Dell Henderson Movies

The real "message to Garcia" was delivered by an American lieutenant to Cuban rebel General Garcia, asking for the General's help in the Spanish-American war. The fact that the lieutenant made his way to Garcia in absolute safety was ignored in 20th Century-Fox's Message to Garcia--which is just as well, since otherwise the movie would have been eight minutes long. In the film version, lieutenant John Boles is guided through the treacherous Cuban jungle by Barbara Stanwyck, doing her best to convince us that she's an Hispanic senorita. Also along for the trip is renegade marine Wallace Beery, who may not be as friendly as he seems. Fighting off Spaniards and spies at every turn, Boles successfully completes his mission. As history, Message to Garcia is about as reliable as the Hearst newspaper dispatches which triggered the Spanish-American war in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jesse J. Goldburg's low-budget Independent Pictures offered its customers more than Bill Cody or Bob Custer B-Westerns, including dreadful melodramas such as Accused. Although reared by Cyrus Braidwood (Eric Mayne) as his own daughter, young Helen (Dorothy Drew) is actually the offspring of a murderer, Lait Rodman (Charles Gerrard), whose written confession is kept under lock by Braidwood. Rodman manages to retrieve the confession and Helen goes to his apartment looking for it. Once there, she meets young Steve Randall, and through a series of misunderstandings, they both end up as prisoners of a gang of crooks. This unfocused melodrama was directed by former slapstick comic Dell Henderson, whose directorial career never rose above low-budget action fare. Also trapped in the film were former luminaries Du Pont, once the most foolish of Erich Von Stroheim's Foolish Wives (1922), and the distinguished Biograph actor Spottiswoode Aitken. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Jack Benny had one of his first starring film roles in this breezy comedy with plenty of music. Benny plays Mac Brewster, an advertising man trying to hold on to his biggest client, a silver company run by Alan Townshend (Richard Arlen). Elsewhere in the office, Paula Sewell (Ida Lupino) longs to compete in the Artists and Models Ball and win the title of Queen. However, professional models are frowned upon at the Ball, and all entrants must be debutantes, which is two strikes against Paula; besides, snooty Cynthia Wentworth (Gail Patrick) looks to be a shoo-in to win. But Paula has a plan, and if it works she'll have won more than a crown at the end of the night. Comedy stars Ben Blue and Judy Canova highlight the supporting cast; the great Louis Armstrong performs a tune with Martha Raye. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy-drama, Carlyle Blackwell plays Bobby Briggs, a mama's boy and hypochondriac. Bobby finally becomes so disgusted with himself that he pays Spike Brogan (Jack Drumier), his former college coach, to kidnap him and take him to his health farm. Bobby's fiancee Corinne Norris also wants to see him become a real man and has approached Spike for the same reason. Plus, she has another agenda: her father (Charles Dungan) and Bobby's father (W.T. Carleton) are bitter enemies and she wants their rivalry to stop. So, when Bobby disappears, she writes Mr. Briggs anonymous letters telling him to buy stock in a certain railroad if he wants to see his son alive. Briggs does so, and he saves the business of Corinne's father. Corinne gets herself in a fix with Wesley Martin (Rex Macdougal), a man who pretends to be her friend. But Bobby, who's been made over by his time at the camp, comes to the rescue. Bobby and Corinne's fathers end their feud when their children get married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Bolero stars George Raft as Raoul de Barre, an arrogant dancer who rises to fame in the years prior to, during, and after WW I. Raoul is helped along the way by his promoter brother Mike (William Frawley) and scores of willing females, matriculating from two-bit gigolo to the greatest ballroom dancer in Paris. Determining that nothing will stand in his way to the top, he regularly fires any female dancing partner who has the misfortune to fall in love with him -- until the last of his partners, the beautiful Helen (Carole Lombard) beats him to the punch by walking out on him. His heart weakened during the war, Raoul aspires to open his own nightclub, despite warnings that if he ever dances again the consequences will be fatal. On opening night of his new establishment, Raoul dances Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" with Helen, now the wife of a British nobleman. Having reached his emotional and professional pinnacle, Raoul collapses and dies in his dressing room -- as the nightclub patrons, oblivious to his fate, loudly demand an encore. Surprisingly, George Raft and Carole Lombard's dancing is doubled by others, but the same cannot be said of the inimitable Sally Rand, whose famous fan dance is tastefully re-created here. Raft and Lombard later reteamed in 1935's Rumba. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although the son of a rich man, Frederic Pritchard, Jr. (Carlyle Blackwell) is still nothing more than a lazy bum. When his father (Jack Drumier) threatens to cut him off, Frederic Junior decides to become a burglar. This skill turns out to be helpful -- the young man's fiancee Gloria (Evelyn Greeley) has a villainous uncle who is out to take over the factory owned by her mother (Alice Chapin). Frederic steals Mrs. Nevins proxy away from the uncle. In a last-ditch attempt to keep control, the uncle locks Frederic up and goes to the shareholders' meeting to cast the votes. Frederic, however, escapes and through various Douglas Fairbanks-like athletic tricks makes it to the meeting and saves the day. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Dorothy Drew is Lou Nolan, whose father, a denizen of the underworld, is shot and killed. Lou is left to support her crippled brother, Stevie, by working as a masked dancer in a cabaret. But in spite of this, Louisa is a good girl and she sparks the interest of Dr. Poole (Robert Ellis), who has taken on Stevie's case. At the club where she is working, Lou encounters Smiley Bill Curtain (Sheldon Lewis), who, it turns out, is her father's killer. Curtain's girlfriend, known only as the Mouse (Miss Dupont), is injured, and she is attended to by Poole. Curtain becomes unreasonably jealous of the doctor and causes trouble. The Mouse shoots Curtain, and Poole escapes and searches out Lou, who is more than happy to accept his proposal of marriage. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide