Sam Hardy Movies

One of the best of the pre-Production Code Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey vehicles, Peach O' Reno remains as hilariously ribald today as it was nearly 70 years ago. Wheeler and Woolsey play Wattles and Swift, a pair of Reno divorce attorneys whose practice is so successful that their clients have to take numbers to be served. When the working day is over, Wattles & Swift convert their law offices into a nightclub, with the secretaries shedding their street clothes to don skimpy dancing outfits and the junior lawyers transforming into waiters. The story is set in motion when Joe and Aggie Bruno (Joseph Cawthorn and Cora Witherspoon) decide to get a divorce after 20 years of marriage. Wattles agrees to represent Joe in court, while Swift agrees to handle Aggie's case -- a cute conflict of interest that will mean money in the bank for the partners no matter what the outcome. The Brunos' pretty daughters Prudence (Dorothy Lee) and Pansy (Zelma O'Neill) show up in Reno to prevent their parents' breakup, whereupon Wattles falls in love with Prudence and Swift is overcome (quite literally) by Pansy. As part of his legal strategy, Swift arranges for Joe to be seen in public with another woman, who turns out to be Wattles in drag. After several minutes of double- and single-entendre comedy patter, disgruntled ex-husband Ace Crosby (Mitchell Harris), angry over the outcome of his divorce case, comes gunning for Wattles. The latter, still in female disguise, manages to keep Crosby at bay, but soon the ruse is revealed and the shootin' starts. The whole affair ends in up court, where the Brunos' divorce develops into a huge media event, with radio announcer Eddie Kane providing play-by-play and concessionaire Monte Collins hawking peanuts to the spectators. With the help of a melancholy violin rendition of "Hearts and Flowers" Wattles and Swift manage to reunite the warring couple. At this point, the Judge (Sam Hardy) instruct the jurors -- armed with musical instruments -- to "get hot," as he performs a double wedding ceremony, marrying Wattles to Prudence and Swift to Pansy. The musical highlights include a priceless Wheeler-Woolsey terpsichorean number which starts as a sultry tango and ends as an wild Apache dance, and Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee's delightful Niagara Falls to Reno, showing off the tapping skills of both performers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Intending to get value for money out of their house leading man Rex Lease, Tiffany Studios cast the personable actor in everything from westerns to sports dramas to domestic comedies like Borrowed Wives. Lease plays Peter Foley, who stands to inherit a fortune from his late uncle. The problem: To increase his allowance from his wealthy relative, Peter pretended to have a wife. Naturally, the will stipulates that Peter still be married, lest he lose his $800,000 legacy. The rest of the plotline is implicit in the film's title, with everyone concerned running around at top speed to convince the audience that something funny is going on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Silent serial queen Ruth Roland made an unsuccessful bid at talking-picture stardom in the low-budget Reno. After six years of marriage to Alexander W. Brett (Montague Love), his wife Felicia (Roland) can stand no more of her husband's brutal bullying. She heads to Reno, establishes the standard six-week residence, and files for divorce. Nasty old Brett intends to get even by retaining custody of Felicia's beloved son Bobby (Douglas Scott), and the case drags on and on interminably. Given her previous life in action films, one wonders why Ruth Roland doesn't simply punch out her no-good husband and have done with it. Adapted from a novel by Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Reno was somehow picked up for distribution by Warner Bros., giving the film a wider audience than it deserved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based upon an ambitious but unsuccessful stage operetta by Oscar Hammerstein and Vincent Youmans, Song of the West is set in the middle 1800s during the great western Gold Rush. At a fort in Kansas, Lt. Singleton is in love with Virginia, daughter of the fort's Colonel. Singleton encounters Capt. Stanton, who had the misfortune of getting involved in a romantic triangle that produced a bit of a scandal. Stanton quarrels with his rival from that triangle, Davolo, and ends up shooting him. Singleton and the Colonel lock Stanton up and hold him for murder. Stanton escapes, disguises himself as a man of the cloth and hitches up with a wagon train heading for California. As luck would have it, Virginia is part of the wagon train party. Along the way, Stanton and Virginia fall in love. Stanton's guilt over his past haunts him, however, and he worries that he is not good enough for Virginia. He leaves her and is involved in a mishap at a mining camp, after which he re-enlists as a private to avoid deportation and to pay for his sins. Happily, however, he also discovers that Virginia loves him and will always love him, no matter who he is or what he has done. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Gangster boss Egan (Sam Hardy) manages to beat a murder rap by framing his mistress Marion (Margaret Livingston) for the crime. After eight years in stir, Marian is released on good behavior. She seeks out Egan and tries to persuade him to confess his crime, but he is unmoved. But when his life is saved by Marian's sweetheart Dr. Bradford (Lloyd Hughes), Egan magnanimously turns himself in. In the course of the film, ratchet-voiced Sam Hardy sings the Irving Berlin standard What'll I Do, which was at least good for laughs (whenever he hears or sings the song, the sentimental gangster decides not to kill his latest victim!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A primitive early talkie from Pathé, this crime drama starred relative newcomers Robert Armstrong and Carole Lombard, the latter still spelling her first name Carol. They play husband and wife, she threatening divorce unless he devotes more of his time to their marriage. In reality, Armstrong is an undercover detective busy investigating a dope ring lead by Reno (Sam Hardy), a crook with friends in high places. When Armstrong gets too close to the truth, Reno has him framed in the murder of corrupt newspaper publisher Addison (Charles Sellon). A Dictaphone recording Addison was making when he was murdered ultimately exonerates Banks, who can now return to his forgiving wife. Both Robert Armstrong and Carole Lombard would see their careers soar in the 1930s, he as the nominal star of King Kong (1933), she as one of Hollywood's best light comediennes. In fact, director Gregory La Cava and Lombard would collaborate again on My Man Godfrey (1936), one of the era's best screwball comedies and a far cry from the pedestrian Big News. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a 1925 play by Patrick Kearney, A Man's Man was popular MGM leading man William Haines' final silent film (albeit released with a musical score and sound-effects track). Haines is his usual bright-and-breezy self as Mel, a likable soda jerk in love with would-be actress Peggy (Josephine Dunn). Her head filled with the false words of self-styled talent agent Charlie (Sam Hardy), Peggy heads to Hollywood, leaving Mel behind. Our heroine manages to break into the movies and becomes a major star, but her heart remains with down-to-earth Mel. Greta Garbo and John Gilbert make "guest appearances" via clips from their previous MGM vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, set in a bordertown gambling saloon, the owner falls in love with a promiscuous young girl. When she has an affair with another, he tosses her out of town. She gets revenge by marrying his younger brother. To make it worse, she and her new hubby honeymoon in the jilted brother's saloon. The saloon owner simply pretends he doesn't know her. Meanwhile, sure that revenge is her, the woman begins playing around with other men. Unfortunately, she chooses to mess with the town lunatic. He kills her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

German actress Lena Malena starred in this lavishly budgeted and potentially intriguing melodrama about the influence of a valuable gem on its owners. In South Africa, a miner (Charles Stevens) loses his life after stealing a valuable diamond. Before he expires, he gives the stone to Musa (Malena), a girl from the village. Now known as the Shah Diamond, the gem turns up in New York City, where it is admired by Cecile (Gwen Lee), a socialite. When Cecile's lover Jerry (John Roche) buys her the stone, her husband John (Conrad Nagel) leaves in a fit of jealousy. Cecile, however, mistakes the gem for a valueless glass trinket and gives it to her maid, Musa. Next, the diamond turns up in a speakeasy, where it is admired by Tillie (Eleanor Boardman), the owner's girlfriend who is suffering from tuberculosis. An admirer, Larry (Lawrence Gray), secretly gives the girl money for treatment, but she instead buys the diamond. There is a police raid and Musa, now a dancing girl, is shot attempting to retrieve the diamond. Diamond Handcuffs was produced by Cosmopolitan Productions, an organization founded by newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Warner Bros. contractees Myrna Loy and Walter Pidgeon were "borrowed" by low-budget Lumas pictures for the 1928 military drama Turn Back the Hours. Based on the venerable stage play by Edward E. Rose, the film stars Pidgeon as a Naval officer who is dishonorably discharged for cowardice. While being transported home to England, Pidgeon is caught in the middle of a shipwreck, from which he is rescued by passenger Loy. Recuperating in the Caribbean home of Loy's wealthy father, our hero returns the favor by rescuing the heroine and her daddy from a gang of bandits. In so doing, Pidgeon regains his courage and self-respect -- not to mention the love of the grateful Loy. Elements of Turn Back the Hours later resurfaced in the 1942 Humphrey Bogart vehicle Across the Pacific. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Corinne Griffith stars in this 1928 remake of the 1922 melodrama Outcast. Both films were based on a play by Hubert Henry Davies, originally written as a vehicle for Elsie Ferguson (who starred in the 1922 version). Worn-out prostitute Miriam (Griffith) links up with dissolute playboy Geoffrey (Edmund Lowe). Their relationship has a positive, redemptive effect on both hero and heroine. Miriam forsakes her sinful ways, promising to dedicate her life to Geoffrey's health and happiness. Alas, his fickle ex-fiancee Valentine (Kathryn Carver), who callously dumped him to marry another, now wants Geoffrey back. But Miriam outfoxes the fox by proving that she herself is far more virtuous than the "respectable" Valentine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Busy character actor Sam Hardy was afforded a rare starring role when he played the title character in High Hat. Despite his ritzy nickname, High Hat is a mere movie dress extra at First National Pictures (where the film was shot). Even so, he regards himself as the studio pundit, dispensing romantic and financial advice to such stars as John Barrymore and Pola Negri. The plot proper has something to do with a studio seamstress named Millie (Mary Brian), who after losing a string of pearls entrusted in her care vows to work overtime until she can make up their cost. High Hat comes to the girl's rescue, recovers the diamonds, and returns to his full-time "job" as First National's resident sage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide