Gloria Stuart Movies
Blonde, serene-looking film actress Gloria Stuart forsook her stage career when she was signed to two separate movie contracts in 1932. It took a court arbitrator to determine which studio would be permitted to make use of Stuart's services, Paramount or Universal. Universal won, and soon the actress was starring in such memorable films as James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932) and The Invisible Man (1933).From 1936 on, Stuart, who was born in Santa Monica, CA, on July 4, 1910, was contracted to 20th Century Fox, where among many other films she appeared in John Ford's Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), the Shirley Temple vehicle Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and the Ritz Brothers version of The Three Musketeers (1939). Gradually retiring from films in the early '40s to return to her stage origins, Stuart subsequently decided to devote her time to her second husband, screenwriter/wit Arthur Sheekman, whom she had married in 1934. She became an accomplished painter, staging several one-woman exhibits in New York, Austria, and Italy during the 1960s.
In 1982, Stuart made a long-overdue return to the screen in the cameo role of Peter O'Toole's matronly dancing partner in My Favorite Year. Sixteen years later, she became known to a whole new generation of fans when she starred as 100-year-old Rose DeWitt, the heroine of James Cameron's Titanic. The only member of Titanic's cast and crew to have been alive at the time of the actual catastrophe, Stuart, who was 88 when the film was released, made history with her performance in the record-breaking movie. Nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category, she became the oldest person in history to be nominated for an Academy Award; in addition to various other award nominations, she won a Best Supporting Actress prize from the Screen Actors Guild, an organization she had helped to found in 1933. Thanks to Titanic, Stuart enjoyed a late-life career renaissance, and was soon appearing in magazines (People dubbed her one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World"), Hanson videos, and, most importantly, in new films that ranged from the romantic comedy The Love Letter (1999) to Wim Wenders' The Million Dollar Hotel (2000). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Gloria Stuart plays Carol Murdock, a champion golfer whose businessman husband Anthony (Michael Whalen) cares nothing for the game. Only when Carol teams up with handsome golf pro Philip Reeves (Lyle Talbot) does Anthony experience the "change of heart" of the title. As Carol and Philip win tournament after tournament, Anthony, partly out of jealous and partly out of self-preservation, takes to the golf links himself. Soon he's as adept at the game as Carol, who has her own change of heart and returns to her husband. A typical 20th Century-Fox programmer, Change of Heart has the advantages of slickness and professionalism, not to mention the amusing performance of 12-year-old Delmar Watson as a wise-cracking caddy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, (more)
- 1938
In this drama, a former college football hero and his college sweetheart get married. Marital turmoil ensues as her criminal law practice soars while he cannot get his career as an architect off the ground. They separate, and the man begins making extra money by singing in a nightclub. When he is unjustly accused of murder, it is his estranged wife who saves him. A tearful reconciliation ensues, but can the marriage be saved? Songs include the Oscar nominated "A Mist Over the Moon", "That Week in Paris", "Home in Your Arms", "When You're in the Room", "Sky High", "Naughty, Naughty", and "Victory Song". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this comedy a young girl dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star. The plucky gal decides to grab the bull's horns one day and goes there to see if her uncle, a movie director will help her launch her career. Unfortunately she discovers that her "famous' relative has fallen onto hard-times and consoles himself with copious amounts of booze. Without hesitation the vivacious girl decides to kill two birds with a single stone and haver her uncle make his comeback in a movie staring herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Withers, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1938
In this witty comedy mystery, a dim-bulbed news photographer and an equally dull-witted reporter try their hand at sleuthing when they begin investigating a murder to prove that the prime suspect is innocent. Things get really sticky when the accused's bill-collector gets involved. The real killer is in plain view, but the sleuths don't figure this out 'til the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, (more)
- 1938
In this drama, a woman is betrothed to a district attorney. When a man is falsely convicted of murder and condemned to death, the woman postpones her wedding to prove him innocent. She enlists the help of a former gangster and eventually succeeds in saving the innocent man's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, (more)
Previously filmed in 1917 and 1932, Kate Douglas Wiggins' bucolic novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is herein refashioned--and completely, totally, utterly rewritten--as a vehicle for 10-year-old Shirley Temple. Unable to land a radio contract for himself and his niece Rebecca Winstead (Temple), fly-by-night vaudevillian Henry Kipper (William Demarest) leaves the girl in the care of her aunt, Miranda Wilkins (Helen Westley), who runs a little farm with the help of hired hands Homer (Slim Summerville) and Aloysius (Bill Robinson). Miranda has an intense dislike for "show folks", but her next-door neighbor Anthony Kent (Randolph Scott), a talent scout for a major radio network, sees great possibilities in the talented Rebecca and secretly arranges an audition. In short order, Rebecca becomes the biggest sensation on the airwaves, whereupon the mercenary Kipper returns out of nowhere and demands that Miranda return the girl to his care. By now, Rebecca and Miranda have grown to love one another dearly, and the girl doesn't want to leave the farm, but she does what she is told--only to foil the conniving Kipper with a convenient last-minute "illness" (a scene that provides a showcase role for Franklin Pangborn) as a nervous standby organist). Future Titanic costar Gloria Stuart appears as Gwen Warren, obligatory love interest for Anthony Kent. Musical highlights include a medley of hit tunes from Shirley Temple's previous films (including, inevitably, "On the Good Ship Lollipop"), and a climactic tap duet spotlighting Temple and the inimitable Bill Robinson, danced to the tune of Raymond Scott's "Toy Trumpet". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, (more)
- 1937
The Girl Overboard is Mary Chesebrooke (Gloria Stuart) but she doesn't take her dunk into the deep until the film's final minutes. A department-store model, Mary takes a break from her work and embarks upon an ocean voyage. Any hopes for a peaceful vacation are dashed when one of Mary's fellow passengers is murdered. The victim is Mary's lecherous boss Alex LeMaire (Sidney Blackmer), so guess who the police suspect? With the help of district attorney Paul Stacey (Walter Pigeon), who also happens to be on board ship, Mary clears herself, but not before nearly perishing in a fire at sea. The title of this little actioner is amusingly ironic, considering that, six decades later, leading lady Gloria Stuart would be Oscar-nominated for her performance as a shipwreck survivor in Titanic (1998). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1937
It Could Happen to You is one of those captivating "little" pictures whose reputation is built up via word of mouth. Alan Baxter and Owen Davis Jr. star as Bob and Fred, the sons of immigrant Pa Barrett (Al Shean). Fred is a dutiful offspring, but Bob, an adoptee, is a no-good, stealing money from the old man to further his ambitions. When Pa Barrett confronts Bob with this discovery, the young man accidentally kills his stepfather. As fate would have it, Fred has become a lawyer, and it is he who takes on the job of defending Bob in court. Fred wins an acquittal, but Bob learns to his chagrin that he will never be able to escape the "judge and jury" of his own conscience. The script for It Could Happen to You was co-written by Nathaniel West, later the author of the trenchant anti-Hollywood novel Day of the Locust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Baxter, Andrea Leeds, (more)
- 1937
In this romantic comedy, a married couple, tired of constantly bickering, separate. The woman heads to France where she immediately gets involved with a suave playboy. This causes the husband to decide that he wants her back. He gets his chance after he finds out the lothario has another lover. In the end, the husband convinces the playboy to marry the lover. Meanwhile his wife returns to him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, (more)
- 1937
The Ritz Brothers play three goofballs working their way through college by putting in time at a tailor shop. The college football team's star player is Nat Pendleton, a wealthy Native American who has donated a large amount of money to the school. As long as Pendleton is able to play, the football coach (Fred Stone) feels safe in putting the Ritz boys in the game at the last minute, when their zany antics can't possibly effect the final score. In Jim Thorpe fashion, the Indian student is disqualified when it is learned he once played professionally. Thus the coach is forced to utilize an untried player(Dick Baldwin) in the Big Game--and when that player is injured, it's the Ritz Brothers to the rescue. Life Begins in College gives plenty of attention to the comedy of the Ritz Brothers, if that's your idea of a good time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Ritz Brothers [Al, Jimmy, Harry], Joan Davis, (more)
- 1936
A winning sweepstakes ticket is the catalyst in 36 Hours to Kill. The lucky recipient is gangster Duke Benson (Douglas Fowley), who happens to be a fugitive from justice. Duke hops a train to collect his prize money, keeping a low profile lest he be discovered. Also on board are G-man Frank Evers (Brian Donlevy) and newspaper sob-sister Anne Marvis (Gloria Stuart). Yes, they catch the villain, but before that they stop squabbling long enough to fall in love. The basic premise in 36 Hours to Kill was later reshaped by scenarist Lou Breslow for his 1942 Laurel and Hardy comedy A-Haunting We Will Go. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Gloria Stuart, (more)
Warner Baxter plays Dr. Samuel Mudd, American history's most famous victim of circumstance. In 1865, Dr. Mudd, a known Confederate sympathizer, sets the broken leg of a mud-caked stranger who stumbles into his home. The injured man turns out to be John Wilkes Booth, and Mudd is accused of conspiring to murder President Lincoln. Sentenced to hang with the genuine conspirators, Mudd finds his sentence commuted to life imprisonment at the very last moment. He is shipped to Shark Island, a brutal penal colony. Subject to the cruelties of a guard (John Carradine) who hates Mudd because of his "complicity" in Lincoln's death, the doctor suffers the torments of the damned, while outside Shark Island his wife (Gloria Stuart) campaigns desperately to get her husband pardoned. During a Yellow Fever breakout on Shark Island, Dr. Mudd performs heroically to save the survivors. For his humanitarian efforts, Mudd is finally released and reunited with his wife. While the script glosses over the fact that Dr. Mudd had never been officially pardoned by the US government (the pardon wouldn't be granted until years after this film was made), Prisoner of Shark Island strives long and hard to exonerate the man for whom the phrase "your name is mud!" was coined. Dr. Samuel Mudd's story was retold in the 1952 feature Hellgate, with Sterling Hayden as a (fictional) doctor, and in the 1980 TV movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd, starring Dennis Weaver in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1936
Gloria Stuart's trouble only begins when she inherits a newspaper in this routine, but at times, quite hilarious comedy from Universal. Overhearing a chauvinistic remark from senior editor Hank Gilman (Edmund Lowe), Joan Langford decides to begin her newspaper business career from the bottom and incognito. Gilman, however, quickly discovers the ruse and sends the girl out on the most arduous assignments he can find. After threatening to quit, the heroine unwittingly gets herself involved with a gang of blackmailers but Hank is watching over her and together they bring the gang to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1936
- NR
A remake of the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name, Poor Little Rich Girl stars Shirley Temple in the title role. Neglected by her widowed soap-tycoon father (Michael Whalen), lonely Barbara Barry (Temple) spends most of her time in the company of her nursemaid Collins (Sara Haden). While on a shopping excursion in the City, Collins is killed in a traffic accident, and Barbara gets lost in the crowd. She finds shelter in the warm and loving tenement home of barber Tony (Henry Armetta), where she makes the acquaintance of vaudeville entertainers Jerry and Jimmy Dolan (Alice Faye and Jack Haley). Assuming that the girl is an orphan, the Dolans invite her to join their act when they discover that she possesses considerable singing and dancing talents. As fate would have it, Jerry, Jimmy and Barbara audition for a radio program which happens to be sponsored by Barbara's dad! For all its music, charm and vivacity, Poor Little Rich Girl has an unsettling inner lining of cruelty: Not only is the plot motivated by the death of Shirley's governess, but our poor heroine spends a good portion of the film avoiding a seedy would-be child molester (John Wray)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, (more)
- 1936
Adventurer-for-hire Victor McLaglen is hired by a political faction in a mythical European kingdom. McLaglen's job is to kidnap the young prince (Freddie Bartholomew) so that his employers can take over the government. The prince enjoys the experience because it releases him from the confines of protocol. When the prince is reluctantly rescued, McLaglen is thrown in prison. He escapes upon the realization that the political party he'd been working for actually plans to kill the prince and set up a dictatorship. McLaglen rescues the prince and preserves the Status Quo--and his blossoming friendship with the affable young monarch. Curiously enough, Professional Soldier is based on a story by Damon Runyon, taking a break from his "Guys and Dolls" chronicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor McLaglen, Freddie Bartholomew, (more)
- 1936
Wanted: Jane Turner was inspired by an actual robbery-murder case of 1926. A gang of thieves use the Post Office's general-delivery service to pick up and send out their ill-gotten gains. To throw the cops off the scent, the crooks have established a P.O. box under the fictional name of "Jane Turner." Trouble starts brewing when a real Jane Turner (Judith Blake), who knows nothing about the criminal activity, shows up to collect her mail. With Jane's help, postal inspectors (Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart) put the heat on the villains, who've already tipped their hand by killing a driver during a mail-truck heist. Wanted: Jane Turner was remade in 1941 as Lady Scarface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Tracy, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1936
Mercy killing is the primary topic of this crime drama when a doctor, who is disabled after a terrible accident begs his student to give him an overdose of pain killers so that he can die peacefully. The young doctor does not. Trouble ensues after the young medico falls for his mentor's wife. Soon the older doctor dies of a drug overdose. Naturally the young man is accused of the murder and must go to trial. In the film's surprise ending, it is revealed that the crippled man, did indeed kill himself. He did it by secretly hoarding small samples of lethal drugs until he had enough to end his pain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Robert Kent, (more)
Those beautiful Busby Berkeley babes are back at work, seeking financial backing for a Broadway show. Salvation comes from a meek hypochondriac (Victor Moore) who'd rather the girls get his insurance money than his murderous business partners. Dick Powell isn't the male star of the show, but does show up as a glib insurance agent. A lesser but still enjoyable entry in Warners' Gold Diggers musical series, Gold Diggers of 1937 is very much a mixed bag. For every topnotch number like "With Plenty of Money and You," there's an excruciating experience like the "military" finale "All's Fair in Love and War." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1935
Director George Stevens' fourth feature-film effort was a 1935 adaptation of the oft-filmed Gene Stratton Porter yarn Laddie. Set in rural Indiana, the story revolves around the romance between a local farm boy (John Beal) and English-born girl (Gloria Stuart). The lovers are separated during most of the proceedings by their warring families, headed respectively by the young man's remonstrative parents (Willard Robertson and Dorothy Peterson) and the girl's domineering father (Donald Crisp). Ironically, despite the parents' prattling about decency and propriety, it is a family scandal that ultimately provides a happy ending. Good though the "adult" actors are, the film is stolen by little Virginia Weidler, cast as Beal's wise-beyond-her-years kid sister. Previously filmed in 1926, Laddie was remade in 1940, with Tim Holt and Virginia Gilmore in the leading roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Beal, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1935
With little plot but incredible photography and choreography, Gold Diggers of 1935 was exactly what you would expect a Busby Berkeley movie to be--visually stimulating, awe-inspiring and almost Freudian in its obsession toward perfection. The Titanic scale of Berkeleian choreography was especially apparent in the "Lullaby on Broadway" number, showing the last day in the life of a "Broadway Baby" before she kills herself. This scene has some of the most precise choreography ever filmed. This was the second of the Gold Diggers films and it remains a classic for the startling technological display found in all Berkeley efforts. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, (more)
- 1934
Actually this film should have been titled "Here Comes Jimmy Cagney Again, so Duck!". James Cagney is a bantam-cock sailor who runs up against chief petty officer Pat O'Brien. Seems that Cagney and O'Brien had come to blows early in the film when O'Brien stole Cagney's date at a dance hall. O'Brien resents both Cagney and Cagney's attentions towards O'Brien's sister (Gloria Stuart). The animosity intensifies when O'Brien court-martials Cagney for going AWOL. But all passions are spent when Cagney heroically rescues his shipmates from a raging fire. Here Comes the Navy proved to Jimmy Cagney's fans that he could still deliver the goods even with the tighter movie censorship imposed in 1934. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (more)
- 1934
In this musical, an insurance agent falls in love with a pretty girl. When the self-righteous agent discovers that she is a cabaret singer, he dumps her. Soon after, his sister quits her telephone operator's job to become a chorine. Songs include: "Blue Sky Avenue", "Let's Put Two and Two Together", "I Like It That Way", and "Goin' to Town". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Stuart, Roger Pryor, (more)
- 1934
Lee Tracy once again plays a Winchellesque newspaper reporter in Universal's I'll Tell the World. More interested in his sex life than his career, news hawk Brown (Tracy) nonetheless agrees to cover the activities of a European archduke (Onslow Stevens) on behalf of his wire service. To circumvent rival reporter Briggs (Roger Pryor), Brown adopts a variety of disguises, and while travelling under an alias he makes the acquaintance of Jane (Gloria Stuart), a princess posing as an American tourist. The finale is a melange of romance, international intrigue, and journalistic double-crosses, culminating in Brown saving Jane's kingdom from revolution. The 1945 Universal minimusical I'll Tell the World is not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1934
Nils Asther stars as Dr. Callendar, a modern-day Svengali who hypnotizes women to do his eeeevil bidding. Callendar is particularly fond of preying upon married or engaged women, taking fiendish delight in stealing them away from their husbands and sweethearts. Dr. Norman Ware (Paul Kelly) begins to suspect something when his intended Alice Trask (Gloria Stuart) starts walking around in a trance, but he can prove nothing. Ultimately, however, Callendar is undone when he makes the tactical error of hypnotizing two ladies at once. This leads to a spectacular climax, in which vengeful lawyer Roger Loft (Alan Dinehart) tricks Callendar into putting him under a spell, thereby giving Loft a perfect "couldn't help himself" alibi when he shoots the caddish mesmerist in full view of an astonished theater audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nils Asther, Gloria Stuart, (more)
