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Hook, Line And Sinker (1930)


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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Hook, Line And Sinker (1930)

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER, Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey [Wheeler and Woolsey], 1930

Director: Edward F Cline

Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Ralph Harolde, Jobyna Howland, Natalie Moorhead, Hugh Herbert, George F Marion

75 min

Hook, Line and Sinker is a 1930 American Pre-Code slapstick comedy directed by Edward F. Cline from a screenplay by Ralph Spence and Tim Whelan. It was the third starring vehicle for the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey (Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey), and also featured Dorothy Lee. It would be one of the largest financial successes for RKO Pictures in 1930.

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Plot summary

Two fast-talking insurance salesmen — Wilbur Boswell and J. Addington Ganzy — help penniless socialite Mary Marsh to turn a dilapidated hotel, which was willed to her, into a thriving success. They soon run into trouble, however, in the form of two sets of rival gangsters who want to break into the hotel safe; also, Mary’s mother, Rebecca Marsh, wants her to marry wealthy lawyer John Blackwell, although Mary has fallen in love with Wilbur.

And while she takes an instant dislike to Wilbur, Rebecca falls for Ganzy. Adding to the complications is the fact that Blackwell is actually in league with the gangsters. The finale involves nighttime runarounds and a shoot-out in the hotel. During the pitched battle between the rival gangs and the police, Boswell and Ganzy save the jewels, after which Ganzy marries Rebecca, and then gives away Mary at her marriage to Wilbur.

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Cast

(Cast list as per AFI database)[2]

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Reception

The film made a profit of $225,000,[4] and would be one of the top two money earners for RKO Radio Pictures in 1930.[4]

Notes

In 1958, the film entered the public domain in the USA due to the copyright claimants failure to renew the copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.[5]

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References

  1. Jump up^ Hook, Line and Sinker: Technical Details”. theiapolis.com. Retrieved August 6, 2014.[permanent dead link]
  2. Jump up to:a b c d Hook, Line and Sinker: Detail View”. American Film Institute. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  3. Jump up^ Richard Jewel, ‘RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951’, Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994, p. 55
  4. Jump up to:a b c Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 24. ISBN 0-517-546566.
  5. Jump up^ Pierce, David (June 2007). “Forgotten Faces: Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain”. Film History: An International Journal19 (2): 125–43. doi:10.2979/FIL.2007.19.2.125ISSN 0892-2160JSTOR 25165419OCLC 15122313. See note #60, pg. 143.

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Discarded Lovers (1933)


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Discarded Lovers (1932)

Discarded Lovers 1

Discarded Lovers is a 1932 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer.

Plot summary

Discarded Lovers is a murder mystery. Early in the film a blonde bombshell movie star is murdered and her body is found in a car.

She had just finished doing the last and final scenes in a film. Irma Gladden was a sexy blonde bombshell who was having many tangled romantic affairs. She was loose and easy. In solving the murder there are the usual friends, police, reporters and employees who administer their help to the police captain and the police sergeant.

In this whodunit suspects abound and include Irma’s husband, a jealous wife, a boy friend and an ex-husband.

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Cast

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Morals for Women (1931)


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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Morals for Women (1931)

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Director: Mort Blumenstock

Cast: Bessie Love, Conway Tearle, John Holland, Natalie Moorhead, Emma Dunn, June Clyde, Edmund Breese, David Rollins, Lina Basquette, Virginia Lee Corbin, Otis Harlan

65 min

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Plot

Helen Hutson, the secretary and mistress of New York businessman Van Dyne, is initially upset when her childhood sweetheart, Paul Cooper, comes to her office to visit. However, she agrees to have dinner with him after he says he is leaving town that night and, feigning a headache, breaks a date with Van.

They go dancing, and Paul, whom Helen once told not to come back into her life until he made good, proposes by the end of the evening. Helen avoids giving an answer, and at the train

They go dancing, and Paul, whom Helen once told not to come back into her life until he made good, proposes by the end of the evening. Helen avoids giving an answer, and at the train station before he leaves, she tries but fails to confess her involvement with Van.

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Despite advice from her friend Katherine, Helen, now in love with Paul, plans to return to her hometown of Greenfield, New York and tell him everything before they marry. In Greenfield, Helen finds that her younger sister Lorraine is infatuated with a wealthy boy from the southern school she is attending.

Her father, who has lost his job as a newspaperman, comes in drunk with friends, one of whom asks Helen to repay $200 that her father borrowed. When a boy in town makes insulting innuendos about Helen, her brother Bud defends her reputation, breaking a bottle over the boy’s head. After the sheriff tells Helen that the injured boy’s father will not press charges if he is paid for the hospital expenses, Helen reveals to Bud that the rumors are true.

He embraces her nonetheless, and Helen returns to New York where she placates Van by saying that Paul means nothing to her, and gets the money to bail Bud out of jail. Sometime later, on the night of a party Van demands she hold for some drunken business associates, Helen’s mother and father visit her apartment. That same day, Paul, who has come back from his trip, looks for her at the office, and meets Van instead.

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When Paul announces their impending marriage, Van maliciously brings Paul to the party. Meanwhile, Helen’s mother has made lemonade for the surprised guests, while her father gets drunk with two of Van’s associates. When Van, in front of Paul, orders Helen to get him handkerchiefs from his drawer, Paul leaves in disgust. Helen leaves town the next day with her parents. They receive a telegram from Lorraine announcing her marriage, and Helen is happy that her sister is “safe.” Paul comes to the house, and as Bud and his mother watch from the window, Helen and Paul embrace and reconcile.

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Cast 

Bessie Love Bessie Love
Helen Huston
Conway Tearle Conway Tearle
Van Dyne
John Holland John Holland
Natalie Moorhead Natalie Moorhead
Flora
Emma Dunn Emma Dunn
Mrs. Huston
June Clyde June Clyde
Lorraine Huston
Edmund Breese Edmund Breese
Mr. Huston
David Rollins David Rollins
Bill Huston
Lina Basquette Lina Basquette
Claudia
Virginia Lee Corbin Virginia Lee Corbin
Maybelle
Crauford Kent Crauford Kent
Mr. Marston
Otis Harlan Otis Harlan
Mr. Johnston
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Olsen George Olsen
Orchestra Leader (archive footage)
Ethan Allen Ethan Allen
(uncredited)
Norman Budd Norman Budd
(uncredited)
Wilbur Higby Wilbur Higby
(uncredited)
John Hyams John Hyams
(uncredited)
Walter Perry Walter Perry
(uncredited)
Lillian Rich Lillian Rich
(uncredited)

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circa 1920: Bessie Love (1898 - 1986), the Hollywood film actress.

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Gigolettes of Paris (1933)


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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Gigolettes of Paris (1933)

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Director: Alphonse Martell

Cast: Madge Bellamy, Gilbert Roland, Natalie Moorhead, Theodore Von Eltz, Molly O’Day, Henry Kolker, Paul Porcasi, Robert Bolder, Ellinor Vanderveer

64 min

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Plot

Suzanne Ricord, the prettiest salesgirl at the Parfumerie Parisienne, attracts the attention of wealthy Albert Valraine, who purchases all the expensive perfumes that she recommends.

After work, Suzanne and her roommate Paulette find Valraine waiting. He insists on giving the demure Suzanne a ride home and puts Paulette in the rear outdoor seat, where she still manages to hear Valraine offer Suzanne both the perfumes that he bought and to be her “fairy godfather.”

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Suzanne refuses, but after she finds no mail from her lover, Paulette talks her into accepting Valraine’s offer. She removes the ring that her lover gave her, and it is soon replaced by Valraine’s. Suzanne and Paulette now live in a nicely-furnished apartment paid for by Valraine, and Suzanne is his mistress.

However, when she begins to talk about their planned honeymoon, Valraine takes back his ring and, accusing her of not having learned the rules of the game, says that everything has to end sometime.

Suzanne cries in disappointment. Valraine then promises his fiancée Diane that he is finished with his mistress and gives her the ring he took back from Suzanne.

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Sometime later, Suzanne sings at a cabaret and accepts gifts from the many wealthy men who come to see her. Her friend, Antoine “Tony” Ferand, a gigolo, dances with Diane, now Valraine’s wife, and Suzanne notices the ring on her finger. When Tony tells Suzanne that Diane is Mrs. Albert Valraine, Suzanne reveals that the ring was her engagement ring and says she wants it back.

Diane gives the ring to Tony supposedly to help finance his business, and when Tony, who really loves Suzanne, gives her the ring, she reveals that her plan is to show Valraine how it feels to be at the losing end of the game. When Tony says that he is sick of their life and has no self-respect, Suzanne refuses to listen.

Valraine, who has just returned from a trip, accompanies his wife to the cabaret, and he notices that her ring is gone. Seeing the ring on a hand holding the curtain leading to the telephone, Valraine grabs it only to find Suzanne waiting for his approach.

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When he questions her about the ring, she obliquely threatens to reveal their affair if his inquiries go too far. Back at the table with his wife, after Valraine, noticing Tony staring at Diane, accuses her of humiliating him with a common gigolo, Diane leaves with Tony, who is frustrated with Suzanne’s schemes. In their cab, Tony reveals to Diane that Suzanne had been engaged to Valraine and apologizes.

Although disappointed, Diane refuses his offer to return the ring. Tony goes to Monte Carlo, where he is arrested after he leaves a watch that had been given to Suzanne by a man at the cabaret, at a repair shop. The watch turns out to be stolen property.

The next night, Suzanne, upset that Tony has not come to the club, rebukes Valraine when he apologetically asks if she could ever care for him again. In front of Valraine, she gives the ring as a present to Louie, her waiter.

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Meanwhile, Tony, in jail, refuses to say who gave him the watch. Realizing that she really loves Tony, Suzanne goes with Paulette to Monte Carlo to get away. She sees Diane at a table but her fears at finding her with Tony are relieved when her new husband joins her.

After Paulette shows her a newspaper article about the stolen watch, she tells her story to the police. Tony is released and the man who gave her the watch is picked up in Marseilles. Tony and Suzanne plan to marry, and he plans to return to his father’s textile producing business. To their surprise, they find that with the ring, Louie has married Paulette.

Tony is released and the man who gave her the watch is picked up in Marseilles. Tony and Suzanne plan to marry, and he plans to return to his father’s textile producing business. To their surprise, they find that with the ring, Louie has married Paulette.

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Madge Bellamy Madge Bellamy
Suzanne Ricord
Gilbert Roland Gilbert Roland
Antoine ‘Tony’ Ferrand
Natalie Moorhead Natalie Moorhead
Diane Valraine
Theodore von Eltz Theodore von Eltz
Albert Valraine
Molly O'Day Molly O’Day
Paulette
Henry Kolker Henry Kolker
Police Interrogator
Paul Porcasi Paul Porcasi
Albert Conti Albert Conti
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink Ferdinand Schumann-Heink
(as F. Schumann-Heink)
Maude Truax Maude Truax
Lester New Lester New
Robert Bolder Robert Bolder
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ellinor Vanderveer Ellinor Vanderveer
Diane’s Friend (uncredited)

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Shadow of the Law (1930)


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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

Shadow of the Law (1930)

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Director: Louis J Gasnier

Cast: William Powell, Marion Shilling, Natalie Moorhead, Regis Toomey, Paul Hurst, George Irving, Frederick Burt, James Durkin, Richard Tucker, Walter James, Broderick O Farrell

69 min

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Shadow of the Law is a 1930 film directed by Louis Gasnier and starring William Powell.

Plot

A woman being pursued by an intoxicated man breaks into John Nelson’s apartment, imploring his help. Nelson, a young engineer, confronts the man, who accidentally topples through a window to his death.

Unable to prove the circumstances, Nelson is convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. With the aid of his cellmate, he escapes and under an assumed name becomes manager of a textile mill in North Carolina.

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Later, his former cellmate, Pete, is commissioned to find Ethel Barry, the woman who can clear him so that he may marry Edith, the mill owner’s daughter; but Ethel forces his hand through blackmail.

Detective Mike Kearney tracks him down, but when Montgomery (Nelson) mutilates his hands in a machine to erase his fingerprint identity, Kearney decides to force Ethel to clear him.

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Cast

William Powell William Powell
Marion Shilling Marion Shilling
Edith Wentworth
Natalie Moorhead Natalie Moorhead
Ethel Barry aka Ethel George
Regis Toomey Regis Toomey
Tom Owens
Paul Hurst Paul Hurst
Pete Shore
George Irving George Irving
Colonel Wentworth
Frederick Burt Frederick Burt
Detective Lt. Mike Kearney
James Durkin James Durkin
Prison Warden
Richard Tucker Richard Tucker
Lew Durkin
Walter James Walter James
Captain of the Guards

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Benson Murder Case, The (1930)


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Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque

The Benson Murder Case (1930)

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Director: Frank Tuttle

Cast: William Powell, William Stage Boyd, Eugene Pallette, Paul Lukas, Natalie Moorhead, Richard Tucker, May Beatty, E H Calvert, Mischa Auer, Guy Oliver

65 min

The Benson Murder Case is the first novel in the Philo Vance series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine, which became a best-seller.

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Plot outline

New York dilettante Philo Vance decides to assist the police in investigating the death of another man-about-town because he finds the psychological aspects of the crime of interest, and feels that they would be beyond the capacities of the police, even those of his friend District Attorney Markham.

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Vance investigates the circumstances under which the body was found and reconstructs the crime sufficiently to determine that the murderer is five feet, ten and a half inches in height. Together, Vance and Markham investigate Benson’s business associates and romantic interests until Vance manages to pierce the murderer’s alibi for the time of the murder and force a confession.

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Literary significance and criticism

The novel was very loosely based upon a real-life case that had made headlines, the unsolved 1920 murder of bridge expert Joseph Bowne Elwell.

It was considered a roman à clef because the circumstances under which Elwell’s body was found—he was shot to death in a room in his home which was found to be locked from the inside, and he was not wearing his toupee—are duplicated in the novel. Modern knowledge of ballistics reveals that one of the central premises of the novel is fanciful, because the reconstruction of the height of the murderer is impossible (Dashiell Hammett had said as much at the time, in a 1927 book review).

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“The first and best, partly because Van Dine had the real-life model of the Joseph Elwell murder (1920) to hold his fancy in check.”[1]

“Vance spots the murderer almost immediately but doesn’t reveal him, allowing Markham and Sergeant Heath to fix the guilt on five successive persons by circumstantial evidence.”[2]

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Film adaptations

Paramount Pictures released The Benson Murder Case (1930) a film version directed by Frank Tuttle and starring William Powell as Philo Vance. The film was moderately faithful to the plot of the novel. Paramount also released a Spanish-language version, El Cuerpo del Delito, written by Catalan writer Josep Carner Ribalta (1898–1988), and co-directed by Cyril Gardner and A. Washington Pezet.

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References

  1. Jump up^ Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8
  2. Jump up^ Roseman, Mill et al.. Detectionary. New York: Overlook Press, 1971. ISBN 0-87951-041-2

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