The Big City 1937 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Frank Borzage Cast: Luise Rainer, Spencer Tracy, Charley Grapewin, Janet Beecher, Eddie Quillan, William Demarest, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Regis Toomey, Paul Harvey, Victor Varconi
Russian immigrant Joe Benton (Spencer Tracy) is an independent cabby who gets caught up in a taxi-driver war.
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The Black Camel 1931 N/R, 67 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Hamilton MacFadden Cast: Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, Dorothy Revier, Robert Young, Victor Varconi, J.M. Kerrigan, Mary Gordon, Richard Tucker, C. Henry Gordon
A young actress is murdered, and Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) steps in to investigate a string of murders in Hawaii.
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The Divine Lady 1929 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Frank Lloyd Cast: Corinne Griffith, Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner, Ian Keith, Marie Dressler, Dorothy Cumming, William Conklin, Montagu Love, Helen Jerome Eddy, Julia Swayne Gordon, Michael Vavitch, Evelyn Hall
Amidst exciting sea battles, this film tells the story of the scandalous affair between Lady Hamilton (Corinne Griffith) and Lord Horatio Nelson (Victor Varconi), which leads to her influence providing supplies for Nelson's fleet and, ultimately, the British victory. Frank Lloyd won an Academy Award for Best Director.
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Eternal Love 1929 N/R, 95 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, Victor Varconi, Hobart Bosworth, Bodil Rosing, Mona Rico, Evelyn Selbie
Director Lubitsch's and John Barrymore's final silent film before moving into talkies, this tale, based on a novel by Jakob Christopher Beer, is set in the Swiss Alps (filmed in the Canadian Rockies). A couple, each of whom is in a loveless marriage, carries on a secret romance; but when the woman's husband is murdered, they are on the run. A real tearjerker, but well told.
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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).
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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
In an attempt to ensure her son (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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For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943 N/R, 130 min. Genre: Drama / Adventure / Romance
Director: Sam Wood Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Arturo de Cordova, Joseph Calleia, Katina Paxinou, Vladimir Sokoloff, Mikhail Rasumny, Fortunio Bonanova, Frank Puglia, Eric Feldary, Victor Varconi, Alexander Granach
Set in the Spanish Civil War, American Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper) helps a band of peasant guerillas blow up a bridge. While hiding in the hills, Jordan meets and falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman) who has suffered at the hands of Franco's forces. Katina Paxinou won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. The film also received eight nominations, including Best Picture, Actor (Cooper), Actress (Bergman), and Supporting Actor (Akim Tamiroff).
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The King of Kings 1927 N/R, 115 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Cecil B. DeMille Cast: H.B. Warner, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, Victor Varconi, Jacqueline Logan, William Boyd, Dorothy Comming, James Neill, Joseph Striker, Robert Edeson, Sidney D'Albrook, David Imboden, Charles Belcher, Clayton Packard, Robert Ellsworth
Cecil B. DeMille's silent epic film tells the story of Christ. The story begins with glamorous courtesan Mary Magdalene (Jacqueline Logan), who is upset with Judas (Joseph Schildkraut) and goes to Jesus (H.B. Warner) and repents her sins. The story then continues through Jesus' life, betrayal, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Of interest is that the "Resurrection" scene is filmed in two-color Technicolor. This film was remade in 1961.
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King of the Newsboys 1938 N/R, 65 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Bernard Vorhaus Cast: Lew Ayres, Helen Mack, Alison Skipworth, Victor Varconi, Sheila Bromley, Alice White, Horace McMahon, William "Billy" Benedict, Ray Cooke, Jack Pennick, Mary Cornman, Gloria Rich, Oscar O'Shea, Marjorie Main
After Jerry Flynn's (Lew Ayres) girlfriend Mary Ellen Stephens (Helen Mack) gives in to her materialism and leaves him for gangster Wire Arno (Victor Varconi) who can give her all that she thinks she wants, Jerry pours his time and energy into a newspaper trucking business. His efforts pay off, Jerry obtains wealth, and sets out to regain Mary's affections. By story's end, Jerry has lost the business–but not Mary.
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Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation 1939 N/R, 65 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: Norman Foster Cast: Peter Lorre, Joseph Schildkraut, Lionel Atwill, Virginia Field, John "Dusty" King, Iva Stewart, Victor Varconi, John Bleifer, Harry Strang, John Davidson
This is the final in the series of J.P. Marquand's clever, polite Mr. Moto played by Peter Lorre. Mr. Moto guards the crown of the Queen Of Sheba, which is on its way to a museum. But the master thief is nearby. A good finale to the successful and entertaining series.
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My Favorite Blonde 1942 N/R, 78 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Sidney Lanfield Cast: Bob Hope, Madeleine Carroll, Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco, Victor Varconi, Lionel Royce, Walter Kingsford, Edward Gargan, Charles Cane, Bing Crosby, Otto Reichow, Esther Howard, James Burke, Dooley Wilson, Milton Parsons
Vaudeville entertainer Larry Haines (Bob Hope) performs on the stage with his trained penguin. While on a train bound for Los Angeles, Larry meets Karen (Madeleine Carroll) who is a spy. She talks Larry into helping her escape from Nazi agents, and he agrees. Now both of them are on the lam trying to escape their pursuers while the penguin, unbeknownst to Larry, is used by Karen to carry secret documents. Watch for Bing Crosby in his cameo appearance as the man giving Larry and Karen directions.
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Roberta 1935 N/R, 106 min. Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: William A. Seiter Cast: Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Claire Dodd, Luis Alberni, Lucille Ball, Victor Varconi, Ferdinand Munier, Torben Meyer, Adrian Rosley, Bodil Rosing, Lynne Carver, Mary Forbes
Football star John Kent (Randolph Scott) travels to Paris with "Huck" Haines' (Fred Astaire) band. But, when the band is told by the proprietor that he does not want them to perform, they head to John's Aunt Roberta's (Helen Westley) posh fashion boutique. They meet Huck's old girlfriend Lizzie (Ginger Rogers) who is now the singer Comtesse Schyarwenka, and she finds a job for the band. Meanwhile, Aunt Roberta passes away, and John inherits the boutique and enters into a partnership with Aunt Roberta's assistant Stephanie (Irene Dunne). This is a very early Astaire/Rogers pairing, and it is worthwhile viewing.
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Strange Cargo 1940 N/R, 111 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Frank Borzage Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Ian Hunter, Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas, Albert Dekker, J. Edward Bromberg, Eduardo Ciannelli, Victor Varconi, Paul Fix, John Arledge, Frederick Worlock, Bernard Nedell, Betty Compson, Francis McDonald
Convicts escape from a penal colony off the coast of South America. They board a sloop commandeered by another escapee Andre Verne (Clark Gable), and his girlfriend Julie (Joan Crawford) joins the group. Another in the group is a mystic, Cambreau (Ian Hunter), and, one-by-one, the escapees come under his spell as they die. Few survive the trip, but at the end, Verne believes that Cambreau is God, and he repents. Now, Verne returns to serve out the rest of his sentence, and Julie agrees to be there for him when he is released.
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They Raid by Night 1942 N/R, 80 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet Cast: Lyle Talbot, June Duprez, Victor Varconi, George N. Neise, Charley Rogers, Paul Baratoff, Leslie Denison, Crane Whitley, Sven Hugo Borg, Eric Wilton, Pierce Lyden, John(2) Beck
British Commando Capt. Robert Owen (Lyle Talbot) leads a mission to Norway where he plans to overpower the Gestapo and use their uniforms when he and his men rescue a Norwegian General (Paul Baratoff) from a Nazi prison camp.
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Unconquered 1947 N/R, 135 min. Genre: Western / Adventure / Drama / Romance
Director: Cecil B. DeMille Cast: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Ward Bond, Virginia Grey, Lloyd Bridges, Marc Lawrence, Cecil Kellaway, C. Aubrey Smith, Virginia Campbell, Katherine DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon, Victor Varconi, Richard Gaines
During the French and Indian War, Abby Hale (Paulette Goddard) is sentenced to slavery in America. Slave master Martin Garth (Howard Da Silva) covets Abby and tries to buy her, but Captain Christopher Holden (Gary Cooper) outbids him. The treacherous Garth conspires with the Indians to rid the wilderness of the settlers, and, in turn, he will gain a monopoly on the fur trade. Many problems ensue and are settled before Abby and Holden realize that they are in love with each other and plan to live happily ever after. Another Cecil B. DeMille extravaganza.
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Where There's Life 1947 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Sidney Lanfield Cast: Bob Hope, Signe Hasso, William Bendix, George Coulouris, Vera Marshe, George Zucco, Dennis Hoey, John Alexander, Victor Varconi, Joseph Vitale
When a radio star (Bob Hope) thinks he is named the heir to a mythical throne, he pulls out all stops to evade a meeting with those who are carrying the news to him.
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| 1. The Atomic Submarine (1959)
2. The Big City (1937)
3. The Black Camel (1931)
4. The Divine Lady (1929)
5. Eternal Love (1929)
6. Everything Happens at Night (1939)
7. A Feather in Her Hat (1935)
8. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
9. The King of Kings (1927)
10. King of the Newsboys (1938)
11. Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
12. My Favorite Blonde (1942)
13. Roberta (1935)
14. Strange Cargo (1940)
15. They Raid by Night (1942)
16. Unconquered (1947)
17. Where There's Life (1947)
In The News
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