Irish roisterer Gypo Nolan went to Cyril's brother Victor McLaglen. The scene is Dublin, during the Sinn Fein rebellion. Gypo has tried to join the IRA, but has been bounced because he lacked full commitment to the cause. Gypo's best friend is Frankie McPhillip (Wallace Ford) a fugitive from the British "Black and Tans" with a price on his head. Hoping to start a new life with his streetwalker girlfriend Katie Madden (Margot Grahame), Gypo informs on Frankie, collecting the twenty-pound reward. Frankie is cornered and killed by the British troops; Gypo briefly suffers the pangs of conscience, but is too simple-minded to grasp the full impact of his betrayal. Suspecting that Gypo has turned in Frankie, IRA commander Gallegher (Preston Foster) orders his men to keep tabs on the big lout. As Gypo stupidly squanders his money on food, drink and entertainment, Gallegher's lieutenants keep tab of every penny spent. Finally dragged before the rebel court, Gypo tries to bluff his way out of trouble, fingering another man (Donald Meek) as the informer, but this subterfuge quickly falls apart. Sobbingly, Gypo confesses his treachery. Before his execution can be carried out, he escapes, but his hiding place is given away inadvertently by Katie. Regretfully, because they realize Gypo is too childish to be fully responsible for his actions, the IRA members shoot the man down. With his last ounce of strength, Gypo drags himself into the church where Frankie's mother (Una O'Connor) prays for his son's soul. "Twas I informed on your son, Mrs. McPhillip," Gypo weeps, "Forgive me." "Ah, Gypo, I forgive you," the grieving mother replies. "You didn't know what you were doing." Exultantly, Gypo looks heavenward, and, just before succumbing to his wounds, bellows "Frankie! Frankie! Your mother forgives me!" The Informer earned Victor McLaglen an Oscar, as well as several other nominations; the film did poorly at the box office, but John Ford had anticipated this reaction, reportedly waiving his considerable salary just to make certain that picture--a labor of love for the director, who was himself a native of Ireland--would be completed. The film was remade in 1968, relocated to the black ghetto of Los Angeles and retitled Uptight!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A woman framed for a bond theft gets out of prison and takes a job at a waterfront cafe, where she witnesses a murder. She is in love with the man the victim was going to meet and is reluctant to talk. He tells her that he was going to haul a load of gold bullion for the victim, and soon they are caught between cops and crooks after the gold. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide