Dorothy Mackaill Movies
In defiance of her father's wishes, 11-year-old Dorothy Mackaill ran away from her British hometown and headed for London, hoping to launch a show business career. While still in her teens, she secured work as a chorus dancer in England and France, eventually appearing on Broadway in The Ziegfeld Follies. Making her film debut in 1920, she rapidly rose to stardom, often as not playing a vivacious flapper. When talkies came in, Mackaill managed to hold on to her star status well into the early 1930s, appearing in programmers with titles like Kept Husbands (1931) and Flirting Widows (1931). She also starred in Columbia's Love Affair (1932), wherein her young, clean-cut leading man was Humphrey Bogart. Mackaill's starring career faded as the 1930s wore on, ending altogether in 1937 when she left films to care for her ailing mother. She spent the next five decades living in semi-retirement in Honolulu, occasionally accepting small roles in TV's Hawaii 5-0. Married three times, Dorothy Mackaill's first husband was director Lothar Mendes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
After making his first appearance as the title character in Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" series, John Lodge was rushed to England to star in the quota quickie Bulldog Drummond at Bay. Though lacking the polish of Hollywood's Drummond pictures, this one is closer to the original concept of series creator H. C. Neile (aka "Sapper") than any other film. The plot is motivated by the nefarious activities of a gang of munitions smugglers, disguised as a pacifist organization. The leader of the gang is Gregoroff (Victor Jory), justifiably nicknamed "The Mystery Man of Europe." Gregoroff masterminds the kidnapping of the inventor of a revolutionary new robot airplane. Adopting strong-arm tactics that border on the fascistic, soldier-of-fortune Bulldog Drummond (Lodge) tackles the villains, while Scotland Yard remains in the background, presumably twiddling its collective thumbs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Lodge, Dorothy Mackaill, (more)
- 1934
Before its absorption into the newly-formed 20th Century-Fox corporation in 1935, feisty little Majestic Pictures turned out quite a few impressive "B-plus" productions. One of the best and best-received was the "locked door" murder mystery, Curtain at Eight. Most of the action takes place at a Broadway theater, where a much-hated stage star (Paul Cavanaugh) is bumped off early in the proceedings. Crusty city detective Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith) and his dimwitted assistant Marty Gallagher (Sam Hardy) try to solve the crime before fast-talking reporter Terry Mooney (Russell Hopton) beats them to the punch. For a while, it looks as though the culprit is a trigger-happy chimpanzee, but a more orthodox suspect is fingered in the final reel. When it was shown on the MGM-controlled Loew's Theater circuit, Curtain at Eight was retitled Backstage Mystery, to avoid confusion with MGM's own Dinner at Eight. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, C. Aubrey Smith, (more)
- 1934
Formerly known as Allied Pictures, M. J. Hoffman's Liberty Pictures turned out quite a few potentially interesting programmers in its brief two-year existence. The Cheaters stars a pre-Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd as Steve Morris, a habitual jailbird who vows to go straight. This may prove difficult when Steve falls in love with another ex-con named Kay Murray (June Collyer). Though innocent of the crime for which she was jailed, Kay intends to prove to the world that she's as bad as everyone says she is, and to that end sets about to coerce wealthy K. C. Kelly (William Collier Sr.) into marriage. With a bigger budget and better writing, The Cheaters might have been a truly memorable effort; as it stands, it's not bad, but not terribly good either. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- June Collyer, Dorothy Mackaill, (more)
Although released as an "Allied Pictures Special," Picture Brides revealed its Poverty Row origins in almost all departments, including casting and choice of material. Waning silent star Dorothy Mackaill was top-billed as Mame, one of five mail-order brides arriving at Lottagrasso, a remote Brazilian gold mining community. The fifth girl, Mary Lee (Dorothy Libaire), is actually there about a job but knowing the reputation of the mining boss, Von Luden (Alan Hale), Mame supplies the girl with a picture of Dave Hart (Regis Toomey) and tells her to pretend to be a bride as well. Hart, meanwhile, is wanted in the States for embezzlement and rejects Mary. During a night of wanton revelry, Dave saves Mary in the nick of time from being ravished by the unscrupulous Von Luden. The villain attacks instead Mataeo (Mary Kornman), the half-breed daughter of the mining community's doctor (Harvey Clark), who is found dead in a nearby swamp the following morning. In front of a couple of American detectives, there to apprehend Dave, Mataeo's distraught father kills his daughter's murderer. Dave returns the money he had embezzled and begins to plan a new future with Mary. Although performing with her usual assurance, nominal leading lady Dorothy Mackaill was given very little to do by producer M.H. Hoffman, who was obviously more interested in promoting young Dorothy Libaire, the wife of stage and screen director Marion Gering. Libaire, unfortunately, did not live up to her billing and her screen career went nowhere. Esther Muir and the ever-popular Mae Busch did well with what little they were given and Alan Hale chewed up the scenery in a role most likely created for Jean Hersholt. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Regis Toomey, (more)
- 1933
In this romantic melodrama, a woman tries to protect her sister-in-law from the advances of a bad boy out to take advantage of her (which would also prevent an ensuing scandal from tainting her cop-turned-lawyer husband), but goes too far and kills the man. Her husband thinks she has been cheating on him and is trying to cover up for it, but a sympathetic judge helps clear everything up. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Tom Moore, (more)
- 1933
Somebody at MGM had the bright idea in 1933 to build a series of feature films around the talents of popular radio comedians. This bright idea fizzled after a handful of misbegotten epics starring the likes of Jack Pearl, aka Baron Munchausen, and Ed Wynn. The Wynn film was titled The Chief, a reference to Wynn's radio fame as Texaco gasoline's "Fire Chief." What plot there is concerns a dimwitted fireman named Henry Summers (who else but Wynn?) who ends up running for the office of alderman. Actually, Henry is merely a cat's paw, a dummy candidate set up by a gang of crooks. But when it looks as though Henry will win the campaign and instigate reforms, the bad guys kidnap our hero's grey-haired mother (Effie Ellsler). To alert the cops to his mother's peril, Henry begins running around and breaking things, shouting "I'm crazy! I'm crazy!" (it's difficult to argue with that). Just when the plot is about to be resolved, the film dissolves to Ed Wynn, standing before an NBC microphone, broadcasting his "Fire Chief" program in the company of announcer Graham McNamee. Wynn apprises the audience as to the film's outcome, tells a few jokes, signs off the air -- and that's all there is! One could postulate that the scriptwriters had run out of jokes by the end of The Chief, but in fact they'd been out of material since the third reel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ed Wynn, Dorothy Mackaill, (more)
- 1932
Based on a story by Ursula Parrott, this romantic drama from Columbia Pictures was one of Humphrey Bogart's first leading roles. Working-class pilot and mechanic Jim Leonard (Bogart) gives flying lessons to wealthy heiress Carol Owen (Dorothy Mackaill).They fall in love throughout the teaching process, but marriage seems impossible due to their differing social standings. Jim develops an airplane motor that could help him make some money, but he needs the upfront cash to finance it. Carol would be glad to help, but it turns out that she really had no money after all. She finds out that her father died broke and she has been supported by her financial advisor, Bruce Hardy (Hale Hamilton), who also wants to marry her. The conclusion involves a daring rescue and stunt flying sequence. Running just over an hour long, Love Affair was originally distributed in 1932 as a double-bill feature. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Humphrey Bogart, (more)
No Man of Her Own represented the only time that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard co-starred in the same picture (at the time the film was made, both were married to other people; their romance and subsequent marriage was several years in the offing). Gable plays a crooked cardsharp who takes it on the lam from the New York constabulary. He hides out in a small town, where he falls in love with librarian Lombard. Endearing himself to Lombard's family, Gable pretends to be an out-of-town broker. He takes his new bride Lombard back to New York, where he resumes his dishonest activities, all the while keeping his one-and-only in the dark. The fly in the ointment is Gable's ex-lover and former partner in crime Dorothy Mackaill, who threatens to expose Gable to the law. Rather than appear to be a cad in his wife's eyes, Gable turns himself in, telling Lombard that he's about to embark on a long business trip. The truth is revealed sometime before the final reel, but Lombard is willing to forgive and forget so long as Gable promises to go straight. Given the usual wiseacre urbanity of Gable's and Lombard's separate starring vehicles, No Man of Her Own seems unusually banal and sentimental. Still, the film is an opportunity not to be missed by latter-day "Golden Age of Hollywood" aficionados. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, (more)
In this drama, a blue collar steelworker marries a wealthy socialite. It all begins after he saves two workers during a factory accident. To thank him, the boss invites him to dinner where he meets the boss's lovely daughter. She is so impressed by him that she vows that he will be hers in one month. She is correct and they marry. Unfortunately, he finds that her appetite for extravagances is insatiable. This begins to wear him down, financially and emotionally until he becomes a 'kept husband.' Eventually he convinces her to settle down, respect him, and live on his humble salary with no help from her wealthy papa. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1931
In this marital drama, a wife fears that her checkered past will be revealed when she and her husband move to the city to further his career. Soon after their arrival, the husband overhears a conversation about her. Apparently she had been a "kept" woman before she met him, and this causes him to become enormously jealous. For a while things look bad for their marriage, but everything is rectified in the end and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1931
A young Barbara Stanwyck was considered for the starring role as the exiled call-girl in this extremely frank pre production-code drama directed by William A. Wellman from a play by Houston Branch). The role eventually went ot Dorothy Mackaill, an evocative British-born veteran adept at playing less than respectable women. Mackaill is Gilda Karlson, a call-girl fleeing New Orleans the supposed murder of her latest "john," Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde). Old boyfriend Carl Erickson (Donald Cook) arranges for safe passage to Tortuga, a Caribbean Island without extradition laws. After "marrying" the girl in the eyes of God but without the benefit of clergy, Carl leaves on his ship. Having successfully kept an international array of escaped crooks at bay, Gilda suddenly finds herself face-to-face with Van Saal, still very much alive and on Tortuga because an insurance scam went astray. The island's jealous executioner, Bruno (Morgan Wallace), hands the girl a gun "to protect herself." Van Saal attacks her, and this time Gilda manages to kill her tormentor. About to be acquitted of murder by a sympathetic jury, Gilda chooses to "confess" in order to escape a trap set by Bruno. To the strains of Pagan Moon, the wronged girl bravely faces the gallows. Forthrightly told and extremely well acted, Safe in Hell features two prominent African-American performers -- Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse -- portraying completely un-stereotypical characters. Muse, in fact, persuaded director Wellman to drop the screenplay's standard "black" lines in favor of straight dialogue. McKinney, famous for playing the vamp in King Vidor's all-black Hallelujah! (1929), performs When It's Sleepy Time Down South by Clarence Muse. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Donald Cook, (more)
- 1931
In this drama, a hard-working New York model abandons her family values for the love of a suave, handsome man who offers her the moon, but ends up leaving her with a baby and a very bitter aftertaste. She then becomes cynical, and angry at all men until a sensitive, gentle artist helps her through the hurt shows her a less self-destructive path for her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1931
In this light-hearted musical, an early color film, a successful actress tires of the bustle and hustle of her tawdry life and settles down to what she thinks is the blissful mundaneness of married life. Unfortunately, the actual drudgery of wifedom takes her by surprise and domestic turmoil ensues. Songs include: "Nobody Cares If I'm Blue", "I'm Crazy for Cannibal Love", "Song of the Congo", ""You're an Eyeful of Heaven"". ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1931
Dorothy Mackaill stars in this old-fashioned melodrama set in the Basque country of Spain. She is Emily Stanley, betrothed to foppish Englishman Sir Harry Congers (Lawrence Grant), but in love with Basque peasant Esteban Cristera (Warner Baxter). Deciding on a final fling before wedlock, Emily goes to Esteban's village in the mountains, but is wounded in a car accident. Recuperating, she learns about the hardships endured by Basque women from Esteban's grandmother (Nance O'Neil) and former girlfriend, Stancia (Mary Doran), and decides to return to Sir Harry in Biarritz. But Esteban, who has gotten his Grand Mere's permission to ask for Emily's hand in marriage, literally abducts the young bride-to-be and brings her onboard his new yacht. As a delighted Emily learns, Esteban is no peasant at all, but an American-made millionaire. A troubled production, Their Mad Moment was filmed in 1930, but retakes (directed by Hamilton MacFadden) delayed the release for almost a year. A Spanish language version featuring Jose Mojica was produced simultaneously. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1931
Based on a novel by Geoffrey Barnes, Party Husband is a weak-tea drawing room comedy utterly dependant upon the charms of its stars. Dorothy Mackaill and James Rennie play Laura and Jay, a thoroughly modern married couple who vow to give each other full and unbridled freedom in extramarital matters. Unfortunately, Jay abuses the privilege when he sleeps with his wife's best friend (Mary Doran). Shortly afterward, Laura slips off for a night alone with her boss Horace Purcell (Donald Cook), only to inform her would-be lover that she's merely trying to teach her husband a lesson. The untimely appearance of Laura's mother (Helen Ware) serves only to further complicate this ticklish situation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, James Rennie, (more)
- 1930
In his next-to-last film, silent-screen favorite Milton Sills stars as a tough but good-natured Manhattan bootlegger. Saving the life of aspiring singer Dorothy Mackaill, Sills gives her a job in his nightclub. She's grateful for the break, but she can't fall in love with Sills, since her heart belongs to newspaperman Kenneth MacKenna. Any other hoodlum would put the reporter "on the spot," but Sills shows he's a right guy by giving his blessings to the couple. Though supposedly too old for the heroine, the 47-year-old Milton Sills looks far more handsome and virile than the antiseptic Kenneth MacKenna (and he's a better actor to boot!) Man Trouble was based on "A Very Practical Joke," a short story by Ben Ames Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, (more)
- 1930
Basil Rathbone unexpectedly plays the romantic lead in The Flirting Widow. Dorothy Mackaill stars as a wealthy young lady whose father has forbidden her younger sister (Leila Hyams) to marry before Dorothy does. To help sis out, Dorothy "invents" a husband, whom she claims is a British colonel stationed in Arabia. Dorothy discovers that the man she's designated as her imaginary hubby actually exists, in the form of the nonplused Mr. Rathbone. The dilemma: Dorothy has claimed that Rathbone is deceased, a report that is greatly exaggerated. Based on the story Green Stockings by A.E.W. Mason, Flirting Widow was the remake of a silent feature titled Slightly Used (27). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, (more)
- 1930
A successful female writer finally finds true love in this romance. The story begins as the writer's cousin prepares to marry her fiancé. The wedding is called when the groom finds his bride-to-be a tad domineering for his tastes. He is returning home on the train when he encounters the writer. Neither knows who the other is, and they end up falling in-love. The jilted bride also finds a new dreamboat and happiness ensues all 'round. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Sidney Blackmer, Sr., (more)
- 1930
Illicit office romances provide the basis of this melodrama. The story centers around an older man's secretary who drops her real boyfriend to seduce her boss. When he discovers that his wife has begun fooling around with younger men he lets his secretary have her way. Fortunately, the boss's wife files for divorce and now everyone is free to fool around. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Hobart Bosworth, (more)
- 1930
In this early musical western, Stephen Ghent (Ian Keith) is a businessman who, after the death of his partner, has been helping to support Ruth Jordan (Dorothy Mackaill), the late man's college-age daughter. While visiting a town near the Mexican border on business, Ghent is shocked to discover Ruth has become a jaded and hard-drinking sophisticate. Convinced she needs a healthy dose of the great outdoors and the simple life, Ghent kidnaps her disguised as a Mexican bandit and carries her away to an isolated cabin in the hills. As the masked cowboy attempts to teach Ruth about the virtues of the simple life, she finds herself falling in love with her captor, though she has a rival for his affections in hot-blooded servant girl Manuella (Myrna Loy). Fancy Baggage was released both as a talking picture and in a silent version, designed to play in small-town theaters (where westerns were perennially popular) which had yet to be wired for sound. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Ian Keith, (more)
- 1929
Taking Two Weeks Off for the first time in his life, plumber Dave Pickett (Jack Mulhall) spends his savings on a posh hotel suite. During his vacation, he meets and falls in love with pretty Kitty Weaver (Dorothy Mackaill). Hoping to impress the girl, Dave poses as a famous movie star (Jack Mulhall, perhaps?) His true identity is eventually revealed by a jealous lifeguard, but by that time Kitty has fallen in love with Dave for himself and not what he pretends to be. Perennial Laurel and Hardy stooge James Finlayson co-stars as Kitty's sour-pussed pa. Essentially a silent film, Two Weeks Off contains approximately two reels' worth of dialogue sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Jack Mulhall, (more)
- 1929
In this drama, a woman finds herself abandoned when the man she assumed was her husband suddenly marches in, announces that they were never legally married, and leaves. Many years pass and the woman is on a jury for a murder case involving a woman in similar straits as she once was. It is then revealed that the man she killed was the same one who left the woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1929
Milton Sills, one of the silent era's great matinee idols, starred in this follow-up to his sound debut in the part-talkie The Barker (1928). Like that film, a major success for the veteran leading man, His Captive Woman was essentially a silent film with a music score and a few talking sequences. Sills plays Tom McCarthy, a New York policeman assigned to arrest Anna Janssen (Dorothy Mackaill), a cabaret dancer accused of killing her "sugar daddy." Catching up with the girl on a South Seas island, McCarthy charters a steamer to bring her back to New York. But the steamer sinks and, stranded on a deserted island, Tom and Anna fall in love. They are rescued soon enough, alas, and Anna is placed on trial for her life. Tom, however, takes the stand in her defense and the judge "sentences" him to marry the girl, who is acquitted of the murder. Although based on a 1923 novel by Arthur Chesney Train, His Captive Woman bore a striking resemblance to one of 1929's more noteworthy successes, The Trial of Mary Dugan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, (more)
- 1929
Children of the Ritz was based on a serialized magazine story by future suspense specialist Cornell Woolrich. Spoiled heiress Angela Pennington (Dorothy Mackaill) falls in love with impoverished chauffeur Dewey Haines (Jack Mulhall). Subsequently, their respective social standings are radically changed when Angela's family goes broke and Dewey wins $50,000 at the race track. After their marriage, Angela reverts to her spendthrift ways, quickly depleting her husband's bank account. Disgustedly, he walks out on her and takes a cab-driving job. After several further complications, Angela catches up with Dewey and promises to reform. A silent film, Children of the Ritz was released with synchronized sound effects (mostly honking horns) and a Vitaphone musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Jack Mulhall, (more)
- 1929
Edna Ferber's short story "Classified" was the source for the Dorothy Mackaill vehicle Hard to Get. Mackaill is cast as Bobby Martin, a dress-shop model with intellectual aspirations. Wealthy Dexter Courtland (Edmund Burns) rescues Bobby from a masher, whereupon romance blooms. Likewise smitten with the heroine is down-to-earth garage mechanic Jerry (Charles Delaney). Putting on phony airs for Dexter's benefit, Bobby at last realizes that she'd be happier with Jerry, who loves her for herself. A plenitude of laughs are provided by Bobby's blue-collar family, played by James Finlayson, Louise Fazenda and Jack Oakie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, James Finlayson, (more)
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