John Farrell MacDonald Movies
J. Farrell MacDonald was one of the most beloved and prolific character actors in Hollywood history. A former minstrel singer, MacDonald toured the U.S. in stage productions for nearly two decades before he ever set foot in Tinseltown. He made his earliest film appearances in 1911 with Carl Laemmle's IMP company (the forerunner of Universal); within two years he was a firmly established lead actor and director. While functioning in the latter capacity with L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Company, MacDonald gave much-needed work to up-and-coming extras Hal Roach and Harold Lloyd. When Roach set up his own production company in 1915 with Lloyd as his star, he signed MacDonald as director (both Roach and Lloyd would hire their one-time employer as character actor well into the sound era). In the 1920's, MacDonald had returned to acting full time, appearing extensively in westerns and Irish-flavored comedies. A particular favorite of director John Ford, he was prominently featured in such Ford silents as The Iron Horse (1924), The Bad Man (1926) and Riley the Cop (1927, as Riley). He also showed up as Kelly in some of Universal's culture-clash "Cohens and Kellys" comedies. With a voice that matched his personality perfectly, MacDonald was busier than ever in the early-talkie era, usually playing such workaday roles as cops and railroad engineers; in 1932 alone, he showed up in 18 films! Even when his footage was limited, he was always given a moment or two to shine, as witness his emotional curtain speech in Shirley Temple's Our Little Girl. He kept up his workload into the 1940s, often popping up in the films of John Ford and Preston Sturges. His later roles often went unbilled, but he gave his all no matter how fleeting the assignment. One of his choicest roles of the 1940s was as the Dodge City barkeep in Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946). J. Farrell MacDonald continued working right up to his death in 1952; one of his last assignments was a continuing character on the Gene Autry-produced TV series Range Rider. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
At first concentrating exclusively on westerns and serials, up-and-coming Mascot Pictures began branching out in the early 1930s with such lavish star vehicles as Laughing at Life. Victor McLaglen is in his element as a devil-may-care globetrotting adventurer named McHale. After risking his neck in WWI, the restless McHale heads to Mexico for more action. Before the film is half over, our hero is overseeing a South American revolution, and in this capacity comes face-to-face with his long-estranged son -- who, like his dad, is a thrillseeker travelling under an assumed name. The star-studded cast includes William "Stage" Boyd, Regis Toomey, Frankie Darro, Henry B. Walthall, Noah Beery Jr., J. Farrell McDonald and Lois Wilson -- many appearing in one scene each, indicating that the ever-economical Mascot studios hired these talented thespians by the day rather than the week. Also showing up uncredited is ace stuntman Yakima Canutt, doubling for Victor McLaglen in the more strenuous action scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Conchita Montenegro, (more)
- 1933
The son of a famed race car driver is so traumatized by witnessing his father's fatal racetrack crash that he refuses to drive. Instead, the young man becomes an ace stunt pilot. His aerial prowess gives him the confidence he needs to get behind the wheel and honor his father's memory. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dickie Moore, Paul Fix, (more)
- 1933
The evergreen Laurette Taylor stage vehicle Peg O' My Heart was the basis for this Marion Davies picture. 36-year-old Davies plays a twentysomething Irish colleen who inherits a large sum of money from her grandfather. To collect the legacy, she must leave her beloved Pa (J. Farrell McDonald) and live in England for three years. Hoydenish Davies raises a ruckus in her staid family mansion, meanwhile falling in love with handsome young Onslow Stevens. It is Stevens who tells Davies that her father, who'd pretended to be dead so that she wouldn't return from England before the three years were up, is actually alive. Renouncing her inheritance, Davies returns to Pa, with Stevens not far behind. A silent version of Peg O' My Heart, with Laurette Taylor recreating her stage role, was filmed in 1923. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, Alan Mowbray, (more)
- 1933
In this comedy drama, a wealthy shoe magnate is bored with his life. The trouble really begins when his chief rival dies. His company was on the brink of financial ruin and now the bored shoemaker finds himself without even the joy of competition to motivate him. The fellow decides to take a vacation. He leaves his eager-beaver nephew to run the company. During the holiday, he meets a free-spirited and rambunctious brother and sister. As they are the heirs to his rival company, he decides to masquerade as an impoverished hobo. They hire him to work in the factory. Soon he takes the place and turns it into a financial success and a genuine competitor to his smarty-pants nephew. He also teaches the carefree brother and sister a few lessons about real life when he forces them to begin working in their own factory. Eventually he becomes their legal guardian. At the story's end, he reveals his true identity and allows his new step-daughter to marry his chastened nephew. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Bette Davis, (more)
- 1933
In this drama, the owner of a Chicago meat-packing company falls in love with a beautiful opera singer. Unfortunately, his selfish, social climbing wife refuses to divorce him. He continues the affair on the sly. As his lover's career begins to ascend, so does his business when he becomes the leader of a meat packing trust that sends cured beef to the troops fighting in Cuba. Later, the newly elected president, Theodore Roosevelt indicts him, but then the charges are dropped. By this time, the opera singer has become a star. Her lover too tries to find success, but instead, his business ends up going bankrupt. He then leaves for Greece. When his lover finds out, she too drops everything and follows him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Kay Francis, (more)
- 1933
An immigrant and his wife arrive in America hoping to make it big in the world of music. Shortly thereafter, though, the husband finds out his wife is having an affair with a local lowlife; when he turns up dead, the husband is jailed for his murder, even though he protests his innocence. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vivienne Osborne, Una Merkel, (more)
- 1933
In this drama, a bright young mill worker is left in charge of his late employer's estate. This causes many hard feelings from the surviving family. He forces the boss's son and daughter to work in the factory. They do not want to. For revenge they begin divulging trade secrets to a competitor. They only stop after the daughter falls in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Lila Lee, (more)
- 1933
Mascot Films, the feisty precursor to Republic Pictures, was responsible for 1933's The Big Payoff. In a rare top-billed role, chameleon-like character-actor Lucien Littlefield plays an innocent man who has been railroaded to the electric chair. Coming to the rescue is Victor Jory, a disgraced police officer who redeems himself by locating the guilty party. More than one reviewer caught on that The Big Payoff resembled a western in modern garb. And small wonder, since the film was based on a short story by Peter B. Kyne. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lucien Littlefield, Ralph Ince, (more)
- 1933
Frequently cited as the precursor to Citizen Kane, Power and the Glory is the first major Hollywood film to extensively utilize narrated flashbacks to tell its story. At the funeral of a powerful railroad executive (Spencer Tracy), the exec's best friend (Ralph Morgan) recalls the dead man's colorful but tragic life. We see Tracy's early years as a trackwalker and his marriage to Colleen Moore, who helps him rise to the top. At first, Tracy is a kindly man, a fair minded employer and a devoted husband and father, but his ever-increasing power corrupts him. He leaves Moore for an adventuress (Helen Vinson), whereupon his wife commits suicide. Tracy later kills himself as well when he learns that his second wife has been unfaithful with his grown son. The "narrative" technique used to relate the plotline of Power and the Glory is interesting, though the film itself is a bit too cut-and-dried (suicide seems to be a logical solution rather than a last desperate move) and far too short (76 minutes) to do justice to its central character. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Colleen Moore, (more)
- 1933
A minor entry from small-scale Progressive Pictures, Under Secret Orders starred the rather pallid Donald Dillaway as Henry Ames, a bank employee assigned to bring valuable bonds from San Francisco to a client, Franklyn Lawrence (Lafe McKee), in South America. En route, Henry hits the bottle once too often and gets himself involved with a gang planning to steal the valuable bonds and fund a revolution. Happily, the boozy hero is helped by one John Burke (J. Farrell MacDonald) and the bonds are safely delivered to their destination. Forsaking the evil drink, Henry wins the love of Lawrence's daughter, Jane (Phyllis Barrington). Under Secret orders was produced by Poverty Row entrepreneur Willis Kent and released as a "Phyllis Barrington Special." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald Dillaway, John Farrell MacDonald, (more)
This second filming of Zane Grey's novel (first brought to the screen by Paramount in 1924 with Bebe Daniels as the female lead) gave Randolph Scott his first starring role. Rancher Adam Naab (J. Farrell MacDonald) owns a spread that includes the only way out of the valley where gang-leader Judson Holderness (David Landau) is hiding a huge herd of stolen cattle, and he won't let Holderness move them across his land. The outlaw leader decides he's going to take the ranch, first by disputing and jumping Naab's water-claim and trying to starve him out. But Naab is one step ahead of him, and hires Jack Hare (Randolph Scott), a surveyor from back east, to remap and confirm the property lines, and Hare survives an attempt by Holderness' henchman Lefty (Guinn Williams) to kill him in the desert. Jack's arrival, however, turns the head of Judy (Sally Blane), Naab's ward (and the daughter of his late business partner), who is supposed to marry Naab's son Snap (Gordon Westcott). Snap already owes Holderness a lot of money from gambling losses at the latter's saloon, and he plays off of Snap's jealousy to get him to betray his own father. Complicating matters still further is the fact that Naab himself has long dreamed of Snap and Judy marrying, and won't let her growing infatuation with Jack get in the way of that plan. Matters all come to a head when all of Holderness' plans seem to unravel and he decides to take the ranch by force. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Sally Blane, (more)
- 1932
The fast-paced world of polo provides the backdrop for this sports drama that centers upon John Steele, a US Army captain obsessed with polo. The trouble begins when he tries to get revenge upon the polo player who took liberties with his daughter Mickey. The vengeful captain causes Charles, the polo player, to have a fatal accident on the playing field. Investigators are not fooled by the "accident" and justice eventually prevails, but not before the whole mess goes to trial. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Evelyn Knapp, (more)
- 1932
Danny Dolan (Spencer Tracy) is a good-hearted, streetwise waterfront beat cop in New York City who gets promoted to detective when he saves the life of a drunk (Will Stanton) who falls into the river. He also strikes up an acquaintance with Helen Riley (Joan Bennett), a wisecracking waitress at a nearby diner, which leads to a potential romance. Each one's bravado and tough self-image, however, prevents them from admitting how they feel about each other. Also getting in the way of their romance are Detective Allen (Adrian Morris), who permitted wanted hood Duke Castenega (George Walsh -- the director's brother) to slip off of a boat and into the country while Danny was making his rescue; and Helen's dimwitted sister Kate (Marion Burns), who used to date Duke, but is now marrying dull, steady, loyal merchant seaman Eddie Collins (George Chandler). She can't quite push Duke out of her life, and when he breaks prison and turns up trying to hide out in Kate's home, she's foolish enough to hide him. It falls to Eddie's father (Henry B. Walthall), a paralyzed World War I veteran, to try and warn Danny and save his son's wife and their marriage. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1932
In one of his first westerns, Johnny Mack Brown plays Kirby Tornell, who does the "Robin Hood" bit on the wide open spaces. When not flummoxing the Cavalry, Kirby relaxes by playing the piano and rendering a song or two. Despite Kirby's notorious reputation, Carol Winfield (Evalyn Knapp), the daughter of the hero's perennial foe General Winfield (George Irving), can't help falling in love with him. And in the end, Carol surrenders totally to Kirby, riding off with him into the sunset. A strong cast of silent-film veterans (ZaSu Pitts, J. Farrell McDonald, Raymond Hatton) helps lift Vanishing Frontier well above the norm. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Evelyn Knapp, (more)
- 1932
This "gimmick" murder mystery begins during a crucial college football game. Wally Clark (Johnny Mack Brown), the team's star player, is killed just before making the winning touchdown, as the titular 70,000 witnesses look on. Wally's teammate Buck Buchanan (Phillips Holmes), the younger brother of gambler Slip Buchanan (Lew Cody), had previously refused to drug Wally at Slip's bequest. Even so, when Wally drops dead, the leading suspect is poor Buck. It's up to bibulous reporter Johnny Moran (Charles Ruggles) and Wally's sister Dorothy Clark (Dorothy Jordan) to save Buck before local detective Dan McKenna (David Landau) railroads the boy into the electric chair. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phillips Holmes, Dorothy Jordan, (more)
- 1932
In this mystery a sensual starlet suddenly dies. Though she was popular with the public, behind the scenes she had many enemies. The story opens on a movie set. Few mourned her passing, but because the circumstances were suspicious, several suspects are placed under surveillance. One of them is a secretary. Thanks to a telephone tip-off to the police, chief MacDonald, goes to the studio screening room to view the rushes of the opening scene. There he discovers the killer's identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Farrell MacDonald
- 1932
The descriptive phrase "melting pot" is elucidated in the sentimental drama Hearts of Humanity. Jean Hersholt stars as a golden-hearted Jewish pawnbroker whose daughter Caludia Dell falls in love with Irish-Catholic policeman Charles Delaney. When another Irish cop is killed by a burglar, Hersholt adopts the dead man's son Jackie Searl (here taking a break from his usual "nasty kid" roles). Jackie repays the favor by proving to be more loyal and upright than even Hersholt's own son (George Humbert). Evidently, the film was supposed to end with the young Searl's death; his miraculous recovery would seem to indicate that the preview audiences had something to say about the film's denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, Jackie Searl, (more)
- 1932
In this drama, an jewel thief is let out of prison and heads for a New York hotel to find the jewels he hid in the fireplace before he was caught. He must hurry as the building is about to be razed. Unfortunately, the room in which he hid them is occupied and he must stay in the adjoining suite. Every try he makes to get into the room is foiled. Eventually the police, who have been patiently awaiting his return, bust in and catch him in the act of retrieving the purloined gems. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peggy Shannon, Theodore Von Eltz, (more)
- 1932
In this newspaper drama, a dedicated small-town reporter works hard and becomes the editor of a major New York paper. Unfortunately the man's ambition has blinded him to the needs of his wife and son. When the son dies, the bereaved, and lonely woman decides to leave him. Later the editor reconsiders his life, quits his high-pressure job and decides to save his marriage by working in a quieter town. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Bickford, Rose Hobart, (more)
- 1932
It is all but impossible to dislike a film as gloriously corny as The Phantom Express. The title is derived from an early scene in which veteran engineer Smokey North (J. Farrell McDonald) wrecks his own train while trying to avoid a head-on collision with another. Suddenly, the other train disappears into thin air -- or at least that's Smokey's story. No one believes this incredible tale, and the old man is unceremoniously fired. For the sake of Smokey's pretty daughter (Sally Blane), the railroad-company president's son (William Collier Jr.) does some investigating of his own, ultimately uncovering a diabolically clever scheme hatched by the villains. Even those viewers who are inclined to laugh out loud at the film's ridiculous dialogue will be held in thrall by the pulse-pounding climactic train chase. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1932
Confidence woman Martha Hicks (Alison Skipworth), better known to those who know her at all as "the Countess," is a career criminal who has just been paroled. She would like to slip away from the authorities and leave the country, but first she wants to look in on the only decent, respectable part of her life, the two daughters whom she left behind with her onetime husband, Elmer Hicks (Richard Bennett), a small-town hotel owner. She arrives to find that Elmer, in his well-meaning but dithering way, has let their younger daughter (Gertrude Messinger) fall in with the wrong crowd, including a two-bit criminal, Jack Houston (George Raft). He has filled her head with stories about what a big man he is and plans to take her to Chicago with him, until Martha intervenes -- she manages to turn the interest of veteran lawman John Adams (J. Farrell MacDonald) to her advantage and nearly gets Houston thrown in the slammer. When he proves tougher to get out of the way than she'd thought he'd be, Martha has to choose between freedom or the well-being of her daughter, and gets some unexpected help from Elmer. Skipworth is charming and the rest of the cast is first-rate in this sly, fast-paced, and enjoyable comedy drama. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alison Skipworth, Richard Bennett, (more)
Thirteen years after a dinner party where the wealthy host dropped, the thirteen guests are invited to reassemble at the dinner table. First to arrive is Ginger Rogers--who is promptly killed. It turns out that the dead woman was an impostor, hired to impersonate a real guest (Ginger Rogers again). Playboy detective Lyle Talbot is called in to investigate. It seems that the man who died 13 years ago was just about to announce the heir to his fortune, thus all the guests fall under suspicion. The culprit's true identity is hidden by a hood; the culprit's method of murder is a complex electrocution device. In an excitingly staged finale, Ginger is kidnapped by the hooded killer, but is rescued by Lyle Talbot. Made on a shoestring by Monogram Pictures, Thirteenth Guest is a marvelous "old house" mystery, with Ginger Rogers giving her all as the damsel in distress. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, (more)
No Man of Her Own represented the only time that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard co-starred in the same picture (at the time the film was made, both were married to other people; their romance and subsequent marriage was several years in the offing). Gable plays a crooked cardsharp who takes it on the lam from the New York constabulary. He hides out in a small town, where he falls in love with librarian Lombard. Endearing himself to Lombard's family, Gable pretends to be an out-of-town broker. He takes his new bride Lombard back to New York, where he resumes his dishonest activities, all the while keeping his one-and-only in the dark. The fly in the ointment is Gable's ex-lover and former partner in crime Dorothy Mackaill, who threatens to expose Gable to the law. Rather than appear to be a cad in his wife's eyes, Gable turns himself in, telling Lombard that he's about to embark on a long business trip. The truth is revealed sometime before the final reel, but Lombard is willing to forgive and forget so long as Gable promises to go straight. Given the usual wiseacre urbanity of Gable's and Lombard's separate starring vehicles, No Man of Her Own seems unusually banal and sentimental. Still, the film is an opportunity not to be missed by latter-day "Golden Age of Hollywood" aficionados. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, (more)
- 1932
A wealthy theatrical producer entices a desperately poor young woman to visit his penthouse. The innocent girl doesn't realize that the lecherous fellow is planning to do much more than have a drink with her. Fortunately, her friend the grocery boy isn't so naive and manages to arrive in the nick of time. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Regis Toomey, (more)
The second of two projected John Wayne serials produced by genre expert Mascot Pictures, this film used the budget-saving device of having its master criminal wearing variously fiendish rubber masks, offering him the opportunity to resemble every red herring in the large cast. Known only as "The Wrecker" ("That's him, The Wrecker!" people continuously scream throughout the serial), the villain is attempting to sabotage the L. & R. Railroad in order to bolster a competing airline service. Wayne plays a commercial pilot whose father, the railroad's chief engineer (J. Farrell MacDonald), is murdered early on. Shirley Grey, as the daughter of a railroad man falsely accused of sabotage, is the damsel-in-distress (although, despite some poster art, she is never actually tied to the tracks), and Tully Marshall plays the president of the railroad. As Wayne had no drawing power whatsoever in 1932, Marshall, a veteran from the early silent era, was actually given star billing along with Conway Tearle, who portrayed the little seen company lawyer. The Hurricane Express survives in a truncated 70-minute feature version, a screening of which actually feels like watching an entire serial in one sitting. The serial was co-directed by J.P. McGowan, a veteran actor-director who had begun his long love affair with railroad themes directing his then-wife Helen Holmes in The Hazards of Helen (1915). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
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