Pre-code: Man's Castle (1933).

Man's Castle (1933). A pre-code film directed by Frank Borzage. Cast: Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young.

During this film, Loretta Young and Spencer Tracy, began an affair that lasted about a year. Young ended the relationship when she wasn't granted absolution because she was dating a married Catholic.

The surviving film, shown on TCM, is the edited 1938 (post-Production Code) re-release, with redesigned title credits.

The story begins with Trina, watching and secretly wishing for the popcorn Bill, is feeding to the most beautiful white pigeons, I have ever seen. He wants to help her, after he hears that she has not eaten anything for two days. He then decides to take her to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

 

After her meal, Bill calls for the manager, so he can inform him that he has no money, also.. to point out that the restaurant throws out food every day, thinking that he could allow her to eat for free just this once. After, Bill's scene the manager throws them both out.

After finding out that Trina, has no place to live, he takes her to his home, located in a riverside shantytown. Even though, he does not want to be tied down to one woman, he allows her to stay. He loves sleeping under the stars and has put a hole in the roof so that he can always watch the sky.

Trina sets up housekeeping and tries not to interfere with his life and even ignoring his fling with a singer named Fay(pictured above).

It is not long before, Trina tells Bill, that she is pregnant and for the first time in his life he cares more about some one other than himself. They ask their friend and neighbor, preacher Ira, to perform their marriage ceremony.

Bill, now needing money for Trina and her baby, reminds Bragg of his plans to rob a toy store payroll. When the robbery fails, Bragg, who has eyes for Trina, calls the police to arrest Bill, hoping she will turn to him.

Flossie, suggests that the couple run away together and then, shoots Bragg and then herself. Trina and Bill, now on the run head for the passing train ....

This is the first time that I had ever seen this film and I absolutely loved it. Loretta Young and Spencer Tracy, have a wonderful on screen chemistry and they help turn this movie into a wonderful romance. It is filmed in such a dreamy way, that their humble home looks very charming and homey. If you get a chance to see this film I do not think you will be disappointed.

Please click here for Silents: Mans Castle(1933) movie review.

Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971).  Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played the role of Little Eva in, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

She later was in the cast of, Cobra and The Best People in 1925.

Farrell was first signed to a long-term contract by First National Pictures in July 1930. She was given the female lead in Little Caesar. Warner Brothers signed her to re-create on film the role she played in, Life Begins on Broadway.

Farrell worked on parts in twenty movies in her first year with the studio. She came to personify the wise-cracking, hard-boiled, and dizzy blonde, along with, Joan Blondell, with whom she would be frequently paired.

Her brassy persona was used in the films: Little Caesar (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Havana Widows (1933), Gambling Ship (1933), Bureau of Missing Persons (1933), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and The Big Shakedown (1934).

She became one of Warner Brothers’ most prolific actresses of the 1930s, solidifying her success with her own film film series, as Torchy Blane, "Girl Reporter". In this role Farrell was promoted as being able to speak 400 words in 40 seconds.

Farrell would portray the character Torchy Blane in seven films, from 1937 to 1939 when the role was taken over by Jane Wyman. in the first of the Torchy Blane series, Smart Blonde (1937) In 1937 she starred opposite Dick Powell and Joan Blondell in the Academy Award nominated Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley directed musical comedy, Gold Diggers of 1937.

When her Warner Brothers contact expired in 1939 she opted to focus on her stage career once again. She said that working in plays gave her more of a sense of individuality whereas in films you get frustrated because you feel you have no power over what you're doing.

Farrell went out of vogue in the 1940s but made a comeback later in life, appearing in Secret of the Incas (1954), the Charlton Heston adventure epic upon which Raiders of the Lost Ark was based a quarter century later, and winning an Emmy Award in 1963, for her work in the television series Ben Casey.

She was appearing on Broadway in, Forty Carats in 1969 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She remained with the show until ill health forced her departure in November 1970.

Her son with her first husband Thomas Richards was B-Western "sidekick" actor Tommy Farrell. She dated Hollywood film writer Robert Riskin in the early 1930s and married Jack Durant of the Mitchell and Durant vaudeville team in June 1931. In 1941 Farrell became the wife of Dr. Henry Ross, a West Point graduate and Army physician who served on General Eisenhower's staff.

In 1971, she died from lung cancer, aged 66, at her home in New York City.  When Dr. Ross died in 1991, he was buried with her.

Pre-Code: She Had to Say Yes(1933).

She Had to Say Yes(1933). A Pre-Code film directed by George Amy and Busby Berkley. It was Berkley's directorial debut. It was part of a series of movies that drew inspiration from the "real-life" compromises working girls had to go through during the Great Depression.

Sol Glass's clothing business, is losing sales because, Tommy believes his customers are tired of the "gold diggers".. Salesman Tommy Nelson, suggests using stenographers to entertain buyers instead.

When his fiancee Florence Denny, wants to participate in the program, Tommy refuses to let her. Birdie, one of the other stenographers, becomes a very successful customer girl, closing many sales. Tommy, also is not immune to her charms.

One night, when he has a date with Birdie, Tommy suggests that Florence go out with buyer Daniel Drew. She agrees.. only so that they can afford to get married. She likes Daniel, but is not very happy when he wants her to spend the night.

Florence, is heartbroken and breaks of her engagement off with Tommy after her friend, Maizee, proves to her that Tommy is having an affair with Birdie.

After, Florence and Daniel become friends, a drunk Tommy, becomes jealous and to get even, tells her she is developing a bad reputation, causing Florence to quit her job as a customer girl.

Daniel, who is now in love with Florence, asks to come over for dinner and then, asks for her help in the biggest deal of his life. She agrees.. to have dinner and get the signature, (from the guy who likes to tell jokes).. and is saved from compromising herself, when his wife and child show up at the restaurant. Daniel, does not believe she is so innocent,  after the buyer hints that she tricked him into signing.

Believing that her refusals are just a game, Daniel drives her to a lovely home in the country, where he attacks her. He can not go through with it and allows her to leave. Just then, Tommy drives up in a taxi, but.. he, too, believes that she is selling herself.

Will the heartbroken Florence, ever prove that she is really innocent?



Loretta Young, gives a wonderful performance, as she deals with the socially acceptable abuse from the men in her life. There are times when she reminds me of Bette Davis. Also, Lyle Talbot gives a good performance as a ruthless businessman.

Winnie Lightner (September 17, 1899 – March 5, 1971), was often typecast as a wise-cracking gold-digger and was known as a comedienne and singer.

She had a successful career in vaudeville and finally made it to Broadway. Winnie Lightner was the first movie performer in history ever to be censored for what she said or sang on screen.

In 1928, she made a Vitaphone short in which she sang "We Love It", "God Help a Sailor on a Night Like This", "That Brand New Model of Mine", and "We've Got a Lot to Learn." A censorship board in Pennsylvania held the release of the film because of the content of the songs.

The musical, Gold Diggers of Broadway made her an international star. The Warner Bros. signed her up for a number of musical comedies. The first one was, Hold Everything, based on a Broadway hit.

Her next performance was, She Couldn't Say No (1930), in which Lightner. The picture, was not very successful. This was followed by the successful picture, The Life of the Party, which was also shot in Technicolor and was an even bigger hit than, Hold Everything.

By the end of 1930 audiences had grown tired of musicals. This occurred while Winnie Lightner was in the process of shooting three musicals: Sit Tight (1931), Gold Dust Gertie (1931) and Manhattan Parade (1932). They were all released with most of the music cut. This was very noticeable in the film, Sit Tight and Manhattan Parade, even the background music was removed.

Warner Bros. decided to try another dramatic role for Lightner for the film, Side Show (1931), which proved to be unsuccessful. She starred in two more comedies in which she co-starred with Loretta Young (without songs), Play-Girl (1932) and She Had to Say Yes (1933).

She would play as a supporting actor in two more features, for MGM and Columbia Pictures, before retiring in 1934.

Pre-Code: Son of India(1931).

Son of India(1931). A romance film directed by Jacques Feyder. The film is based on the 1882 novel Mr. Issacs written by Francis Marion Crawford. Cast:Ramon Novarro, Conrad Nagel and Madge Evans.

On their long journey across India, Indian jewel trader named Hamid, whose life has not been an easy one and his son Karim, stop their caravan at an Indian village, where they plan to spend the night. There Hamid, tells his son that gratitude is the most important virtue one can possess. He then gives Karim his most precious possession, a large diamond.

Later, Karim meets Rao Rama, an old holy man, who saves his life by hiding him in a shallow grave when a gang of bandits, massacre the entire village, including his father, Hamid.

Now Karim,  has to fend for himself on his travels to Bombay, where he tries to sell the diamond in a jewelry store. The jeweler tries to cheat Karim, by offering him only twenty rupee for the gem. When Karim tries to leaves the store, the merchant calls him a thief and has him arrested.

Things look pretty grim for Karim, until his luck changes, when a wealthy American named William Darsay, overhears the trial and steps forward as a witness to the fact that the jewel belonged to Karim.

Karim, is found innocent and his diamond is returned to him.

Later, when Karim finds William dining in his hotel, he tries to thank him by giving him the diamond, but the American refuses to accept it. Karim, then tells the kind William, that if he will not accept the gift, he must remain forever indebted to him.

While leaving the hotel, Karim is stopped by a wealthy man, who offers him a a lot of money for the diamond, which he accepts. Karim, is now a wealthy merchant.

Many years later while, at a polo match, he meets and falls in love with Williams sister, Janice Darsay.

Later, while visiting Karim at his mansion, Janice is called away by her aunt, who insists that she see William, in Calcutta. Janice, soon realizes her aunt's feelings about her relationship with Karim, when she tells her how she feels about her dating an Indian. Despite her aunt's wishes, Janice goes on a tiger hunt with Karim. Her aunt, then sends a message to William, telling him to come at once to save his sister.

While on their tiger hunt Karim, crosses paths with the bandit who killed his father and during their fight, Janice falls into a poisoned plant and is wounded. After Karim, removes the poison from Janice, the two become engaged.

When William arrives, he is surprised to see that Karim is the Indian with whom his sister is in love with. Even though William likes Karim, he asks him to call off the wedding, because an interracial marriage will ostracize Janice from her friends and family. Will Karim and Janice break off their engagement?

Son of India is a pre-code film starring one of the great actors of silent films, Ramon Novarro. The movie will hold your interest even though it is a very predictable love story. A must see if you are a Ramon Novarro, fan.

Madge Evans (July 1, 1909 – April 26, 1981). Was featured in print ads as the 'Fairy Soap girl' as an infant. She made her professional debut at the age of six months, posing for artist's models.

When she was four years old, Evans was featured in a series of child plays produced by William A. Brady. She worked at the old Long Island, New York movie studio.

Evans posed in a mother and child tableau with Anita Stewart, then 16, for an Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company calendar, and as the little mountain girl in Heidi of the Alps.

At the age of 8 in 1917, Evans appeared in the Broadway production of Peter Ibbetson with John Barrymore, Constance Collier and Laura Hope Crews.

 At 17, she returned to the stage and appeared as Daisy Mayme. Some of her best work in plays came in productions of Dread, The Marquis, and The Conquering Male.

Her last appearance was in Philip Goes Forth produced by George Kelley.

Evans' mother took her to England and Europe when she was 15.  As a child film actress, Evans had quite a prolific career appearing in dozens of films. She appeared with Marguerite Clark in: The Seven Sisters (1915), a film with a large female cast that had been played on stage with Clark's rival Mary Pickford and Laurette Taylor.

She was featured with Robert Warwick in, Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915). At 14, she stared in, On the Banks of the Wabash (1923). She co-starred with Richard Barthelmess in, Classmates (1924). She was working on stage when she signed with Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1927.

Working for MGM in the 1930s, she performed in, Dinner at Eight (1933), Broadway to Hollywood (1933), Hell Below (1933), and David Copperfield (1935). In 1933, she starred with James Cagney in, The Mayor of Hell.

Other notable movies in which she performed: Beauty for Sale (1933), Grand Canary (1934), What Every Woman Knows (1934), and Pennies From Heaven (1936).

In 1939, she married playwright Sidney Kingsley, best known for his plays Dead End and Detective Story which were later turned into popular films. The couple owned a 50-acre estate two miles from Oakland, New Jersey.

Following her marriage to Kingsley, Evans left Hollywood and moved to the New Jersey home.

Later, she worked in radio and television in New York City. Evans performed on the Philco Television Playhouse (1949–1950), Studio One (1954), Matinee Theater (1955), and The Alcoa Hour (1956). She refused repeated offers to return to Hollywood. She retired in 1971. Madge Evans died at her home in Oakland, New Jersey from cancer in 1981, aged 71.

Queen Christina (1933).

Queen Christina (1933). Pre-code historical/ drama. Director: Rouben Mamoulian.The film was written by H. M. Harwood and Salka Viertel with dialogue by S. N. Behrman, based on a story by Salka Viertel and Margaret P. Levino. Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith and Lewis Stone. The movie is very loosely based on the life of the 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden, who, in the film, falls in love during her reign but has to deal with the political realities of her society. It was billed as Garbo's return to cinema after an eighteen-month hiatus.

In 1632, after her father, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, is killed on the battlefield, six-year-old Christina raised as a boy is crowned "king" of Sweden . Then promises to her court, that Sweden will fight until it wins the war.

Many years later, the now-grown Christina, who dresses in men's clothing, meets with her council and states for the good of the country, they must find peace. Christina then argues with Oxenstierna about marrying her Swedish-born cousin, Prince Palatine Charles Gustavus. Not wanting to marry a man she does not love, Christina rejects Oxenstierna's demands.

To escape Christina, goes on a hunting trip with her servant Aage. While riding, Christina comes across the path of a coach filled with Spaniards, which have gotten stuck in a ditch. Because she is dressed as a man, Christina is not recognized and is treated as a male servant by Don Antonio de la Prada. Later, Christina and Aage seek shelter at the Inn and once again meet Antonio and his men.

Antonio apologizes when he learns that Christina is a gentleman of means and engages him/her, in conversation. Christina impresses Antonio, after which insists that he take her to his room, the last room in the inn. After a polite argument, the couple decide to share the room. While Antonio undresses, Christina becomes uncomfortable, but finally reveals that she is a woman by removing her jacket. Surprised, Antonio takes Christina in his arms. For the next several days, Christina and Antonio, who is still unaware of her royal identity, fall in love and promise their lasting devotion to each other. Needing to accomplish his mission, Antonio leaves the inn, but arranges to meet with Christina in Stockholm.

Back at the palace, Christina is confronted by Magnus, who questions her about her disappearance. Christina's only care, is her reunion with Antonio and dresses up in her most beautiful gown to greet him. When Antonio is introduced to Christina, he is surprised but maintains his composure.

 Later in private Antonio, accuses her for playing with his affections and presents to her a proposal of marriage. Christina ignores her royal duties to spend time with Antonio. Jealous, Magnus hires two men to spread rumors about the queen's scandalous behavior, and one night in the Palace, Christina is met by an angry mob.

After calming the crowd, Christina confronts Magnus, where he threatens to have Antonio killed. For his protection, Christina orders Antonio back to Spain, unaware that the Spaniard has challenged Magnus to a duel. Christina calls together her court, announces that she is stepping down from the throne. While Christina says good- by to her heartbroken court, Antonio and Magnus engage in their sword fight. What will Christina find when she reaches Antonio's ship?

Fun Fact:
Since John Gilbert was becoming less popular as a leading man, Greta Garbo was doing him a big favor by requesting him as the male lead. Unfortunately, the film did not help to re-establish Gilbert, and soon after he dropped out of pictures altogether.

For me, this is a beautiful and haunting film. John Gilbert and Greta Garbo have wonderful on screen chemistry. My favorite scene in the movie, is when she is enjoying herself as a woman.

Muriel Evans (July 20, 1910 – October 26, 2000) Her father died when she was only two months old, forcing her mother to move to California to find work, where Evans' mother took a job as a maid at First National Studios.

 She spent her afternoons on film sets and was soon noticed by a studio executive. The executive introduced her to the director Robert Z. Leonard, who gave her a small role opposite Corinne Griffith in the 1926 film, Mademoiselle Modiste. She continued attending classes at Hollywood High School and landing bit parts in stock theater productions and silent films.

 In 1929, Evans co-starred in the silent, comedic short films, Good Night Nurse and Joyland, starring Lupino Lane. Shortly after completing Joyland, Evans put her acting career on hold to finish school.

 Later that year, she married Michael Cudahy, the wealthy scion of a meatpacking family. The couple traveled the world and settled in Europe. In 1931, Evans decided to pursue the film career she had given up and left her husband in Paris. Evans returned to Hollywood, signed a contract at MGM and quickly began making films again. She and Cudahy divorced in 1932.

Later that year, Evans starred in six films, most notably, Young Ironsides with Charley Chase and Pack Up Your Troubles with Laurel and Hardy. She would go on to star in eight more shorts with Chase before his death in 1940.

She made a smooth transition from silent pictures to talkies, and throughout the 1930s, Evans continued to work steadily. She appeared in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell, and The Prizefighter and the Lady with Myrna Loy.

By the mid 1930s, Evans also began co-starring in popular westerns alongside Tom Mix, John Wayne and Tex Ritter. She also starred in three Hopalong Cassidy films opposite William Boyd, and did seven westerns with Buck Jones.Muriel Evans with James Ellison in the 1936 film Three on the Trail In 1936, Evans married a theatrical agent, Marshall R. Worchester.

 By age 30, she retired from acting. One of her last film appearances came in 1946, in the Pete Smith short, Studio Visit. Soon after retiring, Evans and her husband settled in Washington, D.C. Over the next decade, she starred in four radio shows and in the television show Hollywood Reporter.

 In 1951, the couple moved back to Hollywood, although Evans never resumed her acting career. Eventually, the couple bought property in Tarzana, California, where Evans dabbled in real estate. After the death of her husband in 1971, Evans began work as a volunteer nurse at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills not far from her home.

After a stroke in 1994, she became a resident within the complex and often dined with fellow actors with whom she had once worked, including Anita Garvin. In 1999, Evans made her last film appearance in a 2000 documentary, I Used to Be in Pictures, in which she was one of many former actors who recalled their experiences in the film work.

Pre- Code: One More River (1934).

One More River (1934). Film directed by James Whale. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Cast: Diana Wynyard. The film is based on a novel by John Galsworthy. This marked Jane Wyatt's film debut.

The story begins when Lady Clare Corven, returns from Ceylon by ship to be with her family, who is happy to see her after she left her husband Gerald, for abusing her. While on the ship, she meets and falls in love with, James "Tony" Bernard Croom.



He husband Gerald, has the couple followed by a detective. One night, they can't get the car lights to work and Clare and Tony, park in the woods and innocently spend the night together. With this evidence Gerald uses it to sue Clare and Tony, for divorce and damages.

At the trial, Tony and Clare are found guilty, will Tony and Clare continue on with their romance or go their separate ways?

This is the first time I have seen this film, it's main focus is the social attitudes toward sex and divorce. When the film began, Diana's character was plain, but.. as the movie progressed, she became more sophisticated. It was fun to see a very young, Jane Wyatt.

Diana Wynyard, (16 January 1906 – 13 May 1964), began her career on the English stage. She attracted attention of Broadway and performed first in Rasputin and the Empress in 1932, with Ethel, John, and Lionel Barrymore. She performed in the film version, beginning her brief Hollywood career.

Fox Film Corporation, borrowed her for their film version of, Cavalcade (1933). As the noble wife and mother she aged gracefully against a background of the Boer War, the sinking of the Titanic, the First World War, and the arrival of the Jazz Age. With this performance, she became the first British actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

After a handful of film roles, most notably as John Barrymore's old flame in Reunion in Vienna, she returned to Britain, but concentrated on theatre work, including roles as Charlotte Bronte in, Wild Decembers, in Sweet Aloes, and as Gilda in the British premiere of Noel Coward's Design for Living.

 She was tempted to return to the screen to play opposite Ralph Richardson in, On the Night of the Fire (1939). Her greatest success was as the heroine of, Gaslight (1940), the first film version of Patrick Hamilton's play Gas Light. This was followed by roles opposite Clive Brook in Freedom Radio, John Gielgud in, The Prime Minister and Michael Redgrave in Kipps (all 1941), directed by Carol Reed to whom she was later briefly married.

After World War II, she performed in, An Ideal Husband (1947), from the Oscar Wilde play, but her remaining film appearances were in supporting roles, usually maternal, such as in Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951) and as the secretive mother (of James Mason's character) in Island in the Sun (1957).

On television she played Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the 1957 version of Mayerling, which starred Audrey Hepburn. Her stage career flourished after the war, and as a Shakespearean leading lady at Stratford, in London's West End and on tour in Australia, she had her pick of star parts.

 Between 1948 and 1952, she played Portia, Gertrude, Lady Macbeth, Katherine the shrew, Desdemona, Katherine of Aragon, Hermione in The Winter's Tale, and Beatrice to Gielgud's Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. In this production, she succeeded her friend Peggy Ashcroft. Wynyward stumbled off the rostrum during the sleepwalking scene in Macbeth in 1948. She fell 15 feet, but was able to continue.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s she also had success in the works of several contemporary writers, including the British production of Tennessee Williams's Camino Real. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1953.

She was married to the English film director Sir Carol Reed from 3 February 1943 until August 1947, and subsequently to a Hungarian physician, Tibor Csato. She died from renal disease in London in 1964, aged 58, while rehearsing The Master Builder with Michael Redgrave and Maggie Smith as part of the new National Theatre Company. Celia Johnson replaced her. Her last television performance was in the play The Man in the Panama Hat recorded in March 1964. Her death occurred before the intended broadcast in May 1964 and it was eventually shown posthumously on 21 September 1964.

Pre-code: Bedside (1934).

Bedside (1934). Directed by Robert Florey. Cast: Warren William, Jean Muir, Allen Jenkins and David Landau.

The story begins with Bob Brown aka Dr. J. Herbert Martel, a X-Ray tech with 3 years of medical school. He works in the same offices as, nurse Caroline, who is charmed by Bob as all woman in his life seem to be..

Caroline, loans Bob $1,500 so he can finish up his degree and become a real doctor, but.. but when Bob, boards the train headed for medical school he quickly blows the $1,500 in a poker game.

Not able to go back home and face Caroline, Bob finds a new job as an orderly and writes letters telling her how tough medical school is.

While on the job Bob, gives a shot to a patient who was crying out for help and is fired, for it. He returns home and comes close to telling Caroline, the truth, but she looks so upset that he just can't do it.

Things take a turn for the better for Bob, when "John Smith", comes to see him in desperate need of some morphine to help with his asthma. Smith, is really J. Herbert Martel, a doctor who has become a drug addict. He confesses to Martel, that his degree is useless to him now. Bob the says, "You've come to the end of your rope. I can use it! and then offers to keep him supplied in drugs, in exchange for his identity.

Brown, travels to New York where things are going well until, a poker game with press agent Sam Sparks, leads to Sparks forcing Brown, now known as, Dr. J. Herbert Martel, to participate in a million-dollar insurance scam over a showgirl's legs. Dr. Martel provides a fake X-Ray of a broken leg (which belonged to a corpse).

Brown/Martel takes the money he made from the scam and opens up a swank Park Avenue office, hiring Dr. Wiley to work as the doctor and hires Caroline, to be his nurse. Things are going well until, "John Smith" finds him.

Dr. Wiley tells him about this experiment he's performed hundreds of times with guinea pigs and hopes to use on humans. His experiment is to stick a needle in a dead guinea pig's heart, then shock them back from the dead. (I'm not sure whether the experiment worked or not).

Caroline, begins to become suspicious of Bob and quits, after his refusal to treat a sick little girl, when Wiley( who really does the work) is not there. At this point, the real Martel, finally meets Caroline and she has a life-threatening accident.  The hospital gets a hold of Bob, who's in a panic, now what we will he do to save Caroline's life or does he?

Warren William, was often cast as a detective. But.. I think I like him best in dark roles such as this one. I don't know whether to call Bedside.. a horror movie, sci-fi or film noir?

Jean Muir (February 13, 1911 – July 23, 1996), first appeared on Broadway in 1930, and was signed by Warner Brothers Studios three years later.

She played opposite several famous actors - Warren William, Paul Muni, Richard Barthelmess, Franchot Tone, etc. But she returned to Broadway in 1937 because she was unsatisfied with the roles, appearing occasionally in films through 1943.

In 1950 she was named as a Communist sympathizer by the notorious book Red Channels, and immediately removed from the cast of a television sitcom The Aldrich Family, in which she was supposed to appear as the Mother Aldrich.

 In the mid 1950s she reportedly suffered from alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver.

 She was back on Broadway and TV by the early 1960s. In 1968 she moved to Columbia, Missouri, where she taught drama at Stephens College.

Pre-Code: Christopher Strong(1933).

Christopher Strong (1933). RKO film, directed by Dorothy Arzner. Cast: Katharine Hepburn in her second screen role. The screenplay by Zoe Akins is adapted from the novel by Gilbert Frankau. The musical score for this film is by Max Steiner.

At one of Carrie Valentin's socialite parties a "treasure hunt" challenge, begins and Monica Strong and her married boyfriend, Harry Rawlinson, set out to find and bring back a truly faithful husband and a woman over twenty who has never had a love affair.

Harry, has a minor car accident with Lady Cynthia Darrington, an aviatrix with whom he returns to the party with, hoping to win "treasure hunt" challenge. Monica asks her father, Sir Christopher Strong, a respected politician and a faithful husband to join in on the fun.

After the party, Monica and Harry become fast friends with Cynthia, who is attracted to Christopher. Even though he loves his wife Elaine, Christopher is attracted to the head-strong Cynthia and she, to him. Elaine, begins to suspect something is going on forbids Monica from seeing Harry, but.. allows Cynthia to visit their summer villa in Cannes.

Cynthia and Christopher take a romantic midnight boat ride and confess their love for each other. Elaine, waiting for her husband to return sees them kissing through her bedroom window, is heartbroken.

Later, Monica shows up at Cynthia's apartment,threatening to kill herself because the now divorced Harry, refuses to marry her because of a one-night stand she had in Cannes. After preventing Monica's suicide, Cynthia leaves England for New York to participate in the once in a life time around-the-world flying competition.

Although she wins the contest, Cynthia, is pining away for Christopher and is thrilled when she finds him waiting for her at her hotel. After, they consumate their love, Cynthia agrees to give up flying and devote her life to Christopher.

It isn't long before Cynthia's affair is discovered and Monica, who is now married to Harry and pregnant, thanks her for being a such a good friend .. Cynthia learns that she, is also pregnant, but decides to keep it secret and accepts a dangerous flying challenge, even after she promised she wouldn't. What will she do to save Christopher's marriage and career?

I have been wanting to see this film for a long time. Hepburn, is very convincing as an aviation obsessed with the man she loves. One of the best scenes in the film had Hepburn's character appearing at a costume party dressed in a stunning, glittering Moth costume designed by Howard Greer.

Fun Facts:

Newsreel footage of parades and famous flights were used in the movie.

Katharine Hepburn replaced Ann Harding.

Billie Burke's last dramatic role until "In This Our Life, with Bette Davis."

Colin Clive was 33 when this movie was made, 'Billie Burke' who played his wife was 49, and 'Helen Chandler' who played their daughter was 27.

Please click on The greatkh.blogspot Movie Review: The Strength of Christoper Strong. to read Margaret Perry's awesome movie review.

Colin Clive (20 January 1900 - 25 June 1937), attended Stonyhurst College and subsequently Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where an injured knee disqualified him from military service and contributed to his becoming a stage actor.

On stage, one of his roles was Steve Baker, the white husband of racially mixed Julie LaVerne, in the first London production of Show Boat. This production also featured Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson. Clive first worked with James Whale in the Savoy Theatre production of Journey's End and subsequently joined the British community in Hollywood in the 1930s, repeating his stage role in the 1930 film version of Journey's End, which was directed by Whale.

Although Colin Clive made only three horror films, Whale's two Frankenstein films and Mad Love (1935), he is widely regarded as one of the essential stars of the genre by many film buffs. His portrayal of mad Dr. Frankenstein has proved inspiration and a launching pad for scores of other mad scientist performances in films over the years.

Clive's first screen role, in Journey's End, was incidentally directed by James Whale. Clive played the alcoholic and tormented Captain Stanhope, a character that (much like Clive's other roles) tragically mirrored his personal life.

Clive was also an in-demand leading man for a number of major film actresses of the era, including Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Corinne Griffith and Jean Arthur. He also starred as Edward Rochester in a 1934 adaptation of Jane Eyre opposite Virginia Bruce. He was related to Clive of India and appeared in a featured role in a film biography of his relative in 1935.

From June 1929 until his death, Clive was married to actress Jeanne de Casalis. Although she worked in films and on stage, her greatest success was as a comedienne on radio sitcoms in England, playing the dithering "Mrs. Feather". De Casalis did not accompany her husband to Hollywood.

Pre-Code: Mata Hari(1931).

Mata Hari(1931). A Pre-Code film loosely based on the life of Mata Hari (the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), an exotic dancer/courtesan executed for espionage during World War I. The film stars Greta Garbo in the title role. The film is credited with popularizing the legend of Mata Hari. The third and final film in which Ramon Novarro and Lewis Stone both appeared, though they have no scenes together.

During World War I, after the execution of a group of convicted spies, Dubois, chief of the French Spy Bureau, vows that he will someday find enough evidence to prosecute France's greatest enemy, Mata Hari, a famous dancer, who lives a double life as a German spy.

Mata, receives her assignments from a man named Andriani, who wants her to use her charms to learn more about the secret messages and maps detailing Russian troop movements, from the French and Russian officers.

Soon after meeting Lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff of the Russian Imperial Air Force, a flier who was had a successful flight over German lines to bring back a secret message, Mata begins an affair and falls in love  with him. At first Mata, does not know that Alexis has the secret documents she has been ordered to steal.

Later, when Mata learns that Alexis is carrying the secret documents, she sleeps with him and darkens the apartment so that her fellow agents can take the papers, copy them and return them before anybody notices.  Andriani,  has Carlotta, one of his spies, killed for falling in love on the job. He then tells Mata that she must continue her relationship with Alexis.

Looking for a way to find the evidence he needs against Mata, Dubois tells  her ex-lover General Shubin, that Mata has been having an affair with Alexis, hoping out of jealousy he will expose her treachery.

Shubin, does confront Mata, and Mata tries to prove that she does not love Alexis by showing Shubin the secret photographs she stole from the lieutenant. Not believing her, Shubin calls the embassy to have Mata arrested, but Mata shoots him so she can get away.

As Mata, leaves the murder scene, Andriani tells her that her Paris assignment is over and that she must now go to Amsterdam . Andriani, also informs her that Alexis has been injured in an airplane crash and has been hospitalized. He then forbids her to visit Alexis, Mata resigns so she can be with Alexis. At his bedside, Mata promises the blinded Alexis that she will never leave him. As soon as Mata leaves the hospital, she is arrested by Dubois and put on trial for murder and espionage.Will she be able to prevent Alexis from ever knowing about her crimes and avoid execution?

 

I really enjoyed this dramatic love story and thought Great Garbo, looked beautiful performing the exciting role as a double agent.

Karen Morley (December 12, 1909 – March 8, 2003). After working at the Pasadena Playhouse, she came to the attention of the director Clarence Brown when he was looking for an actress to stand-in for Greta Garbo in screen tests.

This led to a contract with MGM and roles in such films as Mata Hari (1931), Scarface (1932), The Phantom of Crestwood (1932), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Arsene Lupin (1933) and Dinner at Eight (1933).

 In 1934, Morley left MGM after arguments about her roles and her private life. Her first film after leaving MGM was Our Daily Bread (1934), directed by King Vidor. She continued to work as a freelance performer, and appeared in Michael Curtiz's Black Fury, and The Littlest Rebel with Shirley Temple.

Without the support of a studio, her roles became less frequent, however she played a supporting role in Pride and Prejudice (1940). Her career came to an end in 1947, when she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to answer questions about her alleged American Communist Party membership. She maintained her political activism for the rest of her life. In 1954, she ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the American Labor Party ticket. After being blacklisted in Hollywood by the studio bosses, she was never able to rebuild her acting career. In December 1999, at the age of 90, she appeared in the magazine Vanity Fair in an article about blacklist survivors.

Pre- code: Shopworn(1932)

Pre-Code, romantic drama. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Clara Blandick and Regis Toomey. A good-hearted girl from the wrong side of the tracks Kitty Lane and wealthy David Livingston, fall in love. His hypochondriac mother Helen, does everything she can to break them up. First she has Judge Forbes, try to bribe Kitty.. when that fails, he makes trumped up charges to have her jailed on a morals charge and she serves her sentence.

 

 As the years pass, Kitty becomes a successful showgirl and David, becomes a doctor.

Eventually, they meet again and realize that they are still in love. Kitty, is worried that David's mother still has him under her thumb, but David finally convinces her to marry him. Mrs. Livingston, goes to see Kitty and begs her to break off the engagement, but Kitty stands her ground. Helen pulls out a gun. Will Kitty manage to get the gun from her before someone is hurt? Classic movie fans will want to see this pre code film to watch Barbara Stanwyck and Clara Blandick, perform together..

Clara Blandick (June 4, 1880 – April 15, 1962). By the 1930s, she was well known in theatrical and film circles as an established supporting actress. Though she landed roles like Aunt Polly in the 1930 film Tom Sawyer (a role she reprised in the 1931 film Huckleberry Finn), she spent much of the decade as a character actor, often going uncredited.

At a time when many actors were permanently attached to a single studio, Blandick played a wide number of bit parts for almost every major Hollywood studio. In 1930, she acted in nine different films. In 1931 she was in thirteen different films. As is the case with some other busy character actors, it's impossible to make an exact tally of the films in which Clara appeared. A reasonable estimate would fall between 150 and 200.

In 1939, Blandick landed her most memorable minor role yet — Auntie Em in MGM's classic The Wizard of Oz. Though it was a small part (Blandick filmed all her scenes in a single week), the character was an important symbol of protagonist Dorothy's quest to return home to her beloved aunt and uncle – a snipe at people who revere glitz and tinsel over a happy homelife. (Auntie Em and Uncle Henry are the only characters from the beginning of the movie not to have alter ego characters in the Land Of Oz). Blandick beat out May Robson, Janet Beecher, and Sarah Padden for the role. Some believed Auntie Em's alter ego was to be the Good Witch of the North but the studio opted to use different actresses for each role rather than have a dual role for this. The reason was they wanted someone younger looking to contrast the good witch from the bad witches. Ironically, Billie Burke, who played the Witch of the North, was only 4 years younger than Blandick. Though the Auntie Em character proved memorable to audiences, few fans knew Blandick's name. She was not billed in the opening credits and is listed last in the movie's closing credits. After The Wizard of Oz, Blandick returned to her staple of character acting in supporting and bit roles. She would continue to act in a wide variety of roles in dozens of films. She played the spiteful Mrs. Pringle in 1940s Anne of Windy Poplars, a surprised customer in the 1941 Marx Brothers film The Big Store, a fashionable socialite in the 1944 musical Can't Help Singing, and a cold-blooded murderer in the 1947 mystery Philo Vance Returns. Her final two roles both came in 1950 – playing a housekeeper and a landlady in Key to the City and Love That Brute respectively. She retired from acting at the age of 69 and went into seclusion at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Pre Code: The House on 56th Street (1933)

The House on 56th Street(1933). Drama. Cast: Kay Francis and Margaret Lindsay.

The film begins with Peggy Martin, who is living with Lindon Fiske, but.. she really is in love with another man, Monte Van Tyle. The couple marry against his family's wishes and move to 56th St., soon they have a baby girl. Things are going well, until a very ill Fiske, comes back into Peggy's life. When she refuses to leave her family to come back to him, he threatens to commit suicide. Some how, the gun goes off and she is sent to prison for twenty years, for a murder she did not commit.

While Peggy is in jail, Monte is killed in World War I and their daughter Eleanor is told that her mother is also dead. Soon, after Peggy's release, she meets her future partner, gambler Bill Blaine. They go to work for Bonelli, a New York politician who has opened a gambling house in Peggy's old home on 56th St. No one can read Peggy's poker face.

Not even Eleanor, who visits the gambling house and it soon becomes obvious that she inherited her mother's love of gambling and begins to win big money. Peggy, recognizes her now grown daughter and does not like the path she is following. Peggy, decides to teach Eleanor a lesson and makes sure she does not win. Things Take a turn for the worse when Blaine calls Eleanor, into his office and threatens to tell her husband about her debts, to prevent him from doing so, Eleanor.. shoots and kills him. How will Peggy protect her only child from going to prison?

This story is full of unexpected twists and turns and Kay Francis, plays a very brave character who stands up to the plate no matter what life throws at her.

Margaret Lindsay (September 19, 1910 - May 9, 1981). Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was best known for her supporting work in films such as Jezebel (1938) and Scarlet Street (1945) and her leading roles in lower-budgeted B movie films such as the Ellery Queen series at Columbia in the early 1940s. Critics regard her portrayal of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hepzibah Pyncheon in the 1940 film adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables as Lindsay's standout career role.

Pre- Code: Strange Interlude(1932)

Strange Interlude(1932). Romantic drama. D: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, May Robson, Maureen O'Sullivan, Robert Young, Ralph Morgan, Henry B. Walthall and Mary Alden.

In a small New England town, shortly after the World War, writer Charlie Marsden returns home from Europe to visit the woman he is secretly in love with.  There he finds Nina Leeds, angry with her father for preventing Gordon from marrying her before he died in a plane crash during the war. Announcing, that she is going to move to Boston to work as a nurse in a sanitarium for wounded soldiers.

One year later, Nina is called home when her father becomes ill. By the time she arrives home with, Dr. Ned Darrell, and Sam Evans, her father has already died.

Later when, Nina confesses to Charlie that her obsession with Gordon has caused her to be promiscuous with men, Charlie, even though he wants to marry her, realizes that Nina needs a strong man, suggests that she should marry Sam. Wanting a normal married life, Nina agrees .

Nina, soon realizes her mistake, when Sam's mother confides in her that insanity runs in the family and they should not any children. Mrs. Evans then tells Nina that Sam knows nothing about the "family curse" and suggests Nina have children by another man.

Nina, soon regrets her marriage and when Ned visits, she tells him about the Evans curse and the two decide to conceive a child. During their afternoon together, Nina realizes that she loves Ned, but.. Ned is not ready to get married and to prevent Nina from telling Sam, Ned announces that Nina is pregnant and that he is leaving for Europe for a year. After Ned's leaves, Nina gives birth to a son, named Gordon.

Realizing that he made a mistake, Ned returns and begs her to run away with him but, Nina, realizing that Sam would be destroyed, tells him that she is happy with the way things are.

Ned and Charlie, become silent partners in Sam's business and Sam makes them all wealthy.

Later when Ned, Charlie, Nina and Sam come to watch Gordon, now a collage athlete compete in a regatta, Ned announces that Gordon plans to marry, Madeleine. Nina, objects and asks Ned to stop the marriage and tell Sam the truth about his paternity. When Ned refuses, Nina decides to tell Charlie the truth. Gordon wins the regatta and Sam, overcome with excitement, suffers a fatal heart attack.

After the funeral, Gordon and Ned get into an argument and Gordon hits Ned, causing Nina to blurt out that he has struck his own father. Gordon, misunderstands and says that he always knew Nina and Ned were in love and gives them his blessing. Ned is about to tell Gordon the truth, but.. will Nina have a change of heart and stop him?

Fun Fact: This was the first film in which Clark Gable's trademark mustache appeared.

By the end of this emotionally moving film, you feel sorry for just about everyone in it and they all deprived themselves of happiness. Great acting, especially for Norma Shearer and Clark Gable

 May Robson (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942).  In 1884, after being widowed, she became an actress simply to support her children. Over the next several decades, she flourished on the stage. She starred in the 1916 silent film, A Night Out, an adaptation of the play she co-wrote, The Three Lights. She made several other silent films, then successfully transitioned to talkies. She made 45 films during the 1930s. Among her starring roles was 1931's The She-Wolf, in which she was cast as a miserly millionaire businesswoman based on Hetty Green. She also starred in the final segment of the anthology film, If I Had a Million (1932) as a rest home resident who gets a new lease on life when she is given a $1,000,000 check by a dying business tycoon. She played the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1933), Countess Vronsky in Anna Karenina (1936), Aunt Elizabeth in Bringing Up Baby (1938), Aunt Polly in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), and a sharp-tongued Granny in A Star Is Born (1937). Miss Robson was top-billed as late as 1940, starring in Granny Get Your Gun at age 82. Her last film was 1942's Joan of Paris.

Pre - Code: Baby Face(1933).

Baby Face (1933). A dramatic film directed by Alfred E. Green. Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent. Based on a story by Darryl F. Zanuck. This Pre-Code Hollywood film is about an young woman who uses sex to advance herself socially and her career. People knew that... "She had it and made it pay", the film's open discussion of sex made it one of the most notorious films of the Pre-Code Hollywood era.

The story begins when Lily Powers, the daughter of Nick Powers, a speakeasy owner, tries to keep her distance from men, who her father forces on her. It does not take long before Lily, decides to use men to get what she wants. She leaves town with her maid Chico and takes a job in a bank, in a near by town. There she seduces Jimmy McCoy, his boss Brody and Ned Stevens, Brody's supervisor. Stevens sets Lily up in an apartment, even though he is engaged to Ann Carter, the daughter of one of the bank's high power executives, who also falls under Lily's charm and sets her up with an even more elegant apartment.

Out of jealousy, Stevens kills Carter, then himself, creating a scandal at the bank. Lily feels that she is a victim, then the bank decides to send her Paris to stop the scandle.

When Courtland Trenholm, is transferred to Paris, he too falls in love with Lily and marries her. Trenholm signs over all his money to Lily and when the bank falls into bankruptcy, Lily refuses to help him. Feeling helpless Trenholm decides to shoot himself, will Lily arrives in time to save his life ?

BABY FACE is a perfect example of pre-Code naughtiness and Barbara Stanwyck is wonderful as the bad girl. She knows how to work the men unlucky enough to find themselves in her way.

John Wayne, appears as an unsuccessful suitor for Stanwyck's. This would be the only time these two performers appeared together on screen.

Margaret Lindsay (September 19, 1910 - May 9, 1981). After some minor roles in Pre-Code films such as Christopher Strong and Baby Face, Lindsay was cast in the film, Cavalcade.

Lindsay was selected for a small role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon voyage takes place on the Titanic. Her performance in, Cavalcade earned her a contract at Warner Bros. where she became a supporting player, working with Paul Muni, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Warren William, Leslie Howard, George Arliss, Humphrey Bogart, Boris Karloff and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

 Lindsay was cast four times as the love interest of James Cagney in Warner films from 1933-1935. She performed with Cagney in four films: Frisco Kid, Devil Dogs of the Air, G-Men and Lady Killer.

 Lindsay co-starred with Bette Davis in four films: 1934's Fog Over Frisco; in 1935's Dangerous, Bordertown, Jezebel(1938), The Law in Her Hands (1936), in which she played a mob lawyer. Author Roger Dooley identified the film as "being the only film of the 1930s to have a pair of female legal partners".

 Made after the Motion Picture Production Code came into effect. Lindsay's favorite film role may have been, The House of the Seven Gables in 1940, with George Sanders and Vincent Price. Directed by Joe May from a screenplay by Lester Cole, the film's musical score by Frank Skinner was nominated for an Academy Award.

 Her 1940s film series included Columbia's first entry in its Crime Doctor series, as well as her continuing role as Nikki Porter in, Columbia's Ellery Queen series from 1940-1942. Lindsay performed in a supporting role in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, starring John Wayne, and in Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street in 1945.

 While her work in the late 1940s would occasionally involve a supporting role in MGM films, Cass Timberlane with Spencer Tracy, after which her film career began to fade. Her last film was, Tammy and the Doctor (1963).

 Early in her career, Lindsay lived with her sister Helen in Hollywood. Later in life, she lived with her youngest sister Mickie. Margaret Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies (1909–1985), was also an actress named, Jane Gilbert. In 1940, Jane married the son of Hedda Hopper, actor William Hopper, best known for his role as Paul Drake in the Perry Mason television series. Lindsay's niece Peggy Kenline and great-nephew Brad Yates were also actors.

Pre-Code: Men in White (1934).

Men in White (1934) is a Pre-Code film with Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, and directed by Ryszard Bolesławski. Because of the illicit romance and the abortion in the movie. The Legion of Decency claimed the movie as unfit for public viewing.

After working all day at the hospital, intern Dr. George Ferguson, is not really looking forward to a dinner date with his fiancee, Laura Hudson. Because later that night, he may have to return to the hospital for a patient, who needs a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, George, can't keep his date with Laura, whose wealthy father John, is now also patient in the hospital. Things even become more complicated after, George disobeys a senior doctor's orders which saves a young girl's life. George learns that the transfusion patient has died and telephones Laura, who is not too happy with him. Laura, who has had enough of him putting her off, refuses to see him and the devastated George, returns to his hospital dormitory room.

Barbara Dennin, a student nurse, comes to George's room and asks to borrow notes for an upcoming examination. George and Barbara share their doubts about the medical profession and then give into temptation.

Later, hospital board members, concerned over rising operating costs, ask Hudson for a large donation and then promise him that they would give George a prestigious appointment, in appreciation. Hochberg, does not believe that George, would ever agree to it.. George, confides to Hochberg that, because of the problems that he is having with Laura, he is having second thoughts about his hospital career.

Soon after, George learns that Barbara is seriously ill from a botched abortion and needs emergency surgery. On orders from Hochberg, Laura goes with George to help with Barbara's surgery. Just before Barbara falls asleep, she tells George that she loves him, which is over heard by Laura. During the operation, Laura faints and later refuses to see George. Will George ever be able to make it up to Laura?

A very entertaining medical drama with Gable/Loy/Allan, in a romantic love triangle, to spice things up.

Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1908 – 27 July 1990) was an English actress who's most memorable performances were as David's young mother in, David Copperfield and as Lucie Manette in, A Tale of Two Cities and Mark of the Vampire.

By the 1950s, Allan had made the transition to character parts: The Heart of the Matter (1953). In 1958, she appeared as Boris Karloff's wife in The Haunted Strangler.