Animal Crackers 1930 N/R, 98 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Victor Heerman Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Lillian Roth, Robert Greig, Louis Sorin, Hal Thompson, Margaret Irving
Capt. Jeffrey Spaulding (Groucho Marx) is being honored upon his return from Africa. The party becomes the centerpiece for a scheme to substitute a forgery for a valuable painting. Uproariously funny film. Groucho Marx: "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know."
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Charlie Chan at the Opera 1936 N/R, 68 min. Genre: Mystery / Drama / Thriller
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone Cast: Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, Charlotte Henry, Keye Luke, Thomas Beck, William Demarest, Gregory Gaye, Frank Conroy, Guy Usher, Selmer Jackson, Margaret Irving, Nedda Harrigan, Maurice Cass
This is one of the best in the long line of Charlie Chan films. In this outing, Chan (Warner Oland) solves the disappearance of a mental patient and two murders during an opera performance. Boris Karloff plays a baritone, who has more than a few mental problems in this thirteenth film in the series.
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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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Thanks a Million 1935 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Roy Del Ruth Cast: Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Fred Allen, Patsy Kelly, Raymond Walburn, David Rubinoff, Benny Baker, Andrew Tombes, Alan Dinehart, Paul Harvey, Edwin Maxwell, Margaret Irving, Charles Richman, Lynn Bari, Harry Stubbs
Eric Land (Dick Powell) is the leading man in a traveling musical show whose manager Ned Lyman (Fred Allen) talks him into taking the place of an alcoholic candidate and running for the office of Governor of Pennsylvania. The campaigning proves disastrous for Eric's relationship with his girlfriend Sally (Ann Dvorak), and Eric wants out of politics. However, the people now love Eric, and he wins the election–and Sally as well.
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| 1. Animal Crackers (1930)
2. Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
3. San Francisco (1936)
4. Thanks a Million (1935)
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