Marian Marsh Movies
Although she later professed to have preferred her stay with Columbia Pictures, Marian Marsh did her best work at Warner Bros., not only in her star-making turn opposite John Barrymore inSvengali (1931), but also with Warren William in the wry, unfairly neglected Beauty and the Boss (1932). A beauty contest winner of German descent, Marsh (born Violet Krauth) began her film career in 1930 through her sister Jeanne Morgan, a former Ziegfeld girl turned movie starlet. Howard Hughes gave her the moniker "Marilyn Morgan" and assigned her a brief but attention-grabbing turn in the aviation melodrama Hell's Angels (1930). Although little more than a walk-on role, it led to her being voted a 1931 Wampas Baby Star and securing the contract with Warner Bros.The studio changed her name to Marian Marsh, in honor, it was said at the time, of silent-era actress Mae Marsh, and launched her as Trilby in Svengali , Warner Bros.' screen version of Gerald du Maurier's Victorian novel about a villainous mesmerist and his innocent victim. (Despite updated versions of the story years later, Marsh remained the quintessential screen Trilby in the wonderfully florid melodrama.) Although not quite as powerful, Warners' follow-up, The Mad Genius (1931) -- again opposite Barrymore at the zenith of his powers -- also proved quite popular. Marsh was perfectly cast as the once-timid stenographer who proves eminently capable of taking care of herself in Beauty and the Boss (1932), a typical pre-Production Code comedy drama.
The pace at Warner Bros. was hectic and Marsh happily left in favor of the smaller Columbia Pictures, where, she later explained, she was treated with all the trappings of stardom. Some of her films there were, indeed, worth the effort, including The Black Room (1935) opposite Boris Karloff and Crime and Punishment (1935) as Sonya opposite Peter Lorre's Raskolnikov. She may have been slightly miscast in the latter, but Josef von Sternberg's direction easily overcame this minor flaw and she emerged unscathed. The actress was not so lucky with such subsequent fare as Republic's Prison Nurse (1938), directed by that old hack James Cruze; Monogram's Murder by Invitation (1941); and, her final film in 1942, PRC's House of Errors, all low-rent programmers and hardly worth her while.
Twice elected honorary mayor of her small San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth, Marsh left Hollywood behind with hardly a backward glance, retiring at the age of 30. She was widowed in 1984 by her second husband, Clifford Henderson (an aviation pioneer and the founder of Palm Desert) but remained the energetic president of Desert Beautiful, a Coachella Valley preservation society. Retaining only good memories of her past screen career, the former actress spoke with admiration of the legendary Barrymore, who, in Marsh's eyes, could do no wrong. "He was always so helpful and so inspiring to me," she stated in a later interview. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1942
Former silent screen comic Harry Langdon earned above-title billing for the final time in his long career in this roughhewn but amusing World War II farce released by Poverty Row company PRC. Langdon and Charles "Buddy" Rogers are newspaper messengers helping reporter Ray Walker obtain an interview with journalist-hating inventor Richard Kipling. But before they know it, Harry and Buddy become unwittingly involved in plans to steal the professor's newest invention: a machine gun. A couple of munitions racketeers (John Holland and Guy Kingsford) concoct a scheme to drive down the price of the weapon but despite an ability to stumble over their own feet, the heroes manage not only to foil the plot but also reunite their reporter friend with the inventor's lovely daughter, Marian Marsh. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1941
Veteran screen menace Jack LaRue is the unlikely hero of Monogram's Gentleman From Dixie--and no one seems more surprised at this atypical casting than LaRue himself! The star is cast as ex-convict Thad Terrill, who upon his release heads to his family estate in the Deep South. It is here that Thad proves he's really a swell guy underneath by reuniting his young niece Betty Jean (Mary Ruth) with her long-estranged mother Margaret (Marian Marsh). He also manages to prove that he was innocent of the charge that sent him to prison by exposing the actual miscreant. Stereotypically cast as a faithful black retainer, Clarence Muse manages to invest a great deal of dignity and warmth in his two-dimensional character, and even gets to sing a couple of his own musical compositions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Marian Marsh, (more)
Stars-on-the-downslide Wallace Ford and Marian Marsh briefly rallied in the above-average Monogram melodrama Murder by Invitation. Ford is cast as usual as a wisecracking reporter, this time christened Bob White. Our hero is one of several acquaintances and relatives invited to an old dark house to attend the reading of a will. At the stroke of midnight, one of the guests is murdered?and then another. The most obvious suspect is Aunt Cassie (Sarah Padden), the slightly daft owner of the mansion, but Bob suspects that she's being framed, and with the help of heroine Nora O'Brien (Marsh) he sets about to prove it. Some of the film's best moments are suppled by beetle-browed Herb Vigran, a busy supporting actor whose best professional days were still to come.Murder by Invitation closes with one of those "It's only a movie, folks" gags indigenous to the Monogram product of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wallace Ford, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1940
Good-ol' sheriff Holt is determined to prove that prisoners can be rehabilitated and released into society in this prison drama. In charge of a new kind of program, the sheriff places inmates in a clean environment and makes them build a road. Despite the improved conditions, the criminals continue to pull off a few shady shenanigans as an innocent man who is sent there soon discovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1939
The Missing Daughters of the title are innocent young girls who've been led astray by seedy dance-hall operator Lucky Rogers (Edward Raquello), who is Lucky Luciano in everything but name. Ordering his beautiful charges to shake down the customers, Rogers has a habit of bumping off any girl who refuses to obey his commands. Winchell-like radio commentator Wally King (Richard Arlen) teams up with Kay Roberts (Rochelle Hudson), sister of one of Rogers' victims, to bring the villain to justice. The resemblances between Missing Daughters and 1937's Marked Woman are underlined by the fact that hard-boiled Isabel Jewell appears in both films. Also on hand as one of Lucky Rogers' tootsies is Marian Marsh, light-years removed from her role of Trilby in John Barrymore's Svengali (1937). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Rochelle Hudson, (more)
- 1938
In this romantic comedy, a passionate French painter nearly goes berserk when he learns that his well-meaning friends have stolen one of his paintings so it can be exhibited. Their ploy works beautifully, and he becomes famous. Unfortunately, it is an embarrassing picture of his dream girl and he finds it utterly humiliating. Fortunately, he meets the real-life doppleganger of this gal and a romance eventually blooms. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ramon Novarro, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1938
American leading lady Marian Marsh plays the title character in the British Girl Thief. Actually, the biggest thing young Juliet (Marsh) steals is the heart of Bill (Anthony Bushell), the best friend of her fiance Allan (Claude Hulbert). It is subsequently a considerable source of discomfort when Bill is asked to serve as best man for Allan and Juliet's wedding. Everything turns out OK when it's revealed that Allan is himself still carrying a torch for an ex-sweetheart. This charming but utterly forgettable frivolity was originally released in England as Love at Second Sight. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Anthony Bushell, (more)
The title character in Republic's Prison Nurse is a "woman in white" named Judy, played by Marian Marsh. Together with her friend Pepper (Bernardine Hayes), Judy hires on at a maximum-security prison smack dab in the middle of flood country. When she's not braving the elements and fending off the advances of the convicts, Judy is doing her best to contend with a raging typhoid epidemic. Henry Wilcoxon is integrity personified as the doctor who eventually falls in love with the dedicated heroine. Prison Nurse was one of four inexpensive Republic programmers directed by James Cruze, formerly one of the top filmmakers of the silent screen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Wilcoxon, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1937
The low-budget football drama Saturday's Heroes is remarkably frank and timely -- at least for the first 4 reels or so. Debunking the squeaky-clean image then enjoyed by college football players, the film shows its amateur athletes betting on games, scalping tickets, and willingly accepting subsidies disguised as scholarships. But they're no worse than the college board of directors, who garner most of the football-victory profits for their own gain, all the while wrapping themselves in the cloak of respectability. When a "washed-up" young footballer who can no longer afford to remain in school commits suicide, gridiron hero Val (Van Heflin) lashes out at the sanctimonious and hypocritical faculty members. To shut Val up, his elders expel him for ticket-scalping, whereupon he teams up with honest sportswriter Red Watson (Richard Lane) to expose their hypocrisy. Enrolling at a small college cursed with a perennially losing football team, Val coaches them to victory against his alma mater. The film's refreshingly honest approach to its material falls apart about 20 minutes toward the end with the inclusion of such stock characters as toothless team trainer Andy Jones (Al St. John) and such ludicrous plot devices as Val's allowing the opposing team to score the first touchdown, just to lull them into a false sense of security. For at least 2/3 of its running time, however, Saturday's Heroes is among the best sports films of the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1937
Akim Tamiroff plays the Great Gambini, a famous magician mixed up in a murder case. In addition to his card tricks and onstage illusions, Gambini is something of a mystic, and has predicted the death of the murder victim. Suspects breed like rabbits, but the actual culprit turns out to be the only person Gambini truly loves (It's not hard to figure out who done it; only in the last reel do we find out why). Genevieve Tobin shows up as a scatterbrained socialite, while William Demarest is on duty once more as a flustered flatfoot. The Great Gambini was one of the last films of producer B. P. Schulberg, a former Hollywood high-roller on his way down. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Akim Tamiroff, John Trent, (more)
- 1937
Sentenced to prison for a crime they did not commit, a desperate pair of young lovers attempts to capture the culprits responsible for framing them and destroying their lives. Philip and Bonnie were two strangers with little in common, that is until they were framed for a daring daytime jewelry store heist. When the two innocents fail to convince the judge that they had nothing to do with the hold up, they are each sentenced to 18 months behind bars. But their troubles don't end the day they are paroled for good behavior, because once society has branded you a criminal, you can never go back to the way things were. Now drawn together by the pain of their horrific experience, Philip and Bonnie will risk it all to catch the culprits who ruined their lives and finally clear their good names once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Gordon Oliver, (more)
- 1937
On the whole, Joe E. Brown's vehicles for independent producer David L. Loew were distinct retrogressions from his films at Warner Bros., but When's Your Birthday? still contains some very funny moments. This time, Joe plays Douglas Willoughby, a mild-mannered astrologer who through a series of incredible plot twists becomes a prizefighter. Though he's a most unprepossessing figure in the ring, Douglas manages to box his way up to the championship -- but refuses to don gloves unless the stars are "right." This gets him mixed up with several shady characters and also plants him at the apex of a romantic triangle, with Marian Marsh and Suzanne Kaaren as his two sweeties. Original prints of When's Your Birthday include a Technical animated opening-credits sequence, courtesy of the cartoonmakers of "Termite Terrace" at Warner Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joe E. Brown, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1936
Tailor-made for the talents of fast-talking James Dunn, Come Closer, Folks stars Dunn as sidewalk pitchman Jim Keene. Our hero manages to wangle a "legitimate" job as a small-town department-store sales clerk, instantly falling in love with boss's daughter Peggy Woods (Marian Marsh). When the store is threatened with bankruptcy, Jim enlists the aid of his fellow street hucksters to drum up business with their patented hard-sell methods, a strategy that gets him promoted to assistant manager. Eventually he runs afoul of the law, but Jim manages to smooth-talk the jury into letting him off the hook. Come Closer, Folks is another of those Columbia "B"-pictures which showed up incessantly on TV in the 1950s and 1960s then suddenly vanished when audiences demanded "newer" pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Dunn, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1936
In this crime drama, a federal agent goes undercover to join a gang of counterfeiters. He pretends to be a murder. The trouble begins when the gang kidnaps an engraver from Treasury Department. They force him to make a set of plates to print the fake cash. The agent manages to break up the ring. Justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Margot Grahame, (more)
- 1936
In this interesting drama, a disfigured fugitive killer gets a second chance at life when he hides out in a hospital and overhears a doctor discussing his innovative scientific theories. The murderer accosts the doctor and forces him to perform a radical surgery that will change the criminal's face and brain and make him into a better person. Using a new name, the crook becomes a top doctor. Unfortunately, he could change his face, but he could not flee his past and he finds himself standing trial and getting convicted. He is later pardoned by the governor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Bellamy, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1936
In this tragic drama, a pregnant daughter prepares to marry a man she doesn't love when her 'sister' tells her a story. It seems that when the older woman was a girl she too got pregnant by her lover. When her father found out, he had the impregnator sent to war where he was killed. Meanwhile he allowed his daughter to keep her little girl under the provision that she tell the child that she is her sister. The sister of course, is the woman's daughter. Unfortunately, when her father learns that his daughter has told her daughter the truth he has her committed to an asylum. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Otto Kruger, (more)
- 1935
"Mountain-film" specialist Luis Trenker plies his trade with his usual expertise in the Austrian Velorene Sohn (Prodigal Son). Trenker himself plays the leading role of Tonia Feuersinger, a Tyrolean mountaineer bound and determined to scale the American Rockies. He also wants to journey to the States to court pretty American tourist Lillian Williams (played by pretty American actress Marian Marsh). Leaving his broken-hearted local girlfriend (Maria Andergast) behind, Tonio treks to New York, but never quite makes it to the Rockies; instead, he gets a welding job on a skyscraper, then achieves success as a prizefighter. In the end, however, he realizes that his heart is still in the Tyrol and thus returns to the arms of his hometown sweetheart. Though aimed at the German-speaking clientele, Verlorene Sohn was financed in Hollywood by Universal Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luis Trenker, Maria Andergast, (more)
- 1935
A curse pronounced upon land baron DeBerghmann has devastating long-range consequences for his twin sons Gregor and Anton. Twenty years later, Anton (Boris Karloff) has developed into a debauched and much-hated despot, disposing of his enemies by dumping their bodies into the titular "black room" on his estate. But when Anton's kindly, benevolent brother Gregor (also Karloff) returns home after a long absence, he is so beloved by the townspeople that Anton "graciously" gives up his title and estate to Gregor. Actually, Anton plans to kill his brother and take his place so that he can indulge in even more deviltry -- including the framing of young Lt. Lussan (Robert Allen), the sweetheart of the beautiful Thea (Marian Marsh), for the murder (committed by Anton) of Thea's father Col. Hassel (Thurston Hall). Ultimately, however, Anton's true identity is revealed by Gregor's faithful mastiff. Though reminiscent of an old folk legend, The Black Room was written directly for the screen by Arthur Strawn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1935
The story goes that Peter Lorre wanted to star in a film version of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, but was certain that Columbia Pictures chieftain Harry Cohn would turn the project down flat. So Lorre hired a secretary to type up a synopsis of the story in words of one syllable then submitted this simplified resume to Cohn. Enthusiastic over the project, Cohn gave Lorre the go-ahead -- but first he asked "Tell me -- has this book got a publisher?" Apocryphal story or no, the fact is that Lorre did star in Columbia's Crime and Punishment and in the bargain was directed by the ultra-stylish Josef Von Sternberg. As the arrogant sociopath Raskolnikov, who is convinced that he can get away with the murder of a nasty pawnbroker because he is "above" such intangibles as a conscience, Lorre is excellent, especially when his bravado is slowly eroded by the gentle but determined Inspector Porfiri (Edward Arnold). Like the aforementioned typed-up synopsis, the film oversimplifies the Dostoyevsky original, concentrating only on the crime, the pangs of guilt, the confession and the arrest: the punishment and its aftermath, so essential to the novel's overall impact, are dispensed with entirely. To make the film even more accessible to a mass audience, the story is subtly updated, though any distinctly "contemporary" touches such as automobiles, telephones and current slang are studiously avoided. The supporting cast is wildly inconsistent: Mrs. Patrick Campbell is fine in her brief scenes as the vitriolic pawnbroker, but Marian Marsh is all wrong as the streetwalker heroine Sonya. The principal strength of this Crime and Punishment is the film-long game of cat-and-mouse between the reckless Raskolnikov and the quietly methodical Porfiri. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, (more)
- 1935
In this actioner, a race car driver is recuperating from an accident when he meets a charming waitress and decides to go into her father's trucking business with him. They soon find themselves conflicting with a competitor; it is the same company that employs the racer that tampered with the hero's car and caused his accident. Mayhem ensues as the rivalry escalates. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wallace Ford, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1935
The Unknown Woman is Helen Griffith (Marian Marsh), who unbeknownst to everyone but the audience is a Federal agent. Young attorney Larry Condon (Richard Cromwell) falls for Helen, but keeps his distance because he thinks she's in allegiance with a gang of bond thieves. When Larry and Helen fall into the clutches of the villains, salvation comes from an unexpected source: fish peddler Joe Scalise (Henry Armetta), who up to this point has been the film's comedy relief. Douglass Dumbrille is so obviously the villain of the piece that one wonders why he isn't wearing a handlebar mustache and top hat. Unknown Woman was written by W. Scott Darling, whose apparent fascination with gangsters would later permit his Laurel & Hardy screenplays at 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Cromwell, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1934
Set within the steamy Louisiana bayous, this melodrama chronicles the reconciliation between an embittered bereaved mother and the daughter she always blamed for her husband's demise. Eventually, the mother sees the light and begins loving the child when she discovers that her beloved spouse had been having an affair. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Louise Dresser, Ralph Morgan, (more)
- 1934
In this musical, an insurance agent falls in love with a pretty girl. When the self-righteous agent discovers that she is a cabaret singer, he dumps her. Soon after, his sister quits her telephone operator's job to become a chorine. Songs include: "Blue Sky Avenue", "Let's Put Two and Two Together", "I Like It That Way", and "Goin' to Town". ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Roger Pryor, (more)
- 1934
In this musical comedy, a young man visiting the ultra-modern estate of his aunt falls in love with the old-fashioned, stuffy neighbor's niece. The young lovers encounter trouble, as none of their relatives approve of the match. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1934
A lover selflessly dumps her boy friend so that he will obey the wishes of his wealthy benefactor and marry someone more suitable. If he fails to marry an approved woman, his wealthy guardian will no longer pair for his support. Meanwhile, the heartbroken lover ends up marrying a creepy gambler. One day the gambler is shot and killed leaving the girl accused of the crime. Will her true love be able to save her from the death penalty? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Betty Compson, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.