Vera Reynolds Movies

As cheap as any other poverty-row talkie, Dragnet Patrol possesses a breezy charm that is hard to resist. Glenn Tryon stars as a rambunctious sailor who marries carnival cutie Vera Reynolds. For her sake, he hires himself out to shady business entrepreneur Walter Long, only to face extermination when Long's faithless wife Symona Boniface "comes on" to him. Finally getting his priorities straight, Tryon returns to his wife, but not before an understanding judge gives him a severe dressing-down in court. Effortlessly stealing the picture is 2-reel comedy perennial Vernon Dent as Tryon's sailor pal; the scene in which Dent returns home to his wife Marjorie Beebe, only to be forced to kick Beebe's current boyfriend out the back door, is priceless. Also worth noting is the performance of veteran screen heavy Walter Long, who turns out to be more honorable and up-front than the so-called hero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is difficult to believe that this ultra-cheapie ever actually scared anyone; it's just possible that audiences laughed as loudly at the film in 1932 as they do today. On a dark and stormy night, Hero and heroine Rex Lease and Vera Reynolds head to Reynolds's ancestral mansion to claim her inheritance. Everyone in the house takes great delight in informing the girl that her scientist father died suddenly (the word is repeated at least 20 times in the first two reels). Soon our heroine discovers that she, too, has been marked for death by her maniacal uncle Sheldon Lewis, who is using his deranged son Micha Auer, Auer's housekeeper-mother Martha Mattox, and a huge and surly ape as his vessels of wrath. The climax finds Auer binding Reynolds to a post as he exhorts the ape to tear her apart; unfortunately for him, the big beast chooses to rend the villains asunder. Black comedian Willie Best (here billed as Sleep 'N'Eat) is supposed to be the comedy relief, but Mischa Auer is heaps funnier unintentionally. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though he spent the bulk of the talkie era at mighty MGM, director Richard Thorpe put in three solid years' service on Poverty Row. In Thorpe's Neck and Neck, Glenn Tryon plays Bill Grant, a boastful young chap who claims to be an expert horseman. When he falls in love with wealthy Norma Rickson (Vera Reynolds), Grant is forced to prove his turf prowess by Norma's father Col. Rickson (Lafe McKee). Comic relief is supplied by Walter Brennan -- already playing toothless codgers at age 37 -- and stereotypical Black mirthmaker Stepin Fetchit. Much of Neck and Neck was filmed on location at the racetrack at Aguascalientes, Mexico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Intending to get value for money out of their house leading man Rex Lease, Tiffany Studios cast the personable actor in everything from westerns to sports dramas to domestic comedies like Borrowed Wives. Lease plays Peter Foley, who stands to inherit a fortune from his late uncle. The problem: To increase his allowance from his wealthy relative, Peter pretended to have a wife. Naturally, the will stipulates that Peter still be married, lest he lose his $800,000 legacy. The rest of the plotline is implicit in the film's title, with everyone concerned running around at top speed to convince the audience that something funny is going on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Buck Jones' first sound western, The Lone Rider, was not a rousing success. The former Fox star had left that studio at the changeover to sound in favor of touring with a circus. The tour proved a major flop, and the show closed after playing only forty-one stands. Returning to Hollywood, Jones was essentially starting all over in the film industry and could only command a $300 salary for The Lone Rider. Stardom would return with later series entries, but at the time the actor had good reasons to be worried. The producer of Jones' comeback western was Sol Lesser whose Beverly Productions released through Columbia. Jones played The Hell's River Kid, an outlaw mistaken for a hero during a stagecoach hold-up. He becomes the leader of a vigilante group while keeping his past life a secret; until, that is, the chief outlaw (Harry Woods), begins to dig up the truth. Jones, however, heroically defeats the gang and his past is forgiven. Despite the lukewarm reception, this film was remade by Jones in 1934, as The Man Trailer, and again in 1939, as The Thundering West, a vehicle for Columbia's newest western star, Charles Starrett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, a married man finds himself in philanderer's heaven when he gets involved with three local women. Fortunately, before it all goes too far, his son confesses that one of the letters his father found was really meant for him. Romantic mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A former leading lady for director Cecil B. DeMille, vivacious Vera Reynolds was experiencing somewhat of a career slump when she starred in this romantic melodrama from poverty row producer Trem Carr. She played Lillia, a small town girl who gets involved with the wrong crowd in Paris. Arrested by police prefect Nigel De Brulier, Lillia agrees to seduce a politically important foreign prince Ernest Hilliard in exchange for her freedom. They fall in love, of course, and when the prince is informed of his succession to the throne, he chooses love instead of power and abdicates. A very young Carole Lombard (still spelling her first name "Carol") appeared in a supporting role as one of the heroine's Parisian friends. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Silent stars Bryant Washburn and Vera Reynolds had both seen better days by the time they made the inexpensive programmer Jazzland. The story is set in motion by newspaper reporter Carroll Nye, (remember him as Frank Kennedy in Gone With the Wind?) who opposes the construction of a nightclub in his respectable small town. Trouble is, the brains behind the club is a mysterious Mister Big who keeps himself hidden from view. While trying to uncover the owner's identity, Nye's brother Forrest Stanley is killed. Good-natured "jazz baby" Vera Reynolds puts her own life in jeopardy to avenge Stanley's murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1979 Barbra Streisand-Ryan O'Neal vehicle of the same name, Main Event was one of the first efforts of the newly-formed DeMille Pictures Corporation (as in "Cecil B.") Nightclub dancer Glory Frayne (Vera Reynolds) falls in love with championship boxer Red Lucas (Robert Armstrong). Luca's latest opponent is likeable young pugilist Johnny Regan (Charles Delaney). When Johnny meets Glory, he is instantly smitten, but Glory remains faithful to Red -- who, as it turns out, has been cheating on our heroine with another tootsie named Margie (Julia Faye), who happens to be Glory's roommate! Inveigled into making Johnny break training on the night before his bout with Red, Glory regrets her actions when she finds out that she's being double-crossed. Thus it is that Glory, with the considerable assistance of Johnny's manager-dad (Rudolph Schildkraut), whips the boy back into shape in time for our hero to knock Red senseless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by Cecil B. DeMille -- but directed by Rupert Julian -- Silence affords new DeMille contractee Vera Reynolds the opportunity to play a dual role. Told in flashback, the story endeavors to explain why Jim Warren (H.B. Warner) is about to be hanged for a murder he didn't commit. A petty crook, Jim is in love with Norma Drake (Vera Reynolds), but circumstances force him to marry Mollie Burke (Virginia Pearson). Rendered pregnant by Jim, Norma marries her old beau Phil Powers (Rockliffe Fellows) so that her baby will be born legitimate. Years pass: Jim becomes a derelict, while his daughter -- also named Norma and also played by Vera Reynolds -- grows up in wealth and comfort. As luck and the screenwriters will have it, one of Jim's former criminal cohorts shows up at the Powers home and begins casting aspersions on the virtue of Norma's late mother. The mortified girl shoots and kills the bounder, whereupon Jim -- who was conveniently in the neighborhood at the time of the shooting -- gallantly takes the blame, going to his own death in stoic silence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vera Reynolds is Corporal Kate in this WWI comedy-drama. Shipped off to the front to entertain the troops, Irish-Catholic showgirl Kate and her Jewish pal Becky (Julia Faye) encounter all manner of merry misadventures. Things get serious, however, when both Kate and Becky fall in love with the same doughboy, Private Jackson (Kenneth Thompson). This romantic triangle is rather bluntly resolved when tragedy strikes on the battlefield. Produced by Cecil B. DeMille, Corporal Kate was in part a showcase for Julia Faye, DeMille's longtime "secret" girlfriend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Once he attained full stardom, silk-hatted comedian Raymond Griffith was rushed into several inexpensive Paramount vehicles. The Night Club is so pinchpenny that all the street exteriors are shot on the back lot, with a conspicuous paucity of extras. This hardly matters, since the principal attraction is the dapper Griffith, here playing a man who stands to inherit a million dollars provided he agrees to an arranged marriage. He falls in love with Vera Reynolds, never dreaming that she is his intended bride; Reynolds does know who he is, however, and spurns him, assuming that he's a fortune hunter. To make amends, Griffith pounces upon a clause in his inheritance which states that all of his money will go to Vera in the event of his death. The rest of the film concerns Griffith's genial attempts to kill himself; when each method at self-destruction fails, Griffith moves on nonchalantly to the next, as though choosing between white and black caviar. Vera finally decides that Griffith is worthy of her, and it's off to the altar. The Night Club is based on a turn-of-the-century play co-authored by the DeMille brothers (Cecil B. and William C.). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide