ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[southendmd]

From IMDb:  Woman treks through jungle to find her missing husband, who had left her years before when he believed she was having an affair. She finds him as the drunken court physician to a tyrannical jungle prince; as if that isn't bad enough, she soon realizes the the prince has eyes for her.

[MaineWriter]

from filmsite.org:  A great horror classic. An obsessed Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates the hideous monster Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) out of body pieces, including a criminal brain. Karloff's rendition of the pathetic, innocent figure is superb. When the mad doctor's creation accidently drowns a little girl, the angry townspeople attack the creature.

[Meryl]

Starring a very young (24 years old) John Wayne, Virginia Cherrill and George Irving

Peter Brooks is a hard-working, hard-up college student whose dislike of women attending college weakens under the amorous advances of spoiled socialite coed Joan Madison.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  This fascinating film from 1931 was designed as almost a "history" of Paramount studios. They had been in business for some years when they decided to promote their stars and projects in this production. It even includes some ideas, clips, and proposals for the 1931-32 season, some of the projects which never came about. But the absolute highlight: The Marx Bros. in the "Monkey Business" promo!

[opinionista]

From IMDB:

An expedition enters an area of the Congo jungle to investigate reports of a gorilla-worshipping tribe. After many dangerous adventures, they come upon the tribe they sought, only to watch as a virgin is sacrificed to a huge gorilla, who takes her away. The expedition follows the gorilla in an attempt to save the woman

[Fran]

Plot outline (from IMDb):

Aspiring lyricist Fred Stevens leaves Schenectady for New York City, with hopes of making it big in the songwriting business.

An IMDb user comment:

This is a sappy adaptation of the infinitely better written Kaufman/Lardner play.  It would have been preferable to film the play as written, rather than having "hacks" rewrite and alter it (although one suspects that the competent Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who is credited as one of the "writers", must not have been too involved).  Despite the butcher job done on the text, the film (rarely shown) is pleasant in its own way and worth seeing for performances by Harry Akst as Max Schwartz and Wynne Gibson as Lucille Sears.  Jack Oakie fares well as Fred Stevens, the lyricists whose lyrics are unbelievable!  For comparison, check out the Jack Cassidy version.

[dot-matrix]

Cast: Walter Miller, Nora Lane, Dorothy Christy, Boris Karloff;
Directed by: B. Reeves Eason, Richard Thorpe

Richard Grant, imprisoned in India for a crime he did not commit, escapes and makes his way to Africa, where he encounters the sheik Mustapha, who not only possesses the evidence which will clear Grant but also the key to a fabulous diamond field.

[MaineWriter]

About the movie:

Little Caesar is a 1931 crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Glenda Farrell. The movie was adapted by Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited) from the novel by William R. Burnett. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

The story centers around small-time crook Caesar Enrico Bandello (aka "Rico", played by Edward G. Robinson) and friend Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.). Both men head for Chicago to find their fortune. Joe, who wants to be a dancer, is more interested in fame and women and eventually meets Olga (Glenda Farrell). Rico joins the gang of Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields) and quickly gains control of the group. He then proceeds to push his way to the top. Rico becomes worried that his friend, Joe Massara, will betray him. He threatens Joe that he must forget about Olga and tries to bring him back into a life of crime. Rico is then shaken from his throne when Joe Massara betrays him to the cops. Hurt though he may be, Rico cannot bring himself to kill his former best friend. Desperate and alone, he retreats to the gutters from which he sprang. But when newspapers label him a coward, the defiant thug comes out of hiding with guns blasting. Escaping from the police, he is gunned down in a gutter by his archrival Sergeant Flaherty (Thomas Jackson). The film ends with a shot of a billboard showing Joe and Olga as famed dancers, whereas Rico dies poor and alone, an unspoken prophetic message that hard work will pay off, but crime will not.

Interesting trivia:

It has been speculated, but never confirmed, that the anti-organized crime statutes in the United States were dubbed RICO in a sly homage to Little Caesar. The original drafter of the RICO bill has refused to confirm or deny this.

[memento]

[southendmd]

IMDb:  Gritty depression era flick, showing why Warner Bros. was the studio of record. It's tough broads here that get the leads. There's Stanwyck (before her teeth were fixed) and Blondell (gum-popping her way through the Nurse's Oath), both trying to survive grabby interns, unscrupulous doctors, murderous families, and no money. No, this isn't Young Doctor Kildare. Just compare Night Nurse with that sappy 1940's series for insight into what the Production Code did to social realism. Here nurses break the law, doctors violate their oath, and unless you go along, you don't work. Not exactly the professional AMA image. Sure, it's contrived melodrama. But there are elements of the real world here that would disappear from the screen for 35 years, courtesy the PC. Also included are gamey one-liners, mild strip scenes, and a really sardonic look at motherhood, along with a very scary Clark Gable. For a brief period from around 1930-34, Hollywood operated with the lid off, pressed by audiences with no work, no money and no prospects. Movies like NN reflect that reality, which was, of course, too unvarnished to survive. So catch up with this neglected period when you can, especially if the movie's from Warner Bros., like this little gem.

=aside=
For Leslie, RN