20,000 Years in Sing Sing 1933 N/R, 77 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Michael Curtiz Cast: Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Lyle Talbot, Sheila Terry, Louis Calhern, Grant Mitchell, Arthur Byron, Warren Hymer, Spencer Charters, Harold Huber
Life in Sing Sing prison is depicted as Bette Davis plays the role of Fay, the loyal woman who gives her life and love to Tom Connors (Spencer Tracy).
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Beau Geste 1939 N/R, 114 min. Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama
Director: William A. Wellman Cast: Gary Cooper, Donald O'Connor, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, J. Carrol Naish, Susan Hayward, Charles Barton, Brian Donlevy, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford, James Stephenson, Heather Thatcher, James Burke, G.P. Huntley, Harold Huber
The Geste brothers–Beau (Gary Cooper), John (Ray Milland), and Digby (Robert Preston)–flee the country after Beau takes the blame for the theft of a family jewel that their aunt, Lady Brandon (Heather Thatcher) stole. They join the French Foreign Legion where Beau and John end up under the leadership of brutal Sergeant Markoff (Brian Donlevy). Tragedies ensue when the Arabs attack, and Beau is seriously wounded. Unbeknownst to the brothers, Markoff believes that Beau has the family jewel in his possession and searches Beau for the jewel. Beau kills Markoff and then dies. By story's end, John is the only surviving brother, and he returns home to give his aunt a note from Beau explaining why he ran away. Brian Donlevy received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
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Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo 1937 N/R, 71 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Director: Eugene Forde Cast: Warner Oland, Keye Luke, Virginia Field, Sidney Blackmer, Harold Huber, Kay Linaker, Robert Kent, Edward Raquello, George Lynn, Louis Mercier, George Davis, George Sorel, John Bleifer, Georges Renavent, Eugene Borden
Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) and his son Lee (Keye Luke) are vacationing in Monte Carlo when a million dollars in bonds from the famous Riviera casino are stolen, and the messenger who was carrying them is murdered. Charlie is asked to investigate and uncovers the work of bartender Al Rogers (George Lynn) who is blackmailing Mrs Karnoff (Kay Linaker) whose husband (Sidney Blackmer) is engaged in a bitter feud with Paul Savarin (Edward Raquello). Al turns up dead, but is Mrs. Karnoff really the murderess? Other suspects include Savarin and a woman with things to hide, Evelyn Gray (Virginia Field). This is Oland's last movie.
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Charlie Chan in City in Darkness 1939 N/R, 73 min. Genre: Mystery / Drama aka: City in Darkness
Director: Herbert I. Leeds Cast: Sidney Toler, Lynn Bari, Richard Clarke, Harold Huber, Leo G. Carroll, Lon Chaney Jr., Pedro de Cordoba, Dorothy Tree, Douglass Dumbrille, C. Henry Gordon, Noel Madison, Louis Mercier, George Davis, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, Barbara Leonard
When Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) visits friends from World War I in Paris, he finds that Paris is a city of darkness because of air raids preparing for the possible outbreak of World War II. Munitions maker Petroff (Douglass Dumbrille) is murdered, and Charlie investigates. The clues lead to espionage and arms dealings with the Nazis. At the film's end, Charlie talks about the evils of conference table bargaining.
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Charlie Chan in Rio 1941 N/R, 60 min. Genre: Mystery / Drama / Comedy / Thriller
Director: Harry Lachman Cast: Sidney Toler, Mary Beth Hughes, Victor Jory, Harold Huber, Richard Derr, Victor Sen Yung, Kay Linaker, Truman Bradley, Ann Codee, Eugene Borden, Jacqueline Dalya, Cobina Wright, Ted North, Hamilton MacFadden, Leslie Denison
Following Warner Oland's untimely death in 1937, Sidney Toler took over the role of Charlie Chan, Honolulu investigator. In this film, Chan travels to Rio with Number 2 son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) to bring a murderess, nightclub singer Lola (Jacqueline Dalya) to Hawaii for trial. After Lola is murdered, Chan must solve her murder.
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Charlie Chan on Broadway 1937 N/R, 68 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Eugene Forde Cast: Warner Oland, Keye Luke, Joan Marsh, J. Edward Bromberg, Donald Woods, Leon Ames, Marc Lawrence, Douglas Fowley, Harold Huber, Lon Chaney Jr.
After two people are murdered, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) investigates and enters a world of political corruption and gossip columnists on the Broadway scene.
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Dance, Girl, Dance 1940 N/R, 88 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Musical
Director: Dorothy Arzner Cast: Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, Virginia Field, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaya, Mary Carlisle, Katharine Alexander, Edward Brophy, Walter Abel, Harold Huber, Ernest Truex, Chester Clute, Emma Dunn, Sidney Blackmer
Judy O'Brien (Maureen O'Hara) arrives in New York City planning to gain fame as a ballerina. As luck would have it, she gets a job working as a stooge for strip-tease dancer Bubbles (Lucille Ball) who dances a ballet as a lead-in to her strip show. The two women encounter problems when they both fall for playboy Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward), and physical fighting is used to determine who should have Jimmy. But that issue is settled after Jimmy's ex-wife (Virginia Field) decides to take him back.
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Down Mexico Way 1941 N/R, 77 min. Genre: Western
Director: Joseph Santley Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Fay McKenzie, Harold Huber, Sidney Blackmer, Joe Sawyer, Paul Fix, Andrew Tombes, Murray Alper, Arthur Loft, Duncan Renaldo, Julian Rivero
Gene Autry comes to the aid of the townspeople of Sage City who were victims of a scam.
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G-Men 1935 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Drama
Director: William Keighley Cast: James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Ann Dvorak, Robert Armstrong, Lloyd Nolan, Regis Toomey, Harold Huber, Raymond Hatton, Marc Lawrence, Barton MacLane, William Harrigan, Russell Hopton, Edward Pawley, Monte Blue, Addison Richards
James Cagney plays a good guy is this movie, which is perhaps William Keighley's best directing job. The plot follows the adventures of James "Brick" Davis (Cagney), a lawyer whose education was financed by crime boss "Mack" McKay (William Harrigan). Brick's roommate Eddie (Regis Toomey) becomes an F.B.I. agent but is later killed by gangster Danny Leggett (Edward Pawley) in a gang shooting. Now, Brick joins the F.B.I. as an agent where he is looked upon with suspicion because of his background ties to McKay. Nevertheless, Brick sets out to avenge the death of Eddie and follows a trail of murders that extends from New York to the Midwest. Based on Gregory Miller's book "Public Enemy No. 1."
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The Gay Desperado 1936 N/R, 86 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Rouben Mamoulian Cast: Nino Martini, Ida Lupino, Leo Carrillo, Harold Huber, James Blakeley, Stanley Fields, Mischa Auer, Adrian Rosley, Paul Hurst, Frank Puglia
Music-loving bandit Pablo Braganza (Leo Carrillo) kidnaps not only singing cowboy Chivo (Nino Martini) but an heiress (Ida Lupino) and her boyfriend (James Blakeley) as well. Pablo hopes to learn more about movie gangsters from Chivo and to extract a large ransom for the heiress.
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The Good Earth 1937 N/R, 130 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Sidney Franklin Cast: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connolly, Tilly Losch, Charley Grapewin, Jessie Ralph, Soo Yong, Keye Luke, Harold Huber, Philip Ahn, Roland Lui, Suzanna Kim, Olaf Hytten, Mary Wong, Ching Wah Lee
This is Pearl Buck's prize-winning story brought to the screen. A simple Chinese farmer, Wang Lung (Paul Muni), and his wife, O-Lan (Luise Rainer), are raising three children, but, when faced with a famine, O-Lan must feed the children cooked earth. Through adversity–even Wang Lung's taking a second wife–they learn that courage, not greed, is the path to happiness. Luise Rainer, who won an Oscar for Best Actress the previous year for her role in "The Great Ziegfeld ," won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this film. An Oscar was also received for Best Cinematography, and the film was nominated for Best Picture and Director.
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He Was Her Man 1934 N/R, 70 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Lloyd Bacon Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Victor Jory, Frank Craven, Harold Huber, Russell Hopton, Ralf Harolde, John Qualen, Samuel S. Hinds, George Chandler
This weak crime drama concerns a double-crossing safecracker fleeing from the mob. He ends up in a fishing village and falls in love with a fisherman's fiancee. Not exactly one of Cagney's best.
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Klondike Annie 1936 N/R, 78 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Raoul Walsh Cast: Mae West, Victor McLaglen, Philip Reed, Helen Jerome Eddy, Harry Beresford, Harold Huber, Lucile Gleason, Conway Tearle, Esther Howard, Soo Yong
Mae West and the censors–the Legion of Decency–were fighting it out in the mid-1930s; the censors won with this one, taming down the final cut of the film. Mae plays "The Frisco Doll," who kills a man in self-defense and then takes off on a ship for Alaska. On the way, after the ship's captain, Bull (Victor McLaglen), finds that she is on the lam, he blackmails her into providing sexual favors. Taking the place of a missionary who died on the trip, Doll becomes a woman of God, who eventually decides to return to San Francisco to clear herself.
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Ladies They Talk About 1933 N/R, 67 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Howard Bretherton Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Burgess, Maude Eburne, Harold Huber, Ruth Donnelly, Robert Warwick, Lillian Roth, Helen Ware
In prison for bank robbery, Nan (Barbara Stanwyck) finds salvation and love through the Reverend David Slade (Preston Foster).
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Lady from Chungking 1943 N/R, 66 min. Genre: Drama
Director: William Nigh Cast: Anna May Wong, Harold Huber, Mae Clarke, Rick Vallin, Paul Bryar, Ted Hecht, Ludwig Donath, James B. Leong, Archie Got, Walter Soo Hoo
The Japanese had invaded China during World War II when a young woman, Kwan Mei (Anna May Wong), organizes farmers into a guerilla force and leads them against the Japanese intruders.
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The Life of Jimmy Dolan 1933 N/R, 89 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Archie Mayo Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Loretta Young, Guy Kibbee, Fifi D'Orsay, Aline MacMahon, Lyle Talbot, Mickey Rooney, George Meeker, Harold Huber, John Wayne
After he thinks he has accidentally killed a man, a prizefighter (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) retreats to the children's home where he was raised. Look quickly for John Wayne as a boxer. Remade as "They Made Me a Criminal."
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A Man Betrayed 1941 N/R, 82 min. Genre: Drama aka: Wheel of Fortune
Director: John H. Auer Cast: John Wayne, Frances Dee, Edward Ellis, Wallace Ford, Ward Bond, Harold Huber, Alexander Granach, Barnett Parker, Edwin Stanley, Harry Hayden
Lawyer Lynn Hollister (John Wayne) arrives in town to take on political corruption and ends up falling in love with a crooked politician's (Edward Ellis) daughter, Sabra Cameron (Frances Dee).
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The Mayor of Hell 1933 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Archie Mayo Cast: James Cagney, Madge Evans, Allen Jenkins, Dudley Digges, Frankie Darro, Dorothy Peterson, Charles C. Wilson, Hobart Cavanaugh, Robert Barrat, Harold Huber, Sheila Terry, William V. Mong, G. Pat Collins, Edwin Maxwell, John Marston
This unusual story involves ex-gangster Richard 'Patsy' Gargan (James Cagney) who is appointed Deputy Commissioner of a reform school. He takes the position after the nurse (Madge Evans) at the school confides in him about the inhumane treatment being inflicted on the boys. He works to improve conditions at the reform school and the way the kids are being treated. But, Gargan leaves the reform school to kill a rival gangster, and then he goes into hiding. Meanwhile the poor conditions return at the reform school, and when the boys learn that Gargan is really a ruthless mobster they lose faith in him. But, Gargan returns, gets the warden Mr. Thompson (Dudley Digges) kicked out, and regains the boys' respect.
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Midnight Mary 1933 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: William A. Wellman Cast: Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone, Andy Devine, Una Merkel, Frank Conroy, Warren Hymer, Harold Huber, Charley Grapewin, Halliwell Hobbes, Ivan F. Simpson, Sandy Roth, Martha Sleeper, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Louise Beavers
While Mary (Loretta Young) is on trial for murder, her story is told through flashbacks. She grows up in poverty, and when she reaches adulthood Mary gets mixed up with Leo the Rat (Ricardo Cortez) and his gang of crooked gamblers (Warren Hymer, Harold Huber, Una Merkel, and Sandy Roth). After meeting wealthy lawyer Tom and becoming romantically involved with him, Mary tries to straighten out her life. But, she finds it difficult to escape her past, and she is torn between "good" Tom and "bad" Leo. Good Wellman and Young efforts.
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Mr. Moto's Gamble 1938 N/R, 71 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: James Tinling Cast: Peter Lorre, Keye Luke, Dick Baldwin, Lynn Bari, Douglas Fowley, Harold Huber, Max "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, Ward Bond, Lon Chaney Jr., Paul Fix
Ace detective Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) goes behind the scenes of the boxing world to unravel the truth behind a boxer's death.
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My Friend Irma Goes West 1950 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Hal Walker Cast: John Lund, Marie Wilson, Diana Lynn, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Corinne Calvet, Lloyd Corrigan, Don Porter, Harold Huber, Kenneth Tobey
In this sequel to "My Friend Irma," delightful dumb blonde Irma (Marie Wilson) heads to California with her friends, Steve Laird (Dean Martin) and Seymour (Jerry Lewis), in pursuit of a promised film contract.
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Mysterious Mr. Moto 1938 N/R, 62 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Norman Foster Cast: Peter Lorre, Mary Maguire, Henry Wilcoxon, Erik Rhodes, Harold Huber, Leon Ames, Forrester Harvey, Frederick Vogeding, Lester Matthews, John Rogers
Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) puts his disguise talents to use as he infiltrates an international gang of assassins to help Scotland Yard. Another interesting entry for the series.
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Parachute Jumper 1933 N/R, 70 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Alfred E. Green Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Leo Carrillo, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, Claire Dodd, Sheila Terry, Harold Huber, Thomas E. Jackson, G. Pat Collins, Walter Brennan
Two ex-Marine aviators (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Frank McHugh) turn to smuggling drugs and alcohol until Alabama (Bette Davis) turns their lives around.
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San Francisco 1936 N/R, 115 min. Genre: Drama / Musical / Romance
Director: W.S. Van Dyke Cast: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Ted Healy, Jessie Ralph, Shirley Ross, Edgar Kennedy, Jason Robards Sr., Harold Huber, Margaret Irving, William Ricciardi, Kenneth Harlan, Roger Imhof, Frank Mayo
Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) owns the Paradise beer garden in San Francisco where he hires singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to sing. Romance between Blackie and Mary is in the air, but club patron Jack Burley (Jack Holt) vies for Mary's attentions and offers her a job with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie's friend, Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), also believes that Mary should be singing somewhere other than at Blackie's bar. Mary is torn between working for Blackie and looking for a classier job. Then fate steps in when San Francisco is hit by the great 1906 Earthquake, and the film's climax takes place amidst the backdrop of fires breaking out, buildings swaying and collapsing, and the rubble brought on by the disaster. This epic film earned a number of Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Spencer Tracy for Best Actor, and W.S. Van Dyke for Best Director) but ended up with only one Oscar–Best Sound Recording.
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A Slight Case of Murder 1938 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly, Willard Parker, John Litel, Edward Brophy, Harold Huber, Paul Harvey, Margaret Hamilton, Eric Stanley, Bobby Jordan, Joe Downing, Bert Hanlon
Edward G. Robinson is again excellent as he plays a gangster who goes broke after Prohibition ends. His brewery collapses due to the terrible tasting product, and he heads to his summer home where the fun begins as assorted guests appear, and bodies of gangsters are discovered along with half a million dollars of their loot. A fine, funny flick.
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The Thin Man 1934 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: W.S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Cesar Romero, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Porter Hall, Henry Wadsworth, Harold Huber, William Henry
This is the first in a 10-year series of Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. In this film, they investigate the murder of a weird inventor. Myrna Loy: "Waiter, will you serve the nuts–I mean, would you serve the guests the nuts?" Academy Award nominations were received for Best Picture, Actor, Director, and Writing.
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You Can't Get Away with Murder 1939 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Lewis Seiler Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gale Page, Billy Halop, John Litel, Henry Travers, Harvey Stephens, Harold Huber, Joe Sawyer, George E. Stone, Joe Downing
After being sent to Sing Sing on a trumped-up charge, Frank's (Humphrey Bogart) girlfriend, Madge (Gale Page), tries to gain his release.
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| 1. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1933)
2. Beau Geste (1939)
3. Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)
4. Charlie Chan in City in Darkness (1939) aka: City in Darkness
5. Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)
6. Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
7. Crime Doctor (1943)
8. Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
9. Down Mexico Way (1941)
10. G-Men (1935)
11. The Gay Desperado (1936)
12. The Good Earth (1937)
13. He Was Her Man (1934)
14. Klondike Annie (1936)
15. Ladies They Talk About (1933)
16. Lady from Chungking (1943)
17. The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
18. A Man Betrayed (1941) aka: Wheel of Fortune
19. The Mayor of Hell (1933)
20. Midnight Mary (1933)
21. Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)
22. My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)
23. Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
24. Parachute Jumper (1933)
25. Pursuit (1935)
26. San Francisco (1936)
27. A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
28. The Thin Man (1934)
29. You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939)
In The News
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