76% (2) Bright Eyes 85 min, Approved, [Comedy, Drama, Family, Musical] [David Butler] [28 Dec 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 80%, External Reviews
Actors: James Dunn, Jane Darwell, Judith Allen, Shirley Temple
Writer: William M. Conselman (screen play), David Butler (story), Edwin J. Burke (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: When a maid is accidentally hit by a car and killed, her young orphaned daughter is forced to live with the snooty couple she used to work for. A custody battle soon ensues between an aviator who adores the little girl and the couple's crotchety Uncle Ned.
Rotten Tomatoes: Despite stiff competition like Poor Little Rich Girl and Heidi, Bright Eyes is arguably the best of Shirley Temple's 1930s vehicles. The little curly-top is cast as Shirley Blake, daughter of Mary Blake (Lois Wilson), the widowed housemaid of snooty J. Wellington and Anita Smythe (Theodore Von Eltz and Dorothy Christy). Though continually terrorized by the Smythe's obnoxious, doll-destroying daughter Joy (Jane Withers), Shirley finds comfort in the fact that she is the darling of the airplane-pilot buddies of her late father. Especially fond of our heroine is flyboy Loop Merritt, who arranges a birthday party for the girl. Alas, even as Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to a gathering of beaming airmen, her mother Mary is run over by a car while shopping for her daughter's birthday cake. It thus becomes Loop's painful duty to tell Shirley that her mother "cracked up," just like her father did (if this scene doesn't move the viewer to tears, the viewer is made of granite). Fortunately, the Smythe's irascible Uncle Ned takes a liking to Shirley, securing her financial future at the expense of his repulsive relatives. But before this happy ending can come about, Shirley must be rescued from an imperiled passenger plane by the resourceful Loop. Though Shirley Temple is inarguably the main drawing card in Bright Eyes, 9-year-old Jane Withers is equally terrific as the pint-sized "villainess"; indeed, some critics felt that Withers stole the show, and it was this as much as anything else that earned Withers her own starring series at 20th Century-Fox.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
76% (1) The Old Fashioned Way 71 min, PASSED, [Comedy] [William Beaudine] [13 Jul 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 76%, External Reviews
Actors: Baby LeRoy, Joe Morrison, Judith Allen, W.C. Fields
Writer: Garnett Weston (screenplay), Jack Cunningham (screenplay), W.C. Fields (from a story by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The Great McGonigle's traveling theatrical troupe are staying at a boarding house. They are preparing to put on a production of "The Drunkard" (and do so during this movie). Cleopatra Pepperday puts up money for the show provided she can have a part ("Here comes the prince!"). Little Albert Wendelschaffer torments McGonigle all through lunch ("How can you hurt a watch by dipping it in molasses?"). In spite of being pursued by several sheriffs, McGonigle is able to keep going and see his daughter Betty happily married.
Rotten Tomatoes: W.C. Fields plays the Great McGonigle, the manipulative manager of a large 19th century theatrical troupe. Notorious for skipping board bills and forgetting the pay his actors, McGonigle descends on a small town, where he relies on the hospitality of a wealthy widow (Jan Duggan). He secures lodging for his cast and financing for his production by promising the widow a major part in his upcoming production of The Drunkard. The play goes on as schedule, but the widow's part is cut down to one line which she's never permitted to deliver. McGonigle escapes with his hide again, but not before securing the future happiness of his daughter (Judith Allen) so that she won't have to spend the rest of her life one step ahead of the sheriff. The storyline of The Old-Fashioned Way is conveniently shunted aside as W.C. Fields does battle with Baby LeRoy, cons everyone in sight with equanimity, and offers the audience an uninterrupted display of his remarkable juggling skills.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
72% (1) Young and Beautiful 68 min, Approved, [Comedy, Romance] [Joseph Santley] [17 Sep 1934]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, External Reviews
Actors: Betty Bryson, Jean Carmen, John Miljan, Joseph Cawthorn, Judith Allen, Judith Arlen, William Haines
Writer: Joseph Santley (story and adaptation), Milton Krims (story and adaptation), Dore Schary (screen play and dialogue), Al Martin (additional dialogue and construction), Colbert Clark (additional dialogue and construction)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Bob Preston, publicity man for Superba Pictures, uses his publicity skills in an attempt to make this fiancée June Dale the most famous movie star in the world. But in doing so, he forgets that women want to be attended to for themselves, not as objects of fame.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
68% (1) This Day and Age 86 min, [Crime, Drama] [Cecil B. DeMille] [25 Aug 1933]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Charles Bickford, Harry Green, Judith Allen, Richard Cromwell
Writer: Bartlett Cormack
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: High school students band together to dispense vigilante justice against a vicious gangland boss.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, Richard Cromwell heads a group of civic-minded teenagers in a small midwestern town. When a lovable old tailor is murdered by a notorious gangster, Cromwell and his pals demand justice. However, the local government is terrified by the influential gangster.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]
60% (1) Boots and Saddles 58 min, Passed, [Action, Adventure, Music, Western] [Joseph Kane] [04 Oct 1937]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 60%, External Reviews
Actors: Gene Autry, Judith Allen, Ronald Sinclair, Smiley Burnette
Writer: Jack Natteford (story), Jack Natteford (screenplay), Oliver Drake (screenplay)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Spanish Country: USA
Plot: Young Englishman inherits ranch which he wants to sell, but Gene's gonna turn him into a real westerner instead..
Rotten Tomatoes: In this western, a prissy English lord takes over his newly-inherited western ranch. The stuffy greenhorn is in way over his head, but fortunately, Gene Autry and his sidekick are there to show him the ropes.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 5]