James Burke Movies

Often (and accurately) described as a model of the whodunit genre, The Kennel Murder Case stars William Powell, making his fourth screen appearance as S. S. Van Dine's dilettante detective Philo Vance. This time the story involves intrigue at the Long Island kennel club. The murder victim is Robert H. Barrat, who works overtime making himself a much-hated target in the first ten minutes. With the aid of a Doberman, Vance solves not only Barrat's murder but a follow-up killing designed to deflect attention from the killer. The suspects include Mary Astor, Ralph Morgan, Jack LaRue, Helen Vinson, Paul Cavanaugh and Arthur Hohl, all of whom have "done it" from time to time in other murder mysteries (movie buffs, however, will have little trouble spotting the killer; the person in question has probably been the hidden murderer in more films than any other member of the Screen Actor's Guild). Kennel Murder Case was William Powell's last "Philo Vance" film; it would be remade in 1940 as Calling Philo Vance, with James Stephenson as Vance and a new World War II angle added to the plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alison Skipworth and W.C. Fields play Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom, a husband-and-wife team of con artists. The larcenous couple is summoned to a small town by their niece (Jacqueline Wells) and her husband (Clifford Jones) when the niece's father dies. Hoping for a sizeable inheritance, Tillie and Gus discover that the legacy consists of one rundown ferry boat. When they notice that a local lawyer (Clarence Wilson) seems unusually interested in obtaining this seemingly worthless vessel, T and G decide to help their niece restore the boat and keep the ferry line running. The climax occurs during a boat race between Tillie & Gus and the duplicitous lawyer; the prize is a large cash settlement from a major ferry franchise. Disappointingly restrained for a W.C. Fields film, Tillie and Gus is still good for a few quiet chuckles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A couple of down-and-out British aristocrats buy an American roadhouse in this uproarious farce from Paramount. Naming the establishment after their estate in the old country, Twicket-on-Topping, Lady Beulah (Alison Skipworth) and her brother Sir Reginald (Roland Young) run afoul of American gangsters and when an attempt to sell the place to unsuspecting capitalist Mr. Stephens (DeWitt Jennings) comes to naught, Lady Beulah turns the roadhouse into an upscale café, the Boots and Saddles. The stout Englishwoman, however, staunchly refuses to provide liquor from bootlegger Nutty Bolton (Warren Hymer) and the latter attempts to ruin the establishment's recent goodwill by spiking the drinks. In the end, Lady Beulah is rescued by her niece Cecily (Sari Maritza), whose American boyfriend finally cons Stephens into buying the place right before it is raided by the police. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

We first lay eyes on Jimmy Cagney in Lady Killer while he's working as a movie theater usher. This job lasts just long enough for Jimmy to be swindled in a "badger game" orchestrated by hard-boiled Mae Clarke and a gang of crooks headed by Douglass Dumbrille. Knowing a good thing when he sees it, Cagney joins the mob, and soon is calling the shots. But though he's got larceny in his soul, Cagney draws the line at murder, and when gang member Raymond Hatton is bumped off, Cagney and Clarke board the Super Chief and head to California. With the cops laying for Cagney in LA, he's suspicious of everyone. A shifty-looking mug (William B. Davidson) takes after Cagney on the street; catching up to the winded Cagney, the mug explains that he's a movie director, and that Cagney is a perfect "type" for an upcoming prison picture. After several months as a bit player, Cagney befriends good-natured movie-star Margaret Lindsay, who encourages Cagney to seek out bigger parts. The enterprising Cagney engineers a phony fan-mail campaign encouraging the studio to give him starring roles. Though now a slick, pomaded romantic lead in pictures, Cagney is still Cagney; when a snooty critic pans Lindsay's most recent performance, Cagney forces the reviewer to literally eat his words! It must needs be that Cagney's old gang shows up in Hollywood, planning to use Cagney's influence to gain entree into movie stars' mansions, then steal their valuables. Cagney says ixnay to this, so the mob schemes to take him for a ride. Tipped off by Clarke, Cagney is able to rout the crooks, save the day, and claim Lindsay for his bride. Lady Killer is vintage Cagney, throwing virtually every one of his star-making attributes (including one cute reference to his legendary "grapefruit scene" in 1931's Public Enemy) into one entertaining 76-minute stew. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harold Lloyd plays Ezekial Cobb, a missionary's son who has spent his entire life in China. Cobb is sent to his father's home church in California, where it is hoped he will find a wife. A true babe in the woods, Cobb is befriended by politician Jake Mayo (George Barbier). Mayo is a cog in a crooked political machine whose bosses plan to set up a "reform" candidate for mayor, so that they can continue their underhanded activities unmolested. The candidate drops dead, so Mayo sets up the innocent Cobb as the mayor-to-be--a "cat's paw" to deflect attention from the system's corruption. But once elected, Cobb takes his duties quite seriously and begins to clean up the town. The machine frames Cobb with planted evidence of wrongdoing, destroying the lad's political career. Undaunted, Cobb remembers the story of an ancient Chinese leader, who, similarly disgraced, took the law in his own hands and executed all known criminals in his last days of power. Cobb orders that every crook in town be rounded up and brought to a dark cellar. He insists that they confess their crimes or face instant death--and backs up his words by "beheading" two of the crooks on the spot! Actually, these executions are cleverly designed magical illusions, and no one is really killed; but the terrified criminals are so hoodwinked by Cobb's apparent cold-bloodedness that they literally climb over one another to confess. Cobb is exonerated, and honesty is restored to his administration. While not Harold Lloyd's best feature film, The Cat's Paw is definitely his most unorthodox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

W.C. Fields is in fine fettle as small-town grocer Harold Bissonette (pronounced Biss-o-NAY). Harold dreams of becoming a California orange farmer, but his gorgon wife (Kathleen Howard) will have none of it. After a grueling day at the store, during which his electric light stock is destroyed by a cane-wielding blind man (Charles Sellon), and his floor is flooded with molasses by the impish Baby LeRoy, Harold announces that he's sold the store and bought an orange grove. Seeking to escape his wife's nagging, Harold tries to sleep on his porch, which proves impossible thanks to innumerable interruptions--not least of which is an insurance salesman (T. Roy Barnes) loudly asking for Karl LaFong ("capital L, small A, capital F, small O, small N, small G!") The next day, Harold packs his family into the car and heads off for California. Once there, the little band of pilgrims drives onto the property of a wealthy man, assuming that it's a public park. They make a shambles of the grounds while trying to have a picnic, whereupon they are chased off the land by the scowling owner (Guy Usher). Finally, Harold arrives at his "vast" orange grove--consisting of a tumbledown shack and one scrawny tree. Harold sits silently ruminating over his bad luck until his new neighbor informs him that a wealthy land developer wishes to buy Harold's property to build a stadium. "Don't let them bluff you," advises the neighbor. "You can get any price." The potential buyer turns out to be the same fellow whose property had been invaded by Bissonette the day before, but business is business. The buyer offers several insulting sums, but Harold, fortified by a flask of gin, holds firm. "You're drunk!" the buyer shouts. "And you're crazy," responds Harold. "But tomorrow I'll be sober, and you'll always be crazy." Harold's stubbornness saves the day, and we fade on the satisfying sight of the Bissonette family living in luxury on the huge orange grove of Harold's dreams. A remake of Fields' silent It's the Old Army Game, It's a Gift was written by J.P. McEvoy and one Charles Bogle--and there isn't a Fields fancier alive who doesn't know who Charles Bogle really is. Downplayed by detractors as being merely three two-reelers strung together, It's a Gift has survived such piddling criticism to emerge as one of W.C. Fields' funniest efforts, as well as a comedy classic by any standards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two carneys, a card-sharp, and a peep-show performer, find themselves booted out of the show and decide to team up--platonically. They immediately get adjoining rooms in a hotel. Though the huckster constantly tries to romance the girl, she demurely rejects him. He comes to respect that; and she eventually comes to respect him, despite his tough-guy posturing. Together they try to eke out a living, but eventually, both are arrested: he for purse-snatching, and she for a past offense. In court the card-player staunchly defends the girl. The judge is so moved, that he drops all charges and marries the two. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Of the two 1934 film versions of the life of Russia's Catherine the Great, Josef von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress was the most opulent and exotic. Marlene Dietrich plays the German-born Catherine, who is required to marry Russia's mad Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe, decked out in a Harpo Marx wig). As if her joke of a marriage isn't torment enough, Catherine must endure the excesses of her new mother-in-law, Empress Elizabeth (Louise Dresser). Eventually, Catherine finds solace -- and romance -- in the form of Count Alexei (John Lodge). But even this balm is denied her when the ambitious Alexei begins wooing the much-older Elizabeth. When the old Empress dies, Catherine ascends to the Russian throne, knowing full well that her addled husband would kill her at the slightest provocation. Soon her power outstrips Peter's, and the opportunistic Alexei now comes back into her life. The finale finds Catherine emerging triumphant over all her enemies -- and, in the film's least subtle sequence (which is saying a lot!), the new Empress is shown astride a horse, to whom she displays far more affection than any of her human compatriots. The Scarlet Empress has even less to do with accuracy than Paul Czinner's Catherine the Great of the same year, which starred Elizabeth Bergner. Watch for Dietrich's real-life daughter Maria Sieber (aka Maria Riva) as the 7-year-old Catherine in the early scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Promoted as a follow-up to Frank Capra's 1933 hit Lady for a Day, Lady by Choice resembles the earlier film only in its choice of leading lady. May Robson plays a drunken derelict who'd once been quite a heartbreaker. Her self-respect is restored when she is asked to pose as fan-dancer Carole Lombard's mother. Lombard is part of the deal only to gain publicity for herself, but Robson takes her assignment seriously, ordering Lombard to give up her tacky profession and use her talents for something more dignified. At first against her will, Lombard starts taking formal acting and singing lessons and begins gaining a reputation as a serious artist. Wealthy Roger Pryor, a family friend of Robson's, falls in love with Lombard, but she breaks off the relationship so that Pryor won't be disinherited. Robson takes a hand in things, forcing Pryor and Lombard together in a delightfully devious fashion. Lady By Choice proved that Columbia Pictures (and scriptwriter Jo Swerling) could turn out a perfectly respectable Frank Capra film without Frank Capra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "six" are Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, George Burns, Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, and Alison Skipworth, who star in this cross-country comedy. Planning a motor vacation to California, J. Pinkham Whinney (Ruggles) and Flora Whinney (Boland) advertise for a couple to help drive and share expenses. That couple turns out to be George Edwards (Burns) and Gracie De Vore (Allen), accompanied by Allen's surly Great Dane. Whinney is driven to near-insanity by Edwards' intrusiveness and stupidity, but the worst is yet to come: thanks to a crooked co-worker, Whinney has been accused of stealing bank funds and is now an unwitting fugitive from justice. Sheriff Hoxley (W.C. Fields, who spends a priceless ten minutes explaining why he's called "Honest John") joins forces with hotel proprietor Mrs. "Duchess" K. Rumford (Alison Skipworth) in hopes of capturing Whinney and claiming the reward. After a zany night of everybody in the cast running in and out of hotel rooms, the real crook is captured and Whinney and Flora prepare to enjoy what's left of their vacation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy tracks the relationship between an ailing railroad president and the dogged reporter who tries to infiltrate his inner council by impersonating a doctor's assistant. The president desperately needs a respite from all the pressures of his illness and his failing company, and so takes off on his private train. During his journey, he encounters two tramps. Meanwhile the reporter finds the president's lovely daughter. Upon his return, the old railroad man is much refreshed and gives the reporter his story. He then saves the company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Eadie was a Lady, this Jean Harlow vehicle was slated for release under the title Born to be Kissed, but the new Production Code vetoed this "suggestive" cognomen. After a brief and uncomfortable period as One Hundred Percent Pure, the film was finally shipped to theaters as The Girl From Missouri. Harlow plays Eadie, a sexy gold-digger who promises to remain chaste until she finds a wealthy husband. Travelling to New York in the company of her best friend Kitty (Patsy Kelly), Eadie manages to keep that promise, though for a while it looks as though she'll succumb to the charms of playboy T. R. Paige Jr. (Franchot Tone). Once Paige has proven that his intentions are basically honorable, Eadie must break down the resistance of T. R. Paige Sr. (Lionel Barrymore), who is dead-set against his son's romance and intends to frame the girl in a compromising position. She gets even with Paige Sr. by framing him, but there's still a couple of reels to go before the happy ending. Except for some provocative costuming, Jean Harlow's character is essentially decent, thereby "cleansing" some of the more risque elements of this enjoyable romantic comedy. The film's best line is delivered by Patsy Kelly who, when propositioned by an elderly roue, snarls "Look at this! Death takes a holiday!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide