 Great Expectations 1934  N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Stuart Walker
Cast: Henry Hull, Phillips Holmes, Jane Wyatt, Florence Reed, Alan Hale, Rafaela Ottiano, Jackie Searl, Walter Brennan, Francis L. Sullivan, Harry Cording, George Barraud, Douglas Wood, Forrester Harvey, George P. Breakston, Eily Malyon
This is an early film of Charles Dickens' classic that follows the life of orphan Pip (George P. Breakston as young Pip and Phillips Holmes as older Pip) who is the foster child of blacksmith Joe Gargery (Alan Hale) and his not-so-nice wife, Mrs. Joe (Rafaela Ottiano) who befriends and comes to the aid of escaped convict Magwitch (Henry Hull). Pip falls in love with his childhood friend Estrella (Jane Wyatt) who is being raised by the bitter Mrs. Havisham (Florence Reed) to have higher expectations for her life than those of Pip. Later, Pip gains wealth through the help of a mysterious benefactor who, it turns out, is Magwitch repaying Pip for his friendship, and, by story's end, Pip is doing well in the Victorian world of the social elite.
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Huckleberry Finn 1931 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, Eugene Pallette, Jackie Searl, Clarence Muse, Clara Blandick, Jane Darwell, Oscar Apfel, Warner Richmond
Huckleberry Finn and Jim raft down the Mississippi in this Mark Twain classic about life on the Mississippi River. The same starring cast (Jackie Coogan, Mitzi Green, Junior Durkin, and Clara Blandick) appeared the previous year in "Tom Sawyer."
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Little Tough Guy 1938  N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Harold Young
Cast: Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly, David Gorcey, Hal E. Chester, Helen Parrish, Robert Wilcox, Marjorie Main, Olin Howland, Jackie Searl, Peggy Stewart
When the father is wrongly convicted of murder, his son (Billy Halop) puts together a group of youngsters to form a gang, and a crime spree follows. The "Little Tough Guys" were formed from a group that had formerly been in "Dead End Kids" movies, and a series of films followed with the new group. .
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My Little Chickadee 1940  N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward F. Cline
Cast: Mae West, W.C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran, Margaret Hamilton, Si Jenks, Fuzzy Knight, Anne Nagel, Ruth Donnelly, Donald Meek, Willard Robertson, Lloyd Ingraham, Jackie Searl, Lane Chandler, Al Bridge
Flower Belle Lee (Mae West) is kidnapped by the Masked Bandit/Jeff Badger (Joseph Calleia) during a stagecoach robbery. Later, when Belle returns to town, she is suspected of having sexual relations with the Masked Bandit and is run out of town. On the train, she meets Cuthbert J. Twille (W.C. Fields) and fakes a marriage to him. Now, they return to town as a "respectable" couple, and the fun begins. Just watching the cavorting of W.C. Fields and Mae West in the same film makes this movie worthwhile.
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The Paleface 1948 N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Comedy / Western
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Charles Trowbridge, Jeff York, Robert Armstrong, Iris Adrian, Bobby Watson, Jackie Searl, Joseph Vitale, Clem Bevans, Stanley Andrews, Wade Crosby, Chief Yowlachie, Iron Eyes Cody, John Maxwell
The song "Buttons and Bows" won the Academy Award for Best Song in this very entertaining comedy about the romance and marriage of Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) and frontier dentist "Painless" Peter Potter (Bob Hope) who she meets while investigating the selling of rifles to Indians.
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Peck's Bad Boy 1934  N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Edward F. Cline
Cast: Jackie Cooper, Thomas Meighan, Dorothy Peterson, Jackie Searl, O.P. Heggie, Gertrude Howard, Charles E. Evans, Larry Wheat, Harvey Clark, Lloyd Ingraham
Young Bill Peck (Jackie Cooper) and his widower father, Henry (Thomas Meighan), live a good, quiet life–until Aunt Lily (Dorothy Peterson) and Bill's cousin Horace (Jackie Searl) move in and attempt to ruin the father/son relationship.
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The Return of Casey Jones 1933 N/R, 67 min.
Genre: Action / Drama
aka: Train 2419
Director: John P. McCarthy
Cast: Charles Starrett, Ruth Hall, Robert Elliott, George "Gabby" Hayes, Jackie Searl, George Walsh, Margaret Seddon, Gordon De Main, George Nash, Anne Howard
Jim Martin (Charles Starrett) is a young railroad engineer who does not enlist in the military during World War I. Branded a coward by friends and neighbors, Jim gets advice from the legendary Casey Jones (Robert Elliott), and Jim proves his bravery on the home front when he prevents a train wreck.
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Skippy 1931 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green, Jackie Searl, Willard Robertson, Helen Jerome Eddy, Enid Bennett, Jack Clifford, Guy Oliver, Donald Haines
This film received nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, and Norman Taurog took home the Oscar for Best Director. Skippy (Jackie Cooper) is an all-American boy finding happiness and success in spite of not being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A sequel, "Sooky," was made later the same year.
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Sooky 1931 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Jackie Searl, Willard Robertson, Helen Jerome Eddy, Enid Bennett, Oscar Apfel, Tom Wilson, Gertrude Sutton, Harry Beresford
This sequel to "Skippy" again features boyhood friends Skippy (Jackie Cooper) and Sooky (Robert Coogan) in funny, yet sentimental, escapades around their neighborhood.
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Tom Sawyer 1930 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Mitzi Green, Lucien Littlefield, Tully Marshall, Clara Blandick, Jackie Searl, Ethel Wales, Dick Winslow, Jane Darwell
Mark Twain's classic is given good treatment in this, the first "talkie" version of the story, with more to follow. The same starring cast (Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Mitzi Green, and Clara Blandick) took the same roles the following year in "Huckleberry Finn."
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Topaze 1933 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Harry d'Abbadie D'Arrast
Cast: John Barrymore, Myrna Loy, Albert Conti, Luis Alberni, Reginald Mason, Jackie Searl, Frank Reicher, Jobyna Howland, Lowden Adams, Rolfe Sedan
Based on Marcel Pagnot's satire, this is the story of a timid French schoolteacher, Auguste Topaze (John Barrymore), who is duped into keeping silent about an unscrupulous scam being perpetrated by the Baron de Lateur (Reginald Mason). This film was later remade as "I Like Money" a.k.a. "I Like Money."
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| 1. Great Expectations (1934)
2. Huckleberry Finn (1931)
3. Little Tough Guy (1938)
4. My Little Chickadee (1940)
5. The Paleface (1948)
6. Peck's Bad Boy (1934)
7. The Return of Casey Jones (1933)
aka: Train 2419
8. Skippy (1931)
9. Sooky (1931)
10. Tom Sawyer (1930)
11. Topaze (1933)
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