Dennis Hoey Movies

This story is based both on a long-standing legend and a play by E. Temple Thurston. Veteran British director Maurice Elvey brought years of experience with theatrical adaptations to the difficult task of filming a movie that spans centuries and strains credulity. Conrad Veidt stars as the Jew who urges Roman authorities to crucify Jesus and release Barabbas. As a punishment, he is condemned by God to wander the Earth for many centuries, enduring innumerable trials and tribulations on several continents. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The timeworn British stage musical Chu Chin Chow had already been made into a silent picture when this talkie version made its bow in 1934. Based on Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, the film stars corpulent music-hall comedian George Robey as Ali Baba, sinister Fritz Kortner as robber captain Abu Hahan, and exotic Anna May Wong as slave girl Zahrat, who saves Ali's life by properly applying oil to a collection of not-so-empty barrels. The obligatory romantic subplot is handled by John Garrick and Pearl Argyle, while comedy relief is supplied by a vaudevillian named Jetsam (that's right, of the team of "Flotsam and...") Director Walter Forde does little to "cinematize" the old property, which is just as well. Originally released at 93 minutes, Chu Chin Chow was shorn of about 5 minutes before its American release; presumably some of the sexier "nautch" dances were among the excised scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When schoolgirl Ander sets out to win the love of a diplomat she pretends to be a socialite ending up in predictable entanglements in this Swiss-based musical. ~ All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Lily of Kilarney stars John Garrick as Sir Patrick Cregeen, an heir who must raise a great deal of money in a hurry, lest he lose his family's ancestral castle and his intended, Eileen O'Connor (Gina Malo), to the vile Sir James Corrigan (Stanley Perrins).

Cregeen enters a steeplechase race, but in order to win the big prize he'll have to beat Corrigan's steed. Veteran music hall favorite Stanley Holloway is in fine fettle as a singing priest, while Sara Allgood of the Abbey Players contributes another of her well-rounded characterizations. Bride of the Lake was based on the popular Dion Boucicault theatrical barnstormer Colleen Bawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by J. B. Priestley, this British musical-comedy follows an unlikely trio as they try to revive the fortunes of a floundering touring theatrical troupe. Inigo Jolifant (John Gielgud) is a schoolteacher with a talent for songwriting, and Jess Oakroyd (Edmund Gwenn) is a man with theatrical ambitions who has just lot his job. Together, they persuade Miss Trant (Mary Glynne), an older single woman looking for adventure, to back them as they try to bring "The Dinky Do's" back into the spotlight. Susie Dean (Jessie Matthews) is a chorus girl who dreams of stardom, and when she's made the new leader of the show, it looks as if her dreams may finally become a reality. The Good Companions is buoyed by the superb singing and dancing talents of Matthews, who was considered one of the screen's greatest musical stars in England and Europe, though she inexplicably never achieved the same fame in the United States; Gielgud also got a rare opportunity to display his vocal abilities in this film. Keep your eyes peeled for Jack Hawkins and horror film great George Zucco, who both appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this British thriller, a hapless fellow learns that he has chosen to stay in a problematic hotel when he learns that the stockbroker in the adjacent room has died and a woman is being blamed for the death. It is son revealed that the hotel manager, and another are attempting to keep the killing quiet until they can arrange the clues just so. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While Peter Weir's 1980 filmizaton of Ernest Raymond's novel Gallipoli can be considered the definitive version, writer/director Anthony Asquith's 1931 adaptation Battle of Gallipoli (alternate title: Tell England) is a powerful piece of moviemaking in its own right. Carl Harbord and Tony Bruce play two naïve young Australians--one rich, one poor--who are filled with patriotic fervor when World War I breaks out. They make a grueling cross-country trek in order to join the already conscripted troops. Once on the battlefields of Europe however, the boys are confronted with Hell on Earth. Their disillusionment with war and warfare culminates in the death of one of the boys at Gallipoli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide