Alyce Mills Movies

Whirlwind of Youth was taken (as far as possible, apparently) from Soundings, a novel by Hamilton Gibbs. Impulsive 18-year-old Nancy Hawthorne (Lois Moran) falls hard for Bob Whittaker (Donald Keith), a rakish "love 'em and leave 'em" type. At first refusing to take Nancy seriously, Whittaker changes his mind when he realizes that he, too, has fallen truly in love. The film was designed to show off Paramount's latest crop of young contractees, including Larry Kent, Gareth Hughes and Alyce Mills. Incidentally, leading lady Lois Moran was reportedly the inspiration for Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title Romance of a Million has precisely nothing to do with the plot. Glenn Hunter stars as a lifelong reformatory inmate who is sprung by his millionaire uncle. This does not sit well with the old boy's other nephew Gaston Glass, who assumed that he was in line to inherit the family fortune. Uncle arranges for both Hunter and Glass to receive $500,000 each, on the proviso that if either nephew brings disgrace to the family, he will automatically forfeit his money. Naturally, Glass turns out to be the more dishonest of the two, sneakily arranging for Hunter to get in trouble by planting stolen items in the latter's bedroom. Glass even goes so far as to disguise himself as a Russian countess (!) to coerce Hunter into selling the stolen goods. But the villain is hoist on his own petard through the intervention of Hunter's clever sweetheart Alyce Mills. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Broadway matinee idol (and notorious off-screen lothario) Lou Tellegan stars as "The Villain" (that's his name in the credits!) in With This Ring. The villain is brother of The Hero, played by Donald Keith. Shipwrecked on a desert island with The Girl (Alyce Mills), The Hero is separated from her, never knowing that she is carrying his child. Returning to the States, The Girl, worried that The Hero will never return, accepts the offer of marriage made by The Villain so that her baby will at least have "a name." The Villain proves to be a brute, whereupon The Lawyer (Niles Welch) offers his hand in marriage, which The Girl accepts. At this juncture, The Hero shows up, beats The Villain to a bloody pulp, and makes an "honest woman" of The Girl by marrying her, with The Lawyer generously handling the nuptial arrangements. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Few leading ladies appeared in as many films in 1926 as the vivacious Clara Bow. In My Lady's Lips, Bow plays the feisty daughter of newspaper magnate Frank Keenan. And that's about all she does, since the bulk of the film concerns the trials and tribulations of female crook Alyce Mills. For the sake of handsome young reporter William Powell, Mills double-crosses her underworld associates and risks being fitted for a cement kimono. Critics in 1926 complained about the casting of William Powell as the hero, suggesting that the actor would be wise to continue playing villains lest he lose his standing in Hollywood! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Paramount backlot doubled as Basque country for this romantic comedy which proved to be a nice showcase for Richard Dix. Richard Gaylord Jr. (Dix) is a pleasure-loving playboy who is constantly getting in trouble with the ladies, much to the chagrin of his father, Richard Gaylord Sr. (Frank Currier). Finally fed up, the elder Gaylord comes up with a plan -- one of his company men, Simmons (Joe Burke), is traveling to the Basque country, and he tells his boss that the Basque women only marry their own people. So Gaylord Sr. sends young Dick along, promising to give him half interest in his business if he will only stay away from women. Upon his arrival, Dick almost immediately becomes involved with Yvonne Hurja (Frances Howard), the daughter of the businessman (Albert Tavernier) that Simmons is working with. Julio, the local police chief -- who does double duty as a bandit chief (William Powell) -- loves Yvonne too. When she expresses her preference for Dick, Julio sends his men to kidnap the brash young Americano. Dick's father shows up just in time to see his son escape from the bandits and duke it out with Julio. Gaylord Sr. approves of Yvonne, and decides to share his company with Dick anyhow. The onscreen career of Frances Howard was extremely brief -- she married producer Samuel Goldwyn before she could make any mark as an actress. Appearing in a bit part is Harpo Marx in one of his rare appearances away from his fellow Marx Brothers. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Richard Keith (Conway Tearle) is a struggling artist in love with Betty Lynch (Sigrid Holmquist), the daughter of a wealthy father (Arthur Donaldson). He proposes marriage providing she give up her life of luxury to live on the money he makes as a painter. Richard and Betty are married and later welcome a new baby into the family. Tired of living on love and constantly impoverished, Betty runs home to her heartless father Jordan. She returns to Richard's loving arms after she realizes her cold-hearted father will never change. This was Sigrid Holquist's last film, as well as the last appearance for Dorothy Allen, who played a minor role. Donaldson would go on to make two more films. Peggy Kelly makes her film debut as Lady Atherton, but would only appear in two more features. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Silent screen Western star Franklyn Farnum played a stagecoach agent in this inexpensive oater from Jesse J. Goldburg's low-budget Independent Pictures Corp. A series of stage robberies have been plaguing the area, but using cunning detective methods and a pair of fast fists, Farnum manages to apprehend the guilty party. In the process, he is reunited with his long-lost mother (Billie Bennett). A popular star of low-budget independent Westerns, Franklyn Farnum enjoyed a screen career that spanned from the mid-1910s well into the television era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi