88% (2)  Baby Face  71 min,  Approved,  [Drama, Romance]  [Alfred E. Green]  [17 Nov 1933]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 76%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 100%,   External Reviews
Awards:  1 win.
Actors:  Alphonse Ethier, Barbara Stanwyck, Donald Cook, George Brent
Writer:  Gene Markey (screen play), Kathryn Scola (screen play), Darryl F. Zanuck (story)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, French    Country:  USA
Plot:  A young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank - by gleefully sleeping her way to the top.
Rotten Tomatoes:   When her father dies, this "bound-for-bigger-things" blonde heads to NYC going to work in a bank, where she uses beauty and charms to quickly move up the ladder. She soon has the corporate press eating out of her hand, as well as the rest of the male-only executive world.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

72% (2)  Viva Villa!  115 min,  [Biography, Western]  [Jack Conway, Howard Hawks, William A. Wellman]  [27 Apr 1934]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 65%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 80%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.
Actors:  Donald Cook, Fay Wray, Leo Carrillo, Wallace Beery
Writer:  Ben Hecht (screen play), Edgecumb Pinchon (suggested by the book by), O.B. Stade (suggested by the book by)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father's death. In 1910, he befriends American reporter Johnny Sykes. Then a meeting with visionary Francisco Madero transforms Villa from an avenging bandit to a revolutionary general. To the tune of 'La Cucaracha,' his armies sweep Mexico. After victory, Villa's bandit-like disregard for human life forces Madero to exile him. But Madero's fall brings Villa back to raise the people against a new tyrant...
Rotten Tomatoes:   A far from factual filmed biography of Mexican patriot Pancho Villa, Viva Villa! was written by lengendary screenwriter Ben Hecht. We first meet the young Villa when his father is beaten to death after protesting Diaz' seizure of the Mexican peons' land. Pancho exacts a temporary revenge by knifing one of his father's killers, then heads for the hills, where he organizes a band of renegades. As he "matures," Pancho is played by child actor Phillip Cooper and adult star Wallace Beery. Though ruthless in his treatment of the rich, Pancho is a hero to the poor, who receive the spoils of Villa's raids. Befriended by American reporter Johnny Sykes (Stuart Erwin), Villa becomes internationally famous thanks to Sykes' articles concerning his exploits. Pancho also finds a strong ally in Don Felipe de Castillo (Donald Cook), who introduces the rebel bandit to Madero (Henry B. Walthall), the leader of the peon revolt. Madero convinces Villa to join forces with him, the better to oust the Diaz regime. His principal rival in this goal is ambitious General Pascal (Joseph Schildkraut), who intends to set up an even more despotic regime once Diaz is eliminated. Emerging victorious in his fight against the federales, Villa is encouraged to go back home by Madero. Illiterate and dangerously naïve, Villa quickly runs into trouble with the new government, giving Pascal a chance to humiliate his former "comrade in arms." Later, Pascal shows his true colors by assassinating Madero and assuming control of Mexico. Thirsting for revenge, Villa and his men go on a bloody rampage, culminiating in the ritualistic murder of the treacherous Pascal (he is staked out on an anthill and covered with honey). Made president of Mexico upon the elimination of Pacal, Villa once more finds himself in over his head. Unable to deal with political infighting, Villa retires to his ranch. One day, after running into his old friend Johnny Sykes (Stu Erwin), Villa is shot and mortally wounded by his onetime friend Don Felipe, who holds Pancho responsible for the death of his sister Teresa (Fay Wray). As he dies, Villa begs Johnny to tell him what his epitaph will be. Improvising quickly, Johnny tells of Villa's love for Mexico and his many accomplishments. Partially filmed on location in Mexico, Viva Villa was plagued with a multitude of production problems, not least of which was the diplomatic gaffe committed by Lee Tracy, the film's original Johnny Sykes: While standing on a balcony watching a military parade, an inebrieated Tracy relieved himself on the troops below and was immediately fired. Another crisis arose when the Mexican government objected to star Wallace Beery, on the grounds that Beery usually played villains or buffoons. Despite these and other setbacks, Viva Villa was finally completed under the assured directorial hand of MGM troubleshooter Jack Conway and the expert supervision of David O. Selznick. Though some critics objected to the film's violence, Viva Villa was a financial success.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

68% (1)  Whirlpool  80 min,  APPROVED,  [Crime, Drama, Romance]  [Roy William Neill]  [10 Apr 1934]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 68%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Allen Jenkins, Donald Cook, Jack Holt, Jean Arthur
Writer:  Howard Emmett Rogers (story), Dorothy Howell (screenplay), Ethel Hill (screenplay)
External Links:  Wikipedia  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Carnie owner Buck Rankin marries local girl Helen and plans to go straight, but after a brawl ends up with a twenty-year sentence for manslaughter. When a pregnant Helen vows to wait for him Rankin forges a letter from the warden's office informing Helen that Rankin drowned while attempting to escape. Twenty years later Rankin is released from prison, changes his name to "Duke Sheldon", and eventually becomes a nightclub owner with ties to the mob. Helen has remarried - to a local judge - and daughter Sandra has become a reporter. When it's learned that notoriously camera-shy "Duke Sheldon" will be providing a mobster's alibi at a high-profile trial Sandra is sent to write an exposé. She immediately recognizes Rankin from a photo her mother kept, and father and daughter have a tearful reunion. Now Rankin must decide what to do: testify at the trial, revealing his identity and exposing Helen as an unintentional bigamist. Or refuse to testify, protecting Helen and Sandra but angering the mob.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

68% (1)  The World Changes  91 min,  APPROVED,  [Drama]  [Mervyn LeRoy]  [25 Nov 1933]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 68%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Aline MacMahon, Donald Cook, Mary Astor, Paul Muni
Writer:  Edward Chodorov (screenplay), Sheridan Gibney (story "America Kneels")
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  An ambitious farmer becomes a pioneer in the meat packing business, finding financial success but private disappointment over the course of many decades.
Rotten Tomatoes:   This well-wrought drama chronicles the rise and fall of a midwestern family dynasty from the mid 1800s through the Great Depression. Most of the tale centers on a young Dakota farm boy whose grand schemes and ambition lead him on a cattle drive to Texas. From there he hooks up with the owner of a major Chicago slaughterhouse and then falls in love with his new partner's beautiful daughter. They marry and after the youth figures out how to use refrigerated train cars to ship his beef, begin living the lives of the nouveau riche. When his partner dies, he leaves the young man his considerable fortune making him an instant meat-packing magnate. With a good wife, two beautiful children and a terrific home, life for him couldn't be better. Unfortunately, his self-centered wife is discontent. Thinking her husband's profession is preventing her from becoming a true society dame, she begins badgering him to selling the meat business and becoming a more respectable stockbroker. Unfortunately, her attempted machinations fall on deaf ears and the resulting frustration drives her insane. The tycoon's son has his own troubles with his beautiful blue-blooded wife and brokerage business that is destroyed when the market crashes in 1929. His father, who did eventually sell the meat business and invest in his son' brokerage, is also nearly wiped out. In order to support his wife and save face, the son begins embezzling. Unfortunately he gets caught. When he learns that his own wife has betrayed him, the despondent youth is beyond help and tragedy ensues for both the son and his elderly father.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

65% (1)  The Mad Genius  81 min,  UNRATED,  [Drama, Horror, Romance]  [Michael Curtiz]  [07 Nov 1931]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 65%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Charles Butterworth, Donald Cook, John Barrymore, Marian Marsh
Writer:  Martin Brown (play), J. Grubb Alexander (screenplay), Harvey F. Thew (screenplay)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  A crippled puppeteer rescues an abused young boy and turns the boy into a great ballet dancer. Complications ensue when, as a young man, the dancer falls in love with a young woman the puppeteer is also in love with.
Rotten Tomatoes:   More of a follow-up than a sequel to 1931's popular Svengali, this drama centers on the attempts of a club-footed and insanely bitter dance instructor to cling to his protege.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]