Paul Lukas Movies
Lukas trained for the stage at the Hungarian Actors Academy, and in 1916 he debuted on the Budapest stage. He soon became a local matinee idol, having appeared in many plays and films. He became well-known throughout Central Europe, and Max Reinhardt had him guest-star in Berlin and Vienna productions in the '20s. In 1927 Adolph Zukor brought him to the U.S., and from 1928 he made his career playing Continental Europeans in Hollywood films. At first he portrayed smooth, suave seducers; as age caught up with him he moved into villainous roles, and often played Nazis. His greatest acting triumph, however, came in an anti-Nazi role -- one of his few sympathetic parts at the time -- in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine on Broadway (1941); he reprised the role in the play's film version (1943), for which he won the Best Actor Oscar and New York Film Critics Award. He continued appearing in occasional films throughout the rest of his life, usually playing sympathetic old men. ~ All Movie Guide- 1930
After briefly relinquishing the role to Basil Rathbone, William Powell was back as S. S. Van Dine's amateur detective Philo Vance in The Benson Murder Case. Keeping abreast of the times, the film uses the 1929 Stock Market Crash as a plot motivator. Crooked stockbroker Anthony Benson (Richard Tucker) betrays several of his clients for his own gain then retreats to the safety of his palatial hunting lodge. It isn't long before Benson turns up dead, obliging his house guest Philo Vance to wade through the myriad of suspects. Among the likely culprits is gigolo Adolph Mohler, played by Paul Lukas, who would himself essay the role of Philo Vance in 1935's Casino Murder Case. The Benson Murder Case brought the Philo Vance series to a temporary close; it would be three years before Vance, again impersonated by William Powell, appeared on-screen in The Kennel Murder Case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Natalie Moorhead, (more)
- 1930
George Cukor received his first film directorial credit for Grumpy, though he was contractually bound to share billing with Broadway director Cyril Gardner. Cyril Maude recreates his stage role as a cranky retired lawyer with the requisite 14-carat heart. The lawyer's daughter (Frances Dade) has a boyfriend who is accused of stealing a valuable diamond. Setting his nightcap and pacing around his living room in his pajamas, "Grumpy" solves the case. Adapted from the play by Horace Hodges and Thomas Percival, Grumpy was previously filmed in 1923 with Theodore Roberts in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cyril Maude, Phillips Holmes, (more)
- 1930
Nancy Carroll brings a touch of freshness to the well-worn plot convolutions of Devil's Holiday. Ms. Carroll plays a manicurist who woos and weds wealthy Phillips Holmes. She tells herself that she harbors no mercenary notions, but when Holmes' family offers to buy her off if she'll leave, Carroll accepts the offer. The girl's basic loyalty surfaces when Holmes goes temporarily insane; Carroll reneges on her cash deal with the family and returns to her husband. Devil's Holiday is one of those class-conscious early 1930s pictures that always scored a hit with middle-class filmgoers, who liked to believe that they, too, would behave as altruistically as Nancy Carroll if given the chance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, (more)
- 1930
In this sassy romantic comedy, Clive Brook plays Neil Dunlap, a lawyer who is heartbroken when his wife leaves him. Neil is out drowning his sorrows when he meets Pansy Gray (Ruth Chatterton), a high-spirited chorus girl. Neil and Pansy hit the town, and a brutally hung-over Neil wakes up the next day to discover that he and Patsy are now man and wife. Neil's immediate reaction is that he's made a horrible mistake, but he finds Pansy so sweet, and she seems to taken with him, that he doesn't have the heart to tell her he wants a divorce. Against the advice of family and friends, Neil tries to make the marriage work, and he struggles to remodel Pansy into a respectable lady. Anybody's Woman was directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of Hollywood's first (and only) successful female directors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1930
Aerial photography highlights this early sound actioner, set during World War I. Lt. Robert Banks (Charles "Buddy" Rogers), an American flier on leave in Paris, meets fellow American Mary Gordon (Jean Arthur) and the two fall in love. In combat, Banks makes a captive of Von Baden (Paul Lukas), the notorious "Grey Eagle." He brings Von Baden to Army headquarters, but there he is drugged by Mary, and she and Von Baden disappear. Eventually Banks discovers that Mary is an American counterintelligence agent, on a mission from the government. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1929
In this murder mystery, set in a carnival, a performer loses her boyfriend, a trapeze artist, when his partner "accidently" misses him during an aerial act. The young woman knows full well that the jealous partner deliberately missed him, but she is afraid so she jumps aboard a train and flees from the carnival. On board she meets a man with whom she becomes good friends. She does not know that he too, is an aerialist en route to her former carnival where he is to replace her lover. She returns with him, and together they expose the murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Arthur, Paul Lukas, (more)
- 1929
The disastrous 1929 Stock Market crash was still several months in the future when Wolf of Wall Street made its screen debut. George Bancroft stars as ruthless stock manipulator Jim Bradford, who plays his customers for suckers and laughs all the way to the bank. Cornering the copper market at the expense of his hated rival David Tyler (Paul Lukas), Bradford taunts Tyler in public, prompting the latter to plan a sweet revenge. Tyler inaugurates an affair with Bradford's status-seeking wife Olga (Olga Baclanova), which indiscretion is witnessed by the Bradford's maid Gert (Nancy Carroll). Armed with plenty of "inside information," Gert decides to get on the Wall Street gravy train by talking her boyfriend Frank (Arthur Rankin) into investing in copper futures. Alas, things don't go as planned, and soon the impoverished Frank is embezzling from his boss to cover his losses. When Frank is thrown in jail, Gert confronts Bradford, blaming him for Frank's plight. Bradford laughs in her face, whereupon Gert angrily spills the beans about Olga and Tyler. Instead of buying a gun, Bradford handles his wife's infidelity in characteristic fashion by financially ruining Olga, Tyler, and himself. This last bit of stock manipulation has the salutary effect of making Gert and Frank millionaires, which pleases the inscrutable Bradford, who now has ample reason to laugh at himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olga Baclanova, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1929
Carlee Thorpe (Buddy Rogers) and Claire Jernigan (Nancy Carol) enjoy considerable success with their vaudeville magic act. Offstage, Carlee thrives as a solo, performing various bits of sleight-of-hand at fancy society parties. At one such function, he falls in love with Hilt (June Collyer), the daughter of wealthy social-climber Jake Schmidlap (Knute Erickson). Heartbroken, Claire breaks up her act with Carlee and signs on as a "human target" for stage sharpshooter Magus (Rychard Cramer). Her depression deepening over Carlee's affair with Hilda, Claire suicidally replaces Magus' blank pistol cartridges with real bullets, hoping to be killed in the course of their act. Sure enough, Claire ends up being wounded on stage, but when she awakens in the hospital, the repentant Carlee is at her bedside. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1928
Another of Goldwyn's successful pairings of Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, Two Lovers was the last of their co-starring assignments. Set during the 16th-century Spanish occupation of Flanders, the story concentrates on the fiercely patriotic Mark Van Ryke (Colman). Donning the guise of "Leatherface," a swashbuckling masked avenger, Van Ryke performs his derring-do on behalf of the Prince of Orange (Nigel de Brulier). Naturally, Van Ruke considers beautiful Spanish aristocrat Donna Leonora de Vargas (Vilma Banky) to be a bitter enemy, and the feeling is mutual. To no one's surprise, however, Van Ryke and Donna Leonara eventually fall in love (hence the title). The pulse-pounding climax finds Van Ryke riding hell-for-leather through a rainstorm to warn the Flemish troops about the Spaniards' plans to burn the city of Ghent to the ground. Two Lovers was based on Madame Orczy's novel Leatherface, and adapted for the screen by Alice Duer Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, (more)
- 1928
Baroness Gerda Wallentin (Pola Negri) walks out on her philandering husband Count Dietrich (Paul Lukas) and heads to Vienna. En route, she meets musician Raoul Stanislaw (Tullio Carminatti) and agrees to a romantic rendezvous during a stopover at a small village. In the throes of passion, Gerda and Raoul miss their train, which is subsequently involved in a terrible accident. Reported killed in the crash, Gerda, guilty over her indiscretion, decides to remain "dead" for her husband's sake. She dyes her hair, changes her name, and finds work at a gambling casino. Years pass: Count Dietrich inevitably pays a visit to the casino, and with equal inevitability falls in love with Gerda, whom he does not recognize. Our heroine is about to rekindle her romance with the Count but changes her mind when she discovers that he's still keeping company with his mistress. Telling the Count the truth, Gerda leaves him for good and departs for America, intending to start life over for a third time. Three Sinners was based on Das Zweitte Leben, a play by Bernauer Osterreicher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, Warner Baxter, (more)
- 1928
Shopworn Angel was the first of three film versions of the Dana Burnet short story Private Pettigrew's Girl. Nancy Carroll stars as footloose cabaret entertainer Daisy Heath, who is totally oblivious to world affairs until she sees a parade of soldiers marching off to WWI. Later on, she inaugurates a casual romance with Texas-born private William Tyler (Gary Cooper). Daisy treats their brief affair as "just one of those things," but Tyler falls deeply in love with her. Panicking when Daisy begins keeping time with Broadway roue Bailey (Paul Lukas), Tyler goes AWOL on the eve of his embarkation to France. He seeks out and finds Daisy, whereupon the two spend a romantic day and night together. At last realizing that she is genuinely in love with Tyler, Daisy agrees to marry him but faints just before the preacher is able to complete the ceremony. Borne off by the MPs, Tyler is bundled onto his transport ship and sent off to the battlefields of France. Her outlook on life profoundly changed by this experience, Daisy forsakes her carefree ways, promising to wait faithfully for Tyler's return. Shopworn Angel was remade in 1938 with Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, then again in 1959 as the Sophia Loren vehicle That Kind of Woman. A silent film, the 1929 Shopworn Angel was released with a handful of musical sequences, including Nancy Carroll's solo rendition of A Precious Little Thing Called Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Gary Cooper, (more)
- 1928
Victorien Sardou's 1882 stage play Fedora was transformed by future director John Farrow into the Pola Negri vehicle The Woman from Moscow. The star plays White Russian princess Fedora, who harbors a seemingly hopeless love for dashing Boris Ipanoff (Norman Kerry). Kept separated throughout the film by class differences, military interventions and revolutionaries, hero and heroine suffer magnificently for nearly eight full reels. Sardou had written his play as a vehicle for Sarah Bernhardt, and indeed it seems at times that Negri has been possessed by the spirit of "The Divine Sarah." Though filmed silent, The Woman from Moscow was able to accommodate two tacked-on musical sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, Norman Kerry, (more)
- 1928
Nancy Carroll stars in Manhattan Cocktail as Babs, a college coed who dreams of becoming a famous actress. Joining up with her campus chums Fred (Richard Arlen) and Bob (Danny O'Shea), likewise aspiring thespians, Babes heads to Broadway with stars in her eyes. The winsome threesome are quickly disillusioned by the heartless machinations of nasty producer Renov (Paul Lukas) and his harridan wife (Lilyan Tashman). Before the plot proper gets under way, the audience is regaled with a cute "mythological" prologue, featuring the same three leading actors. Manhattan Cocktail was a silent picture, except for two brief musical numbers showcasing Nancy Carroll. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen, (more)
