Robert Milton Movies
Robert Milton, born Robert Davidor in Dinaburgh, Russia, gained his early experience in the New York theater where he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in many plays. He directed his first films in 1929 and remained in Hollywood to direct films through 1934. After that he resumed his work in New York. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
An amusing spoof of the good 'ole westerns back in the halcyon days when all the cliches were held up as icons, this parody by Hugh Wilson works best for savvy audiences. Rex O'Herlihan (Tom Berenger) is a singing cowboy with a wardrobe straight out of the Hollywood westerns of the '40s -- he worships his horse, and has a trusty sidekick too. Every town he wanders into has a sheriff on the dole, a shady cattle rancher, a prostitute with a heart of gold, an innocent young damsel, a town drunk, and the standard bad guys in black hats and long coats (Spaghetti-western style) who brutalize the poor sheep ranchers. After setting things straight in each identical town as he goes, Rex is beginning to feel like a re-run junky when he saunters into a town that is slightly different -- and the parodies continue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, G.W. Bailey, (more)
- 1952
The Las Vegas Story features two of Hollywood's most impressive physiques. Victor Mature stars as Dave Andrews, a policeman, while Jane Russell plays Linda, the love of his life. Assuming that Andrews has forgotten her, Linda marries Lloyd Rollins (Vincent Price) on the rebound. All three main characters are reunited in Las Vegas, where they become enmeshed in a robbery scheme that results in murder. Clearly inspired by Casablanca, the film even includes a philosophical piano player, portrayed by Hoagy Carmichael who also wrote the film's incidental songs. Though Las Vegas Story was largely scripted by Paul Jarrico, producer Howard Hughes refused to give Jarrico screen credit because of the latter's alleged pro-communist sympathies. Jarrico promptly sued Hughes and RKO, sparking one of the more famous cause celebres of the Blacklist era. As it turned out, nobody came out ahead with The Las Vegas Story: the film posted a loss of $600,000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Russell, Victor Mature, (more)
- 1934
In this romantic comedy, the king of Ruritania marries an impoverished commoner after he is exiled. Trouble shows up when the king must return to his country and marry an heiress. Fortunately, his first bride has fallen for an army officer and is happy to have her royal marriage annulled. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1934
That old theatrical war-horse Bella Donna (previously filmed in America by Alla Nazimova) was resurrected by Britain's Twickenham Studios in 1934. Conrad Veidt stars as sinister Egyptian Mahmoud Baroundi, who even before the film gets under way has left a long trail of ruined women behind him. His latest victim is American girl Mona Chepstow (Mary Ellis), whom Baroundi treats like dirt and makes her like it. The plot centers around a murder by poison, as evidenced by the film's deliberately exotic title. Critics in 1934 praised newcomer Mary Ellis for underplaying her role, but many film fans preferred Nazimova's arm-waving histrionics in the earlier version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Ellis, Conrad Veidt, (more)
- 1932
A starry-eyed girl marries an impoverished but talented young writer. Though easily frustrated and given to temperamental outbursts, the wife's presence soothes him and their marriage is happy. Then she gives birth to their daughter. The child grows up to be a mischief maker and this causes the break up of the marriage. Following the divorce, the woman marries a wealthy man. Many years pass before the former lovers meet again. With both in more stable circumstances, it doesn't take long for their old love to reemerge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Ann Harding, (more)
- 1931
The patience of a long-suffering wife is finally rewarded in this drama. The devoted wife has known that her husband has been having an affair for years but she has passively allowed it to continue, believing that eventually her husband will come back to her. Her belief is unshakable and when he asks for a divorce, she refuses to grant it causing him to leave her and move in with the other woman. She does allow him to visit the children, but when he comes, she treats him as a guest. Eventually, the mistress kills herself and the errant husband does indeed return to his patient wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clive Brook, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1931
Devotion is a stiff, static early talkie in which everybody speaks in stage British and suffers in dinner jackets. Ann Harding is desperately in love with London barrister Leslie Howard. To be nearer to him, she dons a disguise (wig and spectacles) and takes a job as the governess to Howard's son. Though Howard is lauded as brilliant, he's as dense as Lois Lane when it comes to penetrating a cheap pair of glasses. The plot begins to move (and about time!) when a wastrelly artist, played by Robert Williams, is successfully defended in court by Howard. Invited to the barrister's home, Williams goes on the make for Ms. Harding; only then does Howard acknowledge the fact that Our Heroine is alive. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Harding, Leslie Howard, (more)
- 1931
Philip Barry's wistful comedy You and I was brought to the screen by its original stage director Robert Milton. All it lacked was its original title; First National Pictures felt that The Bargain was a more saleable cognomen. Lewis Stone stars as a successful soapmaker who'd wanted to be a painter in his youth. Stone's son John Darrow likewise forsakes the world of art for the world of business. The frustrated Stone retires and tries to paint again, but he's lost the gift. He then determines that his son will not make the same mistakes that he had. The type-cast cast includes ingenue Evalyn Knapp, philosophical butler Charles Butterworth, and wise-cracking comedy relief Una Merkel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, Charles Butterworth, (more)
In this melodrama, a British aristocrat befriends a woman and hires her to begin distracting his son away from a conniving golddigger. She does, but finds herself falling in love with her titled boss instead. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1930
In this convoluted drama, the jolly painted face of a circus clown is but a mask for an avaricious, ruthlessly ambitious, and deceitful man. Hap is performing in small New Orleans clubs when he saves the life of the starving Gardino, a member of a distinguished family of European clowns. Though impoverished and unemployed, Gardino is determined to avoid the family slapstick and become a "serious" performer of high-class clowning. Hap suggests they team up, but thanks to Gardino's refusal to do slapstick, their act is a dud. Gardino leaves in a huff. Later Hap finds his former partner performing Hap's proposed act with a new partner. He is doing quite well, and when he sees Hap, Gardino apologizes and they again team up. This time Gardino insists on star billing. To make matters worse, he steals Hap's girl and they marry. The honeymoon is barely over before Gardino is playing around with other women and gambling away all of their money. After his latest affair goes bust, Gardino grows despondent and so walks into the sea, never looking back. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hal Skelly, William Powell, (more)
- 1930
This unusual supernatural drama, based on a 1924 Broadway stage hit, concerns a disparate group of people who find themselves sailing to an unknown destination on a ship constantly shrouded in fog. Tom Prior (Leslie Howard) discovers that he's travelling with his ex-boss Mr. Lingley (Montagu Love); Mrs. Cliveden-Banks (Alice Skipworth) chats with the steward Scrubby (Alec B. Francis); Mrs. Midget (Beryl Mercer) is curious about how her son is doing; and a young couple, Henry (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Ann (Helen Chandler), wonder if they'll be together forever. In time, the passengers slowly realize what's going on -- they're in limbo between this life and the next, and Thompson (Dudley Digges), the "examiner," is determining what will happen with them in the next world, except for Henry and Ann, who unsuccessfully committed suicide and now hover between life and death. Outward Bound was later remade as Between Two Worlds, and again as The Flight that Disappeared. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (more)
Ahead of its time for liberated thinking, this is still really just a classic romance with a love triangle thrown in on the side. While on a trip to Paris, a woman meets a man that makes her reconsider her marriage of convenience (she had married her boss to save him from his girlfriend!). ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Basil Rathbone, (more)
- 1929
Charming Sinners was a stilted adaptation of Somerset Maugham's play The Constant Wife. Robert Miles (Clive Brook) starts the ball rolling when he falls in love with Anne-Marie Whitley (Mary Nolan), the best friend of his own wife Kathryn (Ruth Chatterton). In retaliation, Kathryn begins a flirtation with her former boyfriend Karl Kraley (William Powell). After reels and reels of verbal fencing, the status quo is re-established, and Robert and Kathryn are reunited. So dour and restrained was Clive Brook's performance that one film critic pretended to mistake him for the family butler! Charming Sinners was also filmed in several foreign-language versions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1929
The early Paramount talkie The Dummy represented a collaboration of sorts between screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who adapted the play on which the film was based, and Mankiewicz' brother Joseph, who wrote the subtitles for the film's silent version. The title character is office-boy Barney, played by Mickey Bennett. Pretending to be a deaf-mute, Barney tries to trump his detective boss Walter Babbing (John Cromwell) by tracking down the person who kidnapped Peggy Meredith (Vondell Darr), the daughter of wealthy Agnes and Trumbull Meredith (Ruth Chatterton, Frederic March). The guilty party turns out to be Rose Gleason, played by ZaSu Pitts in a rare non-comic role. Previously filmed as a silent picture with Jack Pickford (Mary's brother) in the lead, The Dummy suffered from substandard sound reproduction, but like most 1929 "talkers" it was a big success. John Cromwell, the actor who plays "The Dummy's" boss, is better known for his directorial achievements; his son, James Cromwell, would earn an Oscar nomination for his performance in the 1995 fantasy Babe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Fredric March, (more)
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