Priscilla Bonner Movies

Here we go again with plot number 3729-B. Golden-hearted chorus girl Sally Casey (Priscilla Bonner) is in love with wealthy Chet Randall (Rex Lease), and the feeling is mutual. Randall's snobbish father (Ben Wilson) staunchly opposes the romance. Sally saves the day -- and her impending marriage -- when she reveals that Randall Sr. is himself carrying on with nightclub hostess "Alabam" Kenyon (Rosemary Theby). The last-named character was obviously based on "Queen of the Nightclubs" Texas Guinan, whose asking price was a bit out of the range for the producers of Girls Who Dare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a story which originally appeared in the pages of Liberty magazine, Prince of Headwaiters stars Lewis Stone as the title character. The maître d' at Paris' Ritz Hotel, Pierre (Stone) had once been married to a wealthy aristocrat, but their union was rent asunder at the command of his wife's snobbish relatives. Years later, Pierre discovers that his marriage had produced a son, the now-grown-up Elliot Cable (Robert Agnew). Without revealing his true identity, Pierre saves Elliot from falling into the clutches of infamous blackmailer Mae Morin (Lilyan Tashman). No one suffered more nobly in evening clothes than the estimable Lewis Stone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Contrary to popular belief, Clara Bow was already Paramount's biggest box-office draw when she starred in this delightful rags-to-riches comedy. But It, from the fertile mind of bizarre best-selling author Elinor Glyn, remains perhaps the quintessential Bow picture. Not that the story of a poor shopgirl falling for her rich employer was anything new (by 1927, Bow could play that role in her sleep), but It came complete with one of the best publicity campaigns in Hollywood history. Glyn herself publicly pointed to Bow as the personification of It, "that quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force." Paramount made sure that Glyn's lofty description of the word sunk in and even convinced the author to explain It in the film to leading man Antonio Moreno (who, according to Glyn, simply oozed It as well). The lightweight comedy behind all this hoopla centered on little Betty Lou Spence, a vivacious salesgirl invited to dinner at the Ritz by foppish wastrel and self-described "old fruit" "Monty" Montgomery (William Austin in one of those roles later personified by Edward Everett Horton). Betty is not paying attention to her dinner companion, however, but is ogling department store heir Cyrus Waltham (Moreno). He notices her too, and takes the salesgirl on a whirlwind tour of Coney Island. But when Betty is mistakenly assumed to be the unmarried mother of an infant (actually her roommate Molly's), stern Cyrus no longer sees her as proper marriage material. Betty, of course, gets her man in the end and Waltham's snooty girlfriend ("other woman" specialist Jacqueline Gadsden) ends up in the drink. Delivering all the vivacious punch expected of a Bow comedy, It takes time out for a couple of rather poignant scenes. With the hindsight that Brooklyn's own Bow was never fully accepted by Hollywood society despite her stardom, it is touching to watch Betty being ostracized at the snobbish Ritz; and Bow is never more affecting than when she realizes that Moreno is offering diamonds and pearls instead of marriage. Priscilla Bonner, as Bow's drab, single-mother roommate, adds a touch of realism to her brief role, enviously observing Betty's frivolity. If It only added to Bow's brilliant success, the film did little for the intelligent Bonner. To the end of her life, Bonner maintained that accepting featured billing in It lost her any chance of true stardom. A very young Gary Cooper, has a bit as a reporter and director Josef Von Sternberg reputedly took over for Clarence Badger during a brief illness. Despite its rather trite Cinderella plot, It magnificently demonstrates why Bow's guileless flapper came to define an entire decade. It is heartbreaking to realize that her decline had already set in, and Bow's very public troubles and eventual career destruction were lurking right around the corner! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

One of a cycle of late-1920s firefighting melodramas, Columbia's False Alarm stars John Harron as rookie fireman Joe Casey. During his first fire, Joe succumbs to fear, and as a result is ostracized by both his comrades and his fire-chief father (George Lewis). He goes to work at a steel mill, where constant exposure to smoke and flame helps him overcome his terror of fire. Joe proves himself a hero in the final reel, winning the heroine (Dorothy Revier) in the process. So that False Alarm will run the full six reels, screenwriter Leah Baird included a subplot involving the regeneration of Joe's dishonest brother (George O'Hara). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Long thought lost, the silent Three Bad Men is an vital ingredient in the cinematic canon of director John Ford. Often described as a film version of Peter B. Kyne's Three Godfathers (which Ford would direct in 1948), Three Bad Men is actually based on Over the Border, a novel by Herman Whitaker. The plot, which spans several years, is set in motion when three bandits appoint themselves protectors of the heroine, whose settler father is killed early in the proceedings. A subplot involves bandit Tom Santschi's efforts to wreak vengeance on the man who seduced and abandoned his sister. The film was originally supposed to star George O'Brien, Tom Mix and Buck Jones as the title characters, but since the plot required the Three Bad Men to be killed off long before the fadeout, and since all three proposed stars had large and loyal kiddie followings, the roles were recast, with character actors Santschi, Frank Campeau and J. Farrell McDonald. O'Brien was retained, albeit relegated to a less colorful heroic role. Three Bad Men should be seen in its original release form; most commercial prints are chopped up and woefully washed out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

King Vidor does a nice job of making an insignificant novel by Lawrence Rising into a pleasant light comedy. Fernanda (Eleanor Boardman, who would become Vidor's second wife) is born in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake and raised by aristocratic relatives in Spain. As a young woman she is engaged to marry Don Jaime Diego (Harrison Ford), but she feels he treats her too lightly. She tells him that she is going to America, but he takes the news so calmly that she is forced to really go. Diego follows after her and, in fact, arrives before she does. This does not stop Fernanda from meeting the attractive Pat O'Malley (Pat O'Malley, apparently using his own name for the character). She falls for him immediately, but when she discovers that, as a contractor, he is basically a glorified plumber, it gives her pause. O'Malley, however, persists and ultimately spirits her off to a cabin. When Diego shows up, O'Malley reluctantly lets Fernanda leave with him, and returns home, depressed. Soon enough Fernanda shows up because she can't forget him. They wind up together, while Diego merely pulls out his little black book and finds another girl. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Three of Hollywood's more enterprising women created this sentimental treatise on sin and redemption: Mrs. Wallace Reid (the former actress Dorothy Davenport) produced and co-directed (with Walter Lang) and Dorothy Arzner's screenplay was based on a story by influential journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns. Priscilla Bonner starred as Gabrielle Darley, a real-life prostitute acquitted of murdering her procurer in 1917. Left in a New Orleans brothel by a bounder she mistakenly believed to be her fiancé, Gabrielle tracks down the man (Carl Miller) in a Los Angeles jewelry shop and kills him in cold blood. Immediately regretting her brutal act, Gabrielle is resigned to her fate when the jury surprisingly returns a verdict of not guilty. A free woman, Gabrielle wants to change her wayward life by becoming a nurse, but is instead invited to live in the palatial Wilshire Boulevard estate of Mrs. Fontaine (Virginia Pearson). With Freddy the chauffeur (Theodore Von Eltz) as her only ally, Gabrielle is cruelly paraded in front of Mrs. Fontaine's society friends, some of whom "have skipped a matinee to see you." Tiring of the notoriety quickly enough, Mrs. Fontaine arranges for an interview with the local hospital, knowing full well that Gabrielle's sordid past will prohibit her ever becoming a nurse. Distraught and penniless, Gabrielle returns to New Orleans, never realizing that Freddy is desperately searching for her. Chased by a pimp in the French Quarter, the exhausted girl runs out into the crowded street and is hit by a passing car. While recovering in the hospital, she fortuitously learns that the hospital needs personnel due to the devastating influenza epidemic and is soon employed as a cleaning woman. It is in the hospital where she is finally found by Freddy as he arrives with soldiers wounded overseas. Despite being shipped off to fight the war in Europe the following day, the former chauffeur vows to return and make Gabrielle his wife. A huge box-office success, The Red Kimono ended up nearly bankrupting Mrs. Reid when the real Gabrielle Darley sued for libel. In the end, Darley won a huge settlement that included the Beverly Hills home which Reid had shared with her late husband, 1910s matinee-idol Wallace Reid. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Mary Carr (the charming old woman from Over the Hill to the Poorhouse) plays Drusilla Doane, a charity case at an old ladies' home. When Elias Arnold (Henry Barrows) gets upset with his son, Collin (Kenneth Harlan), he wills his fortune to Drusilla instead. Upon his death, the old lady finds herself a millionaire and goes to live in his mansion. After a mother deserts her baby on Drusilla's doorstep, she decides to open her home for more abandoned babies and finds her true life's purpose. Meanwhile, Collin is injured in a car accident trying to avoid hitting Sally May Ferris (Priscilla Bonner). Sally, an orphan, nurses him back to health and they marry. Daphne Thornton (Claire Du Brey), wanting to break the will and marry Collin herself, goes to work on Sally. She convinces Sally that she is ruining Collin's life, so she leaves him. While living in poverty, she has Collin's baby and she tries to leave it on Drusilla's doorstep, but she is caught and hauled into jail. She refuses to divulge her husband's name and Daphne manages to keep Collin -- who has been desperately searching for her -- out of the courtroom. Just as the baby is taken away, however, he shows up and the couple are reunited. Drusilla takes the couple in to live with her in the Arnold mansion. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Generally, during the silent era, Caucasian actors, not Asians, would play "Oriental" roles. In this romantic drama, Bessie Love is not exactly the most realistic Chinese girl. Bob, a sailor (William E. Aldrich), gets involved in drug smuggling through his brutal boss, sea captain Red Carson (Bert Sprotte). A tong leader, Wong Chang (Edward Piel), steals the goods that Bob is responsible for. Although Bob receives a sound beating, he manages to escape to a town in the country, where he meets a pretty girl (Priscilla Bonner). He falls in love with her, never giving a thought to Mui Far, the Chinese girl he left behind (Love). Chang locates Bob and brings him back. Carson, believing that Bob stole the drugs, beats him. His country sweetheart is kidnapped, and he is threatened with death. Mui Far saves him by going the to police, and she reunites him with his sweetheart. Realizing that their romance was always doomed (in the 1920s, interracial marriages were considered unacceptable), Mui Far commits suicide. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

When it reviewed this simple little drama, the trade paper The Film Daily remarked (rather awkwardly), "Ben Schulberg has never achieved a reputation previously for desiring a place among the artistic producers, but...Shadows is one of the most artistically made pictures." Art was definitely not one of B.P. Schulberg's fortes but every now and again he'd produce something with true creative merit. Lon Chaney's fine performance as the Chinaman Yen Sin certainly enhanced this picture. Yen Sin is washed up onto the shore of a fishing village inhabited by God-fearing white people. He runs a laundry out of a houseboat, but because of his race and religion he suffers a lot of prejudice from the townsfolk. Then John Malden, a young minister (Harrison Ford, also turning in a stunning performance), comes to town and converts Yen Sin to Christianity. Malden wins Sympathy Gibbs (Marguerite De La Motte), a young widow whose cruel husband has been lost at sea. but after they marry he receives a mysterious note that is ostensibly from Sympathy's lost husband. The man blackmails Malden, who loses his church and home. Yen Sin, however, knows that the man who is tormenting Malden is actually deacon Nate Snow (John Sainpolis), who is bitter because he wanted Sympathy. Yen Sin waits until the appropriate moment, then exposes Snow to the whole village. Afterwards the Chinaman cuts the ropes tying his houseboat to the pier and sails off to his death. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Madge Joy (Viola Dana) is an actress with a cheap theatrical troupe, but she loses her job when a stage-struck young girl with a lot of money (Priscilla Bonner) wants to take her place. Madge misses the last train out of Buckeye Junction and falls asleep in a haystack. The next morning she is found by Robert Deep (Tom Gallery), who takes her home to the family farm. His mother (Josephine Crowell) likes her immediately. However, because Madge senses that his stern, religious father (Nelson McDowell) would not approve of her profession, she claims to be a runaway orphan. The only one she is honest with is Robert, who confesses that he has written a 17-act play. Unfortunately, it's very bad. The Deeps' daughter, Susan, arrives home and it turns out that she is the same girl who took Madge's place. Pa Deep is enraged that Susan ran off to become an actress. Madge comes to her aid by saying that she is an actress herself, and will run off with Robert unless Pa Deep makes up with his daughter. Pa agrees, and Madge takes off -- alone -- for Broadway where she becomes a star. One day Robert shows up with yet another play. Whether it is better than the last one is a moot point, since his main interest is really Madge. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi