March Movie Madness!

Another month's worth of movies in the can! First I caught up from February, revisiting 6 more films I hadnt seen in many years, then on to "new-to-me" films for the rest of the month. I fell short again only viewing 22 more films so I have to play catch up again in April (9 films), then its back to stuff I haven't seen in a long time...

Artman's rating system:
**** = awesome!
*** = solid!
** = watchable!
* = lame!
BOMB = sucked!

an *asterisk after the year and studio indicates "new-to-me"

March 3^rd

“Bullets or Ballots” 1936 WB

Edward G Robinson plays a down on his luck policeman who is enlisted by a special squad to go undercover and expose “the rackets” run by Barton MacLane. Humphrey Bogart as MacLane’s number one man and Joan Blondell as Eddie G.’s sort-of-girlfriend round out the supporting cast. Nicely made, tough and fast-moving little picture. ** ½

“Back in Circulation” 1937 WB

Joan Blondell and Pat O’Brien make the most of this newspaper reporter’s tale. Very fast pacing, rapid-fire dialogue and a great cast make the most of it. This is the kind of film that was done better in the pre-code era buts its still decent entertainment. Joanie looks fantastic! ** ½

March 4^th

“Off the Record” 1939 WB

Joan Blondell and Pat O’Brien team up once again for another newspaper reporter type story. This time they’re married and take in a young hood well-played by Bobby Jordan. Fun picture moves right along and once again Joanie is a doll! ** ½

Vintage still from my collection

March 5^th

“The Kid from Kokomo” 1939 WB

Joan Blondell is relegated to third billing in her last film with Pat O’Brien at WB (maybe her last at WB, period!). Pat plays a fast (and LOUD!) talking boxing manager who cajoles hayseed Wayne Morris to let him make him the world’s champion, this time by promising to find his long-lost mother! What transpires is ridiculous to say the least but awfully funny at times thanks to the three leads as well as May Robson, Stanley Fields and Sidney Toler. **

March 6^th

“Broadway Gondolier” 1935 WB

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell team up again for a silly and fun excuse to let him sing a lot of songs and for her to crack wise and run around looking fantastic! Adolph Menjou is a hoot as a washed up Italian Opera singer. Excellent Art Deco sets throughout! ** ½

“Stand-In” 1937 WW

A Solid, entertaining film wherein Leslie Howard, playing a brilliant but very straight-laced bank accountant, goes out to Hollywood to find out why the studio his firm owns is losing money. Joan Blondell plays his secretary. Humphrey Bogart is a boozing cynical producer. C Henry Gordon, Jack Carson, Tully Marshall and Alan Mowbray round out the supporting cast. Shows plenty of the backstage, behind the scenes goings on in Hollywood. I enjoyed this much more than I did the first and only time I saw it many years ago on AMC. ***

ok I'm all caught up from February...onto the new-to-me titles now!

“East Side of Heaven” 1939 Universal *

Mildly entertaining vehicle for Der Bingle with able support from Joan Blondell, C Aubrey Smith, Jerome Cowan and the hilarious Mischa Auer. As with all Bing flicks, there are too many songs and he is a rather bland sort besides. A cute enough picture but just not my style I guess. **

“The Corpse Came C.O.D.” 1947 Columbia *

Mildly amusing murder mystery/comedy with Joan Blondell teamed up with her old WB alumni George Brent. They play two rival reporters after the same story (of course!) Moves right along and Joanie is adorable! **

March 7^th

“Cry Havoc” 1943 MGM *

Hard-boiled WWII drama of military nurses and volunteer civilians in a camp in the Philippines. Based on a play, much of the film takes place in the nurse’s bunker where we see the trials and hardships endured in those months leading to the fall of Bataan. Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Fay Bainter, Ella Raines, Marsha Hunt, Frances Gifford and Joan Blondell make up a very sturdy cast. Grittier and better than I expected. ** ½

March 10th

“Dames” 1934 WB *

Yet another “We’re gonna put on the greatest show ever!” type film to showcase more Busby Berkeley insanity! The plot of this one is thinner than most but Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Zazu Pitts keep it interesting! Once again Joanie is just a dazzling knockout in Orry-Kelly fashions! Her first scene with Kibbee is hilarious! ** ½

March 11^th

“Crooner” 1932 WB *

Silly, predictable but still mildly entertaining film stars David Manners as a bandleader-turned-crooner whose swelled head leads to his downfall. The most redeeming aspect of this picture is the presence of Ann Dvorak, sadly underused but still manages to give the film some punch, especially in one dramatic scene where she lets manners know where to get off! She looks great too! **

 My vintage Lobby Card for "Crooner" 1932

March 12^th

“Friends of Mr. Sweeney” 1934 WB *

Funny, at times hilarious, film about a milquetoast newspaper editor, played perfectly by Charlie Ruggles, who at the badgering of his old college chum Eugene Pallette, decides to stop being a “Gimpus”! Ann Dvorak plays his sweet, beautiful secretary who of course is in love with him. Episodic and not all together coherent but its too much fun to care! ** ½

“Gentlemen Are Born” 1934 WB *

Interesting drama of four college chums who go out into the real “Depression Era” world after graduation, determined to take on the world, but finding out its not as easy as they thought! The cast is first-rate, with Franchot Tone, Dick Foran, Ross Alexander, Jean Muir, Ann Dvorak and Margaret Lindsay all giving out with fine performances. Sadly Ann’s character was phased out of the story far too soon but she made the most of it. ** ½

Franchot Tone and Margaret Lindsay

“Girls of the Road” 1939 Columbia *

Ann Dvorak takes center stage for a change in this interesting low budget quickie about the problems of women living on the road. Helen Mack and especially Lola Lane match Ann’s performance. Fairly gritty although one cant help but laugh that no matter what happens they always seem to have lipstick and mascara handy! ** ½

Ann Dvorak and Marjorie King

March 16^th

“The Lash” 1930 WB *

Richard Barthelmess stars as a Mexican returning home to California after four years to find a much different world from what it was when he left. He ends up as outlaw “El Puma”, hunted by whites and eventually shunned by his own people for bringing more hatred and bigotry to them. Interesting film, never really hits the mark but Barthelmess and also Mary Astor are always worth seeing regardless. ** 1/2

Marion Nixon and Richard Barthelmess

March 20^th

“Weary River” 1929 WB *

Fascinating silent/talkie hybrid with a great performance by Richard Barthelmess as a big shot gangster sent to the pen where he changes he ways by exploring his love of music. Betty Compson is wonderful as his very devoted and loving girlfriend and Robert Emmett O’Connor has a great scene as, of course…a cop! The way the film switched from silent to talking and back again was really interesting and served the film well! Nice work by director Frank Lloyd. ***

Betty Compson

March 23^rd

“Mary Stevens, M.D.” 1933 WB *

Typical pre-code Kay Francis tear-jerker with Lyle Talbot playing a typical charismatic weakling jerk but its played well and is pretty racy and hard-hitting despite being extremely far-fetched. Thelma Todd has a few scenes and looked dynamite! ** ½

March 25^th

“The Cheat” 1931 Paramount *

Silly excuse to have Tallulah Bankhead chew the scenery, which she did in an intense pull-out-all-the-stops courtroom conclusion. **

Tallulah Daaaaahling!

March 26^th

“Merrily We Go To Hell” 1932 Paramount *

Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney elevate this tale of a sweet rich young woman marrying a drunken reporter turned playwright who cant seem to let go of his past involvement with an actress. For most of the picture I really hated March’s character’s guts, he was so inconsiderate and weak, but the resolution, brilliantly played out by him as always, saved the whole film for me. At this point in her career Sylvia had to be one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood but she also had a fiery talent and was extremely good in this. The two leads really sparred well but also showed convincing tenderness in the sweeter scenes. Cary Grant was amusing in a small role. ***

Sylvia Sidney

March 28^th

“Hot Saturday” 1932 Paramount *

Interesting little film about small town girl Nancy Carol’s life getting turned upside down because of rampant gossip. Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Jane Darwell, Eddie Woods, Lillian Bond and Grady Sutton round out the cast. Its easy to see why Paramount was promoting cutie Carol as the “New” Clara Bow but her screen presence is no where near the level of the “It” girl! **

Cary Grant, Nancy Carol and Eddie Woods

March 29^th

“A Notorious Affair” 1930 WB *

Beautiful Billie Dove made her talking film debut in this turgid melodrama. Basil Rathbone plays a rather unlikable violinist and Kay Francis pretty much steals the show as a woman with many dalliances. Both of the women look gorgeous and that is the chief reason to sit through this film. **

“Thirty Day Princess” 1934 Paramount *

Delightful romantic comedy with standout performances from Sylvia Sidney as a princess and an amateur actress who bear an uncanny resemblance to each other! Cary Grant, Edward Arnold, Henry Stephenson and Vince Barnett all do fine work as well. Has the added benefit of a sharp screenplay by the great Preston Sturges. Sylvia is drop dead beautiful and shows she is as adept at light comedy as she is with heavy drama. ***

 Sylvia Sidney

“Passion Flower” 1930 MGM *

Interesting but flawed love-triangle story with first-rate performances by Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford and Kay Francis. ** ½

The great Charles Bickford with Kay Francis

“Three Who Loved” 1931 RKO *

Another love-triangle tale with Betty Compson, Conrad Nagel and Robert Ames. A few interesting story ideas and a nice turn by Robert Emmet O’Connor as a cop (again) make it worthwhile. **

“Street of Women” 1932 WB *

Enjoyable Kay Francis vehicle has her playing the “inspiration” to an unhappily married big city architect. Plot takes some interesting turns and despite how far-fetched it is, its still quite enjoyable. Alan Dinehart, Gloria Stuart and Roland Young give able support. The star of this film however is Anton Grots mind-boggling set for Kay’s apartment. It is Deco heaven brought to an orgasmic level! ** ½

“Day of Reckoning” 1933 MGM *

Richard Dix, Madge Evans, Una Merkel and Conway Tearle elevate this rather meandering melodrama. Has a few interesting plot twists but seems like a film that can’t figure out what story it wants to tell. A rare chance to see Madge play an unsympathetic character, but regardless she is dazzling to look at! ** ½

Madge Evans photographed by George Hurrell

March 30^th

“Thoroughbred” 1935 Ravina Studios *

 Toby Wing, in a rare top-billed performance, is the whole show in this fun little Canadian cheapie B-film about an ex-horse track reporter who wins a racehorse while shooting dice.**

(Thank you Robert McKay for making it possible for me to see this film!)

The glorious Toby Wing

“British Agent” 1934 WB *

Well-made but ridiculously far-fetched tale made eminently watchable by good performances from Leslie Howard and Kay Francis and the polished production directed by Michael Curtiz. ** ½

I never did get around to my Esther Williams festival...It's been such a dreary, cold spring so far that the last thing I was in the mood to see were people swimming and cavorting about in the sunshine!

Movies, Movies, Movies...

I've been watching a shitload of movies lately, some new to me, others not seen in many years...most, but not all, have been WB films from the early to mid 30's. I figured I'd list a few and post some pics.

"Lily Turner" (1933) possibly my fave of all Ruth Chatterton's films, its a majorly downbeat but compelling William Wellman picture with a great supporting cast including Guy Kibbee, George Brent, Frank McHugh and a way-over-the-top Robert Barratt. Ruth was one of WB highest paid actresses at that time and I find it incredibly odd that they would put her in a film like this, tho I am glad they did! McHugh gives a sensitive performance as a hopeless drunk.

"Union Depot" (1932) - solid WB pre-code drama with Joan Blondell, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Guy Kibbee.

"Massacre" (1934), A Modern Hero (1934) "Midnight Alibi" (1934) "Central Airport" (1933) and "Son of the Gods" (1930) - all WB films featuring the awesome Richard Barthelmess, "Massacre" was my fave of the lot, a solid, fast moving drama about the mistreatment of a group of native Americans at a reservation. Character actor Dudley Diggs played his usual unscrupulous scumbag. William Wellman's "Central Airport" is also quite good! John Wayne had a bit part towards the end.

"Flowing Gold" (1940) fast moving WB film starring John Garfield, Pat O'Brien and Frances Farmer. Its basically a re-re-re-re-hash of Howard Hawks' "Tiger Shark" (which was also rehashed as "Slim" and "Manpower" among others) but with that cast it's certainly watchable.

"Kid Galahad" (1937) The only teaming of Edward G Robinson and Bette Davis is reason enough to check this one out but add in Humphrey Bogart as a (big surprise!) crooked boxing manager named "Turkey Morgan" and Harry Carey Sr, plus solid drection from Michael Curtiz and it becomes a must-see!

"The Match King" (1932), "Expensive Women" (1931), "Employees Entrance" (1933), "The Dark Horse" (1932), "Day-Time Wife" (1939), "Times Square Playboy" (1936) "Beauty and the Boss" (1932) and "The Mind Reader" (1933) - all featuring my go-to guy of late, the outrageous Warren William! I LOVE that guy!!!!

"Gun Crazy" (1950) John Dall and Peggy Cummins play (you guessed it) a gun-crazy couple who go on a robbery spree. Low budget but very effective noir, this HAS to be a Tarantino favorite!

"Lilies of the Field" (1963) - Heavy religious stuff aside I really enjoyed this film. Best scene is when Sidney Poitier, after nearly starving for days eating nothing but Catholic breakfasts, and soup and bread for supper, orders a ridiculously huge breakfast at a roadside eatery. It was a near orgasmic experience for him!

"The St Louis Kid" (1934), "Snowed Under" (1936), "Boulder Dam" (1936) and "Rhythm in the Clouds" (1937) all featuring Patricia Ellis. The first 2 were the best with Pat being a good foil for Cagney in "St Louis Kid". "Snowed Under" stars George Brent and is quite hilarious.

"The Threat" (1949) rock solid film noir with great charactor actor Charles MacGraw in one of his few starring roles as a psychotic killer who just escaped from prison and is doing a hell of a good job avenging those who put him away! Very tense and well-acted by all, tho leading man Michael O'Shay is REALLY low-key!

"Jimmy the Gent" (1934) Hilarious Cagney vehicle co-starring Bette Davis, Alice White and WB perrenial dim-bulb Allen Jenkins.

"Broadway Babies" (1929) and "Showgirl in Hollywood" (1930) 2 early talkies directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring WB answer to Clara Bow, Alice White. I enjoyed their crudeness and pre- code raciness. Alice is simply adorable in both!

"Fear and Desire" (1953) Stanely Kubrick's very first film is a rather pretentious, arty and amatuerish anti-war tale but its certainly interesting, especially in light of the fact that 2 cinematic masterpieces (The Killing and Paths of Glory) would follow in only a few short years.

"Super 8" (2011) its E.T. meets Cloverfield from the guys who made E.T. and Cloverfield.

"The Torrent" (1926), "The Single Standard" (1929), "A Woman of Affairs" (1928) "Love" (1927), "The Kiss" (1929) "Inspiration" (1931) and "Romance" (1930) all starred Greta Garbo. "The Torrent" is easily my fave of the bunch. Garbo is simply mezermising in her American silent film debut. Nearly as good is "A Woman of Affairs", one of several pairings with John Gilbert.

"Side Streets" (1934) and "Stranger in Town" (1932) 2 WB B-films featuring Ann Dvorak. "Side Streets" was a solid little picture with a rare starring role for character actress Aline MacMahon. "Stranger in Town" was a silly but fun Chic Sales vehicle.

"Sons-o-Guns" (1936) and "Three Girls About Town" (1941) both starred Joan Blondell, the first a rather limp Joe E. Brown vehicle that had a few good scenes, the second a hilarious comedy of errors that takes place in a hotel. I really enjoyed that one!

"Lilian Gish: The Actors Life for Me" (1988) completly absorbing documentary with the first lady of the silent screen sharing stories and anecdotes about her years with Griffith, the talkies and her philosophies about acting and life in general. Highly recommended!!!!

Movie Watching...

I've been getting a hella-good dose of classic movie watching the last few weeks and thought I'd review a few of them here. Unless noted, they are all "new to me"...

"The Nuisance" (1933) - Lee Tracy plays a fast-talking schiester lawyer who will go to ANY lengths to win his case. Fun pre-code MGM film with Madge Evans, Frank Morgan and hilarious Charles Butterworth as a career traffic accident victim.

"The Big Shakedown" (1934) - Bette Davis, Charles Farrell and Ricardo Cortez star in half way decent WB b-film about a druggist getting involved with a racketeer who wants him to manufacture various counterfiet household drugstore items. Intersting to see former silent mega-star Farrell (from those legendary films with Janet Gaynor) in a talkie.

"The Finger Points" (1931) - Very interesting pre-code drama from WB starring Richard Barthelmess and Fay Wray and co-starring Clark Gable in one of his awesome early roles as a heavy! My biggest complaint with this film was a relatively slack pace from director John Francis Dillon (who also directed "The Big Shakedown" up above) but I still enjoyed the film and the cast. In the hands of someone like William Wellman this film could have been really special.

Patricia Ellis
"Down the Stretch" (1936), "Sing Me a Love Song" (1936) and "Elmer the Great" (1933) all 3 films had WB ingenue Patricia Ellis in the cast, of whom I might possibly be the worlds biggest fan of! The last of the 3 listed was one of the Joe E. Brown "baseball trilogy" films and easily the least of the 3.

"The World Changes" (1933) - Epic "Cimmaron" type story with Paul Muni brilliantly portraying the rise and fall of a South Dakota farmboy who hits the big time in the cattle industry. Well cast with the always excellent Aline MacMahon, Mary Astor, Margaret Lindsay and yup Patricia Ellis all lending great support but its Muni's film all the way. Directed with gusto by the great Mervyn LeRoy at WB. Not the great film it set out to be but very good!

"Grand Slam" (1933) - If you love playing bridge then this is a must-see! Paul Lukas stars as a waiter who, along with his new wife played by Loretta Young, inadvertantly end up becoming the nations number 1 bridge players! Frank McHugh stole the show as a drunken ghostwriter smitten with Young (who wouldnt be!). Overall i was disappointed in the film WB B-film. The cast really was the best reason to watch.

I was very happy to see that during TCM's awesome Summer under the Stars in August they were devoting an entire day to one of my all-time favorite actresses, Joan Blondell! Too often overlooked and under-appreciated, Joan was a consumate pro and a fine actress. Fact is she never seems like she's acting at all and that IS the trick isnt it? oh yeah, she looks good too!

Joan Blondell"Good Girls go to Paris" (1939) - Silly story but fun! Joan teams up with Melvyn Douglas and Walter Connolly in fairly zany story of a gold digger who causes all kinds of trouble for all kinds of people yet saves all their asses in the end! I noticed a reviewer on IMDB stated that Joan's gold-digging antics were out of character for her....ummm I guess he/she never saw "Goldiggers of 1993", or 1937, never saw "Havanna Widows", never saw "We're in the Money", never saw "Three men on a Horse, etc etc, etc...playing a gold digger was one of Joan's Stock in trade in the 1930's! Weird seeing Joan in a Columbia picture.

"Traveling Saleslady" (1935) - Joan is a total delight in very silly and fun story of the daughter of a chauvenistic toothpaste tycoon who, because her father refuses to met her work for him, gets a job with his rival and proceeds to nearly put him out of business with her line of "Cocktail flavored toothpastes"! Hugh herbert is hilarious as the bumbling but brilliant chemist who comes up with the various concoctions. Snappy direction by the always snappy Ray Enright.

"Lawyer Man" (1932), "Central Park" (1932), "Big City Blues" (1932), "The Reckless Hour" (1931) "Sinners Holiday" (1930) - All worthy pre-code WB B-films, loaded with sordid people, places and situations and that last one having the bonus of being the screen debuts of Joan AND a certain Mr. Cagney! It had been a good number of years since I last saw any of these so it was great fun revisiting them!

"Sucker Punch" (2011) - Totally awesome hot chicks planning an escape from an insane asylum with insanely cool "action dream sequences" centered around objects needed for their escape. To reveal anymore would be very uncool...just see it for yourself, you'll either love it or hate it!

More Richard Barthelmess...

I'm trying to make it a goal to watch 1 or 2 films a week that I've never seen before. I figure to blog about the ones I feel strong enough about to make the effort!

Last night I watched "Tol'able David" starring Richard Barthelmess.

"Tol'able David" was directed by the great Henry King in 1921. King later directed films like "Jesse James", "The Black Swan" and "Captain from Castille" with Tyrone Power, as well as 3 awesome Gregory Peck films "Twelve O'Clock High", "The Gunfighter" and "The Bravados". Henry King made a lot of money for 20th Century Fox studio throughout the 40's and 50's and was certainly one of Darryl F Zanuck's "Golden Boys"! "Tol'able David" was all shot on location in Virginia and King got an incredibly eboulient and physically believable performance from 26 year-old Richard Barthelmess as the young David. Some of it is quite hilarious and Richard is literally bouncing all over the place with youthful energy! (so was his dog!) The whole film paints a very vivid portrait of that period of Americana.

The film takes a dark turn when 3 extremely nasty hillbilly dudes (one of them played to the hilt by the always excellent Ernest Torrence) enter the scene and make life for David, his family and his friends quite unpleasant. This shot is from the climactic brawl between Richard Barthelmess and Ernest Torrence and it really is incredibly intense!! I dont want to give away any more plot details so I'll just say that this film gets added to my "Essential Richard Barthelmess" list and I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys his work, silent films or just a damn good movie in general!

Richard Barthelmess...

A small tribute to a fine actor...

Richard Barthelmess... certainly not a household name these days but in his heyday during the silent period he was a huge star. Born in 1895, after graduating from Trinity College in Hartford CT. , he made his film debut in 1916.

A few years later he went to work for D.W. Griffith. His first important role was "The Yellow Man" in Griffith's 1919 silent masterpiece "Broken Blossoms". He gave a beautifully sensitive performance in that film and was now well on his way to super-stardom. I've only seen 3 Griffith pictures so far but this one is my fave.

Barthelmess flanked by the Gish sisters.... Lilian once said he had "The most beautiful face of any man who ever went before the cameras". He and Lilian were to star in another Griffith masterpiece in 1920. . .

A shot from the intense climax of Griffith's "Way Down East". That HAD to be a tough film to make for all involved! I think anyone who's seen it will agree, no method actor of today has ANYTHING on Lillian Gish!

When Barthelemess moved into the sound era he played tougher, more hard edged characters. He starred in Howard Hawks' first talking film "Dawn Patrol", a.k.a. "Flight Commander", a first-rate WWI picture that was remade almost scene-for-scene with Errol Flynn in 1938. In fact some of the arial battle footage from Hawks' film was reused for the Flynn version. The scene above is with co-star Neil Hamilton, best known for his much later role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series.

A scene from 1929's "Drag", an early talkie directed by Frank Lloyd. I dont even know if this film exists anymore. Barthelmess made another film with Howard Hawks in 1939, the classic "Only Angels Have Wings" with Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth and Thomas Mitchell. I could not find a single picture of Richard Barthelmess from that film in any of my books!

One of his better films of the talkie era, 1932's "Cabin in the Cotton" directed by Michael Curtiz and co-starring Bette Davis. This was an important film for Bette as it was her first good sexy-bitch role and of course she played it with gusto! Bette said one of her most famous lines in that one: "Ah'd like ta kiss ya but ah jes washed mah hayah". "Cabin in the Cotton" is pure Warner Bros entertainment...a fast moving, social drama with a great cast. Well-worth a look if you havent seen it already! Ditto for the 2 films Barthelmess made with William Wellman in 1933, "Central Airport" and "Heroes for Sale"

Richard got 2 oscar nominations during the silent era, one for "The Patent Leather Kid" in 1927 and another for "The Noose" in 1928. He only made 3 films in the early 1940's and then left Hollywood, served a brief stint in the Navy reserve during the war and then retired all together living the rest of his years off of his real-estate investments until his death in 1963.

Essential Richard Barthelmess:

"Broken Blossoms" - 1919

"Way Down East" - 1920

"Dawn Patrol" - 1930

"Cabin in the Cotton" - 1932

"Central Airport" - 1933
"Heroes for Sale" - 1933

"Only Angles Have Wings" - 1939

"The Spoilers" - 1942

Several of his early talking films have just been released by Warner Home video but I have yet to see some of them so I cant say if they are "essential" Richard Barthelmess or not. I'm looking forward to seeing them regardless!

Heroes for Sale...

A 1933 Warner Bros film produced by Hal Wallis and Directed by the great William "Wild Bill" Wellman, "Heroes For Sale" is quintessential pre-code "depression era" drama! Starring the sadly underappreciated Richard Barthelmess, and co-starring Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon, Charlie Grapewin and the always excellent Robert Barrat. I had only seen this film once before about 15 years ago but watched it again tonight. I wouldn't dream of giving away plot details or anything else but suffice it to say that a LOT happens to the people in this film in a little over an hour's time! I LOVE these early 30's Warner Bros films! Their pacing, gritty production values and excellent array of stars and character actors always make for interesting viewing and Wellman made some of the best of that studio's output during that time. This film definitely ranks as one if his better efforts and gets my highest recommendation! It's on a double DVD with another great Wellman picture, "Wild Boys of the Road", so check 'em out if you can....at the very least you will NOT be bored!