Movies by John Francis Dillon
Out of the Ruins
He hid from life in the ruins -he came out of the ruins to death! A man condemned to live in the shadow of a great love-never to realize it until he makes the supreme sacrifice.
Flaming Youth
When Mona Frentiss dies, she has her confidante "Doctor Bobs" watch over her family, especially her youngest daughter Patricia. The family has been raised in a most unconventional manner, with Mona having a much younger lover and the father Ralph keeping his own lover on the side. As Patricia grows older, she attracts the attention of her mother's former lover, the much older (than Patricia, who in the book is in her early to mid teens) Carey Scott. Patricia tempts fate with her wild ways, nearly loses her virtue to a musician aboard an ocea...
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
The Cohens and the Kellys invade a Hollywood studio after Kitty becomes the darling of the studio.
The Finger Points
Lee is a fresh young kid from the South when he gets a job with The Press. His first assignment on gangsters gets his name in the paper, the police on a raid and Lee in the hospital.
The Pagan Lady
Dot starts out as a bartender in Havana when in walks Dingo Mike (Charles Bickford) and orders up a drink that sounds like something you'd consume on a dare. He drinks the concoction down in one swallow and also manages to outsmart Dot's boss and his rum-running hooligans. You see, Dingo is a bootlegger himself. He literally sweeps the lady off her feet and they set up housekeeping in a tropical hotel full of colorful characters, some of whom are in the bootlegging business too.
Bride of the Regiment
As they are leaving the church following their wedding, Count Adrian Beltrami and Countess Anna-Marie are told that the Austrians are marching on the town to quell an Italian uprising. The bride and relatives induce the count to flee to his castle, but Tangy, a silhouette cutter, brings word from the revolutionary committee asking him to return; the count goes, asking Tangy to pose as the count and protect Anna-Marie.
Sally
Sally is an orphan who was named by the telephone exchange where she was abandoned as a baby. In the orphanage, she discovered the joy of dancing. Working as a waitress, she serves Blair (Alexander Gray), and they both fall for each other, but Blair is engaged to socialite Marcia. Sally is hired to impersonate a famous Russian dancer named Noskerova, but at that engagement, she is found to be a phoney. Undaunted, she proceeds with her life and has a show on Broadway, but she still thinks of Blair.
Millie
After a tumultuous first marriage, Millie Blake learns to love her newfound independence and drags her feet on the possibility of remarriage. The years pass, and now Millie's daughter garners the attentions of men - men who once devoted their time to her mother.
Lilies of the Field
A young mother, Mildred, doesn't know that her husband Walter is cheating on her. One night she attends a party with a friend of her husband's, and the man gets drunk and begins groping her when they get home. Her husband sees this and uses it as an excuse to sue his wife for divorce. In the ensuing trial he wins, due to fraudulent evidence, and gets custody of the child. Complications ensue.
The Silk Lined Burglar
Gentleman crook Boston Blackie answers a want ad for an expert safecracker placed by Doris Macon, who claims a moral right to the safe's contents. She hires Blackie, and they break into the house where the safe is kept. Blackie blows up the safe just as owner Captain von Hoffmeier returns home. Doris disappears with papers from inside the safe, while Blackie takes phonograph records, which, when played with a special needle, reveal secrets that implicate von Hoffmeier as a German political spy.
Man About Town
In a plan to trap potential enemy spies in Washington, an American secret agent sets up a gambling house. He soon finds himself in a rivalry with his old friend the British ambassador over a beautiful Hungarian woman, and it leads to espionage, blackmail and murder.
One Night at Susie's
A woman gets help from her gangster friends after her foster son takes the blame for a murder he did not commit.
The Prince of Headwaiters
Pierre, the maitre d' at the swanky Ritz Hotel in Paris, discovers that he has a son from his former marriage, which was broken up by his wealthy wife's upper-class relatives. His son, now a young man and unaware that Pierre is is father, is in danger of becoming the victim of blackmailer Mae Morin. Pierre sets out to save him from the notorious Mae.
Calvert's Valley
Beans
Brewster, the bean king, has an option of renewal on a certain bean canning plant owned by Ellis. Ellis does not want to renew so hires shyster lawyer Wingate to help him. Brewster sends Betty to renew the contract but Ellis declines. Later Brewster sends his lawyer along with Ellis' man to persuades her that he isn't crooked. There follows plot and counter-plot, but innocent Betty carries the day.
Kismet
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This film is believed lost.
Flirting with Love
When Wade Cameron, chairman of the Better Plays Society, stops the production of actress Gilda Lamont's first stage success, she attempts to revenge herself by affecting another personality and earning his confidence. He assigns her a role in an improvised production of a new play as an unknown actress, derails her attempt to expose him, and ends by winning her heart.
Spring Is Here
Musical about two sisters in love with the same man.
A Self Made Wife
Tim Goodwin and his wife Corrie are living in poverty when Tim's oil well strikes it rich. He soon works his way to the top of the social scale, but Corrie doesn't change at all--she stays a dour, drab woman with no social skills whatsoever. Tim gets so embarrassed by her that he hires a "social secretary" for her to teach her how to function in the social strata in which they find themselves.
The Right of Way
Snobbish attorney Charles 'Beauty' Steele loses his wife due to his drinking and his airs at the same time that his brother-in-law absconds with funds belonging to one of Steele's clients. In search of the thief, Steele is attacked and left for dead. He is rescued by a kindly couple, but suffers from amnesia.