Gene Lockhart

James Cagney between Warner Bros. contracts, starring for Grand National in a Hollywood satire he clearly relished. Terry Rooney, a New York band leader and hoofer, is shipped to Hollywood to become a movie star, hates everything about the factory system, and walks out on his own hit picture — while studio publicists try to manufacture a romance that has nothing to do with his real life. Evelyn Daw, William Frawley, and Gene Lockhart co-star, with Victor Schertzinger directing his own score. Cagney gets to tap-dance, roughhouse, and mock the industry that made him, and the film is far sharper than its poverty-row distributor suggests. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Comedy · Musical · Romance

In 1820s Bangor, Maine, the beautiful and ruthless Jenny Hager schemes her way from poverty to power, marrying a rich lumber baron and seducing his son along the way. Hedy Lamarr gives one of her best performances opposite George Sanders in this adaptation of Ben Ames Williams' novel — a prestige production for B-movie master Edgar G. Ulmer, who brings his usual moody economy to a story of ambition and desire. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.

Drama · Thriller