Lucien Hubbard Movies

The stringent censorship imposed upon Hollywood of the mid-1930s dictated that gangsters could no longer be the "heroes" in any crime film. Public Hero No. 1 reflects this restriction. G-Man Chester Morris poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailbreak of the Gang's leader (Joseph Calleia), Morris joins him in a Dillinger-like flight across the country. The bloody denouement, which occurs in a vaudeville theatre, is likewise drawn from the Dillinger saga (that particular gentleman was of course killed in front of a movie house). Also featured in Public Hero No. 1 is Jean Arthur as the heroine (a comic role) and Lionel Barrymore as a drunken gang doctor. The film was remade as The Getaway in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

S. S. Van Dine's intelligent, insufferable amateur sleuth Philo Vance is the protagonist of The Casino Murder Case. Paul Lukas plays Vance, who is brought to the mansion of a wealthy, eccentric widow (Alison Skipworth) by a mysterious unsigned letter. Several murders are committed in the elderly woman's home, with the evidence pointing to various red herrings before the truth is revealed. Rosalind Russell plays the old lady's secretary (and Vance's object of affections); Eric Blore is Vance's droll valet; and Ted Healy is the obnoxious Sgt. Heath, ever willing to slap the cuffs on the wrong person. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though habitually unlucky in love, wealthy London recluse Mary Herries (Aline MacMahon) succumbs to the charms of handsome artist Henry Abbott (Basil Rathbone). She is persuaded to invite Abbott into her home, only to discover that he has a sinister ulterior motive. With the help of his disreputable associates, he intends to steal all of Mary's valuable art treasures, then do away with the poor woman when the job is done. Held prisoner in her own home, Mary is unable to summon the authorities, who've been persuaded by a crooked doctor that the old woman is insane. How long will it be before she can get word to the outside world? Kind Lady is adapted from Edward Chodorov's theatrical version of the Hugh Walpole novel Silver Mask, with Walpole's original bleak ending bypassed in favor of Chodorov's more optimistic denouement. To avoid confusion with MGM's 1951 remake, the 1936 version of Kind Lady was retitled House of Menace for television. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A crusading physician supervises his own life-threatening operation in this farfetched potboiler from MGM, which marked Robert Taylor's first co-starring assignment. Taylor plays handsome Dr. Tommy Ellis, whose proposal of marriage is at first turned down by surgical nurse Madge Wilson (Virginia Bruce). But when Madge's paramour, the upstanding young Dr. Bill Morgan (Chester Morris), takes a leave of his principles to cater to a rich hypochondriac (Billie Burke), she gives Tommy her "yes." Shot by an escaping convict (Arthur Vinton), Bill survives a risky operation conducted by Tommy under his own guidance, and when he recovers, he finally pops the question to Madge. With Tommy's blessing, the nurse agrees to become Mrs. Morgan. Society Doctor, which was originally reviewed as Under Eight Hours, was directed by George B. Seitz, the veteran craftsman who later helmed MGM's "Dr. Kildare" films. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In her American film debut, British stage luminary Constance Collier dominates MGM's Shadow of Doubt as wealthy, reclusive Aunt Melissa, a character obviously based on "witch of Wall Street" Hettie Green. Emerging from a 20-year seclusion, Melissa announces her intention to disown her nephew Sim (Ricardo Cortez) if he marries temperamental actress Trenna (Virginia Bruce), who has been implicated in a double murder case. A ubiquitous presence throughout the picture is Sim's best friend, eternally inebriated columnist Reed Ryan (Regis Toomey), who's more than a little anxious to crack the case -- or so he claims. But the person responsible for the film's happy ending is none other than Melissa, who turns out to be a sweet old gal after all. Shadow of Doubt was one of a brief mid-1930s cycle of "female-detective" films, which included the Hildegarde Withers and Nurse Sarah Keane mysteries. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In director Edwin L. Marin's film Paris Interlude, a beautiful French woman named Julie Bell (Madge Evans) unexpectedly falls in love with Sam Colt (Otto Kruger, a vulgar American news journalist. Based on (All Good Americans), a play by Laura and .J. Perelman , Sam spends most of his time in Paris drinking beer and consorting with his fellow American colleagues. Meanwhile, rookie reporter Pat Wells (Robert Young) also has eyes for Julie (Evans), and tries to persuade her to marry him after hearing that Sam (Kruger) was likely killed in his trip to China. After much debate, Julie finally agrees. Unfortunately for Pat, it turns out that Sam had not been killed after all. On the night of Julie and Pat's wedding party, Sam drunkenly approaches Julie and proposes, though he collapses before he could hear her answer. Julie remains undecided until Sam himself, in a rare moment of personal honor, tells her she belongs with the younger journalist. (Paris Interlude) also includes actors Ted Healy and Una Merkel. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

In this crime drama, a famous criminal attorney is abandoned by his wife who has tired of his neglect and heavy drinking. She runs to the arms of a prominent gangster. Later, the lawyer must take a murder case--his ex-wife is the victim. It is quite a shock, but somehow he manages to keep it together and keep an innocent man from going to jail. The lawyer then brings the woman's criminal lover, the real culprit, to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Harry Beaumont, a director-composer most closely associated with MGM's musical product, does a nice job handling the tongue-in-cheek melodramatics of Murder in the Private Car. Charlie Ruggles goes through his standard drunken-detective act as amateur gumshoe Scott, who stumbles onto a dead body when he wanders into the wrong train car. Despite the fact that the private car can only be locked from the inside, several more murders occur within its walls. This means plenty of trouble for heroine Ruth (Mary Carlisle), who'd rented the car for a cross-country journey of vital importance. Before this particular odyssey is over and the murderer is revealed, the private car, with Ruth trapped inside, is separated from the rest of the train and sent hurtling backward down the tracks, loaded with dynamite! Perhaps Harry Beaumont missed his calling: judging by Murder in the Private Car, he should have specialized in serials. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Cortland Fitzsimmons, the storyline of this "gimmick" mystery follows the St. Louis Cardinals during a championship season. The arrival of hotshot pitcher Larry Kelly (Robert Young) coincides with an apparent plot to sabotage the Cards' chances of making it to the World Series. A failed attempt to poison all the pitcher's mitts is followed by a series of murders: catcher Dunk Spencer (Joe Sauers) is shot while sprinting to third base, pitcher Frank Higgins (Robert Livingston) is strangled in the locker room, and lovable catcher Truck Hogan (Nat Pendleton) is killed with an arsenic-laden hot dog. Finding himself one of the many suspects, Kelly nearly becomes a victim as well when he is slipped a booby-trapped baseball. With the help of sportscaster Jimmy Downey (Paul Kelly), Kelly exposes the murderer, surviving to win the pennant and the heroine, team secretary daughter Frances Clark (Madge Evans). Partly filmed on location at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs' minor-league LA farm team), Death on the Diamond offers a fresh slant to the standard whodunit format, with some particularly good work by Ted Healy as an exasperated umpire. That MGM produced the film is tipped off by two of the studio's trademarks: The killer's last-minute confession, wherein the guilty party transforms from a mild-mannered soul into a raving lunatic, and the shoddy process-screen work in the ballgame scenes. Future stars Mickey Rooney, Walter Brennan and Bruce Bennett show up in bit roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though it's also a "bus" picture, MGM's Fugitive Lovers is as different from Columbia's It Happened One Night as oil and water. Escaping from her gangster boyfriend Legs (Nat Pendleton), chorus girl Letty (Madge Evans) boards a Greyhound bus bound for California. Likewise a passenger -- albeit a non-paying one -- is Porter (Robert Montgomery), a fugitive from justice. As the bus rolls ever onward, hero and heroine are inexorably drawn together, despite the looming twin threats of arrest and/or extermination. The already incredible plotline takes an even more bizarre turn when Porter is obliged to rescue a group of children who've been trapped in a snowbound school bus somewhere in the Rockies. Fugitive Lovers is fascinating on two levels: as a showcase for the directorial excesses of Richard Boleslawski (this picture has more offbeat camera angles than Citizen Kane) and for the comedy relief of Ted Healy and his Stooges (Curly, Larry and Moe -- with Curly as the unofficial leader of the group!) The scene in which Moe Howard tries to make time with Madge Evans is worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this romantic sex-comedy from director Robert Florey, Bette Davis stars as Helen Bauer, a free-spirited, self-sufficient feminist who would rather pursue her career as a graphic artist than settle down and marry Don Peterson (Gene Raymond), the advertising writer she loves, out of fear that marriage will destroy the romance. Eventually, Don wears Helen down and the couple marry. But when the flame quickly burns out, Don begins an affair with a female client. Not to be outdone and without missing a beat, Helen takes up with Nick Malvyn (Monroe Owsley), another ad writer, who by no coincidence also happens to be Don's biggest rival. In light of their respective bouts of infidelity, the couple must consider whether or not they want to give the marriage another shot. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Loaned to MGM by her home studio of Warner Bros., Loretta Young suffers her way through the title role in Midnight Mary. A good girl led astray, Mary (Young) endeavors to save the life of her boyfriend Tom (Franchot Tone) by killing the aptly named Leo the Rat (Ricardo Cortez). As her case is heard in court, the clerk goes over Mary's record, and at this point the flashbacks begin, stretching all the way back to her days as an unwanted orphan. One bad break leads to another, and by the time she reaches adulthood Mary is mixed up with a gang of crooked gamblers. For the sake of Tom, a well-connected socialite who loves her unquestioningly, Mary tries to go straight, but her past, and the ill-fated Leo the Rat, catch up with her. No matter what disaster befalls her in Midnight Mary, Loretta Young always manages to look as though she's just stepped out of a beauty salon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Phil (State Fair) Stong, The Stranger's Return is one of the most accomplished projects of director King Vidor, and one of the few MGM films of its period to display anything like a "personal touch." Miriam Hopkins stars as a bored Manhattanite who visits her family farm in Iowa. Her grandfather Lionel Barrymore, an irascible Civil War vet, rules over the farm with the help of a drunken but reliable handyman (Stu Erwin). Barrymore's stepdaughter Beulah Bondi and her lazy husband Grant Mitchell are hostile towards Hopkins, a state of affairs not helped when Miriam strikes up a friendship with the farmer husband (Franchot Tone) of a popular local girl (Irene Hervey). Hopkins redeems herself in the eyes of the community through standing by her grandfather when the greedy stepdaughter inaugurates a sanity hearing in order to wrest away his property. Wisely, Hopkins also ends her relationship with Tone, who leaves with his wife to accept a teaching post. In lesser hands, The Stranger's Return would have descended into dime-novel melodrama; thanks to King Vidor's sensitivity towards his characters, and his obvious love of the farmland that sustains them, the film transcends its plottage. The result is a classic awaiting rediscovery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi