Showing posts with label 1930s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1930s. Show all posts

Monday, March 18, 2024

The Lone Wolf in Paris (1938)

One of the earlier Lone Wolf talkies, a different actor plays the reformed jewel thief but the fast moving action will be very familiar.

The Lone Wolf Michael Lanyard (Francis Lederer) is a reformed jewel thief, who always seems to get involved in other people's troubles. This time he gets roped in to help Princess Thania (Frances Drake) who is trying to steal back jewels which will be needed for her family's coronation ceremony. A group of financiers are holding the jewels and won't sell them back, hoping to bring down Thania's royal house. 

The Lone Wolf and his trusty butler Jenkins (Olaf Hytten) help Thania in her efforts to retrieve the jewels, however the group have many tricks up their sleeves making things difficult. Luckily, the Lone Wolf has more tricks up his sleeves!

Francis Lederer only played the Lone Wolf once before the role switched to Warren William who made the next nine films with the character. Lederer's Lone Wolf is similar though has a slightly more reserved European suaveness to him. An entertaining film.

Monday, March 11, 2024

London by Night (1937)

A stereotypical foggy London and awful accents can't spoil this pretty solid crime drama.

London based US reporter Michael (George Murphy) delays his holiday to Paris to look in on a strange case of an umbrella wielding criminal who has apparently done away with someone. A policeman is also shot by the mysterious man. 

While taking a look, with his trusty dog (Corky), and after chasing a man with a brolly, Michael encounters Patricia (Rita Johnson) the daughter of a rich businessman (Montague Love). Somehow the businessman's house, or someone from the household in any event, is involved in the Umbrella Man case and Michael wants to court Patricia in any case. With the help of Inspector Jefferson (George Zucco), though shouldn't that be the other way around, Michael tracks down the mysterious Umbrella Man who is employing all number of tricks to stay ahead of the law...

A fine crime drama with plenty of twists and turns. London is eternally foggy and dark though that helps with the sinister atmosphere of course. The accents can be quite something, but not in a good way. The villain is very good and the crimes are inventive. Though the ending of the film is somewhat rushed.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Prison Shadows (1936)

A boxing-crime drama which rather pulls it's punches.

Gene (Eddie Nugent) is a boxer who is in prison for killing a man in the ring. He is released from prison and bought back into the fight game by an unscrupulous promoter (Forest Taylor) and his partner Claire (Lucile Lund) whom Gene has the hots for and thus Claire is able to wrap him around her little finger, much to the disappointment of Mary (Joan Barclay) who really loves Gene. Gene kills another man in the ring but it seems there are illegal drugs being used and a plot by the promoter to use death to build up Gene's name...

This isn't a great film, though is perfectly watchable for what it is. The story doesn't make a lot of sense plus Gene is incredibly naive which makes it hard to root for him as the main character. 

No more than OK, it wouldn't win any prizes though does have a clever dog (Corky) in the film who is the real hero.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Airport (1935)

A superb slice of pre-war nostalgia about London's international airport, no it wasn't Heathrow back then it was at Croydon! This film looks back at the operations and activities at the airport as international air travel first got going in earnest. 

From the aircraft themselves, to maintenance, and the various other support services. Everything was optimistic and exciting as the world was beginning to open up. No one really thought or knew about the dark storm clouds soon to be on the horizon though the swastikas on the inbound flights from Germany could give you a clue. An excellent film from the Shell Historical Film Archive. 





Thursday, February 22, 2024

Espionage (1937)

A bright and breezy crime and spy drama set aboard an amazingly smooth sleeper train.

With Europe heading towards war, the newspapers are keen to trace a well known arms manufacturing tycoon. For reasons, a newspaper decides to send a cheeky mystery novelist along for the job instead of an actual reporter! Kenneth Stevens (Edmund Lowe) does also happen to be a violin virtuoso though which could be handy as the tycoon Kronsky (Paul Lukas) is a big music lover.

Also after a scoop is Patrica Booth (Madge Evans) who steals her boss's passport when he refuses to send her on this assignment (one wonders just how serious these newspapers were to find out about Kronsky). This proves to be a life saver for Ken when he loses his own passport so he can pose as Patrica's husband. A complication comes when an assassin tries to kill Kronksy, naturally Ken and Patricia get the blame and have to go on the run in Switzerland...

This is a fine film, well paced (though does slow down a bit later on) and with plenty of atmosphere which sometimes is at odds with the light feel to the performances and dialogue (but in a good way). The scenes aboard the train are the best part of the film, though considering it was supposed to be a train pounding on through ther night its remarkably smooth and quiet aboard!

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

The Vanishing Shadow (Serial) (1934)

A fun movie serial packed full of mad science.


Stanley Stanfield (Onslow Stevens) and Carl Van Dorn (James Durkin) have developed a device which can make the wearer invisible (apart from their shadow). After Stanley is framed for murder by the dangerous Wade Barrett (Walter Miller) and his henchman Dorgan (Richard Cramer), Stanley and Carl begin to use their invention, plus a few other devices, to find the evidence to bring Barrett down. Stanley is also going out with Gloria (Ada Ince), who is Barrett's estranged daughter...

So, you know the score. Fast paced action punctuated by a series of cliffhangers, of varying degrees of believability. The biggest fun of this serial is the science though, including Van Dorn's robot invention which proves to be able to defeat gangsters with ease. This serial also has a bit of a heart too, and a redemption story. Highly enjoyable.

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938)

Bulldog Drummond's marriage to Phyllis has to be delayed yet again, but this time because Colonel Neilson has been kidnapped and is now in Africa...

Neilson (H.B. Warner) of Scotland Yard is kidnapped by a notorious criminal called Lane (J. Carrol Naish). Phyllis (Heather Angel), who is due to marry Bulldog Drummond (John Howard) that very day, discovers Lane's plot and warns Drummond. 

Unfortunately, they are too late to stop Lane take Neilson to his lair in Morocco where he wants the details of a secret weapon to sell to his client. Drummond and company follow on (always handy to have your own aeroplane). Lane hides out in a fortified house, guarded by hungry lions. He also had crooked staff at the consulate to assist him including Fordine (a young Anthony Quinn).

This is a fun romp, plenty of fast moving adventures which culminates in a death defying fight on a balcony while a lion roars below. It isn't high art but it is very effective.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

House of Danger (1934)

An enjoyable and effective crime drama.

Don (Onslow Stevens) and Ralph (James Bush) are returning to the US from the South Seas after years away, Ralph returning home after the unexpected death of his father. After an accident on board their ship, Ralph is injured. 

With Ralph's blessing Don poses as Ralph to go home, though he encounters Ralph's long-standing fiancée Sylvia (Janet Chandler) and falls in love with her. However, it is Don who is soon put in danger as it appears that the butler Gordon (Desmond Roberts) and Ralph's cousin Martin (John Andrews) are up to no good...

Although it is pretty clear from the off who the villains are, this is a fine crime drama with some good performances (though not universally, some of the dialogue can be a bit stilted at times) and a decent plot. 

Friday, January 26, 2024

Down to the Sea (1936)

Underwater adventures hunting for ..er.. sponges.

Greek immigrant fishermen risk their lives to dive deeply to get sponges off the sea bed in Florida. The fishermen are split into two groups led by John (Russell Hardie) who shallow dives and the deep divers led by Steve (Ben Lyon). 

The two groups are thrown together by bad weather and a dispute over fishing rights. A love triangle also forms between the two fishermen with Helen (Ann Rutherford).

It is a fine enough little drama, nothing too offensive or overly exciting if we are to be honest either. The plot has some interesting aspects to it including some of the dangers of deep diving, this makes it a worthwhile watch.

Friday, January 19, 2024

Missing Girls (1936)

Certainly not a bad film by any means, but one which has a bit of an identity crisis.

Ann (Ann Doran) leaves her abusive family to seek her fortune in the city, though she soon finds getting that fortune rather elusive. The do-gooder daughter of a senator, Dorothy (Muriel Evans) takes Ann in as a maid. However, the senator (Wallis Clark) is soon caught up in gang warfare as he tries to end their racket and is gunned down. Dorothy and Ann go missing as they try and find the culprits. Dorothy's beau Jimmie (Roger Pryor), a reporter, tries to find them and bring the culprits to justice (or rather the FBI will...)

This film is rather confusing, it starts off seemingly as an exploration of the dangers facing young women alone in the big city but soon reverts into a fairly predictable but decently done crime drama. In a way this is probably for the best as plan A would have likely led to some exploitative sleaze. A solid B-movie that keeps you entertained.

Friday, January 12, 2024

A Woman is the Judge (1939)

A courtroom drama that dials up the melodrama.

Mary (Frieda Inescourt) is a well-known judge on the circuit who is promoted to preside over more serious cases. However, behind the successful career, Mary has a secret. Twenty years before she had a daughter who was taken away by her estranged and crooked husband. Mary never gives up the hope she will see her daughter again one day.

Unfortunately, that day comes when the case of a major criminal reaches her court. One of the members of the crime boss' gang is Justine (Rochelle Hudson) - who is Mary's daughter! Soon, Justine is accused of murder of her blackmailer. Mary resigns from the bench to defend her daughter.

The film is rather melodramatic and has the kind of coincidences you would later see regularly in TV soap operas but it isn't that bad a film. An interesting if not overly entertaining film.

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

The Golf Specialist (1930)

A wonderful, if somewhat aimless, comedy short by the amazing WC Fields.


Bellweather (Fields) is at a hotel in Florida. After some awkward antics with a flirty wife (Shirley Grey) of the violently jealous hotel detective (John Dunsmuir), and with an angry sailor (Jack Irvin) wanting money from him, Bellweather goes to play some golf with many slapstick mishaps.

This is a great piece of fluff, it doesn't really go anywhere (and probably spends too long on the golf course) but is entertaining all the same and well worth watching. Fields early on mentions television, i wonder if this was the first time television was ever mentioned in a film?

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Nancy Steele is Missing! (1937)

A somewhat unusual crime drama.

Dannie (Victor McLaglen) is both a crook and a pacifist, so much so on the latter that he kidnaps the daughter of military industrialist Steele (Walter Connelly) during the First World War. Leaving the daughter with some friends to bring up, Dannie then ends up in prison for seventeen years! The girl Nancy (June Lang) has grown up into a young woman by the time Dannie gets out of prison, and thinks Dannie is her father.

Dannie decides to return Nancy to her real father (in return for money of course) but due to Nancy's feelings for him he cannot go through with the kidnap plot. Unfortunately, Dannie's old cell mate Sturm (Peter Lorre) is on hand to mess things up...

An unusual film for the period in that an actual criminal is treated fairly sympathetically. This film has a rather far fetched and convoluted plot but is saved by some good performances (especially Lorre) and the atmospheric feel.

Monday, December 18, 2023

The Live Wire (1935)

A reasonable South Seas treasure hunting adventure, though you'll have probably seen the basic story better executed elsewhere.


After they find a vase in an antique shop, two professors (James Aubrey and Henry Roquemore) think they have found evidence of a long lost civilisation in the South Seas. They track down the sailor who found the vase, Dick Nelson (Richard Talmadge), who is a good seaman but is never far from a fight, and hire him. The ship owned by King (Charles K French) is also hired so Nelson can lead the profs to where he found the vase. King's daughter Madge (Alberta Vaughn) stows away but thats not the main problem for the mission, Nelson's bitter rival Bull (George Walsh) is the First Mate and aims to seize the ship and end Nelson once and for all...

A basic and unoriginal story which is executed mostly adequately. The character of Bull is ridiculous though, he ends up blowing up the ship and marooning himself and his minions on an island but for some reason the minions still listen to him! 

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Smart Blonde (1937)

The first in the Torchy Blane series of films starring the perky young reporter.

Torchy (Glenda Farrell) is after a scoop as usual, and indeed gets one when she witnesses the shooting of an investor who has arrived from Boston to buy a popular night club from Mularky (Addison Richards). Mularky wanted out of the seedy business so he could do a bit of social climbing with Marcia (Charlotte Wynters). Mularky's old right hand man Chuck (Max Wagner) is a suspect because he will lose his job though he later becomes a victim too...

Torchy unravels a complicated plot involving plenty of swindling with the help of her beau (and detective) McBride (Baron MacLane). While in later films Torchy could often be more of a hinderance than a help to the police, in this film she really is on the case and this is a fine crime B-movie.

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Secret of the Blue Room (1933)

A fascinating and ingenious Locked Room mystery.

Twenty years ago three murders took place in a country house's guest room which was, of course, locked. Now the daughter of the house owner (Lionel Atwill), Irene (Gloria Stuart), has three potential suitors but cannot choose between them. Thomas (William Janney) has the idea that the three of them must spend the night in the cursed guest room. Thomas goes first and goes missing. 

Then on the next night Frank (Onslow Stevens) takes his turn and is shot. There is also a mysterious stranger entering the house and suspicious actions by the staff. Finally, the police (Edward Arnold) is called in by Captain Brink (Paul Lucas)...

This is a remake of 1932 German film Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers and is an excellent crime drama. Although it has many of the familiar tropes of Locked Room and Dark House mysteries, this is very well done and has a superb twist.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Mystery House (1938)

Yet another 1930s Dark House murder mystery but this one is rather good.


A banker is found dead at his country house, apparently due to suicide but the daughter Gwen (Anne Nagel) thinks it was murder. The maid Sarah (Ann Sheriden) suggests her boyfriend private detective Lance (Dick Purcell) to investigate. Gwen recalls all of the guests who were present when her father died. Lance begins to investigate the guests and the family and various motives. Other deaths also begin to occur...

So, this is just one of scores of similar films from the 1930s but has a good energy about it and good performances by the leads. Plenty of red herrings and surprises all add up to a pretty good - if not that original - film.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The Phantom of Crestwood (1932)

An awkward mixture of common 1930s genres which somehow kind of works.

Jenny Wren (Karen Morley) gets Priam Andes (H.B. Warner) to invite three other men to his fancy coastal estate (which is very Dark House). There she reveals that she has had affairs with all four men and blackmails them all! However, soon Jenny is found dead but the culprit is a mystery. Could it be one of the four men? Could it even be Jenny's sister Esther (Anita Louise) or her fiancé?

Luckily Gary Curtis (Ricardo Cortez) is on hand to take over the investigation in lieu of the police. Who is Curtis? Well he is after some letters and has a suspect reputation but everyone seems happy to let him take over...

This film can be a bit hard going at times, the acting and dialogue at times being a bit stilted. The Dark House mystery with women's screams on cue are almost beyond parody. Of course there are some hidden passages, mysterious appearances and a big twist. There is no kitchen sink though, but everything else. Despite everything it is worth watching. Just about.

Some context may help. The film's origins was in a popular radio drama serial. This film was the only way to discover the ending of the tale!

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Panic on the Air (1936)

A perfectly decent crime drama involving frantic amateur detective adventures.


Radio sport commentator Jerry (Lew Ayres) becomes involved in a complicated criminal case involving a $5 bill with a code on it. This case involves a much larger sum of money and also murder! Jerry continues to investigate the case with Mary (Florence Rice) despite the annoyance of his show's sponsor, a garter company!

The criminal case is a little too complicated to make this film truly enjoyable though the speed and energy of the cast helps drive things along (though doesn't help much with following the case at times). The case itself is fairly standard though the code on the money is an interesting touch. Not a brilliant film but a perfectly decent B-movie.

Monday, October 30, 2023

The Crime Nobody Saw (1937)

This might be one of the worst films ever made, honestly what is going on here?

Three apparently useless and very annoying playwrights (including Lew Ayres) are failing miserably at creating a new play against the clock. A drunk man gets into their apartment and promptly collapses. The playwrights find thousands of dollars on him and naturally assume he is a blackmailer. They do what anyone would do, start to use him as a character in their play. But then he is murdered...

The problem with this film is, is it a murder mystery or not? No one really seems to care about the crime, random characters instead romp about and we have a good dose of comedy (some of it isn't bad admittedly). 

Personally i like my crime taken seriously so didn't really enjoy this film, the only good thing about this film is a prominent role for a black actress in a film from this period, that being the maid Ambrosia (Hattie McDaniel).