John T. Neville Movies
The late American screenwriter John Thomas Neville should not be confused with contemporary British actor John Neville. From 1928 onward, John Thomas Neville scripted dozens of low-budget melodramas and Westerns. He spent much of his time at Columbia in the 1930s, then moved onward (if not upward) to Monogram. John Thomas Neville's best-known endeavor was the Bela Lugosi opus The Devil Bat (1940), remade under Neville's imprimatur as The Flying Serpent in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1927
Enchanted Island is more than a little beholden to Shakespeare's The Tempest. For 15 years, Tim Sanborn (H. B. Walthall) and his daughter Alice (Charlotte Stevens) have been happily marooned on a desert island. Suddenly, three shipwrecked strangers wash up on shore. Afraid that Alice will be compromised by the male mariners, Sanborn passes the girl off as a boy (now we're into Twelfth Night territory). The nicest of the castaways (Pierre Gendron) proves that his intentions are honorable, but there's a volcano to contend with before a happy (or at least satisfying) ending can be realized. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Stevens, Henry B. Walthall, (more)
- 1930
In this entry in the Lone Wolf series, the first to have a soundtrack, the jealousies of the King and the coquettish Queen are chronicled. When His Majesty learns that his wife has given the ring he gave to her to her lover, the King plans a large ball and demands the she wear the token. As her lover is a military attache, he is not in the palace, and the queen must send her lady-in-waiting to bring it back. En route, the lady meets a thief and they team up. She does not know that he has been dispatched by the King to steal ring from the attache. The King does not know that the thief is more loyal to the queen. The thief and the lady have several adventures before obtaining the ring and returning it to the Queen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Lytell, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1930
An early talkie from then-poverty row company Columbia Pictures, Brothers features popular silent screen actor Bert Lytell in a dual-role. Separated at birth, orphaned twins Bob and Eddie grow up on either side of the tracks, one adopted by a washerwoman (Jessie Arnold), the other by a wealthy attorney Naughton (Howard Hickman). Years later, Bob, now a successful but alcoholic attorney in his own right, kills the husband (Francis McDonald) of his mistress (Rita Carlyle) after an altercation in Oily Joe's Saloon. Unbeknownst to Bob, his long-lost twin Eddie works in the saloon and because of their resemblance, Eddie is accused of the crime. When Bob realizes the truth, he clears his brother's name and is institutionalized in a sanitarium. To shield his wife from this sad turn of events, Mr. Naughton persuades Eddie to take Bob's place in the household. He accepts and promptly falls in love with Norma (Dorothy Sebastian), Bob's fiancée. Deciding to leave for his brother's sake, Eddie learns of Bob's death in the sanitarium and declares his love for Norma. A stage matinee-idol who had made a striking screen debut as The Lone Wolf in 1917, Bert Lytell was really a bit too long in the tooth to play leading men at this stage of his career and left films in 1931 in favor of returning to the stage. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Lytell, Dorothy Sebastian, (more)
- 1931
In this crime drama, dedicated to the police forces of America, a gangster searches for his estranged son, also a gangster. Meanwhile a police captain searches for the gangsters who murdered his son. The gangster's crooked son, wanting to stay out of jail for killing the cop's son, offers to help the police catch his father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Carrillo, Noah Beery, Sr., (more)
- 1931
Set in the Mississippi Valley, The Flood spends the bulk of its running time concentrating on a romantic triangle. Heroine Eleanor Boardman is married to William V. Vong, but she's in love with muscular Monte Blue. Only the titular deluge, brought about by a bursting dam, solves this domestic dilemma. The climactic flood sequences are a bit disappointing, especially after the dialogue has raised audience expectations to a fever pitch. Silent-picture leading man Monte Blue never did click as a talkie star, and within a few years he was rebuilding his career from the ground up as a bit player. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Blue, Eleanor Boardman, (more)
- 1931
A major undertaking for M-G-M and the first non-documentary production to be filmed in Africa, Trader Horn starred the veteran Harry Carey in the title-role, Aloysius "Trader" Horn, a white explorer in Darkest Africa. Travelling up a heretofore undiscovered river, Horn and his young companion Peru (Duncan Renaldo) experience strange and disturbing behavior from the native population. As Horn explains: "When the Masai and the Kukua Tribes get together, the devil is certainly involved." Along with their native tracker Renchero (Mutia Omoolo), Horn and Peru encounter Mrs. Edith Trent (Carey's wife Olive Golden), whom Horn calls "the bravest woman in all of Africa," and who is determined to trek above the perilous Opanga Falls in search of her missing daughter Nina, rumored to be the captive of the Isorgi tribe. Although refusing to let Horn and Peru accompany her -- because "the presence of white males with guns will only startle the warriors into violence" -- Mrs. Trent consents to let the men follow her at a distance. Horn discovers the elderly woman's slain body soon after and pledges to continue the search for her missing daughter. After encountering sundry ferocious wildlife fauna along their way, our heroes finally locate Nina (Edwina Booth), who instead of being kept prisoner turns out to be a sadistic white goddess ruling the tribe with an iron fist. Having immediately sentenced the intruders to the stake, Nina has a change of heart in the last moment and agrees instead to accompany them back to civilization. After braving a series of hair raising perils, during one of which Ranchero sacrifices his life to protect his charges, the group are shown to safety by a tribe of pygmies. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, (more)
- 1931
A fine early sound Western, this Buck Jones series entry from his Columbia period told the well-known story of a feud between cattle barons and sheep men. When Mart Denton (Charles Morton), son of a wealthy cattle man, kills a homesteader during a quarrel, Sheriff Larry Williams (Jones) faces a difficult dilemma. The sheriff is not only Mart's best friend but also engaged to the young man's sister, June (Miriam Seegar). But the law is the law and Mart is arrested. The angry cattlemen help the youngster escape and Larry is wounded. The escaped prisoner, however, is later killed by his own father (Erville Alderson) who mistakes him for one of the sheepherders. This final tragedy helps bring the old feud to a peaceful conclusion. Although the story was hardly new, The Dawn Trail was told forthrightly by veteran director W. Christy Cabanne who stretched realism over romance. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erville Alderson, Miriam Seegar, (more)
- 1932
Lloyd Hughes, a silent star on the downslide, heads the cast of the 1932 programmer Heart Punch. Hughes plays a boxer who accidently kills his opponent (George J. Lewis) with a punch to the heart. Hoping to make amends, Hughes approaches the dead man's sister (Marion Schilling), offering to help in any way he can. Understandably, she tells him to get lost, but by film's end she forgives him with open arms. Among the veteran performers assembled for Heart Punch is former serial star Walter Miller and the "ever popular" Mae Busch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Hughes
Inspired, it was stated at the time, by a real event, this minor but well-made Poverty Row mystery features Claudia Dell as Enid Van Buren, a young girl who checks into Apartment A at the Clarendon Arms Hotel with her brother, Ralph, and fiancée Erich (John Harron). But Ralph mysteriously disappears and to Enid and Erich's bafflement, no one at the hotel seems to remember his presence. Enter noted investigator William Cornish (William "Stage" Boyd), who, for one, takes the girl seriously and promises to help. But neither Cornish nor his personal Dr. Watson, Dr. Steven Walcott (Hooper Atchley), can prevent someone from luring Enid to a nearby mortuary where corpses suddenly seem to come to life. As it turns out, the owners of both hotel and mortuary are covering up a deathly secret, a secret that would mean their ruination should it become public. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, Claudia Dell, (more)
- 1932
In this newspaper drama, a cub reporter is puzzled when he is consistently scooped out of big crime stories by a rival. His nose for news tells him something is amiss, so he and his gal begin investigating. When he witnesses a bank-robbery that was reported before it happened, he figures out that the rival publisher and his ace reporter are part of a major crime ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Nugent, Rita La Roy, (more)
Mayfair Productions had an absolute genius for coming up with titles that would drive away audiences. Wisely, Mayfair's 1932 epic Her Mad Night was retitled Held for Murder when it was reissued, resulting in far better business than the film had enjoyed upon its first release. Irene Rich stars as a mother who takes the blame when her daughter Merna Kennedy apparently commits murder. Not knowing what her mother has done, Kennedy takes a world cruise. BAD TIMING! Only Kennedy knows that the "murder" was an accidental death, so poor Rich ends up being condemned to the electric chair. Will Kennedy return from Europe in time to save Irene from execution? And why didn't Irene hire "the dream team?" Conway Tearle and Ken Thomson costar in this oldie-but-goodie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Rich, Conway Tearle, (more)
- 1933
In this syrupy tear-jerker a young girl is adopted by the judge who sent her daddy to prison. The father agreed to this relationship and soon the aging judge becomes very fond of his new charge. Unfortunately, his love for her blinds him to mounting evidence attesting to her real father's innocence and whenever the convict comes up for parole, the judge denies it. Frustrated and desperate to see his child, the convict finally engineers an escape and then heads for the judge's home for revenge. But after spying upon the older man and his daughter and seeing how happy she has become, the convict's heart changes and he selflessly returns to the pen to serve his sentence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- H.B. Warner, Huntly Gordon, (more)
- 1933
This dark, brooding ancestor to Hang 'Em High features Buck Jones as a happy-go-lucky cowpoke who is duped by a gang of rustlers into "guarding" their camp. When the camp is raided, Jones is caught and savagely branded by a group of heavy-handed lawmen in spite of his protests of innocence. Jones survives the ordeal and seeks revenge. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1933
Action specialist B. Reeves Eason cools his jets as director of Behind Jury Doors. William Collier Jr. plays a hotshot reporter assigned to cover the murder trial of a prominent doctor. Once he meets the doc's pretty daughter Helen Chandler, Collier vows to prove the defendant's innocence. Problem is, someone on the jury has been bribed...maybe. Behind Jury Doors was one of the more polished productions to emerge from poverty-row Mayfair Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Davidson, Walter Miller, (more)
- 1933
Bob Steele has trouble sticking to The Ranger's Code in this western. As the sheriff, Steele must bring in a young man who's been consorting with crooks. Trouble is, the suspect is the brother of Steele's sweetheart. Fortunately, our hero is able to prove the boy's innocence by film's end, thereby saving his job and his love life. Ernie Adams, usually cast as a snivelling stool pigeon, delivers the best performance in Ranger's Code -- which, like most Bob Steele vehicles of this period, was directed by Bob's father, Robert N. Bradbury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Doris Hill, (more)
- 1933
Fed up with her doctor husband's ceaseless charity work, Mary Harris (June Clyde) leaves her Midwest "tank town" in favor of Big City excitement in this low-budget drama from Hollywood's sole woman producer at the time, Fanchon Royer. Boarding with her sophisticated friend, Milly (Noel Francis), Mary begins an affair with Sidney Fletcher (Ralf Harolde), the owner of the dress shop where both girls model. Meanwhile, back in Mary's hometown, Ted Harris (George J. Lewis) saves the life of a pillar of society, and, as a reward, is made head of the local hospital. Mary, who believes Fletcher will marry her, demands a divorce from Ted. Fletcher reneges on his promises and instead offers Mary a check for 10,000 dollars, the "usual amount," as he calls it. A struggle ensues, during which the bounder is shot. Realizing that Mary will be charged with first-degree murder if Fletcher dies, Ted volunteers to operate on his former rival, whose life is saved in the nick of time. Reunited with the husband who always loved her, Mary happily returns to her old vocation as his nurse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Clyde, George Lewis, (more)
- 1933
Former silent stars Claire Windsor, John Harron, and Holmes Herbert struggled mightily with a morose script in this low-budget melodrama from producer George W. Weeks. A reader for the Rogers Publishing Company, Annie Frayne (Windsor) successfully campaigns against the company publishing "In Quest of a Virgin," a trashy new novel. The publisher, Bruce Rogers (Holmes Herbert), is so impressed with Annie that he considers making her his assistant, though he abandons the idea once he gets a look at the girl's sordid home life. A dejected Annie attempts suicide, but is rescued by newspaper reporter Ronnie Ross (Harron), whom she eventually marries despite learning that he is the author of "In Quest of a Virgin." But Rogers, who has come to regret his decision, once again proposes that Annie become his assistant. Meanwhile, a jealous Ronnie is arrested for a jewelry heist actually committed by Annie's no-good brothers (Lee Moran and David Callis), and although Annie remains faithful, he refuses to see her. Years later, Annie is about to marry Rogers when she receives Ronnie's newest novel, "Cry of the Soul." So moved is she by the book in general and a touching inscription in particular, that she returns to the reformed Ronnie. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Windsor, John Harron, (more)
- 1933
A notorious crook and a Parisian ballet dancer get involved with international intrigue in this low-budget action-adventure from Poverty Row company Mayfair Pictures Corp. It is all about an important manifesto that may re-establish President Alarcon as the ruler of the Republic of Luvania. The manifesto ends up in the hands of Boris Krinsky (José Crespo), and, to trap him, dancer Landra (June Collyer) sets up a meeting with the Luvanian conspirators at her castle above Monte Carlo. After quite a bit of derring-do, Krinsky is brought to the castle's torture chamber, where he is whipped by Alba (Lloyd Whitlock), his former captain in the Luvania Foreign Legion, but is rescued in the nick of time by New York gangster Spike Maguire (Wheeler Oakman), an old friend. In love with Landra, Krinsky removes a signature that may incriminate her and hands over the manifesto to the Luvanian delegation. Revenge at Monte Carlo was also released in a Spanish language version, Dos Noche, with Conchita Montenegro replacing June Collier and Antonio Cumellas standing in for Lloyd Whitlock. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Collyer, José Crespo, (more)
- 1933
A wife is on trial for murdering her husband's former spouse in this inexpensive melodrama from low-budget Mayfair Pictures Corp. In flashback, it is shown that Joan Armstrong (Helen Chandler), an unemployed stenographer, is hired to act as corespondent for architect John Thurman (Leon Waycoff, aka Leon Ames) in his divorce from Eloise Thurman (Charlotte Merriam), a callous woman who cares more for her pet Pekinese than her husband and who is granted a huge settlement. Joan goes to work for John, with whom she has fallen in love, and they eventually marry and have a son. Several unfortunate events bankrupt John and he is on his way to purchase medicine for his dying son with his last 20 dollar bill when stopped by a process server acting on behalf of Eloise. Little John Jr. dies and when Joan learns that the 20 dollars earmarked for medicine instead went to pay the first Mrs. Thurman's veterinarian bills, she becomes temporarily insane and kills the greedy woman. Back in the courtroom, a weeping jury returns a verdict of "not guilty" and Joan and John are reunited. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Chandler, Edward Earle, (more)
- 1933
Dorothy Burgess, the fiery Tonia of the Academy award-winning In Old Arizona (1929), plays a woman who will do anything to locate her missing child in Malay Nights, a rather sordid low-budget melodrama from Mayfair Pictures Corp. After reluctantly marrying handsome pearl fisherman Jim Wilson (Johnny Mack Brown) in order to legitimize her young son, Sonny (George Smith), Eve Blake loses sight of both when Jim returns to his Malayan island. Earning passage to Singapore by working in a nightclub, Eve obtains a job in a seedy bar frequented by sailors. Locating her there, Jim believes her to be an unfit mother and refuses to let her see Sonny. When Eve's erstwhile lover, Sheldon (Ralph Ince), suddenly shows up and threatens the island, Eve's unselfish acts of bravery save the day, forcing Jim to realize that she has been victimized by Sheldon all along. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Burgess, (more)
- 1934
This bottom-barrel quickie is elevated by its cast, comprised chiefly of old silent-film favorites. Ralph Graves stars as private eye Clay Holt, perennial "friendly enemy" of police lieutenant McGinniss (James Burke). Time and time again, McGinniss is forced to rely on Holt's expertise to crack a difficult case, leading to a never-ending stream of wisecracks and insults. On this occasion, our heroes are determined to solve a robbery-murder involving $50,000 in stolen pearls. Among the suspects is Courtney Mallory, played by former screen star Charles Ray just before his descent into extra roles. Lola Lane, of the Lane sisters, plays Holt's "girl Friday" secretary Peggy Cummings, whom our hero considers a drudge until she removes her glasses (Yes, that old gimmick is in here, too!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Graves, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1934
Action expert "Breezy" Eason called the shots on this quickie comedy-melodrama. Frank Albertson stars as the publicity man for a Poverty Row studio. Thrown off the lot because of his drunken insolence, the PR man plans a comeback by convincing a foreign director (John Davidson) to film the life story of a notorious gangster. A stickler for realism, the director insists that a genuine gangster be engaged to play the leading role. The publicity man engages the services of a tough-looking bit player (Jose Crespo), only to discover that he's actually hired the crook whose life is about to be immortalized on celluloid! All ends happily when the PR man's renegade production makes a major star out of his sweetheart (June Clyde). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Clyde, Frank Albertson, (more)
- 1935
The Battle of Greed was one of the best of the Tom Keene western series produced by bargain-basement Crescent Productions. Keene takes a job in a Virginia mining town in the mid-19th century. Here he makes the acquaintance of none other than Mark Twain (James Bush), currently employed as a newspaper editor. Keene joins forces with Twain in battling the town's corrupt element. While it may not be nice to say this, James Bush frankly gives a more convincing performance than nominal star Keene, who has this bad habit of laughing uproariously at the slightest provocation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Keene, Gwyn Shipman, (more)
- 1935
Outlawed Guns stars Buck Jones as Reece Rivers, the nice-guy older brother of headstrong Babe Rivers (played by Pat O'Brien -- not the Warner Bros. star of the same name). When Babe gets mixed up with outlaws, Reece loyally takes the rap. Eventually Babe pays for his recklessness with his life, but not before leading Reece to the film's head bad guy, gambler Jack Keeler (Roy D'Arcy). Frank McGlynn Sr., usually cast in films as Abraham Lincoln, is here seen as an ageing but virile ex-Texas Ranger. Outlawed Guns is distinguished by some spectacular horse falls, orchestrated by ace stuntmen Cliff Lyons and Jim Corey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Montague, Buck Jones, (more)
- 1935
In this Western, neighboring sheep farmers engage in a long-standing feud over that results in tragedy. The problem began when someone began stealing their livestock. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Charlotte Wynters, (more)
