Ricca Allen Movies
Enjoying one of the longest careers in screen history, Canadian-born character actress Ricca Allen came to films in 1914 after decades on the legitimate stage. Specializing in playing spinsters, Allen also portrayed a witch in swimming star Annette Kellerman's Daughter of the Gods (1916) and menaced Viola Dana in Aladdin's Other Lamb (1917). There were many other such roles in the 1920s and Allen continued her busy career well into the sound era, often playing stern housekeepers or schoolteachers. By the 1940s, she rarely achieved onscreen billing but can be spotted as Mrs. Thing in Carole Lombard's They Knew What They Wanted (1940) and as one of the rock people in Hal Roach's One Million B.C. (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1940
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
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton, (more)
- 1940
Even taking into consideration Of Mice and Men, One Million BC was inarguably the most ambitious feature-film project ever undertaken by producer Hal Roach. Told in flashback, this is the highly fanciful tale of the prehistoric feud between the Rock Tribe and Shell People. Tumak (Victor Mature), son of Rock leader Akhoba (Lon Chaney Jr.), defies tradition by falling in love with Shell person Loana (Carole Landis). At first intending to "have his way" with Loana, the rough-hewn Tumak is taught such niceties as moderation and table manners by the girl and her gentle brethren. Any possibility for a permanant détente between the Rocks and the Shells is swept away by a spectacular volcano, which wipes out everyone except the people we really care about. Exercising the usual Hollywood prerogative of suggesting that cavemen and dinosaurs coexisted, One Million BC offers a vast array of awesome dinos, which at closer glance are actually normal-sized lizards going about their business on miniaturized sets; even so, the special effects were considered pretty impressive back in 1940, and still pass muster today despite Ray Harryhausen's slick "dynamation" remake in 1967. In fact, stock footage from One Million BC would be redeployed countless times in the future to enhance the production values of otherwise inexpensive horror films. Though it has since been disproven, rumors still persist that the great D. W. Griffith participated in the direction of One Million BC (it is true, however, that he aided Hal Roach in the casting process, selecting Carole Landis as the heroine because she was the only auditionee who could run properly!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Carole Landis, (more)
- 1938
- NR
Based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, Three Comrades represented one of the few successful screenwriting efforts of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in Germany in the years just following World War I, the film stars Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone and Robert Young as three battle-weary, thoroughly disillusioned returning soldiers. The three friends pool their savings and open an auto-repair shop, and it is this that brings them in contact with wealthy motorist Lionel Atwill--and with Atwill's lovely travelling companion Margaret Sullavan. Taylor begins a romance with Sullavan, who soon joins the three comrades, making the group a jovial, fun-seeking foursome (this plot element bears traces of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, as well as the 1931 film The Last Flight). Though Sullavan suffers from tuberculosis (her shady past is only alluded to), she is encouraged by her male companions to fully enjoy what is left of her life. This becomes increasingly difficult when one of the comrades, Young, is killed during a political riot (it's a Nazi riot, though not so-labelled by ever-careful MGM). In the end, the four comrades are only two in number, with nothing but memories to see them through the cataclysmic years to come. Despite its Hollywoodized bowdlerization of the Remarque original, Three Comrades remains a poignant, haunting experience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Margaret Sullavan, (more)
- 1938
More burdened with leaden production numbers than plot, Rosalie took Sigmund Romberg and George Gershwin's 1928 Broadway hit, threw out most of the songs, including "How Long Has This Been Going On?," but retained the spindly story of the incognito Princess Rosalie of Romanza (Eleanor Powell), who falls head-over-heels in love with All-American Dick Thorpe (Nelson Eddy), although she finds him conceited at first. But Dick gallantly flies to Romanza where the crooning Charles Lindbergh lands in the middle of yet another comic opera revolution. Rosalie, of course, is engaged to someone else, but after a series of misadventures and a colossal closing number, the star-crossed lovers decide to settle down together in democratic America. Cole Porter was hired to write a new score and Eleanor Powell, Nelson Eddy, and newcomer Ilona Massey perform "I've Got a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart," "Why Should I Care?," "Spring Love is in the Air," "It's all Over but the Shouting," "Who Knows?," "To Love and Not to Love," and, most memorably, "In the Still of the Night." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, (more)
- 1937
Frances Farmer plays the daughter of an honest and ethical newspaper publisher (Charlie Ruggles). She wants to become a reporter herself, but when her Dad refuses to give her an easy break, Frances goes to work for a rival "tell all" tabloid. Her irresponsible reporting causes a highly respected citizen to commit suicide, and also loses her the respect of her father. But when Frances gets "over her head" in tracking down a killer, her father comes to the rescue. Taking a bullet meant for his daughter, Ruggles dies in her arms, but not before advising her in how to report this late-breaking event: "Write it simply and clearly and keep the paragraphs short." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Frances Farmer, (more)
- 1937
Claudette Colbert is a young freethinking woman living in Salem, Massachusetts during the notorious 17th century "witch trials". Colbert falls in love with adventurer Fred MacMurray, causing no end of scandal with the Puritan townsfolk. A hateful little girl (Bonita Granville) pretends to be "possessed", thereby convincing the Salemites that Claudette is a witch. Tried and convicted of sorcery, the poor girl is sent to be burned at the stake, but is rescued in the nick of time by MacMurray, who convinces the townsfolk that they've been the victim of a hoax. Maid of Salem earned a footnote in entertainment history in 1937 when it was booed off the screen of New York's Paramount theatre by fans who wanted to see the evening's real attraction--a performance by Benny Goodman and his orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, (more)
Paramount's first outdoor Technicolor feature, Trail of the Lonesome Pine was the third film version of John Fox Jr.'s novel. Inspired by the Hatfield-McCoy feud, the story is set in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Outsider Fred MacMurray arrives to clear the path for a new railroad. Mountain girl Sylvia Sidney falls in love with MacMurray, which incurs the enmity of Sidney's boyfriend Henry Fonda. It also plunks MacMurray in the middle of a long-standing feud between Sidney's family and another mountain clan. Hostilities alternately erupt and simmer until Sidney's youngest brother (Spanky McFarland) is killed by a feud-inspired dynamite blast. This tragic incident brings virtually everyone to their senses, and the feud is finally buried. Better in its individual setpieces than as a unified whole, Trail of the Lonesome Pine is still a worthwhile experience, especially when a pristine three-strip Technicolor print is available. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1935
The title refers to those special government agents who go undercover to flush out criminal gangs. In his second starring role, Fred MacMurray plays a government man who travels incognito as he trails a team of crooks from Brooklyn to Kansas. Lynne Overman is MacMurray's easygoing partner, who (naturally) is rubbed out by the hoods. MacMurray inveigles his way into the gang and brings them to justice--the ones who survive, that is. Released at the very beginning of Hollywood's G-Man cycle, Men without Names was instrumental in securing more prestigious acting assignments for Fred MacMurray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Madge Evans, (more)
- 1934
Pursuit of Happiness was adapted from the risque stage comedy by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall. Set during the American revolution, the film centers around the quaint 18th century custom of "bundling"--that is, having unmarried men and women share the same bed during cold weather, albeit fully clothed and with a wooden plank separating the bedmates. Joan Bennett is the American heroine, an innkeeper's daughter, and Francis Lederer the Hessian hero, who has deserted the English cause to experience American freedom--most notably the bundling practice. As Bennett's parents, Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland perform their usual domestic comedy in period costume. TV Guide listings frequently confuse the 1934 Pursuit of Happiness with an altogether different 1971 TV-movie of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1929
This tuneful tale revolves around a shy warehouse clerk who, at the encouragement of his girlfriend finally musters up his courage and decides to break into show business with his little band. The bandleader must work hard to inspire his musicians. He does. Musical numbers abound. Songs include: "She's So I Dunno," "I Want To Go Places and Do Things," "I'm All A-twitter, I'm All A-twirl," and ""Twelfth Street Rag."" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Harry Green, (more)
- 1925
Follies star Ann Pennington had been away from motion pictures for several years when she played the title role in this drama. Naturally she gets the opportunity to display her terpsichorean talents, and she's accompanied by the then-hugely popular Vincent Lopez Orchestra which, unfortunately, couldn't be heard in a silent film. Mimi (Pennington) is the mad dancer of the Latin Quarter, and sculptor Serge Verlaine (E. Coit Albertson) is impressed by her charms. She agrees to pose nude for him only because of the poverty of her blind father. When her father commits suicide, Mimi goes to the U.S., where her relatives are shocked when they get word of her modeling. So she travels to Washington, D.C., where she meets and falls in love with Keith Arundel (Johnnie Walker). Verlaine arrives with his statue and threatens to expose Mimi as the model unless she marries him. Mimi smashes the head of the statue and Arundel's uncle writes the sculptor a check to keep him quiet. With her reputation saved, Mimi is able to marry Arundel. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Pennington, Johnnie Walker, (more)
- 1923
This emotional melodrama was based on the novel Cheating Wives, by Leota Morgan. Mary Alden (who played Senator Stoneman's mulatto mistress in Birth of a Nation) is Alice, a society woman who is disowned by her parents when she marries blacksmith John Larkin (William Welsh). Business does not go well for Larkin, and he, Alice, and their three children (Edward Quinn, freckled Mickey Bennett, and Helen Rowland) live in abject poverty. The wealthy Robert Lewis (Coit Albertson) leaves his wife because she refuses to have children. To win him back, Mrs. Lewis decides to adopt a baby and then claim it as her own. She hires a lawyer who finds Alice and offers her 50 thousand dollars for her infant girl. After struggling with the decision, Alice decides her baby would be better off growing up in privileged circumstances and accepts the offer. The Lewises are reunited, and Alice spends a lot of time at their home so she can see her baby. Larkin, believing that Alice is interested in Lewis, becomes jealous and storms over with a gun. In his attempt to shoot Lewis, the baby is hit. As she is dying, Alice reveals that the baby is hers. But just as things are getting unbearably sad, Alice wakes up -- it was all a terrible dream. She goes to the lawyer and turns down the offer. A rich aunt then offers to help the Larkins out financially. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry T. Morey, Mary Alden, (more)
- 1921
When Miriam Cooper read William J. Locke's Idols, she begged her husband, director Raoul Walsh, to make a film of it with her in the lead. Playboy Hugh Coleman (Conway Tearle) is disconsolate when he discovers that Irene Lansing (Anna Q. Nilsson) is engaged to his best friend, Gerald Merriam (illustrator Henry Clive, who occasionally liked to act). To ease his depression, Coleman secretly marries Minna Hart (Cooper), the daughter of a Jewish banker (Robert Fischer). When Coleman runs through his money, the banker gives him a loan. Minna urges him to talk to her father about their relationship, but it turns out that Hart does not want his daughter marrying a Christian. Coleman does not put up an argument, and Minna is furious. When he comes up to her room, she tells him they are through, and makes him swear to never reveal the marriage to anyone. The next day Hart is found dead. Since Coleman refuses to reveal his whereabouts at the time of the murder -- because he was with Minna -- he looks like the guilty party. Minna refuses to reveal anything either. Finally Irene comes forth and claims that Coleman was with her. Eventually Minna and Coleman resolve their differences. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Cooper, Conway Tearle, (more)
- 1918
Like many another adventure film of the era, With Neatness and Dispatch was based on a Saturday Evening Post story by prolific wordsmith Kenneth Roberts. The story begins at a fancy country estate known as Eden, where Geraldine and Mary Ames (Beverly Bayne, Sylvia Arnold) live a sheltered existence with their eccentric Aunt Letitia (Ricca Allen). A natural-born man hater, Aunt Letitia refuses to allow Geraldine and Mary to have anything to do with romance. Aware that Mary wants to elope with a young engineer, Geraldine takes matters in her own hands, arranging with the local police commissioner (a long-time family friend) to have Aunt Letitia "robbed," tied up, and gagged by a supposed desperado, thereby allowing Mary an opportunity to escape. The man assigned to pull off the deception is the commissioner's son, Paul Donaldson (Francis X. Bushman), who pretends to be a notorious escaped convict named Slim Keegan. Little does anyone realize that Keegan is already ensconced at Eden as the family chauffeur, and that the crook is planning to pull off a genuine robbery with the help of the other servants, all of whom are his underworld cronies. Convinced that Donaldson is Keegan, Geraldine takes a liking to our hero and sets about to "reform" him, unwittingly affording the real Keegan time aplenty to loot the family safe. Donaldson manages to collar the crooks and save the family fortune, but out of love for Geraldine he agrees to keep the troublesome Aunt Letitia firmly trussed up for a while so that both Geraldine and Mary can be married in peace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Adapted from a series of short stories by Edna Ferber, Our Mrs. McChesney was transformed into a stage vehicle for Ethel Barrymore. When time came to transfer the property to film, Barrymore went along for the ride -- and a swell ride it was. The star plays department store buyer Emma McChesney, who impresses her boss T. A. Buck (Huntley Gordon) by designing a bold new line of women's clothing. She uses her newfound influence to find a job at the store for her irresponsible son Jack (Wilfred Lytell) and also arranges a finishing-school education for Jack's chorus-girl sweetie Veva Sherwood (Lucille Lee Stewart). Emma's "Lady Bountiful" behavior nearly backfires when Jack is falsely accused of embezzling funds from the department store. Once this problem has been settled, cute little Veva pulls Mrs. McChesney's coals out of the fire by modelling the lady's newest dress designs at an important trade presentation. Emma's fashion show is a huge financial success, enabling her to marry her boss in a double ceremony with Jack and Veva. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
The popular star/director combination of Viola Dana and John H. Collins had another winner on their hands with Aladdin's Other Lamp. Dana plays a young Arabian Nights slave girl in search of her mother. Mom and daughter are reunited through the facilities of a magic lamp, allowing the talented Collins free reign in the special-effects department. Since Dana's character name was Patsy rather than Fatima or Yasmin, one suspects that Aladdin's Other Lamp was intended to be an extended dream sequence. Director John H. Collins' career, and his happy marriage to Viola Dana, flourished until he tragically fell victim to the 1919 influenza epidemic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
One would liked to have been a fly on the wall of the set of Life's Whirlpool. Its leading lady was the imperious Ethel Barrymore, while the director was her brother Lionel Barrymore -- and, though sister and brother were devoted to each other, they were unsparing in their mutual criticism whenever they worked together. For the record, Ethel plays the wife of an abusive country squire. So nasty is her husband that he all but forces her to seek solace in the arms of her former sweetheart (played by Alan Hale in his leading-man period). Their clandestine relationship finally comes out in the open when the nasty husband is killed by his irate tenants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
It is nothing short of tragic that none of the elaborate Annette Kellerman vehicles directed by Herbert Brenon exists today. In addition to her legendary swimming skills, Kellerman was a charming and captivating actress, and as a bonus she looked sensational in the revealing costumes chosen for her by the box-office savvy Brenon. Like Kellerman's previous Neptune's Daughter, the "million dollar" Fox production Daughter of the Gods was a lavish fairy tale, set long long ago in a land far far away. The setting was an Atlantis-like kingdom, where the heroine was forced to contend sword-and-sorcery style with various and sundry ghoulies, ghosties and goblins -- as well as a few human villains -- before achieving true happiness with her Prince Charming. Stills exist of Daughter of the Gods showing the shapely Kellerman clad in little more than her long, flowing hair; for this reason alone, moviegoers should mourn the loss of this undoubtedly fascinating film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Forgiven, or the Jack O'Diamonds was a seven-reel cineamadaptation of the warhorse Clay M. Greene play of the same name. Replacing the original stage version's Frederick Bryton in the leading role was Bryton's equally talented son, Edwin Forsberg. It was a standard "redemption" melodrama, in which the hero, a shifty-eyed gambler, immediately reforms after rescuing a child from drowning. This makes the gambler an ideal matrimonial candidate for the heroine, played by Caroline French. Forgiven was filmed on location in Florida by the now-obscure firm of Stellar Photoplays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
