New from Warner Archives: Happy #Novarrember

DEVIL MAY CARE (1929) Silent screen superstar heartthrob Ramon Navarro makes his all-talking debut in this delightful musical confection set during the Napoleonic era. Novarro plays staunch Napoleon loyalist Armand de Treville, facing execution while Napoleon lives in exile on Elba. Outfoxing his firing squad with a bravura escape that is equal parts panache and parody, Armand goes undercover as a footman while waiting for Bonaparte's return. Armand's loyalty becomes tested when a Royalist lady (Dorothy Jordan) takes command of his heart. Navarro's fine voice and gift for light theater serves this early musical remarkably well - and the icing on the cake is a two-strip Technicolor ballet sequence scored by Dimitri Tiomkin. Songs by Herbert Stothart and Clifford Grey. Directed by Sidney Franklin. Newly remastered.

IN GAY MADRID (1930) This pre-Code musical romp re-teams Ramon Novarro and Dorothy Jordan in the tale of a torrid triangle set amongst the not-so-ivory towers of Spanish higher education. Law student Ricardo (Navarro) likes hitting on the lovelies of Madrid than hitting the books, so his father packs him off to rural Santiago where he meets the lovely Carmina (Jordan). Ricardo thinks he's headed for the altar when an old conquest (Lottice Howell) appears and things take a serious turn. Directed Robert Z. Leonard with songs by Xavier Cugar. Newly remastered.

DAYBREAK (1931) Émigré director Jacques Feyder helms this tale of love and honor with a serious streak of Russian Romantic Fatalism. Ramon Novarro plays Willi, a lieutenant in the Austrian army with a potentially fatal case of frivolity. Pursued by gambling debts and the demands of honor, Willi is compelled by his uncle, General von Hartz (C. Aubrey Smith) to seek a marriage of convenience and wealth. But Willi spurns his gilded matrimonial cage (Karen Morley) and pursues a lower-class school teacher (Helen Chandler). When class differences spark an awful misunderstanding, Willi bets his life to try to restore love and honor. It's a bet he'll have to make good... Also starring Jean Hersholt. Newly remastered.

SON OF INDIA (1931) Jacques Feyder directs this action/adventure/romance set in the jungles of India, both rural and urban. Ramon Novarro plays Karim, a jewel merchant's son who loses and wins, loves and loses thanks to the twistings of fate and gratitude. When bandits wipe out Karim's caravan and kill his father, he's saved by a holy man and manages to keep an extraordinary diamond. When he tries to sell it, an American stranger (Conrad Nagel) has to come to his aid when corrupt men of the city try to frame Karim for theft. And that stranger has a sister (Madge Evans), who the suddenly wealthy Karim has his eyes set upon... Can an American woman and a man of India be together? Plus there's a tiger hunt! Newly remastered.

THE SON-DAUGHTER (1932) Ramon Novarro supports Helen Hayes in this adaptation of a stage play by George Scarborough and David Belasco. Set in San Francisco during the Chinese uprising of the early 20th Century, Hayes plays Lien Wha, only child of Dr. Dong Tong (Lewis Stone). Lien Wha, sidelined by the strictures of her sex, yearns to help her father with his secret cause of smuggling arms back to their homeland. Engaged to earnest student Tom Lee, Lien Wha gets brokered to Tong lord Fen Sha (Warner Oland) instead, in hopes of furthering the cause. Fen Sha, however, secretly works for the Manchu, and plans to destroy all Lien Wha holds dear. Directed by Clarence Brown. Newly remastered.

LAUGHING BOY (1934) Ramon Novarro plays the titular lead in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Oliver La Farge. Laughing Boy's drama is centered on the difficulties faced by Navajo nation as they struggle to reconcile their culture with their new, marginalized position inside the United States. Lupe Velez plays the even more marginalized Slim Girl, a Navajo daughter raised by whites and stripped of her native identity. Returning for the Great Sing Dance, Slim Girl faces her people's attempt to shame her for her fallen status with sanguine seduction, netting silversmith Laughing Boy in the process. As the smitten Laughing Boy tries to make a go of things, the alienated Slim Girl persuades him to try his hand at living in town among the white settlers. Old temptations (William Davidson) may prove too strong for Slim Girl... Directed by W. S. Van Dyke. Newly remastered.

THE NIGHT IS YOUNG (1935) Ramon Novarro sings out his last MGM leading role in high style in this triumphal and tragic mix of music, comedy and drama featuring the songs of Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II and a truly stellar squad of supporting players. Facing an arranged marriage, Austrian Archduke Paul Gustave (Novarro) intends to make the most of his remaining six months of freedom, but his uncle Emperor Franz Josef has his eyes on Gustave. Warned to keep his cavorts below his class, Gustave sets up a Lisl (Evelyn Laye), a young ballerina, as a fake mistress to hide his real mistress. Lisl's cost is simple - Gustave must produce her intended's ballet! So the Archduke undertakes the life of an impresario but risks losing more than money on the theatrics. Costarring Charles Butterworth, Una Merkel, Edward Everett Horton, Donald Cook and Rosalind Russell. Directed by Dudley Murphy. Newly remastered.

Fifties Merry Musicals

THE MERRY WIDOW (1952) Third time's a charm for this perennial piece of sly musical romance, now dazzling with a Technicolor shine. Lana Turner top lines as the titular widow, now Americanized, while Latin lothario Fernando Lamas gets a chance to show off his showtacular set of pipes as the singing seducer Count Danilo. Una Merkel is on hand to lend support as the widow's private secretary and stand-in, Kitty, while the wealthy widow pretends she's a chorus girl in an attempt to separate scheme from seducer. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt and produced by Joe Pasternak. Newly remastered.

EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS (1952) Marge and Gower Champion take a rare starring turn in this backstage musical detailing the rise and fall of romance among a pair of talented Broadway hoofers. On the cusp of the big breakout, triple talents Pamela (Marge) and Chuck (Gower) Hubbard hit a setback when Pam discovers she's in a family way. Stepping aside for the sake of her cub, Pam watches from the sidelines as her hubby and  understudy soar from smash to smash. As Chuck becomes distracted by stardom, his neglect of Pam sends her to start a show of her own - and file for divorce! Dennis O'Keefe co-stars. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Newly remastered.

LATIN LOVERS (1953) Lana Turner once again plays a wealthy American on the hunt for love, in this "Technicolor musical of tropical passions". Ricardo Montalban lends the Latin to the title, stealing the show and Lana's heart as a Brazilian bronco-buster while John Lund plays the distinguished competition. Pasternak produces and Mervyn LeRoy directs.

THE GIRL MOST LIKELY (1958) Jane Powell stars in this end-of-an-era musical remake of Ginger Rogers' comedy romance Tom, Dick and Harry. Cliff Robertson, Tommy Noonan, and Keith Andes co-star as the trio of fiancés Jane Powell's Dodie must decide between, while Kaye Ballard delights as Dodie's best galpal Marge. Choreographed by Gower Champion, with original songs by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, this is a surfside musical with snap. Presented in 16x9 widescreen and newly remastered.