Three cornered moon 1933 - A slightly screwball tale of the Great Depression

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IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Elliott Nugent
Main Cast: Claudette Colbert, Richard Arlen, Mary Boland, Wallace Ford, Lyda Roberti, Tom Brown, Joan Marsh

"The golden age of screwball comedy was brief but glorious, and exactly when it began and ended is a source of some debate. Three-Cornered Moon is often cited as the first real example of the genre, but whether screwball or not, it's a delightful and charming comedy that, at 77 minutes, knows better than to outstay its welcome. The script is literate and sophisticated, making comedic a situation that at the time would have been rather desperate. Claudette Colbert is winning as the relative center of calm and sanity in the storm of lunacy. Her soft, round face is a mask of sensibility covering both determination and exasperation. She holds her own against the scene-stealing efforts of Mary Boland, who creates a character whose obliviousness and ditziness could be irritating in less expert hands. Boland knows quite well how to deliver her laugh lines so they land exactly where they're supposed to, as well as how to clear them out to make room for the next one - while at the same time giving them a freshness to disguise the technique beneath it all. Altogether Moon is a bit too soft to be the kind of knockabout it wants to be, but it's a pleasing trifle nonetheless." - www.allmovie.com

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The sins of the children 1930 - A long forgotten, but a very good early talkie

Leila Hyams & Robert Montgomery in The sins of the children (1930)

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021382/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,4

Director: Sam Wood
Main Cast: Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, Elliott Nugent, Clara Blandick, Mary Doran, Louis Mann

"Despite its slightly lurid title, this film is all about love. Full of small moments beautifully played, it gives a portrait of an American family over a series of several years, held together through times of tribulation by a proud papa who adores his family unstintingly. This is a 'feel good film' in the best sense of the phrase and perfect to enjoy at the Christmas Holidays. It is a shame that this little gem has become so obscure.
As Adolf Wagenkampf, immigrant German barber, Louis Mann is nothing short of magnificent, giving one of the first great performances of the sound era. Showing enormous confidence in front of the camera, Mann steals the show with his mannerisms and accent, his pliable face registering every triumph or tragedy, every hope or defeat, which comes his way. Mann's beautiful soul is authentic, his talent undeniable. Unfortunately, this was to be virtually his only film. Louis Mann died in February of 1931, at the age of 65.
A very fine cast supports Mann throughout: Clara Blandick as his gentle wife; Francis X. Bushman Jr as the doctor son ashamed of his family name; Elliott Nugent as the inventor son, whose unwise impulse costs his father dearly; pretty Leila Hyams as the headstrong youngest daughter; and James Dolan as the obnoxious son-in-law.
(It was actor Nugent, playing the part of the youngest Wagenkampf son, who was largely responsible for both the original story and dialogue for the film. It's success is his, as well.)
In one of his earliest roles, Robert Montgomery scores as the local cad who compromises Hyams."

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The unholy three 1930 - The only talkie of Chaney ('Man of a thousand faces")

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021505/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Jack Conway
Main Cast: Lon Chaney, Lila Lee, Elliott Nugent

"While this 1930 sound remake of The Unholy Three is not quite up to the 1925 silent version (which also starred Lon Chaney), it is nevertheless a gripping little melodrama - and what's more, it offers the only chance to hear Chaney speak on screen. That Chaney should die so soon after the release of this film is a crime, depriving the American public of a 'second act' that could easily have been the equal of his illustrious silent-era first act. Chaney takes to the microphone like a duck to water; his performance shows a fine mastery of 'talkie' acting that combines the emotional resonance of his physicality with a sense of just how far to mute that physicality to make it palatable when combined with sound. He is a joy to watch and in enthralling from start to finish. Lila Lee is good as his love interest, and Harry Earles and Ivan Linow are appropriately creepy as the other parts of the titular trio; it must be admitted, however, that Earles' voice is irritating and often hard to understand. Unholy isn't as good as the original only because Tod Browning's nightmarishly personal vision has been replaced by Jack Conway's professional and efficient but impersonal one." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-unholy-three-v51855/

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