Norma Talmadge Movies

Silent film star Norma Talmadge's last film was the 100 percent all-talkie Dubarry. Adapted from the popular stage play by David Belasco, the film traces the life of notorious French adventuress Madame DuBarry, turning one of the most famous "kept women" in history into a sympathetic heroine. She becomes the mistress of King Louis XV (William Farnum), but her heart belongs to handsome Duc de Bissac (Conrad Nagel). About the only duke we don't meet in this picture is the Duke of Earl. Norma Talmadge is visually perfect as DuBarry, though her effectiveness is diminished by her nasal, Brooklyn-esque speech patterns. She wisely opted for a fabulously wealthy retirement after this film, which was released in most markets as DuBarry: Woman of Passion (presumably for the benefit of those who didn't know that DuBarry was a woman). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Terrified at the prospect of making her talking-picture debut, silent-screen queen Norma Talmadge spent several months taking diction lessons before shooting commenced on New York Nights. The results were negligible: though she managed to keep her thick Brooklyn accent in check, Talmadge was ultimately defeated by the banalities of the script. Based on the stage play Tin Pan Alley, the film casts Talmadge as Broadway musical star Jill Deverne, the wife of struggling composer Fred Deverne (Gilbert Roland). Her new husband's drinking problem causes our heroine to seek solace in the arms of gangster Joe Prividi (John Wray), but after a bloody gangland shootout (filmed on location at New York's 125th Street Station), Jill is more than happy to return to the now-repentant Fred. After a second talkie attempt, Dubarry: Women of Passion, Norma Talmadge, a millionaire several times over, wisely elected to retire from films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Marion Davies vehicle was loosely inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson. Davies plays would-be starlet Peggy Pepper, who arrives at the gates of MGM Studios with her dad Colonel Pepper (Dell Henderson) in hopes of becoming a great dramatic actress. Instead, she a scores a hit as an ingenue in the slapstick comedies starring the effervescent Billy Boone (William Haines). As the audience rocks with laughter during the preview of Peggy's first film (no one is more enthusiastic than her director Harry Gribbon), she sits in sullen silence, insisting to Billy that some day she'll invoke tears instead of laughter. This doesn't seem likely, inasmuch as Peggy can't even cry on cue (her director is forced to peel onions outside of camera range to achieve the desired emotion), but the tenacious young actress finally manages to win favor in dramatic roles. Inevitably, this causes a strain on her budding romance with Billy, and the couple slowly drifts apart. Now the unchallenged Queen of the Cinema, Peggy -- billing herself as Patricia Pepoire -- prepares to marry her oily leading man Andre (Paul Ralli), but mischievous Billy disrupts her fancy wedding. She angrily tosses Billy out of the house, realizing only when it's too late that she's still in love with him. But in the final scene, the hero and heroine are accidentally reunited on the set of a WWI picture directed by King Vidor (who also directed Show People). Two versions of Show People are currently available for TV; the "stretch-framed" Kevin Brownlow-David Gill restoration, with a new orchestral score by Carl Davis, and the original MGM release version, outfitted with a lively music and sound-effects track. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the most popular of the many silent adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' famous story of a courtesan who finds true love too late. In this version, a man who has been suffering from a bout of depression buys a painting of a beautiful women and discovers that her diary is included in the deal. As he reads her words, the ghost of the woman, who is named Camille (Norma Talmadge), appears before him to tell her sad story. Camille began her life under poor circumstances, but with determination she went from a humble shop girl to the most elegant and wealthy courtesan in Paris. However, selling her affections has not brought her real love. She meets a student named Armand (Gilbert Roland), who soon falls in love with the mysterious beauty. However, even though Camille has fallen in love with him, she resists his advances; Armand's father (Maurice Costello) has learned of his son's desire for her, and he has begged her to stay away from Armand, as an affair between them would bring scandal and shame to the young man. Before long, Camille contracts tuberculosis, and Armand encounters his would-be love as she bravely tries to hide her soon-to-be fatal condition from him. This is thought to be the ninth film based on the Dumas story (including adaptations under other names), and like several others, this film is currently lost, barring a future discovery of a print by film scholars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Polly Pearl (Norma Talmadge) is a bar manager who doubles as a cabaret performer in this romantic melodrama taken from the play by Martin Brown. The wealthy society swell Leonard St. Aubyns (Wallace McDonald) falls in love with Polly and the two are soon wed. Leonard's wealthy father (Brandon Hurst) disowns the couple, forcing Polly back to work after her husband leaves her with a baby boy. She takes a job with Madame Blanche (Emily Fitzroy), who employs her in a brothel as a cabaret singer. Polly inherits money when the kindly Madame Blanche dies and she opens her own club. Years later, two British soldiers enter the club, and the drunk one starts a fight with his cohort. When both are wounded by gunfire, Polly tends to their injuries and discovers the man who tried to stop the fight is her own long-lost son. Watch for legendary screen villain Walter Long as Blackie co-starring with Margaret Seddon, George Hackathorne, and Alf Goudling. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

After a series of less-than-stellar pictures, Norma Talmadge tried something a little different with this sentimental romance, which spans a period of nearly 60 years. Mary Carlton (Talmadge) is in her seventies and her husband, John (Eugene O'Brien), is deathly ill. While writing in her diary, Mary falls asleep and dreams about her life with John, starting from their romance in 1865, when he was a clerk for her father, William Marlowe (George Nichols). Because of parental disapproval, the couple elopes, leaving England for the American West. Their ranch is attacked several years later by outlaws and their baby dies. After years of struggle the couple succeeds, has four children, and returns to England. Mary's faith in the marriage is shaken when she discovers that John has had an affair with Mrs. Manwaring (Gertrude Astor) -- and that she wasn't the only one. Mary suffers through it (it's not a Norma Talmadge film unless she suffers) and forgives her husband. When she awakens from her dreams, the doctor tells her that John has passed the crisis and will recover. Nine years later, in 1933, Mary Pickford would remake this film as a talkie with Leslie Howard. It was Pickford's last film. Frank Borzage directed both versions. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This picture, based on the novel and play by Robert Hichens, was typical melodramatic fare for star Norma Talmadge. Lord Carlyle (Edwin Stevens) governs a province in India. Although he weds the beautiful Adrienne (Talmadge), he can't make her love him. And no wonder -- he's not only cruel, he's unfaithful. Adrienne leaves him and boards a ship with the intention of returning to England. But on the boat she meets Andrew Fabian (Eugene O'Brien, returning as Talmadge's leading man after a long absence), who is studying for the clergy. They fall in love, and he convinces her to accompany him on a pilgrimage to Damascus. But duty calls and Adrienne returns to India where Lord Carlyle has fallen ill. They return to London together, and Fabian ends up there, too, as a minister. He and Adrienne meet once again, and Lord Carlyle's suspicions grow. In the midst of confronting the lovers, his old illness strikes once again and kills him. The widowed Adrienne is now free to spend her life with Fabian. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This is the second time Bayard Veiller's play made it to the silent screen (it would be made one more time in 1939 as a talkie). This version is a run-of-the-mill Norma Talmadge vehicle -- lots of high drama, with no expense spared, but in the end nothing much without its excellent cast. Talmadge plays Mary Turner, the shopgirl working for slave wages who winds up in prison for a theft she did not commit. Mary is bitter over her ruined life and swears vengeance on her former employer, Edward Gilder (Joseph Kilgour). When she gets out of prison and cannot find work, she teams up with Aggie Lynch (Eileen Percy) and they extort money out of elderly men -- but somehow manage to keep their tactics within the law. Eventually Mary meets Gilder's son, Dick (Jack Mulhall), and she makes him fall in love with her. He proposes, and after she accepts she makes her identity known to his father. Edward Gilder, desperate to get rid of her, tries to have her framed for burglary. Thief Joe Garson (Lew Cody), who loves Mary himself, falls for the plan. When he realizes he has been duped, he kills the stool pigeon, English Eddie (Ward Crane). Mary tries to have Dick accused of the murder and they are both arrested. Finally, Garson confesses to the crime, and the girl who originally stole the items that sent Mary to prison reveals that she was the culprit. Mary realizes that she really loves Dick, and the couple is united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Joseph Schenck pulled out all the stops in this costume drama starring his wife, Norma Talmadge -- it was adapted from Honore de Balzac's novel, La Duchess de Langeais by Frances Marion, and no expense was spared to bring the Napoleonic era to life. When the Duc de Langeais (Adolphe Menjou) makes a bet with the Count de Marsay (Irving Cummings) on whether his wife, the Duchess (Talmadge) would accept the attentions of any other man, she angrily leaves him. The Duc, who is a solider, goes off to the front, and the lonely Duchess proceeds to cut a swath through all the available men. Ultimately she meets General de Montriveau (Conway Tearle), and when she toys with his affections, he kidnaps her. He is about to brand her for her fickle behavior, but can't bring himself to do it. Instead, he retreats from her and refuses to respond to her letters. The despondent Duchess decides to enter a convent. But before she can take her final vows, the general learns of her whereabouts and comes for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although Raimunda (Eualie Jensen) marries Esteban (Courtenay Foote), he holds a secret passion for his stepdaughter, Acacia (Norma Talmadge). He uses his servant, Rubio (Walter Wilson) to ruin Acacia's romance with Norbert (Harrison Ford). Then, when she becomes engaged to Faustino (Robert Agnew), Esteban has him murdered, and Norbert is tried for the crime. But he is acquitted and the guilt points toward Esteban, who runs to the hills. Eventually he returns and Raimunda begs Acacia to forgive him. The two embrace, and the truth comes out about Esteban's love for his stepdaughter. The angry Raimunda calls for help and Esteban shoots her. He is arrested and the mother dies in her daughter's arms. This picture was based on the stage play by Jacinto Benavente which starred Nance O'Neil as Raimunda. In its motion picture adaptation, the role of Acacia was built up for screen star Norma Talmadge. Talmadge's sister Natalie -- at the time engaged to comedian Buster Keaton -- had a small role. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In 1922 Norma Talmadge was one of the most popular stars of the silent screen, but every now and then she'd wind up in a clinker; this cliched drama, made shortly before her production company moved from the East to the West Coast, was certainly one of them. Even Anthony Paul Kelly, a noted playwright and scenarist, couldn't do much with the story, which was based on a novel, On Principle, by Andrew Soutar. Jennie Dobson, a Jamaican native (already it's obvious that Talmadge is miscast), is housekeeper for Clifford Standish, the alcoholic younger son of British nobles (perennial leading man Harrison Ford). Jennie helps him win his battle with the bottle and he proposes. But just then word arrives that he has inherited a fortune. He marries Jennie anyhow and brings her back to England. Once she's thrust into civilization, Jennie miraculously acquires the ability to wear fancy clothes and behave stylishly. Nevertheless, Standish's family is mortified that he has marr! ied a Jamaican girl and they snootily insist that there is no way she can fit into proper society. Eventually the couple agrees with them and they return to Jamaica where it is assumed that they live happily ever after. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This typical Norma Talmadge weeper casts Norma as a social half-caste. She may have had a millionaire daddy, but her mom was just a chorus hoofer. Unaware of her "scandalous" past, Norma becomes engaged to wealthy Percy Marmont. But things take a sinister turn when her mother's nasty boyfriend threatens to tell all. Had the film been made 10 years later, the chorus girl would probably have been the heroine. Produced by Norma Talmadge's husband Joseph M. Schenck, Branded Woman was based on Branded, a play by Oliver D. Bailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Norma Talmadge plays a character with multiple identities in this light comedy. Marie Callender (Talmadge) becomes the heiress of a sizable estate providing that she find a husband. But she's too shy to approach the man she loves, Ernest Lismore (Conway Tearle), so she disguises herself as a wealthy old woman. Lismore is nearly bankrupt, and the "elderly lady" offers to marry him to help put him back on his feet. She also says that if he falls in love, he is welcome to divorce her. So they are wed, after which Marie secretly doffs her gray wig and becomes the young, delectable June Dayne. Lismore, of course, falls in love with her, but he is too honorable to ask his elderly mate for a divorce. Finally, Marie has to let him in on her trick and explain that he has fallen in love with the woman he married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide