Author: Ian Carruthers

ON DVD

In this musical comedy, Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard) is a band manager who is lured away to a new job by famous bandleader Artie Shaw (as himself). Two trumpet-playing college students Danny (Fred Astaire) and Hank (Burgess Meredith) plot to bring her back, scheming together in a competitive cat and mouse game.

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Starring: Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw and Burgess Meredith

Directed By: H.C. Potter

Written By: Frank Cavett, Elaine Ryan, Ian McLellan Hunter

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Run Time: 84 minutes

ON DVD

The Cisco Kid (Duncan Renaldo) and Pancho (Leo Carrillo) set out to locate the missing owner of a devoted dog in this western adventure. From the vanished man’s sister (Barbara Billingsley), the heroes learn that her brother disappeared soon after striking a major gold vein in his mine and might have been kidnapped.

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Starring: Duncan Renaldo, Leo Carrillo, John Litel and Barbara Billingsley

Directed By: Wallace Fox

Written By: Adele S. Buffington, O. Henry (character)

Genre: Western

Run Time: 60 minutes

ON DVD

Merle Oberon and Laurence Oliver star in this 1938 classic about a romance between divorce attorney Everard Logan (Olivier) and Leslie Steele, the enticing woman he believes is married to one of his clients.

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Starring: Merle Oberon and Lawrence Olivier

Directed By: Tim Whelan

Written By: Gilbert Wakefield (story), Ian Dalrymple & Arthur Wimperis (scenario and dialogue)

Alternate Title: Lady X

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Run Time: 92 minutes

ON DVD

Ralph Bellamy stars as Dr. Holden — aka “the healer” — a man who runs a health farm for polio victims and falls for a socialite (Judith Allen) to the detriment of his patients, the woman who really loves him (Karen Morley), and a little boy named Jimmy (Mickey Rooney).

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Directed By: Reginald Barker

Written By: John F. Goodrich, James Knox Millen, Robert Herrick

Genre: Drama

Alternate Title: The Healer

Run Time: 76 minutes

ON DVD

The legendary Joan Crawford stars as prostitute Sadie Thompson in this 1932 film directed by Lewis Milestone. When their boat becomes stranded on a Samoan island, Sadie and her four fellow passengers must learn to co-exist while they wait for refuge. Sadie’s partying infuriates missionary and fellow passenger Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston), who gives Sadie an ultimatum: reform her ways or be turned in.

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Starring: Joan Crawford and Walter Huston

Directed By: Lewis Milestone

Written By: Maxwell Anderson (adaptation)

Genre: Drama

Run Time: 94 minutes

ON DVD

Based on Henry Rider Haggard’s 1885 novel by the same name, this picture relates the story of Patrick O’Brien (Arthur Sinclair), who sets out to find the lost diamonds of Solomon and his worried daughter hires a hunter, Allan Quatermain (Cedric Hardwicke) to find him. Quatermain finds himself in the midst of a political scandal amongst a local tribe, and must devise a way to save the lost O’Brien.

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Starring: Cedrick Hardwicke, Paul Robeson and Roland Young

Directed By: Robert Stevenson

Written By: Roland Pertwee, Michael Hogan

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Musical, Romance

Run Time: 80 minutes