Sally O'Neil Movies
Known in vaudeville under the delightful moniker Chotsie Noonan, saucy silent screen comedienne Sally O'Neil (born Virginia Louise Concepta Noonan) became a major star in her second film, Sally, Irene and Mary (1925). Constance Bennett and Joan Crawford filled out the title trio but it was O'Neil's naïve chorus girl who ran away with the notices. Pronounced MGM's answer to Paramount's Clara Bow, O'Neil was voted a 1926 WAMPAS Baby Star but soon found herself mired in tasteless ethnic comedies such as The Callahans and the Murphys (1927) and Frisco Sally Levy (1927), the latter, according to one reviewer, proving as subtle "as a policeman's nightstick." In addition to her shaky screen vehicles, O'Neil suffered a severe case of stage fright. "So much depended on me doing well," she later explained. Her panic, however, was construed as temper tantrums and MGM dropped her option. She was rescued, most surprisingly, by D.W. Griffith, who cast her as a flapper in his one attempt at Lubitschian piquancy, The Battle of the Sexes (1928). The light touch was never a Griffith trademark, unfortunately, and the film was a distinct failure. Sound only tended to amplify O'Neil's nasal New Jersey accent and although well cast as Dion Boucicault's wistful Irish colleen Kathleen Mavourneen (1930), she was really more Bayonne than County Cork. John Ford awarded her the leading role as the street urchin in The Brat (1931), a remake of the 1916 Alla Nazimova melodrama, which O'Neill herself had done on stage the previous year. Although the film wasn't much liked, she emerged with fine personal reviews and a new contract with Fox. Nothing much came out of that, and she quit in disgust after six idle months in favor a return to the stage. In 1937, she turned up in the Irish-made Kathleen, a remake of her 1930 Kathleen Mavourneen, but Hollywood wags named the film "Cinderella Auld Sod" and O'Neil's screen career was over. In her later years, O'Neil appeared in summer stock, toured army hospitals with the USO and starred in a very successful 1951 Pasadena Playhouse production of Edith Wharton's The Bunner Sisters. Retired to the small town of Galesburg, IL, the erstwhile flapper became a locally noted painter who enjoyed several gallery showings. She was the sister of film actress Molly O'Day. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi- 1937
Filmed in Ireland, Kathleen is a fanciful bit of blarney predicated on the ballad "Kathleen Mavourneen". American actress Sally O'Neill stars as Kathleen O'Moore, the romantic bone of contention between Michael Rooney (Tom Burke) and Dennis O'Dwyer (Jack Daly). The two rivals team up to rescue Kathleen from her nasty aunt Hannah (Ethel Gryffies), who has arranged a loveless but profitable marriage for the girl. Several prominent Irish stage actors, notably Sarry Allgood and Denis O'Neal, are cast in pivotal roles. The story of "Kathleen Mavourneen" had previously been filmed several times, once with movie vamp Theda Bara in the lead! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil
- 1935
The construction site of a big tunnel provides the backdrop for this drama. When the project is delayed, the chief engineer is sent to the mountainous site to ensure things go as planned. He is accompanied by a reporter and her photographer. Together they stop the troublemakers before blood is spilled and coax the rest of the crew back to work. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Jory, Sally O'Neil, (more)
Filmed on location in Atlantic City, Convention Girl is the story of Babe Laval (Rose Hobart), whose job it is to keep out-of-town conventioneers entertained during their visits to the New Jersey resort town. Though Babe has a tough veneer, she's a good girl at heart, hoping someday to escape the lecherous clutches of "tired businessmen" in favor of true love. A likely candidate for romance is gambler Bill Bradley (Weldon Heyburn), but Babe will have nothing to do with him because of his shady profession. After an embarrassing episode with soap-tycoon Ward Hollister (Herbert Rawlinson), however, Bill looks a lot more appealing to our heroine. The supporting cast includes perennial western heroine Nell O'Day, as a convention girl who nearly loses her virtue, and comedian Shemp Howard in a "straight" role as a petty thief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rose Hobart, Weldon Heyburn, (more)
- 1934
This Poverty Row potboiler stars Sally O'Neil as Diana Wyman, a madcap heiress who manages to run through most of her family's fortune in record time. Cut off from her inheritance, Diana petulantly leaves for parts unknown. The executor of the Wyman estate, who happens to harbor a crush on Diana, dispatches his young assistant George Duncan (Paul Page) to track the girl down. Duncan catches up with our heroine in New Orleans at Mardi Gras time, and in a twinkling they've fallen in love with each other. Reviewers were so bored by The Moth that they reserved their best notices for bit player Fred Kelsey, typecast as usual as a bombastic detective. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Paul Page, (more)
- 1934
Lon Chaney Jr.-- still billed under his given name of Creighton Chaney -- was afforded one of his earliest leading roles in Monogram's 16 Fathoms Deep. Chaney is cast as Joe, a strapping young sponge fisherman who dreams of owning his own boat. Forced to borrow money from his rival Savanis (Georges Regas) to achieve his goal, Joe finds himself up to his ears in debts and usurious "interest." It's all part of a master plan concocted by Savanis to prevent Joe from marrying their mutual sweetheart Rosie (Sally O'Neil). The story is resolved by a plot device that would later be taboo when the Production Code went into effect. 16 Fathoms Deep was remade in 1948, with Lon Chaney Jr. recast as the villain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Creighton Chaney, (more)
- 1934
Beggar's Holiday was, appropriately enough, filmed on Hollywood's "Poverty Row"--that ramshackle collection of tiny studios on Gower Street rented out by independent producers in the early 1930s. This typical bit of Depression-era whimsy is apparently all about a callow rich man who taps his essential decency by pretending to be poor (we say "apparently" because the film has evidently vanished from sight, and information is sketchy). Hardie Albright and Sally O'Neil are the requisite young lovers, while J. Farrell McDonald does his reliable philosophical tramp routine. Beggar's Holiday was directed by Sam Newfield, perhaps the most prolific megaphone-wielder in all of "Gower Gulch". It was a painless way for moviegoers to spend 59 minutes back in 1934. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1933
Frequently misidentified as Ladies Must Love, this Universal musical represents one of the few screen appearances of Broadway luminary June Knight. The plot is the old one about three gold-digging girls who team up to fleece a millionaire of his millions. The girls are Jeannie (Knight), Dot (Sally O'Neil) and Peggy (Dorothy Burgess): their victim is a wealthy young blade named Bill (Neil Hamilton). Not surprisingly, Jeannie scotches the plan by falling in love with Bill for real. Based on a play by William Hurlbut, Ladies Must Love was the first American film for legendary German director Ewald Andre DuPont. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- June Knight, Neil Hamilton, (more)
When a patient dies of heart failure, society doctor Michael Travers (Lew Cody), takes an interest in her 14-year-old daughter Judy (Sally O'Neil), whom he makes his ward. Against the wishes of his fiancée, socialite Diane Manners (Aileen Pringle), Michael leaves for an extended business trip to Europe. Upon his return three years later, the good doctor falls desperately in love with his now fetching teenage ward, and is angered by the news that she is engaged to young Dick Manners (Edward Morgan, Diane's brother. When Judy agrees to delay her upcoming wedding, a furious Dick crashes his car. Badly hurt in the accident, Judy is saved on the operation table by Michael, who begs her forgiveness. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, (more)
- 1931
In this religious (but not overbearingly so) drama, a good man gets involved with a woman who wants to marry the man who impregnated her. When the lout refuses, her good friend intervenes to defend her and accidently kills the other. As a result he is imprisoned for five years. Following his release, the woman joins the Salvation army to support him and help him become pure again. Eventually her good work pays off, and he joins her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Graves, Helen Chandler, (more)
- 1931
An eerie early-talkie mystery, Murder by the Clock spends most of its time in a cemetery. The matriarch (Blanche Frederici) of a wealthy family is haunted by the notion that she'll be buried alive. To avoid this contingency, she has a horn installed in the family mausoleum, to be activated in case she arises from her casket. The lady is murdered, and shortly after her internment the horn blows at regular intervals. Each time the horn is heard, the dead woman is seen wandering the cemetery, and each time one of her relatives winds up dead. These "supernatural" events are actually being orchestrated by a covetous family member (there's a large legacy involved of course), who uses the services of several homicidal confederates. Murder by the Clock was perhaps more frightening in 1931 than it is today, but a TV revival is long overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- William "Stage" Boyd, Lilyan Tashman, (more)
- 1931
Arguably John Ford's weakest film, The Brat was based on a popular 1917 stage play written by and starring Maude Fulton, which in turn was made into a popular comedy for Alla Nazimova in 1919. Although vivacious and pretty, Sally O'Neil was hardly in Nazimova's league but here she is in the title role, a 17-year-old street urchin taken in by wealthy novelist MacMillan "Mack" Forester (Allan Dinehart), whose household she continues to aggravate with her street-smart wisdom. Soon enough, however, the Foresters begin to admire the girl, especially young Steven Forester who has fallen head over heels in love. "The Brat" loves the much older Mack, whose live-in girlfriends (Virginia Cherrill and June Collyer) become instantly jealous. In the end, however, the Brat realizes that Mack's infatuation with her is insincere and decides instead to marry Steven. The Brat was remade a second time by Fox in 1940 as The Girl From Avenue A, a vehicle for juvenile star Jane Withers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Alan Dinehart, (more)
- 1930
The Girl of the Port is a showgirl (Sally O'Neil), who finds herself stranded on the island of Fiji. While seeking a way home, she falls in love with an English nobleman (Reginald Sharland), who has come to Fiji to overcome his wartime-induced fear of fire. The nobleman's phobia again comes to surface when the showgirl's self-appointed boyfriend (Mitchell Lewis) forces our hero to participate in a Fijian fire-walking ritual. With the heroine's help, the nobleman overcomes his terror and trounces his rival. Its intriguing storyline notwithstanding, this was one picture that could really have used a stronger cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Reginald Sharland, (more)
- 1930
In this romantic melodrama, a sophisticated New York model finds herself falling for a hick. The handsome farm boy is working in the city as a census taker. The two are happy, but when he meets the model's rakish friend from Chicago, he immediately knows that trouble will soon be afoot. Sure enough, the model's sister, whose husband has been unemployed, is forced to ask her successful sibling for a loan. The rake, believing that the sister is an easy mark, charms her into an affair. At the same time, the farm boy begins investigating and discovers that his suspicions were accurate and the man from Chicago is a criminal. The young man immediately goes to the police and earns a substantial award. In the end, the errant sister returns to her husband and the farm boy and the model get married and move out to the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1930
Based on Dion Boucicauls's Irish play, this early talkie from lower-echelon company Tiffany starred one of the victims of sound, Sally O'Neil, formerly of MGM. A young Irish lassie, Kathleen arrives in New York to marry Terry (Charles Delaney), a poor but honest plumber. At a party given by her Aunt Nora Shannon (Aggie Herring), Kathleen dallies with unscrupulous political boss Dan Moriarity (Robert Elliott), whom she mistakes for a gentleman. When a jealous Terry denounces the girl, Moriarity asks her to marry him. At their wedding, a rabble-rouser accuses Moriarity's henchmen of having committed murder and is shot by the groom right in front of a terrified Kathleen. Having finally realized her intended's true character, Kathleen quickly returns to a forgiving Terry. Boucicault's sentimental melodrama had been filmed three times before, in 1906 by Edwin S. Porter, in 1913 starring Mary Fuller, and in a sumptuous 1919 version featuring a miscast Theda Bara. A fifth screen version of the play was produced in Ireland in 1937, again starring Sally O'Neil. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1930
The opening attraction at New York's Hollywood Theatre, Hold Everything was adapted from the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson musical of the same name that had served as a vehicle for Bert Lahr. For the film, both Lahr and most of the score were jettisoned, replaced by Joe E. Brown and songs by Al Dubin and Joe Burke. Brown plays Gink Schiner, a third-rate fighter who is at the same training camp as Georges LaVerne (played by Georges Carpentier), a contender for the heavyweight championship. Although he needs to be concentrating all of his energies on the upcoming bout, Georges keeps getting distracted: Norine Lloyd, a society dame, has a distinct interest in him, but the interest is strictly one-sided. Georges prefers Sue, an old buddy and confidante. Gink has woman trouble of his own, as his flirtations do not sit at all well with Toots, his erstwhile girl friend. More trouble arrives when Larkin, manager of current heavyweight champ Bob Morgan, appears at the camp with the goal of fixing the fight. He is sent packing, after which he attempts to slip a Mickey Finn to the challenger -- a plan which goes awry when Gink switches the drinks. Meanwhile, Gink, who is fighting in a preliminary in advance of the big fight, actually wins. Things don't look so bright for Georges, who initially gets the worst of it in his encounter with Morgan, but who eventually comes out on top. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joe E. Brown, Winnie Lightner, (more)
- 1929
In this comedy, a college sophomore gets into deep trouble when he gambles away his tuition money on the first day of school. Now to pay for his education, he must work as a soda jerk at a local fountain. There he meets and falls in love with a pretty coed. Because the shop's owner also loves her, he fires his rival. The student is now destitute and unemployed. He is just about to drop out when the money he needs mysteriously arrives in the mail. He thinks the money came from his mother and then begins readying himself for the big football game. He ends up sidelined until the final three minutes of the game. It is a tie score. No sooner is the hapless fellow placed on the field than he fumbles the ball and is knocked unconscious. He groggily awakens on a stretcher and as he is carried off the field, he learns that the girl paid his way. Suddenly the excited fellow sits bolt upright, leaps from the stretcher and begins running across the field to catch her before she boards the train. As he runs, the ball is thrown to him and he manages to score the winning touch down. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Quillan, Sally O'Neil, (more)
- 1929
In the wake of Universal's musical smash Broadway, several enterprising film companies affixed the name of the legendary Manhattan thoroughfare to the titles of their already-completed films. Case in point: Broadway Fever. Sally O'Neil stars as a trouble-prone servant girl who doesn't even get to Broadway until the final reel and then only marginally. Most of the film deals with O'Neill's bumpy romance with wealthy Roland Drew, who's almost as pretty as she. Broadway Fever was based very loosely on a short story by Viola B. Shaw. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Roland Drew, (more)
- 1929
In this drama, an impoverished songwriter from the South travels to Tin Pan Alley with his trusty piano. He stays at a boarding house where he falls in love with a pretty young woman. When the two are discovered trysting in the same room, the landlady tosses them out on their ears. To help pay for his back rent, the vindictive landlady keeps his piano. Her husband attempts to steal it away, but accidentally drops it down the stairs and smashes it into a jillion pieces. Fortunately, his new love works for two zany music publishers who begin selling the writer's songs which become hits. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Clyde Cook, (more)
- 1929
This early talkie antique is a backstage musical from Warner Bros. The plot involves the out-of-town tryout of a new musical comedy, and the people who perform therein: a bitchy leading lady (Betty Compson), an arrogant comedy lead (Joe E. Brown), and a starstruck chorus kid (Sally O'Neil). At the very last moment, the leading lady refuses to go on, forcing the producer to put the chorus girl in her place. It turns out that the star's seemingly rotten behavior was deliberately designed to give the chorine her big break. In between several Technicolor musical numbers (now only existing in black-and-white), we hear a lot of pedantic talk about "the show business." On with the Show's sole virtue is the exquisite Ethel Waters, who introduces her hit song "Am I Blue?" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
In this romantic romance, the daughter of a deeply religious self-righteous barge captain befriends a worldly tugboat worker. Unfortunately, her strict, domineering daddy, who is so desperate for control that he did not even teach his child to read, tries everything he can to stop the sailor from teaching her about life. The enraged captain beats her and even tries to kill the tugboat sailor. Eventually the father mellows out and allows the two to marry after the sailor saves the captain's barge which was accidently set adrift. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, Sally O'Neil, (more)
- 1929
Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1929
Filmed back-to-back with the similar The Broadway Hoofer, Broadway Scandals marked the first musical production from then-Poverty Row company Columbia Pictures and the feature film debut of popular Broadway emcee Jack Egan. Egan plays Ted Howard, a vaudevillian left stranded in a tank town. A local girl, Mary (Sally O'Neil), proposes to finance a new act with her savings and the team succeeds in a minor way until Ted is discovered by Broadway femme fatale Valeska (Carmel Myers). Not wishing to stand in her partner's way, Mary nobly resigns from the act and instead accepts a minor role in the show. She proves a sensation on opening night, however, and a jealous Valeska demands her ousted. But Ted, who is in love with Mary, reorganizes their old act and they begin a new life together as man and wife. Despite such songs as "Can You Read in My Eyes", by Sam Coslow, "Kickin' the Blues Away", by David Franklin, and the inimitable "Does Elephants Love Peanuts?", Broadway Scandals failed to make much of an impact and played mainly in the hinterlands. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Jack Egan, (more)
- 1929
Chorus girl Sally O'Neil (Teena Johnson) may be "hard-boiled," but she's no golddigger. Thus, when the father of her wealthy sweetheart Kyle Stannard (Donald Reed) tries to buy her off, Sally refuses the money. She sticks by Kyle even after he is disinherited and forced to go to work (oh, the indignity!) The financial strain on the young couple's marriage eventually takes its toll, and before long they separate, with Sally returning to the chorus line to square her husband's debts. At this point, Kyle's dad realizes that Sally is true-blue and does what he can to bring the young husband and wife back together again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Lilyan Tashman, (more)
- 1928
Two rich sisters become arch rivals when they fall in love with their swimming teacher in this silent adventure. The sneakier sister gets her sibling out of the way by sending her on a slow boat to China. Unfortunately, the handsome instructor was just hired to teach swimming on the same cruise. Desperately the conniving sister sneaks aboard. As soon as they arrive in China, she stuffs her good sister into a hotel closet, locks the door and leaves her there. She then does her best to make love to the instructor. Unfortunately, a Chinese revolution sudden erupts and the instructor, ignoring the bad sister, races back and gets there just in time to save the endangered girl. Marital bliss soon follows. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, William Collier, Jr., (more)
- 1928
A seriously injured boxer seemingly falls for his pretty nurse, who begins arranging their wedding. In this drama, the trouble begins when the fighter chickens out and jilts her at the altar. Later he re-enters the ring, and when he is once again injured it is then that he sees the light and goes to do right by his devoted nurse. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Graves, Eddie Gribbon, (more)
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