Phillips Holmes Movies

American stage and film star Otto Kruger heads the cast of the above-average British comedy The Housemaster. Kruger, in the title role, presides benevolently over the students of a private boys' school. A new headmaster, who is as rigid and rule-bound as Kruger is kind and understanding, gives the housemaster all sorts of grief. When the nasty headmaster pulls strings to get Kruger transferred, the students take matters in their own hands. The Housemaster was based on a play by Ian Hay. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having successful moved his top comedians Laurel & Hardy from short subjects to features, producer Hal Roach endeavored to do the same with the Our Gang Kids in 1936's General Spanky. Set in the South during the Civil War, the story focuses on Spanky (George "Spanky" McFarland), an orphaned shoeshine boy who works his way down the Mississippi by riverboat. After messing up the activities of crooked gambler Simmons (Irving Pichel), Spanky is forced to jump ship, along with his newfound buddy, fugitive slave child Buckwheat (Billy Thomas). The kids find shelter in the home of handsome Marshall Valiant (Phillips Holmes), who just before marching off to war instructs Spanky and Buckwheat to protect Marshall's sweetheart Louella Blanchard (Rosina Lawrence) in his absence. Taking his responsibilities seriously, Spanky forms a "home guard" consisting of Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), Porky (Eugene Lee) and several other local kids. In this capacity, they manage to fend off a clumsy Northern regiment commandeered by Spanky's old nemesis Simmons, thereby earning the lasting friendship of a kindly Yankee general (Ralph Morgan). The Civil War setting is not entirely appropriate to the antics of Our Gang, and as a result General Spanky is more peculiar than funny. The film's lukewarm box-office performance might have spelled the end of "Our Gang" had not Hal Roach's distributor, MGM, demanded that the series continue in short-subject form. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Meredith Nicholson, The House of 1000 Candles is one of the slickest films ever to emerge from the Nat Levine unit at Republic. Phillips Holmes stars as diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel (Rosita Moreno), who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered by sinister master spy Sebastian (Irving Pichel), owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles. Realizing that Tony is the only person who can decipher the message, Sebastian kidnaps Tony's sweetheart Carol (Mae Clarke), threatening to kill her if our hero doesn't cooperate. Rescued by his faithful valet (Fred Walton), Tony and Carol make their escape then expose the secret behind Sebastian's insidiously complex espionage network. Many reviewers in 1936 compared House of 1000 Candles to the best that Alfred Hitchcock had to offer -- quite a coup for director Arthur Lubin, a man best known for his Abbott & Costello and "Francis the Talking Mule" pictures! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this family comedy, the wealthy executive of a steel company must endure life with a strict, teetotaling wife, a wild daughter, and a deadbeat son. To gain some much needed attention, the lonesome fellow hires a hitman to kill him. Instead, the gunman kidnaps him to frighten the family into appreciating their devoted father. Along the way, the kidnapper begins falling in love with his employer's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Usually consigned to the supporting cast, eccentric comic actress ZaSu Pitts was occasionally rewarded with a leading role. In Paramount's Private Scandal, Pitts is top-billed as Miss Coates, the fey secretary of hotshot young executive Cliff Barry (Philips Holmes). Accused of murdering his boss B. J. Somers (Lew Cody), Barry suspects that Somers' death was a suicide -- but he dare not voice this opinion without ruining the lives of several others. With the help of obnoxious detective Riordan (Ned Sparks), faithful Miss Coates helps to clear Barry, much to the delight of his long-suffering girlfriend Fran (Mary Brian), the dead man's daughter. Private Scandal was co-written by Vera Caspary, of Laura fame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Twelve years before David Lean's definitive filmization of Dickens' Great Expectations, Hollywood had a go at the novel, with mixed results. The story is the familiar one of young Pip (George Breakstone as a boy, Phillips Holmes as an adult) whose future wealth is assured through the auspices of a mysterious benefactor. It turns out that Pip's "guardian angel" is condemned convict Magwich (Henry Hull), repaying a favor the lad had done for him years earlier. The film is a faithful if rather rushed adaptation of the Dickens original, encompassing within its 100-minute running time such unforgettable characters as the vindictive recluse Miss Havisham, the arrogant Estella, the likeable blacksmith Joe Gargery and Joe's less likeable wife. Henry Hull is overly mannered as Magwich and Florence Reed is distressingly dull as Miss Havisham, but Jane Wyatt and Alan Hale are perfectly cast as Estella and Gargery, respectively. Francis L. Sullivan, playing lawyer Jaggers, repeated the role in the 1946 David Lean film. And if you pay close attention, you'll spot Walter Brennan as one of Magwich's fellow convicts. The 1934 Great Expectations is neat and precise, but nowhere near as inspired as the celebrated remake. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Charles Boyer played his first major Hollywood role (and gets to sing in the bargain!) in the oddball musical romance Caravan. A miscast Loretta Young stars as young Countess Wilms, who is forced to wed by midnight or lose her inheritance. She impulsively chooses gypsy vagabond Latzi (Boyer), offering him a huge sum of money if he'll consent. Swallowing his pride, Latzi agrees to the marriage, but soon the coy Countess falls in love with young Lieutenant Von Tokay (Philips Holmes) -- who is himself in love with Latzi's gypsy sweetheart Tinka (Jean Parker). Director Erik Charrell, famed for his European musical productions (notably Congress Dances), seems uncomfortable adapting to the Hollywood movie-making process. Though evidently intended to be taken seriously, there are times that Caravan comes off like a parody of operettas: one half expects the stars to join in a duet of Cole Porter's spoofish "Wunderbar." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Perennial sidekick George E. Stone is given the leading role in The Big Brain. Stone plays a small-town barber, short of stature but a giant in the world of stock promotion. As his bank account grows, Stone's ethics diminish, and soon he's playing fast and loose with other people's money. Disgruntled investor Fay Wray is the one who finally blows the whistle on the prevaracating hair-snipper. Reportedly based on the career of real-life swindler Charles Ponzi, The Big Brain also owes a great deal to the 1931 Edward G. Robinson vehicle Smart Money. This RKO programmer was released in Great Britain as Enemies of Society. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Society-lawyer Warner Baxter loses his prestige in the legal community when he successfully defends gangster boss Nat Pendleton. Later on, the soft-hearted Pendleton gets the opportunity to "do right" by saving Baxter's life. This redemptive move comes at the end of a complicated plot involving Baxter's efforts to save Phillips Holmes, who has been framed by nasty mobster C. Henry Gordon, from the hot seat. He is aided in this effort by Gordon's former mistress Myrna Loy, who has all of the film's best lines (When her protecter Baxter falls asleep on a couch, Loy complains "A few more nights like this and I'll be out of condition.") Also in the cast of Penthouse is crime-movie perennial Mae Clarke, here cast as the murder victim. Penthouse was later remade (and highly sanitized in the process) as Society Lawyer, with Walter Pidgeon in the Warner Baxter part. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A shopkeeper suffers after he is laid off during the Depression in this drama adapted from the English play Service. He had worked at that shop for over 40 years. It was a family tradition to work at that shop. But now, his boss is selling the shop to a lower-priced rival, and the poor man and his family are left to cope with the devastating loss. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Secret of Madame Blanche is one of those "confessional" film dramas which movie fans of the early 1930s ate up like bonbons. Irene Dunne stars as a musical hall entertainer who is impregnated by a wealthy young man (Phillips Holmes). They marry, but the husband kills himself. Under the pressure of father-in-law Lionel Atwill, Dunne gives up the baby. Two decades pass: Irene crosses her son' path again. He commits a murder, and she willingly takes the blame--never letting the boy know her true identity. Secret of Madame Blanche is a remake of an equally teary Norma Talmadge silent film; both pictures bore the heavy influence of Madame X. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joan Blondell, borrowed for the occasion from Warner Bros., earned top-billing in this delightful Hollywood parable, but the real star is of course Stuart Erwin as the irrepressible grocery clerk Merton Gill. Paramount screenwriters Saul Mintz, Walter De Leon and Arthur Kober based their witty scenario on Henry Leon Wilson's 1922 novel Merton of the Movies, the 1923 Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, and the 1924 Famous Players silent version starring Glenn Hunter. By 1932, the story was indeed well-known: Aspiring to become a famous screen cowboy, small-town delivery boy Merton Gill arrives in Hollywood, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and complete with a diploma from the National Correspondence Academy of Acting. Crashing the gates of Majestic Pictures (read: Paramount), Merton manages to fumble his one line bit in the latest Buck Benson (Dink Templeton) western and is fired on the spot. Unwilling to leave the studio, the hapless thespian survives on leftover scraps from the extra's lunch boxes until discovered by comedy starlet "Flip" Montague (Blondell), who takes pity on him and arranges a meeting with Jeff Baird (Sam Hardy), head of the slapstick comedy unit. Bestowed a new name, Whoop Ryder, Merton is starred in what he assumes to be a serious western melodrama but what in reality is yet another burlesque featuring cross-eyed low comic Ben Turpin. Although a big hit with preview audiences, a humiliated Merton is ready to return to the grocery business when "Flip" persuades him to stay by telling him that he is "darn near perfect." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Director Ernst Lubitsch gained international acclaim for his sophisticated romantic comedies, but he also had a talent for more serious themes, as evidenced by this 1932 drama. French musician Paul (Phillips Holmes) joined the Army at the height of WWI. On the field of battle, Paul shot and killed his German friend Walter Holderlin (Tom Douglas), another musician enlisted in his country's army. One year after the Armistice, Paul is still haunted by the memory of Walter's death, and he travels to Germany to locate Walter's father, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore). Holderlin, his wife (Louise Carter), and Walter's fiancee, Elsa (Nancy Carroll are still shattered by the death of their loved one. Paul informs them of his friendship with their son, but cannot bring himself to unveil his responsibility for Walter's death. The Holderlins welcome Paul in friendship, and gradually, he settles into the household, bringing to both parents a new lease on life. Because of his lingering guilt, he feels tempted to run away, but Elsa discovers the truth about Paul and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, the presence of a Frenchman drums up hostilities in the Holderlins' village and the local women gossip continually about the developing relationship between Paul and Elsa. Perhaps because moviegoers completely snubbed The Man I Killed (also released as Broken Lullaby) and turned it into a financial detriment for Paramount, Lubitsch returned to lighter themes after this anti-war drama, and it was the last "serious" picture he would make before his death in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi