Nunnally Johnson Movies
Starting out as a reporter in his native Georgia, Nunnally Johnson worked his way up the journalistic ladder to the New York Herald Tribune. A prolific writer, Johnson contributed fiction to such periodicals as The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post; one of his Post stories was adapted for the screen as the 1927 Clara Bow vehicle Rough House Rosie. Unlike other Manhattan-based writers, Johnson was attracted to film work. When his proposal to write movie criticism for The New Yorker was turned down by editor Harold Ross in 1933, Johnson decided to move to Hollywood, where he immediately found work as a screenwriter. Well known for his laconic, biting wit, Johnson became a close friend of several other well-known Tinseltown quipsters, notably Groucho Marx. His movie career was briefly jeopardized in the late 1930s when, under a pseudonym, he wrote a less than flattering Saturday Evening Post profile of powerful gossip columnist Louella Parsons. The crisis passed, and Johnson remained incredibly busy, particularly at 20th Century-Fox, where from 1935 onward he toiled as both screenwriter and associate producer.Among the many films benefitting from Johnson's expertise was 1940's The Grapes of Wrath, which co-starred Dorris Bowden, a budding leading lady who gave up her career to become Johnson's wife. In partnership with onetime Fox executive William Goetz, Johnson formed International Pictures in 1943, turning out such projects as Woman in the Window (1944) and The Stranger (1946) until International merged with Universal in 1946. Johnson returned to Fox as a producer, handling many of the best early CinemaScope efforts, notably 1953's How to Marry a Millionaire. He turned to directing in 1954 with the literate murder mystery Black Widow; though not terribly proficient visually, he had a sharp ear for intelligent, scintillating dialogue, as proven by such films as The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956). Johnson's best directorial efforts include the pioneering multiple-personality drama Three Faces of Eve (1957) and the sprightly all-star comedy Oh, Men, Oh Women (1957). While sweating through a difficult location shoot during the making of The Angel Wore Red (1960), Johnson suddenly decided he was too old and too wealthy to continue knocking himself out as a director, and he returned exclusively to screenwriting. Two years after his last film, The Dirty Dozen (1968), Johnson announced his formal retirement ("I simply put on my top hat and tails -- and retired"); a collection of his letters to and from famous friends was published posthumously in 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Set in the French trenches, this WWI melodrama was cowritten by William Faulkner and directed by Howard Hawks. Hard-drinking Captain La Roche (Warner Baxter) delivers the same hollow speech to each wave of fresh soldiers assigned to his command, only to see them senselessly slaughtered by the Germans. La Roche's new officer is chipper Lieutenant Denet (Fredric March), who doesn't comprehend the futility of his assignment. Both men fall for beautiful nurse Monique La Coste (June Lang), who prefers Denet. La Roche's troops welcome "Private Moran" (Lionel Barrymore), the eldest private in the army and a grizzled veteran. In reality, Moran is La Roche's father. In a battle, La Roche is blinded. His father helps him direct artillery fire at the front, but both men are slain. Although he has won the girl and La Roche's command, Denet is forced to give the same pointless speech to his doomed recruits. Although Hawks had directed an earlier film of the same title, The Road to Glory (1936) was not a remake of that picture, but of a popular French war movie, Les Croix des Bois (1932), from which studio executives cannibalized combat footage for use in the new version. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Warner Baxter, (more)
- 1936
- NR
This lavish Shirley Temple starrer is set in New York, sometime in the 1850s. While lovable pickpocket "Professor" Eustace Appleby works the crowd, his talented granddaughter Dimples (Temple) dances for pennies. Dimples demands that Appleby stop his thieving ways, but every time he tries to follow the straight and narrow, he comes out the loser (most memorably when he's hoodwinked by a dapper con man played by John Carradine). While Dimples entertains at the home of society matron Mrs. Caroline Drew (Helen Westley), Appleby pilfers several valuable objects. This time he's caught with the goods, but Dimples gallantly takes the blame. Touched by this, Mrs. Drew adopts the little girl, enabling her to find success on the legitimate stage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Frank Morgan, (more)
Warner Baxter plays Dr. Samuel Mudd, American history's most famous victim of circumstance. In 1865, Dr. Mudd, a known Confederate sympathizer, sets the broken leg of a mud-caked stranger who stumbles into his home. The injured man turns out to be John Wilkes Booth, and Mudd is accused of conspiring to murder President Lincoln. Sentenced to hang with the genuine conspirators, Mudd finds his sentence commuted to life imprisonment at the very last moment. He is shipped to Shark Island, a brutal penal colony. Subject to the cruelties of a guard (John Carradine) who hates Mudd because of his "complicity" in Lincoln's death, the doctor suffers the torments of the damned, while outside Shark Island his wife (Gloria Stuart) campaigns desperately to get her husband pardoned. During a Yellow Fever breakout on Shark Island, Dr. Mudd performs heroically to save the survivors. For his humanitarian efforts, Mudd is finally released and reunited with his wife. While the script glosses over the fact that Dr. Mudd had never been officially pardoned by the US government (the pardon wouldn't be granted until years after this film was made), Prisoner of Shark Island strives long and hard to exonerate the man for whom the phrase "your name is mud!" was coined. Dr. Samuel Mudd's story was retold in the 1952 feature Hellgate, with Sterling Hayden as a (fictional) doctor, and in the 1980 TV movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd, starring Dennis Weaver in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1936
The well-publicized (and overexploited) birth of Canada's Dionne Quintuplets in 1934 formed the basis of The Country Doctor. Jean Hersholt starred as Dr. Allan Dafoe, the real-life medico who delivered the famous quints (who appear in person towards the end of the film). The film recounts Dafoe's difficulties in ministering to the somewhat backward residents of his tiny Canadian community, and his battle with a local bigwig who wants to bring in a "modern" doctor. The Dionne births transform Dafoe into a local hero, leading to his winning of the Order of the British Empire. In real life, Dr. Dafoe effectively wrested custody of the Dionne quints away from the parents, then cashed in on the subsequent merchandising; later on, public opinion would turn against Dafoe, defiling him as an opportunistic cad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, June Lang, (more)
- 1936
This lively riverboat musical shows off the vocal and terpsichorean talents of former Ziegfeld Follies star Barbara Stanwyck as it tells the tale of two newlyweds who must postpone their honeymoon when the groom gets in a fight with a villain, decks him and, believing he has killed him, flees upon a riverboat, leaving his bride to take up with a womanizing photographer. She and the cameraman head for New Orleans and this is where most of the action, music and romantic mayhem takes place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1935
The old British musical-hall ditty "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" provides the title for this lightweight Ronald Colman vehicle. Colman, playing a refugee Russian prince, is the "man" in question, and the owners of the "broken bank"--that is, the proprietors of the Monte Carlo casino where Colman scored the big win--are anxious to get their money back. They dispatch the beautiful Joan Bennett to lure Colman back into the casino. He falls for her and loses his winnings in the process, but she has pangs of remorse when she learns that Colman had been gambling on behalf of his impoverished countrymen. Bennett joins Colman as he merrily heads off to chase another rainbow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1935
A sharp satire of small-town politics, Thanks a Million stars Dick Powell as the leading man of a travelling musical show. During a short stopover, the troupe witnesses a political rally where a pompous candidate (Raymond Walburn) is wallowing in ineptitude. Sensing a quick-buck opportunity, the show's manager (Fred Allen) offers to entertain on the politician's behalf. The upshot of all this is that Powell, rather than the political hack, becomes the party's candidate for governor! Thanks a Million was remade in 1946 as If I'm Lucky, with Perry Como and Phil Silvers, respectively, in the Dick Powell and Fred Allen roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, (more)
- 1934
A remake of the silent film Her Sister From Paris, Moulin Rouge stars Constance Bennett in a dual role as twin French entertainers. One is married to a songwriter (Franchot Tone), who doesn't want his wife to return to the stage. In order to hide the fact that she's gotten a job in a musical, the married sister poses as her unmarried twin, while the twin pretends to be the married one (You following this?) The husband attends the musical and falls madly in love with the leading lady--never suspecting that she's his own wife. The married woman continues the ruse as a test of her husband's fidelity...and on and on it goes. Moulin Rouge was withdrawn from circulation in the early 1950s to avoid confusion with the more famous Toulouse Lautrec biopic of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Franchot Tone, (more)
- 1934
This second and final "Bulldog Drummond" film to star Ronald Colman, finds the famed sleuth in the midst of a sinister plan orchestrated by Warner Oland. Damsel in distress Loretta Young reports that her wealthy and influential uncle is missing, but all those concerned insist that the uncle never existed, and that Young is out of her mind. Drummond suspects that she's telling the truth, and that the uncle's disappearance is tied into political intrigue of some sort or other. Before the rousing climax, Drummond, the heroine, and Drummond's pal Algy (Charles Butterworth) are repeatedly kidnapped, imprisoned, and threatened with certain death. Counterpointing the film's plot twists (a bit too convoluted to relate in full here) is a comic subplot involving the continually interrupted honeymoon of Algy and his frustrated bride (Una Merkel). Unfortunately, Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back is currently unavailable on television or on videocassette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1934
George Arliss plays Nathan Rothschild, the head of a family of celebrated 19th century Jewish bankers. Despite the anti-semitic efforts of a powerful politico (Boris Karloff), Rothschild moves in the best European social circles. He is ultimately knighted for his services to the English crown, which include the financing of the Duke of Wellington's battle against Napoleon at Waterloo. This being a Hollywood picture, the political and financial intrigues have to be offset by romance--in this case the love affair between Rothschild's daughter (Loretta Young) and a handsome military officer (Robert Young). The final scene was photographed in the newly perfected three-strip Technicolor process, though for many years the TV distributors either removed this sequence or reprinted it in black and white. Designed in part as an attack against the burgeoning anti-semitism movement in Hitler's Germany, House of Rothschild was ironically exploited by Nazi functionary Joseph Goebbels, who redubbed and re-edited the film to serve as anti-Jewish propaganda! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Boris Karloff, (more)
Brooklyn tugboat worker Eddie (Eddie Cantor), bullied and cowed by his tough-guy stepfather and stepbrothers (a la Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother), inherits $77 million from his uncle, an Egyptologist. Con artist Dot (Ethel Merman) wants to get her lunchhooks on the money, and to this end offers herself as Eddie's adopted mother (never mind that she's nearly 20 years younger), intending to have her thuggish brother Louie (Warren Hymer) bump off our hero at the first opportunity. The nonsensical plotline ends up with Eddie, Dot, Louie, pompous Southern colonel Larrabee (Berton Churchill), and nominal romantic leads Jerry (George Murphy in his film debut) and Jane (Ann Sothern) trapped in the palace of Arab potentate Mulhulla (Paul Harvey). The better-than-average comic banter includes some funny bits between Cantor and Eve Sully, of the comedy team of "Block and Sully" (her husband-partner Jesse Block is also in the picture, but just barely). Spotted among the featured players in Kid Millions are such "Our Gang" members as Stymie Beard, Scotty Beckett and Tommy Bond, and there's a specialty by the Nicholas Brothers during Cantor's obligatory "blackface" number; and yes, that's Lucille Ball as a blonde Goldwyn Girl in the harem sequence. PS: According to Ethel Merman, the film's elaborate Technicolor ice-cream factory finale, in which Eddie allows dozens of tenement kids to gorge themselves on his tasty confections, posed censorship problems: while producer Sam Goldwyn was allowed to show the little boys with comically extended stomachs, he was not permitted to do so with the little girls, for fear that the audience might think the female moppets were pregnant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Fields, Eddie Cantor, (more)
- 1933
The felicitous screen team of Mary Boland and Charles Ruggles once more collaborated with director Norman Z. McLeod for the delightful Mama Loves Papa. Middle-class Wilbur Todd (Ruggles) is content with his lot in life, but his wife Jessie (Boland) is an inveterate social climber. Convinced that clothes make the man, Jessie dresses up her spouse in garish new suits, which elicit shouts of derision rather than murmurs of admiration. Frustrated by his wife's nagging, Wilbur goes off on a toot and becomes innocently involved with village vamp Mrs. McIntosh (Lilyan Tashman). It's all very basic material, but in the hands of its stars, its director, and ace screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, Mama Loves Papa emerges as something truly special. The National Board of Review selected the film as one of the best of its year, quite an honor for what was officially a "B" picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1933
This musical comedy stars Maurice Chevalier as (what else?) a Parisian playboy with a song and a kiss for every beautiful woman in sight. His libertine ways are stemmed when Chevalier finds himself saddled with an abandoned baby. Because he is perceived to be the father of the infant, Chevalier finds his lovemaking activities severely diminished. At fadeout time, Chevalier finds lasting romance with Helen Twelvetrees, the baby's governess. Though he was probably uncomfortable sharing scenes with a scene-stealing toddler, Chevalier manages to deliver his usual sly, winking performance. A Bedtime Story was the screen debut for Baby LeRoy (later W.C. Field's perennial nemesis), playing (again, what else?) the troublesome baby. The film is based on Roy Horniman's story Bellamy the Magnificent, which had previously been filmed as A Gentleman of Paris (27). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Helen Twelvetrees, (more)
- 1927
"Rough House Rosie" Reilly (Clara Bow) just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Hoping to become a Broadway actress, Rosie gets mixed up with rowdies and ends up in jail. Much the same thing happens when she tries to crash High Society. Eventually, Rosie finds her true niche in life when she falls in love with handsome prizefighter Joe Hennessey (Reed Howes) and helps him to win the championship bout by using her goo-goo eyes to distract his opponent. Arthur Houseman, later one of screendom's favorite "comic drunks," plays a comparatively straight role as gambler Kid Farrell, while Joseph W. Girard, perennial police chief in many a talkie serial, goes through his usual paces here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Reed Howes, (more)
