Louise Fazenda Movies
Already a veteran stage performer in her teens, Louise Fazenda entered films with Universal's Joker Comedy unit in 1913. Two years later she joined Mack Sennett's Keystone company, where she rose to stardom. In real life a most attractive young woman, Fazenda deliberately "dressed down" for her early film appearances, portraying a gawky, frizzy-haired, buck-toothed bumpkin, just ripe for being seduced and abandoned by any city slicker who happened along. Sennett admired Fazenda's comic gifts and her willingness to do anything for a laugh, and accordingly starred her in his 1920 feature film Down on the Farm. By the mid-1920s, Fazenda was an extremely popular character actress, contributing frolicsome comic characterizations to such films as The Bat (1925), The Babe Comes Home (1926), The Cradle Snatchers (1927) and Noah's Ark (1928). During this period, she often put her country-girl characterization on the back burner to portray elegant society dowagers, alternately browbeating their wealthy husbands or enjoying the high-priced attentions of oily gigolos. While under contract to Warner Bros/First National, Fazenda met and married producer Hal B. Wallis, several years her junior. Retiring from films in 1939, Louise Fazenda spent her final decades as one of Hollywood's most beloved social leaders, remaining active in charitable and humanitarian causes until her death at the reported age of 66. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1931
When European princess Lee comes back to her Midwestern hometown, she is thought to be a seamstress and goes along with the ruse in this comedy. ~ Rovi
- 1931
MGM had hopes of turning Metropolitan opera singer Lawrence Tibbett into a movie star, but Cuban Love Song brought this two-year project to an end. Tibbett plays a cocky marine stationed in Havana, who devotes his attention to voluptuous Cuban peanut vendor Lupe Velez. He serenades her with "The Peanut Song" several times in the course of the film, and Velez falls madly in love. But Tibbett is the "love 'em and leave 'em" type, and when World War One breaks out he drops Velez like a hot tamale and heads for Europe. Ten years pass: Tibbett returns to Cuba, only to discover that Velez has died...and then he meets a cute 9-year-old "orphan" boy whose favorite tune is "The Peanut Song". Cuban Love Song is highlighted by an uproariously graphic "castor oil" gag involving supporting actor Jimmy Durante. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lawrence Tibbett, Lupe Velez, (more)
- 1931
William Boyd is one of the stars of the Paramount western Gun Smoke -- only it's not the same William Boyd who later essayed the role of Hopalong Cassidy, but another actor who billed himself as William "Stage" Boyd. The plot was a familiar one to western devotees of the early 1930s: a bunch of urban gangsters, forced out of the Big City when the cops put the screws in, head to Idaho to continue their crooked activities in the Wide Open Spaces. Unfortunately, the bad guys, headed by Kedge Davas (Boyd), haven't reckoned with the resourcefulness of cowboy hero Brad Farley (Richard Arlen) and his saddle pals. Farley and company organize a vigilante group to purge the territory of the gangsters, adopting tactics that might in any other circumstances be considered fascistic. The unspeakable Davas finally comes to a well-deserved end when he falls from a mountain top (a cinematic tour de force for cinematographer Archie J. Stout). It may seem hopelessly hokey and outdated in synopsis form, but Gun Smoke is as entertaining in the 1990s as it was six decades earlier; indeed, a recent screening of the film in the small Idaho resort community of Ketchum earned a standing ovation from the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1930
In this sweet comedy, a meek and clumsy employee of a large firm is filled with useful ideas, but is too shy to present them. He gets involved with the boss's straight-forward daughter who helps get his ideas across. Mayhem ensues and the company's superintendent is fired. The employee's ideas are then implemented. As the frosting on his cake, the mild-mannered fellow also gets to marry the boss's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Everett Horton, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1930
This version of Shakespeare's most famous love story is set in Scarsdale, New York. This time, the heroine comes from an old monied aristocratic family. Trouble ensues when the hero's newly wealthy, and terribly unsophisticated family from Iowa moves in next door. The young woman becomes interested in the young man when she hears him playing the ukulele. She asks him to teach her to play, and romance ensues. Naturally her snooty parents disapprove of the young man and his family of rubes. They remind the girl that she is already betrothed to a French count. This does not deter the young lovers who elope the night before her marriage to the count. Eventually the family's reconcile their differences and prosperous harmony ensues. Songs include: "I'm In The Market For You," "Eleanor," "High Society Blues," "Just Like In A Story Book," "The Song I Sing In My Dreams," and "I Don't Know You Well Enough For That." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1930
A newlywed countess is asked to make a tremendous sacrifice for her husband and herself in this musical comedy-drama. Count Adrian Beltrami (Allan Prior) is an Italian nobleman who on the day of his wedding to Anna-Marie (Vivienne Segal) is driven from his estate by Austrian rebels, who turn his castle their base of operations. While Beltrami maps out a scheme to win back his home, his new bride is left behind to deal with Col. Vultow (Walter Pidgeon) and his minions. The lecherous Vultow offers to grant freedom and safety to Anna-Marie and her husband, but only in exchange for her virtue. Myrna Loy, Ford Sterling, and Lousie Fazenda highlight the supporting cast of this early two-strip Technicolor musical; sadly, no prints are known to exist at this writing. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vivienne Segal, Allan Prior, (more)
- 1930
In this faithful adaptation of the popular 1925 Broadway hit musical, a Bible salesman helps three women with their troubles and finds himself in deep when all three show up at his Atlantic City cottage simultaneously. Songs include: "Dance of the Wooden Shoes," "As Long as I'm With You," "King of the Air," "No, No Nanette," "Dancing to Heaven," "Tea for Two," and "I Want to be Happy." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bernice Claire, Alexander Gray, (more)
- 1930
This early musical was filmed in color and centers upon the love affair between a young composer and the woman he wants to marry. Unfortunately the two quarrel and split up, causing her to marry a wealthy man. He also marries, but the union is unhappy because his new wife doesn't understand his love for music. Forty years pass. By then the composer is dead. His elderly ex-flame is seen listening raptly to his music. Later the grandchildren of the star-crossed lovers end up getting married. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alexander Gray, Vivienne Segal, (more)
- 1930
In this frothy musical, a lovely young woman is wooed by two men. One of them meets her father's approval so it is only natural that she attempt to elope with the other. Fortunately the good guy catches up with them before it is too late. Songs include: "Spring Is Here in Person," "I Married an Angel," "Yours Sincerely," "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Baby's Awake Now," "With a Song in My Heart" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart), "Cryin' for the Carolines," "Have a Little Faith In Me," "Bad Baby," and "How Shall I Tell?" (Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Warren). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1930
A young woman stands to inherit a million bucks in this comedy. The deal is thus: her aunts will give her a cool million if she can stay out of trouble and marry a reputable man with a clean background whom her benefactors approve of. The girl eagerly advertises for her mate, and she finds a handsome fellow with whom she falls in love. The trouble is the man is a gigolo and the aunties most definitely do not approve. Fortunately for him, his buddies intervene and threaten to make public an embarrassing incident involving the ladies and a certain raided cafe. They quickly change their minds and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (more)
- 1930
Legendary Broadway comedian Joe Cook, who was capable of reducing audiences to paroxysms of helpless laughter by telling them what he wasn't going to do that evening, was invariably better than the shows in which he appeared. Fully aware of this, director Frank Capra brought Cook's 1928 stage musical Rain or Shine to the screen, cutting all of its songs and concentrating almost exclusively on the star. The mere wisp of a plot focuses on the tinker-toy travelling circus owned by heroine Joan Peers. Advance-man Cook does his best to stir up business and to avoid the sheriffs and process-servers, but it's an uphill battle. The climactic tent-fire scene is a cinematic tour de force for Capra, who'd improve upon it one year later in The Miracle Woman (1931). While Joe Cook's non-sequitur patter seems more bizarre than funny at times, he is always worth watching, as are his perennial stooges Tom Howard (who looks astonishingly like Robert Woolsey of Wheeler & Woolsey fame) and Dave Chasen (yes, the same Dave Chasen who later became a celebrated Hollywood restaurateur). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joe Cook, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1930
In this musical, adapted from the earlier Musical Present Arms, a Marine private falls in love with a socialite and is willing to do anything to win her affections--even if it means stealing his captain's uniform and posing as an officer. When that doesn't work, he tries faking a shipwreck that goes awry and turns into the real shipwreck of the woman's yacht. Eventually the sailor's determination pays off and the girl is his. Songs include: "You Took Advantage of Me", "A Kiss for Cinderella", "All My Life", "Careless Kisses", "Evening Star", "Brightly Nice And So Peculiar", and "Shake It Off and Smile". ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Ken Murray, (more)
- 1929
In this adventure set in South America, the captain of a yacht moored there is really a fugitive criminal. The passengers are too busy trying to find the missing son of the boat's owner to pay the captain much mind. Later the hapless passengers find themselves having to deal with angry natives and a big, mean ape. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- H.B. Warner, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
Blonde Broadway dancer Marie Saxon came to the screen in 1929 courtesy of Columbia Pictures, who starred her opposite popular stage emcee Jack Egan in Broadway Hoofer, a rather leaden musical concoction that played mostly in the hinterlands. Saxon appeared as Broadway dancing star Adele Dorey who, overworked and exhausted, suddenly ups and leaves New York in favor of a country village. But when promoter Bobby Lewis (Egan) of the barnstorming Gay Girlies Burlesque Company arrives in town, he picks an incognito Adele among all the pretty village girls to star in his new show. On a lark, Adele introduces her maid Jane (Louise Fazenda) as her mother and accepts a contract. When Adele's identity is finally revealed, the slumming star apologizes for her deception by offering Bobby a Broadway job. Denouncing Irene for her duplicity at first , Bobby, who has fallen in love, finally agrees to the gig and they are reunited. Filmed back-to-back with the equally pedestrian Broadway Scandals, which also starred Egan, Broadway Hoofer completely wasted the redoubtable Miss Saxon in clumsily staged numbers such as Hawaiian Love Song, a would-be show-stopper featuring rather zoftig-looking chorus girls in grass skirts. Marie took the consequences of this minor disaster and quickly returned to the Great White Way. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Egan, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
This early talkie antique is a backstage musical from Warner Bros. The plot involves the out-of-town tryout of a new musical comedy, and the people who perform therein: a bitchy leading lady (Betty Compson), an arrogant comedy lead (Joe E. Brown), and a starstruck chorus kid (Sally O'Neil). At the very last moment, the leading lady refuses to go on, forcing the producer to put the chorus girl in her place. It turns out that the star's seemingly rotten behavior was deliberately designed to give the chorine her big break. In between several Technicolor musical numbers (now only existing in black-and-white), we hear a lot of pedantic talk about "the show business." On with the Show's sole virtue is the exquisite Ethel Waters, who introduces her hit song "Am I Blue?" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
In this curious film, a knickknack collector falls in love with the daughter of a jewel collector. When a rare stone is swiped from a reception at the latter's home, the daughter and her sweetheart begin looking for it. As they drive to the police, they are taken upon a most circuitous path until they end up at the home of Satan, wherein many strange people dwell. The couple is befriended by a helpful dwarf. They must all attend a masquerade ball, and there some of Satan's minions abduct the woman and demand that she produces the jewel, lest she be tortured. Both she and her love then must endure a number of terrifying encounters before they can escape. Unfortunately, the bizarre ordeal has rendered them both stark raving mad. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thelma Todd, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1929
Edna Ferber's short story "Classified" was the source for the Dorothy Mackaill vehicle Hard to Get. Mackaill is cast as Bobby Martin, a dress-shop model with intellectual aspirations. Wealthy Dexter Courtland (Edmund Burns) rescues Bobby from a masher, whereupon romance blooms. Likewise smitten with the heroine is down-to-earth garage mechanic Jerry (Charles Delaney). Putting on phony airs for Dexter's benefit, Bobby at last realizes that she'd be happier with Jerry, who loves her for herself. A plenitude of laughs are provided by Bobby's blue-collar family, played by James Finlayson, Louise Fazenda and Jack Oakie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, James Finlayson, (more)
- 1929
In this college romp, a free-spirited aunt decides to use a $10,000 insurance settlement to send her niece to college. She then accompanies her as a chaperone. The niece is quite pretty and immediately becomes the "hottest thing on campus." This causes riotous trouble for the protective aunt. Things get especially hot when the niece is discovered in the arms of the college Lothario. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alice White, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1929
After literally inventing the movie musical with The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. purchased the motion picture rights to the evergreen Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II 2nd operetta The Desert Song. Although the results looked like a photographed stage play (a common failing of early-talkie songfests), the unforgettable Romberg-Hammerstein tunes (The Riff Song, One Alone, the title number) more than carried the day. John Boles stars as The Red Shadow, the Robin Hood-like leader of the Riffs and the bane of the existence of General Bierbieu (Edward Martindel). The good General has another cross to bear in the form of his nerdish, lily-livered son Pierre, who is likewise despised by heroine Margot (Carlotta King). Little does anyone suspect that the wimpy Pierre and the dashing Red Shadow are one in the same! Myrna Loy is exotica personified as the Red Shadow's native sweetheart Azuri (her navel-exposing harem outfits must be seen to be believed), while comedy relief is supplied by "nance" comedian Johnny Arthur as effeminate reporter Benny Kidd, and Louise Fazenda as Benny's rambunctious assistant Susan. Partially filmed in Technicolor, this version of The Desert Song, and its 1943 remake, were long withheld from distribution due to the rather lukewarm 1953 version, likewise produced by Warner Bros., which starred Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson. A "pocket" version of The Desert Song, the 2-reel musical The Red Shadow, was released by Warners' short-subject subsidiary Vitaphone in 1933, with Alexander Gray and Bernice Claire in the leading roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Boles, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1928
A poor street cleaner inherits a fortune in this farce, which came complete with a music score and sound effects. According to a provision in his uncle's will, Elmer, the street cleaner (Clyde Cook), must marry or forfeit the inheritance to Briggs (William Demarest), the deceased man's faithful retainer. The latter kidnaps poor Elmer on his way to the altar, but the intended bride, plucky salesgirl Annie (Louise Fazenda), eventually comes to the rescue with assistance from the Coast Guard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gertrude Astor, Tom Ricketts, (more)
- 1928
In this broad comedy, Clyde Jones (Clyde Cook) and "Terrible Bill" McGovern (William Demarest) are a pair of streetcar conductors who are rivals for the affections of waitress Mary Jones (Louise Fazenda). Myrna Loy appears in a typically exotic supporting role as Yvonne De Russo. Like many early talkies, Pay As You Enter was released in both sound and silent editions, and also like many films of its era, no prints are currently known to exist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clyde Cook, Louise Fazenda, (more)
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