George Meeker Movies

Long though lost, Four Sons reemerged in the 1960s, proving anew that the silent films of director John Ford were every bit as accomplished as his talkies. More "Germanic" in tone and texture than later Ford films, Four Sons is the story of the Bernle family of Bavaria. Mother Bernle (Margaret Mann) dotes upon her four sons Joseph (James Hall), Johann (Charles Morton), Franz (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) and Andres (George Meeker), but is powerless in guiding their destinies. When WW I breaks out, her sons march off to the front: one of the boys fights for the AEF, the others for the Kaiser. The film's most poignant sequence takes place on the battlefield, when one of the sons stumbles upon his mortally wounded brother. Though the dying man's plaintive cries are heard on the Fox Movietone soundtrack, the scene itself is effectively played in pantomime. An updated version of Four Sons, wherein the locale was switched from Bavaria to Czechoslovakia, was filmed in 1940, starring Don Ameche, Alan Curtis, Robert Lowery and George Ernest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Preston Sturges' hit Broadway play Strictly Dishonorable was adapted for the movies in 1931 with virtually all its sexual innuendo intact. In New York City, a young American girl (Sidney Fox) tires of her abusive live-in boy friend. She falls for a roguish Italian singer (Paul Lukas) with a bad reputation, whose interest in her is purely carnal. Burned by her past relationships, the girl determinedly "holds out;" she will capitulate only on her terms, which include a matrimonial commitment. Impressed by the girl's iron will, the singer agrees to marriage, telling himself he is saving her reputation. Cheerfully uninhibited in the best pre-code manner, Strictly Dishonorable was laundered and musicalized for its 1951 remake, which starred Ezio Pinza and Janet Leigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claudette Colbert plays a dizzy socialite who wants to become an actress. She buys her way into an audition for the part of a seductive vamp in an upcoming film. To prove she's worthy of the role, Colbert comes on strong to unsuspecting bachelor Edmund Lowe. He falls like a ton of bricks, but Colbert drops him when she's cast in the film. Lowe is not so easily disposed of; he abducts Colbert from the studio and spirits her away. She eventually realizes that she's loved him all along, while the modern-day feminists in the audience grind their teeth and pull their hair. Misleading Lady was based on a play by Charles W. Goddard and Paul Dickey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grace Livingston (Janet Gaynor) is leading a happy life in her small town, with her mother (Maude Eburne) and father (Robert McWade), being courted by two men, the steady but predictable Tommy Tucker (Charles Farrell) and the more ambitious, flashy, and worldly Dick Loring (George Meeker), who seems closer to Grace in his desire for travel and adventure. It's Tommy whom she marries, however, while insisting that they live someplace other than the town where they grew up. So Tommy abandons his successful insurance business and the couple moves to Joplin, MO, where he takes over a real-estate business, and for 11 months the couple struggles quietly while Tommy goes about trying to establish himself, and Grace becomes increasingly bored and impatient, not liking Joplin or the tiny three-room apartment where they live. Tommy has been steadily working on a plan that will bring them all the money they need, acquiring land that he is certain that the railroad needs, but closing the deal with the purchasing agent (Henry Kolker) requires him to throw a small dinner party, on the very day that Tommy is down literally to his last ten dollars, and when Grace's patience is at an end and her kitchen help falls ill. With the maid's inexperienced daughter (Leila Bennett) doing her barely adequate best, they muddle through dinner to a successful conclusion to the deal; however, when the unexpected reappearance of Dick Loring throws a wrench in the works, not only of the deal but their marriage, his presence suddenly brings to a head all of Grace's frustrations. The couple splits up, Grace leaving Tommy to return to her parents' home, and even though each soon has some wonderful news to tell the other, it takes a lot of help -- and a knock-down, drag-out fight between two of the contending parties -- to help get them back to a place where each will give the other the hearing they should.

It sometimes seems as though, during the 1930s, the studios could mix comedy and drama more freely and easily without having to go into too many explanations for their audience -- whereas in the 21st century, audiences need a guide and a warning for pictures such as The First Year, which might be very funny in many spots (especially in the scenes with Grace's parents) and steeped in drama and serious moments elsewhere. Although not remotely as substantial as some of Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor's other work together, The First Year is a good representation of the high level of quality of their work together when they weren't acting in masterpieces such as Street Angel or near-masterpieces like After Tomorrow. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Inspired in part by the sensational Snyder-Gray murder case (which was also the source of The Postman Always Rings Twice), The Famous Ferguson Case casts an unflattering light on the journalist "feeding frenzy" attending such crimes. A wealthy banker named Ferguson is found murdered, and his bound-and-gagged wife (Vivienne Osborne) is rescued by the police. It appears at first that the murderer was an unknown burglar, but the cops think otherwise, hypothesizing that Mrs. Ferguson actually conspired with her lover Judd Brooks (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) to murder her husband. The small town where the murder occurred suddenly becomes the center of a media circus, with reporters from all over the country grasping and clawing for a "hot scoop." At first, hard-boiled girl reporter Maizie Dickson (Joan Blondell) is no better than the rest of the journalist jackals, but she soon becomes disillusioned at the manner in which the truth has been crushed to earth by her insensitive brethren. She also has her heart broken when her husband, likewise a reporter, uses his assignment as an excuse to sleep around. The relentless media blitz eventually drives Mrs. Ferguson (whose guilt or innocence is never completely established) to kill herself and also ruins the lives of everyone around her. Once considered a relic of its period, The Famous Ferguson Case grows more timely with each passing year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Emma is a turn-of-the-century domestic drama completely dominated by star Marie Dressler. She plays the maid of an upper middle class family, keeping her wits about her as her employers suffer crisis after crisis. When the master of the house (Jean Hersholt), a prominent inventor, is widowed, he proposes marriage to Emma. Shortly afterward, Hersholt dies, and Emma, who has married "out of her class", is accused of murder by Hersholt's jealous children. Cleared of the accusation, Emma turns over her inheritance to the selfish children and heads off to work for another family, once again making the best of any and all bad situations. Emma very nearly won Marie Dressler her second Academy Award; five minutes into the film, the modern viewer will be amazed that Ms. Dressler lost--even taking in consideration that the winner in 1932 was Katharine Hepburn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joe E. Brown plays a small town fireman who is also the town's star ballplayer--and an itinerant inventor on the side. Brown is offered a pitching contract with the St. Louis Cardinals; he accepts, reasoning that the money he'll earn will help finance his invention. While in spring training, Brown becomes entangled with a seductive "good time girl" (Noel Francis), which severely compromises his game playing ability and also strains his relationship with his hometown sweetheart (Evalyn Knapp). On the day of the Cardinal's World Series clincher, Brown arrives at the doorstep of the Zenith Fire Extinguishing company, which has invited Joe to demonstrate his invention, a baseball-shaped "extinguisher bomb." A mix-up in briefcases nearly causes Brown to burn down the Zenith company, but eventually he proves the efficiency of his invention. The local fire chief then rushes Brown to the big game, where he pitches his team to victory. Though just as much a "zany inventor" comedy as a baseball yarn, Fireman Save My Child qualifies as the first of Joe E. Brown's "baseball trilogy", followed by 1933's Elmer the Great and 1935's Alibi Ike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a best-selling novel by Fannie Hurst, Back Street concerns an ill-starred couple, Rae (Irene Dunne) and Walter (John Boles). Rae meets Walter and falls hopelessly in love with him; Walter is also drawn to Rae, but he has already pledged to marry another woman and can't find a way out. They part, and for a while Rae takes up with someone else; Walter needs to leave the country and impulsively tries to arrange a marriage with Rae, but she is unable, due to her new beau, and he sails away without her. When Rae next encounters Walter, he has married a woman from a wealthy family. Even though he's wedded to another, a passion still burns between Walter and Rae, and they enter into an illicit affair. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Rae turns down opportunities to marry other men to live a shadowy life as Walter's mistress, until she accepts a proposal of marriage when she's convinced that Walter is finally through with her. This was the first of three film versions of Hurst's story; remakes were released in 1941 and 1961. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This well-wrought drama chronicles the rise and fall of a midwestern family dynasty from the mid 1800s through the Great Depression. Most of the tale centers on a young Dakota farm boy whose grand schemes and ambition lead him on a cattle drive to Texas. From there he hooks up with the owner of a major Chicago slaughterhouse and then falls in love with his new partner's beautiful daughter. They marry and after the youth figures out how to use refrigerated train cars to ship his beef, begin living the lives of the nouveau riche. When his partner dies, he leaves the young man his considerable fortune making him an instant meat-packing magnate. With a good wife, two beautiful children and a terrific home, life for him couldn't be better. Unfortunately, his self-centered wife is discontent. Thinking her husband's profession is preventing her from becoming a true society dame, she begins badgering him to selling the meat business and becoming a more respectable stockbroker. Unfortunately, her attempted machinations fall on deaf ears and the resulting frustration drives her insane. The tycoon's son has his own troubles with his beautiful blue-blooded wife and brokerage business that is destroyed when the market crashes in 1929. His father, who did eventually sell the meat business and invest in his son' brokerage, is also nearly wiped out. In order to support his wife and save face, the son begins embezzling. Unfortunately he gets caught. When he learns that his own wife has betrayed him, the despondent youth is beyond help and tragedy ensues for both the son and his elderly father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, an ex-con conceals her criminal past and starts a new life with a kindly cab driver. Together, the two friends leave the city and move to the suburbs where she helps him set up an auto mechanic business. Though they are in love, they cannot marry for she is still legally the wife of her incarcerated ex-crime partner. Things get more sticky when a seductive socialite attempts to steal the cabbie from the ex-con. More trouble follows when her husband busts out of jail and she is blamed with helping him escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Top-billed Bela Lugosi has only a minor role in this routine variant on the Old Dark House scenario, playing a mysterious Indian mystic who is but one of numerous eccentric characters lingering about in an eerie mansion, stalked by an unseen murderer. Other potential victims/suspects include a reporter, a pair of exotic house servants, a fetching heroine, even an extra psychopath thrown in as a red herring. The real killer is eventually discovered and destroyed but, in an inventive and chilling twist, comes back to life to speak directly to the audience in the film's surprise coda -- the only real moment of interest in this otherwise humdrum who-done-it. Also known as He Lived to Kill. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide