Young Mr. Lincoln

Henry Fonda wore specially made boots that made him appear taller.

The trial of William "Duff" Armstrong, on which the fictionalized defense of Matt and Adam Clay shown in this movie is based, actually took place in 1858, when Lincoln was a successful railroad attorney and soon to be a nominee for the Senate. The other person accused of murder had been convicted in a separate trial several months earlier.

Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Lincoln, saying he didn't think he could play such a great man. He changed his mind after John Ford asked him to do a screen test in full makeup. After viewing himself as Lincoln in the test footage, Fonda liked what he saw, and accepted the part. He later told an interviewer, "I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film."

John Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought an extended battle over control of the film.

Ford even had unused takes of the film destroyed so the studio could not insert them into the movie. One scene that Ford insisted on cutting was a scene where Lincoln met his future assassin, a very young John Wilkes Booth.

Final film of Alice Brady.

Cast of Young Mr. Lincoln

Henry Fonda Abraham Lincoln

Alice Brady Abigail Clay

Marjorie Weaver Mary Todd

Arleen Whelan Sarah Clay

Eddie Collins Efe Turner

Pauline Moore Ann Rutledge

Richard Cromwell Matt Clay

Donald Meek Prosecutor John Felder

Judith Dickens Carrie Sue

Eddie Quillan Adam Clay

Spencer Charters Judge Herbert A. Bell

Ward Bond John Palmer Cass

You Can't Cheat An Honest Man

W. C. Fields and Edgar Bergan were paid $100,000 each. Fields was paid an additional $25,000 for writing the script.

W. C. Fields became a big hit on radio, especially on Edgar Bergan 's radio program, where he had a long-running "feud" with Charlie McCarthy. This film was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of that feud by having it carried on in a movie.

Legend has it that on the set of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), a stagehand was cleaning out W. C. Fields ' dressing room and accidentally bumped into a table on which Fields had placed a bottle of whiskey. He caught the bottle before it hit the floor, but the cork had popped out and he couldn't find it. He placed the bottle back on the table and left. Later Fields came back to the dressing room, and a few minutes after-wards stormed out, roaring "Who took the cork out of my lunch?"

Cast of You Can't Cheat An Honest Man

W.C. Fields - Larson E. Whipsnade
Edgar Bergen - Himself
Constance Moore - Vicky Whipsnade

Union Pacific

The world premiere in Omaha, Nebraska, was a three-day celebration that drew 250,000 people, doubling the population of the city and requiring the National Guard to help keep order. The special train en route from Hollywood to Omaha, carrying Cecil B. DeMille and stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea, took three days and made stops along the way, drawing large crowds.

The film was shown in three theaters simultaneously; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reported to have started the premiere proceedings by pressing a button in Washington, DC, which opened the civic auditorium. An ad stated that the premiere, which involved parades, radio broadcasts and a banquet, was the biggest in motion picture history. An antique train continued on a 15-day coast-to-coast promotional tour, stopping at 30 cities around the country.

According to a news item in the Hollywood Reporter, Cecil B. DeMille directed much of the film from a stretcher, because of an operation he had months earlier. However, studio records indicate DeMille collapsed from the strain of directing three units simultaneously, and used a stretcher for about two weeks.

The gold spike used at the ceremony to mark the end of the construction was the same spike actually used in the May 10, 1869 event, on loan from Stanford University.

For the Indian attack on the train, Paramount hired 100 Navajo Indian extras.

The company had rented many local pinto horses for the filming of the Indian attack on the train. During filming, however, local cowboys had to be hired to round up the horses, as they would scatter and sometimes stampede because of the noise and confusion of these scenes - all the shooting, yelling, and yards of unfamiliar cloth on the horses, along with kettles and other implements tied to their manes and tails, made them extremely nervous and uncomfortable, and it didn't require much to make them bolt.

In order to operate the number of trains required by the production, Paramount had to get a regulation railroad operating license from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.

Dick Allen (Robert Preston) asks, "Where does he keep his 'Rule G'?", meaning a bottle of whiskey. This is a reference to Rule G: "The use of intoxicants or narcotics is prohibited", one of twelve 12 rules in standard code adopted by the Association of American Railroads.

Cast of Union Pacific

Barbara Stanwyck as Mollie Monahan
Joel McCrea as Captain Jeff Butler
Akim Tamiroff as Fiesta
Robert Preston as Dick Allen
Lynne Overman as Leach Overmile
Brian Donlevy as Sid Campeau
Robert Barrat as Duke Ring (Campeau henchman)
Anthony Quinn as Jack Cordray (Campeau henchman)
Stanley Ridges as General Casement
Henry Kolker as Asa M. Barrows (banker)
Francis McDonald as General Grenville M. Dodge
Willard Robertson as Oakes Ames
Harold Goodwin as E.E. Calvin (telegrapher)
Evelyn Keyes as Mrs. Calvin
Richard Lane as Sam Reed

The Women

There are over 130 roles in this movie, all played by women. Phyllis Povah, Majorie Main, Mary Cecil and Marjorie Wood originated their roles in the play, which opened on 7 September 1937 and had 666 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York. No doubles were used in the fight sequence where Rosalind Russand bites Paulette Goddard. Despite the permanent scar resulting from the bite, the actresses remained friends.

Though many people view Joan Crawford as the "bad girl" of the movie, Clare Boothe Luce, who wrote (as Clare Boothe) the play that the film was based on, sympathized most with Crystal Allen, Crawford's character.

In addition to its all-female cast, every animal that was used in the film (the many dogs and horses) was female as well. In addition, none of the works of art seen in the backgrounds were representative of the male form.

Sydney's, the beauty salon where the initial action takes place, was named after Sydney Guilaroff, the chief hairstylist at MGM from 1934 to the late 1970s. He was brought to MGM from New York at the request of Joan Crawford.

According to her autobiography, Rosalind Russell called in sick because Norma Shearer refused to share top billing. She stayed "sick" until Shearer finally relented.

Myrna Loy and Greta Garbo were the only top-tier female stars at MGM who did not star in this film, although Loy was considered for the role of Crystal Allen.

The lines Mary reads alone in bed are from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran: "Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears," but MGM omitted the reference to "nakedness" to avoid offending the censors.

Although uncredited, F. Scott Fitzgerald contributed to the writing of the screenplay.

When Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford were called to shoot publicity stills, neither actress would enter the studio first. Instead, they remained in their limousines and circled the parking lot until director George Cukor summoned them and they instantly behaved like best friends.

In addition to those cast members already listed, Beatrice Cole and Beryl Wallace also appeared in the stage play.

George Cukor was fired as director of Gone With The Wind (1939) only a month before The Women (1939) was scheduled to begin filming. Producer Hunt Stromberg enlisted Cukor's services immediately upon his sudden availability.

Butterfly McQueen's film debut.

The stage actress who originated the role of Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell's role in the film) was Ilka Chase. She is probably best recognized by today's audiences as the Stepmother in the original Julie Andrews live TV musical production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Cinderella (1957) (TV), the kinescope of which was recently rediscovered and released on DVD.

"The Women's" screenwriter Anita Loos who wrote this film's original 1939 screenplay, started her writing career in 1912 with her first full film screenplay The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) starring Lillian Gish and directed by D.W. Griffith for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. which is still in existence today. After writing many scripts for Biograph, Loos went on to write such other films such as Saratoga (1937), Another Thin Man (1939), San Francisco (1936), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).

The beauty salon and spa featured in the film's opening sequence was based on cosmetics mogul Elizabeth Arden's parlor in New York City. At the premiere of the film, Arden scoffed that the film's salon was an exact copy of hers.

As of 2009, Joan Fontaine (Mrs. John Peggy Day) is the film's last surviving principal cast member.

Cast of The Women

Norma Shearer as Mary Haines
Joan Crawford as Crystal Allen
Rosalind Russell as Sylvia Fowler
Mary Boland as The Countess De Lave
Paulette Goddard as Miriam Aarons
Phyllis Povah as Edith Potter
Joan Fontaine as Peggy Day
Virginia Weidler as Little Mary
Muriel Hutchison as Jane, Mary Haines' maid
Lucile Watson as Mrs. Morehead
Marjorie Main as Lucy
Virginia Grey as Pat, Perfume Counter Clerk
Ruth Hussey as Miss Watson
Hedda Hopper as Dolly Dupuyster
Florence Nash as Nancy Blake
Cora Witherspoon as Mrs. Van Adams
Mary Beth Hughes as Miss Trimmerback
Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Wagstaff (uncredited)
Butterfly McQueen as Lulu, Perfume Counter Maid (uncredited)
Barbara Jo Allen as Receptionist (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor as Mud Bath Attendant (uncredited)
Marie Blake as Stockroom Girl (uncredited)
Barbara Pepper as Tough Woman (uncredited)
Flora Finch (uncredited)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is an American biographical musical comedy, released in 1939 and directed by H.C. Potter. The film stars Fred Astair, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Brennan.

The movie is based on the stories My Husband and My Memories of Vernon Castle, by Irene Castle. The movie was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Yost and Richard Sherman.

Irene Castle acted as advisor to this film, and constantly disagreed with the director as to details of costuming and liberties taken. When informed that white actor Walter Brennan was to play the part of faithful servant Walter, she was dumbfounded: the real Walter was black.

Cast of The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

Fred Astaire as Vernon Castle
Ginger Rogers as Irene Castle (née Foote)
Edna May Oliver as Maggie Sutton
Walter Brennan as Walter Ash
Lew Fields as Himself
Etienne Girardot as Papa Aubel
Janet Beecher as Mrs. Foote
Rolfe Sedan as Emile Aubel
Leonid Kinskey as Artist
Robert Strange as Dr. Hubert Foote
Douglas Walton as Student Pilot
Clarence Derwent as Papa Louis
Sonny Lamont as Charlie, Tap Dancer
Frances Mercer as Claire Ford
Victor Varconi as Grand Duke

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

After the film was released, the telephone was commonly called the "Ameche", a slang term referring to actor Done Ameche who played the telephone's inventor. This association is explained in the film Ball of Fire (1941), showing the term was still in use two years after the release of the original film.

Only film featuring all four of the "Young" sisters: Loretta Young, Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young and 'Georgiana Young'.

Alexander Graham Bell's daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, had official script approval.

This film had its premiere at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.

Jack Kelly's film debut.

Don Ameche's brother, Jim Ameche, portrayed Alexander Graham Bell in The Story of Mankind (1957).

Cast of The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

Don Ameche Alexander Graham Bell

Loretta Young Mrs. Mabel Hubbard Bell

Henry Fonda Thomas Watson

Charles Coburn Gardner Hubbard

Gene Lockhart Thomas Sanders

Spring Byington Mrs. Hubbard

Sally Blane Gertrude Hubbard

Polly Ann Young Grace Hubbard

Georgiana Young Berta Hubbard

Bobs Watson George Sanders

Russell Hicks Mr. Barrows

Paul Stanton Chauncey Smith

Jonathan Hale President of Western Union

Harry Davenport Judge Rider

Beryl Mercer Queen Victoria

Elizabeth Patterson Mrs. Mac Gregor

Charles Trowbridge George Pollard

Jan Duggan Mrs. Winthrop

Claire Du Brey Landlady

Harry Tyler Joe Eliot

Ralph Remley D'Arcy - Singer

Zeffie Tilbury Mrs. Sanders

The Roaring Twenties

The character of Panama Smith was partially based on actress and nightclub hostess Texas Guinan.

Glenda Farrell was originally cast as Panama Smith. Both Ann Sheridan and Lee Patrick were also slotted for the role that was eventually perfectly played by Gladys George.

Based on the life and career of real-life bootlegger Larry Fay. Unlike James Cagney's Eddie Bartlett, however, Fay stood 6'3" inches tall, and was long-jawed and gangly.

Unlike the movie's Eddie Bartlett, Larry Fay died on New Year's Day of 1932. Dwindling finances had forced him to cut costs at his New York nightclub, the El Fay; after telling the doorman at the club that his pay was going to be reduced, the doorman pulled a revolver and shot Fay four times. Fay collapsed backward onto a sofa and died.

A montage features a shot of gangsters bombing a storefront. This shot is actually an alternate angle of the bombing of a store in The Public Enemy (1931), and the same shot is notably also used in a similar montage for Angels With Dirty Faces (1938).

This marked the end of James Cagney's cycle of gangster films for Warner Bros. Cagney wanted to diversify his roles and would not play a gangster again until White Heat (1949), ten years later.

Mark Hellinger was relatively new on staff at Warner Brothers and had been given various B-picture writing and producing assignments. According to Hellinger's biography, after initially reading Hellinger's story for this film, studio head Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis became so excited that they considered the project too good for Hellinger to produce. Hal B. Wallis became Executive Producer of the film and told Hellinger he would give him the title of Associate Producer. It wasn't until after the film was released that Hellinger saw that screen credit for Associate Producer had gone to Samual Bischoff. It didn't matter to Hellinger, however, as the film was unanimously praised by critics and was a financial success. (Source: Biography "The Mark Hellinger Story" by Jim Bishop)

This film started a nostalgia craze. Disk jockeys began to run Roaring Twenties music. Producer Mark Hellinger was an important guest on singer Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall radio show and singer Kate Smith promoted the film on all of her radio programs. Both Life and Look magazines published "Roaring Twenties" layouts.

After the release of this film, producer Mark Hellinger received a telegram from New York that read: "We are all sitting here in the Stork Club discussing your new picture. We are glad The Roaring Twenties (1939) rates four stars and we wish we could be present to give you the remaining four-four. We love you. Walter Winchell, Louis Sobol, Damon Runyon, Rudy Vallee, Eddie Dowling, George M. Cohan, Sam Harris, Frank Buck, Buddy G. DeSylva, James J. Walker, Ted Husing, Ricardo Cortez, Sidney Clare, Bert Wheeler, Bert Lahr, Marc Lachmann, Clem McCarthy, Mack Gordon, Curley Harris, Jay C. Flippen, Dan Parker, Murray Lewin.

Critics unanimously praised this film. James Francis Crow of the Hollywood Citizen-News opened his review with "This is not just another Warner Brothers gang war drama ..." Sidney Skolsky wrote: "A great hunk of entertainment ..." The Hollywood Reporter said: "The pace is furious ..." Boxoffice wrote: "It will roar its way across showmen's ledgers leaving a trail of black figures and satisfied customers."

The night of the premiere, producer Mark Hellinger received a telegram to help calm his nerves. The telegram read: From all the wonderful things I hear of The Roaring Twenties (1939). I don't need to wish you good luck. Hope you don't suffer too much. Joan Crawford.

The world premiere was a formal affair held at the Warner Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. on Oct. 23, 1939. Attendees included Harry M. Warner, Hal B. Wallis, Darryl F. Zanuck, Louis B. Mayer, Joseph Breen, Walter Wanger and Mark Hellinger.

James Cagney's character is introduced while the soundtrack is playing the song "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" - the same song that is playing at the end of his star-making film, The Public Enemy (1931) (made eight years earlier and also set in the 1920s), when his corpse is delivered to his family's home.

The final line of the movie spoken by the character, Panama Smith (Gladys George) has been ranked by AFI and others as the #1 last line of a gangster movie. In response to a police officers query, "What did he do...", Panama answers as she holds Eddie (James Cagney) on the stairs of the church. "He was a big shot."

The Cast of The Roaring Twenties

James Cagney as Eddie Bartlett
Priscilla Lane as Jean Sherman
Humphrey Bogart as George Hally
Gladys George as Panama Smith
Jeffrey Lynn as Lloyd Hart
Frank McHugh as Danny Green
George Meeker as Harold Masters
Paul Kelly as Nick Brown
Elisabeth Risdon as Mrs. Sherman
Ed Keane as Henderson
Joe Sawyer as The sergeant
Joseph Crehan as Michaels

The Man in the Iron Mask

Peter Cushing did double duty on this film. In additional to his own role, he would feed Louis Hayward the lines for the split screen shots.

Nearly all of the characters in this film actually existed, but none of the characters who die in it actually died that way in real life.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) is an American film very loosely adapted from the last section of the novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, pere, which is itself based on the French legend of the Man In The Iron Mask.

The film is notable for containing the first screen role for Peter Cushing. It was also notable for being the source of several subsequent remakes. The film was directed by James Whale and stars Louis Hayward as royal twins, Joan Bennett as Princess Maria Theresa, Warren William as d'Artagnan, and Joseph Schildkraut as Nicolas Fouquet.

Cast of The Man in the Iron Mask

Louis Hayward as King Louis XIV / Philippe of Gascony
Joan Bennett as Princess Maria Theresa
Warren William as d'Artagnan
Joseph Schildkraut as Fouquet
Alan Hale as Porthos
Miles Mander as Aramis
Bert Roach as Athos
Walter Kingsford as Colbert
Marion Martin as Mademoiselle de la Valliere (as Marian Martin)
Montagu Love as the Spanish ambassador
Albert Dekker as King Louis XIII

The Four Feathers

A British army officer who resigns his commission on the eve of his unit's embarkation to a mission against Egyptian rebels seeks to redeem his cowardice by secretly aiding his former comrades disguised as an Arab. When his unit is overwhelmed and captured by the rebels, the hero finds an opportunity to return the 'feathers' of cowardice sent to him by his former comrades by freeing them.

John Clements as Harry Faversham
Ralph Richardson as Captain John Durrance
C. Aubrey Smith as General Burroughs
June Duprez as Ethne Burroughs
Allan Jeayes as General Faversham
Jack Allen as Lieutenant Willoughby
Donald Gray as Peter Burroughs
Frederick Culley as Dr Sutton
Clive Baxter as Young Harry Faversham
Robert Rendel as Colonel
Archibald Batty as Adjutant
Derek Elphinstone as Lieutenant Parker
Hal Walters as Joe
Norman Pierce as Sergeant Brown
Henry Oscar as Dr. Harraz

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

MGM bought the rights to Mark Twain's novel specifically for Mickey Rooney.

When the con-men Walter Connolly and William Frawley advertise "Romeo & Juliet" as the play they were to present, they say it stars "David Garrick" and "Mrs. 'Sarah Kemble Siddons'", two of the most famous British actors of the 18th century. David Garrick and Sarah Kemble Siddons were both long dead by the year in which "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is supposed to take place.

Rex Ingram, playing Jim, was actually born on a riverboat on the Mississippi River.

Cast of Huckleberry Finn

Mickey Rooney as Huckleberry Finn
Walter Connolly as the 'King'
William Frawley as the 'Duke'
Rex Ingram as Jim
Lynne Carver as Mary Jane
Jo Ann Sayers as Susan
Minor Watson as Captain Brandy
Elisabeth Risdon as the widow Douglas
Victor Kilian as 'Pap' Finn
Clara Blandick as Miss Watson

Stanley and Livingstone

Otto Brower and Osa Johnson followed Stanley's path through Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda with their crew and returned with 100,000 feet of film for use in the safari sequences.

The movie was dubbed into Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch.

Neither Spencer Tracy nor Walter Brennan ever actually went to Africa during the making of this film. Stand-ins for both of them were used in the long shots during the safari sequences, and whenever Tracy or Brennan were shown "on safari" in close-up against African scenery, they were acting in front of a rear projection screen.

Cast of Stanley and Livingstone

Spencer Tracy as Henry M. Stanley
Nancy Kelly as Eve Kingsley
Richard Greene as Gareth Tyce
Walter Brennan as Jeff Slocum
Charles Coburn as Lord Tyce
Cedric Hardwicke as Dr. David Livingstone
Henry Hull as James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
Henry Travers as John Kingsley
Miles Mander as Sir John Gresham
David Torrence as Mr. Cranston
Holmes Herbert as Sir Frederick Holcomb
Hannah Regin as Daian Stonehillety

Juarez

Orry-Kelly designed costumes for Bette Davis which changed in tone as the film progressed: from white at the beginning, changing to gray in mid-film, and then to black at the end when she goes insane.

Extensive research was done to provide accuracy. The writers had a bibliography of 372 books. Art director Anton Grot made 3,643 sketches from which 7,360 blueprints were prepared for exterior and interior settings. A complete Mexican village was built on the Warner Bros. ranch in the San Fernando Valley.

Because the film shows many of Maximilian's generals to be Mexican, many viewers attribute it to typical Hollywood historical distortions. It is, however, indeed accurate. It's a little-known fact that, although Maximilian was eventually overthrown and executed by Mexican revolutionaries, there were actually more Mexicans fighting on Maximilian's side than against him. This was due in large part to the Catholic Church's strong support of the French occupation of Mexico and its "encouraging" Mexican Catholics to fight against the revolutionary forces by joining Maximilian's army, which they did in large numbers.

An English version of Franz Werfel's play titled "Juarez and Maximilian" opened on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 11, 1926 and ran for 48 performances. This stage version's cast included Alfred Lunt and Edward G. Robinson. The film is an extremely loose adaptation of Werfel's play. Juarez never appears in the stage version. The only one of Werfel's works to be quite faithfully adapted into a Hollywood film was "The Song of Bernadette", in 1943. (Werfel's play "Jacobowsky and the Colonel" was filmed by Hollywood as a Danny Kaye vehicle and retitled "Me and the Colonel".)

Cast of Juarez

Paul Muni ..... Benito Juárez
Bette Davis ..... Carlota of Mexico
Brian Aherne ..... Maximilian I of Mexico
John Garfield ..... Porfirio Diaz
Claude Rains ..... Napoléon III
Donald Crisp ..... Gen. Marechal Achille Bazaine
Joseph Calleia ..... Alejandro Uradi
Gale Sondergaard ..... Empress Eugénie
Gilbert Roland ..... Col. Miguel Lopez
Henry O'Neill ..... Gen. Miguel Miramon
Harry Davenport ..... Dr. Samuel Basch
Louis Calhern ..... LeMarc
Walter Kingsford ..... Prince Richard Metternich

Jesse James

A scene in which a horse falls to its death from a cliff, and the subsequent public outcry, led to the American Humane Association (AHA) overseeing filmmaking through its new Film and TV Unit. Eventually they introduced the now-familiar AHA certification, "No animals were harmed in the making of this motion picture."

Irving Cummings filled in as director from 14 October 1938 to 24 October 1938, when Henry King was bed-ridden from a swelling in his ear.

The film shows both Jesse and Frank going off the cliff on horseback. In reality the stunt was performed once and shot with two cameras.

In the scene where a wagon and its two horses go over the edge of a 75-foot cliff into the river below, the stuntman driving the wagon wasn't hurt, but the two horses were killed.

While shooting his role in the Ozarks, Lon Chaney, Jr. fell off his horse during a chase and was trampled by the horse behind him. He was not injured badly - he managed to finish his scenes that day. But director Henry King, blaming Chaney's nightly drinking for the mishap, fired him, and he was dropped by his studio (20th Century Fox.)

After the two horses that were blindfolded and forced to go over a cliff were killed, a new rule was enforced and later endorsed by The Humane Society of America in which strict standards were created to protect Animal Actors in which at the end of the movie and added to the credits listed as "No Animals Were Harmed or Injured in the Production of this Film...". Now all films involving any Animal Actors must have present a member representing The Humane Society of America to insure that all animals are treated humanly and given a safe environment in which to work.

Cast of Jesse James

Tyrone Power as Jesse James
Henry Fonda as Frank James
Nancy Kelly as Zerelda 'Zee' James
Randolph Scott as Will Wright
Henry Hull as Maj. Rufus Cobb
John Carradine as Robert Ford
Charles Tannen as Charlie Ford
Slim Summerville as Jailer
J. Edward Bromberg as Mr. Runyan
Brian Donlevy as Barshee
Donald Meek as McCoy
Claire Du Brey as Mrs. Bob Ford
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Samuels
Lon Chaney Jr. as James Gang member
Eddy Waller as Deputy

Hell's Kitchen

Don Turner (Chick), Robert Strange (Callahan) and Jimmy O'Gatty (Mug) are listed in studio records for those roles, but were not seen in the movie.

As a result of a PTA complaint, this was the last gangster angle picture made by The Dead End Kids.

This was one of the first films that Broadway columnist-turned-film producer/writer Mark Hellinger worked on at the B-picture unit of Warner Brothers. Hellinger was under close scrutiny by Hollywood columnists to observe how he would perform, and they jokingly referred to this film as "Hellinger's Kitchen".

The fifth of seven movies featuring The Dead End Kids.

The film was given an "H" rating (now known as an "X" rating) in the United Kingdom due to its violence.

Cast of Hell's Kitchen

Ronald Reagan as Jim
Margaret Lindsay as Beth
Billy Halop as Tony
Bobby Jordan as Joey
Leo Gorcey as Gyp
Gabriel Dell as Bingo
Huntz Hall as Ace
Bernard Punsly as Ouch

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Mr. Chips was modeled on W.H. Balgarnie, James Hilton's old classics master who taught for over 50 years at The Leys public school in Cambridge.

34-year-old Robert Donat ages 63 years (1870-1933) over the course of the film. He remarked: "As soon as I put the mustache on, I felt the part, even if I did look like a great Airedale come out of a puddle."

Greer Garson was initially offered a contract for MGM in 1937, but refused all the minor parts she was offered until she got the role of Kathy Ellis in this film.

The film was dedicated to the memory of Irving Thalberg.

The first film of Judith Furse.

The poster art depicts a youthful Robert Donat (as he appears in the early scenes of the film) with the young Greer Garson. However, the two never appear together like this in the film.

Chips is about fifty when he first meets Katherine, who is about half his age.

Cast of Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Robert Donat as Mr. Chips.
Greer Garson as Katherine.
Lyn Harding as Wetherby.
Paul Henreid as Max Staeffel.
Terry Kilburn as John Colley, Peter Colley I, II and III.

John Mills as Peter Colley as an adult.
Scott Sunderland as Sir John Colley.
David Croft as Perkins - Greengrocer's boy (uncredited).
David Tree as Jackson.

Golden Boy

The play originally opened in New York on 4 November 1937 and had 250 performances. Luther Adler played Joe Bonaparte, Frances Farmer played Lorna Moon and Roman Bohnan played Tom Moody. Lee J. Cobb was also in the play as Mr. Carp.

William Holden was considered not to be up to the role in the film, however Barbara Stanwyck urged producers to keep him in the picture, and succeeded. In 1978, at the The 50th Annual Academy Awards (1978) (TV), before starting the presentation of the sound award, William Holden publicly thanked Stanwyck for what she did

When Clifford Odets wrote his play, he had John Garfield in mind for the Joe Bonaparte part, but the Group Theatre company chose Luther Adler instead. Shortly afterward, Garfield left the Group Theater and was Hollywood bound.

Columbia could not use Richard Carlson, its first choice for the title role, because Carlson was appearing in a Broadway play, "Stars in Your Eyes". The studio then cast William Holden in the part.

Lee J. Cobb, playing 20-year-old William Holden's middle-aged father, was actually only 27.

Film debut of Robert Sterling.

Almost 5000 actors had been considered for the part of Joe Bonaparte and more than 80 had been given screen tests. The odds of getting the plumb part were against the unknown Holden but Barbara Stanwyck and director Rouben Mamoulian lobbied on his behalf

To convincingly portray a boxer who was also a violinist, Holden took boxing and violin lessons all day every day for a week before production began. He continued to prepare during the eleven weeks of filming by boxing two hours daily and practicing the violin for an hour-and-a-half each night so his fingering of the instrument was convincing.

Holden was knocked unconscious one day while boxing on the set with Cannonball Green. He thought the footage of the knockout would be spectacular but the director said they couldn't use it because it didn't look real. Holden recalled that, real or not, his head ached for a week.

William Holden was so grateful to Barbara Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in Golden Boy (1939), his first big role, that he reportedly sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of the filming.

Cast of Golden Boy

Barbara Stanwyck
Adolphe Menjou
William Holden
Lee J Cobb
Joseph Calleia
Sam Levene
Edward Brophy
Beatrice Blinn
William Strauss
Don Beddoe

Each Dawn I Die

"Each Dawn I Die" is another of Warner Bros. excellent prison dramas notable mainly for the teaming of James Cagney and George Raft in the leads. It was capably directed by William Keighley.Cagney plays crusading reporter Frank Ross who is trying to uncover political corruption. He witness key records being destroyed but before he can report what he has found he is framed by the gang for a drunk driving charge in which three people are killed. Ross is sentenced to 20 years but continues to proclaim his innocence.

On the way to prison he is handcuffed to hardened criminal Stacey (Raft) and the two soon become friends. In the prison Ross meets by the book Warden Armstrong (George Bancroft). He soon learns that the guards (John Wray, Willard Robertson) are brutal and treat the prisoners unfairly. Over time Ross realizes that his paper is not going to be able to help him. To make matters worse, the Chairman of the Parole Board (Victor Jory) turns out to be one of the people who framed him years earlier.

When Stacey's enemy Limpy Julien (Joe Downing) is murdered during a movie screening, Stacey is suspected of the crime even though he professes his innocence to Ross. However, Stacey sees this as an opportunity for escape. Because Ross has been square with him, Stacey offers to help Ross prove his innocence when he is on the outside in return for his help.Stacey has Ross finger him as the murderer in order to force a trial during which he will escape.

Unbeknownst to Stacey, Ross has contacted his newspaper whose reporters, including girlfriend Joyce Conover (Jane Bryan) show up and photograph and report Stacey's escape. The Warden finds this out and Ross is accused of aiding Stacey's escape and is sent to solitary.Meanwhile Stacey believes that Ross has double crossed him and so has not tried to help him as he had promised. As Ross languishes in solitary, Joyce goes to Stacey to plead for his help. She tells him the truth and he finally relents and agrees to help.

Stacey's gang finds Shake Edwards (Abner Biberman) who had witnessed Ross' abduction and frame-up. Edwards fingers Polecat Carlisle (Alan Baxrer) as the culprit. However Stacey learns that Carlise is in the same prison as Ross. He then decides that the only way to get at him is to return to prison. He turns himself in and......................Cagney and Raft play well together. Raft as the hard timer is excellent. He is the convict that everyone looks up to. Cagney's Ross is a little bewildered by it all and looks to Stacey for direction. Others in the cast include Maxie Rosenblum, Edward Pawley, Louis Jean Heydt and Stanley Ridges as various convicts and Emma Dunn as Ross' mother (another sympathetic mother character popular in many Cagney films).The scene at the beginning of the film where Cagney is hiding in the rain is strangely reminiscent of one in "The Public Enemy" (1931).

Cast of Each Dawn I Die

James Cagney as Frank Ross

George Raft as "Hood" Stacey

Jane Bryan as Joyce Conover

George Bancroft as Warden John Armstrong

"Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom as Convict Fargo Red

Stanley Ridges as Meuller

Alan Baxter as Carlisle

Victor Jory as W.J. Grayce

John Wray as Pete Kassock

Edward Pawley as Dale

Joe Downing as Limpy Julian

Thurston Hall as Jesse Hanley

Drums Along The Mohawk

Drums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the American Revolution. The couple suffer British, Tory, and Indian attacks on their farm before the Revolution ends and peace is restored. The film—Fords first color feature—was well received, was nominated for two Academy Awards and became a major box office success, grossing over US$1 million in its first year.

Cast of Drums Along The Mohawk

Henry Fonda — Gilbert "Gil" Martin
Claudette Colbert — Magdelana "Lana" Martin
Edna May Oliver — Mrs. McKlennar
John Carradine — Caldwell
Ward Bond — Adam Hartman
Roger Imhof — Gen. Nicholas Herkimer
Arthur Shields — Rev. Rosenkrantz
Chief John Big Tree — Blue Back
Francis Ford — Joe Boleo
Jessie Ralph — Mrs. Weaver
Robert Lowery — John Weaver
Kay Linaker — Mrs. Demooth
Russell Simpson — Dr. Petry
Spencer Charters —Innkeeper
Wayne Victor Frank — Drummer

Dodge City

The man Errol Flynn throws through the window of the barbershop was none other than his pal and long-time drinking companion, stuntman Buster Wiles.

Country rock band Pure Prairie League, who had a mid '70s hit called "Amie" and later employed future country star Vince Gill as lead singer for hits like "Let Me Love You Tonight" and "I'm Almost Ready," took their name from a temperance union portrayed in this film.

The fifth of nine movies made together by Warner Brothers' romantic couple Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn.

The railroad a symbol of progress: a race between the Iron Horse and the old stagecoach which has served Dodge City for decades but whose time is now over

Rusty attending a meeting of the "Pure Prairie League of Dodge City", a gathering of elderly women strongly associated with the temperance movement. (The organization may have been the source of the name for the 1970s and 80s band of the same name).

A saloon brawl, triggered by a party of Confederate veterans Dixie — the North against the South, a decade after the end of the Civil War. Actress Ann Sheridan loses the top of her dress while falling off a chair in the scene.

The editor of the Dodge City Star, trying to be brave and publishing an exposé about Surrett and his evil machinations, being murdered by Yancy — investigative journalism and its bitter consequences.

A speeding train on fire — the final shoot-out.

Wade, Abby, and Rusty's daring escape out of the burning box car.

Errol Flynn as Wade taking a fall and having a gate bounce off the back of his head in the newspaper office.

Cast of Dodge City

Errol Flynn as Wade Hatton
Olivia de Havilland as Abbie Irving
Bruce Cabot as Jeff Surrett
Alan Hale, Sr. as Rusty
Victor Jory as Yancy
Ann Sheridan as Ruby Gilman
Frank McHugh as Joe Clemens
John Litel as Matt Cole
Henry Travers as Dr. Irving
Henry O'Neill as Col. Dodge
Victor Jory as Yancey
William Lundigan as Lee Irving
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams as Tex Baird
Bobs Watson as Harry Cole
Gloria Holden as Mrs. Cole
Douglas Fowley as Munger
Ward Bond as Bud Taylor
Clem Bevans as Charley (the barber)

Destry Rides Again

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1996

James Stewart's first western.

James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich had an affair with lasted for the duration of filming. She later claimed that she had to have an abortion after Stewart made her pregnant.

The movie was adapted for a Broadway musical starring Andy Griffith and opened at the April 23, 1959 at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 472 performances.

Cast of Destry Rides Again

Marlene Dietrich Frenchy, the saloon singer
James Stewart Thomas Jefferson "Tom" Destry, Jr., the new deputy
Mischa Auer Boris Callahan, the henpecked Russian
"Charlie" Winninger "Wash" (Washington Dimsdale), the new sheriff
Brian Donlevy Kent, the saloon owner
Allen Jenkins "Gyp" Watson
Warren Hymer "Bugs" Watson
Irene Hervey Janice Tyndall
Una Merkel Lily Belle - 'Mrs Callahan'
Billy Gilbert "Loupgerou"
Samuel S. Hinds Judge Slade, the mayor
Jack Carson Jack Tyndall