Jerome Storm Movies

This second of three movie versions of P.C. Wren's adventure novel Beau Geste is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1927 silent version. We open on the now-famous scenes of a remote, burning desert fort, manned by the dead Foreign Legionnaires, then flash back to the early lives of the Geste brothers. As children, the Gestes swear eternal loyalty to one another and to their family. One of the boys, young Beau (played as a youth by Donald O'Connor), witnesses his beloved aunt (Heather Thatcher) apparently stealing a valuable family jewel in order to finance the Geste home; Beau chooses to remain silent rather than disgrace his aunt. Years later, the grown Beau (Gary Cooper) again protects his aunt by confessing to the theft and running off to join the Foreign Legion. He is joined in uniform by faithful brothers John (Ray Milland) and Digby (Robert Preston), who in turn are pursued by a slimy thief (J. Carroll Naish). The crook is in cahoots with sadistic Legion Sgt. Markov (Brian Donlevy, in one of the most hateful portrayals ever captured on celluloid), who is later put in charge of Fort Zinderneuf, where Beau and John are stationed. When the Arabs attack, Markov proves himself a valiant soldier; it is he who hits upon the idea of convincing the Arabs that the fort is still fully manned by propping up the corpses of the casualties at the guard posts. Beau is seriously wounded, and while the greedy Markov searches for the jewel supposedly hidden on Beau's person, he is held at bay by loyal John. The suddenly enervated Beau kills Markov, then dies himself--but not before entrusting two notes to John, one of which requests that John give Beau the "Viking funeral" he'd always wanted (this is why the fort is in flames at the beginning of the film). After the battle, Digby Geste, a bugler with the relief troops, comes upon Beau's dead body, and appropriates the notes. As it turns out, John Geste is the only one who survives to return to England. He gives his aunt Beau's letter, which explains why Beau had confessed and run off--"a 'beau geste', indeed" comments his tearful aunt. No one missed nominal leading lady Susan Hayward in this essentially all-male entertainment. For years available only in muddily processed or truncated versions, Beau Geste was restored to its pristine glory by the American Film Institute in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After nearly a decade of nominal "leading lady" roles, Carole Lombard landed her first genuine starring vehicle with Hands Across the Table. Reasoning that the way to a man's heart is through his cuticles, Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) takes a job as a manicurist at a fancy barbershop, unabashedly admitting that she hopes to use this position to snag a rich husband. Sure enough, Regi's charms prove irresistable to Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy) a wealthy and charming invalid, who knows that the girl is a golddigger but doesn't care. The other man in Regi's life is Theodore "Ted" Drew III (Fred MacMurray), who though born into a wealthy family is stone broke, and on the verge of marrying a rich debutante (Astrid Allwyn) to replenish his lost fortune. Hoping to briefly escape this fate and his other financial problems, Theodore hides out in Regi's apartment. It is, of course, a platonic relationship: Having been burned in the past, Regi doesn't want to get romantically entangled with a pauper, while Ted is already promised to someone else. But, as is often the case in 1930s comedies, things don't quite turn out the way that either Regi or Ted expect. Full of delightful, unexpected touches, Hands Across the Table proved to be a major boost for Carole Lombard's career, and didn't exactly do any harm to up-and-coming Fred MacMurray either. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by director Paul Sloan from the novel by Will James, Lone Cowboy is an "outdoors" epic tailored to the talents of young Jackie Cooper. Actually the title character is not played by Cooper but by character actor Addison Richards, cast as a grizzled old rodeo rider named Dobe Jones. Placed in charge of Eastern lad Scooter O'Neal (Cooper), Dobe forms a strong friendship with the kid, but this does not dissuade him from his main purpose in life -- to track down his runaway wife Eleanor (Lila Lee) and her lover Jim Weston (Gavin Gordon). Finally catching up to the errant couple, Dobe shoots and kills Weston, a violent outburst that also seriously wounds Scooter. Evidently a more sombre ending was planned for Lone Cowboy than the hastily tacked-on happy denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tall-in-the-saddle Rex Bell stars in this Monogram western. Bell, a Navy boxing champ, returns to his family's ranch, only to find out that his wealthy uncle has been murdered. The villain has done the dirty deed to grab up the local water rights -- and incidentally, to get his mitts on Bell's girlfriend Cecilia Parker. Our hero is framed on a trumped-up charge and squirreled away in jail, while the bad guy prepares to march Parker to the altar. Will vice triumph over virtue this time around? Not on your life! The principle heavy is played by Bob Kortman, possessor of one of the meanest mugs in moviedom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A bookish Easterner (Hoot Gibson) is shipped off to a Western ranch for toughening up. Once on the ranch, he falls for a tough dame (Eugenia Gilbert) who is falsely accused of murdering her father's enemy. To the strains of "Courtin' Calamity," the former dude shows what he is really made of by capturing the real killer. This commonplace Western was Hoot Gibson's final part in a talkie. Carl Laemmle, the founder of Gibson's studio, Universal, and a great fan of Westerns, was running scared and didn't think outdoor pictures could do well with dialogue. Consequently, he canned all of his cowboy stars shortly after the release of Courtin' Wildcats, and Gibson's career never truly recovered. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Canine star Rin-Tin-Tin had dozens of movie competitors and imitators. One of the best of these was FBO Studios' Ranger the Dog,, the "hero" of 1928's Dog Law. Ranger races to the rescue when human protagonist Robert Sweeney is framed on a murder charge. The actual killer is Jules Cowles (previously a prominent blackface comedian), whom the faithful Fido chases to the edge of a cliff. Cowles falls to his death, but not before Sweeney has been proven innocent by heroine Mary Mabery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Rin-Tin-Tin's many competitors, Ranger starred in this low-budget dog adventure produced by poverty row company FBO. Ranger's mate, Lady Julie, is murdered by a hunchbacked masked bandit, and the avenging canine spends five reels tracking him down. The villain proves to be one Steve Benton (Albert J. Smith), the evil brother-in-law of lovely Marion (Jane Reid). Law of Fear was directed by former actor Jerome Storm. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Would you trust an adventurer named "Captain Careless"? Hero Bob Steele bears this curious moniker, though in his case "Careless" translates to "Reckless". When heroine Mary Mabery is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by cannibals, Steele rushes to her rescue. Though he experiences many a life-threatening scrape, there is little doubt that Bob Steele will survive. After all, he wrote the script. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Swift Shadow was one of several FBO programmers built around the talents of Rin Tin Tin clone Ranger the Dog. Trained to obey his evil, sadistic master, Ranger's loyalties are rent asunder when he befriends a much nicer gentleman. The dilemma deepens when the mean master, a professional criminal, uses the dog as an "accomplice." When villain and hero meet, Ranger is ordered to tear the "good guy" apart. He doesn't, as if there was any doubt. Unlike the Rin Tin Tin pictures, Swift Shadow does not strain audience credibility: Ranger looks and behaves like a normal dog, rather than a four-legged human being. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The screen popularity of "All American Boy" Charles Ray was fading in the mid-1920s, forcing the 34-year-old actor to return to his old bumpkin-makes-good formula in the inexpensively produced Sweet Adeline. Ray plays small-towner Ben Wilson, who's so incredibly bashful that he can only sulk in the shadows when his obnoxious older brother Bill (Jack Clifford) begins to flirt with his sweetheart Adeline (Gertrude Olmstead). Hoping to prove his worth in the Big City, Ben tries to get a job as a nightclub singer, only to be laughed off the stage because of his rubelike demeanor. But Ben finally wins over the urban wise-guys with a heartfelt rendition of the old standard Sweet Adeline. Almost instantly, Ben is hired by a Broadway impresario, earning our hero fame, fortune, and, of course, the eternal devotion of the real Sweet Adeline. Though it might have passed muster during Charles Ray's peak in the pre-1920 years, Sweet Adeline seemed hopelessly anachronistic in the jazz-age 1920s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pert comedienne Constance Talmadge is virtually the whole show in Goldfish. A newly married husband (Jack Mulhall) and wife (Talmadge) make a curious agreement: should either party want to terminate the relationship, that party will present the other one with a bowl of goldfish (there has to be some justification for the film's title, hasn't there?) One bowl and two husbands later, the wife is at the pinnacle of social respectability, while her songwriter ex-husband is still struggling away in poverty. Eventually, her first husband achieves success, whereupon the woman presents her latest fiance with a bowl full of fish and returns to hubby number one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jazz babies and gents danced and partied their way through dozens upon dozens of motion pictures during the Roaring Twenties. After a while, all their plots became interchangeable -- the girls and guys would run wild, but in the end they would realize their parents were right after all, inspiring them to give up their frivolous ways. That's the basic formula in this comedy-melodrama, but there's some Latin American color added to give it a bit of variety. Dancer Theodore Kosloff took the starring role of Richard Forestall, who is engaged to Babs Weston (Eileen Pearcy), the daughter of a rich man (Alec B. Francis). Babs, however, isn't quite ready to settle down, as she proves by getting engaged to two more young men (Ricardo Cortez and Robert Cain). Richard takes off for an island near Cuba where his father (Frank Currier) lives. Babs continues her revelry with her other two suitors and they jump in a plane and head for Havana, where they hope to get more liquor. But the aircraft encounters a storm and is forced to land on the Forestalls' island. Richard puts all of them to work and forces Babs to forego her silly antics. She comes to appreciate his strong and serious nature and her two other boyfriends are out of luck. This film was adapted from the play Other Times by Harold Brighouse. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

During his tenure with the Fox studios, John Gilbert was cast in every imaginable role a male lead could have. He was Marco Polo, Cameo Kirby, and here he's the title character of this adventure, which comes by its mythical kingdom theme honestly -- it was based on a novel by George Barr McCutcheon. Truxton King is a dashing American who comes to Graustark in search of adventure. There is treachery afoot in the kingdom, and at first the royal family believes he is a spy. But King discovers a plot to murder six-year-old Prince Robin (Mickey Moore), and becomes the boy's protector. He not only saves the young prince, but also his beautiful aunt, Lorraine (Ruth Clifford). In spite of all attempts by the revolutionaries, King almost single-handedly keeps them from overthrowing the royals, and his efforts win him Lorraine's hand. Gilbert would remain stuck on the Fox treadmill for another year and a half after this picture was made. He would only find true stardom when he went over to {@Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide