Billy Bevan Movies

This second and final "Bulldog Drummond" film to star Ronald Colman, finds the famed sleuth in the midst of a sinister plan orchestrated by Warner Oland. Damsel in distress Loretta Young reports that her wealthy and influential uncle is missing, but all those concerned insist that the uncle never existed, and that Young is out of her mind. Drummond suspects that she's telling the truth, and that the uncle's disappearance is tied into political intrigue of some sort or other. Before the rousing climax, Drummond, the heroine, and Drummond's pal Algy (Charles Butterworth) are repeatedly kidnapped, imprisoned, and threatened with certain death. Counterpointing the film's plot twists (a bit too convoluted to relate in full here) is a comic subplot involving the continually interrupted honeymoon of Algy and his frustrated bride (Una Merkel). Unfortunately, Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back is currently unavailable on television or on videocassette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this WW I melodrama, a British officer is forced to return to the front soon after he is married. On the battle lines, he volunteers for a dangerous mission and ends up shell-shocked with no memory of his wife. Time passes and he finally recovers. He returns to his home and learns that he has an adult son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This volume includes three separate shorts of comedy from the '30s. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The evergreen Laurette Taylor stage vehicle Peg O' My Heart was the basis for this Marion Davies picture. 36-year-old Davies plays a twentysomething Irish colleen who inherits a large sum of money from her grandfather. To collect the legacy, she must leave her beloved Pa (J. Farrell McDonald) and live in England for three years. Hoydenish Davies raises a ruckus in her staid family mansion, meanwhile falling in love with handsome young Onslow Stevens. It is Stevens who tells Davies that her father, who'd pretended to be dead so that she wouldn't return from England before the three years were up, is actually alive. Renouncing her inheritance, Davies returns to Pa, with Stevens not far behind. A silent version of Peg O' My Heart, with Laurette Taylor recreating her stage role, was filmed in 1923. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic musical, a carnival knife thrower's assistant falls for a Parisian tour guide who earns money wearing a sandwich board that says "Is Your Heart Happy? No? Consult Professor Bibi, 17 Rue Canton." After a few romantic mishaps, true love eventually ensues. Songs include: "Lover of Paree," "Lucky Guy," "In a One-Room Flat," "The Way to Love," "It's Oh, It's Ah, It's Wonderful" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This star-laden version of Lewis Carroll's novel combines elements of both the title novel and Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass. In England of the 19th century, young Alice finds that the mirror over the library fireplace opens into a strange world. She has odd adventures and changes size several times both before and after she follows a time-obsessed White Rabbit (Skeets Gallagher). Soaked after nearly drowning in a pool of tears, Alice is helped to dry off by a Dodo (Polly Moran), and encounters a caterpillar (Ned Sparks), whose mushroom also changes Alice's size. In a noisy home where the Cook (Lillian Harmer) and the Duchess (Alison Skipworth) are always fighting, Alice takes care of the Duchess' baby, but it turns into a pig and runs away. Asking directions of the Cheshire Cat (Richard Arlen) is no help, and a tea party with the Mad Hatter (Edward Everett Horton), the March Hare (Charlie Ruggles) and the Dormouse (Jackie Searl) is confusing and annoying.

Alice meets the Queen of Hearts (May Robson), and encounters the Duchess again; while strolling with her, Alice meets the Gryphon (William Austin) and the Mock Turtle (Cary Grant). The twins Tweedledum (Jack Oakie) and Tweedledee (Roscoe Karns) recite a poem about a Walrus and a Carpenter (seen as an animated cartoon), but when they decide to go to battle, they're chased off by a crow. Humpty Dumpty (W.C. Fields) relates the poem "Jabberwocky" to Alice, then falls off a wall and breaks. The mournful White Knight (Gary Cooper), unable to put Humpty Dumpty together again, escorts Alice for a while, but she tumbles down a hill and finds she's become a queen. At a party in Alice's honor, the Red Queen (Edna Mae Oliver) becomes furious at Alice, who then wakes up to find herself in the library, with her kitten Dinah in her lap. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Sherlock Holmes and Watson solve a puzzling case in which a bloody foreign word is found beside a murder victim. The plot has little to do with author Doyle's original story of the same name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

First filmed in 1911, William Makepeace Thackeray's satirical novel Vanity Fair has undergone several cinemadaptations, most memorably as the pioneering Technicolor feature Becky Sharp (1935). This 1932 version is perhaps the least known, probably because it has been updated to the 20th century and it isn't terribly good. In her first starring role, Myrna Loy plays the modernized Becky Sharp, a crafty lass who'll do anything to advance herself socially, even if it means romancing several older men whom she doesn't love. Going from rags to riches and back again several times, Becky continually bounces back, though the same cannot be said for many of her male companions. Of the large cast, the biggest surprise is former 2-reel comedy star Billy Bevan, who makes a surprisingly effective Joe Sedley (the character played in the 1935 Becky Sharp by Nigel Bruce). Not a classic by any means, Vanity Fair gets by on its curiosity value. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film version of the Jack DeLeon-Jack Celestin play Silent Witness stars Lionel Atwill in his original stage role of Sir Austin Howard. When his son Anthony (Bramwell Fletcher) strangles his mistress Nora Selmer (Greta Niesen) in a fit of jealous rage, Sir Austin gallantly takes the blame, secure in the belief that he will not only be able to clear himself in court, but keep his son's name out of the case. Alas, Sir Austin's strategy blows up in his face when it is revealed that the murder victim held onto life long enough to serve as the "silent witness" to her own demise. All of this is offered in flashback form, to excellent effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this wisecracking comedy, Dan Dolan (Spencer Tracy) is a cop whose beat is the New York waterfront. Dan has a soft spot for Helen Riley (Joan Bennett), a sharp-tongued waitress at a cheap diner, while her scatter-brained sister Kate (Marion Burns) is in love with Duke Castage (George Walsh), a sleazy low-level mobster. While Duke makes a play for Kate, both Helen and Dan know that he's bad news, and Dan wants to put Duke behind bars before he can break Kate's heart. Me and My Gal was directed by Raoul Walsh, one of the great craftsmen of the studio system -- and also the brother of George Walsh, who plays the villain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A WWI American nurse stationed in London (Constance Bennett) meets a handsome flier and finds only sorrow in this three-hanky melodrama. She gets pregnant; then the flier disappears during a mission and she must bear her child alone. Time passes and eventually, she reluctantly agrees to marry a disabled British officer. Not long afterward, her true love reappears (not dead, after all) and many complications ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

R.C. Sherriff's forceful drama about men at war, a long running hit in London as well as New York, is brought to the screen in this film adaptation. Capt. Denis Stanhope (Colin Clive) is the commander of a military unit during World War I; constantly bombarded by enemy fire and hemmed in by his superiors, Stanhope no longer believes in the cause for which he fights, and is despondent over the thought he is sending young men to a pointless death. Depressed, Stanhope has turned to drink, and often squabbles with Lt. Osborne (Ian MacLaren), his second-in-command, as well as berating nd Lt. Raleigh (David Manners), whose sister is Stanhope's beloved. As his confidence begins to collapse, Stanhope believes he has lost the respect of his men, until he secretly obtains a letter Raleigh is writing to his sister. Journey's End was the first major success for director James Whale; he soon signed a deal to work in the United States, and he cast his Journey's End leading man, Colin Clive, in one of his first American projects, Frankenstein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After the master of sophisticated romantic comedy, Ernst Lubitsch, directed Jeanette MacDonald in the smash hit The Love Parade, they were reunited a year later for this similarly frothy romp. Countess Vera Von Conti (MacDonald) is engaged to marry the dull Prince Otto Von Seibenheim (Claud Allister), whom she doesn't love. At the 11th hour, Vera decides to skip the wedding and instead heads to Monte Carlo, where she visits the casinos and begins losing in a heroic fashion. A handsome stranger spies the beautiful Vera and asks to touch her hair for luck, but instead it's Vera's luck that dramatically improves as she wins back her fortune. Vera immediately offers the man a job as her combination valet and good luck charm, not knowing that he's actually the wealthy and powerful Count Rudolph Falliere (Jack Buchanan). The Count plays along, pretending to be a commoner as he uses his new position with Vera to learn how he can win her heart. As one might expect, MacDonald sings several songs (including "Beyond the Blue Horizon"), and also duets with British music star Jack Buchanan on "Whatever It Is, It's Grand" and "Always in All Ways." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide