Alma Bennett Movies

A circus clown creates trouble when he serves on a jury and refuses to convict an innocent young woman for murder. His vote causes a hung jury for five long days. In the end, it is discovered why he is so sure the girl is innocent---it was he who killed the man for abusing his adopted daughter. When the court and new jury hear this, the render him innocent and all is well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Not even Joe E. Brown's most fervent fans have much to say about his appearance in the 1929 part-talkie My Lady's Past -- mainly because the film seems to have long since disappeared. In her first talking role, Belle Bennett (who previously co-starred with Brown in Molly and Me) plays another of her "damaged goods" roles, this time as small-town matron Mamie Reynolds. Engaged to Mamie for ten years, novelist Sam Young (Brown) is finally about to pop the question when he learns of his sweetheart's checkered past. After a drunken soliloquy of eight minutes' duration, Sam decides to forgive and forget, but not before settling accounts with the film's villain, narrow-minded John Parker (Russell Simpson). Joe E. Brown would be better served by his later vehicles for Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Head of the Family is an interesting precursor to the screwball comedies of the 1930s. William Russell stars as a handsome, no-nonsense plumber who strikes up a friendship with wealthy Daniel Sullivan (William Welsh). About to retreat to a health resort, Sullivan leaves the plumber in charge of his contentious family. Not only does our hero manage to straighten out Sullivan's spendthrift wife (Aggie Herring) and wastrel son Charley (Richard Walling) but he also wins the love of Sullivan's footloose-and-fancy-free daughter (Virginia Lee Corbin). Head of the Family was one of the more likeable efforts to emerge from the poverty-row Gotham Company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Grain of Dust was based on the best-selling novel by David Graham Phillips. Lillian Walker plays Dorothy Hallowell, known as "the grain of dust" because of her questionable parentage and her tendency to drift in and out of trouble. Unfairly branded a "scarlet woman," the innocent Dorothy finally decides to live up to her billing and attempts to steal small-town lawyer Frederick Norman (Ramsey Wallace) away from his wife Ursula (Corinne Urzell) -- hardly a difficult task, since Frederick is hardly a paragon of virtue. But Dorothy is essentially a good girl, and her virtue is ultimately rewarded. The Grain of Dust was remade in 1928, with Alma Bennett playing the title character as a villainous predator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Few comedies of the 1920s were as bizarre and surreal as Harry Langdon's Long Pants. Having recently come of age, small-town-boy Langdon aspires to become a great lover, drawing inspiration from the romantic novels he's been reading since childhood. Falling hard for a "vamp" (Alma Bennett), Harry vows to rid himself of his childhood sweetheart (Gladys Brockwell) in the traditional literary manner by taking her into the woods and shooting her! Of course, he fails in this effort and flops even worse with the Vamp, who turns out to be a gangster's moll. After a bloody gangland shootout in which the Vamp is killed, a sadder-but-wiser Harry returns to the arms of his hometown girl, who has never quite figured out that she'd previously been a candidate for extermination. Written by future director Arthur Ripley, Long Pants is as kinky as any of Ripley's film noirs of the 1940s. Long Pants represents the second and final collaboration between star Harry Langdon and director Frank Capra, who was fired when Langdon wrong-headedly decided to become his own director, resulting in a series of career-destroying flops. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the verge of his greatest success with MGM, personable young William Haines starred in the energetic Columbia programmer The Thrill Hunter. Haines plays an irresponsible fellow who overdoses on a health tonic named "Peppo" and dreams he has been spirited off to the mythical country of Grecovia. Here he gets mixed up in a Prisoner-of-Zenda situation when he is ordered to assume the duties of the Grecovian king. Our hero quells a revolution and wins the hand of heroine Kathryn McGuire before awakening from his dream. Ah, but was it all a dream? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Strong Man was the second starring feature of silent screen comedian Harry Langdon--not to mention first feature-length directorial effort of Frank Capra. Langdon plays a Belgian soldier who, during World War I, is captured by German conscript Arthur Thalasso. Almost immediately, the armistice is declared. Having nowhere else to go, Langdon sticks with Thalasso, who in civilian life is a popular circus strong man. When Thalasso gets the opportunity to tour the US, Langdon is delighted; at last he will meet minister's daughter Priscilla Bonner, with whom he has been carrying on a romance-by-correspondence. Arriving in New York, Harry wanders around the street with a photo of Bonner, asking passers-by if they know the girl. Jewel thief Gertrude Astor, hoping to use Langdon as a dupe in order to evade the cops, claims that she is the girl he's looking for. A marvelous comic set piece ensues, beginning with Langdon's clumsy efforts to carry the unconscious Astor up a long flight of stairs, and ending with Astor's athletic "seduction" of the confused little immigrant. When Langdon finally finds the real Bonner, he discovers she is blind--just as well, he reasons, since she regards him as something of a strong, strapping hero-type, which he most decidedly is not. Subsequent plot complications involve a corrupt element that has taken over Priscilla's town, and a wild climactic sequence wherein puny Langdon must try to pass himself off as strong man Thalasso...and through plain dumb luck, gets away with it! Far better seen than described, The Strong Man is one of the sweetest, funniest comedies of the 1920s. Harry Langdon would never again have a vehicle so perfectly suited to his "grown up baby" screen persona; if you've never seen this unique comedy genius in action, catch this film when the opportunity arises. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veteran Western director William K. Howard does a solid job with this routine Zane Grey story. Jack Holt, Billie Dove, and Noah Beery Sr., who starred together in Wanderers of the Wasteland, appear together again. Madeline Hammond (Dove), the sister of ranchman Al Hammond (William Scott), arrives from the East. Gene Stewart, a rough and rowdy cowboy (Holt), convinces Madeline to marry him while he is on a drunken spree. Madeline sets out to reform him, and he sets out to rid their little section of the West of a band of outlaws. Stewart finds a formidable opponent in Brand, the bandit leader (Beery), who torments him, Madeline, and Hammond. Eventually the trio are rescued by a group of cowpunchers and Brand meets his end. This story was filmed twice more, in 1930 and 1940. Beery's son, Noah Beery Jr., had a supporting role in the 1940 version. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

When Alice Lake switched from comedy to dramatic roles, it was not necessarily a wise career move. Today, if Lake is remembered at all, it is because of her roles in Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's films. Her dramas were often humdrum soap operas like this one, and by the mid-'20s, she was relegated to low-budget film companies such as Columbia (very much a Poverty Row studio in the silent era). Here, Lake is Ellen Harden, who learns that her husband, George (Lee C. Shumway), is being distracted by vampy Ardath Courtney (Alma Bennett). Ellen isn't afraid to confront the other woman, who is determined to get her out of the way. Mrs. Moran (Florence Turner), an abused wife, needs help renting an apartment and Ellen finds a place for her. When Ellen goes to visit her new friend, Ardath informs Harden, who follows and believes that his wife is carrying on with Jimmy Moran, Mrs. Moran's drunken mate (Speck O'Donnell). But Ellen's innocence is revealed when Moran shows up and berates her for helping his wife. Harden gives him the thrashing he deserves and is reunited with Ellen. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

After the spectacular epic The Ten Commandments, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille returns to the drawing room for this pleasingly straightforward drama. King Garnet (Rod La Rocque) is the idle son of factory owner David Garnet (George Fawcett). He is in love with Ann Land (Leatrice Joy), the factory's forewoman, but she turns down his proposal of marriage because she has aspirations to be a singer. When old man Garnet dies, he wills his son the company, providing that he settles down within two years; failing that, it goes to William Silver (Victor Varconi), the factory's manager and King's half-brother via a secret marriage. Two years pass and Garnet is a bum sleeping on park benches, so Silver inherits the company. His new position in life changes him -- where he was once a radical in favor of the workers, he now becomes a snob. Meanwhile, Ann has achieved her dream and become an opera star in Europe, but smoke from a theater fire destroys her vocal chords. She returns to the factory, where Silver courts her. King picks himself up, goes to work at the factory as an employee and works his way up to manager. Silver is the pawn of a group of schemers, and King helps him straighten things out. He is glad to hand over the company to King, who also wins Ann. The good notices this film received prove that DeMille was still capable -- when he wanted -- of making an entertaining film without resorting to a lot of flash. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

After his impressive directorial effort on The Sea Hawk, Frank Lloyd made this far smaller and more intimate film. The idealistic Joe Roberts (Glenn Hunter) adores his wife Mary (Bessie Love) and looks up to his boss, John Steele (Hobart Bosworth), who is a candidate for U.S. senator. Steele doesn't have Roberts' happy marriage; his wife (Gertrude Astor) is gone much of the time, and he has taken up with dancer Lily Elliott (Alma Bennett). As a favor to his boss, Roberts rents an apartment for Lily in his own name and also buys Steele a gun. Lily is killed in an accident after breaking up with Steele. Roberts is arrested but keeps quiet when he is assured that Mary will be told the truth. Steele's nervous campaign manager, Barnes (Lionel Belmore), never contacts Mary and she leaves home because she thinks that her husband has been unfaithful. Roberts is finally freed, and unaware that Mary has left, returns home. When he finds her gone, he collapses. Steele wins the election, and when he finds out that Mary was never told the truth he goes to her himself. After convincing her that Roberts is innocent, he brings the couple together for a reconciliation. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This above-average Tom Mix western contains one of the star's more spectacular stunts -- a jump on horseback across the 20-foot Beale's Cut. Truth be told, the star, who frequently did his own stunt work, was forced to use a double this time, former rancher from Searchlight, Nevada Earl Simpson. John Ford both directed and wrote the story (based on his published work The Hostage), a typical western romance in which Mix falls for the daughter of an imperiled rancher. Nineteen-year-old Alma Bennett played the brunette heroine, and the distinguished-looking Joseph W. Girard was her father, a rancher whose property is a magnet for unscrupulous speculators. The dramatic jump across the chasm, however, was the film's real selling point. Simpson used a hidden ramp to perform the feat. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide