Rosemary Theby Movies

Even taking into consideration Of Mice and Men, One Million BC was inarguably the most ambitious feature-film project ever undertaken by producer Hal Roach. Told in flashback, this is the highly fanciful tale of the prehistoric feud between the Rock Tribe and Shell People. Tumak (Victor Mature), son of Rock leader Akhoba (Lon Chaney Jr.), defies tradition by falling in love with Shell person Loana (Carole Landis). At first intending to "have his way" with Loana, the rough-hewn Tumak is taught such niceties as moderation and table manners by the girl and her gentle brethren. Any possibility for a permanant détente between the Rocks and the Shells is swept away by a spectacular volcano, which wipes out everyone except the people we really care about. Exercising the usual Hollywood prerogative of suggesting that cavemen and dinosaurs coexisted, One Million BC offers a vast array of awesome dinos, which at closer glance are actually normal-sized lizards going about their business on miniaturized sets; even so, the special effects were considered pretty impressive back in 1940, and still pass muster today despite Ray Harryhausen's slick "dynamation" remake in 1967. In fact, stock footage from One Million BC would be redeployed countless times in the future to enhance the production values of otherwise inexpensive horror films. Though it has since been disproven, rumors still persist that the great D. W. Griffith participated in the direction of One Million BC (it is true, however, that he aided Hal Roach in the casting process, selecting Carole Landis as the heroine because she was the only auditionee who could run properly!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While not a box-office success, this drama, directed by Leo McCarey, developed a potent reputation among film critics and movie buffs for its sensitive and perceptive treatment of the problems of the elderly. When McCarey won the Oscar for Best Director the same year for The Awful Truth, he remarked that the Academy gave him the award for the wrong movie. Barkley and Lucy Cooper (Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi) are a couple in their late 60s who have fallen on hard times and have been given the bad news that the bank is foreclosing on their house. Barkley and Lucy turn to their five children for help, but none are willing or able to do much for them; their son George (Thomas Mitchell) says that Lucy can stay with him and his wife Anita (Fay Bainter), while Nellie (Minna Gombell) and her husband Harvey (Porter Hall) can take in Barkley, but neither couple have the space or the means to house them both. Living with their children and their new families proves stressful for everyone involved, and Lucy decides to take up residence in a home for older women. She and Barkley realize that this will probably mean a permanent separation for the two of them, and they try to enjoy one last outing together before they part. Remarkably, Beulah Bondi was only 46 years old when this film was made, making her less then ten years older than several of her on-screen children; make-up wizard Wally Westmore used his bag of tricks to age her the appropriate two decades for the role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Working on the theory that the only thing funnier than Laurel and Hardy is two sets of Laurel and Hardys, Our Relations milks its central mistaken-identity situation for all it's worth. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two solid citizens, happily married and highly respected in their community. One morning, Hardy receives a letter from his mother, containing an old photo of himself and Laurel with their twin brothers, Alf Laurel and Bert Hardy. Mamma also reveals that Alf and Bert turned out to be "bad lads" and ran off to sea, and that reportedly they'd been hanged for taking part in a mutiny. "Isn't that calamitous!" remarks Hardy, who conspires with Laurel to hide the facts about their no-good brothers from their wives. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the S.S. Periwinkle pulls into port. Among the crew members are the selfsame Alf and Bert, who have decided to entrust their pal Fin (James Finlayson) with their month's salary. Fin has promised to invest the dough so that the boys will become millionaires "before you can say Jack Robinson". Alf and Bert are then summoned to the cabin of their captain (Sidney Toler), who orders them to pick up a valuable package for him, then meet him later at Denker's Beer Garden. While waiting for the captain at Denker's, Alf and Bert are captivated by a pair of waterfront floozies, Alice (Iris Adrian) and Lily (Lona Andre). Talked into buying the girls a huge meal for which they haven't the necessary funds, Alf and Bert decide to go back to Fin and reclaim their money, leaving the contents of the captain's package-a valuable pearl ring-with tough waiter Joe Groagan (Alan Hale) as security. Later, Laurel and Hardy take their wives Betty (Betty Healy) and Daphne (Daphne Pollard) to lunch-and, inevitably, they end up at Denker's Beer Garden, where the equally inevitable mix-ups begin to occur. Things snowball from bad to worse before both sets of twins, an angry captain, a disgruntled Fin, the wives, the floozies, a genial drunk (Arthur Housman) and a brace of smooth gangsters (Ralf Harolde and Noel Madison) all converge at the upscale Pirate Club. Several slapstick complications later, Laurel and Hardy are captured by the gangsters, who threaten to dump the boys in the river with their feet encased in cement if they don't cough up the pearl ring. Alf and Bert come to the rescue, and all is well, at least until the film's boffo punchline. Based on W.W. Jacobs' short story The Money Box, Our Relations is perhaps the most plot-heavy of Laurel and Hardy's features for Hal Roach Studios. It is also one of their funniest, as well as their most lavishly produced. The film was officially listed as "A Stan Laurel Production"-as if Laurel hadn't been the prime creative force behind all of the team's previous films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

W.C. Fields plays Ambrose Wolfinger, the henpecked husband to end all henpecked husbands. A widower, Ambrose married a second time only to provide a mother for his pretty daughter (Mary Brian). What he got was an overbearing harpy of a wife (Kathleen Howard), a fussy and imperious mother-in-law (Vera Lewis) and a shiftless brother-in-law (Grady Sutton). Ambrose plans to attend a much-awaited wrestling match, but can't get the day off of work. He lies for the first time in his life, telling his boss that his mother-in-law has died. En route to the wrestling meet, Ambrose suffers one mishap after another, from a string of traffic tickets to an encounter with a runaway tire. He gets to the match just in time to miss the whole thing, and ends up bruised and battered on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, his home is being deluged with flowers, offered in sympathy for his "dead" mother-in-law who is very much alive but not amused. When his boss discovers the deception, he fires Ambrose. The poor man returns home to face the cold stares of his wife's family. They goad and harass him until he can stand no more: when brother-in-law insults his daughter, Ambrose punches him out (a scene that always results in audience cheers) and tells everyone else where to go. Soon after, his anxious ex-boss calls up; only Ambrose can decipher the important messages left behind on his cluttered desk, and would Ambrose like to come back to work? His loyal and loving daughter negotiates a hefty salary hike for Ambrose, and the film ends with Our Hero assuming his proper role as head of the household, with his obnoxious in-laws literally left out in the rain. An uproarious "worm turns" farce, Man on the Flying Trapeze was an expanded version of 1932 Mack Sennett two-reeler, Too Many Highballs, and a partial remake of Fields' own silent feature Running Wild (27). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ten Nights In a Bar-room is as corny and hackneyed as its title, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch. Based on the warhorse cautionary stage play by Edwin Waugh (previously filmed six times during the silent era), the story concerns Joe Morgan (William Farnum), a highly respected business executive and family man who throws his life away by consuming mass quantities of booze. His sweet little daughter Mary Morgan (Patty Lou Lynd) wanders into the saloon, tugs her tosspot father by his tattered sleeve and whines "Daddy, won't you come home with me now?" This proves to be the first step (of 12, perhaps?) towards Morgan's redemption, but first he has a score to settle with Simon Slade (Tom Santschi), the double-dyed villain who dragged him to degragadation. The film's highlight is a knock-down, drag-out fistfight between William Farnum and Tom Santschi, in emulation of their famous battle in 1914's The Spoilers. Ten Nights In a Bar-Room was distributed through the auspices of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, who were blissfully unaware that audiences were more prone to laugh at the antiquated production rather than renounce Demon Rum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Its title and 1929 vintage notwithstanding, Dream Melody was a silent picture. John Roche plays Richard Gordon, an aspiring composer who can't get arrested in his field of endeavor. Upon meeting nightclub singer Mary Talbot (Mary Julienne Scott), Gordon is inspired to write his greatest melody. The song catches the ear of impresario George Monroe (Robert Walker), and before long Gordon has scaled the heights of fame and fortune. Mary despairs that she's been forgotten, but Gordon proves otherwise in the film's emotion-charged climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Capricious Constance Bannister (Sally Eilers) has had 12 fiances, but has yet to take her marital vows. Fiance number 13, Oliver Mowbray (Norman Kerry), suffers the same fate as his predecessors when Constance impulsively weds doctor Thorvald Ware (Jason Robards Sr.) Grace (Thelma Todd), Ware's jilted sweetheart, cooks up a scheme to win back her man. Constance and Ware divorced, whereupon she marries Mowbray, and he links up with Grace. Years pass: the four protagonists are brought together by chance, whereupon they decide they've all made a mistake and begin playing "musical mates" all over again! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "original" Harrison Ford and former Chaplin leading lady Georgia Hale are co-starred in Tiffany-Stahl's Woman Against the World. When a chorus girl is found murdered, girl reporter Carol Hill (Hale) takes it upon herself to solve the case. The police have arrested wealthy Schuyler Van Loan (Ford) and charged him with the murder, but Carol suspects that someone else was responsible. However, she can't prove it, and soon everyone in town -- including Van Loan's fiancee Bernice Claire (Gertrude Olmstead) -- has turned against the boy. As the date of Van Loan's execution approaches, Carol desperately tries to dredge up enough evidence to prove his innocence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tenement gal Nora Denahy (Gladys Hulette) is the "Bowery Cinderella" in this standard melting-pot drama. While on a slumming party, wealthy Ned Chandler (Ernest Hilliard) is smitten by Nora. He offers to take her away from her shabby environment, if only she will become his wife. Nora is tempted, but her heart belongs to struggling playwright Larry Dugan (Pat O'Malley). It hardly seems necessary to reveal which of her two beaux ultimately marches Nora down the altar. One of the highlights of Bowery Cinderella is a precision-dance performance by the chorus of The Music Box Revue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stalwart Milton Sills stars in a role that's nearly as virile as the one he played in The Sea Hawk. Major John Craig (Sills) is a British Army surgeon who is based at an East Indian post. He knocks Colonel Carringford (Paul Nicholson) cold during a fight. When the Colonel is killed by a servant, Evelyn Beaudine (Rosemary Theby), a woman of questionable motivation and morals, accuses him of the murder. As a result, Craig flees India, leaving behind his former sweetheart, Gloria Gordon (Ruth Clifford), and heads for the South Seas. He becomes a successful pearl fisher and meets Pandora La Croix, a native dancing girl (Viola Dana). Craig gives a beating to Gorilla Bagsley, a pearl poacher (Tom Kennedy), when he bothers Pan. After that, Pan believes that Craig is hers, and they marry. Craig's real identity is discovered, and the British officials are notified. Gloria arrives with Watkins (Frank Leigh), who informs him that he has been proven innocent. Gorilla, who's still harboring a grudge against Craig, tries to kill him, but Pan steps in and takes the bullet. With her death, Craig and Gloria are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This muddled murder mystery-comedy was based on the Max Marcin stage play The Night Cap. Bank president Robert Andrews (James Kirkwood) has loaned someone money out of the bank funds and he wants to distract the bank examiner from examining the books and discovering the shortage. So he invites him, and the directors, over to his house. All sorts of intrigue happens at the gathering -- Andrews argues with Jerry Hammond (Tom Ricketts), who is in love with his ward, Anne Maynard (Madge Bellamy). Lester Knoles (Arthur Stuart Hull), meanwhile, is jealous of Andrews' friendship with his wife (Rosemary Theby). In addition, we discover that Andrews has a life insurance policy that will cover the shortage should he die. Not too surprisingly, after some strange goings-on, Andrews is found dead in Mrs. Knoles' room. The police investigate and everybody seems to have a motive to kill Andrews. A lot of confusion ensues, until it is discovered that Andrews isn't really dead after all, and the man who he loaned the money shows up and straightens things out. It's also revealed that the bank examiner has given up his job in favor of selling real estate. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Dr. Lucien LaPierre (Sam de Grasse) desperately wants to marry Elise Duchanier, the maid to a Parisian burlesque star (Aileen Pringle). She falls ill, and to keep her by his side, he tells her that she only has a year to live. Instead of making Elise a homebody, it inspires her to make a stab at stardom herself. She asks Maurice Bruel, who owns the show (Joseph Kilgour), to help her out, and offers to give herself to him once she has become a success. Brunel does as promised and, along the way, also dumps Lolotte, his mistress (Rosemary Thebv), for her. Elise has also won the heart of Captain Tom Kendrick (Antonio Moreno). When Kendrick returns from America to marry her, however, he hears nasty things about her reputation. LaPierre finally admits to his lie, and Kendrick shows up at Brunel's home in time to save Elise from degrading herself. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide