Lyn Harding Movies

The talented and beautiful Marion Davies is practically lost under the opulence of this expensive, overdone historical romance. Her producer (and lover), newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was attempting to recreate the success of one of Davies' prior epic vehicles, When Knighthood Was in Flower. Once again he based the picture on a novel by Charles Major and brought in set designer Joseph Urban to work his magic. But this Major story wasn't as good as Knighthood and Urban did his work too well; the sets are both gorgeous and overwhelming. Ultimately, the production cost too much for Hearst to make a profit, even though the film performed well at the box office. The backdrop is fifteenth century France, and Charles, Duke of Burgundy (Lyn Harding) has promised his daughter, Princess Mary (Davies), that she can marry the man she loves, Prince Maximilian of Styria (Ralph Graves). But when the Swiss threaten war, the duke is compelled to take back his word and he arranges for Mary to wed the half-witted dauphin (Johnny Dooley) of France's King Louis XI (Holbrook Blinn). Mary, however, runs away and disguises herself as Yolanda, a commoner. At a silk fair she meets and falls in love with a strange knight, only to discover that it's Maximilian in disguise. Although she is found and turned over to be married to the dauphin, Maximilian rescues her. When the Duke of Burgundy is killed, Mary shows up with Maximilian by her side to rule over her people. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This archaic British flagwaver concerns the trials and tribulations of fearless young aviator Ben Whitford (Robin Irvine). When the plans to Ben's new airplane-stabilizing device are stolen by spies, it looks as if he'll never be able to "prove" himself in the eyes of his grey-haired mother (Ellaline Terriss). It is up to Ben's sweetheart Jane (Enid Stamp Taylor) to outwit the spies and retrieve the plans. Our hero then takes to the air and demonstrates the efficiency of his amazing new invention, impressing the world in general and his dear old mum in particular. No wonder that British audiences preferred American films to their own home-grown product. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sherlock Holmes and Watson solve the murder of a young woman in this mystery that features Raymond Massey in the title role. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1928, the sentimental Margaret Kennedy novel The Constant Nymph was sumptuously remade by Gaumont Productions in 1933. Victoria Hopper plays the title character, a Belgian gamine named Tessa. The girl falls hopelessly in love with world-famous composer Lewis Dodd (Brian Aherne), who is so full of himself that he barely acknowledges Tessa's existence. As she looks on in quiet desperation, Dodd marries another woman, his distant cousin Florence (Leonora Corbett). It takes him nearly the entire picture to realize what a fool he's been, and that Tessa was the one girl for him all along -- but alas, it's too late. Constant Nymph was remade by Warner Bros. in 1943, at which time all prints of the 1933 version were supposed to be destroyed; happily, they weren't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This British Edgar Wallace derivation was originally released as The Man Who Changed His Name. That ripe old barnstormer Lyn Harding plays Shelby Clive, who has been obliged to shorten his last name so that he won't be confused with a notorious (and never-apprehended) wife murderer. Not long afterward, Clive tries to claim a valuable piece of Canadian property, owned by his wife Nita (Betty Stockfield). When it develops that he can only take possession of the property upon his wife's death, the audience is immediately primed to suspect the worst. Sure enough, several mysterious "accidents" befall poor Nina, leading her to believe that she's actually married to that infamous wife-killer mentioned earlier. But there's more to this than meets the eye, as Clive reveals in the film's final moments. Though the story is rife with melodrama, The Man Who Changed is believably acted throughout, even by the chop-licking Lyn Harding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fourth of Arthur Wonter's quintet of Sherlock Holmes films, Triumph of Sherlock Holmes was a fairly faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear. This time, Holmes (Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming -- not the James Bond author!) investigate a mysterious murder at Birlstone Castle. The killings seem to be tied in with a secret American society of coal-miners called the Scowlers. The architect of all this skullduggery is that "Napoleon of Crime," Professor Moriarty (the magnificent Lyn Harding), who has conspired with an American gangster (Ben Welden) to assassinate the Pinkerton agent responsible for breaking the back of the Scowlers. There's very little in the way of mystery in Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, but it scores on its full quotient of thrills and chills. Originally 84 minutes, the film was cut to 75 for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Attractive scientist Dr. Clare Wyatt (Anna Lee) fondly declines the proposal of journalist Dick Haslewood (John Loder), who loves her, and she goes to work for the reclusive Dr. Laurience (Boris Karloff), whom the scientific world regards as a crackpot. At Laurience's remote estate, she's greeted at the door by bitter, wheelchair-bound Clayton (Donald Calthrop), one of the doctor's more hopeless cases. Dick hangs around the neighborhood, sending stories to his newspaper, which is owned by his tycoon father, Lord Haslewood (Frank Cellier). Laurience demonstrates the reality of his discredited theory to an astonished Claire. Using an array of electrical equipment, he switches the minds of a good-natured and a cranky chimpanzee, then suggests to Claire that this could be done with people, making immortality possible. Lord Haslewood turns up unexpectedly, and offers the skeptical scientist the full use of the prestigious Haslewood Institute in exchange for the right to run stories on Laurience's progress, and to own the resulting patents. But problems arise when Haslewood sets up a conference of prominent scientists to hear Laurience explain the intent of his research. They all scoff loudly, and walk out. Lord Haslewood is furious, feeling he's been humiliated; he tells the shocked Laurience that he, not the scientist, owns everything, and orders him out of the Institute. Laurience suffers a mental breakdown, and invites Haslewood to his lab, where he straps him into the chair of his apparatus, then switches the minds of Haslewood and the crippled Clayton. When Haslewood realizes he's now in Clayton's body, he bursts into laughter and drops dead, puzzling the other two. Clayton is delighted to be in a body that's not only capable of walking, but is that of a financially powerful man. When Laurience offers Claire "eternal youth, eternal loveliness," she is shocked, and he realizes she's in love with Dick, so he makes plans for Dick to come to the Institute.

Meanwhile, Clayton learns why Haslewood laughed: Clayton is trapped in the body of a dying man: Haslewood had a weak heart. With his own scheme in mind, Laurience murders Clayton. He switches his mind with Dick's, giving the perfect alibi for murder -- and Laurience, in Dick's body, will have Claire. After the transfer, Laurience, in Dick's body, places Dick, in Laurience's body, in a chamber with poison gas. But when Claire arrives, she immediately realizes what has happened. Dick, in Laurience's body, awakes and falls out a window, gravely injured. On the street below, Sue encounters scientist Dr. Gratton (Cecil Parker), and convinces him to help her switch back the minds of Dick and Laurience before Laurience's body dies. Afterward, Laurience, in his own body, admits he was wrong, and begs Claire to destroy his equipment, then he dies.

A few years after this film, Karloff would make a series of movies for Columbia Pictures with plots very similar to this, but British film is far livelier than those; it's to the point, intelligent and entertaining. This was partly due to the clever script by L. Du Garde Peach, Sidney Gilliat and John L. Balderston. Gilliat later wrote several films for Alfred Hitchcock, and Balderston had co-written Dracula, among other notable films. Director Robert Stevenson was busy making a name for himself as a kind of back-up Hitchcock, though Hitchcock was not likely to have tackled The Man Who Changed His Mind, King Solomon's Mines or Non-Stop New York. Later, Stevenson came to the United States and gradually evolved away from thrillers to more romantic films, such as the 1944 Jane Eyre. His career was then spotty until he signed with Walt Disney, where he helmed many of the more prestigious films, including Mary Poppins, a far cry from the brisk horror of The Man Who Changed His Mind. Also known as The Man Who Lived Again, the U.S. title of this film is Brainsnatcher, and the U.S. reissue title is Dr. Maniac. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a wealthy but inept yachtsman (Buster Keaton) sails to Spain and goes looking for love in all the wrong places when a conniving seductress steals his heart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this silly comedy, a jobless fellow is nursing a hangover after a wild night at a Turkish bath when he is handed a telegram informing him that his aunt has died and he has inherited her fortune which is stashed within a bust of Napoleon in the house he will also inherit. He wastes no time getting to the residence, but is appalled to discover that the house has become a girl's school and no men can enter. He then poses as a brother to one of the students and begins roaming about in search of the appropriate bust. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat star in this gripping melodrama about the Russian revolution, based on the novel by James Hilton. Donat plays A.J. Fothergill, a British interpreter in St. Petersburg who is ordered to leave Russia after writing an article that criticized the czar. Fothergill meets a British secret agent who can arrange for him to stay in Russia if he will agree to spy for England and monitor revolutionary groups trying to depose the czar. Fothergill infiltrates a group planning to kill Russian nobleman Vladinoff (Herbert Lomas); the radicals bomb Vladinoff's coach, but he and his daughter, Alexandra (Marlene Dietrich) escape unharmed. Fothergill is arrested and sent to Siberia. When the monarchy is deposed during the Russian Revolution in 1917, Alexandra is arrested by Communist forces and put on trial. Fothergill is freed from prison with his friend Axelstein (Basil Gill), and they are now revolutionary heroes. Alexandra must go to Petrograd to face trial and Fothergill is chosen to escort her. When they reach the train station, Fothergill discovers the White Army (fighting to restore the czar) is coming. He leads Alexandra to safety behind the White Army lines, but the Red Army has surrounded the city and Fothergill, smitten with Alexandra, rescues her again before the city is shelled. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Erudite novelist Jack Pathurst (Paul Lukas) happens to be a passenger of the sailing ship Elsinore when a mutiny breaks out. The first casualty is Captain Weston (Conway Dixon), followed by the first mate. With practically no one else of intelligence left standing, Pathurst assumes command of the vessel and persuades the mutineers to throw down their arms. He also rescues the late Captain's daughter Margaret (Kathleen Kelly) from the proverbial fate worse than death. Even without peeking at the credits, the audience could guess that this contemporary British swashbuckler was based on a story by Jack London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Long after the company went out of business in the US, Grand National Pictures thrived in England, turning out such bread-and-butter features as The Missing People. Scottish comedian Will Fyffe once again plays Mr. Reeder, the seemingly bucolic Scotland Yard detective who's a lot shrewder than he appears. In this one, Mr. Reeder tackles the case of 27 missing persons, all of whom had been receiving remittance checks from their wealthy families. With beefy, bushy-eyebrowed Lyn Harding in the cast, it doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out who's behind the disappearances. Future star Patricia Roc has a key supporting role in this easygoing who- and why-dunit. The Missing People was based on a story by Edgar Wallace, who despite the fact that he died in 1932 was well represented on the British screen for the next four decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide