George Kotsonaros Movies

The vaudeville and Broadway comedy team of Eddie Dowling and Ray Dooley (husband and wife, despite Dooley's masculine moniker) star in the 1931 musical Honeymoon Lane. Based on Dowling's 1925 stage vehicle of the same name, the story is set in motion when the king (Armand Kaliz) of the mythical European nation of Bulgravia visits an American health resort. Hero Tim Dugan (Dowling) appoints himself the king's unofficial protector, saving him from the larcenous designs of crooked gambler Arnold Bookstein (Grant Whitlock). As Gerty Murphy, Ray Dooley attempts to repeat her trademarked "bratty kid" characterization for the screen, with variable results (Dooley was at the time in her mid-30s). Incidentally, Eddie Dowling later went "legit" as the director-star of the original 1944 production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director William Wyler made the move up to talking pictures with this blend of action and comedy. Dave Roberts (James Murray is a professional boxer who is better at losing conveniently than in knocking out is opponents. Dave's less-than-happy life on the margins begins to change when he meets and takes in an orphan, and as he learns to care for his new pal, he decides to turn the tables on the low-lifes who have been taking advantage of him. Once believed lost, The Shakedown was discovered and restored by the staff of the George Eastman House in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Wallace Beery appeared in this silent film with intertitles, a dark drama of hobo life. Jim (Richard Arlen), a wanderer, comes upon young Nancy (Louise Brooks), who has just killed the guardian who was trying to rape her. Disguised as a boy, she takes off with Jim and rides the rails to a hobo camp led by Arkansas Snake (Robert Perry). When Oklahoma Red (Beery) takes over the camp, he begins to pursue Nancy, but before he can take her from Jim, the detectives show up to arrest her. He engineers a daring escape that nearly kills them all, but allows Nancy and Jim to get away -- but Red is still interested in her, and still following them; as resourceful as ever, he steals a car and some girl's clothes for Nancy, to throw the police off the trail, and tries to convince Jim to light out on his own. When he sees how much they actually love each other, however, he suddenly decides to let them go. But Red knows that the police won't give up their pursuit of an accused murderer, unless they think she's dead -- and he plans one last, very risky ruse to get the detectives to walk away. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Street of Sin was the final American film of Scandinavian director Mauritz Stiller, whose inability to adapt to Hollywood (and vice versa) forced him to return to Sweden where he died, dispirited and disillusioned, not long after the release of this film. The story is set in the seamy Soho section of London, where burglar Basher Bill (Emil Jannings) shares bed and board with his sluttish girlfriend Annie (Olga Baclanova). As wicked as they come, Bill softens when he meets virtuous Salvation Army lass Elizabeth (Fay Wray). He helps her take care of a group of orphans, abandoned in the Army's care. The jealous Annie, assuming (correctly) that her boyfriend's interest in Elizabeth goes far beyond sympathy, betrays Bill to the cops. Mortally wounded in the climactic gun battle, Bill holds no grudge against Annie: in fact, as he breathes his last, he advises her to save her soul by joining the Salvation Army -- which she does! Since the film no longer exists, it is hard to tell whether Street of Sin was truly worthy of Stiller's talents; chances are, however, that Paramount heavily tampered with the film before its release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Setting the standard for his later light-hearted biopics The Private Life of Henry VIII and Rembrandt, producer-director Alexander Korda steadfastly refuses to take any of The Private Life of Helen of Troy seriously. Maria Corda, wife of the director, plays the title character as a fetchingly underdressed coquette, oblivious to all the political turmoil she's causing when she allows the handsome Paris (Ricardo Cortez) to kidnap her. Meanwhile, poor King Menelaus (Lewis Stone), Helen's husband, stands by in stoic silence, just as he's done on previous occasions when his wife succumbed to the charms of various sexy suitors (one of whom is played by future cowboy star "Wild Bill" Elliot). Finally galvanized into action, Menelaus reclaims his bride, who seems none the worse for wear for her experiences. Just in case the audience missed the fact that the film isn't meant to be taken seriously, the producers have inserted a number of wisecracking subtitles, juxtaposing stilted "ancient" prose with up-to-date slang. And during the film's New York engagement, the scene in which the Trojan Horse appears was accompanied by an orchestral rendition of Horses, Horses, Horses! The Private Life of Helen of Troy was supposed to have been based on a novel by John Erskine, but don't you believe it. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The silent Catch as Catch Can starts out as a baseball picture before wildly riding off in all directions at once. William Fairbanks (definitely no relation to Douglas) plays the manager of a small-town ballclub. When team member Larry Shannon is coerced into throwing a game by political boss Walter Shumway, Fairbanks, who is in love with Shannon's sister Rose Blossom allows himself to be accused of cheating. Thrown out of baseball, Fairbanks gets a job at a newspaper for the express purpose of exposing Shumway and his plugugly henchman George Kotsonaros. He not only accomplishes this, but saves the reputation of mayor Jack Blossom--who happens to be the father of his girl friend Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi