Dorothy Arzner Movies

With Dorothy Arzner in the director's chair, it's no wonder that First Comes Courage has a more feminist slant than most WWII "underground" films. Merle Oberon plays Nicole Larsen, a member of the Norwegian resistance. To obtain important war information, Nicole romances Nazi major Paul Dichter Carl Esmond, enduring the slings and arrows of those villagers unaware of her motives. Her mission is further complicated when she is reunited with British commando Allan Lowell Brian Aherne, with whom she'd had a prewar affair. Forced to choose between love and duty, Nicole makes the only decision possible under the circumstances. First Comes Courage was based on The Commados, a novel by Elliot Arnold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a popular drawing-room drama by Frederick Lonsdale, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney stars Joan Crawford as a jewel thief who poses as an aristocrat. It is Crawford's intention to pilfer a valuable pearl necklace while attending a society party in the company of partner-in-crime William Powell. Here she attracts the attention of Robert Montgomery, a young nobleman who is amused by Crawford's wittiness in the face of the haughty bitchery of Benita Hume. When Montgomery turns out to be a bounder and Powell and Crawford are revealed to be criminals, Crawford does some quick thinking that not only gets her off the hook but puts the two-faced Montgomery in his place as well. Previously filmed in 1929 with Norma Shearer in the lead, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney would itself be remade in 1951 as The Law and the Lady, with Greer Garson as the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After several light comedy roles, Rosalind Russell proved her salt as a dramatic film actress in this 1936 adaptation of George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Craig's Wife. Russell plays Harriet Craig, whose obsession with keeping her house and its furnishings spotless has driven away most of her friends. Harriet's husband Walter (John Boles) loves her and will not brook any criticism of her fastidiousness. But even he has a breaking point: this comes when, during a moment of dire crisis, she reveals that she is more concerned with her own well-being than her husband's. Walter declares his independence by smoking a cigarette in Harriet's spotless living room, strewing his ashes all over her nice clean rug, smashing one of her precious vases, and walking out on her. The final image is of Harriet Craig standing alone in her "perfect" house, so benumbed by events that she fails to notice that her armful of roses is leaving a path of petals on her hitherto unsullied floor. Previously filmed in 1928, Craig's Wife was remade in 1950 with Joan Crawford as Harriet Craig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A prize-winning aviator (Katharine Hepburn) falls for the title character (Colin Clive), a British politician who is happily married. Both fall into a tempestuous affair, but are able to resist their urges. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Trailblazing female director Dorothy Arzner helmed this well-crafted romantic drama. Julia Traynor (Claudette Colbert) is a secretary working for Jerry Stafford (Frederic March), a successful stock broker. Jerry has taken a decidedly non-professional interest in Julia, and when he asks her to join him on an ocean cruise, she firmly declines the offer. Hoping to throw Jerry off her trail, Julia accepts a hasty marriage proposal from Philip Craig (Monroe Owsley), a young and struggling securities broker. When Jerry learns that Julia has tied the knot, he rashly fires her and predicts that the marriage won't last six months. Jerry soon regrets his outburst and not only gives Julia her job back but hires Philip as well. However, Jerry's prediction proves to be not far from the mark; Julia is not happy with Philip, and Jerry learns that Philip has been embezzling company funds to play the market on his own. After a downturn in the market wipes out Philip's investments, Julia discovers that he owes $100,000 as a result of his bad investments. Desperate to raise money, Julia offers herself to Jerry in exchange for a loan; he refuses to take advantage of her, but he agrees to front her the money anyway. Philip, however, cannot believe that Jerry would give Julia the money without demanding her favors in return, and he goes after Jerry in a jealous rage. Ginger Rogers, Charles Ruggles, and Pat O'Brien lend sparkle to the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Considered the best of the all-star "studio" musicals of 1929 and 1930, Paramount on Parade utilized the talents of practically everyone on the Paramount Pictures payroll. Under the supervision of British musical-comedy favorite Elsie Janis, 11 top directors contributed to the project: Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, Edward Sutherland and Frank Tuttle. Introduced by masters of ceremonies Jack Oakie, Skeets Gallegher and Leon Errol, the film is a vaudeville-like maelstrom of musical duets, comedy sketches, occasional dramatic interludes, and spectacular production numbers. To mention all the highlights would take a book in itself but among them are Nancy Carroll's rendition of "Dancing to Save Your Sole" (performed inside a giant shoe!); Maurice Chevalier (and chorus) soaring heavenward in "Sweeping the Clouds Away" ; child actress Mitzi Green's dead-on impersonations of Chevalier, George Arliss, Moran & Mack and Helen "Boop-a-doop" Kane; Ernst Lubitsch's witty staging of an Apache dance in the style of a polite boudoir farce, with Chevalier (again) and Evelyn Brent; Clara Bow's saucy "I'm True to the Navy Now" ; the wish-fulfillment sketch "Impulses," in which George Bancroft and Kay Francis delightedly upset a dinner party by saying what's really on their minds; and best of all, "Murder Will Out," a murder-mystery parody wherein Fu Manchu (Warner Oland) bumps off Sherlock Holmes (Clive Brook) and Philo Vance (William Powell) when they refuse to give him proper credit for his killing of Jack Oakie. Only the dramatic sketch with Frederic March and Ruth Chatterton truly creaks when seen today. Originally released at 102 minutes, Paramount on Parade is presently available only in an 80-minute version, with all its Technicolor sequences missing: casualties include the elaborate "Drink to the Girl of My Dreams" number, directed by Edmund Goulding and featuring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur and Fay Wray, and Harry Green's dialect song "Isadore the Toreodor". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sassy romantic comedy, Clive Brook plays Neil Dunlap, a lawyer who is heartbroken when his wife leaves him. Neil is out drowning his sorrows when he meets Pansy Gray (Ruth Chatterton), a high-spirited chorus girl. Neil and Pansy hit the town, and a brutally hung-over Neil wakes up the next day to discover that he and Patsy are now man and wife. Neil's immediate reaction is that he's made a horrible mistake, but he finds Pansy so sweet, and she seems to taken with him, that he doesn't have the heart to tell her he wants a divorce. Against the advice of family and friends, Neil tries to make the marriage work, and he struggles to remodel Pansy into a respectable lady. Anybody's Woman was directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of Hollywood's first (and only) successful female directors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this film, the irresponsible Stella Ames (Clara Bow) spends her college career attending parties rather than studying. However, when she ends up in the difficult class of the handsome, but stern, Professor Gil Gilmore (Fredrick March), she develops a crush on him which creates a series of dilemmas for both of them. The Wild Party, directed by one of the first female directors, Dorothy Arzner was Clara Bow's first talkie film, and -- while dated -- is still good, trashy fun to watch. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Originally titled 10 Modern Commandments, this sophisticated romantic comedy-drama was the third directorial effort by Dorothy Arzner -- not to mention her third picture of 1927. Unabashedly a "woman's" picture, this is the story of Kitten O'Day (Esther Ralston), a humble maidservant in her aunt's boarding house. Kitten falls for impoverished boarder Tod Gilbert (Neil Hamilton), a would-be composer who has yet to sell a song. Kitten takes it upon herself to visit the office of big-time Broadway producer Disbrow (Arthur Hoyt), immediately endearing herself to the man when she socks tempestuous stage star Sharon Lee (Jocelyn Lee) in the nose. Disbrow hires Kitten as a "buffer" between himself and the troublesome Sharon; in exchange, she entreats the producer to listen to Tod's compositions. Alas, Tod has by now moved out of the boarding house, so Disbrow is unable to sign him to a contract or secure a release for the use of his songs. Meanwhile, Disbrow's latest musical goes into rehearsal, with Kitten in the chorus. The other hoofers decide to have some fun with the show-biz naif by "initiating" her in the Ten Modern Commandments of Broadway -- all of which are "Get Your Man!" Putting up with the teasing, Kitten eventually ingratiates herself with her fellow chorines by once again punching out the show's star, the obstreperous Sharon Lee (Jocelyn Lee). And what of Tod? Hanging around at the stage door, still waiting for an interview with Disbrow, Tod is hired as a backstage piano tuner. Unaware that Kitten is a member of the cast, Tod works up enough gumption to invade the star's dressing room and demand a hearing of his tunes. He is deflected from this when he hears one of his compositions being played backstage -- a minor event which snowballs into a series of misunderstandings, culminating with Tod's mistaken belief that Kitten has succumbed to the Ten Modern Commandments and has become producer Disbrow's mistress. Kitten saves the day by strong-arming Sharon into performing Tod's songs in the show; by film's end, all is explained, all is forgiven, and everyone is happy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Only a few months earlier Clara Bow had been seen in Wings. The same with Charles "Buddy" Rogers -- in fact, his one film between Wings and this film was My Best Girl with future wife Mary Pickford. But apparently Paramount wasn't too concerned with keeping up this level of quality for its stars; Get Your Man is mildly entertaining filler, nothing more, nothing less. Lively American Nancy Worthington (Bow) becomes friendly with charming Frenchman Robert de Bellecontre (Rogers) at a wax museum -- so friendly that the place closes, and they don't realize it until the doors are locked. Robert has been engaged, at his family's request, to the daughter (Josephine Dunn) of a duke since they were both children. After meeting Nancy, Robert wishes he could break off the engagement, but it's Nancy who does the job by using a flirtation with the girl's father, the Duke de Villeneuve (Harvey Clarke). Only Bow's vivacity keeps this film afloat. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Three of Hollywood's more enterprising women created this sentimental treatise on sin and redemption: Mrs. Wallace Reid (the former actress Dorothy Davenport) produced and co-directed (with Walter Lang) and Dorothy Arzner's screenplay was based on a story by influential journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns. Priscilla Bonner starred as Gabrielle Darley, a real-life prostitute acquitted of murdering her procurer in 1917. Left in a New Orleans brothel by a bounder she mistakenly believed to be her fiancé, Gabrielle tracks down the man (Carl Miller) in a Los Angeles jewelry shop and kills him in cold blood. Immediately regretting her brutal act, Gabrielle is resigned to her fate when the jury surprisingly returns a verdict of not guilty. A free woman, Gabrielle wants to change her wayward life by becoming a nurse, but is instead invited to live in the palatial Wilshire Boulevard estate of Mrs. Fontaine (Virginia Pearson). With Freddy the chauffeur (Theodore Von Eltz) as her only ally, Gabrielle is cruelly paraded in front of Mrs. Fontaine's society friends, some of whom "have skipped a matinee to see you." Tiring of the notoriety quickly enough, Mrs. Fontaine arranges for an interview with the local hospital, knowing full well that Gabrielle's sordid past will prohibit her ever becoming a nurse. Distraught and penniless, Gabrielle returns to New Orleans, never realizing that Freddy is desperately searching for her. Chased by a pimp in the French Quarter, the exhausted girl runs out into the crowded street and is hit by a passing car. While recovering in the hospital, she fortuitously learns that the hospital needs personnel due to the devastating influenza epidemic and is soon employed as a cleaning woman. It is in the hospital where she is finally found by Freddy as he arrives with soldiers wounded overseas. Despite being shipped off to fight the war in Europe the following day, the former chauffeur vows to return and make Gabrielle his wife. A huge box-office success, The Red Kimono ended up nearly bankrupting Mrs. Reid when the real Gabrielle Darley sued for libel. In the end, Darley won a huge settlement that included the Beverly Hills home which Reid had shared with her late husband, 1910s matinee-idol Wallace Reid. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Inez Laranotta (Anna Q. Nilsson) is an actress who is notorious for her vamp roles and for the wild parties she attends. But images are deceiving -- the parties (and police raids) are staged by Inez's press agent (Harry Depp), and she is actually very devoted to her innocent younger sister, Fay Bartholdi (the lovely young Mary Astor). One of Inez's many suitors is millionaire Stewart Cuyler (Lewis Stone), who grows tired of her games and leaves her. He meets up with Fay, and a romance blossoms. Inez discovers it and rushes to New York because she believes Cuyler's motives are not honorable. It turns out that the millionaire really wants to marry Fay. The overprotective Inez reluctantly backs off so that Fay can live her own life. She finds consolation in her manager, Pat Summerfield (Laurence Wheat), who declares his love for her and calls her "the best woman in Hollywood." ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

James Cruze revived the western genre and presented audiences with the first western epic in the spectacular 1923 film The Covered Wagon, chronicling the largest wagon train to ever cross the valley of the Platte River. The film takes place in 1848, when two wagon trains -- one led by Jesse Wingate (Charles Ogle), the other by Will Banion (J. Warren Kerrigan) -- as they travel from Kansas City, over the Oregon Trail, to destinations in California and Oregon. As the wagons make their way over the tortuous trail, many obstacles are encountered -- the crossing of the Platte River, an Indian attack, and a prairie fire. On the way to California, human stories unfold -- the most prominent of which revolves around Will and Molly Wingate (Lois Wilson). Molly's fiancé, Sam Woodhull (Alan Hale), out to discredit Will, succeeds in having Will and his wagons banished from the train and head off to the California gold fields. By that point, Molly has fallen in love with Will and sends Jackson (Ernest Torrence) to find him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide