Alison Skipworth Movies

In this crime comedy, a fortune is stolen and every gangster in town is looking for it. They all end up staying at a young woman's inn. The crooks all end up jailed thanks to the work of an innocent fountaineer. Not only does he collect a substantial reward, he returns the missing loot and wins the heart of the innkeeper. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a young man aspires to a life of wealth and power in the newspaper business. Unfortunately, it takes time and money to be successful. The young man's girl is not patient and decides to dump him in favor of a wealthy gangster. This inspires the jilted youth to achieve his dreams. He begins newspaper delivery business that becomes so successful that he can afford a penthouse on Park Avenue. Still he has not forgotten the girl he once loved. This is fortuitous as she has become fed up with the gangster. Eventually, the young man loses his business and his fancy flat, but in exchange, he regains the affections of the woman he always loved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two Wise Maids was an attempt by Republic Pictures to recapture the magic of MGM's Marie Dressler-Polly Moran vehicles. Dressler, alas, had died, but Republic was able to secure the services of Moran, teaming the raucous comedienne with the magnificent Alison Skipworth. The two leading ladies are cast as Prudence and Agatha, a pair of old-fashioned schoolteachers in an old-fashioned small town. Disdaining the wimpy theories of "progressive" education, Prudence and Agatha stick to the reliable "Three R's," often teaching to the tune of a hickory stick. Though ridiculed for their so-called outmoded methods, the heroines manage to turn out quite a few prize students, earning the undying gratitude of the local citizenry. The obligatory romantic subplot involves school principal Bruce (Donald Cook) and substitute teacher Ellen (Hope Manning, later billed as Irene Manning). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1936 comedy-mystery The Princess Comes Across might well have been inspired by a real-life incident during the silent-movie era, in which a crafty San Francisco stenographer hoodwinked the Hollywood elite into believing that she was a Spanish princess. Carole Lombard stars as an alluring Swedish beauty who travels under the name of Princess Olga. Everyone whom she meets en route to America on the steamship Mammoth bows and scrapes to the Princess, while Hollywood anxiously awaits her arrival to star her in a big-budget film. Only the ship's bandleader, King Mantell (Fred MacMurray), refuses to defer to Olga, sensing that she may not be all she claims. Mantell's instincts are right on target: the "Princess" is a brass-nickel phony, a Brooklyn girl named Wanda Nash who has cooked up her royal guise with drama coach Gertrude (Alison Skipworth) as a publicity stunt to crash into movies. Unfortunately, a weaselly blackmailer Darcy (Porter Hall) gloms onto Wanda's true identity and offers to keep quiet in exchange for a huge cash settlment. At the same time, Darcy is attempting to shake down several other passengers on the Mammoth, including King Mantell. Inevitably, Darcy is found murdered in the "Princess"'s stateroom, and Wanda finds herself one of several likely suspects, among them Mantell. A quintet of international detectives, travelling to a convention in America, sets out to solve the mystery, which becomes even more mysterious when one of the detectives also turns up dead. Taking matters in his own hands, Mantell vows to clear Wanda's name, and in the course of things he realizes that he's madly in love with her--but will Wanda give up her hoax, and her future showbiz career, for Mantell's sake? Among the many highlights in this engagingly daffy film is Fred MacMurray's rendition of the enchantingly forgettable song "My Concertina." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Gorgeous Hussy purports to be based on the life of Margaret "Peggy" O'Neill, the controversial wife of early 19th-century politician John Eaton, who served as cabinet minister during the Andrew Jackson presidency. Snubbed by the Washington elite because of her questionable background as a tavernkeeper's daughter, "Pothouse Peg" is championed by her longtime friend Jackson, who chooses to ignore the gossip-mongers and the scandal-provokers of the era. He even stands by Peggy's side when one of her admirers (Melvyn Douglas) is ignominiously killed by his enemies. Some historians believe that the "gorgeous hussy" and Jackson were themselves lovers, but this is never hinted at in the film, which is described in a foreword as "fiction founded upon historical fact." Joan Crawford wears an exhausting succession of gorgeous gowns as Peggy Eaton, but she can't do much to enliven her sketchily written role; one is aware that she brings disgrace to everyone she meets, but one is hard-pressed to understand why. Much better within the framework is Lionel Barrymore as Jackson, Beulah Bondi as "Old Hickory"'s pipe-smoking wife, Rachel, and Sidney Toler (two years away from Charlie Chan) as Daniel Webster. James Stewart is also in the film as one "Rowdy" Dow, a role he later chose to forget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On New Year's Eve, aspiring actress Julia Wayne (Joan Bennett) and chronic gambler Larry Stevens (Joel McCrea), both flat broke, each find one-half of a $1000 banknote. They decide to invest their windfall in a race horse and jockey, in hopes of financing a theatrical career for Julia and a new start in life for Larry. Unfortunately, the thousand-dollar note turns out to be stolen, dropped in haste during a bank robbery. This gets hero, heroine and horse mixed up with the crooks, and for a while it looks as though the nag won't show up for the climactic Big Race. Even after the horse arrives at the starting gate, he refuses to gallop until he spies the cart that he used to haul around for coal peddler Jonesy (Andy Clyde). After a great opening, Two in a Crowd runs out of gas, but the two stars are always worth watching. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Doubting Thomas is the 1935 film version of George Kelly's satirical comedy The Torch Bearers, tailored for the talents of Will Rogers. Billie Burke, Will's wife, becomes so involved in a local amateur theatre group that she has no time for her husband. In retaliation, Will pretends to "go Hollywood," proving that he is stage-struck by doing an extended imitation of Bing Crosby. The film's highlight is the "opening night" scene, a cornucopia of missed cues, inappropriate costumes and collapsing scenery. An earlier, silent version of The Torch Bearers has unfortunately been lost to the ages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Josef Von Sternberg and his greatest discovery, Marlene Dietrich, worked together for the last time on this historical melodrama, which was a notorious and controversial box-office flop in its day. Antonio Galvan (Cesar Romero), a young military officer, meets a mysterious and alluring woman named Concha Perez (Dietrich) and soon falls under her seductive spell. Antonio excitedly confesses his love for Concha to his friend Don Pasqual (Lionel Atwill), an older and higher-ranking officer. Pasqual is horrified when he learns of Antonio's infatuation; years ago, he met Concha, and it was the start of a long and disastrous relationship in which the cold-hearted woman would repeatedly lure him into her romantic web, drain him of his wealth, and then leave him for wealthier prospects elsewhere. While he has learned the hard way, Pasqual has never been able to cure himself of his addiction to Concha's charms, and when he encounters Concha with Antonio at a boisterous street festival, Pasqual is overcome with jealousy and challenges Antonio to a duel for Concha's affections. Shortly after The Devil Is a Woman's unsuccessful initial release, the United States State Department and the Spanish government both tendered objections to (@ Paramount Pictures about what they felt were insulting depictions of the Spanish people and their leadership. Paramount pulled the film from circulation, and it was thought to be lost for some time until Dietrich provided a print from her personal collection for a Sternberg retrospective in 1959; the movie has since been released on home video. John Dos Passos co-authored the screenplay, based on a novel by Pierre Louys which Luis Bunuel later adapted as That Obscure Object of Desire. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The stigma of miscegenation (horrors!) is at the base of this very dated romantic melodrama. Charles Boyer stars as Dmitri Koslov, an enterprising Eurasian who rises from rickshaw driver to powerful industrialist, all the while concealing his mixed parentage. Koslov falls in love with beautiful American Barbara Howard (Loretta Young), but dares not propose marriage because he is half-Chinese. Even so, Barbara insists upon trailing after the elusive Koslov into the mountainous regions of China, symbolically shedding all her valued possessions to finance her odyssey. But East is East and West is West, thus the "forbidden" alliance between hero and heroine must end on an unhappy note. Swedish-born Warner Oland once again convincingly impersonates an Asian as a Chinese ambassador. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "six" are Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, George Burns, Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, and Alison Skipworth, who star in this cross-country comedy. Planning a motor vacation to California, J. Pinkham Whinney (Ruggles) and Flora Whinney (Boland) advertise for a couple to help drive and share expenses. That couple turns out to be George Edwards (Burns) and Gracie De Vore (Allen), accompanied by Allen's surly Great Dane. Whinney is driven to near-insanity by Edwards' intrusiveness and stupidity, but the worst is yet to come: thanks to a crooked co-worker, Whinney has been accused of stealing bank funds and is now an unwitting fugitive from justice. Sheriff Hoxley (W.C. Fields, who spends a priceless ten minutes explaining why he's called "Honest John") joins forces with hotel proprietor Mrs. "Duchess" K. Rumford (Alison Skipworth) in hopes of capturing Whinney and claiming the reward. After a zany night of everybody in the cast running in and out of hotel rooms, the real crook is captured and Whinney and Flora prepare to enjoy what's left of their vacation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's Grand Hotel on the high seas, with a remarkable cast -- particularly for the usually parsimonious Columbia Pictures. As irascible captain Helquist (Walter Connolly) pilots his boat along the Atlantic, an assortment of subplots involving a vast array of characters play themselves out. Among the passengers are bond-thief Checkett (Fred Keating) and his girlfriend Janet Grayson (Helen Vinson), private detective Schulte (Victor McLaglen), "fallen woman" Mrs. Jeddock (Wynne Gibson), and her unforgiving husband (Wynne Gibson). In his final film appearance, former silent-screen idol John Gilbert gives an outstanding performance as pugnacious hard-drinking reporter Steve Bramley, forever putting the lie to the legend that he failed in talkies because his voice was inadequate. The Three Stooges also show up as musicians -- but only Larry has any lines (spoken in a Yiddish accent!). The story goes that Lewis Milestone filmed the picture on a real ocean liner to prevent John Gilbert and the other imbibers in the cast from having easy access to liquor -- a plan doomed to failure when someone smuggled several cases of booze on board. As the production went way past its budget and schedule, Columbia's business manager sent an urgent wire to Milestone: HURRY UP--THE COST IS STAGGERING. Milestone's answer: SO IS THE CAST. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from an earlier European film, Wharf Angel stars Dorothy Dell as Toy, a golden-hearted prostitute stranded in San Francisco. Toy finds hope for redemption when she falls in love with Como (Preston S. Foster), a sailor on the lam from a murder charge. In Madame Butterfly fashion, the heroine promises to wait for Como until he is able to clear himself. The fly in the ointment is Como's buddy Turk (Victor McLaglen), who has known Toy (in the Biblical sense) for several years. An inexpensive but fairly credible reconstruction of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (courtesy of legendary art director William Cameron Menzies) caps this intriguing little romantic melodrama. Alas, leading lady Dorothy Dell was killed in a car crash after appearing in only three films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Glamorous American jewel-thief Sophie Lang (Gertrude Michael) not only regularly outwits Scotland Yard, but has great fun doing it. Returning to the U.S., Sophie comes under the scrutiny of New York detective Inspector Parr (Arthur Byron), who surprisingly doesn't try to make an arrest. That's because Parr is hoping that European jewel-thief Max Bernard (Paul Cavanaugh) will lead him to Sophie, who will then theoretically lead Parr to a gang of more dangerous criminals. Max and Sophie spend the rest of the picture chasing each other around, ultimately falling in love and promising that they'll reform. This bit of folderol was popular enough to yield a brace of sequels, The Return of Sophie Lang and Sophie Lang Goes West. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide