Georges Renavent Movies

This romantic tearjerker was the second film based on the popular 1922 stage play. James Stewart stars as Chico, a lowly Paris sewer worker who has abandoned his faith in God and any hope for a brighter future or romance when his prayers go unanswered. Chico meets Diane (Simone Simon), a prostitute who lives under the thumb of her cruel sister, Nana (Gale Sondergaard). When Nana kicks Diane out on the street, Chico rescues her from the authorities and gives his new friend shelter in his run-down, seventh floor slum apartment. Although Diane begins to develop feelings for him, the cynical Chico feels nothing in return until Father Chevillon (Jean Hersholt), a local priest, intervenes to get him a better job. Now working as a street cleaner, Chico's self-respect improves, and he considers marrying Diane. WWI intervenes, however, and Chico is sent off to fight, though he and Diane vow to think of each other every night at eleven o'clock. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Charlie Chan was the Jessica Fletcher of the 1930s; no matter where he took a vacation, someone got murdered! This time, the wily Chan (Warner Oland) and son Lee (Keye Luke) are on holiday in Monte Carlo when a casino messenger is killed while en route to Paris. The messenger was carrying a million dollars' worth of bonds, which passes through several hands in the course of the film. One of the prime suspects is a Chicago gangster, working incognito as the casino bartender -- at least until he's bumped off as well. The motivating factor behind all the mayhem is woman-with-a-past Virginia Field, who, though she turns out not to be the killer, is as morally guilty as the genuine culprit. Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo represented Warner Oland's final appearance as the aphorism-spouting oriental detective; he died suddenly in August of 1938, whereupon 20th Century-Fox replaced him with Sidney Toler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

History is Made at Night has been described as a romantic tragedy, which it indeed is, up to a point. The film begins deceptively in screwball-comedy fashion with socialite Jean Arthur and handsome head waiter Charles Boyer "meeting cute." But there's nothing cute about Arthur's estranged husband, shipbuilder Colin Clive. Insanely jealous, Clive arranges for the ship on which his wife and her lover are travelling to hit an iceberg--then, aghast at what he has done, Clive commits suicide. As the ship lists dangerously close to sinking beneath the waves, the terrified passengers--Boyer and Arthur included--huddle on the deck. The fog-enshrouded scene in which Charles and Jean affirm their love in the face of death is among the most heartrending sequences ever filmed (the director was Frank Borzage, a past master at transforming potential maudlin material into high-gloss art). Even the happy ending of History is Made at Night does not diminish the power and poignancy of that shipboard scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Groucho Marx received co-writer credit (along with his old friend Norman Krasna) for King and the Chorus Girl, though very little Marxian wit is in evidence. What remains is a fun but forgettable comedy about a European monarch (Fernand Gravet) who woos and wins a down-to-earth American chorine (Joan Blondell) who works at the Folies Bergere. Edward Everett Horton and Jane Wyman (fifth-billed) provide comic relief as the respective best friends and severest critics of the leading players. The film had a topical edge in that it was released the year after Britain's King Edward renounced his throne for American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson. Significantly, King and the Chorus Girl was released in England as Romance is Sacred, effectively downplaying the touchy "royal" angle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tala Birell, one of the more talented of the Garbo wannabes of the 1930s, stars in the Universal quickie She's Dangerous. The star is cast as Stephanie, a glamorous private detective who's been hired to track down a gang of bond thieves. She charms her way into the confidence of gang leader Nick Shelton (Cesar Romero), knowing full well that the outwardly gracious Shelton won't hesitate to kill her if she's found out. Eventually, Stephanie proves too smart for her own good, and it's up to sidelines hero Dr. Logan (Walter Pidgeon) to bail her out. She's Dangerous bears a marked resemblance to 20th Century-Fox's 15 Maiden Lane, which also featured Cesar Romero as a charming-but-deadly crook. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The last of Universal's three Boris Karloff-Bela Lugosi teamings of the mid-1930s, The Invisible Ray is dominated by Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, the inventor of a laser-like heat ray. Despite the scoffing of his colleagues, Rukh intends to use the ray for the benefit of mankind, but first he requires a new element called "Radium X" to perfect his invention. Before long, he has embarked upon an expedition to Africa in search of a radium source, accompanied by his beautiful young wife Diane (Frances Drake), handsome young scientist Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton) and financiers Sir Francis and Lady Arabella Stevens (Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi). His system poisoned by increased exposure to radium, Rukh begins acting strangely, virtually forcing Diane into Ronald's arms. Apparently killed during the expedition, Rukh is actually alive, dementedly determined to use his "invisible" radium ray to do away with all his enemies. Soon he is able to kill with the mere touch of his hand, and this is how he disposes of his severest critic (and greatest supporter), humanitarian doctor Benet (Bela Lugosi). Rukh later tries to kill Diane as well but is unable to go through with it. The mad doctor meets his Waterloo when he is confronted by his own avenging-angel mother (Violet Kemble-Cooper). Not as lively as previous Karloff-Lugosi efforts, The Invisible Ray is nonetheless an effective melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lloyds of London traces the rise to prominence of the venerable British insurance company, as seen through the eyes of fictional 19th-century Londoner Jonathan Blake (Tyrone Power, in his first starring role). A lifelong friend of naval hero Lord Nelson, Blake puts his job (and the future existence of Lloyds) on the line when he announces Nelson's victory at Trafalgar -- before it takes place. For those not interested in policies and premiums, the script serves up a romance between Blake and the lovely Lady Elizabeth (Madeleine Carroll), the unhappily married spouse of snotty aristocrat Lord Everett Stacy (George Sanders). Among the few real-life historical personages depicted in the film is Lloyds founder John Julius Angerstein, played by Sir Guy Standing. A box-office bonanza, Lloyds of London proved that 23-year-old Tyrone Power could carry a picture -- and that the recently-formed 20th Century-Fox was truly a major Hollywood studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When British actor Robert Donat dropped out of Warner Bros. Captain Blood, the studio took a chance on its new contractee, Tasmania-born Errol Flynn. Adapted from the novel by Rafael Sabatini, the film is set during the oppressive reign of King James II. Irish physician Peter Blood (Errol Flynn), arrested for treating a wounded anti-crown rebel, is condemned to slavery in Jamaica. Here he earns several privileges after treating the governor (George Hassell) for gout; this does not rest well with Lionel Atwill, the wicked owner of the plantation on which Blood is forced to work. Nor is Atwill pleased with the growing relationship between his niece Arabella (Olivia DeHavilland) and the imprisoned doctor. An attack on Jamaica by Spanish pirates gives Blood and his fellow slaves the opportunity to become buccaneers themselves. After several months of fighting and plunder, Blood's men capture a merchant ship bearing Arabella. Blood fights a duel with a French pirate (Basil Rathbone) over the girl; having "won" her, Blood intends to have his way with her, but his more decent instincts prevail. When King James is overthrown by William of Orange, Blood is given a commission and lauded as a hero as a reward for his bravery against the Spanish galleons. He is appointed governor of Jamaica, wins the hand of the lovely Arabella, and genially forces Atwill to eat crow. This seemingly outsized swashbuckler was actually a very economical production, using stock footage from several silent films. Captain Blood transformed the 26-year-old Errol Flynn into a star; he's a little clumsy in the dialogue department at times, but cuts a dashing figure in the action scenes. The film also represented the cinematic debut of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who wasn't completely happy with his hastily written score and asked that his on-screen credit be diminished to "musical director". Long available only in its 99 minute re-issue version, Captain Blood has been restored to its full, glorious 119 minute length. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Advertised by Paramount as "Another Lives of the Bengal Lancers," The Last Outpost actually has more in common with two RKO releases, Friends and Lovers and The Lost Patrol. The story takes place during the Kurdistan campaign in WW I. Left to die in the desert, British officer Michael Andrews (Cary Grant) is rescued by intelligence agent John Stevenson (Claude Rains). While recuperating in the base hospital, Andrews falls in love with his nurse Rosemary (Gertrude Michael) -- who happens to be Stevenson's wife! This romantic entanglement is taken care of only after a climatic battle at a remote outpost in the Sudan, with Andrews and a skeleton crew desperately fending off hostile Kurdish tribesmen while awaiting reinforcements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The real-life career of the notorious female spy known as "Fraulein Doktor" inspired several films of the 1930s. Stamboul Quest stars Myrna Loy as a seductive espionage agent, working on behalf of the Kaiser in 1915 Istanbul. American medical student George Brent crosses Loy's path, and the two fall in love. Divided between romance and duty, Loy opts for the latter, and apparently causes Brent's death. She goes mad with grief, and is packed away to a mental institution, where her fevered reminiscences provide the lengthy flashback sequences in this film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Arliss plays Nathan Rothschild, the head of a family of celebrated 19th century Jewish bankers. Despite the anti-semitic efforts of a powerful politico (Boris Karloff), Rothschild moves in the best European social circles. He is ultimately knighted for his services to the English crown, which include the financing of the Duke of Wellington's battle against Napoleon at Waterloo. This being a Hollywood picture, the political and financial intrigues have to be offset by romance--in this case the love affair between Rothschild's daughter (Loretta Young) and a handsome military officer (Robert Young). The final scene was photographed in the newly perfected three-strip Technicolor process, though for many years the TV distributors either removed this sequence or reprinted it in black and white. Designed in part as an attack against the burgeoning anti-semitism movement in Hitler's Germany, House of Rothschild was ironically exploited by Nazi functionary Joseph Goebbels, who redubbed and re-edited the film to serve as anti-Jewish propaganda! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Romance throws a spanner into the works of a con game in this light drama. Donald Free (William Powell) is a private detective whose career in on the skids. Dan Hogan (Arthur Holh) is another, less scrupulous shamus who persuades Free to help him frame Janet Reynolds (Margaret Lindsay), a wealthy woman with a taste for gambling living in Paris. Free goes along with the scheme, but things become complicated when he begins falling in love with her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A talented cast does its best with a nonsensical script in The Rich are Always With Us. Ruth Chatterton stars as a witty socialite saddled with caddish husband John Miljan. Upon learning that Miljan has been fooling around with Adrienne Dore, Chatterton divorces him, whereupon his brokerage firm goes belly-up, for which our heroine holds herself responsible. She undergoes another guilt trip when Miljan's second wife dies in a car crash. Throughout all this, Chatterton denies herself true love in the person of foreign correspondent George Brent, who became Chatterton's husband during filming. Bette Davis enjoys an early scene-chewing opportunity as a predatory young debutante who sets her sights for the handsome Brent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide