William Morris Movies
- 1932
An eager cub reporter visits a roadhouse, stumbles across a corpse and decides to drum up a little notoriety for himself by pretending to make it look as if he were the killer. He then plans to write a series of articles chronicling his experiences with the courts. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, he made the evidence look too real and he is sent to prison until the real crook is apprehended. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Linden, Bruce Cabot, (more)
- 1932
Perhaps most noteworthy for the first onscreen performance by future Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel, this politcal melodrama from director Charles Brabin stars Lionel Barrymore as Jefferson Keane, a widowed US Senator who suddenly finds himself sought after by Consuela, a beautiful young woman played by Karen Morley. Smitten by her, Keane marries Consuela, unaware of the fact that she is in cahoots with a powerful lobbyist and is only pretending to be in love. After Consuela persuades Keane to take a bride for his vote on a water-rights bill, he suddenly finds himself embroiled in a scandal that he cannot escape. The aforementioned McDaniel plays a maid. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1931
Lily Damita, an actress best known today for her tempestuous marriage to screen idol Errol Flynn, is the Dietrich-like heroine in RKO Radio's The Woman Between. Damita plays a knockout French modiste who marries the much-older widower O.P. Heggie. She immediately incurs the wrath of Heggie's grown children (Lester Vail, Miriam Seegar), who suspect that Damita married the old coot for her money. She didn't, but she does eventually tire of Heggie, ending up running off with her handsome "stepson" Vail. In an incredible climactic about-face, our heroine decides to remain faithful to Heggie after all, apparently for no other reason than RKO's fear of the Hollywood censors. Director Victor L. Schertzinger also wrote the film's theme song, Close to Me. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lili Damita, O.P. Heggie, (more)
- 1931
In this comedy, a bumbling rube from a small town manages to get involved in a gang war. The trouble really begins when one mob boss orders him to kidnap a young woman. The naive simpleton protests, telling him that he cannot because it is against the law. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Jean Arthur, (more)
A pompous executive has a hard time admitting that his hard-working, devoted secretary is really the one pulling the strings in his office and is behind his promotion to company president. As a result, he takes her for granted until she falls in love with another up-and-coming executive. Romantic fireworks ensue before he is able to rectify the situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Astor, Robert Ames, (more)
- 1930
An early talkie from then-poverty row company Columbia Pictures, Brothers features popular silent screen actor Bert Lytell in a dual-role. Separated at birth, orphaned twins Bob and Eddie grow up on either side of the tracks, one adopted by a washerwoman (Jessie Arnold), the other by a wealthy attorney Naughton (Howard Hickman). Years later, Bob, now a successful but alcoholic attorney in his own right, kills the husband (Francis McDonald) of his mistress (Rita Carlyle) after an altercation in Oily Joe's Saloon. Unbeknownst to Bob, his long-lost twin Eddie works in the saloon and because of their resemblance, Eddie is accused of the crime. When Bob realizes the truth, he clears his brother's name and is institutionalized in a sanitarium. To shield his wife from this sad turn of events, Mr. Naughton persuades Eddie to take Bob's place in the household. He accepts and promptly falls in love with Norma (Dorothy Sebastian), Bob's fiancée. Deciding to leave for his brother's sake, Eddie learns of Bob's death in the sanitarium and declares his love for Norma. A stage matinee-idol who had made a striking screen debut as The Lone Wolf in 1917, Bert Lytell was really a bit too long in the tooth to play leading men at this stage of his career and left films in 1931 in favor of returning to the stage. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Lytell, Dorothy Sebastian, (more)
- 1930
In this crime drama a convicted killer faces the chair for killing a woman. His lover goes to the governor to beg a stay of execution. She tells him the convicts story, which is told in flashback. The trouble begins when the hussy he purportedly killed invited him up to her apartment. There she throws herself at him, but the loyal man denies her. She is then killed when two other men come into the apartment. The hapless man gets blamed for her death. Unfortunately, the story doesn't convince the governor. The convict is sent to the chair. At the very moment the executioners are to throw the switch a prison break begins. One of the real killers, who was also convicted, escapes but is seriously wounded. Just before he dies, he confesses to murdering the hussy. The condemned convict is finally freed and returns to his loyal lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Metro's eight-reel adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was released during same October week in 1916 that Fox's version of the same play hit the screen. While Fox's version boasted the star power of Theda Bara, the Metro version had the advantage of two "big names" in the cast: Francis X. Bushman as Romeo, and Beverly Bayne as Juliet. Kept secret from the public was the fact that Bushman and Bayne were married in real life; the studio did not want to destroy Bushman's image as an "attainable" romantic star. The pantomimic performances of the two stars were so persuasive and convincing that the dialogue subtitles, drawn from the original Shakespearean text, were regarded as intrusions! Still, some few critics preferred the Fox version of Romeo and Juliet, if only because J. Gordon Edwards was more talented than Metro's John W. Noble. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis X. Bushman, Beverly Bayne, (more)
