Genevieve Tobin Movies

The daughter of a stage performer, American actress Genevieve Tobin helped put food on the family table by going to work in the 1919 play Palmy Days. Tobin worked her way up from ingenue to glamorous romantic leading lady, attaining the status of "critic's darling" --meaning that her reviews often commented on her looks and mannerisms, seldom on her talent. This isn't to say that she wasn't talented; indeed, it was Tobin's rendition (with William Gaxton) of Cole Porter's song "You Do Something to Me" that helped make Porter's 1929 production Fifty Million Frenchmen a hit. Squired by many of society's richest and most desirable bachelors, Tobin was the living, walking personification of "Broadway Celebrity" in the eyes of many fans. She entered films with A Lady Surrenders (1930), thereafter specializing in comedy roles (with the notable exception of her role as a bored businessman's wife in The Petrified Forest [1936]). But while she seemed bewitchingly adorable on stage, she came off as a bit arch in films; her interpretation of Perry Mason's secretary Della Street in Case of the Lucky Legs (1935) is undercut by a "stage British" accent that wouldn't convince a grade school kid. Nonetheless, she excelled in roles calling for surface charm and superciliousness, such as her flighty patroness of the arts in No Time for Comedy (1940). Genevieve Tobin curtailed her acting career after her 1938 marriage to film director William Keighley, who in the fashion typical of the era frowned upon having a working wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1940  
 
S.N. Behrman's hit Broadway show about a guy who writes hit Broadway shows comes to the screen in this comedy. Gaylord Esterbrook (James Stewart) is a reporter from Minnesota who writes a play about life in New York City -- a place he's never visited. To his surprise, a Big Apple producer wants to stage Gaylord's show and asks him to come to New York immediately. While Gaylord hardly seems like a Big City sophisticate, his regular-guy charm makes a big impression on leading lady Linda (Rosalind Russell), who is tired of jaded braggarts like her director, Morgan (Allyn Joslyn). Gaylord and Linda get married, and he becomes one of the most successful playwrights in town, but his new popularity goes to his head, and Linda wonders what happened to the man she married. However, Gaylord's career takes a turn for the worse when he meets Amanda (Genevieve Tobin), a snooty high society type who convinces him that he ought to be writing the Great American Tragedy instead of crowd-pleasing comedies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
James StewartRosalind Russell, (more)
1939  
 
The Carter Family finds itself in serious financial difficulty when its patriarch, druggist Doc Carter (Frank Craven), is all but forced out of business by a neighboring chain store. Doc isn't worried so much for himself and his wife Emma (Fay Bainter) as he is for his five children, played by Scotty Beckett, Bennie Bartlett, Donald Brenon, Mary Thomas and Gloria Carter (who real name is the same as her "reel" name). But there may be a way out: wealthy Bill and Gloria Hastings (Edmund Lowe, Genevieve Tobin), longtime friends of the Carters, have offered to adopt the couple's polio-stricken son Dickie (Beckett) for a substantial fee. Doc and Emma refuse this offer, but their somewhat more practical children offer themselves up for adoption rather than separate little Dickie from his parents. The ultimately happy denoument suggests that Paramount Pictures hoped to develop a "Carter Family" series, though no such project developed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Fay BainterFrank Craven, (more)
1939  
 
The old David Belasco theatrical warhorse Zaza, which starred Mrs. Leslie Carter way back in 1899, had already been filmed by Pauline Frederick in 1915 and by Gloria Swanson in 1923 when this Claudette Colbert version hit the screens in early 1939. Doing her own singing and dancing, Colbert plays the title character, a saucy fin de siecle Parisian cabaret performer who falls in love with wealthy rogue Dufresne (Herbert Marshall). Quitting show biz to be with Dufresne for all time, Zaza is taken aback to discover that he's already married. Sorrowfully she returns to the stage, singing a farewell to Dufresne before an audience that seems to include everyone in Paris. Bert Lahr steals the show as Zaza's zany but golden-hearted music-hall partner; in fact he's a lot livelier than the near-comatose Herbert Marshall, who seems preoccupied with more important matters throughout the film. Screenwriter Zoe Akins did her best to make the "naughty" Belasco original conform to the stringent censorship standards of 1939. Still, the Hays Office found plenty with which to nitpick: Commenting on Zaza's angry exclamation "Pig! Pig! Pig! Pig! Pig!", the Hays folks demanded "Delete two 'Pigs'." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Claudette ColbertHerbert Marshall, (more)
1939  
 
In this comedy, a young woman is determined to spend a weekend with her lover before he takes off to Europe for his new job. Her mother, a devout feminist, disapproves of her daughter's plan. When her daughter learns that her mother had a similar youthful affair with a poet years before, she uses that to convince her mother to change her mind. The two spend their weekend, but nothing much happens until they return to find her family is in an uproar. The girl then heeds her grandmother's advice and travels with her lover across the Atlantic. While aboard the ship, the two get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Priscilla LaneJeffrey Lynn, (more)
1938  
 
In this crime drama, a police inspector pursues a Lord's secretary suspected of stealing his gold bullion. She is the prime suspect because she is the leader of an infamous gang of thieves. The cops do not realize that the gang acted on their own accord. The secretary and the inspector then team up and board a train to try and stop their getaway cars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1938  
 
Viennese-born Luise Rainer plays a young Parisian girl who attends an exclusive drama school, working nights at a factory to pay the tuition. Despite the jealousies of her fellow students, Luise allows nothing to discourage her from her goal to become as great an actress as her idol (Gale Sondergaard). The girl wins the coveted role of Joan of Arc in an upcoming play, but the victory has a bitter taste when she realizes she's beaten out her idol for the part. At the end, Luise manages to have both a happy career and a successful marriage, even though her friends (and enemies) insist that such a combination is impossible. Dramatic School is a film buff's banquet; virtually every bit player in the cast (Ann Rutherford, Lana Turner, Dick Haymes, Hans Conried, etc.) later graduated to show-biz prominence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Luise RainerPaulette Goddard, (more)
1937  
 
In this melodrama a championship boxer retires and marries a rich, aristocratic woman. The woman's father is furious, but comes to accept the situation. When the father gets in trouble for making a major business mistake, the dutiful boxer returns to the ring and wins the money his father-in-law needs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Heather AngelGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1937  
 
Akim Tamiroff plays the Great Gambini, a famous magician mixed up in a murder case. In addition to his card tricks and onstage illusions, Gambini is something of a mystic, and has predicted the death of the murder victim. Suspects breed like rabbits, but the actual culprit turns out to be the only person Gambini truly loves (It's not hard to figure out who done it; only in the last reel do we find out why). Genevieve Tobin shows up as a scatterbrained socialite, while William Demarest is on duty once more as a flustered flatfoot. The Great Gambini was one of the last films of producer B. P. Schulberg, a former Hollywood high-roller on his way down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Akim TamiroffJohn Trent, (more)
1936  
 
In this comedy, a blocked writer decides he needs a little peace and quiet to spark his creativity so that he can write the final act of his play. Unfortunately, he no sooner settles down in his remote cabin when his first wife comes to call. She is followed by his second wife. A real ruckus ensues when his current girl friend also comes to see him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
George BrentGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1936  
NR  
Add The Petrified Forest to QueueAdd The Petrified Forest to top of Queue
Burned-out British intellectual Alan Squier (Leslie Howard) wanders into the desert service station/restaurant owned by Jason Maple (Porter Hall). Alan finds himself an object of fascination for Jason's starry-eyed daughter, Gabrielle Bette Davis, who dreams of moving to France and establishing herself. Boze Hertzlinger (Dick Foran), Gabrielle's gas-jockey boyfriend, grows jealous of Alan, but the penniless, dissipated Briton has no intention of settling down; in fact, as soon as he mooches a ride from wealthy tourists Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm (Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin), he's on his way out of Gabrielle's life...or so everyone thinks. Later that same day, Alan, Gabrielle, Jason, Boze, and Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm are huddled together in the selfsame restaurant, held at gunpoint by Dillinger-like desperado Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart) and his gang. Alan seems indifferent to the danger, toasting Duke as "the last great apostle of rugged individualism." Sensing an opportunity to give his life meaning, Alan takes Duke aside, begging the outlaw to kill him so that Gabrielle can travel to Paris on the money provided by Alan's insurance policy. When the police converge on the restaurant, Duke announces that he intends to use Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm as a shield in order to make his escape. Alan tries to stop him, receiving a bullet in the belly for his troubles. "So long, pal," growls Duke fatalistically, moments before his own death, "I'll be seein' ya soon." Alan dies in Gabrielle's arms, secure in the knowledge that, alone among the film's principals, she will be able to escape the trap of her existence. When originally presented on Broadway, Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest starred Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart. Warner Bros. intended to cast Edward G. Robinson in Duke's role, only to be thwarted by Howard, who told the studio that he himself would drop out of the project if Bogart wasn't retained. The film proved to be just the break that Bogart needed; years later, he expressed his undying gratitude to Howard by naming his daughter Leslie Bogart. One year after The Petrified Forest, Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard co-starred in The Stand-In. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Leslie HowardBette Davis, (more)
1936  
 
The Man in the Mirror is Edward Everett Horton, making one of his periodic professional visits to England. Horton plays Jeremy Dilke, a meek, mild-mannered businessman who allows everyone to use him for a doormat. While looking into his mirror, Dilke is confronted by his brusque, assertive alter ego, who declares "I am the man you have always longed to be." Armed with his newfound confidence, Dilke becomes a go-getting dynamo -- much to the delight of heroine Helen (Genevieve Tobin), who knew he had it in him all along. Moon-faced Alastair Sim plays a wonderful cameo as a foreign interpreter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Edward Everett HortonGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1935  
 
In this emotional but fast-paced comedy, a husband/businessman creates an ingenious cure for his mid-life crisis. He suggest to his wife that they take separate vacations and not discuss them with each other afterward. The wife isn't sure, but being a loving and understanding woman, agrees to the terms. The husband, dreaming of all the luscious young girls to be had, is happy as a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately for him, things don't happen as planned and he gets zippo. His wife, on the other hand, ends up falling for a younger man. When he proposes, the wife is sorely tempted, but then realizes she really does love her husband. The would-be wayward husband also reawakens to love and domestic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Genevieve TobinNeil Hamilton, (more)
1935  
 
International singing sensation Nino Martini made his American film debut in the Jesse L. Lasky production Here's to Romance. His career bankrolled by the beneficent opera diva Mme. Schumann-Heink (playing herself), singer Nino Donelli (Martini) hits the big time, and as a bonus falls in love with his leading lady Lydia Lubov (Anita Louise). For a while, however, their romance is nearly loused up by wealthy, self-centered art patrons Kathleen and Emery Gerard (Genevieve Tobin and Reginald Denny). Also complicating matters is amorous ballerina Rosa (Maria Gambarelli), but she leaves the scene after turning down both Nino and Emery. Often listed as a 20th Century-Fox release, Here's to Romance was actually one of the last Fox releases before the merger with 20th Century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Nino MartiniGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1935  
 
In this romantic drama, a horsewoman is forced to work in a society dame's stable. There she meets and falls in love with a destitute polo-player who has curried the favor of his lovely employer. The matron gets jealous of the budding relationship between the horsewoman and the player. A wealthy man, who wants the stable girl, also gets jealous. Fortunately, the young lovers are able to withstand the ensuing turmoil and they elope. A while later, the other man attends a lively party aboard a yacht. There a drunken chorine falls overboard and drowns. One of the ship's officers blames the wealthy man and says he saw him leaving with a mysterious "woman in red." During the ensuing trial, the horsewoman clears his name by admitting that he was with her. It is a difficult admission because she knows she is risking her marriage. Fortunately, her husband and his family support her all the way and the marriage is strengthened. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Barbara StanwyckGene Raymond, (more)
1935  
 
In this bedroom farce, an ex-wife overhears her former hubby's new wife and her lover planning a tryst for the weekend while the husband is away on a business trip. Hoping that the husband will catch them in the act, the ex creates an elaborate scheme whereby the lovers' plans are foiled and they must spend the weekend at her house. She then arranges for her former husband to drop by so he can see for himself the kind of hussy he married. Unfortunately the whole plot goes terribly awry when two fugitive jewel thieves wind up stranded at the ex-wife's house too. Things get really mixed up when the ex-wife discovers that she is in love with the second-wife's lover. Meanwhile second wifey recovers the jewels from the thieves just as her hubby returns. He gets there just as his ex-wife and the lover are married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Kay FrancisGeorge Brent, (more)
1935  
 
The legs in question in this the second of Warner Bros. Perry Mason whodunits belong to Margy Clune (Patricia Ellis), the first-prize winner in a Lucky Legs contest and the fiancée of Dr. Bob Doray (Lyle Talbot). But when Margy goes to collect her winnings, she finds that the contest's promoter, Frank Patton (Craig Reynolds), has skipped town with the money. When Margy goes after him, her boss, Bradbury (Porter Hall), convinces Perry Mason (Warren William) that she may be heading for trouble. And, sure enough, Patton is found very much murdered with Margy the prime suspect. But as Mason, his secretary Della Street (Genevieve Tobin), and intrepid private eye Spudsy Drake (Allen Jenkins) discover, there are other and more dangerous suspects around. The Case of the Lucky Legs was followed by The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) and The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936), also with Warren Williams as Mason, after which the role would be played in the remaining films by three different actors: Ricardo Cortez, Donald Woods, and William Lundigan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Warren WilliamGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1935  
 
An aspiring singer learns the bitter price of stardom in this musical drama. She starts out a small-town girl and soon becomes a big star. Unfortunately, she still cannot find true love and so must lead a successful but lonely life. Songs include: "He Was Her Man", "Let It Be Me", "Weary", and ""Who But You"". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Genevieve TobinLyle Talbot, (more)
1934  
 
One of the least known of Cary Grant's starring vehicles, Kiss and Make Up was based on a European play by Stephen Bekeffi. Grant stars as high-priced beautician Dr. Maurice Lamar, who does so spectacular a job on his plain-jane client Eve Caron (Genevieve Tobin) that Eve's jealous husband Marcel (Edward Everett Horton) divorces her. Eve marries Maurice on the rebound, but she drives him crazy with her shallow vanity. Maurice would prefer the company of his faithful secretary Anne (Helen Mack), but she has wed the vengeful Caron! But when Anne discovers that Caron is as self-involved as Eve, she goes back to Marcel, while Eve, who started it all, quickly finds comfort in the arms of gigolo Rolando (Rafael Storm). Highlights in Kiss and Make Up includes Cary Grant's musical numbers (yes, he can sing) and a hilarious bit involving Cecil Cunningham as one of Dr. Lamar's less successful "experiments." The film also serves as a showcase for the 1934 crop of Wampas Baby Stars, including George M. Cohan's pretty daughter Helen and Jean Gale of the singing Gale Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Cary GrantGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1934  
 
Eight people, many of them strangers to one another, are summoned to a ritzy Manhattan penthouse apartment by an unidentified host. Once everyone has arrived, the servants are dismissed and all the doors and windows are automatically locked. The unseen host's voice is then heard emanating from a radio loudspeaker, explaining that all of the guests are old enemies of his, and that all are doomed to die this very evening! A couple of foolhardy souls try to escape, only to be electrocuted by one or another of the mysterious host's booby traps. Who is the "hidden" murderer --- and whoooooo will survive? Remarkably similar to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (which hadn't been written yet!), Columbia's The Ninth Guest was remade -- without acknowledgment -- as the 1939 Boris Karloff vehicle The Man They Could Not Hang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Donald CookGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1934  
 
A weak-willed gambler's compulsion destroys his life in this dramatic character study. In the beginning, he is seen working as a cashier at a small-time Ohio track and then moving into a boardinghouse. There he falls in love with his disapproving landlady's daughter, who ignores her mother's advice and marries him. On their wedding day, he vows to never gamble again, and they move to Chicago where he begins working in a fleabag hotel. Later he is offered the chance to helm a dog track in California. They move and it doesn't take long before he is back to his old tricks. The wife is secretly distraught, but she tries to look the other way until her husband's sleazy ex-girl friend shows up and starts making trouble. Things go from bad to worse when he and the tart win big at a casino and the angry wife uses the cash to leave him. She tells him she has gone home to Ohio and will not take him back until he cleans up his act. He really tries, but it is to no avail and after more struggles, wins, and terrible losses, the story ends on a dark note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Edward G. RobinsonGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1934  
 
In this family drama, a happy marriage is threatened by suspicion and jealousy, and illicit affairs. The trouble begins when the wife catches her husband in the arms of a family friend. The wife exacts her revenge claiming that she had an affair with the other woman's husband. This is a lie. They begin fighting. The arguments cease when their daughter tells them that she is going to run off with her boyfriend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Genevieve TobinAdolphe Menjou, (more)
1934  
 
An amoral capitalist is the protagonist of this drama written by one of Hollywood's famous "Ten" (the first people in the American film industry to be black-listed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities). The capitalist in question will stop at nothing to have the lion's share of the American pie. In the end he gets exactly what he wanted, but then the consequences of his actions begin to catch up with him. In the end, the despondent remorseful fellow attempts to take his life; unfortunately he fails. Fortunately, a devoted woman who has remained loyal all along is there to help him his mend his ways and lead a better life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.Genevieve Tobin, (more)
1934  
 
Female executive Doris (Genevieve Tobin) is hardly "uncertain" in the business world, but she's not so secure in her home life. In fact, it looks as though Doris will lose her husband Bruce (Paul Cavanaugh) to the scheming Myra. To avoid this, she hires Elliot (Edward Everett Horton) as a "cardboard lover" to arouse Bruce's dormant passions. Things don't quite work out as planned, but Myra doesn't exactly win out either. The flawless comic acting of Edward Everett Horton helps take the audience's mind off the cliches inherent in this by-the-numbers marital farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Edward Everett HortonGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1933  
 
The infernal machine in question is a bomb controlled by a wireless operator and set aboard a New York bound ocean liner. No one knows it is there. Meanwhile the passengers go about their business. One of them, a stowaway pretends to be a classy fellow so he can pitch woo to a sophisticated lady. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Chester MorrisGenevieve Tobin, (more)
1933  
 
Famous author Kenneth Bixby (Warren William) would like to jump-start his romance with ex-sweetheart Julie (Genevieve Tobin). There are, however, at least two people who'd prefer that Bixby stick to writing and stay away from Julie. One is Julie's husband Harvey Wilson (Hugh Herbert); the other is Bixby's loyal secretary Anne (Joan Blondell), who's been carrying a torch for her boss for years. It all winds up in a cross-country chase, with everybody suspiciously tailing everybody else. Based on a play by George Haight and Allan Scott, Goodbye Again was dutifully remade under a different title by the Warner Bros. "B" unit in the early 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Joan BlondellGenevieve Tobin, (more)

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