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.
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The Buccaneer 1938  N/R, 124 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Margot Grahame, Akim Tamiroff, Walter Brennan, Anthony Quinn, Ian Keith, Spring Byington, Douglass Dumbrille, Robert Barrat, Beulah Bondi, Fred Kohler, Hugh Sothern, John Rogers, Hans Steinke
Pirate Jean Lafitte (Fredric March) allies with the United States in the War of 1812 and is able to beat the British on the high seas. Pretty good; typical DeMille saga.
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Bulldog Drummond Comes Back 1937 N/R, 64 min.
Genre: Mystery / Adventure / Thriller
Director: Louis King
Cast: John Barrymore, John Howard, Louise Campbell, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive, J. Carrol Naish, John Sutton, Helen Freeman, Zeffie Tilbury, Rita Page, Phyllis Barry, Ivo Henderson, Colin Kenny, John Rogers, John Ward
Bulldog Drummond (John Howard) must rescue his fiancee Phyllis Claverling (Louise Campbell) from kidnappers Mikhail Valdin (J. Carroll Naish) and his sister, Erena Soldanis (Helen Freeman). The kidnappers have already murdered an American millionaire, and Bulldog might be their next victim. The trail leads to a haunted house in a remote fishing village where Bulldog is captured. Bulldog's life is definitely in danger–until Scotland Yard's Col. Nielson (John Barrymore) disguises himself as a fisherman and frees Bulldog and Phyllis.
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 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1932  N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Drama / Horror / Thriller
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Halliwell Hobbes, Holmes Herbert, Edgar Norton, Douglas Walton, Sam Harris, Tempe Pigott, Eric Wilton, Arnold Lucy, G.L. McDonnell, John Rogers
Fredric March won the Oscar for his performance in this, the first, sound production of the famous tale by Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Jekyll (March) experiments with good and evil and drinks a potion after which his dark side emerges as the evil Mr. Hyde whose lecherous appetite is unrestrained. Dr. Jekyll is unable to restrain Mr. Hyde, and tragedy ensues.
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A Feather in Her Hat 1935 N/R, 72 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Alfred Santell
Cast: Pauline Lord, Louis Hayward, Basil Rathbone, Billie Burke, Wendy Barrie, Thurston Hall, J.M. Kerrigan, David Niven, Victor Varconi, Nydia Westman, Nana Bryant, Doris Lloyd, John Rogers, Alma Chester, Lawrence Grant
In an attempt to ensure her son Richard (Louis Hayward) a better chance in life, Clarissa Phipps (Pauline Lord) falsifies his identity to make it appear that he did not come from a humble heritage.
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Jane Eyre 1934 N/R, 62 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Christy Cabanne
Cast: Virginia Bruce, Colin Clive, Beryl Mercer, Jameson Thomas, Aileen Pringle, David Torrence, Lionel Belmore, Edith Fellows, John Rogers, Jean Darling, Ethel Griffies, Claire Du Brey, William Burress, Richard Quine, Joan Standing
As an orphan, Jane (Jean Darling), is sent to an orphanage where she suffers cruel treatment from the headmaster Mr. Brocklehurst (David Torrence). The years pass, and the grown-up Jane (now played by Virginia Bruce) accepts the job of governess at the home of wealthy Edward Rochester (Colin Clive). Jane, at last, is happy, but that all changes when she hears unexplained screams at night and learns that Edward's insane wife Bertha (Claire Du Brey) is hidden in a room of the house. Meanwhile, Edward falls in love with Jane and asks her to marry him, but Bertha ruins their plans, and Jane moves away. Later, Bertha sets fire to the house, and Edward is blinded by the fire. When Jane learns about the fire, she returns to Edward and convinces him that she loves him.
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Klondike Annie 1936 N/R, 78 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Mae West, Victor McLaglen, Phillip Reed, Helen Jerome Eddy, Harry Beresford, Harold Huber, Lucile Gleason, Conway Tearle, Esther Howard, Soo Yong, John Rogers, Ted Oliver, Lawrence Grant, Gene Austin, Vladimar Bykoff
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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Lassie Come Home 1943 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Drama
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Elizabeth Taylor, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, J. Pat O'Malley, Alec Craig, Arthur Shields, Ben Webster, John Rogers, Alan Napier, Nelson Leigh, George Broughton
The Carracloughs–parents (Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester) and their son Joe (Roddy McDowall)–are a poor Yorkshire family. Needing money, they sell their collie, Lassie, to the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce) who takes her home to Scotland where his granddaughter Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor) adores Lassie. But, Lassie misses the Carracloughs, escapes from her new home, and makes the long trip back to Yorkshire.
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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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Raffles 1930 N/R, 72 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: Harry d'Abbadie D'Arrast
Cast: Ronald Colman, Kay Francis, Bramwell Fletcher, Frances Dade, David Torrence, Alison Skipworth, John Rogers, Wilson Benge, Virginia Bruce, Frederick Kerr, Robert Adair, Florence Wix
Based on E.W. Hornung's story of ex-policeman A.J. Raffles (Ronald Colman) who finds thievery more profitable than that of his former profession, this is an entertaining film.
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Think Fast, Mr. Moto 1937 N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Norman Foster
Cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck, Sig Ruman, Murray Kinnell, John Rogers, Lotus Long, George Cooper, J. Carrol Naish, Frederick Vogeding
This is the first of a successful series of Mr. Moto, master detective, with Peter Lorre in the role of the clever Japanese sleuth. In this episode, Mr. Moto is on his way from San Francisco to Shanghai–hot on the trail of diamond smugglers. A good entry into the series.
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Typhoon 1940 N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Adventure / Comedy
Director: Louis King
Cast: Dorothy Lamour, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, J. Carrol Naish, Chief Thundercloud, Frank Reicher, Paul Harvey, Jack Carson, Al Kikume, John Rogers
Adventure mixed with comedy prevails when sailors discover Dea (Dorothy Lamour) living alone on a tropical island where, since childhood, she has survived in isolation from the outside world.
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| 1. Behind That Curtain (1929)
2. The Buccaneer (1938)
3. Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937)
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
5. A Feather in Her Hat (1935)
6. Jane Eyre (1934)
7. Klondike Annie (1936)
8. Lassie Come Home (1943)
9. Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
10. Raffles (1930)
11. Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
12. Typhoon (1940)
In The News
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