#arthur hohl

[gatutor]

Alice White-James Cagney-Arthur Hohl "Jimmy the gent" 1934, de Michael Curtiz.

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Silk Express (1933) Ray Enright

October 13th 2024

[spockvarietyhour]

The Whole Town's Talking (1935)

[lobbycards]

Island of Lost Souls, US lobby card. 1932

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[mariocki]

The Frozen Ghost (1945)

"I've got a confession to make to you. I never did believe in your so-called hypnotic powers."

"That's a strange statement, coming from you."

"Oh, now wait, don't misunderstand me, I think you're terrific. That is, you put on a wonderful act. I just never asked you how you did it."

"But I was born with that power."

"Sure. And I was born in Missouri."

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: The Scarlet Claw

👻 You can support me on Ko-fi! ❤️

★★½

Plot: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson must solve a small town murder that locals believe was committed by a monster.

Review: While certainly entertaining, this film devolves as a Holmes story due to its predictability and increasingly ludicrous final act.

Source Material: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle Year: 1944 Genre: Psychological Horror, Mystery Country: United States Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes

Director: Roy William Neill Writer: Paul Gangelin Cinematographer: George Robinson Editor: Paul Landres Composer: Paul Sawtell Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gerald Hamer, Paul Cavanagh, Arthur Hohl

-----

Story: 2.5/5 - Lacks the cleverness one expects from a Holmes mystery and becomes far too silly to build tension.

Performances: 3/5 - Rathbone is great as Holmes, but Bruce is too oafish and comedic for Watson. Some of the supporting cast is quite bad.

Cinematography: 3/5 - A few striking, shadowy shots, but mostly by-the-numbers.

Editing: 2.5/5 - A bit choppy.

Music: 2.5/5 - Derivative of better mystery scores.

Choreography & Stunts: 4/5

Effects & Props: 3/5 - The swamp fog and glowing monster look fairly decent.

Sets: 3.5/5

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 3.5/5 - Holmes' trademark hat is absent, but it's all serviceable.

Trigger Warnings:

Mild violence

Domestic abuse

[byneddiedingo]

Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934)

Cast: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, Ian Keith, Gertrude Michael, C. Aubrey Smith, Irving Pichel, Arthur Hohl, Edwin Maxwell, Ian Maclaren. Screenplay: Waldemar Young, Vincent Lawrence, Bartlett Cormack. Cinematography: Victor Milner. Art direction: Roland Anderson, Hans Dreier. Costume design: Travis Banton. Film editing: Anne Bauchens. Music: Rudolph G. Kopp.

Claudette Colbert's Cleopatra arrives rolled up in a rug and meets her end by clasping a rather limp garden snake to her bosom, and in between there's a lot of posing and tin-eared dialogue superimposed on the story told by Plutarch and Shakespeare. It won't do, of course, except for the camp extravagance of Hollywood awash in Cecil B. DeMille's usual sin, sex, and sadism. If the 1963 version of the story had been this entertainingly vulgar, it might have made money. 

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

The Whole Town's Talking

John Ford’s THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING (1935, TCM, Criterion Channel, YouTube) has been called the director’s only screwball comedy. That depends on how serious you like your screwballs. The film manages to poke fun at romantic comedy, gangster films and the notion of celebrity, but it lacks the consistently pixilated charm of the best comedies of Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges.

Edward G. Robinson stars as Jonesy, a clerk with a crush on tough-talking colleague Bill (Jean Arthur). When a lookalike gangster, Killer Mannion, escapes from the pen, the police mistakenly take Jonesy and Bill into custody. Realizing their mistake, they give him a letter explaining that he’s not the gangland chief, which brings the real crook to Jonesy’s apartment and sets up a string of mistaken identity gags at the same time Jonesy becomes a local hero simply because of his face.

The film’s main screwball element is the liberation of Jonesy. His boss (Paul Harvey), who wants to use the publicity to promote his advertising firm, gets him drunk, leading Jonesy to confess his love for Bill. Later he finds an outlet for his own repressed anger by impersonating the crook. Robinson has the wisdom to play this almost totally straight. He doesn’t reach for comic effect, which makes him both very real and very funny. Some of his reactions, as when Harvey asks him to sign his son’s autograph book right under Mae West’s signature, are priceless. When Jonesy meets Mannion, Robinson differentiates the two so simply and clearly you can easily tell which is which, even when they start impersonating each other. When the focus isn’t on Jonesy, however, the film often gets too serious for its own good. There are a pair of comic policemen (Arthur Hohl and James Donlan), but the authority figures aren’t very funny, so their scenes start making the film look more like a real gangster picture. Ford needed to throw a Billy Gilbert or an Edgar Kennedy into the mix to keep things buoyant. And there are also two murders played relatively straight that seem to have wandered in from another film.

That didn’t bother contemporary audiences, and the picture was a big hit that revitalized Robinson’s career by letting him poke fun at the gangster roles in which he had become typed. It also marked Arthur’s rise to stardom, and she’s quite wonderful, particularly when Bill spins fanciful yarns about her exploits when the police think she’s Mannion’s moll. There’s also funny work from Etienne Giradot as Jonesy’s fussy supervisor and Donald Meek as the man who first turns Jonesy in and keeps trying to collect the reward. When the two bump into each other at police headquarters, it’s thirty seconds of character actor heaven.

[gatutor]

Alice White-Allen Jenkins-James Cagney-Arthur Hohl "Jimmy the gent" 1934, de Michael Curtiz.

[letterboxd-loggd]

Footlight Parade (1933) Lloyd Bacon

December 4th 2023

[lifewithaview]

Jean Muir in "As The Earth Turns" (1934)

As the Earth Turns is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Jean Muir and Donald Woods, based on a Pulitzer Prize-nominated best-selling novel by Gladys Hasty Carroll.

The episodic plot, involving three farm families and marked by the seasons within a little over one year, takes place in rural southern Maine. The main character, Jen Shaw (Jean Muir), is a young woman who has primary responsibility for her family while her father Mark (David Landau) deals with the hardships of farming. Despite such hardships and the complaints of her step-sister Margaret (Emily Lowry) and step-mother Cora (Clara Blandick), who dream of returning to city life, Jen seems largely satisfied with her life. In contrast, Mill, the wife of Jen's unambitious uncle George (Arthur Hohl), is increasingly embittered by her unhappy marriage.

In the winter, a Polish immigrant family, the Jankowskis, arrive to take possession of a nearby farm, making a home in the barn. Stan (Donald Woods), the family's eldest son, has given up a promising future as a musician to live in the country. When the Jankowskis have a chance to move back to a city, Stan stays behind to continue farming. He and Jen are attracted to each other, but she is reluctant to accept love and winds up rejecting his offer of marriage.

After a fire destroys Stan's barn, he returns to the city to make a living as a musician and agrees to take Doris with him. Resigned to a life of loneliness, Jen continues to care for her family, but at last Stan returns and the two embrace.

[lobbycards]

Island of Lost Souls, US lobby card. 1932

[ozu-teapot]

The Devil-Doll | Tod Browning | 1936

Rafaela Ottiano, Arthur Hohl

[papermoonloveslucy]

I’LL LOVE YOU ALWAYS

March 20, 1935

Directed by Leo Bulgakov

Writers: Lawrence Hazard (story), Vera Caspary, Sidney Buchman

Produced by Everett Riskin for Columbia Pictures

Synopsis ~ Actress Nora Clegg marries Carl Brent, an unemployed young engineer, whose estimation of his worth and ability keeps him from getting a job. He finally acquires a position that will require him to go to Russia for a period of time, while Nora goes back to the stage during his absence. But he loses out on the job at the last minute, and rather than tell Nora he has failed again, he steals money from his prospective employer to lavish on Nora before his ‘supposed’ departure. His goes to jail and hides the truth from Nora by having an acquaintance mail his letters from Russia. He then finds out that Nora is pregnant.

PRINCIPAL CAST

Nancy Carroll (Nora Clegg) was nominated for an Oscar in 1930 for The Devil’s Holiday. She also appeared with Lucille Ball in Jealousy (1934). 

George Murphy (Carl Brent) appeared with Lucille Ball in Jealousy and Kid Millions, both in 1934. They also were in A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob in 1941, as well as two radio adaptations of the film. In 1959, Murphy served as guest host of “The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” when Desi Arnaz took a role in his own anthology series. He was also a performer in “The Desilu Revue” aired in December 1959. As the host of “MGM Parade”, he interviewed Lucy and Desi in February 1956.

Raymond Walburn (Charlie) previously appeared with Lucille Ball in Broadway Bill (1934), Jealousy (1934), and Lover Come Back (1946). 

Arthur Hohl (Jergens) previously appeared with Lucille Ball in Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934), Jealousy (1934), and The Whole Town’s Talking (1935). 

Jean Dixon (Mae Waters) would also appear with Lucille Ball in Joy of Living (1938). 

Robert Allen (Joe) previously appeared with Lucille Ball in Broadway Bill (1934) and Jealousy (1934). 

Harry Beresford (Mr. Clegg) would appear with Lucille Ball in Follow The Fleet (1936). 

Paul Harvey (Sandstone) appeared in seven films with Lucille Ball. He played the art critic in “Lucy the Sculptress” (ILL S2;E15).

UNCREDITED CAST

Lucille Ball (Lucille) appears in her 20th feature film since coming to Hollywood in 1933. 

Eadie Adams...Singer

Irving Bacon (Theater Manager) did seven films with Lucille Ball before playing Mr. Willoughby in  in “The Marriage License” (1952) and Will Potter in “Ethel’s Hometown” (1955).

Eddie Baker...Doorman 

Elaine Baker...Sandstone's Secretary

John Beck...Ghost

Yvonne Bertrand...Operator

Stanley Blystone...Bill Collector 

Sven Hugo Borg...Hamlet 

Lynton Brent...Laertes 

Helen Brown...Worker 

Steve Clark...Bill Collector

Claudia Coleman...Francine

Gino Corrado...Waiter 

D'Arcy Corrigan...Waiter 

Pearl Eaton...Gertrude

Vessie Farrell...Jenny 

Budd Fine...Furniture Man 

Sam Flint...First Business Man 

Mary Foy...Kitty 

Frankie Genardi...Shoeshine Boy

Adda Gleason...Manager

Grace Goodall...Sarah 

Roger Gray...Foreman

Howard Hickman...Dean

Samuel E. Hines...Bank Teller 

Alfred P. James...Canby

Ethan Laidlaw...Cab Driver

W.E. Lawrence...Furniture Salesman 

Edward LeSaint...Minister 

Otto Malde...Steward 

Frank Marlowe...Bellhop 

Adrian Morris...Pigface

Bruce Randall...Waiter

Jack Richardson...Bartender 

Billie Van Every...Mary 

John Paul Jones, Moselle Kimbler, Lon Poff, Bert Starkey, Charles Marsh, Elaine Waters, Gay Waters

“LOVE” TRIVIA

All but three of the principal cast members also appeared with Lucille Ball in Jealousy in 1934.

During her brief period at Columbia, Lucille Ball logged in miniscule roles in eight feature films and three shorts. It is fair to say that Columbia and her torch got more screen time than Lucille!

Irving Bacon (Theatre Manager) and Paul Harvey (Sandstone) were the only two cast members to later appear on “I Love Lucy”.

This is just one of 13 films (including three shorts) featuring Lucille Ball to be released in 1935. All except I Dream Too Much were uncredited: 

Behind the Evidence (Secretary) 

Carnival (Nurse) 

Hooray For Love (Chorine)

The Whole Town's Talking (Bank Employee)

Roberta (Fashion Model)

I'll Love You Always (Lucille)

Old Man Rhythm (College Girl)

Top Hat  (Flower Clerk)

The Three Musketeers (Extra)

Foolish Heart - short (Hat Check Girl)

His Old Flame - short 

A Night At The Biltmore Ball - short (Lucille Ball)

I Dream Too Much (Gwendolyn Dilley) - Lucille Ball’s first on screen credit

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2020:

28. The Spider Woman (1943) - Dir. Roy William Neill