Eva Moore Movies

The Technicolor swashbuckler Bandit of Sherwood Forest stars Cornel Wilde as Robert of Nottingham, son of the legendary Robin Hood (Russell Hicks). Robert elects to follow in his father's footsteps when oppression rears its ugly head in the form of a despotic Regent (Henry Daniell) and his partner in perfidy Fitz-Herbert (George Macrady). Our hero reunites the Merrie Men, including Friar Tuck (Edgar Buchanan) and Will Scarlet (John Abbott), determined to force the wicked Regent to recognize the Magna Carta. He also finds time to carry on romance with high-born Anita Louise, who has disguised herself as a scullery maid. If the film's huge castle set looks familiar, it is because it was reused in several of Columbia's Three Stooges comedies, most memorably The Hot Scots (1948). Based on a novel by Paul A. Castleton, Bandit of Sherwood Forest was more or less remade four years later as Rogues of Sherwood Forest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in lavish Technicolor and given Tiffany production values by producer Alexander Korda, the British comedy Divorce of Lady X is at base a trivial little farce, buoyed by the sprightly performances of star Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. Ms. Oberon plays a costume-party guest who is forced to stay in a hotel overnight due to inclement weather. There are no rooms available, so the management prevails upon handsome but stuffy lawyer Olivier to give up half of his suite to the lovely Oberon. After a chaste evening together, Olivier becomes obsessed with Oberon, deducing that her elusiveness is due to the "fact" that she is married. Actually, she is nothing of the kind, but when an old school chum (Ralph Richardson) comes to Olivier's office to arrange for a divorce, Olivier jumps to the conclusion that Oberon is his old friend's soon-to-be "ex". Based on Gilbert Wakefield's play Counsel's Opinion, Divorce of Lady X has become a familiar presence on cable TV because of its public domain status; less familiar is an earlier movie version of the Wakefield play, filmed in 1932 by director Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a young husband tires of living off of his mother-in-law's money and decides to allow a film crew to use his mansion in exchange for a small fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jew Suss was a well-worn stage drama based on an old novel by Lionel Feuchtwanger. The story involves an enterprising Jewish businessman (Conrad Veidt) who gains power and influence in the European community of Wurttemburg. He does this to help his people, who have suffered persecution under the Gentile burgomeisters. To his horror, Suss discovers that he is actually not Jewish at all. The question: Was his own suffering on behalf of the community's genuine Jews worth it, and will he continue to act in their best interest? Filmed as a protest against the rising tide of Anti-Semitism in Germany, Jew Suss (released in the U.S. as Power) was far from subtle, but its heart was in the right place. There would be a reprehensible 1940 German remake of Jew Suss, this time filmed under the aegis of Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, wherein the story was perverted into an anti-Jewish tract and Suss was portrayed as a drooling rapist! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Walter Reisch's play The Song is Ended, The Song You Gave Me is a British attempt to emulate the glossy "continental" style. Hollywood's Bebe Daniels (who later took up permanent residence in London) stars as Mitzi Hansen, the personal secretary to world-renowned singer Karl Linden (Victor Varconi). He falls in love with her, but she keeps him at arm's length. As time goes by, of course, Mitzi wins Karl on her own terms. Bebe Daniels handles her musical numbers with her usual charm and grace, while Frederick Lloyd offers silly-ass comedy relief as "Baron Bobo." Eva Moore, cast as Daniels' grandmother, was at the time of The Song You Gave Me the mother-in-law of Laurence Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tom Walls, one of the most famous of the Aldwych Theater farceurs, was both star and director of Leave It to Smith. Based on a Frederick Lonsdale play, the story concerns a thief named Smith (Walls) who uses his left-handed pilfering skills to rescue damsel-in-distress Mary Linkley (Carol Goodner). Because of this one good deed, poor Smith finds himself up to his unwashed neck in trouble. Lonsdale cleverly contrasts the essential decency of Smith with the hypocritical pretensions of the upper-class Londoners who comprise the rest of the cast of characters. American critics tended to dismiss Leave It to Smith on the grounds that the English accents were unintelligible, but this may have been due to bad laboratory work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a wildly varied group that takes shelter from a raging English storm in the forbidding mansion of the Femm family. Among the reluctant guests are stuffed-shirt Philip Waverton (Raymond Massey): Philip's sensitive wife Margaret (Gloria Stuart); their mutual friend, disillusioned war veteran Roger Penderell (Melvyn Douglas); vulgar self-made millionaire Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton); and Porterhouse's no-better-than-she-ought-to-be lady friend Gladys DuCane (Lillian Bond). Under the baleful eyes of ungracious, atheistic host Horace Femm (Ernst Thesiger) and Horace's religious-zealot sister Rebecca (Eva Moore), the group sits around conversing, slowly coming to the realization that first impressions are most deceiving. Normally, that would be the whole story-except that the old dark house houses a deep dark secret involving 101-year-old Sir Roderick Femm (played by "John Dudgeon", actually an actress named Elspeth Dudgeon) and pyromaniac Saul Femm (Brember Wills). Lumbering ominously throughout the proceedings is top-billed Boris Karloff, playing Morgan, the mute, alcoholic family butler (the opening credits felt obligated to tell 1932 filmgoers that yes, this was the same Karloff who'd portrayed the Monster in the previous season's Frankenstein). Directed with sinister verve by James Whale and brimming with unforgettable dialogue, The Old Dark House is one of the most enjoyable and least formularized of the Universal "scare" pictures of the early 1930s. The film was based on J. B. Priestly's Benighted, though Priestly's hero dies in the book and does not in the film (this appears to have been a last-minute decision--and a wise one). Long thought lost, The Old Dark House was rediscovered in the early 1970s; copyright problems with the lukewarm 1963 remake kept it off television until 1994, at which time a sparkling new print was struck, replacing the washed-out dupes with which film buffs were all too familiar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The tale of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves was made into this silent picture by British producer Graham Wilson. Betty Blythe stars as the beautiful Zahrat, who is kidnapped by Abou Hassan (Herbert Langley) on the day she is to wed her lover, Omar (Jameson Thomas). Hassan sells her to Kasim Baba (Randle Ayrton), a miser and moneylender of Baghdad. But then, disguised as Chinese Prince Chu Chin Chow, he kidnaps her once again, promising her freedom if she reveals the whereabouts of some valuable jewels. He goes back on his promise, and Kasim Baba's brother Ali Baba (Judd Green) comes in search of the jewels, too. Through Ali Baba, Zahrat is freed and at a big feast. She exposes the 40 thieves hidden in 40 jugs by Hassan. He is reviled by the crowd and Zahrat finally returns to Omar. This story was remade as a talkie in 1934. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this star-studded British mystery, the title refers to a band of blackmailers who have marked a group of important people for murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide