Ethel Griffies Movies
The daughter of actor-manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts, Ethel Griffies began her own stage career at the age of 3. Griffies was 21 when she finally made her London debut in 1899, and 46 when she made her first Broadway appearance in Havoc (1924). Discounting a tentative stab at filmmaking in 1917, she made her movie bow in 1930, repeating her stage role in Old English (1930). Habitually cast as a crotchety old lady with the proverbial golden heart, she alternated between bits and prominently featured roles for the next 35 years. Her larger parts included Grace Poole in both the 1935 and 1944 versions of Jane Eyre, and the vituperous matron who accuses Tippi Hedren of being a harbinger of doom in Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Every so often, she'd take a sabbatical from film work to concentrate on the stage; she made her last Broadway appearance in 1967, at which time she was England's oldest working actress. Presumably at the invitation of fellow Briton Arthur Treacher, Ethel Griffies was a frequent guest on TV's Merv Griffin Show in the late 1960s, never failing to bring down the house with her wickedly witty comments on her 80 years in show business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1931
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
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Evelyn Knapp, (more)
- 1930
British actor George Arliss spent the bulk of his movie career in adaptations of his stage successes. Based on a play by John Galsworthy, Old English stars Arliss as an aging shipbuilder, who dotes on the children of his deceased son. Arliss' sister (Ethyl Gryffies) disapproves because the old man's son was illegitimate, but Arliss pays her no heed. He secures the financial future of his grandchildren by entering into a shady business deal that is sure to bring him disgrace and ruin. To escape the wrath of his enemies, Arliss commits an elegant suicide by defying his doctor's orders and eating a sumptuous gourmet mea -- a wistful finale later reworked into the 1935 biopic Diamond Jim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Leon Janney, (more)
