Roy Del Ruth

  • Roy Del Ruth – The Chocolate Soldier (1941)

    1941-1950ComedyMusicalRoy Del RuthUSA

    Maria and Karl Lang are the singing duo of Vienna. Maria had previously enjoyed attention from many men before marrying Karl, and Karl is very jealous. Karl tries to test Maria’s loyalty by masquerading as a Russian guardsman to see whether she will flirt. Karl, in his Russian disguise, makes vigorous attempts to seduce Maria. But he becomes more and more confused because he can’t determine whether Maria’s friendly reception to the guardsman is innocent, or whether it signifies a deeper interest. Has Maria has seen through Karl’s disguise and is she toying with him?Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth – The Desert Song (1929)

    Roy Del Ruth1921-1930MusicalUSA

    Review Summary
    After literally inventing the movie musical with The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. purchased the motion picture rights to the evergreen Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II 2nd operetta The Desert Song. Although the results looked like a photographed stage play (a common failing of early-talkie songfests), the unforgettable Romberg-Hammerstein tunes ({&The Riff Song}, {&One Alone}, the title number) more than carried the day. John Boles stars as The Red Shadow, the Robin Hood-like leader of the Riffs and the bane of the existence of General Bierbieu (Edward Martindel). The good General has another cross to bear in the form of his nerdish, lily-livered son Pierre, who is likewise despised by heroine Margot (Carlotta King). Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth – Why Must I Die? (1960)

    USA1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirRoy Del Ruth

    Synopsis
    Debra Paget commits a murder for which Terry Moore (as club singer Lois King) is arrested, tried, and condemned to die. The story line wanders through the trial and Miss King’s final hours on Death Row. The true killer is finally ready to confess, but already Miss King (who has by now been strapped into the electric chair) is at risk. Will she be rescued in the nick of time?Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth – Taxi! (1932)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaRoy Del RuthUSA

    Amidst a backdrop of growing violence and intimidation, independent cab drivers struggling against a consolidated juggernaut rally around hot-tempered Matt Nolan. Nolan is determined to keep competition alive on the streets, even if it means losing the woman he loves.Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth – Red Light (1949)

    1941-1950CrimeFilm NoirRoy Del RuthUSA

    Synopsis:
    Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess…who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he’d written a clue “in the Bible.” Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess’s hotel room. Meanwhile, Nick himself gets out with murder still in his heart. But another factor is in play that none of them (except the murdered Jess) had planned on.Read More »

  • Roy Del Ruth & Willy Pogany – Kid Millions (1934)

    1931-1940ComedyMusicalRoy Del RuthUSAWilly Pogany

    Synopsis:
    Who’s that dodging his murderous mama, an equally murderous sheik, and the temptations of a harem full of beauties? It’s Brooklyn’s own Eddie Wilson, who comes to Egypt to claim an inheritance and finds that lots of other folks want a slice of his $77,000,000 pie. In one of his famed Samuel Goldwyn movie extravaganzas, Eddie Cantor sings, clowns and wows ‘em as Eddie.Read More »

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