Charles Coleman Movies
Together with Arthur Treacher, Olaf Hytten and Wilson Benge, Charles Coleman was one of Hollywood's "perfect butlers." On stage, he was Pauline Frederick's leading man for many years. After touring the U.S. and Australia, he settled in Hollywood in 1923. Coleman was virtually always cast as a gentleman's gentleman, often with a streak of effeminacy; representative Charles Coleman assignments include Bachelor Apartment (1931), Diplomaniacs (1933), Three Smart Girls (1937) and Cluny Brown (1946). Charles Coleman is best remembered by film buffs for two classic lines of dialogue. Explaining why he falsely informed his master Charlie Ruggles that he was to dress for a costume ball in Love Me Tonight (1932), Coleman "I did so want to see you in tights!" And when asked by Deanna Durbin in First Love (1939) why butlers are always so dour, Coleman moans "Gay butlers are extremely rare." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1931
In her final starring role, silent screen diva Mae Murray plays Dolly, a young gold digger who manages to trap a rich widower, Dick (Edward Martindel). Although the couple seems happy enough, Dick's alcoholic brother, Joe (Lowell Sherman), becomes suspicious of the girl's motives and suspicion gives way to certainty when he spots Dolly embracing one Louis DeSalta (Leyland Hodgson), supposedly a stranger. Leaving the booze behind, Joe sets a trap for Dolly and DeSalta, who are made to confess. High Stakes was directed by its star, Lowell Sherman, who also cast the entertainingly over-the-top Murray in the comedy Bachelor Apartment (1931). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1931
A typical pre-code era comedy, Bachelor Apartment was the creation of its leading man, silent screen matinee-idol Lowell Sherman. He plays Wayne Carter, a Park Avenue roué, whose dalliances with a series of women are beginning to catch up with him. Enter a brunette and rather drab Irene Dunne searching for her wayward sister (Claudia Dell). Sherman falls like a ton of bricks for the no-nonsense and seemingly unresponsive Dunne, whom he hires as his executive secretary. For unexplained reasons, Dunne falls in love with her whimsical boss as well and after Sherman shows signs of shaping up, they embrace for a happy ending. Daring in its day, Bachelor Apartment is not really worth a second look except for a next-to-final glimpse of silent screen femme fatale Mae Murray. Playing Sherman's most ardent conquest -- who, as the suave playboy explains, "might commit a sin but never a faux pas" -- Murray has to be seen to be believed. Valiantly attempting to display her trademark bee-stung countenance while at the same time deliver a series of hoary lines, the still svelte Murray -- who is introduced to the strains of an ersatz Merry Widow Waltz lest we forgot -- offers an overripe performance that all but ended her screen career. Sherman used her once more -- in High Stakes, another frothy comedy -- but the aging Murray was obviously not talkie material. Bachelor Apartment offers a glimpse of yet another faded silent screen star, the mustachioed Norman Kerry of Phantom of the Opera fame, here playing the minor role of a theatrical wolf. Like Murray (and Lowell Sherman himself), Kerry's looks and mannerisms belonged to a bygone era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lowell Sherman, Irene Dunne, (more)
- 1931
A troubled production that suffered from both severe cuts and retakes under a different director (Edward H. Griffith), this World War I melodrama fell far short of becoming another All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as had obviously been the original intention. Told in flashbacks, the antiwar drama stars William Boyd as Sergeant Bill Thatcher, the head of an American battalion fighting for control of a French village. As Thatcher listens, three wounded soldiers under his command recall how they came to the battlefields of World War I: A farm boy, Bud (Russell Gleason), defied his mother (Mary Carr) and enlisted despite being the family's sole breadwinner; a New York playboy, trapped between two women, Ina (Marion Shilling), his newest conquest, and a former mistress, Lew (Lew Cody), sought the easy way out by enlisting; finally, Private Jim Mobley (James Gleason) tells the heartfelt story of how his wife, "Mademoiselle" Fritzi (ZaSu Pitts), a carnival knife thrower, got very upset when he decided to escape housekeeping duties by joining the army. Back on the battlefield, Jim finds Bill at the machine gun, where the latter finally tells his own story of how he came to hate his German-born fiancée, Katherine (Lissi Arna), when she warned him of the futility of war. Before blowing up a railroad bridge, Bill admits to Jim that he now fully understands Katherine's sentiments. Wounded in the battle, both soldiers end up in a German Red Cross hospital where Bill is reunited with Katherine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- ZaSu Pitts, Lew Cody, (more)
- 1930
A devoted valet takes a vacation in this lively drama. After 15 years of faithful service, he has earned it. He goes to India where he ends up mistaken for a colonel and gets into trouble. After it is straightened out, he brings home the charming widowed housekeeper he met, and she begins working with him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Everett Horton, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1930
In this romance, the family chauffeur tells no one that he is really a decorated war hero. He does this to stay away from bootleggers and to keep the besotted daughter of his employer away from him. In the end, the hapless driver can no longer resist the charms of the enamored girl and romance ensues. When she learns that they are really from the same social class, marriage ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Miriam Seegar, (more)
- 1930
After several musicals and light comedies, Bebe Daniels went dramatic in this adaptation of Samuel Shipman's play Lawful Larceny. When Marion Dorsey's (Daniels) gullible husband Andrew (Kenneth Thompson) loses a great deal of money to seductress Vivian Hepburn (Olive Tell), our heroine adopts Vivian's crooked tactics to get it back. Before long, Marion has Viv's partner-in-crime Guy Tarlow (Lowell Sherman), who also directed, eating out of her hand. Interestingly enough, villainess Olive Tell was the wife of Henry Hobart, the film's associate producer, who evidently didn't mind that his missus was cast in a thoroughly unsympathetic role. Hope Hampton and Conrad Nagel were the stars when Lawful Larceny was first filmed in 1925. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bebe Daniels, Ken Thomson, (more)
- 1928
Accustomed to being directed by William A. Seiter, Universal comedy star Reginald Denny was thrown off his usual pace when That's My Daddy was assigned to Fred C. Newmeyer. As a result, Denny ended up directing most of the picture himself -- and also rewrote the screenplay. The story concerns a wealthy young groom-to-be (Denny) who, dressed in formal attire and top hat, is speeding to the chapel, where his bride awaits. Meanwhile, cute little orphan Jane la Verne dreams of being reunited with her real daddy, imagining him to be wearing top hat and tails. Running away from the orphanage, the kid is struck down by a car (not Denny's!) and rushed off to the hospital, where in her delirium she describes her "dream daddy". As this is transpiring, a traffic cop pulls Denny over and asks "Where's the fire?" Hoping to talk his way out of a traffic ticket, Denny claims that he is rushing to visit his hospitalized child -- little realizing that the cop has just come from little La Verne's bedside. With a smile on his Irish mug, the cop escorts Denny to the hospital, greeting the child with "Your daddy's here." Thus it is that our prevaricating hero is saddled with a "daughter" -- on his wedding day! That's My Daddy didn't do as well at the box-office as previous Reginald Denny vehicles, a fact that the star later attributed to the studio's decision to recut and retitle the film, transforming the sweet little juvenile lead into a bratty wisecracker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1926
Pert and pretty Sandy McNeill (Madge Bellamy) is strong-armed by her parents into marrying wealthy Ben Murillo (Bardson Bard). Ben turns out to be a sadistic wife-beater whose cruel excesses lead to the death of Sandy's baby. Fleeing this abusive environment, Sandy falls in love with handsome architect Ramon Worth (played by the "original" Harrison Ford). Her happiness proves short-lived when Ramon's former sweetheart Judith (Gloria Hope) arrives on the scene. Sadly, Sandy moves in with her cousin Isabel (Lillian Leighton) -- whereupon she promptly falls for Isabel's boyfriend Douglas Keith (Leslie Fenton). When Ramon finds out about this, he shoots Sandy and kills himself. To avoid scandal, Douglas valiantly takes responsibility for Ramon's death, but Sandy steps forward to exonerate him in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madge Bellamy, Joan Standing, (more)
- 1924
The racy William Hurlbut play The Strange Woman was toned down to make this romantic Shirley Mason vehicle. When small-town resident John Hemmingway (Theodore Von Eltz) travels to wicked Paris to study architecture, he meets Inez de Pierrefond, a young widow (Shirley Mason). He falls in love with her and when he has to return to America he proposes, but much to his surprise, she turns him down. Because of her unhappy marriage, she no longer believes in the institution; on top of that, she's actually the author of a scandalous novel about free love. She manages to convince Hemmingway to bring her to the States without a marriage certificate. The folks in his small town have equally small minds and they do not welcome their freethinking guest. Inez notes all the hypocrisy around her and threatens to expose it unless she is left alone. Finally, Hemmingway's nice, old-fashioned mother is able to talk some sense into Inez and she agrees to marry her sweetheart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Mason, Theodore Von Eltz, (more)
- 1924
Searching for his wayward brother, saddle tramp Donnegan (Buck Jones) gets in trouble with a bully and is thrown off a freight train in this average Buck Jones oater. Unconscious, the hero is picked up by lovely Lou Macon (Marian Nixon) and her father (Harry Lonsdale), both of whom are on their way to recover their valuable mining property. The bully turns up again, and so does Donnegan's brother who, lo and behold, is Lou's fiancée. For a silent western, Vagabond Trail is a bit on the complicated side, but everything, including the relationship of the two brothers, is neatly wrapped up by the fade-out. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Coleman, George H. Reed, (more)
- 1923
Fox Western star Buck Jones enjoyed a change of pace in this boxing melodrama directed by a young William Wellman. Returning from the war, Dan O'Hara discovers that his wife has left him for another man. To find a new purpose in life, Big Dan turns his home into a gym for street boys, where he teaches them how to box. He later falls in love with pretty Dora Allen (Marian Nixon), but a jealous woman (Jacqueline Gadsden) is only too happy to inform Dora of Big Dan's marital status. Fortunately, the errant wife obligingly dies in a sanitarium, leaving Dan and Dora free to marry. Big Dan successfully mixed action with sentiment, leaving the comic relief to veteran comedian Monte Collins and African-American actress Mattie Peters, the latter portraying a no-nonsense factotum named Ophelia. Hired originally to keep the studio's reigning cowboy star Tom Mix in line, Buck Jones proved to be no mere copy and quickly found his own audience. Unlike Tom Mix, Jones would regularly be cast in non-Westerns, but his bread-and-butter remained sagebrush tales. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eileen O'Malley, Buck Jones, (more)
- 1923
This stereotypical rural tale wastes the talents of Charles "Buck" Jones, who was far better off in Westerns, where he would eventually earn his fame. Here he is Andy Hanks, an itinerant fix-it man who comes to town with his horse and dog as his only pals. He falls in love with Angela Trent (Ruth Dwyer), a young woman with an air of mystery about her. The village miser, Seth Poggins (Frank Weed), wants her for his wife, and she does her best to avoid his pestering. When a man is seen entering Angela's home late one night, the whole town is scandalized. It turns out that Angela has a husband, and he burns down the library. Hanks is blamed for the crime and he is beaten when he refuses to confess. Eventually his innocence is established and the husband dies when he sinks into a bed of quicksand. Hanks saves Angela from the further attentions of Poggins by marrying her himself. This picture was one of the lesser directorial efforts early on in the career of William Wellman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Weed, Ruth Dwyer, (more)
