Percy Heath Movies
American playwright Percy Heath is best remembered for his sophisticated crime-caper theatrical piece Slightly Scarlet, filmed in 1915 as Blackbirds and in 1930 under its own title. A regular Hollywood contributor from 1920 to 1933, Heath specialized in timely jazz-age comedies. When sound came in, he worked primarily on musicals and gangster films. Percy Heath shared an Oscar nomination for his scriptwork on 1931's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- Add Modern Jazz Quartet: 40th Anniversary Tour to QueueAdd Modern Jazz Quartet: 40th Anniversary Tour to top of Queue
Experience a wondrous evening of music forty-years in the making as pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Mickey Roker stage a special performance at Jazzgiphel, Stuttgart to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Compositions featured in the 1992 performance include "Three Windows", "Sketch", "Alexander's Fugue", "Adiago from Concierto de Aranjuez", and "A Day in Dubrovnik". ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lewis, Milt Jackson, (more)
- 1987
- Add Modern Jazz Quartet: 35th Anniversary Tour to QueueAdd Modern Jazz Quartet: 35th Anniversary Tour to top of Queue
In this concert performance by the longest-running jazz ensemble in the world, The Modern Jazz Quartet celebrates their thirty-fifth anniversary with an all star concert featuring John Lewis on piano, Connie Kay on drums, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, and Percy Heath on bass. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lewis, Milt Jackson, (more)
- 1933
The world of horse racing provides the backdrop for this episodic drama. Much of the story is set at the Luray Springs Hotel where the characters wait for the running of the Capitol Handicap. The main story focuses upon Colly Tannyer, a pretty young handicapper who must wrangle up $10,000 so she can bet on a special horse. He former lover, Cuff Billings, helps her out under the condition that if the horse loses, she must make love to him. She agrees, and unfortunately, her steed places third. Fortunately, Cuff is more honorable than she though and he ends up romancing her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Jack Oakie, (more)
- 1932
Beautiful but impractical socialite Penelope Newbold (Carole Lombard) has convinced herself that "the perfect marriage" is an impossible concept. After all, she reasons, no one man could possess all the virtues required for an ideal husband. Thus, she divides her time between dependable, hard-working gynecologist Dr. Karl Bemis (Paul Lukas) and wastrelly playboy Bill Hanaway (Ricardo Cortez). Penelope wises up in a hurry when Bill turns up murdered in the bedroom of another woman, whereupon our heroine takes a crash course in nursing to prove worthy of the faithful Dr. Bemis. If Carole Lombard had continued starring in dreck like No One Man, chances are that she wouldn't have attained the legendary status she presently enjoys in the annals of movie history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1931
Two of Paramount's best contract comedians made a rare joint appearance in Dude Ranch. Jack Oakie heads the cast as Jennifer (sic!), the head of a travelling troupe of repertory actors. Finding themselves on the premises of a dude ranch, Jennifer and his actors strike up a deal with ranch proprietor Chester Carr (Stuart Erwin). The thespians will stage a "Wild West" extravaganza, complete with a phony hold-up, to entertain the tourists. Naturally, a bunch of gangsters try to take advantage of the actors' presence to knock off the local bank -- and just as naturally, it is the faux Westerners who save the day. Some of the film's best moments are provided by Eugene Pallette who, as the acting troupe's resident character man, is forced to double as a mustache-twirling villain and a stoic Indian, with some bizarre costume juxtapositions along the way. Elements of Dude Ranch later worked their way into the script of Jack Benny's 1940 comedy Buck Benny Rides Again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Stuart Erwin, (more)
- 1931
This first sound version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic morality tale starred Fredric March as the kindly, philanthropic Dr. Jekyll, who makes the fatal mistake of delving into secrets that Man Should Never Know. Fascinated with the notion that within each man lurk impulses for both Good and Evil, Jekyll develops a drug to release the wickedness in himself. The result: the lecherous, lycanthropic Mr. Hyde (one has to keep reminding oneself that the handsome, soft-spoken March plays both roles; small wonder that he won the Academy Award). Jekyll is the honorable suitor of the virtuous Muriel Carew (Rose Hobart), while Hyde is the brutish pursuer of the sluttish "Champagne Ivy" Pearson (Miriam Hopkins, as sexy as she'd ever be in films). It isn't long before the kindly Jekyll is unable to control the wicked Hyde, with tragic results. Director Rouben Mamoulian could often seem like the Brian De Palma of his time, showing off like a first-year film student instead of telling a story. But Mamoulian's excesses work beautifully in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, notably the dizzying first transformation scene (that heartbeat you hear on the soundtrack belongs to Mamoulian himself). Withdrawn from circulation when MGM refilmed the Stevenson novel in 1941, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde resurfaced in the early 1970s, albeit only in the heavily censored version prepared for the 1938 reissue. The current video version restores most of the missing scenes--including the famous opening reel, photographed from Jekyll's point of view with a subjective camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1931
In this comedy, a bumbling rube from a small town manages to get involved in a gang war. The trouble really begins when one mob boss orders him to kidnap a young woman. The naive simpleton protests, telling him that he cannot because it is against the law. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1930
In this sparkling musical comedy, a bungling waiter (Maurice Chevalier) loses his job at a tony restaurant. His employment prospects look grim until the opportunistic restaurateur learns that his ex-employee is slated to receive a vast inheritance. Hastily, he hires the youth back and then tries to convince him to fall in love with his very eligible daughter. Unfortunately for the scheming employer, the waiter finds out about the money and disdains the girl while continuing to work at the restaurant just to bedevil his boss. At night though, the young fellow becomes a notorious, club-hopping playboy until he insults an aristocrat and finds himself challenged to a duel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1930
Few films outside of Let's Go Native could boast a cast as diverse as Jack Oakie, Jeanette MacDonald and Kay Francis -- all under the direction of Leo McCarey. A variation of the "Admirable Crichton" theme, the story concerns a group of highly incompatible people, all stranded on a tropical island. Among the castaways are Brooklyn cabbie Voltaire McGinniss (Oakie), socialite Joan Wood (MacDonald), Joan's reluctant fiance Wally Wendell (James Hall), and good-time girl Constance Cooke (Kay Francis). The local natives prove to be surprisingly sophisticated, thanks to the influence of a song-and-dance man (Skeets Gallegher) who'd been shipwrecked sometime earlier. Using costumes that she's bought for a show she hopes to produce, the enterprising Joan buys the oil-rich island from the natives, only to have it sink into the sea after an earthquake. By this time, however, everyone has fallen in love with everyone else, so there's smiles all around when the rescue party arrives. Nothing makes much sense in Let's Go Native, but the film scores points on sheer energy and good spirits. As a bonus, director Leo McCarey harks back to his Laurel & Hardy days by incorporating a tit-for-tat "reciprocal destruction" routine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Jeanette MacDonald, (more)
- 1930
Passing herself off as a countess, glamorous Lucy Stavrin (Evelyn Brent) hobnobs with the rich and famous along the French Riviera. Aware that Lucy is a phony, jewel-thief Malatroff (Paul Lukas) blackmails Lucy into helping him steal the valuable necklace owned by the young wife (Helen Ware) of phlegmatic American businessman Sylvester Corbett (Eugene Pallette). She does what she's told, only to find herself in competition with gentleman thief Courtney Parkes (Clive Brook). Upon falling in love with each other, Lucy and Stavrin mutually decide to reform -- if they can. A French-language version of Slightly Scarlet, titled L'Enigmatique Monsieur Parkes, was filmed in mid-1930, with Adolphe Menjou and Claudette Colbert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1930
The Border Legion (1930) is one of several cinemadaptations of the Zane Grey story of the same name. Jack Holt plays Jack Kells, a ruthless but essentially decent outlaw. Kells befriends straight-arrow border patrolman Jim Cleve (Richard Arlen), who is in love with heroine Joan Randall (Fay Wray). When Jim and Joan are threatened with imminent extermination, Kells nobly lays down his own life to save theirs. The production values of Border Legion were enhanced with yards and yards of stock footage from the 1924 silent version of the Zane Grey story (itself a remake of a 1919 film!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Jack Holt, (more)
- 1930
Rubber-legged comedian Leon Errol made his talkie starring bow in Paramount's Only Saps Work. Based on a play by Owen Davis Sr., the film casts Errol as James Wilson, a kleptomaniac who starts with picking pockets and ends up robbing a bank. Wilson's friend Lawrence Payne (Richard Arlen) inadvertently aids our hero during one of his heists, ending up in deep doo-doo with the law. Before Wilson is able to extricate Payne from his dilemma for the sake of heroine Barbara Tanner (Mary Brian), he pauses long enough to pose as a private eye -- and even gives bellboy Oscar (Stu Erwin) tips on how to spot a crook! If only all of Leon Errol's feature films had been as consistently hilarious as Only Saps Work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Richard Arlen, (more)
- 1930
In this lightweight musical comedy, an aspiring songwriter tries to make it big on Broadway. Later his uncle decides to show him all about the world and so hires three gorgeous show girls to take him around the Big Apple. All three of the opportunistic young lasses find themselves attracted to the man; of course it doesn't hurt that he is heir to $350 million. He does choose one of them. Songs include: "My Future Just Passed", "The Pickup" "Business Girl", "Pepola", "I'd Like to Be a Bee in Your Boudoir", "You Appeal to Me" and "Do You Play, Madame?" (George Marion, Jr., Richard A. Whiting, sung by Buddy Rogers). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Kathryn Crawford, (more)
- 1930
L'Enigmatique Monsieur Parkes is the French-language version of the American romantic melodrama Slightly Scarlet. Replacing Evelyn Brent and Clive Brook, the stars of the original version, are Claudette Colbert and Adolphe Menjou. The story takes place on the French Riviera, where heroine Lucy (Colbert) successfully poses as a princess to mingle with the glitterati. To keep her low-born origins a secret, she is forced to serve as accomplice for a master jewel thief (Paul Lukas in the original, Emile Chautard in the French version). While pilfering the jewels of a wealthy American woman, Lucy is caught in the act by gentleman thief Monsieur Parkes (Menjou) -- and it's love at first sight, whereupon each crook promises to reform for the other's sake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emile Chautard, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, (more)
- 1929
Bearing no relation to the popular torch song of the same name, The Man I Love is a prizefight picture, courtesy of Paramount production exec David O. Selznick. Richard Arlen stars as Dum-Dum Brooks, a tank-town boxer who journeys to New York in hopes of cracking the Big Time. Along for the ride is Dum-Dum's long-suffering but ever-faithful wife Celia (Mary Brian). After licking Champ Mahoney (Charles Sullivan) in an exhibition bout, Dum-Dum is given a chance to win the title for real. His road to success is temporarily blocked off by seductive Sonia Baranoff (Olga Baclanova), giving poor Celia even more to worry about. Among the real-life pugilists seen in The Man I Love is ubiquitous stunt man and bit player Sailor Vincent, who remained in films well into the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1929
This tuneful tale revolves around a shy warehouse clerk who, at the encouragement of his girlfriend finally musters up his courage and decides to break into show business with his little band. The bandleader must work hard to inspire his musicians. He does. Musical numbers abound. Songs include: "She's So I Dunno," "I Want To Go Places and Do Things," "I'm All A-twitter, I'm All A-twirl," and ""Twelfth Street Rag."" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Harry Green, (more)
- 1928
The fertile creative mind of director Gregory LaCava is well in evidence throughout Half a Bride. Esther Ralston stars as Patience Winslow, an impulsive heiress who marries a much-older man whom she really doesn't love. While honeymooning on her yacht without her new husband, Patience is marooned on a desert island with handsome Captain Edmunds (Gary Cooper). Her head full of notions that she's gleaned from radio dramas and pulp novels, Patience demands that she and Edmunds enter into an in-name-only marriage, observing the responsibilities and proprieties of matrimony without the sexual entanglements. So guess who's in love with whom by the time Patience and Edmunds are rescued? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1928
It was romance novelist Elinor Glyn who dubbed Clara Bow the "It" girl, so it was hardly a surprise when Bow starred in this adaptation of Mme. Glyn'sThe Vicissitudes of Evangeline. The star plays Bubbles McCoy, a crafty manicurist who hopes to land a wealthy husband. She sets her sights on handsome Robert Lennon (Lane Chandler) and also accepts expensive presents from Lennon's older male guardians. When they find out they're being played for suckers, Lennon and his cohorts give Bubbles the ozone at a fancy party. In a rage, she tears off her costly jewels and her fancy gown, jumps into a swimming pool, and, clad only in her skivvies, storms off the premises in high (and wet) dudgeon. Even so, a happy ending caps this typical Clara Bow vehicle, which also included a brief Technicolor sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Lane Chandler, (more)
- 1928
The Clara Bow vehicle Three Week Ends was based on a story by Elinor Glyn, the romance novelist who bestowed the "It Girl" title upon the saucer-eyed Bow. Seeing hero James Gordon (Neil Hamilton) driving around in an expensive, custom-built Hispano Suiza automobile, heroine Gladys O'Brien (Bow) naturally assumes that Gordon is rich. What she doesn't know is that Gordon is a low-paid insurance salesman, who was driving his boss' car while running an errand. Meanwhile, millionaire Turner (Harrison Ford) develops a yearning for Gladys and invites her to a weekend party, for purposes of you-know-what. Capriciously hiding the girl's clothes while she takes a swim, Turner is about to move in for the moment of truth when she is rescued by the timely arrival of Gordon, who'd come to the Turner mansion to make a sale. Not surprisingly, Gordon fails to collect his commission, but he does end up with Gladys as his bride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Neil Hamilton, (more)
- 1927
Tall, strapping Tom Tyler was poverty-row studioFBO's final silent western hero. A better actor than most of his contemporaries, Tyler was awarded above-average production values, solid scripts and a fine sidekick in young Frankie Darro. In this fine little western, rancher's daughter Peggy Montgomery loves Tom, the handsome foreman. Unfortunately, she is betrothed to a nasty city-slicker type (Bruce Gordon); until, that is, the fellow is shown for the cad he really is.Tom Tyler's career survived the changeover to sound, and he even played in several notable non-westerns. In 1940, Universal surprisingly chose the tall actor to play the title-role in The Mummy's Hand. Tyler might have gone a lot further as a character actor had not an arthritic condition curtailed his screen career. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Peggy Montgomery, (more)
- 1927
Although the silent W.C. Fields vehicle Two Flaming Youths no longer exists, a surviving script (titled Side Show) offers a tantalizing peek at this long-lost effort. Fields is cast as Gabby Gilfoil, owner of "Gilfoil's Nonpareil Circus," a dog-and-pony operation that must forever stay one step ahead of sheriffs and creditors. Fleeing across the border to Arkosa county, Gabby and his entourage stop over at the Mansion House, a near-bankrupt hotel run by Madge Marlarkey (Cissie Fitzgerald). To avoid paying his bill, Gabby pays court to Madge, only to find a formidable rival in Sheriff Ben Holden (Chester Conklin). Meanwhile, Gabby's daughter Mary (Mary Brian) is romanced by Holden's young cousin Tony (Jack Luden). Mary decides to settle down in Arkosa with Tony, prompting Gabby to pop the question to Madge -- but she has announced that she will marry the man who is able to pay her mortgage. Gabby and Holden spend the rest of the picture trying to raise the necessary funds to wed Madge, an effort complicated when Gabby is mistaken for a desperate criminal. A collection of themes and comic notions that would later be refined in such Fields talkies as The Old Fashioned Way and You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, Two Flaming Youths would be worth seeing again if only to watch the glittering parade of "guest stars," all of them vaudeville, Broadway and Hollywood headliners: Clark and McCullough, Moran and Mack, Kolb and Dill, Savoy and Brennan, Benny and McNulty, Phil Baker and Sid Silvers, Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton, Jack Pearl and Ben Bard, and The Duncan Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- W.C. Fields, Chester Conklin, (more)
- 1927
Played by William H. Tooker, railroad superintendent Old Man Sweeney is but a peripheral character in this film, despite its title. George Bancroft is cast as burly railroad engineer Cannonball Casey, who falls in love with Dorie (Doris Hill), the daughter of rival engineer Luke Beamish (Chester Conklin). For his part, Luke would prefer that Doris spend her time with a suitor of his choice, Old Man Sweeney's son Jack (Jack Luden) -- and, truth to tell, Dorie favors Jack over Casey, too. Hoping to win the girl's hand, Casey challenges Jack to a wrestling match at the company picnic. Unfortunately, Jack is incapacitated just before the match, obliging the puny Beamish to enter the ring opposite the mighty Casey. The film's slapstick finale is chock full of cartoonlike gags, which is altogether fitting inasmuch as producer-director Gregory LaCava used to work at the animation firm responsible for the old Mutt and Jeff cartoons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Conklin, George Bancroft, (more)
- 1927
Former film editor Dorothy Arzner made her directorial debut with the Esther Ralston vehicle Fashions for Women. Ralston stars as Celeste de Givray, renowned throughout Europe as the most beautiful and best-dressed model in all Paris. Her press agent DuPont (Raymond Hatton) concocts an attention-getting publicity scheme by having Celeste undergo cosmetic surgery, then unveiling her "new" face at a posh fashion show. But thanks to a delay in the surgery, DuPont is forced to hired a substitute for Celeste, a look-alike American girl named Lulu Dooley (also played by Esther Ralston). The fun begins when Lulu, posing as Celeste, is paired up at a social occasion with aviator Raoul de Bercy (Einer Hansen), who is all too aware of Lulu's true identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Ralston, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1927
Though billed second, the stunningly beautiful Louise Brooks is the focal point of the campus comedy Rolled Stockings. It's the old one about two collegiate brothers, Jim and Ralph Treadway (James Hall, Richard Arlen), in love with the same girl, Carol Fleming (Brooks). While carefree older brother Jim squanders his study time on wild parties and other such activities, level-headed Ralph tries to uphold the family tradition of academic and athletic excellence. On the eve of an important rowing match, Jim breaks training by taking Carol to a dance, whereupon the incensed Ralph, figuring that what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, escorts the campus vamp (Nancy Phillips) to an off-limits nightclub. Undergoing a sudden case of responsibility, Jim saves Ralph from being bumped from the rowing team by claiming it was he, Jim, who was galavanting around with the vamp. Ralph goes on to win the match then publicly confesses his indiscretion and clears his brother's name. As a result, the vacillating Carol decides that Jim is the right man for her. Not unexpectedly, one of the publicity photos taken for this film was a close-up of a pair of rolled stockings, ostensibly filled by the trim legs of Louise Brooks; in fact, Brooks refused to pose for this cheesecake shot, whereupon her legs were "doubled" by her co-star, Nancy Phillips. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Hall, Louise Brooks, (more)
- 1923
This picture came out a mere month before Colleen Moore became everyone's favorite flapper in Flaming Youth. And her stardom didn't happen a moment too soon -- she had to work extra hard to add charm to this implausible comedy-drama, which was based on an equally silly novel by Hulbert Footner. Bela (Moore) is raised by Indians and is a young woman before they inform her that she is actually a white girl who was kidnapped from her parents. Now that she knows her true origins, she has no desire to marry within the tribe (a decision that smacked of the racism of the day), and leaves the tribe. She comes across a cabin where four men are staying, and decides that one of them, Sam Gladding (Lloyd Hughes), is her man. The other three guys become jealous and beat up Gladding, but Bela saves him by wrapping him up in a blanket and spiriting him away in a canoe. Gladding does not appreciate her pushy behavior and takes off to develop a claim. When he returns, however, he is frustrated to discover that she has staked him. Finally, an old Indian friend (Snitz Edwards) brings the two together and the romance belatedly blossoms. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, (more)
