James Stephenson Movies
A stage actor of many years' standing, James Stephenson made his British film debut in 1937. That following year, Stephenson was hired as a contract player by Warner Bros., where he spent most of his time playing suave villains or disgraced gentlemen. He was afforded better roles in films like 1938's Boy Meets Girl (as the movie bit player who "legitimizes" Marie Wilson's baby), 1939's You Can't Get Away With Murder and Elizabeth the Queen, and 1940's The Sea Hawk. His big break came when, ignoring studio resistance, director William Wyler and star Bette Davis insisted upon casting Stephenson as self-sacrificing family lawyer Howard Joyce in the 1940 adaptation of The Letter. This performance earned the actor an Academy Award nomination and, more importantly, the old "star build-up" from the Warners publicity flacks (who proceeded to slice 15 years off Stephenson's age in his "official" studio biography). James Stephenson went on to play the title role in Calling Philo Vance (1940) and above-the-title parts in a handful of programmers until his fatal heart attack at the age of 53. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1938
In this British crime drama an argument over a new anaesthetic results in the murder of a hospital doctor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Once a staple of summer stock and community theatres, Bella and Samuel Spewack's Broadway farce Boy Meets Girl dates rather badly when seen today. The 1938 movie version is also a bit mildewed, though it is saved by the dynamo-like energy of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The stars are cast as Robert Law and J.C. Benson, a pair of iconoclastic Hollywood screenwriters based upon Ben Hecht and Charlie McArthur. Cynically declaring that every film can be boiled down to "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl", Law and Benson drive their studio-executive bosses crazy with their zany irreverence. Their pet target is bigwig C. Elliot Friday (Ralph Bellamy), a delicious take-off of 20th Century-Fox prexy Darryl F. Zanuck. Friday orders the boys to concoct a screenplay for cowboy star Larry Toms (Dick Foran), whose popularity is on the wane. Upon making the acquaintance of pregnant, unmaried waitress Susie (Marie Wilson), Law and Benson hit upon a brilliant scheme: they'll transform Susie's baby into a child star and team the kid with Toms in his latest epic ("based on an original story by William Shakespeare"). Complication piles upon complication, reaching a high point of hilarity when the baby gives Larry Toms the measles. Ronald Reagan appears briefly as a radio announcer covering the Hollywood premiere of Law and Bensen's newest masterpiece. Boy Meets Girl was originally conceived as a Marion Davies vehicle, with the comedy team of Olsen & Johnson playing the screenwriters, but things changed radically (and for the better) when Davies' sponsor William Randolph Hearst huffily pulled his Cosmopolitan Pictures unit off the Warner Bros. lot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1938
In this comedy, a meek, mild-mannered movie lover travels to Boulogne and ends up entangled in a great adventure that begins when he is mugged by a gang of British robbers. He then must return home aboard an onion boat. Later he and his gal try to catch the gang. They then discover that they are jewel thieves and end up trapped in a house with the gang's loot. Fortunately, the cops come and save them in the nick of time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Dick Powell stars as a Brooklynite who becomes a cowboy in spite of himself. Drifting into a small western town, Powell takes the only job available as a ranch hand. He likes to sing in his spare time, which attracts the attention of talent scout Pat O'Brien. Before you can say Gene Autry, Powell is promoted into America's favorite singing cowboy--though he's hard pressed to prove his western skills when the plot situations demand it. Rather condescending in its attitude towards western stars (as non-western movies tended to be in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s), Cowboy From Brooklyn was another step backward in the (temporarily) fading career of Dick Powell. The only good thing to come out of the film was the song "Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride", which became the leitmotif of many a Warner Bros. cartoon short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1938
Astrology and murder meet head-on in the Warner Bros. programmer When Were You Born? When horoscope specialist Mary Lee Liang (Anna May Wong) predicts the death of importer Philip Corey (James Stephenson), her prophecy comes true in a surprisingly short time thanks to a mysterious killer. Mary then assists the police in their investigation of Corey's murder, using her knowledge of the zodiac to draw up a psychological profile of the culprit. Could the guilty party be Nina Kenton (Lola Lane), the dead man's sweetheart? Is it Fred Gow (Leonard Mudie), Corey's duplicitous partner? Or maybe it's Doris Kane (Margaret Lindsay), who halfway through the proceedings is revealed to be the victim's secret fiancee. The most novel aspect of When Were You Born? is its opening credits sequence, wherein the actors are billed in the order of their astrological signs rather than their importance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lindsay, Anna May Wong, (more)
- 1938
In this action drama, a war correspondent finds a gun-runners agent and ends up falling in love with her. To escape those that pursue him, the ring-leader pretends to suicide. Then to start a war, he sinks a ship. Later he is killed by his agent. Unfortunately, during the scuffle, she is mortally wounded. As the film fades out, she dies in the correspondent's arms. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Number seven in Warner Bros.' "Torchy Blaine" series was Torchy Blaine in Chinatown, with Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane returning as fast-talking gal reporter Torchy and her ever-lovin' police lieutenant boyfriend Steve McBride. Actually, there's very little of Chinatown in the storyline, which deals with trio of (apparently) Chinese jade smugglers/extortionists. Torchy suspects that two recent murders were phonies, and sets about to prove it, thereby stumbling upon the smugglers (who turn out to be Caucasians) and nearly getting herself murdered for real. As usual, Steve McBride is around to rescue our heroine when the going gets tough, with dumb sergeant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy) offering no help whatsoever. Torchy Blane in Chinatown was a remake of the obscure 1930 mystery Murder Will Out, which starred Jack Mulhall and Lila Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1938
Based on another of Lloyd C. Douglas' "better living through faith" short stories, White Banners stars Claude Rains as a chemistry professor who invents an icebox that requires no ice. The invention is stolen, throwing Rains and his faithful young assistant Jackie Cooper into a deep depression. Rains' housekeeper Fay Bainter buoys the inventor's spirits with her happy demeanor, wise homilies and good cooking. Through her influence, Rains and Cooper return to the lab and create an even more advanced refrigeration device. And just what is Bainter's stake in all this? Why, she's Cooper's long-lost mother...but don't you dare tell him. Though Fay Bainter was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in White Banners, the film itself is so forgettable that it doesn't even rate a mention in most mass-market movie ratings books. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, (more)
- 1938
Nancy Drew -- Detective was the first in a series of breezy B-pictures based on the teenaged sleuth created by Carolyn Keene. Bonita Granville is perfectly cast as Nancy, while John Litel and Frankie Thomas are equally effective as Nancy's attorney father, Carson Drew, and erstwhile boyfriend, Ted Nickerson, respectively. Things get under way immediately when Mary Eldridge (Helena Phillips Evans), the wealthy benefactress of Nancy's high school, disappears under mysterious circumstances. In direct defiance of her father's orders, Nancy and Ted set off on their own investigation, which leads inexorably (and dangerously) to a highly suspicious rest home. The "ever popular" Mae Busch is her usual nasty self as a phony nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonita Granville, John Litel, (more)
- 1937
The riotous world of boxing provides the backdrop of this comedy that centers on young-fighter Kid Brody who is taken under the wing of the lovely coquette Lady Foxham after he beats her previous favorite. Together the two embark on a cruise to England. During the voyage, the Kid's manager finds himself pursued by a gold digger who thinks he is a millionaire. When she learns he is not she drops him and sets her sights on the kid. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this British thriller, a mild-mannered bank clerk has a sort of breakdown, gets tired of seeing other people always get the money, and robs the bank. He then sets up an elaborate scheme whereby it looks as if he felt so much remorse at his actions that he has ended his life by jumping overboard on an ocean liner. Unfortunately, while on board, a ship's steward finds his pre-written note, gets rid of it and steals the money. Later the steward is killed. Now the clerk is in real trouble until he meets a beautiful woman and tells her the whole sordid story. She, and a detective help him prove that he did not kill the steward. The real murderer is found, and both he and the clerk are imprisoned. While doing his time, the clerk is sustained by the knowledge that the beauty waits for him outside. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
When assistant Noel Madison kills professor J. Fisher White for his diamond formula, White's daughter Brook examines the case and gets into danger when she is saved by detective George Galleon. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this comedy, an American chorine travels to France with a low-budget revue and nearly ends up stranded there. Fortunately, a handsome Frenchman proposes to her. Believing that he is wealthy, she accepts. Unfortunately, he deceived her and now the bride must live in a ramshackle hovel with his three children on his little farm. She is terribly disappointed, but rather than quit, she tries to make the best of things. This is difficult as a schoolteacher is terribly jealous and torments the dancer at every turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Claude Hulbert, (more)
