 After the Thin Man 1936  N/R, 113 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Sam Levene, Joseph Calleia, George Zucco, Paul Fix, Jessie Ralph, Alan Marshal
Nick, Nora, and Asta are back in another delightfully clever film in which one of Nora's upper-crust relatives might be a murderer. William Powell and Myrna Loy are incomparable as Nick and Nora Charles, and Asta, of course, is the terrier with an attitude.
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 The Bank Dick 1940 N/R, 74 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward F. Cline
Cast: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard, George Moran, Dick Purcell, Pierre Watkin, Eddie Acuff, Russell Hicks, Al Hill, Jack Norton, Bill Wolfe
After a bank robber trips over the park bench that barfly Egbert Souse (W.C. Fields) is lying on, the robber is caught, and Egbert becomes the town hero. Egbert is given a job at the bank as a guard and becomes involved in a bank scam convincing Og Oggilby (Grady Sutton)–who happens to be the fiance of Egbert's daughter Myrtle (Una Merkel)–to embezzle funds to buy shares in the Beefsteak Mines. When bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington (Franklin Pangborn) arrives on the scene, mayhem ensues culminating in a great car chase. W.C. Fields' mastery of the comic art makes this film a classic.
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The Blue Bird 1940  N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Walter Lang
Cast: Shirley Temple, Spring Byington, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Eddie Collins, Sybil Jason, Jessie Ralph, Helen Ericson, Johnny Russell, Laura Hope Crews, Russell Hicks, Cecilia Loftus, Gene Reynolds, Stanley Andrews
In a change of character for Shirley Temple, she plays a little brat who leaves home but finds that happiness can only be found through unselfishness.
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Cafe Society 1939 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward H. Griffith
Cast: Madeleine Carroll, Fred MacMurray, Shirley Ross, Jessie Ralph, Claude Gillingwater, Allyn Joslyn, Charles Trowbridge, Frank Dawson, Dorothy Tree, Don Alvarado
A socialite, Christopher (Madeleine Carroll), marries newspaper reporter Crick O'Bannon (Fred MacMurray) on a bet and later falls in love with him.
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 Camille 1936  N/R, 108 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Jessie Ralph, Henry Daniell, Laura Hope Crews, E.E. Clive, Joan Leslie, Fritz Leiber Jr., Lenore Ulric, Rex O'Malley, Eily Malyon, Olaf Hytten, Gwendolyn Logan
In one of Greta Garbo's most famous roles, she plays the Parisian prostitute, Camille, who has been supported by her consort, the wealthy Baron de Varville (Henry Daniell). Love does not enter the picture until Camille meets French nobleman Armand Duvall (Robert Taylor), and he becomes the love of her life. Camille decides to leave the baron and then finds that Armand's father (Lionel Barrymore) disapproves of her past and wants her to leave his son alone. Camille tries to leave Armand, but Armand pursues and supports Camille even as she lies dying from tuberculosis. Based on Alexandre Dumas' novel, this is also the story that Verdi used for "La Traviata."
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Double Wedding 1937 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Florence Rice, John Beal, Edgar Kennedy, Sidney Toler, Mary Gordon, Jessie Ralph, Donald Meek, Katharine Alexander
While taking on Cupid's role to promote the wedding of Irene (Florence Rice), artist Charlie Lodge (William Powell) and Irene's sister Margit (Myrna Loy) find their own romance.
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Drums Along the Mohawk 1939 N/R, 130 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Western
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver, John Carradine, Eddie Collins, Jessie Ralph, Arthur Shields, Robert Lowery, Roger Imhof, Ward Bond, Dorris Bowdon, Francis Ford, Kay Linaker, Spencer Charters
As settlers encroached more and more on Indian lands, those on the frontier outskirts were often victims of Indian attacks. This is the sympathetic story of one young couple (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) who tried to start life anew on the fringes of American civilization during the Revolutionary War.
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Enchanted April 1935  N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Ann Harding, Frank Morgan, Katharine Alexander, Reginald Owen, Jane Baxter, Ralph Forbes, Jessie Ralph, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Ethel Griffies, May Beatty, Inez Palange, Gwendolyn Logan, Hector Samo
This is a good rendition of Elizabeth von Arnim's novel about two English women–Lottie Wilkins (Ann Harding) and Rose Arbuthnot (Katherine Alexander)–who have had enough of their husbands and take off for a vacation and a better life. They rent a castle overlooking the Mediterranean in San Salvatore, Italy. Joining them in Italy are Mrs. Fisher (Jessie Ralph) and Lady Caroline (Jane Baxter). Now, the four ladies spend their month together supposedly free from their husbands–but not without complications. Remade in 1992.
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Evelyn Prentice 1934 N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: William K. Howard
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel, Rosalind Russell, Harvey Stephens, Isabel Jewell, Frank Conroy, Henry Wadsworth, Edward Brophy, Jessie Ralph
Successful lawyer John Prentice (William Powell) and his wife Evelyn (Myrna Loy) unwittingly become involved in blackmail and murder.
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The Garden Murder Case 1936 N/R, 61 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Edmund Lowe, Virginia Bruce, Benita Hume, Gene Lockhart, Nat Pendleton, H.B. Warner, Kent Smith, Grant Mitchell, Douglas Walton, Frieda Inescort, Henry B. Walthall, Jessie Ralph
The number of actors who play the suave Philo Vance continues to mount as Edmund Lowe takes on the role of the master sleuth. People are dying from what appear to be accidents, and Philo is called in by the police to help. He finds that hypnotism is involved, and he is almost a victim as he nears the perpetrator.
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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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The Last of Mrs. Cheyney 1937 N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Jessie Ralph, Nigel Bruce, Benita Hume, Melville Cooper, Ralph Forbes, Sara Haden
This remake of the 1929 film casts Joan Crawford in the title role of an American jewel thief who travels in upper-crust London society where her victims are easy prey. This film, too, was remade in 1951 as "The Law and the Lady."
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 Les Miserables 1935 N/R, 109 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Florence Eldridge, Rochelle Hudson, Marilyn Knowlden, Frances Drake, Jessie Ralph, John Carradine, Ferdinand Gottschalk
This excellent movie deals with a starving man, Jean Valjean (Fredric March), who steals a loaf of bread and is tormented ever after. There are several versions, both before and after this one. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
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Little Lord Fauntleroy 1936 N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, C. Aubrey Smith, Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson, Mickey Rooney, Constance Collier, E.E. Clive, Una O'Connor, Jessie Ralph
This is a well-done version of the classic where a boy from New York becomes a British lord.
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Metropolitan 1935 N/R, 75 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Lawrence Tibbett, Virginia Bruce, Alice Brady, Cesar Romero, Thurston Hall, Luis Alberni, Jane Darwell, Walter Brennan, Jessie Ralph, Ruth Donnelly
Thomas Renwick (Lawrence Tibbett) and Anne Merrill (Virginia Bruce) form their own opera company in Philadelphia when they fail to be accepted by the Metropolitan Opera Company.
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Murder at the Vanities 1934 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama / Mystery / Musical
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Carl Brisson, Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Dorothy Stickney, Gertrude Michael, Jessie Ralph, Charles Middleton, Gail Patrick, Donald Meek, Otto Hoffman, Charles McAvoy, Toby Wing, Duke Ellington, Lucille Ball
It is opening night of a new Broadway show when detective Sadie Evans (Gail Patrick) is found murdered, and soon after Rita Ross (Gertrude Michael) is also killed. The show's stage manager Jack Ellery (Jack Oakie) calls his friend, police Lt. Bill Burdock (Victor McLaglen), to investigate. The show continues, and Murdock–between musical numbers–works to find the murderer before the end of the show. Songs include "Marijuana," "Where Do They Come from Now," and "Cocktails for Two."
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Nana 1934 N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Dorothy Arzner
Cast: Anna Sten, Phillips Holmes, Lionel Atwill, Richard Bennett, Mae Clark, Muriel Kirkland, Reginald Owen, Jessie Ralph, Lawrence Grant, Helen Freeman
This is the film adaptation of Zola's tragic story about an aristocratic Parisian, Nana (Anna Sten), and her decision to stop at nothing to reunite two brothers.
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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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They Met in Bombay 1941 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, Peter Lorre, Jessie Ralph, Reginald Owen, Eduardo Ciannelli, Alan Ladd, Matthew Boulton, Jay Novello, Luis Alberni
Two jewel thieves join forces and romance blooms in this comedy given impetus by Peter Lorre as a greedy ship captain.
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We Live Again 1934  N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Anna Sten, Fredric March, Jane Baxter, C. Aubrey Smith, Ethel Griffies, Jessie Ralph, Sam Jaffe
This film is based on Tolstoy's "Resurrection" about a Russian nobleman, Prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov (Fredric March), who falls in love with Katusha Maslova (Anna Sten), a woman beneath his social station.
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| 1. After the Thin Man (1936)
2. The Bank Dick (1940)
3. The Blue Bird (1940)
4. Cafe Society (1939)
5. Camille (1936)
6. Double Wedding (1937)
7. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
8. Enchanted April (1935)
9. Evelyn Prentice (1934)
10. The Garden Murder Case (1936)
11. The Good Earth (1937)
12. The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
13. Les Miserables (1935)
14. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
15. Metropolitan (1935)
16. Murder at the Vanities (1934)
17. Nana (1934)
18. San Francisco (1936)
19. They Met in Bombay (1941)
20. We Live Again (1934)
In The News
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