Percy Parsons Movies

Dangerous Moonlight was the original British title for the wartime drama Suicide Squadron. Anton Walbrook plays a famed Polish composer who refuses to leave his homeland when the Nazis march in. His friends literally have to hoodwink him into leaving so that he will avoid extermination. Still anxious to avenge his countrymen, Walbrook joins a Polish air squadron headquartered in England. The film's romantic angle is personified by Sally Gray, an American newswoman whom Walbrook marries after a whirlwind courtship. The film itself is no better or worse than most others of its kind, but has remained etched in the collective memory of wartime filmgoers thanks to its omnipresent utilization of The Warsaw Concerto on the soundtrack. Financed by RKO Radio pictures, Dangerous Moonlight was distributed by Republic Pictures during the war years, though rights reverted to RKO in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical, the on-air rivalry between a married pair of American radio stars, each hosting a different show heats to boiling when they each have British evacuees on their shows. The wife gets a fellow who claims to live in a castle. A brouhaha ensues as he is believed to be the long-lost heir of a prominent lord. The trouble begins when her husband learns the truth about the supposed "nobleman." The wife doesn't believe her husband and so both set off for Merry Olde England to learn the truth. Many comical adventures ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gordon Harker stars as a goonish London cabbie who finds himself up to his brimmed cap in espionage. Harker innocently thwarts an assassination attempt on a Middle-Eastern potentate. The perpetrator is a demonic British oil executive who'll stop at nothing to corner the "black gold" market. The villain sets Harker up as the fall guy for his next attempt on the potentate's life, Yeh, we know: Where are the blondes? Well, cast your eye upon leading ladies Enid Stamp-Taylor and Janet Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laurence Housman's 1935 stage play Victoria Regina, which has served as a showcase for actresses as varied as Helen Hayes and Julie Harris, was adapted for the screen in 1937 as Victoria the Great. Herbert Wilcox was the producer, so no one was surprised and everyone was satisfied when Wilcox cast his actress wife, the beloved Anna Neagle, as Queen Victoria. The film repeats the play's episodic approach, tracing Victoria from her 1837 coronation to her Jubilee celebration sixty years later. Ms. Neagle is faultless, if perhaps a bit too self satisfied in this actor-proof role; her best scenes are with Prince Albert, played with finesse by Anton Walbrook. The Jubilee finale was originally filmed in resplendent Technicolor (derided in 1937 as vulgar) though some scattered prints are still processed in black and white. Victoria the Great was also released as Sixty Glorious Years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While W.C. Fields poked fun at the asinine notion of a high-speed airplane with an open observation deck in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), the producers of the futuristic British melodrama Non-Stop New York (1937) take this notion quite seriously. The film's setpiece is a streamlined luxury plane designed for transatlantic passenger flight (something that would not become a common occurrence until 1940). Anna Lee plays a chorus girl whose has been targeted for extermination by the London underworld because she can provide an alibi for a murder suspect. The police won't believe her, but that doesn't dissuade the syndicated hit men. Seeking escape, Lee stows away on a plane bound for New York; the gangsters follow, overpower the pilots, and parachute from the plane, leaving Lee and the passengers helplessly hurtling through the clouds. The day is saved by detective John Loder, who'd also boarded the plane in search of Lee. The climax involves an aerial fistfight on the wing of the speeding plane. If you believe this sequence, chances are you'll swallow whole the rest of Non-Stop New York: if not, you'll have a grand old time all the same. The script by (among others) Curt Siodmak and Roland Pertwee was based on Sky Steward, a novel by Ken Attiwill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the stage melodrama by John Chancellor, King of the Damned takes place on a brutal prison colony that makes Devil's Island look like Disneyland. Cruel governor Courvin believes in strict discipline, and isn't above breaking a few backs to get what he wants. Finally the convicts, led by Number 83 (Conrad Veidt), overpower the guards and assume control of the island. Rather than escape, however, Number 83 establishes a communal farming system, with everyone working together for the common good. He also falls in love with Anna (Helen Vinson), the slain governor's daughter. Captured by the navy, Number 83 is brought back to his own country, where he successfully pleads for humane treatment and the right to self-determination for his fellow inmates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

African-American students who have accepted Rhodes scholarships may feel like wincing at Rhodes of Africa, an unabashed celebration of British imperialism. Walter Huston portrays Cecil Rhodes, the 19th century explorer who dreamed of "taming" the rugged African terrain. Establishing the colony of Rhodesia, the film's "hero" opens up the rest of the continent for the benefit of Mother England and its industrial elite. Increasing friction between Rhodes and Dutch prime minister Kruger (Oscar Homolka) results in the Boer War, treated herein as a noble British victory (Three years later, Kruger would be the hero of the Nazi-sanctioned Ohm Kruger, which was twice as tastelessly chauvinistic as Rhodes of Africa). Undeniably stirring and impressive, Rhodes of Africa nonetheless treats the subjugation of Africa as something pure and wonderful. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

One of the best of Michael Powell's low-budget "quota quickies" -- essentially British B-movies made on ultra-low budgets under the government-imposed quota system for British-made movies in British theaters -- Red Ensign was also one of the more intelligent thoughtful dramas of its kind. Set amid the massive economic disruptions of the worldwide depression of the mid-'30s, it tells the story of David Barr (Leslie Banks), the managing director of an idled Scottish ship-building company, who has devised a revolutionary new design for cargo vessels using arcform hulls, which permits them to operate more cheaply and efficiently than any ships currently in service. He can revolutionize the merchant shipping industry, but Barr wants more than that -- he sees that as only the first step to reviving the entire British economy. Barr, who worked his way up from the shipyards (starting as a riveter) to the boardroom, is able to see this larger picture, from the top down to the vantage point of the lowest yard worker, and from the bottom up to the management suites, and he is driven by the breadth and clarity of what he perceives. But before he can do that, or get even one ship built, he has to overcome the resistance of the other directors, upper-class all, who admire Barr's brilliance but can't understand his passion, content as they are to ride out this worldwide depression in cautious comfort. Their leader is the recalcitrant board chairman, Lord Dean (Frank Vosper), who not only doesn't believe in taking risks but also resents Barr's successful wooing of the company's principal shareholder, June Mackinnon (Carol Goodner), the daughter of the company's late founder.

Barr is single-minded in his vision and certain enough of his cause that he is willing to withhold information from the other directors to get what he wants, and even commit forgery if there's no other way to get the first ship built. Lord Dean, meanwhile, wants to sign a contract for the new ships with Manning (Alfred Drayton), the unscrupulous owner of a shipping line notorious for its use of foreign registries, poorly paid and trained foreign crews, and safety violations, which would solve the shipyard's problems for a time but do nothing for British shipping or the economy. And Manning, desiring these new ship and faced with Barr's opposition, is not above putting spies and saboteurs into the shipyard, and setting fires and explosions to undermine Barr's work. Amid the corporate maneuvering and the threat of strikes (fomented by Manning's paid agitators) and arrest, the script keeps the pacing brisk and the focus tight on the fate of Barr and his ideas, in what was one of the more cerebral and diverting dramatic thrillers of its day. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Hollywood's Charles Bickford and Mexican leading lady Raquel Torres top the cast of the British circus melodrama Red Wagon. Bickford plays Joe, an expert trick rider, while Torres is his fiery gypsy dancer Sheba. Though in love with tiger trainer Zara (Greta Nissen), Joe breaks up with her over a foolish misunderstanding and marries Sheba as consolation. A climactic confrontation with a rival circus man forces Joe to confront the mistakes he's made in his life. Red Wagon was adapted from a novel by Edward Knoblock, of Kismet fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, two people who have never met will inherit a million dollars if they marry each other. Neither is thrilled with the prospect, and the woman, to meet him, impersonates his new maid. Soon they fall in love for real. A lawyer mediates. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide