Johnny Arthur

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

An early "old dark house" horror-comedy directed by Roland West, starring Lon Chaney as Dr. Gustave Ziska, a mad scientist who terrorizes a small town. When an amateur detective (Johnny Arthur) investigates a series of disappearances, he finds himself trapped in Ziska's labyrinthine mansion, complete with secret passages, trapdoors, and a hulking assistant named Caliban. Chaney's grotesque makeup and sinister mannerisms elevate the film above its stage-play origins, while Arthur provides comic relief as the bumbling would-be detective. The film was released with lavish color tints that enhanced its eerie atmosphere, and is considered one of the first horror films to top the North American box office. The film is in the public domain.

Horror · Comedy · Silent