Maichael Barringer Movies
Briton Michael Barringer landed a plum assignment when, in 1928, he was hired to write and co-direct the profitable adventure film Q Ships (1928). Curiously, Barringer never directed anything else, confining his activities to screenwriting for the balance of his career. Most of his films were programmers and quota quickies, bearing such come-hither titles as Murder at Monte Carlo (1934), Death on the Set (1936) and Gaol Break (1936). Michael Barringer's one significant "A" assignment of the 1930s was the historical epic Rhodes of Africa (1936), which he co-scripted with Miles Malleson and Leslie Arliss. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1947
Prolific British second-feature director Lewis Gilbert made his cinematic debut with The Little Ballerina. Yvonne Marsh stars as a girl of modest means who hopes to get into the Sadlers-Wells ballet troupe. Her only hope is to win a scholarship, and to this end she pleads directly to the troupe's star performer Margot Fonteyn. The spectre of the successful 1948 ballet movie The Red Shoes looms large over the thriftily assembled Little Ballerina. The film's highlight is a vignette from Les Sylphides, performed by Margot Fonteyn and a talented group of dancing students. Although production wrapped on this film -- and it was classified in the UK -- circa late April 1947, The Little Ballerina didn't receive its stateside release for several years, premiering on the near side of the Atlantic in March 1951 - hence the presence of British actor George Carney, who died in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yvonne Marsh, Doreen Richards, (more)
- 1946
Based on a play by Maurice Sandoz, The Curse of the Wraydons opens with written narration setting the scene: England at the time when Napoleon was conquering Europe. It also tells the audience that some Englishmen were willing to sell out their country for their own personal gain. The rest of the story involves a Jack Wraydon (a.k.a. "Spring-Heeled Jack," a legendary and perhaps fictitious English predator with alleged supernatural abilities). Wraydon is a young captain who, after partiucipating in a duel, becomes the prime suspect in a series of killings near Epping Forest. The true killer is Philip "Chief" Wraydon, Jack's uncle, who had been a spy for Napoleon and has since become a crazed inventor who seeks vengeance upon his brother's family. Jack must hurry to prove his innocence to the police, by discovering and catching the real killer. Much of the footage of this film ended up in a later Tod Slaughter picture, 1952's A Ghost for Sale. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- 1943
In this comedy, a young playboy and a petty thief both simultaneously attempt to impersonate an non-existent butler. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1943
In this weird crime drama the murder of a ventriloquist is solved by a midget who goes undercover as a dummy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1942
Set during WW II, this drama follows the travails of a cargo ship captain as he launches a desperate search of his vessel for a possible saboteur. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1942
In this British espionage comedy, an opportunistic South American woman will do anything to get her hands on a copy of the Mona Lisa. When she hears the Nazis have it, she offers to do some spying in Lisbon in exchange for the painting. Suddenly, many different 'Mona Lisas' begin to surface. After a British agent finds the real one, the woman decides to join the Allies. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1941
This wartime drama is set during WW II and centers on 6 survivors of a torpedo attack adrift in a lifeboat. One of them is a Nazi spy who is carrying classified information stolen from the Allies. The survivors are joined by a British counter-spy who reveals the Nazi's true identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1939
In this courtroom drama, a remake of a 1931 film, a woman is suspected of killing her husband after a revolver is found in her attic. A coroner is determined to prove that she did it, but thanks to the assistance of a quick-witted lawyer she is eventually found innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1938
In this comedy, an aged spinster leaves her communist nephew $20,000. Before she died, he and she constantly argued about her decadent capitalistic ways, but now that he has her fortune, he begins singing a different tune. At first he decides to give his nation's unemployed an equal share of the fortune, but when he realizes that they will only get a penny a piece he begins to question the wisdom of such actions. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marie Tempest, Belle Chrystal, (more)
- 1938
Look-alike reporter and thief coincidentally take the same transatlantic liner and the reporter is blamed for some robberies, but is able to clear his name and catch the thief with assistance by Medina. ~ Rovi
- 1937
In this crime drama, an actress must give up her lover, the son of a prominent banker, because she has a scandalous past. She gets a part in a small show and finds herself pursued by the manager. After he is found dead, the woman is blamed for the crime. Fortunately, the woman's aunt, a nun, goes on leave from her convent to prove that the actress is innocent. The nun's investigations soon expose the killer. Not only does justice ensue, the actress gets her old lover back. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1937
The building of the great Canadian-Pacific Railroad that stretched from Montreal to Vancouver is chronicled in this realistic drama. Amidst the country's wild grandeur, two gambling vagabonds find themselves in a railroad boomtown where they hope to win a lot of the workers' money. While there, one of the gamblers falls in love with the daughter of the construction leader. He decides to abandon gambling in favor of good old- fashioned hard labor on the line. Meanwhile, the other gambler is robbed by a greedy bar maid and ends up giving up his life so that the railroad can continue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Lilli Palmer, (more)
- 1937
A Mississippi flood saves the life of a petty crook who is about to be lynched for a murder he did not commit. After he escapes, he flees to a nearby plantation where he and a woman (claiming to be his wife) are taken in and treated with great kindness. They are happy until the killer that framed the crook shows up. Things look bleak until once again, the Mighty Mississippi roars in to save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Grant Richards, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1937
When assistant Noel Madison kills professor J. Fisher White for his diamond formula, White's daughter Brook examines the case and gets into danger when she is saved by detective George Galleon. ~ Rovi
- 1936
Anti-gambling society members Wilton and Haddon are tempted and cannot resist the gambling activities in London. ~ Rovi
- 1936
British stage and screen favorite Stanley Lupino (Ida's dad) wrote and starred in this relentlessly upbeat musical comedy. Lupino portrays a struggling writer who is mistaken for a millionaire. The producers of a threadbare musical revue approach Lupino in hopes that he'll finance their show. Lupino sees an opportunity to help his own career, thus he maneuvers about to raise the necessary funding--all the while maintaining the illusion that he's a man of untold wealth. Cheer Up costars comic actor Roddy Hughes as a burlesqued matinee idol named Dirk Dirk, while popular film star Sally Grayalso shows up....playing popular film star Sally Gray. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1936
Along with The Emperor Jones, Song of Freedom is arguably the best of Paul Robeson's starring features. Robeson plays London dockworker John Zinga, obsessed with the urge to return to his African "roots" (this was nearly 40 years before Alex Haley!) Discovered by an operatic impresario, John achieves singing stardom on the concert stage -- only to throw it all away to make a pilgrimage to Africa, there to assume leadership of his ancestral tribe, the Casangas. His efforts to free the natives of their superstitions and bring the advantages of civilization to the region are opposed by the local witch doctors, who do their best to kill John and his young wife (Elizabeth Welch). Zinga is saved when he suddenly and instinctively offers a rendition of the tribal "song of freedom," proving beyond all doubt that he is the rightful ruler of the Casangas. Advertised as a "$500,000 epic" (a not inconsiderable sum for a British film in the mid-1930s), Song of Freedom did quite well at the box-office -- except, of course, in the white-bread American South. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, (more)
- 1936
Comic actor Sydney Howard stars as obsequious department-store floorwalker Oswald Bertwhistle. Our hero's life is significantly altered when he wins a contest and is whisked off for a movie screen-test. With visions of stardom dancing in his head, Bertwhistle is riding for a fall, but not before he and his old cronies lay waste to a film studio. Most of the sight gags and one-liners in Fame were old even in 1936, but they earned loud laughter all the same. It's perhaps superfluous to add that the 1980 MGM drama Fame is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sydney Howard, Muriel Aked, (more)
- 1936
In this actioner, a prisoner must break out in time to keep his wife, who has involved herself with a creepy gang, from selling their son to a rich family who has just lost their own child. He succeeds, but then must find his son and the new family. He locates them aboard their yacht. There he begins to realize that the boy is far better off with them and he returns to prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1936
African-American students who have accepted Rhodes scholarships may feel like wincing at Rhodes of Africa, an unabashed celebration of British imperialism. Walter Huston portrays Cecil Rhodes, the 19th century explorer who dreamed of "taming" the rugged African terrain. Establishing the colony of Rhodesia, the film's "hero" opens up the rest of the continent for the benefit of Mother England and its industrial elite. Increasing friction between Rhodes and Dutch prime minister Kruger (Oscar Homolka) results in the Boer War, treated herein as a noble British victory (Three years later, Kruger would be the hero of the Nazi-sanctioned Ohm Kruger, which was twice as tastelessly chauvinistic as Rhodes of Africa). Undeniably stirring and impressive, Rhodes of Africa nonetheless treats the subjugation of Africa as something pure and wonderful. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Oscar Homolka, (more)
- 1936
Befitting its title, Death on the Set takes place in a British film studio (thereby saving on set-construction costs!). Little does anyone suspect that autocratic film director Cayley Morden (Henry Kendall) is in reality an American fugitive from justice. His secret is ultimately discovered by Morden's look-alike, Charlie Marsh (also Henry Kendall), who demands an exorbitant payment in exchange for his silence. Carefully arranging an alibi, Morden murders Marsh and for most of the proceedings manages to elude detection. Alas, in his efforts to cover his tracks, Morden is forced to commit a second murder, and that's when his web of deceit begins to unravel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Kendall, Jeanne Stuart, (more)
- 1936
A Scotland Yard Inpsector sets off to prove that prominent director is really an American gangster in disguise. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1936
In this comedy, a helpful friend offers to care for the apartment of a honeymooning couple. As soon as they leave, he brings his mistress to the place to spice it up. Meanwhile, in Paris, the honeymooners experience trouble after the husband accidently kisses a jealous man's wife. They quickly flee from France fighting all the way home. The couple is quite surprised by what they find at the apartment. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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