Ford Sterling Movies

Ruthless criminal attorney Raymond Cortell (Sidney Blackmer) is not above bending and twisting the law to suit his purposes, making him a well-paid pariah amongst his peers. Practically the only person who believes that Cortell's tactics are ethical is his faithful assistant Mary (Judith Allen), the daughter of police-lieutenant Jim Kennedy (Purnell Pratt). Mary finally gets a wake-up call when a criminal whom she's helped to acquit shoots down her father during a robbery. She then switches her allegiance to young detective Dave Britten (Norman Foster), who's been waiting a long time to get the goods on the unscrupulous Cortell. Behind the Green Lights was Mascot Pictures' next-to-last feature production before the studio was reorganized as Republic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This star-laden version of Lewis Carroll's novel combines elements of both the title novel and Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass. In England of the 19th century, young Alice finds that the mirror over the library fireplace opens into a strange world. She has odd adventures and changes size several times both before and after she follows a time-obsessed White Rabbit (Skeets Gallagher). Soaked after nearly drowning in a pool of tears, Alice is helped to dry off by a Dodo (Polly Moran), and encounters a caterpillar (Ned Sparks), whose mushroom also changes Alice's size. In a noisy home where the Cook (Lillian Harmer) and the Duchess (Alison Skipworth) are always fighting, Alice takes care of the Duchess' baby, but it turns into a pig and runs away. Asking directions of the Cheshire Cat (Richard Arlen) is no help, and a tea party with the Mad Hatter (Edward Everett Horton), the March Hare (Charlie Ruggles) and the Dormouse (Jackie Searl) is confusing and annoying.

Alice meets the Queen of Hearts (May Robson), and encounters the Duchess again; while strolling with her, Alice meets the Gryphon (William Austin) and the Mock Turtle (Cary Grant). The twins Tweedledum (Jack Oakie) and Tweedledee (Roscoe Karns) recite a poem about a Walrus and a Carpenter (seen as an animated cartoon), but when they decide to go to battle, they're chased off by a crow. Humpty Dumpty (W.C. Fields) relates the poem "Jabberwocky" to Alice, then falls off a wall and breaks. The mournful White Knight (Gary Cooper), unable to put Humpty Dumpty together again, escorts Alice for a while, but she tumbles down a hill and finds she's become a queen. At a party in Alice's honor, the Red Queen (Edna Mae Oliver) becomes furious at Alice, who then wakes up to find herself in the library, with her kitten Dinah in her lap. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Edward Knoblock's warhorse theatrical piece Kismet, first filmed in 1920, resurfaced as a talkie in 1930. Repeating the role he'd created on stage in 1911, Otis Skinner stars as Hajji, the wily Baghdad beggar who goes from rags to riches to rags again to riches again in the space of 24 hours. Outwitting the evil wazir (Sidney Blackmer), Hajji manages to install himself in the royal palace, romance the wazir's gorgeous "head wife," and arrange the marriage between his own daughter (Loretta Young) and the caliph's son (David Manners). Though well on in years, Skinner conveys much of the effortless charisma which had endeared him to audiences since the turn of the century. Kismet was remade in 1944 with Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich; the popular Broadway musical version was brought to the screen in 1955, with Howard Keel as Hajji. The subsequent film versions have kept the 1930 Kismet out of television circulation, denying future generations the pleasure of watching the legendary Otis Skinner in action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this frothy musical, a lovely young woman is wooed by two men. One of them meets her father's approval so it is only natural that she attempt to elope with the other. Fortunately the good guy catches up with them before it is too late. Songs include: "Spring Is Here in Person," "I Married an Angel," "Yours Sincerely," "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Baby's Awake Now," "With a Song in My Heart" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart), "Cryin' for the Carolines," "Have a Little Faith In Me," "Bad Baby," and "How Shall I Tell?" (Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Warren). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a businessman takes his client with a beautiful escort to a fancy nightclub where he plans to close an important business deal. Unfortunately, the client's joins them. The escort must then pretend to be the businessman's wife. Marital trouble ensues when the businessman's real wife, at home and listening to a radio show originating from the club, hears a request sent out by her husband and his "wife." The suspicious woman wastes no time in getting to the club. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a traveling troupe of actors find themselves in danger of becoming unemployed when their manager up and leaves. Two of the actors decide to marry and settle down. The lead actor helps set up the rest of the troupe with some performances. He then destroys the new marriage. Later the woman and the head actor fall in love. He then gives her the lead role in his newest show. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Chicken a la King was based on Mr. Romeo, a play by Harry Wagstaff Gribble. When his brother-in-law Oscar Barrows (Arthur Stone) announces his plans to marry chorus girl Maisie DeVoe (Nancy Carroll), priggish Horace Trundle (Ford Sterling) is aghast. How can Oscar throw his life away on a girl who is obviously nothing more than a golddigger? Heading backstage to reprimand Maisie, Horace suddenly discovers that he enjoys being surrounded by pulchritudinous females. This inspires Horace's long-suffering wife Effie (Carol Holloway) to land a chorus-girl job herself, just to teach her wandering hubby a lesson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

These vintage silent comedies from Mack Sennett include A Strong Revenge (1913) A Sea Dog's Tale (1926), Sailor, Beware (1927) and The Channel Swimmer (1928). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Filmed on the Navajo reservation in Northern Arizona, this silent Paramount Western was yet another screen adaptation of a story by popular pulp writer Zane Grey. Mustachioed Warner Baxter, who would earn an Academy Award two years later for playing The Cisco Kid in the movie In Old Arizona, stars as John Curry, a friend of the Navajos who fails in his attempts to keep the white man from exploiting the tribe's secret altars. Realizing that there is oil to be found on the reservation, evil Will Newton (Wallace MacDonald) gains entry to the area by posing as a trail guide for Elias Manton (George Irving), an archeologist, and his daughter Mary (Austrian actress Marietta Millner). Curry attempts to gain the villain's trust by being overly cordial and is shot by the Indians. Down but not out, Curry manages to alert the cavalry, and Newton and his henchmen are soon apprehended. Typical of the day, Navajo Chief Brave Bear was played by Bernard Siegel, a Jewish character actor hailing from Lemberg, Poland. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Recently fired by comedian Harry Langdon, young director Frank Capra found it difficult to line up any new projects. He was finally afforded the opportunity to direct a New York-based production originally titled Hell's Kitchen, but eventually released as For the Love of Mike. The story is the old bromide about three men -- Irishman O'Malley (Hugh Cameron), German Schultz (Ford Sterling) and Jewish Katz (George Sidney) -- who adopt an orphaned lad named Mike (played as an adult by Ben Lyon) and finance his education. Once he gets into Yale, Mike nearly falls in with a bad crowd but in the end is redeemed by the love of pert coed Mary (Claudette Colbert, in her movie debut). Despite a strong supporting cast and worthwhile production values, For the Love of Mike was sabotaged by distribution problems and ended up a failure -- and worst of all, Frank Capra was never paid for his participation. Completely on the outs in Hollywood, Capra was forced to take a job at bottom-barrel Columbia Pictures, which in the long run turned out to be immeasurably beneficial for both director and studio. As for newcomer Claudette Colbert, she too managed to survive the For Love of Mike debacle, eventually winning an Academy Award for her work in the Frank Capra-directed It Happened One Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After several years' experience as a screenwriter, Howard Hawks made his directorial debut with Fox Films' The Road to Glory. Though based on a story by Hawks, the film that emerged bore little resemblance to the director's original concept. Judith (May McCoy) and David (Leslie Fenton) are a pair of jazz-age libertines who care about nothing but satisfying their own desires. After suffering an injury in a car accident brought about by David's reckless driving, Judith discovers that she is slowly but surely going blind. This tragedy convinces Judith that God does not exist, while a penitent David desperately tries to convince her otherwise. In an excessively melodramatic climax, David is seriously injured by a falling tree, whereupon Judith abandons her agnosticism and prays for her sweetheart's recovery. Not only does David survive, but all the excitement has completely restored Judith's eyesight! Whether or not Road to Glory measures up to Howard Hawks' later classics is open to conjecture, since the film no longer exists. (Incidentally, Hawks' 1936 war film Road to Glory was not a remake). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide