Plot: Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy ‘Sweetie’ Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children (Peggy and Eddie). To test his family’s mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father’s side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she’s really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers; while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry. Written by RobertRead More »
1931-1940
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John G. Adolfi – A Successful Calamity (1932)
1931-1940ClassicsComedyJohn G. AdolfiUSA -
Leo McCarey – Duck Soup [+commentary] (1933)
1931-1940ClassicsComedyLeo McCareyUSAQuote:
The small state of Freedonia is in a financial mess, borrowing a huge sum of cash from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale. She insists on replacing the current president with crazy Rufus T. Firefly and mayhem erupts. To make matters worse, the neighboring state sends inept spies Chicolini and Pinky to obtain top secret information, creating even more chaos.Read More » -
Leontine Sagan & Carl Froelich – Mädchen in Uniform (1931)
1931-1940Carl FroelichDramaGermanyLeontine SaganWeimar Republic cinemaJ. Steed@IMDb wrote:
The original play “Gestern und Morgen” had its premiere in 1930 and was an immediate success. This prompted Carl Froelich to adapt the play for film. Both leading actress of the play Hertha Thiele (her first film) and the original director of the play Leontine Sagan (also her first film) were invited to join. The direction was split into direction of the cast and mise-en-scene by Leontine Sagan and overall direction by Carl Froelich; this means that Froelich was responsible for the overall quality of the film (in German: Künstleriche Oberleitung).Read More » -
Erich Engels – Sherlock Holmes – Die graue Dame (1937)
1931-1940CrimeErich EngelsGermanyThird Reich CinemaA bizarre cash-in, Die Graue Dame is a quasi-Holmes picture based on a theatrical play entirely unrelated to the works of Doyle and released shortly after the Bruno Güttner-starring Der Hund von Baskerville (1937). Here, young Jimmy Ward – played by Hermann Speelmans (1906-1960), who’d featured in the vile Nazi propaganda feature Hitlerjunge Quex: ein Film vom Opfergeist der Deutschen Jugend (1933), an immorality tale designed to drum up recruitment into the Hitler Youth – infiltrates a criminal gang, only to reveal at the last moment that he is, in fact, none other than an undercover Sherlock Holmes. One can only presume that the ‘John’ – who, according to the credits list, acts as Holmes’ ‘servant’ – was intended to be none other than the hapless Dr Watson. ~Alan Barnes, Sherlock Holmes on ScreenRead More »
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Otto Preminger – Danger – Love at Work (1937)
1931-1940ComedyOtto PremingerRomanceScrewball ComedyUSAA young lawyer is unable to get the Pembertons to sign a land sale contract until their daughter falls in love with him.Read More »
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Cecil B. DeMille – Union Pacific (1939)
1931-1940Cecil B. DeMilleDramaUSAWesternOne of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows’ agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau’s partner Dick Allen is Jeff’s war buddy and rival suitor for engineer’s daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?Read More »
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Herbert Wilcox – Irene (1940)
1931-1940ComedyHerbert WilcoxMusicalUnited KingdomSent by her employers on an errand to the home of the wealthy Mrs. Vincent, Irene O’Dare
meets Don, a friend of Bob, Mrs. Vincent’s son. Attracted to Irene, Don decides to invest
some money in Bob’s latest venture, the “Madame Lucy” dress shop, in order to give Irene a
job there as a model. She is very successful and Bob also becomes attracted to her.Read More » -
Joe May – The House of the Seven Gables (1940)
1931-1940DramaJoe MayThrillerUSASynopsis:
Clifford Pyncheon’s (Vincent Price) father, Gerald (Gilbert Emery), decides that in his dying days, the family’s mansion must be sold to clear their debts. Gerald also believes it will remove the family of a curse — a result of their many misdeeds over the years that allowed their once-prominent lifestyle. However, Gerald’s other son, Jaffrey (George Sanders), has different ideas as to what should be done with the property, and frames Clifford for murder in an attempt to keep the mansion.Read More » -
Weyler Hildebrand – Landstormens lilla Lotta (1939)
1931-1940ComedySwedenWeyler HildebrandIt’s time for conscription training outside the small town of Lillköping. The bank clerk becomes an officer – the bank manager an ordinary soldier. Everybody seems to be trying to get a date with Elsa, who makes their food. Nobody takes the training seriously.Read More »