Anne Grey Movies

In this mystery, a Chinese criminal genius kidnaps a woman so that he can finally steal the "Silver Ray" from her brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This drama chronicles the love affair between a composer and the concert singer who jilts him for the love of a count. In anger, the composer kills the count in a duel, but loses the use of his right arm. Later the singer dies, and the composer stops writing music. Twenty years pass and he ends up falling in love with the singer's daughter who inspires him to write an operetta. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this drama, a group of young cadets in a military academy struggle to overcome their personal problems and make it through school. One of the lads is particularly troubled because he feels abandoned by his dad. In the end, the despondent youth nearly commits suicide by trying to paddle his canoe over a dam. Fortunately, his father realizes his mistakes and shows up in time to save the boy. Look carefully for Frances Farmer in a bit part as a colonel's kindly daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Stanley MacLaurel (Stan Laurel), the American "black sheep" of the MacLaurel clan, stows away on a cattle boat to Scotland in the company of his pal Ollie (Oliver Hardy) so that he can claim his share of his late uncle Angus Ian MacLaurel's fortune. Alas, Stan's inheritance consists of a snuffbox and a pair of bagpipes, while the bulk of the estate goes to Angus' granddaughter Lorna MacLaurel (June Lang) -- provided she move from Scotland to India, where she and her aunt Lady Vi Ormsby (Anne Grey) will reside with Vi's handsome brother, Colonel Gregor MacGregor (Vernon Steele) of His Majesty's Service. After nearly setting fire to their lodgings while trying to cook a fish, the penniless Stan and Ollie are booted out into the street, with Ollie rendered pants-less by a previous misadventure. Heading to a tailor shop to get a new suit of clothes on approval, the boys inadvertently join the British Army, and soon they're shipped off to Colonel MacGregor's regiment in India. Accompanying our heroes is Lorna's sweetheart, law clerk Alan Douglas (William Janney), who has joined the army to be reunited with his lady love. This could prove disadvantageous to Lady Vi, who has been scheming to separate Alan from Lorna and marry off the girl to Col. MacGregor, thereby gaining control of Lorna's fortune.

Meanwhile, Stan and Ollie get off on the wrong foot with their grouchy Sergeant (James Finalyson), redeeming themselves only when they help put down a native uprising (with the assistance of several fully-occupied beehives!) Though it proved to be their biggest moneymaker to date, Bonnie Scotland was one of the weaker Laurel & Hardy features, with far too much time devoted to the supporting characters. Too, the picture was rather raggedly re-edited after several unsatisfactory previews: as it now stands, the film stops cold after 80 minutes, without even bothering to wrap up the plotline. Still, it contains two of the team's funniest sequences: the boys' impromptu dance to the tune of "A Hundred Pipers", and the classic marching scene, wherein an out-of-step Stan manages to convince everyone in the regiment that they're out of step! Bonnie Scotland was later reissued theatrically as Heroes of the Regiment, and was distributed to TV in four abridged versions, each running approximately 20 minutes: All Wet, In a Mess, The Rookies and Bang! Bang! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this British drama, a recently bankrupt fellow blames four people for his financial woes. Later he becomes wealthy again after discovering a diamond mine and decides to get revenge on the four. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Director Dick Lester does an astute job of orchestrating several rock 'n roll and jazz performers in this musical drama oriented to the teen set, but worth watching for anyone who loves the music from this era. The thinly-laid plot centers on two teens in a small town, Helen and Craig (Helen Shapiro and Craig Douglas) who decide to rebel big-time when the stuffy mayor wants to ban jukeboxes, especially the one in the local café -- egad. So the daring duo make their way to a variety of recording studios to round up the likes of Terry Lightfoot and his New Orleans Jazz Band, Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, and many, many others. They want to put on a show that will convince the town and its mayor that this is great music -- audiences are likely to be already convinced. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this romantic comedy, a 30-year-old spinster dreams of finding a man, but finds it difficult living with her older sister. Another of her big sisters passes on and leaves her a generous inheritance which she can only collect if she leaves her other sister's home for six months. The girl does this, and when others learn of her financial worth, she finds herself surrounded by suitors. Unsettled by all this attention, the girl decides to protect herself by claiming that she is engaged to a handsome lawyer. In the end the two actually do get married and prosperous happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Filmed in the Yiddish language, The Wandering Jew features Jacob Ben-Ami as a young Jewish artist living in Germany in the early 1930s. As the Nazis gain in influence, the artist's life and livelihood are slowly eroded: his non-Jewish fiancee leaves him and his paintings are rejected by the Academy of Art. Growing to despise his heritage, the artist prepares to destroy his latest painting, a portrait of his father titled The Eternal Jew. Suddenly the figure in the portrait comes to life, and as the astonished artist listens in rapt attention, the figure relates the history of Jewish perseverance in the face of such horrors as the Spanish Inquisition and the Russian pogroms. Inspired, the artist vows to devote his life to the anti-Nazi cause. The Wandering Jew is a remarkable film for its era, so far and yet so near to the "Final Solution." In retrospect, the film's most poignant moments occur when the hero's father describes the comparatively benign treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union. The filmmakers weren't in possession of all the facts in 1933--nor was the rest of the world, for that matter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A classy woman has an affair with a rake after she learns that she has a terminal disease in this British melodrama. When the cad dumps her, the woman's husband soon learns of her shenanigans, but he forgives her. She then gets even better news when her doctor tells her that they have finally found a cure for her disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A feisty Irish lad leaves his home village to find fortune in bustling London. Things start off well when he lands a good job working as the partner of a wealthy young nobleman in his new company. The young Irishman got the job after helping the inebriated aristocrat out of a scuffle with an irate cabby. The lad does quite well and helps make the company successful. But his dreams turn to nightmares one day when his master falsely accuses him of rigging the books and embezzling. The young lord does this to conceal the fact that he has squandered the company's money on gambling and carousing. Because the Irish youth has fallen in love with the lord's sister and wants to protect her family's reputation, he takes the fall and goes to prison. Later the nobleman's guilty conscience prompts him to tell the truth before he commits suicide. Happiness ensues when the youth and the sister finally marry. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Fire Raisers (British slang for arsonists) was inspired by the true story of Leopold Harris, an insurance assessor convicted of arson. Called "a sort of Warner Brothers Newspaper Headline story" by director Michael Powell, the film centers around Jim Bronson (played by Leslie Banks), an ambitious assessor intent on marrying the daughter of a successful underwriter at Lloyd's of London. Bronson employs unscrupulous methods to better his financial position and convinces the daughter to marry him against the father's wishes. Unfortunately, Bronson cannot leave well enough alone and foolishly gambles away most of his money. To save face and regain his wealth, he becomes involved with a gang of arsonists. Bronson's assistant, Bates, becomes suspicious of his superior and helps Twist, a representative of Lloyd's, infiltrate the gang. However, the fire raisers suspect things are not on the up-and-up; unbeknownst to Bronson, they beat Bates and leave him to die in a vault while they turn their attentions to Twist. Discovering Bates in the vault, Bronson has a change of heart and tries to rescue Twist before the gang gets to him. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi