Lewis Stone
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American actor known for his role as Judge James Hardy in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Andy Hardy film series and as an MGM contract player. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts to Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball, Lewis Stone's hair turned gray prematurely (reportedly by age 20). Lewis served in the United States Army in the Spanish–American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting. Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for The Patriot. After that, he appeared in seven films with Greta Garbo, spanning both the silent and early sound periods. He played the role of Dr. Otternschlag in the Garbo film Grand Hotel, in which he utters the famous closing line: "Grand Hotel. People coming. Going. Nothing ever happens." He played a larger role in the 1933 Garbo film Queen Christina. His appearance in the successful prison film The Big House furthered his career. He played adventurers in the dinosaur epic The Lost World (1925) with Wallace Beery and The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) with Boris Karloff, and a police captain in Bureau of Missing Persons (1933). In 1937, Stone essayed the role which would become his most famous, that of Judge James Hardy in the Mickey Rooney Andy Hardy series. Stone appeared as the judge in fifteen movies, beginning with You're Only Young Once (1937). Stone died in Hancock Park, Los Angeles on September 12, 1953, aged 73. Lewis Stone was later honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6524 Hollywood Blvd.
Known For
The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.
MGM Parade
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
Grand Hotel
The short-tempered manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates mends his ways in return for a little divine assistance.
Angels in the Outfield
Lil works for the Legendre Company and causes Bill to divorce Irene and marry her. She has an affair with businessman Gaerste and uses him to force society to pay attention to her.
Red-Headed Woman
In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.
Scaramouche
Captain Alan Gaskell sails the perilous waters between Hong Kong and Singapore with a secret cargo: a fortune in British gold. That's not the only risky cargo he carries; both his fiery mistress and his refined fiancee are aboard!
China Seas
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.
Complicated Women
A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.
David Copperfield
Kay is a girl living in a small rural town whose life is just too dull and repetitious to bear. One night, she meets young, handsome, and rich Bob Dakin, who asks her for directions while drunk and then proceeds to take her out on a night on the town. Kay likes the stranger, and when the drunken Bob decides that they should get married, Kay hesitates little before consenting. The morning after the affair, Bob, once sober, regrets his mistake. His strict and upright parents, however, insist that the young couple pretend marriage for 6 months before divorcing, in order to avoid bad publicity. Bob resents Kay for standing in the way of him and his fiancée, Priscilla, but Kay still hopes that he'd have a change of heart.
Small Town Girl
In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of buccaneer Captain Flint's buried treasure.
Treasure Island
Kate Lennox is bored with suburban life and her husband, Harry. Their next-door neighbors, the hen-pecked Henry Fells and his wife, Maud, have several boarders, among them Barbara Farley, who is Lennox's stenographer, and Lonnie Whinston, who is in love with Lennox's little sister, Ruth. Kate claims that women need more independence and less duty, and flirts with Ned Hollister, a car salesman.
The Talker
A law student poses as a fight promoter to catch a notorious gangster.
Sworn Enemy
Andy Hardy and his sister find romance during a family vacation in Catalina.
You're Only Young Once
A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.
Mata Hari
The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.
The Lost World
Popular monarch Queen Christina of Sweden must choose between love and loyalty to her nation when she unexpectedly falls for a Spanish envoy.
Queen Christina
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Featuring footage from the MGM films being made at the time. Such as The Women, Thunder Afloat, Siren of the Tropics, Ninotchka, Northwest Passage, and At the Circus.
From the Ends of the Earth
An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.
State of the Union
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
That's Entertainment, Part II
During a carnival in Venice, Horace Pierpont, a wealthy American (Lewis Stone), falls in love with Fay Kennion (Virginia Valli). Their romance is derailed when she goes over to his apartment and finds the vampy Fifi (Nita Naldi) there. Fay goes down to Algiers, where she marries a former sweetheart, Dr. Alan Mortimer (Edward Earle).