Lumsden Hare Movies
Despite his Irish background, no one could play the typical British gentleman, or gentleman's gentleman, better than Lumsden Hare. There was definitely something aristocratic about the erect, dignified 6'1" Hare, who played the Prince Regent in The House of Rothschild (1934) and the King of Sweden in Cardinal Richelieu (1935), not to mention countless military officers, doctors, and lawyers. A leading man in his younger days to Ethel Barrymore, Maude Adams, Nance O'Neil, and Maxine Elliott, Hare made his screen debut, as F. Lumsden Hare, in 1916 and continued to mix film with Broadway appearances through the 1920s. Relocating to Hollywood after the changeover to sound, Hare became one of the era's busiest, and finest, character actors, appearing in hundreds of film and television roles until his retirement in 1960. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1930
Dakin Barrolles (played by Edmund Lowe is a criminal who, while escaping from a bank robbery that went wrong, stumbles across a famous banker, Sir John Lasher, and his wife, Xandra. Lasher is deep in his cups, and neither he nor Xandra notice when Barrolles absconds with one of their possessions -- a locket with a picture of the married couple. For once, Barrolles has more in mind than thievery. He has become instantly smitten with banker's wife; planning to escape the police by enlisting in the army, he wants the picture to serve as a reminder of her beauty. During heavy fighting, Barrolles is injured in a mine explosion, and the surgeon who operates on him gives him the face of the man in the locket. By coincidence, Lasher has also joined the war effort and is missing. Xandra arrives to reluctantly take home her husband and is surprised at the change in her husband, who now is clearly in love with her and concerned about her feelings. Now in a position to commit a spectacular bank robbery, Barrolles must decide whether to give in to this temptation or stay with the woman he loves -- and must also worry about what he will do if Scotland Yard finds him or the real Lasher returns. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1930
Will Rogers' second starring talkie feature was a spiritual twin of the first, They Had to See Paris, albeit with a significant change of locale. Although newly rich Texas mill owner Hiram Draper (Rogers) intensely despises all things British (dismissing the country as the land of "marmalade eaters"), he is forced by business considerations to journey to London. Going along for the ride are his wife (Irene Rich, who had costarred with Rogers in They Had to See Paris), and his son Hiram Junior (Frank Albertson). Upon the family's arrival, Junior falls in love with Elinor (Maureen O'Sullivan), daughter of aristocratic Lord Percy Worthing (Lumsden Hare), whose opinion of "Yankees" is about as low and disdainful as is Hiram's attitude towards "Limeys." Through a series of amusing incidents, not least of which is a zany hunting expedition, Hiram and Lord Percy become friends, consoling themselves to the marriage of their children. Highlights in this episodic star vehicle include the famous early sequence in which Hiram, who was born in Oklahoma while it was still "Indian Territory", tries to get a passport without the necessary U.S. birth certificate; and the finale, in which the two proud fathers perform a "singing duel" of their respective national anthems. Based on the successful stage play by Arthur F. Goodrich (which had originally starred George M. Cohan), So This is London was remade eight years later as one of 20th Century-Fox's "Jones Family" B-pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1929
Accused of murdering her employer, nightclub vocalist Alice Carroll (Madge Bellamy) is vigorously prosecuted in court by ambitious young DA Dick Starr (Don Terry). After Alice is sent to prison, however, Starr begins having second thoughts. He ends up helping her escape from jail so that she can help him prove her innocence. Alice returns the favor by rescuing Starr from the genuine murderers. Based on a story by journalist Richard Harding Davis (who seldom allowed himself to be confused by the facts), Fugitives was one of the last Fox silent films before the studio switched over exclusively to the Movietone sound process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madge Bellamy, Don Terry, (more)
- 1929
In this early talkie from director John Ford, a Scottish captain and his regiment are sent to India during WW I and assigned to quell a native uprising in the Northern mountains. Unfortunately, soon after arriving, he gets drunk and seemingly kills another officer during a barroom fight. He escapes capture and disappears into the crowd. Now wanted as a renegade, he involves himself with a beautiful but sadistic native princess, a direct descendant of Alexander the Great. He cozies up to her and learns that she is planning to send her troops to attack the British through Khyber pass. Though she correctly suspects that the fugitive soldier is really a spy, she cannot help but fall in love with him, thereby sparing him the usual torture and castration she forces upon other captured British soldiers. Unfortunately her love causes her downfall in the exciting conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1929
In this drama, a young woman gets angry when her boyfriend's father, a motorcycle cop, stops her for speeding, refuses her bribe, and makes her go to court. She is so angry that she dumps her beau. Later, the wild young woman is dancing with a renowned bootlegger at a dance on the seamy side of town when he is shot by gangsters. Fortunately, her ex-beau is in the area, grabs her and throws her in the car, but not before the gangsters come up on them and "take 'em for a ride." A high-speed chase ensues when the lad's father comes riding to the rescue. Unfortunately, he is shot off his bike, and as the car swerves his son is ejected from the car. The quick-thinking youth grabs his father's pistol, aims at the gangsters and gets them to surrender. The young girl is agog at his bravery and immediately forgives him for his father's transgressions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sue Carol, Nick Stuart, (more)
- 1929
The second version of Louis Joseph Vance's 1907 mystery melodrama The Brass Bowl, this early talkie featured stage actor Alan Birmingham as wealthy world traveler Dan Maitland and his evil lookalike, the master criminal Anisty. Leila Hyams played Sylvia Graeme, whose father Andrew (George Pierce) is in jail due to some incriminating papers which Sylvia believes are being kept in a safe belonging to Maitland. Both Maitland and his doppelgãnger arrive on the scene and soon one is impersonating the other, and vice versa, in a confusing game of "who's got the papers." In the end, Sylvia helps bring about Anisty's downfall, saving her father and falling in love with Maitland along the way. Masquerade had been filmed twice earlier under its original title, in 1914 featuring early action star Benjamin F. Wilson and in 1924 starring Edmund Lowe. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leila Hyams, Alan Birmingham, (more)
- 1929
One of the few pre-1930 John Ford films currently available, the part-talkie Salute was co-directed by Ford and David Butler. George O'Brien is cast as cadet John Randall, star player for the Army college football team. His principal gridiron opponent is Navy player Paul Randall (William Janney), his own kid brother. In the days before the big Army-Navy game, John and Paul's sibling rivalry intensifies as both pay court to pretty Nancy Wayne (Helen Chandler). The film concludes with the inevitable Big Game, an expert blend of newly shot scenes and Fox Movietone newsreel footage. Stepin Fetchit, a Ford favorite, goes through his usual bizarrely racist routines as the hero's valet. The entire University of Southern California football team appears in Salute, including two strapping young players named John Wayne and Ward Bond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, William Janney, (more)
- 1929
In this wartime adventure, a wealthy young pilot strays from his mission and stops to say good bye to his girl friend. Unfortunately his plane crashes and he is left paralyzed from the waist down. To make matters worse, while he recuperates, his character comes under close scrutiny. Eventually he recovers both the use of his legs and his good name. He does the latter when he saves London from a German zeppelin attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Chandler, John Garrick, (more)
- 1924
Stage actor Alfred Lunt makes one of his rare screen appearances in this light comedy, based on the novel by Allen Updegraff. Rowland Farwell Francis (Lunt) is a retiring silk salesman at a department store. His reticent demeanor doesn't stop his widowed landlady, Mrs. Benson (Jobyna Howland) and his stenographer from considering him to be husband material. These women don't get Francis' attention, however -- and he falls for the wealthy Anne Winton (Mimi Palmeri), who he meets over the silk counter. Of course, he's too shy to do anything about it, and hat's the way it would probably have stayed if Anne's brother-in-law hadn't dared her to invite a man out to supper. She takes the dare and shows Francis such a good time that he becomes an aggressive and virile lover who wins her heart. He also lands a promotion to assistant buyer. Although the other ladies lose their chance with Francis, they still manage to win mates of their own. Lunt's wife and stage partner, Lynn Fontanne, appears in a bit role. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfred Lunt, Jobyna Howland, (more)
- 1923
Film pioneer J. Stuart Blackton tempered his old-fashioned approach with some welcome slapstick moments in this melodrama, which contained just about every rural cliché in the book. Struggling artist Paul Bixler (Lumsden Hare) leaves his family to commit suicide but the village busybody (Marcia Harris) tells his wife, Anne (Mary Carr), that he has run off with another woman. Meanwhile, the couple's daughter, Lisbeth (Madge Evans) is heart-broken when her sweetheart, David (James Morrison), becomes infatuated with a city flapper (Mary MacLaren). The river floods the village, but the townsfolk are saved by Captain Hammond (Burr McIntosh) and his boat, the Sarah Jane. Bixler reappears to rescue his wife, and Lisbeth rescues David, who finally realizes that she's the one for him. The boat catches fire and is forced to go to shore, but everyone is safe and happy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1922
John Barrymore's impressive performance in this picture is a testament to the strength of his talent, because it had a lot to overcome -- according to director Albert Parker, the famed thespian was on a bender for much of the shoot. This version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (adapted from the play by William Gillette) was shot on location in London and Switzerland; when the crew headed back to the States to complete shooting, Parker pleaded with Barrymore to quit drinking. Surprisingly, Barrymore obliged, and was sober for the rest of production. The storyline follows the play pretty closely, including Holmes' early days, in which he decided to study criminology after college graduation. Along with his faithful assistant, Dr. Watson (Roland Young), Holmes comes face to face with arch criminal Professor Moriarty (Gustav von Seyffertitz). Moriarty is causing trouble for Prince Alexis (Reginald Denny), and Holmes craftily outwits the villain. This excellent picture had only a few faults -- one was its lengthy subtitles. The other noticeable gaffe was casting Carol Dempster (who was borrowed from D.W. Griffith) to play the romantic interest, Alice Faulkner -- her performance is only passable. A young William Powell has a small supporting role. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Roland Young, (more)
- 1921
Education of Elizabeth was adapted for the silent screen from a play by Roy Horniman. The film version was designed as a vehicle for Billie Burke, still in her ingenue stage (though she's obviously on the darker side of 30). Burke, the real-life wife of Flo Ziegfeld, plays Ziegfeld Follies dancer Elizabeth Banks who falls for a wealthy young man. His parents are shocked--and so is Elizabeth when she decides she'd rather have her beau's nerdish brother. She turns the mouse into a lion so that he'll be a worthy husband. The material was very fey and fluffy, like Billie Burke herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Elsie Ferguson has a dual role, as mother and daughter, in this tale of gambling fever. Chichita (Ferguson) has a gambler father who is murdered, and later on she marries another gambler, who shoots himself. When she meets yet another gambler, Nick Delano (Warner Oland), she marries him too, and sends her daughter Helene (also Ferguson) to a convent, with John Harvey (Fred Esmelton) as her guardian. Years later, Chichita, now known as Madame Delano, runs a fashionable gambling hall with her husband. Helene, who has married Price Ruyler (Lumsden Hare), comes to the establishment, but is not aware that her mother is its proprietor. She has inherited her father's gambling bug and soon she has gone through all her money and pawned her jewels. She owes thousands of dollars to Delano, who threatens to expose her if she does not pay up. Madame Delano finds out that Helene is her daughter and tries to make a partial payment for her. This does not satisfy Delano, who attacks Helene. In the struggle he falls off a balcony and dies. The police show up, but Madame Delano puts on Helene's wrap and hat and is taken away in her place. She is sent to prison for murder and kills herself so that she won't bring shame down on her daughter. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Based on a novel by Robert Hitchen, Barbary Sheep was set in Algiers. The heroine, Lady Katherine Wyverne (Elsie Ferguson), forsakes her neglectful sportsman husband (Lumsden Hare) in favor of a handsome and charismatic Arab chieftain named Benchaalal (Pedro de Cordoba). Though nothing of an untoward nature happens, Lady Katherine's recklessness may very well cost her reputation and social standing. A last-minute intervention by her husband, who under the circumstances is quite reasonable, rescues the heroine from disgrace. Credit director Maurice Tourneur for making this relatively uneventful domestic drama seem more important than it actually was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Envy was intended as the first of seven films based upon the Deadly Sins (much like Claude Chabrol's later filmic cycles). Farm girl Eve Leslie (Shirley Mason) falls for the line handed her by millionaire Adam Moore (George Le Guere). She enjoys her sumptuous new lifestyle but doesn't like the attentions paid by Moore to actress Betty Howard (Ann Murdock). Growing jealous of Betty, Eve suppresses her impulses to nurse her rival when it seems that Betty has but a short time to live. The story comes to a screeching halt shortly after the introduction of Betty's no-good boyfriend Stanton Skinner (Lumsden Hare); perhaps the up-in-the-air denouement was meant to segue into some sort of live-action afterpiece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
British stage favorite Kitty Gordon made her American film debut in As in a Looking Glass. Gordon plays an alluring espionage agent, working on behalf of The Enemy. This lasts only so long as she steers clear of handsome American F. Lumsden Hare. Falling in love with Hare, Gordon turns her back on her old colleagues, going so far as to betray them to the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
In this action-packed drama, Rozika, a Hungarian peasant girl (Mary Nash), comes to America with her anarchist brother. She winds up singing in a trashy bar in New York's Lower East Side, but she is saved from her sleazy life by David Trevor, the rich owner of a steel plant. He funds her efforts -- ultimately successful -- to become an opera singer and then he marries her. With the outbreak of World War I, one of Hungary's enemies orders ammunition from Trevor's plant. Rozika begs him to refuse but he ignores her. Her brother receives orders to blow up the plant, and although Rozika does her best to stop him, he succeeds. It takes Trevor's financial ruin for him to finally see his wife's point, and he has to agree that the plant's destruction is all for the better. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
