Paul Lukas

  • Herbert Mason – A Window in London (1940)

    1931-1940Herbert MasonThrillerUnited Kingdom

    A passerby witnesses a murder through the windows of a passing train, then tries to track down the killer.Read More »

  • 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 »

  • Rowland V. Lee – The Three Musketeers (1935)

    Rowland V. Lee1931-1940ActionAdventureUnited Kingdom

    Gascon D’Artagnan joins the Musketeers in Paris, battling Porthos, Aramis, and Athos to save France and a lady’s honor from Cardinal Richelieu’s machinations.Read More »

  • Fyodor Otsep – Whispering City (1947)

    1941-1950CanadaDramaFilm NoirFyodor Otsep

    A reporter hears that a famous actress is dying in a hospital after being hit by a car. She goes to the hospital to interview the actress, who tells the reporter that her wealthy fiance, who was killed in an accident several years before, was actually murdered. Before long the reporter finds herself in a web of corruption, mental illness and murder.Read More »

  • Kurt Neumann – Secret of the Blue Room (1933)

    Kurt Neumann1931-1940MysteryUSA

    Twenty years after 3 murders occur in a castle’s “blue room”, three men who each want to marry a beautiful girl decide to spend a night in the room to prove their bravery to her.Read More »

  • James Whale – By Candlelight (1933)

    1931-1940ComedyJames WhaleRomanceScrewball Comedy

    amazon
    After directing three of Universal’s finest horror films, James Whale shifted gears with the elegant romantic comedy By Candlelight. Though quite miscast, Paul Lukas successfully conveys the role of Josef, ultra-dutiful valet to the libidinous Count Von Bommer (Nils Asther). Falling in love with Marie (Elissa Landi), whom he assumes to be a countess, Josef poses – quite convincingly – as his rakish master. The catch: Marie is herself a poseur, a mere maidservant to Count and Countess Von Rischenheim (Lawrence Grant, Dorothy Revier). Based on a play by Siegfried Geyer, By Candlelight is chock full of delightfully double-entendre pre-Code dialogue and dextrous directorial touches.Read More »

  • Edwin L. Marin – The Casino Murder Case (1935)

    1931-1940Edwin L. MarinMysteryThrillerUSA

    IMDB:
    When Philo Vance receives a note that harm will befall Lynn at the casino that night, he takes the threat seriously while the DA dismisses it. At the casino owned by Uncle Kinkaid, Lynn is indeed poisoned under the watchful eye of Philo. However, he recovers, but the same cannot be said for Lynn’s wife Virginia, who is at the family home. Only a family member could have poisoned Lynn and Virginia and everyone has their dark motives. Philo will follow the clues and find the perpetrator.Read More »

  • Dorothy Arzner – Anybody’s Woman (1930)

    1921-1930ClassicsDorothy ArznerDramaUSA

    New York Times Review

    In their enthusiasm for the idea of electric fans carrying voices across hotel courtyards, those concerned with the producing of “Anybody’s Woman,” the talking picture now at both the Times Square Paramount and the Brooklyn Paramount, favor coincidences that are absurdly unconvincing. This more or less ingenious notion can be accepted in an early episode, but when it crops up again in the climactic sequence the result is emphatically disappointing.Read More »

  • William Wyler – Dodsworth (1936)

    1931-1940DramaRomanceUSAWilliam Wyler

    After selling his Ohio auto-parts plant, Sam hopes to celebrate his retirement by taking his wife Fran on a romantic getaway to Europe. Instead, Sam and Fran begin to grow apart, realizing they want different things from life…Read More »

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