Glenda Farrell Movies
American actress Glenda Farrell, like so many other performers born around the turn of the century, made her stage debut in a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Her first adult professional job was with Virginia Brissac's stock company in San Diego, after which she worked up and down the California coast until leaving for Broadway in the late 1920s. Farrell's performance in the stage play Skidding established her reputation, and in 1929 she was wooed to Hollywood along with many other stage actors in the wake of the "talkie" revolution. Uncharacteristically cast as the ingenue in Little Caesar (1930), Farrell would thereafter be cast in the fast-talking, "hard-boiled dame" roles that suited her best.Though her characters had a tough veneer, Farrell was sensitive enough to insist upon script changes if the lines and bits of business became too rough and unsympathetic; still, she seemed to revel in the occasional villainess, notably her acid performance as Paul Muni's mercenary paramour in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang(1932). In 1937, Farrell was assigned by Warner Bros. to portray dauntless news reporter Torchy Blaine in a series of brisk "B" pictures. She was gratified by the positive fan mail she received for Torchy, and justifiably proud of her ability to spout out 390 words per minute in the role, but Farrell decided to leave Warners and free-lance after five "Torchy Blaines." The actress's character roles in the 1940s and 1950s may have been smaller than before, but she always gave 100 percent to her craft. Farrell moved into television with ease, appearing on virtually every major dramatic weekly series and ultimately winning an Emmy for her work on the two-part Ben Casey episode of 1963, "A Cardinal Act of Mercy." Farrell's exit from movies was the 1964 Jerry Lewis farce The Disorderly Orderly, an assignment she plunged into with all the enthusiasm and sheer professionalism that she'd brought to the rest of her screen career. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this lively musical western, a cowboy's wife heads for Reno for a quickie divorce. Meanwhile her husband finds himself in competition with a suave Easterner who has fallen in love with her. The cowboy is dismayed and embarrassed when the city-slicker easily out rides him during a bronc-riding exhibition. Fortunately, for the red-faced cowboy, his wife comes back and happiness ensues. Songs include: a snippet from "La Boheme", "I Gave My Heart Away", "Ridin' Home" and "Tonight Is The Night" (Jimmy McHugh, Harold Adamson). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Hope Hampton, (more)
- 1938
Before he became the high priest of realism, producer/director Andrew L. Stone was fascinated with classical music (he'd return to this fascination in his last production years with the disastrous Song of Norway and The Great Waltz). Two attractive jewel thieves, one female (Olympe Bradna), one male (Gene Raymond) escape together after their latest escapade and hide out in the home of an aged concert pianist (Lewis Stone). To cover their tracks and keep the old man from turning them in, the thieves pretend to arrange his comeback concert. The artifice becomes reality, the pianist makes a triumphant return, and the thieves reform. This 1938 film is not a remake of 1932's Stolen Heaven, which wove an entirely different story about a suicide pact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Raymond, Olympe Bradna, (more)
- 1938
Glenda Farrell plays still another fast-talking girl reporter in Universal's Exposed. Willing to sell her soul for a story, newspaper sob sister Click Stewart (Farrell) is presently on the trail of DA William Reardon (Otto Kruger), a "Judge Crater" type who disappeared without a trace several years earlier. Following a lead, she finds Reardon residing in a flophouse, where he's been drinking his life away ever since he sent an innocent man to the electric chair. Sensing a swell scoop, Click offers to locate the daughter of the wrongly executed man so that Reardon can apologize; in exchange, our heroine will get the ex-DA's exclusive story. As the story progresses, Reardon rehabilitates himself and Click regains her essential decency and humanity, whereupon they team up to smash the operation of racketeer Mike Romero (Bernard Nedell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Otto Kruger, (more)
- 1938
In this drama, a tuna fisherman is wrongly convicted for murder. Because he is a model, and oft-times heroic prisoner, he is up for early parole. While parole is better than prison, it is still not justice for the man as he is unable to travel far and marry his beloved. He decides that his only real option is to escape and begin looking for the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barton MacLane, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1938
In this entry in the "Torchy Blane" series, the plucky young reporter tries to expose a ring of counterfeiters led by a man pretending to be a G-man assigned to investigate the case. He asks her not to print any of the information she has gathered so as not to blow his cover. The ploy works until Torchy figures it out and brings the gang to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1938
Number seven in Warner Bros.' "Torchy Blaine" series was Torchy Blaine in Chinatown, with Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane returning as fast-talking gal reporter Torchy and her ever-lovin' police lieutenant boyfriend Steve McBride. Actually, there's very little of Chinatown in the storyline, which deals with trio of (apparently) Chinese jade smugglers/extortionists. Torchy suspects that two recent murders were phonies, and sets about to prove it, thereby stumbling upon the smugglers (who turn out to be Caucasians) and nearly getting herself murdered for real. As usual, Steve McBride is around to rescue our heroine when the going gets tough, with dumb sergeant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy) offering no help whatsoever. Torchy Blane in Chinatown was a remake of the obscure 1930 mystery Murder Will Out, which starred Jack Mulhall and Lila Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
This late-30s gem is an engaging spoof that features the U.S. film debut of the French acting beauty Daniell Darrieux. She appears as a French model who's come to New York to find a job. Things go a little awry in her first interview when she applies for a nude modeling position and gets the addresses mixed up. When she shows up at the wrong place and starts disrobing, the man at the desk (Douglas Fairbanks) thinks she's a trouble-causing hussy and orders her to leave. Things look up for the frustrated model when she teams up with an ex-actress and a clever waiter who together convince her that as her agents, they'll be able to make things happen for her. And they do. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (more)
- 1937
In this screwball comedy, Valentine Ransome (Barbara Stanwyck) is an heiress who falls for Jonathan Blair (Herbert Marshall), a carefree playboy who owns part of a large steamship line. However, Valentine doesn't especially like Jonathan's brassy fiancé, Carol Wallace (Glenda Farrell), and thinks he needs to start taking a more serious attitude about his money and his investments. To teach Jonathan a lesson (and get closer to him in the process), Valentine arranges to buy enough stock in the shipping company that she's the majority owner, and begins giving him orders about how things should be done. Jonathan isn't about to stand for that, and set off for a cruise on one of his ships, with Carol in tow and every intention of having the ship's captain marry them. But Jonathan's sidekick Butch (Eric Blore) doesn't like Carol any more than Valentine, and seizes every available opportunity to throw a spanner into the works. The same year that the versatile Barbara Stanwyck starred in this comic trifle, she received an Oscar nomination for her dramatic work in the movie Stella Dallas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, (more)
- 1937
This drama is based upon a play by George S. Kaufman, The Butter and Egg Man. It tells the tale of Erwin, a naive yokel who dreams of making it in show biz. He comes to the big city with $20,000. In the city he gets involved with some crooked promoters who manage to con him into backing a dreadful play. Later, Erwin gets even by fixing up the show's accounts. He then turns the production into a New York hit. He takes the play back to the promoters and sells it to them. They buy it and immediately find themselves slapped with a plagiarism suit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Erwin, Jean Muir, (more)
In this lighthearted musical comedy from legendary director Busby Berkeley, Henry Bowers (Dick Powell) is a saxophonist in a jazz band who wins a talent contest. His prize is a ten-week contract with a movie studio, Miracle Pictures (whose slogan is "If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle"). One of his first "assignments" is to escort lovely starlet Virginia Stanton (Rosemary Lane) to a movie premiere, but while Henry is looking forward to his date with a movie star, he's disappointed to discover that Virginia has opted not to go at the last minute, instead sending her lookalike stand-in, Mona Marshall (Lola Lane). Henry is more than a bit miffed at this, but when he appears on Louella Parsons' radio show, he's a big hit and rockets to stardom. Ronald Reagan has a bit part as a radio announcer (which he did full time before acting and politics began paying the rent for him), and keep an eye peeled for Susan Hayward and Carole Landis in minor roles. By the way, Rosemary Lane and Lola Lane look a great deal alike for a good reason -- they're sisters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, (more)
- 1937
This is the second entry in the Torch Blane reporter series. In this episode, ace reporter Torchy, wanting to impress her beau the police lieutenant, begins looking into a notorious murder. She gets a hot tip, boards a plane and sets off to follow up. She is accompanied by two rival journalists. En route, it is discovered that one of them is the murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1937
In their third crime-solving adventure, smart-aleck newspaper woman Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell) and slightly dense homicide dick Steve McBride (Barton MacLane) are about to get hitched when Torchy's reporter friends pull a practical joke on them. As a wedding present, the harebrained newsboys hire a stage actor, Harvey Hammond (Leland Hodgson), to simulate a murder victim. But when Torchy and Steve arrive at the scene of the supposed crime, Hammond has been killed for real. Suspects, of course, abound, including Hammond's fellow thespians Hugo Brand (Anderson Lawlor) and Grace Brown (Anne Nagel), whose romance the actor had tried to destroy. Even more suspicious to Torchy are Hammond's long-suffering wife (Virginia Brissac), and his socialite mistress (a surprisingly brunette Natalie Moorhead). With little help from Steve and his even dumber sergeant, Gahagan (Tom Kennedy), Torchy sets a trap for the killer. Produced by Warner Bros.'s busy B-unit, The Adventurous Blonde was acted at breakneck speed by a justly famous stock company, who, as always, nearly managed to make a hackneyed plot seem fresh and new. Torchy herself was ostensibly based on reporter Dorothy Kilgallen and had begun her crime-solving career in Smart Blonde (1937). Eight more Torchy films were made, but Farrell and MacLane were replaced by Lola Lane and Paul Kelly in Torchy in Panama (1938), the seventh entry, and by Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins in the final, Torchy Plays With Dynamite (1939). By then, then series had more than run its course. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1937
In this comedy, an American chorine travels to France with a low-budget revue and nearly ends up stranded there. Fortunately, a handsome Frenchman proposes to her. Believing that he is wealthy, she accepts. Unfortunately, he deceived her and now the bride must live in a ramshackle hovel with his three children on his little farm. She is terribly disappointed, but rather than quit, she tries to make the best of things. This is difficult as a schoolteacher is terribly jealous and torments the dancer at every turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Claude Hulbert, (more)
- 1936
According to encyclopedic film historian Roger Dooley, The Law in Her Hands is the only film of the 1930s to concern itself with a pair of female legal partners. The firm of Mary Wentworth (Margaret Lindsay) and Dorothy Davis (Glenda Farrell) specializes in defending criminals -- and ethics are hardly a consideration. Mary is the more idealistic of the two, insisting that she is furthering the cause of justice by championing the underdog. She is shown the error of her ways by district attorney Robert Mitchell (Warren Hull), who is as handsome as he is honest. In a denouement that might prove amusing to real-life criminal lawyers, Mary not only "reforms," but also inaugurates the proceedings for her own disbarment! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lindsay, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, a blocked writer decides he needs a little peace and quiet to spark his creativity so that he can write the final act of his play. Unfortunately, he no sooner settles down in his remote cabin when his first wife comes to call. She is followed by his second wife. A real ruckus ensues when his current girl friend also comes to see him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, (more)
- 1936
In this drama, a press agent loses his job and becomes a Hollywood radio columnist. He is angry about having to change careers and ends up launching a smear campaign upon the actor who got him fired. He begins by announcing that the star's brother is a gangster. This causes the star to be blackballed. The columnist's wife begs him to stop, telling him that she will leave him if he doesn't. He does and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ross Alexander, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1936
As originally conceived by detective novelist Frederick Nebel, hotshot girl reporter Torchy Blaine was a male news-hound named Kennedy. For the purpose of Warner Bros.' Smart Blonde, the character's name and gender was changed -- thereby inaugurating one of the most popular and enjoyable movie series of the 1930s. Glenda Farrell, she of the mile-a-minute mouth, was an inspired choice for Torchy Blaine, while burly Barton MacLane was equally well cast as Torchy's boyfriend-nemesis, police lieutenant Steve McBride. In this first series entry, the only one actually based on a Nebel story, Torchy and Steve join forces to solve -- what else? -- a baffling murder case. McBride thinks that crook-gone-straight Tom Carney (Craig Reynolds) is the guilty party, but Torchy determines that the killing was the handiwork of one of Tom's old underworld cronies. It takes a second murder for McBride to admit that Torchy is right as usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1936
Small-town waiter Will Wright (Edward Everett Horton) can't help but feel that his Kansas community has lost its civic pride. After attending a speech delivered by a New York Realtor, Will takes it upon himself to head to the Big Apple to promote a real-estate deal for the benefit of his friends and neighbors. It isn't long before he gets mixed up with two rival gangsters, Dizzy Rantz (Cesar Romero) and Jake Cavendish (Frank Conroy). But with the help of moll Ruby Miller (Glenda Farrell), Will manages to convince the two mobsters to bury the hatchet -- and to invest their money in a real estate development that will result in big bucks for all concerned. Edward Everett Horton's flawless performance is the glue that holds Nobody's Fool together. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Everett Horton, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1936
Blending equal amounts of comedy, romance and thrills, High Tension is a near-perfect 20th Century-Fox "B" effort. Brian Donlevy and Glenda Farrell co-stars as rough-and-ready Steve Reardon and equally feisty Edith McNeal. He's a deep-sea engineer for a telephone cable company; she's a magazine writer specializing in adventure stories. Though Steve is in love with Edith, he balks at the notion of marriage. But after rescuing his best pal Eddie (Norman Foster) during a particularly dangerous job in Hawaii, Steve realizes he needs some stability in his life, and finally pops the question to Edith. Allan Dwan directs this slam-bang actioner with his usual effortless expertise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Glenda Farrell, (more)
Those beautiful Busby Berkeley babes are back at work, seeking financial backing for a Broadway show. Salvation comes from a meek hypochondriac (Victor Moore) who'd rather the girls get his insurance money than his murderous business partners. Dick Powell isn't the male star of the show, but does show up as a glib insurance agent. A lesser but still enjoyable entry in Warners' Gold Diggers musical series, Gold Diggers of 1937 is very much a mixed bag. For every topnotch number like "With Plenty of Money and You," there's an excruciating experience like the "military" finale "All's Fair in Love and War." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1935
In the wake of Shirley Temple, every Hollywood studio scrambled to find a child star who might possibility match Temple's selling power. Warner Bros.' candidate was South Africa-born Sybil Jason, who starred in several of the studio's short subjects and was headlined in a handful of features like Little Big Shot. Here she is cast as Gloria Gibbs, whose daddy is knocked off by gangsters early in the picture. Left in the care of confidence tricksters Steve Craig (Robert Armstrong) and Mortimer Thompson (Edward Everett Horton), it doesn't take long for Gloria to twist her surrogate "parents" around her little finger. With the help of Steve, Mortimer and lunch-counter waitress Jean (Glenda Farrell), our heroine not only puts the finger on the gang responsible for her father's demise, but collects a huge reward as a result. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sybil Jason, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1935
With little plot but incredible photography and choreography, Gold Diggers of 1935 was exactly what you would expect a Busby Berkeley movie to be--visually stimulating, awe-inspiring and almost Freudian in its obsession toward perfection. The Titanic scale of Berkeleian choreography was especially apparent in the "Lullaby on Broadway" number, showing the last day in the life of a "Broadway Baby" before she kills herself. This scene has some of the most precise choreography ever filmed. This was the second of the Gold Diggers films and it remains a classic for the startling technological display found in all Berkeley efforts. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1935
Per its title, this merry Warner Bros. musical was filmed on location in the resort community of Agua Caliente. Pat O'Brien plays magazine editor Larry MacArthur, whose scathingly negative review of tempestuous dancer La Espanita (Dolores Del Rio) has incurred the lady's considerable wrath. Through a fluke, MacArthur finds himself in Caliente, where he begins ardently pursuing the lovely Rita Gomez, not realizing -- at least at first -- that Rita and La Espanita are one in the same. Intending to humiliate MacArthur, Rita relents when she realizes she's fallen for him as well. Of the supporting players, only Edward Everett Horton is given any worthwhile material, and he makes the most of it. The Busby Berkeley dance numbers are okay, but the film's musical highlight is Wini Shaw's rendition of "The Lady in Red", followed by Judy Canova's semi-parody version of the same tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1935
Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, the female Laurel and Hardy of Warner Bros., share top billing in We're in the Money. This time Blondell and Farrell are cast respectively as Ginger and Dixie, intrepid process-servers for goofy lawyer Homer Bronson (Hugh Herbert). Things go from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous when the girls are ordered to serve a summons to Ginger's wealthy boyfriend C. Richard Courtney (Ross Alexander), who's entangled in a breach-of-promise suit. Our heroines are also called upon to deliver their missives to a nightclub singer (Phil Regan), a brawny wrestler (Man Mountain Dean) and a surly gangster (Lionel Stander), with predictable but hilarious results. With so many expert farceurs in the cast, poor Ross Alexander virtually ends up as dramatic relief! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1935
In this comedy, a toothpaste magnate's mischievous daughter, tired of her father's traditional ways of conducting business, joins forces with her father's rival and a crazy inventor. Together they create "Cocktail Toothpaste." The new concoction tastes like whiskey in the morning, a martini at suppertime, and champagne at night. The stuff is a big success thanks to radio advertising. This teaches her stodgy old dad a good lesson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, (more)
