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: 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.

Just This Once (1952).

Just This Once (1952). Comedy Cast: Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford and Lewis Stone.


When the irresponsible Mark MacLene, falls $2,000,000 in debt, the man in charge of his estate, Judge Samuel Coulter, convinces the creditors to take monthly payments to pay back the money he owes.

Later, Coulter offers the very frugal attorney Lucille Duncan $50 a week, to look over Mark's grandfather's will and manage Mark's estate. Although reluctant, Lucy agrees. 


That night, at Mark's house, Coulter tells him of the plan and introduces him to Lucy. Thinking Lucy will be a pushover, Mark accepts the plan.

 

The next day Lucy, immediately cancels all his charge accounts and when Mark arrives, he asks her to sign a $5,000 check. She refuses, telling him that he must now get by on $50 a week and then tells him where he can buy lunch for 50 cents. Lucy, can not believe it when she finds out that he spent $10 tipping a busboy for a window table. 


A few days later, Coulter calls to tell her that he has flown to Paris on his private plane and has gone on a spending spree.

Lucy, catches up with Mark in Hawaii, forcing his return when she starts selling off some of his treasures. Now, that his home is empty, Mark decides to teach Lucy a lesson and moves into her apartment, expecting her to be responsible for him.

Later, when Lucy comes home from work, she finds her apartment newly decorated. After eating a gourmet meal, cooked by Mark, the couple is interrupted by Lucy's fiance, Tom Winters. Tom, is not happy to see Mark living in Lucy's apartment, but she assures him that there is nothing between them. Tom, then tells her that he going to get an $85 a week raise and now they can get married.

Hearing that Tom works for a company he owns, Mark calls Blackwell, Tom's boss and orders him to give Tom a $500 a week raise. When Tom tells Lucy of his huge raise, she finds out that Mark owns the company and insists that Tom refuse the raise. Lucy, decides it is in her best interest to resign, but Coulter raises her salary to $100 a week.

Still, trying to get Mark to change his ways, she suggests that they spend the day together doing things that are fun and free. As the three spend the day together, Mark and Tom grow to like each other and Mark realizes that Tom really loves Lucy.

At the Empire State Building, Tom loses the others in a elevator and Mark takes advantage of the situation by spending the evening alone with Lucy. He realizes that he is in love with her and when they get back to her apartment, he tells her that he is moving out of her apartment. He is about to kiss Lucy when Tom arrives. After Mark leaves, Tom tells Lucy that Mark had offered his yacht and villa for their honeymoon. When Tom sees Lucy's reaction, he realizes that she in love with Mark.

The next morning, Mark goes to her office to propose,  she turns him down, saying that she could not respect him if he did not work. Mark promises that he will work, and sometime later calls to say that he has a job in the lab. Lucy makes special plans for that evening, but Mark cancels because he has to work late.

The next day, Mark had lied to Lucy and it does not take long before she realizes what Mark is doing and when he brings his fake colleagues to dinner. She throws him out, over his protests that he really does have a job.. 

This is a surprisingly, wonderful, romantic, comedy starring Peter Lawford and Janet Leigh. A fun way to spend a hot summer afternoon.

Marilyn Erskine, started performing in several Hollywood movies in the early 1950s: Westward the Women (1951) playing Jean Johnson Above and Beyond (1952) playing Marge Bratton The Girl in White (1952) playing Nurse Jane Doe Just This Once (1952) playing Gertrude Crome The Eddie Cantor Story (1953) playing Ida Tobias Cantor A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) playing Mrs. Emily Clopp Confidentially Connie (1953) playing Phyllis Archibald.

Sworn Enemy(1936).

Sworn Enemy(1936). Director: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Robert Young, Florence Rice, Joseph Calleia and Lewis Stone.

Just out of Law school, Hank Sherman's, begins his first night working at the Decker produce company, when thugs come by and insist that he pay protection money, which turns out to be more than he makes.. Owner Eli Decker, drives by just in time to prevent Hank from getting a beating.Decker, wants to get rid of the thugs once and for all and gives Hank, a job as his chauffeur.

Decker's secretary Peggy Gattle,later asks him to drive her to Sing Sing to meet her father Dr. Simon Gattle, who was wrongly imprisoned twelve years ago and has been finding out all he can on Joe Emerald, the gangster who framed him. They meet with Paul Scott from the district attorney's office and put together a plan to get Emerald. Gattle says that Emerald, only deals in cash and that finding his safe, might have what they need to have him arrested on income tax evasion.

Outside, Dutch McTurck, an old friend of Hank's warns him to leave Decker, but instead Hank goes to Decker and says that he wants to be part of the investigation.

Hank's brother Steve, who is a fight promoter, asks to join Decker in his car to discuss a possible fight at Madison Square Garden for boxer "Steamer" Krupp. Hank is driving the car, when it is hit by a steam shovel that kills both Decker and Steve.

At Steve's funeral, Hank is looking for revenge and accepts Dutch's offer to work for him, but, Hank is really working undercover for the district attorney.

On Hank's first "raid" with Dutch, they put castor oil in milk cans owned by a company that will not pay for "protection." When the police arrive, Hank is wounded and hides in a boxcar with Dutch, then kills Dutch when he sees him about to kill a policeman. The other gang members blame him for Dutch's death and want him to leave, so he comes up with another plan to get close to Emerald. Which is.. to convince Steamer, to keep boxing to catch Emerald's attention, who is a sports promoter.

Soon, Steamer wins so many fights that Emerald, who only walks with the aid of two canes, offers to buy his contract for $10,000. When,Steamer cannot fight without Hank, Emerald hires him as Steamer's manager, but everyone still believes that Emerald is the real manager.

Hank, then tells Emerald that his girl friend Peg, wants to be an actress and that she also needs a job. Later, Peg pretends to pass out from drinking in Emerald's penthouse, then sets fire to the apartment. Emerald rushes to his steam room, then collapses. Steamer then carries him to safety and later tells Hank, who knows that the safe is hidden in the steam room. Police detective Simmons, then goes to Emerald's apartment during Steamer's fight to look through the safe.

As luck would have it, a huge storm causes the fight's cancellation and Emerald arrives back home, just as Hank, Peg, Gattle and Simmons are in the steam room. Emerald then locks them in and turns on the steam. Will Steamer arrive in time to let them out?

 

A dark movie that, had it been made a few years later, would have been a film noir. Wonderful acting by Robert Young, Louis Stone, Samuel Hinds, Joseph Calleia and Florence Rice. Although, the movie is a typical 1930's MGM type of film overcoming odds to catch the bad guys. It filled with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.

Florence Rice (February 14, 1907 - February 23, 1974).
Became an actress during the early 1930s and after several Broadway roles, eventually made her way to Hollywood where she acted in almost fifty films between 1934 and 1943. Blonde, pretty, and wholesome, Rice was cast as the reliable girlfriend in several MGM films, and during the 1930s, MGM gradually provided her with more substantial roles, occasionally in prestige productions. Rice never became a major figure in films, but achieved popularity in a number of screen pairings with Robert Young. Her most widely seen performances were in Double Wedding (1937), in which she was billed third in the cast credits behind William Powell and Myrna Loy, Sweethearts (1938) with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, and The Marx Brothers film At The Circus (1939). During the 1940s the quality of her roles steadily decreased and in 1947 she retired.

You Can't Buy Everything (1934).

You Can't Buy Everything (1934). Directed by Charles F. Riesner. Cast: May Robson, Jean Parker and Lewis Stone.

The story begins when Hannah Bell, a wealthy widow, emits her young son Donny, who has broken his leg, into the charity hospital, because she does not want to spend her money.

Later that day, Hannah reads in the newspaper that John Burton, will be the new vice-president of the Knickerbocker Bank and rushes to withdraw all of her money.

Hannah, is then is visited by longtime friend Kate Farley, who convinces her to make a donation to the children's clinic. They begin to talk about Hannah's past romance with John Burton and her unhappy marriage to a gold digger.

After Donny graduates from Princeton University, tells him that he must give up his dream of becoming a writer and take a job at the bank.

Two years later, Kate goes to see Dr. Lorimer, to talk about Hannah's over bearing hold over Donny. Kate arranges with Dr. Lorimer to bring Hannah and the now widowed Burton together. Although, Kate and Dr. Lorimer's scheme backfires when Donny meets Elizabeth, Burton's daughter, it is love at first sight.

In spite of his mother, Donny proposes marriage to Elizabeth . When Hannah learns of Donny's engagement, she threatens to cut off Donny's money. Hannah, watches as, Donny and Elizabeth marry and leave for their honeymoon.

By the time they return from their honeymoon, Wall Street is in the middle of a financial crisis and Burton offers five million dollars of his own railroad stock as collateral against a loan. To his surprise, Hannah agrees to lend him the money but, after his bank is secure, she demands immediate repayment. When Donny hears of Hannah's demands, he calls his mother as a cruel and heartless.

 After Hannah confesses that she married Donny's father only to spite Burton, who had left her without explanation at the altar. Donny tells her that Burton left her because her father had tried to force him to sign a pre-nuptial agreement that said that he could not touch any of the Bell money.

Broken hearted, by Donny's rejection and finding out the truth about her father, Hannah comes down with pneumonia. Before leaving for a journalism job in San Francisco, Donny, learns of Hannah's condition and with Elizabeth, rushes to her bedside. Hannah, admits that she was jealous and apologizes. Will Hanna be reunited with her son and end her grudge against Burton and return all of his railroad stock?

Fun Facts:

May Robson's character is based on Hetty Green, known as "The Witch of Wall Street," because of her financial acuity and frugality.

First film of Robert Paige.

This is a story about a woman going head-to-head in the man's world of Wall Street. May Robson, makes a wonderful villainess. You will need the Kleenex box for this one..

Jean Parker (August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005). Was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Parker portraying Father Time.

She had a successful career playing important roles as in the original, Little Women, Lady for a Day and Gabriel Over the White House, Sequoia, Limehouse Blues, The Ghost Goes West, and the Empress. In 1939, she starred in RKO's The Flying Deuces.

Parker stayed active in film throughout the 1940s, performing in, Dead Man's Eyes. Parker managed her own airport and flying service with then-husband Doug Dawson in Palm Springs, California until shortly after the start of World War II. During the war, she toured many of the veteran hospitals throughout the U.S. and performed on radio. In the 1950s, she stared in, Black Tuesday, The Gunfighter and Lawless Street (1955). Her last film performance was in, Apache Uprising (1966).

Bureau of Missing Persons(1933).

Bureau of Missing Persons(1933). Drama/comedy, directed by Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell. The screenplay by Robert Presnell is based on a story by Carol Bird adapted from the book Missing Men by former New York City police captain John H. Ayres.

When by the book Detective Butch Saunders, is assigned to Norma Roberts' missing husband case, he finds himself attracted to her. He is very disappointed to learn that, she is also wanted for her husbands murder.

Later, when the police find her clothes on the dock, Butch is sure that Norma didn't commit suicide. He stages a fake funeral to try and to lure her out from hiding. Just as he had hoped, she attends the funeral. Norma, tells Butch that when she was Roberts' private secretary, she found out he had an mentally handicapped twin brother. He killed his brother, making it look like he himself was dead to escape embezzlement charges. Butch, takes him in to the Bureau of Missing Persons. Will Webb be able to get him to admit the truth and will Norma be cleared of murder?

If you are a fan of the Hollywood films of the Thirties and Forties, you will love this fast moving classic film. All the characters are perfect in their roles and there are some interesting plot twists near the end. Davis, as young actress, looked absolutely beautiful in this film.

Robby, from: Dear Old Hollywood Blogspot: Bureau Of Missing Persons(1933).. Wrote a very interesting post on some real LA locations in the film. Please stop by and check out his awesome post.

Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971). She was best known as the wise-cracking, dizzy blonde, along with Joan Blondell, with whom she would be frequently paired.

She is best known for her performances in the films: Little Caesar (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Havana Widows (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 approximately eight films, from 1937 to 1939 when the role was taken over by Jane Wyman.

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(1937).

Farrell went out of vogue in the 1940s but made a comeback later in life, winning an Emmy Award in 1963, for her work in the television series Ben Casey.