Vincent Lawrence Movies

Usually associated with erudite, urbane comedies, the legendary screen team of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy goes intensely dramatic in the expensive western Sea of Grass. Tracy plays cattle baron Colonel James Brewton, who staunchly opposes opening the western frontier to homesteaders. Standing steadfastly beside Brewton-at least at the beginning--is his headstrong wife Lutie (Hepburn). Eventually disillusioned by the stern implacability of her husband, Lutie leaves Brewton and goes off to Denver, where she falls in love with liberal attorney Brice Chamberlain (Melvyn Douglas), the champion of the homesteaders' cause. Upon giving birth to Chamberlain's son, Lutie confesses her indiscretion to Brewton, who takes the news with commendable restraint, even offering to accept the baby as his own. Unfortunately, the Brewtons' standing in the community is weakened by the revelation of Lutie's infidelity, causing her to leave her husband for a second time. Years later, Lutie's grown-up boy Brock (Robert Walker) drifts to the wrong side of the law, leading to his death at the hands of a posse. Though it hardly seems possible under the circumstances, Brewton and Lutie are at long last reconciled through the intervention of their daughter Sara Beth (Phyllis Thaxter). Elaborately produced in the traditional MGM manner and adroitly directed by Elia Kazan, Sea of Grass is still one of the lesser Tracy-Hepburns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Maybe Errol Flynn was never the war hero that he often played, but he was a capable boxer, and Gentleman Jim makes full use of this skill. Flynn stars as Jim Corbett, the 19th-century American pugilist who introduced "scientific" methods to bare-knuckle boxing. Originally an office clerk, Corbett is introduced to the then-illegal sport of fighting when one of the bank executives sponsors the young man's training at the Olympic Club. His arrogance wins Corbett a few enemies, including high-born lady Victoria Ware (Alexis Smith), whose dislike turns to casual affection when she realizes that Corbett is a sincere young fellow who can back up his boasts. What "Gentleman Jim" desires most in life is a match with reigning heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan (Ward Bond). Corbett and Sullivan finally meet in a bout governed by those new Marquis of Queensbury rules that Corbett has helped popularize. Twenty-one epoch-making rounds later, Corbett emerges victorious. At the victory celebration, Sullivan and Corbett graciously exchange mutual words of respect and affection. At this point, Corbett has totally won over the lovely Victoria -- but hasn't quite convinced his brawling brothers that "scientific" boxing is the wave of the future, and the film ends with a typical Raoul Walsh-directed battle royal. More faithful to the facts than most Errol Flynn biopics (but still with enough poetic license to drive historical purists up a wall), Gentleman Jim is broad, boisterous entertainment. Though it looks expensive, the film was made under Warner Bros.' standard pinchpenny restrictions; if you look closely at that moored ship where Corbett has one of his first professional fights, you'll notice that it's a leftover set from the 1940 Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's third follow-up to its landmark Broadway Melody is short on story, but that's okay, since the plot is merely a clothesline upon which to hang sleek and opulent musical production numbers by Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell -- particularly a breathless and eye-popping gloriously black-and-white six-minute tap dance finale between Astaire and Powell to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." The tale itself is a typical backstage contrivance: Johnny Brett (Fred Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy) are a couple of hoofers working in a dance hall for peanuts. Due to mistaken identity, King gets tapped for the lead in a Broadway show opposite big star Clare Bennett (Eleanor Powell) rather than Johnny. But when King drowns his trouble in booze on opening night, Johnny covers for him, taking his place in the show. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Test Pilot is one of those irresistible MGM potboilers of the 1930s that coast along on sheer star power. Clark Gable plays a courageous test pilot, who compromises his achievements with his frequent bouts of drinking. Gable's mechanic, Spencer Tracy, does what he can to keep his boss out of trouble. While testing a new aircraft, Gable is forced to land on a Midwestern farm, where he meets and falls in love with Myrna Loy. Gable and Loy marry, whereupon he is fired by his boss Lionel Barrymore, who is of the opinion that flying and dames don't mix. Gable goes off on another bender, compelling Loy to leave him. Once more, Tracy comes to Gable's rescue by reuniting the couple and arranging for Barrymore to give Gable his job back. Later, Gable and Tracy are assigned to test a huge army bomber. Something goes wrong, and the plane goes into a dive. The self-sacrificing Tracy sees to it that Gable is saved from a flaming death--at the cost of his own life. Gable is so devastated by Tracy's death that it looks as though he'll never fly again. But with Loy's help, Gable regains his self-confidence. As one can see, there's little in Test Pilot that hasn't been done before. But with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy at the controls, the film proved a real audience-pleaser in 1938. In fact, it's still pretty good today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edward Arnold once again plays a self-made businessman who inadvertently engineers his own downfall in John Meade's Woman. Starting with a second-rate tree-cutting business, Meade rapidly becomes a powerful lumber tycoon, using underhanded methods to rise to the top and crushing anyone who gets in his way. He falls in love with Chicago socialite Caroline Haig (Gail Patrick), but she doesn't feel the same way; nevertheless, for business reasons she agrees to marry him. Feeling slighted, Meade jilts Caroline in favor of down-to-earth Teddy Connor (Francine Larrimore), whom he's picked up off the streets. Pretending to be in love with Teddy but secretly laughing at her behind her back, Meade gets his comeuppance when she leads a populist revolt against his attempts to corner the wheat market. Based on the exploits of several real-life "robber barons," John Meade's Women contains several scenes which eerily anticipate Orson Welles' Citizen Kane by nearly four years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"I'll See You in My Dreams" could well have been the theme music of Peter Ibbetson, the second film version of George du Maurier's 1891 novel. Peter Ibbetson (Gary Cooper) is an architect who, while working on a restoration job for the British Duke of Towers (John Halliday), discovers that The Duchess of Towers (Ann Harding) is actually Mary, his childhood sweetheart. The jealous duke pulls a gun on Ibbetson, but Peter kills him. He is sent to prison for life, certain that he'll never meet his Mary again. But both lovers are reunited in one another's dreams, which connect them spiritually. The years pass, but the aging Peter and Mary remain ever youthful in their dreams. Upon their deaths, they are reunited in the afterlife. Somehow this fragile fantasy works, thanks to the steady guiding hand of director Henry Hathaway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After nearly a decade of nominal "leading lady" roles, Carole Lombard landed her first genuine starring vehicle with Hands Across the Table. Reasoning that the way to a man's heart is through his cuticles, Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) takes a job as a manicurist at a fancy barbershop, unabashedly admitting that she hopes to use this position to snag a rich husband. Sure enough, Regi's charms prove irresistable to Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy) a wealthy and charming invalid, who knows that the girl is a golddigger but doesn't care. The other man in Regi's life is Theodore "Ted" Drew III (Fred MacMurray), who though born into a wealthy family is stone broke, and on the verge of marrying a rich debutante (Astrid Allwyn) to replenish his lost fortune. Hoping to briefly escape this fate and his other financial problems, Theodore hides out in Regi's apartment. It is, of course, a platonic relationship: Having been burned in the past, Regi doesn't want to get romantically entangled with a pauper, while Ted is already promised to someone else. But, as is often the case in 1930s comedies, things don't quite turn out the way that either Regi or Ted expect. Full of delightful, unexpected touches, Hands Across the Table proved to be a major boost for Carole Lombard's career, and didn't exactly do any harm to up-and-coming Fred MacMurray either. ~ 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

Ne'er-do-well Gary Cooper is so desperate for quick cash that he's willing to sell the custody rights of his own daughter (Shirley Temple), whom he's never seen. Cooper's girlfriend Carole Lombard is shocked by this callousness and walks out on him, but when Cooper meets his daughter and has a change of heart, he reclaims the little girl and is reunited with Lombard. Still, Cooper can't hold down a job. Another get-rich-quick scheme ends unhappily when Cooper is forced to participate in a jewel robbery. After fighting it out with his confederates, the wounded Cooper begs the victim of the robbery, a wealthy and loving woman, to adopt his daughter and give her the sort of life he is unable to provide. Now and Forever would have been mighty turgid stuff without the combined star power of Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and six-year-old Shirley Temple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

In one of his first starring roles, George Raft plays Joe Anton, a tough but basically decent speakeasy owner who falls in love with Park Avenue socialite Miss Healy (Constance Cummings). Hoping to come up to the girl's social level, Joe starts taking lessons in speech and behavior from haughty dowager Mrs. Jellyman (Alison Skipworth). What he doesn't know is that Miss Healy pays attention to him only because he's living in the posh apartment where her family had resided before the Stock Market crash. Even so, the girl genuine falls in love with Joe when it appears as though he's about to desert her in favor of his ex-flame Iris Dawn (Wynne Gibson). A dreary retread of stock movie-drama themes, Night After Night would be utterly forgotten today were it not for the presence of Mae West, making her film debut. A scant few seconds after her first appearance, the generously bejeweled West is accosted by a hatcheck girl who coos "Goodness, what lovely diamonds." Swivelling those famous hips, La West replies expansively "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." Commenting years later on Night After Night, George Raft, who suggested that Mae West be cast in the film, ruefully recalled "She stole everything but the cameras." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A well-meaning but dimwitted electrical worker-turned-lyricist Frederick Martin Stevens (Jack Oakie) arrives in New York determined to become a successful songwriter. He meets a nice girl , Edna Baker (Frances Dee), and a couple of bad ones, one of whom, Eileen Fletcher (June MacCloy), nearly marries him to snag the couple of thousand dollars he's come into. All the while, he tries to make songs out of some of the worst lyrics to be heard in many a year, to the exasperation of pianist/song-plugger Maxie (Harry Akst), who actually ends up feeling sympathy for the poor dope. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Based on a Mary Roberts Rinehart novel, I Take This Woman stars Carole Lombard as the spoiled daughter of a wealthy rancher. Lombard impulsively marries cowhand Gary Cooper, a poverty-stricken employee of her father. Cooper insists that they live on his income in a tiny shack; Lombard gives this new life a try, but eventually balks and walks. Cooper joins a travelling rodeo, and is badly hurt during a performance in New York--where Lombard is in the audience. Having eaten several slices of Humble Pie, Lombard rushes to her ex-husband's side, and all is well. I Take This Woman bears no relation to the 1940 Spencer Tracy/Hedy Lamarr soap opera of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide