Tag Archives: 1930s

The Shining Hour (1938) Frank Borzage, Joan Crawford, Margaret Sullavan, Robert Young, Drama, Romance

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Olivia (Crawford), a New York nightclub dancer, tires of the fast life and marries Henry Linden (Douglas), a farmer. When Olivia moves to her new husband’s farm, in Wisconsin, she encounters trouble from his domineering sister-in-law Hannah (Bainter) and his brother David, (Young), who do not approve of her. Olivia finds an ally in David’s wife, Judy (Sullavan), who is in a loveless marriage.
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Lloyd’s of London (1936) Henry King, Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, Freddie Bartholomew, Drama, History, Romance

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Lloyds of London traces the rise to prominence of the venerable British insurance company, as seen through the eyes of fictional 19th-century Londoner Jonathan Blake (Tyrone Power, in his first starring role). A lifelong friend of naval hero Lord Nelson, Blake puts his job (and the future existence of Lloyds) on the line when he announces Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar – before it takes place.
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Gibraltar / It Happened in Gibraltar (1938) Fyodor Otsep, Roger Duchesne, Erich von Stroheim, Viviane Romance, Drama, War

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In 1938, in Gibraltar to infiltrate terrorists who sabotage the boats with troups which should sail to Palestine, a British officer poses as a traitor… The pulpy Mercedes (Viviane Romance), a dancer in a seedy cabaret of Tangier “who draws men like light attracts butterflies…” is spying on behalf of the mysterious Marson interpreted masterfully by Erich Von Stroheim.
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The Invisible Man (1933) James Whale, Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

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Working in Dr. Cranley’s laboratory, scientist Jack Griffin was always given the latitude to conduct some of his own experiments. His sudden departure, however, has Cranley’s daughter Flora worried about him. Griffin has taken a room at the nearby Lion’s Head Inn, hoping to reverse an experiment he conducted on himself that made him invisible. Unfortunately, the drug he used has also warped his mind, making him aggressive and dangerous. He’s prepared to do whatever it takes to restore his appearance, and several will die in the process.
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Dracula (1931) Tod Browning, Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Fantasy, Horror

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After a harrowing ride through the Carpathian mountains in eastern Europe, Renfield enters castle Dracula to finalize the transferral of Carfax Abbey in London to Count Dracula, who is in actuality a vampire. Renfield is drugged by the eerily hypnotic count, and turned into one of his thralls, protecting him during his sea voyage to London. After sucking the blood and turning the young Lucy Weston into a vampire, Dracula turns his attention to her friend Mina Seward, daughter of Dr. Seward who then calls in a specialist, Dr. Van Helsing, to diagnose the sudden deterioration of Mina’s health. Van Helsing, realizing that Dracula is indeed a vampire, tries to prepare Mina’s fiance, John Harker, and Dr. Seward for what is to come and the measures that will have to be taken to prevent Mina from becoming one of the undead.
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The Testament of Dr. Mabuse / Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933) Fritz Lang, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Gustav Diessl, Crime

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After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum (Oscar Beregi), he observes the professor’s preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). When Mabuse’s notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor’s whereabouts, and capture him for good.
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Treno popolare / Medium-Class Train (1933) Raffaello Matarazzo, Marcello Spada, Lina Gennari, Carlo Petrangeli, Drama, Romance

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A summertime daytrip along the railway line Rome-Orvieto on a special-fare train, a group of diverse and lively characters. Families, old couples, an unfaithful husband and his jealous wife, a forlorn girl, a nerdy white-collar worker and his flirtatious date, and a handsome, eagerly wholesome young man. Their stories merge and intersect in the beautiful scenery of a Medieval small town in central Italy.
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Vecchia guardia / Old Guard (1934) Alessandro Blasetti, Gianfranco Giachetti, Mino Doro, Franco Brambilla, Drama

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There were very few commercial feature films made during the Italian fascist era that were as openly propagandistic as this famous (notorious?) dramatic paean to the Blackshirts. The story takes place in a small village in Italy in October of 1922, on the eve of the fascist “March on Rome”, in which King Victor Emanuel III was persuaded to consign power to Benito Mussolini. Gianfranco Giachetti is Dr. Cardini, a doctor at the local psychiatric hospital, where a strike has been called by the local socialists. Cardini turns to the fascists to help avert the strike. His son Roberto (Mino Doro) rounds up fascist friends to fight those aligned with the strikers and the town’s socialists.
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It’s in the Air (1935) Charles Reisner, Jack Benny, Ted Healy, Una Merkel, Comedy, Sport

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Calvin Churchill, a confidence-man, and his sidekick/stooge, “Clip” McGurk, are being pursued by an Internal Revenue agent, Henry Potke, for their failure to file an income-tax on the advice of a shyster lawyer. They are hiding out at the Desert Springs Hotel-Resort, where Calvin is working a scam by posing as a stratosphere-flyer who is looking at making Desert Springs the base of his operations. A rich airplane manufacturer sees a chance to get rid of a stratosphere balloon that he built for an unsuccessful expedition at a great loss. Calvin intends to take the money and run but his estranged wife, Alice, now a tennis instructor at the resort promises to come back to him if he will reform. Alas, reformation does not come easy for Calvin, especially when “Clip” is around, and Henry is closing in.
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