Mischa Auer Movies

The newly constructed Paramount sound stages were used as a backdrop for the Pirandellian thriller The Studio Murder Mystery. Fredric March stars as Richard Hardell, a silent-screen idol whose transition to talkies is threatened by his inability to remember his lines. Driven to distraction, Hardell's director Richard Borka (Warner Oland) wonders if his star will be able to get through the all-important "murder scene" in his current picture. The thin line between fantasy and reality is blurred when several actual attempts are made on Hardell's life. The suspects include Hardell's far-from-loyal wife Blanche (played by March's real-life wife Florence Eldredge) and sour-pussed studio "gag writer" Tony White (Neil Hamilton). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama set during WW I, a gangster joins the army and is promoted to major. He then returns from war torn Europe to tell a family that their beloved son had died in his arms during a battle. The major then falls in love with the late soldier's sister and decides to accept a position in town as the new police commissioner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After briefly relinquishing the role to Basil Rathbone, William Powell was back as S. S. Van Dine's amateur detective Philo Vance in The Benson Murder Case. Keeping abreast of the times, the film uses the 1929 Stock Market Crash as a plot motivator. Crooked stockbroker Anthony Benson (Richard Tucker) betrays several of his clients for his own gain then retreats to the safety of his palatial hunting lodge. It isn't long before Benson turns up dead, obliging his house guest Philo Vance to wade through the myriad of suspects. Among the likely culprits is gigolo Adolph Mohler, played by Paul Lukas, who would himself essay the role of Philo Vance in 1935's Casino Murder Case. The Benson Murder Case brought the Philo Vance series to a temporary close; it would be three years before Vance, again impersonated by William Powell, appeared on-screen in The Kennel Murder Case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan, was responsible for the international-espionage yarn Inside the Lines. The time is WWI, and the place is Gibraltar, where English girl Jane (Betty Compson) is accidentally reunited with her pre-war sweetheart, German-born Wodehouse (Ralph Forbes). Each suspects the other of being an agent for the Kaiser and the mastermind behind a plan to destroy the British fleet. Imagine their relief when they discover that they're both British intelligence agents (this is the sort of dramatic device that would later be played for laughs in such TV spoofs as Get Smart). The only true villain of the piece is a steely-eyed Hindu fanatic Amahdi, played by future character comedian Mischa Auer. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

Based upon a much-filmed play by Michael Morton (which may in turn have been based upon a story by Frank Harris, The Yellow Ticket is also an indirect descendant of the opera La Tosca. In pre-Revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant girl named Marya Kalish (played by Elissa Landi) has reason to believe that her poor father is dying in St. Petersburg. She wishes to visit him, but the only way she can obtain passage is through disguising herself and obtaining a yellow ticket -- a pass that will mark her as a woman of low repute. Once in St. Petersburg, she discovers that her father has died. She also encounters the sinister Baron Andrey (Lionel Barrymore), head of the Czar's secret police, who comes to have designs upon her. She, however, develops an interest in British journalist Julian Rolphe (Laurence Olivier). She tells Rolphe the truth about life for most people in Russia, and his stories begin to change in tone, becoming critical and unflattering. This does not escape the attention of the secret police, who attempt to imprison the journalist. Meanwhile, Baron Andrey tells Marya that he will give her his own card with which she may travel, thereby eliminating the stigma and the difficulties that the yellow ticket presents. This is actually just a ploy to lure her into his clutches, and when he makes a move on her, she shoots him. Rescuing Rolphe, the two lovers flee via an airplane as Austria invades the country. Yellow Ticket features Olivier's second U.S. appearance, as well as Boris Karloff in a small role as a drunken orderly. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

As was often the case in the films of Chesterfield Studios, the title The Lady From Nowhere has little relevance to the film itself. Alice Day and John Holland play a pair of young lovers who may or may not be crooks. Or, they may or may not be detectives. Whatever the case, hero and heroine team up to trap the villains responsible for a major crime (just what that crime is was never made clear in the film, nor in the "official" synopses). Silent-screen veterans Phillips Smalley and Barbara Bedford strive hard to make their roles worthwhile, while Mischa Auer, still several years removed from his fame as one of Hollywood's most delightful character comedians, is suitably menacing as a maniacal heavy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Delicious represents the first time that George and Ira Gershwin ever wrote a musical score exclusively for the screen. Unfortunately, the film fails to come up to the standards set by the music, though it's not from lack of trying. Janet Gaynor stars as Heather Gordon, a poor Scotch immigrant who dreams of relocating to the United States. Her aspirations are confounded by the intractability of the customs inspectors, who are bound and determined to send Heather back whence she came. In the meantime, she takes up residence in a rooming house catering to immigrants, where the other tenants -- especially comic-relief Swede Jansen (El Brendel) -- work overtime to cheer her up. All ends happily when American millionaire Jerry Beaumont (Charles Farrell) proposes marriage, despite his family's objections. The musical numbers include the overly coy title tune, a bizarre "Welcome to America" setpiece in which Heather dreams that she's being greeted by a singing Statue of Liberty, and a virtually complete performance of Gershwin's Second Rhapsody (aka The New York Rhapsody). The film's highlight, however, is El Brendel's rendition of the Blah Blah Blah song, in which he itemizes every love-song cliché known to man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's hard to separate fact and fancy from the many accounts of what happened on the set when all three of the fabulous Barrymores -- Ethel, John and Lionel -- appeared together for the only time in Rasputin and the Empress. As for the end result, John offers the subtlest (!) performance as Russian Prince Paul Chegodieff; Lionel throws all caution to the four winds in the role of "Mad Monk" Rasputin; and Ethel comes off as rather artificial as Empress Alexandra (Ethel was more appealing in her character roles of the 1940s and 1950s). The plot covers the years 1913 through 1918, during the tumultuous final years of the Romanov regime in Russia. When young Prince Alexis (Tad Alexander), a hemophiliac, hovers near death after an accident, the royal physicians regretfully predict an imminent demise. At the advice of Prince Paul's impressionable sweetheart Natasha (Diana Wynyard), Alexandra and her husband, Czar Nikolai (Ralph Morgan), call in the mysterious Rasputin to look after Alexis. Using hypnosis, Rasputin is able to "cure" the boy-and to slowly gain control over the royal family. Prince Paul, concerned that Rasputin's despotic misuse of his new-found authority will cause the people to revolt, does his best to discredit the oily holy man, but to no avail. When Natasha is raped by Rasputin, Paul attempts to shoot the miscreant down. But Rasputin, who has taken the precaution of wearing a bullet proof vest, is not so easily killed off. In a last, desperate measure, Paul and his cohorts try to poison Rasputin to death-and even this doesn't work. Only a climactic fight to the death puts an end to Rasputin's reign. Alas, the damage has already been done, and the royal family is doomed to be toppled from power...and, ultimately, to be shot down like dogs by the Bolsheviks. Perhaps it's true that the three Barrymores spent more time trying to upstage one another than concentrating on the script at hand, but we wouldn't have it any other way. When seen today, Rasputin and the Empress seems rather choppy in spots, with isolated lines of dialogue and sometimes whole scenes completely missing. This is due to a million-dollar lawsuit brought against MGM by Prince Yusupov, the man who really engineered Rasputin's assassination. The Prince wasn't offended by being depicted as a murderer, but he was distressed when MGM suggested that his wife had been raped by Rasputin. As a result, Rasputin and the Empress was withdrawn from distribution, and all prints were later bowdlerized when released to television. Also as a result, all future Hollywood films were obliged to carry the "Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental" disclaimer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A rather complicated but well-made little Poverty Row thriller, Drifting Souls features silent screen star Lois Wilson as Linda Lawrence, a woman lawyer whose father needs 5,000 dollars for an operation. A dutiful daughter, Linda places a newspaper ad promising marriage to anyone who will pay 5,000 dollars. Meanwhile, a joyriding Joe Robson (Theodore von Eltz) kills a road worker, a hit-and-run he unscrupulously pins on his intoxicated passenger, socialite Ted Merritt (Gene Gowling). Needing an alibi, Ted agrees to marry Linda, but is arrested for the hit-and-run. Hedging his bets, Joe secures Ted a crooked lawyer (Edmund Breese), but he quits and Linda takes over the defense. Enterprising reporter "Scoop" (Raymond Hatton) recovers Greta (Shirley Grey), Joe's accomplice, in the nick of time, and the girl is made to testify in court that it was Joe and not Ted who drove the car that fateful night. Having fallen in love during the trial, Ted and Linda decide to exchange their marriage of convenience for the real thing. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this murder mystery, everyone around a murdered movie producer is a suspect, including his girl friend. Most of those involved have good reason to kill him. The murder occurred on a ship bound for a new location; all the suspects are aboard. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

"So much for Carlotta" muses the head of German Espionage (Lewis Stone), shortly after secret agent Karen Morley is put to death. Morley's successor is exotic dancer Mata Hari (Greta Garbo), an enigmatic woman of Javanese-Dutch ancestry who seldom thinks twice about luring some poor swain to his doom. Assigned to intercept allied war messages, Mata Hari romances garrolous-general Lionel Barrymore. She falls in love for the first and only time in her life when she meets dazzlingly handsome lieutenant Ramon Novarro. Barrymore finds out about the affair and threatens to expose both Mata and Novarro as spies, whereupon Ms. Hari shoots Barrymore dead. She arranges for Novarro to leave the country lest he be implicated in the murder. He is subsequently blinded in an airplane crash, setting the stage for Garbo's now-famous "Let me be your eyes" scene. Mata Hari is tried and sentenced to death, but is permitted a few final precious moments with Novarro, allowing him to go on believing that he is in a military hospital rather than a prison cell, and that his beloved is dying of a mysterious ailment rather than facing a firing squad. The debate still rages among film buffs as to whether Greta Garbo does her own dancing in Mata Hari, or whether that's her double in the long shots. There is no question, however, that the condemned prisoner in the first reel who refuses to betray Mata to his captors is none other than Mischa Auer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide