Movie Listings by Genre

Director: John Cromwell    More Info
Starring: Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Mitzi Green, Lucien Littlefield, Tully Marshall, Clara Blandick, Jackie Searl, Ethel Wales, Dick Winslow, Jane Darwell

 Mark Twain's classic is given good treatment in this, the first "talkie" version of the story, with more to follow. The same starring cast (Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Mitzi Green, and Clara Blandick) took the same roles the following year in "Huckleberry Finn."

Director: David Butler    More Info
Starring: Will Rogers, William Farnum, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Albertson, Mitchell Harris, Brandon Hurst

 A New Englander (Will Rogers) travels back in time to King Arthur's court in this version of Mark Twain's classic tale.

Director: Norman Taurog    More Info
Starring: Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, Eugene Pallette, Jackie Searl, Clarence Muse, Clara Blandick, Jane Darwell, Oscar Apfel, Warner Richmond

 Huckleberry Finn and Jim raft down the Mississippi in this Mark Twain classic about life on the Mississippi River. The same starring cast (Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, and Clara Blandick) appeared the previous year in "Tom Sawyer."

Director: Norman Taurog    More Info
Starring: Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green, Jackie Searl, Willard Robertson, Helen Jerome Eddy, Enid Bennett, Jack Clifford, Guy Oliver, Donald Haines

 This film received nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, and Norman Taurog took home the Oscar for Best Director. Skippy (Jackie Cooper) is an all-American boy finding happiness and success in spite of not being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A sequel, "Sooky," was made later the same year.

Director: Norman Z. McLeod    More Info
Starring: Charlotte Henry, Richard Arlen, Roscoe Ates, Charles Ruggles, Roscoe Karns, Gary Cooper, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, Sterling Holloway, Edward Everett Horton

 This is the Lewis Carroll story brought to the screen with Alice (Charlotte Henry) dealing with the offbeat characters in Wonderland. This is the first full-length film of the story.

Director: George Cukor    More Info
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Frances Dee, Edna May Oliver, Jean Parker, Henry Stephenson, Spring Byington, Samuel S. Hinds, John Lodge

 Four New England sisters–Meg (Frances Dee), Jo (Katharine Hepburn), Beth (Jean Parker), and Amy (Joan Bennett)–learn to grow and survive under the loving care of their mother, Marmee (Spring Byington) while their beloved father (Samuel S. Hinds) is serving as a chaplain for the Union forces during the Civil War. This is the first film version of Louisa May Alcott's famous book, and it was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director.

Director: Henry King    More Info
Starring: Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers, Lew Ayres, Sally Eilers, Norman Foster, Louise Dresser, Victor Jory, Frank Craven, Frank Melton, John Sheehan

 A farm family heads to the state fair in this delightful story about life in mid-America. Remade in 1945 and 1962. An Oscar nomination was received for Best Picture.

Director: George Nicholls Jr.    More Info
Starring: Anne Shirley, Tom Brown, O.P. Heggie, Helen Westley, Sara Haden, Murray Kinnell, Charley Grapewin, Frank Darien, Paul Stanton, Hilda Vaughn

 Prince Edward Island, Canada, is the 1908 setting for this story of teenager Anne (Anne Shirley) who is taken in by Matthew Cumbert and his sister Marilla (O.P. Heggie and Helen Westley) who thought they wanted a boy to help on their farm, Green Gables. Anne eventually endears herself to her foster parents, and, despite problems, she finds a future with her true love Gilbert Blythe (Tom Brown).

Director: Gus Meins    More Info
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlotte Henry, Felix Knight, Henry Brandon, Florence Roberts, Ferdinand Munier, Virginia Karns, William Burress, Johnny Downs

 This very amusing film of Victor Herbert's "Mother Goose" operetta features Stannie Dum (Stan Laurel) and Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy) as apprentice toymakers coming to the aid of Little Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry). The evil Silas Barnaby (Henry Brandon) is threatening to force Bo-Peep into marrying him if she does not pay her rent. The wedding does occur, but it is Stannie, disguised as Bo-Peep, who marches down the aisle. Barnaby is humiliated and steals one of the Three Little Pigs making it look as if Bo-Peep's boyfriend Tom-Tom Piper (Felix Knight) did the dirty deed. When Stannie and Ollie step in and expose the plot, Barnaby attacks Toyland. But, never fear, the wooden soldiers come to the rescue and save Toyland.

Director: Harry Lachman    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Claire Trevor, Alan Dinehart, Ray Walker, Ralf Harolde, James Flavin, Dorothy Libaire, Richard Tucker, Olive Tell

 This is Shirley Temple's first film in which she has a starring role, and she made her name as a young girl who clears her ex-convict father (James Dunn) from the charge of stealing jewels.

Director: Alexander Hall    More Info
Starring: Adolphe Menjou, Dorothy Dell, Shirley Temple, Charles Bickford, Lynne Overman, Frank McGlynn Sr., Warren Hymer, Garry Owen, Willie Best, Frank Conroy

 This good Damon Runyan story was a perfect vehicle for Shirley Temple. After her father goes into debt to his bookie, Sorrowful Jones (Adolphe Menjou), Miss Marker (Shirley Temple) becomes a ward of the bookie as an I.O.U. Remade in 1949 as "Sorrowful Jones" with Bob Hope, in 1963 as "Forty Pounds of Trouble" with Tony Curtis, and in 1980 with Walter Matthau.

Director: Victor Fleming    More Info
Starring: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore, Otto Kruger, Nigel Bruce, Lewis Stone, William V. Mong, Douglass Dumbrille, Charles "Chic" Sale, Charles McNaughton

 In this good rendition of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic tale, South Seas adventures abound. Young Jim Hawkins (Jackie Cooper) has obtained a treasure map from former pirate Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore) following his death. Jim tells Dr. Livesey (Otto Kruger) and Squire Trelawney (Nigel Bruce) about the map, and the three of them book passage on a ship to recover the treasure. But problems lie ahead because among the ship's crew are pirates, including Long John Silver (Wallace Beery), who are plotting to get their hands on Jim's treasure map.

Director: Milton Rosmer    More Info
Starring: John(2) Williams, George Hayes, Mary Glynne, Clare Greet, George Merritt, Marion Foster, Donald Pittman, Robert Rietty, John Singer, Derek Blomfield

 This German children's classic is about a boy who is drugged and robbed. He then gets support from other children in tracking down the criminal.

Director: Henry Edwards    More Info
Starring: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne, Garry Marsh, Oscar Asche, Marie Ney, C.V. France, Athene Seyler, Maurice Evans

 This British film of Charles Dickens' popular story is about greedy Ebenezer Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) whose heart is changed when Christmas spirits visit him on Christmas Eve. The Ghosts of Christmas Past (Marie Ney), Present (Oscar Asche), and Future (C.V. France) are all there, and Donald Calthorp performs well in his role of Bob Cratchit.

Director: Irving Cummings    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Gloria Stuart, Jack Haley, Michael Whalen, Jane Darwell, Claude Gillingwater, Henry Armetta, Sara Haden, Arthur Hoyt

 Barbara Barry (Shirley Temple) is a motherless girl who runs away from her wealthy father (Michael Whalen) and joins Jerry and Jimmy Dolan (Alice Faye and Jack Haley) in their vaudeville act. Barbara loves life on the stage, and her widowed father realizes he is losing his daughter and tries to win back her affections. This is one of Shirley Temple's best films.

Director: William A. Seiter    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye, Eugene Pallette, Helen Westley, Arthur Treacher, Philip Ahn, J. Edward Bromberg, Astrid Allwyn, Allan Lane

 An orphaned girl, Ching-Ching (Shirley Temple), stows away aboard ship and befriends a playboy millionaire, Tommy Randall (Robert Young). Ching-Ching next plays Cupid and arranges for Randall and Susan Parker (Alice Faye) to meet. Marriage follows, and–of course–Ching-Ching is adopted by the happy couple.

Director: Allan Dwan    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley, Pauline Moore, Sidney Blackmer, Sig Ruman, Thomas Beck, Mary Nash, Mady Christians

 Shirley Temple stars as the little girl who is unhappy when taken away from her grandfather's home in the Alps.

Director: William Keighley    More Info
Starring: Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Billy Mauch, Robert J. Mauch, Alan Hale, Montagu Love, Barton MacLane, Henry Stephenson, Eric Portman, Halliwell Hobbes

 Two boys meet–one is Prince Edward (Robert J. Mauch), and the other is a poor boy from London's slums, Tom (Billy Mauch)–and are struck by their physical resemblance to each other. While playing, they exchange clothes and identities, and Edward is evicted from the palace by the Captain of the Guard (Alan Hale) who believes he is a pauper. Now, Tom is thought to be the Prince of Wales by everyone except the evil Earl of Hertford (Claude Rains) who uses the deception as his chance to control the throne. Meanwhile, Edward lives with Tom's father (Barton MacLane) until he is befriended by a soldier of fortune, Miles Hendon (Errol Flynn), who takes him to the palace where he proves his real identity in time to be crowned King of England. A great musical score backs up this film version of Mark Twain's story.

Director: David Hand    More Info
Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Moroni Olsen, Billy Gilbert, Pinto Colvig, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan

 This prototype for Disney animated films tells the story of Snow White (voice of Adriana Caselotti) who escapes the clutches of her evil stepmother and finds refuge with seven dwarfs–Grumpy, Happy, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, and Dopey. Walt Disney received an honorary Oscar (actually an Oscar and seven miniatures) for significant screen innovation. An all-time great–and still good.

Director: John Ford    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, C. Aubrey Smith, June Lang, Michael Whalen, Cesar Romero, Willie Fung, Constance Collier, Douglas Scott, Gavin Muir

 Priscilla (Shirley Temple) charms grandfather Colonel Williams (C. Aubrey Smith) and others when she and her widowed mother (June Lang) visit the frontier of India where British troops are stationed.

Director: Norman Taurog    More Info
Starring: Tommy Kelly, Jackie Moran, May Robson, Walter Brennan, Victor Jory, Ann Gillis, Spring Byington, Donald Meek, Margaret Hamilton, David Holt

 This is an excellent production of Mark Twain's story with Tommy Kelly in the title role and May Robson as Aunt Polly.

Director: Edwin L. Marin    More Info
Starring: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn, Barry MacKay, Lynne Carver, Leo G. Carroll, June Lockhart, Ann Rutherford, Halliwell Hobbes

 This early version of "A Christmas Carol" is worth watching. Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past, and Future (Ann Rutherford, Lionel Braham, and D'Arcy Corrigan), and they convince him to reassess his treatment of Tiny Tim (Terry Kilburn) and his family.

Director: Richard Thorpe    More Info
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Rex Ingram, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, Lynne Carver, Jo Ann Sayers, Minor Watson, Elisabeth Risdon, Victor Kilian, Clara Blandick

 This is a very good remake of the Mark Twain classic as the innocent boy, Huck (Mickey Rooney), and runaway slave Jim (Rex Ingram) meet adventures and become friends as they raft down the Mississippi River. During their trip, Huck and Jim run into con-men "the King" (Walter Connolly) and "the Duke" (William Frawley) who impersonate royalty as part of their swindling schemes. True to Twain's story.

Director: Dave Fleischer    More Info
Starring: Jessica Dragonette, Lanny Ross, Pinto Colvig, Jack Mercer, Sam Parker

 Interesting animation and an excellent musical score (Academy Award nomination) make this version of the Jonathan Swift classic worth a look, especially by the young ones. The film covers the story of Gulliver's (voice of Sam Parker) shipwreck on the island of the small Lilliputians. It is the first feature film for the Fleischer brothers of "Popeye" and "Betty Boop" cartoon fame.

Director: Walter Lang    More Info
Starring: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Cesar Romero, Arthur Treacher, Sybil Jason, Miles Mander, E.E. Clive, Mary Nash

 Sara Crewe (Shirley Temple) is left in an exclusive boarding school in England when her father Captain Reginald Crew (Ian Hunter) marches off to serve in the Boer War. After it is reported that he is killed in action, Sara is left penniless and must work as a servant–until her father returns alive.