Mildred Harris Movies

Cecil B. DeMille's Technicolor historical spectacle Reap the Wild Wind was to have starred Gary Cooper, but Cooper's prior commitment to Goldwyn's Pride of the Yankees compelled DeMille to recast the leading role with John Wayne. The film, set in the mid-19th century, centers around Key West, Florida, where piracy reigns unchecked and steam engines are beginning to replace tall ships. Jack Stuart (Wayne) is a sea captain who crashes his vessel on the shoals of Key West. Loxi Claiborne (Paulette Goddard), the hoydenish manager of a salvage firm, arrives on the scene, but discovers that her rival in the salvage business, King Cutler (Raymond Massey) has reached Wayne first and lashed him to the mast, and is proceeding to ransack the ship with the aid of his partner-in-crime, younger brother Dan Cutler (Robert Preston). The Cutlers have built up quite a reputation for reaching wrecks ahead of competitors - to such a degree that some suspect them of making under-the-table deals with dishonest captains. While the men continue to ransack the ship, Loxi nurses Jack back to health, and the two fall in love; meanwhile, Jack worries openly that he'll lose the privilege of piloting his company's newest steamship. To ensure that this doesn't happen, Loxi offers to travel to Charleston, South Carolina and convince investigators that pirates were responsible for what happened to Jack. Subsequently, the company attorney, Stephen Tolliver (Ray Milland) must go to Florida with Jack's commission papers, and investigate the circumstances of the incident prior to givng the papers to the captain. In the process, Jack and Stephen become intense rivals for Loxi's affections. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Three Stooges try to break into show business in this Columbia short subject. They're first seen as stowaways on a train headed for Hollywood. While Curly is cooking pancakes (one of which sticks to the boxcar's ceiling) and Larry is ironing sooty burn marks into a pair of Moe's white pants (he tries saving them with white paint), Moe is explaining why they have a chance in Hollywood: "There's a couple thousand people in pictures now who know nothing about it -- three more won't make a difference." They have to work very hard, however, to get past the guards at Carnation Studios. By a stroke of luck, general manager Fuller Rath (Bud Jamison) is expecting three New York executives to show up, and thinks the Stooges are her men. Given free reign at Carnation, the boys interrupt a director while he's attempting to film a love scene. Director and actors all quit, but this doesn't throw the Stooges; Moe takes over the megaphone, Larry plays the leading man, and Curly dons a dress to play opposite him. Everything is going fine (at least in Stooge terms) until Rath discovers that the boys are impostors. The trio escapes -- right into a lion's den. To get away from the lions they jump into a car and drive off. Unfortunately, the lions have leapt into the car right after them. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Not to be confused with the prominent British film Never Too Late to Mend, which was released in the U.S. in 1937 as Never Too Late, this minor action-adventure from low-budget Reliable Pictures Corp. starred former silent-era stunt man Richard Talmadge and vaudeville performer Thelma White. Talmadge plays a detective on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves headed by the swarthy Paul Ellis. White, meanwhile, gets caught up in the crime, but is in reality only trying to protect her sister (Mildred Harris), the indiscreet wife of the local police commissioner (Robert Frazer). The jewels change hands several times, but the bad guys are finally caught after an exciting rooftop chase. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this drama, a Viennese composer kills his wife and her lover in a jealous rage, and then heads for the US with his daughter where he becomes a successful musician in a Broadway restaurant. Eighteen years later, his grown daughter gets a job as an arranger for a jazz combo. The trouble begins when she and her boyfriend arrange one of her father's old tunes. It becomes popular, and the Austrian authorities follow up on it and capture the criminal composer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this high seas adventure, a shipload of smugglers decide to mutiny and end up tossing their captain and his officers into the briny. The only one they spare is the navigator who must sail the ship to a safe harbor. But the honorable fellow refuses to do this unless the mutineers settle down and leave the poor young woman they rescued from a shipwreck in peace. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Hearts of Men was based on a story by James Oliver Curwood. At first glance, hero Cornelius Keefe seems to be a coward. And at second glance, too. But by reel five, the worm turns, and Keefe manages to solve a murder and thwart a high-stakes robbery. He then settles accounts with his bullying rival and claims the heroine as his bride. Nothing new here, though it was nice to see fading star Mildred Harris (the ex-Mrs. Charlie Chaplin) in a worthwhile role. The ingenue was played by pert Thelma Hill, better known to Laurel and Hardy fans as Stan's troublesome date in the 1928 2-reeler Two Tars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Heart of a Follies Girl was based on a story by Adela Rogers St. John, but one would never know it. The cliché-ridden story begins as clerk Derek Calhoun (Larry Kent) falls in love with Ziegfeld Follies dancer Teddy O'Day (Billie Dove). Unable to support the luxury-loving girl on his salary, Derek resorts to forgery to purchase an engagement ring. He is found out and sent to jail, but Teddy loyally awaits his return. Relying upon nearly 200 subtitles, Heart of a Follies Girl looks like it was designed as a talkie but ultimately filmed as a silent. Critics had a field day lambasting the film's corny dialogue and plot situations, which were old-fashioned even in 1928. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Universal's first 100% all-talkie, Melody of Love was completed with the aid of borrowed Movietone sound equipment from Fox studios (it was largely filmed at night, when Fox was shutdown). Walter Pidgeon stars as Tin Pan Alley composer Jack Clark, who when WWI breaks out signs up for the army with his pal Lefty (Tom Dugan). The boys spend their time overseas plunking out tunes while enemy shells whiz past their head. Eventually, a stray bullet hits Clark in his right arm, rendering him unable to wield a pencil or play a piano. He is sent home, where his former sweetheart Flo Thompson, sensing that Jack isn't going to be much of a gravy train, sends him packing. But there's a happy ending in the offing when French chanteuse Madelon (Mildred Harris) comes back into Jack's life. Recovering the use of his arm, Jack writes a hit song dedicated to Madelon, a sequence which affords former musical-comedy leading man Walter Pidgeon a golden opportunity to show off his splendid singing voice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also known as Swell-Head, this enjoyable Columbia programmer starred former Mack Sennett leading man Ralph Graves, who also directed. To finance a critical operation for his invalid mother, Lefty Malone (Graves) steps into the boxing ring. He soon ascends to the championship, his ego expanding to obscene dimensions along the way. Soon, Lefty is squandering his prize money on fast women and cheap booze, much to the chagrin of his childhood sweetheart Molly O'Rourke (Eugenia Gilbert). Not unexpectedly, Graves loses an all-important prizefight, which simultaneously knocks some sense into his swelled head. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fading star Mae Busch and up-and-coming Jean Arthur play major roles in Husband Hunters. A variation of the old "Gold-Diggers of Broadway" formula, the story concerns the amorous exploits of chorus girls Marie (Busch) and Helen (Duane Thompson), who dedicate themselves to landing millionaire hubbies. The girls enlist innocent young Letty Crane (Jean Arthur), a small-town girl who hopes to make it big on Broadway, in their scheme. Sure enough, Letty's heart is broken by a no-good cad, but by fade-out time she is the only one of the three female protagonists who has found lasting romance. Mildred Harris, the former wife of Charlie Chaplin, appears in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Herbert Rawlinson, a star on the downgrade, headed the cast of the independently produced Burning Gold. Most of the action is set amidst the oil wells of Oklahoma, as courageous digger Rawlinson races against the clock to bring in a gusher. Complicating matters are Rawlinson's romantic entanglements, including vampish Mildred Harris and virginal Shirley Palmer. The anticipated "fire in the oilfields" climax was skimpily produced, relying heavily on stock newsreel footage. Overall, the best thing about this second-rate actioner was its consistently fine photography. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

No relation to the classic 1947 "film noir" of the same name, Out of the Past, is a tearful romantic drama with a WWI background. Having lost her sweetheart Beverly Carpenter (Robert Frazer) in the war, grief-stricken Dora Prentiss (Mildred Harris) seeks solace by marrying casual acquaintance Harold Nesbitt (Ernest Wood). Having wed in haste, Dora soon learns to repent at leisure when the faithless Harold scoots off to the South Seas without her. On cue, Dora's "late" beau Carpenter -- who didn't die after all -- comes back into her life. Alas, their happiness proves short-lived when Harold returns, demanding that Dora return to him. Ultimately, Harold wises up and retires gracefully, allowing Dora and Carpenter to live out their lives together. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi