Frank Morgan Movies

This is the second movie version of Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize winning novel that tells the story of a bride-to-be whose fiance is near-fatally injured by the jealous husband of a woman he had an affair with. The poor young woman is so upset by the situation that she swears she will never love another and takes off to live in an isolated mountain retreat. There she feels terribly sorry for herself. One day she is moping along a rough trail, falls and hurts herself. Fortunately, she is rescued by an elderly lawyer who helps her heal both physically and psychologically. The grateful girl ends up marrying him. Unfortunately she meets a handsome young man with whom she falls passionately, but chastely in love. Now she regrets marrying the old attorney. She decides to tell the lawyer her true feelings. When she is finished he promptly keels over with a heart attack. It might be noted that after Cather saw this film, she forbade the further sale of her works to Hollywood. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

All but forgotten today, A Stranger in Town serves as an excellent showcase for the dramatic talents of Frank Morgan. The star plays Supreme Court justice John Josephus Grant, who decides to take a break from his hectic schedule by going on a hunting vacation. Travelling incognito, Grant stops over in a small town that turns out to be a hotbed of political corruption. Taking a liking to honest young mayoral candidate Bill Adams (Richard Carlson), Grant uses his legal know-how to help thwart Adams' crooked opponents. Jean Rogers, best-known to film buffs as Dale Arden in the first two "Flash Gordon" serials, is decorative as Grant's secretary, who (of course!) falls in love with the clean-cut Bill Adams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inspired by the recent Russian Revolution, At the Mercy of Men casts Alice Brady as Vera Souroff, a Petrograd music teacher. While heading to work, Vera is suddenly seized by three officers of the Czar's Imperial Guard and dragged off to a darkened restaurant, where one of the men rapes her. When the police arrive, Vera is unable to determine which of the three men was responsible for the outrage. The shock of the girl's humiliation has a startling effect on her fiance Boris, who immediately swears vengeance on the Czarist regime and joins the revolutionists. Likewise, Vera's father, a retired Army officer, is galvanized into forming "The Forces of the People." The suggestion that the Revolution was inspired solely by a sexual assault on a single woman may have been a bit hard to swallow, but audiences unfamiliar with the actual political turmoil in Russia were willing to suspend disbelief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic musical, a Russian prince sees a lovely singer in a town cafe and falls head-over-heels. Realizing that he cannot be seen with her in royal garb, he masquerades as a worker. Later he secretly arranges for her to sing at the Imperial Opera. Unfortunately, his father the emperor is wounded that night by the wicked Reds. The girl's father is among the would-be assassins. Years pass. Just before the dawn of WWII, the girl and her family are exiled to Siberia while the former prince heads for Paris to become a famous nightcub singer. When revolution erupts in Russia, the girl is freed and the lovers are eventually reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Rian James was the last of three directors assigned to The Best of Enemies; this sort of unnecessary expenditure was one of the reasons that the Fox Studios was always on the brink of bankruptcy. The plot is basic Hatfield/McCoy stuff, with Buddy Rogers and Marian Nixon playing the grown children of feuding German-Americans Frank Morgan and Joseph Cawthorn. Romance blossoms between Rogers and Nixon, while Morgan and Cawthorn continue muttering Teutonic imprecations at one another. The Best of Enemies bears a striking resemblance to the tried-and-true stage play Friendly Enemies. Perhaps Fox could not come to financial terms with Friendly Enemies authors Samuel Shipman and Aaron Hoffman, so the studio churned out its own variation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Clark Gable is "Big John" and Spencer Tracy is "Square John"; both "Johns" seek their fortunes in the Texas oil fields. They simultaneously fall in love with Claudette Colbert, but it's "Big John" who wins out. When both Johns grow rich on oil, "Big John" lets money go to his head, and he begins neglecting wife Colbert for Hedy Lamarr, the "been around" companion of businessman Lionel Atwill. "Square John", who still carries a torch for Colbert but doesn't want to see her heart broken, tries to buy off Lamarr; when this fails, he decides to ruin "Big John" financially. But when "Big John" is charged with violating anti-trust rules by the crooked Atwill, "Square John" rushes to the side of his old pal. Both men end up where they started--broke but happy. "Big John" returns to faithful Colbert, while "Square John" stands by with an ear-to-ear grin. Boom Town was the last film to co-star Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy; though Tracy was fond of Gable, he resented playing "eunuch" in their on-screen romantic triangles. Claudette Colbert's scenes with Clark Gable are pleasant enough, but the sparks that had ignited their scenes in It Happened One Night are largely absent here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's third follow-up to its landmark Broadway Melody is short on story, but that's okay, since the plot is merely a clothesline upon which to hang sleek and opulent musical production numbers by Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell -- particularly a breathless and eye-popping gloriously black-and-white six-minute tap dance finale between Astaire and Powell to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." The tale itself is a typical backstage contrivance: Johnny Brett (Fred Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy) are a couple of hoofers working in a dance hall for peanuts. Due to mistaken identity, King gets tapped for the lead in a Broadway show opposite big star Clare Bennett (Eleanor Powell) rather than Johnny. But when King drowns his trouble in booze on opening night, Johnny covers for him, taking his place in the show. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Broadway to Hollywood is a through-the-years saga about a show business family. Frank Morgan and Alice Brady play vaudeville headliners of the 1880s whose fame is eclipsed by their son (played as a youth by Jackie Cooper, then as an adult by Russell Hardie). Morgan and Brady are reduced to bit roles in a musical starring their son and his wife (Madge Evans). Alas, Sonny spoils it all by drinking and philandering, while his wife dies in a freak accident. After Hardie is killed in World War One, Morgan and Brady raise Hardie's son, who grows from Mickey Rooney to Eddie Quillan and becomes a temperamental movie star. Grandpa Morgan gives Quillan a remonstrative on-set speech about professionalism, then drops dead as his chastened grandson goes back to work. Broadway to Hollywood is principally a showcase for several elaborate musical numbers originally filmed for MGM's abandoned 1930 extravaganza The March of Time. While the plotline veers towards the ridiculous, comedy buffs are advised to stick with the film for an uncredited appearance by Moe and Curly of the Three Stooges, both dressed in bizarre clown makeup and speaking in weird German accents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her sixth consecutive starring vehicle, 17-year-old ingenue June Caprice essayed her standard characterization, that of an unbridled mountain gal with no knowledge of the Outside World. The heroine's ignorance of civilization comes to an end when she meets a handsome schoolteacher. Naturally, she falls madly in love with him, only to be brought down to earth with a crash when it appears that Teacher already has a wife and child. He doesn't, of course, but Caprice doesn't find this out until after a lecherous mountaineer tries to Have His Way with her. Like practically all of June Caprice's early films, Child of the Wild was produced by William Fox and directed by John G. Adolfi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dancing Pirate was the second feature-length production by Pioneer Pictures, whose earlier effort Becky Sharp was the first three-strip Technicolor feature. Pirate was likewise filmed in the three-strip process, but the film is currently available only in its black-and-white reissue version. London and Broadway musical comedy favorite Charles Collins stars as Jonathan Pride, a mild-mannered dance instructor in 1820 Boston. En route to visit relatives, Jonathan is shanghaied by a band of zany pirates and forced to work as a galley boy. When the pirate vessel arrives at the port of Las Palomas, Jonathan, clad in buccaneer's garb, makes his escape. Everyone in Las Palomas, including Governor Alcalde (Frank Morgan) and fetching senorita Serafina (Steffi Duna), assumes that Jonathan is the pirate chieftain, leading to a series of typical comic-opera complications. Featured in the cast are the Dancing Cansinos, whose daughter Rita Hayworth was just beginning her own screen career. The Rodgers & Hart score, like the film itself, is pretty lackluster, but Charles Collins is a pleasing screen personality who should have gone much farther in movies than he did. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The trade magazine Variety hailed Vitagraph's The Daring of Diana as a "return" to old-fashioned melodrama -- as if this particular movie genre had ever been absent from the screen! To assuage his grief over the death of his wife during childbirth, newspaper publisher John Briscoe (Frances Morgan) resettles in Paris. Twenty-five years pass, during which time Briscoe's estranged son Jason (Charles Wellesley) has taken charge of his dad's newspaper. When Jason refuses to support crooked politician Stange (Anders Randolph) in an upcoming election, he receives a cablegram from Briscoe Sr., who overrides his son's decision. After a bit of investigation, however, Jason determines that the cable was not delivered by his father, who is being prevented from returning to New York by his disreputable business manager. But Jason cannot go to his dad's rescue, so intrepid girl reporter Diana Pearson (Anita Stewart) takes on the assignment herself. Apparently based on the exploits of pioneering newswoman Nellie Bly, The Daring of Diana was wild and wooly entertainment, with a refreshingly self-reliant heroine at the helm. Character actor Donald MacBride made his formal screen debut in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Enchanted April was adapted for the screen from the novel by "Elisabeth" and play by Kane Campbell. Neglected by her novelist husband Mellersh Wilkins (Frank Morgan), repressed Lotty Wilkins (Ann Harding) and her best friend Rose Arbuthnot (Katherine Alexander) impulsively rent an Italian castle during the month of April. Like Lotty, Rose hopes to briefly escape her humdrum marriage to pompous barrister Henry Arbuthnot (Reginald Owen). The two ladies are eventually joined by bejeweled dowager Mrs. Fisher (Jessie Ralph) and young heiress Lady Caroline (Jane Baxter), likewise seeking a respite from a male-dominated society. For the next 30 days, the convivial foursome revels in their newfound liberation, leading to all sorts of unexpected complications. A mixed bag, Enchanted April was better served by director Mike Newell's 1991 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1925, Avery Hopwood's stage play The Best People was refashioned by Preston Sturges as the Miriam Hopkins vehicle Fast and Loose in 1930. Hopkins (in her film debut) and Henry Wadsworth are cast as Marion and Bertie Lenox, the footloose, prodigal offspring of wealthy, social-climbing Bronson and Carrie Lenox (Frank Morgan and Winifred Harris). The parents are shocked beyond belief when daughter Marion falls in love with low-born car mechanic Henry Morgan (Charles Starrett), while Bertie becomes enamored of down-to-earth showgirl Alice O'Neil (Carole Lombard). But mom and dad change their minds when it turns out the Henry and Alice have more common sense than either of their grown-up kids. This was the film in which Paramount contract starlet Carol Lombard changed the spelling of her first name to "Carole" -- or, rather, it was changed for her by a careless title-writer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide