Cecilia Parker Movies

With Andy Hardy Comes Home, Mickey Rooney hoped to revive the character -- and the movie series -- that had brought him fame and fortune back in the 1930s and 1940s. Returning to his home town of Carvel after several years absence, lawyer Andy Hardy (Rooney) brings his wife Jane (Patricia Breslin) and two children Andy Jr. (played by Rooney's real-life son Teddy) and Jimmy (Johnny Weissmuller Jr.) along on his sentimental journey. Andy's dad Judge Hardy is long gone (though the late Lewis Stone appears in flashbacks), but his mom (Fay Holden), sister Marian (Cecilia Parker), and Aunt Milly (Sara Haden) welcome him with open arms. After a while, Andy reveals the real reason for his return: now in the employ of an aircraft company, he hopes to convince his bosses to build a plant in Carvel. The fly in the ointment is crooked businessman Chandler (Frank Ferguson), who, when Andy refuses to purchese Chandler's land at a ridiculously exorbitant price, mounts a campaign to discredit the Hardy family. A pleasant enough diversion, Andy Hardy Comes Home failed to spark interest in a new Hardy Family series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This MGM musical lifts the premise of Pride and Prejudice and plunks it down into the early 1900s. S.Z. Sakall is a restaurateur who has decreed that his seven daughters must marry in order of age -- the oldest one first. Kathryn Grayson isn't the oldest, but she has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who bags the first husband (Van Heflin). For the record, the remaining six sisters are played by Marsha Hunt, Frances Rafferty, Cecilia Parker, Peggy Moran, Dorothy Morris and Frances Raeburn. Seven Sweethearts was produced by Joe Pasternak, who'd been doing much the same material when in charge of Universal's Deanna Durbin vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Incredible as it may seem, rambunctious 18-year-old Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) finally makes it to college in Andy Hardy's Double Life. Just as he did at Carvel High School, Andy majors in "girls" at college, at one point finding himself engaged simultaneously to two different coeds. On a more serious note, Andy has his first major row with his father Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) over such vital matters as money and poor grades. But in keeping with the "honor thy parents" edicts of MGM head-man Louis B. Mayer, the plot manages to reunite father and son in the final footage, with Andy respectfully bowing to the wisdom of the good gray judge. Much of Andy Hardy's Double Life is a showcase for MGM's new swimming star Esther Williams, as cute as all get out in a two-piece bathing suit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Gambling Daughters of the title are Gale Storm and Janet Shaw. Students in an exclusive girl's school, Storm and Shaw fall under the spell of suave, secretive gambler Roger Pryor. It isn't long before the girls have depleted their family's finances, and have enmeshed the other students in their speculative spree. Robert Baldwin is featured as a comic-relief insurance inspector who turns private eye when a murder takes place. Among the scenarists of this PRC programmer is future best-selling novelist Sidney Sheldon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If Judge Hardy and Son had been filmed in the 1990s, it would have been titled Andy Hardy VII. In this latest edition of MGM's "Hardy Family" series, the kindly Judge (Lewis Stone) wrestles with two problems. He must rescue an elderly couple from eviction, and he must cope with his wife's (Fay Holden) life threatening illness. This time around, the romantic entanglements of son Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) take second place to Andy's anguish over his mother's condition. It needs hardly be said that Mom recovers and the family is happy again at fade-out time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The zippy world of auto-racing provided the basis of this off-beat actioner that centers on an auto magnate who is relentlessly driven to break every speed record with his cars. Unfortunately, his drivers keep dying on the track. This doesn't stop the obsessed manufacturer from continuing his quest. One day the tycoon and his daughter are at the race track scouting new drivers when he spots a talented young hayseed who wins the race. Impressed, he signs the naive lad on. The magnate's daughter meets the driver and soon falls in love with him. Even though the rube is well aware that his predecessors have died, he vows that he will succeed. He does, but not before learning the real reason behind the mysterious string of deaths. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Hardys are off to Washington DC in this third entry in MGM's "Hardy Family" series. Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) has been appointed chairman of a special committee, and on occasion offers a subtly "liberal" political observation that the writers have slipped by MGM's ultra-conservative head man Louis B. Mayer. The Judge's daughter Marian (Cecilia Parker) is intoxicated by Washington's social life, while son Andy (Mickey Rooney) falls for a pretty daughter of a French diplomat. Thus, the Judge is obliged to juggle his committee duties with his efforts to keep his children from making fools of themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sequel to the first Andy Hardy picture, A Family Affair, this light comedy stars Mickey Rooney in the role that would bring him his greatest fame. Judge Hardy's role is no longer played by Lionel Barrymore, as in the original, but by Lewis Stone. Fay Holden is his loyal wife, and Cecilia Parker portrays the daughter, Marian. The judge decides to take his family on a vacation to Catalina Island, off the coast of California. He muffs several opportunities to land a big fish. Andy tries to land a local girl, Jerry Lane (Eleanor Lynn), with as much success as his father. Marian keeps flirting with a hunky lifeguard, but he turns out to be married. The Hardy family saga would continue for 14 more features over 20 years. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Roll Along, Cowboy was the second starring vehicle for Smith Ballew, producer Sol Lesser's answer to Gene Autry. Our hero reports for work at the ranch of middle-aged Ruth Robinson, only to find that she's being threatened by outlaws. With a song in his heart and a gun in his holster, Ballew routs the villains and wins the hand of Robinson's pretty daughter Cecilia Parker. The supporting cast includes former "Our Gang" regular Wally Albright and future cowboy star Gordon "Wild Bill" Elliot. According to the credits, Roll Along, Cowboy was based on a Zane Grey story, but doesn't say which one (Grey's novel were noticeably bereft of singing cowboys). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a cafe singer gets into deep financial trouble. Fortunately, a group of amiable sailors endeavor to save her. One of them falls in love with her and nearly abandons his Navy career to be with her until the whole mess is cleared up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eric Linden and Cecilia Parker, the stars of Grand National's first release In His Steps (1936), were reunited in the same studio's Girl Loves Boy. Linden plays Bob Conrad, the playboy son of town squire Charles Conrad. Much against his dad's wishes, Bob falls in love with Dorothy (Parker), the daughter of penniless widow Mrs. McCarthy (Dorothy Peterson). At the insistence of Conrad Sr., Bob weds Sally Lacy (Bernadene Hayes), but Dorothy's broken heart is mended when it turns out that Sally's divorce from her previous husband was never finalized. Like the previous In His Steps, Girl Loves Boy was scripted by cinematographer-director Karl Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1924 by producer Sol Lesser, Harold Bell Wright's popular suspense novel The Mine with the Iron Door was again adapted to the screen by Lesser in 1936. Suckered into buying some evidently worthless property in Arizona, Bob Harvey (Richard Arlen) discovers that he may actually have come into possession of the Mine with the Iron Door, a legendary cache of Spanish gold. Teaming up with detective Dempsey (Stanley Fields) and Marta Hill (Cecilia Parker), a young woman whose family lives on Bob's property, our hero goes a-prospecting, with eccentric archaeologist Professor Burton (Henry B. Walthall) leading the way. In love with Marta himself, the jealous Burton does his best to kill Bob during the expedition, but virtue ultimately triumphs and everyone but the villain strikes it rich. Some of the background music in Mine with the Iron Door had originally been composed for 1915's The Birth of a Nation -- which ironically starred Henry B. Walthall as the hero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide