Author Archive: Retro

An ambitious girl dancer is spotted by a Ziegfeld talent scout. Adapted from a Florenz musical.

John Ford directed this emotional drama, which was a considerable change of pace from the westerns and war pictures for which he was best known. Hannah Jessop (Henrietta Crosman) fears being abandoned by her son Jim (Norman Foster), and she doesn’t approve of his romance with Mary Saunders (Marian Nixon). When Hannah discovers that Jim and Mary plan to wed, she sends her son off to fight in WWI, unaware that Mary is carrying his child. Jim is killed in combat just as Mary is giving birth, and while Hannah is crushed by the loss of her son, she cannot forgive Mary or abide her grandson, Jim, Jr. (Jay Ward). Years later, Hannah is prodded into joining a group of women who lost their sons in the war on a visit to the battlefields of Europe; en route, she meets Mrs. Hatfield (Lucille La Verne), whose warmth and gracious acceptance of her misfortune forces Hannah [...]

After her auto-racing son is killed in a crash, wealthy Leonora wants custody of her grandson. Her daughter-in-law Sabena absolutely refuses, even when Leonora’s attorney, Preston Morgan, approaches her with an offer of $500,000. Sabena’s twin sister, Dara, wants the money, no matter what. She and her accomplice Jay Flagg scheme to push Sabena’s car off a cliff, then collect the half-million dollars for themselves. Their plot is foiled, however, and while Leonora sees the error of her ways, Sabena develops a romantic interest in Morgan.

The owner of a juke joint arranges to frame an innocent preacher with a scandalous photograph, but his scheme backfires when his own adoptive mother interferes.

A cameraman is given one last chance to photograph a reclusive heiress, and it’s up to a couple of kids to save his career. Dir. Les Goodwins.

A reporter (Regis Toomey) and a victim’s daughter (Martha Sleeper) expose a financier (Sidney Blackmer) fronting for crooked lawyers.

A Russian engineer lives an estranged life in England until WWII begins and his workers see him as an ally.

Three goofy guys (Shemp Howard, Billy Gilbert, Maxie Rosenbloom) run into ghosts, a gorilla and a haunted house.