Florence Ryerson Movies

In this drama, two childhood sweethearts endure the first pains of adult love. The young lady is beginning to feel frustrated because her beau has been spending too much time building gliders. When his uncle is visited by a cute, and flirtatious older friend, the precocious lass begins dating him. She is soon to discover that the sophisticated gent has much more than the innocent pleasures of dating upon his mind. Oh my! ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Frank Morgan stars as vaudevillian Henry Conroy, who puts show business behind him when he inherits a dilapidated Arizona ranch. For some reason, several interested parties, most of them wielding six-guns, are bent upon chasing Henry off his supposedly worthless land. Terrified of firearms (this despite the fact that he was a trick-shot artist in vaudeville!), Henry summons up his courage to go to the rescue when his young friend Molly (Virginia Weidler) is placed in danger's path. As a bonus, he solves the murder of his half-brother, who was responsible for Henry "going Arizona" in the first place. Though technically a B picture, this MGM production boasts better production values than most of the "A" efforts from any other studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with her drab black-and-white existence on her aunt and uncle's dusty Kansas farm. Dorothy yearns to travel "over the rainbow" to a different world, and she gets her wish when a tornado whisks her and her little dog, Toto, to the Technicolorful land of Oz. Having offended the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy is protected from the old crone's wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears. At the suggestion of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Dorothy heads down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, where dwells the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who might be able to help the girl return to Kansas. En route, she befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). The Scarecrow would like to have some brains, the Tin Man craves a heart, and the Lion wants to attain courage; hoping that the Wizard will help them too, they join Dorothy on her odyssey to the Emerald City.

Garland was MGM's second choice for Dorothy after Shirley Temple dropped out of the project; and Bolger was to have played the Tin Man but talked co-star Buddy Ebsen into switching roles. When Ebsen proved allergic to the chemicals used in his silver makeup, he was replaced by Haley. Gale Sondergaard was originally to have played the Wicked Witch of the West in a glamorous fashion, until the decision was made to opt for belligerent ugliness, and the Wizard was written for W.C. Fields, who reportedly turned it down because MGM couldn't meet his price. Although Victor Fleming, who also directed Gone With the Wind, was given sole directorial credit, several directors were involved in the shooting, included King Vidor, who shot the opening and closing black-and-white sequences. Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's now-classic Oscar-winning song "Over the Rainbow" was nearly chopped from the picture after the first preview because it "slowed down the action." The Wizard of Oz was too expensive to post a large profit upon initial release; however, after a disappointing reissue in 1955, it was sold to network television, where its annual showings made it a classic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Moonlight Murder takes place virtually in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl. Despite dire warnings by a sinister mystic (Pedro de Cordoba), opera-star Gino D'Acosta (Leo Carrillo) insists that he will sing in the Bowl's current production of Il Trovatore. He gets no farther than the "Anvil Chorus" before he drops dead in full view of the audience. It turns out that D'Acosta was murdered, placing everyone in the cast under suspicion. As night segues into morning, detective Steve Farrell (Chester Morris) -- whose past mistakes have put him in hot water with his boss -- teams up with lady-scientist Toni Adams (Madge Evans) to piece the clues together. The hot-potato issue of euthanasia is raised during the course of Moonlight Murder, and as a result the film turns out to have one of the most sympathetic and reasonable culprits in "B"-picture history. Trivia alert: One of the suspects is played by Duncan Renaldo, who later co-starred with "victim" Leo Carrillo on TV's The Cisco Kid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The overlong but absorbing MGM "B" melodrama Mad Holiday stars Edmund Lowe as vacationing movie idol Philip Trent. Tired of starring in murder mysteries, Trent discovers he can't escape typecasting even on an ocean voyage: one of the passengers is murdered in our hero's cabin. The killing is tied in with a stolen diamond and a seemingly unending supply of suspects. To avoid being arrested himself, Trent teams up with pretty detective novelist "Peter" Dean (Elissa Landi) to solve the mystery. As Trent's wisecracking press agent Mert Morgan, Ted Healey has a wonderful moment when he stumbles over a corpse and asks nonchalantly, "What's the matter with him, he crocked?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Commenting upon the many relatives on the payroll of Carl Laemmle's Universal Pictures, poet Ogden Nash once wrote "Uncle Carl Laemmle/Has a large faemmlee." One member of that faemmle was Edward Laemmle, director of the courtroom melodrama A Notorious Gentleman. Charles Bickford plays the diabolically brilliant attorney Kirk Allen, who plans to use his knowledge of the law to get away with the murder of his hated rival Clayton Bradford (Sidney Blackmer). Not only does Allen escape prosecution, but he manages to pin the killing on someone else. Smelling a rat, district attorney John Barrett (Onslow Stevens) cooks up a devilishly clever plot of his own to hoist Allen on his own petard. The Legal Ethics Committee probably wouldn't approve of A Notorious Gentleman, but audiences were less critical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The career of dance instructor Sally (Jean Parker) comes to an abrupt end when she is crippled in an accident on the eve of her wedding. Sally's far-from-supportive fiancé (Paul Page) walks out on her, but good old Jimmie (James Dunn), who has loved her all along, offers to marry her and help shoulder the burden of her handicap. This in itself would make a good story, but MGM got nervous an added a gangster subplot. Interspersing their usual never-fail comedy relief are Una Merkel and Stu Erwin, who might have starred in this picture had it been made by any other studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This unique thriller chronicles the exploits of a doctor who will do almost anything to please his young, second wife. She wants more money. He arranges to get it by hypnotizing a bank official and making him extract $100,000 from the vault. The doctor then plans to murder him and then rob him. Before he acts, the physician comes to his senses and confesses his scheme to the police. He then swears he will have the bank officer return the cash. Unfortunately, the bank official is killed and robbed. The doctor, who had come to hypnotize him, is found unconscious. Someone chloroformed him. At this point the movie grinds to a halt and an intermission is inserted. It's purpose is to allow the viewer one minute to look back upon the clues and try to solve the murder. A clock ticks off the seconds, and the characters and clues quickly flash across the screen. It is still very difficult to determine "whodunit" until the very end of the picture. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Most existing prints of the 1931 melodrama Drums of Jeopardy are in pretty bad shape, but it's worth enduring the tinny soundtracks and messy splices just to watch Warner Oland in his full villainous glory. Oland plays a mad scientist who seeks revenge on the aristocratic family responsible for the death of his daughter. He travels from Russia to New York in search of any and all descendants of the hated Petroff family, using four rubies (the "drums" of the title) as instruments of death. Rising above its poverty-row origins, Drums of Jeopardy contains a high level of suspense, as well as several cunningly designed camera angles courtesy of cinematographer Arthur Reed. Trivia note: Warner Oland's character name is Dr. Boris Karlov! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Powell was still in his tux-and-top-hat period when he starred in Pointed Heels. The scene is Broadway, where millionaire Robert Courtland (Powell) promises to back a new musical production on the proviso that bit player Lora Nixon (Fay Wray) be given a major role. Lora is appreciative but drops out of the show upon falling in love with younger millionaire Donald Ogden (Phillips Holmes). When Donald's mother cuts him off without a cent, Lora shows that she's true-blue after all by returning to the stage to support him. Still quite fond of Lora, Courtland arranges for her latest show, which threatens to be a flop, to become a hit by getting the show's pretentious stars drunk so that their attempts at high drama will be misinterpreted as comedy. Ungrateful Donald mistakenly believes that Lora is having an affair with her benefactor and walks out on his "unfaithful" wife, but with Courtland's help the two sweethearts are reunited at film's end. Pointed Heels was supposed to have been a vehicle for "boop-boop-a-doop" girl Helen Kane, but by the time the film was released, Kane's role was reduced to a supporting part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Circus life provides the framework of this drama that chronicles the love, life, and aspiration of a young circus waif. The aspiring star is learning to walk the high-wire with the young wire-walker she adores. He loves another, his partner, but she is untrue to him. As a result he is almost on the edge of a breakdown. When she abandons him, he takes comfort in drinking too much. The plucky young girl tries to help him return to his former glory. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This comedy chronicles the rise of a country rube who becomes a baseball legend for the New York Yankees. Not only does he help the team win the World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he also beats a group of gangsters all by himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide