Isabel Jeans Movies
British actress Isabel Jeans was 18 when she made her London stage debut in 1909. Her first film was 1917's The Profligate. The graceful, sophisticated Jeans became a Broadway critics' darling in the 1920s and 1930s by virtue of her performances in such plays as The Road to Rome and The Man in Possession. In Hollywood from 1937, Jeans was all too infrequently seen in plum character roles. She is most fondly remembered for her portrayal of the aunt of courtesan-in-training Leslie Caron in Gigi (1958). Isabel Jeans, who at one time was married to actor Claude Rains, made her farewell stage appearance in 1971, at the age of 80. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1929
In this British mystery, a diplomat's wife, thinking she is protecting her lover, takes the rap for her husband's murder. It is later revealed that a spy was the real culprit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Downhill is an apt title for this disappointing Alfred Hitchcock silent feature. Ivor Novello plays the black sheep of a prosperous family, whose life begins its downward spiral when he is expelled from school after shielding a friend from punishment. Following several desultory adventures, Novello weds faithless actress Isabel Jeans, who divests him of what little money he has and runs off with another man. Only when he is at his lowest is Novello forgiven by his family. Downhill has in recent years gained a negative fame thanks to one of its most treacly dialogue subtitles: after being cashiered from school, the hero asks "Does that mean, sir, that I shall not be able to play with the Old Boys?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1927
In the early stages of his directing career, Alfred Hitchcock made a number of hackneyed studio films which barely resemble the works he would go on to direct. The society drama Easy Virtue is one of the nine silent movies Hitchcock directed. The film opens with Larita Filton posing for her portrait in an artist's studio. The behavior of her boorish, philandering husband, Aubrey Filton, drives her into the artist's arms where her husband discovers her. In the melee that follows, the artist shoots the husband, wounding but not killing him. Aubrey sues for divorce and Larita falls from grace in the courtroom while journalists feed the public a salaciously inflated account. Ruined, Larita flees to the south of France and meets John Whittaker, a young, upstanding British man. They fall in love, marry, and the happy couple returns to England to mummy. Mother Whittaker, a Victorian in the modern age, strenuously opposes the union and upbraids John for bringing scandal upon the family name. Neither John nor his father has the strength to withstand Mother Whittaker's onslaught, and the film, and Larita, end miserably. Hitchcock does one of his wordless cameos in the film. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- 1927
W. P. Drury's popular literary and theatrical piece The Flag Lieutenant spawned this 1927 sequel. Henry Edwards once more essays the role of Lt. Dick Lascelles, who in the 1926 filmization of Flag Lieutenant managed to clear himself from accusations of cowardice. This time, Lt. Lascelles saves a remote African post from a native uprising. The film's "Sun Never Sets" jingoism was easier to swallow in 1927 (when there was still a British Empire) than it might be today. Isabel Jeans likewise returns from the 1926 Flag Lieutenant as Pauline, the love of Lascelles' life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Edwards, Fred Raynham, (more)
- 1925
Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans co-star with Mae Marsh, Marie Ault, and James Lindsay in this crime drama. The courtesan Zeile de Chaumet takes the murder rap to protect the man she loves. Robert Scholtz and Julie Suedo also appear in this feature highlighted by scenes from the Follies Bergere. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
