W. S. Van Dyke Articles

Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Janis, The Pagan Dorothy Janis, who made a few film appearances at the dawn of the sound era and was the widow of bandleader Wayne King, died Wednesday morning in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, according to musician Lew Williams, who received the news from Janis’ granddaughter. Janis, one of the last surviving performers to have played at least one major [...]

Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold in You Can’t Take It with You FILM The Adventures of Robin Hood d: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley; scr: Seton I. Miller, Norman Reilly Raine Bringing Up Baby d: Howard Hawks; scr: Dudley Nichols, Hagar Wilde Dramatic School d: Robert B. Sinclair; scr: Ernest Vajda, Mary McCall Jr. L’Etrange Monsieur Victor d: Jean Grémillon; scr: Albert Valentin, [...]

Norma Shearer in The Barretts of Wimpole Street FILM The Barretts of Wimpole Street d: Sidney Franklin; scr: Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart The Count of Monte Cristo d: Rowland V. Lee; scr: Philip Dunne, Dan Totheroh, Rowland V. Lee The Gay Divorcee d: Mark Sandrich; scr: George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost, Edward Kaufman Hide-out d: W. S. Van Dyke; scr: Albert Hackett, [...]

The Pagan, Ramon Novarro’s first sound vehicle — with a pre-recorded soundtrack but no dialogue — became one of the biggest hits at the U.S. box office in 1929, and a huge success overseas as well. In this fresh-as-an-ocean-breeze comedy-drama-romance, Novarro, at his most natural, is a half-native young man idling his life away in a tropical paradise in the South Pacific. Things change with [...]