Frank Campeau Movies
American character actor Frank Campeau was the perfect skulking villain, whether dressed as a millionaire or a Bowery henchman. Short, wiry, and with a face like a dyspeptic weasel, Campeau was "Runyonesque" before there was a Damon Runyon. Actor/producer Douglas Fairbanks capitalized on Campeau's untrustworthy demeanor by casting the actor in several bad-guy roles. In Fairbanks' first United Artists release, 1919's His Majesty the American, Campeau is on hand as an outwardly respectable but shifty-eyed diplomat, while in Fairbank's second UA picture Til the Clouds Roll By (1919) he is identified only as "The Jilted Villain". Two decades later, a seedier-looking Campeau was sneaking through alleys in such talkies as A Soldier's Plaything (1930) and Everything's Rosie (1931). Frank Campeau retired from films at age 74, after completing a starving-peasant bit in the lavish MGM costumer Marie Antoinette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
M.G.M.'s opulent costume drama Marie Antoinette marked a return to the screen after a two-year absence for reigning Queen of M.G.M. Norma Shearer. Shearer plays the title role of an Austrian princess who is married off to Louis Auguste (Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France. Marie, by becoming the Dauphine, finds herself plopped smack in the middle of French palace intrigue between Louis's father King Louis XV (John Barrymore) and his scheming cousin, the Duke of Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut). With Louis unable to consummate his marriage to Marie, she takes to holding elaborate parties and gambling her fortune away. In a casino, she meets the handsome Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power) and they have an affair. But when Louis XV dies and Louis becomes King Louis XVI, Fersen takes his leave, telling her that he could carry on an affair with a dauphine but not the Queen of France. Marie vows to be a great queen and remain loyal to her king. But the Duke of Orleans is plotting against Louis XVI, financing the revolutionary radicals. When the monarchy is overthrown, Louis and Marie are thrown into prison, awaiting execution. But when word gets back to Fersen, he travels back to France in an attempt to rescue Marie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, (more)
- 1938
Tom Keene, formerly George Duryea and latterly Richard Powers, made his final starring appearance in the Monogram western The Painted Trail. Keene is cast as a former federal agent who is drawn out of retirement to stem the activities of smugglers Boss (Leroy Mason) and Driscoll (Walter Long). Disguising himself as an outlaw, our hero gains the confidence of the two desperadoes, only to be found out at the least appropriate time. Rest assured that Keene saves the day and manages to march ingenue Ann (Eleanore Stewart) to the altar. Painted Trail wraps things up with a spectacular shootout, with the hero on one side of the Mexican border,and the villains on the other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Producer George A. Hirliman attempted to revive the popular "Rex, King of Wild Horses" films of the 1920s with his 1938 release King of the Sierras. The magnificent black stallion Rex (or his descendant) carries the film's "romantic" plotline, as he regularly purloins the mares and fillies under the protection of his equestrian rival, the white stallion Sheik. Framing the story is old-timer Hobart Bosworth, who recalls the adventures of Rex and Sheik to his wide-eyed grandson Harry Harvey Jr. The film is beautifully photographed (by Jack Greenhaigh Jr.), a fact that glosses over the multitudinous faults in W. Scott Darling's screenplay. Though it pleased the crowd in 1938, King of the Sierras did not inspire a series of "Rex" vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hobart Bosworth, Harry Harvey, Jr., (more)
- 1938
Universal's newest singing cowboy Bob Baker heads the cast of Border Wolves. The film starts off like gangbusters, with an outlaw attack on a covered wagon (largely culled from Universal's stock-footage vault). Falsely accused of masterminding the attack, young Rusty Reynolds (Baker) vows to track down the genuine culprit. So predominant is the film's musical angle that, at one point, even the bad guys lift their voices in a campfire song! Like many of Bob Baker's westerns, Border Wolves was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, who had a happy knack of bringing artistry and nuance to the cliched proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Baker, Constance Moore, (more)
Veteran western star Buck Jones both co-produced (with Lesley Selander) and directed this well-mounted Universal B-Western co-starring the competent Kay Linaker and a host of familiar supporting players. A gang of blackmailers terrorizing the Swiftwater area leaves black aces cards with their ransom notes. Lackadaisical rancher Ted Ames (Jones) also receives a card but to the dismay of girlfriend Sandy McKenzie (Linaker) fails to do anything about it. But after losing his ramshackle ranch in a poker game with brothers Len (Fred Mackaye) and Jake Stoddard (Bernard Phillips), Ted is later accused of killing the latter, who is found on the Ames spread with a black ace left on his body. When Ted comes across blacksmith Henry Kline (Raymond Brown), yet another victim of the Black Aces gang, the two men decide to work together and catch the murderous blackmailers. Although he later finds Henry's money in the saddlebags belonging to Boyd Loomis (William E. Lawrence), Ted realizes that the real leader of the gang is someone much more powerful. On the advice of an old prospector (Arthur Van Slyke), Ted heads to a basin where he suspects the gang is holed up. Also arriving at the spot is Sandy, who manages to send her horse with a message to the sheriff (Charles LeMoyne) before being captured. The surprising identity of the gang leader is revealed just before the arrival of the sheriff and his men. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Kay Linaker, (more)
- 1937
In this adaptation of the operetta by Rudolf Friml, secret agent Nina Maria Azara (Jeannette MacDonald) is working undercover for the King of Spain as a singer known as the "Mosca del Fuego" or "Firefly." Her mission is to uncover Napoleon's plot to invade Spain before it is too late. This film features a variety of songs including "Donkey Serenade," "Love Is Like a Firefly," " and "When a Maid Comes Knocking At Your Heart." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones, (more)
- 1937
Buck Jones both produced and starred in this offbeat Western also featuring silent screen icon Louise Brooks. Hoping to turn it into a profitable dude ranch, drifter Buck Devlin (Buck Jones) purchases the Ranch of Empty Saddles, the former site of a bloody war between cattle ranchers and sheep men. Buck cleans up the place with the help of peddler Swap Boone (Harvey Clark) and his daughter Boots (Brooks), and the ranch is soon teeming with Eastern tourists. As an added treat for the guests, the ranch hands stage a mock recreation of the old feud, which turns deadly serious when someone responds with real bullets. Future B-Western sidekick Frank Yaconelli, appearing unbilled, and a band of cowboys perform "Welcome to the Empty Saddle Ranch" and "Orchid of the Prairie". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Louise Brooks, (more)
This above-average Johnny Mack Brown Western from A.W. Hackel's low-budget Supreme Pictures features the bizarre spectacle of an infant contentedly sucking on the barrel of Mack Brown's gun. The scene is played for warm-hearted comedy with Mack Brown and two wizened gunslingers (Frank Campeau and John Beck) all beaming at the clever toddler. The three gunfighters are hired by Sheriff Horace Murphy and cattle rancher Lloyd Ingraham to drive off the local homesteaders, but when they miss a rendezvous due to their baby-sitting endeavors, Roger Gray and his gang are deputized instead. Gray and company, however, robs both the sheriff and Ingraham before turning their attention toward pretty Beth Marion, the baby's presumed mother. Mack Brown, who reveals himself to be a Texas Ranger in disguise, manages to clear up the mess, arrest the guilty and make the valley safe for the homesteaders. Miss Marion on her part reveals herself to be the baby's aunt and a relieved Mack Brown promises to become a steady caller. Despite a rather complicated plot, Everyman's Law is engrossing most of the way and Mack Brown works well with the dour-looking Campeau and Beck. A scene where the three engage in a bit of target practicing on Miss Marion's laundry is played to the hilt and the entire baby-sitting sequence is an eye-opener, to say the least. The scruffy-looking Gray makes a particularly fiendish villain in his B-Western debut and his climactic fight with Mack Brown is well-staged by director Albert Ray. Johnny Mack Brown was to make 16 low-budget but slightly off-beat Westerns for Supreme Pictures 1935-1937 before moving on to Universal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Beth Marion, (more)
- 1935
Filmed in two weeks at Red Rock Canyon and Lone Pine, California, Hop-Along Cassidy was the opener of one of the best -- and most fondly remembered -- B-Western series of all time. Former silent screen star William Boyd regained his lost fame playing the prematurely gray, black-clad hero of pulp-writer Clarence E. Mulford's Bar 20 stories, with young Paramount contract player James Ellison as handsome sidekick Johnny Nelson and Charles Middleton (in a surprisingly low-key performance) as Cassidy's old friend, Buck Peters. Bill Cassidy arrives at the Bar-20 ranch in the middle of a range war with the neighboring Meeker spread. Old man Meeker (Robert Warwick) has been driving his cattle onto Bar-20 land for water against Buck's wishes. Cattle begin to disappear from both ranches and a couple of Meeker cowboys are shot. Meeker blames the Bar-20 crew but his daughter Mary (Paula Stone), who is in love with Johnny Nelson, believes in their innocence. Looking out for the headstrong Johnny, Cassidy is shot in the leg, thus acquiring his famous nickname of "Hop-Along." Bar-20 oldtimer Uncle Ben (George "Gabby" Hayes) discovers that cattle from both ranches have their brands altered and the two ranches band together to trap a vicious gang of rustlers lead by Meeker's unscrupulous foreman Pecos Jack Anthony (Kenneth Thomson). In the ensuing war, Uncle Ben is killed by Anthony but "Hop-Along" manages to catch the killer, whom he drives off a cliff to his death. With the Dance of the Furies from Gluck's Orfeo et Euridice underscoring the climactic ride, Hop-Along Cassidy proved a fast-paced, well-acted opener to the series. George "Gabby" Hayes, whose contribution to this success was vital, returned in the next entry, The Eagle's Brood (1935), as as a bartender, finally finding his true place in the "Hopalong Cassidy" oeuvre as Windy, Hopalong's grizzled old windbag of a sidekick, in the third film, Bar 20 Rides Again. Producer Sherman left Paramount in 1942 in favor of United Artists where the "Hopalong" series continued to flourish until 1948. Boyd then bought the rights to the films and re-edited them for television. The 1949-1951 Hopalong Cassidy series was so popular that Boyd filmed 52 new half-hour episodes for the 1952-1954 seasons. Hop-Along Cassidy, the initial "Hopalong" feature, is usually shown today under its re-release title, Hopalong Cassidy Enters. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, James Ellison, (more)
- 1933
The 1933 Fox production Smoky was the first of three film adaptations of the classic Will James novel. James himself served as off-screen narrator for this story of bronco buster Clint's (Victor Jory) undying devotion to his horse, and vice versa. Separated early on from Clint, Smoky is sold to a notions dealer, undergoing the humiliation of hauling a junk wagon until he grows too old for this sort of work. Slated for the glue factory, Smoky is rescued in the nick of time by Clint, who has never given up hope of someday reclaiming his beloved steed. Though not as effectively cast as Fred MacMurray in the first of the remakes, Victor Jory is quite convincing in his offbeat (for him) role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Jory, Irene Bentley, (more)
- 1932
Dolores Del Rio plays Dolores in Girl of the Rio -- which, one supposes, makes perfect sense. The heroine is a cabaret dancer who attracts the eye of her boss, slick gambler Don Jose (Leo Carrillo). When Dolores falls for handsome gringo Johnny Powell (Norman Foster), Don Jose pulls a few strings to have the boy carted off to a faraway prison. Using a few tricks of her own, Dolores manages to secure Johnny's release, whereupon Don Jose, his back to the wall, "gracefully" bows out of her life. Adapted from the old Willard Mack play The Dove (previously filmed under that title in 1928), Girl of the Rio was remade in 1939 as The Girl and the Gambler, with Leo Carrillo reprising his role from the 1932 film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1932
In this western, a Pony Express rider believes himself to be a Native American. The trouble begins when an Anglo outlaw begins stealing the fastest horses from the organization. The outlaw then blames the local Indians for the thefts. The gallant young rider learns of the scheme and rounds up the real culprits. Along the way he learns that he is really a white man who had been abducted and raised by the Indians. He is pretty happy because now he is free to marry the white woman he loves. The racist attitudes in this film are a reflection of its time, 1932, and of the whims of the powerful Hays Office, which censored all Hollywood films. As Hays considered miscegenation (the so-called mixing of races) immoral, the hero had to become a white man to marry a white woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Weeks, (more)
- 1931
Warner Bros.' Captain Thunder contains some of the darndest Mexican accents you've ever heard in your life. The star is Hungarian-born Victor Varconi, portraying a legendary south of the border outlaw who tries to force Canadian senorita Fay Wray to marry a rival rustler whom she despises. She pleads with the bandito so pathetically that he is moved to grant her a single wish. Without hesitation she chooses her poor but true love. The bandit king, being a somewhat honorable fellow grants the wish and without a twitch, guns down the wicked cattle thief. Fortunately the film was played for comedy, a wise decision since it probably would have garnered laughs as a straight drama anyway. No fewer than four writers worked on Captain Thunder, and that folks is never a good sign. The true "bandit" in this film was Jack Warner, who picked the pockets of those filmgoers who thought they were going to see a thrilling melodrama (or at least a film with a semblance of coherent plot). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Varconi, Fay Wray, (more)
Directly after his successful screen teaming with Marlene Dietrich in Morocco, Gary Cooper returned to Paramount's "Zane Grey" western series with Fighting Caravans. Cooper is cast as Clint Belmet, a hell-raisin' frontiersman facing a misdemeanor jail term. To avoid arrest, Clint talks French-born Felice (Lily Damita) into posing as his wife. Having successfully eluded the Law, Clint joins a wagon train heading to California, with Felice in tow. He callously tells her that he expects to exercise his "husbandly" prerogative in bed, but changes his tune when he genuinely falls in love with the girl. Eventually, Clint assumes some responsibility for the first time in his life by becoming the wagon train's sole trail guide, rescuing the other passengers from the villainous machinations of gun-runner Lee Murdock (Fred Kohler). Several stock shots and outtakes from Fighting Caravans (retitled Blazing Arrows for television) later showed up in another Zane Grey series entry, Wagon Wheels (1934). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Lili Damita, (more)
- 1931
Texas Ranger Leo Carrillo falls for dance hall girl Dorothy Burgess who is wanted for murder. Burgess won't let her lover bring her to justice and kills herself by diving into a cattle stampede. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1931
In this WW I comedy, several young men decide to join the army. Each one has his own reason for joining up. Songs include: "Forever," "Qui, Qui," "Honey Boy," "Ja, Ja, Ja," "Side by Side." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lotti Loder, Harry Langdon, (more)
- 1930
Lightnin' is based on the 1918 stage play by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon, in which Bacon (the father of director Lloyd Bacon) had starred for years on Broadway and "the road." Will Rogers steps into the leading role as "Lightnin'" Bill Jones, the slow-moving husband of Mary Jones (Louise Dresser). Mr. and Mrs. Jones are co-owners of a hotel built right on the borderline between California and Nevada, used as the temporary home of divorcing wives so that they may pretend to be in the "California" half of the hotel while establishing residency in the "Nevada" half. Lightnin' befriends lawyer John Marvin (Joel McCrea), at present residing in the California half to avoid arrest on a trumped-charge. When Lightnin' refuses to sell his share of the hotel to a gang of stock crooks headed by Raymond Thomas (Jason Robards Sr.), Mary is coerced into divorcing her husband so that she can sign over the deed herself. In the semi-serious courtroom finale, Lightnin' not only convinces Mary that she's still in love with him but also manages to clear John Marvin's name. Director Henry King clearly exercised no control over Will Rogers, whose incessant ad-libbing, amusing though it is, slows the film to a crawl. Still, Lightnin' proved to be just as successful as any other Rogers talkie vehicle, proving that audiences came to see the star and not the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, (more)
- 1930
In this drama, a convict breaks out of jail and winds up going to college. There he joins the rowing team and helps them to win. Unfortunately, just as he is preparing to row the big race, a pursuing detective appears to arrest him. The detective makes him an interesting deal: if he deliberately loses the race, he will be freed; if he wins, he must return to prison. The convict cannot bear to deliberately lose the race and so wins it anyway. The detective then tells him that he only did that to see if the young man had really gone straight. He passed the test in flying colors and is freed. Songs include: "Just You and I" (Sam Perry,Clarence J. Marks), and "Wandering Onward." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Crawford, Carl Stockdale, (more)
- 1930
In this western based on a novel by Zane Grey, Buck Duane (George O'Brien) is a cowboy who is forced to kill a man in an act of self-defense; the same man also took the life of Buck's father. However, the law isn't so sure Buck's motivations were pure, and Buck is forced to leave town one step ahead of the peace officers. Buck gets a chance to prove his good intentions when he helps protect a rancher who is being harassed by a gang of thugs, and also rescues his lady love, Ruth (Lucille Brown), from the same outlaws. However, Buck's brave actions do not come without retaliation -- and they also attract the attention of Lola (Myrna Loy), one of the hombre's molls. The Last Of The Duanes was filmed before in 1924 (with Tom Mix in the lead), and the story would hit the screen again in 1941, starring George Montgomery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Myrna Loy, (more)
To date, this D.W. Griffith epic is the only talking-picture effort to encapsulate the entire life of Abraham Lincoln, from cradle to grave. The script, credited to Stephen Vincent Benet, manages to include all the familiar high points, including Lincoln's tragic romance with Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel, allegedly cast because of her resemblance to Griffith favorite Lillian Gish), his lawyer days in Illinois, his contentious marriage to Mary Todd (Kay Hammond), his heartbreaking decision to declare war upon the South, his pardoning of a condemned sentry during the Civil War, and his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth (expansively portrayed by Ian Keith). This was D.W. Griffith's first talkie, and the master does his best with the somewhat pedantic dialogue sequences; but as always, Griffith's forte was spectacle and montage, as witness the cross-cut scenes of Yankees and Rebels marching off to war and the pulse-pounding ride of General Sheridan (Frank Campeau) through the Shenandoah Valley. Thanks to the wizardry of production designer William Cameron Menzies, many of the scenes appear far more elaborate than they really were; Menzies can also be credited with the unforgettable finale, as Honest Abe's Kentucky log cabin dissolves to the Lincoln Memorial. As Abraham Lincoln, Walter Huston is a tower of strength, making even the most florid of speeches sound human and credible; only during the protracted death scene of Ann Rutledge does Huston falter, and then the fault is as much Griffith's as his. Road-shown at nearly two hours (including a prologue showing slaves being brought to America), Abraham Lincoln was pared down to 97 minutes by United Artists, and in that length it proved a box-office success, boding well for D.W. Griffith's future in talkies (alas, it proved to be his next-to-last film; Griffith's final effort, The Struggle was a financial disaster). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Kay Hammond, (more)
- 1929
On the strength of his previous hits The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Singing Fool (1928), Al Jolson was Hollywood's hottest star in 1929. Jolson's cinematic offering for that year was Say It With Songs, a characteristic blend of music, comedy and treacly sentiment. The star is cast as Joe Lane, a radio star who hits it big then begins neglecting his wife Katherine (Marian Nixon) and his dewy-eyed son "Little Pal" (Davey Lee, Jolson's co-star in Singing Fool) in favor of the gaming tables. Joe is brought down to earth when his manager and "best friend" begins putting the moves on Katherine. Accidentally killing the manager in a fight, Joe heads off to prison, extracting a promise from Katherine that she will wait for him. During his incarceration, however, Katherine makes the acquaintance of a handsome surgeon (John Bowers), and it looks as if their friendship will blossom into love. When "Little Pal" is struck by a car on the same day that Joe is paroled, the young surgeon saves the kid's life, thereby bringing Joe and Katherine back together again. A few amusing opening bits aside (most of them Jewish-dialect jokes, a Jolson specialty), Say It With Songs is awash with bathos, making the film quite a chore to sit through today. It cannot be denied, however, that Al Jolson is a dynamic presence, especially when belting out such standards as "Back In Your Own Backyard" and "Little Pal". Long unavailable for reappraisal, Say It With Songs was reissued on laserdisc in the late 1980s through the Herculean efforts of the Al Jolson Society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Warner Baxter, sporting a black mustache and a musical-comedy Mexican accent, stars as the Cisco Kid, the "Robin Hood of the Old West" created by O. Henry. Edmund Lowe co-stars as Cisco's "friendly enemy" Sgt. Mickey Dunne, the role that was originally to have gone to Raoul Walsh. Both men are madly in love with dusky beauty Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess), and in fact Cisco is so "far gone" that he composes a song in the girl's honor (actually, "My Tonia", first heard during the opening credits, was written by Fox studio tunesmiths Lew Brown, B.G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson). Alas, Tonia ends up betraying Cisco to Sgt. Burke. But the crafty, cold-blooded Cisco arranges for Tonia to be killed in the trap set for him (this plot resolution is faithful to O. Henry's original conception of the Cisco Kid, who wasn't really meant to be a "good guy"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1929
While investigating a double murder, reporters Grant Withers and Marian Nixon fall in love. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1929
Universal's top western ace, the charming Hoot Gibson, starred in this average oater about a young man who goes undercover as a bandit to infiltrate the gang responsible for his father's death. As always, Gibson uses guile and wit instead of brute force to unmask and apprehend the guilty party (nasty-looking Frank Campeau). The rather commonplace story was concocted by the prolific B.M. Bowers, AKA novelist Bertha Muzzy Sinclair. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson
- 1929
In this high seas adventure, a shipload of smugglers decide to mutiny and end up tossing their captain and his officers into the briny. The only one they spare is the navigator who must sail the ship to a safe harbor. But the honorable fellow refuses to do this unless the mutineers settle down and leave the poor young woman they rescued from a shipwreck in peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
