Beauty for Sale (1933)

Una Merkel

Beauty for Sale (1933). A film about the romances of three beauty salon employees. It was based on the novel Beauty by Faith Baldwin. Cast: Madge Evans, Alice Brady, Otto Kruger, Una Merkel, May Robson and Hedda Hopper.

Madge Evans

Letty Lawson, has just run out of the money that her parents have given her to attend beauty school and now needs to make a living for herself. Her room mate, Carol helps Letty, land a job at Madame Sonia's, the salon where she works. Letty, is sent to the home of her first client Mrs. Henrietta Sherwood.

After Henrietta's manicure, Letty finds that her hat has been chewed up by Henrietta's dog, which Mr. Sherwood insists on paying for. When Letty returns to Madame Sonia's, she finds that her hat has been replaced by a very expensive hat.

While Letty, begins seeing Sherwood, Jane, another beautician, becomes involved with Burt Barton, Madame Sonia's son. Jealous of Sherwood's gifts to Letty, Bill confronts Letty, telling her that she is no better than Carol. Wanting to live her life without everyone passing judgement on her, Letty, decides to move in with Jane.

That evening, Letty joins Sherwood for dinner on his yacht and learns that Henrietta is spending the summer in Maine. Sherwood, then confesses to Letty that he is not able to divorce his wife, but.. he loves her and wants to continue seeing her. Letty, asks for a week to think about it...

During the next week, Jane tells Burt, who is about to leave for Russia on an engineering job, that she is pregnant. Burt, promises to marry Jane, but.. Letty, sees him boarding the same ocean liner that Carol and Freddy are taking to Paris.

When Jane hears the news, she becomes hysterical and jumps from her apartment window to her death. Heartbroken, by both Jane's suicide and Carol's advise that she stay away from married men, Letty tells Sherwood, that she can no longer see him.

Later, Bill shows up at the shop and asks Letty for a date. Although, not attracted to Bill and his bad jokes, Letty, agrees to go on a date with him.

Sherwood, wanting to rebuild his marriage suggest to Henrietta, that they build a house in the country.

Out for a drive, Letty and Bill stop by the site of the Sherwood's beautiful new home, where Bill once again acts badly. Will Letty, have a change of heart about marring Bill?

Another Pre-Code film of the 1930s, with colorful performances by Madge Evans, Una Merkel and Alice Brady and I never miss a opportunity to see Hedda Hopper(actress, gossip columnist), in a film. There are also a couple of lines from Bill the boyfriend, that are such duds, that you would not believe someone would leave those lines in a film.

Alice Brady (born Mary Rose Brady, November 2, 1892 – October 28, 1939). Was interested at an early age in becoming an actress. Her father, William A. Brady, was an important theatrical producer, and her mother was Rose Marie Rene, who died in 1896 when Alice was four.

Alice first went on the stage when she was 14 and got her first job on Broadway in 1911 at the age of 18. She continued to perform there (often in shows her father produced) for the next 22 years. In 1931 she performed in the, Mourning Becomes Electra.

Her step-mother was Broadway star Grace George (1879–1961). Her half-brother was William A. Brady Jr, the son of her father Grace George. Brady's father moved into movie production and presentation in 1913,with his World Film Corporation, and Brady soon followed along after him, making her first silent feature appearance in, As Ye Sow(1914).

She performed in 53 films in the next 10 years, all while continuing to perform on stage. In 1923, she stopped performing in films to concentrate on stage acting, and did not appear on the screen again until 1933, when she made the move to Hollywood to perform in her first talking film, When Ladies Meet.

From then on she worked until her death, making another 25 films in seven years. Her final film was, Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).

Brady was married to actor James Crane from 1919 to 1922, when they divorced. They co-starred in three silent films together: His Bridal Night (1919), Sinners (1920) and A Dark Lantern (1920); the couple had one child, Donald.

Alice Brady, died from cancer on October 28, 1939, five days before her 47th birthday.

Riffraff (1936).

Riffraff(1936). Cast: Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy. The movie was written by Frances Marion, Anita Loos, and H. W. Hannaford. Directed by J. Walter Ruben.

As the fishermen are all about to strike against tuna cannery boss Nick Lewis, Dutch Muller talks them out of it, realizing that Nick wants them to break their contract with him so he can hire cheaper labor.

On the day of Dutch's and Hattie's wedding, Dutch shows her their new home and tells her that he will be the new union head because Brains, is going to be replaced. As his first official act, Dutch calls for a strike.

Weeks after the strike Brains tries to work a settlement with Nick and replaces Dutch. Now broke, Dutch watches as their furniture is repossessed and refuses Brains's offer to take him back into the union. "Flytrap," arrives with Hattie's repossessed fur. Because Nick is in love with Hattie, he has paid all of her bills. Dutch, becomes angry with Brains when he tells him to give up his conceit. When Hattie agrees with Brains, Nick walks out.

Nick convinces Hattie to get a divorce, but.. she still refuses to marry him. When Dutch's friend Lew tells her that Dutch is sick and has been living in a hobo camp, she asks Nick for money, but he refuses. She takes it, leaving a note promising to pay him back, but at the hobo camp, Dutch jumps a freight to avoid seeing her. Nick then presses charges against her and she goes to prison, even though she is pregnant.

After the baby is born, Hattie's sister Lil takes care of him. Hearing that Hattie has been jailed, but not knowing about the baby, Dutch goes to Nick for help, but he refuses and the union also does not want him back. Dutch then goes to see Hattie with an escape plan, but.. she says she never wants to see him again.

She tells two other inmates about Dutch's escape plan and they convince her that it will work.

Meanwhile, Dutch goes to Brains begging for a job to help Hattie, and Brains gets him a job as a night watchman.

One rainy night, Hattie and two other women escape from prison through a drain pipe, but one of the women is killed. That same night, while Dutch is standing guard, his friend Belcher and some other men come to him with a plan about sabotaging the docks, but Dutch refuses to go through with it and stops their plans.

Hattie has arrived at Lil's and asks Jimmy to find Dutch, who has just heard about Hattie's escape. Jimmy tries to talk to him, but Dutch sends him away because, the police are there asking him questions. Will Jimmy ever return to Hattie and their baby?

 I'm a huge Jean Harlow fan and she looks wonderful in this movie. Spencer Tracy, plays a immature and bull headed character. Who, is always getting in arguments or fights at every opportunity. Not one of my favorite Spencer Tracy characters. Una Merkel, plays the sister and a very young Mickey Rooney, plays the brother.

Dorothy Appleby (January 6, 1906 – August 9, 1990) , performed in over 50 films between 1931 and 1943. Appleby was seen in many supporting roles and never progressed to leading roles in important pictures because of her height, which made her difficult to cast. The trim brunette stood just over five feet tall, and her early leading men (like comedian Charley Chase) towered over her.

She soon found steady if not prestigious work in Columbia Pictures' two-reel comedies. She appeared frequently with The Three Stooges, who were only a few inches taller than she was, and in 1940 she became Buster Keaton's leading lady, for the same reason: her height complemented his. She also worked with Columbia comics Andy Clyde, El Brendel, and Hugh Herbert.

Some of her Stooge comedies were Loco Boy Makes Good, So Long Mr. Chumps, and In the Sweet Pie and Pie. One memorable appearance was as Rosita in 1940's Cookoo Cavaliers. In the film, Appleby gets hit by the Stooges when a facial "mud pack" made of cement dries on her face.

One of her last screen roles was a one-line bit (playing a college co-ed at age 35) in the 1941 Jane Withers feature Small Town Deb. Appleby left Hollywood in 1943 and married musician Paul Drake soon after. They remained married until her death August 9, 1990.

Evelyn Prentice (1934).

Evelyn Prentice (1934). Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel and Rosalind Russell in her film debut. The third of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy. The movie was based on the 1933 novel of the same name by W. E. Woodward.
Evelyn Prentice, is a lonely for her husband, a prominent defense attorney John Prentice, who has been working long hours on the beautiful Mrs. Nancy Harrison, manslaughter's case. Evelyn, meets a nightclub gigolo Lawrence Kennard.

Later, both John and Nancy find themselves on the same train headed for Boston, Evelyn receives a book of Kennard's poetry and an invitation to meet him. With the urging of her best friend, Amy Drexel, Evelyn accepts Kennard's invitation even though she is still in love with her husband.

Later, Evelyn receives a package containing a woman's watch, which has been inscribed "To Nancy, from John," and a note explaining that the watch was found in John's drawing room. Heartbroken, Evelyn excepts another date with Kennard but, breaks it off before anything serious happens between them..

Amy, shows Nancy's watch to John, who then tells her that Nancy planted it in his room to destroy his marriage. John or Evelyn talk about the watch and both agree to take a long trip to Europe with their daughter Dorothy. Before they leave, however, Kennard telephones Evelyn and demands that she come to his apartment.

There, Kennard shows Evelyn three letters that she had written to him and insists on $15,000 in blackmail payment. Evelyn panics and grabs a gun, just as Judith Wilson, Kennard's  girl friend, enters the apartment's back door and hears a gunshot in the next room. Evelyn, quickly returns home, determined to keep quiet about the shooting. When she learns that Judith, has been accused of killing Kennard, Evelyn convinces John to postpone their trip to Europe and defend Judith. From Judith, John learns first that Kennard was seeing the "wife of a prominent man".

Judith's chances of acquittal do not look good and on the last day of the trial, worried... Evelyn decides to tell the truth. During the district attorney's summation, John receives Kennard's diary, in which Evelyn is identified as "the prominent wife." Evelyn, no longer able to keep quite any more interrupts the proceedings. Will and Evelyn surprise the court, with her testimony?

This is a beautiful art deco film, supported with sensitive performances by Powell and Loy. Also, Isabel Jewell, gives a emotionally charged performance. Una Merkel, is always fun to watch. "Evelyn Prentice" is most definitely worth your classic movie time..

Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972), was a Broadway actress who achieved immediate success in, Up Pops the Devil (1930) and Blessed Event (1932). She was brought to Hollywood by Warner Brothers for the film version of the latter. Jewell performed in a many supporting roles during the early 1930s.

She played stereotypical gangster's women in such films as Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and Marked Woman (1937). She was well received playing against type, as an innocent seamstress sentenced to death on the guillotine, in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Her most significant role was as the prostitute Gloria Stone in, Lost Horizon (1937).

In the mid to late 1930s, Jewell was seen at nightclubs with William Hopper (who appeared on Perry Mason and was the son of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and stage star DeWolf Hopper). Jewell's films included: Gone with the Wind (1939) (in the role of "that white trash, Emmy Slattery"), Northwest Passage (1940), High Sierra (1941), and The Leopard Man (1943).

By the end of the 1940s, her roles had reduced in significance to the degree that her performances were often uncredited: Men in White (1934 – scenes deleted). She also performed in radio dramas in the 1950s, including This is Your FBI. In 1972, she performed opposite Edie Sedgwick in the film, Ciao! Manhattan. Her final film was the B movie Sweet Kill (1973).

On Borrowed Time(1939).

On Borrowed Time(1939). The film is based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin. Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Barrymore plays Julian Northrup, a wheelchair user (Barrymore had broken his hip twice and was now using a wheelchair, though he continued to act), who, with his wife Nellie, played by Bondi, are raising their orphaned grandson, Pud.


The story begins when, Death, who comes in the form of Mr. Brink, hitches a ride with Dr. James Northrup and his wife, causing a tragic car accident. They leave behind a young son Pud in the care of his grandparents, Julian Northrup and Nellie. Pud's aunt, Demetria Riffle, an old maid, pretends to care about the boy, but really only wants his inheritance. Gramps, knows exactly what she is up to.

When Mr. Brink comes for Gramps, he tricks him into the apple tree. Mr. Brink is not able to come down from the tree, because only Gramps has the power to free him. After their pet cocker spaniel dies after touching the tree, Gramps has a fence built round the tree to protect others.

Dr. Evans, soon believes that Death is trapped up in the apple tree, when several of his cases of certain death do not happen. Evans tries to disprove Gramps's story, but nothing dies, except a mouse that touches the apple tree. Evans begs Gramps to let Brink down. Saying that a world without death would cause people with incurable diseases, to suffer. Gramps, thinks about his own old age, but still cannot let Brink out of the apple tree.

The next day, Evans comes with papers to commit Gramps and turn Pud over to Demetria, convincing Gramps to let Brink out of the tree. After he breaks the news to Pud about his decision to go with Brink, Pud cries that saying he wants to go with Mr. Brink, too. Heartbroken, when Gramps tells him he can't come, Pud runs away. Gramps, pretends that Mr. Brink has said that Demetria and the sheriff are due to die soon. Marcia Giles, Gramps's housekeeper, also pretends that she heard it too, frightening Demetria and the sheriff into leaving. While Marcia and Gramps are looking for Pud. Mr. Brink calls him a "baby calf." Pud trying to climb the tree falls to the ground and is paralyzed. Will Gramps now call Mr. Brink from the tree?

This is a wonderful, magical, movie, with some very heartbreaking scenes. A movie you will not soon forget. One of my favorite Lionel Barrymore performances.

 

Beulah Bondi (May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981). She made her Broadway debut in Kenneth S. Webb's "One of the Family" at the 49th Street Theatre on December 21, 1925. She next performed in, Maxwell Anderson's "Saturday's Children" in 1926. It was Bondi's performance in Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Street Scene," which opened at the Playhouse Theatre on January 10, 1929, that brought Bondi to the movies at the age of 43. Her debut movie role was as "Emma Jones" in Elmer Rice's Street Scene (1931), which starred Sylvia Sidney, and in which Bondi reprised her stage role, followed by "Mrs. Davidson" in Rain (1932), which starred Joan Crawford and Walter Huston.She was one of the first five women to be nominated for an Academy Award in the newly-created category of "Best Supporting Actress" for her work in The Gorgeous Hussy, although she lost the award to Gale Sondergaard. Two years later, she was nominated again for Of Human Hearts, and lost again, but her reputation as a character actress kept her working. She would most often be seen in the role of the mother of the star of the film for the rest of her career, with the exception of Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) as the abandoned Depression-era 'Ma' Cooper. She often played mature roles in her early film career even though she was only in her early 40s. Bondi played James Stewart’s mother in four films: It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Human Hearts and Vivacious Lady.