Erich Pommer Movies

Like its predecessors, this third cinema version of Sidney Hoiward's Pulitzer Prize-winning play They Knew What They Wanted suffers from Hollywood censorship. Still, this story of the grim consequence of a misbegotten mail-order marriage has much to offer. Carole Lombard is superb as the waitress who lies about herself while carrying on a romance by correspondence with the Italian-born owner of a Napa Valley vineyard. Equally fine (if a shade too effusively hammy) is Charles Laughton as the grape grower, who also misrepresents himself in his letters, going so far as to pass off a photograph of handsome hired hand William Gargan as a picture of himself. Vowing to be loyal to her new husband Laughton, despite her distaste for him, Lombard nonetheless enters into an affair with Gargan. For the most part, the film moves along harmoniously. It falters only in the censor-dictated alterations (why is Lombard crying at the end?) and the horrendous performance by Frank Fay as a sanctimonious priest. Keep an eye peeled during the engagement party for a young, unbilled Karl Malden and Tom Ewell. Previous versions of They Knew What They Wanted included The Secret Hour (1928) and A Lady in Love (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfred Hitchcock directed this disappointing misfire, memorable solely for the fact is that it is the final film from Hitchcock's early British period before he left for the Hollywood studio system and David O. Selznick. In the England of the 1800s, a group of ruthless smugglers, led by Sir Humphrey Pengallon (Charles Laughton), prey on ships by blacking out warning signals. When the ships crash on the rocks, the nefarious group loots the remains and kills the sailors. The plot kicks in when the beautiful orphan Mary Yelland (Maureen O'Hara) goes to visit her uncle Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks) at a creepy hotel called the Jamaica Inn, the home of the gang of smugglers. Mary doesn't realize that Uncle Joss is one of them. Meanwhile, Lloyd's of London sends one of their ablest men, Jem Trahearne (Robert Newton), to investigate the recurring shipwrecks. Jem checks in to the Jamaica Inn, and when the coven of smugglers finds out who he is, they capture him and attempt to kill him. But Mary comes to his rescue and saves him. Through the inn, the smugglers try to recapture Jem -- along with Mary. Thrown together by dire circumstances, the two fall in love. Meanwhile, all the shenanigans occurring at the Jamaica Inn appear to be driving Pengallon insane. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by Somerset Maugham, The Beachcomber was originally released in Great Britain as Vessel of Wrath. This English version was much franker--and much more fun--than the abbreviated, watered-down US release prints. Even the American version, however, is successful in capturing the spirit of Maugham's tale of slovenly remittance man Charles Laughton drinking and wenching away his monthly allowance in the picturesque Dutch Islands. Elsa Lanchester (the real-life Mrs. Laughton) plays the prim sister of sanctimonious missionary Tyrone Guthrie, who slowly regenerates the wastrelly Laughton. Our hero redeems himself fully through his courageous behavior during a cholera epidemic. This version of The Beachcomber is based on the stage adaptation by Bartlett Cormick; the 1955 remake, which played faster and looser with the Maugham original than the Cormack version did, starred Robert Newton, who plays the local British authority in the 1938 film. The Beachcomber was the only film directed by producer Erich Pommer, who spent most of the 1930s as Charles Laughton's business partner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Farewell Again is a multiplotted British comedy/drama about soldiers on leave and the people they've left. Given a six-hour pass after a tour of duty in India, several British Tommies (among them Robert Newton, Sebastian Shaw and Anthony Bushell) try to unravel their domestic tribulations before having to ship out again. American expatriate Tim Whelan was the directorial hand who kept the various plot threads from entangling, while another Hollywood vet, James Wong Howe, manned the cameras. The film became instantly dated with the advent of World War II, but in its own time Farewell Again was a box-office smash. The film was issued in the US as Troopship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Liliom, Ferenc Molnar's bittersweet fantasy play, was first filmed in Hollywood in 1930, with Charles Farrell as ne'er-do-well carnival barker Liliom and Rose Hobart as his long-suffering wife Julie. While that version is not available for public viewing, the 1935 French-language version directed by Fritz Lang and starring Charles Boyer is currently being offered by several home-video warehouses--albeit in an undubbed, unsubtitled print. Boyer plays Liliom, who runs the carousel at a Budapest amusement park. He impulsively quits his job when he falls in love with mill-worker Julie (Madeleine Ozeray). A terrible husband and provider, Liliom panics when he discovers he's about to become a father. He enters into a get-rich-quick robbery scheme with his unsavory pal Alfred (Alcover), but the plan goes awry. Rather than allow himself to be arrested, Liliom kills himself, whereupon his soul is transported via an art-deco express train to the waiting room of Heaven. A celestial judge determines that Liliom will not get his wings until he returns to earth to do one good deed. Liliom materializes before his now-teenaged daughter, and tries to give her a star that he's stolen from heaven; when she panics, he impulsively slaps her. Considering himself a failure, Liliom wearily heads for Purgatory, but a coda shows that his visit has done a world of good for both his widow and his daughter. Liliom was later musicalized by Rodgers & Hammerstein as Carousel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical tells the love story of a manicurist and a night waiter who discover that they are sharing the same apartment. ~ All Movie Guide

In this musical the Empress' hairdresser finds herself mistaken for the Empress by a deranged aristocrat. Mayhem and music ensues as she tries to convince him otherwise. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama is set upon a floating platform, used for oil drilling, located in the Atlantic. The owners of a rival platform are desperate to destroy it. The film was originally made in German and titled F.P.1 Antwortet Nicht. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this musical, a frail artist is victimized by a con artist who cheats her out of her life savings. Two window washers named Willie stop the girl from sinking any lower and simultaneously fall in love with her. They help her become an incredibly popular singer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though Lillian Harvey is the star of Quick, the title character is played by the versatile French character actor Jules Berry. The story is set among an acting troupe, with leading lady Harvey falling in love with a clown. However, she loves him only when they're on stage together; offstage, Harvey barely acknowledges Berry's existence. It takes a lot of work on Berry's part before the heroine finally learns to love him for himself, and not just for the character he plays. Quick is the French-language version of the German musical drama of the same name, in which Lillian Harvey co-starred with Hans Albers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Tempest and Storm of Passion, Stuerme der Leidenschaft was the first of Robert Siodmak's two directorial efforts of 1932. Emil Jannings stars as a tough but basically gentle gangster who, while serving a prison term, is betrayed by his sweetheart Anna Sten. Released from prison, the disgruntled Jannings murders Sten's seducer, forcing him to hide out from the police. Meanwhile, Sten, who has sworn total fidelity to her fugitive lover, again betrays him at the first opportunity. Wearily, Jannings gives himself up to the authorities, declaring that he'd rather be in jail than at the mercy of a faithless woman. Siodmak also supervised the French-language version, Tumultes, which starred Yves Mirande. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During the 1814 Congress in Vienna, the crowned heads of Europe gather together to decide the shape (and fate) of the continent (which would hold -- with some serious cracks -- for exactly 100 years) and devise a strategy for dealing with Napoleon. The ordinary Austrians chafe at the cost of hosting these dignitaries, while the dignitaries find some of the efforts at entertaining them well-intentioned but absurd; the Russian czar Alexander (Willy Fritsch), for instance, doesn't understand why anyone would think he came all the way to Vienna to watch a Russian ballet. Meanwhile, the Austrian prince chancellor Metternich (Conrad Veidt) hopes to keep the Czar away from the congressional table by diverting him with a bevy of beautiful women. But Alexander is one step ahead of Metternich; the Russian leader has engaged the services of an exact double, Oralski (also played by Fritsch), to fulfill his least important social obligations. Into this game of political deception comes glove-maker Christel Weinzinger (Lilian Harvey), whose efforts at greeting the dignitaries (and promoting her shop) leave her mistaken for an anarchist, until the Czar -- advised of her beauty -- intercedes on her behalf. She ends up being romanced by both the Russian ruler and his double, until Metternich's intrigues and Napoleon's distant machinations combine to bring the focus back to official events. Filmed in German, French, and English-language versions, Der Kongress Tanzt was a worldwide success, and one of Harvey's most popular films. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide