Helen Johnson Movies
- 1931
In this crime drama, an ambassador must become a police snitch for a corrupt vice squad and it nearly destroys his career. He survives the incident with reputation intact. But then the cops come 'round again. He is uncooperative until they begin threatening the woman he loves. In the end, the man gets revenge by testifying in a court case that questions the dubious practice of using informers to gather evidence. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1930
Norma Shearer earned an Academy Award for playing the not so gay divorcée in this pre-Code offering based, loosely, on Ex-Wife, a 1929 Ursula Parrott novel. Shearer is Jerry, a socialite who marries handsome Ted (Chester Morris) after a whirlwind courtship. But Ted is not exactly the faithful type and after three years of what she in her naïveté considered marital bliss, Jerry learns of his affair with Janice (Mary Doran). "It meant nothing," Ted assures her but Jerry is devastated and decides to investigate adultery for herself by sleeping with Ted's best friend, Don (Robert Montgomery). When she discovers that the old double-standard still applies, Jerry announces that henceforth Ted, and only Ted, is no longer welcome in her bed. After a string of lovers who mean little or nothing to her, Jerry falls for an old flame, Paul (Conrad Nagel), but when she understands the effect their affair has on Paul's poor disfigured wife, Dorothy (Helen Johnson, aka Judith Wood), Jerry returns to Ted, who still loves her despite it all. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Chester Morris, (more)
- 1930
In this mystery set at an Army post, two women are having a passionate affair with a soldier. The trouble begins when one of the women's husbands is mysteriously killed. The conniving daughter of the commanding officer is behind the death, but she tries to frame her lover. Later when the accusatory finger is pointed at her and evidence of her guilt is presented, the woman commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aileen Pringle, Grant Withers, (more)
- 1930
In this musical comedy, a Jewish songwriter pursues and conquers a society blonde. Unfortunately, the indecisive fellow realizes that he really loves his female partner and dumps the blonde on their wedding day. Songs include "Leave It That Way," "Dust," "Girl Trouble," "A Couple of Birds with the Same Thought in Mind," and "The Whole Darned Thing's for You." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lawrence Gray, Benny Rubin, (more)
Ahead of its time for liberated thinking, this is still really just a classic romance with a love triangle thrown in on the side. While on a trip to Paris, a woman meets a man that makes her reconsider her marriage of convenience (she had married her boss to save him from his girlfriend!). ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Basil Rathbone, (more)
- 1929
Previously filmed in 1923, Avery Hopwood's 1920 comedy The Gold Diggers was resurrected in 1929 as the Technicolor musical Gold Diggers of Broadway. Nancy Welford, Winnie Lightner and Ann Pennington stars as Jerry, Mable and Ann, three chorus girls who try to entice a wealthy backer to put his money in their cash-poor Broadway show. Stuffy Stephen Lee (Conway Tearle) shows up to rescue his brother Wally (William Bakewell) from the heroine's clutches, only to succumb to the girls' charms himself. According to contemporary reviews, the show was stolen by Winnie Lightner as the brassiest of the three gold-diggers, and by crooner Nick Lucas, performing his signature tune Tiptoe Through the Tulips. The other big number from the film, Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, served as the title for the 1951 remake of Gold Diggers of Broadway, which in the interim had been filmed as the more famous Gold Diggers of 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nancy Welford, Conway Tearle, (more)
