Playthings of Desire (DVD)

Jim Malvern is one of the richest men in the world. Unscrupulous and greedy, he uses beautiful young women as his playthings. But after meeting gorgeous actress Gloria Dawn, Malvern decides to put aside his philandering ways. With a marriage date set, the millionaire invites a flock of his famous friends -- including some of his former lovers -- to a remote island. Moments before the ceremony, Malvern is shot and killed by an unseen assailant. A grieving Gloria, realizing the murderer must be one of the guests, goes on a hunt for her fiance's killer.

Playthings of Desire is one of only 3 movies produced by the short-lived Sun Haven Studios (the others being Hired Wife and Chloe, both released in 1934.) Located in St. Petersburg, Florida, Sun Haven used minor Hollywood players as the lead actors in their productions. James Kirkwood began his career in D.W. Griffith pictures such as A Corner in Wheat (1909) and Home, Sweet Home (1914). Moving behind the camera, he became a favorite of Mary Pickford's, directing her in Cinderella (1914) and Fanchon the Cricket (1915). Despite this, he would continue acting well into the 1950s. Female lead Linda Watkins' career as a Hollywood ingenue was relatively short-lived, but she found success twenty years later playing matronly roles in films such as From Hell It Came (1957) and The Parent Trap (1961). Supporting player Ford Sterling had been one of the original Keystone Kops. George Melford also directed Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik (1921), as well as the Spanish version of Dracula (1931).

BONUS: Going Spanish (BW, 1934): Bob Hope makes his film debut in this short comedy from Educational Pictures. Hope plays a clueless tourist who gets into trouble when he accidentally wrecks a limousine belonging to the mayor of a small Spanish village. Starring Bob Hope. Directed by Al Christie.

• drama