Harry Myers Movies

The MGM historical "spectacular" San Francisco was allegedly based on a three-sentence synopsis, submitted verbally to producer B.F. Zeidman by studio troubleshooter Bob Hopkins. The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) hires demure young singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley (Jack Holt), Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. For the rest of the film, Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 (a special effects tour de force for art directors Arnold Gillespie and his uncredited associate James Basevi). Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation. At the end, an unidentified bit player shouts defiantly "We'll build a new San Francisco!" -- and by golly, they do! The Hollywood censors were not so much bothered by the sexual subtext of San Francisco or its harrowing earthquake finale as they were by a scene in which Father Mullin is knocked down by an unrepentant Blackie. To "purify" this potentially blasphemous sequence, screenwriter Anita Loos quickly added an earlier scene in which Mullin and Blackie, both dressed in turtleneck sweaters, genially duke it out at an exercise gym, whereupon the priest cold-cocks Blackie with the greatest of ease. By establishing that Mullin could have punched out Blackie, but chooses not to in the controversial later scene, not only allows that scene to pass, but also strengthened the priest's character. San Francisco proved to be one of MGM's biggest hits, remaining in almost constant reissue for the next three decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Buster Keaton goes to work as an assistant to a carnival magician, the results turn out to be less than magical. Enthralled with the lovely assistant (Marlyn Stuart) of The Great Spumoni (Eddie Lambert), Buster takes a job as an off-stage helper to the prestidigitator. Alas, his inept efforts turn the magician's show into a shambles: Buster levitates the illusionist instead of the girl, tosses ducks on-stage at the wrong place, and lowers down inappropriate backdrops during their performance. But when he rescues the girl from the clutches of a disgruntled former helper, Buster earns the respect of all. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

One of the funniest, most sharply paced comedies of the 1930s, and perhaps the best of all of Harold Lloyd's talkies, The Milky Way was based on the Broadway play by Lynn Root and Harry Clork. Lloyd plays Burleigh Sullivan, a mild-mannered milkman who intercedes one night when his sister Mae (Helen Mack) is being accosted on the street by two obnoxious drunks -- they turn their wrath on him, his sister runs for help, and when she returns less than a minute later, both men are out cold on the pavement, with Burleigh standing over them. As one of them, Speed MacFarland (William Gargan), is the world's middleweight boxing champion, and the other, Spider Schultz (Lionel Stander), is his sparring partner, Burleigh makes the front page of every newspaper in New York. McFarland's manager, Gabby Sloan (Adolphe Menjou), has to figure out how to salvage the champ's career, but first he has to figure out exactly what happened, since both fighters were too drunk to remember anything about it. It turns out that Sullivan couldn't beat an egg, but he is good at one thing -- ducking. He can dodge any punch, and the two fighters knocked each other out in the process of trying to pummel him. What's more, on hearing this, they're so angry that Schultz accidentally knocks MacFarland out again, just ahead of the press' arrival, and the little milkman is given credit once more by the reporters for decking the champ. Burleigh loves the attention, even though he never claims to have hit anyone. Meanwhile, Sloan comes up with a way of salvaging his fighter's career, and convinces Burleigh to go along with it for a promised cash sum -- all Burleigh has to do is get in the ring in six fights, to build up his standing and reputation, and finish his "career" in a fight with MacFarland, who will win. In the meantime, complications arise when MacFarland falls in love with Burleigh's sister, while Burleigh himself meets and falls in love with Polly Pringle (Dorothy Wilson), a helpful neighbor. Gabby, Spider, and Speed also discover that turning tiny, wiry Burleigh Sullivan into something that even looks like a fighter is easier said than done -- all of his fights have to be fixed (and then some) behind his back to make his victories look remotely genuine. Finally, after starting to believe his own publicity, and then discovering that the fights were fixed, Burleigh goes through with the final match-up against MacFarland, the culmination of a comedy of errors involving horses, foals, and a wild chase to the arena. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

We Live Again was based on Tolstoy's Resurrection; the title was changed upon producer Sam Goldwyn's theory that it meant the same thing as Resurrection and was easier to understand. The film was meant as an introductory showcase for Goldwyn's latest discovery, Russian actress Anna Sten. The story, much laundered from the Tolstoy original, depicts the downfall of a peasant girl who is seduced by a Russian prince (Fredric March). The once-callous nobleman tries to make amends for the hurt he has inflicted on the girl, who has wound up in prison for solicitation. The first American version of Resurrection, directed by D. W. Griffith, was made in 1909 and lasted ten minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this 3-reel comedy Western, Bud (Wally Wales) and his cowpoke sidekick Ben (Ben Corbett) decide to become outlaws. The ensuing hilarity failed to move audiences in this, the second of Reliable's seven "Bud'n Ben" oaters. Wales, who billed himself "Walt Williams" while working for Reliable, replaced Jack Perrin as Bud. Potluck Pards, which also featured such genre stalwarts as Josephine Hill, George Chesebro, Robert Walker, Jimmy Aubrey, and the cadaverous Murdock MacQuarrie, was directed by its producer, Bernard B. Ray and written by Bennett Cohen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Just because Police Call was cheaply made doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch. Nick Stuart stars as Danny, a champion boxer who hopes to make enough money to support his lovin' ma and his kid sister. This accomplished, Danny begins working towards saving for his college education. These plans are scotched by a racketeer known as "The Chief" (Warner Richmond), who insists that Danny accept a job as a mob bodyguard. When one of the Chief's minions tries to have his way with Danny's sister, our hero knocks the crumb down a flight of stairs. Certain that he's killed the man, Danny runs off to Guatemala -- where the film suddenly and unexpectedly becomes a jungle melodrama, thereby justifying its re-issue title Broadway to the Jungles! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A great white hunter embarks upon an African safari, but instead of bagging an animal, he ends up entangled with an exotic white "goddess" who has been raised by natives. Action and adventure ensues when both the heroic hunter and his devious companion fall in love with her and try to bring her back to civilization. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two holdovers from the silent-film era top the cast of Columbia's Meet the Wife. Laura La Plante and Lew Cody are cast respectively as scatterbrained wife Gertrude Lennox and Getrude's first husband Phillip Lord. Long believed dead, Lord returns from the ashes as a successful writer. Meanwhile, poor Gertrude has taken a second husband, Harvey Lennox (Harry Myers). When the heroine proves incapable of choosing between her two spouses, Phillip and Harvey put their heads together to come up with a solution of their own. A subplot concerns the romantic travails of Gertrude's sister Doris (Joan Marsh), who is ardently pursued by gormless juvenile Gregory Brown (William Janney) and silly-ass Englishman Victor Staunton (Claud Allister). Meet the Wife is based on the play of the same name by Lynn Starling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stage favorite Peggy Wood (later the star of the popular TV series Mama) made her screen debut in the MGM part-talkie Wonder of Women. Adapted from a novel by Herman Suderman, the film stars Wood as Brigitte, the wife of brilliant concert pianist Stephen Tromolt (Lewis Stone). Unable to adapt to domestic life, Tromolt deserts Brigitte in favor of his former sweetheart Karen (Leila Hyams). He wises up and returns to Brigitte only upon learning that his wife is at death's door. After completing her duties in Wonder of Women, Peggy Wood rushed to London to star in Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet, a far more successful venture than her first foray into films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bert Lytell stars as Richard Band, a handsome doctor specializing in women's ailments. One of Band's more impressionable patients, Doris Frazer (Dorothy Devore), falls in love with the doc and gives her boyfriend Jack (Frederick Kovert) the air. In retaliation, Jack spreads rumors that Band has an unsavory past, replete with a "wrong woman." And just to prove that he's not whistling Dixie, Jack dons female garb to pose as Band's "ex-lover" Mimi. Beyond the laughs inherent in the basic plotline, Harry Myers (the unforgettable drunken millionaire in Chaplin's City Lights) provides additional yocks as a flustered detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Girl in the Pullman is a standard door-slamming farce in the fine tradition of Up in Mabel's Room and Getting Gertie's Garter. While on his honeymoon with his new bride, Harrison Ford (not the same!) discovers that his ex-wife is occupying the adjacent pullman sleeper in the company of her new mate. The inevitable mix-ups ensue, with everyone suspecting the worst and no one willing to listen to explanations. Franklin Pangborn, a semi-regular in silent films of this nature, scores the biggest laughs as the outraged "other man." Reviewers in 1927 suggested that Girl in the Pullman was more suited to Mack Sennett than to its actual producer, Cecil B. DeMille. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide