Evelyn Venable Movies
Evelyn Venable's first dramatic appearance was in a Cincinnati high school production of Romeo and Juliet; this led to her professional debut in a civic center production of Dear Brutus. Venable won a scholarship to Vassar, then briefly attended the University of Cincinnati before joining a stock company supervised by Broadway star Walter Hampden, an old friend of the Venable family. She received generous critical praise for her performance as Roxanne opposite Hampden's Cyrano de Bergerac. While appearing with the Hampden troupe in Los Angeles, Venable was signed by Paramount Pictures. During her brief reign as a movie star, Venable was subject to reams of publicity coverage: she was billed as "the kissless girl," purportedly because her father had insisted that a clause be inserted in her contract preventing her from being kissed onscreen (Venable's dad found this studio-fabricated legend as perplexing as she did). Reportedly, she was the model for Columbia Pictures' "Torch Lady," though other likely candidates for this honor include Claudia Dell and Viola Dana. The one Evelyn Venable performance that received the widest distribution was her voice-only portrayal of the Blue Fairy in Disney's Pinocchio (1940). After retiring from films, Venable resumed her scholastic career, enrolling at U.C.L.A. some 25 years after leaving the University of Cincinnati. Majoring in Greek and Latin, Evelyn eventually joined the U.C.L.A. faculty. Evelyn Venable's first and only husband was cinematographer Hal Mohr, whom she met on the set of the Will Rogers vehicle David Harum (1934). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1943
In this comedy, a milque-toast bookkeeper buckles under his overbearing girl friend's constant nagging and begins investing his money so he won't have to wait for a raise from his boss. His girl friend pushes him, because she wants to marry him and he refuses to until he has enough money. Luckily he invests wisely and suddenly finds himself with enough cast to buy the company from stingy boss. As soon as he does, the former clerk fires his employer. He eventually decides to hire his employer back, but only if he adheres to one condition. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stuart Erwin, Evelyn Venable, (more)
When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto (Christian Rub) builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio (Dick Jones), is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish. But, even with the help of Jiminy (Cliff Edwards), a cricket who the fairy assigns to be Pinocchio's conscience, the marionette goes astray. He joins a puppet show instead of going to school, he lies instead of telling the truth, and he travels to Pleasure Island instead of going straight home. Yet, when Pinocchio discovers that a whale has swallowed Geppetto, the puppet single-mindedly journeys into the ocean and selflessly risks his life to save his father, thereby displaying that he deserves to be a real boy. Based on a series of stories by 19th century Italian author Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio came under fire for being a sugarcoated version of its original tale, but the film's moral did have a strong educational effect on children. Soon enough, a 16 mm excerpt from the picture, titled "Pinocchio: A Lesson in Honesty," was released for teachers to use in schools. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dick Jones, Cliff Edwards, (more)
- 1940
Despite the title, the Cisco Kid (Cesar Romero) doesn't feel too lucky at the beginning of this film. It seems that someone else has been committing crimes while passing himself off as Cisco. The scheme was cooked up by a corrupt judge (Willard Robertson), who hopes to drive the settlers off the land and buy it up himself, all the while placing the blame for the reign of terror on the Kid's shoulders. But with the help of his paunchy pal Gordito (Chris-Pin Martin), our hero puts an end to the skullduggery. As a bonus, he finds time for romance in the arms of gorgeous widow Mrs. Lawrence (Evelyn Venable). Mary Beth Hughes has one of her better earlier roles as a brassy dance-hall doxie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cesar Romero, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1939
In the tradtion of producer Harry Sherman's earlier Zane Grey westerns for Paramount, Heritage of the Desert features an essentially non-western star in the lead. Donald Woods plays John Abbott an eastern man-about-town who heads west to claim an inheritance. Crooked attorney Henry Holderance (C. Henry Gordon) contrives to have Abbott shot down before he ever arrives at his destination, but Abbott survives his wounds thanks to the tender ministrations of Miriam Naab (Evelyn Venable), daughter of friendly rancher Andrew Naab (Robert Barrat). Realizing that he's going to have to toughen himself up to survive in the west, Abbott does so, eventually paying Holderance back for his treachery. Heritage of the Desert was previously filmed in 1924, with Bebe Daniels, Ernest Torrence, Noah Beery and Lloyd Hughes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald Woods, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1939
In this domestic comedy, a social climbing wife inadvertently creates trouble when she insists that her husband invite a renowned financier, who is new in town, to their house for dinner. Her husband doesn't know the man, and is too intimidated to ask him; instead, he hires an actor to play him. At dinner, the husband soon discovers that the "actor" is in reality the man who robbed the bank that very day. The cops are called and the crook is hauled away. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Venable, Grant Mitchell, (more)
In this crime drama, an innocent wife has no idea that her husband makes his living by hijacking trucks. When she finds out that she has been implicated in the crimes, she takes off with a chauffeur. Later she falls for a handsome artist and by the end of the story, after some tragedy occurs, she ends up clearing her name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Venable, Craig Reynolds, (more)
- 1938
A concert singer goes blind after a rival throws acid in his face and leaves his New York girlfriend to return to his grandmother's plantation in Kentucky. The town centennial celebration his grandmother has planned is actually the method she has devised to help him get his self-confidence back. The singer performs some Stephen Foster songs, with plantation employees as his backup group, and feels like a true man again. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Venable, The Hall Johnson Choir, (more)
Among the best-known of Republic's "B" pictures of the late 1930s, Hollywood Stadium Mystery is a neat and satisfying whodunit with very little "waste" footage. Neil Hamilton is his usual stalwart self as District Attorney Bill Devons, who tries to solve a murder that was committed in full view of hundreds of boxing fans at Legion Stadium. The victim was a contender for the championship, and there are no end of suspects to choose from. Complicating matters is the well-meaning but annoying interference of Polly Ward (Evelyn Venable), a murder-mystery writer who fancies herself a super sleuth. Radio personality Jimmy Wallington is appropriately cast as a glib sports commentator, while perennial cowboy sidekick Smiley Burnette shows up to offer a series of automobile imitations! Hollywood Stadium Mystery was written by Stuart Palmer, best known for his "Hildegarde Withers" stories. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Neil Hamilton, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1938
When Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) and his pals Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes) and Lucky (Russell Hayden) come across teacher June Lake (Evelyn Venable) and her little schoolhouse of students (played by members of the St. Brendan Boys' Choir), they decide to help further the cause of education until a group of lowlife rustlers show up. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- William "Hopalong" Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, (more)
- 1937
North of Nome is where the audience is first introduced to jut-jawed seal hunter John Raglan (Jack Holt). When he's not busy clubbing and harpooning his furry little prey, Raglan is kept busy fending off a covetous trading company, and a gang of sealskin hijackers. It helps not at all when his tiny Arctic island is invaded by a group of shipwrecked city slickers, including the larcenous Dawson (John Miljan) and the lovely Camilla (Evelyn Venable). Inevitably, Raglan falls in love with Camilla, forgetting his own problems long enough to rescue her from the clutches of the villains. Luck of luck, Camilla turns out to be the niece of the man who owns the trading company which has been giving Raglan a headache all through the picture! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1937
In this tuneful programmer a singer, believing that her husband, a Marine pilot accused of treason, has died in the Pacific, takes a job singing in Shanghai. There she see spies a certain handsome dancer in the club show who looks exactly like her late spouse. The resemblance is too uncanny for him to be anyone else. Surmising that he has amnesia, the singer decides she must somehow get him back and prove his innocence. But this is easier said than done as she soon discovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1937
In this gangster movie, a criminal king-pin and his gang hide out in his hometown where they witness a religious revival that inspires the man to begin billing himself as a "born-again" evangelist so he can cash in on the guilty consciences of local businessmen. At first he keeps it all for himself, but eventually his conscience kicks in and uses the money for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1936
Star for a Night is Lady for a Day in reverse. Jane Darwell plays Frau Lind, a blind Austrian woman who comes to the United States to visit her three children Nina (Claire Trevor), Anna (Evelyn Venable) and Fritz (Dean Jagger). The three siblings have written regularly to their mother, claiming that they've all become fabulously successful. The unvarnished truth is that "Broadway musical star" Nina is a minor-league chorus girl; "famed concert pianist" Anna sells sheet music in a department store; and "powerful automobile manufacturer" Fritz drives a taxi. They cook up a scheme so as not to spoil their mother's illusions, but Mom has a big surprise for them! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Jane Darwell, (more)
Shirley Temple's first costume picture -- and one of her best pictures of any kind -- was 1935's The Little Colonel. The story begins in 1870, when unreconstructed Southerner Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns his daughter Elizabeth (Evelyn Venable) when she stubbornly marries damn-Yankee Jack Sherman (John Lodge). Several years pass, during which time the Shermans' daughter, Lloyd (Temple), dubbed "the little colonel," is born. When Jack and Elizabeth suffer a series of financial reverses, they are compelled to move into a small cottage owned by Elizabeth, near her father's estate. As tenacious and opinionated as her grandpa, little Lloyd befriends the crusty old codger and tries to effect a reunion between the colonel and Elizabeth. Her efforts at first meet with failure, but when the ailing Jack is imperiled by all-around villain Swazey (Sidney Blackmer) does the colonel race to the rescue, with the "little colonel" leading the way. The film's brief Technicolor finale, long missing from TV prints, was restored in the mid-'80s. Why Fox felt that Technicolor was needed is a mystery; Shirley Temple's name in and of itself was the principal drawing card of The Little Colonel, while Temple's famous stair-dance duet with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
Katharine Hepburn stars as Booth Tarkington's would-be society belle Alice Adams. The product of a family of modest means, Alice nonetheless dreams of being accepted by the "better people." Luck of luck, she meets well-to-do young Fred MacMurray at a social gathering; he is charmed by her pathetic attempts at putting on airs and accepts her invitation to dine at the Adams home. The meal is a disaster: Alice's parents (Fred Stone and Anne Shoemaker) are obviously way out of MacMurray's league, while the servant (Hattie McDaniel) that the family hired for the occasion shows up drunk and very surly. Alice Adams was the first major directorial assignment for George Stevens, as well as one of the few Katharine Hepburn vehicles of the 1930s to score a hit with the public. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1935
Grand Hotel meets Twentieth Century in this Mascot feature. Evelyn Venable stars as Patricia Wells, a tempestuous stage actress who impulsively elopes on opening night of her newest play. Wells and her new fiancée Fred Arnold (Ralph Forbes) book adjoining compartments on the Streamline Express, while her conniving producer Jimmy Hart (Victor Jory) tags along, disguised as a waiter. This is but one of several interconnecting subplots (including a menage a trois and the impending birth of twins), but it's the most entertaining of the batch. Also on board are Sidney Blackmer, Esther Ralston, and a host of other familiar faces. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyn Venable, Victor Jory, (more)
- 1935
Produced on a reasonably lavish scale by the usually parsimonious Mascot Pictures, Harmony Lane was the first of three filmed biographies of 19th-century songwriter Stephen Foster (the others were Fox's Swanee River [1939] and 1952's I Dream of Jeannie, produced by Mascot's successor, Republic Pictures). Douglass Montgomery stars as Foster, with Evelyn Venable and Adrienne Ames as the women in his life and William Frawley as minstrel impresario E.P. Christy (the part played by Al Jolson in Swanee River). The film follows Foster from his early attempts to study for the ministry to his first flush of success in the years just prior to the Civil War, ending with his death in drunken poverty in New York. Just what was it that so attracted Hollywood to this melancholy tale? Perhaps it was the fact that Stephen Foster's songs were in the Public Domain, thereby allowing producers to sidestep expensive copyright and licensing fees. Harmony Lane was written and directed by Joseph Santley, a prolific if uninspired helmsman of early-talkie musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglass Montgomery, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1935
George Ade's turn-of-the-century stage success The County Chairman was retailored as a Will Rogers vehicle in 1935. Set in 1904, the film casts Rogers as Jim Hackler, political-party chairman of Tomahawk County, Wyoming. At rise, Hackler is running for county prosecutor against his old political and romantic rival, crooked Elias Rigby (Berton Churchill). Complications arise when Jim's protégé Ben Harvey (Kent Taylor) falls in love with Rigby's daughter Lucy (Evelyn Venable). Presented with the opportunity to smear Rigby in public by digging up an old scandal, Jim refuses to stoop to his opponent's level -- and miracle of miracles, he wins the election anyway! The film's best moments occur when Will Rogers departs from the script to offer extemporaneous comments on a wide variety of subjects: he even manages to poke gentle fun at Henry Ford, who was hardly a "major player" in 1904! The supporting cast ranges from such Rogers "regulars" as Charles Middleton and Stepin Fetchit (at his most incomprehensible!) to such relative newcomers as 15-year-old Mickey Rooney. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1935
Anxious to graduate from 2-reel comedies to feature films, producer Hal Roach began phasing out his short-subject manifest in 1935. Up until that year, his only talkie features had starred Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, so Vagabond Lady can be seen as the vanguard in Roach's new policy of turning out "sophisticated" pictures a la Sam Goldwyn. Evelyn Venable delivers a remarkably good comic performance as Josephine Spriggins, daughter of "Spriggs" Spriggins (Frank Craven), faithful janitor for the department-store firm of R. D. Spear & Company. Prodigal son Tony Spear (Robert Young) falls in love with Josephine and proposes marriage, but his stuffy older brother John (Reginald Denny) vows to save Tony from making so disastrous a social gaffe by marrying the girl himself. The disgruntled Tony retreats to his yacht, where he finds himself saddled with a reluctant passenger -- Josephine. The two spend the rest of the picture getting on each other's nerves, until at the very last moment they realize they're still madly in love after all. Clearly inspired by It Happened One Night (the twist being that the girl is poor and the boy is rich), Vagabond Lady is a minor but agreeable entry in the screwball-comedy genre. The only clue as to the identity of its producer is the film's utilization of stock Hal Roach background-music themes during a nightclub sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1934
Frequently and misleadingly advertised as a W.C. Fields vehicle, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch confines the Great Man's appearance to the final two reels. The rest of the picture is a ploddingly paced adaptation of the hoary old Anne Hagan Rice novel about how wonderful it is to be poor. In a rare movie appearance, the great stage star Pauline Lord plays Mrs. Wiggs, the impecunious but ever-optimistic matriarch of a large, fatherless brood. Though creditors constantly hound Mrs. Wiggs, she remains firmly confident that all family problems will be resolved when her long-missing husband (Donald Meek) returns from his unexplained odyssey. It's quite a chore for our heroine to put on a happy face, especially after the death of the sickliest Wiggs child (George Breakstone), but she does -- and miracle of miracles, her faith in the elusive Mr. Wiggs turns out to be well-founded (though not intentionally so). W.C. Fields is cast as touring actor Mr. Stubbins the "mail-order husband" of Mrs Wiggs' spinsterish friend Miss Hazy (ZaSu Pitts). Once Fields shows up on screen, demanding a gourmet meal from poor Miss Hazy (who's never cooked anything in her life!) all the film's shortcomings and maudlin passages can be forgiven. W.C.'s best line: "The theatre was so packed, the audience couldn't applaud this way?" (claps sideways) "?They had to applaud this way." (claps up and down). Previously filmed in 1914 and 1919, Mrs.Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch was remade with Fay Bainter in 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pauline Lord, W.C. Fields, (more)
- 1934
Inspired by the eccentric, reclusive Wendel Family of New York's Fifth Avenue, Elizabeth MacFadden's stage melodrama Double Door was adapted for the screen in 1934. Set in 1910 Manhattan, the film stars Mary Morris and Anne Revere, repeating their stage roles as domineering, calculating Victoria Van Brett and her weakling sister Caroline. The title refers to the door guarding the Van Brett's secret vault, wherein are stored the family jewels. Years earlier, Victoria, the only member of the family who knows the vault's combination, locked Caroline in the dark, airless chamber, literally frightening her into madness. At present, the misleadingly sweet-natured Victoria has embarked upon a campaign to destroy Ann Darrow (Elizabeth Allan), the new bride of her half-brother Rip Van Brett (Kent Taylor). When her efforts to accuse the girl of having an affair with doctor John Lucas (Colin Tapley) fail, Victoria does her utmost to lure Ann into the vault, intending to lock her in and drive her insane. Perhaps it goes without saying that the heroine will survive, and that Victoria herself will be forever entombed behind that double door. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Morris, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1934
In this adaptation of Alberto Casella's stage play, Death assumes human form in order to discover why men fear him. Posing as a Prince Sirki (and played by Fredric March), Death appears as a house guest at the villa of an Italian duke. While "Sirki" is present, Death takes his titular holiday, and no one on Earth dies. Grazia (Evelyn Venable) the fiance of the duke's son, becomes attracted by the strangely ethereal Sirki. Against his better judgment, Sirki falls in love, and Death for the first time experiences Humanity. Disturbed by the sensation, he decides to shuffle off his mortal coil, but before leaving he tries to shun Grazia, who insists upon going with him. The duke, who has been in on Sirki's secret all along, begs Death not to take away the girl. To scare her off, Death assumes his actual form, only to discover that this is how Grazia has always seen him. Determining that love is as strong as death, Death allows the willing Grazia to accompany him into the nether world. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Evelyn Venable, (more)
- 1934
Previously filmed in 1915, David Harum is the story of an upstate New York rancher devoted to trotting races. Will Rogers makes no attempt to alter his Oklahoma accent as David Harum, but audiences in the 1930s came to see Rogers and not the character. After several examples of his horse-trading savvy, David settles down to the business at hand: playing Cupid for young Evelyn Venable and Kent Taylor. The film ends with the anticipated championship trotting race, with Harum's horse being galvanized into action by the song "Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-yay".David Harum has a wonderful improvisational feel about it, especially in the scenes between Rogers and African-American comedian Step'n Fetchit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, (more)
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