Eulalie Jensen Movies

This second of three film versions of Edna Ferber's novel So Big stars Barbara Stanwyck as Ferber's resilient heroine Selena Dejong Peake. Widowed early in the proceedings, Chicago truck farmer Selena sacrifices everything for her son Dirk (Dickie Moore as a child, Hardie Albright as a grown-up), living for the day that the boy will become a successful architect. But the callow Dirk breaks his mom's heart by becoming a bond salesman. Selena vows that Rolf Pool (Dick Winslow as a boy, George Brent as an adult) will not prove a similar disappoint to his parents, taking it upon herself to encourage Rolf's dreams to become a sculptor. Bette Davis plays a supporting role as Dallas O'Mara, a young artist who hopes to convince Dirk to fulfill his mother's dreams. Previously filmed in 1925 with Colleen Moore, So Big was remade in 1953 with Jane Wyman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Constance Bennett suffers nobly in this outdated but fairly engrossing melodrama in which a seemingly hardened debutante takes the blame for the mistakes of her siblings. When her sister Corinne (Helen Vinson) gets in trouble with a married man (Gavin Gordon), Ardell Hamilton (Bennett) accepts culpability in her stead. She performs the same service for ne'er-do-well brother Bob (Allen Vincent) when he is accused of murdering the philanderer, and who should be the prosecuting attorney in the case but honest, hardworking David Norton (Neil Hamilton), with whom Ardell has fallen in love. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this murder mystery, a nurse with an unusual eye for detail solves a puzzling case. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney were teamed for the only time in their careers in Smart Money. Robinson has the larger part as a small-town barber who fancies himself a big-time gambler. He travels to the Big City in the company of his younger brother Cagney, who wants to make sure that Robinson isn't fleeced by the high-rollers. Unfortunately Robinson has a weakness for beautiful blondes, most of whom take him for all his money or betray him in some other manner. The cops aren't keen on Robinson's gambling activities, but they can pin nothing on him until he accidentally kills Cagney in a fight. The incident results in a jail term for manslaughter, and a more sober-sided outlook on life for the formerly flamboyant Robinson. Watch closely in the first reel of Smart Money for an unbilled appearance by Boris Karloff as a dope pusher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rakish college student Hal (Norman Foster) is in love with sorority girl Peggy (Claudia Dell), but she only has eyes for Hal's roommate Dan (Philips Holmes). Hoping to get Dan out of the way, Hal enlists the aid of campus vamp Patricia (Sylvia Sidney). She manipulates Dan into a hot necking session, resulting in an unscheduled pregnancy. Dan is tossed off the campus, whereupon Peggy pulls off a few dirty tricks of her own, culminating in a shotgun wedding between Hal and Patricia. Finally Dan shows up to do the Honorable Thing by admitting that Patricia's child is his -- not that this is of any help to Hal, who is now persona non grata with everyone concerned. The New York Times reviewer was right on target when he summed up Confessions of a Co-Ed thusly: "The students devote their whole time to discussing affairs of the heart, never for an instant revealing any inclination for work." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy drama, an enormous baggage handler earns the reputation of being an all-'round good joe and soon gets promoted. He is in love with Joy, a pretty newsstand girl. Despite his good work, which includes stopping a train robbery, she realizes that her lovable lug will never rise to become the white-collar worker he aspires to become. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

D. W. Griffith had originally been announced as the director of the Universal "super-production" version of Uncle Tom's Cabin, but negotiations fell through and the job went to studio workhorse Harry A. Pollard. Running 141 minutes, this was the most elaborate filmization of the Harriet Beecher Stowe "abolition" classic to date, and even though it wasn't entirely faithful to its source, audiences went home satisfied. James B. Lowe stars as bloody but unbowed slave Uncle Tom (a role traditionally assigned to a white man in blackface!), while George Siegmann, drooling tobacco juice and brandishing a whip with furious abandon, is Evil Personified as Simon Legree. Other familiar roles were filled by Margarita Fischer (a somewhat long-in-tooth Eliza), Virginia Grey (Eva), Mona Ray (Topsy) and Lucien Littlefield (Lawyer Marks) The film owes more to the theatrical versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin than the novel, including the escape of Eliza across the ice, an incident that was invented for the stage. Budgeted at one million dollars, Uncle Tom's Cabin had to be released several times in the 1930s to break even. Excerpts from the film later showed up in the opening scenes of 1955's Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in 1917 with Jack Pickford, Gene Stratton Porter's 1904 piece of Americana came back to the screens 11 years later courtesy of low-budget FBO and Porter herself. The latter played the "Swamp Angel," a beautiful Northwoods girl helping Freckles (John Fox Jr.) defeat the villains who are attempting to take over the Limberlost logging camp. Freckles, an orphan, falls in love with Angel along the way, but the difference in their social position prevents him from declaring himself. Nearly insane from unrequited love, Freckles makes no attempt to escape when a huge tree falls, and he is seriously injured. Angel nurses him back to health, and Freckles finally confesses his love; Angel, to his surprise, returns the favor. Freckles was remade in 1935 starring Tom Brown and again in 1960 featuring Martin West. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Having scored big-time box office with his first Biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923), Cecil B. DeMille hoped to top this success with his 1927 The King of Kings. Inasmuch as he was now dealing with the life of Christ, DeMille had to be careful to serve up equal amounts of showmanship and reverence. The first creative challenge: how to "introduce" Christ in a tasteful manner? The answer: as a blind child is cured through Jesus' intervention, DeMille cuts to the child's point-of-view, slowly fading in on the kindly countenance of H.B. Warner as the Son of Man. Still, DeMille remained DeMille, especially in his handling of the character of Mary Magdalene (Jacqueline Logan). No longer a tattered streetwalker, Mary Magdalene is now a glamorous courtesan, replete with legions of gorgeous slave girls (one of whom is "bubble dancer" Sally Rand) and dressed in revealing Hollywood-style gowns. In fact, the film opens on this character, as she ruminates over the defection of her favorite customer, Judas Iscariot (Joseph Schildkraut), who is spending far too much time with Jesus of Nazareth. Upon visiting Jesus herself, she immediately repents, casting off all her prior sins. Once again, the efficacy of the Cecil B. DeMille formula is proven: redemption has no dramatic value unless the film shows viewers why the sinner needs to be redeemed. Once he's gotten his box-office considerations out of the way, DeMille adheres faithfully to the particulars of Jesus' life, betrayal, trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. (Again, however, the director improves a bit upon his source material: the storm that follows the Crucifixion is of the same spectacular dimensions as the parting of the Red Sea in Ten Commandments, while the Resurrection is filmed in vibrant Technicolor). To back up the authenticity of his images, DeMille -- with an assist from scenarist Jeannie Macpherson -- utilizes Scriptural quotes in his subtitles. And to avoid any untoward publicity while filming, DeMille required all of his actors to sign legal documents preventing them from indulging in any sort of "sinful" activity; this meant that poor old H.B. Warner had to steer clear of alcoholic beverages for nearly a year, though he more than made up for lost time after his contract ran out. Prepared to mercilessly lambaste The King of Kings, DeMille's critics were disarmed by his reverent, tasteful approach to the subject. Years after the film's release, a specially prepared 60-minute version of the 18-reel King of Kings was making the rounds of religious groups, church basements, and Easter-weekend telecasts. The film was remade in 1961 by producer Samuel Bronston and director Nicholas Ray, with Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This sentimental romance was based on the stage play by Owen Davis. Ted Wayne (Lloyd Hughes) and Jennie Clayton (Mary Astor) are childhood sweethearts who automatically assume they will always be together. But Ted is poor and Jennie is wealthy, and her mother (Eulalie Jensen) wants her to marry Jack Randall, a man of her own station (Hiram Cooley). Mrs. Clayton convinces Ted that he must break up with Jennie because he will never be able to properly support her. With a heavy heart, Ted follows her advice and leaves town with his mother (Lila Leslie). Jennie, however, refuses to marry her mother's choice, and when World War I breaks out she becomes a Red Cross nurse and goes to Europe. Ted has enlisted and he, too, is in France. He is seriously wounded in battle and taken to a hospital. In his delirious state he calls out for Jennie. Since she is actually at the hospital, she comes to him and they are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

When not appearing in the films directed by their boss Cecil B. DeMille, Rod LaRocque and Elinor Fair were kept busy in such DeMille-produced programmers as Bachelor Brides. About to be wed to titled Englishman LaRocque, the fair Fair is thrown into a panic when her family jewels are stolen. All the suspects are forced to spend the night in Fair's mansion by an outsized rainstorm, allowing LaRocque time aplenty to figure out the identity of the thief. He is "helped" by a pair of dimwitted detectives, who make Laurel and Hardy look like Rhodes scholars. And no, the butler didn't do it. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Volcano takes forever to get to the climactic eruption. In the meantime, the audience is subjected to the travails of convent-bred Zabette de Chauvalons, who upon returning to her father's estate in Martinique discovers that daddy has died and the property is now in the hands of her evil stepmother. Because of her dusky complexion, it is assumed that Zabette is the illegitimate offspring of her French father and a local native woman, and as consequence she is forced to live in the island's mulatto district. Here she is lusted after by mulatto villain Quembo (Wallace Beery), while handsome white aristocrat Stephane Sequineau (Ricardo Cortez) vows to take the heroine away from her tawdry surroundings. On cue, a volcanic eruption solves everyone's problems -- while simultaneously laying waste to the entire island! Exceptional special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi