1930s

The Raven 1935 Synopsis:
A wealthy judge coaxes the brilliant but eccentric neurological surgeon Dr. Vollin (Lugosi), who also has an obsessive penchant for Edgar Allen Poe, out of retirement to save the life of his daughter, a dancer crippled and brain damaged in an auto wreck. Vollin restores her completely, but also envisions her as his “Lenore,” and cooks up a scheme to kidnap the woman and torture and kill her fiance’ and father in his Poe-inspired dungeon. To do his dirty work, Vollin recruits a wanted criminal (Karloff), and turns him into a hideous monster to guarantee his subservience.Read More »

Visionary scientist Janos Rukh convinces a group of scientists and supporters to mount an expedition to the African continent to locate and study an ancient meteorite of great significance. He exposes himself to the highly toxic radiation of the meteorite, and while an antidote devised by Dr. Benet saves him from death by radiation poisoning, his naked touch causes instant death to others. Back in London, the benefits of the meteorite’s controlled radiation offer Dr. Benet an opportunity to restore eyesight to the blind. The antidote’s toxicity excites Prof. Rukh into paranoid rages as he seeks revenge against the members of his expedition, who he accuses of stealing his discovery for their own glory.Read More »

Synopsis:
Glueckskinder (Children of Fortune) serves as yet another sprightly vehicle for European film favorites Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch. Unlike the stars’ previous musical concoctions, this one takes place in New York City (or a reasonable facsimile constructed on the UFA back lot). To save Ann Garden (Harvey) from going to jail, reporter Gil Taylor (Fritsch) pretends to be married to her. Gallantly, he hides her identity from his own newspaper’s society columnist, and gets fired as a result. The rest of the picture finds Ann and Gil trying to “play house” without such niceties as a steady income. Near the end, the story goes off on a new tangent when it is suspected that Ann is the long-lost niece of a millionaire; she isn’t, but Gil’s coverage of the story gets him his job back, and everyone lives (presumably) happily ever after.Read More »

From AMG (by Hal Erickson):
The Club de Femmes (Girl’s Club) of the title refers to a Parisian boarding house, populated in its entirety by beautiful, unwed damsels. The rules of the club are quite strict, with chaperones making certain that the ladies keep a safe and respectable distance between themselves and their gentleman callers. But the mischievous Claire (Danielle Darrieux) is determined to enjoy a rendezvous with her sweetheart Robert (Raymond Gall), and to that end she talks him into disguising himself as a woman. Things look bleak for Claire when she becomes pregnant, but things turn out OK when she gives birth to a girl, thereby upholding the club’s “No Males Allowed” edict. Featured in the cast is a young newcomer named Else Argell, who by an incredible coincidence was the wife of director Jacques Deval.Read More »

Through hypnotism and telepathic mind control, a sinister music maestro controls the singing voice, but not the heart, of the woman he loves.Read More »

The small-town prudes of Lynnfield are up in arms over ‘The Sinner,’ a sexy best-seller. They little suspect that author ‘Caroline Adams’ is really Theodora Lynn, scion of the town’s leading family. Michael Grant, devil-may-care book jacket illustrator, penetrates Theodora’s incognito and sets out to ‘free her’ from Lynnfield against her will. But Michael has a secret too, and gets a taste of his own medicine….Read More »

Quote:
Escaping from a policeman who has caught h.im with a stolen dog, Toto (Albert Préjean), a petty crook, hides in the apartment of a typist, Ginette (Renée Saint-Cyr). The two quickly fall in love, and after a brief incarceration, Toto returns to her and schemes to have her win a beauty contest. Bruno, a “financier” who met Toto in prison, briefly comes between the couple, but they are reunited at the end.Read More »

Plot:
A wealthy society doctor decides to research the medical aspects of criminal behaviour by becoming one himself. He joins a gang of thieves and proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang away from it’s extremely resentful leader.Read More »

Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she’s never visited, but for sentimental reasons won’t sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what’s so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?Read More »