82% (2) Five Star Final 89 min, [Crime, Drama] [Mervyn LeRoy] [26 Sep 1931]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 91%, External Reviews
Actors: Anthony Bushell, Edward G. Robinson, H.B. Warner, Marian Marsh
Writer: Louis Weitzenkorn (based on the play by), Byron Morgan (screen play), Robert Lord (adaptation)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Hinchcliffe, the ruthless publisher of a sleazy New York tabloid, is concerned that the ethical journalistic policies of City Editor Randall have caused a drop in circulation. He pressures the newsman to run more sensational stories including resurrecting the twenty year old Vorhees Murder Case. Although the perpetrator's actions were ultimately judged justifiable, and she has been subsequently living an exemplary life in anonymity, Hunchcliffe insists Randall revisit the story. Randall assigns Isopod, an alcoholic degenerate, to dig up anything lurid that he find. The unprincipled reporter fraudulently insinuates himself into the Vorhees' home masquerading as a minister and gets the expose he sought. Yellow journalism triumphs, and a decent woman's name gets dragged through the mud again... with tragic consequences.
Rotten Tomatoes: Adapted from the stage play by former newspaperman Louis Weitzenkorn, Five Star Final is an uncompromising look at the consequences of journalistic irresponsibility. Hounded by his publishers to pep up circulation with a sensational story, newspaper editor Edward G. Robinson decides to revive public interest in a long-ago murder case. He discovers that a woman (Sally Starr) who'd shot her lover nearly three decades earlier is now living under a new name and is married to a pillar of society (H.B. Warner). The woman's daughter (Marian Marsh) is just about to marry the son (Anthony Bushell) of another wealthy couple. Robinson sends one of his slimier reporters (Boris Karloff), a onetime divinical student who'd been expelled for sexual misconduct, to visit the woman and secure a photograph. The underhanded reporter disguises himself as the clergyman who will officiate at the wedding, worms his way into the family's confidence, and appropriates the photo. When the story hits the papers, the woman desperately tries to call Robinson and ask him to cease and desist, but Robinson is unmoved. The disgraced woman commits suicide, as does her husband a few moments later. The groom's parents snobbishly try to call off the wedding, but the groom stands by his fiancee's side and is disinherited. The grief-maddened daughter breaks into Robinson's office with a gun, threatening to kill him for ruining her mother. She is calmed down by her fiance, who warns Robinson that he himself will come back for revenge if the newspaper ever mentions the dead woman's name again. Five Star Final was remade in 1936 as Two Against the World, this time set in a radio station instead of a newspaper office.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
76% (2) Svengali 81 min, Approved, [Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi] [Archie Mayo] [22 May 1931]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 83%, External Reviews
Actors: Bramwell Fletcher, Donald Crisp, John Barrymore, Marian Marsh
Writer: George L. Du Maurier (novel), J. Grubb Alexander (screenplay), J. Grubb Alexander (dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, French, Italian, German Country: USA
Plot: Sinister music maestro Svengali can control the actions of women through hypnotism and his telepathic powers. When a pupil he has seduced announces she has left her husband for him, he uses his powers to cause her suicide and promptly forgets her. He meets a beautiful model, Trilby, and becomes infatuated with her, but she, in turn, falls for a young artist called Billee who also loves her. One day Svengali hypnotizes Trilby to cure her headache, but also examines her upper palate and decides it is an ideal cavity for great singing. He convinces her to fake her suicide, so Billee and friends will forget her, and goes on a singing tour with her. Svengali uses his powers to make her sing wonderfully and Madame Svengali, as Trilby is now known, becomes a sensation throughout Europe. But Billee discovers the ruse and begins to follow the pair, upsetting Svengali enough to have him cancel performances too frequently, so they no longer can perform in Europe. They go to Egypt, but Billee relentlessly follows.
Rotten Tomatoes: A charismatic music teacher mesmerizes his best student and turns her into big star. Unfortunately, his plan backfires a bit, for she can only sing when he is near her. The story is based on Du Maurier's novel Trilby.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
70% (1) Crime and Punishment 88 min, [Crime, Drama] [Josef von Sternberg] [11 Jan 1936]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Actors: Edward Arnold, Marian Marsh, Peter Lorre, Tala Birell
Writer: Joseph Anthony, Fyodor Dostoevsky (novel), S.K. Lauren
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Roderick Raskolnikov, a brilliant criminology student and writer, becomes embittered by poverty and his inability to support his family. When he sees a desperate prostitute, Sonya, degraded by a vicious pawnbroker, Raskolnikov, a proponent of the idea that some people are imbued with such intelligence that the law cannot be applied to them as to other people, decides to rid the world of the pawnbroker and thus save his family and Sonya as well from the fate poverty forces on them. When Porphiry, the police detective investigating the murder, encounters Raskolnikov, he finds a man nearly crippled by the guilt and paranoia his deed has burdened him with. But Raskolnikov clings with as much coldness and calculation as he can muster to his guiding idea, that some crimes ought not to be punished.
Rotten Tomatoes: The story goes that Peter Lorre wanted to star in a film version of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, but was certain that Columbia Pictures chieftain Harry Cohn would turn the project down flat. So Lorre hired a secretary to type up a synopsis of the story in words of one syllable then submitted this simplified resume to Cohn. Enthusiastic over the project, Cohn gave Lorre the go-ahead -- but first he asked "Tell me -- has this book got a publisher?" Apocryphal story or no, the fact is that Lorre did star in Columbia's Crime and Punishment and in the bargain was directed by the ultra-stylish Josef Von Sternberg. As the arrogant sociopath Raskolnikov, who is convinced that he can get away with the murder of a nasty pawnbroker because he is "above" such intangibles as a conscience, Lorre is excellent, especially when his bravado is slowly eroded by the gentle but determined Inspector Porfiri (Edward Arnold). Like the aforementioned typed-up synopsis, the film oversimplifies the Dostoyevsky original, concentrating only on the crime, the pangs of guilt, the confession and the arrest: the punishment and its aftermath, so essential to the novel's overall impact, are dispensed with entirely. To make the film even more accessible to a mass audience, the story is subtly updated, though any distinctly "contemporary" touches such as automobiles, telephones and current slang are studiously avoided. The supporting cast is wildly inconsistent: Mrs. Patrick Campbell is fine in her brief scenes as the vitriolic pawnbroker, but Marian Marsh is all wrong as the streetwalker heroine Sonya. The principal strength of this Crime and Punishment is the film-long game of cat-and-mouse between the reckless Raskolnikov and the quietly methodical Porfiri.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
70% (1) The Black Room 68 min, UNRATED, [Crime, Horror] [Roy William Neill] [15 Jul 1935]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Actors: Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh, Robert Allen, Thurston Hall
Writer: Arthur Strawn (screenplay), Henry Myers (screenplay), Arthur Strawn (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Prophecy has it that younger twin Anton will kill brother Gregor in the castle's Black Room. Anton returns to the castle after a 10 year hiatus. Gregor, a Baron, has many attempts on his life as his subjects detest his tyranny. However, good natured Anton earns the subjects' respect, and the admiration of Col.Hassel, uncle of the beautiful Thea. When Gregor kills young servant Mashka, his subjects storm the castle to remove him. Devious Gregor renounces his title in favour of brother Anton to appease them. He then kills Anton to assume his identity and the Baronship again. He is free to pursue Thea with Col.Hassel's blessing. When Col.Hassel discovers Gregor's impersonation, he also meets death. With Thea's true love, Lt. Lussan, wrongfully convicted of Hassel's murder, it appears nothing can stop evil Gregor from ambushing her into marriage. But what of that prophecy?
Rotten Tomatoes: A curse pronounced upon land baron DeBerghmann has devastating long-range consequences for his twin sons Gregor and Anton. Twenty years later, Anton (Boris Karloff) has developed into a debauched and much-hated despot, disposing of his enemies by dumping their bodies into the titular "black room" on his estate. But when Anton's kindly, benevolent brother Gregor (also Karloff) returns home after a long absence, he is so beloved by the townspeople that Anton "graciously" gives up his title and estate to Gregor. Actually, Anton plans to kill his brother and take his place so that he can indulge in even more deviltry -- including the framing of young Lt. Lussan (Robert Allen), the sweetheart of the beautiful Thea (Marian Marsh), for the murder (committed by Anton) of Thea's father Col. Hassel (Thurston Hall). Ultimately, however, Anton's true identity is revealed by Gregor's faithful mastiff. Though reminiscent of an old folk legend, The Black Room was written directly for the screen by Arthur Strawn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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]