Eric Blore Movies
Most often cast as a snide gentleman's gentleman or dissipated nobleman, British actor Eric Blore abandoned the business world for the theatre when he was in his mid-twenties. Established in both London and New York, Blore began adding movies to his acting achievements with 1920's A Night Out and a Day In(1920); he also appeared in the 1926 silent version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. A scene-stealing role in RKO's Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical Flying Down to Rio (1933) led to Blore's becoming a fixture in such subsequent Astaire-Rogers projects as Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935) and Shall We Dance? (1937). The actor also became a "regular" in the unorthodox film comedies of Preston Sturges, notably The Lady Eve (1941) and Sullivan's Travels(1942). In addition, Blore found himself in support of several "star" comedians, from Laurel and Hardy to Bob Hope to The Marx Brothers. When pickings became lean for "veddy" British character actors in the mid 1950s, Blore was reduced to co-starring with the bargain-counter Bowery Boys in Bowery to Baghdad (1955); he played an inebriated genie in this, his last film. On a more artistically rewarding note, cartoon fans will recall the pixilated voice of Blore as the automobile-happy Mr. Toad in the 1949 Disney animated feature Ichabod and Mr. Toad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the best of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, Top Hat centers on a typical mistaken-identity plot, with wealthy Dale Tremont (Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice, assuming that American entertainer Jerry Travers (Astaire) is the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) -- who's actually the wife of Jerry's business manager Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Complicating matters is Dale's jealous suitor Beddini (Erik Rhodes), whose motto is "For the woman the kiss -- for the man the sword." Beddini is disposed of by some last-minute chicanery on the part of Jerry's faithful valet Bates (Eric Blore), paving the way for the happy ending everyone knew was coming from the opening scene. The Irving Berlin score includes "Cheek to Cheek," "Isn't it a Lovely Day?," and the jaunty title song. The charisma of the stars, the chemistry of the supporting players, the white-telephone art direction of Van Nest Polglaise, the superlative choreography by Astaire and Hermes Pan, and the effervescent direction of Mark Sandrich all combine to make Top Hat a winner. Originally released at 101 minutes, the film was for many years available only in its 93-minute reissue form; it has since been restored archivally to 99 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1934
It's "Never the twain shall meet" time again, this time in London's Limehouse district. George Raft stars as Harry Young, a half-caste saloonkeeper who shelters beleaguered white girl Toni (Jean Parker) from her tormentors (shades of Broken Blossoms). Harry falls in love with the girl, but mixing of the races was still a Hollywood no-no in 1934, so tragedy results -- except for Toni, who finds happiness in the arms of Eric Benton (Kent Taylor), a man of "her own kind." The highly eclectic cast includes Anna May Wong as Raft's obligatory cast-off sweetheart Tu Tuan, former 2-reel comic Billy Bevan, and in a tiny uncredited role, Ann Sheridan. To avoid confusion with another Limehouse Blues, this one was retitled East End Chant for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Jean Parker, (more)
Based on Dwight Taylor and Cole Porter's play of the same name, The Gay Divorcee centers on Mimi (Ginger Rogers), a woman seeking a divorce from her husband. Mimi travels to an English seaside resort, pursued by the love-stricken Guy (Fred Astaire), whom she mistakes for the hired correspondent in her divorce case. Among the many musical numbers featured are "Night and Day," the only song from the original Broadway musical included in the film, and "The Continental," which won the first ever Academy Award for Best Song. Directed by Mark Sandrich, the film features supporting performances by Alice Brady and Edward Everett Horton. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
The top-billed stars in the extravagant RKO musical Flying Down to Rio are Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Forget all that: this is the movie that first teamed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We're supposed to care about the romantic triangle between aviator/bandleader Raymond, Brazilian heiress Del Rio and her wealthy fiance Raul Roulien, but the moment Fred and Ginger dance to a minute's worth of "The Carioca", the film is theirs forever. Other musical highlights include Rogers' opening piece "Music Makes Me" and tenor Roulien's lush rendition of "Orchids in the Moonlight". Then there's the title number. The plot has it that Del Rio' uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Astaire and Raymond save the day by staging the climactic "Flying Down to Rio" number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls shimmying and swaying while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. It is one of the most outrageously brilliant numbers in movie musical history, and one that never fails to incite a big round of applause from the audience--even audiences of the 1990s. Together with King Kong, Flying Down to Rio saved the fledgling RKO Radio studios from bankruptcy in 1933. The film was a smash everywhere it played, encouraging the studio to concoct future teamings of those two stalwart supporting players Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, (more)
- 1931
In all three of her 1931-32 movie vehicles, Tallulah Bankhead played variations of that familiar soap opera standby, the Fallen Woman. My Sin casts Bankhead as a college-educated nightclub entertainer named Carlotta, working in a seedy dive in Panama. Tormented by her blackmailing husband, she shoots and kills the bounder then finds that no self-respecting attorney will take her case. Fortunately for her, alcoholic lawyer Dick Grady (Fredric March) has no respect for himself, and it is he who agrees to defend her in court. Acquitted of murder, Carlotta heads to New York to start life anew, only to have her unsavory past catch up with her again. Once more, however, she is rescued by Grady, who has sworn off booze and metamorphosed into a pillar of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tallulah Bankhead, Fredric March, (more)
- 1931
Renowned American-born London stage star Tallulah Bankhead made her feature sound film debut in this drama based on Donald Ogden Stewart's story New York Lady. Bankhead plays Nancy Courtney, a gold-digging socialite who sets her sights on Norman Cravath (Clive Brook), a wealthy tycoon. Their marriage exasperates Nancy's ex-boyfriend, DeWitt Taylor (Alexander Kirkland), and her rival, Germaine Prentiss (Phoebe Foster). Nancy soon grows tired of the tedium of marriage and returns to making her rounds in nightclubs (some scenes were shot on location in a Harlem club). Nancy finally gets her own job and becomes increasingly independent even after she has a child. But Cravath's fortune is wiped out in the stock market crash. Nancy feels bad for her husband and returns to him, and for the first time they discover true love together, unsullied by the pursuit of material wealth. This film was the first feature directed solely by George Cukor, who would go on to be the champion of "women's pictures" such as The Philadelphia Story. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tallulah Bankhead, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1926
Accurately described as "a beautiful job" by novelist John O'Hara, this 1926 silent version of F. Scott's Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby stars Warner Baxter in the title role. Self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby lacks only one thing in life: the love of the beautiful, impulsive Daisy Buchanan (Lois Wilson). Gatsby's carefully laid scheme to announce his intentions to take Daisy away from her cloddish husband Tom Buchanan (Hale Hamilton) goes horribly awry, setting the stage for the inexorable tragedies that follow. Georgia Hale, previously seen as Chaplin's vis-a-vis in The Gold Rush, is cast as Buchanan's pathetic low-life mistress Myrtle Wilson, while Neil Hamilton exudes dependability from every pore as Gatsby's loyal friend Nick Carraway. Among Fitzgerald adaptations, the 1926 Gatsby was actually filmed during the historical period it depicts (which wasn't historical at all back then). The property was remade in 1949 with Alan Ladd, then again in 1974 with Robert Redford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, (more)
