John G. Blystone Movies

Twenty years after the Armistice, doughboy Stan Laurel continues guarding a trench in France--simply because no one told him the war was over. His rescue coincides with the first wedding anniversary of his old pal Oliver Hardy. Heading to town to pick up a gift for his wife (Minna Gombell), Ollie discovers that Stan has been located and is now residing at the Veteran's Home. The two buddies share a warm reunion, whereupon Ollie invites Stan home to enjoy a "big thick juicy steak" prepared by Mrs. Hardy. As a result of Ollie's hospitality, Stan inadvertently wrecks Ollie's brand new car; the boys spend half the afternoon trudging up and down 13 flights of stairs; Ollie gets into a fight with belligerent Jimmy Finlayson; Mrs. Hardy angrily walks out on her husband; the boys manage to blow up the kitchen while preparing their own meal; and Hardy's beautiful next-door neighbor (Patricia Ellis) ends up minus her dress in Ollie's steamer trunk, with both Mrs. Hardy and the neighbor's husband, big-game hunter Billy Gilbert, converging upon our bethumped heroes. Essentially a remake of the 1929 Laurel and Hardy two-reeler Unnaccustomed as We Are, Block-Heads is a brilliant parade of virtuoso comedy turns. The best bits of business include the mountain of bean cans representing Stan's two decades in the trenches; the "white magic" gags involving Stan's pulling down the shadow of a window shade, producing a glass of water from his pocket and smoking his thumb like a pipe; and an uproarious "black" joke involving Ollie's mistaken belief than Stan has lost a leg in the war. The film sustains its high level of humor for 56 of its 57 minutes, faltering only in its disappointing closing gag (borrowed from the 1928 short We Faw Down). Among the writers of this chucklefest was former silent comedian Harry Langdon. Erroneously announced in 1938 as Laurel and Hardy's final feature, Block-Heads was indeed the last of the team's genuine classics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Douglas MacLean, who starred in the original 1919 version of this World War I comedy, produced this remake starring James Ellison as Sgt. Gray. One day at training camp, Gray bets his buddies that he'll be having breakfast with the General (Paul Harvey) the next morning. Through a series of comic episodes, Gray accomplishes his goal, surprising his fellow soldiers. Arthur Lake (Dagwood in the Blondie series) co-stars in this average comedy, which is bolstered by some okay songs from Sammy Stept and Ted Koehler. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This early feminist tale was a box-office flop that was released after years of script doctoring. Producer Samuel Goldwyn insisted that the story be made into film, because he wanted to pair his romantic stars Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins for a fifth time. Hopkins plays Virginia Travis, an architect who is chafing at the gender bias keeping her career in check. She approaches an aging, inept real estate developer, B.J. Nolan (Charles Winninger), promising to turn his latest suburban housing project into a winner. But Nolan is in debt, and his millionaire son Kenneth (McCrea) won't loan him any money. Virginia recruits two movie theater ushers to pose as the elder Nolan's servants in order to convince Kenneth that his dad is on the road to success. Virginia must also defeat Nina Tennyson (Leona Maricle), an attractive woman who is after Kenneth's money. Virginia gets Kenneth drunk and then has him sign a contract that will rescue the housing development. As they transact business, they fall in love. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this children's movie, a feisty little orphan with high moral standards is literally imprisoned in a terrible orphanage. She is elated to discover that she is actually the daughter of a prominent lawyer who has been searching for her, but when she sees that another little girl needs a daddy more than she does, she exchanges papers with her and lets her go the good home. Fortunately, the truth is discovered and she too is reunited with her father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After several appearances as a "good girl," little Jane Withers returns to her patented screen brattiness in Gentle Julia. Based on a novel by Booth Tarkington, the film stars Withers as Florence Atwater, precocious kid-sister of flirtatious Julia Atwater (Marsha Hunt). After spending most of the film bedeviling Julia's hometown sweetheart Noble Dill (Tom Brown), Florence shows that she's really a good kid underneath it all by saving her sister from an unfortunate marriage to phoney-baloney city-slicker Mr. Crum (George Meeker). The film's comic high point is a fancy lawn party, which Florence sabotages by releasing a frightening array of bugs, mice and snakes. Gentle Julia represents Jane Withers' second co-starring appearance with her male counterpart, diminutive screen menace Jackie Searl (the two young actors, neither one of which were as nasty in real life as they could be on screen, got along splendidly). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bad Boy Eddie Nolan (James Dunn) spends more time in the poolroom than he does looking for work. Even so, Sally Larkin (Dorothy Wilson) is willing to marry Eddie, certain that he'll hunker down and seek employment once he acclimates himself to the responsibilities of marriage. But this doesn't happen, and soon the impecunious Eddie is shipping Sally back to her parents. Things take an upward turn when our hero manages to corral a gang of crooks, thereby earning himself a fat reward and unlimited job opportunities. Though running only 56 minutes, Bad Boy managed to secure top-of-the-bill bookings thanks to James Dunn's fan following. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Four courageous college graduates become heroes when they successfully complete a 15-hour coast-to-coast plane flight. Alas, things don't go so well for the foursome when they return to earth to seek out employment. Chris Thring (Charles Farrell) has a particularly rough time of it, but his sweetheart Catherine Furness (Janet Gaynor) remains faithful through thick and thin. Trouble brews in the form of Chris and Catherine's mutual friends Mack McGowan (James Dunn) and Madge Rountree (Ginger Rogers): Catherine thinks Chris is in love with Madge, while Mack falls in love with Chris? and on and on it goes. Shirley Temple shows up in the early scenes as a plane passenger, while that grand old trouper Gustav von Seyfertitz sheds his usual villainous image as the film's avuncular last-minute problem-solver. Change of Heart is based on a novel by Kathleen Norris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this military adventure, a Navy lieutenant is stripped of his rank and booted out after he fires at communist ships in China. These circumstances make it almost impossible for him to find a job. He then ends up saving the life of a beautiful young socialite. The girl immediately likes him and when he finally gets a job on a freighter, the plucky lass disobeys her father and stows away to be near her true love. The boat is carrying arms for the Mandarin government, and when the brave former lieutenant saves the shipment from commie raiders, he becomes a hero, regains his rank in the Navy and marries the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Hollywood debut of German star Lillian Harvey, this film operetta was held back in favor of Harvey's second outing, My Weakness (1933), which, despite its title, was considered a stronger effort. In My Lips Betray, the erstwhile star of Congress Dances plays Lili, a café singer mistakenly believed to be the mistress of King Rupert of Rutania. A composer of love songs in his spare time, the King (John Boles) is immediately smitten with both Lili's voice and Lili herself. The girl, however, erroneously takes him for a mere captain of the guard and keeps up the charade that has made her popular all over the land. Rutania is in dire economic strains, meanwhile, and Rupert is all but forced to marry a wealthy foreign princess. But when the latter hears about her fiancé's supposed dalliance with a café chanteuse, she elopes to Paris with a tango dancer and Rutania once again faces bankruptcy. Happily, there is oil in them thar hills and King Rupert is finally free to tell Lili the truth and ask her to become his queen. Lillian Harvey and John Boles take time out from romance to sing "I'll Build a Nest," "To Romance," and "Why Am I Happy?," all by William Kernell, while comic relief El Brendel performs "His Majesty's Car." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The moral of this drama could very well be for people to exercise caution with what they wish for as they just might get it. So it is with the lovely young woman who wins a beauty contest and the love of a millionaire, two things she had aspired to for ages. Unfortunately, her wealthy hubby is terribly possessive and occasionally, completely insane. One night, the husband really goes nuts and tries to feed his bride to the dogs. Fortunately, he slips and ends up dead himself. Later the sadder but wiser girl goes back to the man who has really loved her all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Warner Oland's third appearance as humble oriental sleuth Charlie Chan was in the 1932 release Charlie Chan's Chance. This time, our hero has a personal reason to solve the murder at hand; he himself was the intended victim, but another man was killed by mistake. Keeping one step ahead of both the New York police and Scotland Yard, Chan tracks down the man responsible for the murder, who turns out to be the mastermind of a vast criminal empire. One of the film's biggest surprises was that perennial "hidden killer" Ralph Morgan was not the culprit. Charlie Chan's Chance is one of four early "Chan" talkies which no longer exist, though outtakes have shown up in various video "blooper" reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a wild young punk is assigned to spend time with a man who specializes in helping juvenile delinquents. The boy is a tough nut to crack and the two engage in complex psychological and physical games. At one point, the man sticks the rebellious youth alone in a mountain cabin. Much to the delight of the lad, his girl friend sneaks up for a visit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mr. Lemon of Orange was advertised as comedian El Brendel's first starring feature, even though he'd previously dominated the proceedings in the lavish musical fantasy Just Imagine. This time, Brendel plays a dual role: in addition to his Dutch-dialect characterization as a dimwitted immigrant named Oscar, he also plays a tough, accent-less American gangster named Slippy McGee. On the lam from the law, Slippy decides to disguise himself as a simple-minded Swede, which results in poor Oscar, despite his German accent, being mistaken for the gangster. Most of the ethnic humor is quite offensive by today's standard (to be Swedish is to be stupid in this picture), but Brendel's essential likability saves the day. Some of the dialogue in Mr. Lemon of Orange was written by Eddie Cantor, who was decidedly not Scandinavian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide