Grace Cunard Movies
Despite a publicity campaign that listed her birthplace as Paris, France, American silent screen heroine Grace Cunard was an Ohio girl, born and bred. A show-business veteran already as a teenager (her sister was actress Mina Seymour, aka Mina Cunard), Grace began her screen career with Lubin around 1911. By 1913, she was slaving away at Tom Ince's Inceville studio, which is where she met her future screen partner, Francis Ford. It was reportedly Cunard who convinced Ford to leave the too-controlling Ince. The two signed with Universal instead, where they went on to become that studio's top Western and serial team. Because of the worldwide success of the athé serial The Perils of Pauline, a Ford/Cunard two-reeler was enlarged into the 15-chapter serial Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery. A globetrotting adventure, the serial had Cunard matching wits with Ford, an international spy. The success was assured and the team went on to make three additional chapterplays, perhaps the highlights of both their careers. Like most of the silent action heroines, the buxom Cunard was attractive rather than beautiful and never afraid to get down and dirty. She was, however, visibly exhausted during the filming of The Purple Mask, the team's fourth and final serial together, and the strain continued in Elmo the Mighty (1919), in which she appeared opposite the screen's first Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln. She suffered a nervous breakdown and newcomer Louise Lorraine replaced her in Elmo the Fearless. Although she continued to star in action adventures, Grace Cunard's era was over. She left the screen in 1925 after marrying stunt man Jack Shannon (a prior marriage to actor Joe Moore had ended in divorce), but reappeared as the mysterious "Woman in White" in the 1927 serial Blake of Scotland Yard. She continued in films well into the sound era -- but in increasingly smaller roles -- retiring in 1945. Never quite as popular as Pearl White and Ruth Roland, Cunard nevertheless added some much needed acting prowess to the serial field, especially opposite Francis Ford. So compatible onscreen were they that moviegoers mistakenly assumed they were husband and wife offscreen as well. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1946
Director Frank Borzage and star Ginger Rogers both came acropper in the lavish but dull historical biopic Magnificent Doll. The usually ebullient Rogers seems encased in wax as Dolly Madison, first lady of the United States in the early 19th century. The story begins as young Washington socialite Dolly Payne, previously and unhappily wed to one John Todd (Horace McNally), can't make up her mind romantically between idealistic politician James Madison (Burgess Meredith) and firebrand Aaron Burr (David Niven). Burr solves that problem when he flees the country after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, leaving the field clear for Madison. What should have been the film's highlight, Dolly's rescue of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution during the 1812 burning of Washington, is treated as a throwaway. Told in flashback, the film ends just before Madison's ascendancy to the White House, with Dolly chastely charming the current chief executive Thomas Jefferson (Grandon Rhodes). Magnificent Doll is anything but . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Erville Alderson, (more)
- 1945
In this musical, a talented aspiring costume designer leaves her small town to seek her fortune in the Big Apple. The girl, who is also a singer, soon begins establishing herself in the fashion industry, but when a rival accuses her of stealing a pattern, her career is nearly destroyed. Fortunately, a handsome, romantic hero is around to help her clear her name. Songs include: "Come Along My Heart", "That does It", "Swing Low Sweet Lariat" and "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Jean, Kirby Grant, (more)
- 1945
In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
When he finds out his ex-wife has just had his child and plans to give her up for adoption, a timid English instructor dashes to the child's rescue and attempts to care for her in a hotel room. Before too long, however, his new fiancee and his ex confront him and he must decide what he will do. This light comedy starring Gary Cooper, Theresa Wright and Anita Louise garnered Oscar nominations for Sound and Art Direction and was previously filmed under the title Little Accident in 1930 and 1939. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, (more)
- 1943
In this bit of WWII propaganda (designed to boost support of America's alliance with Russia against Germany), Kolya (Dana Andrews), Kurin (Walter Huston), Damian (Farley Granger), and Marina (Anne Baxter) are members of a farming collective in the Ukraine known as the North Star. The hard-working but happy members of the North Star find their way of life shattered when Germany, in defiance of previous treaties, storms the nation and begins a brutal occupation. Dr. Otto Von Harden (Erich Von Stroheim) begins gathering children -- who are to be used for blood transfusions and medical experiments. Many of the outraged farmers take to the hills to fight with the anti-Nazi resistance, while those who stay behind bravely destroy precious crops and materiel rather than turn them over to the Nazi war machine. Producer Samuel Goldwyn made The North Star at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (whose son James was an executive at Goldwyn's studio). Ironically, several members of the film's creative team (including screenwriter Lilian Hellman) later found their motivations for making the film questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, who declared it Communist propaganda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, (more)
- 1942
You cannot keep a good mummy down forever and Kharis is back in this sequel to The Mummy's Hand, which itself was something of a remake of the classic Boris Karloff thriller of 1935, The Mummy. Although assumed to have been killed by Stephen Banning (Dick Foran) in the previous film, Andoheb (George Zucco) has miraculously survived and is now planning a terrible revenge on both Banning and his entire family in Mapleton, MA. With High Priest Mehemet Bey (Turhan Bey) as his faithful companion, Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) takes up residence in a Mapleton graveyard where the mysterious Mr. Bey somehow has obtained the job of caretaker. At the first full moon, the mummy is fed enough tanna leaves to break into the Banning residence and kill the now elderly Stephen. To find out what exactly happened, the dead man's son, John (John Hubbard), gets in contact with Babe Hanson (Wallace Ford), one of the members of the original Banning expedition to Egypt. Neither Babe nor John can prevent Kharis from killing Stephen's sister, Jane (Mary Gordon), or from kidnapping John's blonde fiancée, Isobel (Elyse Knox). A posse of upset citizens advances to the graveyard where Mehemet Bey has been promising to literally spend an eternity with Isobel. Interrupted in these romantic pursuits, Bey hands the girl over to Kharis before being shot by John. Carrying a prostrate Isobel, Kharis shuffles back to the Banning estate, which is soon set afire by the mob. Isobel is rescued in the nick of time by John and Kharis perishes in the flames. Or does he? ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Jr., Dick Foran, (more)
- 1937
In this wartime drama, a young woman nearly comes unhinged when her husband, a Navy pilot, is transferred to Pearl Harbor on their wedding day. She goes with him. Once in Hawaii she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend sailing about in an expensive yacht. Her husband becomes totally engrossed in his work and begins neglecting her so it seems natural that she would go for a little sail with her ex-flame. When her husband learns about her philandering, he gets jealous and ends up crashing his plane in the harbor. As a result, he is court-martialed. His wife, sorry for her actions, defends him, gets him acquitted and never strays again. Marital bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Barrie, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1936
This second film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat is considered by many film buffs to be the best of the three. Covering nearly four decades (was there ever an Edna Ferber novel that didn't?), the film stars Irene Dunne as Magnolia Hawks, a role she'd previously played on stage, though not in the Broadway version. The daughter of showboat impresario Captain Andy (Charles Winninger, who was in the Broadway original), Magnolia is swept off her feet by dashing gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones). Yearning to appear on the showboat stage, Magnolia gets her chance when Captain Andy's leading lady, the tragic Julie (Helen Morgan, likewise a holdover from Broadway), is ordered not to perform by a small-town sheriff because she is Mulatto. Julie's husband Steve (Donald Cook) loyally walks out with his wife, thereby leaving the leading-man position open--but not for long, since Gaylord Ravenal agrees to take over for Steve, the better to stay close to Magnolia. Despite the disapproval of Magnolia's mother Parthy Hawks (Helen Westley), Magnolia and Ravenal are married. Later on, the couple has a baby girl named Kim. At first, the young family is blissfully happy, but as Ravenal's gambling debts begin to mount, things turn sour. Unable to support Magnolia and Kim, Ravenal walks out on them both. Desperately, Magnolia tries to get a job as a singer in Chicago. She auditions at a night spot where, fortuitously, Julie is the featured attraction. Hoping to give Magnolia a break, Julie gets drunk, forcing the manager to hire Magnolia as a replacement. During her New Years' Eve debut, Magnolia "chokes up" in front of the raucous audience--and then, who should emerge from the crowd but lovable Captain Andy, who gives Magnolia the encouragement she needs. Magnolia goes on to become a famous musical comedy star, as does her grown-up daughter Kim (played as an adult by Sunnie O'Dea). On the eve of Magnolia's retirement from the theater, she is reunited with her now-contrite husband Gaylord Ravenal. While the second half of Show Boat departs radically from both the novel (in which Ravenal never returns ) and the Broadway show, the film manages to capture the spirit of its literary and theatrical ancestors. Of the original score, "Cotton Blossom," "Ol' Man River," "Where's the Mate for Me?" "Make Believe," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," You are Love" and "Bill" are retained, while most of the other songs are heard as background accompaniment. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II penned three new tunes for the film version: "Ah Still Suits Me," "Gallavantin' Around" and "I Have the Room Above." As in all stage and screen versions of Show Boat, the Charles K. Harris standard "After the Ball" is heard in the New Year sequence. In addition to the aforementioned Dunne, Jones, Winninger, Westley, Morgan, and O'Dea, the Show Boat cast includes the magnificent Paul Robeson as Joe (his rendition of "Ol' Man River" can still induce goosebumps), Hattie McDaniel as Queenie and Sammy White and Queenie Smith as the engagingly second-rate vaudeville team of Frank and Ellie Schultz. Though James Whale of Frankenstein fame seems an odd choice for director, he brings a vibrant theatricality to the proceedings that is lacking in other versions. Show Boat literally saved the financially strapped Universal Pictures from receivership--but not soon enough to prevent the ousters of Carl Laemmle Sr. and Jr. in favor of a new administration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, (more)
This greatest of all Frankenstein movies begins during a raging thunderstorm. Warm and cozy inside their palatial villa, Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon), Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton), and Shelley's wife Mary (Elsa Lanchester) engage in morbidly sparkling conversation. The wicked Byron mockingly chastises Mary for frightening the literary world with her recent novel Frankenstein, but Mary insists that her horror tale preached a valuable moral, that man was not meant to dabble in the works of God. Moreover, Mary adds that her story did not end with the death of Frankenstein's monster, whereupon she tells the enthralled Byron and Shelley what happened next. Surviving the windmill fire that brought the original 1931 Frankenstein to a close, the Monster (Boris Karloff) quickly revives and goes on another rampage of death and destruction. Meanwhile, his ailing creator Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) discovers that his former mentor, the demented Doctor Praetorius (Ernst Thesiger), plans to create another life-sized monster -- this time a woman! After a wild and wooly "creation" sequence, the bandages are unwrapped, and the Bride of the Monster (Elsa Lanchester again) emerges. Alas, the Monster's tender efforts to connect with his new Mate are rewarded only by her revulsion and hoarse screams. "She hate me," he growls, "Just like others!" Wonderfully acted and directed, The Bride of Frankenstein is further enhanced by the vivid Franz Waxman musical score; even the film's occasional lapses in logic and continuity (it was trimmed from 90 to 75 minutes after the first preview) are oddly endearing. Director James Whale was memorably embodied by Ian McKellen in the Oscar-winning 1998 biopic Gods and Monsters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, (more)
- 1935
This truly offbeat filmization of Jean Bart's stage drama The Man Who Reclaimed His Head has been misleadingly released to TV as part of the "Shock Theater" package, even though the film is more melancholy than horrific. At the height of WW I, the trembling, near-lunatic Paul Verin (Claude Rains) arrives at police headquarters, carrying an ominously heavy handbag. Before revealing the bag's gruesome contents, he relates his tragic story in flashback. At one time a promising writer, Verin was married to the beautiful and ambitious Adele (Joan Bennett), who pushed and prodded him to advance himself. Accordingly, he sold his "head" -- that is, his integrity -- to powerful publisher Henri Dumont (Lionel Atwill), ghostwriting Dumont's anti-war editorials. By the time he realized that the hypocritical Dumont had himself sold out to the pro-war business interests, Verin had lost his wife and child to the scheming publisher. Driven mad on the battlefield, he made his way back to Dumont's mansion, exacting a horrible but appropriate revenge (hence the film's title). The Man Who Reclaimed His Head was remade in 1945 as Strange Confession -- with the pacifist angle completely removed! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1933
Tom Mix once again goes up against corrupt Fred Kohler in this would-be epic Western filmed on-location at Kanab, UT. Retiring from a life of train robbing, Benjamin R. Jones (Kohler) takes over the ghost town of Stillwell, knowing full well that the property belongs to Molly O'Rourke (Margaret Lindsay). Enter horse wrangler Tom Mason (Mix), who smells a rat and does his best to unmask Jones as the crook he knows him to be. Molly at first falls for Jones' scheme, but confronts him when a general feeling of lawlessness sets in. The villain, alas, has an ace up his sleeve: Molly owes back taxes on her property, which is ripe for a takeover. The Fourth Horseman was the fifth of nine Westerns Tom Mix would make for Universal from 1932-1933 before an on-the-set accident basically ended his career as a series Western star. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lindsay, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1933
One of the earliest girls-in-prison yarns, Ladies They Talk About has everything but Ida Lupino as the warden--and had she been in Hollywood at the time, she would probably be here as well. Gun moll Barbara Stanwyck is thrown into San Quentin (which looks more like a summer resort than a house of detention), thanks to her involvement in a bank robbery and the machinations of D.A./preacher David Slade (Preston Foster). It isn't political ambition that motivates Slade: he's in love with Stanwyck, and hopes that her incarceration will rehabilitate her. Instead, Stanwyck becomes a hard-bitten prison-block leader, spearheading a jailbreak. When things go awry, she holds Slade responsible. Upon her release, she goes gunning for Slade, and doesn't realize that she's really in love with him until she nearly puts him six feet under. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1931
Three years before Sam Goldwyn's overpublicized Anna Sten vehicle We Live Again, Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection was filmed under its original title by Universal (it had previously been filmed no fewer than times, most recently with Dolores Del Rio and Rod LaRocque in 1926). Set in 19th-century Russia, this is the story of innocent peasant girl Katusha (Lupe Velez), who is seduced and abandoned by the dashing Prince Dmitri (John Boles). Disgraced in the eyes of everyone, Katusha descends into prostitution, while Dmitri's reputation remains unbesmirched. When the former lovers are brought together by chance years later, Dmitri magnanimously suggests that Katusha redeem herself by embracing the Church, but she spurns his empty piety. Eventually, however, she finds God and is able to turn herself around -- and even forgive the self-righteous Dmitri. In addition to We Live Again, Resurrection would be filmed twice more, once in a 1934 Spanish-language version with Gilbert Roland, and again in 1963 by Soviet director Mikhail Shveister. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Boles, Lupe Velez, (more)
- 1930
In this melodrama, a husband gets on with his life after his wife goes to Europe to get a divorce. Thinking the deed done, the husband marries another. Unfortunately, his first wife returns and tells him that she never went through the procedure and that she has no intention of ever freeing him. His second wife becomes distraught and attempts to kill herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Genevieve Tobin, (more)
- 1929
A typical interim serial, the ten-chapter Ace of Scotland Yard was released in both a silent version and as a part-talkie. Dignified British actor Crauford Kent played Angus Blake, a retired Scotland Yard investigator who becomes involved in a tug-of-war between two desirable women, the virginal Lady Diana Blanton (Florence Allen) and the nefarious Queen of Diamonds (Grace Cunard), a female master criminal out to steal a valuable ring belonging to Lady Diana. In his attempts to protect both Lady Diana and her gem, Blake encounters, among other perils, a handsome but deadly foreign prince (Albert Prisco), an ancient Egyptian mummy, and a near death experience in the Gobi desert. Ace of Scotland Yard was a sequel to Blake of Scotland Yard (1927), which had starred Hayden Stevenson as Blake, Gloria Grey as Lady Diana, and Grace Cunard as the mysterious "Lady in White." The relative success of Ace probably persuaded Universal mogul Carl Laemmle to order the first all-talkie serial The Indians Are Coming (1930). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Crauford Kent, Florence Allen, (more)
- 1929
Untamed was touted by MGM as Joan Crawford's talking-picture debut, even though she'd already been heard as well as seen in Hollywood Revue of 1929. Best described as Somerset Maugham on toast, the film casts Crawford as Bingo, an oil heiress who has been raised in the tropics. When her rough-and-tumble guardians Murchison (Ernest Torrence) and Presley (Holmes Herbert) decide it is time to "civilize" the girl, they take her to New York, intending to indoctrinate her in the proper social graces. En route to Manhattan, Bingo falls in love with Andy (Robert Montgomery), whose lack of money and breeding means nothing to her. But when Andy finds out that Bingo is worth millions, he avoids her like the plague, refusing to live off the girl's riches. At her first high-society party, Bingo shocks the New York elite with her crude behavior, going so far as to punch out snooty debutante Marjory (Gwen Lee). Later on, Andy breaks Bingo's heart by again refusing to marry her and running off with Marjory. In desperation, Bingo grabs a gun and pumps Andy full of lead -- which has the curious effect of convincing him that she'll make the perfect bride! Aside from Joan Crawford's scintillating performance, Untamed is difficult to swallow when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, (more)
- 1928
Universal star Hoot Gibson usually did better with sly humor than out-and-out sagebrush melodrama. In this comedy-western, based on the life of Henry Irving Dodge, the veteran performer kept his tongue firmly planted in his cheek as he goes up against a town run by such women as newly elected sheriff, Carrie Patience (Rosa Gore in a character obviously lampooning temperance movement leader Carrie A. Nation). Hoping to restore some masculinity to the sheriff's office, Gibson stages a series of fake hold-ups but is soon upstaged by a real crook (Joe Rickson, who kidnaps the hero's girlfriend (Georgia Hale of The Gold Rush fame). Veteran comics Heinie Conklin (in blackface, no less!) and George Ovey add their patented slapstick to the already raucous goings-on in this silent Western directed by action specialist B. Reeves Eason. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Georgia Hale, (more)
- 1928
Attempting to change his image, B-Western star Bill Cody signed with Universal to do a series of five inexpensive crime melodramas. The Price of Fear, the premiere entry, starred the laconic former cowboy as Grant Somers, a wealthy clubman turned amateur detective who goes undercover as a waiter in the notorious Red Rooster café. Somers' target is "The Professor" (Ole M. Ness), a dangerous gang leader, but when stool pigeon Toad Magee (Jack Raymond) is murdered by one of The Professor's henchmen (Tom London), Somers finds himself accused of the crime. Warned by Mary Franklin (Duane Thompson), a government detective in The Professor's employ, Somers manages to escape. Her cover blown, Mary is ordered killed by the gang leader, but the intrepid Somers rescues her in the nick of time. Cody's change of venue was completely overshadowed by the changeover to talkies and he quickly returned to the realm of B-Westerns, working steadily until his retirement in 1936. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Hayden Stevenson played the title role in this, one of Universal's most popular silent serials. A mystery villain, known only as the Spider (Al Hart), is out to steal Lord Blanton's (Herbert Prior) secret formula for the manufacturing of gold. Blanton's plucky daughter, Lady Diana (Gloria Grey), hires Angus Blake, a retired Scotland Yard detective, to capture the Spider, which the eminent sleuth finally manages to do in chapter 12, "The Final Reckoning." Along the way, Blake is aided at key moments by the helpful but enigmatic Lady in White (Grace Cunard). Produced for around 100,000 dollars, Blake of Scotland Yard grossed more than three million dollars worldwide and necessitated a sequel, The Ace of Scotland Yard (1929). A remake starring Herbert Rawlinson was produced by low-budget Victory Pictures in 1937. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayden Stevenson, Gloria Grey, (more)
- 1926
Exclusive Rights was inspired by Invisible Government, a story by Jerome N. Wilson. The central character is a crooked political boss who sets about to destroy an honest governor. The villain frames one of the governor's most trusted assistants on a murder charge. The price for the assistant's release is the pardon of a criminal boss whom the governor had previously sent to prison for life. In the nail-biting climax, the innocent man walks grimly to the electric chair, as the heroine rushes to the governor's office with evidence that the corrupt politico engineered the murder. Much of the film is set in a nightclub, allowing for an extended specialty number by legendary Broadway dancer-pantomimist Jimmy Savo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gayne Whitman, Lillian Rich, (more)
- 1926
Legendary frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody's "The Great West That Was" became serialized by Universal in 1926 featuring Edmund Cobb in the title role. The star, however, was handsome Ned Wheeler (Wallace MacDonald), a young man competing with nasty Cuyler Supplee for the love of pretty Doris Carberry (Elsa Benham) during a wagon train west. Supplee's lawyer father (Robert E. Homans) is on his way to confiscate old Carberry's (Howard Truesdell) valuable mine, but Doris and Ned -- with the occasional help from Buffalo Bill Cody -- manage to defeat the shyster and his wastrel son. The handsome, Canadian-born MacDonald left acting in favor of writing supervision at Columbia after the changeover to sound. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
This romance starring Edmund Lowe was just another routine Fox programmer. Richard March (Lowe) is a pilot during the Great War. In one battle he downs a German plane, but his is also hit. Ambulance driver Marion Weston (Claire Adams) sees the plane falling and goes to the rescue. March is uninjured, however, and on the way back to the lines, he tries to kiss Marion. She is affronted, even though he apologizes. At the war's end, March returns to his acting career. He attends a party with an old war friend, Colonel Hale (Charles Clary), and once again meets Marion. She still spurns him, but slowly March goes to work on her. Then she misunderstands the relationship between him and Suzette, his leading lady (Diana Miller), and there's another rift. Meanwhile, Hale's daughter, Connie (Marion Harlan) becomes infatuated with March and tries to compromise herself with him. Hale is furious with his friend until Connie confesses the whole incident was her fault. Marion finally acknowledges she loves March, and the couple are united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Claire Adams, (more)
- 1925
Four major serial stars -- William Desmond, Helen Holmes, Grace Cunard, and J.P. McGowan -- were featured in this minor crime melodrama produced by Jesse J. Goldburg for the Independent Pictures outfit. After being captured by T-Man Jack Blaisdell (Desmond) and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor on a counterfeiting rap, Tiger McGuire (McGowan) is sprung from jail by his old gang. Vowing to get even with Jack, Tiger kidnaps the young man's fiancée, Helen (Holmes), bringing the girl to his hideout, a fancy yacht owned by Lucy Carlisle (Cunard). Jack, who has been given 24 hours to catch McGuire by Helen's father (lec Francis), the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, discovers the whereabouts of the yacht and manages to rescue Helen in the nick of time. Holmes and writer-director McGowan were husband-and-wife at the time. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grace Cunard, Alec B. Francis, (more)
- 1924
The Last Man on Earth begins in the future -- meaning sometime in the 1940s. Instead of World War II (which no one in 1924 could have foreseen), there is an epidemic of a strange disease, masculitis, which kills off every male over the age of 14. Every male, that is, except for one. Elmer (Earl Foxe) has had an argument with his sweetheart, Hattie (Derelys Perdue), so he jumps in a plane to go somewhere where there are no women. A few years later he is discovered by Gertie, a gangster (Grace Cunard). She brings him back to civilization where he finds nothing but women. The government buys him for ten million dollars and two female senators decide to fight for the right to have him as a husband (in 1924, no one would have thought to spread him around). He finds Hattie and rushes to her. The couple reconcile and get married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Black, Maurice Murphy, (more)
