Fred Niblo, Jr. Movies

While Rita Hayworth was one of many starlets signed to one-year contracts at Columbia in 1936-37, she was one of the few who made the "cut" when option time rolled around. One of those who didn't was Patricia Farr, who starred in All-American Sweetheart before the Columbia execs showed her the door. Farr's top billing is perplexing, since the film's main characters are all male, all members of a college rowing team (an athletic endeavor utilized in no fewer than four 1930s films). The storyline of All-American Sweetheart involved the compromising of certain student rowers, courtesy of bribe-dispensing gangsters. One gets the impression that Columbia would have inserted gangsters into a movie about ping-pong. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Otto Kruger once again plays a dynamic, bombastic attorney in Columbia's Counsel for Crime. Kruger plays William Mellon, a shifty shyster whose underhanded methods loses him the love of his sweetheart Anne (Nana Bryant), who subsequently marries a powerful senator (Thurston Hall). What Mellon doesn't know is that Anne has borne him a son, whom the senator has adopted. Reaching adulthood, Paul (Douglass Montgomery) opts for a legal career himself, taking a clerical job with his own father's firm. In typical "B"-picture, Mellon is charged with murdering one of his more odious clients -- and Paul is appointed prosecuting attorney in the case. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure, a wealthy socialite falls in love and decides to stow away on her would-be lover's airplane as it takes off for China where he has been sent on a mission by his father. Unfortunately, the two are captured by revolutionaries; in order to gain their freedom, the man must promise to fly for the Chinese rebels. He does so--most acrobatically. Later he takes care of them for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two of Hollywood's duller actors, Conrad Nagel and Florence Rice, star in this overly complicated melodrama from Columbia Pictures. The latter plays Evelyn Vail, a nurse convicted of poisoning a patient. Out on parole, Evelyn decides to fly to Sing-Sing and confront death row inmate Carl Peters, the man who accused her of the deed in the first place. On board the airliner, Evelyn makes the acquaintance of John Robinson Gordon (Nagel), who is transporting a revolutionary munitions formula to Washington, D.C. Another passenger, Baker (Robert Allen), complains of having been poisoned and leaves the plane during a stopover in Dallas. Back in the air, Gordon's bodyguard, Lieutenant O'Brien (Fred Kelsey), suffers the same fate, but this time the poison proves fatal. The plane returns to Dallas, where Police Captain Barrie (William B. Davidson) accused poor Evelyn of the crime. Happily, Gordon can prove otherwise and the real culprit is unmasked. Back in Sing-Sing, Peters has made a last-minute confession and Evelyn is cleared of all charges. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Escape from Devil's Island delivers exactly was the title promises...almost. Victor Jory and Norman Foster play two desperate Devil's Island inmates, bitter enemies who pool their resources and work out an escape plan. They bribe those who can be bribed, befriend those willing to be befriended, and strong arm potential "stoolies" into silence. At last, Jory and Foster make good their breakout, but their mutual hatred bubbles to the surface and ruins their clean getaway. In typical Hollywood fashion, the essentially all-male Escape From Devil's Island manages to squeeze in a female romantic interest in the form of Florence Rice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this thriller, a young woman marries a dashing young man who, unbeknownst to her, is a jewel thief. After his latest job, he takes off and leaves her to take the rap. In court she is found guilty. She is riding a train en route to prison when the train crashes. Her identity is confused with that of a wealthy young man's fiancee. The two soon fall in love. They are later confronted by the real fiancee, her thieving husband, the fiancee's brother and the police. Somehow the girl is extricated from the mess with her name and reputation intact. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Inspired by the Titanic tragedy, Whom the Gods Destroy is a tour de force for character actor Walter Connolly. The star is cast as theatrical entrepreneur John Forrester, who finds himself on board an ocean liner crippled in a shipwreck. At first he behaves courageously, but as the ship goes down Forrester panics and dons women's clothes to ensure himself a seat on the lifeboat. Rescued at sea, he hides out in a tiny fishing village for several years, then returns to New York under an assumed name. Upon discovering that he is celebrated as a "dead" hero, Forrester realizes that he can never reveal his true identity lest he be exposed as a craven coward. Standing on the sidelines, he watches as his son Jack (Robert Young) rises to success on the Broadway stage, all the while secretly helping the boy get ahead in his career. Forrester's wife Margaret (Doris Kenyon) finally recognizes her husband, forgives him, and offers to take him back, but by now Forrester himself feels it is too late and retreats into the shadows, never to be seen again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Lady from Nowhere is manicurist Polly (Mary Astor) who is the wrong girl at the wrong place when a gangland murder occurs. Taking it on the lam, Polly is pursued by both the gangsters and the police. The cops could have taken a little time to put a tail on the suspected murderer, but why let logic get in the way of a good story? Equally illogical is the decision by the fugitive Polly to pose as a small-town heiress as a means of getting her hands on some getaway money. Since such a ploy could serve only to reveal her whereabouts to the villains, it's surprising that heroic newspaperman Earl (Charles Quigley) comes to Polly's rescue instead of chastising her with a "Geez, what a dummy!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Howard Hawks' early sound prison melodrama, based on a play by Martin Flavin, already contains his stylistic signature of over-lapping dialogue -- a technique he would greatly expand upon in the next ten years. Walter Huston is district attorney Brady, who quickly convicts Robert Graham (Phillips Holmes) of murdering a man who was harassing his girlfriend. Brady is later made the warden of the prison where Robert is held. Brady tries to make friends with Robert, but Robert will have no dealings with the new warden. Nevertheless, Brady, who thinks Robert is a decent man who became embroiled in extraordinary circumstances, gives Robert a job as his chauffeur. As he drives with Brady's daughter Mary (Constance Cummings), the two fall in love. Meanwhile, things heat up back at the prison, where crazed killer Ned Galloway (Boris Karloff) kills the squealer Runch (Clark Marshall). Robert knows Ned killed Runch, but refuses to tell Brady. Brady reluctantly sends Robert to solitary confinement to get him to give up the murderer's name, but Robert holds out on him. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Any movie that teams Robert Armstrong with Jean Arthur is certainly worth at least one look. Armstrong plays Chester Binney, a small-town rube who hopes to impress local beauty Ethel Simmons (Arthur). Aware that Ethel is ga-ga about "men of the world," Chester invents a shady past for himself and poses as a citified roue. He is forced to prove the veracity of his fabricated past when movie queen Letta Lardo (Lola Lane) shows up in town for a location shoot. Our hero is rescued from making a total fool of himself when it turns out that his rival (Jason Robards Sr.) for Ethel's affections turns out to be an even bigger phoney-baloney than he is. Ex-Bad Boy is based on John Emerson and Anita Loos' stage play The Whole Town's Talking (which ironically served as the title for an unrelated 1935 film, likewise co-starring Jean Arthur). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi