Behind That Curtain 1929  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Warner Baxter, Gilbert Emery, Philip Strange, E.L. Park, Lois Moran, Claude King, Boris Karloff, Jamiel Hasson, Peter Gawthorne, John Rogers, Edgar Norton, Frank Finch Smiles
This early sound movie, featuring the wise detective Charlie Chan (E.L. Park), is about an heiress (Lois Moran) who leaves her husband for a new "love" in her life but is about to suffer the consequences.
|  | |
 Belle Starr 1941 N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Western
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Randolph Scott, Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Shepperd Strudwick, Elizabeth Patterson, Chill Wills, Louise Beavers, Olin Howland, Paul E. Burns, Joe Sawyer, Joe Downing, Howard C. Hickman, Charles Trowbridge, James Flavin, Charles Middleton
The real Belle Starr was not a nice person, but her story is romanticized in this film with Gene Tierney as the outlaw. Belle, who lost all her land during the Civil War, marries guerilla leader Sam Starr (Randolph Scott) and they continue to take on the Yankees after the war. Tierney is wonderful to look at but certainly is miscast in this one.
| | |
The Dolly Sisters 1945 N/R, 114 min.
Genre: Drama / Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Betty Grable, John Payne, June Haver, S.Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Frank Latimore, Gene Sheldon, Sig Ruman, Trudy Marshall, Collette Lyons
Good "oldie" songs abound in this musical biography of the Hungarian-born Dolly sisters, Jenny and Rosie (Betty Grable and June Haver), who hit it big in the New York theater world in the early 1900s.
| | |
Don't Change Your Husband 1919 N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Lew Cody, Sylvia Ashton, Theodore Roberts, Julia Faye, Irving Cummings, James Neill, Ted Shawn
Leila (Gloria Swanson) is frustrated with husband James' (Elliott Dexter) sloppy habits and workaholic attitude. So, she divorces him and marries playboy Schuyler (Lew Cody) who turns out to be a two-timer. Now, she tries to woo her ex-husband back.
| | |
Double Dynamite 1951 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Don McGuire, Howard Freeman, Harry Hayden, Nestor Paiva, Lou Nova, Joe Devlin, Frank Orth, William Edmunds, Russell Thorson, Charles Coleman, Ida Moore, Hal K. Dawson
Bank tellers Johnny Dalton (Frank Sinatra) and "Mibs" Goodhug (Jane Russell) want to get married but just don't have enough money. Their friend Emil J. Keck (Groucho Marx) jokingly suggests that they rob the bank to get the needed funds, but Johnny remains on the side of honesty. Then, Johnny wins $60,000 at the race track, but before he and Mibs can spend the money on their marriage, word leaks out that Johnny is the chief suspect in a $70,000 embezzlement at their bank. By story's end, it is learned that Mib's adding machine has a mechanical problem, no money is missing from the bank, and, maybe just maybe, Johnny and Mibs can live happily ever after.
| | |
 Down Argentine Way 1940  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Don Ameche, Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, J. Carrol Naish, Henry Stephenson, Kay Aldridge, Leonid Kinskey, Chris-Pin Martin, Robert Conway, Gregory Gaye, Bobby Stone, Charles Judels
American heiress Glenda (Betty Grable) visits Argentina where she hopes to find wealthy racehorse owner Ricardo Quintana (Don Ameche). She succeeds in reaching Ricardo, and they fall in love but must deal with their feuding families before living happily ever after. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Song ("Down Argentine Way")
| | |
Everything Happens at Night 1939 N/R, 76 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Sonja Henie, Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, Maurice Moscovitch, Alan Dinehart, Fritz Feld, Jody Gilbert, Leonid Kinskey, Victor Varconi, William Edmunds
Two reporters, Geoffrey Thompson (Ray Milland) and Ken Morgan (Robert Cummings), try to find a missing Nobel Prize winner, and both fall in love with the man's daughter, Louise (Sonja Henie).
| | |
Girls' Dormitory 1936 N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Ruth Chatterton, Simone Simon, Constance Collier, J. Edward Bromberg, Dixie Dunbar, John Qualen, Shirley Deane, Tyrone Power, Frank Reicher, George Hassell, Lynne Berkeley, June Storey, Christian Rub, Rita Gould
Marie (Simone Simon) is a student at a Swiss finishing school who falls in love with headmaster Dr. Stephen Dominik (Herbert Marshall). Marie writes a love letter, and Professor Anna Mathe (Ruth Chatterton) finds it in the trash and shows it to Stephen. When confronted with the letter, Marie tells Anna that it was written to an imaginary lover. Anna has been secretly in love with Stephen for years, and many problems lie ahead before Stephen marries. By story's end, will he marry Anna or Marie?
| | |
A Holy Terror 1931  N/R, 52 min.
Genre: Western
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: George O'Brien, Sally Eilers, Rita La Roy, Humphrey Bogart, James Kirkwood, Stanley Fields, Robert Warwick, Richard Tucker, Earl Pingree
Wealthy easterner (George O'Brien) heads west in his plane after finding out that a rancher may hold to key to his father's murder. After crashing his plane and having a romantic interlude, he confronts the rancher only to find out that the rancher is his real father. A weak early Bogart film, with Humphrey having a relatively small role as the rancher's foreman.
| | |
In Old Arizona 1928 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Western
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Edmund Lowe, Dorothy Burgess, Warner Baxter, J. Farrell MacDonald, Joe Brown, John Webb Dillon, Ivan Linow, Roy Stewart, James Bradbury Jr., Fred Warren, Tom Santschi, Chris-Pin Martin, Henry Armetta, Frank Campeau, Soledad Jimenez
This tale of O. Henry's "The Cisco Kid" was the first Western talkie as well as the first sound film made outside of a studio. Army Sergeant Mickey Dunne (Edmund Lowe) is pursuing the bandit, The Cisco Kid (Warner Baxter), who is in love with Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess). While The Cisco Kid is away, Tonia falls in love with Mickey, and, together, they plot The Cisco Kid's demise. Warner Baxter received an Oscar for Best Actor in his role as the Cisco Kid. The film also received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Director.
| | |
 Jesse James 1939 N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Western / Action / Drama / Romance
Director: Henry King, Irving Cummings
Cast: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Lon Chaney Jr., Henry Hull, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Jane Darwell, Donald Meek, Slim Summerville, J. Edward Bromberg, Johnny Russell, Charles Tannen, Willard Robertson
Ruthless Jesse James (Tyrone Power) and his brother, Frank (Henry Fonda), seek revenge through bank robberies after the Midland Railroad fought for their family land, and a railroad agent killed their mother (Jane Darwell). They succeed in their robberies, but then Jesse surrenders hoping for a brighter future. But, he is double crossed and is killed by his "friend" Bob Ford (John Carradine) who wants the reward. Fonda returns in a sequel: "The Return of Frank James."
| | |
Just Around the Corner 1938 N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Shirley Temple, Joan Davis, Charles Farrell, Amanda Duff, Bill Robinson, Bert Lahr, Franklin Pangborn, Claude Gillingwater
When Jeff Hale (Charles Farrell) loses his fortune during 1929's Great Depression, his daughter Penny (Shirley Temple) must return home from boarding school. Temple's dance routines with Bill Robinson are highlights of many of her films, and this one is no exception.
| | |
Lillian Russell 1940 N/R, 127 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Edward Arnold, Warren William, Leo Carrillo, Nigel Bruce, Helen Westley, Dorothy Peterson, Ernest Truex
Alice Faye portrays 1890s' Broadway star Lillian Russell and sings such classics as "After the Ball" and "The Band Played On" in this musical presentation.
| | |
Little Miss Broadway 1938 N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Musical / Drama
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Shirley Temple, Jimmy Durante, George Murphy, Phyllis Brooks, Edna May Oliver, George Barbier, Jane Darwell, Donald Meek, Claude Gillinwater, Edward Ellis, El Brendel, Patricia Wilder, George Brasno, Olive Brasno, Charles Williams
Shirley Temple plays talented orphan Betsy Brown Shea who lives with Broadway vaudevillians in a hotel run by Sarah Wendling (Edna May Oliver). When rents are past due and Sarah threatens to close the hotel, young Betsy comes up with the idea of putting on a vaudeville show to provide rent money. They stage a musical revue, and all ends happily. Songs include "Little Miss Broadway," "Swing Me an Old-Fashioned Song," and "When you Were Sweet Sixteen."
| | |
Louisiana Purchase 1941 N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Bob Hope, Vera Zorina, Victor Moore, Irene Bordoni, Dona Drake, Max "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, Frank Albertson, Raymond Walburn, Donald MacBride, Andrew Tombes
Both Irving Berlin's music and Senator Jim Taylor's (Bob Hope) outrageous filibuster in which he reads "Gone with the Wind" contribute to making this film an enjoyable escape from reality.
| | |
Poor Little Rich Girl 1936  N/R, 77 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Musical / Romance
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Gloria Stuart, Jack Haley, Michael Whalen, Jane Darwell, Claude Gillingwater, Henry Armetta, Sara Haden, Arthur Hoyt, Paul Stanton, Charles Coleman, John Wray, Tyler Brooke, Mathilde Comont
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.
| | |
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell 1939  N/R, 97 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Alexander Graham Bell
The Modern Miracle
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Don Ameche, Loretta Young, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Spring Byington, Gene Lockhart, Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, Jonathan Hale, Harry Davenport, Georgiana Young, Bobs Watson, Russell Hicks, Paul Stanton, Beryl Mercer
This classic film tells the story of Alexander Graham Bell's (Don Ameche) struggles to invent the telephone. Bell falls in love with a deaf girl, Mabel Hubbard (Loretta Young), who he is teaching. Mabel encourages Bell to work on his invention, and her wealthy father Gardner Hubbard (Charles Coburn) backs Bell's invention. Thomas Watson (Henry Fonda) is Bell's assistant, and they succeed in inventing the telephone but then must fight Western Union for the patent rights.
| | |
Sweet Rosie O'Grady 1943 N/R, 74 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Betty Grable, Robert Young, Adolphe Menjou, Reginald Gardiner, Virginia Grey, Phil Regan, Sig Ruman, Alan Dinehart, Hobart Cavanaugh, Jonathan Hale, Frank Orth
This time around Robert Young takes on the role of the reporter who exposes the former burlesque queen, Rosie O'Grady (Betty Grable), when she tries to improve her station in life. Good music and talent make this film enjoyable fare. It was previously made as "Love Is News" and later remade as "That Wonderful Urge."
| | |
That Night in Rio 1941  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, S.Z. Sakall, J. Carrol Naish, Curt Bois, Leonid Kinskey, Bando da Lua, Frank Puglia, Maria Montez, Lillian Porter, Georges Renavent, Fortunio Bonanova, Eddie Conrad
Baron (Don Ameche) and Baroness (Alice Faye) Duarte head for South America, but, in order to save his business, the Baron must slip out of the country. He hires entertainer Larry Martin (also Don Ameche) to impersonate him and allow time for him to complete the deal. But, Larry treats the Baroness so nicely that when the Baron returns he knows that he must be more attentive to his wife. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | Apple 03/06/2007 | My husband and I loved it. The re-mastering of the DVD is wonderful, Don Ameche is in fine voice and Carmen Miranda moves better than most women...ever! She and her bad knock out those Brazilian melodies with great gusto and the Samba is danced much better by her than by the other dancers choreographed by Hermes Pan. Carmen was really the star. She should have had top billing over Alice Faye who floated through the film as if she was stoned. But I heard she was ill around this time. Still...she's beautiful and her voice is lovely and mellow. The costumes by Travis Banton were magnificent and there were many of them...including Carmen Miranda's. Althought they were as usual a bit over-the-top they were more elegant than usual.
I searched and searched thru they DVD and I'll be darned if I could find Maria Montez. Maybe somebody can post here which character she was (I know her name was Inex but never heard it mentioned in the movie.)
All in all it was a very good night of entertainment. |
|
| | |
| 1. Behind That Curtain (1929)
2. Belle Starr (1941)
3. Curly Top (1935)
4. A Devil with Women (1930)
5. The Dolly Sisters (1945)
6. Don't Change Your Husband (1919)
7. Double Dynamite (1951)
8. Down Argentine Way (1940)
9. Everything Happens at Night (1939)
10. Girls' Dormitory (1936)
11. A Holy Terror (1931)
12. In Old Arizona (1928)
13. Jesse James (1939)
14. The Johnstown Flood (1926)
15. Just Around the Corner (1938)
16. Lillian Russell (1940)
17. Little Miss Broadway (1938)
18. Louisiana Purchase (1941)
19. Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
20. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
aka: Alexander Graham Bell
aka: The Modern Miracle
21. Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)
22. That Night in Rio (1941)
In The News
|
