1930s

  • Frank Tuttle – This Is the Night (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyFrank TuttleUSA

    An affair is about to be consummated in a planned trip to Venice, but complications ensue when the woman’s husband returns unexpectedly from the Olympics. Cary Grant is the javelin-wielding Olympian in his first feature film. For probably the last time he gets fifth billing behind, among others, a sparkling Thelma Todd and Charlie Ruggles.

    Very pre-code in its sensibility, with clear references to Lubitsch.Read More »

  • Richard Oswald – Wien, du Stadt der Lieder AKA Vienna, City of Song (1930)

    1921-1930ComedyGermanyRichard OswaldWeimar Republic cinema

    Also known as Donauwellen.
    No written credit. All titles are spoken like the other Oswald film Dreyfus (1930).

    Filmed on location in Vienna, this German operetta was originally titled Wien, Du Stadt Die Lieber [sic]. Popular tenor Max Hansen carries most of the plot (what there is of it), singing his heart out to the delight of such delectable leading ladies as Charlotte Ander, Irene Ambrus and Grete Natzler (who, as Della Lynd, would later co-star with Laurel and Hardy in Swiss Miss). For some reason, it was decided to surround the nominal hero with seven top German comic actors, all of whom mugged and glowered outrageously. The worst offender (and the funniest of the batch) is Paul Graetz, who seemed to be having a great deal of fun letting loose. Evidently City of Songs was quite successful, inasmuch as it remained in distribution well into the late 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
    Note: In this document, this movie was called City of Songs.Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorMichael CurtizUSA

    In London, sculptor Ivan Igor struggles in vain to prevent his partner Worth from burning his wax museum…and his ‘children.’ Years later, Igor starts a new museum in New York, but his maimed hands confine him to directing lesser artists. People begin disappearing (including a corpse from the morgue); Igor takes a sinister interest in Charlotte Duncan, fiancée of his assistant Ralph, but arouses the suspicions of Charlotte’s roommate, wisecracking reporter Florence.Read More »

  • George Sherman – Red River Range (1938)

    1931-1940ActionGeorge ShermanUSAWestern

    The Three Mesquiteers was the umbrella title for a series of fifty-one B-westerns released between 1936 and 1943. The films featured the characters Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin or Rusty Joslin as the threesome; played by many B-western stars of that era. In 1938, John Wayne took over for Robert Livingston as Stony Brooke and starred in eight Mesquiteers films between 1938 and 1939, he was joined by Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith and Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin for the first six and Raymond Hatton as Rusty Joslin for the last two… all eight films were directed by George Sherman (Big Jake). Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – Doctor X (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorMichael CurtizUSA

    A monster lurks as New York newspaperman Lee Taylor investigates one of the “Moon Killer” murders, in which the victims are strangled, cannibalized and surgically incised under the light of the full moon. The trail leads to the cliffside mansion of Dr. Xavier, where the doctor and his colleagues conduct a strange experiment.Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Midnight (1939)

    1931-1940ComedyMitchell LeisenRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    Frank S. Nugent wrote:
    ‘Midnight,’ With Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert, Strikes a Seasonal High in Comedy at the Paramount

    The ice went out of the river at the Paramount yesterday, and Spring came laughing in with “Midnight,” one of the liveliest, gayest, wittiest and naughtiest comedies of a long hard season. Its direction, by Mitchell Leisen, is strikingly reminiscent of that of the old Lubitsch. Its cast, led by Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore and Francis Lederer, is in the best of spirits. Its script, by too many authors to mention, is a model of deft phrasing and glib narrative joinery; and its production, while handsome, never has been permitted to bulk larger than its players. The call is for three cheers and a tiger: the Paramount is back on Broadway again.Read More »

  • Karl Freund – The Mummy [+Commentary] (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorKarl FreundUSA

    In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Im-Ho-Tep, who was condemned and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the Scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. One night a young member of the expedition reads the Scroll out loud, and then goes insane, realizing that he has brought Im-Ho-Tep back to life. Ten years later, disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy attempts to reunite with his lost love, an ancient princess who has been reincarnated into a beautiful young woman.Read More »

  • William Wyler – The Good Fairy (1935)

    1931-1940ComedyRomanceScrewball ComedyUSAWilliam Wyler

    Synopsis:
    When a brash movie theatre owner needs usherettes for his Budapest cinema, he recruits young Luisa Ginglebusher from a nearby orphanage. Encouraged by her kindly guardian to “spread your wings,” Lu naively embarks on her quest to live the life of a fairy tale angel. Quickly encountering the debonair wolves that roam the sidewalks of Hungary, Lu randomly chooses a man to play the role of her husband: Dr. Max Sporum, a humble and idealistic lawyer. As Lu’s simple ruse grows hopelessly complicated, the dreamy-eyed girl refuses to abandon the charade, determined to evade one suitor’s wiley grasp, provide Max the prosperity he so deserves, and allow the opportunity for true love to enter her life.Read More »

  • George Sherman – New Frontier AKA Frontier Horizon (1939)

    1931-1940ActionGeorge ShermanUSAWestern

    The state government plans to build a flood-control dam and condemns the property of the local farmers and ranchers, including The Three Mesquiteers. The state intends to compensate the land-owners fairly, but a crooked real-estate promoter complicates things. The ranchers, led by Stony Brooke (‘John Wayne’ (q)), Tucson Smith (‘Ray Corrigan’) and Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton) fight back against both the law and the crooks.Read More »

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