Louise Latimer Movies
- 1937
In this comedy drama (a remake of 1932's Ladies of the Jury), an apparently bubble-headed but mule-stubborn jurist is convinced of the defendant's innocence and refuses to change her verdict. Unlike the others, she listens to her own common sense and looks carefully at the facts and decides that there is no way the accused could have committed the murder. She then sets off with a fellow jurist and long-time pal to prove it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, (more)
- 1937
In this wartime drama, a young woman nearly comes unhinged when her husband, a Navy pilot, is transferred to Pearl Harbor on their wedding day. She goes with him. Once in Hawaii she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend sailing about in an expensive yacht. Her husband becomes totally engrossed in his work and begins neglecting her so it seems natural that she would go for a little sail with her ex-flame. When her husband learns about her philandering, he gets jealous and ends up crashing his plane in the harbor. As a result, he is court-martialed. His wife, sorry for her actions, defends him, gets him acquitted and never strays again. Marital bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Barrie, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1937
This action drama features John Wayne in an early, non western role. He plays a trucker who owns half of a small but increasingly successful trucking firm. When Duke's company begins stealing business away from LeRoy Mason's firm, Mason retaliates by engineering the violent death of Wayne's partner, Emerson Treacy. He falls in love with the head of the railroad shipping department. Unfortunately, the evil competitor murders the Duke's partner in a mysterious explosion. The Big Guy then joins forces with an even larger company and destroys Mason's business causing Mason to team up with a train magnate and plot his revenge. The film's highlight, is a cross country race between Duke's trucks and Mason's trains. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Louise Latimer, (more)
- 1936
Owen Davis Jr. plays Bunker Bean, a meek and mild office worker who loves the boss' daughter (Louise Latimer) from afar. Bunker impulsively visits a mystic, who gazes into a crystal ball and determines that Mr. Bean is the reincarnation of such past leaders of men as Napoleon and an Egyptian Pharaoh. Armed with new confidence, Bunker charges back into his office, gives his boss (Robert McWade) a piece of his mind, and becomes a hotshot businessman. Several reverses later, Bunker Bean realizes that he doesn't need to rely on his imaginary "past lives" to make good and to win the girl. Based on the novel by Harry Leon Wilson (and its stage adaptation by Lee Wilson Dodd), Bunker Bean was the third film version of this enjoyable "worm turns" fable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Davis, Jr., Louise Latimer, (more)
- 1936
In this crime drama a high-school principal's principles are put to the test when he, also a member of a parole board, is given the ultimate power to decide whether his son, a brutal criminal is to be paroled. The others do not know about the inmate's relationship to their colleague and the son tries to use this to his advantage. Sure enough his blackmail works and the heartless crook is freed to go on an unparalleled crime spree with his moll until his father comes forth and gives him final justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Bruce Cabot, (more)
- 1936
The Commodore (Fred Stone), an average man in an average small town, is incensed that killers and thieves are able to use legal loopholes to escape punishment. He mounts a civic crusade to bring a local gang of racketeers to justice and is aided in this endeavor by idealistic young reporter Steve (Owen Davis Jr.) -- who, fortuitously, is the sweetheart of the Commodore's granddaughter Edith (Louise Latimer). Steve and the Commodore do their job too well, and as a result end up in the gang's clutches. This 11th-hour injection of melodrama seems out of place in this otherwise leisurely programmer, but in the long run it works to the picture's benefit. Four screenwriters contributed to Grand Jury, including future Casablanca collaborator Philip G. Epstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Stone, Louise Latimer, (more)
- 1936
A horse and a dog share the same birthday in this exciting children's drama. Both are born in captivity, but end up escaping to the wilderness where they become close friends. Later when wolves attack a herd of wild horses, both team up to save them. Later they return to domesticity where the horse is trained to race. A wicked gambler attempts to stop the horse from winning. Fortunately, his pal the dog intervenes and the horse proves himself a champion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Arledge, Louise Latimer, (more)
- 1936
When Edna May Oliver decided to leave RKO Radio's "Hildegarde Withers" series, the studio came up with an unorthodox replacement in the form of the dry-witted Helen Broderick. Murder on a Bridle Path turned out to be Broderick's only appearance in the series, after which she was succeeded by ZaSu Pitts. The plot begins to thicken when flirtatious society bride Violet (Sheila Terry) is killed early one morn while riding her horse in New York's Central Park. Investigating the case is Inspector Piper (James Gleason), who once more is flustered by the well-intentioned interference of crime-solving schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers. The clues this time include a sinister ex-husband, a broken bicycle, and a phony prison pardon. As always, Hildegarde arrives at the solution before Piper does -- and, as always, nearly loses her own life in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Helen Broderick, (more)
- 1935
Dithery ZaSu Pitts is miscast as novelist Stuart Palmer's crime-solving schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers in The Plot Thickens. As usual, Hildegarde tries to figure out the connection between two ostensibly unrelated murders. The unifying factor turns out to be a priceless museum artifact, targeted for pilfering by a gang of international art thieves. James Gleason, a holdover from RKO Radio's previous Hildegarde Withers films with Edna May Oliver and Helen Broderick, is back as Hildegarde's friendly nemesis, Inspector Oscar Piper. The Plot Thickens was released in Great Britain as The Swinging Pearl Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, (more)
- 1934
In this melodrama, a devoted father begins feeling unappreciated at home and so embarks upon a clandestine friendship with a former employee. The children see them together and assume it's an affair. They beg him to end the relationship. Later the woman herself talks to the kids, assuring them that the friendship is platonic and chiding them gently on their thoughtless behavior towards their dad. In the end, the family reconciles and the woman goes on with her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Morgan, Binnie Barnes, (more)
