Dorothy Farnum Movies
American screenwriter Dorothy Farnum was active from 1920 to 1935. Farnum was adept at transferring popular literary properties to the screen, as witness the silent versions of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Beau Brummel). At MGM in the mid-to-late 1920s, she worked on Garbo's The Temptress and The Divine Woman. She spent her last professional years in England, once again adapting novels and plays for the screen: her final credits include Jew Suess (aka Power, 1934) and Lorna Doone (1935). Dorothy Farnum is listed in some sources as having acted in the 1930 MGM film Call of the Flesh, but the official credits acknowledge only her contribution to the screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1934
Jew Suss was a well-worn stage drama based on an old novel by Lionel Feuchtwanger. The story involves an enterprising Jewish businessman (Conrad Veidt) who gains power and influence in the European community of Wurttemburg. He does this to help his people, who have suffered persecution under the Gentile burgomeisters. To his horror, Suss discovers that he is actually not Jewish at all. The question: Was his own suffering on behalf of the community's genuine Jews worth it, and will he continue to act in their best interest? Filmed as a protest against the rising tide of Anti-Semitism in Germany, Jew Suss (released in the U.S. as Power) was far from subtle, but its heart was in the right place. There would be a reprehensible 1940 German remake of Jew Suss, this time filmed under the aegis of Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, wherein the story was perverted into an anti-Jewish tract and Suss was portrayed as a drooling rapist! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Veidt, Benita Hume, (more)
- 1934
A British aristocrat and his son travel to Russia to embark upon a thrilling search for the father's other son, who was captured by the Russians after he had inadvertently stumbled across a highly secret airstrip while searching for buried treasure. The searchers find assistance with two Russian women, but even so, their quest is fraught with danger and excitement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Ratoff, Ronald Squire, (more)
- 1934
Evensong is based on the teary novel by Beverly Nichols, which had previously spawned a lachrymose (and enormously successful) stage play (Kismet) by Nichols and Edward Knoblock. The stunning Evelyn Laye stars as Irela, an Irish prima donna who rises to success sans a lover to share it with. Her domineering manager Kober (Fritz Kortner) has spent his entire career forbidding Irela to seek out romance, and as a result she loses the one true love of her life, handsome Archduke Theodore (Carl Esmond). The drama reaches an emotional high tide when the elderly, washed-up Irela sits alone in her dingy dressing room, with only the scratchy recordings of her old songs to keep her company. Evelyn Laye made only a handful of film appearances, of which Evensong was arguably her finest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Laye, Fritz Kortner, (more)
- 1934
A man's love for his wife overcomes his hatred for the family that brought her up in this period romantic adventure. Jan Ridd (John Loder) is a farmer in 17th Century England who has sworn to take revenge upon the Doones, an outlaw family who have laid waste to much of the property in his part of the country and were responsible for the death of Ridd's father. Ridd meets a woman named Lorna (Victoria Hopper), and in time they fall in love and marry. However, Ridd learns that Lorna was kidnapped by the Doones as a child and raised among them; she is eventually taken into custody by the Court of St. James in hopes of reforming her from the influence of her delinquent "family," and Ridd must fight to free the woman he loves. This was the second screen adaptation of the novel by R.D. Blackmore, and the first in the sound era; two more films based on Lorna Doone would follow, in 1951 and 1990. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Hopper, John Loder, (more)
- 1933
Previously filmed in 1928, the sentimental Margaret Kennedy novel The Constant Nymph was sumptuously remade by Gaumont Productions in 1933. Victoria Hopper plays the title character, a Belgian gamine named Tessa. The girl falls hopelessly in love with world-famous composer Lewis Dodd (Brian Aherne), who is so full of himself that he barely acknowledges Tessa's existence. As she looks on in quiet desperation, Dodd marries another woman, his distant cousin Florence (Leonora Corbett). It takes him nearly the entire picture to realize what a fool he's been, and that Tessa was the one girl for him all along -- but alas, it's too late. Constant Nymph was remade by Warner Bros. in 1943, at which time all prints of the 1933 version were supposed to be destroyed; happily, they weren't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Aherne, Victoria Hopper, (more)
- 1931
Also known as Lilac, this early Anatole Litvak-directed talkie was based on a play by Tristan Bernard and Charles Henry Hirsch. The story bears traces of the Bertold Brecht-Weill piece The Threepenny Opera, with heroine Lilac (Marcelle Romeo) consorting with the criminal scum of Paris. Lilac falls in love with a handsome detective (Andre Luguet), but he doesn't let his emotions stand in the way of his duty, and in the end he reluctantly turns her over to the authorities. At $120,000, Coeur de Lilas was one of the most expensive movies to come out of France in 1931, but it more than made back its cost at the box-office. Jean Gabin makes an early screen appearance as "The Tough." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- André Luguet, Marcelle Romee, (more)
- 1931
Le Chanteur de Seville is the French-language version of the Technicolor MGM musical drama Call of the Flesh. Ramon Novarro repeats his role as Juan, a young aspiring singer who is advised that he will never achieve greatness until his heart is broken. He learns the truth of this admonition when he falls in love with convent girl Lola (Pierette Caillol). Their brief, torrid romance proves to have unfortunate consequences, breaking not only Juan's heart but also his will to live. Though the original Call of the Flesh was directed by Charles J. Brabin, the French version was helmed by its star, Ramon Novarro, who did a commendable job. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzy Vernon, Ramon Novarro, (more)
- 1930
Metropolitan Opera diva Grace Moore made her film debut in MGM's A Lady's Morals. The film purports to be the biography of "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind, who was ballyhooed to stardom by 19th-century showman P.T. Barnum (Wallace Beery, who'd re-create the role in 1934's The Mighty Barnum). Most of the story, however, is given over to the fabricated romance between Lind (Moore) and young composer Paul Brandt (Reginald Denny), who gives her up when stricken with blindness. As if this wasn't trouble enough, Lind loses her voice at the height of her career; she regains her golden throat, but Paul is lost to her forever. Grace Moore sings seven songs during the film's amazingly brief (75-minute) running time, two of them operatic classics. The anemic box-office showing of A Lady's Morals and her follow-up vehicles briefly squelched Grace Moore's hopes for film stardom, but a few years later she enjoyed enormous success in a series of Columbia musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grace Moore, Reginald Denny, (more)
- 1930
The last of three back-to-back Ramon Novarro musicals, Call of the Flesh (aka The Singer of Seville) casts the star as aspiring opera singer Juan. Juan is advised by his mentor Esteban (Ernest Torrence) that he will never truly be a great singer until his heart is broken. This comes about when our hero falls in love with nun-in-training Maria (Dorothy Jordan), genteelly abducting her from the convent with romance in mind. But the Call of God is stronger than the Call of the Flesh, and Novarro must relinquish the love of his life -- but oh, how magnificently he sings on the occasion! Credibility is not this film's strong suit, but Novarro, once considered a leading rival to Rudolph Valentino, is in fine form, especially when he dances a sultry tango with Renee Adoree (in her last film). Originally filmed in Technicolor, Call of the Flesh is presently available only in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, (more)
- 1930
Based on Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse, Redemption was originally scheduled as John Gilbert's first talkie, but was held from release until distribution of his second, One Glorious Night. The official reason, as handed down by the MGM publicity hacks, was that Gilbert's efforts to tackle a role created on stage by John Barrymore had come acropper, so it was decided to rush him into a more typical Grausarkian romance. Others claim that MGM wanted to destroy Gilbert's career (he'd made the mistake of offending studio prexy Louis B. Mayer), so they deliberately released One Glorious Night, which contained one of the actor's worst performances, first. Even though Gilbert is rather persuasive in Redemption, he is defeated by the hackneyed script, in which the Enoch Arden-style hero, long-presumed dead, commits suicide rather than ruin the happiness of his newly remarried wife (Eleanor Boardman). Nor did it help matters any that certain scenes were extensively reshot, resulting in some deplorable continuity gaps. Contrary to the "official" MGM story, most reviewers of Redemption praised John Gilbert but condemned the film, rather than the other way around. No matter: Gilbert was dead in the water so far as the studio was concerned, and the only reason he was kept around until 1932 was that he refused to leave until his contract expired. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gilbert, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1929
A group of Londoners gather at the home of their host in order to solve the murders of two company officers. Once assembled the host announces that half of one of the deceased's fortune will go to the guests and if anyone should die, that person's share would go to the others. Before any money is doled out, the doors are locked and the host insists that the murderer confess. Mayhem ensues, but eventually the killer tells all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernest Torrence, Roland Young, (more)
- 1929
In this early talkie, a musical, a Polynesian storekeeper bears his chest and sings. He also falls in love with an island girl and rescues her from a lecher who tries to force her into a marriage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ramon Novarro, Renée Adorée, (more)
- 1928
One of the great directors of the silent era, Victor Sjostrom, teamed with fellow Swede Greta Garbo for this drama. The great Garbo plays Marianne, a young woman from Brittany who was neglected by her impoverished parents. Marianne longs to be an actress and moves to Paris, where theatrical producer Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman) takes her under his wing; Henry was romantically involved with Marianne's mother years ago and feels a semi-paternal affection for the young woman. Marianne falls in love with Lucien (Lars Hanson), a man who has deserted from the Army and is on the run from the law. To prove his devotion to her, Lucien steals a dress for Marianne, but this only attracts the police and Lucien winds up in jail. With Lucien behind bars, Henry's attentions become less friendly and more romantic, and Marianne must decide if she should wait for the man she loves or devote herself to the man who wants her. Sadly, no complete prints of The Divine Woman are known to exist; one reel of the eight-reel feature was discovered in a Russian film archive, but the remainder of the picture remains lost. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, (more)
- 1928
The venerable French stage drama Adrienne Lecouvreur was redressed by MGM as the Joan Crawford vehicle Dream of Love. It's a rags-to-riches yarn, as a fiery gypsy girl (Crawford) becomes an internationally popular actress. Loved by thousands of fans, Adrienne Lecouvreur is unable to find true love for herself until she makes the acquaintance of roguish Prince Mauritz (Nils Asther). The more overt sexual implications of the original play were toned down by screenwriter Dorothy Farnum, much to the disappointment of Joan Crawford's fervent fans. Like most of MGM's late-1928 releases, Dream of Love was outfitted with a William Axt musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Nils Asther, (more)
- 1926
The Temptress was Greta Garbo's second American film, and while it may strike modern viewers as excessively melodramatic, Garbo is always worth watching. The star plays Elena, the wife of Monsieur Canterac (Lionel Barrymore) -- and the mistress of rich Parisian banker Monsieur Fontenoy (Marc MacDermott). When the banker's Argentine friend Robledo (Antonio Moreno), a dynamic young engineer, pays a visit to Paris, the fickle Elena immediately falls in love with him. Upon learning that Fontenoy has lost his fortune, Elena dumps him and returns to her husband, whereupon the banker kills himself. Evidently not content with ruining one life, Elena heads to Argentina and goes to work on Robledo, leading to a bloody whip duel between Robledo and his rival Manos Duros (Roy D'Arcy). Inevitably, Elena drives Robledo to perdition and indirectly causes the destruction of the magnificent dam upon which he has worked all his life. Banished from Argentina, she returns to Paris, where she spends the rest of her days as a seedy streetwalker. At least, that was the ending of the European version of The Temptress. The American version incredibly ends happily, five years after the above-described events, as Robledo and the reformed Elena triumphantly supervise the opening of his now-repaired dam! Initially, the film's director was Garbo's mentor-lover, the brilliant Mauritz Stiller, but he was replaced halfway through by the competent but uninspired Fred Niblo -- and the finished picture shows this division of interests all too clearly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, (more)
- 1926
The Vincent Blasco-Ibanez novel Entre Naranjos served as the inspiration for Greta Garbo's first American film, The Torrent. Garbo plays Leonora, a full-bodied Spanish peasant girl who falls in love with her landlord's son Don Rafael Bull (Ricardo Cortez). To prevent his son from marrying beneath his station, Don Rafael's father banishes Leonora from his property. She relocates in Paris, where she achieves fame and fortune as an opera singer, while back at home Don Rafael becomes a prominent politician. When Leonora returns home, she spurns his offers of marriage, even during a raging flood in which her life is in Don Rafael's hands. After this spectacular sequence, the film's surprisingly unhappy ending seems anticlimactic. Garbo's lover-mentor Mauritz Stiller had originally been slated to direct The Torrent, but at the last minute MGM opted for house director Monta Bell. Whether or not Stiller could have compensated for the script's more ludicrous passages is open to conjecture: Suffice to say that, without Garbo's presence, The Torrent would have been just so much Spanish applesauce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, (more)
- 1926
The Rafael Sabatini swashbuckler Bardelys the Magnificent served as an excellent vehicle for MGM's top male star John Gilbert. Set during the regime of France's King Louis XIII, the story concerns a bold young braggart named Bardelys (Gilbert), whose sexual conquests have become legendary. When informed that there is at least one member of Louis' court who will not succumb to Bardelys' charms, our hero wagers that he will able to melt this "ice princess," a regal beauty named Roxelanne de Lavedas (Eleanor Boardman). But before he can concentrate his efforts on Roxelanne, Bardelys agrees to deliver some important diplomatic documents on behalf of a dying man named Lesperon. When it turns out that Lesperon was a traitor to the throne, Bardelys is sentenced to hang. In the final scenes, our hero desperately tries to escape his fate, while Roxelanne tearfully prepares to marry the only man who can clear Bardelys' name. Unfortunately, Bardelys the Magnificent no longer exists, though a tantalizingly brief excerpt appears in the Marion Davies comedy Show People. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gilbert, Eleanor Boardman, (more)
- 1925
This romance is based on the best-selling novel by Robert Keable, which was a sequel to yet another novel, Simon Called Peter. Monte Blue stars as clergyman Peter Graham, who is in love with Julie, a nurse (Marie Prevost). Julie, however, refuses to marry him. When World War I breaks out, they both serve in the same unit. When the war ends they are demobilized in Cape Town, South Africa. Julie resumes her nursing career, while Graham goes to work at a trading post. He winds up in a dispute with the corrupt boss, Stenhouse (George Siegmann), who tries to kill him. Mosheshoe, a native loyal to Graham (Charles Stevens), kills Stenhouse, but Graham's leg is shattered. Julie rushes to him and refuses to let it be amputated. She nurses him back to health, and once again he asks her to marry him. She refuses once more and he returns to London without her. He establishes a mission in London, and one day his old sweetheart Angelica (Virginia Brown Faire) shows up. She is pregnant and in need, so Graham offers to marry her. Julie arrives in London and winds up assisting in the birth of Angelica's child. But Angelica dies, freeing Graham and Julie to finally wed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, (more)
- 1925
Character actor William V. Mong rarely landed a role that was a real tour de force, but he has one -- or, rather, two -- in this drama. The wealthy but miserly Caleb Fry (Mong) lives with his lookalike servant, Tatterly (also Mong). The old man is the guardian of his nephew, Donald Brett (John Bowers), and he's not thrilled that the youth has decided to pursue an artistic career instead of becoming a businessman. As a result, Fry changes his will and leaves his estate to a cousin, Hector Kindon (Charles Gerard). One day Fry finds Tatterly dead and decides to take over his identity to see what his relatives are really like. To his surprise he discovers that Kindon is a worthless drunk while Donald and his sweetheart, Ella Tarrant (Marguerite de la Motte), are kindly and giving. Fry wants to help them out, but he can't because he didn't leave anything for Tatterly in his will. He cleverly manages to get some money together, however, and ruins Kindon on Wall Street. Kindon commits suicide and Fry gives the money to Donald and Ella who immediately wed and move to the country. Fry accompanies them. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marguerite de la Motte, William V. Mong, (more)
- 1925
Simple country girl Rose Kirby (Patsy Ruth Miller) is heartbroken when the wealthy parents of her sweetheart Jack Talbot (Alan Forrest) look down on her in this sentimental melodrama. Both go on to marry other people, but Jack never forgets her and even includes her in his will. Years later, Rose and Jack are reunited when their respective spouses die, giving them a second chance at happiness. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Ruth Miller, Allan Forrest, (more)
John Barrymore is virtually the entire show as 18th-century British fashion plate Beau Brummel. Thanks to his sartorial splendor and quick wit, Brummel is a favorite of the Prince of Wales (Willard Louis)--and with several ladies, though his heart belongs to the beautiful, unobtainable Lady Margery Avanley (played by 17-year-old Mary Astor, who during filming was carrying on a most passionate affair with her leading man). The arrogant Brummel falls from grace after insulting the Prince and then refusing to apologize. We last see Brummel in an asylum, dressed in rags, but with still enough pride to turn away his true love rather than allow her to throw her life away on him. John Barrymore is superb throughout, especially in the poignant sequences after his descent into poverty and disgrace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Mary Astor, (more)
- 1924
Marshall Neilan may not have been the best director for this Thomas Hardy tragedy; he was better with subject matter that wasn't quite so heavy. But he and his then-wife Blanche Sweet still made a good and financially successful film. Tess (Sweet) comes from a poor family. When her father, the town drunk, finds out that they are distant relatives of the aristocratic D'Urbervilles, he sends Tess to them to find work. She is hired as a maid by Alec D'Urberville (Stuart Holmes), who betrays her. She leaves and has a child that dies soon after it is born. After she gets work as a milkmaid, she meets Angel Clare (Conrad Nagel) and they fall in love. Although she writes a letter confessing her past to Angel, he never gets it -- a fact that Tess doesn't realize until their wedding night. She proceeds to tell him the truth, and, disillusioned, he leaves her and goes to Brazil. In the meantime, Alec D'Urberville decides to atone for his mistreatment of Tess and offers to marry her. She accepts and begins making plans to divorce Angel. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanche Sweet, Stuart Holmes, (more)
- 1924
This romantic comedy from Warner Bros. was based on the stage play by Clyde Fitch. Although Mary Larkin (Gertrude Olmstead) loves Tom Singleton (Robert Ellis), she can't see herself as the wife of a country doctor. Since Singleton won't leave the little New England town where they live, Mary decides to encourage the attentions of Herbert Woodbridge (Crauford Kent), a flashy stranger who has come to town. Singleton, meanwhile, has taken on what another, more old-fashioned doctor (George Periolat) believes to be a hopeless case -- a little boy who can't walk. The young doctor takes both the boy and his mother (Frances Dale) into his home, and is able to cure the youngster. Meanwhile, Mary accepts Woodbridge's marriage proposal and asks the local minister -- who happens to be Singleton's father (Norval McGregor) -- to perform the ceremony. He fetches his son to be a witness, and for a second witness, Singleton brings along the mother. It comes as a surprise to everyone, when the mother identifies the would-be groom as the husband she divorced for non-support. But after seeing his son, Woodbridge decides to reconcile with his ex-wife, and Mary happily returns to Singleton. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ellis, Gertrude Olmstead, (more)
- 1924
Irene Rich plays a selfish and tragic figure in this drama based on a best-selling novel by Willa Cather. Marian (Rich) is married to Captain Forrester (George Fawcett), an elderly railroad magnate, but she longs for the romance that is lacking in her May-December relationship. She finds it in Frank Ellinger (John Roche), and they elope. But then Marian hears that her husband has gone broke after giving away his fortune to a workingman's bank, and she goes back to him. She believes that Ellinger will return to her, but she finds out that he is about to wed someone else. She tries to go to him, but when she misses the train, she turns to another young lover, Neil Herbert (Matt Moore). Herbert takes her back to Forrester, and after he dies, she drowns herself in alcohol. Herbert sticks by her until he discovers her with another man. Then he finally walks out on her in disgust. Years later, Marian finally weds another old man, and moves away to South America. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Rich, Matt Moore, (more)
- 1924
Bebe Daniels never let her public or her studio down. In Daring Youth, Daniels delivers her usual sprightly performance as the free-thinking wife of Norman Kerry. Entering into marriage on the understanding that she will be given unbridled freedom to do what she wants with whom she wants, Daniels sorely taxes the patience of poor Kerry. But he's certain that she'll get over her hubris and settle down to become a proper housewife-which, after several comic escapades, she does. Daring Youth was directed by William Beaudine, long before he became entrenched as the King of Poverty Row. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Langdon, Bebe Daniels, (more)
