Veda Buckland Movies
A remake of the Swedish film of the same name (see entry 55092), MGM's A Woman's Face was reshaped into one of Joan Crawford's best vehicles. Told in flashback from the vantage point of a murder trial, the story concerns a female criminal whose face is disfigured by a hideous scar. The plastic-surgery removal of this disfigurement has profound repercussions, both positive and tragically negative. The film's multitude of subplots converge when Conrad Veidt, Joan's lover and onetime partner in crime, is murdered. Melvyn Douglas costars as the beneficent cosmetic surgeon who becomes Joan's lover, while Osa Massen appears as Douglas' vituperative wife. Making his American screen debut in the role of Veidt's father is Albert Basserman, who spoke no English and had to learn his lines phonetically. Both A Woman's Face and its Swedish predecessor were based on Il Etait Une Fois, a play by Francis de Croiset. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
We open on Philadelphia socialite C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) as he's being tossed out of his palatial home by his wife, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn). Adding insult to injury, Tracy breaks one of C.K.'s precious golf clubs. He gallantly responds by knocking her down on her million-dollar keester. A couple of years after the breakup, Tracy is about to marry George Kittridge (John Howard), a wealthy stuffed shirt whose principal recommendation is that he's not a Philadelphia "mainliner," as C.K. was. Still holding a torch for Tracy, C.K. is galvanized into action when he learns that Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell), the publisher of Spy Magazine, plans to publish an exposé concerning Tracy's philandering father (John Halliday). To keep Kidd from spilling the beans, C.K. agrees to smuggle Spy reporter Macauley Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) into the exclusive Lord-Kittridge wedding ceremony. How could C.K. have foreseen that Connor would fall in love with Tracy, thereby nearly lousing up the nuptials? As it turns out, of course, it is C.K. himself who pulls the "louse-up," reclaiming Tracy as his bride. A consistently bright, bubbly, witty delight, The Philadelphia Story could just as well have been titled "The Revenge of Katharine Hepburn." Having been written off as "box-office poison" in 1938, Hepburn returned to Broadway in a vehicle tailor-made for her talents by playwright Philip Barry. That property, of course, was The Philadelphia Story; and when MGM bought the rights to this sure-fire box-office success, it had to take Hepburn along with the package -- and also her veto as to who her producer, director, and co-stars would be. Her strategy paid off: after the film's release, Hepburn was back on top of the Hollywood heap. While she didn't win the Oscar that many thought she richly deserved, the little gold statuette was bestowed upon her co-star Stewart, perhaps as compensation for his non-win for 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Donald Ogden Stewart (no relation to Jimmy) also copped an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The Philadelphia Story was remade in 1956 with a Cole Porter musical score as High Society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, (more)
Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is justly famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The plot centers on a group of gossipy high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily wedded Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) finds her marriage in trouble when shopgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford) gets her hooks into Mary's man. Naturally, this situation becomes the hot talk amongst Mary's catty friends, especially the scandalmonger Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell), who has little room to talk -- she finds herself on a train to Reno and headed for divorce right after Mary. But with a bit of guts and daring, Mary snatches her man right back from Crystal's clutches. Snappy, witty dialogue, much of it courtesy of veteran screenwriter Anita Loos, helps send this film's humor over the top. So do the characterizations -- Crawford is as venomous as they come, and this was Russell's first chance to show what she could do as a comedienne. And don't discount Shearer -- her portrayal of good-girl Mary is never overpowered by these two far-flashier roles. The only part of The Women that misses is the fashion-show sequence. It was shot in color -- an innovative idea in its day -- but now both the concept and clothes are dreary and archaic. Do keep an eye on the supporting players, though, especially Mary Boland as the Countess DeLage. The role was based on a cafe society dame of that era, the Countess DiFrasso, who had a wild affair with Gary Cooper; that romance is satirized here. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, (more)
- 1935
Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, has been a source of speculation and controversy ever since its posthumous publication. Even so, the ending concocted by scenarists John Balderston and Gladys Unger for the 1935 film version of Edwin Drood met with near-unanimous approval from Dickens buffs, who felt that Balderston and Unger had remained faithful to the author's original intention. Claude Rains stars as John Jasper, the seemingly respectable choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral. What no one suspects is that Jasper is an opium addict, given to fits of paranoia and jealousy. Pushing him over the edge is the fact that his beautiful ward, Rosa Bud (Heather Angel), has fallen in love with handsome Edwin Drood (David Manners). That Drood is murdered by Jasper is made abundantly clear: it is the mystery of how he was murdered and how Jasper disposed of the body that holds the viewer's interest. The film's relatively short running time required the screenwriters to drop several of Dickens' more colorful supporting characters: of those retained, Francis L. Sullivan is a standout as Mr. Crisparkle. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was transformed into a Broadway musical in 1980s (which offered several alternate endings), then was refilmed in 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Douglass Montgomery, (more)
- 1935
MGM regularly churned out films in the 1930s that were all "star power" and very little plot. No More Ladies is a good example of this. Joan Crawford marries bon vivant Robert Montgomery, hoping to mend his wastrel ways. Montgomery refuses to assumes the proper responsibilities of a husband, so Crawford tries to make him jealous by taking up with Franchot Tone. Everyone involved has limitless money, beautiful clothes and all the time in the world to spend on the trivialities of the plotline. Depression era audiences loved to see good-looking people in sumptuous sets, so No More Ladies was a success. The fact that, when asked, these audiences couldn't remember a single thing about the story was beside the point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, (more)
- 1935
Adapted from one of Dashiell Hammett's best novels, The Glass Key is a lively and straightforward melodrama of political corruption and urban intrigue. George Raft plays Ed Beaumont, the right-hand man to genial ward heeler Paul Madvig (Edward Arnold), who wants to clean up his political act. On the eve of a major election, Madvig is implicated in a murder, and it's up to Beaumont to help him out. Intimately involved in the case is Janet Henry (Claire Dodd), the sister of the murdered man and the daughter of "above reproach" Senator Henry (Charles Richman). Though no babe-in-the-woods, Beaumont is in for quite a few disillusionments as he pursues his investigation, though he does rather better romantically than the redoubtable Madvig. The Glass Key was remade (and improved) in 1942, with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Brian Donlevy; neither version, however, has as much bite and vitriol as the Hammett original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Edward Arnold, (more)
- 1935
In this romance, a slightly crooked and highly ambitious mayoral candidate convinces a woman to help him blackmail the incumbent by using a little baby as evidence in a paternity suit. The girl goes along with it until she learns that the mayor is innocent. Suddenly she begins working for him. In the end, the crooked candidate changes his ways and romantic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Astor, Roger Pryor, (more)
- 1933
Will Rogers is Dr. Bull, a small-town physician with precious little book learning. This doesn't stop him from ministering to the citizens, often substituting advice and witticisms for pills and sutures. There are those who resist Dr. Bull's everyday doses of common sense and humanity, especially the gossip mongers who read the worst into the doctor's frequent visits to a lonely widow (Vera Lewis). Bull triumphs over his adversaries when he stems a typhoid epidemic, proving that the disease was spread by pollution from the construction camp owned by the town's resident Scrooge (Berton Churchill). Directed by John Ford with his usual compassion towards sensible small-town types, Dr. Bull was adapted from The Last Adam, a novel by James Gould Cozzens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Vera Allen, (more)
- 1932
Paramount Pictures seldom fully utilized the talents of contract player Carole Lombard, as witness such tedious programmers as Sinners in the Sun. Lombard plays Doris Blake, an elegant fashion model who spurns her auto-mechanic suitor Jimmy Martin (Chester Morris) in favor of married millionaire Eric Nelson (Walter Byron). Securing a job as a chauffeur, Jimmy marries his employer, wealthy heiress Claire (Adrienne Ames), on the rebound. Ultimately, both hero and heroine realize that (here comes the message) MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING, whereupon both turn their backs on money and creature comforts to find happiness with each other. Somewhere near the bottom of the cast list is Cary Grant, who would later co-star with Carole Lombard in the infinitely better romantic drama In Name Only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, (more)
- 1930
In this espionage drama set during WW I, a French agent sneaks behind enemy lines into Alsace-Lorraine and decides to see his mother, who owns an inn. While there, the spy falls for a German general's wife and with her embarks upon a passionate romance. The romance is destroyed when the spy admits that he caused his lover's nephew's death. The angry mistress reports this to her husband who has the spy executed. The wife then kills herself. Meanwhile the spy's strong mother decides to fulfill her son's mission herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1930
In this melodrama, two young people fall in love and desire to wed, but their union is opposed by their families. As a result, the two decide to make love out of wedlock and the girl gets pregnant. Not long afterward, her young lover is killed and she must raise her baby alone until a much older man begins to take an interest in her. Her family is all for the union and without enthusiasm, she agrees to marry him. She then bears a daughter and swears that her daughter will know true romance. Unfortunately, she is again opposed by her husband the religious fanatic who ends up sending the girl to China as a missionary. While abroad, she meets a handsome young man, and begins to fall in love. This is confusing for her until her dying mother sends her a telepathic message encouraging her to go ahead and fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, (more)
- 1930
With a title like The Texan and a star like Gary Cooper, one might assume that this 1930 actioner is a western -- and one would be wrong! Set in 1885, the film stars Gary Cooper as Enrique, alias Quico, alias the Llano Kid. Whatever the name, he's a bold and daring bandit, and after shooting a young gambler in self-defense he's got a price on his head. Looking for a safe hideout, the Llano Kid agrees to a scheme hatched by a crooked lawyer named Thacker (Oscar Apfel). Our hero agrees to pose as the long-lost son of Mexican aristocrat Senora Ibarra (Emma Dunn), a role for which he is extensively coached by Thacker, who stands to collect a huge reward when he delivers the "son" to the old woman. Upon learning that the real son was the gambler he killed, the Llano Kid calls off the scheme, whereupon Thacker hires a band of thugs to steal Senora Ibarra's fortune. With the help of his long-time adversary, Bible-quoting sheriff John Brown (James Marcus), the Llano Kid foils Thacker's plan and in the bargain wins the hand of Senora Ibarra's lovely niece Consuelo (Fay Wray). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Fay Wray, (more)
