Jimmy Aubrey Movies
Diminutive British knockabout comedian Jimmy Aubrey got his start with the legendary Fred Karno troupe, working alongside such budding stars as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Like Charley and Stan, Aubrey flourished as a silent screen comic. He headlined a series of Vitagraph two-reelers in 1919 and 1920, with a young Oliver Hardy lending support. In the mid-1920s, he starred in another comedy series for producer Joe Rock. By 1927, Aubrey's stardom was a thing of the past, and he found himself virtually unemployable. His old colleagues Laurel and Hardy cast Aubrey in supporting roles in three of their starring vehicles, most memorably as the flirtatious drunk in the 1929 2-reeler That's My Wife. Jimmy Aubrey continued taking movie jobs until his retirement in 1952, playing bits and featured roles as drunken sailors, hoboes, store clerks and cowboy sidekicks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1937
Produced by Sam Katzman's Victory Pictures, $1,000,000 Racket stars Katzman's biggest "name," ex-Olympic athlete Herman Brix. Our hero falls in with a gang of racketeers, pretending to play along with them until he can notify the authorities. Along the way, Brix falls in love with apple-cheeked Joan Barclay. Featured in the cast are veteran silent leading man Bryant Washburn as the chief heavy, and one-time 2-reel comedy star Jimmy Aubrey as a dopey crook. Herman Brix did rather better for himself in the 1940s when he changed his name to Bruce Bennett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Barclay, Bryant Washburn, (more)
- 1934
In his first of thirty-two B-Westerns for producer A.W. Hackel, bantamweight Bob Steele plays Bob Worth, a cowboy seeking employment at Lita Morton's (Gloria Shea) New Mexico ranch. Lita's brother Bud (Nick Stuart) turns him down flat and instead puts the property up for sale. The buyer, Dyer (Walter McGrail), has Bud assassinated on his way to deposit the first payment and Bob, who merely happens to find the body, is accused of the deed by Lita. Wounded by Dyer, Bob finds shelter with Mexican outlaw Gallindo (Don Alvarado) and concocts a plan to trap the killer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
It is a tale known well, filmed many times over the years, but never better than this early black and white version from the MGM Studios, David O. Selznick producing. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-- Charles Dickens juxtaposes England and France, George and Louis, tradition and revolution. One of the most beloved of Dickens' stories, finding not only countries and conditions compared, but also two individuals thrown up in stark contrast to one another: -- the dissolute barrister Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) and the young, somewhat callow aristocrat Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), both in love with Lucie (Elizabeth Allan), daughter of a victim of the French Regime. Their lives intertwine until the violent revolution that overtook an entire nation engulfs them all as well.
Dickens' story has stood the test of time; remade frequently since the release of this1935 version. It is this version by director Jack Conway's that is best remembered and to which all others are compared. The settings, cinematography, and direction are all right on the mark, recreating the streets of London and of Paris with great skill and realism. The supporting cast, filled with faces we have grown to cherish-- Reginald Owen, Edna May Oliver, Claude Gillingwater, Walter Catlett, H. B. Warner, Basil Rathbone, and E. E. Clive-comes through with crystalline performances which add substance to the inexorable stream of events. Blanche Yurka's bravura turn as Therese de Farge delights us even as we shudder at her intensity. Second unit directors Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton, who would both go on to memorable careers as leading directors in their own right, staged the storming of the Bastille and other "revolutionary" scenes brilliantly, managing to combine fervor with panache. It is, however, Colman's portrayal of the lonely man redeemed by love and sacrifice which stands at the center of the story.
Sydney Carton first saves Charles Darnay from a charge of treason, thereby meeting those who care for him: the beautiful Lucie Manette, her father, Doctor Manette (Henry B. Walthall), released from the Bastille after many years of unjust incarceration; Lucie's servant Miss Pross, (Oliver) and Mister Lorry (Claude Gillingwater), an functionary of Tellson's Bank. His relationship with this circle of kind friends grows rocky when Darnay marries Lucie, whom Carton has loved from afar, but even this turn of events cannot change his feelings for them all and he grows to love them even more when daughter Lucie comes along. He reforms, leaving old ways behind and enjoying a familial warmth he has never known. This happy life is shattered when Darnay returns to France during the first revolutionary struggles, intent on saving his old tutor from the guillotine. He soon finds himself behind bars and facing the blade instead. The Revolution does not forget an aristocrat, even one who has recanted and lived life abroad as a commoner. The whole family makes the channel crossing to come to the young man's aid and Carton seeks a way to save him, discovering only one path to free Darnay and return everyone to safety. It is a sacrifice easily promised and quickly made.
Ronald Colman had long wanted to make a film of this story and, when he finally got his chance, he happily shaved off his signature mustache in an appropriate gesture to historical realism. Reviews of his work indicate his portrayal of Sydney Carton surpassed all his previous endeavors; he had been accused of walking through light parts, once he started making "talkies," and not putting his many talents to good use. "A Tale of Two Cities" put rest to those complaints. He dominates completely the scenes he which he does appear, and his skill gives substance to a literary achievement, a melancholy man of intelligence and wit, given to drink and despair, whose life seems to attain meaning only when it is given up for someone else. It is one of the portrayals for which Ronald Colman has come to be remembered.
There are various remake versions of A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde played Carton in 1958 and Chris Sarandon starred in a television remake in 1980. While these and other versions have all been good films, none has achieved the stature of the 1935 version and its excellent combination of star power, technical brilliance and great storytelling. ~ All Movie Guide
Dickens' story has stood the test of time; remade frequently since the release of this1935 version. It is this version by director Jack Conway's that is best remembered and to which all others are compared. The settings, cinematography, and direction are all right on the mark, recreating the streets of London and of Paris with great skill and realism. The supporting cast, filled with faces we have grown to cherish-- Reginald Owen, Edna May Oliver, Claude Gillingwater, Walter Catlett, H. B. Warner, Basil Rathbone, and E. E. Clive-comes through with crystalline performances which add substance to the inexorable stream of events. Blanche Yurka's bravura turn as Therese de Farge delights us even as we shudder at her intensity. Second unit directors Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton, who would both go on to memorable careers as leading directors in their own right, staged the storming of the Bastille and other "revolutionary" scenes brilliantly, managing to combine fervor with panache. It is, however, Colman's portrayal of the lonely man redeemed by love and sacrifice which stands at the center of the story.
Sydney Carton first saves Charles Darnay from a charge of treason, thereby meeting those who care for him: the beautiful Lucie Manette, her father, Doctor Manette (Henry B. Walthall), released from the Bastille after many years of unjust incarceration; Lucie's servant Miss Pross, (Oliver) and Mister Lorry (Claude Gillingwater), an functionary of Tellson's Bank. His relationship with this circle of kind friends grows rocky when Darnay marries Lucie, whom Carton has loved from afar, but even this turn of events cannot change his feelings for them all and he grows to love them even more when daughter Lucie comes along. He reforms, leaving old ways behind and enjoying a familial warmth he has never known. This happy life is shattered when Darnay returns to France during the first revolutionary struggles, intent on saving his old tutor from the guillotine. He soon finds himself behind bars and facing the blade instead. The Revolution does not forget an aristocrat, even one who has recanted and lived life abroad as a commoner. The whole family makes the channel crossing to come to the young man's aid and Carton seeks a way to save him, discovering only one path to free Darnay and return everyone to safety. It is a sacrifice easily promised and quickly made.
Ronald Colman had long wanted to make a film of this story and, when he finally got his chance, he happily shaved off his signature mustache in an appropriate gesture to historical realism. Reviews of his work indicate his portrayal of Sydney Carton surpassed all his previous endeavors; he had been accused of walking through light parts, once he started making "talkies," and not putting his many talents to good use. "A Tale of Two Cities" put rest to those complaints. He dominates completely the scenes he which he does appear, and his skill gives substance to a literary achievement, a melancholy man of intelligence and wit, given to drink and despair, whose life seems to attain meaning only when it is given up for someone else. It is one of the portrayals for which Ronald Colman has come to be remembered.
There are various remake versions of A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde played Carton in 1958 and Chris Sarandon starred in a television remake in 1980. While these and other versions have all been good films, none has achieved the stature of the 1935 version and its excellent combination of star power, technical brilliance and great storytelling. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
Although slow-moving at times, Aces and Eights is nevertheless a fine little Western and certainly the best of the ten Tim McCoy would make for low-budget (and short-lived) Puritan Pictures. McCoy plays the legendary Wild Bill Hickock in a prologue that depicts how Wild Bill is assassinated during a poker game in which he holds two pair, aces and eights, from that day forward known in the West as the "death hand." Gambler gentleman Tim Madigan (also McCoy) is then introduced as Hickock's successor. After witnessing Madigan accusing a notorious cardshark (John Merton) of cheating, young José Hernandez (Rex Lease), a victim of the crook, pulls his gun and the gambler bites the dust. Madison is accused of the killing and quickly leaves Nevada for California, hotly pursued by the town marshal (Earle Hodgins). En route Tim is reacquainted with José, whose ancestral hacienda is about to be usurped by Ace Morgan (Wheeler Oakman), a notorious gambler in league with nasty saloon proprietor Amos Harden (J. Frank Glendon). To restore the hacienda to José's kind-hearted father (Joseph W. Girard), Tim engages in a high stakes game of poker and wins the Harden saloon. Along the way, Madigan discovers that it was Ace Morgan who killed the gambler back in Nevada and not José. McCoy, who earned a generous 4,000 dollars per picture, delivers his usual solid performance in Aces and Eights, which also benefits by the presence of Hodgins, as the gum-chewing marshal, and Charles Stevens, as a comic opera Mexican captain of police. McCoy filmed three additional Westerns for Puritan before moving on to Victory Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Jimmy Aubrey, (more)
- 1942
When the order of the Western frontier is threatened by bandits, cowboys are the only measure of justice in the area. ~ All Movie Guide
In trying to help Betsy (Joan Barclay), who has stolen a diamond her father left for collateral with loan sharks Crone (Monte Blue) and Jaffin (Jack Mulhall), artist Jimmy Baxter (Herman Brix) soon finds himself up to his neck in trouble. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Barclay, Jack Mulhall, (more)
- 1920
Because he was Vitagraph's second-string comic, Jimmy Aubrey was forced to film a lot of his comedies out of doors (the studio's main comic, Larry Semon, generally took over the sets). As a result, the slum setting of this two-reeler was a common one for Aubrey. Jimmy gets involved with a gang of street kids who are playing with bows and arrows. One of the arrows hits a cop and Jimmy is blamed. He finds himself pursued by the whole force, but he manages to get away and locks himself in the police station. When the cops accidentally knock out their desk sergeant, Jimmy puts on his uniform and tricks them all into knocking each other out. He goes for a stroll in the cop outfit and a woman tells him to arrest a ruffian (Oliver Hardy). This is easier said than done, and Jimmy gets the worst of it. A millionaire (Jack Ackroyd) enlists Jimmy to help find his granddaughter, who turns out to be the girl the ruffian is holding hostage. In spite of more ill treatment at the hands of the ruffian, Jimmy manages to rescue the girl. A car hits the ruffian and knocks him out. Jimmy drags him to the police station, which impresses the cops to no end. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Aubrey, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1943
In the second of PRC's ramshackle Texas Rangers Westerns, Tex Wyatt (Dave "Tex" O'Brien) is blamed for a murder actually committed by Ransom (Jack Ingram) and Holman (Charles King), a couple of thieves. Tex manages to escape and is reunited with his two ranger pals, Jim Steele (James Newill) and Panhandle Perkins (Guy Wilkerson), both of whom are working undercover as performers in a medicine show, a plot contrivance that allows baritone Newill to join Carl Shrum and His Rhythm Rangers in Shrum's "Ride, Ride Ride" and Tex Coe's "West Winds." All three rangers obtain jobs with Ransom's freight company, the owner luckily failing to recognize Tex. Everything comes out in the open, however, when lovely Martha Hobbs (Janet Shaw) inadvertently reveals that the newcomers are rangers, but the three heroes are saved in the nick of time by the sheriff's posse. As it turns out, Martha's uncle (Michael Vallon) is the real power behind the crimes. As always, Texas Rangers was defeated by the budget constrictions of PRC, a company known to insiders as "pretty rotten crud." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Reed Howes, the original Arrow Collar man (or so his publicity claimed), stars in The Bashful Buccaneer. Howes plays a writer of rip-roaring sea adventures who (naturally) has never been on the bounding main in his life. To glean first-hand information, he hires out a boat owned by heroine Dorothy Dwan and heads out on a treasure hunt. He proves he's got what it takes when the crew stages a mutiny. Featured in the cast was "Gunboat" Smith, a popular boxer of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Dorothy Dwan, (more)
- 1942
Here's another entry in PRC's long-running "Billy the Kid" series, again starring Buster Crabbe as Billy Carson and Al St. John as his comic sidekick Fuzzy Q. Jones. In this outing, a bandit posing as Billy manages to pin several crimes on Our Hero. Cleverly eluding the law (never mind the film's title), Billy endeavors to track down his impostor and put him behind bars. The plot is resolved by a typical PRC fistfight, which as usual is more energetic than expert. Young Anne Jeffreys, a starlet on the threshold of bigger things, is definitely an improvement over the standard western ingenue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe
- 1921
Vitagraph shot a number of comedian Jimmy Aubrey's two-reelers on location. This one was filmed in Truckee, in northern California, in the middle of a frozen December, so its title was quite appropriate. Jimmy is a resident at a shabby boarding house and a blizzard is blowing outside. While trying to keep the cold air from coming in through the cracks, Jimmy breaks the whole window and is blown out into the hall, where he knocks over the janitor (Oliver Hardy). The next morning, Jimmy shovels the snow out of his window -- right onto the janitor and a cop. They go after him, and when he stops to pacify a crying baby, the janitor catches up with him. Jimmy is getting the worst of it until the infant's mother (Maude Emory) shows up. Then, somehow, he manages to get the upper hand. This does not impress the woman, who happens to be the janitor's wife, and she begs him to stop. In spite of Jimmy's apologies, the janitor tosses him out the window, and he lands in a waiting ambulance that drives off. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Aubrey, Oliver Hardy, (more)
A streamlined, fast-paced silent B-Western, this Tom Tyler vehicle was one of several oaters featuring a very young, still brunette, Jean Arthur. She plays Eunice Morgan, the daughter of a businessman (Fred Gambold) who loses his Western ranch to an unscrupulous employer (LeRoy Mason). Unbeknownst to Morgan, there is oil on the property and it is up to ranch foreman Tyler to catch the villain before he can get the deed notarized. The stalwart Tyler does just that and wins the love of Arthur in return. Tyler's usual sidekick, juvenile actor Frankie Darro, was joined by Buck Black, a toothy ten-year old who had played a young Theodore Roosevelt in Lights of Old Broadway (1925). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1942
This drama chronicles the extreme measures taken by a determined young crime reporter to get an interview with a notorious convict. The zealous journalist, also a star quarterback on the town college team, decides to become a convict himself. He gets into the prison, becomes president of the prisoners' union, does his interview, successfully woo's the warden's daughter, and gets out in time to publish his story before anyone else does. His career is off to a tremendous start. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1919
Comedian Jimmy Aubrey's films tried to make up in gags what they lacked in originality, but this particular two-reeler has little of either. Any bright moments it may have had are offered either by a Model T with elliptical wheels or Oliver Hardy, who even at this relatively early stage in his career, was being acknowledged as an exceptional talent. The girl who owns the local sweet shop can't come up with the mortgage and the landlord, Al K. Hall (Hardy), suggests marriage in lieu of cash. Jimmy becomes determined to help the girl out, and when he finds out that Hall stashes his "strew drops" (the secret ingredient of a valuable recipe) in a safe, he breaks into it. Even though he uses far more explosives than are needed to blow up the safe, he manages to get the drops to the girl, and her business picks up. Jimmy, however, is arrested, along with another man who had also tried to get the drops. The two of them escape from jail and get a ride back to the shop from a woman with a bunch of kids. The woman, it turns out, is the real Mrs. Hall, and she puts a halt to her husband's dirty dealings. Jimmy wins the girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Aubrey, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1947
Alan Ladd stars in Calcutta as devil-may-care pilot Neale Gordon. With his equally fearless partners Pedro Blake (William Bendix) and Bill Cunningham (John Whitney), Gordon handles the air-freight route between Calcutta and Chungking. When Cunningham meets his death at the hands of jewel smugglers, Gordon vows to play judge and jury and bring the criminals to justice himself. Among the suspects are the film's two gorgeous leading ladies, sweetie-pie Virginia Moore (Gail Russell) and sultry nightclub singer Merina Tanev (June Duprez). Once Gordon figures out who his real friends are, he relies on his fists to mete out retribution, resulting in one sequence that's guaranteed to raise the hackles of every feminist in the crowd. Even with a short running time of 73 minutes, Calcutta secured top-of-the-bill bookings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Gail Russell, (more)
- 1940
Charlie Chan in Panama was the first entry in the "Chan" series to capitalize on WW2. Sidney Toler stars as the wily oriental sleuth, who on this occasion must weed out an elusive enemy saboteur named Ryner, who plans to destroy the Panama Canal. Any one of the supporting characters might be the never-seen Ryner: Could it be illegal alien Kathi Lenesch (Jean Rogers), overly effusive Englishman Cliveden Compton (Lionel Atwill), straight-arrow Richard Cabot (Kane Richmond), slimy nightclub owner Montero (Jack LaRue), moonfaced middle-easterner Achmed (Frank Puglia), timid schoolmarm Jennie Finch (Mary Nash), or none of the above? Also on hand is Victor Sen Yung as Charlie's Number 2 son Jimmy, who is somewhat stupider than usual (if such a thing is possible). In an early scene, Charlie Chan neatly sums up his relationship with the bumbling Jimmy: "Man without relatives is man without problems." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Toler, Jean Rogers, (more)
- 1929
Japanese actor Sojin delivers yet another villainous characterization in the cheaply produced melodrama China Slaver. The star is cast as "The Corba," the ruler of a lawless island where narcotics-smuggling and white slavery are the principal commodities. The Corba is ultimately foiled by one of his own countrymen, a seemingly harmless Chinese ship's steward. The latter character was somewhat ludicrously played by Alberto Valentino, brother of the late Rudolph Valentino. A hokey, hackneyed effort, China Slaver was designed for one-day-only play in the various "scratch houses" throughout the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Aubrey, Bud Shaw, (more)
- 1930
Poverty row company Syndicate released this early sound western starring silent-screen refugee Mahlon Hamilton as a reformed gambler who saves Doris Hill's ranch from a gang of crooks by using a few of his otherwise retired tricks. The principal actors in this film, Hamilton, Hill and Robert Graves (as the leader of the gang) had all seen better days in the silent era but still enjoyed recognition in small towns, the intended market for Syndicate releases. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mahlon Hamilton, Doris Hill, (more)
- 1939
Tim McCoy once again played Department of Justice agent "Lightning Bill" Carson in Code of the Cactus, and once again he infiltrates the outlaws by masquerading as a foreigner, this time a Mexican named Miguel. A gang of very modern rustlers using high-powered trucks and machine guns is terrorizing the local ranchers. Disguised as Miguel, Lightning Bill quickly learns that the rustlers are lead by Blackton (Forrest Taylor), a nasty meatpacking contractor, and with assistance from usual sidekick Magpie (Ben Corbett) and a new acquaintance, range detective Bob Swane (Dave "Tex" O-Brien), he manages to penetrate Blackton's barricade of piled-up trucks. McCoy made eight Westerns for low-budget producer Katzman's Victory Pictures before signing with newcomer PRC. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Ben Corbett, (more)
- 1935
The Mounties get their man in this adventure. This time they enlist the aid of Captain Dog and Dynamite the Horse to destroy a ring of fur thieves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1920
As usual, this Jimmy Aubrey comedy makes little sense, but it contains a lot of gags. Jimmy is a dentist's assistant who turns the office upside down while the dentist is away. After using a variety of ways to extract teeth, including a mallet and a hammer and chisel, he has to chase after a floating patient who has taken too much laughing gas. Eventually, a basic plot emerges -- the bad guy (Oliver Hardy) lusts after the dentist's wife, whom the assistant also fancies. They're both trying to court her when the dentist -- an extremely jealous guy, and apparently with some reason -- gets home. They hide, none too successfully, and when the dentist finds them, chaos ensues. The bad guy abducts the wife and drives off, while the dentist and the assistant give chase on a motorcycle. Eventually the wife is rescued and returns home with her husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Aubrey, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1938
Singing cowboy Jack Randall does his usual in Monogram's Danger Valley, Randall's second starring film. When someone discovers gold in them thar hills, several disreputable promoters try to take financial advantage of the ensuing rush. By producing a packet of forged papers, two of these crooks manage not only to fleece the prospectors, but to set up an "outlaw colony" in a rattletrap ghost town. Randall and his pal Lucky (Hal Price) do their best to protect the miners and rout the villains. Though a passable singer, Jack Randall is somewhat stiff as an actor; he was far more natural in a reel of Monogram outtakes, in which he constantly curses himself out after blowing his lines. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lois Wilde, Hal Price, (more)
- 1953
Esther Williams stars in this button-cute musical about a health-conscious family of swimmers who fall in with con man Windy Weebe (Jack Carson). The Higgins family decides to swim the English Channel in order to raise money to purchase a prize bull for their Arkansas farm. As she practices for the English Channel swim, Katie Higgins (Esther Williams) gets lost in the fog and is rescued by wealthy wine merchant Andre Lanet (Fernando Lamas), and she falls for him hard. The film is distinguished by a climactic English Channel swim and an animated underwater cartoon sequence with Williams and animated MGM contract players Tom and Jerry reprising the Arthur Schwartz and Johnny Mercer tune "In My Wildest Dreams." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, (more)
Serial killers are on the loose in this "Lone Rider" entry from PRC reportedly based on the exploits of a real-life 1870s roadhouse operator. A couple of crooks, Ben Gowdey (Ray Bennett) and Grogan (I. Stanford Jolley) have repeatedly sold the Circle C Ranch to unsuspecting buyers, whom they summarily rob and kill before signing the papers. Enter Fuzzy Jones (Al St. John), whose cousin Luke was one of the unlucky would-be ranchers, and Rocky Cameron, alias "The Lone Rider," who goes undercover as a fellow outlaw to catch the murderers. In other words: the usual. Busy B-Western heroine Joan Barclay was for unknown reasons billed Nica Doret for this film only. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fuzzy St. John, Nica Doret, (more)
