Ruth Dwyer Movies

The Hollywood "establishment" had been waiting a long time for maverick director Gregory La Cava to fall from grace, and when his Unfinished Business failed to live up to its expectations, La Cava's enemies swooped down like vultures. Seen today, the film is hardly one of the director's best efforts, but neither is it his worst. Irene Dunne stars as aspiring singer Nancy Andrews, who falls desperately in love with playboy Steve Duncan (Preston Foster). When it becomes clear that Steve isn't about to take their casual relationship seriously, Nancy marries his brother Tommy (Robert Montgomery) on the rebound. After a fun-filled honeymoon, the couple can't seem to adjust to the "normalcy" of married life; as a result of this and Nancy's ongoing fascination with older brother Steve, the disillusioned Tommy walks out on her and joins the army. Only when Nancy deals with the "unfinished business" of her unrequited love for Steve can she and Tommy find true happiness. There are many deft LaCava-esque directorial touches in Unfinished Business, but for the most part the film could have been made by any Hollywood director; still, the film does not deserve its current tarnished reputation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mannequin stars Joan Crawford as Jessie Cassidy, a girl of the tenements (though this being an MGM film, her slum dwellings are cleaner and more lavish than most middle-class bungalows!) Hoping to escape her grimy surroundings, Jessie marries Eddie Miller (Alan Curtis), a childhood acquaintance who has made good with a variety of dishonest business ventures. Another refugee from Jessie's neighborhood is John Hennessy (Spencer Tracy), who has likewise worked his way up to fame and fortune, albeit more honestly than Eddie. Faced with mounting debts, Eddie callously orders Jessie to divorce him and marry John for his money -- then divorce John and return to Eddie with the cash. Jessie reluctantly goes along with the scheme, but she double-crosses Eddie upon falling in love with John. Things look bad for our heroine when Eddie, with blackmail on his mind, threatens to spill the beans to John about their little "arrangement" -- whereupon John solves the dilemma (and saves his marriage) by losing his own fortune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The irrepressible Johnny Hines stars as "White Pants" Willie Bascom, an enterprising garage mechanic and erstwhile inventor. Delivering a repaired auto to the home of millionaire Philip Charters (Henry Barrows), Willie falls in love with Charters' lovely daughter Helen (Leila Hyams). Donning a white dinner jacket to match his white overalls, Willie manages to crash a high-society country club to pay Helen a visit. Our hero wins over the "400" by winning a polo match then secures his marriage to Helen by selling his latest invention for a sizeable sum. Featured in the cast as Willie's comedy-relief Chinese buddy Wong Lee is Japanese actor George Kuwa, better known to film buffs as the screen's first Charlie Chan (in the now-lost 1926 serial House Without a Key). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Better known for his good looks than any acting capabilities, former male model Reed Howes starred in this silent action melodrama as the ne'er-do-well son of a railroad tycoon who attempts to regain his father's trust by landing an all-important ore-hauling contract. A rival railroad entrepreneur (J.P. McGowan, who also directed) does his best to sabotage the endeavor, but Howes perseveres against the odds. The film was built around footage of a spectacular train collision, which was in reality a stunt photographed at the South Dakota State Fair some years previously. Director J.P. McGowan's long love affair with trains had begun with The Hazards of Helen, a legendary 2-reel series that had starred his then-wife Helen Holmes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Likable Johnny Hines stars in this lively comedy. Plumber Tommy Burke (Hines) is getting nowhere in life until he receives an inheritance from a rich uncle. All it is is a brown derby, but supposedly the hat is charmed and brings luck to the wearer. Tommy's life takes quite a turn when he goes to do some work at the estate of heiress Edith Worthing (Diana Kane). The butler introduces him as "a plumber," and since Edith is expecting her long-lost uncle, A. Plummer, to arrive, a situation of mistaken identity is clearly in the offing. Since Tommy has long admired Edith from afar, he's thrilled to win so much of her time. Her no-good sweetheart is not so thrilled and he sets out to prove the Tommy is an impostor. Tommy comes out on top, however, winning Edith away from her suitor and helping Betty Caldwell (Ruth Dwyer) and Frank Boyle (Harold Foshay) elope in the bargain. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The brother of director Raoul Walsh, George Walsh starred in this low-budget gangster melodrama directed by Wesley Ruggles. Walsh plays Jack Banning, a motorcycle cop by day and undercover agent by night. Disguising himself as "Strongarm Samson," Banning infiltrates a gang of smugglers headed by Richard Courtney (a very young Brian Donlevy). Unfortunately, Marion Marcy (Ruth Dwyer) recognizes him and spills the beans to Courtney. The villain orders his henchman, Spanish Joe (Lucien Prival), to take the undercover cop "for a ride," but Banning escapes with the help of female undercover agent Dorina (Laura De Cardi). Marion, who has come to love the heroic policeman, is kidnapped by Courtney, but Banning manages to rescue her in the nick of time. With the gang behind bars, Banning and Marion can finally plan a future together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Ruth Dwyer and Richard Holt co-star with Garry O'Dell and Cecil Edwards in this comedy drama about a group of boxers who bet on their opponents then conspire to lose the match to collect on their winnings. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Buster Keaton plays a young lawyer who will inherit $7 million at 7 o'clock on his 27th birthday--provided he is married. Long before discovering this, Keaton has pursued a lifelong courtship of Ruth Dwyer, whose refusals have become ritualistic over the years (the passage of time is amusingly conveyed by showing a puppy grow to adulthood). He proposes again, but this time she turns him down because she thinks (mistakenly) that he wants her only so that he can claim his inheritance. The doleful Keaton is thus obliged to spend the few hours left before the 7 PM deadline in search of a bride--any bride. He has no luck whatsoever until his pal T. Roy Barnes prints the story of Keaton's incoming legacy in the local newspaper. As a result, literally hundreds of women, bedecked in veils and bearing bouquets, chase Keaton through the busy streets of Los Angeles. When Keaton's producer Joseph M. Schenck bought the film rights to the Roi Cooper Megrue stage play Seven Chances, Keaton opted to forego most of the play's plot complications, devoting his energies to the bride-hunting vignettes and the climactic slapstick chase. The final scenes originally laid an egg with preview audiences--until the sequence was saved by "three little rocks." During the closing moments of the chase, Buster accidentally dislodged three small stones in the ground, which rolled after him as he escaped the thundering herd of would-be brides. The audience laughed immoderately at the tiny rocks, thereby inspiring Keaton to reshoot the ending, utilizing scores of huge, rolling boulders. The extra effort worked beautifully; while not his best silent feature, Seven Chances contains one of Keaton's most hilarious finales. Watch for Jean Arthur in a bit as a receptionist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Universal luminary Herbert Rawlinson, whose star was on the wane by 1924, has the lead in this rather predictable murder mystery. Although Sheldon Polk (Rawlinson) is only a bank cashier, his extravagant ways reveal that his father is the man who owns the bank. Frank Farnsworth (Hayden Stevenson) wants to borrow 25,000 dollars from the senior Polk, and offers a 100,000-dollar necklace as security. Sheldon is given the task of taking the funds to Farnsworth, but he is robbed along the way. Meanwhile, his father is murdered and the necklace disappears. Because of circumstantial evidence, Sheldon is sent to prison, but he manages to break free (via a dirigible), and sets out to prove his innocence. It's an easy task to figure out that the real culprit is Farnsworth, who had put together the whole operation. Ruth Dwyer -- who is best known as Buster Keaton's leading lady in Seven Chances -- plays Sheldon's main squeeze, a girl by the name of Sunny Day. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Taking a breather from issuing B-Westerns starring Jack Hoxie and J.B. Warner, Anthony J. Xydias' Sunset Pictures produced a series of stunt-driven comedies starring Kenneth MacDonald. This time around, MacDonald played Gregory Maxim, a carefree young man who must reach a certain bank at a given time in order to collect on an inheritance. Along the way, the would-be heir stumbles over Countess Olga (Ruth Dwyer), a Russian noblewoman with much the same problem; Olga must marry an American millionaire within a certain time frame to secure a fortune. Despite numerous obstacles, the two manage to reach the bank before the deadline. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Herbert Rawlinson starred in this silent, action melodrama based on Gerald Beaumont's Red Book Magazine serial. A tough neighborhood cop, John Francis Foley loses his nerve when he believes that he almost killed Tillie Miller (Ruth Dwyer), the girl he loves. In reality, Tillie's injuries were inflicted by gangster Spike Kennedy (Eddie Gribbon), and the film culminates in a thrilling gunfight between the two. Esther Ralston, on the verge of becoming a major star, appeared as one of Dwyer's girlfriends in this low-budget Universal release. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although Herbert Rawlinson's acting talents never received great notices, he was well-cast in this blend of mystery and farce. Kerry Reynolds (Rawlinson) hates women and takes life very seriously. One day he comes home to find his brother Dick (Ralph McCullough) throwing a wild party. Dick lectures Kerry for never taking the time out to have fun. While at the doctor's, Kerry sees a girl crying. Later on, in a hotel lobby he sees the same girl. She leaves her purse behind and he picks it up only to be arrested by a pair of house detectives. From there he finds himself enmeshed in a number of odd adventures with Dick is chasing after him the whole time. What Kerry doesn't realize is that his friends have created all this mayhem on purpose. Only after he saves the girl by fighting off ten men in a deserted house does he find out it was all an act. His romance with the girl, however, is real, and once he knows her true identity he drops his woman-hating ways forever. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Eugene O'Brien, the talented brother of western hero George O'Brien, stars in Clay Dollars. O'Brien comes back to his home town to assume control of some land willed to him by his uncle. Thanks to the chicanery of a dishonest neighbor (Frank Currier), O'Brien's property proves worthless. Piling misfortune upon misfortune, the crooked neighbor's son (played by future movie "drunk" Arthur Houseman) has designs on O'Brien's sweetheart (June Gordon). Our hero finally comes out on top by beating the villain at his own game, on his own level. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide