Walter Huston Movies
Canadian-born actor Walter Huston enjoyed an early theatrical life of roller-coaster proportions which he doggedly pursued, despite a lifelong suffering of "stage fright." Taking nickel and dime performing jobs, quitting to pursue "real" work -- an engineering job came to an end when his inept attempts to fix a town's reservoir nearly resulted in a flood -- then returning to bit roles were all part of Huston's early days. Before 1910, Huston had toured in vaudeville, worked in stock companies, tried to maintain a normal married life, and fathered a son whose life was twice as tempestuous as Walter's: future director John Huston. The barnstorming days ended when Huston got his first major Broadway role in Mr. Pitt (1924), which led to several successful New York seasons for the actor in a variety of plays. His stage and vaudeville training made him an excellent candidate for talkies; Huston launched his movie career with Gentlemen of the Press (1929), and spent the 1930s playing everything from a Mexican bandit to President Lincoln. Returning to Broadway in 1938 for the musical comedy Knickerbocker Holiday, Huston, in the role of 17th century New Amsterdam governor Peter Minuit, achieved theatrical immortality with his poignant rendition of the show's top tune, "September Song," the recording of which curiously became a fixture of the Hit Parade after Huston's death in 1950. Throughout the 1940s, Huston offered a gallery of memorable screen portrayals, from the diabolical Mr. Scratch in All That Money Can Buy (1941) to George M. Cohan's father in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Still, it was only after removing his expensive false teeth and trading his fancy duds for a dusty bindlestiff's outfit that the actor would win an Academy Award, for his portrayal of the cackling old prospector Howard in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), directed by his son. At the time of his death, Huston was preparing to take on the part of the "world's oldest counterfeiter" in Mister 880, a role ultimately played by fellow Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1939
Based on a classic tale from Rudyard Kipling, this melodrama chronicles the desperate attempt of a painter to finish his greatest painting before he goes blind. His affliction is due to a war wound and his final project is to paint a portrait of London's most notorious prostitute. Trouble begins when the hooker falls deeply in love with the artist. Unfortunately, social mores forbid their union and this frustrates the wanton woman. Meanwhile, the artist feverishly continues to paint her. The result is exquisite. Unfortunately, by this time, the whore can no longer contain her frustrated rage, and unbeknownst to the painter whose sight is nearly gone, viciously slashes it. Later the artist takes his prized work and shows it to his best friend, a military officer, in a heartbreaking scene. Afterward the two colleagues head down to fight in the Sudan. There, the devastated painter begs the officer to allow him to participate in one final, glorious charge atop a shining white stallion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1939
Originally designed for exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair, Land of Liberty is a 137-minute compendium of filmclips from past American historical epics. The project was sponsored by the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors of America, Inc. and supervised by Cecil B. DeMille, who also edited the film with the assistance of his crack Paramount production staff. The narration was written by old DeMille hands Jeannie MacPherson and Jesse Lasky Jr. and spoken by a talented team of uncredited announcers (one of whom sounded suspiciously like old C. B. himself). Clips from such Hollywood productions as America (1924), Abraham Lincoln (1930), Alexander Hamilton (1931), Show Boat (1936), Man of Conquest (1939) and DeMille's own The Plainsman (1936), The Buccaneer (1938) and Union Pacific (1939) are woven together into a chronological continuity, tracing American history from the Revolutionary War to the "present," which is largely represented by newsreel footage of President Roosevelt, the TVA project, and other current personalities and events. In later years, Land of Liberty was redistributed on the classroom circuit, with new footage added from historical dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Clarence Brown directed this heart-tugging piece of Americana, set during the Civil War era. Walter Huston plays a stern family patriarch, a preacher who thrusts his family into poverty in order to set an example for his parishioners. As a result, his son (James Stewart) grows up to resent him. He looks to travel East and go to medical school, but his father's iron-fisted vow of poverty holds him back from education. Defying the father, his mother (Beulah Bondi) sells off part of her dowry to finance her son's education. The young man travels East and becomes so embroiled in his studies he neglects to stay in contact with his family, returning only when he receives news of his father's death. After father's passing, he goes off to war as a doctor, leaving his mother abandoned back home. Having heard nothing from her son since his departure for the Civil War, mother thinks he may have died and contacts President Lincoln (John Carradine) to investigate his whereabouts. Surprisingly, Lincoln responds to the mother's pleas and seeks to find out about the status of her son. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, James Stewart, (more)
In this highly acclaimed adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel, Walter Huston plays Sam Dodsworth, a good-hearted, middle-aged man who runs an auto manufacturing firm. His wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) is obsessed with the notion that she's growing old, and she eventually persuades Sam to sell his interest in the company and take her to Europe. He agrees for the sake of their marriage, but before long Fran has begun to think of herself as a cosmopolitan sophisticate and thinks of Sam as dull and unadventurous. Craving excitement, Fran begins spending her time with other men and eventually informs Sam that she's leaving him for a minor member of royalty. While in Italy, Sam runs into Edith Cortright (Mary Astor), an attractive widow whom he first met while sailing to Europe. Edith seems to understand Sam in a way his wife does not, and they fall in love. However, Sam impulsively breaks off their relationship, only to discover in her absence just how deeply he cares for her. Dodsworth was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Walter Huston), and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), though only art director Richard Day walked away with an Oscar. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, (more)
- 1936
African-American students who have accepted Rhodes scholarships may feel like wincing at Rhodes of Africa, an unabashed celebration of British imperialism. Walter Huston portrays Cecil Rhodes, the 19th century explorer who dreamed of "taming" the rugged African terrain. Establishing the colony of Rhodesia, the film's "hero" opens up the rest of the continent for the benefit of Mother England and its industrial elite. Increasing friction between Rhodes and Dutch prime minister Kruger (Oscar Homolka) results in the Boer War, treated herein as a noble British victory (Three years later, Kruger would be the hero of the Nazi-sanctioned Ohm Kruger, which was twice as tastelessly chauvinistic as Rhodes of Africa). Undeniably stirring and impressive, Rhodes of Africa nonetheless treats the subjugation of Africa as something pure and wonderful. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Oscar Homolka, (more)
- 1935
Transatlantic Tunnel is the English-language version of the 1932 French-German speculative drama The Tunnel. Set sometime in the future (complete with two-way televisions, art-deco airships and self-propelled automobiles), the film stars Richard Dix as McAllen, a visionary architect who devotes his life to the construction of a tunnel linking the United States with England. Despite devastating professional and personal setbacks, including the death of his own son in a tunnel cave-in, nothing dissuades Dix from completing the project. Guest stars Walter Huston and George Arliss are cast respectively as the American President and the British Prime Minister, roles that they'd played before on several occasions. Like William Cameron Menzie's Things to Come, the film is more impressive for its futuristic sets and state-of-the-art special effects than for its dramatic content. Originally released at 94 minutes, Transatlantic Tunnel is currently available only in its 70-minute reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Leslie Banks, (more)
- 1934
The touching bond between a cavalry horse and the doughboy whose life he saves provides the basis for this syrupy war drama. After the horse's heroism, he and the soldier are nearly inseparable until an officer intervenes and separates them. This enrages the soldier and he deserts. He is captured and things look bleak until the US president intervenes and reunites the soldier and his beloved steed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1933
In 1933, at the height of the bleakness and desperation of the Depression, MGM released this genuine curiosity piece -- directed by comedy (!) director Gregory La Cava -- concerning a Warren G. Harding-like partisan hand-shaker President of the United States who, after seeing a vision, revokes the Constitution, becomes a reigning dictator, and solves all of the nation's problems. Walter Huston plays Judson Hammond, recently elected President of the United States, who treats his elected office as a joke and acts as a dispenser of Party favors. But after an automobile accident, he sees the Archangel Gabriel, who inspires him to declare himself dictator. His first line of business after his conversion is to fire his Cabinet. This leads to impeachment proceedings, but Hammond enters the Senate chamber and takes over the Congress. He then tackles unemployment by meeting with John Bronson (David Landau), the leader of masses of marching unemployed men. When gangster Nick Diamond (Henry C. Gordon) and his goons assassinate Bronson, Hammond uses his brown-shirted storm troopers to blast their way into Diamond's headquarters and blow him away. The President then intimidates the leaders of countries that owe money to the United States to pay their debts then forces them to disarm and pledge world peace. Hammond rapidly becomes the most popular fascist President in United States history. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1933
One woman helps make an unknown boxer a star, but could a handful lead him back to obscurity again? Steve Morgan (Max Baer) is a ex-sailor tending bar in a seedy dive when The Professor (Walter Huston), a boxing coach, sees Morgan make short work of a troublesome customer. The Professor convinces Morgan that he has what it takes to be a successful prizefighter, and takes him under his wing. One day, while Morgan is jogging, he's nearly hit by a car operated by an attractive woman named Belle (Myrna Loy), who is making a name for herself as a nightclub singer. Belle has been dating underworld kingpin Willie Ryan (Otto Kruger), but before long Morgan is able to win her away from Ryan, and they get married. Morgan's marriage to Belle turns out to be god for publicity, and soon he's racked up an impressive string of victories, but Morgan can't keep his eyes off other women, and she has reason to believe he's been unfaithful. Belle, despondent, goes back to Ryan, while Morgan starts hitting the bottle, just as he's lined up a championship fight with Primo Carnera. The Prizefighter and the Lady gave heavyweight contender Max Baer his first leading role; a year after the film was released, Baer faced off against Carnera in a real championship bout, which Baer won by a knockout. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1933
A conflict between the Serbs and the Hungarians provides the framework of this drama that centers on a love triangle between a Serbian mayor and his closest friend, a Hungarian officer. The story begins as the Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated at Sarajevo. The trouble between them begins when the officer begins an affair with the mayor's wife, but in the end, the husband gives up his own life to save them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, Nils Asther, (more)
- 1933
This 1933 movie version of Sinclair Lewis's novel Ann Vickers stars Irene Dunne in the title role. Left alone and pregnant by her soldier sweetheart (Bruce Cabot), Ann turns her life around by devoting herself to social work. A frustrating tenure as psychologist in a poorly maintained woman's prison only strengthens Ann's resolve to improve the world around her. She falls in love with the politically progressive judge (Walter Huston) who helps finance her career, standing by him when he is unjustly accused of graft. Ann Vickers contains one startling sequence in which Ann, following the premature end of her pregnancy, walks with great discomfort around her garden while she speaks wistfully about,"the daughter I'll never have." Otherwise, the film suffers from its adaptors' soap-opera mindset, as well as the decision to cram Lewis's complex novel into a brief 75 minutes' screen time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1933
Hell Below transcends its hackneyed World War I plot to emerge as a drama of rare originality and gutsiness. Walter Huston stars as a submarine commander whose lieutenant (Robert Montgomery) falls in love with Huston's daughter (Madge Evans). All cliches (including the intrusive comedy relief of Jimmy Durante) are forgiven and forgotten once the sub is launched on a dangerous mission in the Adriatic. Commander Huston is forced to make several cold-blooded decisions to preserve the safety of his crew members. In one scene, seaman Sterling Holloway is trapped in a room full of poison gas. Huston orders the men not to rescue Holloway, lest they too be exposed to the deadly fumes. As the men grimly try to go about their routine tasks, the dying Holloway presses his face against the glassed-in porthole and piteously begs for help! This brief moment in Hell Below sticks in the mind far longer than Robert Montgomery's own death scene, in which he redeems his reckless behavior during a crucial battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1932
Bank president Thomas Dickson (Walter Huston) has instituted a lending policy that shows great faith in ordinary people but which also irritates his board of directors, as does his claim that an increased money supply will help end the Depression. Elsewhere in the bank, criminal Dude Finlay (Robert Ellis) has coerced head cashier Cluett (Gavin Gordon) into cooperating with a robbery by threatening to reveal Cluett as a habitual gambler. Dickson's neglected wife Phyllis (Kay Johnson), upset that Thomas has forgotten their anniversary, agrees to go out with Cluett, but they're spotted by head teller Matt Brown (Pat O'Brien). Matt goes to Cluett's apartment and convinces Phyllis to leave with him just as the robbery takes place back at the bank. Because he was responsible for locking the vault, Matt is assumed to be in league with the robbers, and he's arrested. News of the robbery leads to frantic depositors demanding their money back from the bank; Dickson cannot talk them out of it, and the bank is running out of money. This gives the board of directors the leverage over Dickson that they've been seeking, and they try to force his resignation. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1932
A reluctantly appointed police chief in a crime-riddled city takes his job seriously and works hard to clean the streets of gangsters and to shape up his own corrupt department in this brutal, gritty film noir. Jean Harlow plays a luminescent but ill-fated gun moll. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, (more)
- 1932
The pleasures of the flesh confront the discipline of the Lord's teachings in this screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's story Miss Sadie Thompson. Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford) is a sassy streetwalker who lands in Pago Pago in the South Pacific after an epidemic grounds the ship on which she's booked passage. Sadie's shapely legs, free spirit, and quick wit soon attract the attention of a group of American soldiers stationed on the island; while most are motivated by simple lust, the naive Sgt. O'Hara (William Gargan) falls head over heels for Sadie, thoroughly unaware of her checkered past and shameful profession. Rev. Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston), a fire-and-brimstone preacher bent on bringing salvation to the soldiers, is fully aware of Sadie's occupation and moral code, and is determined to convince her to change her ways. Sadie slowly but surely is softened by Davidson's conviction, but the preacher soon finds himself affected by her sensual presence; O'Hara also learns the truth about Sadie, but hatches his own plan to reform her -- marriage. While a box office failure in 1932, Rain has gone on to become a cult favorite, thanks to Crawford's vivid performance as Sadie and director Lewis Milestone's adventurous visual style. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1932
Night Court is one of those pictures that "hooks" the viewer with one audacious plot twist after another. Walter Huston is eminently hissable as Judge Moffett, a corrupt jurist who has managed to buy off practically everyone in town, all the while maintaining a facade of respectability. When evidence of Moffett's skullduggery accidentally falls into the hands of Mary Thomas (Anita Page), the wife of good-guy cabdriver Mike Thomas (Phillips Holmes) and the mother of a bouncing baby boy, the Judge contrives to frame Mary on a prostitution rap. Coercing Mary to plead guilty as her "only hope," Moffett railroads the poor girl into prison, while Mike can only stand helplessly by. Later on, Moffett is confronted with proof of his crimes by his reform-minded political opponent Osgood (Lewis Stone), whereupon Moffett kills Osgood and manages to plant the blame on Mike! As the last reel of Night Court tumbles across the spool, the audience is confronted with the unpleasant possibility that Moffett might actually get away with all his perfidy -- but the scriptwriters still have one more ace up their sleeves. Those who have to get up early in the morning are advised not to start watching Night Court when it pops up on the Late Late Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillips Holmes, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1932
In this WW II drama, the commander of the French cruiser Lafayette is sunk by a German U-boat. Following the rescue of the survivors, the commander undergoes an investigative hearing to determine his culpability in the sinking. He didn't know it at the time, but his philandering young wife was trysting with a handsome young officer and ended up stuck on the cruise. The woman survived the incident. To save her husband's career, she tearfully admits her adultery in court. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lil Dagover, Walter Huston, (more)
- 1932
Directed by Victor Fleming, Wet Parade chronicles the effects of alcoholism and the Prohibition on the lives of two families from very different backgrounds. The Tarletons reside in New York City, where the family patriarch (Walter Huston) repeatedly drowns himself in liquor and local bars. The Chilcote family has the same type of problem, though they live in the deep south. Colonal Roger Chilcote (Lewis Stone) also drinks heavily, and illegally makes his income by selling moonshine. Ultimately, both families are torn apart by the alcoholism. The two stories collide when Kip Tarleton (Robert Young) and Maggie May (Dorothy Jordan), both children of alcoholic fathers, join in a common fight against alcohol, feeling it was a key factor in the destruction of their lives. Wet Parade also features actor Jimmy Durante in a small role as a bearded federal agent. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Jordan, Neil Hamilton, (more)
- 1932
A remake of West of Zanibar, this strange, gut-wrenching melodrama set in the African jungles, offers a disturbing portrait of a bitter, crippled and insane megalomaniac who vents his rage via mental torture against all those who get too near. Walter Huston plays the madman who lost the use of his legs during a battle with his nemesis Gordon. The accident happened many years ago and since then Huston has dragged himself about in his jungle home making the lives of those around him waking nightmares. He has terrified the local tribesmen into total submission with his knowledge deadly voodoo (he tells them guns are magical instruments). He is even crueler to his fellow Anglos. A young white woman comes to visit one day. Believing her to be the daughter of his arch rival Gordon, he gleefully embarks upon a heavy reign of psychological abuse until the poor girl is nearly destroyed. For more fun, he gets a new doctor addicted to drugs and of course he can also torment the woman who loves him, Velez. The horror continues until Gordon suddenly shows up. Vengeful Huston quickly picks a fight and during the ensuing struggle Gordon tells Huston a bitter truth, one that leads Huston to a horrible realization. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Lupe Velez, (more)
- 1932
An early screen version of the oft-filmed tale of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Law and Order was adapted by young screenwriter John Huston from W. R. Burnett's novel, which alters the names of the principals but few of the facts. The film opens with a montage of the settling of the West, concluding with the observation that lawless behavior soon followed in many settlements. Walter Huston plays Frame Johnson, a steely-eyed gambler whose three companions, Brant, Luther (Frame's brother), and Deadwood, form a team of sorts, wandering from town to town in search of a good poker game. Johnson's reputation as "the man that cleaned up Kansas, the killingest peace officer that ever lived" precedes him when he arrives in Tombstone, a town controlled by the Northrup brothers and their crooked sheriff, Fin Elder. A committee of lawful citizens, led by a judge, try to hire Johnson to clean up the town, but he's reluctant to pin on the badge again. Inevitably, he does, and there's a showdown that leaves a corral full of corpses. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Harry Carey, (more)
- 1931
Howard Hawks' early sound prison melodrama, based on a play by Martin Flavin, already contains his stylistic signature of over-lapping dialogue -- a technique he would greatly expand upon in the next ten years. Walter Huston is district attorney Brady, who quickly convicts Robert Graham (Phillips Holmes) of murdering a man who was harassing his girlfriend. Brady is later made the warden of the prison where Robert is held. Brady tries to make friends with Robert, but Robert will have no dealings with the new warden. Nevertheless, Brady, who thinks Robert is a decent man who became embroiled in extraordinary circumstances, gives Robert a job as his chauffeur. As he drives with Brady's daughter Mary (Constance Cummings), the two fall in love. Meanwhile, things heat up back at the prison, where crazed killer Ned Galloway (Boris Karloff) kills the squealer Runch (Clark Marshall). Robert knows Ned killed Runch, but refuses to tell Brady. Brady reluctantly sends Robert to solitary confinement to get him to give up the murderer's name, but Robert holds out on him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, (more)
- 1931
Star Witness starts out as a homey family comedy and develops into a rather gutsy thriller. Chic Sale plays a cantankerous Civil War veteran who, while visiting his family, witnesses a gangland shooting. The rest of the family also gets a good look at the gang boss (Ralph Ince) and everyone agrees to testify in court. But the criminals terrorize the father (Grant Mitchell), after failing to bribe him. To insure pa's silence, his son (Dickie Moore) is kidnaped But Grandpa is not easily cowed, and it is he who goes before the jury to expose the crooks. He also engineers the rescue of his grandson (a surprisingly credible sequence). Star Witness was remade as I Am Not Afraid in 1939, with updated dialogue equating American gangsters with Hitler and Mussolini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Charles "Chic" Sale, (more)
- 1931
"A house divided against itself cannot stand" declared Abraham Lincoln; proof that a house divided can be repaired is provided in this early talkie effort from director William Wyler. Walter Huston plays alcoholic fisherman Seth Law, who, recently widowed, signs up for a mail-order bride. Ruth Evans (Helen Chandler), Seth's wife-to-be, is instantly attracted...to Seth's ne'er-do- well son, Matt (Kent Douglass). Father and son duke it out, leaving Seth crippled. Though he now despises Ruth, Seth aligns with his son to save the girl when a sudden storm blows up. Seth is killed, but he is satisfied that Ruth is happy and that his son is not the wastrel he thought he was. Interestingly enough, the dialogue for A House Divided was penned by Walter Huston's own son, John. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Kent Douglass, (more)
- 1931
Originally titled Upper Underworld, The Ruling Voice stars Walter Huston as a powerful underworld chieftain who covers his crooked activities in a cloak of respectability. Cold-blooded in all business matters, Huston cares only for the welfare of his beloved daughter Loretta Young, whom he has been careful to shield from his criminal cohorts. When she learns the truth, Young angrily walks out of her father's life, a blow compounded when his "trusted" henchman Dudley Digges betrays him. In a last-ditch effort at redemption, Huston puts his own life on the line to rescue his daughter from her rival-gangster kidnappers. The final shot in The Ruling Voice is a gem, with the newspaper bearing the headline of Huston's downfall being used to wrap a dead fish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1930
Based on Porter Emerson Browne's 1920 play of the same name, The Bad Man features Walter Huston as the title character, bold Mexican bandido Pancho Lopez. Holding Americans Ruth Pell (Dorothy Revier) and her wealthy husband Morgan (Sidney Blackmer) for ransom, Lopez takes a liking to Ruth and begins plotting Morgan's demise. As things turn out, however, Lopez's inherent decency suddenly and unexpectedly surfaces -- not soon enough, however, to save him from being mowed down by the Texas Rangers. Previously filmed in 1923, The Bad Man was remade in an oriental setting as West of Shanghai (1937), with Boris Karloff assuming the Walter Huston role, albeit transformed into a Chinese war lord. It was filmed again, under its original title, as a 1941 Wallace Beery vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Dorothy Revier, (more)
