BORIS KARLOFF & MARGUERITE CHURCHILL IN 'THE WALKING DEAD'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqIZDNsBF_0iGXOSVlx8Tr7LrPpmjmFTDiDJjKd_ci6yNGlJFwmyFDm8E-Fs2kmc_cabAqd-r9mc1bCBXMCa1Avg9wXU9KfuCmfdzhmMxznRH7WNI_cqE79s_IPsqb4koO6PnSCJAUGDQ5njfbNE8VtX-HgaEk9Z3P1r-adkfjgM6J8NBsb0qtXVC9c1g/s2106/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-26%20at%2010.08.42%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqIZDNsBF_0iGXOSVlx8Tr7LrPpmjmFTDiDJjKd_ci6yNGlJFwmyFDm8E-Fs2kmc_cabAqd-r9mc1bCBXMCa1Avg9wXU9KfuCmfdzhmMxznRH7WNI_cqE79s_IPsqb4koO6PnSCJAUGDQ5njfbNE8VtX-HgaEk9Z3P1r-adkfjgM6J8NBsb0qtXVC9c1g/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-26%20at%2010.08.42%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Boris Karloff and Marguerite Churchill in THE WALKING DEAD </u><u>Year: 1936 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With all the ingredients of a 1930's Warner Brothers Gangster Flick including villain-actors Barton MacClane and Ricardo Cortez, here working in backrooms to set up murders and double-crosses to keep their crime syndicate from further courtroom bulwarks, the casting of Boris Karloff not only adds an element Universal Monster from his then-recent FRANKENSTEIN legacy, but after he's brought back to life from being falsely imprisoned and executed, scientist Edmund Gwenn actually utters the line, "He's Alive!" <br><br>This while surrounded by two somewhat innocuous but perfect-looking lab assistants: insanely gorgeous ingenue Marguerite Churchill and handsome boyfriend Warren Hull, both backing Karloff's John Elman, originally a meek and not very crime-savvy musician that the mobsters set-up/wrongfully accused of killing their own targeted judge... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

barton maclane, boris karloff, edmund gwenn, gangster, henry hull, horror, joe sawyer, marguerite churchill, michael curtiz, ricardo cortez, science-fiction, thirties

BORIS KARLOFF & MARGUERITE CHURCHILL IN 'THE WALKING DEAD'

Boris Karloff and Marguerite Churchill in THE WALKING DEAD Year: 1936 Rating: **** With all the ingredients of a 1930's Warner Brothers ...

PETER LORRE & AMANDA DUFF IN 'MR. MOTO IN DANGER ISLAND'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAbVxFdHzd-HzBXtfZqzZFavnNnXPfMwq27LfnxRBiRRwlXVOPpVkDo1258Ka6fwepIuw8nYrLUVQUJ_e1KyjpgMDJPCPDvysEKXRSwNVswttX0shP5igewzTDD50T0d9_2mDmh4xsQCh0s_1cLqnHdz8bJWALcHbEgr_LkqaehQEHtx30rXvBmB9cukL/s2104/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%202.14.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="2104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAbVxFdHzd-HzBXtfZqzZFavnNnXPfMwq27LfnxRBiRRwlXVOPpVkDo1258Ka6fwepIuw8nYrLUVQUJ_e1KyjpgMDJPCPDvysEKXRSwNVswttX0shP5igewzTDD50T0d9_2mDmh4xsQCh0s_1cLqnHdz8bJWALcHbEgr_LkqaehQEHtx30rXvBmB9cukL/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%202.14.19%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1939 Rating: *1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The only two MR. MOTO programmers not directed by Norman Foster were meant to be part of the similar CHARLIE CHAN franchise: but DANGER ISLAND isn't as good as the MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE (where Ward Bond plays a defeated boxer while here he's a defeated wrestler), and there's no real decent use of the titular location, which is neither dangerous or interesting... <br><br>Seeming like what they are, studio backlots, and with Peter Lorre's Chinese Agent paired with a punchy fighter, there's none of the usual espionage or suspense, and all the remaining side-characters... including cute ingenue Amanda Duff who's father's a wrongfully accused military officer... seem part of different vehicles, not of them going anywhere, slowly. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

amanda duff, franchise, peter lorre, thirties, ward bond, warren hymer

PETER LORRE & AMANDA DUFF IN 'MR. MOTO IN DANGER ISLAND'

Year: 1939 Rating: *1/2 The only two MR. MOTO programmers not directed by Norman Foster were meant to be part of the similar CHARLIE CHAN fr...

PETER LORRE & VIRGINIA FIELD IN 'MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xpJw7-HNfqc_jpowHDjTTgHJ4tloyyPtdiRa0MofNeX2s50c3iqj8H3fVkSROC5SUAEcqWS9snlow3G8im3D_QI5JS7HjU8kG9OSRCe6L0sfrQDVzoUBHnXXYdHWSMR1HqQ8IY1P7mSo2YPpnR094_hIe6uGCW2nQZDkNeRZV8Ue0WPtDAG3tlmkq-M8/s1660/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-18%20at%2011.11.16%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1660" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xpJw7-HNfqc_jpowHDjTTgHJ4tloyyPtdiRa0MofNeX2s50c3iqj8H3fVkSROC5SUAEcqWS9snlow3G8im3D_QI5JS7HjU8kG9OSRCe6L0sfrQDVzoUBHnXXYdHWSMR1HqQ8IY1P7mSo2YPpnR094_hIe6uGCW2nQZDkNeRZV8Ue0WPtDAG3tlmkq-M8/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-18%20at%2011.11.16%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Virginia Field in MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING Year: 1938 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The best MR. MOTO film because LAST WARNING has the most intriguing villains and the coolest, darkest, murkiest locations: as the original MALTESE FALCON actor Sam Spade actor Ricardo Cortez covers as a ventriloquist, doing his dummy routine in a crowded Egyptian theater that includes dogs jumping through hoops, and a juggling clown...<br><br>Who turns out to be Peter Lorre's titular character in one of several disguises (while doing the kind of deliberately cliche Chinese servant imitation to trick the haughty whites): once backstage, he quickly figures out the other antagonist agents, including future British legend George Sanders with a twisty little mustache, and the most effective semi-moll in any MOTO vehicle...</p><p><span></span></p>

espionage, franchise, george sanders, joan carroll, john carradine, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, ricardo cortez, robert coote, thirties, virginia field

PETER LORRE & VIRGINIA FIELD IN 'MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING'

Virginia Field in MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING Year: 1938 Rating: **** The best MR. MOTO film because LAST WARNING has the most intriguing vi...

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvZ50Q2fDyPm59-bI7XiDZg5xH9013HWxrRA1DekWmABJ53U3DifkRBAX6HkNfE7tnbgvwjaCr1m2vt5ifhdK9OPuc6lAg5oH5BTLjTf7taaLbpp6NrG6vMS0hDFm690TQbqGZAcTqXsF1KeitpdjTj45H2hqMk7nM8HYBTPh_7ZgnoB2HIAMGaGr3j-6/s1698/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvZ50Q2fDyPm59-bI7XiDZg5xH9013HWxrRA1DekWmABJ53U3DifkRBAX6HkNfE7tnbgvwjaCr1m2vt5ifhdK9OPuc6lAg5oH5BTLjTf7taaLbpp6NrG6vMS0hDFm690TQbqGZAcTqXsF1KeitpdjTj45H2hqMk7nM8HYBTPh_7ZgnoB2HIAMGaGr3j-6/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director springs forward with more action, right off the bat... as Moto and a French prisoner are escaping from Devil's Island...<br><br>Sadly, all this happens too fast, during and right after the opening credits... had MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO spent some time on the island before the escape, fleshing-out this fellow convict he'd later follow around to nab all his mobster cronies, it wouldn't feel like walking into a picture ten minutes late...</p><p><span></span></p>

england, espionage, franchise, harold huber, henry wilcoxon, leon ames, lotus long, mary maguire, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, thirties

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: *** After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director sprin...

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s1794/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/11/isledoomed.html">Rochelle Hudson</a>, who crash-lands her cross-country plane into the jungle location near Siam, is the best thing going in the fourth overall MR. MOTO film, TAKES A CHANCE, which is the third directed by Norman Foster...<br><br>Back in an enigmatic locale after MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE takes on American boxing, Peter Lorre's titular character returns to disguise (as an ancient monk), secretly helping two token white guys... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, franchise, jungle, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, rochelle hudson, thirties

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2 A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet Rochelle...

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s1630/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>THINK FAST, MR. MOTO</u>: Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret agent who's both underrated and unappreciated... But he'll surprise you with a karate kick sending non-believers flying across the room.<br> <br> Here we begin with Moto in street peddler disguise, including a pointy beard and ragged clothing. He clumsily meanders into a store to sell a rug, and then a diamond, to an impatient proprietor who’s got a dead body semi-hidden in a wicker basket. This brings Moto on board a big ship where an important letter to a rich man’s son, Bob, has been stolen and replaced.<br> </p>

action, adventure, franchise, jayne regan, lotus long, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, sequel, sidney blackmer, spy, suspense, thirties, thriller, virginia field

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2 THINK FAST, MR. MOTO : Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret a...

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s1898/0%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s16000/0%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn't directed by Norman Foster, and had a noirish potboiler plot that was supposed to be inserted into a Charlie Chan picture, involving the always crooked and mysterious boxing syndicate...<br><br>Motto sporadically investigates a heavyweight contender's enigmatic death while teaching a class on crime, the case involves various thuggy gangsters straight from the previous decade including Douglas Fowley and George S. Stone, MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE is one of the more conventional MOTO programmers: despite the titular character seeming more like a special guest star throughout.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

classic gangster, crime, douglas fowley, franchise, george e. stone, jayne regan, lynn bari, mr moto, peter lorre, thirties, ward bond

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2 The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn...

PAUL MUNI IN HOWARD HAWKS ORIGINAL MOB-EXPOSE 'SCARFACE'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AlF1UyZaNRyjZyxBIp2VGgdaCneEBycw9MXeYteOmrTxJxuF7hcN23-XgBqlH6HNam-4GM26FNPCOxuJFjU5sybsw53fTBOf2um2_3wBGYN_zha2qK5ximxRjJTtUNTTjAMXXRDWlzdBlcGYHzXk9QdxrIvW1FeJ4t6qMumQ9lNv5vrrGMZMFQ4T6B0L/s2320/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AlF1UyZaNRyjZyxBIp2VGgdaCneEBycw9MXeYteOmrTxJxuF7hcN23-XgBqlH6HNam-4GM26FNPCOxuJFjU5sybsw53fTBOf2um2_3wBGYN_zha2qK5ximxRjJTtUNTTjAMXXRDWlzdBlcGYHzXk9QdxrIvW1FeJ4t6qMumQ9lNv5vrrGMZMFQ4T6B0L/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SCARFACE Year: 1932 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Howard Hawks' SCARFACE is like a <i>Cliff's Notes</i> for a book that's yet to be written... and that's not only relating to the many-decades-later remake starring Al Pacino, but something like, say, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/10/R20s.html">THE ROARING TWENTIES</a> where James Cagney (who had ironically starred in the previous years' inspiration <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/09/cagney-begins.html">THE PUBLIC ENEMY</a>) takes over a prohibition-syndicate to runs things his way, and that features a comic-relief crony... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>There it's Frank McHugh, here there's a bumbling, completely out-of-place Vince Barnett while <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/10/R20s.html">ROARING</a> tough-second Humphrey Bogart's role is played by his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/DriveBelowTheHiddenRoadblock.html">THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT</a> brother, providing George Raft a resilient, slow-burn gunman that should have had far more importance and screen-time...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, ann dvorak, boris karloff, exploitation, george raft, howard hawks, karen morley, mobster, osgood perkins, paul muni, thirties, vince barnett

PAUL MUNI IN HOWARD HAWKS ORIGINAL MOB-EXPOSE 'SCARFACE'

Title: SCARFACE Year: 1932 Rating: *** Howard Hawks' SCARFACE is like a Cliff's Notes for a book that's yet to be written... an...

NOVA PILBEAM IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S 'YOUNG AND INNOCENT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGF_I_tuNznfmkxhtRp-xh9pruIZP4a1NMTNCRFaLEgeT0vVBYj3H-mJBoH8Kd29p1iZf17WBNrl1EZZMWOT4Ds0R3TGrGizZ_SReiG676_naoJL3X6eURkD6zp5mL6UW3GPops6-kfCDqy3OSXXwymqBlsUIptCExUxX_sSmpAQ-u64X-QzjFuEQca5K/s823/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="823" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGF_I_tuNznfmkxhtRp-xh9pruIZP4a1NMTNCRFaLEgeT0vVBYj3H-mJBoH8Kd29p1iZf17WBNrl1EZZMWOT4Ds0R3TGrGizZ_SReiG676_naoJL3X6eURkD6zp5mL6UW3GPops6-kfCDqy3OSXXwymqBlsUIptCExUxX_sSmpAQ-u64X-QzjFuEQca5K/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney in YOUNG AND INNOCENT Year: 1937 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense — <i>and</i> the master of teaming up a wrong-man with a good girl in an espionage-driven adventure, which began with THE 39 STEPS and peaked with NORTH BY NORTHWEST with SABOTEUR and FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT in-between...<br><br>Then there's the least known, YOUNG AND INNOCENT, starring the McGuffin/kidnapped daughter from his original THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH in lovely girl-next-door Nova Pilbeam — here the local constable's daughter who takes to falsely-accused scriptwriter Derrick De Marney, having had an affair with a slain actress, part of an opening scene so wispy and melodramatic it almost seems like a parody...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, alfred hitchcock, british film noir, john longden, nova pilbeam, road movie, romance, thirties, wrong man

NOVA PILBEAM IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S 'YOUNG AND INNOCENT'

Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney in YOUNG AND INNOCENT Year: 1937 Rating: *** Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense — and the maste...

NOVA PILBEAM KIDNAPPED IN 'THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarfREX2WyPOLk6nFRi56Z7Hb9fGUm_dSZzGcg84rk8vgK074waLr6EjJeUaZiYQGpMbBraChKfJZw09u3_asOzWd7D8AgGGn4xLeDlc9kruAqnW99jx4drTokVius1FcqucepFZaKoXVsVx8yH7XYwWaOY4Vs92qyj4bSb5saNp9uZ_wUcS-Kd5YLbrFt/s1621/1%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1621" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarfREX2WyPOLk6nFRi56Z7Hb9fGUm_dSZzGcg84rk8vgK074waLr6EjJeUaZiYQGpMbBraChKfJZw09u3_asOzWd7D8AgGGn4xLeDlc9kruAqnW99jx4drTokVius1FcqucepFZaKoXVsVx8yH7XYwWaOY4Vs92qyj4bSb5saNp9uZ_wUcS-Kd5YLbrFt/s16000/1%203.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leslie Banks, </u><u>Nova Pilbeam </u><u>and Pierre Fresnay in THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When first hearing about Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, the technicolor remake starring an equally-adventurous Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day will usually come to mind... which should have been renamed COUPLE instead of just one MAN... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But here, in the 1934 B&W original mostly known for Peter Lorre's signature creepy and sinister gunman kidnapper, it's mainly Swiss-vacationing British patriarch Leslie Banks taken into random dark-lit interiors to find his kidnapped daughter (after the death of professional-skier friend Pierre Fresnay), played by cute and energetic Nova Pillbeam, who Hitchcock would later direct in YOUNG AND INNOCENT...</p><p><span></span></p>

alfred hitchcock, british film noir, edna best, espionage, kidnapping, leslie banks, nova pilbeam, pierre fresnay, remake, thirties

NOVA PILBEAM KIDNAPPED IN 'THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH'

Leslie Banks, Nova Pilbeam and Pierre Fresnay in THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH When first hearing about Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW ...

ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS PRESENTATION 'ANIMAL CRACKERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCwEhnAsW-xS9vUd_DxerHhNtzNOhKsmtsNKeQAqgWgYfRKVRg6K_35I7WjVvDmM7g5d9ZXny7IkVYg-Wof1kKux9G2p9nwctPAlKHkF8Yg_Hf8EgW4pVIEm2CWClTSmwHq4ReaQemdJrS28gNVGo7Ljekrn_xlF2jMIYmJNBpxSxyifCRf5WFwnG4UAx/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-16%20at%205.46.15%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCwEhnAsW-xS9vUd_DxerHhNtzNOhKsmtsNKeQAqgWgYfRKVRg6K_35I7WjVvDmM7g5d9ZXny7IkVYg-Wof1kKux9G2p9nwctPAlKHkF8Yg_Hf8EgW4pVIEm2CWClTSmwHq4ReaQemdJrS28gNVGo7Ljekrn_xlF2jMIYmJNBpxSxyifCRf5WFwnG4UAx/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-16%20at%205.46.15%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ANIMAL CRACKERS Year: 1930 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Marx Brothers ANIMAL CRACKERS is basically their hangout movie, seeming like a grand Broadway showcase with elaborate sets, mostly of a giant mansion interior celebrating Groucho as a famous big game hunter, introduced by his assistant played by straight-man brother Zeppo...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What's ironic is there's a kind of standard-handsome young actor named Hal Thompson whose relationship with beautiful Lilian Roth would have fit Zeppo instead of the few scenes as Groucho's note-scribbling gopher...</p><span></span>

chico marx, comedy, harpo marx, lilian roth, margaret dumont, marx brothers, thirties, zeppo marx

ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS PRESENTATION 'ANIMAL CRACKERS'

Title: ANIMAL CRACKERS Year: 1930 Rating: *** The Marx Brothers ANIMAL CRACKERS is basically their hangout movie, seeming like a grand Broad...

ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS BATTLE LOUIS CALHERN IN 'DUCK SOUP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFXrH6j781t6TXf4Pnv7wVttNV2Cvl5U5rqELAw5KeFFlcIK5W7w1a3BZXleBCLc0ZlAGwMSCQcNCPUCH3DqsbowPXYpxHEHbskRobwUDlTDKUjjVE1tnlp8qspF9cScF61nKwcLzP1U0kFJnp01Bjwreu1Ihzj63n-088StffqoEFFNGRgsKAP_prd4y/s2278/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="2278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFXrH6j781t6TXf4Pnv7wVttNV2Cvl5U5rqELAw5KeFFlcIK5W7w1a3BZXleBCLc0ZlAGwMSCQcNCPUCH3DqsbowPXYpxHEHbskRobwUDlTDKUjjVE1tnlp8qspF9cScF61nKwcLzP1U0kFJnp01Bjwreu1Ihzj63n-088StffqoEFFNGRgsKAP_prd4y/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DUCK SOUP Year: 1933 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Heavily influencing comparably-modern classics from Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES to Woody Allen's BANANAS (and even Charlie Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR), The Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP is by far their greatest movie... with a neatly constructed beginning, middle and end where their perfect straight-person Margaret Dumont forces the fictional country of Freedonia to hire Groucho Marx's Rufus T. Firefly to rule the land...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And while quiet/handsome brother Zeppo is ultimately wasted, once again as Groucho's note-scribbling assistant, and Harpo's role seems rather forced, mostly just cutting things with scissors, Chico, who becomes Groucho's more hands-on sidekick, is of almost equal importance to the quip-spouting, mustached leader...</p><p><span></span></p>

chico marx, comedy, groucho marx, harpo marx, louis calhern, margaret dumont, marx brothers, politial, thirties, zeppo marx

ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS BATTLE LOUIS CALHERN IN 'DUCK SOUP'

Title: DUCK SOUP Year: 1933 Rating: **** Heavily influencing comparably-modern classics from Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES to Woody Allen...

CRAMMING THROUGH ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS 'HORSE FEATHERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_ReU9VeWsOQxnIhFdy9URCbUkSdBRkAWyaxQZEcBCoKpWb73sehZhES7Zbx76lg9gWC5xSmiop9i13K16jhJesNceB0GKDDtPmH1gAY6-OiFlwXepSbsi-Nx2TVea093-q4xtZ-dvtv1Nwcs-S84MUCPgmW-dHUyseF_VlvygIgPO7K7syK_Jukpr6OE/s1464/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-16%20at%201.56.36%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_ReU9VeWsOQxnIhFdy9URCbUkSdBRkAWyaxQZEcBCoKpWb73sehZhES7Zbx76lg9gWC5xSmiop9i13K16jhJesNceB0GKDDtPmH1gAY6-OiFlwXepSbsi-Nx2TVea093-q4xtZ-dvtv1Nwcs-S84MUCPgmW-dHUyseF_VlvygIgPO7K7syK_Jukpr6OE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-16%20at%201.56.36%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Zeppo and Grouchy Marx from HORSE FEATHERS Year: 1932 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While THE MARX BROTHERS are all great performers, Chico Marx is the character-actor of the bunch, moving the exposition and far more grouchy than Groucho, the one-line-spouting leader... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And while they're all funny, Harpo Marx is the token zany physical comic while Zeppo, appearing in their first five films and here playing the college student son of new campus president Groucho, is the young handsome straight man... </p><p><span></span></p>

chico marx, comedy, groucho marx, harpo marx, marx brothers, thelma todd, thirties, zeppo marx

CRAMMING THROUGH ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS 'HORSE FEATHERS'

Zeppo and Grouchy Marx from HORSE FEATHERS Year: 1932 Rating: *** While THE MARX BROTHERS are all great performers, Chico Marx is the charac...

OUT TO SEA FOR THE ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS 'MONKEY BUSINESS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFTAjV5Gb6QF6cI4xkS_Qwqqv9sfxBcnc049q0mdPzQ0hcCX9KS1nTOKkPfZdX9Jb9QfrxV6Y0sXwzGJB4oOgCbt4xyp5nAh4OGK4Flm1zyXePXa5nQAHC-djnSEbLhRa_Y6KWsu17LpUPYEr5LRrnWl-bEhEI8bBLJusbw4Whc1e_XGpAREt61Sz_2Hk/s1386/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-19%20at%203.36.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFTAjV5Gb6QF6cI4xkS_Qwqqv9sfxBcnc049q0mdPzQ0hcCX9KS1nTOKkPfZdX9Jb9QfrxV6Y0sXwzGJB4oOgCbt4xyp5nAh4OGK4Flm1zyXePXa5nQAHC-djnSEbLhRa_Y6KWsu17LpUPYEr5LRrnWl-bEhEI8bBLJusbw4Whc1e_XGpAREt61Sz_2Hk/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-19%20at%203.36.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: MONKEY BUSINESS Year: 1931 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the first five Marx Brothers films featuring youngest brother Zeppo, usually cast as a romantic sidebar being more handsome and move star-looking than tough-type Chico, physical-comic/brilliant musician Harpo and one-liner leader Groucho, here in MONKEY BUSINESS aboard a luxury-liner ship and, while romancing semi-regular blonde ingenue Thelma Todd (along with brunette Ruth Hall), the boys are up to a lot of... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well the title says it all... as this isn't one of the better Marx flicks, with Zeppo actually taking part in the physical hijinkx with his comedic siblings instead of playing the straight man... the latter position where he fits best, needed far more for the guys to play off or against than along with, wherein four's kind of an unnecessary crowd.</p><p><span></span></p>

chico marx, comedy, franchise, groucho marx, harpo marx, marx brothers, thelma todd, thirties, zeppo marx

OUT TO SEA FOR THE ZEPPO/MARX BROTHERS 'MONKEY BUSINESS'

Year: MONKEY BUSINESS Year: 1931 Rating: **1/2 One of the first five Marx Brothers films featuring youngest brother Zeppo, usually cast as a...

JAMES CAGNEY & HUMPHREY BOGART IN 'THE ROARING TWENTIES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyjrkzJL2si35iliFwjXaNgHLwtmynviuiHLIn2w51QKC42TQ4BbN7IKt-7ul_7SLhnwofpqUDcm5f8jnWVFqtjGsrS9_7DoR9jeL_PlaDbQAez4ZrT4kVmGGL0l2DQCiw-Wlxr9qLWBaBnIMz0X1gHhjjowQkHtlVUIjZfDZHxjZgAvKv3F-vsD-t9V3/s2166/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-09%20at%201.40.45%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1326" data-original-width="2166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyjrkzJL2si35iliFwjXaNgHLwtmynviuiHLIn2w51QKC42TQ4BbN7IKt-7ul_7SLhnwofpqUDcm5f8jnWVFqtjGsrS9_7DoR9jeL_PlaDbQAez4ZrT4kVmGGL0l2DQCiw-Wlxr9qLWBaBnIMz0X1gHhjjowQkHtlVUIjZfDZHxjZgAvKv3F-vsD-t9V3/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-09%20at%201.40.45%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE ROARING TWENTIES Year: 1939 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At one point, only fifteen-minutes in, when James Cagney shuffles across the cheap apartment room rented with buddy Frank McHugh, saying how he's tired of being pushed around, there's been at least two short films that already played out: beginning with a war story involving Cagney alongside a shifty yet dependable Humphrey Bogart and affable Jeffrey Lynn, leaping into exploding foxholes when not picking-off nameless Germans...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's hardly better back home, where there are no jobs, leading to the inevitable but far from rushed progression into the life of bootlegging liquor during the infamous anti-liquor law Prohibition, that the film itself... written/produced by Mark Hellinger with Raoul Walsh directing... is even more against than the law-breaking, often murderous shortcuts to make a lot of money by getting around it...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, depression-era, frank mchugh, gangster, gladys george, humphrey bogart, james cagney, jeffrey lynn, joe sawyer, priscilla lane, raoul walsh, robert armstrong, thirties, world war I

JAMES CAGNEY & HUMPHREY BOGART IN 'THE ROARING TWENTIES'

Title: THE ROARING TWENTIES Year: 1939 Rating: ***** At one point, only fifteen-minutes in, when James Cagney shuffles across the cheap apar...

JAMES CAGNEY & JOAN BLONDELL HIDE OUT IN 'HE WAS HER MAN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNkW44YcDoEu8fcxnUF2PndULT9AdlXY6GFzb0-PTPQREuXBn4fQgh6mzqKMLHzOvdHgDg-E4_3ox-08TuFO9f_cpc2BZSKfKgWAnD1aN2h-ARCTF0CCQnDJSB2502sVffBRv4idkW1oAGmr-fk0q0GzsP0hqrUo4F7LFXoMFlKuZqk90oscSjp6s7kiu/s1846/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-06%20at%203.01.59%20AM%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="1846" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNkW44YcDoEu8fcxnUF2PndULT9AdlXY6GFzb0-PTPQREuXBn4fQgh6mzqKMLHzOvdHgDg-E4_3ox-08TuFO9f_cpc2BZSKfKgWAnD1aN2h-ARCTF0CCQnDJSB2502sVffBRv4idkW1oAGmr-fk0q0GzsP0hqrUo4F7LFXoMFlKuZqk90oscSjp6s7kiu/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-06%20at%203.01.59%20AM%202.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lobby Card for HE WAS HER MAN Year: 1934</u></td></tr></tbody></table>James Cagney dime-novel-style programmer has his character Flicker Hayes, newly released from prison, dangerously double-crossing the hoods who'd double-crossed him as two more goons plan to keep on his trail...<br> <br> Beginning in San Fransisco where he meets Joan Blondell, as a prostitute setting her mind on marrying a simple fisherman in a John Steinbeck Monterrey style seaside town. She has a seemingly benign passenger in Cagney's Hayes, both hiding out in completely different ways. Cagney's surprisingly soft-spoken here, but not nearly as much as dutiful Victor Jory as the fisherman who doesn't care about Blondell's past. This is merely a distraction to Cagney's story that, in itself, distracts from what the movie's leading to — with armed goons on the way, it doesn't look likely he'll survive...<br>

crime, film noir or melodrama, frank craven, james cagney, joan blondell, mob, romance, thirties, victor jory

JAMES CAGNEY & JOAN BLONDELL HIDE OUT IN 'HE WAS HER MAN'

Lobby Card for HE WAS HER MAN Year: 1934 James Cagney dime-novel-style programmer has his character Flicker Hayes, newly released from priso...

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s1972/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1972" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tall young instigator and his much shorter sidekick breaking laws — then to grow up a tall and lanky follower of the pint-size firebrand in charge... and that's because once James Cagney was recast to lead Edward Woods, the backstory intro wasn't changed...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which hardly really matters... once Cagney appears on screen he's as mesmerizing to the audience as he was to director William A. Wellman, who saw him in another movie's walk-on, and was convinced the days of secondary-lead... like SINNER'S HOLIDAY and BACK DOOR TO HEAVEN... were long gone...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, gangster, james cagney, jean harlow, joan blondell, mae clarke, melodrama, thirties

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: **** It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tal...

JAMES CAGNEY DRIVES 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjHtA9kPkv-N-FGuFpvaswDkEkTtIuRtK-X9DUfZ_TqNVHGHT3gYAPkZTTOvvHWyuFPSjtIRjEdYxf5cQ2CM0gd_mEsBpOH7J-rjZ-HUvowjkarHpBxpY6R1wRCxd_H2Dz_ZJWhVRTl0R7bPELoF-YlbXhuWkEEx-AqwZuaiK88Qf1xWsg_O1dauJXz76/s1080/385069195_1812194819209686_2458443501429365532_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjHtA9kPkv-N-FGuFpvaswDkEkTtIuRtK-X9DUfZ_TqNVHGHT3gYAPkZTTOvvHWyuFPSjtIRjEdYxf5cQ2CM0gd_mEsBpOH7J-rjZ-HUvowjkarHpBxpY6R1wRCxd_H2Dz_ZJWhVRTl0R7bPELoF-YlbXhuWkEEx-AqwZuaiK88Qf1xWsg_O1dauJXz76/s16000/385069195_1812194819209686_2458443501429365532_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE ST. LOUIS KID Year: 1934 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck drivers going from the city into the country to deliver milk... And, troubled by a troubling dame and a group of protesting union farmers, Cagney's Eddie Kennedy wins over the town, mostly from a jail cell... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He's initially sentenced from a fist-fight turned headbutt, in-between getting chewed out by his truck company boss, pressuring the duo to cross union lines where the only drama's injected, including violence... And residing in that cell (playing checkers with his jailers), he's able to sneak out at night... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, allen jenkins, comedy, dorothy dare, gertrude short, james cagney, patricia ellis, thirties, union, warner archives, wrong man

JAMES CAGNEY DRIVES 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

Title: THE ST. LOUIS KID Year: 1934 Rating: **** Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck drivers ...

PAUL MUNI & BETTE DAVIS IN THE PRE-NOIR OF 'BORDERTOWN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiU_vmpAz5esDOdEq79i7Zb0NEe2qri_2C69tpBgwmc69P_ETNNpqurCpJxTMgZyalINw3pEDax0VRlr1zn4mNLzLLEtQTuL_XiENSqkPOyKCIyLiVSwUiCDg1KkN64bV9Y7LWB-uL6bxXij6Zg45UXtmr5fYmQuczM1wwvua2A4YEin2Dc8w2Jjc-WQw=s1426" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiU_vmpAz5esDOdEq79i7Zb0NEe2qri_2C69tpBgwmc69P_ETNNpqurCpJxTMgZyalINw3pEDax0VRlr1zn4mNLzLLEtQTuL_XiENSqkPOyKCIyLiVSwUiCDg1KkN64bV9Y7LWB-uL6bxXij6Zg45UXtmr5fYmQuczM1wwvua2A4YEin2Dc8w2Jjc-WQw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BORDERTOWN Year: 1935 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The early Noir THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT starring George Raft and Humphrey Bogart was a remake of the earlier Noir BORDERTOWN starring SCARFACE actor and Gangster-genre pioneer Paul Muni, starting out as a poor lawyer so overly-idealistic he's bound to fail in business, and love...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Herein classy-rich, out-of-his league Margaret Lindsay is the roundabout reason Muni's forced to retire his law practice and, like I AM A FUGITIVE OF A CHAIN-GANG, he wanders montage-style by foot, winding up where most of the programmer's action takes place...</p><p><span></span></p>

bette davis, film noir or melodrama, gangster, margaret lindsay, mexico, paul muni, thirties, warner archives, wrong man

PAUL MUNI & BETTE DAVIS IN THE PRE-NOIR OF 'BORDERTOWN'

Title: BORDERTOWN Year: 1935 Rating: *** The early Noir THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT starring George Raft and Humphrey Bogart was a remake of the ear...

EDWARD G. ROBINSON'S FISHY LOVE TRIANGLE OF 'TIGER SHARK'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2Cmmbx2wI1_p3enNu6QDW1kred9ZXXQmMA3Cew99Z0Rwgt73AkJksEiXmftHcYlr-O1-2hBbeFtjkCudTgUeWryxaTTrQY8bK3SVJiy5982WdScZo6hxQq6sfauxa3NRGLmk_v-Dk9Dyrp7XJ-vJR6QlR6qPGJGow0dgDhunm1bBzVEOR3DqXkbSwvg=s1159" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2Cmmbx2wI1_p3enNu6QDW1kred9ZXXQmMA3Cew99Z0Rwgt73AkJksEiXmftHcYlr-O1-2hBbeFtjkCudTgUeWryxaTTrQY8bK3SVJiy5982WdScZo6hxQq6sfauxa3NRGLmk_v-Dk9Dyrp7XJ-vJR6QlR6qPGJGow0dgDhunm1bBzVEOR3DqXkbSwvg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TIGER SHARK Stars: Edward G. Robinson Year: 1932 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Had the antique fishing-village-set TIGER SHARK come out ten years later, it would've made a pretty intriguing Film Noir, following the trope of the pretty young girl marrying an older businessman while falling in love with the handsome younger fella who has no money, and is friends with the rich guy...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In this case that rich guy, before there was any money and when he had both hands... during the more adventuresome Hemingway-meets-Melville first act... saves the life of Richard Arlen as common fisherman Pipes Boley by losing one hand to the titular (yet thereafter unimportant) TIGER SHARK, later replaced with a hook...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, edward g. robinson, love triangle, melodrama, richard arlen, romance, shark, thirties, warner archives, zita johann

EDWARD G. ROBINSON'S FISHY LOVE TRIANGLE OF 'TIGER SHARK'

Title: TIGER SHARK Stars: Edward G. Robinson Year: 1932 Rating: *** Had the antique fishing-village-set TIGER SHARK come out ten years later...