Colleen Moore

Though she certainly didn't need the money, silent film favorite Colleen Moore made a comeback bid during the 1933-34 film season, appearing prominently in four productions. The least prepossessing of these was Columbia's Social Register, in which Moore is cast as good-natured chorus girl Patsy Shaw. Our heroine falls in love with wealthy Charlie Breene (Alexander Kirkland), but his snobbish parents oppose the relationship. To prove Patsy's unworthiness, Charlie's parents invite her to a high-society party. Turning the tables, Patsy wins over the hoity-toity crowd with her down-to-earth ebullience. As a last-ditch effort, Charlie's mother (Pauline Frederick) tries to frame the girl in a compromising position, but at the last moment the old lady relents and accepts the girl as her daughter-in-law. The whole thing was remarkably similar to MGM's The Girl From Missouri, but not so similar as to constitute plagiarism. Humorist Robert Benchley makes a brief but hilarious appearance as "himself." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed with Lillian Gish in 1926, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter was given a remarkably faithful treatment by low-budget Majestic Pictures in 1934. In her last film appearance, Colleen Moore stars as 17th-century Salem resident Hester Prynne, who when she delivers a child out of wedlock is forced by the prudish townspeople to wear the scarlet "A" for adultery. The father of the baby is none other than Reverend Dimmesdale (Hardie Albright), who wants to confess to his indiscretion but is prohibited from doing so by the pious Hester. Things come to a sorry pass when Hester's long-missing husband Roger Chillingworth (Henry B. Walthall, repeating his role from the 1926 version) returns to Salem and demands a few immediate answers. The film's colonial-era milieu is not always realized, due to inconsistent period costumes and phraseology; also, the direction and acting ranges from adequate to stilted. Still, this Scarlet Letter is a lot more worthwhile than Demi Moore's vanity remake of 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based upon the phenomenally successful Harold Gray comic strip, Little Orphan Annie covers a lot of ground in its short 60 minutes. Annie (played by 12-year-old Mitzi Green) is a spunky and spirited child who runs away from the orphanage where she is mistreated and manages to come under the watchful eye of Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks (Edgar Kennedy), one of the wealthiest men in the world -- or he is until the stock market crash ruins him. Having plenty of spunk and determination himself, Warbucks leaves Annie to go out West and search for gold. Annie helps another young orphan get adopted, goes through an animated dream sequence, and is eventually reunited with Warbucks, who has succeeded in rebuilding his fortune. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

In this musical, a naive entertainer is sent to Paris by a Broadway producer who wants her return with a more sophisticate, "French" persona. She does, and debuts again on Broadway as "Fifi D'Auray." She then finds herself wooed by a young mobster, and a rich man. She chooses the former until she realizes that he is a crook. In the end, she loses both men. Songs include: "If I Can't Have You," "You Can't Believe My Naughty Eyes," "Ophelia Will Fool You," and "Pilly Pom Pom Plee." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When silent star Colleen Moore nervously faced a microphone for her first "sound" test, the results were so positive that virtually every member of the First National executive board shouted unanimously, "Thank God! She can talk!" In the long run, however, it probably wouldn't have mattered if she could have talked or not, since most of her early talkies -- including Smiling Irish Eyes -- were produced by her then-husband John McCormick, who was disinclined to fire his own wife! In her first musical appearance, Moore plays Kathleen O'Connor, an Irish lass in love with would-be songwriter Rory O'More (James Hall). Upon achieving success on Broadway, O'More forgets all about Kathleen and begins dallying with such sophisticated tootsies as Frankie West (Betty Francisco) and Goldie DeVeer (Julanne Johnston). Heading to America herself to be reunited with O'More, Kathleen finds nothing but disappointment and heartache -- not to mention ample opportunities to sing. Adding to the ethnic mix of Smiling Irish Eyes is the presence of two stereotypical Jews, played by William Strauss and Otto Lederer; also on hand is future cowboy sidekick George "Gabby" Hayes, plus teeth and minus beard, as a New York cabbie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Fitzmaurice directed this romantic World War I drama, which was First National Pictures' entry into the epic war/romance genre popular in the late 1920s (The Big Parade, Wings). Colleen Moore stars as the French gamin Jeannine Bertholot who is a good luck charm to a seven-man platoon of the British Air Force that uses the lilac fields of a small French village as their base. Jeannine is the niece of Madame Berthelot (Eugenie Besserer), who lodges and cares for the platoon. After a bumpy start, one of the flyers from the platoon, Philip Blythe (Gary Cooper) falls in love with her. Philip is reluctant to tell Jeannine that he loves her, but one morning before a dangerous mission, he declares his love. During the mission, Philip is shot down, and Jeannine frantically arranges for an ambulance crew to remove Philip's body from the wreckage. But during the rescue operations, Jeannine loses sight of Philip. To find him again, she begins an exhausting search of all the military hospitals, hoping to see Philip for one last time. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Naughty But Nice was based on The Bigamists, a story by Lewis Alen Brown. Gawky country girl Berenice Summers (Colleen Moore) is catapulted head-first into High Society when her Uncle Seth (Burr McIntosh) strikes oil. Shipped off to a fancy boarding school, Berenice suffers at the hands of her snooty classmates, but the last straw comes when she's publicly humiliated by local wise-guy Paul Carroll (Donald Reed). Attending her first formal dance, the now-beautified Berenice crosses Paul's path again. He is smitten by this duckling-turned-swan, but now she wants to have nothing to do with him -- or at least that's what she claims. So what does this all have to do with bigamists? Well, it seems that Berenice is a chronic liar, and somewhere along the line she claims to be married to two different men at once, leading to trouble aplenty for her ersatz husbands and nearly losing her the affections of Paul, with whom she's fallen in love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most accessible of the Colleen Moore silent vehicles, Orchids and Ermine also happens to be among Moore's best and most representative films. The star is cast as Pink Watson, whose craving for such luxuries as orchids and ermine lead her to take a job as a telephone receptionist in a hotel catering to wealthy men. In the course of her many subsequent adventures, she meets a millionaire named Richard Tabor (Jack Mulhall), who to avoid predatory females has switched identities with his faithful valet Hanks (Sam Hardy). After making a half-hearted play for Hanks, Pink falls in love with Tabor, deciding that money doesn't mean anything after all -- and is she surprised when she learns Tabor's true identity. One of the highlights of Orchids and Ermine is a brief scene involving a flirtatious, cigar-smoking midget, played by 6-year-old Joe Yule Jr. -- who of course "grew up" to become Mickey Rooney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Silent film star Colleen Moore and Charlie Plumb's comic strip character Ella Cinders had two basic things in common: their dutch-bob haircuts and their winsome, wide-eyed charm. As played by Ms. Moore, Ella is a moviestruck small-town girl who wins a talent contest purportedly sponsored by a film studio. First prize is a trip to Hollywood and a screen test, but when Ella arrives in Tinseltown, she discovers that the contest was a fraud. Momentarily disheartened, Ella vows to get into pictures by any means possible. Finally wangling a screen test, Ella convinces producers that she is a great dramatic actress by reacting in terror to a fire that has accidentally broken out on the set. She realizes her dream of becoming a star--at least until her hometown boyfriend Lloyd Hughes offers a "lifetime contract" of his own. A thoroughly delightful minor effort, Ella Cinders displays Colleen Moore at her peak, notably in one sequence in which she imitates her contemporary Lillian Gish; there's even time left over for a brief cameo from comedy great Harry Langdon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even minus the original musical score, this silent-film adaptation of the Broadway hit Irene is a delight. Colleen Moore stars as Irene O'Dare, an Irish colleen who comes to New York in search of a job. She lands a position at the fancy fashion salon owned by one Mme. Lucy, a male couturier campily portrayed by George K. Arthur. Becoming the establishment's top fashion model, Irene is a huge success, though it takes her a bit longer to find romantic happiness in the arms of wealthy Donald Marshall (Lloyd Hughes), thanks to the strenuous efforts by Donald's snooty mother (Ida Darling) to break up the relationship. The highlight of the film is a Technicolor fashion sequence, which remains a visual feast even though the colors have faded in most available prints. Irene was remade in 1940 with Anna Neagle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After her impressive dramatic role in So Big, Colleen Moore returned to light comedies (mostly because her studio knew they would bring in more money). Moore played the title role, made famous on Broadway by Marilyn Miller; Leon Errol reprises his stage role as the deposed Duke of Checkergovinia, who has been reduced to working as a waiter in America. That's where he meets Sally, an orphan girl who is working as a dishwasher. Sally has her sights on a better life -- she learned how to dance while living with Mr. DuFey, a dance teacher (Louise Beaudet), and she knows she has potential. With the help of Blaire Farquar, one of the restaurant patrons (Lloyd Hughes), she finally gets a break. An agent takes her on, and has her pose as a famous Russian dancer. While performing at a reception held by Mrs. Ten Broeck (Myrtle Stedman), she runs into Farquar, who falls in love with her. Sally, however, turns him down, since he did not love her when she was a dishwasher. After she becomes a star, he convinces her to reconsider. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Proving once and for all that Western filmmaking was treacherous work even for the greatest of stars, Colleen Moore broke her neck in a fall from a moving handcar during the making of this rousing sagebrush melodrama. The pert Moore, an idol of her generation, quickly regained her mobility but was reportedly forced to sleep in a leather neck support for nearly ten years. She had insisted on a departure from her usual flapper roles and screenwriter June Mathis had crafted this quaint melodrama of a mining camp girl who reforms a young derelict addicted to drink (Lloyd Hughes). Escaping her violent stepfather Mike Dyer (Frank Brownlee), Maggie Fortune (Moore) takes up residence in the rough mining town of Bullfrog. She falls in love with handsome Rance Conway (Hughes) and he with her, but Rance can't keep away from the bottle. While Conway is away grubstaking, Dyer turns up in Bullfrog, only to be killed by an unknown assailant. When both Rance and Maggie confess to the killing, a confused sheriff files the death away as a suicide. Revealed to be a wealthy young scion, a sober Rance proposes marriage, and Maggie accepts. A blandly handsome leading man from Arizona, dark-haired Lloyd Hughes was at his best when playing opposite strong female stars such as Mary Pickford (The of the Storm Country, 1922), Moore (five films including this one), and Mary Astor (eight times). His sound films were mostly in the "B" category. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide