Lucy Beaumont Movies

Lest exhibitors didn't think the source material's title (based on a novel by then-popular writer Kathleen Norris) was particularly exciting, Warner Brothers offered the alternative title, "Flaming Passion," to this Jack Conway melodrama. In the belief that his noble title will lead her to a glamorous life, Lucretia (Irene Rich) marries Sir Allen Lombard (Marc MacDermott). Her hopes are dashed however, when she discovers he leads a dissolute lifestyle. Because of his decadent ways, Lombard eventually finds himself confined to a wheelchair and becomes a drug addict. He tricks Lucretia into giving him an overdose, which kills him. She is accused of murder, but the district attorney, Stephen Winship (Monte Blue), absolves her from any blame. He falls in love with her, but he has just become engaged to Mimi (Norma Shearer), a ward of his father (Alec B. Francis). He goes ahead with the marriage only because he believes that Lucretia does not love him. The truth is that she has gone off with his brother Fred (John Roche) to help him with a problem. A forest fire breaks out and Lucretia tries to save Mimi, only to be stuck on a bridge that is washed away by a bursting dam. Winship saves both of them, but Mimi dies from her injuries. With her death, Winship and Lucretia are free to be together. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

In this simple little romantic drama, Charles "Buck" Jones plays fireman Andy McGee. McGee becomes a fireman over the protests of his mother (Lucy Beaumont), who doesn't want to see her son sacrifice his life the way his father did. When she dies, McGee adopts little Elizabeth Stevens (Eileen O'Malley), who takes care of him instead of vice versa. Along the way he meets Agnes Evans, a chorus girl (Marian Nixon), and falls in love. He finds out she is married to a worthless alcoholic, and he sadly has to write her off. When the home in which she lives catches fire, he comes to the rescue and saves her. Then he finds out that her husband -- who had locked her in her room -- is still inside. McGee does his duty and goes back for the husband. His heroic attempt to rescue the man, however, is in vain. The death of Agnes' nasty husband paves the way for her relationship with McGee. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The Family Secret involves wealthy Gladys Hullette and her poverty-stricken beau Edward Earle. To avoid incurring her father's wrath, Hullette marries Earle in a secret ceremony. When Hullette' child is born, papa throws her out of the house. Year pass: Earle, sneaking into his father-in-law's home to visit his child, is arrested as a burglar. It is up to the daughter-played by perennial "little Miss Fixit" Baby Peggy Montgomery--to straighten things out. Based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's hoary old kiddie story Editha's Burglar, The Family Secret is handled with wit and nuance by director William A. Seiter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Former Mack Sennett comedian Ford Sterling practically steals this show in this Malcolm St. Clair-directed picture, which Moving Picture World called, "As spicy as a French domestic farce and yet as clean as a hound's tooth." William Hyatt (Tom Moore) runs an exclusive shoe store, and his happy marriage to Grace (Florence Vidor) is nearly derailed by his well-meaning, but hopelessly gauche pal, Al Hennessy (Sterling). Dagmar, a Parisian shoe designer (Esther Ralston) has come to town to meet with Hyatt and Hennessy, and Hennessy describes the situation to Grace in the worst possible manner, convincing her that her husband is having an affair. The more information Hennessy offers, the more incensed Grace becomes until she and Hyatt decide to take a break from each other. Hyatt goes to a summer hotel, and the suspicious Grace follows after him, expecting to catch him in the midst of a torrid romance. Instead, she finds that Hennessy has married Dagmar, who was an innocent party this whole time. As a result, Hyatt and Grace quickly reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The Greater Glory was adapted by June Mathis from The Viennese Medley, a novel by Edith O'Shaughnessy. Set during WWI, the film focuses on the changes wrought by the war upon a "typical" European family. Specifically, the story zeroes in on the two prettiest family members, Fanny (Anna Q. Nilsson) and Corinne (May Allison). Corinne is a separated from her sweetheart early in the proceedings, but promises to be faithful. Not so Fanny, who becomes the mistress of an odious war profiteer. In the end, Fanny is redeemed by True Love, while Corinne, though worn down by poverty and deprivation, likewise enjoys a happy ending. The travails of the two heroines are reflected by recurring superimposed appearances of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, whose scenes were filmed in Technicolor. Running nearly 30 reels (or six hours!) in its original form, The Greater Glory was eventually released at a more manageable 2-hour length. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Don Marquis' bucolic stage comedy-drama The Old Soak was first brought to the screen in 1926. Jean Hersholt plays the title character, Clem Hawley Sr., the town drunk in a small rural community. When his beloved son Clemmy (George Lewis) is falsely accused of a crime, Clem Sr. nobly takes the blame. Eventually he clears himself, but not before exposing the hypocrisy of several of the town's "leading citizens." Though The Old Soak veered towards sentimentality, actor Jean Hersholt and director Edward H. Sloman kept the bathos firmly under control. The property was remade in 1936 as the Wallace Beery vehicle Good Old Soak. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

According to critics of the day, the sentimentality of this crook drama was a bit too much even for the 1920s, when mother love was viewed with extreme reverence. A pair of thieves, J. Rupert Doods (Herbert Rawlinson) and Dick Foster (Gareth Hughes), are on the lam from the cops when they meet Mrs. Abbott (Lucy Beaumont), a kindly old lady. They convince the woman to take them in and soon she has practically adopted them. The crooks continue their heists while pretending to run an antiques shop out of Mrs. Abbott's home. When she discovers her boys' real line of work, Mrs. Abbott is horrified. Her attempts to save Foster from his life of crime are futile -- Doods has too strong a hold on him. One night, Mrs. Abbott tries to interfere with Foster's attempt to rob a house and she herself is arrested. She refuses to give away any information regarding the men and faces a prison sentence. Shocked that his callous partner is willing to let her be convicted, Foster confesses. It turns out that Mrs. Abbott is actually the long-lost sister of the woman whose house the men were going to rob, and there is a fortune waiting for her in England. She adopts Foster for real, and he goes to England, accompanied by his new bride, Trixie (Wanda Hawley). ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Savage Passions was produced by Nat Levine, long before his fruitful association with Republic Pictures. Set in the hills of Tennessee, the story concerns a long-standing feud between two moonshining families. As much as the rival clans hate each other, they hate the Law even more. After reels and reels of bitter fighting and bloody shooting, the audience is primed for an all-stops-out violent climax. Instead, Savage Passions wimps out by having the feud settled in court, with hugs and handshakes all around. Alice Calhoun, who spent most of her career in "B" pictures like this one, headed the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A low-budget drama with high-budget pretensions, The Love Wager begins by focusing on the relationship between care-worn mother Lucy Beaumont and her scampish son Arthur Rankin. Upset that her boy never comes home before 3 AM, Beaumont decides to go to the police to search for Rankin, but en route she is struck down and killed by a car driven by her own son. Sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter, Rankin commits suicide, whereupon his cellmate Sheldon Lewis rifles through the kid's pockets, finding a letter of introduction to pretty socialite Lenore Bushman. Upon his release, Lewis makes a beeline to Grey's home, and immediately begins formulating plans to steal the girl's pearl necklace. So what does this have to do with a "love wager"? Well, it seems that wealthy bachelor Gaston Glass has bet millionaire W. W. Watson that he, Glass, can make his own living for six months without relying on his family's money. If he succeeds, Glass will permitted to marry Bushman, who happens to be Watson's daughter. Thus, when the girl's necklace turns up missing, guess who gets the blame? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One would never guess that the idea for this maudlin exercise sprang from the mind of the usually reliable Anita Loos. Shirley Mason plays Sally Simpson, a small-town girl who heads to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a movie star. Failing in this enterprise, Sally finds herself alone and broke in Tinseltown, while her mother back home suffers in her bed, in dire need of an operation. To raise the necessary medical funds, Sally very nearly compromises her virtue with oily Grant Payne (John Miljan). She is saved from this humiliation by her childhood sweetheart Johnny Nash (William Collier Jr.), who materializes out of nowhere to punch Payne senseless and provide the necessary funds with no strings attached. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

From small-scale (and typically misnamed) Excellent Pictures, this minor silent melodrama featured handsome Bryant Washburn as Roger Van Dorn, a scion of society marrying a lowly cabaret dancer, Fola Dale (Lila Lee), despite the misgivings of his domineering Aunt Honoria (Martha Mattox). In collaboration with spurned debutante Helen Worl (Jacqueline Gadsden), Aunt Honoria manages to break up the couple by convincing Roger that Fola has been unfaithful during an engagement in Paris. When Roger learns that Fola has given birth to their child, he stops divorce proceedings and rushes to her side. Supporting actress Jacqueline Gadsden specialized in playing the other woman, and is perhaps best remembered as Clara Bow's debutante nemesis in It (1927). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This Columbia potboiler top-bills Charles Delaney and Olive Borden, two of the prettiest people in the movies. Delaney plays a naïve young bucko who gets mixed up with some gangster types then can't escape their influence. He knows he shouldn't be participating in crime, but he needs a quick source of income so as to support his grey-haired mother. At the urging of heroine Borden, Delaney turns his back on his outlaw chums and goes to the police, which action nearly costs him the use of his life. The film's main attraction was the sight of leading lady Olive Borden in her customary flimsy undergarments (Too bad the film no longer exists!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi