Edwin Maxwell Movies

Hollywood Party was planned as a lavish, star-studded MGM musical titled Hollywood Revue of 1933. Under the less-than-sterling guidance of "kicked upstairs" MGM producer Harry Rapf, production dragged on interminably, using up the talents of five directors (none of whom were credited) and seven writers. The "all star" cast lineup slowly dwindled down to comparatively inexpensive contract players Jimmy Durante and Jack Pearl (radio's Baron Munchhausen) and a passel of non-MGM personalities. The final product wove a goofy story about The Great Schnarzan (Durante), a jungle-movie star whose films are suffering at the box office because his lions are anemic. Schnarzan schemes to purchase several healthy lions from Baron Munchhausen; to get the baron into a bargaining mood, Schnarzan throws a huge Hollywood party in Munchhausen's honor. Liondora (George Givot), Schnarzan's "hated rival", hopes to purchase the Baron's lions for himself, and crashes the party disguised as a Greek Baron. Also figuring into the plot are the members of the Klemp family (Charles Butterworth, Polly Moran and June Clyde), who are filthy rich and thus quite attractive to both Schnarzan and Liondora; poor-but-honest Eddie Quillan, who romances the Klemp's daughter; and Schnarzan's ex-girlfriend Lupe Velez, who shows up at the party in an astonishingly revealing gown for the express purpose of making trouble. In an amusing animated sequence courtesy of Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse introduces the Technicolor musical exploits of "The Hot Chocolate Soldiers." Shortly before the end, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy make a welcome appearance as a pair of lion-farm owners who wish to collect a debt from Baron Munchhausen. This segues into the classic egg-breaking sequence involving Stan, Ollie, and Lupe Velez. Now we've reached the 65 minute mark, with no logical ending in sight. Director Allan Dwan, brought into the project at the last minute, took a look at the existing footage and declared "It's a nightmare!" Inspired, Dwan directed a closing sequence which suggested that the whole plot had been dreamed by Jimmy Durante; Durante is wakened from his slumbers by his wife--played by Mrs. Jimmy Durante. Hollywood Party makes no sense at all, but it's a must for comedy lovers and 1930s film buffs. Don't miss that opening number, written by Rodgers and Hart and performed by Frances Williams and a chorus of barely dressed telephone operators; and keep an eye peeled for a lengthy uncredited appearance by the Three Stooges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical, a radio-announcer is fired after giving a false interview. For consolation he begins to drink heavily. It is his girlfriend who helps him sober up when she provides him with a major scoop--a missing airplane. He enthusiastically sets out after it and eventually finds it. As a publicity stunt, he skydives to the downed plane while broadcasting live. Songs include: Talking To Myself," "I Ain't Gonna Sin No More," "Gift Of Gab," "Somebody Looks Good," "Don't Let This Waltz Mean Goodbye," "Walkin' On Air," "What A Wonderful Day," "Tomorrow--Who Cares?" and "Blue Sky Avenue." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A love triangle amidst the world of musical entertainment provides the basis for this drama. The trouble begins when a gigolo begins wooing a mother and daughter simultaneously. This creates family disharmony as the mother begins resenting her daughter who resents the gigolo himself. The mother is murdered and the gigolo is the prime suspect. The daughter hires a detective to investigate. He discovers that it was the mother's husband that did the deed, but before he can tell anyone, the daughter and the gigolo have gotten back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eight people, many of them strangers to one another, are summoned to a ritzy Manhattan penthouse apartment by an unidentified host. Once everyone has arrived, the servants are dismissed and all the doors and windows are automatically locked. The unseen host's voice is then heard emanating from a radio loudspeaker, explaining that all of the guests are old enemies of his, and that all are doomed to die this very evening! A couple of foolhardy souls try to escape, only to be electrocuted by one or another of the mysterious host's booby traps. Who is the "hidden" murderer --- and whoooooo will survive? Remarkably similar to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (which hadn't been written yet!), Columbia's The Ninth Guest was remade -- without acknowledgment -- as the 1939 Boris Karloff vehicle The Man They Could Not Hang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

What isn't Heroes for Sale about? Within its 71-minute time frame, this film (co-written by "professional cynic" Wilson Mizner) tackles such issues as disenfranchised war veterans, misguided hero worship, drug addiction, the Depression, capitalism, labor relations and communism. Richard Barthelmess plays a wounded war hero whose hospital stay has turned him into a morphine junkie. He wanders from town to town looking for work during the Depression, only to be turned away with a "we've got our own to watch out for!" Eventually, Barthelmess befriends millionaire-in-the-making Robert H. Barrat, who has invented a revolutionary washing machine. Becoming Barrat's partner, Barthelmess attempts to quell a strike by workers who've been stirred up by Red agitators. With all this going on, Barthelmess still finds time to romance Loretta Young. Heroes for Sale is very much a product of its time, though its entertainment value has remained solid for well over six decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1933 movie version of Sinclair Lewis's novel Ann Vickers stars Irene Dunne in the title role. Left alone and pregnant by her soldier sweetheart (Bruce Cabot), Ann turns her life around by devoting herself to social work. A frustrating tenure as psychologist in a poorly maintained woman's prison only strengthens Ann's resolve to improve the world around her. She falls in love with the politically progressive judge (Walter Huston) who helps finance her career, standing by him when he is unjustly accused of graft. Ann Vickers contains one startling sequence in which Ann, following the premature end of her pregnancy, walks with great discomfort around her garden while she speaks wistfully about,"the daughter I'll never have." Otherwise, the film suffers from its adaptors' soap-opera mindset, as well as the decision to cram Lewis's complex novel into a brief 75 minutes' screen time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a young surgeon and his driver must combat the racketeers who have taken over the hospital where he works. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gangster Cagney allows his powerful political connections to appoint him "deputy inspector" of a state reform school. There he finds the youths abused and battered by a brutal, heartless warden and his thuggish guards. It is a nurse who informs Cagney and pleads with him to clean things up. Something touches Cagney's normally hard heart and he commits himself to enacting more humane reforms. Soon, he gets the warden booted out and begins working closely with the inmates, who come to trust and respect him until Cagney's dark side emerges and he reveals himself for what he is--a ruthless mobster. This destroys the boys' trust and when the old warden is reinstated makes matters even worse until Cagney makes a difficult choice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jenny (Ruth Chatterton) becomes pregnant by a young man who is killed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Bearing her child in secret, Jenny gives up custody to a wealthy couple. The years pass, and through the auspices of a crooked politician (Louis Calhern), Jenny becomes the number one "madame" of San Francisco, with interests in several other illicit activities. Crusading district attorney Dan Reynolds Donald Cook decides to rid the city of Jenny's operations -- little suspecting that the notorious woman is actually his own mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a highway patrolman gives an oil magnate a ticket. He later quits the force to begin working for the tycoon as a guard for the refinery. He is to prevent gangsters from sabotaging the operation for the duration of a price war. In the end he single-handedly defends the refinery from the mobsters. He also finds time to fall in love with the tycoon's lovely daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A professional gambler masquerading as a businessman boards a train and sets off across the country. During the journey he meets a lovely, wealthy young woman. This drama follows what happens after she (also a gambler in disguise) persuades him to buy a financially sinking gambling ship. At first he is reluctant, but when he learns that his enemy is running the rival ship, he purchases the vessel in hopes of getting sweet revenge. But the rival isn't so easily destroyed and he perpetrates a devastating tragedy on the gambler's vessel. Fortunately, it all works out for the two secret gamblers and in the end, a romance blooms amongst the ashes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on Vicki Baum's novel and produced by Irving Thalberg, this film is about the lavish Grand Hotel in Berlin, a place where "nothing ever happens." That statement proves to be false, however, as the story follows an intertwining cast of characters over the course of one tumultuous day. Greta Garbo is Grusinskaya, a ballerina whose jewels are coveted by Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore), a thief who fancies Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a stenographer and the mistress of Preysing (Wallace Beery), businessman boss of Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a terminally ill bookkeeper who is under the care of alcoholic physician Dr. Otternschlag (Lewis Stone). Grand Hotel won Best Picture at the 1932 Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide