Reviews (25)

No other movie was so ahead of it's time!
Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers star in this 1930's melodramatic tale of two mothers struggling for their children. Colbert plays Beatrice "Bea" Pullman, a widow with a young daughter. Life is hard for Bea until Delilah Johnson, Louise Beavers,arrives with her daughter and becomes Bea's maid. Delilah cajoles Bea to give her a job as her maid. Bea discovers that Delilah has a delicious pancake recipe. Bea acquires this recipe, and uses it to start her empire; with Delilah getting a not so equal cut. However, this empire has a price for both. For one, the price is happiness in a relationship. For the other, the price is dealing with racial confusion. Ironically, their daughters serve them the check. No movie of it's time dared to go into the deep waters of racism and self sacrifice! This movie is said to be a "imitation", but in fact some of it's scenes parrallel to the sad realities of life. When Bea and Delilah retire for the night, the scene emphasizes the seperation of races during this time. Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers give powerful and underestimated performances in this movie. Colbert has a real and caring presence in the movie. Beavers shows suffering like never before, and she proves that servants have lives outside of serving. With wonderful performances by Warren William as understanding Stephen Archer, Fredi Washington as the misunderstood and confused Peola, Rochelle Hudson as the lovelorn Jessie, and Ned Sparks as the sarcastic Elmer. "Imitation of Life" blazed a trail for movies dealing with the triumph of the self and the power of family love.

Tearjerker
Classic, compulsively watchable rags to riches tearjerker from a Fannie hearst novel. Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers play the white and black women who go into business together, and Rochelle Hudson and Fredi Washington play their daughters. Ross Hunter produced a remake in 1959 starring Lana Turner, which pulled out all the stops. In both versions you want to laugh at yourself for choking up, but at least, in this earlier more enjoyable version, it doesn't feel as if the sobs are being torn from your throat. The cast includes Warren William, Ned Sparks, and, as servants: Hazel Washington, Hattie McDaniel, and Madame Sultewon (the black actress who worked with D.W. Griffith)

The original, and still the best version
Most viewers are far more familiar with the campy, 1959 version of this film, starring Lana Turner. But, this is the original version, and I find it far superior to the remake for so many reasons.

First of all, it takes place in the early 1930's, putting us smack dab in the Depression, and a time period which suits the subject matter. Claudette Colbert, a much better actress than Lana Turner, is one of the first reasons I prefer this version. But, mainly, the incredible Louise Beavers is absolutely unforgettable as the black maid, Delilah Johnson, whose light-skinned daughter, Peola, is raised alongside Colbert's daughter, Jessie.

When the girls grow up, Peola realizes that she can "pass" for white, and in the 1930's, with racism and joblessness rampant, her choice makes sense, for the times. When Peola, played by Fredi Washington, completely rejects her mother, it is heartbreaking. To see Louise Beavers sobbing onto the counter in the department store is truly painful.

Peola breaks her mother's heart in order to fit into a world that would not accept her otherwise. In the end, she regrets the pain she causes her mother. This is another time and place, and we don't hate Peola for hurting her mother. Still, our heart bleeds for Delilah.

The acting is top notch, and I will take this more entertaining and serious version of the film over the campy re-make any day.

Very long movie
At 1 hour, 51 minutes, this movie is in no hurry to get to the end. I guess Depression-era audiences were happy to sit in a cool theater that long. Scenes are long, slow, and drawn out, like in real life. Claudette Colbert is is no hurry to move along to the next scene. And why should she when she doesn't age a bit in the 15 years this movie spans? And doesn't Warren William look like John Barrymore!! Same profile. If you are a fan of the Lana Turner version, you really ought to see this.

Unrelentingly grim, but a must-see
This film stands as a raw, no holds barred look at racism in 1930s America. Many people have problems today with the Louise Beavers (the maid) character's acceptance of her lot, but one must remember that oppression sometimes causes people to give up hope for a better earthly life. Ned Sparks provides some badly needed comic releif in this weeper, and one wonders what audiences of the time thought of it. This would be good to show and have a discussion session with younger viewers. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Count Your Blessings
The First sound version of " The Count of Monte Cristo" scores well because of its veteran cast.

Donat is fine in the title role in a Muni type performance. Imprisoned with the Abby( O.P. Heggie ) Dantes gets a big start in life and thus persues his revenge on Baron Danglers et all.

Louis Calhern , an under appreciated actor and Sidney Blackmer are fine in thier roles as antagonist and there is a certain 30,s sweep to the narrative that makes it a bit hokey but well done.

CP

Count of Monte Cristo VHS ~ Robert Donat
Accidentally left bad feedback. Would like to change it.
Please help.

Old Sometimes Better
Several years ago I owned a copy of the 1934 version of the Count of Monte Cristo. I appreciated the fact that the older movie stayed closer to the author's original story line, carefully woven in. Some of the acting is a little corny, overdone a bit (similar to silent films), but that is easily forgiven. Our copy was damaged and we no longer have it to watch again, but I was reminded of it when we rented the new version. The new version is OK, but I found myself enjoying the older version better. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In 1933, RKO Pictures had the bright idea of pairing Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond for their new musical blockbuster, Flying Down to Rio. The film was a smash, but not for the reasons anyone expected. The fourth- and fifth-billed stars were an RKO bit player and a Broadway man breaking into Hollywood. Their names were Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and their pairing in this and eight subsequent RKO films would rewrite cinematic history. Most of Rio's screen time is spent on a humdrum romantic triangle involving Del Rio, Raymond, and Raul Roulien, but Fred (as Fred Ayres) and Ginger (as Honey Hayes) are still able to establish many of the trademarks of their later films. Ginger fronts the band (with Fred on accordian!) in the saucy "Music Makes Me," and Fred does some solo tap, then sings and leads the band for the spectacular airborne finale featuring chorus girls perched on the wings of biplanes. The heart of the film is "The Carioca," a company dance extravaganza that would be imitated by "The Continental" and "The Piccolino" in later films. Here Fred and Ginger take the floor together for the first time; their eyes meet and their foreheads touch. Their dance lasts only a few minutes, but it was the highlight of the film and audiences wanted more. The most prophetic moment occurs toward the beginning of the dance, when, after watching for a while, Fred grabs Ginger and tells her, "I want to try this. Come on, Honey." She declares, "We'll show 'em a thing or three." They did indeed. It was magic, and it was only the beginning.--David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Astaire and Rogers shine in their first film together
I am a huge Astaire& Rogers fan and though that this movie was swell. Though the stars of the film were supposed to be Gene Raymond and Dolores del Rio, Fred and Ginger stole the show- as usual-! Ginger's solo, 'Music Makes Me' is very well done, the 'Carioca', which makes you want to hop on screen and dance, is superb, and the bevy of girls dancing on the wings of a plane for the finale is true cinematic gold!

THE CARIOCA
A rather dated and corny but undeniably fun confection with a really redeeming quality: the introduction of Astaire and Rogers. Orchestra leader-aviator Roger Bond (Gene Raymond) and his performers, including the dance team of Honey Hale and Fred Ayres (Guess Who?) earn a big break by being hired to perform at a posh resort hotel in Rio de Janeiro. The dramatic ORCHIDS IN THE MOONLIGHT is heard along with the title tune and the incredibly bouncy, fresh and fun 22 year-old Rogers sings a campy jump tune entitled MUSIC MAKES ME. The exquisite Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio was unfortunately hampered by her rather limited acting ability and a heavy accent but her luminous beauty is showcased here. Rather accidentally, the film established several ingredients that would become standard fare in future Astaire-Rogers outings: glorious art-deco sets by Van Nest Polglase and choreography by the great Hermes Pan. The infectious CARIOCA number (the title refers to a native of Rio) is presented at the Carioca Casino. Ginger and Fred are fascinated by this avante garde (a variation of the samba) which demands partners dance with foreheads touching. They try out the intricate steps and soon have the dance floor to themselves...........And the rest is HISTORY!! THE CARIOCA is also vocalised by the great black songstress, Etta Moten. A glorious Hollywood holiday - 1933 style - which paved the way for the teams succession of RKO films from 1934 (THE GAY DIVORCEE) to 1949 (THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY).

The First Pairing.
"Flying Down to Rio" is a memorable movie because it was the first screen pairing of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, who would make 10 movies in all together. This is my least favourite of all of their 10 screen pairings. That is not to say it is not good. I think all 10 of their movies are brilliant.

The problem I have with this movie is that Fred and Ginger are not the main stars. That part goes to Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Usually I wolud not have a problem with those two stars, but in this case, I do. I really just wanted to see Fred and Ginger together for the whole movie. But it is interrupted by a love story going on between Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond.

The plot has it that Del Rio's uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Fred Astaire and Gene Raymond save everything by staging the "Flying Down to Rio" number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls doing different kinds of things while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. Its an amazing musical number, and a great way to finish a movie.

The highlight for a lot of people in this movie is the "Carioca" scene. I personally think it goes on just a little too long, and its not the kind of thing I am used to. I like the "Flying Down to Rio" part at the end of the movie, with the girls on the planes in the sky, and also, it is only a short part of the movie, but I like Ginger singing "Music Makes Me" (which was amazingly not a track on the Rhino/Turner 2-Disc CD release "Fred and Ginger at RKO"). So overall, for any Fred and Ginger fan, you have to see it. Even if you may get slightly bored during the non Fred and Ginger scenes.

early success
I love this movie for 2 reasons.
1: The friend relationship that Fred and Ginger have. They get along so well and that helped to heighten the chemistry.
2:Ginger's wisecracks. SHe still has that wisecracking-second-lead-chorine type attitude that she would lose in coming pictures. she sings "music makes me" with an adorable smile and swiveling hips.
the best scene is in the cafe, where ginger can't take her mind off food.
"OOH, cookies"
"I'd rather split a banana split 3-way"

"Wanna cookie? Take your choice!"
This is just an early sampling of the greatest dance teams magic.

orchids in the moonlight.
Hi, yes I do agree that Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers are great together,but in my opinion in this film I just loved the dancing and the music by the dance troupe especially when they danced the tango to the tune orchids in the moonlight.WoW! what a tune so romantic.Delores Del Rio & Gene Raymond to me also made the film for me a hit. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

VINTAGE DAVIS
Bette Davis gives a stunning performance as Joyce Heath, an alcoholic stage star with a self-destructive complex. Joyce Heath is a vitally tempestuous creature who has ruined her reputation as an actress and has come to be regarded in her profession as something of a jinx. Theatrically blacklisted, she has become an alcoholic in the depths of her own self-destruction. One night, while drinking herself into a hole in a seedy bar, she is noticed by wealthy architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone); Heath has been idolized by Bellows ever since he saw her play Juliet years before. Don takes Heath under his wing, bringing her to his house in the country and a inevitable love affair ensues. The character of Joyce Heath gave Davis an oppurtunity to convey all of the most instense emotions of which she was capable, from anxiety to zealousness, including liberal amounts of her famous screen bitchiness. The script is rather weak and mawkish at times and the film is almost totally carried by Davis, who uses all her well-known acting tricks to make her character come alive. Alison Skipworth is amusing as Mrs.Williams, Bellows cook who tells Franchot confidentially that Davis is indeed "dangerous". Ernest Haller's photography is justly praised; in the middle of the film, Davis is beautifully photographed, and her scenes with Tone (playing cards and eating homemade toffee) are incredibly spontaneous and realistic. Margaret Lindsay plays socialite Gail Armitage to whom Bellows is engaged (and eventually marries) and she gives a typical "stock" performance. Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance yet she is the only thing this movie has going for it; the character of Gordon Heath is unbelievably lame and the ending is unsatisfactory and banal to say the least. DANGEROUS was a success at the box office and it was one of Warner's biggest money-makers for 1935.

HIGH VOLTAGE BETTE.
It has been widely implied that the Academy Award given to Bette Davis for her performance in this mediocre film was actually a consolation prize for her electrifying performance as Mildred Rogers in OF HUMAN BONDAGE - which was filmed the year before. Although this 1935 film reeks of soap & has a really corny ending, you can get fixated watching LaDavis - still in her blonde period - act everyone off the screen. For her performance alone, DANGEROUS is worth sitting through: otherwise it would be considered a hackeneyed, mawkish piece of vintage trash. Bette plays Joyce Heath, a once-esteemed theatre actress who's drifted into the seedy life of alcholism and self-pity. One night, while drinking cheap gin in a dive, she's recognised by a young, promising architect named Don Bellows, who takes her under his wing and encourages the once-great actress to make a come-back... Davis is astonishingly electrifying in her playing: one can see why she was a fascination to 1935 moviegoers! Mind you, not everyone was a Davis devotee, but her highly charged, energetic personality was nigh impossible to ignore once seen on the silver screen. The middle of the film contains the best scenes, and there's a genuine - if somewhat unusual - chemistry between Davis and Tone. Margaret Lindsay does well enough as classy Gail Armitage who tells Bellows that "a secret's a secret". Franchot Tone isn't as bad as other reviewers have stated; he certainly had a fine speaking voice. As the almost unbearably mealy Gordon Heath, one wants to slap John Eldredge's face: an unbelievable entry in the cut-my-arm-off-if-it-will-help-you martyr sweepstakes. As a trivial footnote, the final working title of the film (after about seven inadequate ones) was HARD LUCK DAME. It was Davis herself who came up with naming the film DANGEROUS. Forgettably remade in 1941 - again by Warners - as SINGAPORE WOMAN with Brenda Marshall & directed by the later esteemed Jean Negulesco.

A BITTER BETTE STEALS THE SHOW...
Bette Davis won an Oscar for her deft portrayal of Joyce Heath, a former Broadway star who made a meteoric rise to the top and, just as quickly, hit bottom. Believed to be a jinx by a superstitious theatre crowd, Heath is bad news, a sloppy, bitter drunk who drowns her sorrows in gin soaked jags of self pity. The former brightest star on Broadway is now a bottom feeder, living on the skids.

Enter Don Bellows, played with earnest sincerity by Franchot Tone, a fan of Heath when she was at her peak. He claims that a performance of hers, which he saw, forever changed his life, allowing him to become the architect he always dreamed of being, rather than a stockbroker. One day, he sees Ms. Heath in a gin joint, totally in her cups. Sending his friend and his fiancee, Gail, home, he returns to the gin joint and takes Joyce Heath to his country home to rehabilitate her in repayment for the tremendous difference that she had, unknowingly, made in his life. What he does not count on is falling in love with her.

The bitter Joyce initially resists his attempts to get her back on the road to recovery, but ultimately responds to his nurturing and concern for her welfare. Recovered, she finds that she has fallen in love with him and he with her. His passion for her causes him to break off his engagement with Gail, his socially prominent fiancee.

Wanting to help Joyce regain the stardom that she previously had and that her thespian talent demands, Don backs a broadway show that he believes will allow her to regain her rightful place on Broadway. He does this, despite her protestations that she has brought only ruin to those men who had the misfortune to fall in love with her. He also insists that she marry him. His simple, though insistent, marriage proposal sets into motion a sequence of events that he could not possibly have envisioned. Enter Gordon Heath, a blast from Joyce's secret past, who must be dealt with, if Joyce is to find any happiness with Don. How she deals with him, however, sets her down a path out of one's worst nightmare. Subsequent events later make Don realize that Joyce is truly "dangerous".

Bette Davis is dazzling in her role. She runs the gamut of human emotions in playing the role of Ms. Heath and, deservedly, won what was to be the first of two Academy Awards for Best Actress. Franchot Tone is fine in his role, but what on earth the studio saw in him, I cannot fathom. He is certainly no heartthrob and is not even particularly charismatic. The role of Gordon Heath, played with simpering masochism by John Eldridge, makes the viewer marvel at the restraint Joyce had in dealing with him, as Eldridge's portrayal makes the viewer's fingers itch with the urge to slap him numerous times.

Unfortunately, the sizzle in the movie fizzles, when the film gives in towards the end to utter sanctimonious banality. It is too bad, given the performance by Ms. Davis, as it could have been a great movie. Still, this is a must see film for all Davis fans.

Early Davis shines in pre stardom Oscar winning role
Made during her "apprenticeship", at Warner Bros, when she was forced to appear in many highly forgettable film roles, "Dangerous", was definately the standout in so far as it provided the young and driven Bette Davis with a character worthy of her dramatic efforts. As Davis herself stated about this film "I saw potential in the role of Joyce Heath, realised the pot holes in the story and had to work like ten dogs to stop it from getting bogged down in treacle!". Work she did, and very well indeed, being rewarded for her efforts with the 1935 Best Actress Academy Award.

Viewed today "Dangerous", while highly entertaining and featuring a terrific performance by Bette Davis, is very obvious in its weaknesses and contains alot of situations and dialogue that really dont ring true. Nevertheless it is an important film in the career of Davis in that it revealed what she was capable of achieving when time and effort was spent on preparing her films a little better than previously.It tells the story of acclaimed actress Joyce Heath who finds herself a jinx on both the people in her life and in any production she is involved in. Going from being the shining light of Broadway she finds herself in the alchoholic gutter with no friends and no career. A chance encounter with rich architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone in a good but poorly written role) changes her circumstances as Bellows is immediately attracted to her and becomes her champion in all things. Despite being engaged to be married to lovely socialite Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay)he determines to restore Joyce's life as once, she (unknowingly), inspired him to better himself and explore his artistic side in the field of architecture. Taken by Don to sober up at his country estate Joyce, a chronic drinker first resents and verbally attacks Don however as she sees the importance he places on getting her life back in order she responds and finds herself falling in love with him despite warning him of her jinx on men and that she will always be "dangerous", to any person who comes close to her. Don decides to bank roll her return to Broadway and on the eve of the first night it seems that the jinx is again at work when it is discovered that Joyce actually is married and cannot obtain a divorce after Don asks her to marry him after the first night of the play. In an insane rage Joyce tries to kill her sickly devoted husband Gordon (John Eldredge) after he refuses to divorce her and thus jeopardizes the production due to open. It's only after this diseaster and when Don has gone and finally married Gail that Joyce realises that others are important and then attempts to right the terrible wrong she has done to both her now crippled husband and the many peope in the Broadway comunity that had faith in her.

Vintage soap opera? Maybe, but acted with a conviction by Bette Davis that does make us believe the improbable situations occuring. The supporting cast also score great acting points in their various roles. Franchot Tone who never really settled into the Hollywood acting situation has a difficult role to play here as on one side of things he must be a capable business type who is obviously an astute individual while on the reverse having to play a character that really wouldn't probably get involved in the situation he finds himself in. He does well playing Bellows but alot of his situation fails to really ring true. Margaret Lindsay is delightful as Don's spurned fiance but once again her character as written is perhaps a little too excepting of the situation with Joyce to be regarded as totally realistic. Veteran character actress Alison Skipworth as Mrs. Williams, Don's house keeper really scores as a crusty individual who really stands up to Joyce's drunken ravings and helps put her on the course back to respectability. The look of the production has a rich other worldly feel about it as was typical of movie making in the 1930's. It reveals an almost too glamourous world of smart cars, beautiful clothes, palatial country houses and city apartments. Just the tonic for depression weary movie goers in 1935.

I personally love this early performance by Bette Davis a few years before her great period of stardom began. Her great commanding star presence is very obvious even here. I regard "Dangerous", as vital to include in any Bette Davis collection and what you see is raw vital talent that within a few years would be refined in a number of unforgettable performances that are as vivid today as they were 60 years ago. Unrealistic as it may be at times "Dangerous", is highly entertaining viewing and shouldn't be missed when exploring the formidable collection of work by the legendary Bette Davis.

Obvious Melodrama
Bette Davis stars in this melodrama as Joyce Heath, an actress that has been labeled a jinx due to the hard luck that befalls the men in her life and the productions she is associated with. Once considered that brightest, rarest talent of her generation, she is reduced to an embarrassed alcoholic, unable to get work. She is rescued by Franchot Tone, an architect and fan who wants to rehabilitate. He's engaged to society girl Margaret Lindsay, who knows nothing of his "humanitarian" deeds. Needless to say, Tone falls for Davis, and he begins to discover why his housekeeper Alison Skipworth has warned him against her ... she is dangerous. You can't say Davis doesn't go for it with this performance. She chews the scenery in her drunk and bitter scenes. She is more subdued and effective in the quieter scenes, when she reveals her character's vulnerability. Tone is alright, not really making much of an impression, while Lindsay is boring in a badly written role that she does nothing with. The screenplay is weak and obvious, and the melodrama came on too strong for my tastes. I never really felt that these were real people, but rather just plot devices to keep the story moving along. But Davis does help to keep it watchable. You sort of get the impression she knew how bad this was, so she did whatever she could to salvage the film. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Astaire and Rogers shine in their first film together
I am a huge Astaire& Rogers fan and though that this movie was swell. Though the stars of the film were supposed to be Gene Raymond and Dolores del Rio, Fred and Ginger stole the show- as usual-! Ginger's solo, 'Music Makes Me' is very well done, the 'Carioca', which makes you want to hop on screen and dance, is superb, and the bevy of girls dancing on the wings of a plane for the finale is true cinematic gold!

THE CARIOCA
A rather dated and corny but undeniably fun confection with a really redeeming quality: the introduction of Astaire and Rogers. Orchestra leader-aviator Roger Bond (Gene Raymond) and his performers, including the dance team of Honey Hale and Fred Ayres (Guess Who?) earn a big break by being hired to perform at a posh resort hotel in Rio de Janeiro. The dramatic ORCHIDS IN THE MOONLIGHT is heard along with the title tune and the incredibly bouncy, fresh and fun 22 year-old Rogers sings a campy jump tune entitled MUSIC MAKES ME. The exquisite Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio was unfortunately hampered by her rather limited acting ability and a heavy accent but her luminous beauty is showcased here. Rather accidentally, the film established several ingredients that would become standard fare in future Astaire-Rogers outings: glorious art-deco sets by Van Nest Polglase and choreography by the great Hermes Pan. The infectious CARIOCA number (the title refers to a native of Rio) is presented at the Carioca Casino. Ginger and Fred are fascinated by this avante garde (a variation of the samba) which demands partners dance with foreheads touching. They try out the intricate steps and soon have the dance floor to themselves...........And the rest is HISTORY!! THE CARIOCA is also vocalised by the great black songstress, Etta Moten. A glorious Hollywood holiday - 1933 style - which paved the way for the teams succession of RKO films from 1934 (THE GAY DIVORCEE) to 1949 (THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY).

The First Pairing.
"Flying Down to Rio" is a memorable movie because it was the first screen pairing of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, who would make 10 movies in all together. This is my least favourite of all of their 10 screen pairings. That is not to say it is not good. I think all 10 of their movies are brilliant.

The problem I have with this movie is that Fred and Ginger are not the main stars. That part goes to Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Usually I wolud not have a problem with those two stars, but in this case, I do. I really just wanted to see Fred and Ginger together for the whole movie. But it is interrupted by a love story going on between Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond.

The plot has it that Del Rio's uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Fred Astaire and Gene Raymond save everything by staging the "Flying Down to Rio" number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls doing different kinds of things while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. Its an amazing musical number, and a great way to finish a movie.

The highlight for a lot of people in this movie is the "Carioca" scene. I personally think it goes on just a little too long, and its not the kind of thing I am used to. I like the "Flying Down to Rio" part at the end of the movie, with the girls on the planes in the sky, and also, it is only a short part of the movie, but I like Ginger singing "Music Makes Me" (which was amazingly not a track on the Rhino/Turner 2-Disc CD release "Fred and Ginger at RKO"). So overall, for any Fred and Ginger fan, you have to see it. Even if you may get slightly bored during the non Fred and Ginger scenes.

early success
I love this movie for 2 reasons.
1: The friend relationship that Fred and Ginger have. They get along so well and that helped to heighten the chemistry.
2:Ginger's wisecracks. SHe still has that wisecracking-second-lead-chorine type attitude that she would lose in coming pictures. she sings "music makes me" with an adorable smile and swiveling hips.
the best scene is in the cafe, where ginger can't take her mind off food.
"OOH, cookies"
"I'd rather split a banana split 3-way"

"Wanna cookie? Take your choice!"
This is just an early sampling of the greatest dance teams magic.

orchids in the moonlight.
Hi, yes I do agree that Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers are great together,but in my opinion in this film I just loved the dancing and the music by the dance troupe especially when they danced the tango to the tune orchids in the moonlight.WoW! what a tune so romantic.Delores Del Rio & Gene Raymond to me also made the film for me a hit. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In I'm No Angel, Mae West's second star vehicle, she's sideshow attraction Tira, "the girl who discovered you don't have to have feet to be a dancer." As usual, West wrote all her own dialogue for the film, and it's full of priceless wisecracks. A crowd of men ogles her as she tosses off a saucy little number, "They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk," swinging her hips phlegmatically. Then she slithers offstage, muttering "Suckers." Bored with life, Tira consults a fortuneteller. "I see a man in your future," he drones. "What, only one?" quips Mae. Tira wants to quit the carnival, so her boss (an unctuous Edward Arnold) makes her a proposition. If she'll become the show's lion tamer, she can meet "the swells." Just one little thing: she's got to put her head in the lion's mouth. (West insisted on performing this stunt herself, to the horror of Paramount Pictures' executives.) Enter Cary Grant as Jack Clayton, an aristocrat who falls for this floozie from the wrong side of the tracks. Some of the film's merriest scenes show Tira and her five black maids having a ball dancing and singing as she prepares for her dates with Jack. (West made it her business to keep as many of her black girlfriends working in movies as possible.) Tira's head maid, Beulah, played by Gertrude Michael, is the object of that momentous line "Oh, Beulah, peel me a grape." Mae slays 'em all in this picture, dressed, as always, in fabulously flamboyant finery. --Laura Mirsky ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Quintessential Mae West.
Tira (Mae West) is a gold-digging circus performer who reluctantly agrees to a dangerous lion-taming act to get herself out of a jam. The act is a great success, making Tira the talk of the town. Her flashy show at Madison Square Garden catches the eye of a wealthy businessman named Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor), who becomes infatuated with Tira and lavishes her with expensive gifts. Concerned for Kirk's social situation, his cousin and business partner, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), attempts to convince Tira to reconsider their relationship. She does, and falls head over heels for Jack. But just as it looks like Jack and Tira will live happily ever after, Jack breaks off the relationship. A heartbroken but still stubborn Tira decides to sue him for breach of promise.

1933's "I'm No Angel" was Mae West's second starring role on the silver screen. After her previous film, "She Done Him Wrong", saved Paramount Pictures from financial ruin, the studio gave her carte blanche to do whatever she liked on this one. "I'm No Angel" was written entirely by Mae West. It's a romantic comedy, but West's character is not a romantic. Tira is nothing if not practical in her relationships with men. And there is no mistaking that the film exists entirely to showcase Ms. West's oversized personality and eye-catching figure. This is Self promotion and Star vehicle with capital S's. Mae West was 40 years old and a tad chunky when she made this film. But she didn't hesitate to cast herself as a sex goddess whom men of all ages found irresistible. And she gets away with it by sheer force of personality. West deserves a lot of credit for making audiences root for a union between a trash-talking middle-aged strumpet and a 29-year old gentleman of means. Such a relationship wouldn't gain approval in real life in 1933, and it wouldn't now. The success of "I'm No Angel", then and now, is testament to its star's great charisma. Cary Grant is more handsome than he would be during his years of star status, and surprisingly thinner. I don't think any actor could hope to share a scene with West without being upstaged by her, but Grant does a nice job of making Jack Clayton sympathetic, especially during the trial scenes. "I'm No Angel" is sometimes absurdly contrived, but that's the nature of romantic comedy. No bigger personality than Mae West ever graced the screen, and it's her presence that makes this film worthwhile. The DVD has no menu, only scene selections. And the movie begins as soon as the disc is inserted into the player.

The Wild, Wild West
Mae West was purportedly quoted as saying, "I fear no man". Whether she actually did, I have no trouble believing it. In "I'm No Angel", Miss West plays "Tira", a carnival hootch dancer who becomes a lion-taming headliner in "The Big Time", and has numerous men orbiting her, like moons around Venus. She is a women completely at ease with herself, fears no one, makes no apologies, and the men love her for it, in spite of themselves. Miss West played, essentially, the same role in real life, the "Bad but not Evil" woman. No beating around the bush for Mae-she told you who she was, what she wanted, take her or leave her-and made you laugh! She was "Women's Lib" in flashy gowns, big hats, and lots of diamonds. There are many of West's famous lines in "I'm No Angel", such as "When I'm good, I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better", "Beulah, peel me a grape!", and many more. Her co-star is screen legend Cary Grant, whom Mae selected for 2 of her films on sight. The first was "She Done Him Wrong", and then this one. She said, "He was so good I had him twice-in pictures, I mean." The lady was an original. She was not "beautiful" or slender, but men were drawn to her (her brains being her sexiest feature), progressive (she defended homosexuals long before Stonewall), had interracial friendships and romances (she had lovers of African descent, as well as having black performers in her films), and was still attracting men well into her 70s! She also wrote her own material. So, if you're feeling a bit adventurous, go West, because "You can be had!"

"Oh Beulah... peel me a grape!"
Mae West basically saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy with this and her other hit film of 1933 "She Done Him Wrong" (her other career highlight, also with Cary Grant). She was 40 when she made this film, and even for the early 30s she was plumper than the female ideal, and her face was wide and her nose was too long. But since she acted like she was the sexiest thing who ever was, and told you so too, you believed her: her uncontrollable sex appeal was her costant running joke and it never ever palled. Here she's Tira the lion tamer, who tames the richest men in New York society with equal ease: when Cary Grant withdraws his engagement she sues him for breach of promise, and she has great fun cross-examining the witnesses in her trial. Years before Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett, Mae West proved the old sexist canard that "female isn't funny" is an out and out lie. Who could be funnier than she is, sashaying around with her African-American maids delivering her ripest lines?

A knockout in its time -- and still packs a wallop
Decades before the women's movement was to gain momentum in this country, Mae West, with her inimitable combination of feminine wiles and macho, and a keen wit thrown into the mix, began her own revolution by standing all previous conceptions about women and their societal roles on their ear. Her substantial talent in singing, acting and one-liners give her the wherewithal to have the whole act succeed where many others' attempts would not. The result is great entertainment, a hallmark in the history of American cinema, and an impression on the audience that we were all better off for this woman having graced our culture.

WONDERFUL MAE.....
It's hard to believe they let this go out of print. It's one of Mae West's brightest and funniest films. Before the censorship czars got after her, that is. Legendary Mae struts and sings her way through this tale of circus hootchie Tira who gets in a legal jam thanks to her hoodlum boyfriend. Needing fast cash for an attorney, she reluctantly agrees to be the show's lion tamer and put her head in a lion's mouth. She becomes an immediate star and rises to the top. She hooks a rich beau (Kent Taylor) but falls for his business partner Kirk (Cary Grant) and they become engaged to marry. But her old circus cronies won't let her retire and try to frame her in a scandal to break up the engagement. When the ruse works and Kirk breaks off with Tira, she takes him to court for breach of promise. "I'm No Angel" is all Mae. From the screenplay (which she wrote) to the gowns (which are knockouts---especially the "spider web" gown) she's the star and dominates every scene she's in. She's absolutely wonderful. From strutting around and singing with her maids to taking over her own case in the courtroom, you can see there was no one like her and never would be. She was totally unique and unequaled in terms of sheer star power. Some of her racy quotes are here in "I'm No Angel" but, alas, the better ones lie in "She Done Him Wrong" (also with Grant) and that one never made it to DVD. These two are the better of her films---"My Little Chickadee" with W.C.Fields notwithstanding---and it's a shame they're not in print. The Universal DVD of "Angel" looks good and is a collector's item now. But I'm for re-releasing ALL of her films on DVD. As I'm sure she would love to know, Mae West still has an audience and always will. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Remembering this movie after all these years.
I saw this movie as a young teenager, when black and white movies dominated weekends and rainy days! This was a romance that helped set the stage for all I find good in a romance: innocence, humor, drama, passion (the boat scene when he knew he had to marry her that night because of his passion for her), and the down home sweetness and good moral lessons shared, and a happy ending! A hunky leading man and a beautiful woman needing the love of a good man! Romance doesn't get any better than this. Great for the whole family!

One of my favorites!
It's not just the timeless story line here that I love, it's all the supporting cast too. Besides Cooper and Oberon, Walter Brennan again captures my heart as one of the finest. The scene in the unfinished house with the cowboys on their haunches "playing house" with Cooper is great. And the one on the boat to Galveston sums it all up. Watch this one close boys, it's what every woman wants!

Ideal Gary Cooper Star vehicle
This is an old-fashioned star vehicle. Slender story, slender characterizations. But it is made highly entertaining by Gary Cooper's delightfully understated performance. An example of why Cooper is one of the half-dozen greatest stars of all time.

A wonderful, and senuous comedy......sweet and tender
This movie touched me so deeply.......the story line is much the same as today's romantic comedies, but without the graphic language and details. When Gary Cooper's character tells Merle Oberon's character..."When a man feels this way about a woman, it's time to get married".....there is no doubt what that means....and as the camera fades to the porthole...it left me sighing........ ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Goodness Has a Lot to Do With It
This enjoyable comedy has always been one of my favorite Mae West pictures although it does not enjoy the fame or reputation of I'M NO ANGEL or SHE DONE HIM WRONG or even MY LITTLE CHICKADEE. The movie was based on a naughty hit play called PERSONAL APPEARANCE that starred Gladys George as a blonde movie queen with multiple men who finds herself stranded among her fans in the middle of the country. Sounds like a terrific springboard for a Mae West picture but the movie was made after the censor boards clamped down and cut nearly all of the racy dialogue which may well have been Mae Westisms in the first place!! Yet the movie has a lot to offer fans of classic movies, especially for it's glimpse into how movie-mad the American public was in the 1930's. Mae is delightful and her seduction of Randolph Scott is one of her more potent cinema encounters. The film also gives lie to the legend of West being so jealous of other women she never let other actresses shine in her films - the picture is loaded with excellent character actresses who have many scenes with Ms. West and Elizabeth Patterson even has some wonderful lines in scenes with La Mae and a delicious barb at Mae's expense: "In my day, women with hair that color didn't go out in the daytime!" Mae West even shares many scenes with another blonde - delightfully dingy little Isabel Jewell who at one point even does an impression of Mae's Paramount rival Marlene Dietrich in a scene with Mae talking about how much she loves movies! Mae even is unafraid to appear unsympathetic, at times acting quite bossy and self-centered as a spoiled movie diva. This is a really enjoyable if unusually conventional 1930's comedy film for a Mae West picture which is all the more reason it may find a greater audience than many Mae West romps.

WINNER, Most Enigmatic Title
That's because this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the west--it's set in PA. Except that there's some talk that big movie actress Mae West will take local rube grease monkey Randolph Scott back to Hollywood with her. Or--duh--maybe it's a play on her last name? Down to basics: Mae is this big movie star whose contract stipulates that she cannot marry for the next five yearrs. Her public relations man Warren William is there to make the contract stick, and so promptly dispatches any guy he thinks Mae will look twice at. Car trouble lands the two in a Pennsylvanian hick town filled with her hayseed fans, further complications when Mae takes a shine to local yokel Randy Scott. That's about it. Takes too long to get to the much better and rather satisfying wrap-up. Be that as it mae, Ms. West is always fun to watch with all her purring and undulations. Warren William is the comic relief this time round (oh, he's so much better as a scoundrel, as in "Skyscraper Souls" or "Employees' Entrance"--what a waste of talent); here he shows a little of that whatever it was that was so disturbing in great quantity in the gadawful "Satan Met a Lady". "Go West, Young Man" was okay for one viewing, but I don't advise a revisitation.

Tamed
After the failure of "Klondike Annie," Mae West tried something different: an adaptation of someone else's material. "Personal Appearance" was a stage play about a big star stuck in a small town, and in the early scenes of the film, she is fairly funny as she plays the star as vain, ignorant, and self-obsessed. This brief bit of satire is promising, but the film soon becomes the usual West vehicle, with various slickers and studs after the irresistable heroine. This is the rare West film with a strong supporting cast, and it passes fairly pleasantly, but the censors were at their strongest -- and Mae without double entendres isn't really Mae.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE
Zestfully tedious. Mae plays a movie star whose car breaks down in a hick town. She's invited to stay at the home of a young blond farmer in the form of Randolph Scott... One would expect Mae's impact on the unsophisticated folk she encounters - plus her allurement of the handsome young farmer - to be pretty darned amusing. Not so. Under the Legion of Decency's scrutiny, the star had become more statuesque and less outrageous and the pace of the play - on which the film was based - slowed down as Mae struck her glamourous signiture poses which were always kept front and centre by director Henry Hathaway. Based upon the successful broadway comedy PERSONAL APPEARANCE which starred Gladys George as Mavis, this rather toned-down version is an adequate yet unexciting vehicle for star West. Born August 17, 1893 in Brooklyn, Mae's dad was a small-time prizefighter named Jack West while her mother Mathilda was supposedly a great beauty in her day: a Lillian Russell type. While Mae was by no means a beauty, the amazing Hollywood expert beauty technicians made West look much more attractive than she was in the twenties: one can hardly believe she's the same person when photographs from the two decades are compared! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A GOLDWYN EXTRAVAGANZA.
Eddie Cantor and Robert Young play college roommates who are kicked out of school after being caught in the girl's dorm. Mix-ups include Cantor fleeing from crooks and ending up in Mexico where Eddie hilariously impersonates a bullfighter... The picture (a pre-code film) is chock full of laughs, includes some good songs and contains an excellent performance by the Polish actress Lyda Roberti who would die of a fatal heart attack at the age of 32 (while bending over to tie her shoelace, Hollywood legend says). The 1932 Goldwyn Girls include Jane Wyman, a ridiculously platinum blonde Paulette Goddard, the beautiful Toby Wing and a sixteen year-old named Betty Grable. In retrospect, it seems that Goldwyn wanted to be known as the Ziegfeld of the movies by producing opulent, entertaining musicals that he could charge a fortune for. In 1932, admission for THE KID FROM SPAIN cost moviegoers an astonishing $2 when the highest rate for a first-run picture was only 75c.

Lively Busby Berkeley musical is pre-code delight
Did I say pre-code. You bet. How else would you describe the opening musical number set in a girls' dormitory with the chorus line in various stages of dress! This film delivers. It's funny, tuneful, sexy and fast paced. Our hero, Eddie Cantor, is thrown out of school for hiding in the girls dorm. He gets taken for a ride by bank robbers to Mexico where his old pal, played by Robert Young, passes him off as a famous bull figher. The fun begins with Eddie dodging detectives, girls' fathers and an expectant crowd of bull fight fans. Berkeley works his magic with the musical numbers which makes this film a visual and audio delight. Plenty of pretty girls and good songs. Highly recommended for Berkeley fans, pre-code fans, and anybody looking for some light-hearted fun. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

If you like "It Happened One Night" you'll love this movie
I first came across this film at a local video store that carries hundreds of old classic films that you can't find anywhere else. Because of the great characters and great acting, it is one of my favorites. The plot is so unique. I love how Babe wants to become an "honest man" but doesn't want Connie to know. And even more so that when Connie finds out he had been in jail for 90 days, she doesn't tell Babe that she knows. She just lets him tell his stories and loves him even more than she did before. What a fun love story!

GABLE AND LOMBARD.
Strangely, this little flick is the only one in which both Gable and Lombard appeared in together. Clark Gable was such a blazing new star in 1932 that acquiring him for NO MAN OF HER OWN was considered a major coup. It came about when MGM wanted Fredric March to star with Norma Shearer in SMILIN' THROUGH and in exchange was negotiated. Gable's potent magnetism had a responsive foil in Carole Lombard, he as a crooked gambler on the run from detectives, she as a wise, big city gal, hiding out as a small town librarian who falls for his advances and marries him..........When Gable returns to New York for more "easy money", he eventually surrenders to the law because a jealous confederate (Dorothy Mackaill) threatens to expose him. The routine plot caught fire from the Lombard-Gable spark, which also ignited a long (albeit intermittent) off-screen love affair which eventually led to marriage seven years later. Carole Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1908; she was originally a chubby Mack Sennett bathing beauty in silents. Gable was born William Clark Gable in Cadiz, Ohio on February 1, 1901; he got his start in show business doing theatre work in Portland, Oregon, much to the dismay of his stern German dad, who was never terribly impressed with his son's success in the movies; he thought acting was an inept way for a man to make a living.

Clark Gable meets and falls in love with Carole Lombard
I have in my possession a telegram sent by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard announcing their marriage, as well as a Christmas card signed "Clark and Carole Gable," so it was certainly interesting to see the film where the legendary Hollywood couple first met. Gable plays Babe Stewart, a big-time gambler, who is hiding out in a small midwestern town when things get too hot for him in New York. With nothing better to do he bets his friend Vargas (Paul Ellis), that he can marry the town beauty, Connie Randall (Lombard). Babe wins the bet, and then discovers to his shock that he is in love with Connie. This means when he takes her back to the big city he has to cover up his gambling and ditch his old girl friends. Babe even goes to jail for 90-days, telling Connie he's on a business trip to South America. However, eventually one of Babe's former girl friends (Dorothy Mackail) spills the beans, and then it is simply a question of how Connie is going to play out the game. Not surprisingly although the story is hackneyed, the chemistry between the two stars is palatable. Lombard shows that she was a first rate comedic actress, no matter what obstacles the material presented. Gable gets to be the butt of most of the jokes, but since the big palooka is in love, it is all in fun. This 1932 film directed by Wesley Ruggles is sort of the "Cleopatra" of its day, if you think of Gable and Lombard as being the Burton and Taylor of their generation. Just do not ask me to explain how the title makes any sense given the storyline.

A Classic not to be missed!
This video already has two major league stars to draw attention - the handsome Clark Gable and the gorgeous Carole Lombard, who shared a true life fairy tale romance. The plot of the movie is quite well put together. Clark Gable plays a ruthless gambler, Babe Stewart, who leaves New York and goes to small town Glendale to get away from some financial problems where he meets Connie Randall, played by Carole Lombard, who is the cynical town librarian. Gable is instantly attracted, but not in love, he marries her on the flip of a coin and sees her as prosperous to his social activities. Connie is deeply in love, and does not realise that her husband is only stringing her along. She does not know his true profession and when she does find out, she ruins his chances for big money. Gable's character finally realises at the end that he does love Connie and he is prepared to change his ways for her, such as hand himself over to the ever watchful authorities. Connie goes back to Glendale, she believes her husband is in South America, she does not know he is trying to change his ways for her.... I highly recommend this romantic comedy to all classic movie lovers. The characters were played superbly by Gable and Lombard, whose chemistry highlighted this movie. They were supported by an excellent all star cast. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

SNAPPY ENTERTAINMENT.
In this newspaper comedy-satire, based on the rise of the fast-talking gossip columnist Walter Winchell, Tracy shows his peerless style: probably nobody in Hollywood history was better at the art of timing and placing a wisecrack than Lee Tracy (he also gesticulated, using his hands as much as his voice, to great advantage). Tracy could get a sob in his voice for the benefit of his radio listeners - while grinning at his intimates! The columnist has a pet peeve: a bright-eyed young crooner with a moronic smile, played by Dick Powell. With Mary Brian (once dubbed "the sweetest girl in pictures"), Ruth Donnelly and cartoon character-like Ned Sparks. It's a quick, breezy and very likeable little diversion from 1932.

Tabloid Journalism
Lee Tracy stars as a newspaper writer who makes a name for himself by writing a gossip column often dominated by news of "blessed events", which end up being stories about expected babies that are full of innuendo and scandal. He feeds off of workers all over town for his stories, and daily libel suits only intensify his search for a great story or rumour. Needless to say, people and their lives get ruined when he's on a roll. Tracy is amazing in the lead, firing of dialogue like a champion. He really has star presence, although his career in films never went anywhere. He's supported by a good cast of familiar Warner Brothers faces like Ruth Donnelly and Ned Sparks. A particular standout is Allen Jenkins as a henchman of a mobster. Watch his face as Tracy describes in detail what it's like to be in the electric chair. I was surprised by how open the film was about tabloid journalism, carrying a message that is still fresh today. It is also a lot more adult than you would expect of a 1930's film, but it was made before the Production Code would have disallowed such things. Like many of director Roy Del Ruth's film, it's filled with energy, fun performances, and some good camera work. This is one to watch.

Forgotten Star, Forgotten Director Deserve Your Attention
Roy del Ruth was one of a number of directors who really thrived at the Warners/First National studios in the years before the Production Code (there were others, among them Mervyn LeRoy & Lloyd Bacon). The fast-n-furious, low-budget topicality of the WB 'house style' pushed these men into doing breathless, lightning-paced work. When they moved on to greener pastures (Del Ruth & LeRoy both spent many years at high-toned Metro), the zip and zing of their Warners work was long gone. Lee Tracy (who came West to Hollywood after originating the Hildy Johnson role in THE FRONT PAGE on Broadway) was an ideal Warners leading man during this period, the wisecrack-slinger all others are measured against. Here he's so good, so inspired at mixing verbal pyrotechnics and comic physicality, you'll be wondering how it's possible his career didn't soar for another 25 years. (Besides his heavy drinking, which couldn't have helped him, he earned the wrath of Louis B Mayer during the shooting of VIVA VILLA by urinating on the Mexican army from his hotel balcony, causing enough diplomatic hubbub to effectively end his career as a lead in A-pictures.) This is probably his best film, playing a Walter Winchell-like columnist named Alvin Roberts, and Tracy plays him with such cheerful unscrupulousness you might almost forget what a rat the real Winchell was. But, again, this ain't the real world, exactly - this is pre-Code Warner Brothers, where even an unprincipled cur could be a hero so long as he scraped the bottom with pluck and moxie. Don't be surprised at the many one-liners and situations in BLESSED EVENT that would become taboo in two short years: abortions, adultery, homosexuality and ethnicity are all fair game for Tracy and Del Ruth's satirical arrows, and only an insufferable prude would stifle his laughter. Not until Preston Sturges played chicken with the Hays Office in the early 40s would such darkly funny farce be allowed on the screen again. Keep an eye out for this one and prepare to become a Lee Tracy fan for life. You may also find yourself making a mental note to seek out a few more Roy Del Ruth pictures. Use 1935 as a cutoff date and I think you'll be amply rewarded. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

SURPRISINGLY ENTERTAINING.
An interesting early talkie, this film will give viewers a rare glimpse of the vivacious 48 year-old Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. In the same hotel, two separate parties are being held: one for a wealthy society named Vivian Benton an amateur aviatrix, the other a recognition dinner for successful stockbroker Larry Day. Amusing romantic issues ensue concerning the above duo. A superstar of silents, Fairbank's career in the movies waned with the advent of talkies: his voice isn't bad, just cartoon character-like. Another big star of the silents was Bebe Daniels: she to would see her career quickly fade by 1935. Directed by Englishman Edmund Goulding (DARK VICTORY), this 1931 feature remains a fascinating curio for those in the mood. Curiously enough, Fairbanks made a 1917 silent with the same title, of which this isn't a remake.

Reaching for the Moon is Great Fun!
This 1931 romantic comedy is top notch entertainment! It's only 62 minutes, but it is so well paced and totally envolving, you'll think the movie was 2+ hours and you will still hate to see it end!

It has some of the best, CLASSIC 1920's dance scenes and CLASSIC 20's costumes. 1920's era film buffs should study this flick!

For those of you out there thinking about a play to put on at the High School: this could be a real crowd pleaser and money maker!

Here's a brief synopsis:

It takes place right before the stock market crash. Doug is a tycoon, Larry Day. He has never been succesful in affairs of the heart. He's been a real dud.

A beautiful girl comes into his office to talk to him about a problem. Doug can't solve the problem, but falls head-over-heels in love with this girl. He hears she's going to Europe by boat and chases after her. She's headed to Europe to get married. He boards the ship also and chases after her on board.

Meanwhile the market crashes and he is wiped out.During a big scene, she embarrasses him while her friends hide in a life boat while he confesses his love to her. Later, after they marry, she helps him regain his wealth and status. ALSO: a young Edward Everet Horton plays a butler in this flick on board the ship. And you'll be surprised when Bing Crosby appears!!

Now if this film were ever redone: could you imagine Jim Carey as Larry Day? Who would you elect to play the leads in this film?

Enjoy! ... Read more

Reviews (13)

VINTAGE DAVIS
Bette Davis gives a stunning performance as Joyce Heath, an alcoholic stage star with a self-destructive complex. Joyce Heath is a vitally tempestuous creature who has ruined her reputation as an actress and has come to be regarded in her profession as something of a jinx. Theatrically blacklisted, she has become an alcoholic in the depths of her own self-destruction. One night, while drinking herself into a hole in a seedy bar, she is noticed by wealthy architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone); Heath has been idolized by Bellows ever since he saw her play Juliet years before. Don takes Heath under his wing, bringing her to his house in the country and a inevitable love affair ensues. The character of Joyce Heath gave Davis an oppurtunity to convey all of the most instense emotions of which she was capable, from anxiety to zealousness, including liberal amounts of her famous screen bitchiness. The script is rather weak and mawkish at times and the film is almost totally carried by Davis, who uses all her well-known acting tricks to make her character come alive. Alison Skipworth is amusing as Mrs.Williams, Bellows cook who tells Franchot confidentially that Davis is indeed "dangerous". Ernest Haller's photography is justly praised; in the middle of the film, Davis is beautifully photographed, and her scenes with Tone (playing cards and eating homemade toffee) are incredibly spontaneous and realistic. Margaret Lindsay plays socialite Gail Armitage to whom Bellows is engaged (and eventually marries) and she gives a typical "stock" performance. Davis gives an Oscar worthy performance yet she is the only thing this movie has going for it; the character of Gordon Heath is unbelievably lame and the ending is unsatisfactory and banal to say the least. DANGEROUS was a success at the box office and it was one of Warner's biggest money-makers for 1935.

HIGH VOLTAGE BETTE.
It has been widely implied that the Academy Award given to Bette Davis for her performance in this mediocre film was actually a consolation prize for her electrifying performance as Mildred Rogers in OF HUMAN BONDAGE - which was filmed the year before. Although this 1935 film reeks of soap & has a really corny ending, you can get fixated watching LaDavis - still in her blonde period - act everyone off the screen. For her performance alone, DANGEROUS is worth sitting through: otherwise it would be considered a hackeneyed, mawkish piece of vintage trash. Bette plays Joyce Heath, a once-esteemed theatre actress who's drifted into the seedy life of alcholism and self-pity. One night, while drinking cheap gin in a dive, she's recognised by a young, promising architect named Don Bellows, who takes her under his wing and encourages the once-great actress to make a come-back... Davis is astonishingly electrifying in her playing: one can see why she was a fascination to 1935 moviegoers! Mind you, not everyone was a Davis devotee, but her highly charged, energetic personality was nigh impossible to ignore once seen on the silver screen. The middle of the film contains the best scenes, and there's a genuine - if somewhat unusual - chemistry between Davis and Tone. Margaret Lindsay does well enough as classy Gail Armitage who tells Bellows that "a secret's a secret". Franchot Tone isn't as bad as other reviewers have stated; he certainly had a fine speaking voice. As the almost unbearably mealy Gordon Heath, one wants to slap John Eldredge's face: an unbelievable entry in the cut-my-arm-off-if-it-will-help-you martyr sweepstakes. As a trivial footnote, the final working title of the film (after about seven inadequate ones) was HARD LUCK DAME. It was Davis herself who came up with naming the film DANGEROUS. Forgettably remade in 1941 - again by Warners - as SINGAPORE WOMAN with Brenda Marshall & directed by the later esteemed Jean Negulesco.

A BITTER BETTE STEALS THE SHOW...
Bette Davis won an Oscar for her deft portrayal of Joyce Heath, a former Broadway star who made a meteoric rise to the top and, just as quickly, hit bottom. Believed to be a jinx by a superstitious theatre crowd, Heath is bad news, a sloppy, bitter drunk who drowns her sorrows in gin soaked jags of self pity. The former brightest star on Broadway is now a bottom feeder, living on the skids.

Enter Don Bellows, played with earnest sincerity by Franchot Tone, a fan of Heath when she was at her peak. He claims that a performance of hers, which he saw, forever changed his life, allowing him to become the architect he always dreamed of being, rather than a stockbroker. One day, he sees Ms. Heath in a gin joint, totally in her cups. Sending his friend and his fiancee, Gail, home, he returns to the gin joint and takes Joyce Heath to his country home to rehabilitate her in repayment for the tremendous difference that she had, unknowingly, made in his life. What he does not count on is falling in love with her.

The bitter Joyce initially resists his attempts to get her back on the road to recovery, but ultimately responds to his nurturing and concern for her welfare. Recovered, she finds that she has fallen in love with him and he with her. His passion for her causes him to break off his engagement with Gail, his socially prominent fiancee.

Wanting to help Joyce regain the stardom that she previously had and that her thespian talent demands, Don backs a broadway show that he believes will allow her to regain her rightful place on Broadway. He does this, despite her protestations that she has brought only ruin to those men who had the misfortune to fall in love with her. He also insists that she marry him. His simple, though insistent, marriage proposal sets into motion a sequence of events that he could not possibly have envisioned. Enter Gordon Heath, a blast from Joyce's secret past, who must be dealt with, if Joyce is to find any happiness with Don. How she deals with him, however, sets her down a path out of one's worst nightmare. Subsequent events later make Don realize that Joyce is truly "dangerous".

Bette Davis is dazzling in her role. She runs the gamut of human emotions in playing the role of Ms. Heath and, deservedly, won what was to be the first of two Academy Awards for Best Actress. Franchot Tone is fine in his role, but what on earth the studio saw in him, I cannot fathom. He is certainly no heartthrob and is not even particularly charismatic. The role of Gordon Heath, played with simpering masochism by John Eldridge, makes the viewer marvel at the restraint Joyce had in dealing with him, as Eldridge's portrayal makes the viewer's fingers itch with the urge to slap him numerous times.

Unfortunately, the sizzle in the movie fizzles, when the film gives in towards the end to utter sanctimonious banality. It is too bad, given the performance by Ms. Davis, as it could have been a great movie. Still, this is a must see film for all Davis fans.

Early Davis shines in pre stardom Oscar winning role
Made during her "apprenticeship", at Warner Bros, when she was forced to appear in many highly forgettable film roles, "Dangerous", was definately the standout in so far as it provided the young and driven Bette Davis with a character worthy of her dramatic efforts. As Davis herself stated about this film "I saw potential in the role of Joyce Heath, realised the pot holes in the story and had to work like ten dogs to stop it from getting bogged down in treacle!". Work she did, and very well indeed, being rewarded for her efforts with the 1935 Best Actress Academy Award.

Viewed today "Dangerous", while highly entertaining and featuring a terrific performance by Bette Davis, is very obvious in its weaknesses and contains alot of situations and dialogue that really dont ring true. Nevertheless it is an important film in the career of Davis in that it revealed what she was capable of achieving when time and effort was spent on preparing her films a little better than previously.It tells the story of acclaimed actress Joyce Heath who finds herself a jinx on both the people in her life and in any production she is involved in. Going from being the shining light of Broadway she finds herself in the alchoholic gutter with no friends and no career. A chance encounter with rich architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone in a good but poorly written role) changes her circumstances as Bellows is immediately attracted to her and becomes her champion in all things. Despite being engaged to be married to lovely socialite Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay)he determines to restore Joyce's life as once, she (unknowingly), inspired him to better himself and explore his artistic side in the field of architecture. Taken by Don to sober up at his country estate Joyce, a chronic drinker first resents and verbally attacks Don however as she sees the importance he places on getting her life back in order she responds and finds herself falling in love with him despite warning him of her jinx on men and that she will always be "dangerous", to any person who comes close to her. Don decides to bank roll her return to Broadway and on the eve of the first night it seems that the jinx is again at work when it is discovered that Joyce actually is married and cannot obtain a divorce after Don asks her to marry him after the first night of the play. In an insane rage Joyce tries to kill her sickly devoted husband Gordon (John Eldredge) after he refuses to divorce her and thus jeopardizes the production due to open. It's only after this diseaster and when Don has gone and finally married Gail that Joyce realises that others are important and then attempts to right the terrible wrong she has done to both her now crippled husband and the many peope in the Broadway comunity that had faith in her.

Vintage soap opera? Maybe, but acted with a conviction by Bette Davis that does make us believe the improbable situations occuring. The supporting cast also score great acting points in their various roles. Franchot Tone who never really settled into the Hollywood acting situation has a difficult role to play here as on one side of things he must be a capable business type who is obviously an astute individual while on the reverse having to play a character that really wouldn't probably get involved in the situation he finds himself in. He does well playing Bellows but alot of his situation fails to really ring true. Margaret Lindsay is delightful as Don's spurned fiance but once again her character as written is perhaps a little too excepting of the situation with Joyce to be regarded as totally realistic. Veteran character actress Alison Skipworth as Mrs. Williams, Don's house keeper really scores as a crusty individual who really stands up to Joyce's drunken ravings and helps put her on the course back to respectability. The look of the production has a rich other worldly feel about it as was typical of movie making in the 1930's. It reveals an almost too glamourous world of smart cars, beautiful clothes, palatial country houses and city apartments. Just the tonic for depression weary movie goers in 1935.

I personally love this early performance by Bette Davis a few years before her great period of stardom began. Her great commanding star presence is very obvious even here. I regard "Dangerous", as vital to include in any Bette Davis collection and what you see is raw vital talent that within a few years would be refined in a number of unforgettable performances that are as vivid today as they were 60 years ago. Unrealistic as it may be at times "Dangerous", is highly entertaining viewing and shouldn't be missed when exploring the formidable collection of work by the legendary Bette Davis.

Obvious Melodrama
Bette Davis stars in this melodrama as Joyce Heath, an actress that has been labeled a jinx due to the hard luck that befalls the men in her life and the productions she is associated with. Once considered that brightest, rarest talent of her generation, she is reduced to an embarrassed alcoholic, unable to get work. She is rescued by Franchot Tone, an architect and fan who wants to rehabilitate. He's engaged to society girl Margaret Lindsay, who knows nothing of his "humanitarian" deeds. Needless to say, Tone falls for Davis, and he begins to discover why his housekeeper Alison Skipworth has warned him against her ... she is dangerous. You can't say Davis doesn't go for it with this performance. She chews the scenery in her drunk and bitter scenes. She is more subdued and effective in the quieter scenes, when she reveals her character's vulnerability. Tone is alright, not really making much of an impression, while Lindsay is boring in a badly written role that she does nothing with. The screenplay is weak and obvious, and the melodrama came on too strong for my tastes. I never really felt that these were real people, but rather just plot devices to keep the story moving along. But Davis does help to keep it watchable. You sort of get the impression she knew how bad this was, so she did whatever she could to salvage the film. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An impressive but propagandistic film from 1932
I was really quite impressed by this movie. The Last Mile is an account of death row inmates awaiting execution. This has been a common theme in movies over the years, of course, but The Last Mile dates all the way back to 1932. In case you're wondering, it is not a silent picture, nor is the video quality bad at all. The film suffers somewhat from its strident political viewpoint, but it does make for fascinating viewing.

Walters is the man brought into cell # 5, having been convicted of murdering his business partner in cold blood. He's innocent, but that doesn't really matter now that he's in the big house. We soon come to know all the men in the death house to some degree, and most of them are depicted in a much more favorable fashion than the prison guards. One man possesses a rich singing voice, another one drives everyone crazy with his howls and poetic tirades, one plays the macho prisoner constantly letting the guards have it while trying to buck up the spirits of the guys like Walters, etc. The audience is treated to an extended scene featuring one prisoner's walk down that last mile to the door of the execution chamber. It makes for a poignant scene, but it also highlights the issues I had with the film. The film announces its vocal anti-death penalty stance in the very first frame of the film (in the form of an introductory note), and it never wavers from the predetermined focus. The convicts are all basically nice guys who are scared and nervous about their imminent deaths, while the prisoners are brutes who like nothing more than to rub the coming executions' in the noses of the condemned. Looking death in the eye, the convicts worry about their families, lament the fact that they have so much to live for, and generally present themselves as men being unduly punished by an unjust system. Oddly enough, not one man utters a word of remorse or even acknowledgement for the crimes that put him in the situation in the first place.

Even after the prisoners get the jump on the guards and seize control of the death house, they are still presented in a favorable light. We are apparently still supposed to feel sorry for them because the system has forced them to take such drastic, murderous action. In The Last Mile, everything is always the fault of society and the law; if it weren't for that bad old death penalty, such things would not happen - or so we are led to believe. This film clearly fits the mold of propaganda, in my opinion, yet I can't deny the fact it is a well-made, gripping film. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A fine, little-known Capra drama
Frank Capra's fast-paced Depression-era drama stars Walter Huston as a bank manager facing a financial panic that leads to a run on his bank. It's easy to peg this early talkie as a dry run for "It's A Wonderful Life," but it also stands on its own as a fine film, shot with a nice noir-ish feel. The desperation and panic of the time is painfully palpable throughout this film, and the indiscriminate hysteria of the opening sequences ratchets up into individualized, personal agony as Huston steels himself to lose all that he's ever worked for. Tense and anxiety-provoking; worth checking out!

A change of pace for Capra
American Madness deals with a mid-size bank during the Depression years. Walter Huston is the bank preside