George Fitzmaurice Movies

British army pilot Stephen (George Brent) falls in love with jewel-thief Felice (Isa Miranda), tricking her out of some stolen diamonds. Stephen and South African Police Commissioner Lansfield (Nigel Bruce) set a trap for her partner Barclay (John Loder), but Felice falls for it instead. She's given parole in order to help Stephen and Lansfield trap a new, murderous ring of thieves, and she and Stephen start to fall in love. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

This follow-up to MGM's 1932 John Barrymore vehicle Arsene Lupin stars the ineluctable Melvyn Douglas. Reported to be dead, suave gentleman jewel thief Arsene Lupin (Douglas) resurfaces under the assumed name of Rene Farrand. Intending to follow the straight and narrow path, Lupin/Farrand reverts to his old larcenous ways when the opportunity to pilfer $250,000 in gems presents itself. Slowing down our hero somewhat is the presence of hotshot American private eye Steve Emerson (Warren William) and glamorous adventuress Lorraine de Grissac (Virginia Bruce). Ironically, both Melvyn Douglas and Warren William also played thief-turned-sleuth Michael Lanyard, aka "The Lone Wolf", over at Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, came up with the story upon which The Emperor's Candlesticks was based. As in Pimpernel, the theme is international intrigue, but this time the setting is pre-World War One Europe and Russia rather than Revolutionary France. William Powell and Luise Rainer are spies working for opposing empires (Russian and Austrian) who travel undetected amidst the Nobility while plotting their plots. As they waltz about various ballrooms dressed to the nines, they fall in love--resulting in wavering loyalties for both. Emperor's Candlesticks is stronger on decor than on plot, with the talented Luise Rainer once more ill-used by Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A romantic triangle heats up the Alaskan tundra in this romantic comedy. Bascom Dinsmore (Robert Montgomery) is a radio operator who is stationed at a remote outpost in the frozen plains of Alaska. Dinsmore gets very little in the way of companionship, particularly of the female variety, so he's more than a bit enthusiastic when lovely Irene Champion (Myrna Loy) and her wealthy British groom-to-be Sir James Felton (Reginald Owen) have to make an emergency landing near his cabin. Dinsmore takes an immediate liking to Champion, and she appears to feel the same, much to the consternation of Felton. As Dinsmore and Felton wage a merry battle over Champion's hand, Clara Wilson (Winifred Shotter), Felton's former fiancée, arrives on the scene, eager to win back the affections of her now-wealthy ex-boyfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Before World War I, free-spirited Englishman Tony Clarendon (Hugh Williams) meets Austrian Katha (Helen Twelvetrees) on the island of Capri, and they fall deeply in love. When war breaks out, however, Tony has to return to England, where old friend Margaret Scrope (Mona Barrie) reveals she wants to marry him; Tony has to leave for the war before he can explain to Margaret about Katha. Meanwhile, Katha's letters to Tony result in her father being jailed as a traitor. After the war, Katha heads for England to find Tony, while he arrives in Vienna in search of Katha. Failing to do so, he resignedly marries Margaret, and sinks into the boring, everyday life he'd hoped to avoid. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

"So much for Carlotta" muses the head of German Espionage (Lewis Stone), shortly after secret agent Karen Morley is put to death. Morley's successor is exotic dancer Mata Hari (Greta Garbo), an enigmatic woman of Javanese-Dutch ancestry who seldom thinks twice about luring some poor swain to his doom. Assigned to intercept allied war messages, Mata Hari romances garrolous-general Lionel Barrymore. She falls in love for the first and only time in her life when she meets dazzlingly handsome lieutenant Ramon Novarro. Barrymore finds out about the affair and threatens to expose both Mata and Novarro as spies, whereupon Ms. Hari shoots Barrymore dead. She arranges for Novarro to leave the country lest he be implicated in the murder. He is subsequently blinded in an airplane crash, setting the stage for Garbo's now-famous "Let me be your eyes" scene. Mata Hari is tried and sentenced to death, but is permitted a few final precious moments with Novarro, allowing him to go on believing that he is in a military hospital rather than a prison cell, and that his beloved is dying of a mysterious ailment rather than facing a firing squad. The debate still rages among film buffs as to whether Greta Garbo does her own dancing in Mata Hari, or whether that's her double in the long shots. There is no question, however, that the condemned prisoner in the first reel who refuses to betray Mata to his captors is none other than Mischa Auer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Norma Shearer stars in this pre-Code melodrama as Lisbeth Corbin, who is in love with Alan (Neil Hamilton), a globe-trotting newspaper reporter, but also strings along Steve (Robert Montgomery), a well-mannered local boy who is good friends with Lisbeth, even though she doesn't love him. When Alan is sent to Mexico to cover a story, love-struck Lisbeth goes with him, but when he's next sent to China, Alan leaves Lisbeth behind. Heartbroken, she heads for Europe, where she tries to forget Alan with a series of short-term love affairs. Try as she might, Lisebth can't forget Alan, but when she returns home, lonely and desperate, she finally agrees to marry Steve. Alan picks this moment to return, but just as she's thrown over Steve for her true love, Alan learns of Lisbeth's escapades in Europe and breaks off the engagement, sending her to the brink of suicide. Keep an eye peeled for an early appearance by Ray Milland as one of Lisbeth's suitors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a dancer works in a sleazy Marseilles portside dive that is really the front for a bordello. While dancing one night she meets a sailor and agrees to be his bride. Unfortunately, one of her former suitors suddenly shows up and a terrible fight ensues. The sailor kills his rival and ends up sentenced to Devil's Island. The only females allowed there are the wives of the guards, so, not wanting to be far from her beloved, the dancer marries the meanest guard in the prison. During a prison riot, the sailor proves his mettle and gets pardoned. The couple happily decide to return to the dancer's native Britain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ronald Colman plays the "black sheep" of a wealthy British family, sent to South Africa so that he'll be as far away from home as possible. Broke again, Colman auctions off his belongings and heads for London to the less-than-open arms of his father (Frederick Kerr). He begins to dally with a saucy actress (Myrna Loy), but soon his attentions shift to a young heiress (Loretta Young) engaged to a nobleman. The heiress manages to set Colman on the straight and narrow, so he renounces his wastrel ways and settles down--but not before breaking up the girl's upcoming wedding. Based on a play by Frederick Lonsdale, Devil to Pay is dated only in its subject matter; on a purely technical level, the film hardly betrays its age at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic adventure, a feisty young woman (Velez) toys with the affections of a railroad worker (Withers) and a Mountie (Blue). She ends up with Withers and decides to accompany him to the city. Unfortunately, the other workers around her do not want her to go. As the lovers try to flee, Withers kills a man and the Mountie and his pal Rin Tin Tin begin their pursuit. The murderous duo end up shooting a dangerous river rapids and nearly losing their lives. In the end the Mountie lets the lovers go to find their happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Milton Sills, one of the silent era's great matinee idols, starred in this follow-up to his sound debut in the part-talkie The Barker (1928). Like that film, a major success for the veteran leading man, His Captive Woman was essentially a silent film with a music score and a few talking sequences. Sills plays Tom McCarthy, a New York policeman assigned to arrest Anna Janssen (Dorothy Mackaill), a cabaret dancer accused of killing her "sugar daddy." Catching up with the girl on a South Seas island, McCarthy charters a steamer to bring her back to New York. But the steamer sinks and, stranded on a deserted island, Tom and Anna fall in love. They are rescued soon enough, alas, and Anna is placed on trial for her life. Tom, however, takes the stand in her defense and the judge "sentences" him to marry the girl, who is acquitted of the murder. Although based on a 1923 novel by Arthur Chesney Train, His Captive Woman bore a striking resemblance to one of 1929's more noteworthy successes, The Trial of Mary Dugan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Based on the oft-filmed play by Kenyon Nicholson, The Barker represented the talking-picture debut of silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney" Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Billie Dove stars as Marcia Kane, whose head is turned by the charming but sinister Grand Duke Sergei (Montague Love). Handsome and virtuous Wally McKenzie (Ben Lyon) is in love with Marcia, but how can he possibly compete with a "title"? Tricked into a marriage with the Grand Duke, Marcia soon finds that life with a nobleman is not all it's cracked up to be, especially since her husband is a cad and a bounder. Eventually, Wally comes to the rescue, cinching a happy ending for our muddle-headed heroine. Lavishly produced, The Tender Hour could have spent a little of its budget on a believable script. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide