Schuyler Standish Movies
For some reason or other, Melody for Three seems to be the most frequently revived of RKO Radio's "Dr. Christian." As ever, Jean Hersholt stars as Christian, kindly general practitioner of the town of River's End. In this one, Dr. Christian takes an avuncular interest in young Billy Stanley (Schuyler Standish), a violin prodigy. Soon thereafter, he dedicates himself to reuniting Billy's divorced parents, music teacher Mary Stanley (a standout performance by Fay Wray) and famed orchestra conductor Antoine Pirelle (Walter Woolf King). One can only wish that Real Life were as simple and clear-cut as the adventures of Dr. Christian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, Fay Wray, (more)
Based on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez, Blood and Sand is the beautifully rendered story of the rise and fall of a young, cocksure Spanish bullfighter, played by Tyrone Power. Working his way slowly up the ladder to success, Power achieves fame when he is praised to skies by fatuous, fickle critic Laird Cregar. A country boy at heart, Power finds himself way over his head with sophisticates, and is soon torn between his pious and faithful wife Linda Darnell and sexy, mercenary Rita Hayworth. It is Darnell, however, who comforts Power after his final, fatal goring in the bull ring. The film's best scenes depict the curious combination of horror and fascination with which bullfighting aficionados treat this most barbaric of "sports." Blood and Sand was previously filmed in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino; a Valentino contemporary, Alla Nazimova, plays Power's mother in the remakes. Portions of this film turned up as stock footage in the 1945 Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, (more)
Little Men, Louisa May Alcott's followup to her successful novel Little Women, has never truly adapted well to the screen, though this 1940 version is better than most. Kay Francis stars as the all-grown-up Jo March, now in charge of a private school for young boys. Her most contentious charge is rebellious Dan (Jimmy Conlin), who finally learns the rudiments of gentlemanly behavior from the firm-but-gentle Jo. Despite its huge and talented cast, the film is handily (and appropriately) stolen by Jack Oakie as an affable con artist named Willie the Thief. Also on hand is the original Elsie the Cow (but where's Elmer and his glue?) A loser at the box office, Little Men is currently in wider circulation than ever before thanks to its Public Domain status (also available in the P.D. market is the 1933 version of Little Men, produced by Monogram). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, Jack Oakie, (more)
William Wyler's Wuthering Heights is one of the earliest screen adaptations of the classic Emily Brontë novel. A traveler named Lockwood (Miles Mander) is caught in the snow and stays at the estate of Wuthering Heights, where the housekeeper, Ellen Dean (Flora Robson), sits down to tell him the story in flashback. In the early 19th century, the original owner of Wuthering Heights, Mr. Earnshaw (Leo G. Carroll), brings home an orphan from Liverpool named Heathcliff (Rex Downing). Though son Hindley Earnshaw despises the boy, daughter Catherine develops a close kinship with Heathcliff that blossoms into love. When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up together on the Moors and seem destined for happiness, even though Hindley forces Heathcliff to work as a stable boy. When Cathy (Merle Oberon) meets wealthy neighbor Edgar Linton (David Niven), Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) gets jealous and leaves. Cathy marries Edgar, and Heathcliff returns with his own wealth and sophistication. He buys Wuthering Heights from the alcoholic Hindley (Hugh Williams) and marries Edgar's sister, Isabella Linton (Geraldine Fitzgerald), out of spite. Still obsessively in love with each other, Cathy gets deathly ill while Heathcliff grows into a bitter old man. Ellen continues telling Lockwood the story as Dr. Kenneth (Donald Crisp) enters and reveals the fateful ending. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, (more)
- 1938
Black Bandit stars Bob Baker, a singing cowboy whom Universal hoped would prove a worthy competitor to Republic's Gene Autry. We are treated to a double dose of Baker in this one: he plays twin brothers, separated at birth. Need we add that one of the Bakers grows up on the right side of the law, while the other one becomes an outlaw? Ere the final fade-out, the twins unite in a common cause: the eradication of villains Jack Rockwell and Glenn Strange. Marjorie Reynolds, a few years shy of her prominence at Paramount Pictures, is the leading lady. One minor gaffe in Black Bandit: during the inevitable fistfight between the good and bad twin, the man doubling for the trim 'n' slim Bob Baker has a rather sizeable gut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Baker, Marjorie Reynolds, (more)
