Rita Carewe Movies

The 1928 production Ramona was the third film version of the Helen Hunt Jackson novel of the same name, first dramatized (in one reel!) by D. W. Griffith in 1910. Dolores Del Rio plays the title character, the ward of domineering California sheep rancher Senora Moreno (Vera Lewis). Escaping her cruel and judgmental guardian, Ramona sadly resigns herself to the probability that she will never find true happiness because she is -- gasp! -- a half-breed. Though she loves Moreno's grandson Felipe (Roland Drew), Ramona does not want him to bear the stigma of a mixed marriage, so she marries Allesandro (Warner Baxter), an Indian shepherd. Misfortune continues to befall the heroine when her husband is lynched by bigoted white ranchers; shortly thereafter, her baby dies from injuries sustained in a bandit raid because the white doctor refuses to treat an Indian infant. Suffering a total nervous breakdown, Ramona wanders into the woods, having lost all memory of her previous existence. But faithful Felipe rescues the girl, snapping her out of her amnesia by singing her favorite childhood song (courtesy of the Vitaphone soundtrack). Ramona was remade in 1936 with Loretta Young and Don Ameche. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dorothy Mackaill is well-cast as a high-living flapper in this lively picture, which was based on the popular newspaper serial by H.L. Gates. Joanna Manners (Mackaill) is a salesgirl, and a rather lousy one at that. Nevertheless, she is loved by John Wilmot, a struggling young architect (Jack Mulhall). One day, a million dollars is mysteriously placed in her account. To her delight, Joanna is able to become part of the moneyed fast set, but in the meantime she alienates Wilmot, who leaves her. Joanna continues to party and spend the money, helped along by Frank Brandon, a banker's nephew (Paul Nicholson). Brandon gives Joanna a proposal -- unfortunately, it's not a marriage proposal, so she knocks him unconscious with her shoe. She is arrested for speeding with Brandon laid out cold next to her. He recovers and Joanna is released. It turns out that she has been the object of a bet between some wealthy men -- one believed that, given the opportunity, a modern girl could not resist temptation. The other had faith that she could, and chose Joanna because he once loved her mother. Since Joanna, in spite of it all, has remained a "good girl," he adopts her, and she is reunited with Wilmot. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi