James Burke Movies

In this drama, a millionaire heir finds himself in trouble deep after during a night of drunkenness he pledges his fortune to charity. To keep from having to honor his pledge--and to avoid the luscious golddigger that pursues him--the young lout disguises himself as janitor and begins working at a nearly bankrupt nursery school. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Dancing Feet stars Joan Marsh as Judy, a society deb who lands a job as a dime-a-dance girl to spite her wealthy grandfather (Purnell Pratt). While her fiancé Peyton (Ben Lyon) stews, Judy strikes up a friendship with Jimmy (Eddie Nugent), a bellhop who aspires to become a vaudeville dancer. Judy and Jimmy enjoy success as a dance team, falling in love as an afterthought. As for Peyton, he finds consolation with Judy's brassy friend Mabel (Isabel Jewell). The musical highlights in Dancing Feet include a specialty number by Nick Condos of the Condos Brothers (and future husband of comedienne Martha Raye). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Forgotten Faces is the third of four versions of the old chestnut Heliotrope Harry. Herbert Marshall stars as Harry Ashton, a gambler-turned-jailbird saddled with a vindictive ex-wife named Cleo (Gertrude Michael). Seventeen years after the break-up, an impoverished Cleo, now a cheap burlesque performer, searches for her daughter Sally (Jane Rhodes), whom she gave up for adoption. She blackmails Sally's foster parents, threatening to tell the girl that her real mother is a tramp and her real father has just served a long prison term. But Harry, recently paroled, stops Cleo in her tracks by killing her. This grand gesture also costs him his own life, but at least he can shuffle off his mortal coil secure in the knowledge that his daughter will be spared the truth. Director E. A. Dupont is at his Germanic best in Forgotten Faces, which is altogether suitable to the melodramatic nature of the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This musical satire parodies Southern living as it follows the exploits of a traveling medicine show that ends up on a bankrupt plantation. It is just as well as Doc Gurgle and his daughter have just lost their show. The plantation is run by a Kentucky colonel. Young Miss Gurgle and her pa decide to help save the plantation by putting on an amateur show in the stately mansion. She is assisted by the enthusiastic plantation workers. Songs include: "Uncle Tom's Cabin Is a Cabaret Now." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Italian immigrant George Raft uses his wits and his fists to rise to prominence in a local political machine. He falls in love with Rosalind Russell, the wife of a prominent banker, but discreetly hides his feelings even as he and Russell are thrust together by social circumstances. The banker turns out to be an embezzler, but Raft comes to the rescue by replacing the stolen funds. Accused of conspiring with the banker because he'd failed to make the original embezzlement public, Raft is grilled by a grand jury. Once cleared, Raft is finally able to wed the divorced banker's wife, who it turns out had always had a crush on him. It Had to Happen is most entertaining in its early scenes wherein we see George Raft strongarming his way to success. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This musical is adapted from a popular Broadway show written by George M. Cohan. It tells the tale of a team of Broadway dancers. The male partner is a real carouser, yet he is protective of his partner who is madly in love with another. Later she and her lover encounter difficulties, and their show is endangered. To save them all, the partner forsakes his wild ways. Success ensues, the show is saved; the two lovers also get to marry. Songs include: "You're My Favorite One," "On Holiday in My Playroom," "Join the Party," "Let's Get Going," "Ain't He Good Looking?" and "Dancing in the Open." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Paramount's first outdoor Technicolor feature, Trail of the Lonesome Pine was the third film version of John Fox Jr.'s novel. Inspired by the Hatfield-McCoy feud, the story is set in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Outsider Fred MacMurray arrives to clear the path for a new railroad. Mountain girl Sylvia Sidney falls in love with MacMurray, which incurs the enmity of Sidney's boyfriend Henry Fonda. It also plunks MacMurray in the middle of a long-standing feud between Sidney's family and another mountain clan. Hostilities alternately erupt and simmer until Sidney's youngest brother (Spanky McFarland) is killed by a feud-inspired dynamite blast. This tragic incident brings virtually everyone to their senses, and the feud is finally buried. Better in its individual setpieces than as a unified whole, Trail of the Lonesome Pine is still a worthwhile experience, especially when a pristine three-strip Technicolor print is available. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The classic comedians Burns and Allen are featured in this fast-paced farce that includes an assortment of corny vaudeville acts. The story centers around Gracie, the daughter of a wealthy business magnate. To prevent a gigolo, who is attempting to seduce his other daughter, from getting his fortune, the father gives all his money, temporarily, to Gracie who promptly turns their Park Avenue manse into a boarding house for impoverished show biz performers. She charges them nothing. Some of the acts that stay there include: Jack Powell, Cal Norris and Monkey, The Buccaneers, Moro and Yaconelli, Pascale Perry and Partner, The Six Candreva Brothers, Seymour and Corncob, Jester and Mole, Jack Cavanaugh and Partner, Six Olympics and Big Boy Williams. In the end, all the residents stage a show to give themselves a chance for a comeback. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Secret Bride is Ruth Vincent (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of Governor Vincent (Arthur Byron). Attorney general Robert Sheldon (Warren William) falls in love with Ruth and they marry, but Sheldon insists that their marriage be kept secret. It seems that the Governor has been accused of accepting $10,000 in bribes, and Sheldon doesn't want to be accused of complicity while he investigates the matter. In the course of events, two murders occur, and it's up to Ruth to straighten the mess out. But how will she be able to manage this without involving herself or her secret husband in the scandal? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This peppy Monogram meller stars Robert Armstrong as a big-city newspaper reporter. After getting a bonus, Armstrong over-celebrates and wakes up in faraway St. Louis without a penny to his name. He finagles passing-stranger Maxine Doyle into posing as his wife so that he'll be able to get a hotel room. While thus occupied, Armstrong finds time to solve a local mystery and secure another bonus that will enable him to marry Doyle for real. Mystery Man was directed by Leo McCarey's kid brother Raymond, a veteran of the Hal Roach and Columbia 2-reel comedy factories. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third screen version of Jack London's classic adventure story was also the first with sound, and it toyed with the original story a bit to add a love interest for leading man Clark Gable. Jack Thornton (Gable) is a would-be prospector who has headed to Alaska hoping to cash in on the gold rush. However, he loses most of his stake in a poker game and instead ends up buying a Saint Bernard named Buck. He's able to pick up Buck for a song because he's too ill-tempered to pull a sled; Smith (Reginald Owen), Buck's former owner, treated him with cruelty and the dog mangled Smith's hand in retaliation. Jack loves the dog, though, and treats him with care and kindness. Buck bonds with Jack and soon becomes a loyal companion and a good sled dog. Angry and astounded, Smith bets Jack that Buck can't pull a half-ton sled 100 yards; while the old Buck would never have done it, with Jack's urging the dog manages the feat and Jack now has the funds to set out with his friend Shorty (Jack Oakie) to stake their claim. While searching for gold, Jack and Shorty discover Claire Blake (Loretta Young), the wife of a miner who abandoned her to look for a fresh vein of gold. A warmth grows between Claire and Jack in the frozen North, but Jack is forced to help her husband when he runs afoul of thieves trying to steal his claim. Six more films based on The Call of the Wild would follow this to the screen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Frisco Waterfront stars Ben Lyon as California gubernatorial candidate Glenn Burton. A freak election-day accident at the voting booth injures both Burton and his hated opponent Dan Elliot (Rod La Roque). While hovering between life and death on the operating table, Burton flashes back to his rise to prominence, and his ongoing romantic rivalry with Elliot over the affections of heroine Alice (Helen Twelvetrees). Landing a dockworker job in San Francisco, Burton gains power and prestige through the "good" graces of his unsavory cronies. Disgusted by this, Alice divorces Burton -- but she still loves him, and secretly maneuvers behind the scenes so that her ex-husband will emerge triumphant through his own abilities rather than his criminal connections. The nagging question posed at the finale: Were all of Alice's sacrifices really worth it? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

W.C. Fields plays Ambrose Wolfinger, the henpecked husband to end all henpecked husbands. A widower, Ambrose married a second time only to provide a mother for his pretty daughter (Mary Brian). What he got was an overbearing harpy of a wife (Kathleen Howard), a fussy and imperious mother-in-law (Vera Lewis) and a shiftless brother-in-law (Grady Sutton). Ambrose plans to attend a much-awaited wrestling match, but can't get the day off of work. He lies for the first time in his life, telling his boss that his mother-in-law has died. En route to the wrestling meet, Ambrose suffers one mishap after another, from a string of traffic tickets to an encounter with a runaway tire. He gets to the match just in time to miss the whole thing, and ends up bruised and battered on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, his home is being deluged with flowers, offered in sympathy for his "dead" mother-in-law who is very much alive but not amused. When his boss discovers the deception, he fires Ambrose. The poor man returns home to face the cold stares of his wife's family. They goad and harass him until he can stand no more: when brother-in-law insults his daughter, Ambrose punches him out (a scene that always results in audience cheers) and tells everyone else where to go. Soon after, his anxious ex-boss calls up; only Ambrose can decipher the important messages left behind on his cluttered desk, and would Ambrose like to come back to work? His loyal and loving daughter negotiates a hefty salary hike for Ambrose, and the film ends with Our Hero assuming his proper role as head of the household, with his obnoxious in-laws literally left out in the rain. An uproarious "worm turns" farce, Man on the Flying Trapeze was an expanded version of 1932 Mack Sennett two-reeler, Too Many Highballs, and a partial remake of Fields' own silent feature Running Wild (27). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi