Joseph Moncure March Movies

Yet another fast-paced western featuring the "Three Mesqueteers," pulp writer William Colt McDonald's trio of sagebrush heroes, Lone Star Raiders finds Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Bob Steele) and Lullaby Joslin (Rufe Davis) defending elderly rancher "Granny" Phelps (Sarah Padden) from greedy neighbor Henry Martin (George Douglas). Engaging in a bit of sabotage, the latter is hoping that "Granny" will lose a potentially valuable contract to supply horses for the cavalry. Wise to Martin's evil machinations, the Mesqueteers, aided by ranch foreman Cameron (John Elliott) and his daughter Linda (June Johnson), prevent the poisoning of the water trough. But our heroes soon find themselves falsely accused of killing Cameron and are thus prevented from participating in the Big Race that may determine "Granny's" future. The old lady, however, manages to break the trio out of jail in the nick of time and Cameron's real killer, Mason henchman Dixon (John Merton), is apprehended. Stony wins the race and "Granny" is rescued from financial ruin. Helmed by George Sherman, one of the best directors in the business, Lone Star Raiders moves at a typically fast clip and is constantly entertaining despite an overabundance of stock footage from earlier, more luxurious "Three Mesqueteers" entries. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The Refugee was the original release title for the offbeat John Wayne vehicle Three Faces West. Wayne, Sigrid Gurie and Charles Coburn are starred as John Philips, Leni Braun and Leni's father Dr. Braun, who like so many other victims of the Depression are forced to move bag and baggage from the Dust Bowl to the West Coast. A fugitive from fascist oppression in Austria, Dr. Braun hopes to carve out a new existence for himself and his daughter Leni by tilling the soil, but she is more interested in being reunited with her Austrian boyfriend Eric von Scherer (Varno) once she arrives in Oregon. In charge of the migration westward is John Phillips who loves Leni but keeps his feelings to himself. But when Leni discovers that her sweetheart has thoroughly embraced the Nazi cause, she finds solace in the arms of the faithful Phillips. Among the screenwriters of The Refugee was Samuel Ornitz, later one of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this cautionary tale from the late 1930s, a woman surgeon must rush to the hospital on her wedding anniversary to save a life. Her husband is quite upset and goes off to a party hosted by a seductive woman. He finds himself attracted to her and as his wife becomes increasingly involved in her career he succumbs to temptation. He then files for divorce. Not wanting to lose her family, the doctor abandons her career and begins working to reassemble her family. Their renewed bond is cemented when her daughter falls off a horse and is critically injured. While her husband flies their plane to a hospital, the doctor performs surgery upon her daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sarong-clad Dorothy Lamour made her Technicolor debut in this follow-up to her earlier starrer Jungle Princess. After crash-landing on a tropic isle, aviator Bob Mitchell (Ray Milland) and his mechanic Jimmy Wallace (Lynne Overman) make the acquaintance of the lovely Tura (Lamour). While Bob enthusiastically teaches Tura how to kiss, Jimmy tangles with comic-relief chimpanzee Gaga and playful tiger cub Meewa. The villain of the piece is megalomanic witch doctor Kuasa (J. Carroll Naish), who hypnotizes Tura into assisting him with his periodic human sacrifices. Just as Bob, Jimmy and Tura are about to meet their doom at the hands of Kuasa, a timely volcanic eruption saves the day. Any hints of miscegenation (a big no-no for 1938 movie censors) are swept away when it is revealed that Tura is the daughter of white parents, enabling her to find connubial bliss in the arms of Bob. In his autobiography, Ray Milland recalled the filming of Her Jungle Love in vivid detail, devoting special attention to the time that he relieved himself during a swimming sequence ("No wonder the water was so warm" was Dorothy Lamour's only comment). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

And Sudden Death was inspired by a Reader's Digest article by Theodore Reeves, which later became one of the magazine's most oft-reprinted essays. The original was a Grand Guignol affair, cataloguing in grisly detail the consequences of reckless driving. The film version avoids this approach, opting instead for a plotline closely resembling Cecil B. DeMille's Manslaughter. Randolph Scott heads the cast as dedicated motor policeman James Knox, who sees to it that Betty Winslow (Frances Drake) is sent to jail for vehicular homicide. But there's something about the case that's not quite right, so Knox conducts an investigation of his own. Sure enough, he finally discovers that Betty was actually taking the rap for her alcoholic younger brother Jackie (Tom Brown). Only by making the supreme sacrifice is Jackie able to absolve himself of his sins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a fighter's fiancee refuses to marry him until he can overcome his insane jealousy. He does and they marry. The jealousy resurfaces when he finds his wife and her boss in a hotel room. He goes mad with rage and kills her boss. His wife is blamed for the killing. Just before the verdict is announced, the guilt-ridden man confesses and himself receives the death-penalty. Time passes and his finally hour arrives. He asks the attending priest to offer him a 10-count. Just as the priest hits nine, his voice becomes that of a referee and the boxer is seen slowly awakening from being knocked on conscious during a fight. The whole story was but a dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

While crossing the Atlantic aboard a luxury liner, a radio troupe (led by Jack Benny) becomes involved in a murder mystery among a buffet of romance, music, trickery and blackmail--ornamented with a few musical numbers. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Clara Bow, the saucy "It" girl of the silent screen, made her film farewell in the ragged musical drama Hoopla. Based on the stage play The Barker (previously filmed in 1927), the story takes place during the Chicago World's Fair of 1933. Bow plays Lou, a hootchy-kootchy dancer who is catapulted into stardom by fast-talking barker Nifty (Preston S. Foster). Hoping to escape her tawdry existence, Lou makes a play for handsome young naif Chris (Richard Cromwell), but by film's end she has bowed to the inevitable and returns to the sort of work she knows best. Despite excellent production values and a big-time promotional campaign, Hoopla was a bomb, convincing the ever-insecure Clara Bow to retire to private life as the wife of cowboy star and future Nevada politician Rex Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This adaptation of the Puccini opera jettisons all the music and retains only David Belasco's timeworn libretto. American actress Sylvia Sidney plays Japanese maiden Cio-Cio San, while Cary Grant is the dashing American navy lieutenant Pinkerton. The girl and the officer have a brief affair, resulting in a child. Cio-Cio San blissfully awaits the return of Pinkerton, who arrives back in Japan with his American wife in tow. The heartbroken Japanese girl bids farewell to her callous lover, then commits hara-kiri. The absence of Puccini's brilliant music makes the plot contrivances of Madame Butterfly seem creakier than ever, though Sylvia Sidney--in real life a New York Jewish girl-- is moderately convincing as the Oriental heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

R.C. Sherriff's forceful drama about men at war, a long running hit in London as well as New York, is brought to the screen in this film adaptation. Capt. Denis Stanhope (Colin Clive) is the commander of a military unit during World War I; constantly bombarded by enemy fire and hemmed in by his superiors, Stanhope no longer believes in the cause for which he fights, and is despondent over the thought he is sending young men to a pointless death. Depressed, Stanhope has turned to drink, and often squabbles with Lt. Osborne (Ian MacLaren), his second-in-command, as well as berating nd Lt. Raleigh (David Manners), whose sister is Stanhope's beloved. As his confidence begins to collapse, Stanhope believes he has lost the respect of his men, until he secretly obtains a letter Raleigh is writing to his sister. Journey's End was the first major success for director James Whale; he soon signed a deal to work in the United States, and he cast his Journey's End leading man, Colin Clive, in one of his first American projects, Frankenstein. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

No one was surprised in 1929 that aviation mogul Howard R. Hughes would produce a paean to World War I flying aces like Hell's Angels. Given Hughes' comparative inexperience as a moviemaker, however, everyone was taken slightly aback that the finished film was as good as it was. The very American Ben Lyon and James Hall play (respectively) Monte and Roy Rutledge, a couple of British brothers who drop out of Oxford to join the British Royal Flying Corps. Several early scenes establish Lyon and Hall's romantic rivalry over two-timing socialite Helen (Jean Harlow). While flying a dangerous bombing mission over Germany, the brothers are shot down. The commandant (Lucien Prival), who'd earlier been cuckolded by one of the brothers, savors his opportunity for revenge. He offers the boys their freedom if they'll reveal the time of the next British attack; if they don't cooperate, they face unspeakable consequences. Roy, driven mad by his combat experiences, is about to tell all when he is shot and killed by Monte. The latter is himself condemned to a firing squad by the disgruntled commandant -- who, it is implied, will soon meet his own doom at the hands of the British bombers. Nobody really cares about this hoary old plot, however; Hell's Angels culls most of its strength from its crackerjack aerial sequences. The highlight is a Zeppelin raid over London, one of the most hauntingly effective sequences ever put on film. From the first ghost-like appearance of the Zeppelin breaking through the clouds, to the self-sacrificing behavior of the German crew members as they jump to their deaths rather than provide "excess weight," this is a scene that lingers in the memory far longer than all that good-of-the-service nonsense in the finale. Also worth noting is the star-making appearance of Jean Harlow. When Hell's Angels was begun as a silent film, Norwegian actress Greta Nissen played the female lead. During the switchover to sound, producer Hughes decided that her accent was at odds with her characterization, so he reshot her scenes with his latest discovery, Harlow. While she appears awkward in some of her scenes, there's no clumsiness whatsoever in her delivery of the classic line about slipping into "something more comfortable." Originally, Marshall Neilan was signed to direct the film, but became so rattled by Howard Hughes' interference that he handed the reins to Hughes himself, who was in turn given an uncredited assist by Luther Reed. Also ignored in the film's credits are the dialogue contributions by future Frankenstein director James Whale, who'd been hired as the film's English-dialect coach. Modern audiences expecting a musty museum piece are generally surprised by Hell's Angels' high entertainment content: they are also startled by the pre-code frankness of the dialogue, with phrases like "The hell with you" bandied about with reckless abandon. In recent years, archivists have restored the film's two-color Technicolor sequence, providing us with our only color glimpses of the radiant Jean Harlow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi