Dan Hardesty (George Brent) and Joan Ames (Merle Oberon) are strangers who meet in a bar in Hong Kong. They share one drink and then part ways, never expecting to see one another again. As fate would have it, though, Dan and Joan are about to board the very same ship, headed for San Francisco. After coming aboard, they reunite, excited to get to know … Continue reading ‘Til We Meet Again (1940)
Nan Reynolds (Ann Dvorak) is a traditional housewife, raising her son and caring for the home while her husband works. Mr. Reynolds, Bill (George Brent), is very unhappy with his job. He gets no respect from the higher-ups, who shoot down every one of his ideas. His salary is pretty small, too, adding to his disappointment. When Bill’s company hires highly-paid Pat Berkeley (Bette Davis) … Continue reading Housewife (1934)
There was a gold rush, and in its wake the birth of a lucrative agricultural venture: wheat farming. When a gold rush hits again years later, this time with the advantage of new technologies and mass-mining techniques, the wheat farmers see their lands flooded, their crops ruined. Colonel Ferris (Claude Rains) is a farmer who has made his wealth on northern California wheat. He’s very … Continue reading Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
Kenneth Bixby is a sensation of the American literary world, having written a number of best-selling, well-received novels. By his side through it all is Anne Rogers, his faithful secretar… WAIT. Haven’t I written this before? In fact, I have. The tale of Kenneth Bixby, his crazed fans, and his secretary’s love for him was told in Michael Curtiz’s Goodbye Again (1933). The roles of … Continue reading Honeymoon for Three (1941)
A note from Lindsey: This review contains spoilers. They are marked, but read with caution if you’ve not seen the film and would like to avoid them. Alison Drake (Ruth Chatterton) has a job uncommon for a woman in 1933: she owns and manages a very successful automobile manufacturer, the Drake Motorcar Company. Of course, her high status in the world of business means that … Continue reading Female (1933)
Selina (Barbara Stanwyck) is living an unconventional and somewhat lonely life with her father, Simeon (Robert Warwick), who is a gambler. The two hop around to different hotels rather than living in a stable home, staying in luxurious places when Simeon is winning big and living in less favorable conditions when he’s not. When Simeon dies, Selina is alone and has no way to support herself. Eventually she … Continue reading So Big! (1932)
Anne Brooks (Kay Francis) is unintentionally polyandrous. She’s happily married to the older, very rich Schuyler Brooks (Henry Kolker) and thinks that he’s her only husband. But her old dancing partner and supposed ex-husband, Maurice (Monroe Owsley), blackmails her by revealing that he never filed for the dissolution of their marriage. Maurice wants Anne to shell out big bucks to keep him quiet, in order … Continue reading The Keyhole (1933)
My Reputation is a film that showcases the North’s catty side. Stories of gossip and rumor mills are typically set in high-class Southern societies, but this one is set somewhere very different: the metropolitan Chicago area. Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) is a widow whose husband has recently passed away after a long battle with illness. She’s adjusting to raising their two sons on her own … Continue reading My Reputation (1946)
Watched February 6, 2012 Baby Face (1933): 4/5 *This is a review of the original theatrical release from TCM’s Forbidden Hollywood collection. In Baby Face, Barbara Stanwyck plays a girl named Lily Powers who, after leaving her hometown and enduring a less-than-ideal childhood (to say the least), sleeps her way to the top tier of a bank in New York. This is probably the most … Continue reading Baby Face (1933)
