
Stella Parish, star of the London stage, keeps her private life a secret. After an opening night triumph, her mysterious past catches up with her and she vanishes before the after-party. When Ms. Parish doesn’t show up, Keith Lockridge, an ace newspaper reporter, at first assumes it to be a publicity stunt. But producer Stephan Norman receives word that Stella is leaving the country. Lockridge is able to track Stella to a ship bound for America, where she is traveling under a false name and wearing a disguise. Aboard the ship Lockridge befriends Stella and her young daughter Gloria. In New York he becomes very close to Stella (now without the disguise) and Gloria, all the while digging up the details of Stella’s sordid past. Stella confesses her love for Lockridge after he’s already wired his story to his newspaper. With the truth out in the open, Stella sends Gloria to be raised abroad while she exploits her notorious reputation onstage. Sorry for the mess he’s made, Lockridge does …
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Tag Archives: 1930s
Gentleman’s Fate (1931) Mervyn LeRoy, John Gilbert, Louis Wolheim, Leila Hyams, Drama

Jack lives the high life and wants to make Marjorie his one and only. He then learns that his deceased father is alive but dying of lead poisoning. His father sent him away, twenty years before, to keep him out of the rackets. But now that he is dying, he wants to split the business between Giacomo (Jack) and Frank, his other son. The business includes running booze down from Canada.
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Seishun no yume ima izuko / Where Are the Dreams of Youth (1932) Yasujirô Ozu, Ureo Egawa, Kinuyo Tanaka, Tatsuo Saitô, Comedy, Romance

When a young man inherits his father’s lucrative business, he cheats the system to set up three of his college friends with jobs.
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The Spy in Black / L’Espion Noir (1939) Michael Powell, Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Sebastian Shaw, Thriller, War

Captain Hardt (Conrad Veidt), a World War I German submarine commander, is ordered to lead a mission to attack the British Fleet at Scapa Flow. He puts ashore on the Orkney Islands to meet his contact but finds more than he bargained for in the local schoolmistress (Valerie Hobson).
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Abschied / Farewell (1930) Robert Siodmak, Brigitte Horney, Aribert Mog, Emilia Unda, Comedy, Drama

Peter Winkler’s new job offer is about to take him away from his lover Hella, but he has been keeping it a secret from her. Mutual lack of trust and vicious gossip threatens their relationship as they plan to make their farewells.
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Hellbound Train (1930) James Gist, Drama

Hellbound Train comprises a series of vignettes of “sinful” acts, any of which could book you a spot on that locomotive to perdition: Women deceiving their husbands; gamblers and tipplers; crooked men conducting illicit business; and insolent children disrespecting their parents make up the 20-minute silent film. At the end of each scene a character dies, and a round man in a form-fitting devil suit hops off a train and does a little jig as he accepts a new passenger.
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The Black Camel (1931) Hamilton MacFadden, Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, Crime, Mystery, Thriller

Movie star Sheila Fayne is seeing wealthy Alan Jaynes while filming in Honolulu, Hawaii, but won’t marry him without consulting famed psychic Tanaverro first. Tanaverro confronts her about the unsolved murder of fellow film star Denny Mayo three years earlier, and she decides to reject Jaynes’ proposal. When Sheila is found shot to death in her beach-front pavilion, Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police investigates.
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Are These Our Children (1931) Wesley Ruggles, Howard Estabrook, Eric Linden, Beryl Mercer, Billy Butts, Drama

A good kid with no record commits a robbery, kills an old man and winds up on death row. The authorities try to figure out why he went bad.
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Here Is My Heart (1934) Frank Tuttle, Bing Crosby, Kitty Carlisle, Roland Young, Musical, Comedy

A rich and famous singer disguises himself as a waiter in order to be near the woman he loves, a European princess.
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Lloyd’s of London (1936) Henry King, Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, Freddie Bartholomew, Drama, History, Romance

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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