Walter Woolf King Movies
American actor/singer Walter Woolf King was the son of a wholesale whisky salesman. Upon moving with his family to Salt Lake City, young King began singing in Mormon churches; leaving school after the death of his father, the boy decided to make singing his full-time avocation and headed for vaudeville with his friend, pianist Charles LeMaire (later an Oscar-winning costume designer). Making his Broadway bow in The Passing Show of 1919, King became a popular light baritone in several musical comedies and operettas of the '20s. He was then billed as Walter Woolf, but later switched to Walter King, until settling on his full three-barrelled name in the late '30s. King's first film was Warner Bros.' Golden Dawn (1930), but this starring moment was blighted by negative publicity about King's voice, over which the actor sued Warners. After a return to the stage in Music in the Air, King came back to films, though seldom as a star. Modern audiences know King best from his second-lead appearance in Laurel and Hardy's Swiss Miss (1938) and from his two Marx Brothers films, A Night at the Opera(1935) (in which he played villainous opera star Lassparri) and Go West (1940) (in which he was a villain again, albeit non-singing). Working with success in radio in the '40s, King was less lucky in films; he was reduced to B-pictures at such studios as Monogram and PRC, permitted to play leads only because the younger male stars had gone to war. Tired of his lackluster film career, King became an actor's agent in the late '40s, accepting only small, sometimes unbilled movie character roles for himself; he did however host a moderately popular 1950 TV talent show, Lights, Camera, Action. In the '60s, King, now greyer and stockier, found himself in demand for good supporting parts as stuffy corporate types, as in the 1968 Rosalind Russell picture Rosie. In the months just prior to his death, Walter Woolf King was seen around Hollywood in the company of Della Lind, who four decades earlier had played his wife in Swiss Miss (1938). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1953
Taxi stars Dan Dailey as Ed Nielson, a been-there-done-that Manhattan cabbie. Nagged by his mother (Blanche Yurka) to find himself a wife, Ed must also contend with a blood-sucking loan company, demanding huge payments for his cab. His life is further complicated when he falls in love with one of his fares: Mary, a young Irish immigrant (Constance Smith), freshly arrived in New York in search of her husband. The girl discovers that her hubby is a louse, but she's forced to stay with him lest she face deportation. Despite his own problems -- not to mention the huge cab fare that Mary's running up while searching for her husband -- Ed vows to rescue his new love from an ungovernable fate. Though running only 77 minutes, Taxi boasts no fewer than six screenwriting credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Constance Smith, (more)
Ethel Merman reprised her role as a socialite turned diplomat in this screen adaptation of Irving Berlin's hit Broadway musical. Sally Adams (Merman) has made it her business to know everyone worth knowing in Washington D.C., and her penchant for parties pays off when she's appointed United States Ambassador to Lichtenburg. Once she is installed in her new position, she falls in love with suave Foreign Minister Cosmo Constantine (George Sanders), while Princess Maria (Vera-Ellen) has her head turned by Sally's press attaché, Kenneth (Donand O'Connor). Call Me Madam is a showcase for Merman's roof-raising musical comedy style, and here she gets to sing a handful of Berlin tunes, including "You're Just In Love," "Can You Use Any Money Today?" and "Hostess With The Mostes' on the Ball." Vera-Ellen's singing was dubbed by Carol Richards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, (more)
- 1952
Stars and Stripes Forever is the highly fanciful filmed biography of "march king" John Philip Sousa. Clifton Webb does a fine job as Sousa, while Ruth Hussey is equally good in the less-demanding role of Sousa's wife. The problem faced by screenwriter Lamar Trotti (who adapted the film from Sousa's autobiography Marching Along) was that, outside of Sousa's early travails in organizing his own band after leaving the Marine Corps, there just wasn't much drama in the great composer's life. Thus, a secondary (and wholly fictional) romance involving young musician Willie (Robert Wagner) and ex-chorus girl Lily (Debra Paget) is given special emphasis. Willie invents the Sousaphone on behalf of his mentor, and upon returning from the Spanish American War minus one of his legs, Willie makes an inspirational solo appearance with the Sousa band. The best scenes include Sousa's ongoing efforts to break free from the "march king" onus and write romantic ballads, and Lily's high-kicking rendition of the music-hall ballad "Father's Got 'Em." When first telecast on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies in 1962, Stars and Stripes Forever was accompanied by a short newsreel clip of the real John Philip Sousa in action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, (more)
- 1943
Yanks Ahoy was the last of a series of Hal Roach "streamliners" teaming William Tracy as Sgt. Doubleday, he of the photographic memory, and Joe Sawyer as long-suffering Sgt. Ames. This time, our heroes are at sea, messing up the Navy with the same efficiency with which they screwed up the army. The climax finds Doubleday and Ames capturing a two-man Japanese submarine with a presumably very strong fishing line. James Finlayson, who a few decades earlier had been one of Hal Roach's top comedy stars, has a two-line bit as the ship's cook. Running 46 minutes, Yanks Ahoy has been released to TV in tandem with another Tracy-Sawyer streamliner, the 48-minute Fall In. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Tracy, Joe Sawyer, (more)
Short of funds to buy baseball uniforms, the East Side Kids are forced to go to work for their crooked ex-pal Hank (Gabriel Dell). When Hank's fugitive mentor Butch Brocalli (Max Rosenbloom) shows up to make trouble, gang member Danny (Bobby Jordan) is instrumental in Butch's arrest, earning a big reward in the process. Danny intends to suprise his pals by buying the uniforms himself, but Mugs (Leo Gorcey) wrongly assumes Danny wants to hoard all the money for himself. Mugs and the rest of the gang force Danny to turn over the dough, whereupon they buy a beat-up car. But when Danny is seriously injured by the escaping Brocalli, the kids offer to sell the car to pay for an operation. Kindly brain surgeon Dr. Ornsby (Walter Woolf King) sizes up the situation and straightens things out to the satisfaction of everyone. The East Side Kids are at their most contentious and least appealing in this second-rate entry, while Maxie Rosenbloom, usually a comic actor, is sorely miscast as the villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, (more)
PRC's A Yank in Libya is distinguished by some of the oldest, grainiest stock footage ever seen in a mid-1940s film. Once past this aesthetic obstacle, however, the film isn't too bad. Walter Woolf King heads the cast as American war correspondent Mike Malone, on assignment in a papier-mache facsimile of Libya. Malone helps to squash a Nazi scheme to attack a British garrison, earning the everlasting gratitude of heroine Nancy Brooks (Joan Woodbury) and British consol Herbert Forbes (H. B. Warner). Reasonably amusing comedy relief is provided by radio dialectician Parkayarkus, aka Harry Einstein (the father of present-day comic actors Albert Brooks and Bob Einstein). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- H.B. Warner, Walter Woolf King, (more)
Today I Hang has more going for it than most PRC Productions (including no fewer than two directors!), but in the end is laid low by chintzy production values. Walter Woolf King stars a jewelry salesman Jim O'Brien, who is framed for a murder he didn't commit. Martha Courtney (Mona Barrie), the murder victim's widow, believes in Jim's innocence and sets about to find the guilty party. The motivation for the killing is a stolen necklace, pilfered by Courtney's late husband (Harry Woods) and his unknown confederate. Despite the cheapness of their surroundings (one of the main sets has no front door, obliging the actors to make all their entrances and exits from a side door), Walter Woolf King and Mona Barrie deliver strong, credible performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Woolf King, Mona Barrie, (more)
For some reason or other, Melody for Three seems to be the most frequently revived of RKO Radio's "Dr. Christian." As ever, Jean Hersholt stars as Christian, kindly general practitioner of the town of River's End. In this one, Dr. Christian takes an avuncular interest in young Billy Stanley (Schuyler Standish), a violin prodigy. Soon thereafter, he dedicates himself to reuniting Billy's divorced parents, music teacher Mary Stanley (a standout performance by Fay Wray) and famed orchestra conductor Antoine Pirelle (Walter Woolf King). One can only wish that Real Life were as simple and clear-cut as the adventures of Dr. Christian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1940
The Marx Bros.' Go West was on the drawing boards as early as 1936, when MGM executive Irving Thalberg commissioned Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby to come up with a script in which the Marx boys get involved with a rodeo. The project was shelved in favor of A Day at the Races, then revived in late 1939, two years after Laurel and Hardy's Way Out West proved the commercial viability of comedy-Westerns. By this time, Kalmar and Ruby were no longer involved, and the script became virtually the sole responsibility of Irving Brecher, who'd previously penned the disappointing Marx vehicle At the Circus. If Go West is an improvement over Circus, it is probably because the Marxes were permitted to try out their material on tour before a variety of live audiences. Set in 1870, the story begins as S. Quentin Quayle (Groucho Marx) tries to raise enough money for a train ticket to the West. He spots a couple of likely pigeons, prospectors Rusty (Harpo Marx) and Joe (Chico Marx), and attempts to sucker them out of the required 500 dollars. In what turns out to be the film's funniest scene, Rusty and Joe turn the tables on Quayle, divesting him of everything he owns -- including his trousers. The plot then rears its ugly head as villains Beecher (Walter Woolf King) and Baxter (Robert H. Barrat) scheme to wrest a lucrative railroad contract from hero Terry Turner (John Carroll). Rusty and Joe make things easy for the bad guys by stupidly signing over a valuable gold mine deed which they were supposed to deliver to heroine Eve Wilson (Diana Lewis). With the help of Quayle, Rusty and Joe try to recover the deed, only to be sidetracked by a bevy of dance-hall girls. After several middling complications, the film boils down to a race between heroes and villains to register their bids and win the railroad contract. This requires Quayle, Rusty, and Joe to keep a locomotive in commission by chopping up the passenger cars for fuel, one of several Keatonesque sight gags packed into the film's hilarious finale. The opening and closing scenes of Go West are so good that one is willing to forgive and forget the dull romantic subplot and the misfire gags in the midsection. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, (more)
- 1939
In this romantic musical, a Russian prince sees a lovely singer in a town cafe and falls head-over-heels. Realizing that he cannot be seen with her in royal garb, he masquerades as a worker. Later he secretly arranges for her to sing at the Imperial Opera. Unfortunately, his father the emperor is wounded that night by the wicked Reds. The girl's father is among the would-be assassins. Years pass. Just before the dawn of WWII, the girl and her family are exiled to Siberia while the former prince heads for Paris to become a famous nightcub singer. When revolution erupts in Russia, the girl is freed and the lovers are eventually reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey, (more)
- 1939
When German director Joe May was working on such silent classics as The Indian Tomb and Asphalt, he probably never imagine that he'd one day wind up at Universal turning out something called Society Smugglers. Preston Foster stars as Treasury agent Sully, at present trying to break up a vicious smuggling ring. To this end, Sully assigns undercover agent Joan Martin (Irene Hervey) to go to work for gang boss Massey (Walter Woolf King). A bit more inventive than most films of its ilk, Society Smugglers contrives to have the crooks use a slogan contest and a trip-to-Europe first prize as part of their scheme. Featured in the cast is Regis Toomey, who halfway through the film performs another one of his patented death scenes (in "A" pictures, Toomey was generally bumped off in the first reel). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Irene Hervey, (more)
- 1939
A remake of Paul Leni's The Last Warning (1929), this "Crime Club" series entry once again presents the spectacle of an actor murdered in mid-performance and in front of a sellout crowd. This time the unfortunate thespian is John Wofford (Don Douglas), whose body subsequently disappears. To solve the mystery, police detective Arthur McHugh (William Gargan) goes undercover as a producer wishing to reassemble the original cast for a staging of the seemingly hexed play "Dangerous Currents." During rehearsal, the actor playing Wofford's old role, Carleton (Walter Woolf King), is found murdered and a series of threatening notes purportedly written by the dead actor continue to frighten the surviving cast and crew. Wofford's voice, heard over a disconnected telephone, adds to the terror, as does the actor's very dead body, which reappears behind a crumbling wall. But is the theater really haunted? And, if not, who is behind the strange goings-on and why? To learn the answers to these troubling questions, McHugh and his equally undercover wife, Gloria De Vere (Dorothy Arnold), must discover exactly how the original murder was committed. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Irene Hervey, (more)
- 1939
It was once said of actor Barton MacLane that he never spoke when shouting would do. Cast as the title character in Big Town Czar, MacLane is afforded plenty of opportunity for shouting, which he seizes with a vengeance. Working his way up from the tenements, Phil Carey (MacLane) is truly king of the the underworld. Not altogether evil, however, Carey uses a goodly portion of his ill-gotten gains to finance the college education of his beloved younger brother Danny (Tom Brown). But when Danny drops out of school to join the mob himself, Phil is aghast, having hoped to shield the kid from the exigencies of criminal life. It gets worse when Danny is killed during a gang war, which leads inexorably to Phil's own demise. According to the credits, Big Town Czar was based on a story by newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan, who appears in the film as himself (and he never once says "Rilly big shew"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barton MacLane, Tom Brown, (more)
- 1938
Not a remake of the 1932 Erich Von Stroheim film of the same name (which was ultimately released as Hello Sister), Walking Down Broadway owes more to the old Warner Bros. melodrama Three on a Match. The story concerns six Broadway chorus girls, who, when their latest show folds on New Years' Eve, make a pact to stage a reunion one year later. And what a year it is! Two of the girls die in accidents, one is framed on a manslaughter charge, and the other three land husbands, one of whom is fabulously wealthy. The most successful of the six is the group's "den mother" Joan Bradley (Clare Trevor), who not only finds the man of her dreams, but also achieves success in the business world. For the record, the other five girls are played by 20th Century-Fox contractees Phyllis Brooks, Leah Ray, Dixie Dunbar, Lynn Bari and Jayne Regan, who like their cinematic counterparts would have mixed success in their future careers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Phyllis Brooks, (more)
- 1938
- NR
American mousetrap salesmen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy journey to Switzerland, reasoning that where there's cheese, there's mice. When they innocently try to pay their dinner bill with phony money, Stan and Ollie are put to work in the kitchen of the Alpen Hotel. Their enforced stay coincides with the visit of famed composer Walter Woolf King, who has come to Switzerland to soak up "local color." He also hopes to write an operetta that will succeed on its own merits, without the lovely voice of his lovely actress wife Della Lynd winning over the audience. But Lynd is determined to star in King's latest opus, and to that end she finagles Stan and Ollie into getting her a job as a hotel chambermaid. As the plot rolls along its merry way, Ollie labors under the misapprehension that Lynd is in love with him. Swiss Miss is, on the whole, one of Laurel and Hardy's weaker feature films, with far too much emphasis on the romantic leads and way too many forgettable songs ("Crick Crick Crick Here the Cricket" is a particular low point). But the team's individual scenes save the show, even though Stan Laurel, who'd been ill during production, looks like he's about to fall asleep at any moment. Best bits: Stan hoodwinking a St. Bernard out of a cask of brandy; Ollie serenading Lynd while Stan accompanies him on tube; and the legendary sequence, immortalized by film critic James Agee, wherein Stan and Ollie try to transport a piano across a rope bridge high above an alpine chasm--only to confront a gorilla! One of the screenwriters of Swiss Miss was Jean Negulesco, later the director of such memorable films as Mask of Dmitrios, Three Strangers, Titanic and How to Marry a Millionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1937
Call It a Day is a Warner Bros. attempt at British light comedy. Nothing much happens of any consequence in this story of a day in the life of a typical middle-class London family, headed by accountant Ian Hunter. The husband is tempted by a seductress (Marcia Ralston), the wife (Freda Inescourt) tries but fails to have a "fling" herself, the daughter (Olivia De Havilland) throws herself at a married artist (Walter Woolf King), and all is set aright before the sun goes down. The film's funniest moments belong to droll Roland Young and sharp-tongued Alice Brady. Call it a Day was adapted from Dodie Smith's gossamer-thin stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Ian Hunter, (more)
- 1935
In their never-ending efforts to transform contract actress Pat Paterson a major star, Fox Studios cast the lovely lady opposite such established favorites as Lew Ayres in such frothy musicals as Lottery Lover. Ayres plays American naval cadet Frank Harrington, on vacation in Paris with several pals. Harrington and company all fall in love with gorgeous music-hall entertainer Gaby Aimee (Peggy Fears), but none of them have enough money to attract her attention. The boys decide to pool their financial resources, then hold a lottery to choose one of their number to "conquer" the delectable Gaby. Poor, unworldly Harrington is selected as the titular lottery lover, whereupon good-natured chorus gal Patty (Pat Paterson) offers to educate him in the ways of romance. Perhaps it doesn't need saying that Harrington and Patty will fall in love by fadeout time, while Gaby will simply have to content herself with someone else -- namely, the boys' commanding officer Captain Payne (Reginald Denny). Pat Paterson's rise to stardom ended shortly after Lottery Lover when she retired upon her marriage to movie heartthrob Charles Boyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Pat Paterson, (more)
Although some purists hold out for Duck Soup (1933), many Marx Brothers fans consider A Night at the Opera the team's best film. Immediately after the credits roll, we are introduced to Groucho Marx as penny-ante promoter Otis B. Driftwood. After a sumptuous dinner with a beautiful blonde at a fancy Milan restaurant, Driftwood tries to cadge another free meal from his wealthy patroness, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont). The dignified dowager complains that Driftwood had promised to get her into high society, but has done nothing so far. Otis B. counters by introducing Mrs. C to pompous opera entrepreneur Gottleib (Sig Rumann); all Mrs. Claypool has to do is invest several hundred thousand dollars in Gottleib's opera company, and her entree into society is in the bag. Contingent upon this plan is Driftwood's signing of Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King), a self-important tenor. Backstage at the opera, Driftwood meets Fiorello (Chico Marx), who poses as a manager and offers to sell Driftwood the "world's greatest tenor"-not Lassparri, as Driftwood assumes, but Fiorello's pal Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones). Instantly the two sharpsters try to draw up a contract ("The party of the first part shall hereafter be known as the party of the first part..."), which they proceed to tear up piece by piece whenever coming across a clause that displeases them (Driftwood: "That's a sanity clause"; Fiorello: "You no foola me. There ain't no Sanity Claus"). Having lost Lassparri to Gottleib, Driftwood sails back to America with Mrs. Claypool and the opera company. Gottleib arranges for Driftwood to get the tiniest, least accessible stateroom on the ship. Unpacking his trunk, Driftwood discovers that he's got to share his postage-stamp quarters with Ricardo Baroni, who has stowed away because he's in love with the opera troupe's leading lady Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Also hiding out in Driftwood's trunk is Fiorello, who's come along because he's still Ricardo's manager, and the wacky Tomasso (Harpo Marx), Lassparri's former dresser, who has come along for the hell of it. Anxious to arrange a tete-a-tete with Mrs. Claypool in his stateroom, Otis finds out that his unwelcome guests won't leave until they're fed ("Do you have any stewed prunes? Well, give them some black coffee, that'll sober 'em up"). After ordering a huge dinner, Otis and his new friends are crowded even farther by a steady stream of intruders, including an engineer and his assistant, a cleaning lady, a manicurist, a girl looking for her Aunt Minnie, and a dozen waiters. The celebrated "stateroom scene" comes to a rollicking conclusion when Mrs. Claypool has the misfortune of opening the door. On the last night of the voyage, Fiorello, Tomasso and Ricardo sneak out of their stateroom to enjoy an impromptu ethnic festival in steerage. Ricardo sings, Fiorello "shoots the keys" on the piano, and Tomasso plays the film's theme song Alone on the harp. The stowaways are caught and thrown in the brig, but with Driftwood's help they escape. To avoid recapture, the stowaways don heavy beards and pose as three famed Russian aviators. After making a shambles of a public reception, the three reprobates hide out in Driftwood's New York apartment, where everyone conspires to drive an investigating detective (Robert Emmet O'Connor) crazy. Driftwood is fired from the opera company for associating with the stowaways, while Rosa is dismissed for refusing Lassparri's affections. In order to restore Rosa's job and put the deserving Ricardo in Lassparri's place during the opening performance of La Traviata, Driftwood, Fiorello and Tomasso concoct a scheme that will reduce the opera to comic chaos. The actual night at the opera in A Night at the Opera must be seen to be believed, but the spirit of the scene can be summed up by Gottleib's anguished cry "A battleship in Il Trovatore!" Opera was the Marx Brothers' first film for MGM, and they dearly coveted a hit after the disappointing box-office showing of their final Paramount films. With the blessing of MGM production chief Irving Thalberg, the Marxes went on the road with their brilliant writing staff (including George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Al Boasberg) to test their comedy material before live audiences. As a result of this careful preplanning, Night at the Opera was a smash-hit gigglefest, grossing over $3 million and putting the Marxes back on top in the hearts and minds of filmgoers everywhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, (more)
- 1935
A rich, melancholy family adopts poor orphan Jane Withers who brightens their lives. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Withers, O.P. Heggie, (more)
- 1935
One More Spring is a laundered version of Robert Nathan's whimsical Depression-era novel. Left destitute by the Wall Street crash are an odd assortment of lost souls: Former antique dealer Otkar (Warner Baxter), concert violinist Rosenberg (Walter Woolf King) and unemployed actress Elizabeth (Janet Gaynor). Kindly Central Park street cleaner Sweeney (Roger Imhof) allows the threesome -- later a foursome when they're joined by suicidal banker Sheridan (Grant Mitchell) -- to live in an abandoned tool shed. Chastely, the three men and the girl survive a tough winter, remaining hopeful that things will be better in the Spring (as indeed they are!) At one point, Elizabeth manages to raise enough money for a week's worth of food, leading the men to conclude that she's taken to streetwalking. But, no, our heroine remains chaste and pure to the very end (in the novel, Elizabeth was a streetwalker, but that's another story). The most indelible image in One More Spring is the sight of Otkar and Rosenberg blithely roasting a tiny pigeon over an open fire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, (more)
- 1934
Looking for all the world like a 2-reel comedy bloated to 6-reel proportions, Embarrassing Moments was directed by Edward Laemmle, one of the many salaried relatives of avuncular Universal chieftain Carl Laemmle. Chester Morris plays Jerry Randolph, an inveterate and obnoxious practical joker. Things take a serious turn when it looks as though Jerry's latest prank has resulted in the death of his best friend. But the audience is way ahead of Jerry: the whole "tragedy" has been staged to teach the jolly jokester a lesson. Billed third in Embarrassing Moments is Broadway singing star Walter Woolf, who as Walter Woolf King enjoyed a lengthy career as a supporting actor in such films as The Marx Bros.' Night at the Opera and Laurel & Hardy's Swiss Miss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1933
In this comedy, a Tennessee lad, enrolled in art school wins a scholarship to paint in Paris. He is thrilled until he arrives and discovers that his style is hopelessly passe and is considered trashy. The enterprising artist immediately changes style and begins painting highly abstract moderns. His masterpiece wins an award and he becomes terribly popular. No one seems to notice that the beloved work is hanging upside down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1930
A failure of near epic proportions when first released and an unintentionally funny disaster today, this bizarre operetta almost single-handedly destroyed the musical genre for years to come. Vivienne Segal stars as Dawn, a white girl presumed to be born among the natives in what was once Dutch East Africa. Set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War I, Golden Dawn presents a truce between captors and captives who are facing a common danger: the threat of an uprising among the native African population. The threat becomes almost a certainty when young rubber planter Tom Allen (Walter Woolf King) spends a romantic night with Dawn. That doesn't sit well with Shep Keyes (Noah Beery), a native brute who covets Dawn, despite the fact that she is promised to the god Mulunghu. To quell an almost certain riot among the natives, Tom is sent home to England. The British soon recapture the area and Keyes demands that Dawn be sacrificed to the god Mulunghu to ward off a potentially calamitous drought. Tom, meanwhile, having learned that Dawn is indeed Caucasian, kidnapped by Mooda (Alice Gentle) in childhood and raised as her own, rushes back to the camp just in time to rescue the girl from the evil Keyes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivienne Segal, Noah Beery, Sr., (more)
