Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about films that played second on a double bill and drew the paying customers between 1931 and 1949.
I’ve been on an Alan Ladd kick lately. When I was still in college, I watched a number of Alan Ladd films one summer. I’ve been watching them over again the last few weeks on Amazon Prime. I’ll share some of these films over the next few months. The first film I watched was Thunder in the East (1951) starring
I’m continuing with watching some old Alan Ladd movies that I first saw thirty years ago on American Movie Classics (AMC), when they showed classic movies. I recently watched Appointment with Danger (1950), which was as entertaining as I remembered it. Paramount Pictures released Appointment with Danger (affiliate link) in London in 1950 but didn’t release it in the United
On March 7, 1939, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Company released the first of the Inspector Hornleigh films, Inspector Hornleigh. Inspector Hornleigh is a Scotland Yard Inspector assisted in his investigations by Sergeant Bingham. Gordon Harker played Hornleigh, while Alastair Sim provides the comic relief as Sergeant Bingham. Inspector Hornleigh opens with the discovery of a murdered man in a local inn.
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934) is one of the early Twentieth Century Productions in the Bulldog Drummond series. This film would still be considered a feature film with Ronald Colman in the lead role. Later Bulldog Drummond films starring John Howard were “B” films. Bulldog Drummond has just attended the marriage of his best friend Algie, portrayed by Charles Butterworth.
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a Broadway comedy team before transitioning to films in 1929. Before Robert Woolsey’s untimely death in 1938, Wheeler and Woolsey made 24 films in 8 years. Half Shot at Sunrise (1930) was the fourth film (affiliate link) starring Wheeler and Woolsey. Set in Paris during World War I, Half Shot at Sunrise tells the
On January 10, 1927, Universum Film (UFA) released Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) (affiliate link). The German film company produced a science fiction class, which still holds up today. On the Internet Movie Database website (IMDB), users rate it 8.3 out of 10 stars. It is #104 on the Top 250. In a theme society has wrestled with since the beginning
The Canary Murder Case (1929) was originally shot as a silent film. However, the Paramount Studio executive thought it would be better as a talking picture. The studio delayed the release until they could add sound to the film. The addition of sound was not without its challenges. Unfortunately, one of the main stars of the film, Louise Brooks, had
British International Pictures (BIP) released The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934) (affiliate link) on April 19, 1934. Ralph Richardson takes his only turn as the English hero Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond. Drummond recently married long-time love interest Phyllis Clavering. Politics and the presence of old foe Carl Peterson intrude on Drummond’s wedded bliss. When Peterson kidnaps Phyllis, Drummond determines to
Arthur Wontner is arguably the best film portrayer of Sherlock Holmes. His fifth and final outing as Holmes in Murder at the Baskervilles (1937). The film (affiliate link) was released in the United Kingdom in 1937 but was not released in America until January 15, 1941. Wontner was excellent as usual but Murder at the Baskervilles is the weakest offering
Reginald Owen stars as Sherlock Holmes in one of the early American talking motion picture adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. A Study in Scarlet (1933) (affiliate link) sees Holmes trying to solve murders among a group of confederates. Arthur Wontner starred in several successful English adaptations of the series, which probably inspired Hollywood to follow suit. Unfortunately, Reginald Owen did not