ZaSu Pitts Movies
According to her own account, actress ZaSu Pitts was given her curious cognomen because she was named for two aunts, Eliza and Susan. Born in Kansas, Pitts moved with her family to California, where at age 19 she began her film career. Her first starring role was as an ugly duckling who finds true love in 1919's Better Times. Her calculated vagueness and fluttery hand gestures earned Pitts comedy roles from the outset, but director Erich Von Stroheim saw dramatic potential in the young actress. He cast her as the grasping, money-mad wife in his masterpiece Greed (1924), and she rose to the occasion with a searing performance. Except for a couple of later collaborations with Von Stroheim, Pitts returned to predominately comic assignments after Greed. One exception was her portrayal of Lew Ayres' ailing mother in the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), a brilliant piece of work that unfortunately fell victim to the editors' scissors when a preview audience, conditioned to Pitts' comedy roles, broke out in loud laughter when she came onscreen (she was replaced by Beryl Mercer in the domestic version of All Quiet, though reportedly her scenes were retained for some European versions). Established as a top character comedian by the '30s (her oft-imitated catchphrase was "Oh, dear, oh my!"), Pitts co-starred with Thelma Todd in a series of Hal Roach two-reelers, was top-billed in such feature programmers as Out All Night (1933) and The Plot Thickens (1935), and showed up in select character roles in A-pictures. During the '40s and '50s, she toured in Ramshackle Inn, a play written especially for her by George Batson. From 1956 through 1960, Pitts played Elvira "Nugey" Nugent on the popular Gale Storm TV sitcom Oh, Susanna. ZaSu Pitts died in 1963, shortly after completing her final film appearance in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and just a few days after her last TV guest assignment on Burke's Law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1928
In this comedy, a wealthy matron is terribly upset when she learns that her socialite son is planning to marry a blue collar girl. Upon hearing the dreadful news, the irate mother immediately cancels her vacation in Europe, disguises herself, and takes up residence in her cousin's boardinghouse. There she encounters a dashing, sophisticated thief and discovers that he is planning to rob her lovely home in Washington Square. She and her maid quickly return to the endangered home and find the house awash with people. Among them are her son and his fiance, the would-be thief, and many reporters and cops. Appalled at the thought of scandal, the quick-thinking mother immediately congratulates the young couple and introduces the crook as her "art broker." In this way, peace is restored and all are happy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Hersholt, Alice Joyce, (more)
- 1937
This musical chronicles 15 years in the life of a New York City Street. In 1912, 52nd Street is a peaceful residential neighborhood and by 1937 it has become a bawdy red-light district. As the street changes, so do the lives of a brother and his two sisters who become estranged when he marries an actress at the beginning of the film. The two snooty sisters find their brothers' actions distasteful and consider the lowly actress unworthy of their high-born brother. Songs include: "I Still Love to Kiss You Goodnight," "Nothing Can Stop Me Now," "52nd Street," "23 Skiddoo," "Let Down Your Hair and Sing," and "We Love the South." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hunter, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1917
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. stars as Ned Thacker, who is born during a Kansas cyclone (coincidentally the same manner in which Fairbanks' real-life contemporary Buster Keaton came into the world!) and is thus imbued with the spirit of adventure. Having been virtually weaned on Alexandre Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers, Ned grows up dedicated to old-fashioned chivalry. Alas, his well-meaning efforts to emulate his Musketeer idols nearly always backfire in a hilariously disastrous fashion. Ultimately, however, he is afforded an opportunity to rescue heroine Dorothy Moran (Marjorie Daw) in a true D'Artagnan-like manner. Unfortunately, only the first three reels of A Modern Musketeer are known to exist. Happily, however, this fragment includes a delightful dream sequence in which Fairbanks imagines himself to be a 16th-century swashbuckler -- a fascinating (and arguably more enjoyable) precursor to his own 1921 screen version of The Three Musketeers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Believing himself to be of noble blood, fisherman Captain Parmalee (Alfred Allen) tries to foist his daughter Sydney (Carmel Myers) off on High Society. Amused by Parmalee's pretensions, a wealthy dowager named Mrs. Green tells her friends that Sydney is a duchess. The ruse works so well that socialite Dick Bradley falls in love with Sydney. When Dick's mother learns the truth, she forbids the lovers to marry, but Mrs. Green comes to the rescue once more. Available today in only a severely abbreviated version, A Society Sensation would have been utterly forgotten had not the film featured Rudolph Valentino, as Dick Bradley, in his first important role. Carmel Myers, who remained a lifelong friend of Valentino, was so impressed by his gracious manners and eagerness to please that she deliberately allowed him to upstage her in several scenes and also cast him in her next picture, All Night, arranging for him to receive a $25 raise in the bargain (thereby elevating Valentino's salary to a princely $75 per week!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1931
In this dramatic adventure a shady lady becomes a spy for the Austrian intelligence agency and ends up involved with a man suspected of being a German spy. She only pretends to love him to discover the truth. The man she really loves is a young naval officer, but in order to serve her country, she must end her love affair. Later the counter-spy commits suicide to avoid detection, while at the same time, the woman is wounded. Though she only has a few months left to live, the officer marries her. His family objects because they think she has a venereal disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Twelvetrees, William Bakewell, (more)
- 1933
When her tough boyfriend Red Branahan (William Gargan) is sent to jail, Aggie Appleby (Wynne Gibson) meets mild-mannered Adoniram Schlump (Charles Farrell), and decides to turn him into a real man. She teaches him how to talk tough, changes his name to Red Branahan, and gets him a construction job -- unaware that the real Red has been released from prison. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Wynne Gibson, (more)
One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction -- and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II. The Road Back (1937) followed, and the film was remade for television in 1979. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, (more)
- 1932
In this Thelma Todd-ZaSu Pitts two-reel comedy, the girls explain away their speeding ticket with having to reach the emergency hospital. The rest, of course, is pure stunt-car racing. W.C. Fields perfected the idea almost ten year's later in the climax of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). James C. Morton, toupee and all, and the dignified-looking Almeda Fowler also appeared under George Marshall's direction. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Although a New Yorker by birth, silent screen actress Edith Storey had appeared in westerns as early as 1910 when she was engaged by Gaston Mèliés as the leading lady of his San Antonio-based Star Film Ranch. Storey's career was on the wane, however, when she played the dainty "Colonel Billy" in As the Sun Went Down, a rather commonplace western melodrama in which a romance with a handsome would-be crook (Lew Cody) is rudely interrupted by a blackmailer. A true screen pioneer who was one of the Vitagraph company's strongest assets in the mid 1910s, Storey retired in 1921. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Having survived her encounter with the zany team of Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts in Show Business (1932), the elegant but snooty Anita Garvin returned for more punishment in this two-reel comedy directed by Gus Meins. Miss Garvin attempts to help the girls out of an economic embarrassment by hiring them to work at Billy Gilbert's taxi-dance emporium. The rest, as they say, is history. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1932
Based on a best-selling novel by Fannie Hurst, Back Street concerns an ill-starred couple, Rae (Irene Dunne) and Walter (John Boles). Rae meets Walter and falls hopelessly in love with him; Walter is also drawn to Rae, but he has already pledged to marry another woman and can't find a way out. They part, and for a while Rae takes up with someone else; Walter needs to leave the country and impulsively tries to arrange a marriage with Rae, but she is unable, due to her new beau, and he sails away without her. When Rae next encounters Walter, he has married a woman from a wealthy family. Even though he's wedded to another, a passion still burns between Walter and Rae, and they enter into an illicit affair. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Rae turns down opportunities to marry other men to live a shadowy life as Walter's mistress, until she accepts a proposal of marriage when she's convinced that Walter is finally through with her. This was the first of three film versions of Hurst's story; remakes were released in 1941 and 1961. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, John Boles, (more)
- 1931
A naive, wealthy small-town girl, bored with her routine life, falls for a dashing con artist who has come looking for fresh marks to swindle. He soon charms her into faking her prominent father's name on a letter of endorsement, which he presents to the other local merchants. They willingly give him all sorts of goodies and he prepares his escape, but not before conning the girl into becoming his wife. After their wedding night in a sleazy hotel, he abandons her. Fortunately, by the story's end, she is able to reassemble her shattered life and find happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Bette Davis, (more)
- 1933
Directed by Hal Roach Studio comic Charlie Chase, this two-reeler is by many considered the best of the 16 Thelma Todd-ZaSu Pitts comedies. Having caused police officer James Burtis to lose his job, the girls invite him to stay in their apartment. They hope to reinstate their friends in the police force by buttering up a police captain (Billy Gilbert), who unbeknownst to them is in reality the notorious smuggler Herr Schmaltz. The farce hits bull's-eye in a scene where the girls and Burtis attempt to force feed Schmaltz with ice cream. In his best German accent, dialectician Gilbert politely refuses with a heartfelt "Zank you, but I don't vant anymore ice crrream." Moments later, the poor man is pleading for his life. "Vith tears in my eyes, I beg you...NO MORE ICE CREAM!" ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Comic actress ZaSu Pitts got her first really big break when she starred in this King Vidor-directed feature. Ezra Scroggs (Jack McDonald) is a shiftless gambler who has let his hotel, the Lakeview, fall on hard times. Finally his daughter Nancy (Pitts)) gets fed up seeing all the business go to his rival, Si Whittaker (William Devaull) at the Majestic, and she decides to do something about it. She takes the old Lakeview jalopy to the station and grabs a potential guest who introduces himself as Peter (David Butler). When he explains that he's supposed to be on a special diet, Nancy poo-poos this with a Christian Science quote. He finds the meal he's served so delicious that he brags about it all over town and the Lakeview is once again in the money. What Peter doesn't tell Nancy before he leaves is that he has fallen for her. Ezra's bad habits continue and he gambles away his fortune and the hotel. He drowns during a drunken spree and Nancy receives six thousand dollars insurance money. She takes the funds and goes to finishing school. Since all the girls are getting letters from their sweethearts, she makes one up, using the name of a famous baseball player. One of the girls becomes suspicious and takes her to a box party at the next game where the ballplayer will appear. It turns out that he is Peter, and he and Nancy are happily reunited. Vidor used the Christian Science reference only because his investors insisted on it -- they wanted to repeat the success of Turn in the Road, Vidor's prior film with them, which had a Christian Science theme. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1931
A troubled production that suffered from both severe cuts and retakes under a different director (Edward H. Griffith), this World War I melodrama fell far short of becoming another All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as had obviously been the original intention. Told in flashbacks, the antiwar drama stars William Boyd as Sergeant Bill Thatcher, the head of an American battalion fighting for control of a French village. As Thatcher listens, three wounded soldiers under his command recall how they came to the battlefields of World War I: A farm boy, Bud (Russell Gleason), defied his mother (Mary Carr) and enlisted despite being the family's sole breadwinner; a New York playboy, trapped between two women, Ina (Marion Shilling), his newest conquest, and a former mistress, Lew (Lew Cody), sought the easy way out by enlisting; finally, Private Jim Mobley (James Gleason) tells the heartfelt story of how his wife, "Mademoiselle" Fritzi (ZaSu Pitts), a carnival knife thrower, got very upset when he decided to escape housekeeping duties by joining the army. Back on the battlefield, Jim finds Bill at the machine gun, where the latter finally tells his own story of how he came to hate his German-born fiancée, Katherine (Lissi Arna), when she warned him of the futility of war. Before blowing up a railroad bridge, Bill admits to Jim that he now fully understands Katherine's sentiments. Wounded in the battle, both soldiers end up in a German Red Cross hospital where Bill is reunited with Katherine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- ZaSu Pitts, Lew Cody, (more)
- 1932
Marion Davies and Billie Dove, both veterans of the real-life Ziegfeld Follies, star in the entertaining comedy-drama Blondie of the Follies. Having both grown up in the New York tenement district, Blondie (Davies) and Lurleen (Dove) hope to escape their shabby surroundings in favor of the show-business world. But while Lurleen takes "the easiest path," sleeping her way to the top and living in luxury as the kept woman of playboy Robert Montgomery, Blondie does her best to hold on to her virtue while climbing the rungs of fame and fortune. The rivalry between the two girls reaches a fever pitch when Lurleen inadvertently causes Blondie to suffer a debilitating injury during a particularly treacherous Follies production number. Sticking fast to her principles, Blondie ultimately wins Montgomery, whereupon she and Lurleen renew their rocky friendship. The film's highlight is a delightful party scene in which Marion Davies and Jimmy Durante perform a devastating send-up of Greta Garbo and John Barrymore in Grand Hotel. Blondie of the Follies might have even been better had it been shorter; at 90 minutes, however, it veers towards repetition and predictability in the final reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, (more)
- 1946
Breakfast in Hollywood was loosely based on the ABC radio program of the same name. Tom Breneman, the series' host, appears as himself in a contrived story about a radio personality attempting to smooth the path of true love for heroine Dorothy (Bonita Granville) and hero Ken (Edward Ryan); he also helps the wife (Billie Burke) of a philanderer (Raymond Walburn) and assists a charity-minded matron (Beulah Bondi). The plot can be forgotten, and in fact is forgotten as a parade of guest stars-Andy Russell, The King Cole Trio, Spike Jones et. al.-do their specialties. Columnist Hedda Hopper also makes a brief appearance. After years in obscurity, Breakfast in Hollywood resurfaced in the mid-1970s when it was first offered on the 8-millimeter home movie market. In England, where the original radio series was unknown, the film was retitled The Mad Hatter (evidently a reference to Hedda Hopper's bizarre headgear!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Breneman, Bonita Granville, (more)
- 1920
Sally (ZaSu Pitts) is a poor girl living on the east side of New York who runs away to become a dancing girl for an organ grinder, Antonio (Edward Delavanti). They roam the country, making a few cents here and there, but the organ grinder dies, and Sally finds that her only friend is a farm hand, Billy (Tom Gallery). Carnsworth, a rich banker (Jack Pratt), is trying to track down his child, who has been missing for 19 years, and he believes that Sally is her. So he takes the girl home and she lives in luxury until she discovers that Carnsworth's real child is Billy. So Billy takes his rightful place in the Carnsworth home, but Sally joins as daughter-in-law. This was an early starring vehicle for ZaSu Pitts, but her unconventional looks and fine comic timing were already drawing attention. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Two of Hal Roach's short-subject stalwarts, Patsy Kelly and ZaSu Pitts, are teamed in the Roach-produced feature Broadway Limited. The whole story unfolds on a Chicago-to-Manhattan express train; among the passengers are Hollywood starlet April (Marjorie Woodworth), her producer Ivan (Leonid Kinskey) and her wisecracking secretary Patsy (Kelly). Hoping to stir up publicity for April, Patsy and Ivan conspire to adopt a baby for their client. Trouble is, the authorities are convinced that the child has been kidnapped, causing no end of trouble for such innocent bystanders as engineer Mike (Victor McLaglen), bookish young doctor Harvey North (Dennis O'Keefe) and garrulous clubwoman Myra (Pitts). The film is stolen by infant performer Gay Ellen Dakins, who spends most of her scenes smiling at the camera, oblivious of the adult slapstickery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Marjorie Woodworth, (more)
- 1932
Director Ernst Lubitsch gained international acclaim for his sophisticated romantic comedies, but he also had a talent for more serious themes, as evidenced by this 1932 drama. French musician Paul (Phillips Holmes) joined the Army at the height of WWI. On the field of battle, Paul shot and killed his German friend Walter Holderlin (Tom Douglas), another musician enlisted in his country's army. One year after the Armistice, Paul is still haunted by the memory of Walter's death, and he travels to Germany to locate Walter's father, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore). Holderlin, his wife (Louise Carter), and Walter's fiancee, Elsa (Nancy Carroll are still shattered by the death of their loved one. Paul informs them of his friendship with their son, but cannot bring himself to unveil his responsibility for Walter's death. The Holderlins welcome Paul in friendship, and gradually, he settles into the household, bringing to both parents a new lease on life. Because of his lingering guilt, he feels tempted to run away, but Elsa discovers the truth about Paul and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, the presence of a Frenchman drums up hostilities in the Holderlins' village and the local women gossip continually about the developing relationship between Paul and Elsa. Perhaps because moviegoers completely snubbed The Man I Killed (also released as Broken Lullaby) and turned it into a financial detriment for Paramount, Lubitsch returned to lighter themes after this anti-war drama, and it was the last "serious" picture he would make before his death in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1928
The only relation that the 1928 Buck Privates has to the much-later Abbott and Costello vehicle of the same name is the fact that both films were produced by Universal. Set during WWI, the film focuses on the adventures of American doughboy John Smith (Malcolm McGregor) during a brief stopover in Luxembourg. Billeted in the home of a pacifistic landowner, Smith becomes fascinated with his host's daughter Anna (Lya de Putti), with whom he has been prohibited to speak, nor is he even allowed to glance in her direction. Should Anna associate with Smith, she would be branded a "traitor" by the pro-German villagers and have her head shaved as evidence of her betrayal. This doesn't stop Smith from enjoying a midnight rendezvous or two with the girl, despite the interference of his equally lovestruck topkick Sgt. Butts (Eddie Gribbon). Caught in the act of smooching with Anna, Butts is threatened with court-martial unless he marries the girl. But on the day of the wedding, Anna's maidservant Hulda (ZaSu Pitts) substitutes for her mistress, while Anna elopes with her true love John Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lya de Putti, Malcolm McGregor, (more)
- 1925
This light comedy had apparently been shelved for quite a while before it was released in 1926. The name of Edward Everett Horton was starting to draw attention at the box office, which is probably the only reason that this mediocre film saw the light of day. As a lawyer, Edward Burgess (Horton) is a complete failure, and his uncle berates him because of it. Burgess becomes determined to make a man of himself, and he has his opportunity when he meets Martin Block, an old inventor (James Kelly). Block has signed a contract with a shyster lawyer, Scarborough, for a phonograph amplifier that he has invented. The agreement is totally unfair to him -- Scarborough gets the exclusive rights and Block receives less than the cost to manufacture the gadget. Burgess helps Block by going into business with him, but Scarborough does everything he can to ruin them both. In the end, the uncle comes to the rescue and Burgess wins the hand of the girl, Barbara Richmond (Barbara Bedford), who has little to do with the plot. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
