Maxine Jennings Movies

The first of six Mr. Wong whodunits, Mr. Wong Detective presented Boris Karloff as pulp writer Hugh Wiley's Oxford-educated Oriental sleuth. Wong is visited by Simon Dayton (John Hamilton), an industrialist fearing for his life. Dayton and his partners Meisle (William Gould) and Wilk (Hooper Atchley) have been selling a poison gas invented by Roemer (John St. Polis), who, feeling cheated out of the deal, shows up in Dayton's office waving a gun. Minutes later, Dayton is found murdered by his secretary, Myra Ross (Maxine Jennings). Police Captain Sam Street (Grant Withers), Myra's boyfriend, immediately puts Roemer under arrest. Wong is not convinced of the man's guilt, especially after discovering a broken piece of glass near the body. During the ongoing investigation, the two remaining partners are also slain, but who done it? Are the killers foreign-accented Baron Anton Mohl (Lucien Prival) and his beautiful Brooklyn-born associate who calls herself Countess Dubois (Evelyn Brent)? Or did Roemer do the dirty deed? Could the dead man's nosy office manager (Wilbur Mack) have committed the crime and does Mrs. Roemer (Grace Wood) know more than she is telling? As Mr. Wong discovers, the answer is to be found in the origin and purpose of the mysterious pieces of glass found near each victim. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this comedy, the shady editor of a newspaper does all he can to keep his best reporter from marrying a journalist from a rival paper. In spite of the editor, the wedding day finally comes. The happy couple is at the alter when suddenly the woman gets news of a big scoop. Without a backward glance she leaves her groom to get the story first. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this crime drama, a highly superstitious racehorse owner spends his time off the track helping the less fortunate in any way he can so that he will always have good luck. His ploy works until he is accused of murdering his ex-lover. Fortunately, the real culprit is discovered before he has to go to jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

With her RKO Radio contract nearing an end, Ann Harding had little choice but accept such trifles as The Witness Chair. Engaged to widower Trent (Walter Abel), Paula (Harding) discovers to her horror that Trent's daughter Connie (Frances Sage) intends to elope with no-good embezzler Whittaker (Douglass Dumbrille). Unable to talk Whittaker out of ruining Connie's life, Paula murders the cad then does her best to destroy all the evidence. Alas, she succeeds only in convincing the authorities that Trent is the guilty party! The courtroom finale, which should have been the film's highlight, is not, due to funereal pacing and unimaginative camera angles. The Witness Chair convinced Ann Harding that she was through in Hollywood, whereupon she packed her bags and headed to London, briefly retiring from films the following year upon her marriage to symphony conductor Werner Janssen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When New York police commissioner Lewis J. Valentine instructed his men that the best way to handle criminals was to "muss 'em up," he probably had no idea that he was supplying the title for this RKO Radio crime drama. It all begins when millionaire Paul Harding's (Alan Mowbray) dog is murdered. This might have merely been a case for the ASPCA, but it soon leads to a kidnapping, an exorbitant ransom demand, and a murder. Turns out that the whole plot was concocted by Nancy Harding (Molly Lamont), who's been posing as the millionaire's long-lost daughter, and by a mysterious mastermind whose identity won't be revealed here. Preston S. Foster, as New York detective Tip O'Neil, solves the case. Based on the novel The Green Shadow, Muss 'Em Up was released in Britain as The House of Fate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama a high-school principal's principles are put to the test when he, also a member of a parole board, is given the ultimate power to decide whether his son, a brutal criminal is to be paroled. The others do not know about the inmate's relationship to their colleague and the son tries to use this to his advantage. Sure enough his blackmail works and the heartless crook is freed to go on an unparalleled crime spree with his moll until his father comes forth and gives him final justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this musical comedy, a strong-willed young woman hires a student to impersonate a boorish French count and brings him home to meet her parents. She wants him to be as appalling as possible so they will hate him and allow her to date the man she really loves who has recently been divorced. Romantic mayhem ensues as she finds herself really falling for the student. Songs include: "Cabin on a Hilltop" (Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby), "Let's Make a Wish," and "My Heart Wants to Dance" (Kalmar, Ruby, Sid Silvers). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This trio of comedy shorts includes How Comedies Are Born (1933), Dog Blight (1933) and Feather Your Nest (1944) with Edgar Kennedy. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi