Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

[6] Poachers are looking to rob a legendary elephant graveyard of its ivory in the first Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan sequel. I think the sequel is just as entertaining as the original.  The sexual innuendo is more pronounced (we even get…
Monkey Business (1931)

Monkey Business (1931)

[4] I want to like a Marx Brothers movie. Really, I do. But this is the third for me (after their earlier efforts, The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers) and so far, no dice. In this, their first film written specifically…
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

[5] This early Best Picture Oscar winner is a three-hour mix of song, dance, and narrative, much like Broadway Melody before it. I was expecting a real stinker, especially when the opening credits revealed "Fashion Parades by Adrian". But apart…
Mad Love (1935)

Mad Love (1935)

[7] Peter Lorre stars as a doctor so obsessed with an actress (Frances Drake), that after a train wreck destroys her husband's hands, Lorre offers to perform a transplant. Problem is, the new hands once belonged to a murderer, and…
Scarface (1932)

Scarface (1932)

[6] Paul Muni plays a thinly-veiled version of Al Capone in Howard Hawks' Scarface, a grim, violent gangster flick that was pretty controversial for its time. The lack of bloodshed keeps it tame by today's standards, but myriad onscreen deaths…
Animal Crackers (1930)

Animal Crackers (1930)

[4] Groucho, Chico, Zeppo, and Harpo are back for their second big-screen soire. This one hangs loosely on a stolen painting plot, with Groucho playing a returning safari hunter at a rich aristocrat woman's house where all the action takes…
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

[7] Paul Muni stars as Emile Zola, the famous French author whose critical writings brought the scorn of the French government, especially when he came out in support of a wrongfully-condemned army officer. The first half of this film, directed…
Cavalcade (1933)

Cavalcade (1933)

[4] The third-ever Academy Award for 'Best Picture' went to this somewhat clunky, melodramatic story spanning three decades in the lives of two British families -- one upstairs aristocrats, the other downstairs servants. It may have been one of the…
Dracula (1931)

Dracula (1931)

[5] Whenever Bela Lugosi isn't onscreen, you can't wait for him to return in this cornerstone of on-screen horror. His iconic portrayal is the best thing this movie has going for itself. I also liked some of the sets and…
Dark Victory (1939)

Dark Victory (1939)

[5] Bette Davis stars in this Oscar-bait melodrama about a spoiled socialite who learns she has an inoperable brain tumor. After co-star George Brent performs an operation, Davis is told she's all better -- when really her doctor and close…