Phillips Smalley Movies

Although some purists hold out for Duck Soup (1933), many Marx Brothers fans consider A Night at the Opera the team's best film. Immediately after the credits roll, we are introduced to Groucho Marx as penny-ante promoter Otis B. Driftwood. After a sumptuous dinner with a beautiful blonde at a fancy Milan restaurant, Driftwood tries to cadge another free meal from his wealthy patroness, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont). The dignified dowager complains that Driftwood had promised to get her into high society, but has done nothing so far. Otis B. counters by introducing Mrs. C to pompous opera entrepreneur Gottleib (Sig Rumann); all Mrs. Claypool has to do is invest several hundred thousand dollars in Gottleib's opera company, and her entree into society is in the bag. Contingent upon this plan is Driftwood's signing of Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King), a self-important tenor. Backstage at the opera, Driftwood meets Fiorello (Chico Marx), who poses as a manager and offers to sell Driftwood the "world's greatest tenor"-not Lassparri, as Driftwood assumes, but Fiorello's pal Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones). Instantly the two sharpsters try to draw up a contract ("The party of the first part shall hereafter be known as the party of the first part..."), which they proceed to tear up piece by piece whenever coming across a clause that displeases them (Driftwood: "That's a sanity clause"; Fiorello: "You no foola me. There ain't no Sanity Claus"). Having lost Lassparri to Gottleib, Driftwood sails back to America with Mrs. Claypool and the opera company. Gottleib arranges for Driftwood to get the tiniest, least accessible stateroom on the ship. Unpacking his trunk, Driftwood discovers that he's got to share his postage-stamp quarters with Ricardo Baroni, who has stowed away because he's in love with the opera troupe's leading lady Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Also hiding out in Driftwood's trunk is Fiorello, who's come along because he's still Ricardo's manager, and the wacky Tomasso (Harpo Marx), Lassparri's former dresser, who has come along for the hell of it. Anxious to arrange a tete-a-tete with Mrs. Claypool in his stateroom, Otis finds out that his unwelcome guests won't leave until they're fed ("Do you have any stewed prunes? Well, give them some black coffee, that'll sober 'em up"). After ordering a huge dinner, Otis and his new friends are crowded even farther by a steady stream of intruders, including an engineer and his assistant, a cleaning lady, a manicurist, a girl looking for her Aunt Minnie, and a dozen waiters. The celebrated "stateroom scene" comes to a rollicking conclusion when Mrs. Claypool has the misfortune of opening the door. On the last night of the voyage, Fiorello, Tomasso and Ricardo sneak out of their stateroom to enjoy an impromptu ethnic festival in steerage. Ricardo sings, Fiorello "shoots the keys" on the piano, and Tomasso plays the film's theme song Alone on the harp. The stowaways are caught and thrown in the brig, but with Driftwood's help they escape. To avoid recapture, the stowaways don heavy beards and pose as three famed Russian aviators. After making a shambles of a public reception, the three reprobates hide out in Driftwood's New York apartment, where everyone conspires to drive an investigating detective (Robert Emmet O'Connor) crazy. Driftwood is fired from the opera company for associating with the stowaways, while Rosa is dismissed for refusing Lassparri's affections. In order to restore Rosa's job and put the deserving Ricardo in Lassparri's place during the opening performance of La Traviata, Driftwood, Fiorello and Tomasso concoct a scheme that will reduce the opera to comic chaos. The actual night at the opera in A Night at the Opera must be seen to be believed, but the spirit of the scene can be summed up by Gottleib's anguished cry "A battleship in Il Trovatore!" Opera was the Marx Brothers' first film for MGM, and they dearly coveted a hit after the disappointing box-office showing of their final Paramount films. With the blessing of MGM production chief Irving Thalberg, the Marxes went on the road with their brilliant writing staff (including George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind and Al Boasberg) to test their comedy material before live audiences. As a result of this careful preplanning, Night at the Opera was a smash-hit gigglefest, grossing over $3 million and putting the Marxes back on top in the hearts and minds of filmgoers everywhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

aka Madcap Betty When convent-bred Betty (Elsie Janis), comes to New York to visit her uncle (Herbert Standing), all signs of sophisticated city living are hidden so she won't be shocked. But Betty is looking for excitement, and even being engaged to Jim Denning (Owen Moore), one of the town's most eligible bachelors, isn't good enough for her. So she runs away and goes to work at a department store. The floorwalker makes a pass at her, so she auditions for a position as a chorus girl but the stage manager comes on to her and she leaves. Next she is fired from a cabaret because she doesn't want to sit on a drunk's lap. Disgusted by all of this, Betty dresses as a boy but gets into even more trouble -- she is accused of murder, fleeced at a gambling table and pursued by police. To her relief she wakes up and finds it has all been a dream. She tracks Jim down and offers to marry him right away. This was stage star Elsie Janis's second feature and, for what it's worth, she also wrote the story. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Bolero stars George Raft as Raoul de Barre, an arrogant dancer who rises to fame in the years prior to, during, and after WW I. Raoul is helped along the way by his promoter brother Mike (William Frawley) and scores of willing females, matriculating from two-bit gigolo to the greatest ballroom dancer in Paris. Determining that nothing will stand in his way to the top, he regularly fires any female dancing partner who has the misfortune to fall in love with him -- until the last of his partners, the beautiful Helen (Carole Lombard) beats him to the punch by walking out on him. His heart weakened during the war, Raoul aspires to open his own nightclub, despite warnings that if he ever dances again the consequences will be fatal. On opening night of his new establishment, Raoul dances Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" with Helen, now the wife of a British nobleman. Having reached his emotional and professional pinnacle, Raoul collapses and dies in his dressing room -- as the nightclub patrons, oblivious to his fate, loudly demand an encore. Surprisingly, George Raft and Carole Lombard's dancing is doubled by others, but the same cannot be said of the inimitable Sally Rand, whose famous fan dance is tastefully re-created here. Raft and Lombard later reteamed in 1935's Rumba. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mildred Harris plays a poor working girl whose head is turned by the finer things in life. While at the beach with her boyfriend, a simple rather dull guy, a bathhouse catches fire, burning up their clothes. A rich man, who has been lusting after the girl, takes this opportunity to offer his coat and to take her to his home. There, she is introduced to the perks of the wealthy and becomes dissatisfied with what she has at home. She turns down her boyfriend's marriage proposal and goes to the rich man. He asks her to become his mistress, but his former girlfriend finds out and calls the police in an attempt to get the girl in trouble. Although she escapes, the girl goes home to find her family enraged by her actions. It takes amends on the part of the rich man to make things right. The studio that made this picture, Universal, had director Lois Weber add a touch of social consciousness to the plot's sensationalism and then exploited Mildred Harris' status as Mrs. Charlie Chaplin in hopes of making a tidy profit. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The director formerly known as Sean O'Feeney is billed as John Ford for the first time here, and he helps make this one of John Gilbert's best pre-MGM features. Cameo Kirby (John Gilbert), once a man of high social standing, has become a professional gambler and works the Mississippi riverboats of the 1800's. An old man (William E. Lawrence) is being cheated in a crooked card game, and Kirby gets involved in the play, with the intention of giving the man his money back. Unaware of Kirby's plans, the old man commits suicide. It turns out that Kirby's sweetheart (Gertrude Olmstead) is the man's daughter. But in spite of the tragedy, she comes to understand Kirby's altruistic motives. Based on a story by Booth Tarkington, the melodrama is offset by solid performances and an exciting paddle-wheeler river race (a bit of action that one would expect from John Ford). An 18-year-old Jean Arthur made her movie debut in this film as a bit player. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This first talkie version of the evergreen Brandon Thomas stage farce Charley's Aunt stars Charlie Ruggles, obviously having the time of his life in the leading role. Though updated to 1930, the film adheres to the familiar plot as set down by Thomas back in 1895. Two Oxford undergraduates, Charley Wickeham (Hugh Williams) and Jack Chesney (Rodney McLennon), anxiously await the visit of their respective girlfriends Amy Spettigue (June Collyer) and Kitty Verdun (Flora Sheffield). Trouble is, the ladies have no chaperone, and this will never do in the hallowed halls of Oxford. Anxiously, Charley and Jack persuade their twittish school chum Fancourt Babberly (Ruggles) to pose as Charley's aunt Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez (Doris Lloyd) -- "from Brazil, where the nuts come from." Poor Babbs is forced to remain in drag as both Jack's father Sir Francis Chesney (Phillips Smalley, repeating his role from the 1925 version of Charley's Aunt) and Amy's uncle Stephen Spettigue (Halliwell Hobbes) unexpectedly show up. The scenes in which Chesney and Spettigue ardently court the "Aunt" are hilarious, as is the inevitable moment when the disguised Babbs comes face to face with the real Donna Lucia (Doris Lloyd), whose ward Ella Delahay (Flora le Breton) had previously been our hero's shipboard sweetheart! A revised ending allows Charlie Ruggles to perform a farcical death scene that's every bit as funny as what has gone before. Charley's Aunt would be remade several times in the future, most memorably by Jack Benny in 1941 and by Ray Bolger in the 1952 musical adaptation Where's Charley? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This satirical comedy-drama was C. Gardner Sullivan's first producing effort. To insure its success, he hired a veteran writer to pen the story and screenplay -- himself. When Donald Dillingham (Cullen Landis) weds Ardell Kendall, a chorus girl (Lillian Rich), his snobbish and wealthy parents disown him. When famed sculptor Gustaf Borgstrom (Jean Hersholt) chooses Ardell as a model, Donald's parents decide to make amends. They invite the couple and Borgstrom to their estate. One of the other guests is Maybelle Westcott (Bessie Eyton), who has her eye on Donald. She manages to catch his attention, and Ardell wheedles money out of his father (who has his own infatuation with a chorus girl) so that she can buy Maybelle off. When Maybelle doesn't keep her end of the bargain, Ardell exposes her in front of the other guests. This causes an argument between her and Donald, and she angrily goes home. Donald is already there with apologies and the couple reconciles. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The busy husband-wife directorial team of Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber launched their surprisingly brief 1918 production schedule with The Doctor and the Woman. Adapted from K, a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the film starred Mildred Harris as the daughter of a reclusive minister. Hoping to follow in her father's humanitarian footsteps, the girl becomes a trained nurse, and it is in this capacity that she falls in love with Max, the local hospital's chief of surgeons. An inveterate carouser and ladies' man, Max is "tamed" by the stabilizing influence of the practical-minded heroine. She ends up saving Max from being blamed for the tragic surgical mistakes perpetrated by the incompetent Dr. Edwards, and she also prevents her doctor sweetheart from taking the rap for a murder he didn't commit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dumb Girl of Portici is famous today as the film in which Boris Karloff made his movie debut. This "fact" is open to debate: Karloff himself had no memories of the film's star, flamboyant dancing diva Anna Pavlova, and that bow-legged extra in the crowd scenes, photographed from behind, may or may not be "our Boris." Whatever the case, it cannot be denied that the film's storyline is based upon Daniel Francois Esprit's opera Masaniello. Anna Pavlova plays Fenella, the surprisingly non-dancing heroine, in this epic romantic tragedy. Fenella rises from rags to riches, but at a great personal price. The central role of Masaniello is played by future director Rupert Julian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometimes mislabeled a 1913 production, Eye of God was one of a baker's dozen of films co-directed in 1916 by the husband-and-wife team of Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber. In the fine innovational traditional of the Smalley-Weber productions, the film unfolds in literary fashion, as a man on death row writes his multi-chaptered confession. Tyrone Power Sr. plays Olaf, a dirt farmer who yearns for the bright lights of the Big City. When a sophisticated young woman named Renie (Lois Weber) spends the night in Olaf's farm during a rainstorm, he forgets all about his plain-jane wife Ana (Ethel Weber) and begins ardently pursuing the beautiful stranger. Desperate for money, Olaf engineers a double murder, which nets him a huge sum of money. Heading to the City for a rendezvous with Renie, Olaf learns that her sweetheart Paul (Charles Gunn) has been arrested for the crime which he himself had committed. Certain that he will escape detection, Olaf is nonetheless trapped into a confession by Renie, who out of love for Paul has appointed herself "the eye of God." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although this wasn't one of Lois Weber's most distinguished films, its star, Mildred Harris (billed at the time as Mrs. Charles Chaplin), was well cast. New Yorker Fred Worthington (Henry Woodward) doubts the sincerity of his sweetheart and his friends, so he plants an item claiming he has become bankrupt. Almost on cue, everyone dumps him, so he leaves the city in disgust. He goes to the country to visit his mother and meets innocent Maddie Irwin (Harris). They fall in love and marry, but only afterwards does Worthington realize that his country wife really wants to be a city girl. His arguments fall on deaf ears, so he throws a party at his country estate and invites his wildest friends. To his surprise, Maddie thoroughly enjoys the revelry instead of being repelled by it. Maddie finally satisfies her lust for city life by running off to Chinatown with a group of strangers. She becomes embroiled with a mysterious Frenchman and winds up in a lot of trouble. After one of her former admirers from the country finally rescues her, Maddie returns home glad to be a country girl -- never realizing that the Frenchman was actually her husband in disguise. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this African action-adventure film, an explorer becomes an avaricious murderer after he learns of an invaluable cache of elephant tusks. Afterward, he convinces his wealthy former fiancee to help him fund an expedition to find the cache. At the same time they are looking, the dead man's partner is also looking for the ivory. Who will get there first? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In one of her first talking pictures, Carole Lombard played a girl crook falling in love with a handsome lineman (William Boyd) while marooned during a snow storm. Crossing the High Sierras in a bus, a group of travelers find themselves stranded in a small village and at the mercy of Bill Dougherty (Boyd), a lineman who apportions them a small amount of food. Despite warnings from detective Dan Egan (Owen Moore), Billie Davis (Lombard), the girl crook, falls in love with Bill, who turns out to be an escaped convict. Briefly planning to flee, Bill and Billie decide to serve their sentences and share a happier future together. High Voltage was produced by Pathé and featured blonde newcomer Diane Ellis as a young girl en route to her wedding. Ironically, Ellis died less than a year later from a rare tropical disease while honeymooning in India. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide