George "Slim" Summerville Movies

A handful of German soldiers readjust to civilian life in the bitter wake of World War I in this follow-up to the classic All Quiet On The Western Front, which like the first film was based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. After the signing of the armistice, Capt. Von Hagen (John Emery) dismisses what is left of his troops, who march home to an uncertain future. Tjaden (Slim Summerville) finds himself helping to fend off rioters demanding food from a shop owned by the town's mayor (Etienne Girardot); the grateful mayor in turn offers Tjaden his daughter's hand in marriage. Weil (Larry Blake) becomes a political activist and finds himself acting as a spokesman for another group of citizens demanding precious food; this time, Weil is shot by troops led by his former commander, Capt. Von Hagen. Willy (Andy Devine) visits his former schoolteacher, who presents him with an ironic gift -- a toy gun he took away from Willy when he was a boy. And Albert (Maurice Murphy) comes home to discover his fiancée has wed another man, a man who avoided the war but found ways to profit from it at home. In a fit of rage, Albert kills the man, and finds himself on trial for his life. Combining a strong anti-war message with prescient warnings about the dangers of the rising Nazi regime, The Road Back was intended to be a powerful and controversial picture, and Universal entrusted it to their finest director, James Whale. However, by the time shooting was completed, new management had taken over the studio, and Nazi officials began applying pressure to Universal (as well as members of the film's cast) to delete the material critical of the Nazis, threatening to scuttle European distribution of future Universal product if their demands were not met. Universal bowed to their wishes, and the film was partially reshot with another director, and the remainder extensively re-edited, leaving the final product a pale shadow of what Whale had originally intended. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Don Ameche is called upon to testify in his married friends' divorce case. Unwilling to take sides, he skips town and hides out at a country inn. A young girl (Ann Sothern) stumbles into Ameche's rural hideaway; she thinks he's an escaped gangster, while he thinks she's a process server. The local sheriff (John Qualen), who also believes Ameche is a gangster, converges on the inn during a snowstorm. Trapped inside by the snow and by the deputies, Ameche and Sothern fall in love. The real gangster (Douglas Fowley) is captured and there's smiles all around at "The End" time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jane Withers plays "little Miss Fixit" in Pepper with a minimum of sentimental goo and a maximum of laughs. Though she's been warned not to do so, Pepper Jolly (Withers) intrudes upon the solitude of grouchy old millionaire John Wilkes (Irvin S. Cobb). Her unbridled good spirits virtually strong-arm the old fellow into cracking a smile for the first time in his life -- and of course has a reciprocal positive effect on everyone whom Wilkes himself has previously made miserable. The plot winds to a close as Pepper and Wilkes join forces to prevent his daughter Helen's (Muriel Roberts) marriage to an oily gigolo (who else but Ivan Lebedeff?) The scene in which Pepper coerces Wilkes into taking all of her friends to an amusement park is a riot, especially when Wilkes himself endures the happy agony of a roller-coaster ride. Recalling her co-star Irvin S. Cobb in 1975, Jane Withers told film historian Don Stanke, "He was a wonderful gentlemen. He thought I was going to be what I was like in Bright Eyes (in which she played a hateful brat), and he got the surprise of his life when I wasn't. We got along marvelously." Indeed, the warm rapport between the two stars shines through every frame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second of 20th Century-Fox's Dionne Quintuplets vehicles brings back Jean Hersholt as kindly Canadian obstetrician Dr. Dafoe. The good doctor faces none of the professional crises that plagued him in the first Dionne picture The Country Doctor. Instead, a testimonial dinner is arranged for him, where some of the thousands of people Dafoe helped bring into the world have been invited to honor the humble physician. But Dafoe gives as well as takes; sensing that some of those assembled to honor him have acute personal problems, the doctor sets about to solve them. Reunion would be rendered obsolete when the media did a turnaround in the late 1930s and began vilifying the real Dr. Dafoe for his alleged exploitation of the Dionne quints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Jack London's famous story of the same name, White Fang was first filmed in 1925. It is set in the Gold Rush era in Alaska and the Yukon. Sylvia Burgess (Jean Muir) is traveling with her brother Hal (Thomas Beck) to a gold mine that they have inherited from their father. Their guide is Weedon Scott (Michael Whalen), who owns the tracking dog, White Fang. Along the arduous journey, Hal dies. Beauty Smith (John Carradine), the leader of a criminal gang, claims that Scott murdered Hal. His men try to take possession of the mine, but they are thwarted by White Fang. Eventually, Hal's diary reveals that he killed himself in despair, and Smith's plans are foiled. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda made his screen debut in this filmization of his Broadway success The Farmer Takes a Wife. The story is set along the Erie Canal in the 1850s. Fonda plays a farmer who takes a river job to make ends meet. He falls in love with Janet Gaynor, daughter of a canal-boat cook, who thinks very little of farmers. Nonetheless, Fonda and Gaynor marry, much to the displeasure of canal skipper Charles Bickford, who'd assumed that Janet was his girl. When Fonda avoids a fight with Bickford, Janet believes that he's yellow, but he eventually proves otherwise. It is said that during his first day on the set, movie novice Henry Fonda, noting the camera direction "dolly with Dan and Molly" in the script, asked director Victor Fleming who Dolly was. Adapted from the play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly, The Farmer Takes a Wife was remade with Betty Grable and Dale Robertson in 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A best-selling nonfictional book of the 1920s provided the title for this Will Rogers vehicle. Rogers plays a small town newspaper editor who prints all the news that fits his own homespun view of the world. Against the wishes of the town higher-ups, Rogers tries to clear the name of Richard Cromwell, a young man accused of a long-ago bank robbery. Along the way, the genial editor smooths the path of romance between Cromwell and sweet Rochelle Hudson. Life Begins at 40 contains some great bits of dialogue, notably Rogers' comment after unloading a box of canned goods that the American emblem should be changed from an eagle to a can opener. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, two sisters work as assistants to a magician. The trouble begins when the day before a big show, the magician's psychic quits. In desperation he enlists the aide of one of the assistants. The three end up hired by a woman who is trying to help her wealthy, widowed sister see that her doctor is a charlatan by holding a bogus seance in the widow's creepy mansion. During the ritual, the widow tries to contact her late husband. When the ghost really does appear, the "medium" is shocked; she is more shocked when the spirit tells her he was murdered. The three performers become sleuths, solve the murder, and prove that the physician is a money-grubbing fake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a maid and a butler work for a very rich man. The trouble begins when their employer dies and leaves his estate to them. Once he is gone, they are free to finally marry. Unfortunately, they do not enjoy being wealthy, and they must lose everything and break up before they get back together and have a happy life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Slim Summerville and Zasu Pitts star as Mark and Connie, a pair deceptively innocent-looking con artists. Connie has made a career out of orchestrating huge lawsuits, splitting the settlements with her equally shifty lawyer Mark. Their current scheme involves the framing of pompous J. B. Ogden (George Barbier), a self-styled arbiter of public morals. Love, Honor and Oh Baby is the only Summerville-Pitts vehicle in which the stars are cast as less than savory characters. Interestingly, the audience's sympathies are equally divided between the scammers and their victim; most everyone in the story is fairly likeable. The 1940 Universal comedy Love, Honor and Oh Baby is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a nursemaid steals the heart of a wealthy socialite and thereby saves him from marrying a conniving gold-digger. The trouble begins when the fellow's newly adopted daughter arrives and decides to pair him up with the new nursemaid. Naturally the fiancee ends up most displeased by the beautiful usurper and when the socialite marries the sweet girl, the gold-digger ends up all alone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Amelia Cruikshank (June Clyde) doesn't know what real trouble is until she inherits her dad's auto-manufacturing business. Hoping to destroy the company for his own financial gain, Amelia's duplicitous business manager Brown (Arthur Stuart Hull) does everything he can to ruin her chances of winning an upcoming high-stakes auto race. Brown declares that the company's revolutionary new racing car is worthless, but clean-limned young mechanic Teddy Blue (Frank Albertson) doesn't buy this and begins putting in overtime to bring the racer up to par. After winning the big event, Teddy must embark upon another breakneck auto race to prevent Brown from claiming ownership of Amelia's business. The comedy relief is in the hands of two hardy Keystone veterans, Slim Summerville and Louise Fazenda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A naive, wealthy small-town girl, bored with her routine life, falls for a dashing con artist who has come looking for fresh marks to swindle. He soon charms her into faking her prominent father's name on a letter of endorsement, which he presents to the other local merchants. They willingly give him all sorts of goodies and he prepares his escape, but not before conning the girl into becoming his wife. After their wedding night in a sleazy hotel, he abandons her. Fortunately, by the story's end, she is able to reassemble her shattered life and find happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide