Acting
American stage and screen performer, considered a top female star in the early days of sound films.
A prostitute sees a friendly sailor as a way out of Havana's grimy underworld.
A devoted wife helps her husband achieve success as a radio comic, but stardom comes at a price.
Better known for her work in talkie "weepers," Helen Twelvetrees made a few preliminary appearances in such late silent films as Fox's Blue Skies. The audience was expected to believe that the twentysomething Twelvetrees and Frank Albertson are teenagers living together platonically in an orphan asylum. A wealthy old man comes calling to adopt Albertson -- who, feeling sorry for Twelvetrees, trades places with the girl. Thus it is that the heroine is carted off to a luxurious mansion, while Albertson remains behind. One year later, the old man discovers Albertson's deception, whereupon he invites the boy to live with him as well. By this time, Twelvetrees and Albertson are of marriageable age, thus the film ends with a wedding in the offing.
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.
Pals Pat Rogers and Slag Bailey try to collect a debt from Slag's recently deceased boxing promoter but wind up collecting his child, instead, and raising him as their own son.
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.
Phil and Pete compete for Mary's love and also in a contest for best song written by a college student.
Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster Valentine Powers, who employs Cardigan and put him through school, asks him to represent a woman, June Perry, accused of prostitution. Cardigan agrees. But he never expected to fall for her, which is problematic since he's angling to become governor and will need the right kind of wife.
A cocky prizefighter on his way to the bigtime in New York comes crashing down when his sister is involved in a murder and he takes the blame.
Short film in which Frankie Darro as a Telegram delivery boy visits various Hollywood locations to make deliveries. He visits the Los Angeles Pier and a Gala Hollywood Premiere.
A secretary catches the eye of her amorous boss while her regular boyfriend keeps trying to propose marriage to her.
Disappearances and strange goings-on in a spooky old mansion.
A two-bit gambler somehow claws his way to the top. His love for riches is only matched by his love for his wife, but he is sometimes confused by which he loves most.
A young Iowa woman inherits her late estranged father's New York business, but the dead man's crooked associates think they can outwit the naive heir and seize control.
A newlywed discovers her husband is a cheating phony.
Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitterly feuding years later when they own adjacent ranches. Bill, the foundling whom Cash has raised to young manhood, wants to end the feud and extends an olive branch toward Jeff, who now has a lovely daughter. But during a mining venture, the bitterness escalates. Is Bill to be set against his own adoptive father?
Parisian playboy plays father to an abandoned baby who interferes with his womanising.
William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and everyone as long as he gets the credit. He gets most of his information from his showgirl gal-pal, Peggy. Eventually Bill's reckless tattling gets him in deep trouble with friends and enemies, putting his career and life in jeopardy.
It is 1915 in Vienna and the Great War has caused many casualties. Elsa, a beautiful prostitute, wants to help the war effort, but is rejected as a nurse, but a government official thinks that she will make an excellent spy.
As California gubernatorial candidate Burton is about to cast his vote a truck crashes into the polling booth, critically injuring him and his opponent. A flashback traces his career from unemployed veteran to dockworker to lawyer. A side thread traces his tortured relationship with his wife.
