Gregory Ratoff Movies
Born in Russia during the last days of the Romanoffs, Gregory Ratoff studied law at the University of St. Petersburg and acting and directing at the St. Petersburg Dramatic School. After service in the Czar's army (if his "official" birthdate is to be believed, he must have been a teenager at the time), Ratoff performed with the Moscow Art Theatre. Fleeing his homeland during the Bolshevik revolution, Ratoff resettled in France. It was while he was performing in the 1922 Paris production Revue Russe that Ratoff was brought to the U.S. by Broadway impresario Lee Shubert. After nearly a decade in Shubert productions and Yiddish Theatre presentations, Ratoff made his talking picture bow in RKO's Symphony of Six Million (1932). Though occasionally seen as a villain, Ratoff's most frequent screen characterization was a stereotypical fractured-English theatrical or movie producer, spouting out expletives like "stupendous" and "colossal" in a Borscht-thick accent. While it was professionally expedient for Ratoff to perpetuate the myth that he habitually mangled the English language, the actor could be as articulate as the next fellow when he chose to be -- especially when directing films. Beginning with the 1936 potboiler Sins of the Man, Ratoff became one of Hollywood's busiest directors, tackling everything from delicate romances like Intermezzo (1939) to garish musicals like Carnival in Costa Rica (1947). Ratoff seemed to have lost his touch with his 1956 "vanity" production Abdullah's Harem, but he was back on target with his next (and last) directorial assignment, Oscar Wilde (1960). Gregory Ratoff was married to Stansilavskian actress Eugene Leontovich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1935
Ratoff is a lion tamer who hears that a rival of his has died by a lioness. Ratoff adopts the daughter of the deceased man, and he buys the lioness that killed him. As time goes on, he becomes increasingly jealous of the men who pay attention to the girl, who has grown into a beautiful woman. As his fame at the circus is being surpassed, he demands the woman marry him. She becomes involved with the very one surpassing his fame, however, and this pushes Ratoff too far. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Ratoff, John Loder, (more)
- 1935
In the wake of The Thin Man, every studio in Hollywood scrambled to churn out sophisticated mystery-comedies wherein murders are solved by a wealthy, attractive, fun-loving young couple. One of the best of these Thin Man derivations was Universal's Remember Last Night, adapted from Adam Hobhouse's novel Hangover Murders. During a wild cocktail party at the Long Island estate of Tony and Carlotta Milburn (Robert Young and Constance Cummings), one of the guests is murdered. It does not help at all that the revellers were too drunk to remember exactly what happened -- nor is it beneficial to the case that Detective Danny Harrison (Edward Arnold) is a personal friend of all the suspects. In addition, no one but Harrison seems willing to take the case seriously, though of course eventually Tony and Carlotta are obliged to do a bit of sleuthing on their own. The light-hearted aspects of the film are offset by moments of genuine terror, notably the scene in which Professor Jones (Gustav von Seyffertitz) attempts to solve the mystery by hypnotizing the suspects, only to become a victim himself when he gets too close to the truth. An unbilled E.E. Clive provides some great black-humor moments as a police photographer who prefers to "artfully" arrange the corpses. As always, director James Whale invests his material with several of his visual trademarks, including his fascination with elaborate set decorations. There are probably more off-angle close-ups of fancy wall clocks in this picture than in any other Hollywood film -- and how about that cocktail bar in the Milburn's living room, designed in the shape of a yacht? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, Constance Cummings, (more)
- 1935
In this comedy, a sleazy group of gringo grifters try to con a naive farmer into investing his inheritance in their movie. They succeed and half-way through filming, abscond with the farmer's loot. The enterprising farmer finishes the film himself after turning it into a comedy. The film becomes a smashing success. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1934
A genial lampoon of the Greta Garbo craze, Let's Fall in Love stars Ann Sothern as Jean, a Brooklyn-born aspiring actress. It so happens that Ken (Edmund Lowe), an ambitious movie director, is searching for a Swedish actress to replace his temperamental star Forsell (Tala Birrell). In desperation, Ken decides to transform Jean into a Scandinavian film sensation, spending six weeks coaching her in the proper accent and "I vant to be alone" demeanor. The ruse is successful until Ken's jealous ex-fiancee Gerry (Miriam Jordan) exposes Jean as a phony, but by this time the inevitability of a happy ending is never in doubt. The Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler title tune from Let's Fall in Love would become something of an anthem for Columbia Pictures, popping up in everything from Pal Joey to Shake, Rattle and Roll! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Ann Sothern, (more)
- 1934
Legendary Broadway impresario George White made his Hollywood debut with this musical, which he wrote, co-directed, and starred in as himself. Reporter Miss Lee (Gertrude Michael) is looking for a story and approaches White as he's assembling the latest edition of his famous revue. As it turns out, she has lots of backstage gossip to choose from; Mona Vale (Alice Faye), White's latest discovery, is making her Broadway debut in the show, and she's fallen in love with the star, Jimmy Martin (Rudy Vallee). Jimmy, however, only has eyes for Barbara Lorainne (Adrienne Ames), a snooty high society type also in the cast. A quarrel between Mona and Barbara leads to a fight, with Jimmy coming to Barbara's rescue; a despondent Mona decides to leave the show if she can't have the man she loves. Meanwhile, comedian Happy Donnelly (Jimmy Durante) finds himself torn between his feelings for Mona and another young dancer in the show, Patsy Day (Dixie Dunbar), who is also thinking about quitting in disappointment. Amidst the romantic turmoil, a wacky salesman (Gregory Ratoff) keeps trying to make a sale with White, and the cast periodically breaks into song, belting out ten numbers, including "Oh You Nasty Man," "My Dog Loves Your Dog," "Every Day Is Father's Day with Baby," "Sweet and Simple," and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George White, Rudy Vallee, (more)
- 1934
A British aristocrat and his son travel to Russia to embark upon a thrilling search for the father's other son, who was captured by the Russians after he had inadvertently stumbled across a highly secret airstrip while searching for buried treasure. The searchers find assistance with two Russian women, but even so, their quest is fraught with danger and excitement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Ratoff, Ronald Squire, (more)
- 1934
Hollywood favorites Charles Farrell and Gregory Ratoff head the cast of the British romantic comedy Falling In Love. The film's real star, however, is young Mary Lawson, here making her cinema debut. The plot concerns a famous film star (Farrell) who seeks shelter from his mobs of fans by hiding out on the top of a London double-decker bus. Alas, he hasn't the proper fare, so our hero must rely upon the kindness of strangers -- or specifically, a stranger, pretty shopgirl Lawson. Eventually falling in love with the star, Lawson is disillusioned by manager Ratoff, who informs the girl that Farrell is not only a love-'em-and-leave-'em type, but is already married. A happy ending does come about, however, thanks to a last-minute chase between an ocean liner and a tugboat (such sequences were a matter of course for the film's director, former silent-screen comedian Monty Banks). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Gregory Ratoff, (more)
- 1934
In this melodrama, set backstage at the theater, a fading, but still egotistical Hungarian star and his actress wife who has quietly endured his constant domination for years, move from Budapest to New York where they lead an impoverished life until their luck changes and they are given the leads in a famed young playwright's newest play. The old actor becomes an immediate hit. When he later learns that his wife has a crush on the playwright he is upset. The playwright doesn't mind though and quickly writes another play designed especially for her. It is a major hit, but the actress leaves the show in order to save her marriage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elissa Landi, Adolphe Menjou, (more)
- 1933
In this comedy, a Tennessee lad, enrolled in art school wins a scholarship to paint in Paris. He is thrilled until he arrives and discovers that his style is hopelessly passe and is considered trashy. The enterprising artist immediately changes style and begins painting highly abstract moderns. His masterpiece wins an award and he becomes terribly popular. No one seems to notice that the beloved work is hanging upside down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Charlie Ruggles, (more)
- 1933
This drama was written by famed radio announcer Walter Winchell. It chronicles the tragic love between a racketeer and a singer. So smitten is he by the chorus girl's charms that he buys her a nightclub. Unfortunately for him, the club's male crooner/bandleader also loves the girl. Realizing that he cannot compete, the crook bows out. However, during her wedding the racketeer lays down his life in exchange for hers when others attempt to kidnap her. He is shot, but survives. In the hospital he listens to the radio and hears that he is considered a hero and that the would-be kidnappers have been killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Cummings, Russ Columbo, (more)
- 1933
Mae West's second starring vehicle, I'm No Angel casts the divine Miss West as the star performer in a seedy circus. Though she lives with Ralf Harolde, West allows herself plenty of time for other men. When Harolde runs afoul of the law, West secures extra money by becoming a lion tamer. While thus employed, West is "discovered" by playboy Kent Taylor; she willingly accepts his gifts and other favors, but she only has eyes for Taylor's cousin Cary Grant. Still, love takes second place to commerce in West's life, and she ends up suing Grant for breach of promise. When Grant allows her to win the case, she realizes she's truly in love with him after all. By rights, I'm No Angel should have been as big and bawdy a success as West's earlier She Done Him Wrong, but by late 1933 the censors were beginning to have their way with Hollywood. Several of the more ribald (and more hilarious) elements of the film were toned down--not least of which was the title, which was supposed to have been It Ain't No Sin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae West, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1933
No relation to the later Clifton Webb vehicle of the same name, Sitting Pretty is a dated but likable film about the songwriting racket. Jack Oakie and Jack Haley play a pair of would-be tunesmiths who team up with aspiring dancer Ginger Rogers. Through the kindness of a tippling director (Lew Cody), the trio is given a bid for stardom in a movie musical directed by an excitable Russian (Gregory Ratoff). The characters played by Oakie and Haley were loosely based on Paramount's real-life songwriting team Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, who show up in bit parts. Sitting Pretty is the film that introduced the sprightly tune "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, (more)
- 1933
Headline Shooter is a brisk comedy/melodrama about a newsreel photographer (William Gargan). He prefers to risk his neck to get "swell" pictures, while his reporter girl friend (Frances Dee), though no less fearless, would prefer that he give up his dangerous profession. Ralph Bellamy (as always!) is around as Frances' "stable" boyfriend, who of course loses the girl. The story wraps up as Gargan rescues Dee from a band of kidnapping gangsters (though neither the girl nor her captors seem to regard the situation as life-threatening!) Padded out with yards and yards of stock newsreel footage, Headline Shooter is highlighted by the opening-scene appearance of humorist Robert Benchley, playing a radio announcer at a beauty contest who can't think of any descriptive phrase other than "feminine pulchritude." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1933
Lionel Barrymore plays a Marshall Field-like Chicago businessman who emerges from the wreckage of the 1871 fire to build a department-store empire. Barrymore is aided by his Jewish manager Gregory Ratoff, who despite his business acumen is never made a full partner. The store magnate's four children grow up to be disappointments, preferring to squander dad's money and refusing to enter his business. Manager Ratoff realizes that Barrymore's offspring are worthless, and quietly buys up their shares of the store in order to save the business from ruin, emerging with full charge of Barrymore's empire. Only when Barrymore is on the verge of death do his children rally around him and promise to make something of themselves. A well-made 20th century equivalent to King Lear, Sweepings was remade less effectively as Three Sons in 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Alan Dinehart, (more)
- 1933
An earthy, fun-loving radio pitchwoman finds it difficult to live up to her squeaky-clean public persona as the "Purity Girl of the Air." This comedy chronicles the frantic efforts of her bosses to keep her on the straight and narrow when she goes out on the town. It's not easy because she is a shameless flirt. To put the kibosh on her constant coquettishness the publicity guys come up with the idea of having her choose a "professional sweetheart" from the many male admirers who frequently write her. They choose a naive Kentucky hayseed and much to everyone's surprise the Purity Girl falls in love with him. Unfortunately, after their radio wedding, the gal plans to ditch her radio gig and live the quiet life of a country housewife leaving the publicity men in a real quandary. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, (more)
- 1932
Based on the stage comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, Once in a Lifetime is a satire of Hollywood's early-talkie era. A down-and-out vaudeville trio (Jack Oakie, Aline MacMahon, and Russell Hopton) takes advantage of the confusion attending the talkie revolution by heading to Hollywood and posing as voice experts. George (Oakie), the team's dimwitted straight man, falls in love with a pretty young miss (Sidney Fox) who has come to Hollywood to become an actress -- and won't let her utter lack of talent get in the way. Fast-talking themselves into jobs at the Glogauer Studios, the phony vocal specialists eventually wear out their welcome and are on the verge of being fired. But George, who has been listening to the complaints of a disillusioned screenwriter, suddenly spouts those complaints word for word to Mr. Glogauer (Gregory Ratoff) -- and is lauded as a genius for being the first man to stand up to the despotic studio head. George is made a producer, and immediately sets about filming an expensive movie vehicle for his girlfriend. Unfortunately, George had found the script for his film in a wastebasket, and winds up shooting the wrong picture. He and his vaudeville chums are fired, but when his picture (an incomprehensible farrago shot in darkness because George forgot to turn on the klieg lights) is previewed, it is hailed as a daringly original masterpiece. George is made the supervising producer of Glogauer Studios, and all ends happily for himself and his friends. An interesting precursor to the Singin' in the Rain school of Hollywood kidding itself, Once in a Lifetime has tarnished a bit over the years but is still well worth seeing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Aline MacMahon, (more)
- 1932
A Parisian flower girl is trotted out as the missing Grand Duchess Anastasia in this fast-moving thriller based on a popular newspaper serial, Secrets of the French Sureté. Discovered by evil White Russian Count Moloff (Gregory Ratoff), Eugénie Dorain (Gwili Andre) is hypnotized into believing that she is Anastasia, the daughter of the slain Russian czar. Léon Renault, the girl's fiancé, aligns himself with Francis St. Cyr (Frank Morgan) and the famous Sureté Français detective Bertillon (Murray Kinnell), but is too late to save Réna (Kendall Lee), Moloff's mistress, who is embalmed alive in cement. A Russian Grand Duke (Arnold Korff), who doubted Eugénie's veracity, is summarily killed when his limousine is forced off the road, and, having outlived her usefulness, Eugénie is about to suffer the same fate as Réna when St. Cyr and the police arrive like the proverbial cavalry. The evil Moloff is electrocuted by one of his own fiendish devices and Eugénie and Léon are finally free to plan a future together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gwili Andre, Frank Morgan, (more)
- 1932
In this misleadingly-titled 1932 medical (not musical) drama, the resolve of a young surgeon is severely tested. Dr. Felix Klauber (Ricardo Cortez), is a selfless Jewish physician who has grown up in the segregated slums of New York City. Through hard work, he becomes a wealthy Park Avenue doctor. He is called to operate on his father, Meyer Klauber (Gregory Ratoff), to remove a small tumor. But Dr. Klauber makes a fatal mistake, and his father dies on the operating table. Klauber now becomes plagued by guilt and self-doubt and is afraid to practice his profession. His girlfriend Jessica (Irene Dunne) urges him to continue. When it turns out that she, too, requires surgery, his love for her and her entreaties compel him to return to perform the delicate operation. This RKO Studios production was based on a novel by Fannie Hurst. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1932
Produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Production for MGM, this well made Grand Hotel clone was based on a 1931 novel by Faith Baldwin. Warren William stars as David Dwight, a building and bank magnate who not only attempts to double-cross his backers but is two-timing both his wife (Hedda Hopper) and devoted secretary/mistress (Verree Teasdale). Threatened with losing his conglomeration in general and the 100 stories Dwight Building in particular to Hamilton (Arnold Lucy), David's cynical manipulations end up backfiring with unforeseen tragedy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren William, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
- 1932
In his first starring role, George Raft plays Nick Darrow, a fence convinced by the police to go undercover after his father is killed in a Wall Street heist. Teaming up with Lora Madigan (Nancy Carroll), yet another victim of the gang, Nick gets close to the gang boss, Mason (Lew Cody), and his moll (Noel Francis), but is almost killed when Mason becomes suspicious. In the end, however, Nick manages to kill the man who murdered his father, a vile Russian (Gregory Ratoff), and is able to hand over Mason to the authorities. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1932
What Price Hollywood is often mistakenly referred to as the "first" version of the oft-filmed A Star is Born. While there are strong resemblances between the two properties, Hollywood is in many respects a wholly separate entity. Constance Bennett plays a star-struck waitress who manages to make a good impression on prominent film director Lowell Sherman. With Sherman's patronage, Bennett rises to film stardom as "America's Pal." Sherman is gratified, but he keeps his distance; a chronic alcoholic, he is certain that his inevitable fall from grace will adversely affect Bennett's stardom. Impulsively, Bennett marries wealthy playboy Neil Hamilton, who genuinely loves his wife but is jealous of the demands made on her by her career. Hamilton walks out, but not before Bennett has been impregnated. Turning her attentions to her mentor Sherman, Bennett does everything she can to halt his career downslide, but it is too late. In a startlingly conceived sequence (utilizing slow motion and rapid-fire montage cutting), Sherman kills himself in Bennett's bedroom. When his body is found, the ensuing scandal destroys Bennett's career (represented visually by a life-sized cutout of "America's Pal" shrinking into nothingness). Hoping to heal her emotional wounds, she flees to Paris with her child, where she is reunited with a contrite Hamilton. What Price Hollywood? producer David O. Selznick later claimed that most of the dialogue and situations in the film were drawn from life; he'd make the same claim upon producing the similar (but not identical) A Star is Born five years later. Somewhat perversely, Lowell Sherman based his performance-especially the inebriation scenes-on his then brother-in-law John Barrymore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, (more)
