James Robinson Movies

Previously filmed in 1923, Booth Tarkington's nostalgic novel Penrod and Sam made its first talking-picture appearance in 1931 (both versions were directed by William Beaudine). The title roles are essayed by two of the most talented and ubiquitous juvenile performers of the 1930s, Leon Janney and Junior Coughlan. As the organizers of a "secret" boys club, Penrod and Sam exclude the local "sissies" from membership, only to be forced to allow the obnoxious Rodney Bitts (Nestor Aber) to join when Rodney's father buys the land where the club is based. Beyond the expected "Our Gang"-style antics and pranks, there is a moment of almost unbearable pathos when Penrod is told that his beloved dog has been run over by a car. Burying the pooch near his clubhouse, Penrod is shooed off the property by Rodney's father, whereupon Penrod's dad purchases the land himself -- a turn of events that delights Penrod and Sam, but does not bode well for poor Rodney! Penrod and Sam was remade in 1937 as a vehicle for twin child stars Billy and Bobby Mauch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Now famous as the first feature film produced in the three-strip Technicolor process, Becky Sharp is also an enjoyable effort in its own right. Adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, the film stars Miriam Hopkins as Becky Sharp, a resourceful, totally self-involved young lady who manages to survive any number of setbacks and deprivations in the years following Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. In her efforts to advance herself, she manages to link up with a number of not altogether attractive gentlemen, including the Marquis of Steyne (Cedric Hardwicke), Joseph Sedley (Nigel Bruce), Rawdon Crawley (Alan Mowbray), and George Osborne (G. P. Huntley Jr.) She rises to the pinnacle of British society, only to tumble and fall into the humiliation of singing for her supper in a cheap back-alley beer hall, but, like her spiritual sister Scarlet O'Hara, Becky never stays down for long. The film ends on an ambiguous note, never hinting that Becky will eventually drop her current beau and settle down to a life of smug piety, as she does in the novel. Begun in 1934 with Lowell Sherman in the director's chair, Becky Sharp was forced to shut down production when Sherman died; he was replaced by Rouben Mamoulien, whose unerring eye for cinematic splendor exploited the new color process to the utmost, especially during the opening Brussels Ball sequence. Until its recent archival restoration, Becky Sharp was available only in a shortened, two-color version, which had the negative effect of diminishing the film's strong points and overemphasizing its weaknesses (This version is still available on the public-domain market). Becky Sharp is an enormous improvement over the low-budget 1932 version of Vanity Fair, which updated the story to the 20th century and cast dumb-blonde specialist Joyce Compton in the role of Becky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A racetrack melodrama, The Long Shot features Marsha Hunt and Gordon Jones as trainers of a thoroughbred horse. Despite the rivalries of their parents, the couple prepares to jointly enter the Santa Anita handicap. The odds are against their entry, but Hunt and Jones have every confidence of winning. Just before the starting bugle, gangsters intrude, demanding that the trainers throw the Big Race. Even those audiences of 1939 who anticipated the outcome (it wasn't hard) were satisfied with The Long Shot, one of the more engaging productions from the short-lived Grand National production company. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi