Guy Kibbee Movies
It is possible that when actor Guy Kibbee portrayed newspaper editor Webb in the 1940 film version of Our Town, he harked back to his own father's experiences as a news journalist. The cherubic, pop-eyed Kibbee first performed on Mississippi riverboats as a teenager, then matriculated to the legitimate stage. The 1930 Broadway play Torch Song was the production that brought Kibbee the Hollywood offers. From 1931 onward, Kibbee was one of the mainstays of the Warner Bros. stock companies, specializing in dumb politicos (The Dark Horse [1932]), sugar daddies (42nd Street [1933]) and the occasional straight, near-heroic role (Captain Blood [1935]). In 1934, Kibbee enjoyed one of his rare leading roles, essaying the title character in Babbitt (1934), a role he seemed born to play. During the 1940s, Kibbee headlined the Scattergood Baines B-picture series at RKO. He retired in 1949, after completing his scenes in John Ford's Three Godfathers. Kibbee was the brother of small-part play Milton Kibbee, and the father of Charles Kibbee, City University of New York chancellor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1931
The delightful Winnie Lightner was afforded her own movie vehicle in Side Show. Lightner stars as Pat, one of several members of a traveling carnival troupe managed by the eternally besotted Colonel Gowdy (Guy Kibbee). A Jill-of-all-trades, Pat does everything from high-diving to hula dancing, with time left over for a romance with meek-and-mild Sidney (Charles Butterworth), a man incapable of uttering an intelligent remark. There are moments of melodrama and pathos -- especially when Pat tries to save her younger sister, Irene (Evelyn Knapp), from a lecherous carny barker -- but comedy predominates throughout, culminating in a slapstick big-top finale. Unseen for many years, Side Show was resuscitated in the early '90s by the Turner Classic Movies cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winnie Lightner, Charles Butterworth, (more)
- 1931
The Kenyon Nicholson play Torch Song was the source for the Joan Crawford vehicle Laughing Sinners. Crawford plays nightclub entertainer Ivy Stevens, who loses her zest for living when she's thrown over by her salesman sweetheart Howard Palmer (Neil Hamilton). At her lowest ebb, Ivy is befriended by Salvation Army captain Carl Loomis (yes, that's Clark Gable!). With her faith in God and Mankind renewed, Ivy becomes an "urban missionary," singing on street corners with Loomis and his flock. Alas, she falls from grace when she rekindles her romance with the now-married Howard. The conscience-stricken Ivy quits the Salvation Army, insisting that she's no longer worthy of the organization. But rather than accept her resignation, Carl turns in his uniform and collection plate and pledges eternal devotion to Ivy! And this all happens in a swift 71 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Neil Hamilton, (more)
- 1931
Blonde Crazy describes the perpetual mental state of James Cagney. A conniving bellhop, Cagney increases his bank account by using his blonde girlfriend Joan Blondell as a come-on to various "sugar daddies" whom he suckers out of their hard-earned cash. When the pair try their con game in New York, they fall victim to sharpster Louis Calhern. Angry that Cagney has lost their money, Blondell marries straight-arrow Ray Milland. Cagney tries to get back the dough by committing a holdup, and is promptly arrested. Blondell, realizing that Cagney has landed in jail because of her, throws over her husband and vows to wait for Cagney. As amoral as a bagful of alley cats, Blonde Crazy is good dirty fun from Hollywood's randy pre-code era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1931
Officially released as The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, this William Haines vehicle was snappily adapted by Charles MacArthur from the "Wallingford" short stories by George Randolph Chester. Haines of course plays the title character, a breezy con artist in league with personable pickpocket Schnozzle (who else but Jimmy Durante?) After fleecing a tourist for $25,000, Wallingford realizes that he's been swindled when the tourist's check turns out to be of rubber consistency. Just one step ahead of the law, Wallingford and Schnozzle settle in a small town, where they rescue the family of heroine Dorothy (Leila Hyams) from bankruptcy and foreclosure. Even William Haines must have been aware that the picture was effortlessly stolen by Jimmy Durante, whose second film this was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Haines, Jimmy Durante, (more)
- 1931
Never one to hide his talent under a bushel basket, director Rouben Mamoulien proudly proclaimed that, while there were ten killings in his 1931 gangster drama City Streets, the audience never sees any of them. This was not the only innovation in this fascinating early talkie, in which straight-arrow movie hero Gary Cooper is cast as a racketeer known only as The Kid. He has chosen a life of crime out of love for Nan (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of mob henchman Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee). Eventually railroaded into prison by her crooked cohorts, Nan implores The Kid to give up the rackets, but he refuses. Things go downhill very rapidly after that, culminating with The Kid and Nan being taken "for a ride" by rival thugs. Cast in a role originally intended for Clara Bow, Sylvia Sidney does a magnificent job and was soon typecast as a downtrodden Depression victim, born with two strikes against her. Conversely, Gary Cooper never again played anything quite like "The Kid." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
- 1931
Flying High was a nonsensical Broadway musical hit of 1930 starring Bert Lahr. The film version, made one year later by MGM, made a few efforts to "cinematize" the stage original, but the focus was on Lahr, re-creating his Broadway performance virtually verbatim -- except for his famous (and notorious) gag sequence involving a urinalysis! Lahr plays the goofy inventor of an "aerocopter" flying machine, who is compelled to prove the efficiency of his invention in a slapstick cross-country airmail delivery race. While Lahr's original Broadway co-star Kate Smith does not appear in the film, he was more than amply matched comedically by Charlotte Greenwood. The musical numbers for Flying High were choreographed by Busby Berkeley; one of his more engaging routines was later excerpted for the 1934 Ted Healy/Three Stooges two-reeler Plane Nuts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Lahr, Charlotte Greenwood, (more)
- 1931
Nancy Carroll's popularity enabled her to survive the melodramatic excesses of Stolen Heaven with little if any damage to her career. Carroll plays Mary, the streetwalker sweetheart of born-loser Joe (Phillips Holmes). Engineering a $20,000 robbery, Mary and Joe draw up a pact to spend all the money foolishly and then commit suicide. But as time passes, they decide that they might as well live. Joe confesses to the robbery and willingly marches off to jail, secure in the understanding that Mary will await his return. Louis Calhern makes an excellent first impression as the film's nominal villain, only to completely disappear from view in the final scenes. The 1938 musical drama Stolen Heaven is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, (more)
- 1931
Still in his "sophisticated cad" period, William Powell essays the title role in Man of the World. Powell plays a smooth extortionist who preys upon wayfaring Americans in Paris. He woos lonely wives and wives-to-be, then threatens them with blackmail unless they sustain his lifestyle. One of his potential victims is Carole Lombard, with whom Powell (much against his better judgment) falls in love. Powell's vituperative mistress (Wynne Gibson) won't let her lover off the hook, and heads for the police. To avoid arrest, Powell reluctantly sends Lombard back to her fiancee--and then presumably picks up his racket where he left off. In real life, William Powell and Carole Lombard became husband and wife shortly after filming Man of the World. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Carole Lombard, (more)
