88% (2) Imitation of Life 111 min, Approved, [Drama, Romance] [John M. Stahl] [26 Nov 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win.
Actors: Claudette Colbert, Ned Sparks, Rochelle Hudson, Warren William
Writer: Fannie Hurst (novel), William Hurlbut (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Bea Pullman and her daughter Jessie have had a hard time making ends meet since Bea's husband died. Help comes in the form of Delilah Johnson, who agrees to work as Bea's housekeeper in exchange for a room for herself and her daughter Peola. Bea comes up with a plan to market Delilah's pancake recipe. The two soon become wealthy and as the years go on, their friendship deepens. Their relationships with their daughters, however, become strained. Ashamed of her mother, Peola seeks a new life by passing for white. Bea's love for her daughter is tested when she and Jessie fall for the same man.
Rotten Tomatoes: The first of two film version of Fannie Hurst's novel, 1934's Imitation of Life chronicles the friendship between two women--one white (Claudette Colbert), one black (Louise Beavers). Colbert is a widow with a baby daughter who hires Beavers, who also has a daughter, as a housekeeper. Colbert is a working girl who yearns to operate her own business, which she does thanks to Beavers' special pancake recipe. A family friend (Ned Sparks) suggests that the ladies form a corporation to merchandise the "Aunt Delilah" pancake mix, and within ten years both women are quite wealthy. Colbert's relationship with her teenaged daughter (Rochelle Hudson) is strained when both ladies vie for the attentions of the same man, but these problems are minor compared to the travails of Beavers, who not only must deal with the De Facto segregation of the 1930s but must also contend with her restless daughter (Fredi Washington), who resents being an African-American and attempts to pass for white. The heartbroken Beavers dies, and at her funeral her now-chastened daughter weeps out her apologies for turning her back on her mother. Imitation of Life was remade in 1959, its story glamorized and updated to accommodate star Lana Turner.
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83% (2) Les Misérables 108 min, APPROVED, [Drama, History, Romance] [Richard Boleslawski] [20 Apr 1935]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, Rotten Tomatoes: 90%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win.
Actors: Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Laughton, Fredric March, Rochelle Hudson
Writer: Victor Hugo (novel), W.P. Lipscomb
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: This is by far the best version of Les Misérables ever made in my opinion and the critics. Charles Laughton makes this movie, but literally every scene and every character add to this amazing film. If you have never seen a Charles Laughton movie this one will get you hooked. His portrayal of Inspector Javert is 2nd to none. He tracks the wanted man Jean Valjean throughout the movie and the twists and turns are so well done even you movie buffs will not see what's coming. The movie takes you through Valjeans life and many crossroads that shape his life. My words don't do this movie justice. This is a must see Drama. The scene with the priest always gets to me, be sure to catch all the dialog. This movie will make you laugh though it is not a comedy. It will make you mad. It will move your heart in a good way. You will become many of the characters as you watch the film. The less you know about the film the better in my opinion which is why my summary is so vague on details. You can only see a movie for the first time once so enjoy it. I know I did. And this is one of those you can see over and over through the years and it always gives you something more.
Rotten Tomatoes: This version of the oft-filmed Victor Hugo novel stars Frederic March as Jean Valjean, whose theft of a loaf of bread necessary for his survival lands him in prison for a decade. Upon his release, Valjean is embittered, but soon regains his humanity and compassion with a bishop's help.
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81% (2) Wild Boys of the Road 68 min, APPROVED, [Adventure, Drama] [William A. Wellman] [07 Oct 1933]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 75%, Rotten Tomatoes: 88%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Edwin Phillips, Frankie Darro, Rochelle Hudson
Writer: Earl Baldwin (screenplay), Daniel Ahern (story "Desperate Youth")
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: At the bottom of the depression, Tom's mother has been out of work for months when Ed's father loses his job. Not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomore's decide to hop the freights and look for work. Wherever they go, there are many other kids just like them, so Tom, Ed and now Sally stick together. They camp in places like 'Sewer City' as long as they can until the local authorities run them off. They travel all over the mid west and when they get to New York, Ed thinks that they may finally find work.
Rotten Tomatoes: This earnest, socially-conscious road drama centers on two California teenagers who find their comfortable lives thrown into turmoil during the Great Depression. To find work for themselves, the adventurous lads sneak aboard a Chicago-bound train.
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71% (1) Life Begins at 40 85 min, Approved, [Comedy] [George Marshall] [22 Mar 1935]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, External Reviews
Actors: George Barbier, Richard Cromwell, Rochelle Hudson, Will Rogers
Writer: Walter B. Pitkin (book), Robert Quillen (additional dialogue), Lamar Trotti (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In small-town America the easy-going publisher of the local paper finds himself in opposition to the local banker on the return to town of a lad jailed possibly wrongly for a theft from the bank.
Rotten Tomatoes: A best-selling nonfictional book of the 1920s provided the title for this Will Rogers vehicle. Rogers plays a small town newspaper editor who prints all the news that fits his own homespun view of the world. Against the wishes of the town higher-ups, Rogers tries to clear the name of Richard Cromwell, a young man accused of a long-ago bank robbery. Along the way, the genial editor smooths the path of romance between Cromwell and sweet Rochelle Hudson. Life Begins at 40 contains some great bits of dialogue, notably Rogers' comment after unloading a box of canned goods that the American emblem should be changed from an eagle to a can opener.
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69% (1) Curly Top 75 min, Approved, [Family, Musical, Romance] [Irving Cummings] [26 Jul 1935]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Jane Darwell, John Boles, Rochelle Hudson, Shirley Temple
Writer: Patterson McNutt (screenplay), Arthur J. Beckhard (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones." As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
Rotten Tomatoes: This adaptation of the oft-filmed Jean Webster novel Daddy Long Legs has been tailored to the talents of Shirley Temple. The orphaned daughter of vaudeville entertainers, Elizabeth Blair (Temple) is the most precocious charge at super-strict Lakeside Orphanage, regularly disrupting protocol with her extemporaneous performance of such songs as "Animal Crackers in My Soup" at the dinner table. While paying a visit to the orphanage, wealthy trustee Edward Morgan (John Boles) is enchanted by cute little Elizabeth -- and even more so by the girls more mature sister Mary (Rochelle Hudson). He secretly arranges for the sisters' release from the institution, sets them up in a lavish mansion, and finances their education. When Mary almost falls in love with another man, it is miss-fixit Elizabeth who brings Mary and Edward together, capping this bit of cupidity with her trademarked exclamation "Oh, my goo'ness!" The first Shirley Temple vehicle specifically aimed at children, Curly Top contains some wonderful character bits from its adult cast, notably Etienne Girardot, Rafaela Ottiano and Jane Darwell as the orphanage officials and by Arthur Treacher and Billy Gilbert as the hero's household servants.
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65% (1) Convicted Woman 65 min, APPROVED, [Action, Crime, Drama] [Nick Grinde] [31 Jan 1940]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Frieda Inescort, June Lang, Lola Lane, Rochelle Hudson
Writer: Joseph Carole (screenplay), Martin Mooney (story), Alex Gottlieb (story)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Jobless Betty Andrews, although innocent, is convicted of a department store theft and, despite the best efforts of her lawyer and noted social worker Mary Ellis and a reporter, Jim Brent on her behalf, is sentenced to a year in the Curtiss House of Correction. Chief Matron Brackett rules with an iron hand with the aid of inmates Frankie Mason, "The Duchess" and Nita Lavore. One of the inmates commits suicide and a subsequent story by Jim on the prison conditions leads to Mary Ellis being made the supervisor of the prison. When ten girls are allowed to go home for Thanksgiving under the promise of returning by eleven p.m., Frankie and "The Duchess", angry over losing the privileges given them by the departed Matron Brackett, arrange to have Betty kidnapped so she can not return at the appointed time. Another of the girls telephones Jim and he finds Betty a prisoner at a deserted roadhouse...
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