Tully Marshall Movies
Cadaverous character actor Tully Marshall attended the University of Santa Clara in the 1880s. Drifting into acting, Marshall first appeared onstage at the age of 26, turning professional shortly thereafter. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind him when he made his first film in 1914. Like his fellow actors Charles Coburn and Donald Crisp, Marshall was one of those performers who seemed to have been born at the age of 60. Throughout the silent era, he played a vast array of drunken trail scouts, lovable grandpas, unforgiving fathers, sinister attorneys and lecherous aristocrats. In films until his death at the age of 78, one of the best of Tully Marshall's last performances was as the wheelchair-bound criminal mastermind in This Gun For Hire (1942). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1917
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. stars as Ned Thacker, who is born during a Kansas cyclone (coincidentally the same manner in which Fairbanks' real-life contemporary Buster Keaton came into the world!) and is thus imbued with the spirit of adventure. Having been virtually weaned on Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers, Ned grows up dedicated to old-fashioned chivalry. Alas, his well-meaning efforts to emulate his Musketeer idols nearly always backfire in a hilariously disastrous fashion. Ultimately, however, he is afforded an opportunity to rescue heroine Dorothy Moran (Marjorie Daw) in a true D'Artagnan-like manner. Unfortunately, only the first three reels of A Modern Musketeer are known to exist. Happily, however, this fragment includes a delightful dream sequence in which Fairbanks imagines himself to be a 16th-century swashbuckler -- a fascinating (and arguably more enjoyable) precursor to his own 1921 screen version of The Three Musketeers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Reportedly, director Cecil B. DeMille and leading lady Mary Pickford did not see eye to eye during the making of this lavish Western melodrama filmed on location among the giant redwoods in northern California. "Little Mary" actually plays a female her own age this time (maybe that was the trouble) as a young woman whose father is killed in an Indian raid. Pickford falls for a dashing outlaw (Elliott Dexter), whom she later frees after his inevitable capture by persuading the sheriff (Walter Long) that she is pregnant. Amazingly, the ruse works and they are allowed to plan a future together in freedom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
It is a tale known well, filmed many times over the years, but never better than this early black and white version from the MGM Studios, David O. Selznick producing. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-- Charles Dickens juxtaposes England and France, George and Louis, tradition and revolution. One of the most beloved of Dickens' stories, finding not only countries and conditions compared, but also two individuals thrown up in stark contrast to one another: -- the dissolute barrister Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) and the young, somewhat callow aristocrat Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), both in love with Lucie (Elizabeth Allan), daughter of a victim of the French Regime. Their lives intertwine until the violent revolution that overtook an entire nation engulfs them all as well.
Dickens' story has stood the test of time; remade frequently since the release of this1935 version. It is this version by director Jack Conway's that is best remembered and to which all others are compared. The settings, cinematography, and direction are all right on the mark, recreating the streets of London and of Paris with great skill and realism. The supporting cast, filled with faces we have grown to cherish-- Reginald Owen, Edna May Oliver, Claude Gillingwater, Walter Catlett, H. B. Warner, Basil Rathbone, and E. E. Clive-comes through with crystalline performances which add substance to the inexorable stream of events. Blanche Yurka's bravura turn as Therese de Farge delights us even as we shudder at her intensity. Second unit directors Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton, who would both go on to memorable careers as leading directors in their own right, staged the storming of the Bastille and other "revolutionary" scenes brilliantly, managing to combine fervor with panache. It is, however, Colman's portrayal of the lonely man redeemed by love and sacrifice which stands at the center of the story.
Sydney Carton first saves Charles Darnay from a charge of treason, thereby meeting those who care for him: the beautiful Lucie Manette, her father, Doctor Manette (Henry B. Walthall), released from the Bastille after many years of unjust incarceration; Lucie's servant Miss Pross, (Oliver) and Mister Lorry (Claude Gillingwater), an functionary of Tellson's Bank. His relationship with this circle of kind friends grows rocky when Darnay marries Lucie, whom Carton has loved from afar, but even this turn of events cannot change his feelings for them all and he grows to love them even more when daughter Lucie comes along. He reforms, leaving old ways behind and enjoying a familial warmth he has never known. This happy life is shattered when Darnay returns to France during the first revolutionary struggles, intent on saving his old tutor from the guillotine. He soon finds himself behind bars and facing the blade instead. The Revolution does not forget an aristocrat, even one who has recanted and lived life abroad as a commoner. The whole family makes the channel crossing to come to the young man's aid and Carton seeks a way to save him, discovering only one path to free Darnay and return everyone to safety. It is a sacrifice easily promised and quickly made.
Ronald Colman had long wanted to make a film of this story and, when he finally got his chance, he happily shaved off his signature mustache in an appropriate gesture to historical realism. Reviews of his work indicate his portrayal of Sydney Carton surpassed all his previous endeavors; he had been accused of walking through light parts, once he started making "talkies," and not putting his many talents to good use. "A Tale of Two Cities" put rest to those complaints. He dominates completely the scenes he which he does appear, and his skill gives substance to a literary achievement, a melancholy man of intelligence and wit, given to drink and despair, whose life seems to attain meaning only when it is given up for someone else. It is one of the portrayals for which Ronald Colman has come to be remembered.
There are various remake versions of A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde played Carton in 1958 and Chris Sarandon starred in a television remake in 1980. While these and other versions have all been good films, none has achieved the stature of the 1935 version and its excellent combination of star power, technical brilliance and great storytelling. ~ All Movie Guide
Dickens' story has stood the test of time; remade frequently since the release of this1935 version. It is this version by director Jack Conway's that is best remembered and to which all others are compared. The settings, cinematography, and direction are all right on the mark, recreating the streets of London and of Paris with great skill and realism. The supporting cast, filled with faces we have grown to cherish-- Reginald Owen, Edna May Oliver, Claude Gillingwater, Walter Catlett, H. B. Warner, Basil Rathbone, and E. E. Clive-comes through with crystalline performances which add substance to the inexorable stream of events. Blanche Yurka's bravura turn as Therese de Farge delights us even as we shudder at her intensity. Second unit directors Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton, who would both go on to memorable careers as leading directors in their own right, staged the storming of the Bastille and other "revolutionary" scenes brilliantly, managing to combine fervor with panache. It is, however, Colman's portrayal of the lonely man redeemed by love and sacrifice which stands at the center of the story.
Sydney Carton first saves Charles Darnay from a charge of treason, thereby meeting those who care for him: the beautiful Lucie Manette, her father, Doctor Manette (Henry B. Walthall), released from the Bastille after many years of unjust incarceration; Lucie's servant Miss Pross, (Oliver) and Mister Lorry (Claude Gillingwater), an functionary of Tellson's Bank. His relationship with this circle of kind friends grows rocky when Darnay marries Lucie, whom Carton has loved from afar, but even this turn of events cannot change his feelings for them all and he grows to love them even more when daughter Lucie comes along. He reforms, leaving old ways behind and enjoying a familial warmth he has never known. This happy life is shattered when Darnay returns to France during the first revolutionary struggles, intent on saving his old tutor from the guillotine. He soon finds himself behind bars and facing the blade instead. The Revolution does not forget an aristocrat, even one who has recanted and lived life abroad as a commoner. The whole family makes the channel crossing to come to the young man's aid and Carton seeks a way to save him, discovering only one path to free Darnay and return everyone to safety. It is a sacrifice easily promised and quickly made.
Ronald Colman had long wanted to make a film of this story and, when he finally got his chance, he happily shaved off his signature mustache in an appropriate gesture to historical realism. Reviews of his work indicate his portrayal of Sydney Carton surpassed all his previous endeavors; he had been accused of walking through light parts, once he started making "talkies," and not putting his many talents to good use. "A Tale of Two Cities" put rest to those complaints. He dominates completely the scenes he which he does appear, and his skill gives substance to a literary achievement, a melancholy man of intelligence and wit, given to drink and despair, whose life seems to attain meaning only when it is given up for someone else. It is one of the portrayals for which Ronald Colman has come to be remembered.
There are various remake versions of A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde played Carton in 1958 and Chris Sarandon starred in a television remake in 1980. While these and other versions have all been good films, none has achieved the stature of the 1935 version and its excellent combination of star power, technical brilliance and great storytelling. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1938
A Yank at Oxford was filmed in England at MGM's "sister studio", Elstree. Robert Taylor plays Lee Sheridan, an arrogant young American scholar/athlete who intends to show the "Brits" a thing or two while attending Oxford University. His abrasive attitude grates against the Oxonian students, who retaliate by subjecting Sheridan to a rather humiliating hazing. Romance enters the picture in the form of Molly Beaumont (Maureen O'Sullivan), the sister of Sheridan's chief academic rival Paul Beaumont (Griffith Jones). When Paul faces disgrace over a breach of student ethics, Sheridan nobly shoulders the blame, simultaneously endangering his own future at Oxford and proving that he's really a "right guy" underneath. All is forgiven during the annual rowing competition against Cambridge, with Sheridan coming through in jolly good fashion. Cast as campus vamp Elsa Craddock is the stunningly beautiful Vivien Leigh, still two years away from Gone With the Wind. A Yank at Oxford was remade in 1984 as Oxford Blues, and mercilessly lampooned by Laurel & Hardy in 1940's A Chump at Oxford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1932
Eric Linden is a bellhop who has the extreme misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in gangster era of Chicago. After witnessing an assassination staged by gangsters, Linden becomes a pawn, being pushed back and forth by corrupt authorities and the mob. Tension mounts as the possibility that the blame for the crime may eventually rest on Linden. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Linden, Sidney Fox, (more)
- 1928
After holding out for several months, MGM decided to take the talking-picture plunge with Alias Jimmy Valentine. Actually, the film is 90% silent, with a few arbitrarily inserted talkie sequences. Digressing but little from the oft-filmed O. Henry original, the plot concerns a reformed safecracker, here played by popular MGM light leading man William Haines. While working at an honest job at a bank, Haines' past comes back to haunt him in the form of relentless detective Lionel Barrymore. Haines is able to throw the cop off the trail until a little girl is locked in the bank's vault. Forced to utilize his highly individualized safecracking technique to rescue the girl, Haines is certain that he's destined for a long prison term. But Barrymore, taking into consideration Haines' good deed-not to mention his romance with boss' daughter Leila Hyams-pretends not to notice, and lets the former criminal off scot-free. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Haines, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1924
Viola Dana plays Ruth Ambrose, a citified interior decorator who expands her business to the country. The locals don't quite know what to make of the sophisticated Ruth, but she soon wins them over. After renovating a general store, Ruth finds true love in the form of farm boy Raymond McKee. Comedy relief is in the pudgy hands of Walter Hiers, while Tully Marshall goes through his "wizened rustic" repertoire. Along Came Ruth was released by Metro-Goldwyn, just before the company evolved into MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viola Dana, Tully Marshall, (more)
- 1922
A couple of old-timers -- character actor Tully Marshall and director Gilbert M. "Bronco Billy" Anderson --bring out the best in this corny crime drama. While Jim Barlow (Robert Edeson) is hiding from the cops, his wife Ann (Lilie Leslie) goes to a mission The minister, Reverend John Matthews (Gordon Sackville), gives her the address of a good Samaritan, Dr. LeRoy Clifford (William Courtleigh). When her child is hit by an automobile, she takes him to Clifford, who proceeds to operate right at his house. Meanwhile, one of Barlow's former associates, known as the Weasel (Marshall) tracks him down and convinces him to come on a job. The home they break into is Clifford's, while he is in the middle of working on Barlow's little boy. Barlow helps the doctor by holding a spotlight so he can complete the operation. As a result of this incident, the crooks seek redemption. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Harold Austin plays an impoverished sailor who poses as a British aristocrat. In this guise, he insinuates himself into the home of a wealthy man. Gladys Walton, daughter of Austin's host, is currently in love with a phony duke. Slightly more honest than his rival, Austin exposes the "duke" for the crook he truly is. He also claims Walton as his bride, as if you haven't guessed. This Anything Once bears no relation to the 1917 Franklyn Farnum vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gladys Walton, Harold Austin, (more)
- 1918
Silent star Douglas Fairbanks made a rare visit to the director's chair (accompanied by his friend and frequent collaborator Albert Parker) in 1918's Arizona. Utilizing a play by Augustus Thomas as his guide, Fairbanks fashioned another of his easterner-goes-west escapades. This time Fairbanks plays Lieutenant Denton, whose unfamiliarity with his sagebrush surroundings does not prevent him from performing a series of his eye-popping athletic feats. He saves the day at a remote Arizonian military post, much to the delight of a triumvirate of leading ladies (Kathleen Kirkham, Marjorie Daw and Marguerite de la Motte). One of eight Douglas Fairbanks features made in 1917, Arizona was Fairbanks' next-to-last Artcraft release before he helped form United Artists in 1919. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1932
John Barrymore plays a burglar and his brother Lionel Barrymore is the detective trying to catch him in this cleverly cast drama. An upscale thief who works under the name of Arsene Lupin is making the rounds of the homes of the wealthy and privileged, and Detective Guerchard (Lionel Barrymore) is determined to track him down. What he doesn't know is that the suave and sophisticated Duke of Charmerace (John Barrymore) is actually the man behind the robberies. Will Guerchard find out the thief's true identity before he can execute a daring theft from the Louvre Museum? Karen Morely co-stars as Sonia, the Duke's love interest. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1938
This follow-up to MGM's 1932 John Barrymore vehicle Arsene Lupin stars the ineluctable Melvyn Douglas. Reported to be dead, suave gentleman jewel thief Arsene Lupin (Douglas) resurfaces under the assumed name of Rene Farrand. Intending to follow the straight and narrow path, Lupin/Farrand reverts to his old larcenous ways when the opportunity to pilfer $250,000 in gems presents itself. Slowing down our hero somewhat is the presence of hotshot American private eye Steve Emerson (Warren William) and glamorous adventuress Lorraine de Grissac (Virginia Bruce). Ironically, both Melvyn Douglas and Warren William also played thief-turned-sleuth Michael Lanyard, aka "The Lone Wolf", over at Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melvyn Douglas, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1941
Ball of Fire is a delightful retelling (by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" legend -- though strictly for grownups. Gary Cooper is the youngest of eight bookish professors authoring an encyclopedia. They find a perfect "research associate" in the curvaceous form of stripteaser Barbara Stanwyck, who (chastely) hides on the professors' domicile to escape her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). As Stanwyck interprets various slang expression, she and the professors grow quite fond of one another; she brings out their sentimental sides, while they revive her essential decency. Naturally, Cooper is the one most smitten, though he hides his true feelings until the inevitable clinch. When gangster Andrews and his torpedo Dan Duryea show up to claim Stanwyck (Andrews wants to marry her so she can't testify against him), the professors save the day and it is Cooper who ends up with the beautiful Stanwyck. For the record, two of the "ancient" professors are Richard Haydn and O.Z. Whitehead, still in their mid-thirties (the others are S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Oscar Homolka, Leonid Kinskey and Aubrey Mather). Producer Sam Goldwyn later remade Ball of Fire as a Danny Kaye musical, A Song is Born (1948). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1923
This sentimental rural drama was based on the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. Frankie Lee plays Dick Alden, the barefoot boy of the title. He is abused by his stepfather and his only friends in the village where he lives are his mother, a little girl named Mary Truesdale (Gertie Messinger), and Tom Adams (Tully Marshall), the town drunkard. One day, he has to help Adams out of the cellar of the schoolhouse. Later, when the schoolhouse catches fire because of a careless smoker, Dick is blamed. No one believes his innocence and his father beats him, so he runs away. Many years later he returns (to be played by John Bower), a successful manufacturer who owns the mill that keeps the village alive. He plans to get revenge for his treatment as a boy by shutting the mill down, thus causing a financial disaster. But he's talked out of the scheme by Mary (played as an adult by Marjorie Daw). The mill is blown up anyhow by Dick's enemies, but he becomes determined to build a bigger, better plant in its place. This film, incidentally was released by C.B.C., derisively called "Corned Beef and Cabbage" by its competitors. Later on, the firm would change its name to Columbia and emerge from its Poverty Row beginnings. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Marjorie Daw, (more)
- 1943
Veteran film actor Tully Marshall makes his final appearance in PRC's Behind Prison Walls. A reworking of a familiar theme, the story finds scheming steel tycoon James J. MacGlennon (Marshall) and his high-minded lawyer son Jonathan (Alan Baxter) simultaneously ending up behind bars. While incarcerated, Jonathan tries to mend his larcenous father's ways, thereby drawing closer to his not-so-bad dad. Together, father and son scheme to legally outwit the elder MacGlennon's unscrupulous business partners. Meanwhile, Jonathan's sweetheart Elinor Cantwell (Gertrude Michael) waits patiently on the "outside". One of the better PRC efforts of its time, Behind Prison Walls is a gentle comedy with pointed sociological undertones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Baxter, Gertrude Michael, (more)
- 1927
Handsome doctor Bryant Washburn specializes in the ailments of women -- more specifically, wealthy widows. Washburn's girlfriend Laura LaPlante is jealous of the doctor's good-looking patients, and not without reason. Heading to the mountains to get married, LaPlante and Washburn are intercepted by predatory widow Kathryn Carver, who intends to land the doc for herself. LaPlante fails to see the humor of the situation and walks out on Washburn, only to return, meek and contrite, just as the doctor is being marched down the aisle by Carver. Pretty location photography manages to obscure some of the lapses of logic in the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura La Plante, Paulette Duval, (more)
- 1935
Like many 1930s Warner Bros. films, Black Fury drew its inspiration from the headlines. The story is adapted from a true-life incident from 1929, wherein a striking Pennsylvania coal miner was beaten to death by three company detectives; this served as the focus for Henry R. Irving's stage play Bohunk as well as Judge M. A. Musmanno's story Jan Volkanik, both of which were woven into Black Fury's screenplay. Using a Polish accent so thick one can cut it with scissors, Paul Muni plays an illiterate miner, happy in his job and his company-town surroundings until his girl Karen Morley deserts him for policeman William Gargan. A disconsolate, drunken Muni stumbles into a labor meeting, where his loud, unthinking outbursts win him the leadership of the new miner's union. When the company locks out the strikers and brings in scabs, the angry miners hold the thick-headed Muni responsible. Fellow miner John Qualen, Muni's best friend, is then killed by a gang of rampaging hired goons. Vowing to "feex" the situation, Muni kidnaps head goon Barton MacLaine and takes him into the bowels of the mine with several sticks of dynamite in tow. Muni threatens to blow himself, MacLaine, and the mine to smithereens unless management comes to terms with the union. Thanks to overwhelming public support, the owners capitulate, and Muni is the hero of the hour. Though it seemed uncompromising in 1935, Black Fury obviously pulls its punches when seen today; for example, it is suggested that the mine owners are guiltless regarding violence against the strikers, laying blame on the hired detectives, who are shown to be in the employ of a crook who plays both sides against the other. Even allowing for this, Black Fury is one of the most powerful of Warners' "social conscience" films. Although the Academy gave Muni a Best Supporting Actor nod for this film, the AMPAS database indicates that it wasn't an "official nomination" - he was a write-in candidate, and came in second. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Muni, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1939
Too many of Gene Autry's Republic western sacrificed action in favor of music. A notable exception to this syndrome is Blue Montana Skies, directed by a fast-action maestro B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason. The up-to-date plotline finds Autry battling a gang of fur smugglers operating on the Montana-Canada border. When his business partner Steve (Tully Marshall) is murdered by the crooks, cattleman Autry follows the clues to a ranch owned by Dorothy (June Storey). Unbeknownst to the heroine, the murderers, led by Hendricks (Harry Woods), are working as her ranchhands. By the time she finds this out, it looks like she's next in line for extinction-but not if our hero has anything to say about it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1918
Although a solid supporting cast helps, the buoyant personality of Douglas Fairbanks is the main asset in this slight Arabian tale. A young American (Fairbanks) is traveling through Morocco when he is called on to help rescue a mother (Edythe Chapman) and her daughter (Pauline Curley). Basha El Harib (Frank Campeau) has chosen the girl as the newest addition to his harem, but Fairbanks tricks the villain by disguising himself as a woman. He is brought into the harem's quarters, where he finds the girl and fights his way through most of Morocco's bad guys to aid in her escape. Fairbanks and the girl take leave of the desert together, but that isn't the end of the film. Next comes a title card reading, "One hundred years later," and the final shot shows a graveyard -- a twisted bit of Fairbanks humor. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1923
Maurice Tourneur directed this colorful Arabian Nights-type fantasy in his usual picturesque style. After attempting to kill his master, the genie Fakresh (Ernest Torrence in an excellent performance) is imprisoned in a brass bottle. There he stays for some 6,000 years until the bottle is acquired by Horace Ventimore (Harry Myers) at an auction. Ventimore, a penniless American architect in London, has bought the item to curry favor with Professor Hamilton (Tully Marshall), the father of his sweetheart Marjorie (Charlotte Merriam). But his ploy doesn't work, and the professor throws both him and the bottle out of the house. Angrily, Ventimore hurls the bottle across the room and it breaks, releasing Fakresh. The grateful genie offers to grant the young man his every wish. As a result, Ventimore lands a wealthy client, turns his apartment into an Arabian palace, and the professor is transformed into a mule. But Fakresh winds up causing far more trouble than good, so Ventimore's last wish is to have the genie go away. He does, and Ventimore finally finds peace with Marjorie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Inspired by the true story of the leader of the Mormon Church, this film features Dean Jagger in the title role. The members of the Church of Latter Day Saints are subjected to religious persecution by the people of Nauvoo, Illinois, where they've settled; so under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons head west, facing tremendous adversity along the way. However, a gravely ill Young has a prophetic dream in which he sees what he believes is his people's promised land, where they will be allowed to live and worship as they see fit. Soon they discover the land Young saw in his dream -- Salt Lake City, Utah. Young and his followers settle there, but their hardship does not end soon. The first winter in Utah is cruel, and while the spring brings the promises of a bountiful planting season, soon a plague of locusts appears, threatening to devour the crops the settlers have just planted. A huge flock of seagulls arrives to save the day by consuming the insects. Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell play a pair of settlers who fall in love in the course of the journey. Brigham Young downplays the more controversial aspects of the Mormon church (particularly polygamy) in favor of portraying Young as a trail-blazing man of the land; in some markets, the film was shown as Brigham Young, Frontiersman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1923
This rags-to-riches Broadway drama, which was made before Colleen Moore starred in the hit Flaming Youth, was actor/director Irving Cummings' first attempt at distribution. Although it was "suggested by" the stage play by James Kyrle MacCurdy, the basic story had been done many times before. A down-on-his-luck author (Creighton Hale) is telling his chauffeur friend, Barney Ryan (Tully Marshall), his tale of woe. Ryan's answer is to relate the story of Mary Ellis (Moore), a country girl who had many of the same struggles. Mary comes to the big city to become a star. Her gold-digging friend, Bubbles Revere (Alice Lake), helps her land a job in the chorus of a Broadway show, but she loses it when she turns down the advances of one of the show's owners. Although she has found romance with struggling songwriter George Colton (Johnnie Walker), Mary is ready to pack it in and go home. Just as she is getting ready to leave, she is arrested for the murder of a friend of the show's owner. The real murderer confesses, and Mary finds happiness and stardom with Colton, who writes a song and then a play based on her adventures. She becomes the play's star and is a hit. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colleen Moore, Johnnie Walker, (more)
- 1932
Director Ernst Lubitsch gained international acclaim for his sophisticated romantic comedies, but he also had a talent for more serious themes, as evidenced by this 1932 drama. French musician Paul (Phillips Holmes) joined the Army at the height of WWI. On the field of battle, Paul shot and killed his German friend Walter Holderlin (Tom Douglas), another musician enlisted in his country's army. One year after the Armistice, Paul is still haunted by the memory of Walter's death, and he travels to Germany to locate Walter's father, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore). Holderlin, his wife (Louise Carter), and Walter's fiancee, Elsa (Nancy Carroll are still shattered by the death of their loved one. Paul informs them of his friendship with their son, but cannot bring himself to unveil his responsibility for Walter's death. The Holderlins welcome Paul in friendship, and gradually, he settles into the household, bringing to both parents a new lease on life. Because of his lingering guilt, he feels tempted to run away, but Elsa discovers the truth about Paul and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, the presence of a Frenchman drums up hostilities in the Holderlins' village and the local women gossip continually about the developing relationship between Paul and Elsa. Perhaps because moviegoers completely snubbed The Man I Killed (also released as Broken Lullaby) and turned it into a financial detriment for Paramount, Lubitsch returned to lighter themes after this anti-war drama, and it was the last "serious" picture he would make before his death in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1930
The popular silent-film screen team of Richard Arlen and Mary Brian was carried over into talkies with such films as Burning Up. In emulation of the late movie idol Wally Reid, Arlen is cast as daredevil race-car driver Lou Larrigan. Much to the dismay of his sweetheart Ruth Morgan (Brian), Larrigan insists upon risking his neck -- and everyone else's -- on a daily basis. After a series of devastating setbacks, our hero finally learns to straighten up and drive right, just in time for the Big Race finale. The racing scenes are excitingly photographed, but the dialogue passages are textbook examples of ennui. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Brian, Francis McDonald, (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)
