Scott Kolk Movies
One of the many young Broadway actors heading for Hollywood after the changeover to sound, Scott Kolk began his screen career as Walter Kolk (his birth name) and ended it in the late 1930s as Scott Colton. In between, Kolk played Leer, one of the young soldiers in Universal's award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Great hopes for stardom were in the offing but Universal was no star-maker and Kolk's career fell somewhat short of expectations. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Supporting actor Scott Kolk was elevated to playing the title role in this Graustarkian spy thriller, serialized in 12 chapters by Universal. Reportedly based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett, the serial featured an American secret agent assigned to recover the crown jewels of Belgravia. Agent X-9 is assisted in his quest by Shara Graustark (Jean Rogers) and opposed by a master criminal known as Blackstone (Henry Brandon). A Universal contract player, Scott Kolk had played Leer, one of the young German soldiers-turned-cannon fodder in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), but stardom had eluded him. A name change to Scott Colton didn't do the trick either, and he left films in 1938. Leading lady Jean Rogers, on the other hand, had played Dale Arden in Flash Gordon (1936) and has become a serial icon. Universal used the title Secret Agent X-9 again in 1945, but with a different setting and plot. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Kolk, Jean Rogers, (more)
- 1931
In all three of her 1931-32 movie vehicles, Tallulah Bankhead played variations of that familiar soap opera standby, the Fallen Woman. My Sin casts Bankhead as a college-educated nightclub entertainer named Carlotta, working in a seedy dive in Panama. Tormented by her blackmailing husband, she shoots and kills the bounder then finds that no self-respecting attorney will take her case. Fortunately for her, alcoholic lawyer Dick Grady (Fredric March) has no respect for himself, and it is he who agrees to defend her in court. Acquitted of murder, Carlotta heads to New York to start life anew, only to have her unsavory past catch up with her again. Once more, however, she is rescued by Grady, who has sworn off booze and metamorphosed into a pillar of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tallulah Bankhead, Fredric March, (more)
- 1930
William Powell stars in this drama as William Foster, a gifted defense attorney with a gift for making cases go his way. Foster's winning record in the courtroom has earned him a colorful clientele, including several notorious criminals, but he doubts his abilities when his girlfriend Irene Manners (Kay Francis) is charged with manslaughter after a violent incident which occurred while she was drinking. Wanting to protect Irene, Foster tries to pull a few strings, but the results find Foster facing a five year sentence for jury tampering. While Foster certainly doesn't want to be separated from the woman he loves, he also knows that in prison he'll have to face several former clients whose defense didn't pan out. For The Defense was based in part on the true story of William Fallon, a well-known attorney of the day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Kay Francis, (more)
One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction -- and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II. The Road Back (1937) followed, and the film was remade for television in 1979. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, (more)
- 1930
Filmed in 1929 and released early in 1930, Dynamite was Cecil B. DeMille's first all-talking feature. As one observer has noted, this 128-minute opus has enough plots for seven pictures. The basic storyline here involves spoiled heiress Cynthia Crothers (Kay Johnson) who will lose her fortune if she isn't married right away. Her love Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel) isn't interested in marriage, so Crothers decides to wed convicted murderer Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford). Her plan: Derk will die, then she'll be a millionaire, free to chase after Towne without benefit of clergy. Unfortunately for Crothers, Derk is pardoned at the last minute when the real killer (Leslie Fenton) confesses. Crothers tries to drive Derk out of her life by humiliating him at a fancy party, only to discover that the conditions of her inheritance require that she live with her husband for a set period of time. She swallows her pride and heads for Derk's home town, a grimy mining village. Touched by Crother's inept efforts to keep house and cook dinner, Derk eventually falls in love with her--though he makes it clear that he wants no part of her money. Crothers, in turn, falls genuinely in love with her brutish but basically decent husband. It must needs be that fortune-hunting Towne arrives in the mining village, leading to a powerful climax wherein Derk, Crothers and Towne are trapped in a mine cave-in. Though the dialogue is occasionally quite silly (after the killer commits suicide in a crowded restaurant, one of the patrons is heard to complain "It's ruined my dinner!") and the performances overripe at times, Dynamite actually holds up better than you'd expect. DeMilles' utilization of sound is both innovative and imaginative, especially during the noisy climactic sequences. The film was a success, paving the way for DeMilles' camp classic Madame Satan (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Kay Johnson, (more)
- 1929
Laura La Plante starred in this early sound comedy-drama about a girl who leaves her lawyer husband to study painting in Paris. Meanwhile the husband (Scott Kolk) is persuaded by femme fatale Mildred Van Dorn to file for divorce. But in Paris, Kolk discovers that he still loves Laura. After a few misunderstandings are ironed out, Van Dorn is discredited, and husband and wife embark on a second honeymoon. Universal's top comedian in the late 1920s, Laura La Plante made close to 20 talking pictures between 1929 and 1931. Something indefinable was lost in the transition, however, and today she is considered a victim of sound. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura La Plante, Scott Kolk, (more)
- 1929
Marion Davies made her talkie debut in this early musical romance set during World War I. Marianne (Davies is a beautiful French girl who is engaged to marry a soldier fighting on the front. However, she soon attracts the attentions of Pvt. Stagg (Lawrence Gray), an American soldier fighting in France. Marianne is infatuated with the dashing Yank, yet remains faithful to her intended. But when her fiancé returns from the war blind and embittered, Marianne wonders if she might have been better off with Stagg. Marianne also features Cliff Edwards (also known as Ukulele Ike), Benny Rubin, and George Baxter; Arthur Freed, later a top producer of musicals at MGM, co-wrote the song "Blondy" that is sung by Lawrence Gray in the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, Cliff Edwards, (more)
