Carl Harbaugh Movies
American jack-of-all-trades Carl Harbaugh did just about everything in motion pictures except cater the lunches on location. As an actor, Harbaugh was seen in such roles as Escamillo in the Theda Bara version of Carmen (1915). His directorial credits include the 1917 adaptation of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Concentrating more and more on comedy as the twenties wore on, Harbaugh wrote scenarios and dreamed up gags for Mack Sennett, Hal Roach, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy and many others, keeping his hand in acting as a supporting player. He was famous for his tendency to rely on outlandish comedy props to get his characters in and out of trouble. Carl Harbaugh returned to acting full-time in the early 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by Robert Penn Warren, this Southern potboiler stars Yvonne DeCarlo as Amantha Starr, the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana plantation owner. When her father unexpectedly dies, Amantha discovers that her father was deep in debt and the family is penniless, and she is forced to drop out of the exclusive girls' school she was attending. What's more, it is discovered that Amantha has a small amount of African-American blood, and under the laws she is to be sold into slavery in New Orleans. Amantha is purchased by Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), a dashing, wealthy, but mysterious landowner. While Amantha is at first terrified by her new situation, in time she grows fond of Hamish and becomes romantically involved with him. However, the outbreak of the Civil War leads to Union forces taking New Orleans; RauRu (Sidney Poitier), Hamish's trusted overseer, joins the Northern forces as the Rebels go down in defeat. RauRu hates Amantha for literally sleeping with the enemy, and Hamish for the corrupt system he represents, but his last remaining threads of loyalty prevent him from taking them prisoner. With his crops destroyed, Hamish must rebuild his empire from the ground up, and, as he joins forces with his former associate Capt. Canavan (Torin Thatcher), he must reveal a shameful secret to Amantha: he once earned his living as a slave trader. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1955
Clark Gable and Jane Russell star in this rugged widescreen western, exquisitely photographed by Leo Tover and directed by veteran action expert Raoul A. Walsh. Gable plays Ben Allison, who with his brother Clint (Cameron Mitchell) journeys to Montana in search of gold. They come upon wealthy businessman Nathan Stark (Robert Ryan), whom they try to rob of $20,000. Instead, Stark talks Ben and Clint into becoming partners with him on a cattle drive to Montana. As the group travels to Texas, they come upon a party of settlers being attacked by Indians. They save the saucy Nella Turner (Jane Russell) and she joins with Ben, who has been made trail boss, and Clint on the cattle drive. Ben and Nella are attracted to each other but after an initial fling, Nella rejects him -- Ben just wants enough money to buy a small ranch and Nella won't settle for slim pickings. Arriving in Fort Worth, Nella takes up with Stark, whose desire to make as much money as possible coincides with Nella's money-hungry ambitions. But when, at Stark's insistence, she accompanies him on the final trek to Montana, the seething friction between Ben and Stark erupts as the drive heads into dangerous Indian country. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Jane Russell, (more)
One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Good versus evil in incredible Yukon settings makes this an above average Western. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1952
Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn play two seal-hunting rivals in this adventure film set in the days when Alaska was a Russian territory. Peck is adventuring seafarer Jonathan Clark, who falls in love with Russian Countess Marina Selanova (Ann Blyth) while the countess is in San Francisco fleeing an arranged marriage to the vile Prince Semyon (Carl Esmond). The Countess wants to hire a ship to take her to Sitka, AK, where her uncle, General Ivan Vorashilov (Sig Rumann), is governor. Portugee (Quinn) can't raise money for the voyage, so the countess agrees to sail with Clark, and the two quickly fall in love. But Prince Semyon sails into San Francisco just as Clark and the Countess are about to be wed, and the prince abducts her and takes her to Alaska, threatening to kill her uncle if she doesn't marry him. Clark and Portugee then agree to race to Alaska, with the winner getting the other's ship and the seal catch. Clark's boat wins the race, but the Russians arrest both the men as seal poachers. Countess Marina agrees to marry Semyon if he will order the seal hunters released. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth, (more)
- 1951
Filmed on location in Florida's Everglades, Distant Drums stars Gary Cooper as Indian fighter Quincy Wyatt. At the height of the Seminole wars, Wyatt leads a small group of soldiers into the Everglades to offer resistance. Along the way, they rescue Judy Beckett (Mari Aldon), one of several white prisoners of the Seminoles. Judy proves to be as worthy a "soldier" as Wyatt and his men during the final Seminole attack. Prominent among the supporting players is Robert Barrat as General Zachary Taylor. Distant Drums was produced independently by Milton Sperling's United States Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Mari Aldon, (more)
- 1949
- NR
Though not acknowledged by contemporary reviewers, Colorado Territory is a westernized remake of the 1941 crime drama High Sierra. Raoul Walsh, director of the earlier film, returns to helm the remake, doing a grand job on both occasions. Joel McCrea stars in the Humphrey Bogart role, playing a veteran outlaw who hopes to pull off one last, spectacular heist. Virginia Mayo portrays the Ida Lupino counterpart, a "bad" dance-hall girl who proves to be the only person who genuinely cares about McCrea's well-being. As in the earlier film, the climax finds McCrea making a futile bid for escape in the mountains, with tragic consequences. High Sierra was good for at least one more remake, the 1955 Jack Palance-Shelley Winters starrer I Died a Thousand Times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, (more)
In later years, James Cagney regarded White Heat with a combination of pride and regret; while satisfied with his own performance, he tended to dismiss the picture as a "cheap melodrama." Seen today, White Heat stands as one of the classic crime films of the 1940s, containing perhaps Cagney's best bad-guy portrayal. The star plays criminal mastermind Cody Jarrett, a mother-dominated psychotic who dreams of being on "top of the world." Inadvertently leaving clues behind after a railroad heist, Jarrett becomes the target of the feds, who send an undercover agent (played by Edmond O'Brien) to infiltrate the Jarrett gang. While Jarrett sits in prison on a deliberately trumped-up charge (he confesses to one crime to provide himself an alibi for the railroad robbery), he befriends O'Brien, who poses as a hero-worshipping hood who's always wanted to work with Jarrett. Busting out of prison with O'Brien, Jarrett regroups his gang to mastermind a "Trojan horse" armored-car robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, (more)
- 1948
Excellent Technicolor photography, principally in the aerial scenes, is the main asset of the cliché-ridden Fighter Squadron. Set in the months just prior to D-Day, the plot zeroes in on Marjor Ed Hardin (Edmond O'Brien) leader of a squadron of fearless combat pilots. In keeping with the conventions of the era, the training and flying sequences are counterbalanced with comic byplay involving wheeler-dealer Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea), whose flippant attitudes towards the opposite sex are a bit hard to take today. Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman). Also making his first screen appearance, in a role so small it isn't even billed, is a former truck driver named Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Robert Stack, (more)
- 1944
Uncertain Glory finds Errol Flynn atypically cast as French criminal Jean Picard, a craven coward whose many misdeeds have earned him a date with the guillotine. Detective Marcel Bonet (Paul Lukas) intends to see that Picard keeps his appointment with the executioner, despite the fact that there's a war on. When the Nazis capture 100 French hostages to force a resistance saboteur to surrender himself, Picard offers to pose as the saboteur and thereby save the lives of the innocent villagers. In truth, he plans to escape once he's turned himself over to the Nazis, leaving the villagers in the lurch, but at the last moment his latent patriotism overcomes his sense of self-preservation. Errol Flynn's character is almost as inconsistent as the script, but war films invariably made money in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Paul Lukas, (more)
- 1943
The fact that star Errol Flynn had been recently embroiled in a real-life rape trial only served to increase the box-office "pull" of Warner Bros. Northern Pursuit. Flynn is cast as Canadian mountie Steve Wagner, assigned to track down and capture downed Nazi pilot Hugo von Keller (Helmut Dantine) in the snowier Hudson Bay regions. Once Wagner and fellow mountie Jim Austin (John Ridgely) catch up with Von Keller, they pretend to be on his side, hoping that he'll reveal his espionage plans. Taken in, Von Keller leads the mounties towards a secret Nazi hideaway, where the Germans have hidden a huge bombing plane, to be used against North America. The fact that Wagner is posing as a Nazi sympathizer hardly endears him to Von Keller's hostage Laura McBain (Julie Bishop), but when the truth is revealed she professes her love for him. In the light of Flynn's recent legal problems, one line in Northern Pursuit invariably brought down the house in 1943: After assuring Laura that she's the only woman he's ever loved, Wagner/Flynn turns to the camera and quips "What am I saying?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Julie Bishop, (more)
Maybe Errol Flynn was never the war hero that he often played, but he was a capable boxer, and Gentleman Jim makes full use of this skill. Flynn stars as Jim Corbett, the 19th-century American pugilist who introduced "scientific" methods to bare-knuckle boxing. Originally an office clerk, Corbett is introduced to the then-illegal sport of fighting when one of the bank executives sponsors the young man's training at the Olympic Club. His arrogance wins Corbett a few enemies, including high-born lady Victoria Ware (Alexis Smith), whose dislike turns to casual affection when she realizes that Corbett is a sincere young fellow who can back up his boasts. What "Gentleman Jim" desires most in life is a match with reigning heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan (Ward Bond). Corbett and Sullivan finally meet in a bout governed by those new Marquis of Queensbury rules that Corbett has helped popularize. Twenty-one epoch-making rounds later, Corbett emerges victorious. At the victory celebration, Sullivan and Corbett graciously exchange mutual words of respect and affection. At this point, Corbett has totally won over the lovely Victoria -- but hasn't quite convinced his brawling brothers that "scientific" boxing is the wave of the future, and the film ends with a typical Raoul Walsh-directed battle royal. More faithful to the facts than most Errol Flynn biopics (but still with enough poetic license to drive historical purists up a wall), Gentleman Jim is broad, boisterous entertainment. Though it looks expensive, the film was made under Warner Bros.' standard pinchpenny restrictions; if you look closely at that moored ship where Corbett has one of his first professional fights, you'll notice that it's a leftover set from the 1940 Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, (more)
- 1941
Strawberry Blonde is the second, and by far the most well-regarded, of the three film versions of James Hogan's play One Sunday Afternoon. James Cagney stars as Biff Grimes, a turn-of-the-century dentist married to onetime suffragette Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). A former convict, Biff has great difficulty keeping his temper--and when alderman Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), the man responsible for Cagney's unjust prison term, shows up one Sunday afternoon to have a tooth pulled, the pugnacious dentist begins developing homicidal urges. In a lengthy flashback, we learn that Biff and Hugo, once the best of friends, were business partners in a construction firm. When one of their buildings collapsed due to shoddy materials, Biff was sent to jail for five years, while Hugo escaped scot-free. Even worse, Hugo stole Biff's girlfriend Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth), the "strawberry blonde" of the title. The flashback over, Biff sharkishly welcomes Hugo into his office, fully intending to bump off his old enemy. But during a reunion with his "dream girl" Virginia, Biff realizes for the first time that Amy was the right girl for him all along, and that Hugo did him a favor by taking the strident, shrewish Virginia off his hands. Letting Hugo off with little more than a sore jaw, Biff takes Amy in his arms--but not before settling a few old accounts with his fists, just for old time's sake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
Though history is distorted almost beyond recognition in Warner Bros.' They Died With Their Boots On, audiences in 1941 ate it up like cotton candy. In the gospel according to Warners, General George Armstrong Custer (Errol Flynn) is neither an arrogant fool nor a rabid Indian hater. Instead, he is a flamboyant but brilliant cavalry officer, who during the Civil War defies his superiors' orders and becomes a hero as a result. After a period of forced retirement in the postwar years, Custer is put in charge of the 7th Cavalry in the Dakota Territory. Here he whips this ragtag group into spit-and-polish shape, and also does his best to extend a neighborly hand to the local Indian tribes. Custer even goes so far as to promise Chief Crazy Horse (Anthony Quinn) that the white man will never set foot in the sacred Black Hills. Alas, Custer is betrayed by greedy gold prospectors, whipped into a frenzy by scheming (and fictional) land speculator Ned Sharp (Arthur Kennedy). Forced by circumstances to do battle against Crazy Horse to prevent tribal retaliation, Custer and his command ride towards a rendezvous with destiny at the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876. Though some of the historical inaccuracies in the film are real howlers, blame cannot be laid solely at the feet of Warner Bros.; the Custer legend had previously been perpetrated by the general's loyal widow Elizabeth Bacon (played herein by Olivia de Havilland), then eagerly elaborated upon by Eastern news journalists and dime novels. This film represented the final screen pairing of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, a fact that lends poignancy to their classic parting scene. Though an extremely long film, They Died With Their Boots On is never dull, especially during the spectacular Custer's Last Stand finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1941
Manpower was Warner Bros' latest reworking of 1932's Tiger Shark, with power-company linemen substituting for tuna fisherman. While repair some downed lines in a heavy thunderstorm, Hank McHenry (Edward G. Robinson) saves the life of his best pal Johnny Marshall (George Raft). While Johnny emerges from the experience unscathed, Hank is permanently crippled. He takes this misfortune in stride, but Johnny vows to look after Hank's best interests for the rest of their lives. When Hank marries blowzy nightclub hostess Fay Duval (Marlene Dietrich), Johnny is disdainful, convinced that Fay is playing Hank for a sucker. While recuperating in Hank's home after a slight injury, Johnny confesses to Fay that he's in love with her, a feeling that turns out to be mutual. Out of loyalty to Hank, Johnny refuses to have anything to do with Fay, who finally decides to leave town rather than break up the men's friendship. But Fay cannot stay away from Johnny, forcing him to confront the ever-trusting Hank with the truth, leading inexorably to the film's violent conclusion on a precariously high utility pole. A few comic interludes aside, Manpower is virile, gutsy entertainment; the fact that Edward G. Robinson and George Raft did not get along at all during shooting-resulting in a well-publicized on-set fistfight-only adds to the film's crackling tension. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, (more)
They just don't make 'em like They Drive By Night anymore. This slam-bang Warner Bros. attraction stars George Raft and Humphrey Bogart as Joe and Paul Fabrini, owners of a small but scrappy trucking firm. The film deftly combines comedy with thrills for the first half-hour or so, as the Fabrini boys battle crooked distributors and unscrupulous rivals while establishing their transport company. Things take a potentially tragic turn when the overworked Paul Fabrini falls asleep at the wheel and cracks up, losing an arm in the accident. He's pretty bitter for a while, but, with the help of his loving wife, Pearl (Gale Page), Paul eventually snaps out of his self-pity and goes to work as a dispatcher for the Fabrinis' company. Meanwhile, Joe's on-and-off romance with wisecracking waitress Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan) is threatened by the presence of seductive Lana Carlsen (Ida Lupino), the wife of glad-handing trucking executive Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale). At this point, the film metamorphoses into a remake of the 1935 Paul Muni-Bette Davis vehicle Bordertown. Desperately in love with Joe, Lana murders her husband, making it look like an accident, then offers Joe half-interest in Carlsen's organization. Joe accepts the offer, but spurns Lana's romantic overtures, whereupon the scheming vixen accuses Joe of plotting Carlsen's murder. Thus, the stage is set for a spectacular courtroom finale, completely dominated by a demented Lana, whose "mad scene" rivals those of Ophelia and Lucia di Lammermoor. In addition to the full-blooded performances by the stars and the virile direction by Raoul Walsh, They Drive By Night benefits immeasurably from the nonstop brilliant dialogue by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay -- especially in an early lunch-counter scene between Ann Sheridan and George Raft, generously seasoned with hilarious double- and single-entendres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Ann Sheridan, (more)
- 1939
Dorothy Lamour had been playing "sarong girls" long enough to parody her screen character in 1939's Best of the Blues. Tired of portraying jungle princesses, a temperamental Broadway star (Lamour) runs out on her manager (Jerome Cowan) and joins a Mississippi showboat under a phony name. Incredibly, none of the showboat audiences recognize this supposedly world-famous star, and she becomes the toast of the South--as well as the object of boat owner Lloyd Nolan's affections. When the truth comes out, Nolan spurns Lamour, but they're back together for the musical finale. Best of the Blues is the television title for St. Louis Blues; the change was made to avoid confusion with the 1958 biopic of W.C. Handy, also titled St. Louis Blues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1938
Shirley Ross plays an innocent young girl convicted for complicity in a crime committed by her boy friend (Lloyd Nolan). The male crook is sentence to six months on a prison farm populated by both men and women (segregated, of course). Ross is also incarcerated, suffering the cruelties of the sadistic male and female guards (including J. Carroll Naish and future "Ma Kettle" Marjorie Main!) Since this film leaves no cliche unturned, an escape attempt is inevitable, but Ross is ultimately rescued from her plight for the obligatory happy ending. Nowhere near as exploitive as the later Linda Blair films of the same ilk, Prison Farm was considered reasonably realistic in 1938, earning back its modest cost and then some. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Ross, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1938
In the rough-and-tumble world of post-Civil War Texas, ex-Confederate soldier Kirk Jordan (Randolph Scott) crosses paths with ranch owner Ivy Preston (Joan Bennett). Although a loyal Southerner, Jordan can't get past the waste and tragedy of the four years that have just ended, but Ivy is eager to help keep the war for the Confederacy alive, running guns to her would-be lover, unrepentant ex-Confederate captain Alan Sanford (Robert Cummings), who is prepared to ally himself with the Mexican emperor Maximilian as a means of starting a new war against the "Yankee" government. Ivy is attracted to Jordan after he boldly helps her evade an army checkpoint, until she finds out how relatively peaceable he is. Jordan and his sidekick, Cal Tuttle (Raymond Hatton), are prepared to make a cattle drive to the new railhead at Abilene and sell at a handsome profit, but Ivy wants nothing to do with the United States or Yankee money, even as her more practically minded grandmother (May Robson) and her foreman, Chuckawalla (Walter Brennan), try to convince her otherwise. Only when Isaiah Middlebrack (Robert H. Barrat), the corrupt local administrator for the occupying Northern government, arrives announcing a head-tax on cattle does she change her mind and begin to see some worth in Jordan's ambition and boldness. Two deaths, of Middlebrack and a much-loved ranch hand, allow the ranchers and the occupying soldiers to reconcile and make the drive together to the border. Jordan and his outfit find a stricken, desperate Abilene, bereft of anything to be shipped on the new rail line. Jordan's arrival accomplishes everything he hopes for and more, and in the end Ivy sees and also glories in his vision, of a United States reunited and restored, growing and thriving as never before. But Jordan can't abide her continued affection for Alan, whose continued obsession with restoring the Confederacy is wearing on him and almost everyone else by now, and he plans on leaving. Ivy doesn't want to see that happen, but is torn over her lingering affection for Alan. But then she learns that he is planning to join a new organization, the Ku Klux Klan, intended to drive the Yankees out of the South, and she suddenly has to choose with which of these men her future lies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Randolph Scott, (more)
- 1937
More ambitious than its budget will permit, Three Legionnaires details the misadventures of comrades-in-arms Chuck (Robert Armstrong), Jimmy (Lyle Talbot) and Grant (Donald Meek). In the days just following the Armistice, American doughboys Chuck and Jimmy separate themselves from the rest of their platoon and stumble into a remote Russian town. Falling in love with White Russian princess Sonia (Anne Nagel), our heroes attempt to rescue her from the Bolsheviks, enlisting the aid of crackpot scientist Grant. Stanley Fields makes a convincing Russian general, while wrestler "Man Mountain" Dean is at least a visually imposing presence as a Soviet peasant who breaks down walls when he can't find the door. On the other hand, there's French-accented Fifi D'Orsay as local Slavic tootsie Olga, who's about as convincing as a set of wooden teeth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Lyle Talbot, (more)
- 1933
Based on an 1830 opera entitled "Fra Diavolo" by Daniel F. Auber, the parts of two bit bandits were built up for Laurel and Hardy, but this was still just a minor effort--a few good laughs but nothing spectacular that wasn't done better elsewhere. Released later as Bogus Bandits and The Virtuous Tramps, changing the title didn't improve the product. A classic impersonation film, it has the comic duo servants to a bandit who is impersonating a Marquis to get his hands on the jewels worn by the upper crust. Standard dual identity film is similar to The Scarlet Pimpernel. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1928
At 9 reels, The Good-Bye Kiss was comedy producer Mack Sennett's most ambitious feature to date. Eschewing the usual Sennett slapstick, the film is a romantic seriocomedy with a WW I background. Sally Eilers plays a young girl who follows her soldier boyfriend (Johnny Burke) to the front. He is something of a coward, but through his girlfriend's influence he becomes a war hero. One of the few vestiges of the traditional Sennett formula is the presence of reliable character comedian Andy Clyde as the girl's grandfather (Clyde was 34 years old at the time!) The Good-Bye Kiss represented a major break for film editor William Hornbeck, who with this film graduated to features, eventually leading to a long and fruitful career and several industry awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Burke, Sally Eilers, (more)
Not the best of Buster Keaton's silents, Steamboat Bill, Jr. nonetheless contains some of Keaton's best and most spectacular sight gags. Keaton plays Willie Canfield, the namby-pamby son of rough-and-tumble steamboat captain "Steamboat Bill" Canfield (Ernest Torrence). When he's not trying to make a man out of his boy, the captain is carrying on a feud with Tom Carter (Tom McGuire), the wealthy owner of a fancy new ferryboat. Carter has a pretty daughter, Mary King (Marion Byron), with whom Willie falls in love. The two younger folks try to patch up the feud, but this seems impossible once the captain is jailed for punching out Carter. Willie tries ineptly to bust his dad out of jail, only to wind up in the hospital while trying to escape the law. As Willie lies unconscious in bed, a huge cyclone hits town, knocking down tall buildings like kindling. Upon awakening, he does his best to remain standing as the winds buffet him about. He takes refuge in a tree, which is promptly uprooted and blown toward the waterfront. Here is where Willie proves his manhood -- and ends the feud between Steamboat Bill and Carter -- by rescuing practically everyone in the cast from a watery grave. Steamboat Bill, Jr. would be memorable if only for one eye-popping (and dangerously real) sight gag: as the cyclone rages, the facade of a three-story building collapses upon Keaton -- who is saved only because the upstairs window has been left open! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, (more)
The silent comedy feature College stars Buster Keaton as a scholarly young man who doesn't know beans about sports. When he arrives in college, Buster finds that all the Big Men on Campus are jocks. To impress pretty coed Anne Cornwall, Buster tries and fails to join all the school teams. Even when he attempts to take a job at the campus soda fountain, Buster is a washout. Through the kindness of dean Snitz Edwards, Keaton is placed on the varsity rowing team where, despite several clumsy moments, he manages to win the big race. This infuriates his athletic rival Harold Goodwin, who seizes Cornwall and runs off with her. In racing to her rescue, Buster is compelled to repeat all the sports activities at which he'd previously failed--and does so, magnificently. He bursts into Goodwin's dorm room and saves Cornwall from the usual worse-than-death fate. Hero and heroine kiss--at which point this lighthearted film takes a sudden, chilling turn. As always, Buster Keaton performs his own stunts in College, except for the pole-vaulting bit, which was accomplished by Olympic champ Lee Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buster Keaton, Anne Cornwall, (more)
