Harry Tyler Movies
American actor Harry Tyler wasn't really as old as the hills when he started his film career in 1929; in fact, he was barely 40. Still, Tyler's wizened, gimlet-eyed face was his fortune, and he spent most of his movie years playing variations of the Spry Old Timer. Tyler began his stage career as a boy soprano in 1901, under the aegis of producer Flo Ziegfeld and Ziegfeld's wife Anna Held. He married Gladys Crolius in 1910, and for the next twelve years they toured vaudeville in a precursor to Burns and Allen's smart guy/dumb dora act. Returning to the legitimate stage in 1925, Tyler journeyed to Hollywood when talking pictures took hold four years later. His inaugural screen appearance was a recreation of his stage role in The Shannons on Broadway. Harry Tyler played bits and featured roles as janitors, sign painters, philandering businessmen, frontier farmers and accident victims from 1929 until his farewell appearance in John Ford's The Last Hurrah (1958). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1934
In this British comedy, a mild mannered editorial writer for a right-wing newspaper becomes fed up with the constant badgering of his domineering, self-righteous editor. The writer decides that there is more to life than kow-towing to his supervisor, and so sets off looking for fun and adventure. He really goes over the edge after he is insulted by a lowly soda jerk. This leads the milquetoast writer and his good friend to go on a Bacchanalian spree filled with gambling, drinking, and even involvement with the underworld. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Ann Dvorak, (more)
- 1934
A pre-stardom Bette Davis struggles mightily as the "other woman" in this rather obvious divorce court drama from Warner Bros. George Brent stars as William Reynolds, a hardworking but markedly unmotivated office manager whose wife, Nan (Ann Dvorak), manages to make ends meet with the little she's got. Enter Patricia Berkeley (Davis), a high-powered advertising exec, with whom William falls madly in love. Does he leave the little wife for the glamorous co-worker? Well almost, but all bets are off when young Buddy Reynolds (Ronnie Cosbey) is hit by a car and nearly killed. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Brent, Bette Davis, (more)
- 1934
This drama examines the rivalry between a mother and the daughter she is too vain to acknowledge. The mother is a famous actress who does not want her true age to be known. She, therefore, keeps her 19-year old daughter secreted away in a boarding school. The daughter is too old to be concealed. She wants her own life, and she wants her mother to acknowledge her existence. She goes to New York to see her mother. At her mother's house, the young woman encounters her mother's newest suitor. He sees the young girl and falls for her. The mother becomes terribly jealous and tries to thwart the romance. She fails, and the happy young couple get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Muir, George Brent, (more)
- 1929
Two vagabonds find romance in this love story. It all begins when they get jobs as railroad brakemen by proving to the foreman that they are strong. Both of them simultaneously think about giving up their wandering ways when they meet two eligible women: the railroad's paymaster and commissary chief, and a dumbbell waitress. Things are looking up until one of the hoboes loses his savings in a crap shoot and later finds himself framed for theft. Fortunately, the two are able to finger the real thieves before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, James Gleason, (more)
- 1929
Although The Shannons of Broadway was not James Gleason's first film appearance as advertised, it might as well as been: Based on Gleason's own stage play, the film co-starred Gleason with his wife Lucille Webster. Mr. and Mrs. G. are cast as Mickey and Emma Shannon, a vaudeville duo who meet with a spectacular lack of success. They decide to quit trodding the boards and settle down as the owners of a hotel. But when a previously dormant real-estate transaction pays off, the Shannons are able to re-finance their return to the stage in a big-time Broadway revue. Released in both sound and silent versions, The Shannons of Broadway was remade in 1938 as Goodbye Broadway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Gleason, Lucille Gleason, (more)
