Barbara Bennett Movies
Canadian actress Barbara Bennett is one of actor Richard Bennett's three daughters. She and her sisters Constance and Joan all became actresses, but of the three, Barbara was the least known. She first gained recognition appearing on Broadway in The Dancers (1923). Later she was a ballroom dancer and during the late '20s appeared in a few films. She married popular entertainer Morton Downey in 1929. With him she raised five children. Later she married actor Addison "Jack Randall. She died at the age of 52 of a heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1930
Clara Bow, the "It" girl of the silent screen, goes through the motions of the Cinderella yarn Love Among the Millionaires. A humble (but dazzlingly beautiful) waitress, Pepper Green (Bow) wins the heart of Jerry (Stanley Smith), the son of a wealthy railroad magnate Hamilton (Claude King). The father, evidently well-versed in Camille, begs Pepper to give up Jerry, suggesting that she behave in a "tartish" manner so as to disillusion the boy. Reluctantly, she does so, but be assured that True Love will out by the end. It isn't that Clara Bow was an inept talkie actress: it's simply that her flapper "type" was woefully out of date in the Depression era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Stanley Smith, (more)
- 1929
This is RKO's first sound musical. It centers on a pair of vaudevillians who are quite close on and off the stage until a dashing millionaire comes around and begins wooing the female partner. She too is smitten and begins to pick and needle her partner about his faults. Eventually she dumps him, but it is not too long before the two are reunited and continue to make beautiful music together. Songs include: "Jericho" (Leo Robin, Richard Myers), "Mine Alone" (Herman Ruby, Myers), "Do Something," and "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (Bud Green, Sammy Stept, Ruby). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Bennett, Bobby Watson, (more)
- 1929
Popular radio crooner Morton Downey (yes, the father of talk-show host Morton Downey Jr.) stars in this sentimental Jazz Singer wannabe. On the eve of his Broadway debut, singer Tommy O'Day (Downey) learns that his care-worn, self-sacrificing old mother (Beryl Mercer) is gravely ill. Without giving a thought as to his professional future, Tommy walks out on his show, rushes to his Ma's bedside, and sings her back to health. Our hero's career is saved when the newspapers find out about his noble, selfless act. Although Helen Chandler (of Dracula fame) plays Tommy's sweetheart in Mother's Boy, his real-life spouse at the time was Barbara Bennett, the sister of actress Constance and Joan Bennett, who appears in the much smaller role of debutante Beatrix Townleigh. Brian Donlevy makes his talkie debut as Tommy's older brother Harry in this New York-filmed musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John T. Doyle, Beryl Mercer, (more)
- 1927
Buck Jones stars as Black Jack, a clever if somewhat larcenous gambler who finds willing suckers wherever he goes. After cleaning out the participants of a poker game (with only 17 cents to his name!), Black Jack is chased out of town by the local "reformers." While on the lam, he meets heroine Barbara Bennett, who owns one of three pieces of a coin which, when joined together, will reveal the location of a lost gold mine. Black Jack spends the rest of the picture protecting the girl from the villains, who'd give -- and do -- anything to get their mitts on that precious coin. Leading lady Barbara Bennett was the sister of Joan and Constance Bennett, the wife of singer Morton Downey, and the mother of talk-show host Morton Downey Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Bennett, (more)
