James Seymour Movies

Firmly in the fantasy groove previously plowed by such films as The Canterville Ghost and The Time of Their Lives is the 1947 British comedy The Ghosts of Berkeley Square. Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer play a pair of fatuous Colonel Blimp military types, whose efforts to shorten the war results only in getting the both of them killed. Summoned to a Heavenly court, Morley and Aylmer incur the wrath of Queen Anne. She orders them to haunt a mansion until they can prove themselves worthy of entering the Pearly Gates. For a film that practically no one has ever heard of, Ghosts of Berkeley Square is an embarrassment of riches in the casting department: among the British favorites appearing in the film are Martita Hunt, A.E. Mathews, James Hayter, Ernst Thesiger, and Wilfred Hyde-White. The film was based on the novel No Nightingales by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Virtually plotless, the British Meet the Navy is not so much a film as a musical revue. Which is as it should be, since the film is based on the Royal Canadian Navy stage show of the same name, originally put together by radio musical arranger Louis Silvers and choreographer Larry Ceballos. Like its Hollywood predecessor This is the Army, Meet the Navy is so smooth and professional-looking that one doubts the publicity claims that the cast was comprised entirely of talented amateurs. Few of the cast members went on to illustrious careers, though most were certainly capable of doing so. The film closes with a Technicolor sequence, wherein the Meet the Navy cast participate in a Command Performance before the Royal Family-including young princess Elizabeth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this WWII drama, James Mason plays naval commander Richard Heritage, who is distracted from his duties by a beautiful young woman who is secretly in cahoots with Nazi spies. By accident, Heritage lets her discover the sailing dates of American warships. The mistake costs the U.S. Navy a war ship and costs Heritage his post. After his court-martial, he sets off to find the girl who tripped him up and discovers that she has been killed. With the help of Laura Verity (Joyce Howard), he uncovers the Nazi spy ring, which is being operated under the guise of a British theatrical agency in the seaside town of Blackpool. The head of the outfit is master spy Christopher Child (Tom Walls), a fearsome villain. Heritage hopes to redeem himself and win the heart of Laura by defeating Child and his schemes. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

A wealthy, doting father becomes the Broadway producer of a new show in hopes of fulfilling his daughter's aspirations to become a dramatic thespian in this comedy. Unfortunately the pretentiously serious play he chooses is such a stinker that it becomes a hit with the audience who perceives it to be a hilarious comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a millionaire vanishes right before he is to marry. To find him, his sister hires a detective who is, after encountering many corpses, lead to "The Panda," the perpetrator of the crime. The investigator soon discovers that millionaire's fiancee is behind it all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The last and least of Warner Bros.' Gold Diggers musicals, Gold Diggers in Paris at least has the novelty of a Gallic setting. The stars this time are Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, and Warners musical perennial Hugh Herbert. There aren't really any "gold diggers" (i.e. young ladies on the prowl for rich husbands), merely a troupe of stranded nightclub chorines whom Vallee passes off as a ballet troupe in order to win an international prize. Busby Berkeley's choreography is far from his best, especially since he's dealing with real dancers this time instead of geometrically arranged nonmoving bodies. The one song of note is "The Latin Quarter," later put to excellent use in countless Bugs Bunny and Pepe Le Pew cartoons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warner Baxter plays the ambitious producer of a burlesque show who rises to the big time on Broadway. Alice Faye is the loyal burleycue singer who helps make Baxter a success. His head turned by sudden fame, Baxter falls under the spell of a society woman (Mona Barrie) who has theatrical aspirations of her own. She marries Baxter, then convinces him to produce a string of "artistic" plays rather than his extravagant musical revues. The plays are flops, and the woman haughtily divorces Baxter. Faithful Alice Faye, who'd gone to London when her ex-beau was married, returns to the penniless Baxter. She and her burlesque buddies team up to pull Baxter out of his rut and put him on top again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by Warner Bros. in 1934, A Modern Hero was the only American talkie directed by the great German filmmaker G. W. Pabst. Richard Barthelmess plays Pierre, the bastard son of blowzy, besotted circus performer Mme. Azais (Marjorie Rambeau). Fiercely ambitious, Pierre enters the world of automobile manufacturing, rising to the heights of success by callously using wealthy women to get ahead. After breaking one heart after another, Pierre is finally beaten at his own game by a disgruntled young lady who walks out on him, forcing him to admit that he's an utter flop as a human being. Jean Muir co-stars as Joanna, seduced and abandoned early in the proceedings, while other women crucial to Pierre's ascension are played by Veree Teasdale and Florence Eldredge. Based on a novel by Louis Bromfield, A Modern Hero has been correctly assessed by one of the director's devotees as having "little of Pabst in it." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This melodrama chronicles three decades in the life of the New York located title house beginning at the turn of the century when a chorine falls in love with a wealthy young man. He loves her too and this inspires the lass to leave her sugar daddy, marry and move into the beautiful home that is located very close to Park Avenue. The pair are deliciously happy and even more so when a daughter is born. Unfortunately, unhappiness comes in the form of the jilted lover who returns and threatens to kill himself unless the former dancer comes back to him. Concerned, she visits his apartment to dissuade him from suicide. A struggle ensues with his gun and he dies leaving her to spend twenty years in jail for the alleged crime. Fortunately, her husband's belief in her innocence and his devotion never wavers. Unfortunately, he ends up killed on the front lines during WW I. It is 1925 when the hapless heroine is finally released from prison. She finds herself confused by the many dramatic changes that have turned refined New York into the wild Big Apple of the 1920s. She is also upset that her late husband's family refuses to let her see her grown daughter. They pay her a large sum to stay a stranger. On a subsequent ocean cruise she joins forces with a card sharp and becomes a wealthy con artist. They decide to work in a speakeasy on 56th Street. Surprise, it turns out to be her old home and in it is still the beautiful Florentine medallion that once symbolized the undying love between the woman and her husband. Still she opens the house for its disreputable business. One night her daughter, a compulsive gambler, who of course, doesn't recognize her own mother, shows up and loses a lot of money. She and the card sharp get in a terrible row and the young girl shoots him. Her mother then tries to take the rap but the speakeasy owner doesn't buy it and tells her he'll cover for her on the provision that she remain in the house forever. She accepts the dubious proposition and the story ends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Joe E. Brown is a sailor who hopes to match the accomplishments of his seaman father. Unfortunately, Joe is perhaps the clumsiest gob ever to sail the seven seas. Nor can he steer clear of trouble: Through a series of wholly unbelievable circumstances, Joe finds himself alone on deck of a ship that's about to be shelled for target practice. He redeems himself for this and all past misdeeds when he inadvertently breaks up an espionage ring. Son of a Sailor is typical Joe E. Brown fare, but it's the sort of surefire material the public craved; indeed, at least one theatre manager insisted that Warner Bros. (Brown's home studio) send him more of the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The last--and to some aficionados, the best--of choreographer Busby Berkeley's three Warner Bros. efforts of 1933, Footlight Parade stars James Cagney as a Broadway musical comedy producer. Cagney is unceremoniously put out of business when talking pictures arrive. To keep his head above water, Jimmy hits upon a swell idea: he'll stage musical "prologues" for movie theatres, then ship them out to the various picture palaces in New York. Halfway through the picture, Cagney is obliged to assemble three mammoth prologues and present them back-to-back in three different theatres. There are all sorts of backstage intrigues, not the least of which concerns the predatory hijinks of gold-digger Claire Dodd and the covetous misbehavior of Cagney's ex-wife Renee Whitney. Joan Blondell plays Jimmy's faithful girl-friday, who loves him from afar; Ruby Keeler is the secretary who takes off her glasses and is instantly transformed into a glamorous stage star; Dick Powell is the "protege" of wealthy Ruth Donnelly, who makes good despite this handicap; Frank McHugh is Cagney's assistant, who spends all his time moaning "It'll never work"; and Hugh Herbert is a self-righteous censor, who ends up in a censurable position. The last half-hour of Footlight Parade is a nonstop display of Busby Berkeley at his most spectacular: the three big production numbers, all written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, are "By a Waterfall", "Honeymoon Hotel", and "Shanghai Lil", the latter featuring some delicious pre-code scatology, a tap-dance duet by Cagney and Keeler, and an out-of-left-field climactic salute to FDR and the NRA! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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