Monthly Film Bulletin 1936. All the films reviewed in 1936.
Just the Entertainment Films.
List activity
175 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
236 titles
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Elissa LandiGordon HarkerA former boxing champion, now an innkeeper, is accused of stealing a watch from a party of guests at his inn who happen to be members of English royalty. The old man is arrested and thrown in prison. His son, knowing that his father didn't steal the watch and suspecting a frame-up, follows the royal party to London, where he poses as a wealthy "gentleman" and insinuates himself into the English court to find out who framed his father and why.
- DirectorVictor HanburyJohn StaffordStarsConrad NagelMarta LabarrLu Ann MeredithIt is the height of the fashionable season and the world-famous singer, Anita Stella, comes to Cannes on the Riviera, where she has been engaged to perform at a Charity Ball sponsored by society leaders. John Egan, a distinguished British diplomat, traveling incognito as Baron Dupont, for reasons of State, falls in love with Stella and resolves to make her acquaintance.
- DirectorNorman LeeStarsRobb WiltonMuriel AkedClay KeyesAn anti-gambling supporter has a secret passion for the greyhound racetrack..
- DirectorRalph InceStarsHartley PowerMargaret LockwoodNora SwinburneA jury sitting on a case are led by their foreman through an imaginative survey of how the crime, a murder, was committed.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsConrad VeidtHelen VinsonNoah BeeryAn educated convict and prisoner leads a group of other inmates in a rebellion against the cruel authority figures before one of their own gets executed.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsPierre FresnayElissa LandiJohn LodgeVignerte, a preceptor at the court of a German principality, falls in love with Princess Aurore, whose first husband died under mysterious circumstances. Vignerte suspects the deceased's brother to be responsible for the death.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleArthur TracyJane WintonA chorus girl (Anna Neagle) discovers a singer (Arthur Tracy) in the streets and asks her producer to give him a shot at stardom. Musical. Initial release: June 25, 1937
- DirectorOswald MitchellChallis SandersonStarsThe Act SuperbRaymond BairdSam Barton1936. Musical. This 1936 Musical film shows a rare chance to see some of the greatest acts from the Music Hall Years. Starring Sam Barton, Mabel Constanduros, Horace Goldin and many more.
- DirectorWallace OrtonStarsEddie PolaBetty AstellLeslie Perrins
- DirectorMichael HankinsonStarsDorothy BoydJohn ClementsGeorge MerrittA young crook meets a lady in the same business as himself, and finds she is more than a match for him.
- DirectorMaclean RogersStarsRobert RendelLucille LisleJames MasonA young businessman (James Mason) is being duped by business swindlers but his jailbird father is determined to save him.
- DirectorMaclean RogersStarsHenry KendallNancy BurneBetty Astell
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsRoy ReneYvonne BanvardLorraine Smith
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsToby WingKenne DuncanWheeler OakmanAn out-of-work reporter wins a horse in a dice game. The horse turns out to be a champion runner. His girlfriend helps him get the horse into professional racing, but they get mixed up with gamblers.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsCharles StarrettAdrienne DoreKenne DuncanFor showing cowardice during a holdup, bank teller Bob Hunter is fired. He joins the Mounties and is assigned to look for those robbers. To have him work undercover, the Inspector's scheme is to have Bob supposedly kicked out of the Mounties.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsBarbara StanwyckPreston FosterMelvyn DouglasA romanticized biography of the famous sharpshooter.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsClaudette ColbertFred MacMurrayRobert YoungA penniless socialite is hired by two young men as a front in their plan to start a magazine. Soon, however, they find themselves more interested in her than in their publishing venture.
- DirectorGordon WilesStarsWarner OlandRosina LawrenceCharles QuigleyThe heir to a huge fortune is presumed drowned, then shows up, is then murdered.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsWilliam BoydJames EllisonWilliam FarnumWhen the outlaw El Toro saves Hoppy's life, Hoppy agrees to find his missing grandson.
- DirectorMelville W. BrownStarsEsther RalstonOnslow StevensSidney BlackmerA jetliner is forced to land in a remote region of Arizona under suspicious circumstances.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsEdmund LoweValerie HobsonWera EngelsBaron Leopold von Ragastein impersonates his noble lookalike Sir Everard Dominey at the vast Dominey Hall, where strange things are afoot in pre-WW1 England.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsLily PonsHenry FondaEric BloreJonathan Street is a struggling composer when he meets and marries Annette. The problem is that Jonathan was drunk and does not want to be married. Annette does go with him to Paris and does the cooking and cleaning. To get his music published, Annette takes it to Paul and he is won over - by her voice and not the music. So he manages her career and she becomes a star as an opera singer everywhere she goes. Since Jonathan cannot sell anything he writes, he leaves Annette and that makes Annette sad as she wants only to be his wife.
- DirectorHarry LachmanStarsRichard DixFay WrayVictor KilianWhile hospitalized young Billy meets his silent movie idol Tim Bart but then the talkies came, destroying Bart's career. Now Bart must convince his young friend he is still a star.
- DirectorGeorge MelfordStarsCharles BickfordElizabeth YoungFrank AlbertsonSurvivors of a shipwreck find refuge on a tropical island--but so do the ship's cargo of lions and tigers.
- DirectorSidney LanfieldStarsWarner BaxterAlice FayeJack OakieFormer burlesque producer moves into legitimate theatre and does well until he marries a socialite. After his divorce his former top singer returns from London to help out.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsMalaLotus LongRudolph AndersA young Polynesian couple is separated by a mining company which enslaves islanders.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsShirley TempleJohn BolesJack HoltShirley Temple's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his family and is arrested. A Yankee takes pity and sets up an escape. Everyone is captured and the officers are to be executed. Shirley and "Bojangles" Robinson beg President Lincoln to intercede.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsRonald ColmanJoan BennettColin CliveRussian prince goes to Monte Carlo just after World War I with money supplied him by Parisian Russians. He wins but the casino operators want him honor the tradition of returning to the tables.
- DirectorJoseph KaneStarsGene AutryAnn RutherfordSmiley BurnetteGene goes after the badguys after they kidnap the baby he should have been babysitting.
- DirectorRay McCareyStarsJohn HowardWendy BarrieWillie HowardThe daughter of a radio-program sponsor wants to get on the air too, but her father doesn't allow it, so she enters an amateur contest on his radio program under an assumed name.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsJane WithersPinky TomlinRita HayworthPaddy O'Day is an Irish immigrant who learns on arrival in the U.S. that her mother is dead. Friends help her survive as an entertainer, and success is a good argument against the immigration officials.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsWilliam BoydBarbara WorthGeorge ErnestRacehorse-owner Dan Morgan is ruled off the track and out of racing when his horse is doped by a rival owner who knows that Dan's horse can win a high-stakes race. Trying to clear his name, Dan runs into many difficulties and incidents, including a blazing barn filled with valuable horses, before he is able to gather the needed evidence against the guilty man.
- DirectorBernard B. RayStarsJack PerrinNelson McDowellChris-Pin MartinReed breaks up the first attempted gold robbery. When the outlaws next attempt is successful, Reed is jailed as the suspect. Escaping from jail, he knows who to look for.
- DirectorLewis D. CollinsStarsHelen TwelvetreesDonald CookBerton ChurchillDetective Ellery Queen's vacation is interrupted when murder strikes next door to his oceanside cabin.
- DirectorAubrey ScottoStarsRoger PryorLeila HyamsEdward BrophyA down-on-his luck newspaperman finds himself the center of an experiment being conducted by two daffy millionaires--to see if someone can spend $1000 a minute, every minute, for 12 solid hours. If he can do it, he gets $10,000. If he can't do it, he gets nothing.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsGeorge O'BrienDorothy WilsonPaul KellyA man who has spent all his inheritance, finds meaning in life, and love, at ranch where his ingenuity is put to good use.
- DirectorArthur LubinJoseph SantleyStarsBen LyonHelen TwelvetreesRod La RocqueAs California gubernatorial candidate Burton is about to cast his vote a truck crashes into the polling booth, critically injuring him and his opponent. A flashback traces his career from unemployed veteran to dockworker to lawyer. A side thread traces his tortured relationship with his wife
- DirectorSam WoodStarsMyrna LoySpencer TracyHarvey StephensHoping to nab a gang of jewel thieves, a government agent poses as a crook and travels across the country with a female thief.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsVanni MarcouxDorvilleRobert LynenA little boy is sold to a busker who takes him on all the roads of the France with his troupe of animals.
- DirectorPierre BillonStarsJean MuratVéra KorènePierre AlcoverCaptain Benoît manages to take possession of the plans of a new German airplane. The German counter-espionage assigns one of their agents, beautiful Erna Fiedler, to seduce Benoît and to eliminate him. But the two spies fall in love.
- DirectorCarl FroelichStarsHeinrich GeorgePeter VoßHertha ThieleEmotional upheavals transpire when three girls enter a boys' school, to study for an important exam: a teacher and a student both fall in love with one of them.
- DirectorLev KuleshovStarsKonstantin KhokhlovIvan NovoseltsevVasili KovriginIn basis of film are facts from biography of the American writer O. Henry and two his short stories.
- DirectorRedd DavisStarsLen HarveyArchie PittBetty Ann DaviesA young man, whose main interest in life is stained glass, accidentally accepts a challenge to fight in a fair boxing booth.
- DirectorHerbert MasonStarsJohn MillsLilli PalmerBernard Nedell
- DirectorJack HulbertRobert StevensonStarsJack HulbertGina MaloRobertson HareJack Warrender (Jack Hulbert) bluffs his way into big business in order to promote his new invention.
- DirectorRedd DavisStarsJune ClydeClaude DampierBilly Milton
- DirectorRedd DavisStarsBetty FieldsFrank PettingellLeslie Bradley
- DirectorGeorge PearsonStarsJohn StuartDiana BeaumontJohn Kevan
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsRaymond MasseyEdward ChapmanRalph RichardsonThe story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.
- DirectorMaclean RogersStarsJohn GarrickDorothy BoydJoyce Bland
- DirectorWidgey R. NewmanStarsWally PatchVera SherborneJoe Hayman
- DirectorJack RaymondStarsJack BuchananFay WrayGarry MarshHappy-go-lucky soldier Guy De Vere must leave India and return to the family seat at Little Twittering, for he has inherited the family title. Sir Guy finds all his relatives to be frozen stuffed shirts... except lovely cousin Rowena, who is mad about knighthood and chivalry. Struck in the head by a falling suit of armor, Guy dreams he and Rowena are back in 1400, as the unabashed farce continues...
- DirectorPessi KaraniStarsErmelineZaverbhai KaiserJal Merchant
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsWallace BeeryLionel BarrymoreAline MacMahonStory of small-town life in turn-of-the-century America, and a young boy's problems facing adolescence.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBing CrosbyEthel MermanCharles RugglesA young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde. When he sees her being forced onto a luxury liner, he decides to follow and rescue her. However, he discovers that she is an English heiress who ran away from home and is now being returned to England. He also discovers that his boss is on the ship. To avoid discovery, he disguises himself as the gangster accomplice of a minister, who is actually a gangster on the run from the law.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsWini ShawGenevieve TobinLyle TalbotA woman becomes a successful singer, but can't do as well in love.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsRichard ArlenCharlotte WyntersDouglass DumbrilleDan Matthews (Richard Arlen), a young parson, is in love with Hope Strong (Charlotte Wynters), the daughter of James B. Strong ('FRederick Burton'), a man who controls the town with his real estate and business interests. Strong is an upstanding citizen who has fallen into the hands of a clever racketeer, Jeff Hardy (Douglass Dumbrille), who acts as Strong's manager of some innocent-appearing amusement places that are really secret dens of vice.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandLionel AtwillAfter treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
- DirectorAlbert S. RogellStarsVictor JoryFlorence RiceNorman FosterJohanna Harrington waits eagerly at her cottage on the edge of the jungle that flanks the Devil's Island penal colony for the arrival of her father Steve Garrington, her sweetheart Dario, and Andre Dion, an innocent convict. The three had made good their escape several day before. Andre arrives first with news that her father had been killed. He falls in love with Johanna and is in her arms several days later when Dario arrives. Furious, Dario turns Andre back into the jungle only to learn that it is he that Johanna really loves.
- DirectorAubrey ScottoStarsAlison SkipworthMae ClarkeArthur TreacherIn this touching tale, an elderly British woman saves up enough money to visit her son in the U.S. She believes that he is doing well, but he is actually a prisoner in San Quentin.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsFranchot ToneMadge EvansStuart ErwinExclusive Story is a 1936 American drama film directed by George B. Seitz and written by Michael Fessier. The film stars Franchot Tone, Madge Evans, Stuart Erwin, Joseph Calleia, Robert Barrat and J. Farrell MacDonald.
- DirectorJoseph SantleyStarsEdward Everett HortonPeggy ConklinLaura Hope CrewsA man (Edward Everett Horton) is forced to pose as a handyman for his wife (Peggy Conklin) and mother-in-law's rich aunt (Laura Hope Crews).
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiFrances DrakeA scientist becomes murderous after discovering, and being exposed to the radiation of, a powerful new element called Radium X.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsAline MacMahonBasil RathboneMary CarlisleHenry, a homeless artist, is invited in from the cold by Mary. Her kindness is exploited as Henry, his family and friends manipulate their way into living in her home. Mary tries to get rid of them, but they have their own scheme in mind.
- DirectorMarion GeringStarsRuth ChattertonOtto KrugerLionel AtwillBecause of a very unhappy affair she had earlier in her life, a woman shuts herself off from the rest of the world.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsBuster CrabbeKathleen BurkeSyd SaylorJim Lacey (Buster Crabbe),better known as "Nevada,", and his pal Cash Burridge (Syd Saylor), a pair of Nevada wanderers on the run from a sheriff who thinks they have committed some lawless deeds, decide Arizona offers them more security. Jim watches a crooked gambler cheat an old rancher out of his ranch. He then joins the game and wins the deed back from the gambler, as he is more skilled than the gambler at cheating. He goes to find the old man to return the deed and learns he has committed suicide. He and Cash then take up ranching. But the territory is over-run by a rustling gang, led by a local respected citizen. The pair, aided by neighboring rancher Ben Ide (William Duncan)and his daughter Hettie (Kathleen Burke), set out get rid of the rustlers.
- DirectorSam WoodEdmund GouldingStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsVictor McLaglenFreddie BartholomewGloria StuartMercenary Donovan is hired to kidnap King Peter II. He learns that the party in power is evil and that the King is in danger, so kidnaps the King to keep him safe while a revolution is planned.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsBing CrosbyMary MartinBasil RathbonePopular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and then try to sell their songs under their own name. The problem is every song publisher thinks they're copying Courtney's style.
- DirectorJ. Walter RubenStarsJean HarlowSpencer TracyUna MerkelFisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie and quits his poorly paid job to concentrate on getting better working conditions as union leader. Unfortunately, the union members disagree with Dutch's ideas and kick him out. Without a job or union card to get another, he leaves Hattie to look for work. Hattiee steals money to help him when she learns he is really down on his luck and she goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.
- DirectorMarion GeringStarsJohn BolesGladys SwarthoutCharles BickfordIt is California in 1852 that only recently being surrendered by Mexico to the United States and admitted into the union. Most of the land-owners of California were the descendants of the Dons who had colonized it a hundred years before and whose title deeds bore the signature and seal of a long-dead Spanish king. But, by a loop-hole in the law, the title-deeds of the Dons could not be recognized, and this opened the door of organized gangs of land-grabbers, such as the one led by Joe Kincaid, to operate with a prime excuse for legitimate plunder and robbery. In most cases the law was unable to cope with the situation. Then Rosita Castro, the daughter of Don Pasqual Castro, masked and disguised as a man, organized a band of vigilantes to fight against the tyranny of the outlaws, aided by an undercover federal agent, Jim Kearney.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsDick ForanAlma LloydCharles MiddletonFrank Sr. sells his supplies to Hook, but then Hook has the Bannion Boys bushwhack his wagon to get the money back. Frank is murdered, but Junior gets away. He comes back 10 years later to settle the score as the Singing Cowboy. He finds that Hook is still doing his dirty deeds on the unsuspecting people. Along the way, Frank meets the lovely Jen, who came out in the same wagon train 10 years before.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsEddie CantorEthel MermanSally EilersMeek Eddie Pink becomes manager of an amusement park beset by mobsters.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsHugh HerbertHelen BroderickRoger PryorAn eccentric heir must marry a widow in order to collect the millions left to him in his aunt's will, so a suicidal neighbor agrees to marry the man's young fiancée before offing himself.
- DirectorChester M. FranklinStarsJackie CooperJoseph CalleiaRin Tin Tin Jr.An unhappy child, accompanied by his dog, runs away from home and is befriended by a gangster on the lam.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsWalter AbelMargot GrahameWallace FordFord Adams regains consciousness in Boston, bloody and suffering from amnesia. Information he eventually uncovers (with the help of Marie Smith) connects him to a well-known producer--who's just been murdered.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetStarsKen MaynardGeneva MitchellCharles K. FrenchWealthy Henry Hanley takes his family to a dude ranch. But his daughter Gloria's boyfriend Eric is waiting and he is after Hanley's money. Ken overhears Eric's plan and abducts Gloria to stop the elopement. The outlaw Lacrosse and his henchman then catch Ken without his guns, take off with Gloria, and leave a tied up Ken in a burning shack.
- DirectorWerner HochbaumStarsPeter PetersenMathias WiemanOlga TschechowaExpressionistic devices depict the nervous breakdown of a young physician whose patient has died,on whom he had tried out a new serum contrary to his superior's orders.
- DirectorRalph MurphyStarsJoe PennerJack OakieNed SparksA Broadway playboy inherits an almost bankrupt girls' school and tries to save it by a big show.
- DirectorErich EngelStarsRudolf ForsterAngela SallokerHans HommaA former Austrian officer, dismissed from the army for killing his friend in a duel, returns to Vienna with much mystery, sporting a black mask.The dead man's sister falls for him while her father,a general, swears vengeance.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsPatric KnowlesNancy O'NeilHenry CaineA bankrupt publisher thinks all his troubles are over when he stumbles across a Brown Wallet containing 200 pounds. But he is implicated in the murder of his wealthy aunt ...
- DirectorPaul L. SteinStarsJean MuirGene GerrardHans Söhnker
- DirectorLeslie S. HiscottStarsSydney HowardMuriel AkedMiki Hood
- DirectorRalph InceStarsRalph IncePat FitzpatrickBasil GillWhen a convict discovers that his son is about to be kidnapped by his former gang members, he breaks out of jail to try to save him.
- DirectorNorman LeeStarsRenee HoustonBillie HoustonShirley HoustonTwo sisters form a double-act after the retirement of their parents.
- DirectorW.P. KellinoStarsLupino LanePhyllis ClareWallace Lupino
- DirectorHerbert BrenonStarsOtto KrugerLeonora CorbettFrancis ListerWhen Doctor Stanley Norton finds his partner, Doctor Henry Pryor, has been illegally selling drugs to addicts, he dissolves the partnership. Seeking revenge, Pryor accuses Norton of misconduct with Pryor's wife, Helen. The case is reviewed before the General Medical Council and Norton is struck off the register on the false testimony of Vera Kennedy, Pryor's mistress. The case discloses that Norton and Helen love each other and it also publicly reveals Pryor's traffic in drugs and he is sentenced to two years in prison. Helen and Norton migrate to the state of Montana and after dreary years of struggle, under another name, achieves success. He is a famous Park Avenue heart specialist when Pryor, embittered, broken and bent on revenge, gets into Norton's home by a ruse. His game is blackmail and his weapon the fact that Helen is still his lawful wife. Norton goes momentarily mad as he sees his life once more on the brink of ruin. He kills Pryor and then tells his story to his friend, the New York City district attorney, who finally declares that the shooting of Pryor was in self defense.
- DirectorArthur B. WoodsStarsCharles 'Buddy' RogersMary BrianW.H. BerryA bank clerk accepts a deposit of a million too late to put it in the bank and has to guard it over the weekend.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsFrances DayArthur RiscoeMuriel AkedA young man goes to work as a waiter in a French hotel.
- DirectorBerthold ViertelGeoffrey BarkasStarsWalter HustonOscar HomolkaBasil SydneyThis rousing adventure film tells the true story of Cecil Rhodes, a diamond miner who helped found the South African colonies.
- DirectorLawrence HuntingtonStarsKathleen KellyGeorge MozartMoore MarriottCrooks in South America smuggle arms on an English cargo vessel to revolutionaries, but are exposed by a young girl, who later marries the captain's son.
- DirectorRoland GillettStarsBetty StockfeldTyrell DavisJudy Kelly
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsTod SlaughterStella RhoJohn SingerA Fleet Street barber recounts the story of Sweeney Todd, a notorious barber who in the last century murdered many customers for their money.