Opera singer (Marie de Flor) seeks out fugitive brother in the Canadian wilderness. Read More »
Tag Archives: W.S. Van Dyke
I Live My Life (1935) W.S. Van Dyke, Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, Frank Morgan, Comedy, Drama
Kay, a bored society girl from New York, takes a trip to Greece-where she meets, Terry, an archaeologist. Read More »
Stand Up and Fight (1939) W.S. Van Dyke, Wallace Beery, Robert Taylor, Florence Rice, Drama, History, Romance, Western
It starts in 1844 in Maryland, where R.Taylor, owner a plantation with slaves, is forced by debts to sell his estate ad his people. Read More »
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) W.S. Van Dyke, George Cukor, Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Orphans Edward “Blackie” Gallagher and Jim Wade are lifelong friends who take different paths in life. Blackie thrives on gambling and grows up to be a hard-nosed racketeer. Read More »
Rosalie (1937) W.S. Van Dyke, Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Frank Morgan, Drama, Musical
West Point cadet Dick Thorpe falls in love with a girl, who turns out to be a princess from an European kingdom. Read More »
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939) W.S. Van Dyke, Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Comedy, Romance
Young Andy develops a crush on his drama teacher. When his play is chosen as the school’s annual production Read More »
Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) W.S. Van Dyke, Leslie Howard, Conchita Montenegro, C. Aubrey Smith, Drama
Dan works for Pritchard and Pritchard out of San Francisco and is in love with Maisie, referred to as “the icebox” by his news reporter friend. As one of his ships returns to San Francisco, Dan learns that the Captain has contracted Leprosy and asks Dan to be the guardian of his South Sea island daughter Tamea.
Read More »
Eskimo (1933) W.S. Van Dyke, Edgar Dearing, Peter Freuchen, Edward Hearn, Drama
The remarkable location-filmed Eskimo was adapted from two books: Die Flucht Ins Wiesse Land and Der Eskimo, both written by naturalist Peter Freuchen. Director Woody Van Dyke, in the tradition of his White Shadows on the South Seas and Trader Horn, took his cast and crew on location to the Arctic, arriving by whaling schooner at the topmost settlement in Alaska with author Freuchen as his guide. Van Dyke, Freuchen, and cinematographer Ray Wise also played prominent on-screen roles in the film. Eskimo Ray Mala (billed only by his last name) essays the title role, speaking in the tongue of his ancestors (even though his English was excellent). Rather than use superimposed titles, Van Dyke resorted to old-fashioned silent-movie subtitles in several dialogue sequences. The story concentrates on the more exotic aspects of Eskimo life, notably the race’s (alleged) casual approach to sex. Though tribal leader Mala has, by his own admission, slept with 20 women without benefit of clergy, woe betide anyone who tries to steal his current sweetheart – as a rapacious trader discovers when he’s harpooned to death by the cuckolded hero. Mala is ultimately undone by the Canadian Mounties, whose efforts to civilize the Eskimo community result in a sudden and tragic shift of the balance of power. Editor Conrad A. Nervig won an Oscar for his Herculean efforts to bring cohesiveness to the story. Performing respectably at the box office, Eskimo inspired another location jaunt in 1935: Last of the Pagans, which also starred Ray Mala.
Read More »
The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) W.S. Van Dyke, Howard Hawks
Steve is just a heavy duty bartender when Edwin J. Bennett, known as the Professor, starts training him for the ring. While doing road work, he is almost killed by a speeding car which crashes into a ditch. In the car is Belle Mercer and her driver. Steve takes Belle to a farmhouse and is smitten by her, but she is Willie Ryan’s Girl. The fight is a breeze and later, Steve again meets Belle with Willie. That night, Steve and Belle disappear and return married, much to the disappointment of Ryan. Then Steve starts training in ernest and is 19 for 19 in the ring. However, he has an eye for the women and an expanding ego to match.
Read More »
Another Thin Man (1939) W.S. Van Dyke, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
In this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Farewell Murder”, Nick and Nora (and their dog Asta) visit the estate of Col. MacFay, who is being threatened by a mysterious man wanting revenge for a past injustice. When MacFay is murdered, that man is the obvious suspect- maybe too obvious…
Read More »