Buster Garnier is having a very bad day, even by his standards. First of all he manages to lose his job distributing flyers for a car company when he accidentally hands out packets of real notes instead of the false money-off vouchers; then he blunders into a stage performance at the theatre where his mother is prompt, and gets thrown out there too. Methodically, he drapes a black band across his own portrait, writes a last note to his mother, bids farewell to his pets one by one, switches on the gas tap, and composes himself calmly on the floor to await oblivion. But Life hasn’t had its last laugh at his expense just yet… Meanwhile, across town, a scarred and ruthless gangster is preparing to break out of jail. Unknown to either man, the two of them are almost exactly alike; and when Buster finds himself on stage in the role of a jail-bird, fact and fiction are about to get extremely confused!
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Tag Archives: 1930s
I Live for Love (1935) Busby Berkeley, Dolores del Rio, Everett Marshall, Guy Kibbee, Comedy, Musical, Romance
Donna (Del Rio) is a diva of the stage and wants her lover Rico (Alvarado) as her leading man. To keep this from happening, the producers (Churchill, Cavanaugh) grab Roger Kerry (Marshall) off the street and say he has a contract. Donna and Roger butt heads, he’s replaced by Rico, and Donna’s play flops. While her fame flops, Roger rises as a huge radio star. The two eventually fall in love, and Roger wants both of them to leave their careers behind.
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Dead Men Are Dangerous (1939) Harold French, Robert Newton, Betty Lynne, Peter Gawthorne, Crime, Drama
A down-and-out writer being hounded by collectors stumbles upon dead man lying under a fallen tree limb. Little did he know the man had been murdered, and he concocts a scheme of exchanging clothes and identifications in hopes of making a clean slate of things. Coincidental happenings lead the police to his new alias. A secret diary and a murder weapon hold the truth to his innocence while Scotland Yard is now the hound on his trail. The true killers are eventually exposed to him and his sweetheart. Then the truth is exposed. A somewhat frustrating story as the viewer watches errors in judgement from all angles. But a good ending for all except the murderers.
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Huddle (1932) Sam Wood, Ramon Novarro, Madge Evans, Una Merkel, Drama, Romance
Tony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale college. Over the four years of his college career he learns about football, love, and class prejudice.
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Liliom (1930) Frank Borzage, Charles Farrell, Rose Hobart, Estelle Taylor
Liliom, a merry-go-round barker at a Budapest amusement park, becomes enamored of Julie, a servant girl Read More »
The Wandering Jew (1933) Maurice Elvey, Conrad Veidt, Marie Ney, Basil Gill, Drama, Fantasy
This story is based both on a long-standing legend and a play by E. Temple Thurston. Veteran British director Maurice Elvey brought years of experience with theatrical adaptations to the difficult task of filming a movie that spans centuries and strains credulity. Conrad Veidt stars as the Jew who urges Roman authorities to crucify Jesus and release Barabbas. As a punishment, he is condemned by God to wander the Earth for many centuries, enduring innumerable trials and tribulations on several continents.
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Penny Paradise (1938) Carol Reed, Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver, Jimmy O’Dea, Comedy
A Liverpool tug boat captain finds he’s won a fortune on the penny pools and it changes his life. However, after giving up his job and throwing a large expensive party, he discovers that he may not really have won after all.
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The Devil’s Saddle Legion (1937) Bobby Connolly, Dick Foran, Anne Nagel, Smoke, History, Music, Romance, Western
Tal is in a lot of trouble. Seems that his father has been murdered while he was in Montana and they put the blame on him. Also, he has been framed and sentenced to 10 years hard labor for another murder which he did not do. The crooks need convict labor to build the dam so they convict innocent people for a pool of cheap labor. But Karan believes that Tal, using the name Smith J. Brown, could not be a killer. Unknown to her, her step brother, Hub, is part of the gang.
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Empty Holsters (1937) B. Reeves Eason, Dick Foran, Patricia Walthall, Emmett Vogan, Romance, Western
Ace owns just about everything around except for the Bank, which is owned by John Ware. Ace also has his eye on Judy, but Judy only has eyes for Clay. Since Ace is a crook, he holds up the stage and has his cronies swear that Clay was the bandit which gets Clay 10 years in jail. After he gets out in 5 for good behavior, Clay sets out to find who framed him and stole the stage strongbox. Since the sheriff does not like Clay, he takes his guns away as part of his probation and it makes Clay a target for the Ace gang.
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Der Kongreß tanzt / Congress Dances (1931) Erik Charell, Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, Otto Wallburg, Comedy, History, Musical
Vienna glove-sales-lady Christl falls in love to Czar Alexander. Metternich tries to use this to keep him out of the conferences of the Vienna Congress from 1815.
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