Fay Holderness Movies
A statuesque character actress onscreen from the late 1910s, Fay Holderness usually played spinsters but also turned up as a dance hall girl in Charles Chaplin's A Dog's Life (1918) and as the vamp-ish waitress in Erich Von Stroheim's Blind Husbands (1919). Long associated with slapstick factories such as L-Ko and Hal Roach, Holderness is today best remembered as Mrs. Hardy in the Laurel and Hardy comedy Hog Wild (1930). She was last spotted onscreen playing a bit part in The Mummy's Ghost (1944); she died from a cardiovascular disease at a sanatorium in Santa Monica, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1941
- NR
The marvelous rapport between stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner makes MGM's Honky Tonk seem far more substatianal than it really is. About to be tarred and featherd by an angry mob, frontier con artists Candy Johnson (Gable) and his pal Sniper (Chill Wills) manage to make a quick getaway via train. While on board, Candy strikes up a friendship with Boston-bred Lucy Cotton (Turner), whose "respectable" daddy Judge Cotton (Frank Morgan) turns out to be as big of a sharpster as Candy. For Lucy's sake, Candy decides to use his huckstering skill to good use by helping to build a small-town church, but soon he's up to his old tricks, managing a dance hall and gambling emporium. Growing more ambitious by the minute, Candy intends to take over the whole town with the covert assistance of Judge Cotton. But when Candy marries Lucy (who still doesn't know that he's really a crook at heart!), the enraged Judge exposes Candy's takeover scheme, only to be shot down by the gambling hall's straw boss Hearn (Albert Dekker). In his efforts to set things right and atone for past misdeeds, Candy is separated from Lucy time and time again, but there's never any doubt that a happy ending awaits them both. A TV remake of Honky Tonk surfaced in 1974, with Richard Crenna in the Gable role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Lana Turner, (more)
- 1940
W.C. Fields plays Egbert Souse, a bibulous denizen of Lompoc who supports his family by winning radio contests. When a fleeing bank robber is knocked cold upon tripping over the park bench where Egbert sits, Souse is hailed as a hero and offered the job of bank guard. The next day, he is approached by one J. Frothingham Waterbury (Russell Hicks), who offers to sell Egbert shares in the Beefsteak Mines. Souse raises the necessary money by convincing bank clerk Og Oggilby (Grady Sutton), the fiance of Egbert's daughter Myrtle (Una Merkel), to "borrow" some funds from the bank; it isn't really embezzling, explains Egbert, because the mine is bound to pay off. Unfortunately, bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington (Franklin Pangborn) comes calling, spelling possible trouble for Souse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, (more)
- 1930
- NR
Oliver Hardy wants to go see his friend Stan Laurel; his wife (Fay Holderness) tells him, in no uncertain terms, that he must put up the radio antenna first. When Stan comes by and gives Ollie his helping hand, the inevitable mayhem ensues. He begins by setting Ollie's pants on fire with the exhaust from his car. A bucket of water meant to douse the smoke coming from Ollie's behind hits him in the face instead. Ollie throws the bucket through a window; Mrs. Hardy whacks him with a frying pan. The boys climb onto the roof to get the antenna set up but just can't seem to keep from falling into the pond, causing a disgusted Mrs. Hardy to command them to stop playing. The boys get around to the wiring and Stan electrocutes Ollie, sending him down the chimney. Ollie gets back on the ladder, which has been set in Stan's car for support, but Stan starts the engine and they end up on a wild ride through town. The ladder ends up on a bus and Ollie falls in its path. He manages to escape getting run over when his tearful wife appears. Ollie tells her reassuringly that he is okay, but she's not crying over him -- she's upset because the radio has been repossessed. They all head back to Stan's car, just in time for it to be crushed by a streetcar. In most Laurel and Hardy films, Ollie's the one who suffers the most damage; this time around he seems to get it even worse than usual! Originally filmed in black & white, a colorized version was released in the late 1990s for home video. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1930
Popular child actor (and later radio and TV stalwart) Leon Janney made his one and only "Our Gang" appearance in "Bear Shooters." Ordered by his mother to look after his kid brother Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, nine-year-old Spud (Janney) is worried that he won't be able to join his pals on a hunting trip --- while his pals know that if Spud doesn't go, Spud's mule Dinah can't go either. A compromise is reached whereby Wheezer tags along with the rest of the Gang as they seek out "big game" in a nearby woods. But instead of capturing a bear, as they had hoped, the kids are confronted by a gorilla --- actually a heavily costumed bootlegger (Charlie Hall) who wants to scare the youngsters away from his hideout. Unfortunately for the crook and his partner (Bob Kortman), the kids are a lot more resourceful than they appear. Originally released on May 17, 1930, "Bear Shooters" slipped into Public Domain in 1984, and as such is one of the most readily available "Our Gang" talkies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Janney, Jackie Cooper, (more)
- 1928
In her family, Mrs. Pincher (Fay Holderness) keeps a firm hold on the purse strings, but Mr. Pincher (Stan Laurel) has managed to squirrel away three dollars in the pocket of a portrait hanging in the hallway. Mrs. Pincher discovers the hiding place, takes the money, and substitutes her trading stamps. Mr. Hardy (Oliver Hardy) and his wife (Lyle Tayo) stop by. It isn't long before Mr. Pincher and Mr. Hardy decide to ditch their wives and hit the town, the stash from portrait in hand. They meet two girls (Anita Garvin and Kay Deslys) outside the Pink Pup Cafe and escort them inside. After much entertainment at the club, including a performance by a midget troupe, the wayward husbands finally discover their only means of payment is a handful of trading stamps. The head waiter (Tiny Sanford) and the duo's wives converge upon them and a pie fight ensues. This was one of Laurel and Hardy's earlier shorts; they were not yet consistent with using their real names for their characters. The ending was changed before its release, but the original version looks intriguing from stills: Stan and Ollie are attempting to leave the club by disguising themselves as female members of the midget troupe. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1928
Two lonely people discover short-lived happiness in this silent drama. Jim (Glenn Tryon) and Mary (Barbara Kent) live in the same rooming house in New York City, though they've never met; Jim works in a metal fabricating plant, and Mary runs a switchboard for the telephone company. While both have friends, they both long for something more in their lives. One afternoon, Jim decides to go to Coney Island to see the famous amusement park, and on the bus he spies Mary. Jim finds her attractive, and eventually works up the nerve to introduce himself on the beach. The two discover they share a mutual attraction, and over the course of the day Jim and Mary fall in love, while a visit to a fortune teller suggests to Mary that she's met the man who will become her husband. However, Jim and Mary are separated, and despite their best efforts the two don't know how to find one another again. Lonesome was released in 1929, as silent films were giving way to talking pictures; the picture was originally released silent, though it was soon reissued in a version with sound sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Kent, Fay Holderness, (more)
- 1927
Jewish comic Max Davidson stars in this Hal Roach farce that would most likely have been completely forgotten had not Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Charley Chase turned up in cameo appearances. Davidson, wife Lillian Elliott, and son Spec O'Donnell are attempting to sell their house, which is located right next door to an insane asylum inhabited by a group of would-be radio announcers (the Messieurs Laurel, Hardy, Chase and James Finlayson). At the end of their ropes, the Davidsons finally find a buyer willing to swap houses, "no questions asked." The proud little family takes possession of their new abode, the street number of which is 1313, but it proves to be a lemon of gargantuan proportion where everything is topsy-turvy. A housewarming party ends in a free-for-all that nearly wrecks the house, and, after surveying the damage, the Davidsons discover that the insane asylum has relocated as well -- to right next door. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Davidson, Lillian Elliott, (more)
- 1926
Mr. and Mrs. Weedle (William Gillespie and Charlotte Mineau) are in a jam: For years, they've been receiving substantial amounts of money from their rich uncle (William A. Orlamond), who has been led to believe that the Weedles have two children to support. Now Uncle is coming to town, and the duplicitous couple must come up with a pair of babies in a hurry. Naturally, the Our Gang kids hope to get the job, but they're given a run for their money by a mischievous 27-year-old midget (Harry Earles). Meanwhile, Gang member Joe Cobb tries to curb his fighting blood, with less than successful results. Making good use of Hal Roach Studios' standing hotel sets, the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy Baby Clothes was originally released on April 25, 1926 (an abbreviated TV version, retitled The Rich Uncle, is best avoided; without the original subtitles, the story makes virtually no sense). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Cobb, Mickey Daniels, (more)
- 1925
Cowboy ace Tom Mix allowed himself a change of pace with this costume adventure produced by Fox. Mix plays the legendary British highwayman, who after robbing nasty Lord Churlton (Philo McCullough) learns that the nobleman is to be married to innocent Lady Alice Brookfield (Kathleen Myers), a gun-shot wedding, so to speak, as the lady considers Churlton loathsome. With the assistance of Lady Alice's maid Sally (Lucille Hutton), our gallant hero concocts a plan to smuggle the fair maiden to York dressed as a boy. The scheme backfires, though, and Dick Turpin is chased all over creation by the authorities. He arrives in York just in time to save the fair maiden from a fate worse than death and together they find a safe haven in France. A very young Carole Lombard saw most of her footage left on the cutting-room floor but the future star can still be spotted in a crowd scene. And according to at least one report, fellow Fox cowboy Buck Jones joined the ranks of extras in a successful effort to surprise Mix. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Kathleen Myers, (more)
- 1924
The Last Man on Earth begins in the future -- meaning sometime in the 1940s. Instead of World War II (which no one in 1924 could have foreseen), there is an epidemic of a strange disease, masculitis, which kills off every male over the age of 14. Every male, that is, except for one. Elmer (Earl Foxe) has had an argument with his sweetheart, Hattie (Derelys Perdue), so he jumps in a plane to go somewhere where there are no women. A few years later he is discovered by Gertie, a gangster (Grace Cunard). She brings him back to civilization where he finds nothing but women. The government buys him for ten million dollars and two female senators decide to fight for the right to have him as a husband (in 1924, no one would have thought to spread him around). He finds Hattie and rushes to her. The couple reconcile and get married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Black, Maurice Murphy, (more)
- 1920
Elmo Lincoln, the screen's first Tarzan, plays both the hero and the villain's henchman in this serial released in 18 chapters by Universal. One of those crazed professors so beloved by pulp writers has invented a lens capable of reducing iron and steel to ashes, a contraption coveted by yet another master criminal. Opposing the forces of evil are Secret Service agent Elmo Gray (Lincoln) and the professor's daughter (Louise Lorraine), but the team is frustrated at every turn by the agent's identical twin brother (also Lincoln), who has been hypnotized into doing the villain's bidding. Law and order, however, prevail in the final chapter which, not too surprisingly, is entitled "The End of the Trail." Lee Kohlmar plays the professor, Roy Watson is the master criminal, and the entire concoction is directed with a firm sense of melodrama by newcomer Robert F. Hill. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Because of his portrayals of villainous Prussians in pictures such as Hearts of the World and The Heart of Humanity, Erich von Stroheim was already famous as "the man you love to hate." But Stroheim had also been quite busy behind the camera over the years, as an assistant director to D.W. Griffith and art director to Douglas Fairbanks. When he approached Carl Laemmle at Universal Studios with a screenplay entitled The Pinnacle, the mogul wasted no time in agreeing to let Stroheim both star and direct. The result was the auteur's first film, renamed Blind Husbands. In it, Stroheim shows deeper facets to his officer (this time an Austrian) who, underneath the elaborate trappings, is no gentleman. American couple Dr. and Mrs. Armstrong (Sam deGrasse and Francelia Billington) arrive at a retreat in the Alps at the same time as Lieutenant Erich von Steuben (Stroheim). The Lieutenant is a reckless and dissolute soul who sets his cap for Mrs. Armstrong. Since her husband is kindly but neglectful, she is easy prey. Their flirtation is watched over carefully by the guide Sepp (Gibson Gowland), who is indebted to the good doctor, and he manages to keep the wife away from the Lieutenant on the night the four of them spend together in a lodge. The next day when von Steuben and Dr. Armstrong climb the summit, a letter from Mrs. Armstrong falls out of von Steuben's pocket and a fierce battle between the two men takes place on the peak. The doctor cuts the rope binding the two men together, and for his sins, the Lieutenant falls to a terrible death. This picture introduces themes that carried throughout Stroheim's career -- the eternal triangle shows up in most of his films in one form or another, and the climatic struggle between the two men would be repeated in the director's flawed masterpiece, Greed (which starred Gowland as McTeague). The easy decadence and the careful attention to detail would also be constants. Even though this isn't anywhere close to his best work, Blind Husbands was one of the most impressive directorial debuts of all time -- "This picture is exceptional. It marks an epoch," spouted an enthusiastic Variety critic. Stroheim was poised at the dawning edge of the '20s, at ready to give the decade some of its most deliriously debauched dramatic moments. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam de Grasse, Francelia Billington, (more)
- 1918
On the heels of his masterpiece, Intolerance, which dramatized the futility of war born out of prejudice, director D.W. Griffith shifted gears for this film. Intolerance had proven a financial disaster for Griffith, so he signed with producer Adolph Zukor to release his next film. He came upon the subject matter on a trip to England to promote Intolerance. The British government, desperately looking to America for help in fighting the Germans in the first World War, persuaded Griffith to make a propaganda picture. Set in France, it's the portrait of a village overrun by the Germans during the hostilities. Griffith begins the story in 1912 with a slow developing romance between The Boy, Douglas Gordon Hamilton (Robert Harron) and The Girl, Marie Stephenson (Lillian Gish). A street singer known as The Disturber (Dorothy Gish) tries to come between them, but she settles for her own romance with Monsieur Cuckoo (Robert Anderson). In the summer of 1914, The Boy and M. Cuckoo answer the call to arms, forcing the postponement of The Boy and Girl's wedding. The film's second half cuts back and forth between the battlefield and the home front (which in this case are separated by only a few miles). By the time the film was completed, the United States had already entered the war, and over the years its extreme portrayal of German soldiers has been trimmed, the first time at the request of the wife of President Woodrow Wilson. In fact, Griffith included shots of American troops helping out in the story's final battle and then marching off to return home. The version viewed for this review, running 115 minutes, included a brief prologue with footage of Griffith touring the battlefields in France, where some documentary footage was shot, though most of the film was made in Southern California, and the director meeting with British prime minister David Lloyd George. Also notable is the appearance in small parts of future filmmaker Erich Von Stroheim as a German soldier, future character actor Ben Alexander as The Boy's youngest brother, and future entertainer Noël Coward as a young villager pushing a wheelbarrow. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, (more)
