Alibi 1929  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Roland West
Cast: Chester Morris, Harry Stubbs, Mae Busch, Eleanore Griffith, Irma Harrison, Regis Toomey, Al Hill, Purnell Pratt, Pat O'Malley, DeWitt Jennings
This early talkie (which was also released as a silent film) was a recipient of Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Actor (Chester Morris, who plays the gangster Chick Williams). A warehouse robbery goes bad, results in a death, and Chick must come up with an alibi because he is the prime suspect. A tough story.
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Arrowsmith 1931  N/R, 108 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Ford
Cast: Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, A.E. Anson, Myrna Loy, Claude King, Beulah Bondi, Russell Hopton, John Qualen, Richard Bennett, DeWitt Jennings
When Dr. Martin Arrowsmith (Ronald Colman) changes his career from physician to research scientist, everything in his life is affected. In true Sinclair Lewis style, the author reveals the commercial aspect of medicine and how quickly money and social status lead to tragedy for those who get wrapped up in the trappings. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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The Bat Whispers 1930 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Roland West
Cast: Chester Morris, Chance Ward, Una Merkel, Richard Tucker, Wilson Benge, Maude Eburne, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Spencer Charters, William Bakewell, DeWitt Jennings, Sidney D'Albrook
Director Roland West's remake of his 1926 "The Bat" again uses interesting camera shots and a dark mood to set the tone. This time around, the masked super-criminal sets his sights on a country mansion filled with assorted characters–and the spoils from a robbery.
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The Big House 1930 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George W. Hill
Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, J.C. Nugent, Karl Dane, DeWitt Jennings, Claire McDowell
Based on a violent prison break in 1929, this film set the standard for prison movies that followed. Kent (a young Robert Montgomery) is sent to prison for killing pedestrians while driving drunk. There he is amidst hardened criminals in a tough, overcrowded environment. Mean criminal Butch (Wallace Beery) plans the breakout in this violent (for that time) movie. The film won Academy Awards for Best Sound and Writing; Beery was nominated for Best Actor and the film was nominated for Best Picture.
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 The Big Trail 1930 N/R, 125 min.
Genre: Western / Adventure / Romance
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall, Tyrone Power Sr., Ward Bond, Helen Parrish, Frederick Burton, Ian Keith, Charles Stevens, Louise Carver, Iron Eyes Cody, David Rollins, DeWitt Jennings, William V. Mong
In John Wayne's first starring role, he plays Brick Coleman who guides a wagon train pioneering the Oregon Trail. Along the trek, the wagon train confronts desert heat, steep cliffs, a fierce storm, an Indian attack, and swollen rivers. Brick fearlessly leads the wagons while still finding time to romance Ruth Cameron (Marguerite Churchill)–despite competition from gambler Bill Thorpe (Ian Keith) and villain Red Flack (Tyrone Power Sr.).
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The Criminal Code 1931 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, Constance Cummings, Mary Doran, Boris Karloff, DeWitt Jennings, John Sheehan, Otto Hoffman, Arthur Hoyt, Paul Porcasi
An innocent man (Phillips Holmes) is jailed, and the warden (Walter Huston) is faced with problems when his own daughter falls in love with his prisoner. This film was remade as "Convicted" in 1950, while film footage is used in 1968's "Targets."
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The Little American 1917 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Action / Drama / Romance
Director: Cecil B. MeMille
Cast: Mary Pickford, Jack Holt, Raymond Hatton, Wallace Beery, Hobart Bosworth, DeWitt Jennings, Ben Alexander, Carl Gerard, Walter Long, James Neill, Colleen Moore, Ramon Novarro
The year is 1914, and American Angela Moore (Mary Pickford) has two suitors–Karl is from Germany, and Jules is French. Then war breaks out, and Karl and Jules return to their countries to fight. Angela sails for France to visit her aunt, but her ship is sunk by a U-boat. Angela survives and goes to her aunt's chateau where she learns that her aunt has died. Angela has inherited her aunt's chateau. The Germans attack, and Angela begins to send messages to the Allies but is caught and sentenced to be executed. Karl comes to her aid, denounces the Kaiser, and is also sentenced. Now, the French, along with Jules, arrive in time to free Mary and Karl who then sail back to the United States.
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Min and Bill 1930 N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George W. Hill
Cast: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau, Frank McGlynn Sr., Don Dillaway, Russell Hopton, DeWitt Jennings, Jack Pennick, Gretta Gould
Marie Dressler won the Academy Award as Best Actress for her role as Min, the salty owner of a seaside inn who goes to extremes protecting those she loves.
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Movie Crazy 1932 N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Clyde Bruckman
Cast: Harold Lloyd, Constance Cummings, Kenneth Thomson, Sidney Jarvis, Eddie Fetherston, Robert McWade, Louise Closser Hale, Spencer Charters, Harold Goodwin, Lucy Beaumont, DeWitt Jennings, Mary Doran, Noah Young, Arthur Housman, Grady Sutton
Kansas boy Harold Hall (Harold Lloyd) is a big movie fan and sends a letter to Hollywood asking for a movie role. His letter is confused with another from a talented performer, and Harold soon gets an invitation to come for a screen test. Now the slapstick fun begins when the bungling Harold tries to break into the movie world.
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Mutiny on the Bounty 1935  N/R, 135 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: Frank Lloyd
Cast: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Dudley Digges, Donald Crisp, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, Henry Stephenson, Spring Byington, Ian Wolfe, Mamo Clark, Francis Lister, David Torrence, Percy Waram, DeWitt Jennings
This depiction of the 1787 mutiny aboard H.M.S. Bounty is a classic. The cruel Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) sails his ship, H.M.S. Bounty, from England to Tahiti where the crew, including Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and his friend midshipman Byam (Franchot Tone), enjoy the island paradise. While Tahiti was a paradise, life on the Bounty proves anything but, and the overly strict discipline of Bligh becomes so intense that First Mate Fletcher Christian leads the crew in a mutiny and sends Bligh and a few crew members adrift at sea in an open boat. The film received an Academy Award for Best Picture. It also was nominated for seven others–including three for Best Actor (Laughton, Gable, and Tone) and Best Director (Frank Lloyd).
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Mystery of the Wax Museum 1933 N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Allen Vincent, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gavin Gordon, Edwin Maxwell, Holmes Herbert, DeWitt Jennings
Following his hideous disfigurement in a fire at his London wax museum, the owner relocates to America where he opens a new museum. This time his figures are his own murder victims encased in wax. This is the first horror film not set in the usual old, gloomy manse and was remade with Vincent Price in the lead as "House of Wax."
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The Secret Six 1931 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George W. Hill
Cast: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Marjorie Rambeau, Clark Gable, Ralph Bellamy, John Miljan, DeWitt Jennings, Frank McGlynn Sr., Paul Hurst, Louis Natheaux
When bootleggers threaten to undermine Chicago's civil order, the police chief creates a vigilante group of six to go up against the gangsters.
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The Warrens of Virginia 1915 N/R, 50 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Blanche Sweet, House Peters, James Neill, Page Peters, Mabel Van Buren, Raymond Hatton, DeWitt Jennings, Lucien Littlefield, Milton Brown, Sydney Deane
Set during the Civil War, this is the story of the love affair of Southerner Agatha Warren (Blanche Sweet) and Yankee spy Ned Burton (House Peters) who relies on Agatha's attempts to save him from certain execution.
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| 1. Alibi (1929)
2. Arrowsmith (1931)
3. The Bat Whispers (1930)
4. The Big House (1930)
5. The Big Trail (1930)
6. The Criminal Code (1931)
7. The Little American (1917)
8. Min and Bill (1930)
9. Movie Crazy (1932)
10. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
11. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
12. The Secret Six (1931)
13. The Warrens of Virginia (1915)
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