Dorothy Cumming Movies

Frank Lloyd both produced and directed The Divine Lady, a Hollywood slant on the 19th century romance of Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton. American film star Corinne Griffith, decked out in a blonde wig, is decorative but otherwise unconvincing as Lady Emma, while Hungarian-born Victor Varconi brings an inappropriate continental air to the veddy British Lord Nelson. Both stars found themselves playing second fiddle to Marie Dressler, mugging to her heart's content as Lady Emma's ambitious mother. The scandal surrounding the leading characters' illicit affair is secondary to the film's exciting reconstructions of Nelson's celebrated sea battles. Technically a silent, Divine Lady was released with a Vitaphone musical score and sound effects. Lost in the shuffle during the switch over to talkies in 1929, Divine Lady is forgotten today, totally eclipsed by the immensely successful 1941 film Lady Hamilton, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stage director Rouben Mamoulian jolted the (at the time) moribund sound-film industry with innovative sound experiments and revolutionary camera techniques with his electrifying feature-film debut Applause. In this backstage musical tragedy, Kitty Darling (Helen Morgan), a big-time burlesque star, sends her young daughter to a convent to get her away from the sleazy burlesque environment. Years later, Kitty has hit the skids, her best days behind her. Now an alcoholic living in the past, she has taken up with a low-life burlesque comic by the name of Hitch (Fuller Mellish Jr.). But then her now-grown daughter, April (Joan Peers) returns. Kitty, embarrassed by her condition, marries Hitch so that April won't be ashamed of her. Nevertheless, when April arrives, she is disgusted with her mother and her decrepit life. Shocked and lonely, April roams the city streets and meets an equally lonely young man --Tony (Henry Wadsworth). They fall in love and agree to marry. When April goes to tell her mother about their final plans for the wedding, she overhears Hitch belittling Kitty, calling her a has-been. Infuriated, April calls off the wedding, joining the chorus line of a burlesque show, and Kitty, thinking that April is going to be married, is deeply despaired. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Even those who can't recall the plot of the silent Our Dancing Daughters (and there admittedly isn't much to remember) can never forget the indelible images of Joan Crawford tearing loose with one Charleston after another. Since everyone in the film is rich, the wild parties that dominate Our Dancing Daughters are played out in the biggest mansions this side of Windsor castle. Jazz-baby Crawford is actually a good girl despite her hedonistic lifestyle. She wants to marry young millionaire Johnny Mack Brown, but he is tricked into marriage by deceitful Anita Page. After drinking herself blotto at a party, Anita brags about her subterfuge, then conveniently tumbles down a long flight of stairs to her death ("Poor little rich girl" is the general consensus of opinion amongst the many servants, though few in the audience are shedding any tears). Thus, Crawford is able at last to link up with Brown, presumably to live happily ever after. Released with synchronized music and sound effects, Our Dancing Daughters manages to convey the "noise" of the Roaring '20s without sound, relying instead on inserted shots of art-deco statuary and the bubbling-over performance of Joan Crawford in the role that made her a star. Crawford was reunited with her Dancing Daughters co-stars Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian in two follow-up films (not sequels), Our Modern Maidens (1929) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Wind, Victor Sjostrom's final American film, is a western only in its locale: its symbolism-laden story of physical and spiritual repression, culminating in a violent, hysterical outburst, has more in common with the European or Scandanavian cinema than with the usual MGM product. Lillian Gish plays a sheltered Virginia girl who heads to Texas to live with her male cousin and his family. Upon arriving at her new home-actually little more than a squalid shack-she is treated as an unwelcome interloper. Even worse is the omnipresecent wind, which howls ceaselessly all around. To quell the jealousy of her cousin's wife, Lillian marries cowboy Lars Hanson, but this impulsive union seems foredoomed from the start. During Hanson's absence, Lillian is visited by former suitor Montague Love. With rape on his mind, Love laughs derisively as Lillian aims a pistol at his midsection. His laughter ceases when she pulls the trigger (the killing is subtly conveyed by a cutaway to a sand-covered plate, which jiggles slightly from the impact of the shot). In near hysteria, she drags the dead man outside and buries him, the mercilessly wind whipping and buffetting her about. Locking herself in the shack, Lillian looks out the window--and, in fascinated horror, sees Love's body "emerging" from the constantly shifting sands. In the film's original ending, Lillian goes completely mad, wandering blindly into the desert. Preview audiences were revolted by this denoument, so the film now ends with Larson's return and a happy reconciliation (reportedly, director Sjostrom's original cut is still available from European sources). In later years, Lillian Gish recalled The Wind as the toughest, most unpleasant picture she ever worked on. The location scenes were shot in the Mojave Desert, where the combination of relentless heat and artificially induced windstorms made working conditions virtually intolerable. At one point, Ms. Gish absentmindedly clutched the metal handle of her car's door-immediately incurring a second-degree burn. Adapted by Frances Marion from a novel by Dorothy Scarborough, The Wind, despite its artistic merit, was a box-office disappointment, resulting in a parting of the ways between Lillian Gish and MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having scored big-time box office with his first Biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923), Cecil B. DeMille hoped to top this success with his 1927 The King of Kings. Inasmuch as he was now dealing with the life of Christ, DeMille had to be careful to serve up equal amounts of showmanship and reverence. The first creative challenge: how to "introduce" Christ in a tasteful manner? The answer: as a blind child is cured through Jesus' intervention, DeMille cuts to the child's point-of-view, slowly fading in on the kindly countenance of H.B. Warner as the Son of Man. Still, DeMille remained DeMille, especially in his handling of the character of Mary Magdalene (Jacqueline Logan). No longer a tattered streetwalker, Mary Magdalene is now a glamorous courtesan, replete with legions of gorgeous slave girls (one of whom is "bubble dancer" Sally Rand) and dressed in revealing Hollywood-style gowns. In fact, the film opens on this character, as she ruminates over the defection of her favorite customer, Judas Iscariot (Joseph Schildkraut), who is spending far too much time with Jesus of Nazareth. Upon visiting Jesus herself, she immediately repents, casting off all her prior sins. Once again, the efficacy of the Cecil B. DeMille formula is proven: redemption has no dramatic value unless the film shows viewers why the sinner needs to be redeemed. Once he's gotten his box-office considerations out of the way, DeMille adheres faithfully to the particulars of Jesus' life, betrayal, trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. (Again, however, the director improves a bit upon his source material: the storm that follows the Crucifixion is of the same spectacular dimensions as the parting of the Red Sea in Ten Commandments, while the Resurrection is filmed in vibrant Technicolor). To back up the authenticity of his images, DeMille -- with an assist from scenarist Jeannie Macpherson -- utilizes Scriptural quotes in his subtitles. And to avoid any untoward publicity while filming, DeMille required all of his actors to sign legal documents preventing them from indulging in any sort of "sinful" activity; this meant that poor old H.B. Warner had to steer clear of alcoholic beverages for nearly a year, though he more than made up for lost time after his contract ran out. Prepared to mercilessly lambaste The King of Kings, DeMille's critics were disarmed by his reverent, tasteful approach to the subject. Years after the film's release, a specially prepared 60-minute version of the 18-reel King of Kings was making the rounds of religious groups, church basements, and Easter-weekend telecasts. The film was remade in 1961 by producer Samuel Bronston and director Nicholas Ray, with Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Legendary (and, to some, infamous) African-American comedian Stepin Fetchit made his first screen appearance in In Old Kentucky. This second cinemazation of Charles T. Dazey's war-horse play throws out most of the original plot in favor of a new yarn involving a returning soldier (James Murray), who rescues his family estate from rack and ruin. The play's famous Kentucky Derby finale remains, however, and it's as pulse-pounding as ever. Stepin Fetchit's role of "Highpockets" provides a few oases of welcome comedy relief. In Old Kentucky would be filmed for a third time in 1935, rewritten to accommodate the talents of Will Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As a whimsical adaption of James M. Barrie's stage version of the Cinderella story, this film was not immediately appreciated for the magic created by its cinematography. It has become a classic masterpiece, in the genre of similar films like Peter Pan. The story begins with a very young woman (Betty Bronson) and a ray of light that violates the blackout during a WW I air raid in London. A policeman (Tom Moore) investigates the light, and is beguiled by the young woman and her vivid imagination. In a splendid dream sequence that begins as the woman falls asleep in the snow, this little house maid undergoes a stunning transformation. First she leaves her scullery self behind as she waits for her Fairy Godmother, and then she becomes a glorious Cinderella. She joins the ball of her dreams, where she finds people from her regular life mixed in with the imaginary dancers at the ball. The London bobby's enchantment grows as the story reaches its charming end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Ninety percent of the silent films of director Edward H. Sloman have been lost to the ages, and Butterflies in the Rain is no exception. The story is set in London, where spoiled-brat heiress Laura LaPlante is the bane of her aristocratic family's existence. When a family of wealthy "commoners" moves next door to her estate, LaPlante goes out of her way to insult them then stages a dinner party for the express purpose of humiliating their new neighbors. Despite the snubbing, James Kirkwood, the neighboring family's son, falls madly in love with LaPlante. Eventually they get married, but LaPlante has a lot of trouble overcoming her initial negative reaction to Kirkwood's presence. The problem is resolved when the hero and heroine lose all their money, forcing them to realize how deeply they care about each other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although this isn't one of her top pictures, Gloria Swanson was near the peak of her career when she made it. She's excellent in a dual role, and is directed by one of her favorite collaborators, Allan Dwan. Nadine Gathway, a turn-of-the-century belle (Swanson), dumps her priggish husband and runs away to Europe. Her daughter, Joyce (also Swanson), is left behind and grows up into a lively young girl. When Gathway dies, he leaves her his fortune -- providing she never gets herself into a scandal. She finds trouble in Palm Beach when she falls in love with the married Larry Fay (Anthony Jowitt). Fay sincerely loves her and asks his wife Constance (Dorothy Cumming) for a divorce. Constance refuses and arranges to sue Joyce for alienation of affections. Nadine -- who has left her own scandalous past behind and become the Countess de Tauro -- hears of her daughter's troubles and returns to America. She puts Constance in a compromising position to keep her from instigating the lawsuit, and then takes all the blame on herself. Fay and Joyce wind up together, while Nadine's husband, the Count (Alec Francis), understands his wife's motivations and proves his love for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Maria Maretti (Bebe Daniels) works as a manicurist at a posh hotel. She is in love with Tony Luca (Edmund Burns), and they are saving up to buy a home and get married, but Maria isn't blind to what is going on around her. She watches the other girls take money and favors from their wealthy men patrons and wishes that she could have some of what they're getting. One of the hotel's guests, James Morgan (Hale Hamilton), takes a liking to her. He sends her flowers and ten dollars for theater tickets (a good sum for theater tickets in 1925) because she is reluctant to accept his invitation. Instead, Tony takes her to the theater, where they sit in the gallery, and on the way home he's too cheap to grab a taxi in the rain. While he is off chasing his hat, which has blown away in the wind, Morgan sees Maria and offers to take her home. She accepts and they stop at a supper club on the way. Maria shows up late and has a fierce argument with Tony. She turns to Morgan, but is shocked to realize he is married. She brings him and his wife (Charlotte Walker) back together, and she and Tony reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

American engineer Robert Maury (Conway Tearle) travels to Paris with his wife, Elsie (Dorothy Mackaill). He leaves her there while he goes to Argentina on business. Elsie, like most neglected wives (at least in films), uses this opportunity to get into mischief -- she dresses exotically and draws the attention of Spaniard Don Arturo (Richardo Cortez). She goes to visit Arturo at his estate and his ardor is so passionate that she decides to write her husband a "Dear John" letter. Arturo is killed by a man who is infuriated because he ruined his daughter, and Elsie returns to Paris. When she discovers the letter hasn't arrived yet, she goes with Maury to Argentina. Arturo's servant, Juan Serafin (Lon Chaney) tracks her down with the letter. Elsie confesses all to her husband and insists that he read the letter. When they open up the envelope, it only contains a black sheet of paper -- the original has been destroyed. Maury forgives Elsie, and husband and wife are reconciled. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although Richard Barthelmess was one of the bigger stars of the silent era, not all his films were worthy of his talents. This society drama was decidedly mediocre fare. The wealthy McCulloughs (Joe King and Dorothy Cumming) separate when their son, Julian, is seven. Mrs. McCullough convinces her estranged husband to let her raise the boy without his interference and she brings him up to be a weakling. When he reaches the age of 20, Julian (Barthelmess, who was actually 28 at the time) falls in love with Lynnie Willis (Dorothy Mackaill), who is far below him socially. When they are returning from a dance, the car breaks down and they are forced to find shelter at an inn, where they register as brother and sister. This causes a scandalous situation and Julian is more than willing to marry Lynnie, but his father insists that he will have the marriage annulled, since his boy is not yet 21. Julian goes away to work as a cab driver, while Mr. McCullough makes an effort to find someone else to marry Lynnie. Mr. McCullough is attacked in a garage by thugs and Julian comes to his rescue. He is injured in the fight, but it enables him to reconcile with his father. Once he has recovered Julian is able to marry Lynnie, since he has just turned 21. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide