Flash Gordon is a 1936 superhero serial film. Presented in 13 chapters, it is the first screen adventure for Flash Gordon, the comic-strip character created by Alex Raymond in 1934. It presents the story of Gordon's visit to the planet Mongo and his encounters with the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Priscilla Lawson and Frank Shannon portray the film's central characters. In 1996, Flash Gordon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Robert Florey was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor.
The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a prolific career despite his thick accent, appearing in at least 80 motion pictures over a span of 37 years.
Jean Rogers was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for playing Dale Arden in the science-fiction serials Flash Gordon (1936) and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938).
Jane Porter is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film. Jane, an American from Baltimore, Maryland, is the daughter of professor Archimedes Q. Porter. She becomes the love interest, later the wife of Tarzan and subsequently the mother of their son, Korak. She develops over the course of the series from a conventional damsel in distress, who must be rescued from various perils, to an educated, competent and capable adventuress in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the jungles of Africa.
Daughter of Shanghai is a 1937 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Anna May Wong, Charles Bickford and Buster Crabbe. Unusually for the time, East Asian American actors played the lead roles. It was also one of the first films in which Anthony Quinn appeared. In 2006, Daughter of Shanghai was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Dangerous to Know is a 1938 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff and Gail Patrick. The picture is based on British crime writer Edgar Wallace's hit 1930 play, On the Spot, which had been inspired by the career of Al Capone. Anna May Wong reprised her stage role from the New York production in the movie. The supporting cast features Lloyd Nolan and Anthony Quinn.
The Buccaneer is a 1938 American adventure film made by Paramount Pictures starring Fredric March and based on Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. The picture was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Harold Lamb, Edwin Justus Mayer and C. Gardner Sullivan adapted by Jeanie MacPherson from the 1930 novel Lafitte the Pirate by Lyle Saxon. The music score was by George Antheil and the cinematography by Victor Milner.
Chained is a 1934 American drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable with supporting performances by Otto Kruger, Stuart Erwin, Una O'Connor and Akim Tamiroff. The screenplay was written by John Lee Mahin, Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich based upon a story by Edgar Selwyn. Ward Bond and Mickey Rooney appear briefly in uncredited roles.
The Merry Widow is a 1934 film adaptation of the 1905 operetta of the same name by Franz Lehár. The film was directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald with a supporting cast featuring Edward Everett Horton, Una Merkel, Sterling Holloway, Donald Meek, Jason Robards Sr. and Akim Tamiroff. A French-language version was produced at the same time and released in France the same year as La Veuve joyeuse with some but not all of the same cast. Lorenz Hart and Gus Kahn wrote new English lyrics for some Lehar songs under the musical direction of Herbert Stothart.
Tarzan the Fearless is a 12 chapter American Pre-Code film serial starring Buster Crabbe in his only appearance as Tarzan. It was also released as a 61-minute feature film which consisted of the first four chapters edited together, and which was intended to be followed on a weekly basis by the last eight chapters in individual episode format, but which was often exhibited instead as a stand-alone feature film. Actress Jacqueline Wells co-starred; she later changed her name to Julie Bishop. The serial was produced by Sol Lesser, written by Basil Dickey, George Plympton and Walter Anthony, and directed by Robert F. Hill. The film was released in both formats on August 11, 1933.
King of Alcatraz is a 1938 American drama film directed by Robert Florey and starring Gail Patrick, Lloyd Nolan and Harry Carey. It was the film debut of Robert Preston.
Outpost in Morocco is a 1949 American action adventure film directed by Robert Florey, starring George Raft and Marie Windsor. Paul Gerard (Raft), a Moroccan Spahi officer and his French Foreign Legion garrison, holds off attacks from the native tribes of the Emir of Bel-Rashad, the father of Cara (Windsor), the woman he loves. As a rarity amongst American films of the Foreign Legion genre, the Legion cooperated with the producers. A second unit led by Robert Rossen filmed scenes in Morocco. Some of the large-scale action scenes of the film were reused in Fort Algiers and Legion of the Doomed.
His Butler's Sister is a 1943 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Deanna Durbin. The supporting cast includes Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Akim Tamiroff, Evelyn Ankers and Hans Conried. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Recording.
The Magnificent Fraud is a 1939 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Akim Tamiroff, Lloyd Nolan, Mary Boland and Patricia Morison.
Budd Leland Buster, usually credited as Budd Buster, was an American actor known for B western films. He sometimes was credited as George Selk in his later work.
Tip-Off Girls is a 1938 American crime film directed by Louis King, written by Maxwell Shane, Robert Yost and Stuart Anthony, and starring Mary Carlisle, Lloyd Nolan, Roscoe Karns, Buster Crabbe, J. Carrol Naish, Evelyn Brent and Anthony Quinn. It was released on April 1, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
Helen Margarite Burgess was an American film and stage actress. Discovered by Cecil B. DeMille, she began her acting career in 1936 at age nineteen, playing Louisa Cody in DeMille's Western biopic The Plainsman. She would appear in four films as a contract player for Paramount Pictures before dying at age twenty from pneumonia.
Valley of Vengeance is a 1944 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Joseph O'Donnell. The film stars Buster Crabbe, Al St. John, Evelyn Finley, Donald Mayo, David Polonsky and Glenn Strange. The film was released on May 5, 1944, by Producers Releasing Corporation.
