Bruce Mitchell Movies
H. Bruce Mitchell entered films as a director in 1912. By the time talkies came in, Mitchell's directorial career had eclipsed. Dropping the "H" from his name, he launched his acting career with 1932's Airmail Mystery. For the next decade, Bruce Mitchell essayed numerous bit roles, usually as cops and desk sergeants, with the occasional larger role in serials and "B"-westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1941
Celebrity fan-dancer Sally Rand, the undraped sensation of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, was the star of the 1938 Grand National production The Sunset Murder Case. Borrowing a page from the Bob Steele westerns, La Rand is cast as a nightclub dancer who hopes to avenge her father's murderer. She gets a job in the establishment run by the man she holds responsible for the killing, maintaining a harmless front by performing a nightly exotic dance (which by 1990s standards is about as erotic as a plastic shower curtain). In his first leading role, Reed Hadley plays the hero who rescues Sally in the nick of time, while Henry King's orchestra provides the music. In perpetual reissue well into the 1940s and 1950s (this synopsis is based on its 1941 re-release), Sunset Murder Case was sometimes retitled The Sunset Strip Case on the grind-house circuit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Rand, Reed Hadley, (more)
- 1940
Retired frontier postal inspector Dan Clark (George O'Brien) is summoned back to active duty when the stagecoach line owned by heroine Crinnie (Virginia Vale) is targetted by outlaws. The perpetrator of this outrage is Crinnie's own uncle (Carl Stockdale), in cahoots with her principal rival Dude Elliot (Roy Barcroft). Travelling incognito, Clark takes a job as stagecoach driver in hopes of bringing the criminals out in the open. Stage to Chino represented the directorial debut of Edward Killy, one of the most prolific members of RKO Radio's assistant-director staff. At the time of its release, much was made of the fact that the film featured several former silent-film luminaries in the supporting cast, including Elmo "Tarzan" Lincoln, Billy Franey and Bruce Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, (more)
- 1940
- NR
In 1940, MGM turned out two films on the life of Thomas Alva Edison.The first, Young Tom Edison, starred Mickey Rooney and trotted out all the old Edison folklore, including the now-discredited incident in which Tom loses his hearing by being yanked onto a train by his ears. Edison the Man, starring Spencer Tracy in the title role, downplays certain inconvenient facts (including Edison's strong-arm tactics to protect his patents), but adheres more closely to actual events than its predecessor. The story concentrates on Edison's most productive years, from 1872 to 1882 (surprisingly ignoring his role in the development of the motion picture!) The inventions invented herein include the ticker-tape machine, the phonograph, the Dictaphone, and of course the electric light. Gene Lockhart is on hand to once more perform his movie specialty of the blinkered financier who can see no future in Edison's crazy schemes. The film tries to stir up suspense by giving Edison only six months to complete his dream of illuminating the streets of New York, lest he lose the contract--and, by extension, his credibility. While Young Tom Edison had unexpectedly lost money, Edison the Man was a success; as for Spencer Tracy, he was a versatile enough actor to escape the fate of poor Don Ameche, who was forever and inextricably associated with his portrayal of Alexander Graham Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, (more)
Director Rouben Mamoulian often claimed that he'd been inspired to make Golden Boy after reading a newspaper clipping about a recently deceased boxer. While Mamoulian may have genuinely believed that he was the true "auteur" of Golden Boy, he probably wouldn't have made the picture at all had not Clifford Odets started the ball rolling by writing the property for the stage in 1936. In his first starring role, William Holden plays Joe Bonaparte, a promising young boxer. While boxing promoter Tom Moody (Adolphe Menjou) and Menjou's mistress Lorna Moon (Barbara Stanwyck) urge Joe to pursue a ring career, Joe's Italian father (played with a surfeit of Chico Marx by 27-year-old Lee J. Cobb) wants his boy to become a famous violinist. Moody tells Lorna to romance the boy to get him into the ring. She does so, but regrets her callous actions when she genuinely falls in love with Joe. Having already broken his father's heart, Joe is further devastated when he accidentally kills a ring opponent. In the original play, both Joe and Lorna pay for their "sins" by dying in an auto accident. This would never do in Hollywood, so at fadeout time the chastened Joe returns to his forgiving father, with a tearful Lorna by his side. Clifford Odets' overrated purple prose seems to flow naturally from the actors, though it is obvious that William Holden had a long way to go. Still, Holden is pretty good in his first bonafide lead, a fact that he would ever after attribute to the patience and encouragement of his co-star Barbara Stanwyck; each year on the anniversary of Golden Boy's Hollywood premiere, Holden would send Stanwyck flowers as a sign of his eternal gratitude. While much of Golden Boy seems like a cliche-ridden museum piece when seen today, the film comes to life during the boxing sequences, helmed in exciting montage fashion by the always innovative Rouben Mamoulien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, (more)
- 1939
The Tex Ritter Monogram Westerns had a change of directors with Riders of the Frontier, Spencer Gordon Bennet having replaced Al Herman. But that was really the only difference between this entry and the previous seven. Ritter impersonated a notorious outlaw in order to infiltrate the gang that is slowly poisoning Sarah, the owner of the Rancho Grande (Marin Sais). The situation becomes a bit tricky when the real outlaw (Roy Barcroft) suddenly appears, but Tex and the the marshal manage to bring the guilty parties to justice and rescue poor Sarah within the allotted six reels. The music interludes were kept to a minimum this time, Ritter warbling only Rose of My Dreams and Ridin' Down to Town, both by house composer Frank Harford. Jean Joyce added a bit of romantic interest as Sarah's nurse, with Hal Taliaferro (formerly Wally Wales joining Jack Rutherford and the always watchable Roy Barcroft on the opposing side. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tex Ritter, Jack Rutherford, (more)
- 1939
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The last of RKO's Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicles, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is also the least typical. At their best playing carefree characters in gossamer-thin musical comedy plotlines, Fred and Ginger seem slightly ill at ease cast as the real-life dancing team of Vernon and Irene Castle. The stripped-to-essentials storyline boils down to novice dancer Irene (Rogers) convincing vaudeville comic Vernon (Astaire) to give up slapstick in favor of "classy" ballroom dancing. With the help of agent Edna May Oliver, the Castles hit their peak of fame and fortune in the immediate pre-World War I years. When Vernon is called to arms, Irene stays behind in the US, making patriotic movie serials to aid the war effort. Vernon is killed in a training accident, leaving a tearful Irene to carry on alone. To soften the shock of Astaire's on-screen death (it still packs a jolt when seen today), RKO inserted a closing "dream" dancing sequence, with a spectral Vernon and Irene waltzing off into the heavens. The film's production was hampered by the on-set presence of the real Irene Castle, whose insistence upon accuracy at all costs drove everyone to distraction--especially Ginger Rogers, who felt as though she was being treated like a marionette rather than an actress. In one respect, Mrs. Castle had good reason to be so autocratic. Walter, the "severest critic servant" character played by Walter Brennan, was in reality a black man. RKO was nervous about depicting a strong, equal-footing friendship between the white Castles and their black retainer, so a Caucasian actor was hired for the role. Mrs. Castle was understandably incensed by this alteration, and for the rest of her days chastised RKO for its cowardice. As it turned out, it probably wouldn't have mattered if Walter had been black, white, Chicano or Siamese; The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle was a financial bust, losing $50,000 at the box office. Perhaps as a result, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would not team up again for another ten years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, (more)
- 1939
Originally filmed in Sepiatone, Let Freedom Ring is a satisfying Nelson Eddy musical with patriotic overtones. Set in the years following the Civil War, the story focuses on the battle of wills between Harvard-educated idealist Steve Logan (Eddy) and bullying railroad magnate Jim Knox (Edward Arnold). Launching a newspaper aimed at combatting Knox's engulf-and-devour tactics (could the villain be intended as a frontier Hitler?) Logan is disowned by his wealthy family and frozen out by his society friends. But with the help of woman-of-the-people Maggie Adams (Virginia Bruce), Logan sticks to his guns and perserveres. Let Freedom Ring goes out of its way to erase Eddy's "Singing Capon" image by having him engage in as much virile physical activity as possible, including a well-staged fistic bout with the gargantuan Victor McLaglen. Fey comedy relief is provided by Charles Butterworth, who does the most with the least material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1939
Anna May Wong and J. Carroll Naish, so memorably teamed in Paramount's Dangerous to Know, are costarred once more in Island of Lost Men. Naish plays ruthless jungle plantation owner Gregory Prin, who runs his domain like a dictatorship and treats his workers little better than slaves. Into Prin's world comes Kim Ling (Wong), daughter of a disgraced Chinese general. Kim Ling hopes to clear her father's name by bringing his primary accuser, Prin, to justice. The native-uprising finale is rendered in gloriously gruesome detail. A remake of the 1931 Charles Laughton-Carole Lombard starrer White Woman, Island of Lost Men also offers early but well-rounded performances by Anthony Quinn (as a Chinese patriot!) and Broderick Crawford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna May Wong, J. Carrol Naish, (more)
- 1939
A Bar-20 cattle drive ends in rustling in this fine Hopalong Cassidy Western from producer Harry Sherman. Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes) makes the mistake of accusing the buyer, Lazy-J owner Tom Hamilton (Frederick Burton), of the theft, but Lucky (Russell Hayden) suspects the foreman Dave Talbot (Stanley Ridges). Hamilton is murdered, however, and Talbot has the perfect alibi: He was playing cards at the Mirage Bar where Hoppy (William Boyd) had gotten himself a job under the guise of being the noted gambler Bill Thompson. With Talbot not able to be in two places at the same time, the marshal (Jack Rockwell) has no choice but to arrest Lucky for murder. Silver on the Sage was Hopalong Cassidy series entry number 25. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1938
A woman is brutally strangled and her body stuffed into a suitcase in this otherwise rather frivolous low-budget thriller. The unfortunate woman is one Myra Duryea (Polly Ann Young), who has discovered that her husband Clark (Theodore von Eltz) and his equally unsavory brother Victor (Edward Emerson) are not the law-abiding jewelry salesmen they present themselves to be, but a couple of crooks. Arriving in San Francisco on the very day of the murder, Myra's sister, Gloria Watkins (Elaine Shepard), is told by Clark that his wife simply upped and left. Gloria's new friend, police officer turned cab driver Eddie Barton (Norman Foster), smells a rat, however, and begins an investigation. In desperation, Clark and Victor frame the nosy cabby in their next heist but Eddie manages to elude the law long enough to rescue an imperiled Gloria and bring the thieves to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Foster, Elaine Shepard, (more)
Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's whimsical Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play You Can't Take It With You was transformed into a paean to populism by director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin. This is the story of the zany Sycamore household, presided over by Grandpa Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore), a former businessman who has turned his back on commerce to enjoy life. At the Sycamores', everyone does just what he or she pleases. Penny Sycamore (Spring Byington), Grandpa's daughter, has become a novelist because someone delivered a typewriter to her home by mistake. Penny's husband makes firecrackers in his basement with the help of Mr. DePinna (Halliwell Hobbes), an iceman who showed up at the Sycamore doorstep one day and never left. Their daughter, Essie (Ann Miller), imagines that she's a prima ballerina, even though her dour teacher, Boris (Mischa Auer), assesses her work with, "Confidentially, it steenks!" Essie's husband, Ed (Dub Taylor), who'd rather play a xylophone than work, spends his free time selling Essie's candy, wrapping each package in paper from a used printing press that dispenses anarchistic slogans. The one normal member of the household is Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), in love with wealthy Tony Kirby (James Stewart).
Naturally, when the stuffy, aristocratic Kirbys come to the Sycamores' for dinner, the event is a disaster, capped with the arrest of everyone in the household. Hart and Kaufman's third act found the previously judgmental Kirby softening his attitude toward the freewheeling Sycamore clan, admitting that he's never had so much fun in his life. Screenwriter Riskin altered the focus of the play by throwing out the third act and concentrating upon Tony Kirby's father, Kirby Sr., who as played by Edward Arnold is transformed from a stock stuffed shirt into a ruthless, grasping tycoon, eager to buy up every house on the Sycamores' block to make room for a munitions plant. The film thus became the story of Kirby's regeneration at the hands of the carefree Sycamores. Enough of the play's screwball elements are retained to compensate for Riskin's speechifying and plot distortions (though the softening of one of the play's vital ingredients, Grandpa's refusal to pay his income tax, borders on the sacrilegious). You Can't Take It With You earned several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Capra's third Oscar). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Naturally, when the stuffy, aristocratic Kirbys come to the Sycamores' for dinner, the event is a disaster, capped with the arrest of everyone in the household. Hart and Kaufman's third act found the previously judgmental Kirby softening his attitude toward the freewheeling Sycamore clan, admitting that he's never had so much fun in his life. Screenwriter Riskin altered the focus of the play by throwing out the third act and concentrating upon Tony Kirby's father, Kirby Sr., who as played by Edward Arnold is transformed from a stock stuffed shirt into a ruthless, grasping tycoon, eager to buy up every house on the Sycamores' block to make room for a munitions plant. The film thus became the story of Kirby's regeneration at the hands of the carefree Sycamores. Enough of the play's screwball elements are retained to compensate for Riskin's speechifying and plot distortions (though the softening of one of the play's vital ingredients, Grandpa's refusal to pay his income tax, borders on the sacrilegious). You Can't Take It With You earned several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Capra's third Oscar). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
Edward G. Robinson shines in a fine comic role as Dr. Clitterhouse, a brilliant psychiatrist doing research into the criminal mind. The good doctor wants to gain a clearer understanding of how a thief feels when he's in the midst of a robbery, so strictly for academic purposes he tries to crack a safe at a high society party to which he's been invited. While trying to get rid of the jewels he swiped in the course of this experiment, Clitterhouse makes the acquaintance of "Rocks" Valentine (Humphrey Bogart), the tough-as-nails leader of a group of professional thieves. Clitterhouse is fascinated by Valentine and discovers that he enjoys committing robberies, so he joins forces with Valentine's gang and uses his superior intellect to mastermind a series of daring and profitable heists. Clitterhouse is also beguiled by Jo Keller (Claire Trevor), a beautiful dame who fences stolen gems. But Valentine doesn't appreciate how Dr. Clitterhouse has worked his way into the gang, and he is soon looking for an opportunity to get him out of the picture. The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse was co-written by John Huston and features several key members of the Warner Brothers stock company in supporting roles, including Allen Jenkins and Donald Crisp. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1938
Contrary to popular belief, the Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald Technicolor confection Sweethearts is not based on the 1913 Victor Herbert operetta of the same name (though most of Herbert's songs remain intact), but a Dorothy Parker-Alan Campbell brainstorm about a popular Broadway singing duo, starring in a long-running production of Sweethearts. The early portions of the film take place during a purported presentation of the Herbert piece, with Eddy and MacDonald singing their hearts out and Ray Bolger providing comic relief. We then segue into a long sequence wherein producer Frank Morgan, celebrating Sweethearts's six-year run, insists that Eddy and MacDonald attend a lavish party, where the weary performers are called upon to continue singing throughout the evening. Hoping for a few moments alone after escaping the party, Eddy and MacDonald are besieged at their apartment by friends, co-workers, hangers-on and sponging relatives. Seeking peace and quiet, the couple agrees to leave Sweethearts for the comparative calm of Hollywood. But their entourage, fearing that they'll lose their meal ticket if Eddy and MacDonald leave New York, arrange to inaugurate two profitable road companies of Sweethearts by contriving to split up the loving couple. Cleverly sidestepping the sugary sweet sentimentality that one might expect from an MGM musical of the era, the delightful Sweethearts is hampered only by its overlength. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, (more)
- 1938
Bar 20 Justice is the 16th entry in the durable "Hopalong Cassidy" western series. As ever, William Boyd stars as Hoppy, this time teamed with Windy Halliday (Gabby Hayes) and Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden). On this occasion, our heroes take on a bunch of crooks who've taken over a mining concern. In order to capture the criminal responsible for murdering the husband of heroine Ann Dennis (Gwen Gaze), Hoppy is obliged to head deep, deep, deep into a forbidding mineshaft. The excitement level of the closing scenes is enhanced by an intricate musical score. The bad-guy lineup on this occasion includes the swarthy Walter Long and the outwardly respectable Pat O'Brien. Bar 20 Justice was directed by Lesley Selander, who would eventually helm 27 of the 66 "Cassidy" films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1938
Sometimes mistakenly referred to as Bride of the West, this superior "Hopalong Cassidy" entry packs every conceivable ingredient for surefire entertainment into its 55 minute. Hoppy (William Boyd) plays it cool as he seeks out a stagecoach robber. Once he's determined who the guilty party is, Hoppy and his saddle pals Windy Halliday (George-not yet "Gabby Hayes) and Lucky Jenkins (Russell Hayden) swing into action. The script is by Nate Watt, a former director who knew his onions so far as nonstop action was concerned. Pride of the West was the 17th installment in the Hopalong Cassidy series, and there was more where that came from. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1938
Harold Lloyd plays a professor of Egyptology, frightened by the notion that he has fallen under an ancient Egyptian curse. Lloyd has the opportunity to join an archeological expedition to search for a missing tablet that will determine his fate, but he has to travel from Los Angeles to New York before the party sails to Egypt. Alas, Lloyd is also required to appear in court to answer charges of "indecent exposure" (it's a long story). The rest of the film is a frantic chase with the authorities pursuing the fugitive professor across the country, highlighted by a daredevil sequence atop a moving train. Most of the individual gags are funny, but Professor Beware is several notches below the standard set by Harold Lloyd's silent films. The lukewarm boxoffice response to this film would convince Lloyd that he should retire from performing--which he did, returning to the screen only for 1947's Sins of Harold Diddlebock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Welch, Raymond Walburn, (more)
- 1938
The oft-filmed Zane Grey story The Mysterious Rider was given another go-round by Paramount Pictures in 1938. Produced by Harry Sherman of "Hopalong Cassidy" fame, the film bestows top billing upon stalwart supporting actor Douglass Dumbrille. Usually cast as a villain, Dumbrille is here seen in a sympathetic role as "good bad man" Pecos Bill, who turned to a life of crime after being falsely accused of murder. In the company of his comic sidekick Frosty (Sidney Toler), Pecos chances arrest by returning to his home town to visit his grown daughter Collie (Charlotte Field). He discovers that Collie is about to enter into a loveless marriage Jack (Weldon Heyburn), the shiftless son of Pecos' former foreman Bellounds (Stanley Andrews), who seems to be in cahoots with an cattle-rustling gang headed by Folsom (Monte Blue). In rapid succession, Pecos ends Folsom's criminal activities, clears the name of his old friend Bellounds, and plays matchmaker for Collie and the boy she really cares about, young Wils (Russell Hayden). To long and expensive to qualify as a mere B picture, Mysterious Rider is one of the best of Paramount's late-1930s "Zane Grey" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas Dumbrille, Sidney Toler, (more)
- 1937
Marked Woman was the most famous of the late-1930s films based on New York DA Thomas Dewey's attack on vice lord Lucky Luciano; Paid to Dance was among the least famous. All-purpose Columbia leading lady Jacqueline Wells plays Joan Bradley, a long-suffering hoofer in the seedy dime-a-dance joint controlled by racketeer Jack Miranda (Arthur Loft). Like her fellow "hostesses," Joan is expected to clip the customers for their bankrolls -- and, it is implied, offer their bodies as well as their terpsichorean skills (though we're assured that Joan is still pure of heart and every other portion of her anatomy). Crusading detective William Dennis (Don Terry) vows to save Joan and her ilk from Miranda's clutches, but it takes plenty of brains and muscle to topple the villain's criminal empire. Billed last, Ralph "Dick Tracy" Byrd has a marvelous moment when he takes on two hoodlums at once -- and wins! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Terry, Jacqueline Wells, (more)
- 1937
Cowboy star Kermit Maynard's series for Ambassador Films was evenly divided between Northwest-Mountie adventures and traditional westerns. Firmly ensconced in the latter category is The Fighting Texan, with Maynard cast as strong silent frontiersman Glenn. Riding into the middle of a range war, Glenn rises to the defense of cattle rancher Walton (Frank LaRue) when the latter is framed for murder. Our hero is nearly gunned down himself by the minions of all-around villain Hadley (Ed Cassidy) before he's able to prove Walton's innocence. The heroine in The Fighting Texan is played by Elaine Shepard, who later abandoned hoss operas to become an international newspaper correspondent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kermit Maynard, Elaine Shepard, (more)
- 1937
Filmed on a budget of about 78 cents, High Hat was a foredoomed attempt to turn radio singer Frank Luther into a movie star. Luther struggles manfully in the role of Suwanee Collier, the boyfriend and mentor of aspiring vocalist Elanda Lee (Dorothy Dare). A classical singer, Elanda refuses to lower herself to perform "swing" music until Collier shows her the way. Such reliable character actors as Franklin Pangborn, Gavin Gordon, Robert Warwick, Esther Muir and Clarence Muse go a long way to relieve the overall tedium. High Hat was distributed on a states-rights basis by Imperial Films, a fly-by-night firm best known for the Bela Lugosi epic Murder by Television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Luther, Dorothy Dare, (more)
- 1937
One of the better Pinky Tomlin vehicles for low-budget Ambassador films, With Love and Kisses casts the bespectacled crooner as Arkansas farm boy "Spec" Higgins. An acknowledged genius at composing hit tunes, Higgins works under a handicap: he can only write his ditties in the company of his pet cow Minnie. Unwilling to head to the big city, our hero is forced to do so when radio crooner Don Gray (Kane Richmond) claims authorship of one of Higgin's best songs. The irresistibly cute Toby Wing (then Tomlin's off-screen sweetie) is delightful as female vocalist Barbara Holbrook, while inimitable movie drunk Arthur Housman essays one of his largest screen roles as an imbibing radio sponsor with a very selective memory (shades of the inebriated millionaire in Chaplin's City Lights). Among the screenwriters for With Love and Kisses was a young Morey Amsterdam. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kane Richmond, Russell Hopton, (more)
- 1937
Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, came up with the story upon which The Emperor's Candlesticks was based. As in Pimpernel, the theme is international intrigue, but this time the setting is pre-World War One Europe and Russia rather than Revolutionary France. William Powell and Luise Rainer are spies working for opposing empires (Russian and Austrian) who travel undetected amidst the Nobility while plotting their plots. As they waltz about various ballrooms dressed to the nines, they fall in love--resulting in wavering loyalties for both. Emperor's Candlesticks is stronger on decor than on plot, with the talented Luise Rainer once more ill-used by Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Luise Rainer, (more)
Paradise Express is Grand Hotel out of Twentieth Century, fresh from the Republic Studio breeding farms. The titular express is a small-time freight service, struggling for survival against a larger, more streamlined rail company. Faced with bankruptcy, the owners of the underdog railroad challenge their competitors to a race, winner take all. Handsome Larry Doyle (Grant Withers) mans the controls of the Paradise Express, bearing a collection of familiar movie stereotypes. Featured in the cast is harmonica virtuoso Bob McClung, who earlier in 1937 provided off-screen assistance to Laurel and Hardy's "harmonica challenge" scene in Hal Roach's Pick a Star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grant Withers, Dorothy Appleby, (more)
- 1937
Slightly reminiscent of Frank Capra's Platinum Blonde (31), this screwball comedy features those two stalwarts of 1930s comedies: The brash reporter and the giddy heiress. Tyrone Power is the reporter, who makes his living writing about the foibles of the idle rich. His special target is heiress Loretta Young, the daughter of an influential financier (Dudley Digges). Young gets even by announcing her engagement to Power; now it's his turn to have his every movement scrutinized by the Public. Both reporter and heiress connive to embarrass one another, but (as expected) they're headed for the altar at fadeout time. Love is News was remade in 1949 as That Wonderful Urge, with Tyrone Power reprising his role and Gene Tierney in the Loretta Young part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1937
Gene Autry is the star (but not the title character) of Oh, Susanna!, a Republic musical western. What plot there is consists of Autry running afoul of masked robbers. Thrown from a speeding train, Autry is rescued by comedy relief Smiley Burnette and grizzled Earle Hodgins. Autry takes a few more singing breaks, then brings the robbers to justice. A 1951 William Elliott western, also titled Oh, Susanna! is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
