Richard Scott Movies
A group of scientists are sent to the sun in 2050 to stop a giant solar flare from destroying the Earth. As the team nears the sun, some members of the team begin to suspect that someone is trying to sabotage their mission. Solar Crisis has very strong special effects and fine acting, making it an excellent sci-fi thriller. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Charlton Heston, (more)
Nora Goodrich (Brenda Marshall) is a dedicated research scientist who is very close to a breakthrough in her field of anesthetics. She allows herself to be used as the subject of an experiment, and becomes the victim of sabotage by her jealous assistant (Hillary Brooke), who is her rival for the affections of the same man (William Gargan). Nora is scarred by the accident, but fate takes a hand when a vicious blackmailer (Ruth Ford), part of an extortion scam that was being worked on her, breaks in to her apartment. In the ensuing struggle, the lady grifter is killed and then mistaken for Nora, while the real Nora goes into hiding. Taking the identity of the dead woman, she realizes how she has been betrayed and maimed and plots an elaborate revenge, undergoing reconstructive surgery that changes her whole appearance. She then reintroduces herself into the lives of her former associates, in her new guise, and begins her revenge. Before her plans can be concluded, however, her masquerade backfires on her, when she finds herself accused by the police -- of the murder of Nora Goodrich. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1935
In this comedy with musical numbers set in the Old South, Bing Crosby plays a singer (talk about a casting stretch!) from Philadelphia named Tom Grayson, who has fallen in love with Southern heiress Elvira Rumford (Gail Patrick). Tom wants to marry Elvira, but a man called Major Patterson (John Miljan) has announced his desire to do the same, and he challenges Tom to a duel to decide who will have Elvira's hand. Tom is not at all agreeable to this idea, which leads Elvira's father (Claude Gillingwater) to proclaim Tom to be a coward and deny him permission to wed his daughter. Elvira's sister Lucy (Joan Bennett), who is infatuated with Tom, thinks that he's merely being sensible, but Tom thinks that Lucy is too young for a serious relationship. In need of work and not especially welcome in the Rumford's community, Tom takes a job performing on a riverboat piloted by the blustery Commodore Orlando Jackson (W.C. Fields). One night, Tom finds himself in a barroom brawl with a man named Captain Blackie (Fred Kohler), who dies accidentally from a shot fired by his own gun. Hoping that his infamy will draw crowds, Jackson begins billing Tom as "The Singing Killer." Tom comes to realize that Lucy may be the right woman for him after all, but Lucy is not interested in a man with blood on his hands, and now Tom must convince her that he's not a killer at all. Noted gambling aficionado Fields has a hilarious poker-playing bit, and he steals most of his scenes from the rest of the cast. Mississippi was loosely based on the play "Magnolia" by Booth Tarkington. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, (more)
- 1930
Lensed at Paramount's Astoria studios, Follow the Leader is the film version of the 1927 Broadway musical Midnight Mary, with Ed Wynn making his talkie debut in his original stage role. The story has something to do with bombastic Broadway singer Helen King (Ethel Merman in her first feature-film appearance) and her understudy, winsome Mary Brennan (Ginger Rogers). To make certain that Rogers will be able to go on in Helen's place, comedy-relief character Crickets (who else but Wynn?) is hired to kidnap the latter. He makes precious little effort to hide his larcenous intentions, noisily stumbling into the lobby of Helen's hotel with the tools of his trade -- rope, sledgehammers, et. al. -- in full view of the assembled guests. Amazingly, he manages to bind Helen to a chair, only to wind up knocking himself out with a bottle of chloroform. Needless to say, Mary becomes a star, but the audience never sees Crickets or Helen again; for all anyone knows, they may still be locked up in that hotel room. Incredibly silly, Follow the Leader did little to advance the careers of any of its stars, though Ed Wynn and Ethel Merman continued packing 'em in on Broadway. If nothing else, the film offers modern audiences a chance to see several vaudeville headliners in action, including Lou Holtz, James C. Morton and Bobby Watson (here cast as Broadway impresario George White instead of his usual guise as Adolph Hitler). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Wynn, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1920
A monk carries out a last will and testament request by marrying a doll made by a master craftsman in this British comedy from the play by Edmond Audran. Alesia (Flora le Breton) is the daughter of the doll maker who makes the monk believe she has come to life. The father replaces the doll with the beautiful Alesia. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
