George Humbert Movies
Immense, sad-eyed character actor George Humbert made his first film appearance in 1921. Humbert almost always played an Italian restaurateur, waiter, chef or street vendor. His screen characters usually answered to such names as Tony, Luigi, Mario, and Giueseppi. A rare digression from this pattern was his portrayal of "Pancho" in Fiesta (1947). George Humbert made his last appearance as Pop Mangiacavallo (his name was longer than his part!) in The Rose Tattoo (1955). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1921
Hope Hampton was not a great actress. The main reason she was a star was because of the help of her mentor, producer, and fiancé, Jules Brulatour. Brulatour gave her every advantage in this drama, including James Rennie as her co-star, and she turns in an adequate performance. Lily Becker (Hampton) has a real talent for music, but her mother (Mary Foy) refuses to let her express it. Instead, Lily is forced into a loveless marriage with a man who also refuses to let her pursue music. Unable to bear her husband's cruelty, Lily runs away to New York. Antonio Marvelli, a famed director (George Humbert), hears her perform, but she can't pay for his expensive lessons. In addition, she is pregnant, but when she has the child, she can't afford proper care for it and it dies. Lily is about to commit suicide when she meets Tom Clemons (Rennie), a struggling composer. They offer each other moral support. Meanwhile, Lily's henpecked father (Thomas Maguire) finds out that is daughter is practically starving in New York. He asserts himself over his wife and sends her money. Marvelli runs into Lily once again and offers to teach her for free. She makes a successful debut, and when her husband dies, she is able to unite with Clemons. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hope Hampton
- 1918
Slowing down a bit from the previous year, in which he directed six films, Raoul Walsh turned out only five pictures in 1918, the second of which was The Woman and the Law. Based on the then-notorious "Jack DeSaulies Case," the film is divided into two halves. In the first portion, the audience was shown how the good-girl heroine (played by Walsh's then-wife Miriam Cooper) is forced into a marriage of convenience. In the second portion, the heroine, now unhappily married, is driven to murder her husband (Ramsey Wallace) when he inaugurates an affair with a big-city temptress. The question: Will the "unwritten law," which states that a man has a right to kill anyone who tries to steal his wife, apply equally to a wronged woman? Cast as the seductress who comes between the husband and wife was Ziegfeld Follies beauty Peggy Hopkins Joyce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
