 The Bank Dick 1940  N/R, 74 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward F. Cline
Cast: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard, George Moran, Dick Purcell, Pierre Watkin, Eddie Acuff, Russell Hicks, Al Hill, Jack Norton, Bill Wolfe
After a bank robber trips over the park bench that barfly Egbert Souse (W.C. Fields) is lying on, the robber is caught, and Egbert becomes the town hero. Egbert is given a job at the bank as a guard and becomes involved in a bank scam convincing Og Oggilby (Grady Sutton)–who happens to be the fiance of Egbert's daughter Myrtle (Una Merkel)–to embezzle funds to buy shares in the Beefsteak Mines. When bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington (Franklin Pangborn) arrives on the scene, mayhem ensues culminating in a great car chase. W.C. Fields' mastery of the comic art makes this film a classic.
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 Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise 1940  N/R, 75 min.
Genre: Mystery / Comedy / Thriller
Director: Eugene Forde
Cast: Sidney Toler, Marjorie Weaver, Victor Sen Yung, Lionel Atwill, Leo G. Carroll, Robert Lowery, Don Beddoe, Cora Witherspoon, Kay Linaker, Charles Middleton, Leonard Mudie, Harlan Briggs, Claire De Brey, James Burke, Richard Keene
A Scotland Yard detective is murdered, and Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) goes aboard a cruise ship sailing from Honolulu to San Francisco to solve the crime when it appears that the killer is one of the ship's passengers. With help from his Number 2 son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and the widow (Kay Linaker) of the murdered Scotland Yard detective, Charlie investigates suspicious passengers who include Dr. Sudermann (Lionel Atwill), Prof. Gordon (Leo G. Carroll), and Mr. Walters (Charles Middleton). This is a remake of the lost Charlie Chan movie of 1931, "Charlie Chan Carries On."
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Colonel Effingham's Raid 1946  N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: Man of the Hour
Director: Irving Pichel
Cast: Charles Coburn, Joan Bennett, William Eythe, Allyn Joslyn, Elizabeth Patterson, Donald Meek, Frank Craven, Thurston Hall, Cora Witherspoon, Emory Parnell, Henry Armetta, Stephen Dunne
Col. Effingham (Charles Coburn) retires from the Army to settle down in his Georgia hometown where he writes editorials and uses his military skills to mobilize fellow citizens against crooked politicians.
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Dark Victory 1939 N/R, 106 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan, Henry Travers, Cora Witherspoon, Virginia Brissac, Dorothy Peterson, Herbert Rawlinson, Charles Richman, Leonard Mudie, Fay Helm, John Ridgely, David Newell
A young heiress (Bette Davis) learns that she has a fatal brain tumor. During the course of treatment, she falls in love with her doctor (George Brent) and finds new meaning in her life.
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The First Time 1952 N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Robert Cummings, Barbara Hale, Bill Goodwin, Jeff Donnell, Carl Benton Reid, Paul Harvey, Cora Witherspoon, Bea Benaderet, Mona Barrie, Kathleen Comegys
Joe and Betsy (Robert Cummings and Barbara Hale) await the arrival of their baby with high anticipation. But after the baby arrives, they find that parenting is not as easy nor always as pleasant as they anticipated. Not great, but some laughs.
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Frankie and Johnnie 1936  N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Drama / Musical
Director: John H. Auer, Chester Erskine
Cast: Helen Morgan, Chester Morris, Lilyan Tashman, Florence Reed, Walter Kingsford, Cora Witherspoon, William Harrigan, John Larkin
Based on the title song, this is the story of the romance and marriage of cat-house singer Frankie (Helen Morgan) and country boy Johnnie (Chester Morgan). Shortly after the marriage, Johnnie begins fooling around with Nellie Bly (Lilyan Tashman)–an affair that ends in Johnnie's murder.
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I Was an Adventuress 1940 N/R, 81 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim, Peter Lorre, Sig Ruman, Fritz Feld, Cora Witherspoon, Anthony Kemble-Cooper, Paul Porcasi, Roger Imhof
Tanya (Vera Zorina) is a member of a team of con-artists/jewel thieves. She decides to go straight after she meets the love of her life (Richard Greene), though he thinks she is a countess. The other two team members (Erich von Stroheim and Peter Lorre) don't like that and decide to interfere. Stroheim and Lorre are a great pair.
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Just for You 1952  N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Elliott Nugent
Cast: Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, Ethel Barrymore, Robert Arthur, Natalie Wood, Cora Witherspoon, Regis Toomey, Art Smith, Willis Bouchey, Herb Vigran
This film's song "Zing a Little Zong" was nominated for an Academy Award. The story is loosely based on Stephen Vincent Benet's novel "Famous." Jordan Blake (Bing Crosby) is a successful Broadway producer who realizes–almost too late–that he has devoted too much time to work and not enough to his family.
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Libeled Lady 1936  N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jack Conway
Cast: Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Walter Connolly, Charley Grapewin, Cora Witherspoon, E.E. Clive, Charles Trowbridge, Spencer Charters, Otto Yamaoka, Bunny Beatty, George Chandler, Greta Meyer, Hal K. Dawson
After newspaper editor Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) prints a story about wealthy Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) stealing the husband of another woman, Connie sues the paper for printing a false story. Warren is about to marry Gladys (Jean Harlow) but now postpones the wedding and hires Bill Chandler (William Powell) to marry Gladys in name only and then pursue Connie. The plan is for Gladys to sue Connie for alienation of affections and get her to drop the lawsuit against Warren. But, plans backfire when true love enters the picture. Remade in 1946 as "Easy to Wed."
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Marie Antoinette 1938 N/R, 160 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Cast: Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore, Robert Morley, Anita Louise, Joseph Schildkraut, Gladys George, Henry Stephenson, Reginald Gardiner, Cora Witherspoon
Set in pre-revolutionary France, MGM spared nothing on its opulent sets, French antiques, and expensive costumes in presenting this story of the doomed Austrian princess (Norma Shearer) who became Queen of France just as it became a "crumbling" empire.
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The Mating Season 1951  N/R, 101 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins, Thelma Ritter, Jan Sterling, Larry Keating, James Lorimer, Gladys Hurlbut, Cora Witherspoon, Ellen Corby
Val (John Lund), from humble beginnings, is now a factory worker and marries the rich and popular Maggie (Gene Tierney). Meanwhile, his mother's (Thelma Ritter) hamburger stand goes broke, so she hitchhikes west to see the newlyweds. When she arrives, Maggie takes her for a maid (for a party) and the mother-in-law goes along with it, despite her son's objections. Thelma Ritter does a great job and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
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Midnight 1934 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
aka: Call It Murder
Director: Chester Erskine
Cast: Sidney Fox, O.P. Heggie, Henry Hull, Margaret Wycherly, Humphrey Bogart, Lynne Overman, Richard Whorf, Henry O'Neill, Cora Witherspoon, Granville Bates, Katherine Wilson, Moffat Johnston, Helen Flint
Jury foreman Edward Weldon (O.P. Heggie) will settle for nothing short of death in the sentencing of Ethel Saxon (Helen Flint) on a murder charge for killing her lover. Later, Weldon regrets his responsibility for the verdict when, on the eve of Saxon's execution, Edward's own daughter, Stella (Sidney Fox), kills her lover, gangster Garboni (Humphrey Bogart). Now, Weldon's conscience takes over when his previous verdict is brought so close to home.
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On the Avenue 1937 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye, Al Ritz, Harry Ritz, Jimmy Ritz, George Barbier, Alan Mowbray, Cora Witherspoon, Walter Catlett, Douglas Fowley, Joan Davis, Stepin Fetchit, Sig Ruman, Billy Gilbert
Gary Blake (Dick Powell) produces a Broadway show that satirizes the wealthy Caraway family. Mona Merrick (Alice Faye) plays the role of "The Richest Girl in the World," and when Mimi Caraway (Madeleine Carroll) sees the show, she goes backstage and convinces Gary to ease up on the satire of her. But the plan doesn't work, and the Caraway family buys out the show, and giant changes ensue. Among the Irving Berlin songs is "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."
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Professor Beware 1938 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Elliott Nugent
Cast: Harold Lloyd, Phyllis Welch, Raymond Walburn, Lionel Stander, William Frawley, Thurston Hall, Cora Witherspoon, Sterling Holloway, Mary Lou Lender, Montagu Love, Etienne Girardot, Christian Rub, Spencer Charters, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Ward Bond
Archaeologist Prof. Dean Lambert (Harold Lloyd) is scheduled to go on trial, but there is a delay in the court proceedings, and he will miss an expedition to Egypt if he waits. Instead, he skips bail and heads out from Los Angeles to New York City. And the chase is on when he hops a train for the trip to New York during which he evades police, meets and is attracted to Jane (Phyllis Welch), and has adventures with hoboes.
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Quality Street 1937 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Franchot Tone, Eric Blore, Fay Bainter, Bonita Granville, Joan Fontaine, Cora Witherspoon, Estelle Winwood, Florence Lake, Helena Grant
This is a good film adaptation of a James Barrie play about Phoebe Throssel (Katharine Hepburn) who pretends to be her own niece in an effort to regain the love of a man who has been absent from her life for 10 years.
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| 1. The Bank Dick (1940)
2. Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940)
3. Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
aka: Man of the Hour
4. Dark Victory (1939)
5. The First Time (1952)
6. Frankie and Johnnie (1936)
7. I Was an Adventuress (1940)
8. Just for You (1952)
9. Libeled Lady (1936)
10. Marie Antoinette (1938)
11. The Mating Season (1951)
12. Midnight (1934)
aka: Call It Murder
13. On the Avenue (1937)
14. Professor Beware (1938)
15. Quality Street (1937)
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