The best James Finlayson’s drama movies

James Finlayson

James Finlayson

27/08/1887- 09/10/1953
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best James Finlayson’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about James Finlayson.

The Dawn Patrol

The Dawn Patrol
7.1/10
World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.

Hollywood Cavalcade

Hollywood Cavalcade
6.5/10
Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.

Raffles

Raffles
6.4/10
Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally on the trail.

Young Eagles

Young Eagles
5.7/10
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release: 20/03/1930
  • Character: Scotty
Lieut. Robert Banks, an American aviator on leave in Paris, meets Mary Gordon, a young American who lives abroad, but their romance is cut short by his return to the front. In an air battle, Robert brings down and captures the Grey Eagle, Baden, and takes him to American Intelligence in Paris. Mary, ostensibly a spy for the Germans, drugs Robert, who awakens to find that his uniform has been stolen by Baden. Later, in an exciting air conflict, Baden is wounded but shoots down Robert's plane. The German rescues him, however, and takes him to an Allied hospital, assuring him of Mary's love; his faith in her is restored when he learns that she is actually a spy for U. S. Intelligence.

Thunder Below

Thunder Below
6.1/10
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release: 17/06/1932
  • Character: Scotty
Tallulah Bankhead's first Hollywood movie was this romantic-drama, 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 the dark about her feelings... until he's plunged into darkness for real when he loses his eyesight. Susan finds her attentions then wandering yet another man, Davis (Ralph Forbes), and Ken urges her to return to Walt.

For the Defense

For the Defense
6.4/10
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release: 19/07/1930
  • Character: Parrott
William Foster is a slick attorney who stays within the law, but specializes in representing crooks and shady characters. He's adept at keeping them out of jail, winning acquittals, and having decisions reversed, thus springing criminals out of prison. He is romantically involved with dancer Irene Manners, who is two-timing him, although she wants to marry him. She kills a man driving while out with her other man, Jack Defoe, who takes the blame. Unfortunately, a ring Foster had just given Irene is found at the crime scene. Foster ends up defending Jack, but when the ring is found, he thinks he is protecting Irene, so pleads guilty to jury tampering.

Wall Street

Wall Street
6.8/10
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release: 01/12/1929
  • Character: Andy (as Jimmy Finalyson)
A very topical early talkie from low-budget company Columbia Pictures, Wall Street starred Ralph Ince, brother of producer Thomas H. Ince, as Roller McCray, a steelworker turned ruthless tycoon whose tough business methods leads a rival (Philip Strange) to commit suicide. The widow (Aileen Pringle), believing she can ruin Ince by using his own methods, conspires with her husband's former partner (Sam De Grasse), but a strong friendship between Ince and Pringle's young son (Freddie Burke Frederick) changes things dramatically. According to future Three Stooges director Edward Bernds, who worked as a sound mixer on Wall Street, Ince's reaction to his rival's suicidal jump from a window ledge was changed from a sneering "I didn't think he had the guts" to the more respectful "I didn't think he'd do it" due to derisive laughter from the film's crew.

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