Doris Kenyon Movies
American actress Doris Kenyon was the daughter of well-to-do writer and publisher James B. Kenyon, the editor of The Standard Dictionary and one-time protege of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. While attending an Authors Club meeting with her father, 16-year-old Doris was invited to sing; she so impressed one of the guests, composer Victor Herbert, that she was cast in Herbert's stage musical Princess Pat. In 1916, one year after her stage debut, Kenyon entered films with The Hidden Hand. A pretty ingenue who matriculated into an interesting if not outstanding actress, Kenyon did quite well in silent films, at one point costarring with Rudolph Valentino in Monsieur Beaucaire. In 1927, she married Milton Sills, a major star with whom Kenyon had first appeared in The Rack (1916); Sills and his wife appeared together in seven films, all of them moneymakers. Kenyon was playing tennis with Milton in 1930 when he suddenly was felled by a fatal heart attack. She was disconsolate and planned retirement, but was talked out of it by actor George Arliss, who arranged for Kenyon to have strong co-starring roles in his films Alexander Hamilton (1931) and Voltaire (1933). No longer a romantic leading lady, Kenyon had matured enough to convincingly play John Barrymore's truculent society-climbing wife in Counsellor at Law (1933). The actress yearned at this point to return to her singing career (she had, after all, appeared with the Metropolitan Opera at one point in the teens); while retraining her voice, she began writing magazine articles for women's magazines, a venture which proved successful. Rounding out her film career with Man in the Iron Mask (1939), Kenyon spent the war years singing with the USO and lecturing to women's clubs. Doris Kenyon was almost completely retired the last quarter century of her life, appearing only in a handful of TV shows as favors to her show-business friends; one such friend was Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who in 1958 cast Kenyon as a Norma Desmond-type faded star desperate for a comeback on 77 Sunset Strip. Now that program REALLY required the delightfully non-desperate Doris Kenyon to put on an act! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1939
- NR
Man in the Iron Mask is independent producer Edward Small's 1939 edition of the much-filmed Dumas classic. The title character is the rightful King of France, imprisoned by his pretender-to-the-throne twin brother (both roles are played by Louis Hayward, with an uncredited Peter Cushing doubling for Hayward in the "over the back" shots). Warren William plays musketeer D'Artagnan, who rallies his now aged swashbuckling companions Porthos (Alan Hale), Athos (Bert Roach) and Aramis (Miles Mander), to rescue the real King, whom they have raised from infancy. Director James Whale reserves a juicy cameo part for his old Frankenstein cohort Dwight "Renfield" Frye. Slightly hampered by a limited budget, Man in the Iron Mask was nonetheless popular enough to encourage producer Small to put together another literary derivation in 1940, The Son of Monte Cristo, utilizing many of the same sets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1938
In this comedy, wealthy girls attend boarding school to learn proper etiquette. The well-mannered character of the class is disrupted when one of the proper young women plans to elope with a handsome young simpleton. Unfortunately she is outfoxed by a young teacher who elopes with the boy before she can. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Shirley, Nan Grey, (more)
- 1937
Veteran movie leading man Bert Lytell warmed the director's chair for Along Came Love. Irene Hervey plays a shopgirl, while western star Charles Starrett dons civvies in the role of a pediatrician. Through a series of bizarre but credible complications, Hervey's mother (Irene Franklin) is arrested during a raid at a burlesque house, which plot device serves to bring hero and heroine together. All misunderstandings are ironed out within the film's 65-minute time frame, as we all knew they would be. Along Came Love was cowritten by Arthur Caesar, miles away from his Oscar-nominated original story for 1934's Manhattan Melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Hervey, Charles Starrett, (more)
- 1934
Inspired by the Titanic tragedy, Whom the Gods Destroy is a tour de force for character actor Walter Connolly. The star is cast as theatrical entrepreneur John Forrester, who finds himself on board an ocean liner crippled in a shipwreck. At first he behaves courageously, but as the ship goes down Forrester panics and dons women's clothes to ensure himself a seat on the lifeboat. Rescued at sea, he hides out in a tiny fishing village for several years, then returns to New York under an assumed name. Upon discovering that he is celebrated as a "dead" hero, Forrester realizes that he can never reveal his true identity lest he be exposed as a craven coward. Standing on the sidelines, he watches as his son Jack (Robert Young) rises to success on the Broadway stage, all the while secretly helping the boy get ahead in his career. Forrester's wife Margaret (Doris Kenyon) finally recognizes her husband, forgives him, and offers to take him back, but by now Forrester himself feels it is too late and retreats into the shadows, never to be seen again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Connolly, Robert Young, (more)
- 1934
The Human Side was adapted by Frank Craven and Ernest Pascal from a play by Christine Ames. Long married and the parents of four children, Gregory and Vera Sheldon break up when Gregory begins keeping time with seductive Alma Hastings (played by Betty Lawford, Peter's mom). Despite the subsequent divorce, Gregory can't resist visiting his ex-wife from time to time, which arouses Alma's jealous nature. The story isn't straightened out, however, until the four Sheldon kids -- Lucille (Charlotte Henry), Phil (Dick Winslow), Tom (George Ernest) and Bobbie (Dickie Moore) -- take a hand in the matter. Befitting the title, The Human Side is realistically written and acted, enhancing the audience's empathy with the characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Doris Kenyon, (more)
Adapted from the play by Elmer Rice, Counsellor-at-Law is the story of a successful Jewish lawyer George Simon (John Barrymore) who finds it's lonely at the top. Simon's wife (Doris Kenyon) and children look down upon him because of his humble upbringings, while his mother reprimands him for turning his back on his heritage. Simon is threatened with disbarment when a rival digs up a big wormy can of legal wrongdoing in Simon's past, but this is only the beginning of the end. When the beleaguered lawyer discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, he looks out the window of his Empire State Building office and contemplates suicide. Simon is brought to his senses by his faithful secretary (Bebe Daniels), who has loved him all along. Filled with vivid character vignettes and blessed with energetic direction by William Wyler, Counsellor-at-Law is one of the best "lawyer" films of the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, (more)
- 1933
The life and times of one of France's most influential authors and philosophers receives the romantic treatment from director John G. Adolphi. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1933
A boozy newspaper reporter is booted out of his job for drinking too much. A few fateful twists later, he becomes partners with a talented advertising executive and opens a business. The former reporter proves to have a killer's instinct and all the morals of a shark. Under his helm, the business thrives, but his personal life falls to ruin when his fiancee kills herself. Returning to the sanctuary of alcohol, he drinks himself blind and jeopardizes the career he worked so hard to build. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1932
Though Spencer Tracy is top-billed in Young America, the film is by no means a star vehicle. Tommy Conlon and Raymond Borzage (the son of director Frank Borzage) play budding juvenile delinquents Arthur and Nutty. After their latest misdemeanor, the boys are paroled by Judge Blake (Ralph Bellamy) in the custody of Arthur's nasty aunt Mrs. Taylor (Sarah Padden), who treats them atrociously. When Arthur's grandma (Beryl Mercer) falls ill, the boys are unable to awaken pharmacist Jack Doray (Spencer Tracy) and are forced to break into Doray's drugstore to steal the necessary medicine. Touched by the boys' plight, Doray's wife Edith (Doris Kenyon) assumes custody of Arthur, who demonstrates his unbounded gratitude by rescuing the druggist from a gang of homicidal burglars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1932
Fresh from his success with the moody melodrama Murders in the Rue Morgue, director Robert Florey dashed off The Man Called Back at bargain-basement Tiffany Studios. The film is set in the tropics; Conrad Nagel tops the cast as a dissipated, derelict doctor, hopelessly in love with married socialite Doris Kenyon. Doris' insane husband John Halliday commits suicide, but arranges the evidence so that his wife will be charged with murder. Nagel snaps out of his drunken doldrums to prove Doris' innocence. Watch for "the ever-popular Mae Busch" in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1931
In this drama, a doctor and his wife are stationed in Singapore where the lonely wife, tired of constantly trying to get his attention, begins soliciting another man into having an affair with her. The man is reticent though. When the doctor finds out and assumes they are involved, the woman becomes so angry that she threatens to take the next boat out and leave them both. Instead it is the would-be lover who ignores the jealous doctor's loaded gun and calmly boards the boat. Songs include: "African Lament" "Hand in Hand" "Yes or No" "Singapore Tango" and ""I'm Just a Fool in Love with You"". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Doris Kenyon, (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)
- 1931
Philip Barry's wistful comedy You and I was brought to the screen by its original stage director Robert Milton. All it lacked was its original title; First National Pictures felt that The Bargain was a more saleable cognomen. Lewis Stone stars as a successful soapmaker who'd wanted to be a painter in his youth. Stone's son John Darrow likewise forsakes the world of art for the world of business. The frustrated Stone retires and tries to paint again, but he's lost the gift. He then determines that his son will not make the same mistakes that he had. The type-cast cast includes ingenue Evalyn Knapp, philosophical butler Charles Butterworth, and wise-cracking comedy relief Una Merkel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Knapp, Charles Butterworth, (more)
- 1931
Alexander Hamilton was not precisely the life story of America's first secretary of the treasury--in fact, it doesn't even depict the most portentous moment of Hamilton's life, his fatal duel with Aaron Burr. Instead, Alexander Hamilton concentrates on Hamilton's efforts to pass the "Assumption Bill," which required the federal government to assume the debts incurred by the 13 states during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton's enemies attempt to blackmail him into silence by calling forth a Mrs. Reynolds, with whom the married Hamilton had had a brief affair while in London. Hamilton confounds his enemies by admitting publicly to the affair and condemning his opponents for compromising the goodwill of the country with such sordid tactics. George Arliss, who'd played Alexander Hamilton on stage, here revives the role, in the company of Alan Mowbray as George Washington (delivering a memorable "farewell to the troops") scene, Montagu Love as Thomas Jefferson, Morgan Wallace as James Monroe, and June Collyer as the hapless Mrs. Reynolds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1930
Latin Lover Rod LaRocque starred as a Mexican Robin Hood in this tepid Western melodrama directed by Lambert Hillyer. With a price on his head, LaRocque's gay desperado comes to the assistance of a fair damsel-in-distress (Doris Kenyon), who is suffering unwanted attention from unscrupulous banker Charles Middleton. Kenyon, however, loves poor but honorable George Duryea and the banker offers LaRocque $1,250 to kill the kid. "The story of the Robin Hood variety of lawbreakers has been told so often that one has a right to expect a better version of the tale," the New York Times complained. Villain Middleton, of course, later played the quintessential serial villain, Ming the Merciless, in the Flash Gordon cliffhangers from Universal. Juvenile lead George Duryea changed his name to Tom Keene and enjoyed some success as a B-Western lead. He later played villains as Richard Powers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod La Rocque, Mitchell Lewis, (more)
- 1928
Based on a novel by Jack London, Burning Daylight was the first of Milton Sills' four 1928 vehicles. Sills stars as an Alaskan real estate speculator known to friends and foes alike as "Burning Daylight." After making a fortune in the Yukon, the hero loses it all to crooked stock manipulators in San Francisco. When legal methods fail, Burning Daylight pulls out a gun and forces the crooks to return the money. He then hands over the cash to those who bought stock in his Alaskan investments, which leaves him a pauper -- but an honest one. Returning to Alaska, Burning Daylight optimistically decides to start life all over again, this time in the company of his faithful sweetheart Virginia (played by Milton Sills' real-life wife Doris Kenyon). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milton Sills, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1928
Paramount's first all-talking picture, Interference was dismally directed by Roy Pomeroy, whose lofty status as the studio's "technical wizard" did not necessarily qualify him to be a director. Evelyn Brent heads the cast as scheming Deborah Kane, who sets out to blackmail Faith Marley (Doris Kenyon), the above-reproach wife of Sir John Marlay. Twisting the facts to suit her purposes, Deborah claims that Faith is still married to her first husband Philip Voaze (William Powell), who was presumed killed in WWI. Inevitably, Deborah is murdered, prompting both Faith and John to assume that the other has committed the crime. Accordingly, both husband and wife tamper with the evidence to throw the police off the trail, but the detective on the case (Brandon Hurst) is a bit too quick on the uptake. Only the last-minute confession of the actual killer (who has but a short time to live anyway) saves the Marlays from public humiliation and disgrace. Based on a stage play by Roland Petwee and Harold Dearden, Interference was simultaneously filmed in a silent version, which reportedly was better paced than the talkie adaptation. Years after the fact, co-star Clive Brook recalled that when Interference premiered in London, the needle became stuck on one of the soundtrack disks, causing Brook's character to repeatedly recite the deathless line "Another of those damned postcards -- another of those damned postcards -- another of those damned postcards." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Brent, William Powell, (more)
- 1928
A wealthy man hits the half-century mark and promptly suffers a mid-life crisis in this silent romantic comedy. Like countless fellows before and after him, he ends up falling for a beautiful young woman. Trouble comes when the besotted gent's best friend begins suspecting that the girl only wants her beau's considerable fortune. Wanting only to protect him, the best buddy begins trying to beak up the affair. This is an early sound film and is one of the first to utilize dialog, not as a novelty, but as a serious way to advance the plot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Bennett, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1927
Valley of the Giants is about the struggle between the evil Pennington (Charles Sellon), owner of a local railroad and Bruce Cardigan (Milton Sills), whose family owns a lumber mill. Pennington wants control of the Cardigan possessions, so he cuts off service to the mill. The Cardigans also need to obtain a franchise from the city council, which, too, is under the control of Pennington. This melodrama isn't always as heavy as it sounds. There are moments of humor, such as those offered by Arthur Stone who poses as a Chicago millionaire to help the Cardigans get their franchise. Sills' real-life wife, Doris Kenyon, plays the film's love interest, Shirley Pennington. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milton Sills, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1926
Men of Steel was the last of Milton Sills' four starring films in 1926. Sills plays Jan Bokak, a self-educated steelworker who finds himself in the middle of a romantic triangle. Two different girls -- wealthy socialite Claire Pitt (May Allison) and blue-collar worker Mary Berwick (Doris Kenyon) -- simultaneously fall for Bokak. It later develops that Claire and Mary are actually sisters, the first of a series of surprising plot twists leading to Bokak being accused of a murder he didn't commit. In the gutsy climax, the actual villain attempts to kill Bokak by pouring a vat of molten steel upon him! Not long after the completion of Men of Steel, leading man Sills married leading lady Kenyon, a union that endured until Sills' untimely death in 1930. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milton Sills, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1926
A novel by Stephen French Whitman was the source for First National's The Blonde Saint. Lewis Stone stars as Sebastian Maure, a world-famous author and a notorious ladies' man. Well aware of Maure's reputation, heroine Anne Bellamy (Doris Kenyon) refuses to have anything to do with him -- but the audience knows that she's secretly in love with the "bad boy" novelist. Travelling by steamship from Italy to England, there to marry stuffy Brit Vincent Pamfort (Malcolm Denny), Anne can't seem to shake the persistent Maure, who has booked passage on the same ship. In desperation, Maure grabs Anne and leaps off the side of the boat. The two swim to the shore of a tiny Sicilian fishing village, where hero and heroine find themselves at the mercy of homicidal jewel thieves. As if that weren't enough, a plague breaks out in the village, endangering the lives of everyone in the community. Through his selfless ministrations to the sick, Maure proves to Anne that he'd be a worthy husband despite all his faults -- and when her British fiance shows up to rescue her, our heroine steadfastly refuses to be rescued. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lewis Stone, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1926
Ladies at Play was based on Loose Ankles, a stage comedy by Sam Janney. Heroine Ann Harper is thrilled to discover that she has inherited six million dollars. She is less than thrilled when she finds out that, in order to collect her fortune, she must be married within three days. After looking for love in all the wrong places, she finally settles down with the one man who couldn't care less about her millions. Additional laughs are provided by Louise Fazenda and Ethel Wales as Ann's cluck-clucking aunts -- and by older-than-dirt Tom Ricketts as a dyspeptic deacon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Kenyon, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1926
Mismates was based on the Myron C. Fagan stage play of the same name. Doris Kenyon plays a pretty young woman of modest means who doesn't know what she's in for when she marries wealthy Philo McCullough. The groom's over-protective mother not only refuses to recognize the marriage, but she also denies Kenyon access to the family home -- for five long years! McCullough's snooty relatives try to rid themselves of Kenyon by framing the girl for a crime she didn't commit. But our heroine escapes from jail to get the last laugh on her despicable in-laws. Halfway through the film, director Charles J. Brabin tries and fails to emulate Cecil B. DeMille with an extravagant society party, which makes about as much sense as the rest of picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Kenyon, Warner Baxter, (more)
- 1925
The popular husband-and-wife screen team of Milton Sills and Doris Kenyon star in The Unguarded Hour. Hoping to keep her away from her fortune-hunting boyfriend, the wealthy father (Claude King) of heiress Virginia Gilbert (Doris Kenyon) ships the girl off to Europe, where she is to live in the home of her dad's old friend, Duchess Bianca (Dolores Cassinelli). En route, Virginia's plane crashes, whereupon she is rescued by handsome radio operator Andrea (Milton Sills), with whom she falls in love. As luck would have it, Andrea is actually the Duke of Arona, Duchess Bianca's nephew, so Virginia's father blesses the couple's romance. But no one can foresee the "unguarded hour" when Viriginia is discovered in an innocent but highly compromising situation with scoundrelly Count Stello (Charles Beyer). To protect her sister Elena (Lorna Duveen), the Count's actual lover, Virginia refuses to explain her presence in the cad's boudoir, whereupon Andrea immediately breaks off the engagement. Ultimately, Elena kills herself, leaving behind a note exonerating Virginia. The now-contrite Andrea begs Virginia's forgiveness -- but not before tossing the Count to his death from a high balcony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jed Prouty, Tammany Young, (more)
