James Carew Movies

In this crime drama, an insurance detective goes undercover to try to bring in a jewel thief. He poses as a gangster and joins a gang. They end up stealing his passport and leaving him unable to return to the US. To get back he must pose as a crewman aboard a ship. He then discovers the purloined gems have been replaced by fakes and falls in love with a female gang member. Eventually his love reforms her and she helps him solve the mystery. He in turn, saves her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat star in this gripping melodrama about the Russian revolution, based on the novel by James Hilton. Donat plays A.J. Fothergill, a British interpreter in St. Petersburg who is ordered to leave Russia after writing an article that criticized the czar. Fothergill meets a British secret agent who can arrange for him to stay in Russia if he will agree to spy for England and monitor revolutionary groups trying to depose the czar. Fothergill infiltrates a group planning to kill Russian nobleman Vladinoff (Herbert Lomas); the radicals bomb Vladinoff's coach, but he and his daughter, Alexandra (Marlene Dietrich) escape unharmed. Fothergill is arrested and sent to Siberia. When the monarchy is deposed during the Russian Revolution in 1917, Alexandra is arrested by Communist forces and put on trial. Fothergill is freed from prison with his friend Axelstein (Basil Gill), and they are now revolutionary heroes. Alexandra must go to Petrograd to face trial and Fothergill is chosen to escort her. When they reach the train station, Fothergill discovers the White Army (fighting to restore the czar) is coming. He leads Alexandra to safety behind the White Army lines, but the Red Army has surrounded the city and Fothergill, smitten with Alexandra, rescues her again before the city is shelled. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this satire of British-American relations, Edward G. Robinson stars as Dan Armstrong, a hard-sell American saleman whose company sends him to England to learn how to tone down his act. There he meets some distant relatives, the aristocrats Sir Peter and Lady Challoner (Arthur Wontner and Annie Esmond). They invite him to their mansion for the weekend, where among the house guests are the penniless aristocrats the Duke and Duchess of Glenavon (Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier) and their daughter Lady Patricia (Luli Deste), as well as a conniving stockbroker, Henry Graham Manningdale (Ralph Richardson). The Duke and Duchess own only an apparently worthless mine in Rhodesia that supposedly contains a metal called magnelite. Manningdale says that he will develop the mine in exchange for permission to marry Lady Patricia. Armstrong also has designs on Patricia, however, and he engineers a scheme to start a company and sell stock in the mine. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The Improper Duchess is never as naughty as its title, or else it wouldn't have made it to the screen in 1936. Yvonne Arnaud heads the cast as the Duchess of Tann, who comes to Washington D.C. on matters of state. In her efforts to secure a much-needed loan for her country, our heroine must first do battle with a cartel of crooked oil executives. Romance enters the picture in the form of the King of Poldavia (Hugh Wakefield). The satirical nature of the story eventually gives way to farce, which in turn concedes to slapstick. Improper Duchess was adapted from a play by James B. Fagan, which also starred Yvonne Arnaud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a long-running play by Reginald Simpson and Frank Gregory, Living Dangerously stars Otto Kruger as Dr. Norton. Though a pillar of virtue and a highly respected member of the community, Norton has a few unfortunate skeletons in his closet and these are exploited by his blackmailing ex-partner Dr. Pryor (Francis Lister). Unable to persuade Pryor to leave him alone, Norton is left with no alternative but to kill the man. Since audience sympathy is firmly in Norton's corner, one half hopes that he'll get away with his entirely justifiable crime ---and for a while, it looks like he will! Living Dangerously was one of the last directorial efforts by former spectacle specialist Herbert Brenon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

His Hollywood career a thing of the past, director Herbert Brenon returned to his native England in 1934, where he continued making films until his retirement in 1940. Brenon's first project upon his arrival in London was the feature-length documentary Royal Cavalcade. Covering a 25-year period, the film is an encapsulation of the comings and goings of the British empire since the 1910 coronation of King George V. The highlights, drawn from the newsreel files of several English and European archives, include Captain Scott's arrival at the South Pole (and the tragic aftermath), the First World War, the Roaring 20s, and the Depression. Of special interest to show-biz buffs is the footage of the first Royal Command Performance at the Palace in 1911, featuring such matchless performers as Anna Pavlova and George Robey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alice Duer Miller's 1921 play Come out of the Kitchen was filmed during the silent era with Marguerite Clark, then musicalized (and Americanized) by Paramount in 1930 as Honey with Nancy Carroll. A second musical version, with brand-new songs, surfaced five years later as Come Out of the Pantry. Flat broke thanks to a series of bad business decisions, Lord Robert Brent (Jack Buchanan) wanders through New York's Central Park, wondering where his next meal is coming from. Here he meets his former butler Eccles (Ronald Squire), who suggests that Lord Brent take a footman's job at the home of millionaire Mr. Beach-Howard (James Carew). This he does, and it isn't long before Lord B. falls in love with Beach-Howard's gorgeous niece Hilda (Fay Wray). The winning Jack Buchanan-Fay Wray combination, which contributed so much to the 1935 comedy thriller Bulldog Jack, is equally effective in this more sentimental effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Freedom of the Seas is sometimes listed as French stage director Marcel Varnel's first film; it's actually his first British film, after a two-year stay in Hollywood. Clifford Mollison stars as a meek London clerk who surprises his colleagues by being among the first to sign up when World War I is declared. Though he hardly cuts a dashing figure, Mollison is a steadfast and courageous soldier. In his own mild-mannered fashion, Mollison becomes a hero by foiling a German sabotage plot. Based on a Walter Hackett play, Freedom of the Seas bears a slight resemblance to the 1944 Edward G. Robinson vehicle Mr. Winkle Goes to War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide