J. Carrol Naish Movies
Though descended from a highly respected family of Irish politicians and civil servants, actor J. Carroll Naish played every sort of nationality except Irish during his long career. Naish joined the Navy at age sixteen, and spent the next decade travelling all over the world, absorbing the languages, dialects and customs of several nations. Drifting from job to job while stranded in California, Naish began picking up extra work in Hollywood films. The acting bug took hold, and Naish made his stage debut in a 1926 touring company of The Shanghai Gesture. Within five years he was a well-established member of the theatrical community (the legendary actress Mrs. Leslie Carter was the godmother of Naish's daughter). Naish thrived during the early days of talking pictures thanks to his expertise in a limitless variety of foreign dialects. At various times he was seen as Chinese, Japanese, a Frenchman, a South Seas Islander, Portuguese, an Italian, a German, and a Native American (he played Sitting Bull in the 1954 film of the same name). Many of his assignments were villainous in nature (he was a gangster boss in virtually every Paramount "B" of the late 1930s), though his two Oscar nominations were for sympathetic roles: the tragic Italian POW in Sahara (1943) and the indigent Mexican father of a deceased war hero in A Medal For Benny (1954). Naish continued to flourish on radio and television, at one point playing both a priest and a rabbi on the same anthology series. He starred in both the radio and TV versions of the melting-pot sitcom "Life with Luigi," essayed the title role in 39 episodes of "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" (1957), and played a comedy Indian on the 1960 sitcom "Guestward Ho." Illness forced him to retire in 1969, but J. Carroll Naish was cajoled back before the cameras by quickie producer Al Adamson for the 1970 ultracheapie Dracula vs. Frankenstein; even weighed down by bad false teeth, coke-bottle glasses and a wheelchair, Naish managed to act the rest of the cast right off the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1930
In this classy crime drama, the well-spoken, leader of a sophisticated gang of gangsters use their high social status to gain access to the vaults of the local rich people. The suave ring leader smoothly moves through the aristocratic social circles, charming all those who cross his path. He falls in love with the bank president's daughter and that is the beginning of the end. It is not long before the true avocation of the classy robbers is revealed. They and the romance are immediately ruined. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Marguerite Churchill, (more)
- 1930
Dakin Barrolles (played by Edmund Lowe is a criminal who, while escaping from a bank robbery that went wrong, stumbles across a famous banker, Sir John Lasher, and his wife, Xandra. Lasher is deep in his cups, and neither he nor Xandra notice when Barrolles absconds with one of their possessions -- a locket with a picture of the married couple. For once, Barrolles has more in mind than thievery. He has become instantly smitten with banker's wife; planning to escape the police by enlisting in the army, he wants the picture to serve as a reminder of her beauty. During heavy fighting, Barrolles is injured in a mine explosion, and the surgeon who operates on him gives him the face of the man in the locket. By coincidence, Lasher has also joined the war effort and is missing. Xandra arrives to reluctantly take home her husband and is surprised at the change in her husband, who now is clearly in love with her and concerned about her feelings. Now in a position to commit a spectacular bank robbery, Barrolles must decide whether to give in to this temptation or stay with the woman he loves -- and must also worry about what he will do if Scotland Yard finds him or the real Lasher returns. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1931
Surrender is yet another triangular romance set against the backdrop of WWI. French POW Dumaine (Warner Baxter) is sequestered near the castle of a prideful Prussian nobleman, Count Reinmacher (C. Aubrey Smith), who lives for the day that his four sons will march triumphantly into Paris. Axelle (Leila Hyams), the daughter of one of the sons, makes periodic goodwill visits to the prison compound, and by-and-by she falls in love with Dumaine. Things take a dirty-work-at-the-crossroads turn when Captain Elbing (Ralph Bellamy), the martinet prison commandant, likewise develops an interest in Axtelle. Though Surrender hasn't been seen in years, outtakes from the film -- in which the dignified C. Aubrey Smith swears like a sailor after blowing his lines -- have long been on the public-domain video market. The film was based on Axelle, a play by Pierre Benoit, previously filmed in France. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Leila Hyams, (more)
- 1931
In this crime drama, dedicated to the police forces of America, a gangster searches for his estranged son, also a gangster. Meanwhile a police captain searches for the gangsters who murdered his son. The gangster's crooked son, wanting to stay out of jail for killing the cop's son, offers to help the police catch his father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Carrillo, Noah Beery, Sr., (more)
- 1931
William Boyd is one of the stars of the Paramount western Gun Smoke -- only it's not the same William Boyd who later essayed the role of Hopalong Cassidy, but another actor who billed himself as William "Stage" Boyd. The plot was a familiar one to western devotees of the early 1930s: a bunch of urban gangsters, forced out of the Big City when the cops put the screws in, head to Idaho to continue their crooked activities in the Wide Open Spaces. Unfortunately, the bad guys, headed by Kedge Davas (Boyd), haven't reckoned with the resourcefulness of cowboy hero Brad Farley (Richard Arlen) and his saddle pals. Farley and company organize a vigilante group to purge the territory of the gangsters, adopting tactics that might in any other circumstances be considered fascistic. The unspeakable Davas finally comes to a well-deserved end when he falls from a mountain top (a cinematic tour de force for cinematographer Archie J. Stout). It may seem hopelessly hokey and outdated in synopsis form, but Gun Smoke is as entertaining in the 1990s as it was six decades earlier; indeed, a recent screening of the film in the small Idaho resort community of Ketchum earned a standing ovation from the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1931
Previously filmed in 1917 and 1922, Willard Mack's barnstorming stage melodrama Kick In was exhumed again in 1931 as a Clara Bow vehicle. The "It" girl plays Molly, the wealthy but long-suffering sister of young coke-head Charlie (Leslie Fenton). When ex-crook Chick Hewes (Regis Toomey) tries to dissuade Charlie from committing a robbery, the no-good punk pins the blame for the crime on Chick. It takes the intervention of Molly, who's fallen in love with Chick, to set things right. Billed sixth in the cast is James Murray, who skyrocketed to stardom in the 1928 King Vidor production The Crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Regis Toomey, (more)
A wimpy king is forced to take responsibility for his little North Sea island kingdom after his iron-fisted wife goes on a vacation to the US in this comedy. Soon after she leaves, his subjects launch a revolt and the flighty fellow must quickly figure out what to do. Things get worse when his daughter tells him that she plans to marry a commoner. Fortunately, once the king makes his decisions, things settle down and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lowell Sherman, Nance O'Neil, (more)
- 1931
The names have all been changed, but this hard-hitting gangster tale is based on an actual newspaper headline story involving the brutal slaying of corrupt crime reporter Alfred "Jake" Lingle, who had been suspected of betraying his boss Al Capone. Naive Southern boy Breckinridge Lee comes to the big city for fame and fortune. He starts out honest, but is unable to the resist hefty payoffs offered by crime lord Louis Blanco to suppress certain stories. Time passes and Lee does a great job for Blanco. Lee's girl friend tries to get him to go straight, but he has become too accustomed to the money and besides is too deeply mired in corruption to ever escape. In the end, he loses his life when a story about Blanco's latest shenanigans escapes his watchful eye and gets printed. Believing Lee was behind the double-cross, Blanco orders him executed and tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1932
In director Leo McCarey's film The Kid From Spain, actor Eddie Cantor plays mischievious college boy Eddie Williams, who, with his buddy Ricardo (Robert Young), is kicked out of college for sneaking into the women's dormitory. Ricardo (Young), on his way back to Mexico, suggests Eddie (Cantor) come along. First, however, Ricardo must stop at the local bank for some cash. Unfortunately, the bank is robbed as the two boys are leaving, and the fleeing thieves mistake Eddie for their getaway driver. In a panic, Eddie races off towards the Mexican border in hopes of getting way from them. Realizing that the bank robbers will go after him--Eddie, after all, is the only one who saw their faces--he convinces a skeptical border guard that he, too, is a Mexican. Once in Mexico, he's mistaken for a renowed bullfighter, and plays along with his newly assigned identity in order to avoid the American detective on his trail. Mayhem ensues, and Eddie eventually falls in love with Rosalie (yda Roberti), a young Mexican woman with an over-protective father. The musical numbers in The Kid From Spain were staged by a young Busby Berkeley and feature the oldwyn Girls, whose ranks in this film include Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Jane Wyman.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Cantor, Lyda Roberti, (more)
- 1932
About to die in the electric chair, John Allen (Edward G. Robinson) uses the last two seconds of his life to recall the events leading up to his present predicament. A $62.50-per-week riveter ("That's more than most college professors make!"), Allen gets drunk at a speakeasy and impulsively marries his steady date Shirley Day (Vivienne Osborne), who almost immediately begins cheating on him with dance-hall proprietor Tony (J. Carroll Naish). When his co-worker pal Bud Clark (Preston S. Foster) tries to warn him of this hanky-panky, Allen angrily takes a punch at Clark, whereupon the other man falls to his death from a skyscraper girder. Told by his "repentant" wife that she's been messing around with Tony so as to borrow money from him, Allen begins playing the horses, earning just enough money to pay off his debts. With money in hand, he heads to Tony's place, only to discover that Shirley has been lying to him all along. In a fit of jealousy, he kills Shirley and subsequently is sentenced to the chair. As the executioner pulls the switch, Allen philosophizes that he's been the victim of the "postman always rings twice" syndrome: He escaped prosecution for Clark's unjustified death, only to be punished for his justifiable murder of Shirley ("It isn't fair to let a rat live and kill a man!") Edward G. Robinson overacts outrageously throughout Two Seconds, but that's part of the charm of this fascinating antique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1932
In this crime drama, an assistant DA must scramble to save the life of an innocent man he mistakenly sent to the chair. Unfortunately, he is too late and turns to alcoholism to soothe his throbbing conscience. It is only down from there and soon the attorney begins working for the mob until he falls in love. Some of the story was based on the life of William J. Fallon, a New York City attorney. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren William, Aline MacMahon, (more)
- 1932
Sudden success can be a double-edged sword as this drama aptly proves. An aspiring musician finds success when his manager has him switch from playing the sax to vocals. He soon becomes a popular star. Unfortunately as his popularity swells, so does his head. His arrogance and megalomania cause his downfall. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Manners, Ann Dvorak, (more)
- 1932
Crusading district attorney Jerry Bennett (Gilbert Roland) would give anything to get the goods on unscrupulous criminal lawyer Clyde Corbin (Noah Beery). Alas, Corbin proves too slippery a target -- and besides, he's got too many irons in the fire to be bothered by Bennett. Halfway through the picture, Corbin temporarily leaves the legal world behind by masterminding a race track swindle, targeting lovable Pop Everett (Otis Harlan) as his fall guy. Bennett teams with lady detective Emilia (Carmel Myers) to save Pop from losing his money, but the DA's girlfriend Carol (Barbara Kent), Pop's daughter, misunderstands the situation and walks out on Bennett. This sets the stage for a comic denouement straight out of the The Front Page. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., (more)
- 1932
Based on the play New York Town by Ward Morehouse, Mervyn LeRoy directs the black-and-white 1932 comedy drama Big City Blues. A small-town innocent from Indiana, Bud Reeves (Eric Linden) inherits money and goes to New York to get in all sorts of trouble. He meets up with his cousin Gibby (Walter Catlett), who introduces him to chorus girl Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell). Bud and Gibby then throw a drunken hotel party with bootleg liquor that gets out of hand and a young woman (Josephine Dunn) is hit on the head and accidentally killed. Bud and Vida go gambling and drinking to escape the cops, but they are caught and arrested with everyone else from the party. Eventually, the police find the real killer and release everyone. Bud leaves for Indiana, but plans to go back, get his dog, and marry Vida. Humphrey Bogart appears in a brief uncredited role as Shep Adkins, a guy who gets into a fight with Lyle Talbot during the party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, (more)
- 1932
Hatchet Man is a dated but fascinating film set amidst the "tong wars" in San Francisco's Chinatown. Tong hatchet man Wong Low Get (Edward G. Robinson) is required to kill his boyhood friend Sun Yet Sen (J. Carroll Naish). Sen is resigned to his fate, but extracts a promise that Wong will look after Sen's daughter Toya San, and marry the girl when she grows up. Played as an adult by Loretta Young, Toya San weds Wong, now an influential Chinatown figure. But the girl is secretly in love with Harry En Hai (Leslie Fenton), a disreputable young half-caste. When Wong learns of the affair, he sends Toya and Harry packing, and is ostracized by the community for not fighting for his honor. Harry is deported to China for drug-dealing, taking Toya with him and ultimately deserting her. Wong trails the pair to China, where he finds that Toya has been sold into prostitution. He intends to use his hatchet to kill Harry, but is talked out of the murder by Toya. But before Wong and Toya leave for America, Harry En Hai accidentally receives his comeuppance from the one-time "hatchet man." Well acted and powerfully directed, Hatchet Man would hardly qualify as "politically correct" these days, since virtually every Asian character is portrayed by a Caucasian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young
- 1932
Undoubtedly inspired by Charles Lindbergh's unprecedented sudden fame (but not the ensuing tragedy), Mary McCall's 1932 novel The Goldfish Bowl was turned into a satirical comedy-drama featuring an engaging Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a navy captain thrust into the limelight after saving his crew during a submarine disaster. With an unsolicited "personal manager" (played to the hilt by Walter Catlett) and a greedy corporation taking care of both ticker tape parades and all kinds of silly public relations stunts, Fairbanks discovers that he no longer has control of his life. He is constantly embarrassed by a novelty song, "Scotty Boy" (vigorously performed by Broadway crooner Clarence Nordstrom), and even wedded bliss to the understanding Mary Brian is turned into a public spectacle. Fortunately, a Danish sailor (Ivan Linow) saves a dog from drowning and instantly takes Fairbanks' place in the public awareness. Afraid of becoming celebrities once again after saving a car from being wrecked by an express train, the reluctant hero and his bride drive away as fast as they can, happy to begin a new, anonymous life in teeming New York City. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Mary Brian, (more)
- 1932
Inspired in part by the sensational Snyder-Gray murder case (which was also the source of The Postman Always Rings Twice), The Famous Ferguson Case casts an unflattering light on the journalist "feeding frenzy" attending such crimes. A wealthy banker named Ferguson is found murdered, and his bound-and-gagged wife (Vivienne Osborne) is rescued by the police. It appears at first that the murderer was an unknown burglar, but the cops think otherwise, hypothesizing that Mrs. Ferguson actually conspired with her lover Judd Brooks (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) to murder her husband. The small town where the murder occurred suddenly becomes the center of a media circus, with reporters from all over the country grasping and clawing for a "hot scoop." At first, hard-boiled girl reporter Maizie Dickson (Joan Blondell) is no better than the rest of the journalist jackals, but she soon becomes disillusioned at the manner in which the truth has been crushed to earth by her insensitive brethren. She also has her heart broken when her husband, likewise a reporter, uses his assignment as an excuse to sleep around. The relentless media blitz eventually drives Mrs. Ferguson (whose guilt or innocence is never completely established) to kill herself and also ruins the lives of everyone around her. Once considered a relic of its period, The Famous Ferguson Case grows more timely with each passing year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Tom Brown, (more)
- 1932
Henry Harrison Kroll's novel Cabin in the Cotton was an attack on wealthy southern landowners who exploited their sharecroppers. While the landowners still don't come off too well in Warner Bros.' film version of Kroll's novel, the film tries to avoid stepping on powerful toes, even composing an opening-title disclaimer pointing out that both sides of the issue had arguments in their favor. Richard Barthelmess, 23 going on 45, plays a sharecropper's son who wants to improve his lot with a college education. Land baron Berton Churchill advises Barthelmess' father to get those "silly ideas" out of our hero's head, lest he forget his place. Bette Davis plays Churchill's seductive daughter, whose influence with daddy enables Barthelmess to rise to the position of Churchill's bookkeeper. When Barthelmess discovers that Churchill is cooking the books, Churchill counters that Barthelmess wouldn't have any chance to advance himself without the largess of the landowners. He even tries to get Barthelmess to inform on those field workers who plan to organize a union. A potentially bloody confrontation between the workers and management is quelled by Barthelmess, who manages to wangle compromises from both sides. The only thing Barthelmess loses is Davis, but he is compensated by the affections of longtime sweetheart Dorothy Jordan. Nobody really remembers the plot complications in Cabin in the Cotton; to most viewers, the film is memorable only for Bette Davis' classic line "Ah'd love to kiss ya, but ah jest washed ma hair." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Jordan, (more)
- 1932
It is difficult to determine who is the more ferocious character in this film: The real shark seen in the underwater sequences, or star Edward G. Robinson. Robinson plays a Portuguese tuna boat skipper--the self-styled "best dam' fisherman in the Pacific"--who years earlier had lost his hand to a shark while rescuing best friend Richard Arlen. Robinson promises to look after the daughter (Zita Johann) of a recently deceased crew member. He proposes marriage; she accepts, more out of gratitude than love. The girl eventually falls for Robinson's pal Arlen, who wants to break off the relationship before Robinson gets hurt. But Robinson catches the lovers together, and vows to kill Arlen. In attempting to throw his ex-friend to the sharks, Robinson is accidentally pulled overboard to his own death. Warner Bros. would unofficially remake Tiger Shark several times over the next ten years; while the professions of the two leading male characters would change, the basic "triangle" plot remained the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Richard Arlen, (more)
- 1932
A reluctantly appointed police chief in a crime-riddled city takes his job seriously and works hard to clean the streets of gangsters and to shape up his own corrupt department in this brutal, gritty film noir. Jean Harlow plays a luminescent but ill-fated gun moll. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, (more)
- 1932
In this comedy, a hard-working husband loses his job and his wife becomes the bread winner. The husband feels demeaned by his new role and takes a mistress to regain his lost manhood. The chastened wife eventually returns to the daily drudgery of home so her hubby can feel important and manly again. Marital bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Norman Foster, (more)
- 1933
Joe E. Brown plays Elmer Kane, a rookie ballplayer with the Chicago Cubs whose ego is matched only by his appetite. Because he is not only vain but naive, Elmer's teammates take great delight in pulling practical jokes on him. Still, he is so valuable a player that the Cubs management hides the letters from his hometown sweetheart Nellie (Patricia Ellis), so that Elmer won't bolt the team and head for home. When Nellie comes to visit Elmer, she finds him in an innocent but compromising situation with a glamorous actress (Claire Dodd). She turns her back on him, and disconsolate Elmer tries to forget his troubles at a crooked gambling house. Elmer incurs an enormous gambling debt, which the casino's owner is willing to forget if Elmer will only throw the deciding World Series game. Elmer brawls with the gambler and lands in jail, where he learns of a particularly cruel practical joke that had previously been played on him. Out of spite, he refuses to play in the Big Game, and thanks to a jailhouse visit by the gamblers, it looks as though Elmer has taken a bribe. But when he shows up to play (after patching things up with Nellie), Elmer proves that he's been true-blue all along. Based on the Broadway play by Ring Lardner and George M. Cohan, Elmer the Great betrays its stage origins in its static early scenes, but builds confidently to a terrific climax during a rain-soaked ball game. This enjoyable film was the second in Joe E. Brown's "baseball trilogy" (see also Fireman Save My Child and Alibi Ike). Elmer the Great was remade in 1939 as Cowboy Quarterback, with Bert Wheeler in Joe E. Brown's part and with football substituting for baseball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, (more)
- 1933
The melodramatic No Other Woman is a remake of the 1925 silent film Just a Woman which was based on the play of the same name by Eugene Walter. Early in her career, Irene Dunn stars as ambitious housewife Anna Stanley, who pressures her steelworker husband, Jim (Charles Bickford), into a business partnership with Joe Zarcovia (Eric Linden). A fellow boarder at their rooming house, Joe's business idea involves a new type of dye. Jim quickly becomes a millionaire and finds the transition difficult from blue-collar worker to wealthy socialite. He soon takes up with a mistress, Margo Van Dearing (Gwili Andre), whom he meets at a party. Forced to get a divorce, the couple duke it out in the climactic courtroom scene with sleazy lawyer Bonelli (J. Carroll Naish). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Charles Bickford, (more)
Eagle Productions was another of those exotically named independent studios that came and went in the early 1930s. Eagle's The Big Chance stars John Darrow as an aspiring boxer. Ignoring the advice of trainer Matthew Betz, Darrow falls among bad company. Faithful Merna Kennedy saves Darrow from such predators as vampish Natalie Morehead and slimy J. Carroll Naish. The Big Chance was reissued in the late 1930s to cash in on the popularity of Mickey Rooney, here cast as a hero-worshipping urchin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Darrow, Merna Kennedy, (more)
- 1933
The French Foreign Legion is the setting for this episodic adventure yarn. Victor Jory plays a Legion doctor falsely accused of murdering his commander over the love of Loretta Young. Jory escapes prosecution by heading for parts unknown, but when a deadly illness strikes his old fort, he returns to aid his comrades. He is arrested, but clears himself of the murder charge and ends up with Young. Devil's in Love is distinguished by the surprise appearance of Bela Lugosi, who shows up unbilled as a relentless prosecuting attorney in the courtroom scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Jory, Loretta Young, (more)
