The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960
David Bordwell, Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson
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- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsRory CalhounRhonda FlemingPaul KellyTravelers find themselves marooned on an island with a maniacal self-made ruler.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsGlenda FarrellBarton MacLaneAnne NagelAfter rival reporters, jealous of Torchy's success, conspire to fake the murder of an actor in order to embarrass her, he ends up being strangled.
- DirectorLaslo BenedekStarsJohn CassavetesRaymond BurrSara ShaneSongwriter falls in love with a crippled man's wife.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsBrian DonlevyAnn RichardsWalter AbelStefan Dangos immigrates to America and works his way up from the iron mines and steel mills to become a great American success story as an industrialist.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsHelen MorganJoan PeersFuller Mellish Jr.A burlesque star seeks to keep her convent-raised daughter away from her low-down life and abusive lover/stage manager.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsCharles BoyerMargaret SullavanRita JohnsonCharming Andre Cassil woos physician Jane Alexander and the two impulsively get married. The honeymoon ends very quickly after Jane voices her progressive views on marriage, which include that the two should keep separate apartments. Andre then tries to make his wife jealous to lure her into his bedroom.
- DirectorAlfred SantellStarsBob BurnsFay BainterJohn BealA folksy drifter (Bob Burns) helps an old friend's widow (Fay Bainter) and daughter (Jean Parker) save their newspaper.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsCornel WildeMaureen O'HaraRobert DouglasIn 1648 France, it's the sons (and daughter) of the Three Musketeers to the rescue!
- DirectorReinhold SchünzelStarsNelson EddyIlona MasseyCharles RugglesA Russian prince disguised as a worker and a cafe singer secretly involved in revolutionary activities fall in love.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsWallace BeeryRichard ArlenLouise BrooksAfter killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police, and reach Canada.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsGene KellyJ. Carrol NaishTeresa CelliNow grown-up, Johnny Columbo returns to New York from Italy having sworn a vendetta against the Black Hand who killed his father years earlier. Becoming romantically involved with a girl from school and meeting up with an honest cop also fighting the gangs, Columbo starts to wonder if there may be legal ways to defeat them.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsDean MartinJerry LewisDonna ReedAlthough gifted golfer Harvey Miller is too nervous to golf in public tournaments, he acts as coach and caddy for friend Joe Anthony.
- DirectorJules DassinNorman Z. McLeodStarsCharles LaughtonRobert YoungMargaret O'BrienThe descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
- DirectorJohn BerryStarsYvonne De CarloTony MartinPeter LorreThe life, loves and adventures of a classic Casbah thief.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsWarren WilliamGenevieve TobinPatricia EllisA con man who stages phony "lucky legs" beauty contests and leaves town with the money is found with a surgical knife in his heart by Mason.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsRod La RocqueJacqueline LoganGeorge FawcettBruce McDow, son of a skipper, believes he has inherited the cowardice of his father and loses the respect of his associates. Jenny, who loves and believes in him, gets him a job as mate of the lightship, and during an ensuing storm he proves his courage by saving her life and averting disaster to an endangered ship.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsVera ReynoldsJulia FayeMajel ColemanKate Jones and Becky Finkelstein are manicurists who decide to go overseas and entertain American troops during the Great War. Clark Jackson, a wealthy playboy, and William, his valet, are members of the A.E.F, and William becomes the top-sergeant in their unit. Evelyn, a friend of Clark's, also goes to France as a Red Cross nurse. They all meet, and Kate and Becky both fall in love with Clark. Kate is jealous of Evelyn, but, unknown to any of them, Evelyn loves an American aviator. When the Armistice finally comes, two of them have died in the war, but the others are all reunited.
- DirectorBen TurbettStarsLeslie AustinWilliam CalhounMildred HavensJohn McLean fails to obtain the coveted honor of selection to the Senior Society at Yale, but is cheered by a letter from his father who reminds him that the courage of the commonplace is the greatest of all. Nevertheless, the girl he loves leaves without bidding him goodbye and John, not knowing that her grief over his failure was the cause, assumes that she has lost faith in him. Three years later, John graduates from Boston Tech and is appointed superintendent of the Big Oriel Mine. Conditions are deplorable at his post and John sets out to win the confidence of the men, which he succeeds in doing, winning all but a few miners led by the foreman O'Hara. When a fire breaks out in the mine, the two adversaries are trapped in a shaft. O'Hara loses his mind and attacks his comrades but is knocked senseless by John. Relief arrives just in time and John finds himself a hero, not only to O'Hara and his former foes, but to the world outside. At the Yale commencement, he is praised in a speech by the president, feted by his classmates, and his happiness is made complete when the girl confesses her love for him.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsWarner BaxterEllen DrewWilliam FrawleyThe Crime Doctor comes up against a criminal with a dual personality.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsStuart ErwinJean MuirGlenda FarrellA stage-struck small-towner is tricked into backing a bad straight play, but it turns out to be a unintentional comedy hit. Problems arise when he is sued for plagiarism.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsIda LupinoDane ClarkWayne MorrisA girl living with her parents on an isolated California farm falls in love with a chain-gang convict working at a nearby highway construction site, and sets out to help him when he escapes.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsBela LugosiSuzanne KaarenDave O'BrienA mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.
- DirectorMonta BellStarsJohn GilbertPaul LukasVirginia BruceAn amoral chauffeur seeks to seduce a young bride.
- DirectorFord BeebeStarsGloria JeanKirby GrantJ. Edward BrombergUpon arriving in New York City, 19-year-old Judith Dawson, who hopes to gain fame and fortune as a costume designer, goes to the design house of Tylers, Ltd. looking for a job. After falling asleep while waiting for an interview, Judy is discovered by Gustav Levant, the night watchman, who was once a great couturier. Mistaking Gustav for Bruce Tyler, Judy shows the watchman her designs, and though he recognizes her talent, he advises her to return home to Maine. Gustav then realizes that it is his birthday, and the two put on some costumes and go to a nightclub. Their good time is interrupted, however, when Bruce arrives, but they manage to escape detection with the help of Phillipe, the nightclub's maitre d'. Like Cinderella, Judy leaves behind part of her costume, a bracelet, which Bruce finds and cradles like a glass slipper. The next morning Bruce meets with musical revue producer Billingsly Billings and his star, Helene Ford, to go over the latest designs by Tyler's couturier, Antonio. Judy is nearly fired when she tries to show Bruce her designs during the meeting, but he takes a fancy to her later that night. Jealous of Bruce's attentions toward Helene, Judy decides to prove herself by redesigning the singer's gown. In order to protect Judy, Gustav then falsely confesses to changing the costume himself. Just as Bruce is about to fire him, Helene puts on the gown and proclaims that she will wear only clothes designed by Gustav. Though Gustav wants to tell Bruce the truth, Judy suggests that they work together to design Helene's gowns under his name. Soon thereafter, Judy finally captures Bruce's heart, only to be falsely accused of stealing Gustav's designs and selling them to another design house. While the love-struck Bruce chases after Judy, Gustav confesses all to Billings. Upon his return, they try to tell Bruce the truth about Judy, but he is so angry at her rejection of him that he refuses to listen to even the mention of her name. Before she can return to Maine, Gustav convinces Judy to go to opening night of Gustav's show in order to see her costume on stage. Gustav then arranges to have Bruce and Judy seated in the same box, and when she drops her bracelet, Bruce realizes that she is the girl for whom he has been looking. Following her out of the theater, Bruce gets into a horse-drawn carriage with Judy, and as Gustav and Antonio drive them to Central Park, the two finally confess their love for each other.
- DirectorRobert ParrishStarsRita HayworthRobert MitchumJack LemmonThe friendship between two tramp boat owners is threatened by the arrival of a beautiful and seductive passenger.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsSandra DeeJames DarrenCliff RobertsonA young girl discovers surfing and love (in that order) during one transitive summer.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsGuy KibbeeZasu PittsEdward Everett HortonA social-climbing couple throw a lavish party for a stranger they persuaded to pose as their daughter.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsRonald ReaganPatricia NealRichard ToddIn the final days of WW2, in a M.A.S.H. unit in Burma, a seriously wounded corporal watches in dismay as fellow soldiers pack-up to return home but a caring nurse and five remaining soldiers bring him solace.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsBing CrosbyFabianTuesday WeldWidower and hamburger restaurateur Harvey Howard decides to go to college at 51 years of age. Resisting the easy path, he insists on not receiving preferential treatment, and lives in a dorm like the other students despite the disapproval of his grown son and daughter. As the years pass, and he gets involved in study sessions, fraternity initiations, and sporting events, he begins falling in love with Professor Gautier, the French teacher, but doesn't consider re-marrying appropriate.
- DirectorArthur HopkinsStarsRoland YoungLillian GishMontagu LovePriam Farrel is a celebrated artist but a social recluse. When his valet dies of a sudden illness, a mix-up leads to the body being identified as Farrel's. The timid artist then assumes the identity of his former servant, but finds himself faced with constant dilemmas as a result.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsGeorge BrentBette DavisAnn DvorakNan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and heats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend battle over Bill.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBrian DonlevyElla RainesCharles CoburnA unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAnn SheridanPat O'BrienJohn PayneJoe is the three-time Indy champion who still races to put young Eddie through college. Joe wants a better life for Eddie, and he explodes when he finds out that Eddie quit school for a racing career. Joe tries to teach Eddie the trade, but they separate when Eddie will not drop "bad girl" Frankie. When Joe causes the death of a driver at the next race, he quits racing and wanders around. Joe winds up at Indianapolis where Eddie is driving the Martin Special.
- DirectorJohn H. CollinsStarsEdward EarleViola DanaAugustus PhillipsJimmy Carter, a millionaire, leading an idle, indulgent life, gets an urgent message from his friend, Reginald Travers. Travers, who is dying, has been ruined in the stock market by Mortimer Reynolds, and penniless, he leaves his little daughter in care of Carter, who promises faithfully to look after her. After the death of Travers, Carter takes Ruth to his luxurious home and gives her to the motherly care of Mrs. Jenkins, his housekeeper, Mortimer Reynolds, anxious to add Ruth to his list of unfortunates, instructs his mistress, Edna Morris, to make her acquaintance and to gain her confidence. Carter and Reynolds become bitter enemies because of Reynold's sarcastic reflections on the relationship between Carter and Ruth. As time passes, Ruth, by her winsomeness and innocence gradually changes Carter's mode of life. He no longer feels an interest in the gay life of former days, and even loses his taste for the morning nip. Unconsciously, Ruth is transforming his sympathetic dutiful interest in her to love. In a moment of ecstasy he crushes her in his arms. At the Charity Ball, where Ruth is taking part in a tableau, she meets Edna Morris. Fearful of Reynold's wrath should she fail, the unhappy girl works her way into the graces of Ruth. Carter sees this and immediately takes Ruth home, refusing to explain his conduct to her. Meeting Ruth in the park the following day, Edna denounces Carter for his action of the previous evening, "Why should he object to me, pray? Everybody knows that your father didn't leave you a penny, and that you are living on the, shall I say, generosity, of Mr. Carter." Stunned by the revelation that she is looked upon as Carter's mistress, the impetuous little girl rushes to the house, and in a burst of fury, screams her hatred of Carter. In the still of the night, she makes her way out of the house to Edna's apartment. It is here that Reynolds finds her. Impelled by a fiendish lust, he forces her to partake of his wines, and slowly they begin to work their effect. Carter, who, in desperation, has been searching for her, finds her in the apartment, stupefied and disheveled. Disgusted and heartsore, he looks upon her contemptuously and leaves, feeling that she has gone the way of Edna. Mrs. Morris, Edna's mother, prompted by a subconscious feeling that all is not well with her child, comes to the house from her little cottage in the country. She takes both penitents back home with her, hoping that they may forget and begin life anew. Meanwhile, Reynolds, whose financial affairs have taken a turn for the worse, and who is being sought by the police for forgery, attempts to make his escape. He is caught by the police and so made to pay for the misery and misfortune which he has brought upon others. Miserable and despairing because Carter has mistaken her, Ruth can find no peace. But Edna, she who has dragged her to darkness and degradation, succeeds in lifting her once more to the light of hope. The once impetuous Ruth is again folded in the arms of Carter, knowing that there only will she find eternal happiness and peace of soul.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsJune AllysonRossano BrazziMarianne KochA young American woman travels to Munich and falls in love with a famous German conductor, only to learn he has a mentally ill wife.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsFernand GraveyJoan BlondellEdward Everett HortonEx-King Alfred VII is a young, handsome, and charming erstwhile monarch who once ruled a nation of two million people. Now all he has left are his Count Humbert and Duchess Anna, along with enough money to live an idle life in Paris with dozens of servants. He hasn't seen daylight in years; he prefers instead to drink himself into a stupor regularly. He's phenomenally bored, and a routine trip to a tedious cabaret finds a chorus girl flirting with him. He calls her to his apartment, apparently to seduce her as he's done many times before, but when she comes, he's passed out. Her outrage gives Humbert and Anna the idea that might bring Alfred out of his unhappy ennui - tell him she didn't come, and have her act as though he weren't so important after all. He of course pursues her with vigor and is snapped out of his apathy. But what happens if she falls in love with him?
- DirectorHenry MacRaeStarsHoot GibsonKathryn CrawfordSlim SummervilleA Montana cowboy battles lowlifes while preparing for a competition in Chicago.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsDick PurcellJoan WoodburyMantan MorelandOn a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsGeorge BancroftWynne GibsonCharles StarrettFresh young boxer Buzz Kinney is just out of college. He's able to knock out Stag Bailey when the veteran becomes overconfident. Later, Buzz is a worn-out wreck with a broken nose and cauliflower ear.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsRonald ColmanVanessa BrownRichard HaydnGeorge and Catherine Apley of Boston lead a proper life in the proper social circle, as did the Apleys before them. After grown daughter Eleanor falls in love with Howard (from New York!), and son John with Myrtle (from Worcester!), the ordered life of the Apley home on Beacon Street is threatened, as is the hoped-for union of John and his cousin Agnes.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsMadge BellamyMae GiraciJohn BowersIn 17th-century England, an outlaw clan kidnaps a young girl, who grows up among them. The farm boy who met her just before the kidnapping eventually rescues her, and they fall in love.
- DirectorJ.P. McGowanStarsHelen HolmesJack MowerHenry A. BarrowsKidnapping and marital reconciliation drive this action film set on a millionaire's private train.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenPhil RosenStarsBarbara StanwyckFrank MorganRicardo CortezTwo days before Marian and Ned are to be married, he is killed by the husband of a woman he was seeing on the side. Marian becomes withdrawn and they send her to the Canadian Rockies for rest. While on a walk, she accidentally falls off a ledge and twists her ankle. She is found and rescued by Dan Forrester and his dog Sandy. He visits Marian every day even though she is still bitter. When it is time to go, he asks her to marry him and she accepts even though she will never love again. Back home in Chicago, Dan dotes on Marian and even builds a house in the country for his 'perfect wife'. Everything is going well until Marian meets a brash young transport owner named Frank. She rejects his advances, but he persists. When Dan leaves on business, Frank entertains her every day and Marian realizes that she may find love again after all.
- DirectorEdgar LewisStarsGlen WhiteJosephine HillArnold StorrerKarl "Curly" Casterline, a wrongfully discharged New York City policeman, finds work on the Midwestern farm of Adolf Bauerle to help the war effort. Curly is attracted to his boss's niece, Mina, but also realizes that Adolf and his cohort, Kurz, plan to blow up a troop train. Curly kills the two saboteurs and saves the train, but he is jailed by the abusive Sheriff Herman Lindig. Although Mina praises Curly for saving the soldiers' lives, he is sentenced to death and is denied a pardon from the governor. After the case attracts national attention, the governor explains that he prolonged Curly's incarceration to draw attention to the danger of German propaganda. Curly marries Mina and is later pardoned by the governor, who enlists him as an officer to protect the state from its enemies. Sheriff Lindig and his German conspirators are convicted and escorted to federal prison by Curly.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerStarsJane WithersMarjorie WeaverAlan MowbrayIn 1900 San Francisco, two sisters, one responsible and one flighty, deal with their love interests and the late mortgage payments of their squandering father who only wants to pursue his bungalow development project.
- DirectorPaul LeniStarsMary PhilbinConrad VeidtJulius MolnarWhen a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.
- DirectorLewis R. FosterStarsDan DuryeaDorothy LamourSterling HaydenThe secretary to a psychiatrist finds herself caught up in the murder of a patient's wife and realizes that her life is also in danger.
- DirectorRupert JulianErich von StroheimStarsNorman KerryMary PhilbinCesare GravinaA nobleman posing as a necktie salesman falls in love with the daughter of a circus puppeteer although he is already married to the daughter of his country's war minister.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsGuy KibbeeGlenda FarrellDonald WoodsThree couples raise a ruckus when they travel to Nevada for quickie divorces.
- DirectorIrvin WillatStarsConrad NagelRenée AdoréeLloyd WhitlockThe Michigan Kid is a gambler in the backwoods of Alaska trying to make enough money to go back to his hometown and impress the girl he loves. His childhood rival for the girl happens to turn up at his casino, in trouble and doesn't want his girl to find about it. You guessed it, the same girl!
- DirectorF. Richard JonesJames YoungStarsMabel NormandGeorge NicholsLaura La VarnieMickey, an orphan who has been brought up in a mining settlement, is sent to New York to live with her aunt.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckDavid MannersSam HardyAfter an unappreciated minister dies, his daughter loses her faith in God, prompting her to open a phony temple with a con man. Can the love of a blind aviator restore her faith and happiness?
- DirectorWilliam C. de MilleStarsLois WilsonMilton SillsTheodore RobertsA once-timid young woman gains newfound confidence after a failed marriage, much to the chagrin of her miserable family.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsBette DavisClaude RainsWalter AbelPopular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsBob HopeJoan CaulfieldPatric KnowlesA bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princess of Spain.
- DirectorElliott NugentStarsBob HopeDorothy LamourPeter LorreShortly before his execution on the death row in San Quentin, amateur sleuth and baby photographer Ronnie Jackson tells reporters how he got there.
- DirectorWilliam S. HartLambert HillyerStarsWilliam S. HartSylvia BreamerMilton RossIce Harding, leader of a band of outlaws, covets the pinto leader of a band of wild horses, and after a long chase, ropes and breaks him. Ice and "The King" become fast friends and when the rest of the gang object to the King because his peculiar markings betray their presence, Ice breaks with the gang, determined to play a lone hand rather than give up his horse. But he searches for the girl he loves and finds her a siren on the Barbary Coast instead of the girl he thought she was, and broken hearted, he returns to the mountains. It is the King who ultimately carries him to happiness.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsJack KellyHildy ParksVince EdwardsA group of convicted felons take over a suburban house to escape the ongoing police manhunt, turning the life of the family living there into a nightmare.
- DirectorCharles MartinStarsVan JohnsonKeenan WynnPat KirkwoodThe men are coming home from war and Slinky decides his hero buddy Michael should first appear on a radio program. The good-natured and talented sergeant meets radio singer Susan where he finds love in-between songs.
- DirectorRobert ThornbyStarsCarlyle BlackwellGail KaneWilliam BaileyBradford Stewart, a young American surgeon studying in Germany, is dining in Cologne with a German friend, Ritter Bloem, a philosopher and a patriotic German. The latter is called away by German officers, and on his return announces to Stewart that war has been declared. After Bloem's departure, Trapadoux, chief of the French Secret Service maintained in Germany, who has been listening to their conversation, accosts Stewart, claiming to be one of the German police agents, inspects his passport, and learns to which hotel he will go in Aachen, which is his next destination. Frau Schanne, the proprietress of the Holmer Hof, secretly maintains French sympathies, but her servant, Hans, is a German spy. In Stewart's absence from his room, Trapadoux brings Frau Schanne a package, the contents of which he instructs her to place in Stewart's baggage to avert police suspicion during their later moves. Upon his return to his room Stewart finds in his luggage a lady's slippers, silk hose and dainty lingerie. The door of his room is opened and Little Comrade hurries in, embraces him fondly and calling him husband. Outside the door Hans listens, perplexed and a little suspicious, but had he not seen the lady's garments in Stewart's belongings? Perhaps, after all, she is his wife. After making sure of Hans' retirement, Little Comrade explains to Stewart that she is a French spy fleeing from Germany with secrets stolen from the German officers with whom she has been wont to flirt in Alsace-Lorraine; that even now they are on the watch for her and that if she is brought back, death will be the penalty. Stewart consents to help her, and watches while she forges an addition to his passport, adding to his own name and description, the description of herself as his wife traveling with him. Together they pass the gauntlet of police inspection and board the train for Brussels. At the frontier the train is held up and all passengers inspected. The police inspector stationed there holds Stewart and his "wife" for the coming of a German' officer from Metz to identify Little Comrade. One of the French spies on the frontier summons Trapadoux, who comes in the guise of the officer from Metz, and after inspecting Little Comrade, states that she is not the woman spy they feared. In the morning they arrive at the Belgium camp, where they are welcomed, but a few hours later the Belgians muster in battle against the German invaders. Little Comrade and Stewart are wounded, and while Stewart goes for a stretcher for her, she is captured by a genuine officer from Metz, who takes her to German headquarters and denounces her as a spy. Bloem, who is in command is unable to persuade her to confess. When Stewart discovers Little Comrade gone, weak from loss of blood, he becomes unconscious for several days. Upon regaining consciousness he learns that Little Comrade has been captured, so he concentrates his energies on delivering to General Joffre the papers she confided to his keeping. In gratitude, General Joffre bestows on Stewart the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, but overwhelmed by his loss and weak from this last effort, Stewart is borne away delirious. At the German headquarters, Bloem finding Little Comrade obdurate, is about to pass sentence upon her when she begs him to send her last words of love to Stewart. Finding that Stewart is her lover, Bloem, whose life was once saved by Stewart, refuses to condemn her, claiming that there is not sufficient evidence, and sends her back to "her American husband." There follows a joyous reunion in the hospital between Stewart and Little Comrade.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsCharley GrapewinMary CarlisleArthur HohlAn eccentric millionaire, unable to locate his only granddaughter, decides to divide his estate among a group of people less close to him: his niece and nephew, his attorney, his doctor, and his housekeeper. But complications and murder arise when two different women turn up, claiming to be the granddaughter.
- DirectorEdward H. GriffithStarsJohn Drew BennettViola CainEdward O'ConnorA hot young rookie pitcher on the New York Giants baseball team is having personal problems that are affecting his game. His father disapproves of both his career choice and the woman he recently married and has basically disowned him.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Bette DavisFrank McHughTo share expenses, unemployed Alabama moves in with also unemployed Bill and Toodles. Bill is hired by a gangster's mistress and ultimately becomes the gangster's bodyguard. Alabama unknowingly applies for a stenographer's job at Mr. Weber's (the gangster's) business. Bill is forced to fly a plane carrying narcotics into the U.S. but fights back.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsWilliam HenryVirginia DaleRobert PaigeThis expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice system in order to get undeserving convicts parole from prisons. The point is made when FBI agents Scott Britton (William Henry) and Ross Waring (Lyle Talbot) are assigned to track down "Big Boy" Bradmore (Anthony Quinn), who after getting an undeserved parole, via the efforts of a shyster lawyer, promptly murders an FBI agent.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsWallace BeeryRaymond HattonMary BrianA big-city is over-run with crime as two gangs fight over turf after one gang invades the territory of the other. Mike Doolan, an amateur private detective, and "Scoops" McGee, a wise-cracking newspaper reporter take both on in a parody-burlesque of Paramount's "Underworld." The situation is somewhat hampered because one of the gang-leaders is a look-alike double of McGee.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWarner BaxterMyrna LoyCharles ButterworthA lawyer's fiancée leaves him after he defends a racketeer accused of murder, but she needs his help when her new beau is accused of killing an old flame.
- DirectorFrank WoodruffStarsKay FrancisJames EllisonMildred ColesThe fascinating Grace Herbert has many years' experience as a professional gold-digger. Her finances at a low ebb, she finds her mature beauty less effective than of yore, and takes on impoverished 19-year-old Ellen Daley as an apprentice: "between your youth and my spirit, we can do it." The initially reluctant Ellen soon gets the hang of it. But after the cowboy she falls for proves to be a wealthy rancher, she feels an odd reluctance to mix business with pleasure...
- DirectorPhilip DunneStarsRichard BurtonMaggie McNamaraJohn DerekA tragic and sentimental story that depicts the early career of the 19th century American actor, Edwin Booth with some mention of the events leading to the assassination of President Lincoln by Edwin's brother, John Wilkes Booth. In the film, Edwin's days in the spotlight dwindle shortly after his brother is caught and killed for assassinating Lincoln.
- DirectorOtto PremingerJean NegulescoStarsRobert MitchumMarilyn MonroeRory CalhounThe titular river unites a farmer recently released from prison, his young son, and an ambitious saloon singer. In order to survive, each must be purged of anger, and each must learn to understand and care for the others.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsJack HoltGrace BradleyRuth DonnellyJim Sherwood (Jack Holt), toughest logging boss in the timber country, takes on his toughest assignment when he agrees to cut an enormous volume of timber for Andrew MacKinley (J. Farrell MacDonald), who has to deliver the timber within sixty days. Jim, offered a big bonus, gets his men more pay and wins cooperation all around except from Harrigan (Willard Robertson), the job engineer. MacKinley is killed in an automobile crash, and his daughter, Kay (Grace Bradley, takes over. Sam Garvin (Charles C. Wilson), the general manager, wants Kay to sell out so his confederates can take over the contract. She declines and Harrigan flies to the camp. Jim, already sullen because he has just lost a huge quantity of timer in a dam break,is infuriated when Garvin says he has no intention of paying the promised bonus. Jim retaliates by slowing down production, and in order to run up expenses, orders Harrigan to build a section of railroad over a little-used gorge. With production slowed down, expenses climbing and low morale among the workers, Kay, with her fluttery Aunt Mary Ruth Donnelly), decides to visit the camp. She reproves Jim for building an unnecessary railroad and sides with Harrigan. Jim quits and most of his men follow him. After a riot involving Harrigan's "scab workers, Jim's men and the State Police, Kay asks Jim to take over again, revealing that it was never her intention to withhold his promised bonus. The fired Harrigan attempts to sabotage the operation, but Jim manages to produce the timber needed to make the contract, thereby winning the respect and heart of Kay.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableJean HarlowLionel BarrymoreAfter winning a stud farm in lieu of gambling debts, bookie Duke Bradley turns an eye to the daughter of the now deceased gambler and her millionaire fiancée.
- StarsMalcolm DuncanAnna Q. NilssonDella ConnorHarry Tremaine, a clean-living youth of twenty-one, spends his leisure hours in perfecting an aeroplane motor which he has invented and which he hopes will eventually make his fortune. In his ambition to make his mark in the world, he is encouraged by his mother's old friend, Mrs. Holbrook, to whose daughter, Alice, Harry has been engaged almost since childhood. One night, when Harry is working late at the office in which he is employed as bookkeeper, a telegram arrives for the manager of the concern. Harry learns that the manager is dining at the Café de Paris and takes the message to him there. Thus Harry is first brought in contact with the gay night life of New York. There, too, he first sees Betty Belgrave, a cabaret entertainer, and her dancing partner, Wilbur Lorimer. It is not long afterward that Harry Tremaine receives word that his father, who for a number of years has been leading a hermit's life in the mining country out west, has suddenly died. Still later he learns that instead of using the money which he had thought he was contributing to his father's support, the hermit had saved all of it, and in addition left him a fortune of nearly $200,000. Harry's first thought is that there is no longer any bar to the marriage of himself and Alice, and the wedding day is set. Circumstances again bring Harry into the sphere of Betty Belgrave and her dancing partner, this time as a bashful, awkward youth, but as a young man about town who has plenty of money to spend. The woman has little trouble in conquering Harry. The consequence is that with her wedding day approaching, Alice finds herself more and more neglected by her fiancé. Day by day she sees him less frequently and day by day he becomes more thoroughly enmeshed in Betty's net of fascinations. Finally, on New Year's Eve, comes a complete break between the engaged couple as the result of Harry's escapades. Then, after a few short weeks of riotous living, during which he spends money like water to gratify Betty's whims, and buys thousands of dollars' worth of worthless stocks offered by Wilbur, Harry suddenly awakens to the fact that he is "broke." Naturally, he is deserted by his gay friends, first of all by Betty and Wilbur the parasites. Unable to obtain employment, he is soon reduced to desperate straits. One day Harry calls upon his father's lawyer who gives him a letter left by the hermit "to be delivered to my son when he shall have dissipated his fortune." The letter explains that the father has foreseen the follies of the son and has provided "a way out." Harry is instructed to make his way to the hermit's cabin in the western wilds, and told that there he will find a solution of his problem. After many weeks of weary search, Harry finds the cabin. He is startled to find that from the ceiling of the hut there dangles a hangman's noose. This, then, is "the way out" promised. The shock of this discovery makes the boy a man. He resolves to go back to New York, to fight it out, to show his father's grim old ghost that Harry Tremaine is a man. In New York he rescues a little girl from drowning. She proves to be the daughter of a millionaire and the grateful father helps Harry in the latter's effort to interest capital in his aeroplane motor. A company is formed to manufacture the device, and some time later Harry is in possession of another fortune, but this time it is a fortune which he has earned. Betty learns of his new opulence and again tries to ensnare him, this time without success. In his environment, Harry finds his thoughts by day and his nightly dreams haunted by visions of the noose, that grim bequest left by his prophetic-souled old father. Finally he determines to go to the hut and destroy the noose, to gloat over the memory of his cruel legacy now that he has proved his father's estimate of him wrong. Once he finds himself in the cabin he taunts the memory of his father and then, in a burst of anger, tears the noose from the ceiling of the hut. To his surprise a shower of golden coins pours from the ragged hole thus made in the plaster above his head. In a moment his father's plan is clear to him; when discouraged, he should have tried to take his own life, this second fortune would have come to him. Chastened in spirit, he returns to the city. Again in New York, he learns that Alice is seriously ill. He hurries to her side and they are reunited. The last scenes show us their home some time later. We see them drive happily through the park in their splendid limousine, while from a park bench, Betty, now a derelict, sadly looks after them as the picture fades.
- DirectorWilliam C. McGannStarsHugh HerbertAllen JenkinsMarcia RalstonComedy-mystery finds Detectives Kelly and Dempsey trapped in a deserted lighthouse with a group of strangers who are being terrorized by a killer octopus AND a mysterious crime figure named after the title sea creature.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdward Everett HortonA ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsRichard DixFrances HowardTheodore BabcockComing face-to-face with a couple of ruffians, champion boxer Terrence O'Rourke and construction worker Bull Malarkey, the equally tough Randall Savage flattens each with a single punch. Randall has a romantic interest in Dorothy Clark, whose father is erecting a new building. To get closer to her, Randall lands a job as a riveter. He then learns that not only is Bull Malarkey foreman of the crew, but is plotting to ruin Dorothy's father in business as well. Randall makes sure that does not happen.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsJohn GilbertRenée AdoréeLionel BarrymorePerformers in a Budapest sideshow encounter love, greed, and murder.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsMarion DaviesWilliam HainesDell HendersonA young lady from Georgia goes to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming an actress.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsHarold LloydFrances RamsdenJimmy ConlinTwenty years after his triumphs as a freshman on the football field, Harold is a mild-mannered clerk who dreams about marrying the girl at the desk down the aisle. But losing his job destroys that dream, and when he finds a particularly potent drink at his local bar, he goes on a very strange and funny rampage (with a lion in tow).
- DirectorCharles HinesStarsJohnny HinesFaire BinneyEdmund BreeseAn auto racer driving through a small town finds himself tangled up in a local political controversy, an election and a mystery that surrounds a supposedly "haunted" car that speeds through town with no driver and disappears before anyone can catch it.
- DirectorTed WildeStarsHarold LloydAnn ChristyBert WoodruffHarold "Speedy" Swift, a fan of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, saves from extinction the city's last horse-drawn trolley, operated by his girlfriend's grandfather.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonTom McGuireErnest TorrenceThe effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAnne BaxterCharles WinningerJohn HodiakA poor family in Florida saves all the money they can in order to plan something special for the soldier they've invited to Sunday dinner. They don't realize that their request to invite the soldier never got mailed. On the day of the scheduled dinner, another soldier is brought to their home and love soon blossoms between him and Tessa, the young woman who runs the home.
- DirectorWilliam C. McGannStarsMarie WilsonJohnnie DavisAllen JenkinsA naive girl has $1,000 and is told to have two broke bookies bet it for her. They lose the money and she gets a job as a waitress. They come into the cafe and convince her to buy an Irish Sweepstake ticket.
- DirectorMax LinderStarsMax LinderBull MontanaFrank CookeThis delightful burlesque of Alexandre Dumas' famous adventure narrative (and then-leading screen swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks' hit films) represented one of writer/director/star Max Linder's attempts to conquer Hollywood on its own turf. He'd been an enormous star in early silent cinema, influencing the style of such subsequent silent comedy luminaries as Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton. But his health suffered after he was gassed fighting for France in World War I. Despite the support of Chaplin himself (among others), his subsequent career in America never reached the popular heights he had at home. The commercial failure of this final U.S. effort seems particularly bewildering now, since THE THREE MUST-GET-THERES holds up so well. This spoof has the antic star as Dart-in-Again, a rapier-wielding dandy with a lovelorn horse (pining for the cow it left behind in the country) and a tendency to make an idiot of himself whilst attempting to conquer the forces of tyranny. Making scant effort to hide its incongruous modern Southern California backdrops, the movie is full of gags both slapstick and absurdist. Critics gratefully received it at the time. Audiences? Not so much. - Dennis Harvey
- DirectorRoy ClementsStarsLawson ButtTina ModottiMyrtle StedmanA man agrees to marry the daughter of a deceased friend - who is, in fact, being impersonated by the servant girl of the daughter, who has also already died.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnPaul LukasLucile WatsonAfter a career criminal is recaptured and knows he faces the guillotine, he offers to exchange his life for 100 hostages slated for execution by the Germans.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsJack HoltSeena OwenWallace BeeryAxel Heyst, an uncommitted wanderer, has settled on an island in the South Seas. He takes pity on a troubled young woman, Lena, and gives her refuge on her island. But the piratical Mr. Jones, who believes Heyst has treasure buried on his island, leads his cohorts in an invasion of Heyst's haven.
- DirectorWilliam C. McGannStarsLynn BariAlan CurtisSheila RyanTwo cops (Curtis, Deforest) flirt with highway restaurant waitress (Bari) who falls for Oriental businessman (Mohr) who turns out to be a crook.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsCarla BalendaElliott ReidEdgar BarrierMatt Corbin, a vacationing magazine writer, takes a fishing trip to Minnesota, and stumbles across a lake in which all the fish have mysteriously died. The locals are tight-lipped about it, but Corbin learns that a group of former-Nazis-turned-Communists have purchased a lodge on an island in the middle of the fish-killing lake, and have built some kind of laboratory. Never one to pass up a chance to sell a story to a magazine, Matt decides to investigate. His only ally is Janet Keller, the sister of the local doctor who has been caught up in whatever those nefarious Commie-Nazis are up to. What they are up to, with Soviet financing, is the development of diseases to use in bacteriological warfare against the United States, starting right there in Minnesota.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeRobert J. FlahertyStarsMonte BlueRaquel TorresRobert AndersonAn alcoholic doctor on a Polynesian island, disgusted by white exploitation of the natives, finds himself marooned on a pristinely beautiful island.
- DirectorVictor HalperinStarsBela LugosiMadge BellamyJoseph CawthornA young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsEdward G. RobinsonJean ArthurArthur HohlA meek milquetoast clerk is mistaken for public enemy N° 1, and the notorious killer takes advantage of the situation.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsEleanor BoardmanJames MorrisonJohnnie WalkerUnlike earlier generations of Marys who used every trickery to secure husbands, Mary the Third questions the validity of marriage in her search for adventure. Unable to decide between quiet, polite Lynn and aggressive Hal, she follows her suitors, along with sweethearts Max and Tish, on an outing, but an attempted seduction sends her home, where she becomes disillusioned by the quarreling of her parents. When they are reconciled, however, she regains her ideals and accepts Lynn.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsGeorge BrentOlivia de HavillandJohn PayneBiplanes flying in formation past the Washington Monument. A flotilla of seaplanes rising majestically off the surface of the Atlantic.
- DirectorMalcolm St. ClairStarsPola NegriCharles Emmett MackHolmes HerbertA sensual European countess arrives at a small American town and quickly provokes moral outrage from the community. During her stay with a cousin, the temptress courts scandal smoking, enticing men, extravagant clothes and a tattoo.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMerle OberonLaurence OlivierDavid NivenA servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
- DirectorDon WeisStarsPeter LawfordJane GreerGig YoungKatie McDermad, who comes from a working-class household, is a dedicated surgical nurse who loves her profession but not the low pay. Her emotions often get the better of her. Jeff Chadwick is a surgeon and researcher who works in the same hospital. The nurses in general consider him the greatest catch of the doctors, that is if he had any interest in a social life, as he dedicates all his time and money to his work. Katie's temper makes an inopportune appearance in the operating room when she is asked to work late after an already-long shift to assist in the non-medical emergency surgery of Tony Brown, who got shot accidentally in the derrière while on a hunting trip. The emergency part of the surgery is that wealthy Tony is the major benefactor to the hospital to the tune of $100,000 per year and demands immediate and quick attention to his injury. Katie's behavior in the operating room costs her her job on Tony's behest, and costs the hospital Tony's annual $100,000 endowment. Knowing that playboy Tony is easily swayed by a beautiful woman and as his research is dependent on Tony's endowment, Jeff, who can see that Katie is indeed beautiful, asks her to use her feminine wiles both for her own benefit to get reinstated, and to get Tony's annual endowment back for the hospital. Tony is smitten with Katie, even after finding out who she is. Although she is able to get her job back, Katie learns that the endowment is not quite so easy as Tony has other competing financial interests, most specifically what looks to be a hefty divorce settlement to his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lucille. As Jeff continues to push Katie into a relationship with Tony for the sake of the endowment, Katie in turn starts to fall for Tony. But Jeff also discovers that he too is falling for her. Lucille's actions to get a heftier settlement, Katie's very pregnant sister Ann, and Ann's wannabe-businessman husband Frank complicate the romantic triangle more and more.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneStarsThomas MeighanHardie AlbrightDorothy JordanThe reckless son of a millionaire struggles to find a positive outlook on life, so he turns to a hard-nosed trainer for help.