Leatrice Joy Movies

Hoping to shed itself of the onus of its low-budget predecessor PRC Pictures, Eagle-Lion productions occasionally invested in such above-average endeavors as Red Stallion in the Rockies. Color-filmed on location in Colorado, the story revolves around a former circus horse who has escaped to the hills. The stallion poses a threat to local horse ranchers via its habit of "kidnapping" prize mares for his own female entourage. When the ranchers organize and set out to kill the stallion, he is sheltered and protected by circus worker Arthur Franz and Wallace Ford. Only by committing an act of heroism does the stallion receive a stay of execution. Silent-screen star Leatrice Joy makes a rare talkie appearance as the wife of wealthy rancher Ray Collins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Longtime "Our Gang" director Robert McGowan wielded the megaphone for the laid-back Monogram drama Old Swimming Hole. Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones, whom the studio was hoping to develop into a screen team, star as Chris and Betty, bucolic sweethearts who hope to play matchmaker for Chris' mother (Leatrice Joy) and Betty's father (Charles Brown). Another plotline concerns Chris' hopes of attending medical school, which may not happen due to his family's lack of funds. After taking it easy for several reels, the film wraps up with an exciting climax wherein one of the main characters is rescued from drowning. Old Swimming Hole was based on a story by Dorothy Davenport Reid, widow of silent-screen favorite Wallace Reid. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"East is East, West is West, Never the Twain Shall Meet." That's the lesson to be learned in the low-budget exotic romance The Love Trader. Leatrice Joy plays the restless young wife of an elderly ship's captain (Henry B. Walthall). While her husband goes on a pearl-hunting expedition in the South Seas, the woman inaugurates an romance with a handsome native (Roland Drew). There love, however, is never consummated, since both are aware of the social ramifications of miscegenation. Even so, our heroine cannot bear the "shame" of betraying her race, leaving her no alternative but to drown herself. This one is hard to watch today with a straight face. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Marion Davies vehicle was loosely inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson. Davies plays would-be starlet Peggy Pepper, who arrives at the gates of MGM Studios with her dad Colonel Pepper (Dell Henderson) in hopes of becoming a great dramatic actress. Instead, she a scores a hit as an ingenue in the slapstick comedies starring the effervescent Billy Boone (William Haines). As the audience rocks with laughter during the preview of Peggy's first film (no one is more enthusiastic than her director Harry Gribbon), she sits in sullen silence, insisting to Billy that some day she'll invoke tears instead of laughter. This doesn't seem likely, inasmuch as Peggy can't even cry on cue (her director is forced to peel onions outside of camera range to achieve the desired emotion), but the tenacious young actress finally manages to win favor in dramatic roles. Inevitably, this causes a strain on her budding romance with Billy, and the couple slowly drifts apart. Now the unchallenged Queen of the Cinema, Peggy -- billing herself as Patricia Pepoire -- prepares to marry her oily leading man Andre (Paul Ralli), but mischievous Billy disrupts her fancy wedding. She angrily tosses Billy out of the house, realizing only when it's too late that she's still in love with him. But in the final scene, the hero and heroine are accidentally reunited on the set of a WWI picture directed by King Vidor (who also directed Show People). Two versions of Show People are currently available for TV; the "stretch-framed" Kevin Brownlow-David Gill restoration, with a new orchestral score by Carl Davis, and the original MGM release version, outfitted with a lively music and sound-effects track. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although Vanity was one of Leatrice Joy's most successful films, it can hardly be considered one of her best. Joy is cast as spoiled society girl Barbara Fiske, who, out of boredom, begins romancing roughneck tramp-steamer skipper Dan Morgan (Alan Hale). She offers to spend the night with Morgan on his vessel, which does not sit well with Barbara's wealthy fiance Lloyd Van Courtland (Charles Ray). During her nocturnal voyage, Barbara is nearly raped by the brutish ship's cook (Noble Johnson). Scurrying to the rescue, Morgan is killed by the cook, who in turn is shot dead by the terrified Barbara. Having had her fill of sea life, Barbara gladly returns to Van Courtland's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Popular leading lady Leatrice Joy was copacetically teamed with "fading star" Charles Ray in Nobody's Widow. After a whirlwind courtship, American gal Roxanna Smith (Joy) marries rakish English aristocrat John Clayton (Charles Ray). It isn't long before Roxanna becomes convinced that her new husband is unfaithful. Rather than face the humiliation of a failed marriage, our heroine pretends to be a widow when she returns home. But her "dead" husband soon shows up and wins her love all over again. Nobody's Widow was based on a play by Avery Hopwood. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though For Alimony Only was technically a Cecil B. DeMille production, it was directed by DeMille's less-flamboyant brother William C. DeMille. Mercenary Narcella (Lilyan Tashman) schemes to land a wealthy husband, fully intending to divorce the poor sap and reap the benefits of a handsome alimony settlement. After cleaning out one husband, she sets to work on hubby number two, John Williams (Clive Brook). Happy to be rid of Narcella, John agrees to her alimony demands, though he has a tough time keeping up payments. After the divorce, John falls in love with pretty art student Mary Martin (Leatrice Joy) -- and when he's thrown into alimony jail for missing a payment, it is Mary who bails him out. Upon marrying John, Mary vows to keep the household financially solvent (after all, he can't) -- and to this end she becomes a busy interior decorator. Inevitably, Mary is hired to redecorate the home of John's ex-wife Narcella -- and equally inevitably, she misunderstands when John pays Narcella a visit, hoping to negotiate an alimony reduction. Angrily, Mary walks out on John and accepts a dinner invitation from Bertie (Casson Ferguson) -- who happens to be the social parasite currently sponging off Narcella. The whole mess is untangled by a kindly Irish cop, who seems to have more common sense than the rest of the characters put together. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the few surviving films of Leatrice Joy, the wife of screen heartthrob John Gilbert, The Clinging Vine is a typically frothy '20s comedy: Mannish and efficient executive secretary Antoinette Allen (Joy), known colloquially as A.B., is the real power behind Bancroft Paint ("the kind that comes in a bucket," as an intertitle helpfully explains). A.B. fires Grandpa Bancroft's carefree grandson, Jimmy (Tom Moore), via Western Union and Bancroft (Robert Edeson) leaves it up to the youngster to charm the secretary into giving him his job back. Jimmy, of course, assumes A.B. to be a sexless spinster in sensible shoes and doesn't recognize the flirtatious beauty he meets at the Bancroft garden party. With a lot of help from Grandma Bancroft (Toby Claude, who, a title explains, "crosses a lemon with a dressmaker's bill and produces a peach"), A.B. has become Antoinette, a "clinging vine" who only knows two sentences: "Do go on!" and "Aren't you wonderful!" Do Antoinette and Jimmy fall in love at first sight? Why, of course they do, and now it is truly up to Antoinette to become the woman behind the man. It is all extremely silly, slightly chauvinistic, and at times quite beguiling. Grandma Bancroft is the kind that glides down the banister and a rather trying comedian named Snitz Edwards is high up in the Bancroft corporation. Enough said. Neither Joy nor director Paul H. Sloane are much remembered but The Clinging Vine's executive producer is: Cecil B. De Mille. In fact, the comedy harkens back to the kind of fluffy make-believe De Mille used to do with his star discovery Gloria Swanson. And while Leatrice Joy is perhaps no Swanson, she is mightily believable as both the before and after Antoinette and a natural comedienne. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Under the supervision of Cecil B. DeMille, character actor Alan Hale handled the directing chores in Wedding Song. DeMille contractee Leatrice Joy plays Beatrice Flynn, a beautiful con artist who marries Hayes Hallan (Robert Ames), the owner of a pearl-rich island. No sooner has the couple said "I do" than Beatrice's partners in crime (Charles Gerard, Ruby Lafayette) show up, claiming to be the bride's parents. When the crooks try to rob Hallan's safe, he orders them -- and Beatrice -- to leave the premises. But our heroine saves both the day and her marriage by saving Hallan from being killed by a bomb, hidden under his house by a disgruntled rival. Wedding Song was based on a novel by Ethel Watts Mumford. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Leatrice Joy has a dual role, as Gwynne Evans, a restless young wife who longs to go on the stage, and as lookalike actress Eva Graham, who wants nothing more than peace and quiet. The two women meet up and agree to change places. Oliver Evans (Victor Varconi) is glad to see that his wife has calmed down, while Eva's fiancé Bob Hamilton (Raymond Griffith) is thrilled when his sweetheart becomes a lot more lively. The girls can't keep their secret for too long, and circumstances finally force a confession. The men, however, are happy with their new mates and they decide to solve the dilemma with a divorce trip to Reno and remarriage. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

After the spectacular epic The Ten Commandments, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille returns to the drawing room for this pleasingly straightforward drama. King Garnet (Rod La Rocque) is the idle son of factory owner David Garnet (George Fawcett). He is in love with Ann Land (Leatrice Joy), the factory's forewoman, but she turns down his proposal of marriage because she has aspirations to be a singer. When old man Garnet dies, he wills his son the company, providing that he settles down within two years; failing that, it goes to William Silver (Victor Varconi), the factory's manager and King's half-brother via a secret marriage. Two years pass and Garnet is a bum sleeping on park benches, so Silver inherits the company. His new position in life changes him -- where he was once a radical in favor of the workers, he now becomes a snob. Meanwhile, Ann has achieved her dream and become an opera star in Europe, but smoke from a theater fire destroys her vocal chords. She returns to the factory, where Silver courts her. King picks himself up, goes to work at the factory as an employee and works his way up to manager. Silver is the pawn of a group of schemers, and King helps him straighten things out. He is glad to hand over the company to King, who also wins Ann. The good notices this film received prove that DeMille was still capable -- when he wanted -- of making an entertaining film without resorting to a lot of flash. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi