Ralph Forbes Filmography

Calling Philo Vance

Actors: James Stephenson, Margot Stevenson, Henry O'Neill, Edward S. Brophy, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: Calling Philo Vance is a perfunctory remake of 1933's The Kennel Murder Case, which many aficionados consider the best of the "Vance" films. James Stephenson plays the titular gentleman sleuth, who must solve the murder of the inventor of a revolutionary new bombsight (the original film concerned Read More

Adventure in Diamonds

Actors: George Brent, Isa Miranda, John Loder, Nigel Bruce, Elizabeth Patterson

Synopsis: British army pilot Stephen (George Brent) falls in love with jewel-thief Felice (Isa Miranda), tricking her out of some stolen diamonds. Stephen and South African Police Commissioner Lansfield (Nigel Bruce) set a trap for her partner Barclay (John Loder), but Felice falls for it instead. She's Read More

Curtain Call

Actors: Barbara Read, Alan Mowbray, Helen Vinson, Donald MacBride, John Archer

Synopsis: A Broadway producer and a director conspire to destroy the career of an aging star so they can tear up her contract and use fresher talent in this comedy drama. First they must choose an appropriately horrible script. They find one, "The End of Everything," written by a lovely female playwright. Read More

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

Actors: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Vincent Price, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale

Synopsis: It is no secret that Bette Davis and Errol Flynn were at each other's throats throughout the filming of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Boiled down to essentials: Davis felt that Flynn was unprofessional, while Flynn thought that Davis took herself too damned seriously. Besides, Davis Read More

The Tower of London

Actors: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter

Synopsis: Basil Rathbone's real-life son, John Rodion, has his head chopped off early on in this historical melodrama often mistakenly referred to as a horror film. Yes, a second-billed Boris Karloff does stomp about on a club-foot as the Duke of Glouchester's chief executioner, Mord, but Karloff's presence Read More

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Actors: Richard Greene, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, John Carradine, Wendy Barrie

Synopsis: Though it takes a few liberties with the Arthur Conan Doyle original -- not the least of which is turning Sherlock Holmes into the second lead -- The Hound of the Baskervilles ranks as one of the best screen versions of this oft-told tale. After learning the history of the Baskerville curse from Read More

The Magnificent Fraud

Actors: Akim Tamiroff, Lloyd Nolan, Mary Boland, Patricia Morison, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: In this lively programmer a con man hires a character actor to masqueraded as the recently assassinated dictator of a tiny Latin American country so he can bilk an arriving American ambassador out of his fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

If I Were King

Actors: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C.V. France

Synopsis: If I Were King is a delightful costume adventure tale set in 14th century France, during the reign of Louis XI, and inspired by the legend of the rebel poet François Villon, whose exploits were filmed earlier as The Beloved Rogue (1927) with John Barrymore, and later transformed into the musical Read More

Women Are Like That

Actors: Kay Francis, Pat O'Brien, Ralph Forbes, Melville Cooper, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: Though Kay Francis' Warner Bros. vehicle had slipped from "A" attractions to B-plus programmers by 1938, she was still worth watching. A typical Francis vehicle of the time was Women are Like That, in which the star is cast as businesswoman Claire King, the daughter of a powerful advertising Read More

Woman Against the World

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Alice Moore, Edgar Edwards, Collette Lyons

Synopsis: Silent-film leading man Ralph Forbes is given another shot at a starring role in the low-budget talkie Woman Against the World. Forbes plays kindly attorney Larry Steele, who champions the cause of distraught young mother Anna Masters (Alice Moore). When her baby is snatched away from her by her Read More

Annabel Takes a Tour

Actors: Lucille Ball, Jack Oakie, Pepito, Ruth Donnelly, Bradley Page, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: Zany actress Annabel goes on a promotional tour in this lively comedy, the second in the Annabel series. During her tour, she allows her promoter to "leak" a story that she is having a romantic fling with a famous romance novelist. The ploy is successful, until she really does fall in love with Read More

Convicts at Large

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Paula Stone, John Kelly, George Travell

Synopsis: In this crime drama, an escaped prisoner forces a dim-bulbed architect to exchange clothing with him. Later the bungler ends up on the seedy side of town in a dive where he inadvertently gets involved with dangerous jewel thieves, the mob, and a beautiful singer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Kidnapped

Actors: Warner Baxter, Freddie Bartholomew, Arleen Whelan, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen

Synopsis: Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure tale of a young 18th century boy betrayed by his wicked uncle didn't need a romantic subplot, but that didn't stop 20th Century-Fox from including a female love interest (Arleen Whelan). Bypassing that plot point, Kidnapped stars Freddie Bartholomew as the heir Read More

The Thirteenth Chair

Actors: Dame May Whitty, Madge Evans, Elissa Landi, Thomas Beck

Synopsis: The 1937 Thirteenth Chair was the third film version of the 1919 stage melodrama by Bayard Veiller. Dame Mae Whitty dominates the proceedings as Mme. La Grange, a phony mystic who is on hand when a man is killed during one of her seances. The killing takes place in the home of a provincial British Read More

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

Actors: Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Jessie Ralph

Synopsis: Based on a popular drawing-room drama by Frederick Lonsdale, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney stars Joan Crawford as a jewel thief who poses as an aristocrat. It is Crawford's intention to pilfer a valuable pearl necklace while attending a society party in the company of partner-in-crime William Powell. Read More

Legion of Missing Men

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Ben Alexander, George Regas, Hala Linda, James Aubrey

Synopsis: Legion of Missing Men was one of three Monogram "specials" produced in 1937 by I. E. Chadwick. Foreign legion officer Bob Carter (Ralph Forbes) and his younger brother Don (Ben Alexander) vie for the attentions of sexy cabaret singer Nina (Halla Linda). This rivalry is forgotten when they're both Read More

Stage Door

Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier

Synopsis: Adapted from the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman play, Stage Door is a comedic portrait of the theatrical community in New York. Katharine Hepburn stars as Terry Randall a young woman who comes from a wealthy, socially connected family. Aspiring for a career on the stage, Terry opts to see if Read More

Rich Relations

Make a Wish

Actors: Bobby Breen, Basil Rathbone, Marion Claire, Henry Armetta, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: Canary-voiced boy wonder Bobby Breen once more croons his way into our hearts in Make a Wish. While vacationing at a boys' camp, the rambunctious Breen befriends famed composer Basil Rathbone. Stuck for an inspiration for his latest operetta, Rathbone at last finds it when he meets Breen's Read More

Fiesta De Santa Barbara

Actors: Andy Devine

Love Letters of a Star

Actors: Henry Hunter, Polly Rowles, Walter Coy, Hobart Cavanaugh

Synopsis: Universal contractee Henry Hunter never became a big star, but during his brief stay at the studio he appeared in a quite a few interesting films. Adapted from a novel by Rufus King, Love Letters of a Star casts Hunter as John Aldrich, the husband of the unfortunate Jenny Aldrich (Mary Alice Read More

I'll Name the Murderer

Synopsis: After a nightclub singer is killed, a gossip columnist launches an investigation into the crime. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Mary of Scotland

Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Douglas Walton, John Carradine

Synopsis: Maxwell Anderson's blank-verse play Mary of Scotland was adapted for the screen by Dudley Nichols and directed with a surprising paucity of verve by John Ford. Katharine Hepburn, in one of the "icy" roles that would later earn her the onus of "box office poison", stars as Mary Stuart, who serves Read More

Romeo and Juliet

Actors: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, Basil Rathbone

Synopsis: Director George Cukor and producer Irving G. Thalberg's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, a lavish production of Shakespeare's tale about two star-crossed lovers, is extremely well-produced and acted. In fact, it is so well-done, that it is easy to forget that Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer are too Read More

Piccadilly Jim

Actors: Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Madge Evans, Eric Blore, Billie Burke

Synopsis: British humorist P. G. Wodehouse wrote the story upon which Piccadilly Jim was based. Frank Morgan and Robert Montgomery play a well-to-do father and son, who find themselves rivals in love. The object of their affection is Madge Evans, who likes them both but favors the son. Everything could have Read More

Rescue Squad

Synopsis: Former silent-screen leading man Ralph Forbes makes the best of his B-picture surroundings in Empire Productions' Rescue Squad. Forbes plays a fearless fireman, assigned to solve a series of arsons. It's rough work, and it takes its toll on Forbes' private life. Slow going for its first 5 reels, Rescue Squad Read More

Strange Wives

Actors: Roger Pryor, June Clayworth, Esther Ralston, Hugh O'Connell, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: In this romantic comedy, a man marries his Russian lover and discovers that she has a large extended family. He is utterly overwhelmed and decides that the only way he will be able to free himself of their burden will be to make them famous. Along the way, he keeps running into the bold lover of Read More

Streamline Express

Actors: Evelyn Venable, Victor Jory, Esther Ralston, Ralph Forbes, Sidney Blackmer

Synopsis: Grand Hotel meets Twentieth Century in this Mascot feature. Evelyn Venable stars as Patricia Wells, a tempestuous stage actress who impulsively elopes on opening night of her newest play. Wells and her new fiancée Fred Arnold (Ralph Forbes) book adjoining compartments on the Streamline Express Read More

The Goose and the Gander

Actors: Kay Francis, George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, John Eldredge, Claire Dodd

Synopsis: In this bedroom farce, an ex-wife overhears her former hubby's new wife and her lover planning a tryst for the weekend while the husband is away on a business trip. Hoping that the husband will catch them in the act, the ex creates an elaborate scheme whereby the lovers' plans are foiled and they Read More

Enchanted April

Actors: Ann Harding, Frank Morgan, Katherine Alexander, Reginald Owen, Jane Baxter

Synopsis: Enchanted April was adapted for the screen from the novel by "Elisabeth" and play by Kane Campbell. Neglected by her novelist husband Mellersh Wilkins (Frank Morgan), repressed Lotty Wilkins (Ann Harding) and her best friend Rose Arbuthnot (Katherine Alexander) impulsively rent an Italian castle Read More

The Three Musketeers

Actors: Walter Abel, Paul Lukas, Margot Grahame, Heather Angel, Ian Keith

Synopsis: This first talkie version of Dumas' The Three Musketeers had been planned by RKO Radio as a John Ford production, with Francis Lederer as D'Artagnan. By the time the film emerged on screen, Rowland V. Lee was in the director's chair, with the talented but uncharismatic Walter Abel in the Read More

Age of Indiscretion

Actors: Paul Lukas, Madge Evans, Helen Vinson, May Robson, David Holt

Synopsis: Critics in 1935 recognized immediately that Age of Indiscretion drew its inspiration from the well-publicized Gloria Vanderbilt custody battle. Paul Lukas plays publisher Robert Lenhart, a man of conservative tastes who is unfortunately saddled with a footloose socialite wife named Eve (Helen Vinson Read More

Daniel Boone

Actors: George O'Brien, Heather Angel, John Carradine, Ralph Forbes, Clarence Muse

Synopsis: The great wilderness explorer Daniel Boone has many exciting adventures in this family-oriented outdoor actioner that primarily centers on the big man's attempts to quell an Indian uprising and capture the ornery villain who has been stirring up all the trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Mystery of Mr. X

Actors: Robert Montgomery, Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Forbes, Henry Stephenson

Synopsis: MGM was seldom content to just film a mystery; the story had to be dressed up in some elaborate, unorthodox fashion. Mystery of Mr. X is given an additional visual boost by setting the story in 19th century London, allowing for a full array of the costumes and plush backgrounds of the era and Read More

Rip Tide

Actors: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Marshall, Mrs. Patrick Campbell

Synopsis: A few unique touches aside -- notably the opening costume-party scene, in which the revellers are dressed as insects -- Rip Tide is a standard-issue Norma Shearer soap opera. Shearer plays Mary, a footloose and fancy-free American heiress who weds British nobleman Lord Rexford (Herbert Marshall). Read More

Outcast Lady

Actors: Constance Bennett, Herbert Marshall, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Hugh Williams, Elizabeth Allan

Synopsis: Outcast Lady is a heavily censored version of Michael Arlen's once-notorious novel The Green Hat, previously filmed by Greta Garbo as A Woman of Affairs. Constance Bennett is Iris March, a woman cursed by her beauty, doomed to drive everyone around her -- including herself -- to destruction. When Read More

Twentieth Century

Actors: John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Etienne Girardot

Synopsis: Flamboyant, egomaniacal theatrical impresario Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) transforms chorus girl Mildred Plotka (Carole Lombard) into leading lady Lily Garland, the toast of Broadway. Once she's ascended to stardom, Mildred/Lily cannot abide Jaffe's obsessive control of her life and career. When Read More

Shock

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Gwenllian Gill, Monroe Owsley, Reginald Sharland, David Holt

Synopsis: In this WW I melodrama, a British officer is forced to return to the front soon after he is married. On the battle lines, he volunteers for a dangerous mission and ends up shell-shocked with no memory of his wife. Time passes and he finally recovers. He returns to his home and learns that he has Read More

The Barretts of Wimpole Street

Actors: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Katherine Alexander

Synopsis: Based on a successful stage drama, this historical romance stars Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Barrett, an invalid largely confined to her bed. Elizabeth has little company beyond her dog and her obsessively protective father, Edward Moulton Barrett (Charles Laughton). Her one great passion and means Read More

The Fountain

Actors: Ann Harding, Brian Aherne, Paul Lukas, Jean Hersholt, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: In this wartime drama, set during WW I, the adoring wife of a German officer soon finds herself falling for a handsome British soldier while her husband is off to fight the war. Her husband returns. Not only has he inhaled poison gas, he has also lost an arm. His guilt-ridden wife tries to help Read More

Bombay Mail

Actors: Edmund Lowe, Shirley Grey, Onslow Stevens, Ralph Forbes, John Davidson

Synopsis: Universal's Bombay Mail adheres to the pattern established by Paramount's Shanghai Express, with a group of Calcutta-bound train passengers thrust into a life-or-death situation. In the course of the 36-hour journey, a high-ranking British official (Ferdinand Gottschalk) and an equally prominent Read More

The Avenger

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Adrienne Ames, Arthur Vinton, Charlotte Merriam

Synopsis: Based on a novel by John Goodwin, The Avenger stars Ralph Forbes as a district attorney who is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Upon his release, Forbes makes public his intention of settling matters with those who framed him. Shortly thereafter, the culprits disappear from view, and it Read More

The Phantom Broadcast

Actors: Ralph Forbes, Vivienne Osborne, Paul Page, Gail Patrick, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: This brisk Monogram melodrama includes all the requisite entertainment elements: Talented cast, solid story, a plenitude of suspense, and a few bonus song numbers. Arnold Gray plays Grant Murdock, a popular radio crooner who, truth be told, can't sing a note. For appearance's sake, the handsome Read More

Christopher Strong

Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive, Billie Burke, Helen Chandler, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: A prize-winning aviator (Katharine Hepburn) falls for the title character (Colin Clive), a British politician who is happily married. Both fall into a tempestuous affair, but are able to resist their urges. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Pleasure Cruise

Actors: Genevieve Tobin, Roland Young, Ralph Forbes, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin

The Solitaire Man

Actors: Herbert Marshall, May Robson, Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Forbes, Mary Boland

Synopsis: Based on a story by Bela and Samuel Spewack, Solitaire Man stars Herbert Marshall as Oliver Lane, a "diamond expert" (read: master jewel thief). During a plane flight across the English channel, Lane becomes aware that practically every member of his gang plans to double-cross him -- not that the Read More

Smilin' Through

Actors: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Leslie Howard, O.P. Heggie, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: Director Sidney Franklin originally adapted Jane Murfin and Jane Cowl's play Smilin' Through for the silver screen in a 1922 silent film starring Norma Talmadge and (the other) Harrison Ford. Remaking his own film, Franklin directed Norma Shearer in this 1932 talkie. Leslie Howard plays John Read More

Thunder Below

Actors: Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Bickford, Paul Lukas, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Forbes

Synopsis: Tallulah Bankhead's first Hollywood movie was this romantic-drama weepie, in which she plays Susan, the unhappy wife of oil rigger Walt (Charles Bickford), who labors in a Central American oil field. The bored Susan falls in love with Walt's good friend Ken (Paul Lukas) but keeps her husband in Read More

Beau Ideal

Actors: Frank McCormack, Ralph Forbes, Otto Matieson, Don Alvarado

Synopsis: Hoping to benefit from the popularity of the 1927 silent version of P.C. Wren's Beau Geste, RKO Radio reunited the earlier film's star Ralph Forbes and director Herbert Brenon for 1931's Beau Ideal, again adapted from a Wren novel. Something of a sequel to Beau Geste, the story concerns the Read More

The Bachelor Father

Actors: Marion Davies, Ralph Forbes, C. Aubrey Smith, Ray Milland, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: Edward Childs Carpenter's stock-company perennial Bachelor Father was reshaped as a Marion Davies vehicle in 1931. Davies plays Tony Flagg, one of the three grown children of ageing roue Sir Basil Winterton (C. Aubrey Smith). Tony and her siblings Geoffrey Trent (Ray Milland) and Maria Credaro (Nena Quartero Read More

Lilies of the Field

Actors: Corinne Griffith, Ralph Forbes, John Loder, Freeman Wood, Patsy Paige

Synopsis: Silent screen sweetheart Corinne Griffith, who originally wanted to retire when talkies came in, proved the wisdom of her earlier decision when she starred in the clunky musical drama Lilies of the Field. Griffith is cast as Mildred Harker, who loses custody of her child in a messy divorce Read More

Mamba

Actors: Jean Hersholt, Eleanor Boardman, Ralph Forbes, Josef Swickard, Claude Fleming

Synopsis: One of the most ambitious productions ever to emerge from parsimonious Tiffany Studios, Mamba is also one of the few 1930s horror films to be lensed in Technicolor. The story takes place in East Africa, where bestial August Bolte (Jean Hersholt), also known as Mamba, holds the local Zulu Read More

The Lady of Scandal

Actors: Ruth Chatterton, Basil Rathbone, Ralph Forbes, Nance O'Neil, Frederick Kerr

Synopsis:
Based on Frederick Lonsdale's The High Road, The Lady of Scandal is typical of the "teacup drama" genre so prevalent during the early talkie period. It all begins with down-to-earth musical comedy star Elsie (Ruth Chatterton) visiting the home of her aristocratic fiancee, John (Ralph Forbes. Read More

Inside the Lines

Actors: Betty Compson, Ralph Forbes, Montagu Love, Mischa Auer, Ivan Simpson

Synopsis: Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan, was responsible for the international-espionage yarn Inside the Lines. The time is WWI, and the place is Gibraltar, where English girl Jane (Betty Compson) is accidentally reunited with her pre-war sweetheart, German-born Wodehouse (Ralph Forbes). Read More

The Green Goddess

Actors: George Arliss, H.B. Warner, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce

Synopsis: In this British adventure, a plane crash results in the capture of the survivors by a despotic Rajah who hates the British. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Her Wedding Night

Actors: Clara Bow, Ralph Forbes, Charlie Ruggles, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, Geneva Mitchell

Synopsis: Clara Bow's career as one of Hollywood's liveliest leading ladies was drawing to a close when she made this early sound farce, one of her few talkies. Larry Charters (Ralph Forbes) is a highly successful songwriter who is growing weary of life in the public eye. Hoping for a break, Larry convinces Read More

Reckless Youth

Actors: Marceline Day, Ralph Forbes, Norman Trevor, Robert Ellis, Mairy Mabery

Synopsis: Not a remake of the 1922 film of the same name, Reckless Youth takes place in a college town where everybody parties on and no one comes home before dawn. Footloose co-ed Dixie Calhoun (Marceline Day) is lured into the dorm