1930s

  • Elmer Clifton – The Secret of Treasure Island (1938)

    1931-1940ClassicsElmer CliftonMysteryUSA

    Plot
    The serial is set on a remote island in the Caribbean, where reporter Larry Kent (Don Terry) and his enemies search for a lost treasure trove of gold. Kent arrives on the island in search of another reporter who had gone missing. Kent discovers that valuable lost treasure is buried on the island, and finds half of a map which holds a clue to its location. Toni Morrell (Gwen Gaze), the daughter of a shipmate whose murdered partner knew where the treasure was buried, agrees to help Kent investigate his friend’s disappearance and locate the treasure. Morrell and Kent are opposed by a villain named Collins (Walter Miller) who uses his henchmen and supply of weapons and land mines in an attempt to stop them. Kent’s enemy in the film is Dr. X. (Hobart Bosworth) who wears a skull mask and pirate clothing, and is in the process of developing a powerful explosive. Due to the actions of Dr. X., Kent is nearly buried alive, killed with dynamite and slashed in a sword battle. He defeats Dr. X. in the last installment of the serial titled “Justice”.[2][4][5]Read More »

  • George Archainbaud – Some Like It Hot AKA Rhythm Romance (1939)

    Drama1931-1940George ArchainbaudMusicalUSA

    Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City’s boardwalk. Even with the band of his friend, struggling musician Gene Krupa, playing on the sidewalk to attract the customers, “The Living Corpse” and other low-rent acts aren’t enough to lure the seen-it-all boardwalk strollers, and the landlord closes the show in lieu of never-paid rent. Nicky, always promoting, goes to Stephen Hanratty, head of the pier’s Dance Pavilion, to plug Krupa’s band as an attraction, but Hanratty won’t even listen to them. But, while there, he meets singer Lily Racquel, who knows he is a phoney but might have the ability to to talk a radio-station manager into giving her an audition. She gives him a ring to help finance the project; he promptly loses it in a crap-game.Read More »

  • Monte Brice & Laurence Schwab – Take a Chance (1933)

    Monte Brice1931-1940ClassicsLaurence SchwabMusicalUSA

    Take a Chance was based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name, though only one
    of the original songs, Eadie Was a Lady, has been retained. The thinnish plot involves the
    misadventures of a pair of pickpockets, played on Broadway by Jack Haley and Sid Silvers
    and on film by James Dunn and Cliff “Ukelele Ike” Edwards. Tired of fleecing the suckers in
    a traveling carnival, our heroes head to Broadway, where they get mixed up with gangsters.
    The soubrette role originally played on stage by Ethel Merman is herein essayed by Lillian
    Roth, hardly a fair trade. Billed last in the huge cast is Marjorie Main, 15 years before
    stepping into her trademark role as Ma Kettle.Read More »

  • Charley Chase & Harold Law – The Count Takes the Count (1936)

    USA1931-1940Charley ChaseComedyHarold LawShort Film

    Synopsis
    Charley Chase’ insurance company has a million dollar policy on Andrea Leeds’ wedding coming off. When Andrea runs away and cons Charley into thinking she’s a detective in pursuit of herself, there’s no shortage of great laughs.
    Read More »

  • Charley Chase & Harold Law – Public Ghost # 1 (1935)

    1931-1940Charley ChaseClassicsHarold LawShort FilmUSA

    More Chase, this time two plotlines are merged, first Charley meets a new girlfriend then finds a job working for a man who just escaped from a mental hospital.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – Drôle de drame AKA Bizarre, bizarre (1937)

    Marcel Carné1931-1940ComedyFrance

    Synopsis: “A French farce set in Victorian London where a botanist and his wife get into trouble when they pretend to go missing in order to hide from their sanctimonious cousin – an Anglican bishop who is leading a campaign against such writing.”
    – IMDbRead More »

  • George Amy – She Had to Say Yes (1933)

    Drama1931-1940George AmyUSA

    Synopsis
    Sol Glass’s clothing business is losing sales because the “customer girls,” the women employed to entertain buyers from out of town, are not friendly enough. Salesman Tommy Nelson suggests using stenographers to entertain buyers, who he believes are tired of gold diggers. When his fiancée, Florence Denny, wants to participate in the program, however, Tommy refuses to let her. Birdie, one of the other stenographers, becomes a very successful customer girl, closing many sales, and Tommy, too, succumbs to her charms. One night, when he has a date with Birdie, Tommy suggests that Florence go out with buyer Daniel Drew. She is surprised, but agrees in order to earn a commission for Tommy so that they can afford to get married. Read More »

  • Joseph H. Lewis & Crane Wilbur – Navy Spy (1937)

    1931-1940ActionCrane WilburCrimeJoseph H. LewisUSA

    Synopsis
    A group of international and American criminals are trying to learn the secret formula of a concentrated vapor fuel invented by a U. S. Navy officer, Lieutenant Dan Carrington.Read More »

  • Tay Garnett – Her Man (1930)

    1921-1930ComedyRomanceTay GarnettUSA

    A Havana prostitute (Helen Twelvetrees) with a sadistic “protector” (Ricardo Cortez) falls for a young sailor (Phillips Holmes).Read More »

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