Author Archive: Retro

The British silent Q Ships is set during World War I. The ships of the title are British war vessels, disguised as merchant ships to throw the Germans off guard. Much of the film is devoted to the war of nerves between British admiral Sims (J.P. Kennedy) and German U-boat captain Von Haag (Roy Travers) as they square off in the English Channel. Originally titled Blockade, Q Ships was one of the biggest British moneymakers of the silent era (outside of the Hitchcock films of the period, that is). The film was reissued in 1932, with a music and sound effects score and a few dialogue sequences tacked on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Melodrama about a town plagued by mysterious fires. Robert Livingston, Rosalind Keith. Jimmy: Jackie Moran. Tom: Warren Hymer. Riley: Emory Parnell. Morgan: Jack La Rue. Hamilton: Clay Clement.

All 12 jury members who sent an innocent man to the gallows are gathered together for a demonstration of how convictions can be made on circumstantial evidence. During the proceedings, a phony murder is quickly revealed as the real thing.

A group of gangsters shoot Senator Benson (Wallis Clark) and take his daughter, Dorothy Benton (Muriel Evans) and her friend Ann Jason (Ann Doran) as hostages at Ma Barton’s hideout. Reporter Jimmie Dugan (Roger Pryor) shows up disguised as a tramp.

Musical retelling of the “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” Arabian Nights tale.

Jeffrey Clavering is hired in London by The Great Eastern Oil Corporation to go to Paris to prevent unscrupulous industrialist Nikolai Kamarov from gaining control of their oil fields and turning them over to a foreign power.

The story of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, two All-American football players at the U.S. Army Military Academy at West Point.

Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.

A radio columnist is threatened by gangsters and later murdered during a broadcast. A detective sets out to find the killers.