Lenore Bushman Movies

Lenore Bushman was the daughter of silent movie icon Francis X. Bushman and the sister of actor Ralph Bushman. Like her father and brother, she had a striking physical presence, though her career languished, never reaching even the modest levels of her brother, and far, far away from her father's major star status. Hollywood lore claims that while working as an uncredited extra, she gave Clark Gable his first screen kiss, though, as is often the case, lore failed to document in what film this may have occurred. Unsurprisingly, her best film role came courtesy of her brother-in-law, director Jack Conway, in the 1931 comedy Just a Gigolo. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

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Red River Range: 1938

The villains in the "Three Mesquiteers" entry Red River Range are bunch of progressive cattle thieves. This being 1939, the bad guys round up their stolen goods and herd them into streamlined trucks. It's a plot device that had previously used in Republic's Gene Autry series, but it still had plenty of mileage here. Riding to the rescue are the Mesquiteers, who on this occasion consist of John Wayne (Stony Brooke), Ray Corrigan (Tucson Smith) and Max Terhune (Lullaby Joslin). Lorna Gray, aka Adrian Booth, is the heroine, while raucuous comedy relief is provided by old-timer Polly Moran. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Starring:: John Wayne, Max "Alibi" Terhune, (more)

Just a Gigolo: 1931

Though silent-screen favorite William Haines wasn't able to sustain his popularity into the talkie era, he insisted upon honoring his MGM contract in such forgettable fare as Just a Gigolo. Based on a weather-beaten David Belasco play, the film casts Haines as Lord Robert Brummell, a footloose bachelor who is ordered by his wealthy uncle (C. Aubrey Smith) to settle down with a wife. Not wishing to tie himself down to any one girl, Brummell endeavors to prove that no woman is worthy of him by pretending to be a gigolo. Sure enough, every woman he meets turns out to be mercenary or amoral -- every one except the true light of his life, played by Irene Purcell (who, unbeknownst to our hero, knows he's not a gigolo). Just a Gigolo was released in England under the prudish title The Dancing Partner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Starring:: William Haines, Irene Purcell, (more)

The Love Wager: 1927

A low-budget drama with high-budget pretensions, The Love Wager begins by focusing on the relationship between care-worn mother Lucy Beaumont and her scampish son Arthur Rankin. Upset that her boy never comes home before 3 AM, Beaumont decides to go to the police to search for Rankin, but en route she is struck down and killed by a car driven by her own son. Sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter, Rankin commits suicide, whereupon his cellmate Sheldon Lewis rifles through the kid's pockets, finding a letter of introduction to pretty socialite Lenore Bushman. Upon his release, Lewis makes a beeline to Grey's home, and immediately begins formulating plans to steal the girl's pearl necklace. So what does this have to do with a "love wager"? Well, it seems that wealthy bachelor Gaston Glass has bet millionaire W. W. Watson that he, Glass, can make his own living for six months without relying on his family's money. If he succeeds, Glass will permitted to marry Bushman, who happens to be Watson's daughter. Thus, when the girl's necklace turns up missing, guess who gets the blame? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Starring:: Lucy Beaumont, Arthur Rankin, (more)

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