David Manners

First-time director Lew Ayres performs miracles on a tiny budget in the Civil War drama Hearts in Bondage. The story offers a romanticized version of the events leading up to the battle between the "ironclads" Monitor and Merrimac. Northern naval officer Kenneth (James Dunn), the nephew of Monitor designer John Ericsson (Fritz Leiber) is dishonorably discharged when he sinks the Merrimac instead of burning it, as ordered. He is restored to duty as a crew member on the Monitor, and in the ensuing sea battle with the recommissioned Merrimac he kills Confederate officer Raymond (David Manners), the brother of Kenneth's fiancee Constance (Mae Clarke). The estranged sweethearts are ultimately reunited with the help of Abe Lincoln himself! Both James Dunn and Mae Clarke are miscast in their roles, but they do their best under the circumstances to make their material "work" -- and often succeed. The real stars of Hearts in Bondage are Republic's special-effects mavens Howard and Theodore Lydecker, whose splendid utilization of scale models in the climactic Monitor-Merrimac confrontation is both exciting and convincing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still hanging on in 1935 despite several financial setbacks, brave little Majestic Pictures continued turning out such worthwhile programmers as The Perfect Clue. Eloping with boyfriend Ronnie Van Zandt (Skeets Gallagher), madcap heiress Mona Stewart (Dorothy Libaire) changes her mind about marriage and runs away from her fiancé. Mona hires a car in a small town, only to discover that her chauffeur, David Mannerling (David Manners) is a hold-up man who robs her and leaves her stranded in the middle of nowhere. Having a change of heart, David returns to Mona, promising to behave himself for the rest of the ride. This proves difficult when the mismatched couple gets mixed up in a murder case, with David winding up the prime suspect. The most amusing aspect of The Perfect Clue is that neither hero nor heroine are terribly bright; truth to tell, they're both dumb as doornails. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title might not mean much now, but in 1935 Jalna was familiar to readers everywhere as the best-selling first novel by Mazo de La Roche. Set in Canada, the story concerns the many members of the Whiteoak family, with special emphasis on Eden Whiteoak (David Manners). Eden is a writer, who marries his Manhattan publisher (Kay Johnson) and takes her back to meet his family. Alas, Eden has also brought back a few big-city vices, and before long he is attempting to seduce Pheasant (Molly Lamont), the illegitimate daughter of the Whiteoaks' next door neighbor (Nigel Bruce) and the wife of Eden's half brother Piers (Theodore Newton). True to form in soap operas such as these, Eden dies, leaving his widow to find comfort in the arms of another Whiteoak, Renny (Ian Hunter). Since all of this takes place in a crowded 75 minutes, it's no wonder that the film version of Jalna didn't completely satisfy fans of the novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, the king of Ruritania marries an impoverished commoner after he is exiled. Trouble shows up when the king must return to his country and marry an heiress. Fortunately, his first bride has fallen for an army officer and is happy to have her royal marriage annulled. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, set backstage at the theater, a fading, but still egotistical Hungarian star and his actress wife who has quietly endured his constant domination for years, move from Budapest to New York where they lead an impoverished life until their luck changes and they are given the leads in a famed young playwright's newest play. The old actor becomes an immediate hit. When he later learns that his wife has a crush on the playwright he is upset. The playwright doesn't mind though and quickly writes another play designed especially for her. It is a major hit, but the actress leaves the show in order to save her marriage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The French Foreign Legion is the setting for this episodic adventure yarn. Victor Jory plays a Legion doctor falsely accused of murdering his commander over the love of Loretta Young. Jory escapes prosecution by heading for parts unknown, but when a deadly illness strikes his old fort, he returns to aid his comrades. He is arrested, but clears himself of the murder charge and ends up with Young. Devil's in Love is distinguished by the surprise appearance of Bela Lugosi, who shows up unbilled as a relentless prosecuting attorney in the courtroom scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Easily the best of Eddie Cantor's gargantuan musical comedies for producer Sam Goldwyn, Roman Scandals begins in the middle-America community of West Rome, where our hero Eddie (Cantor) is employed as a delivery boy. A self-styled authority of Ancient Roman history, Cantor bemoans the fact that the local shanty community is about to be wiped out by scheming politicians, certain that such an outrage could never have happened during Rome's Golden Days. After a blow on the head, Cantor wakes up in Imperial Rome, where he is sold on the slave auction block to good-natured tribune Josephus (David Manners). Cantor soon discovers that the evil emperor Valerius (Edward Arnold) is every bit a crook and grafter as the politicians in West Rome, and he intends to do something about it. He gets a job as food taster for Valerius -- a none-too-secure position, inasmuch as the emperor's wife Agrippa (Veree Teasdale) is constantly trying to poison her husband -- and does his best to smooth the path of romance for Josephus and recently captured princess Sylvia (Gloria Stuart). Cantor's well-intentioned interference earns him a session in the torture chamber, but he escapes and commandeers a chariot, setting the stage for a spectacular slapstick climax. On the verge of recapture, Cantor wakes to find himself in West Rome U.S.A. again, where he quickly foils the modern-day despots and brings about a happy ending for all his friends.

Co-written by George S. Kaufman, Robert E. Sherwood, George Oppenheimer and Arthur Sheekman (the soon-to-be husband of leading lady Gloria Stuart), Roman Scandals manages to get off a few clever satirical licks, but essentially it's a "lappy" lowbrow vehicle for Eddie Cantor, and in this it succeeds immensely. The Busby Berkeley-staged musical numbers, written by Harry Warren, Al Dubin and L. Wolfe Gilbert, must be seen to be believed: In "No More Love", Ruth Etting, playing the Emperor's cast-off mistress Olga, sings a plaintive torch song as dozens of enslaved Goldwyn Girls (including Lucille Ball and Barbara Pepper), wearing nothing but long, blonde wigs, are chained to a rotating pedestal; and in "Keep Young and Beautiful", these same maidens gleefully cavort around a Roman bathhouse in the near-altogether while Cantor, in blackface, hops about, rolls his eyes and claps his hands -- just before a jet of steam "shrinks" him, at which point he metamorphoses into midget Billy Barty! The quintessence of Depression-era escapism, Roman Scandals is must-see entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The world of horse racing provides the backdrop for this episodic drama. Much of the story is set at the Luray Springs Hotel where the characters wait for the running of the Capitol Handicap. The main story focuses upon Colly Tannyer, a pretty young handicapper who must wrangle up $10,000 so she can bet on a special horse. He former lover, Cuff Billings, helps her out under the condition that if the horse loses, she must make love to him. She agrees, and unfortunately, her steed places third. Fortunately, Cuff is more honorable than she though and he ends up romancing her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sudden success can be a double-edged sword as this drama aptly proves. An aspiring musician finds success when his manager has him switch from playing the sax to vocals. He soon becomes a popular star. Unfortunately as his popularity swells, so does his head. His arrogance and megalomania cause his downfall. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In her first film under contract to Warner Bros., Kay Francis plays Lois Ames, a magazine editor whose husband Fred (Kenneth Thomson) is too busy with his polo friends to pay her much attention. But when her secretary (Charlotte Merriam) suddenly leaves, Lois hires handsome Tom Sheridan (David Manners), who has arrived to demonstrate a new rowing machine. Sharing work brings boss and employee closer together and they soon fall in love. Tom's dumbbell fiancée, Ruth (Una Merkel), does not take this development very well and threatens to tell Fred. But the latter is discovered making love to the uppity Ann Le Maire (Claire Dodd) and Lois is able to obtain a divorce. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Though only 19, Loretta Young was an established Hollywood star in 1932, appearing in six films in that year alone. In They Call It Sin, Young plays Marion, a church organist in a picturesque Kansas village. She falls in love with visiting city slicker Jimmy (David Manners) -- who, worse luck, is already married to Enid (Helen Vinson). Arriving in New York to try her luck as a songwriter, Marion continues to be strung along by Jimmy, while faithful Tony (George Brent), who has loved her all along, suffers in stoic silence. All the various plot strands are neatly tied up when Humphries (Louis Calhern), a cagey theatrical producer with evil designs on Marion, takes a headlong plunge from his penthouse apartment. They Call It Sin was based on a novel by Alberta Stedman Eagan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Mummy represented Boris Karloff's second horror starring role after his "overnight" success in Frankenstein. Brought back to life after nearly 3,700 years, Egyptian high priest Imhotep wreaks havoc upon the members of the British field exposition that disturbed his tomb (shades of the King Tut curse). While disguised as a contemporary Egyptologist, he falls in love with Zita Johann, whom he recognizes as the latest incarnation of a priestess who died nearly 40 centures earlier. Spiriting Zita away to the tomb, he relates the story of how he had dared to enter her ancestor's sacred burial crypt, hoping to restore her to life. Caught in the act, he was embalmed alive and his tongue was cut out for his act of sacrilege. Now that he has returned, he intends to slay Zita, so that they will be reunited for all time in the Hereafter. Despite its melodramatic trappings, The Mummy is essentially a love story, poetically related by ace cinematographer and first-time director Karl Freund. Jack Pierce's justly celebrated makeup skills offers us two Karloffs: the wizened Egyptologist and the flaking, rotting mummy, who though only seen for a few seconds remains in the memory long after the film's final image has faded. Best line: "It went for a little walk." The Mummy was followed by four stock footage-laden sequels, none of which approached the power and poignancy of the original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide