Andy Devine Movies
Andy Devine was born in Kingman, Arizona, where his father ran a hotel. During his youth, Devine was a self-confessed hellraiser, and stories of his rowdy antics are still part of Kingman folklore (though they've undoubtedly improved in the telling). His trademarked ratchety voice was the result of a childhood accident, when he fell while carrying a stick in his mouth, resulting in permanent vocal-chord injuries. A star football player at Santa Clara University, Andy decided to break into movies in 1926; he was almost immediately cast in Universal's two-reel series The Collegians. When talkies came, Devine was convinced that his voice was unsuitable for the microphone. He reportedly became so despondent at one point that he attempted to commit suicide by asphyxiation, only to discover that his landlady had turned off the gas! Devine needn't have worried; his voice became his greatest asset, and from 1930 until his retirement, he was very much in demand for bucolic comedy roles. In 1937 he became a regular on Jack Benny's radio program, his howl of "Hiya, Buck!" becoming a national catchphrase. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was a popular comedy sidekick in the western films of Roy Rogers. Later film assignments included his atypical performance as a corrupt Kansas City cop in Jack Webb's Pete Kelly's Blues (1955). Most baby boomers retain fond memories of Devine's TV appearances as Jingles Jones on the long-running western series Wild Bill Hickock, and as host of the Saturday morning kid's program Andy's Gang. In his later years, Devine cut down his performing activities, preferring to stay on his Van Nuys (California) ranch with his wife and children. Made a very wealthy man thanks to real estate investments, Andy Devine abandoned moviemaking in 1970, resurfacing only to provide voices for a brace of Disney cartoon features; he remained active in civic and charitable affairs, at one juncture serving as honorary mayor of Van Nuys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1929
The Naughty Baby in this late-silent opus is hat-check girl Rosie McGill, played by bubbly blonde Alice White. Taking a special interest in tippling millionaire Terry Vanderveer (Jack Mulhall), Rosie tries to save him from the grasp of fortune-hunting Bonnie LeVonne (Thelma Todd). Could it be that Rosie is actually in love with Terry herself? It could indeed. Prominent in the supporting cast are George E. Stone as bush-league gangster Toni Caponi, Jewish comedian Benny Rubin as Benny Cohen, and Andy Devine as Joe Cassidy: while Alice White's star would fade in the 1930s, Stone, Rubin and Devine would still be working well into the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice White, Jack Mulhall, (more)
- 1928
We Americans was based on the Broadway play of the same name. Returning to the "melting pot" themes that he handled so well, director Edward H. Sloman concentrates on the trials and tribulations of three first-generation American families: The Jewish Levines, the German Schmidts and the Italian Albertinis. Most of the footage is devoted to the efforts of pants-presser Mr. Levine (George Sidney) to carve out a decent existence for his family in the teeming garment district of New York. While Levine's daughter Beth (Patsy Ruth Miller) dedicates herself to hard work, his son Phil (George Lewis) prefers to fritter away his time at sports events. Angry that Beth spends too much time at her job and not enough with her housekeeping duties, Levine orders her out of the house -- and when Phil, angry at the treatment afforded his sister, marches off to WWI, Levine and his wife (Beryl Mercer) are left all alone. Their neighbors, the Schmidts and the Albertinis, try to convince the stubborn Levines that they've mishandled their children, but to do this it is necessary to educate the Jewish couple in American manners and mores. Thus, the Levines are encouraged to join their neighbors in attending night school, where they are finally convinced that the ways of the Old World are not necessarily the best. Soon afterward, Phil Levine is killed in the trenches of France while saving the life of the socially prominent Hugh Bradleigh (John Boles). Upon his return to New York, Hugh seeks out Phil's family and promptly falls in love with Beth, now a successful dressmaker. Hugh's parents are initially resistant to their son's romance, until they discover that their boy would not be alive today were it not for Phil Levine's sacrifice. In the film's sentimental finale, the Levines and the Bradleighs meet one another for the first time to exchange pleasantries before the wedding of Hugh and Beth. Edward Sloman had originally wanted Yiddish stage actor Muni Weisenfreund, a specialist in elderly characterizations, to play the role of Levine, but upon discovering that Weisenfruend was only 30 years old, the director opted for middle-aged George Sidney instead. The "rejected" Weisenfreund later attained film stardom under the name of Paul Muni. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Ruth Miller
- 1928
Two lonely people discover short-lived happiness in this silent drama. Jim (Glenn Tryon) and Mary (Barbara Kent) live in the same rooming house in New York City, though they've never met; Jim works in a metal fabricating plant, and Mary runs a switchboard for the telephone company. While both have friends, they both long for something more in their lives. One afternoon, Jim decides to go to Coney Island to see the famous amusement park, and on the bus he spies Mary. Jim finds her attractive, and eventually works up the nerve to introduce himself on the beach. The two discover they share a mutual attraction, and over the course of the day Jim and Mary fall in love, while a visit to a fortune teller suggests to Mary that she's met the man who will become her husband. However, Jim and Mary are separated, and despite their best efforts the two don't know how to find one another again. Lonesome was released in 1929, as silent films were giving way to talking pictures; the picture was originally released silent, though it was soon reissued in a version with sound sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Kent, Fay Holderness, (more)
- 1928
Red Lips was based on the novel The Plastic Age by Percy Marks, previously filmed under its original title in 1925. Charles "Buddy" Rogers stars as college track star Hugh Carver, who'd rather party than anything else. Hugh's bad habits eventually catch up with him, leading to his expulsion when co-ed Cynthia Day (Marion Nixon) is found in his dorm room (it's all quite innocent, but try telling that to the Dean). Fortunately, Cynthia is able to get Hugh to stop feeling sorry for himself; our hero gets his act back together in record time, is reinstated on the football team, and emerges the winner in the Big Game. The film was also released as Cream of the Earth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Marian Nixon, (more)
