Beloved Rogue 1927  N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Romance
Director: Alan Crosland
Cast: John Barrymore, Conrad Veidt, Marceline Day, Lawson Butt, Henry Victor, Mack Swain, Slim Summerville, Angelo Rossitto, Nigel De Brulier, Lucy Beaumont, Otto Matieson, Jane Winton, Rose Dione, Bertram Grassby, Dick Sutherland
Poet Francois Villon (John Barrymore) is the hero in this story about political intrigue in 15th-century France. Villon is sent into exile by King Louis XI (Conrad Veidt) after Villon insults Duke Charles of Burgundy (Lawson Butt). While escaping the clutches of Charles, Villon falls in love with the king's ward, Charlotte (Marceline Day). Later, Charles' men kidnap Charlotte, but when their evil deeds are revealed, the king bestows his blessing on Charlotte and Villon.
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 Freaks 1932  N/R, 64 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Tod Browning
Cast: Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova, Leila Hyams, Roscoe Ates, Henry Victor, Edward Brophy, Matt McHugh, Rose Dione, Harry Earles, Daisy and Violet Hilton, Schlitze, Josephine Joseph, Johnny Eck, Frances O'Connor, Peter Robinson
This is producer Irving Thalberg's classic film about circus sideshow "freaks." "Little person" Hans (Harry Earles) marries trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova), but Cleopatra is planning to kill him, collect his money, and run off with strongman Hercules (Henry Victor). However, there is a code of honor among circus freaks, and they are keeping an eye on Cleopatra. The freaks uncover Cleopatra's scheme after she poisons Hans, and they transform her into a Feathered Hen. This insightful horror film forces the viewer to rethink preconceived ideas about those who are "different."
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Hotel Imperial 1939  N/R, 67 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Florey
Cast: Isa Miranda, Ray Milland, Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Curt Bois, Henry Victor, Robert Middlemass, Spencer Charters
Set in 1917, the plot involves Anna's (Isa Miranda) visit to the Hotel Imperial on the Austria/Hungary border where she meets Lieutenant Nemassy (Ray Milland), and the two conspire against the successful advancing Russian forces. This film was remade in 1943 as "Five Graves to Cairo."
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King of the Zombies 1941  N/R, 67 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Cast: Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor, John Archer, Patricia Stacey, Guy Usher, Marguerite Whitten, Leigh Whipper, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, James Davis, Laurence Criner
A U.S. agent, his pilot, and his man-servant are sent to the Caribbean to locate an admiral whose plane crashed. They also crash on a tiny island where a German doctor is making zombies out of the inhabitants through hypnosis. He had also caused the admiral's plane to crash, planning to hypnotize the admiral and then extract secrets from him. But our heroes stop that nonsense in this World War II propaganda film–though the U.S. had not yet entered the war.
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 The Mummy 1932 N/R, 72 min.
Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Romance
Director: Karl Freund
Cast: Boris Karloff, David Manners, Zita Johann, Edward Van Sloan, Arthur Byron, Bramwell Fletcher, Noble Johnson, Leonard Mudie, Eddie Kane, Henry Victor, Kathryn Byron, James Crane, Tony Marlow, C. Montague Shaw, Leyland Hodgson
Boris Karloff takes on the title role in this classic horror film about a third-millennium Egyptian mummy who comes to life. A curse had been placed on anyone who disturbs his tomb when he was buried alive. Now, the tomb is disturbed, the mummy comes to life in the persona of an Egyptologist, and sets out to reincarnate his lover from 3000 years before. He falls in love with Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann) who he believes is the shadow of his lost love. He abducts her and plots to kill her so they can be reunited forever in the Hereafter. Only Frank Whemple (David Manners) and Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan) can save her, but will they arrive in time?
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Seas Beneath 1931 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Action
Director: John Ford
Cast: George O'Brien, Marion Lessing, Mona Maris, Walter C. Kelly, Warren Hymer, Nat Pendleton, Walter McGrail, Larry Kent, Henry Victor, John Loder
During World War I, a German U-boat has been sinking too many allied ships, so the U.S. Navy goes after it using an innocent-looking schooner that is towing a submarine. The idea is to lure the German submarine out to attack. There is an interesting encounter with lady spies during a stop in the Canary Islands in this film that has some good John Ford touches.
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 Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon 1942  N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Mystery / Drama / Adventure / Thriller
Director: Roy William Neill
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, Kaaren Verne, Holmes Herbert, Mary Gordon, Dennis Hoey, Harry Woods, Paul Fix, William Post Jr., Henry Victor, Michael Mark, George Burr Macannan, Harry Cording, Leslie Denison
This Sherlock Holmes film has been updated to the early 1940s and involves espionage and Gestapo intrigue. Dr. Franz Tobel (William Post, Jr.) has devised a secret weapon, and with World War II looming, the Nazis and the Allies are racing to get control of Tobel's weapon. When Tobel disappears, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate and find that Holmes' old nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Lionel Atwill), is behind the plot.
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| 1. Beloved Rogue (1927)
2. Freaks (1932)
3. Hotel Imperial (1939)
4. King of the Zombies (1941)
5. The Mummy (1932)
6. Seas Beneath (1931)
7. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
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