Frank Morgan

  • James Whale – The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)

    1991-2000DramaJames WhaleMysteryUSA

    Synopsis:
    Horror film icon James Whale directed this well-detailed thriller about a man questioning his wife’s honesty after a friend begins to doubt his own. Dr. Paul Held (Frank Morgan) is an attorney who has been asked to come to the aid of his old friend Walter Bernsdorf (Paul Lukas); Bernsdorf has been accused of killing his wife, and he wants Held to defend him in court. Bernsdorf admits to shooting his spouse, but he tells Held that he lost control when he found out his wife was having an affair. Held takes on his friend’s case, but as he pours over the facts in the Bernsdorf slaying, he finds himself wondering about the fidelity of his own wife, Maria (Nancy Carroll). A Kiss Before The Mirror also features actress Gloria Stuart; James Whale would remake the same story six years later, under the title Wives under Suspicion.
    – by Mark Deming, allmovie.comRead More »

  • Lewis Milestone – Hallelujah I’m a Bum (1933)

    Lewis Milestone1931-1940ComedyMusicalUSA
    Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933)
    Hallelujah I’m a Bum (1933)

    A New York tramp (Jolson) falls in love with the mayor’s amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt.Read More »

  • Lloyd Corrigan – Dancing Pirate (1936)

    USA1931-1940AdventureLloyd CorriganMusical

    Charles Collins stars in Dancing Pirate as a dance teacher from Boston who is tricked into joining a band of pirates, leading him to be fitted for a noose in California. Compared to “Douglas Fairbanks in his most acrobatic days,” Collins catches a break when the mayor’s daughter (Steffi Duna) demands the hanging be postponed until he teaches her to waltz.

    Dancing Pirate earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Dance Direction and was billed as “the first dancing musical in 100% new Technicolor.”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 »

  • Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy (1943)

    1941-1950Clarence BrownComedyDramaUSA

    Plot: Homer Macauley remains in a small town looking after his widowed mother and younger brother. Homer’s older brother is fighting the war in Europe. Written by AnonymousRead More »

  • Sam Wood – Casanova Brown (1944)

    1941-1950ComedyRomanceUSA

    Casanova Brown is about to marry for the second time. The first just didn’t have the stars aligned up properly, or something like that. But old flames are rekindled in unexpected ways…Read More »

  • Victor Fleming – The Wizard of Oz [+Extras] (1939)

    1931-1940FantasyMusicalUSAVictor Fleming

    The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with her drab black-and-white existence on her aunt and uncle’s dusty Kansas farm.

    Dorothy yearns to travel “over the rainbow” to a different world, and she gets her wish when a tornado whisks her and her little dog, Toto, to the Technicolorful land of Oz. Having offended the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy is protected from the old crone’s wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears.Read More »

  • Ernst Lubitsch – The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

    USA1931-1940ClassicsErnst LubitschRomance

    The Budapest department store run by Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan) is a happy little society of salesclerks, where assistant manager Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) and salesgirl Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) don’t at all see eye to eye. But in secret pen-pal letters they’re madly in love with one another, each hardly guessing who their mysterious secret admirer might be.Read More »

  • Vincente Minnelli – Yolanda and the Thief (1945)

    1941-1950FantasyMusicalUSAVincente Minnelli

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Plot: Johnny Riggs, a con man on the lam, finds himself in a Latin-American country named Patria. There, he overhears a convent-bred rich girl praying to her guardian angel for help in managing her tangled business affairs. Riggs decides to materialize as the girl’s “angel”, gains her unquestioning confidence, and helps himself to the deluded girl’s millions. Just as he and his partner are about to flee Patria with their booty, Riggs realizes he has fallen in love with the girl and returns the money, together with a note that is part confession and part love letter. But the larcenous duo’s escape from Patria turns out to be more difficult than they could ever have imagined. Written by Dan NavarroRead More »

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