Noble Johnson Movies

RKO Radio's A Game of Death was the first official remake of Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game, given a contemporary WW2 twist. Novelist Rainsford (John Loder) and brother-and-sister shipwreck victims Ellen (Audrey Long) and Robert (Russell Wade) are among the innocents stranded on remote island at the mercy of Nazi madman Krieger (Edgar Barrier). Fancying himself a sportsman, Krieger offers his captives an hour's head start before he begins hunting them down like animals. The by-now-familiar plotline is not as compelling as in the original 1932 version of Most Dangerous Game or the 1956 Mexican-based remake (Run for the Sun), thanks to the pedestrian acting of everyone except Edgar Barrier. Still, Robert Wise imbues the story with plenty of tension, especially in the closing reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adventure was an appropriate title for a book by Jack London, and when his tale of the South Seas was made into a film, the virile Victor Fleming was the right man to direct it. David Shelton, a plantation owner (Tom Moore), is faced with ruin because some of his native workers are sick and the healthy ones are about to revolt. Morgan (Wallace Beery) and Baff (Raymond Hatton), a pair of crooked money lenders, are about to foreclose when Shelton falls ill with fever. Joan Lackland, a female soldier of fortune (Pauline Starke), shows up (with her Hawaiian bodyguards, no less) to save the day. She nurses him back to health while her bodyguards get the natives under control. Joan turns down Sheldon's offer of marriage, but she reconsiders when he rescues her from a trap that Morgan and Baff have set for her. Twenty years later, Fleming made another film by the same name starring Clark Gable. That picture, however, was not based on the Jack London book, but on The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, Paul Muni plays a recently murdered gangster who finds himself roasting in Hell. Muni can't believe that he's in for All Eternity and keeps trying to "bust out," which brings him to the attention of the Head Man (Claude Rains), who calls himself Nick. Nick strikes a bargain with Muni: There's a troublesome honest judge on Earth who's been shipping too many souls to Hell; if Muni will take over the judge's body and begin performing bad deeds, Nick will set him free. Muni readily agrees, eager to settle the score with the ex-partner (Hardie Albright) who bumped him off. Once he "becomes" the judge, however, Muni discovers that he is utterly incapable of performing any misdeeds--and when he falls in love with the judge's fiancee (Anne Baxter), Muni becomes determined to wriggle out of his agreement. Angel on My Shoulder is based on a story by Harry Segall, whose previous play Heaven Can Wait was filmed as Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also with Claude Rains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced in Hollywood by Herbert Wilcox, who had been unable to obtain sound equipment in London, this "haunted house" (actually "haunted houseboat") mystery-thriller was nevertheless Great Britain's first "all-talkie." John Loder, the only Englishman involved besides Wilcox, and Mary Brian find themselves invited on board a mysterious, fog-bound houseboat. Soon, several of their fellow passengers fall victim to a disguised madman, who proves to be none other than their host, the Reverend Eph Kelly (veteran matinee idol James Kirkwood). Written by John Willard, the author of the classic The Cat and the Canary, and featuring innovative dialogue scenes, Black Waters ultimately suffered in comparison with Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail (1930), the first "all-talkie" filmed entirely in England. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Carnival barker Spencer Tracy befriends elderly concessionaire Henry B. Walthall, who owns a picturesque but stodgy display depicting Dante's Inferno. Walthall is more interested in the spiritual aspects of Man's fascination with Hell, but Tracy uses hoopla and exaggeration to get the suckers into the Inferno. His interest isn't altruistic; Tracy is enamored of Walthall's niece, Claire Trevor. Through his publicity savvy, Tracy builds the Inferno into a major attraction, complete with full orchestra and scantily clad "devil girls". He also buys up the rest of the carnival, using cold-blooded tactics that result in the suicide of a fellow concessionaire. Within five years, Tracy is a millionaire tycoon of the Entertainment industry. While loved by his wife (Trevor) and son (Scotty Beckett), Tracy conducts his business ruthlessly, bribing a city official to look the other way regarding structural defects in his Inferno display. When this duplicity results in a disastrous accident at the exhibit, the bribed official kills himself. Tracy is exonerated thanks to legal chicanery, but his wife is fed up; she walks out on him, taking their son along. Injured in the accident, Inferno creator H. B. Walthall warns Tracy of the pitfalls of success, using an illustrated edition of Dante to make his point. For nearly ten minutes, the movie audience is treated to a lavish depiction of Hell, magnificently photographed by Rudolph Mate. When the plot resumes, Tracy is on hand for his latest venture, a sumptuous gambling ship. Thanks to the drunken negligence of the crew, the ship catches fire, and it is only upon learning that his son has sneaked aboard that Tracy realizes the consequences of his greed. Tracy labors heroically to rescue the passengers--and, incidentally, to atone for his past sins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Ford directed this outdoor adventure set in the American Colonial period. Gilbert and Lana Martin (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) are a young couple trying to make a home in New York State's Mohawk Valley, but repeated attacks by Indians drive them, along with other settlers in the valley, into a nearby fort, where they watch helplessly as the natives lay waste to their farms and cabins. A spinster with a large farm, Sarah McKlennar (Edna May Oliver), comes to their rescue when she hires Gilbert to work as a field hand and gives the Martins a place to stay. The rugged life of the farm and frontier doesn't always sit well with Lana, who was raised in wealthy and comfortable circumstances; in time she develops a thicker skin and learns to love their new life in the Mohawk Valley, especially after giving birth to their first son. Gilbert joins the militia, who must do battle both with the local Indian tribes and the British soldiers who are provoking them to battle. Gilbert returns wounded, and as he recuperates, a healthy crop rises in the fields, but their satisfaction is short lived when the Indians once again hit the warpath. 1939 was a stellar year for John Ford; along with this highly successful adventure tale, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, Ford also released the ground-breaking western Stagecoach. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the most frequently telecast films of the 1950s and 1960s, East of Borneo stars Rose Hobart as Linda, the wife of African missionary Dr. Clark (Charles Bickford). Feeling stifled by her unfamiliar surroundings, Linda is further isolated from civilization when her husband runs off into the jungle, believing that his wife has been unfaithful. With grim determination, our heroine heads into the wilds herself in search of Clark, braving all manner of marauding wildlife and human predators. When she finally catches up with her husband, she finds he's been living in comparative luxury as court physician of the Prince of Marudu (Georges Renavent). The End? Not quite -- we've still got a volcano in the offing! East of Borneo achieved latter-day fame when an avant-garde filmmaker got hold of a print of the film, spliced together all of the leading lady's close-ups, and came up with a surrealistic exercise titled Rose Hobart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This amusing film is an absurd blend of two genres popular in the late 1910's -- the western and the mythical kingdom adventure. Jack Mulhall plays Jim, an Arizona cowboy who, along with his college-bred Indian pal (Noble Johnson), strike gold. With their newfound wealth they decide to go to Europe and happen upon the aforementioned mythical kingdom. Jim climbs over the wall to the Queen's palace -- he's never seen a queen before. In fact, he doesn't recognize her (Ruth Stonehouse) when he sees her, but he does fall instantly in love. The Queen, Sylvia, tells him she must marry the dissipated King Ferdinand (Jean Hersholt), who rules the neighboring kingdom; if she doesn't there will be war. Jim and the Indian take at look at the King's forces and tells Queen Sylvia that they're a sorry bunch. He knows a group of rough riders who fought in the Spanish War who could whup them. So Jim sends for his buddies and they vanquish the King's forces, enabling the Queen to marry the cowboy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Frontier Pony Express is a fast-paced Roy Rogers program western which could stand up on its own with any big-budgeted "A" picture. Per the title, Rogers plays an express rider, working the California-to-Kansas City route. While the Civil War rages in the East, our hero must contend with Yankee and Rebel forces who've encroached upon his home turf, both trying to win California over to their side. Meanwhile, businessman Lassiter (Edward Keane), ostensibly on the Confederate side, is actually a mercenary who hopes to play one army against the other so that he can move in and take over the territory himself. There's an awful lot of plot in this 58-minute oater, but Roy Rogers still finds time to serenade leading lady Mary Hart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sophisticated, silk-hatted silent-film comedian Raymond Griffith had at least one classic in him, and Hands Up was that film. Griffith plays a Southern spy during the Civil War, sent West to retrieve a vital gold shipment. Along the way, he meets boisterous Mack Swain (who was nearly booted from the film because the vainglorious Griffith felt he was "too goddamned funny") and falls in love with both of Swain's pretty daughters (Marian Nixon, Virginia Lee Corbin). After the Civil War angle has been eliminated from the proceedings, Griffith must rescue Swain and his daughters from a band of Indians. This, however, does not solve the basic dilemma: how can Griffith marry two women, both of whom he loves with equal fervor? The answer (curiously missing from many available prints of this film) is to head to Salt Lake City, the polygamy capitol of America. Though Griffith never displays an emotion nor outwardly elicits audience sympathy throughout Hands Up, we're pulling for him all the way, eagerly anticipating his every move. Best bit: Griffith, facing a firing squad comprised of the best skeet-shooters in the region, blithely throws a plate into the air--whereupon the squad instinctively takes aim at the plate, allowing Our Hero to escape! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 12-episode serial stars Herman Brix as Kioga, a young man who is raised by natives after wrecking his ship on a remote island. He eventually has to protect his land from invading pirates. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Juarez was originally designed to concentrate almost exclusively on the tragedy of Hapsburg Emperor Maximillian, whose attempts to establish a puppet government in Mexico on behalf of Napoleon III ended in disaster and death. But when Paul Muni decided that he wanted to play Zapotec-Indian-turned-Mexican President Benito Pablo Juarez, the film's emphasis perceptibly shifted -- and Bette Davis, cast as Empress Carlotta, was shunted to second billing rather than first. Muni's makeup and costuming convincingly transforms him into Juarez incarnate. But unlike his other historical impersonations (Pasteur, Zola), Muni's Juarez is a one-note characterization: stoic, uncompromising, and v-e-e-r-y slow of speech. Far more exciting dramatically is Bette Davis as Empress Carlotta, whose highly stylized descent into madness is a tour de force both for the actress and for director William Dieterle. Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard, as Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, in essence repeat their diabolical characterizations from Anthony Adverse (1936), while John Garfield is singularly miscast as Pofirio Diaz. The best performance is delivered by Brian Aherne, whose kindly, honorable Emperor Maximillian is less a despot than a misguided political pawn. When Aherne, about to be executed at Juarez' orders, requests that his favorite Mexican song "La Paloma" be played as he is led before the firing squad, audience sympathies are 100% in Maximilian's corner--which was not quite what the filmmakers intended. Based largely on Bertita Harding's book The Phantom Crown (the film's original title), Juarez takes every available opportunity to parallel its title character's fight against foreign intervention with the then-current European situation. To protect their investment in Juarez Warner Bros. purchased outright a like-vintage Mexican film on the same subject, The Mad Empress, suppressing the latter film's release in the United States. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?" Enticed by these words, brunette leading lady Fay Wray dyed her hair blonde and accepted the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong -- and stayed with the project even after learning that her "leading man" was a 50-foot ape. The film introduces us to flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), who sails off to parts unknown to film his latest epic with leading lady Darrow in tow. Disembarking at Skull Island, they stumble on a ceremony in which the native dancers circle around a terrified-looking young girl, chanting, "Kong! Kong!" The chief (Noble Johnson) and witch doctor (Steve Clemente) spot Denham and company and order them to leave. But upon seeing Ann, the chief offers to buy the "golden woman" to serve as the "bride of Kong." Denham refuses, and he and the others beat a hasty retreat to their ship. Late that night, a party of native warriors sneak on board the ship and kidnap Ann. They strap her to a huge sacrificial altar just outside the gate, then summon Kong, who winds up saving Ann instead of devouring her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York, where he breaks loose on the night of his Broadway premiere, thinking that his beloved Ann is being hurt by the reporters' flash bulbs. Now at large in New York, Kong searches high and low for Ann (in another long-censored scene, he plucks a woman from her high-rise apartment, then drops her to her death when he realizes she isn't the girl he's looking for). After proving his devotion by wrecking an elevated train, Kong winds up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide