Booth Tarkington Movies

A Booth Tarkington story was the foundation for the 5-reel domestic drama Springtime. Ordered by her social-climbing parents to marry her wealthy cousin, heroine Madeline (Florence Nash) prefers instead to marry her true love, Richard Steel (Charles W. Travis). The union is staunchly opposed by the hero and heroine's respective parents, who happen to be bitter business rivals. But such is the strength of Madeline and Richard's love that the two old competitors finally stop trying to destroy each other and agree to bury the hatchet. Springtime was filmed on locations ranging from New Orleans to St. Augustine, Florida; it was released by Alco Pictures, an enterprise created by future MGM chief honcho Louis B. Mayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pretty Eileen Pearcy plays the title character in this adaptation of the Booth Tarkington novel. Cora (Pearcy) is the spoiled daughter of the Madison family. Everyone caters to her every whim. She is engaged to Richard Lindley (Edward Hearn), although her sister Laura (Helen Jerome Eddy) secretly pines for him. But when Valentine Corliss (Lloyd Whitlock) comes to town, Cora forgets her beau altogether. Corliss is working a stock swindle and he uses Cora's affection to enlist the help of her father (George Nichols), who is highly respected in the community. Cora forges her father's name on a document and gives it to Corliss, who skips town. The locals who have been cheated out of their money are in an uproar and Papa Madison is in danger of being arrested. Cora tries to reconcile with Lindley, who refuses to have her back. Laura forces Cora to confess to the forgery, and brother Jimmy (Harold Goodwin) comes home to make good his father's losses. Corliss is found in New York and arrested. Lindley, meanwhile, finds out about Laura's love and marries her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Wallace Reid plays against type in this comedy-drama, based on the play by Booth Tarkington. As a matter of fact, he does a fair imitation of Alfred Lunt, who played the title role on Broadway. He even parts his hair in the middle and wears horn-rimmed glasses, just as Lunt did. Clarence Smith (Reid) is an ex-soldier who is hired for odd jobs by Mr. Wheeler (Edward Martindel) primarily because he has overheard a family argument. And the Wheeler household is going through quite a bit of turmoil -- Mrs. Wheeler (Kathlyn Williams) feels neglected by her husband and is jealous of Violet Pinney, the governess (Agnes Ayres). Daughter Cora (May McAvoy) is planning to elope with her father's secretary, Hubert Stem (Adolphe Menjou). Son Bobby (Robert Agnew), meanwhile, has been making passes at the maid. Clarence manages to solve the Wheelers' various problems -- he kidnaps Cora back from Stem, repairs everyone's hurts and ends up with Violet. Reid, incidentally, was directed by both DeMille brothers -- Cecil B. and William C. -- at one point or another during his career. Sadly, the star would be dead from drug abuse within six months of this picture's release. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Before he became the king of bottom-barrel B pictures, director William Beaudine turned out several silent films of sensitivity and accomplishment. In Boy of Mine, Ben Alexander, a popular juvenile star who also appeared in Beaudine's Penrod and Sam, plays the son of wealthy, unfeeling banker Henry B. Walthall. Unable to meet the banker's impossibly stricts standards, Alexander and his mother leave home. The boy befriends kindly doctor Rockliffe Fellowes, who helps to humanize the intractable Walthall. Like Penrod and Sam, Boy of Mine was based on a story by Booth Tarkington. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Julia (Bessie Love) is a small-town girl who falls in love with George Crum (Frank Elliott) a much-older man. Though the object of her affection regards her as a nuisance, Julia tags after Crum all the way to Chicago. Just when it looks as though Julia's dream romance is about to be consummated, she discovers that her Romeo already has a Juliet-or should we say Mrs. Crum. Disillusioned, Julia returns home, where her faithful boyfriend has been waiting for the girl to wake up and smell the coffee. Based on a novel by Booth Tarkington, Gentle Julia was remade in 1936, with the script reshuffled to put the emphasis on Julia's kid-sister Florence (played in the remake by Jane Withers). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The still photographs of this costume picture, showing Rudolph Valentino wearing foppish 18th century finery, are actually misleading when it comes to Monsieur Beaucaire's actual content. For much of the film, Valentino actually views his wardrobe -- and his matinee idol persona -- with sly humor. This film may have been based on a popular story by Booth Tarkington, but it belongs to Valentino all the way through, and his star quality dominates an impressive cast, which includes the likes of Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, and Lois Wilson, none of them slouches in the star department. Valentino is the Duke of Chartres who can no longer stand the snipes thrown his way by Princess Henriette (Daniels). When King Louis IV (Lowell Sherman) commands that he marry her, the duke runs away. He accompanies the French Ambassador to England, disguised as his barber under the name Monsieur Beaucaire. In Bath, he becomes entranced by Lady Mary (Kenyon). He forces the Duke of Winterset (Ian MacLaren) to introduce him to her as a nobleman, but Winterset exposes him as a barber and Lady Mary snubs him. The French Ambassador arrives and reveals that Beaucaire really is a nobleman, but by then, he is no longer interested in Lady Mary. Instead, he returns to France and to Princess Henriette. Valentino's wife, Natacha Rambova, was responsible for both the art direction and set design of this picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this sentimental tale of the sea came from an original story by Booth Tarkington and its stars were Thomas Meighan and Lois Wilson, it wasn't one of Paramount's better releases for 1924. The Malones are in charge of most of the industries of the coastal town of Oldport, and Jack (Meighan) is the family pet. Jack is the only one in his clan who looks to the sea for a career and he signs on as second mate on the ship Langland. Both Jack and the first mate, Charles Crosby (Cyril Ring), are in love with Patty Thomas (Lois Wilson) and Crosby is very much put out when Jack is promoted over him. A storm blows up at sea and because Captain Clarke (George Fawcett) is drunk, the ship is lost. Crosby claims that Jack was also inebriated and both he and the captain are fired. The villagers back home are all against Jack, except for the children. Jack is ultimately vindicated and his brothers purchase a ship for him. As he sails off, Patty agrees to wait for him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Tom Macaulay (Thomas Meighan) and his brother Edwin (Russell Griffin) both hold positions at the bank belonging to their father (Charles Stevenson). Edwin takes forty thousand dollars from the bank to play the stock market, but he loses it all. Lon Morris, a rival banker (Frank Morgan), tips off the state banking commission. To save his brother, Tom takes the blame and is sent to prison. While he is locked up, his sweetheart, Nora Brooks (Virginia Valli) agrees to marry Morris. On her wedding night, Tom breaks out of prison long enough to beat up Morris, and tell Nora that she has married a scoundrel. After he is released permanently, Tom robs Morris' bank in an effort to frame him. Morris has already been misusing funds, and when he sneaks into his own bank to steal more money, he is shot by the night watchman. Tom and the now-widowed Nora are finally united. This drama of finance, prison, and revenge was not one of Booth Tarkington's best stories, and the film was not one of Thomas Meighan's best pictures. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama set in the South, a plantation owner's son finishes his education in Philadelphia and returns to his father's land. There he falls in love with a pretty belle and gets engaged; he does not realize that her younger sister is also in love with him. Trouble begins when his fiancee's ex-love comes to break them up after he is released from jail; he challenges his wealthy rival to a duel, which the rival declines as he finds it old-fashioned and silly. Unfortunately, his father and the rest of his family take it quite seriously and the dishonored father sends his son away. The banished son then begins drifting down the Mississippi where he experiences many adventures. At one point, he meets a notorious cad who becomes his mentor. When the young man unwittingly knocks out a local creep, he becomes a legendary hero; he then assumes the alias "Col. Blake," and heads for home to avenge his honor and marry the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This early talkie is the third version of the popular Booth Tarkington play. It is set in the mid 19th-century and centers upon a good-hearted riverboat gambler who takes on a group of criminals in New Orleans during Mardis Gras when he rushes in to save a young woman from ruination. But she is a tough cookie and doesn't even thank him. Instead, she runs away. Later he meets her again after he wins her daddy's cotton plantation in a card game. None of the locals are pleased by the gambler's presence and he is nearly lynched. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A naive, wealthy small-town girl, bored with her routine life, falls for a dashing con artist who has come looking for fresh marks to swindle. He soon charms her into faking her prominent father's name on a letter of endorsement, which he presents to the other local merchants. They willingly give him all sorts of goodies and he prepares his escape, but not before conning the girl into becoming his wife. After their wedding night in a sleazy hotel, he abandons her. Fortunately, by the story's end, she is able to reassemble her shattered life and find happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

George Arliss is the millionaire of the title, a retired auto tycoon who's been ordered by his doctor to rest and avoid exercise. Arliss is shaken out of his sedentary existence by an insurance salesman who advises him to pick himself up and enjoy life. The old man heads to California, where he conceals his identity and goes to work for a service station. Given a new lease on life, the millionaire amuses himself by playing matchmaker with his own daughter (Evelyn Knapp) and the go-getting young service station manager (David Manners). Barely distinguishable from George Arliss' other non-historical vehicles, The Millionaire is given an added dimension by James Cagney, who shows up for three wonderful minutes as the friendly insurance agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Very loosely based on Booth Tarkington's novel The Plutocrat, Business and Pleasure stars Will Rogers as Earl Tinker, a newly rich Oklahoma razor-blade manufacturer. On the pretext of taking a vacation with his family, Earl journeys to far-off Syria, there to purchase the secret formula for Damascus steel. During the ocean voyage to the middle east, Earl's daughter Olivia (Peggy Ross) falls in love with struggling playwright Lawrence Ogle (Joel McCrea), while a worldly adventuress named Madame Momora (Jetta Goudal) apparently sets her sights on the bashful Earl, much to the dismay of his wife (Dorothy Peterson). In truth, however, Madame Momora is an "industrial spy" in the employ of Tinker's main competitor, and it is her job to prevent Earl from completing his business mission. But our dumb-like-a-fox hero manages to turn the tables with the use of a clever disguise and a few other dexterous diversions. Filmed before the 1931 Will Rogers vehicle Ambassador Bill, Business and Pleasure was released afterward in early 1932, thereby giving audiences the pleasant surprise of seeing Boris Karloff, newly famous thanks to his performance as The Monster in Frankenstein, popping up unbilled as a desert sheik. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide