Paul McAllister Movies

Fiercely independent authoress June Cameron (Loretta Young) has no time for men in her life. Chauvinistic medical college professor Timothy Sterling (Ray Milland) has no use for women. So guess who is mistaken for June's husband, and guess who is forced by circumstances to pretend that she's married? The Doctor Takes a Wife maintains its exhausting comic pace until about five minutes before the end, when the scriptwriters are forced to take a breather to tie up all the loose plot ends. The "fantasy" closing gag went over so well that Columbia Pictures utilized variations of it in several subsequent screwball comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will Rogers stars as Judge William "Billy" Priest, the common-sense Kentucky jurist created by humorist Irvin S. Cobb. The Judge's easygoing manner bothers many of the self-righteous good citizens of his small 19th-century hometown, imperiling his chances for re-election. The anecdotal plot boils down to a single storyline involving orphaned Anita Louise, reclusive David Landau (secretly Louise's father), and young attorney Tom Brown.The testimony that saves Landau from a murder charge is delivered by Civil War veteran H.B. Walthall, whose stirring loyalty to the Confederacy inspires everyone in town to organize an impromptu parade! Some of the best scenes are highlighted by Will Rogers' affectionate rapport with stereotyped black-actors Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel, though these scenes are frequently removed from TV showings of Judge Priest due to their undeniably racist overtones. If you haven't guessed by the first frame of the film that John Ford was the director, you'll recognize Ford's personal stamp the moment Will Rogers kneels by his wife's grave and carries on a warm conversation with his long-departed bride. Ford would remake (and improve upon) Judge Priest in 1953 as The Sun Shines Bright, with Charles Winninger as the judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not every Greta Garbo film is an imperishable classic; this was seldom truer than in the case of her repetitious 1931 vehicle Inspiration. A modernized adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's Sappho, the film casts Garbo as Yvonne, a Parisian belle with "a history." When her past returns to haunt her, she decides to walk out on her sweetheart Andre (Robert Montgomery), even though she still loves him. Eventually she returns to Andre, but this time he leaves her. Worried that Yvonne will take drastic action over his defection, Andre returns, whereupon Yvonne breaks up the romance a third time, "all for the best." Had there been a fourth breakup, the audience probably would have walked out. No matter: Garbo illuminates every scene she's in, and that's all anyone could possibly ask for. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem Evangeline briefly abandoned the curriculum of English Literature 101 for the purposes of this part-talkie screen adaptation. Dolores Del Rio stars as the title character, an Acadian lass whose marriage to kinsman Gabriel (Roland Drew) is forestalled by the British invasion of the Grand Pre region. Exiled from the territory along with most of the other Acadians, Gabriel is transported far, far away from Evangeline's arms. Our heroine spends the rest of the film in search of her sweetheart, but the two are reunited only after Gabriel falls mortally ill, and Evangeline has joined an order of nuns. The film was billed as a "talkie" by virtue of its two songs, both performed by Dolores Del Rio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Directed by a young Michael Curtiz, this Warner Bros. epic had aspirations of becoming another Intolerance (1916). In the end, Curtiz' treatise of man's inhumanity to man was ironically sabotaged by the enormous success of yet another studio release, the groundbreaking The Jazz Singer (1927). Basically a quaint romantic melodrama set during World War I, Noah's Ark opens with American George O'Brien falling in love with German Dolores Costelllo while travelling on the Orient Express on the eve of war. The train wrecks and the two seek shelter at a nearby hostelry. Russian military officer Noah Beery tries to molest Miss Costello but is repulsed by O'Brien. The three meet again near the end of the war in a little French village, where Beery accuses Costello, now Mrs. O'Brien, of being a German spy. Placed before a firing squad, Dolores is saved in the nick of time by her husband, a member of the squad.The Germans use this very moment to bomb and all are soon entombed in the basement of a demolished building. Comparing the war with the Biblical account of the Flood, screenwriters Anthony Coldeway and Darryl F. Zanuck flash back to Miriam (Costello) and Japheth (O'Brien) at the festival of Jaghut. The climactic Flood (the filming of which brought Miss Costello a severe case of pneumonia) pulls out all the stops and is magnificent in UCLA's lovingly restored print. After the deluge, the story shifts back to war-torn France, where Costello and O'Brien are rescued by the Red Cross on the eve of the Armistice. Ready to be released, Warner Bros. withdrew the film in order to add several scenes of dialogue, considered a necessity after the unprecedented reception of The Jazz Singer. The results were doleful: Ever so often, Noah's Ark comes to a screetching halt as the characters leave the realm of silent movies to speak stolid lines of dialogue. The cumbersome Vitaphone sound-on-disc made for pedestrian drama as everyone were forced to speak slowly and enunciate carefully. Dolores Costello, Warners' blonde leading lady and the off-screen Mrs. John Barrymore, suffered the most and would see her flourishing career all but evaporate. But UCLA's restoration of Noah's Ark proves once and for all that the rumors of Miss Costello having trouble with sibilants were highly exaggerated. It was Costello's line-reading of "Merthy, merthy, have you no thisther of your own?" in Tenderloin (1928) that supposedly sealed her fate in talkies. But even though the restored Noah's Ark shows little sign of the dreaded lisp, the hapless Miss Costello is visibly ill at ease before the microphone and her stilted dialogue, by Coldeway, is of no help whatsoever. "Part-talkies" like Noah's Ark were mercifully only a stop-gap measure; by the time of M-G-M's Broadway Melody (released June 6, 1929), "all-talking, all-dancing" features had already freed themselves from the constraints of early sound technology. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Ronald Colman plays the title role in the first of several screen adaptations of Christopher Wren's tale of adventure in the foreign legion. Beau is the youngest of three brothers who fall into an ethical dilemma when their aunt resorts to stealing valuable jewelry from the family's collection to pay off her home. Beau takes the blame for the crime and, before he can be put in jail, flees the country, with his brothers John (Ralph Forbes) and Digby (Neil Hamilton) in tow. The Geste Brothers eventually join the French Foreign Legion, where they suffer under the tyrannical leadership of the cruel Sgt. Lejaune (Noah Beery Sr.). Unknown to Beau, Lejaune is in cahoots with men who want to capture the Geste Brothers and bring them to justice, but when Arab forces attack the Legion compound, the valiant Gestes fight with such bravery that even Lejaune is impressed with their selfless courage. It's said that Ronald Colman considered his performance in Beau Geste the finest work of his career; lip readers might get a chuckle out of some of Noah Beery Sr.'s non-subtitled dialogue, which today would have pushed the film into an R rating if it were audible. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The talented and beautiful Marion Davies is practically lost under the opulence of this expensive, overdone historical romance. Her producer (and lover), newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was attempting to recreate the success of one of Davies' prior epic vehicles, When Knighthood Was in Flower. Once again he based the picture on a novel by Charles Major and brought in set designer Joseph Urban to work his magic. But this Major story wasn't as good as Knighthood and Urban did his work too well; the sets are both gorgeous and overwhelming. Ultimately, the production cost too much for Hearst to make a profit, even though the film performed well at the box office. The backdrop is fifteenth century France, and Charles, Duke of Burgundy (Lyn Harding) has promised his daughter, Princess Mary (Davies), that she can marry the man she loves, Prince Maximilian of Styria (Ralph Graves). But when the Swiss threaten war, the duke is compelled to take back his word and he arranges for Mary to wed the half-witted dauphin (Johnny Dooley) of France's King Louis XI (Holbrook Blinn). Mary, however, runs away and disguises herself as Yolanda, a commoner. At a silk fair she meets and falls in love with a strange knight, only to discover that it's Maximilian in disguise. Although she is found and turned over to be married to the dauphin, Maximilian rescues her. When the Duke of Burgundy is killed, Mary shows up with Maximilian by her side to rule over her people. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although an executive at Paramount came up with the racy title for this comedy-drama, the plot came from a Saturday Evening Post story by Arthur Stringer. Tessie McGuire (Gloria Swanson) is a department store clerk. When her sweetheart, auto mechanic Johnny Hogan (Tom Moore) goes to Detroit with a gas saving invention, Tessie's friend, Pinkie (Lilyan Tashman), drags her to a party. The host, sculptor Robert Brandt (Ian Keith), finds Tessie's talent at impersonations amusing (she mimics Charles Chaplin), and hires her as a model. But when he tries to "manhandle" her, she goes to work at the shop of Arno Riccardi (Frank Morgan) -- her job is impersonating a Russian countess. Every man she encounters at the upper reaches of society tries to have his way with her, but Tessie remains staunchly chaste. However, when Hogan returns from his trip (his invention sold), he sees her fancy dresses and believes she is less than spotless. Ultimately, he realizes that Tessie has been faithful all along and the couple is happily reunited. This picture was a departure for Swanson -- her mimicry of Chaplin was totally unexpected (but would be repeated some 25 years later in Sunset Boulevard). It delighted her fans, though, and the film was a huge box-office hit. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama of international crime and intrigue was based on the famous series of novels by Louis Joseph Vance. Jack Holt plays gentleman crook Michael Lanyard, also known as the Lone Wolf. The United States government has developed a ray that can stop an airplane engine in midair, but the plans, hidden in a deck of cards, are stolen. A ring of crooks known as the Pack find out that Eckstrom (Alphonse Ethier) has the plans and goes after them. One of the gang, Lucy Shannon (Dorothy Dalton), meets Lanyard and suspects that he is the Lone Wolf. Lanyard has gone to the American Embassy and offered to get the plans back, but only if the United States will allow him to live, unmolested, in America. One of the Pack gets the plans from Eckstrom, but Lanyard knocks him unconscious and steals them. He removes them from the deck of cards and secrets them away in a cigarette. Lucy has decided to help Lanyard and they plan to escape together, but the Pack finds them together, and Lucy pretends she is still on their side by holding Lanyard at bay with a revolver. Lanyard lays the deck of cards on the table and the gang takes them. Eckstrom, however, knows better and demands the cigarette. He takes off in a plane and Lanyard and Lucy pursue him for a dramatic fight in the air. Only after they get the plans and return to earth does Lanyard find out that Lucy is actually a member of the Secret Service. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

After a promising start (not to mention a really good cast), this stylish society drama gets bogged down in overwrought melodrama. Powerful Wall Street financier Garth McBride (Lewis Stone) ruins his rival after a tough battle. To celebrate, he goes to Florida with his wife, Edith (Leatrice Joy), and some friends, including Ardrita Saneck (silent screen vamp Nita Naldi). McBride becomes infatuated with Ardrita, which doesn't go by Edith unnoticed. After a confrontation with Edith, McBride takes off for Miami with Ardrita and Edith heads back to New York alone and becomes a nurse. McBride's enemy, determined to get back at him, manipulates the stock market. McBride returns to New York and is attacked by thugs. He is taken to a hospital, which just happens to be run by Ardrita's husband, Dr. Konrad Saneck (Paul McAllister). Dr. Saneck, who has just discovered that his wife has been running around with McBride, prepares to give him an overdose of sedative, and Edith is called in to assist. Luckily for McBride, Ardrita shows up and swears that nothing untoward happened between them. Her husband, either wisely or naïvely, believes her and they reconcile. Edith and McBride reconcile too. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

While working as a stenographer, Ann Hunniwell (Norma Talmadge) only barely avoids being compromised by her boss's dissolute son, Frank Devereaux (he-vamp Lew Cody). Later on, she marries Lafe Regan (Charles Richman), only discovering after they've wed that he knows Devereaux. Ann's stepdaughter, Helen (Helen Weir), falls for Devereaux and makes plans to visit his apartment. Ann finds out about the date and heads over there first. But Regan shows up on some other business and is forced to shoot Devereaux in self-defense, while Ann hides. She uses circumstantial evidence to put the blame on herself and save her husband. Regan's self-defense plea, however, gets him off and the couple are left in peace. This picture was based on the Channing Pollock stage play, a bit too literally -- actual dialogue from the theatrical production was used for the title cards, making them extremely wordy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide