Pierre Watkin Movies

Not even considered a good film back in 1935, Dangerous is held together by the mesmerizing performance of Bette Davis. The star is cast as alcoholic, self-destructive stage actress Joyce Heath, a character obviously based on Jeanne Eagels. Wealthy architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) becomes convinced that Joyce can be rehabilitated with the "right" stage vehicle, and begins pulling strings to bring her back to the footlights. She rises to the occasion, falling in love with Don in the process. But Joyce becomes convinced that she's a jinx to any man who gets near her, as proven by her spineless, dissolute husband, Gordon Heath (John Eldredge), who refuses to give her a divorce. Deliberately hurting Don's feelings so he will escape her "curse," Joyce determines to rid the world of both herself and her husband. But things don't work out that way, and as a result Joyce is left in an inextricable Ethan Frome-like dilemma at film's end, while Don finds happiness with his socialite Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay). It is generally conceded that Bette Davis won her Academy Award for Dangerous because she was denied the Oscar for her performance in the previous season's Of Human Bondage. Dangerous was remade (and considerably reshaped) in 1941 as Singapore Woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Small-town waiter Will Wright (Edward Everett Horton) can't help but feel that his Kansas community has lost its civic pride. After attending a speech delivered by a New York Realtor, Will takes it upon himself to head to the Big Apple to promote a real-estate deal for the benefit of his friends and neighbors. It isn't long before he gets mixed up with two rival gangsters, Dizzy Rantz (Cesar Romero) and Jake Cavendish (Frank Conroy). But with the help of moll Ruby Miller (Glenda Farrell), Will manages to convince the two mobsters to bury the hatchet -- and to invest their money in a real estate development that will result in big bucks for all concerned. Edward Everett Horton's flawless performance is the glue that holds Nobody's Fool together. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the true story of Pan American Airlines, China Clipper was released only a year after the first transpacific flight in history. Pat O'Brien stars as Dave Logan, a man completely obsessed with starting the first commerical airline across the Pacific ocean. Engineer Dad Brunn (Henry B. Walthall) designs the airplane, while Dave teams up with business partner Tom Collins (Ross Alexander) to start up his company. Dave's wife, Jean (Beverley Roberts) has her doubts about the airline business, but loves her husband. Dave hires Hap Stuart (Humphrey Bogart) as the pilot to make his first flight to the Caribbean, where he ends up helping out the local people during a hurricane. Things start to go really wrong for Dave when Jean wants to leave him, his Dad gets ill, and his planes are subject to all kinds of tests. This was the last film appearance of Birth of a Nation star Henry B. Walthall, who had reportedly collapsed on the set right during production. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Italian immigrant George Raft uses his wits and his fists to rise to prominence in a local political machine. He falls in love with Rosalind Russell, the wife of a prominent banker, but discreetly hides his feelings even as he and Russell are thrust together by social circumstances. The banker turns out to be an embezzler, but Raft comes to the rescue by replacing the stolen funds. Accused of conspiring with the banker because he'd failed to make the original embezzlement public, Raft is grilled by a grand jury. Once cleared, Raft is finally able to wed the divorced banker's wife, who it turns out had always had a crush on him. It Had to Happen is most entertaining in its early scenes wherein we see George Raft strongarming his way to success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, set at the turn-of-the-century an ingenious young jockey finds his reputation sullied by criminals. He cleverly outsmarts them and his reputation is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Universal contractee Henry Hunter never became a big star, but during his brief stay at the studio he appeared in a quite a few interesting films. Adapted from a novel by Rufus King, Love Letters of a Star casts Hunter as John Aldrich, the husband of the unfortunate Jenny Aldrich (Mary Alice Rice). When Jenny dies under mysterious circumstances, it is revealed that she was being blackmailed with a packet of love letters she'd written to Broadway celebrity Meredith Landers (Ralph Forbes). No sooner has Jenny's death been ruled a suicide than her blackmailer is murdered, immediately casting suspicion about the girl's grieving husband John. For a while, wealthy Artemus Todd (Samuel S. Hinds) is led to believe that he was the killer, but there's many another surprise twists before the final fadeout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Otto Preminger was able to make his directorial debut on Under Your Spell solely because Darryl Zanuck couldn't care less about the film's quality; it was a contractual obligation film for Lawrence Tibbett, who was proving a washout as a film star. In Spell, Tibbett plays Anthony Allen, a world famous singer who has grown tired of the trials that come with celebrity. Seeking to avoid the spotlight, ceaseless publicity and determined fans, Allen enlists the aid of his butler in secretly escaping to a ranch in Mexico. Allen's manager (Gregory Ratoff) is understandably upset with his client's behavior and so sets in motion a scheme of his own. He contacts celebrity-hunting heiress Cynthia Drexel (Wendy Barrie) and lets her know where to find the reluctant star. Drexel quickly hunts down her prey and sticks to him like glue. Although Allen initially is exasperated with her, he soon finds himself attracted to her. In addition to arias from The Marriage of Figaro and Faust, Tibbert performs Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's "Amigo," "My Little Mule Wagon" and the title song. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

In this musical an agent hawks a new singing star to irritate a wealthy socialite whom he managed to get on the radio. There the socialite found some success, but then she dumped her agent. As the radio network continues to search for new talent, music and mayhem ensue. Songs include: "Sweet Heartache," "Hail Alma Mater," "Last Night I Dreamed of You," "You'd Like It," "I'll Reach for a Star," "The Lady Wants to Dance," "Was It Rain," "Love Is Good for Anything That Ails You," "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter," and "Jungle Rhythm." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It was from this military musical that the US Marine Corps got it's signature anthem, "The Song of the Marines." The story chronicles the exploits of a young recruit who wins a radio contest and becomes an overnight singing sensation. Unfortunately, the sudden fame has caused a bad case of ego edema in the man and his Corps buddies begin to avoid him. Even his girl friend grows tired of his swaggering. Busby Berkeley staged the musical numbers. The songs include: "I Know Now," "'Cause My Baby Says It's So," "Night Over Shanghai," "The Lady Who Couldn't Be Kissed," "You Can't Run Away from Love Tonight." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The second of Paul Muni's biographical films for Warner Bros., the Oscar-winning The Life of Emile Zola is by far the best, even allowing for the dramatic license taken with the material. When first we meet French novelist and essayist Zola, he is starving in a Parisian garret with his painter friend, Paul Cezanne. Each time Zola attempts to write "the truth," he is stymied by governmental censors. Still, he is able to achieve both fame and fortune with the publication of "Nana," an unardorned and best-selling tale of a prostitute (whom we can safely assume was not quite as likeable or attractive as Erin O'Brien-Moore, who plays the novel's "role model"). The lion's share of the film is devoted to Zola's attempts to clear the reputation of Army captain Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut), who has been framed on a charge of treason by his superiors and condemned to Devil's Island. Publishing his famous manifesto "J'accuse," Zola leaves himself wide open for public condemnation and criminal prosecution. Though he delivers a brilliant self-defense in court, Zola is found guilty. Forced to flee to England, he continues railing against the unjust, corrupt military establishment, eventually forcing a retrial and exoneration of Dreyfus. Alas, Zola is killed in a freak accident at home before he can meet the liberated Dreyfus. At his funeral, Emile Zola is eulogized by Anatole France (Morris Carnovsky), who refers to the fallen crusader as "a moment of the conscience of man." For various reasons -- some dramatic, some legal -- the actual facts of "L'affaire Dreyfus" are altered by the Norman Reilly Raine/Heinz Herald/Geza Herczeg screenplay.

The fact that Dreyfus was railroaded because he was Jewish is obscured; in fact, except for a very brief visual reference, the word "Jew" is never mentioned. Only those villains whose names were a matter of public record (Major Dort, Major Esterhazy) are specifically identified. Others are referred to as the Chief of Staff, the Minister of War, etc. to avoid lawsuits from their descendants (remember that the events depicted in the film, most of which take place between 1894 and 1902, were still within living memory in 1937). As for Dreyfus himself, he was not freed and restored to rank in 1902, the year of Zola's death, but in 1906-after being found guilty again in an 1899 retrial (Dreyfus died in 1935, outliving everyone else involved in the case). These historical gaffes can be forgiven in the light of the film's overall message: that a single small, clear voice can fight City Hall. If for nothing else, The Life of Emile Zola deserves classic status due to Paul Muni's towering performance, most notably in the unforgettable summation scene: "By all that I have done for France, by my works -- by all that I have written, I swear to you that Dreyfus is innocent. May all that melt away -- may my name be forgotten, if Dreyfus is not innocent. He is innocent." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

German director Joe May brought a decidedly Teutonic ambience to his American film Confession--no surprise, since the film was based on the 1935 German production Mazurka. Kay Francis plays a onetime singer who confesses to the murder of her pianist, Basil Rathbone. In flashback, we learn that Rathbone had been responsible for the breakup of Francis's marriage. Years later, Rathbone came back into her life, this time with the intention of seducing Ms. Francis' grown daughter (Jane Bryan). In a variation of Madame X, Francis was stuck with the dilemma of deflecting Rathbone from his "mission"--and of keeping her true identity secret from her daughter. Prior to Mazurka, the Hans Rameau story upon which Confession was based had been filmed as a silent picture starring Gloria Swanson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman play, Stage Door is a comedic portrait of the theatrical community in New York. Katharine Hepburn stars as Terry Randall a young woman who comes from a wealthy, socially connected family. Aspiring for a career on the stage, Terry opts to see if she can make it on her own gumption and moves into a boarding house with several other wannabe Broadway starlets attempting to make a mark for themselves in show business. Terry's sassy roommate Jean (Ginger Rogers) just might get the opportunity to do that when she meets a lecherous producer, but at what cost? Unamused by Terry's attempts to pull herself up by her bootstraps, her father offers her an opportunity for a starring role in a show that's sure to fail. Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller are among the other residents of the boarding house. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide