Blanche Mehaffey Movies
Blond American screen actress Blanche Mehaffey was voted a 1924 WAMPAS Baby Star by the Hollywood publicists on the strength of a couple of pleasant comedies opposite Glenn Tryon. She later changed her name to Joan Alden -- presumably to escape maudlin melodramas such as Princess from Hoboken (1927) -- but Call of the Wild (1927), opposite second-string canine star Dynamite, was no improvement, and she returned to her old moniker. Her movies in the early years of sound film were unsuccessful. She had married sound engineer Ralph M. Like and he produced a series of very low-budget melodramas that are still watched -- and laughed at -- today. Ralph Like was the kind of producer who never met a corner he couldn't cut, and several of the Like-Mehaffey collaborations were downright embarrassing. Sally of the Subways (1932), for example, ostensibly a crime drama, was an excruciatingly slow affair that featured neither Sally nor subways, and The Devil Monster (1933) and The Wages of Sin (release date undetermined) delivered little more than alluring titles. Chagrined by the turn her career was taking, Mehaffey changed her name once again, this time to Janet Morgan, but it didn't make a bit of difference, and she left films in 1935. In 1948 an embarrassed Mehaffey attempted to prevent the new owners of her old films from selling them to television. Unfortunately for unsuspecting viewers, the lawsuit was dismissed and cinematic blunders such as Soul of the Slums (1931) and the aforementioned Wages of Sin have become treasured perennials at Bad Movie festivals. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1938
Cheap-looking even by the standards of Grand National Pictures, Held for Ransom appears to have been completed several years before its official 1938 release date. The charmingly untalented Blanche Mehaffey heads the cast as FBI agent Betty Mason. At the risk of her own neck, Betty pursues the kidnappers of a wealthy businessman. She also juggles the affection of her partner Morrison (Jack Mulhall) and the victim's son Scott (Grant Withers). After five yarn-provoking reels, the film finally roars into life with a truly exciting climactic shootout. Though Blanche Mehaffey had been in films since the silent days, she never quite attained stardom, and was still being referred to as an "unknown" by the 1938 trade papers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, Grant Withers, (more)
- 1936
A punch drunk prize-fighter, Wildcat Saunders (Jack Perrin) travels to a western ranch for a little rest and relaxation with his cigar-chomping promoter Joe Pitts (William Gould) and black sparring partner Fred "Snowflake" Toones. The ranch foreman, Hawkins (Tom London) is actually a fugitive from justice who has robbed the local Wells Fargo office of rubies and diamonds worth $100,000. Wildcat and company discover the truth, and the former uses his dexterity from the ring to bring the outlaw to justice. Produced by William A. Berke for Poverty Row company Atlantic Pictures Corp. -- and the first in a series of four Perrin Westerns -- Wildcat Saunders was a remake one of director Harry Fraser's first feature westerns, The Wildcat (1926). The original Saunders was played by the wiry Gordon Clifford, a rather more appropriate choice than the slightly overweight and aged Jack Perrin of the remake. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1935
This obscure seafaring adventure was based mainly on documentary footage filmed in Micronesia in the late 1920s. Low-budget producer Excelsior shot a wrap-around story about the search for a young San Franciscan, José (Jack Del Rio) shipwrecked on a South Seas island. The boy's girlfriend (Blanche Mehaffey) and a tuna fisherman (Barry Norton) manage to locate the castaway, who, having fallen for a native princess (Maya Owale), refuses to return to civilization. Together, the three westerners hunt for the "devil monster," a giant manta ray. After José loses an arm rescuing Mehaffey from the sea fiend, he readily agrees to return to the waiting arms of his beloved mother (Mary Carr). Director S. Edwin Graham also filmed a Spanish version of this film -- with Movita Castenada as the native princess and Carmen Bailey replacing Blanche Mehaffey -- which premiered in Mexico in December of 1935. The English language version was apparently not shown in America until 1946, but it was exhibited as The Sea Fiend in Great Britain in 1937. Expanded with new footage, The Devil Monster was finally released to American theaters in 1946. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barry Norton, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1935
Poverty Row company Stage and Screen was somewhat partial to Northwest Mounted melodramas, releasing three films in the genre in 1935. The Silent Code starred the tough-looking Kane Richmond as Jerry Hale, a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman transferred to a lonely outpost run by the greedy Peter Barkley (Barney Furey). When Barkley's brother-in-law, a prospector (Edward Coxen, is murdered over the claim to a valuable strike, the killer frames officer Hale. The murdered man's daughter, Helen (Blanche Mehaffey), initially believes the mountie to be guilty, but she is convinced otherwise by some tell-tale beads left on the body by the killer, Barkley's henchman Lobo (Carl Matthews). Nothing out of the ordinary, The Silent Code was at least more professionally assembled than Stage and Screen's two other Northwest thrillers of 1935: Timber Terrors and Courage of the North, both of which starred a non-entity named John Preston. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1935
Louis Weiss (of Poverty Row's Weiss Bros.) produced this commonplace B-Western starring one of the lesser names of the genre, Rex Lease. Falsely accused of horse-thieving and saved in the nick of time from a lynching party by decent gang leader Scarface (Dick Alexander), cowboy Bill (Lease) hightails it to the Texas Panhandle, where he obtains the job of foreman on the Barton ranch. The spread is about to be taken over by vicious Larkin (George Chesebro), who claims to have won it in a poker game with the late, lamented Pa Barton. With the help of Larkin's erstwhile girlfriend, saloon hostess Alice (Janet Morgan), Bill gets the goods on the villain, thus saving the ranch for Ma Barton (Adabelle Driver) (whose fine cooking is much discussed) and spirited young Bobby Barton (Bobby Nelson). Released by Poverty Row company Stage and Screen, The Cowboy and the Bandit was a reunion of sorts for several once-popular silent screen performers, including former cowboy heroes William Desmond, Bill Patton, Franklyn Farnum, Art Mix, and Wally Wales. Another survivor of silent films, leading lady Blanche Mehaffey, was so distressed at the downward turn her career was taking that she insisted on using a pseudonym, the aforementioned Janet Morgan. No one was fooled, however, and Mehaffey's career quickly came to an end. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1935
Silent screen Western star Jack Perrin plays a somewhat naive cowboy hired to innocently front the nefarious schemes of a gang of thieves in this cheaply-made B-Western from Poverty Row company Reliable Pictures Corp. A jealous rival (Lane Chandler) frames Perrin in an express office robbery and the cowboy is arrested. Making a daring escape from jail with the help of some friendly Indians, Perrin manages to infiltrate the gang of thieves and eventually bring their leader, Al Bridge), to justice. Following his series of six Westerns for Reliable, the middle-aged Perrin turned to supporting roles. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1934
According to legend, B-movie star Blanche Mehaffey valiantly but unsuccessfully attempted to keep her old potboilers out of the reach of the television industry in the early '50s. A viewing of this pedestrian bore of a Western goes along way to explain why. Despite featuring no less than six former silent cowboy stars, Border Guns remains one of the worst oaters ever forced upon an unsuspecting audience. The direction of legendary cheapskate Robert J. Horner was never more stilted and Frank Bender's camera seemed bolted to the floor. Bill Cody, looking haggard and old, starred as an undercover lawman who gets unexpected assistance from a notorious outlaw (Franklyn Farnum) battling a gang of rustlers. An unusually stilted George Chesebro headed bad guys, while old-time serial star William Desmond appeared stoically as the local doctor. Mehaffey played Desmond's daughter but attempted to hide that fact by assuming the alias of Janet Morgan. In addition to Cody, Farnum, Desmond, and Chesebro, silent Western stars Fred Church and Wally Wales also appeared, the latter sporting a handsome mustache in his unbilled turn as the sheriff. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1932
Though ordered to walk off his job by his union, Dynamite Denny (Jay Wilsey, aka Buffalo Bill Jr.) loyally remains at his post and is blacklisted as a result. As luck would have it, Denny befriends an itinerant fireman (William V. Mong) -- who turns out to be the chairman of the board of the railroad company, travelling incognito. Our hero lands a better-paying job as a yardmaster then gets back in the good graces of the union by courageously bringing a runaway engine under control. As an ultimate reward, Dynamite Denny wins the hand of the chairman's beautiful daughter (Blanche Mehaffey). The best performance in this slapped-together quickie is delivered by Matthew Betz as a bulldog-visaged union agitator. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, William V. Mong, (more)
- 1932
Released by Syndicate, a forerunner of sorts to Monogram Pictures, this Western serial stars veteran silent actor Robert Frazer as Jack Logan, the heir to half of a map to a hidden Indian mine. Evil French-accented trader Jean Gregg (Al Ferguson) sends his chief henchman Mack (Charles King) to make life difficult for Logan, who is aided in his quest by the heirs to the other half of the map, Helen (Blanche Mehaffey) and her kid brother Billy (Buzz Barton), and, most importantly, a uniformed mystery man known only as The Mystery Trooper. Produced by Harry S. Webb and one of Hollywood's few women executives, Flora E. Douglas, The Mystery Trooper has, somewhat unfairly, gone down in history as one of the worst serials made in the sound era. The surviving print is a 1938 reissue, retitled Trail of the Royal Mounted and complete with new, and more colorful, chapter titles. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, Buzz Barton, (more)
- 1932
Like many low-budgeters of the early talkie era, Sally of the Subway is not so much a film as a reunion of several former silent-screen favorites. The title character, played by Dorothy Revier, is a member of a criminal gang, intent on pulling off a huge swindle by using a genuine Grand Duke (Huntley Gordon) as their "front." Hero Jack Mulhall gets wind of the villains' schemes, and with craft and cunning allows the bad guys enough rope to hang themselves. Though Sally of the Subway was released by Action Pictures (a forerunner to Monogram), there's precious little action save for a mid-film fight sequence pitting Mulhall against four plug-uglies. Blanche Mehaffey, a poverty-row perennial, is the nominal love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Huntly Gordon, Jack Mulhall, (more)
- 1932
Alias Mary Smith might have been completely forgotten were it not for the diligent efforts of "B"-picture aficionado John Cocchi, who in such books as Second Feature has elevated this unintentionally hilarious cheapie to near-classic status. John Darrow plays a bibulous playboy who rescues put-upon heroine Blanche Mehaffey from a purse-snatcher. Their subsequent romance is complicated by Mehaffey's efforts to prove gangster boss Matthew Betz guilty of murder, a trick she pulls off with the help of a squeezed lemon (no kidding!) The tightness of the film's budget is never more obvious than in the obligatory newspaper-headline close-ups; all of these headlines have been obviously plastered over a single copy of the trade paper Variety (sharp-eyed viewers will note that each news story begins with a report from the Culver City kennel club). The film reaches a giddy high point when the heroine, threatened with a jail sentence by DA Henry B. Walthall, asks plaintively, "Is it a nice jail?" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, Myrtle Stedman, (more)
- 1932
In order to collect his inheritance, a young man must travel around the world with only two cents in this silly melodrama written and directed by the otherwise capable George B. Seitz. Jack Mulhall makes the journey via cruise ship, stowing away in Blanche Mehaffey's stateroom. He is discovered, and they are both thrown ashore when docking in Andalusia. Mehaffey, it turns out, is an Andalusian princess and they arrive in the middle of a palace revolution. Blanche Mehaffey attempted unsuccessfully to keep Passport to Paradise and many of her other programmers off television in the late 1940s, claiming with some justice that exhibition would ruin her reputation. Like most of her later vehicles, Passport to Paradise was produced by Mehaffey's then-husband, sound engineer Ralph M. Like. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Mulhall, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1931
A decidedly minor entry in the then-popular aviation melodrama cycle, The Sky Spider was the first film produced by sound engineer Ralph M. Like's low-budget Action Pictures. Former silent screen juvenile Glenn Tryon and Pat O'Malley are sibling air mail pilots vying for the same girl, Blanche Mehaffey. Tryon befriends Philo McCullough, whose mustache instantly reveals that he is up to no good. Sure enough, he and henchman George Cheseboro shoot down O'Malley's plane and steal the mail. O'Malley survives and finds shelter with prospector Jay Hunt. The villains, in an effort to silence the only witness to the theft, dynamite Hunt's mine. O'Malley survives this and manages to sabotage McCullough's getaway plane. The mail delivery back on track, Tryon asks O'Malley to be the best man at his upcoming nuptials with the blond Miss Mehaffey. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Glenn Tryon, Beryl Mercer, (more)
- 1931
Independent producer Jack Irwin went to town with this early sound western, which came complete with two (badly dubbed) songs -- "Just a Song at Twilight" and "My Mother's Prayer," as well as a motley group of former silent screen personalities that included veteran villain Tom Santschi, former Universal cowboy Ted Wells, Reed Howes (the erstwhile "Arrow Collar Man"), comedians Billy Franey and Tom Murray, and, presumably to keep the costs down even further, Mrs. Ted Wells. All this "talent" amounted to very little in a trite triangle melodrama about a carnival pitchman who loses his wife to an even slicker operator. The story is set on a wagon train west, but this was no epic -- to put it mildly -- but merely a way for the producer to squeeze the last drop of box-office potential from actors who still enjoyed some support in rural theaters. The film was eventually dumped on an unsuspecting public by the dubious Weiss Bros. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1931
J.P. McGowan directed this weak Western featuring former silent cowboy Bob Custer as Sgt. Ned Stone, a Canadian Mountie searching for the villain that killed his partner. At first, Stone suspects Tom (Robert "Buddy" Shaw), the brother of Ann (Blanche Mehaffey), who runs the trading post. The latter begs the real murderers, Leclerc (George Regas) and Tim McGuire (Eddie Dunn), to clear her brother's name, but they are mostly inclined to get rid of both brother and sister. In the end, Stone is aided by a mystery man, who turns out to be the chief inspector himself (William Walling) and the true villains are brought to justice. A grateful Ann then accepts Stone's proposal of marriage. A G.A. Durlam production, Riders of the North was released by low-budget company Syndicate Pictures Corp. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Custer, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1931
Alcoholic John Bowers heads to the Great Northwest, hoping that the fresh air and exercise will help him swear off booze. Joining Bowers in his northward journey is his beleaguered wife, played by Blanche Mehaffy. Unfortunately, our "hero" is unable to take the pledge, and soon he's drinking harder than ever and cheating on Mehaffy with French-Canadian charmer Lina Basquette to boot. Bowers gets his comeuppance when he's killed by Basquette's lover George Rigas, who in turn is knocked off by Basquette, leaving Mehaffey to marry her former husband's best friend. Star John Bowers was in real life the inspiration for the tragic Norman Maine in both versions of A Star is Born. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1931
The answer to the question asked by small-scale Sono Art/World Wide Pictures in this minor crime drama was a resounding -- only if the screenwriters pulled a couple of fast ones. All-purpose leading man Red Lease starred as Jerry Heath, an intrepid reporter whose sister, June (Helen Foster), goes to prison along with her guilty husband Dan (Robert Ellis). She dies behind bars and Jerry vows revenge. Covering a police raid, Jerry saves District Attorney Raymond's (Henry B. Walthall) wild daughter Kay (Blanche Mehaffey), who is found dancing on a table in her underwear. Although avoiding arrest, the girl is soon blackmailed by Dan, who has been released from prison and is then promptly murdered. Jerry is the most likely suspect, and, believing Kay to be the culprit, offers no defense. Sentenced to death row, he is saved by a last minute confession from a petty crook (Ernie Adams). Always a shaky proposition, Sono Art/World Wide Pictures managed to survive until 1933 on a steady diet of cheap crime dramas like Is There Justice? and B-Westerns starring Bob Steele and Ken Maynard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry B. Walthall
- 1931
Billed as "The Ace of Screen Dare-Devils," stuntman Richard Talmadge usually starred in films that suffered from strained or nonexistent budgets. Dancing Dynamite seems to be a bit more expensive than the usual Talmadge vehicle, but only by a few bucks. The star plays Dick Barton, a Catalina fisherman with aspirations to crash High Society. Tired of hearing Barton's incessant chatter about the rich and famous, his pal Bull Evans (Stanley Blystone) bets Dick that he could never hobnob with the upper classes. Dick takes that bet, and before the film is over he has rescued wealthy Murray Van Lane (Harvey Clark) from bankruptcy -- and as a bonus, he marries Van Lane's lovely daughter Helen (Blanche Mehaffey). Rychard Cramer, usually cast as a sadistic villain, is a hoot as a dimwitted detective. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Talmadge, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1931
A dedicated priest sets up a mission in the slums of a great metropolitan city, hoping to clean up the community by cleansing the souls of its denizens. The plot concentrates on one of these unfortunates, a falsely accused convict played by William Collier Jr. Released from jail, Collier returns to his tenement neighborhood, seeking revenge on the man who framed him. But upon meeting mission worker Blanche Mehaffey, the ex-girlfriend of his would-be victim, Collier vows to change his ways. He also sees to it that his two ex-cellmates (Murray Smith and James Bradbury Jr., a sort of poor man's Laurel and Hardy) will likewise follow the straight and narrow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanche Mehaffey, Matthew Betz, (more)
- 1931
Though not quite as good as his previous The Montana Kid, Bill Cody's 1931 western Dugan of the Bad Lands was still better than the usual run of low-budget westerns. The white-Stetsoned, Canadian-born Cody stars as Bill Duggan, who after the death of his prospector friend promises to look after the friend's young son Andy (Andy Shuford). In the course of their travels, Bill and Andy try to solve the murder of Sheriff Manning (John Elliot). The culprit turns out to be Manning's own deputy Dan Kirk (Ethan Laidlaw), who of course proves to be no match for the brawny Bill. Blanche Mehaffey, one of Hollywood's most prolific "B"-pic leading ladies, plays the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Cody, Andy Shuford, (more)
- 1931
Bob Steele rides the Sunrise Trail in this dusty "B"-western. Ostensibly an outlaw, Steele is actually an undercover operative for the local constabulary. He joins up with a gang of rustlers for the purpose of bringing the crooks to justice. Along the way, he falls for golden-hearted saloon gal Blanche Mehaffey. Both hero and heroine are exposed to deadly dangers before "our Bob" (as he was designated by the trade papers) is able to deliver the villains to the sheriff. Befitting the hero's pugnacious nature, there's a fight in every other reel of Sunrise Trail. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1929
Never one to take his metier too serious, Universal cowboy hero Hoot Gibson came dangerously close to outright burlesque in the aptly titled Smilin' Guns. As "Dirty Neck" Jack Purvin, Gibson is his old uncouth self but when he sees a newspaper photograph of Eastern socialite Helen Van Smythe, soon to arrive at the nearby dude ranch, Gibson hightails it to San Francisco in order to learn how to become a gentleman. Returning to the ranch, the new but not necessarily improved Gibson shreds his dandified image in order to save Helen from a lecherous but decidedly fake count and her mother (Virginia Pearson) from a jewel thief (Robert Graves). The count was played by none other than Leo White, whose mustache-twirling continental noblemen/revolutionists had graced several Charles Chaplin comedies in the 1910s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
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