George Meeker Movies
Tall, handsome, wavy-haired character actor George Meeker was never in the upper echelons of Hollywood stardom; off-camera, however, he was highly regarded and much sought after -- as an expert polo player. Meeker switched from stage to screen in the silent era, playing leading roles in such important features as Four Sons (1928). In talkies, Meeker seemingly took every part that was tossed his way, from full secondary leads to one-line bits. In his larger roles, Meeker was frequently cast as a caddish "other man," a spineless wastrel who might be (but seldom was) the mystery killer, or the respectable businessman who's actually a conniving crook. He showed up frequently in the films of Humphrey Bogart, most memorably as the white-suited gent in Casablanca (1942) who turns to Bogart after the arrest of Peter Lorre and sneers "When they come to get me, Rick, I hope you'll be more of a help." Other significant George Meeker credits include the role of Robespierre in Marie Antoinette (1938) (cut down to a sniff and a single line -- "Guilty!" -- in the final release print), the supercilious dude who wins Mary Beth Hughes away from Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), and the smarmy would-be bridegroom of heiress Dorothy Lamour in The Road to Rio (1947). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1939
This musical presents a romantic and sanitized biography of distinguished American songwriter Stephen Foster. The story begins with the romance between Foster (Don Ameche) and a pretty southern belle and sets up a home in Kentucky--actually the real Foster married a girl from Pittsburgh. His songwriting career takes off when he sells a song to the famous minstrel E.P. Christy (Al Jolson). His career takes off until the Civil War erupts. Accused of siding with the Confederates, Foster and his family flee to the North. There, he begins to literally drink himself to death. The Oscar-nominated soundtrack feature some of Foster's most loved standards including the title song, "Camptown Races," "Oh, Susanna" and "My Old Kentucky Home." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Andrea Leeds, (more)
- 1939
Having made a mint with his Bobby Breen films, producer Sol Lesser decide to groom another talented youngster for stardom. Everything's on Ice was specifically designed to suit the talents of six-year-old skating sensation Irene Dare, who'd previously played as supporting role in Breen's Everything on Ice. Little Ms. Dare plays an ice-skating whiz who is passed off as an heiress by her wheeler-dealer uncle (Roscoe Karns). Starring in an oversized ice show at a Florida resort, the pint-sized heroine also stage-manages a romance between her 19-year old sister (Lynne Roberts) and a handsome young sprout (Eric Linden), while uncle tries to land a wealthy husband for Sis, never realizing that her sweetheart is himself a millionaire. Billed last in Everything's on Ice is Paul Winchell, a young ventriloquist who'd rise to fame and fortune on television in the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dare, Roscoe Karns, (more)
- 1939
How could anyone dislike a film with the title Lady and the Mob? Sweet Fay Bainter stars as eccentric dowager Hattie Leonard, who takes it upon herself to smash a dry-cleaning racket. When the crooks and the cops laugh at her efforts, the resourceful Hattie sets about to organize her own mob, consisting of such soft-hearted yeggs as Warren Hymer and Joe Sawyer. With the help of her Runyonesque stooges-not to mention her grandson Jeff (Lee Bowman) and his sweetheart Lila (Ida Lupino)-Hattie manages to strike a blow for The American Way, bringing the villains to their knees. The supporting cast includes the ineffable Henry Armetta and versatile radio actor Tommy Mack, of "I'm not excited! WHO'S excited?" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fay Bainter, Ida Lupino, (more)
Gone With the Wind boils down to a story about a spoiled Southern girl's hopeless love for a married man. Producer David O. Selznick managed to expand this concept, and Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel, into nearly four hours' worth of screen time, on a then-astronomical 3.7-million-dollar budget, creating what would become one of the most beloved movies of all time. Gone With the Wind opens in April of 1861, at the palatial Southern estate of Tara, where Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) hears that her casual beau Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) plans to marry "mealy mouthed" Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland). Despite warnings from her father (Thomas Mitchell) and her faithful servant Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), Scarlett intends to throw herself at Ashley at an upcoming barbecue at Twelve Oaks. Alone with Ashley, she goes into a fit of histrionics, all of which is witnessed by roguish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), the black sheep of a wealthy Charleston family, who is instantly fascinated by the feisty, thoroughly self-centered Scarlett: "We're bad lots, both of us." The movie's famous action continues from the burning of Atlanta (actually the destruction of a huge wall left over from King Kong) through the now-classic closing line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Holding its own against stiff competition (many consider 1939 to be the greatest year of the classical Hollywood studios), Gone With the Wind won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar). The film grossed nearly 192 million dollars, assuring that, just as he predicted, Selznick's epitaph would be "The Man Who Made Gone With the Wind." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, (more)
- 1939
All Women Have Secrets affords a rare film starring role for James Cagney's talented sister Jeanne Cagney. Set on a college campus, the story concerns the trials and tribulations of married student John (Joseph Allen) and his pregnant wife Kay (Cagney). In addition to their existing financial woes, Kay faces dismissal from her nightclub singing job as her waistline expands. The "secret" refers to the fact that Kay has been withholding the fact that John is about to become a father , lest he offer to quit school to support them both. Some much-needed laughs are provided by Peter Lynd Hayes as the typical campus cutup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Allen, Jr., Virginia Dale, (more)
Based upon an idea by Broadway columnist Mark Hellinger, The Roaring Twenties opens during World War I as doughboys Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn), and George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) discuss what they will do when the war is over. Bartlett wants to go back to repairing cabs, and Hart yearns to be a lawyer, but it becomes clear that Hally has less reputable plans in mind for himself. Come the end of the war, things are not as easy for veterans like Bartlett as they should be. He is unable to get his old job back and ends up driving a cab for little money. One night he is asked to deliver a package (which turns out to be whiskey) to an address that turns out to be a speakeasy. This starts him on a life of crime, as he gets deeper involved as a bootlegger. Things are not made easy by a rival bootlegger -- who turns out to be Hally. The two join forces and prosper. Hart shares in their prosperity, as Bartlett engages him to take care of his legal matters. Unfortunately, Hart is also interested in Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), a young woman that Bartlett has had an eye on for quite some time. He loses her to Hart at about the same time that his criminal empire crumbles, and he is reduced to driving a cab again while Hally continues to prosper with his ruthless ways. Eventually, Hart -- now a crusading prosecutor -- runs afoul of Hally, who tells Jean that he will kill him if he doesn't change his ways. Jean begs Bartlett to intercede with Hally; because he still is carrying a torch for her, Bartlett agrees -- but by doing so, he may have signed his own death warrant. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, (more)
- 1939
Undercover Doctor, like the other entries in Paramount's "FBI" series, could lay claim to being "drawn from today's headlines." The film was loosely based on the career of Dr. Joseph P. Moran, who violated the ethics of his profession by tending to the gunshot wounds of gangster Eddie Krator (Broderick Crawford) and his cronies without reporting those wounds to the police. J. Carrol Naish plays Dr. Bartley Morgan, who covers up his profitable illegalities with the respectable veneer of a posh, highly profitable private practice. FBI agent Robert Anders (Lloyd Nolan) is surprisingly slow on the uptake, never catching on to Morgan's illicit activities until the film is three-quarters over. Heather Angel costars as a socialite who doesn't pick her friends too well, while Janice Logan, future costar of Paramount's Dr. Cyclops, fills the nominal heroine role as Dr. Morgan's nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Nolan, Janice Logan, (more)
- 1939
Stunt Pilot is a typically lively entry in Monogram's "Tailspin Tommy" series. Hired to work on an aviation picture, ace pilot Tailspin Tommy (John Trent) immediately runs afoul of obnoxious, grandstanding stunt flyer Martin (George Meeker). Obliged by the script to shoot down Martin in one scene, Tommy discovers to his chagrin that his "prop" gun has been filled with real bullets. Naturally our hero is accused of murder, and just as naturally the guilty party is someone else involved in the film-within-a-film. Most of the aerial dogfight scenes were culled from Howard Hughes' WW1 epic Hell's Angels. Returning from previous "Tailspin Tommy" adventures are Marjorie Reynolds as the hero's sweetheart Betty Lou and Milburn Stone (Gunsmoke's Doc) as his best pal Skeeter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Trent, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
- 1939
A racetrack melodrama, The Long Shot features Marsha Hunt and Gordon Jones as trainers of a thoroughbred horse. Despite the rivalries of their parents, the couple prepares to jointly enter the Santa Anita handicap. The odds are against their entry, but Hunt and Jones have every confidence of winning. Just before the starting bugle, gangsters intrude, demanding that the trainers throw the Big Race. Even those audiences of 1939 who anticipated the outcome (it wasn't hard) were satisfied with The Long Shot, one of the more engaging productions from the short-lived Grand National production company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Jones, Marsha Hunt, (more)
- 1938
This murder mystery is set behind-the-scenes of a radio station. the trouble begins when a hated cad of a sponsor is found murdered during the climax of a live radio show. The sponsor had a reputation for using women. A clever radio engineer solves the mystery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Woods, Nan Grey, (more)
- 1938
This harmless Universal musical comedy is worth having as one of the few filmed records of legendary Broadway comedian Jimmy Savo (his previous starrer, Once in a Blue Moon, is among the rarest of collector's item). The story proper is carried by Robert Wilcox and Nan Grey, cast as a pair of mismatched lovers who share a common interest in horse racing. Hero and heroine get mixed up in a shady get-rich-quick scheme, which threatens to turns disastrous but which ends up solving everyone's problems. Harry Davenport adds a touch of gentle pathos as a blind horseplayer. Jimmy Savo's pantomime turns and musical numbers were not up to his usual standard (at least that's what the critics said), but they play rather well when seen today, even though Savo's patented streak of healthy vulgarity had to be soft-pedalled for the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wilcox, Nan Grey, (more)
M.G.M.'s opulent costume drama Marie Antoinette marked a return to the screen after a two-year absence for reigning Queen of M.G.M. Norma Shearer. Shearer plays the title role of an Austrian princess who is married off to Louis Auguste (Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France. Marie, by becoming the Dauphine, finds herself plopped smack in the middle of French palace intrigue between Louis's father King Louis XV (John Barrymore) and his scheming cousin, the Duke of Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut). With Louis unable to consummate his marriage to Marie, she takes to holding elaborate parties and gambling her fortune away. In a casino, she meets the handsome Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power) and they have an affair. But when Louis XV dies and Louis becomes King Louis XVI, Fersen takes his leave, telling her that he could carry on an affair with a dauphine but not the Queen of France. Marie vows to be a great queen and remain loyal to her king. But the Duke of Orleans is plotting against Louis XVI, financing the revolutionary radicals. When the monarchy is overthrown, Louis and Marie are thrown into prison, awaiting execution. But when word gets back to Fersen, he travels back to France in an attempt to rescue Marie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, (more)
- 1938
Based upon Arthur Kober’s play (which was subsequently musicalized onstage as Wish You Were Here, Having Wonderful Time stars Ginger Rogers as Teddy Shaw, a typist who goes to a summer camp for a little rest and relaxation. She’s also getting away from Emil (Jack Carson), whose interest in Teddy is no longer returned. Arriving at Camp Kare-Free, she’s offered a ride by Chick (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), who works at the camp as a waiter. Unfortunately, they get off to a bumpy start when Chick spills her suitcase and an argument ensues. Once at camp, she makes friends with Fay (Peggy Conklin), Miriam (Lucille Ball) and Henrietta(Eve Arden). Chick apologizes to Teddy, and over the next six days their relationship blossoms, concurrently with that of Miriam and another guest, Buzzy. However, when Chick makes an improper advance during her last night at the camp, Teddy gets angry and leaves him. She dances with Buzzy to make Chick jealous and makes sure she is seen entering Buzzy’s cabin. She takes steps to see that nothing happens and leaves unscathed the next morning, but not before causing trouble between Buzzy and Miriam. Emil has arrived and plans to bring her home after breakfast. While they are eating, Emil proposes to Teddy. Both Chick and Miriam overhear this proposal, after which Miriam loudly comments that Teddy stayed overnight with Buzzy. In the ensuing confusion, Chick decks both Buzzy and Emil, and offers his own proposal to Teddy – which she happily accepts. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Peggy Conklin, (more)
- 1938
Obviously filmed several years before its 1938 release, Meet the Mayor serves as a vehicle for popular Broadway comedian Frank Fay. Unfortunately, Fay's smug, self-satisfied line deliveries had never played well on screen, and didn't here. The star is cast as Spencer Brown, elevator operator in a backwoods hotel. As the community's resident philosopher, Brown's support is highly coveted in the upcoming mayoral race. The outcome of the plot is decided by a hidden recording device developed by Brown's friend and confidante Harry Bayliss (George Meeker in a rare sympathetic role). Fulfilling the film's leading-lady obligations is Ruth Hall, who by the time Meet the Mayor hit the screens had retired to become the wife of cinematographer Lee Garmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
While the "Tarzan" series was going full blast at MGM, several independent producers managed to secure the screen rights to Edgar Rice Burrough's Lord of the Jungle for their own low-budget adventure films. Taking into consideration the fact that MGM's Tarzan was Olympic swimming star Johnny Weissmuller, Sol Lesser managed to cast two Olympic athletes in 1938's Tarzan's Revenge: 1936 decathlon champion Glenn Morris as Tarzan and aquatic medal-winner Eleanor Holm as "Eleanor". The audience doesn't see much of old Tarz' during the first few reels, as Eleanor, her uncle (George Barbier), her sweetheart (George Meeker) and her aunt (Hedda Hopper) safari through the jungle in search of big game. But when Eleanor is kidnapped by lascivious jungle sultan Ben Alieu Bey (C. Henry Gordon), Tarzan comes swinging to the rescue. Though an irredeemably awful actor (his "jungle yell" is so ludicrous as to be laughable), Glenn Morris cuts quite a figure in his Tarzan loincloth, while the curvaceous Eleanor Holm demonstrates just what it was that attracted so many celebrity suitors on both sides of the Atlantic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Morris, Eleanor Holm, (more)
- 1938
An excellent cast elevates the quality of this ultra-cheap independent effort. Adrienne Ames stars as Helene, the owner of a posh beauty salon and reducing parlor. Most of Helene's clients are from the society's upper crust, but that doesn't prevent them from dishing out vitriolic gossip with reckless abandon. Columnist Terry Kent (William Newell) has a field day printing up the "hot" tidbits bandied about in the salon, causing no end of trouble for Helene and her boyfriend Pat Fenton (Craig Reynolds). The supporting cast is a film buff's dream, consisting of such veterans as Esther Ralston, George Meeker, Pert Kelton and Vivien Oakland. Slander House was based on a novel by Madeline Woods. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrienne Ames, Craig Reynolds, (more)
- 1937
History is Made at Night has been described as a romantic tragedy, which it indeed is, up to a point. The film begins deceptively in screwball-comedy fashion with socialite Jean Arthur and handsome head waiter Charles Boyer "meeting cute." But there's nothing cute about Arthur's estranged husband, shipbuilder Colin Clive. Insanely jealous, Clive arranges for the ship on which his wife and her lover are travelling to hit an iceberg--then, aghast at what he has done, Clive commits suicide. As the ship lists dangerously close to sinking beneath the waves, the terrified passengers--Boyer and Arthur included--huddle on the deck. The fog-enshrouded scene in which Charles and Jean affirm their love in the face of death is among the most heartrending sequences ever filmed (the director was Frank Borzage, a past master at transforming potential maudlin material into high-gloss art). Even the happy ending of History is Made at Night does not diminish the power and poignancy of that shipboard scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1937
The Westland Case was the opening volley in Universal's "Crime Club" series. The film was based on Headed for a Hearse, a novel by Jonathan Latimer which had to be toned down considerably for the filmgoers' consumption. Latimer's cynical private-eye team of Bill Crane and Doc Williams are here played by Preston S. Foster and Frank Jenks, who'd repeat these roles in subsequent entries. This time out, Bill and Doc try to clear a wrongly condemned man before his date with the electric chair. This they do on behalf of the poor fellow's desperate fiancee Emily Lou (Carol Hughes) -- who, like most of the other characters in the film, knows a lot more than she's telling. If The Westland Case doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it certainly can't be faulted for a lack of energy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Carolyn Hughes, (more)
Beware of Ladies is a lightweight attempt at romantic comedy from the Republic studio mills. Donald Cook, who'd just finished playing Ellery Queen in Republic's Spanish Cape Mystery, is as stalwart and firm-jawed as Mr. Queen in the role of a crusading lawyer. Reporter Judith Allen assigned to cover Cook's bid for the post of District Attorney, falls in love with her subject. Allen's no-good husband, seeking evidence in his divorce suit, snaps a photo of her and Cook in a compromising position. His political hopes in the dumpster, Cook strives to clear Allen's name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Cook, Judith Allen, (more)
- 1937
The "suspense" in the RKO Radio musical comedy Music for Madame lies in whether or not golden-voiced Operatic tenor Nino Martini will be permitted to sing. En route to Hollywood, Tonio (Martini) is hoodwinked into serenading a wedding party while a gang of jewel thieves clean out the place. The crooks head for the hills, but not before threatening to murder Tonio if he ever sings again (his voice, you see, is the only clue the police have to go by). While pondering the future of his career, our hero falls in love with beautiful Jean (Joan Fontaine) and is sorely tempted to express his ardor in song. Music for Madame was Jesse L. Lasky's first RKO production -- and very nearly his last when the picture lost $375,000 for the studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Martini, Joan Fontaine, (more)
- 1937
A doctor (John Beal) who loses faith in his skills renounces his profession and hides himself in a variety of jobs. He takes a minor job at an airfield, where he meets nurse Joan Fontaine, who works on a "flying hospital". On board the aircraft, Beal finds he is the only person who can perform a delicate operation; worse luck, the plane is about to crash! Beal finds himself, per the title, but nearly loses his life in the process. Watch for Dwight Frye, the immortal "Renfield" in Bela Lugosi's Dracula, as an hysterical patient--and seven-year-old Dwight Frye Jr. as a child rescued from a train wreck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Beal, Joan Fontaine, (more)
- 1937
The comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey are atypically cast as bickering "friendly enemies" in On Again-Off Again. Based on the old stage farce A Pair of Sixes (previously filmed in 1930 as Queen High), the film stars the comedians as Hobbs and Horton, co-owners of a profitable pill manufacturing concern. Forever at each other's throats, the partners are in danger of losing their business thanks to their incessant squabbling. In desperation, their attorney George Dilwig (Russell Hicks) suggests that Hobbs and Horton solve everything with a wrestling match: the loser must agree to become the valet of the winner for a period of one year -- and must also pay a hundred-dollar fine every time he refuses to do the winner's bidding. By a fluke, Horton wins the match, whereupon Hobbs is compelled to wait on him hand and foot. Humiliated, Hobbs refuses to tell his fiancee Florence (Marjorie Lord) about the arrangement and ships her off to Florida, whereupon Horton, hoping to force Hobbs to break the agreement and thus forfeit his share of the business, spreads rumors that Hobbs is fooling around with Mrs. Horton (Esther Muir), then invites Florence to a party at his mansion. Hobbs gets even by dismissing all the servants and hiring a passel of low-lifes (Patricia Wilder, Pat Flaherty et.al.) as temporary help. The feud comes to a head when crooked salesman Toler (George Meeker) tries to convince both Horton and Hobbs to invest in a questionable business scheme, leading to a nocturnal slapstick chase through the Horton estate. Never before had Wheeler and Woolsey been involved in so complicated a plotline; indeed, both comedians seem positively winded at the end of the film. Despite all that's going on, there's still time for a couple of engaging musical numbers, including the ironic opener "One Happy Family" and Bert Wheeler's re-creation of his classic "crying while eating" vaudeville routine. Opinions are divided on On Again-Off Again: Some fans consider it the worst of Wheeler and Woolsey's features, while others regard it as a welcome step up from their previous mediocrities Silly Billies and Mummy's Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, (more)
- 1937
In this pastoral drama, a ruthless gang of fugitives, hide from the law on a remote farm. There they find themselves profoundly affected by the old blind man and his loyal dog that lives there. They also gradually begin to respect the honest toil and simple rewards of country life. When the gang leader finally asks them to come out of hiding, the former criminals turn him in. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hall, Anne Nagel, (more)
- 1936
In this melodrama a chorine endeavors to become a star, but it isn't easy. Her wealthy boyfriend wants to marry her until his snooty family rejects her. At her job, her boss is cruel to her. Still the woman persists and even gets jobs waiting tables and modeling. Luckily for her, a good friend stands behind her regardless of her luck and by the story's end, she comes to appreciate this and romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Nixon, Chick Chandler, (more)
