Gladys Walton Movies

With a hidebound conservative element running things in a small town, the local teenagers have no choice but to seek entertainment elsewhere. With Stutz Bearcats at the ready, hip flasks in hands, and raccoon coats draped around their shoulders, the teens indulge in all sorts of sinful and potentially fatal activity outside the city limits. What is needed is a dynamic political leader who can make the community appealing enough to attract wholesome forms of entertainment for the kids. The district attorney (Mahlon Hamilton) is such a man; by bringing industry to the small town, he improves the economy, enabling the youngsters to seek out less risky diversions in their own home town. Enemies of Youth was cheaply but effectively produced. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Likeable Bud Parsons (Cullen Landis) commits a less-than-likeable robbery to impress a fickle cabaret dancer (Gladys Walton). The imprisoned Parsons is approached by shifty lawyer Lewis (Crauford Kent), who persuades the lad to pose as the long-lost heir to a fortune. Anxious to get out of jail and pick up a few bucks, Parsons agrees. But his resolve to go through with the scam is weakened when he falls in love with wealthy Blanche Amory (Mildred Harris). Our hero not only exposes the fraud, but saves the real heir from a life of crime. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joy Fielding (Gladys Leslie) falls victim to the maniacal medico Dr. Frederick Copin (John Sainpolis) who uses his hypnotic powers to change her personality. She becomes a man-hungry nymphette when under his spell and marries the doctor one day while under hypnosis. The next day she marries promising architect Chester Arnold (Malcolm McGregor) with no previous recollection of marrying Dr. Copin. The doctor falls victim to the ravenous hound dogs he regularly abused in this low-budget thriller. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Gladys Walton, who starred in many Universal Studios programmers in the early 1920s, was always good at playing working class girls. Here she's Mary Ann McKee, who's employed in an overall factory. As a joke, she slips a love letter into a pair of overalls, which eventually are purchased by Bill Carter, a country blacksmith (Edward Hearne). His friends send Mary Ann a letter, claiming that Carter is a millionaire in search of a bride, and sign his name. But Mary Ann is involved with Red Mike, a mean-tempered crook (George Cooper), and he doesn't find anything funny about the situation. He forces her to assist him in robbing a modiste's shop, but the police show up. Mary Ann manages to evade them, but Red Mike is captured and sent to prison. With him out of the way, Mary Ann packs her bags and heads for Carter. They end up falling in love and getting married. A baby completes their happiness. But then Red Mike gets out of prison and he comes looking for Mary Ann to take her back. She manages to bluff her way through the situation, and then he has a religious vision which inspires him to go straight. He realizes he has no place in Mary Ann's life and leaves her and Carter alone. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This routine circus drama was a typical rags-to-riches vehicle for minor Universal Studios star Gladys Walton. Nita Moore (Walton) travels around the country with her parents, who are circus performers. After their death, Nita finds herself at the mercy of the circus' vicious ring master, Pop Gifford (Frank Brownlee). To help her escape, gambler Runner Bayne (Matthew Betz) convinces an old couple, Colonel and Mrs. Wentworth (Herbert Standing and Edith Yorke), that Nita is their long-lost daughter. The Wentworths gladly welcome Nita home. All is going well until family lawyer Phillip Lessoway (Niles Welch) discovers that Nita is an impostor, and was just an orphaned circus girl. He accuses her of fraud, and Nita, who can't bear to return to the circus, decides to commit suicide. Lessoway saves her from killing herself and they fall in love. The understanding Colonel has come to love Nita like a daughter, and he gives the couple his blessing. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This comedy-drama starring Gladys Walton used the stale premise of the suddenly-wealthy working class family who are trying to move into society. Nora Schultz (Walton) is a manicurist in a Greek barber shop run by Standuppolus Kornpoppulus (Harry Mann). Her father, Herman (Otis Harlan), is a butcher who invents a sausage machine that makes the family rich overnight. The Van Bibbers (Emmett King and Henrietta Floyd) are a prominent family with financial troubles. They meet up with Schultz and his wife (the always-dependable character comedienne, Kate Price), and decide that Nora should be engaged to their son, Basil (Jerry Gendron). The young couple agree to the plan only for their parents' sake. Much to their surprise (but not the audience's), they fall in love. They try to hide their growing affection for each other, and Basil fakes being drunk in an attempt to get Nora to break the engagement. But eventually they confess their love and marry. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The titular wise kid of this five-reel comedy/drama is Rosie Cooper (Gladys Walton), the cashier in a modest restaurant, whose suitors include the good-hearted bakery boy Freddie Smith (David Butler). Rosie at first finds herself drawn to a more sophisticated beau but eventually comes to recognize his shallowness and accept the affection of the humble Freddie. Note actor (David Butler), who became a director of talkies and helmed memorable vehicles for such stars as Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel), Bob Hope (Caught in the Draft, The Princess and the Pirate), and Doris Day (Tea for Two, Calamity Jane). 22/5rl ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

Universal's Gladys Walton and her director, Rupert Julian, took on M'Liss, Bret Harte's 1863 tale of the taming of an unbridled mountain girl, and the result was plodding silent melodrama. The story had already been tackled by Barbara Tennant back in 1915 and, rather more memorably, by Mary Pickford two years later. No one had forgotten the Pickford version, and Universal hedged their bets by changing the title to The Girl Who Ran Wild. Orphaned when her father (Marc Robbins) is killed, the wild M'Liss takes up with the wrong crowd. Until, that is, she meets Vernon Steele, the handsome new schoolmaster who manages to clean her up and send her to school. But when the academician seems to be paying more attention to another girl (Lucille Ricksen), M'Liss runs off with the nasty Jack Velvet (Lloyd Whitlock. The schoolmaster catches up with the pair and proves his love for M'Liss in a climactic fight with the villain. Amazingly, the hoary story was given a fourth go-around by RKO in 1936 starring the more age-appropriate Anne Shirley. A live television version premiered in 1952. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This pleasant little programmer features minor Universal star Gladys Walton. Walton is Maisie O'Day, who lives in New York City's "little Ireland" and works as a shopgirl to help out her parents (Walter Perr and Kate Price). Her favorite pastime is reading romantic magazine stories (sort of the forerunner of today's romance novels), and when she sees a well-dressed young man getting thrashed in a brawl, she pictures him as Lord Lytton, the hero of one of these stories. She comes to his aid, only to discover that he is really just Tom Gilroy, a soda jerk (Jack Perrin). Romance blooms anyhow, and together they read the magazine installments about Lord Lytton's adventures. Gilroy is arrested for counterfeiting and Maisie, not knowing what to do, reads the latest episode of the tale to see if it will give her any insight. She uses the ploys she discovers to reveal Gilroy's boss as the guilty party, and to get Gilroy freed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Whole films had been written around song titles before, but it had been years since the ditty "Second Hand Rose" had been popular, and a revival wasn't likely. But then, Gladys Walton was one of Universal's lesser lights, so the studio probably wasn't trying exceptionally hard. Walton did, however, have a solid supporting cast here. Issac Rosenstein, a kind-hearted Jewish man who owns a second hand store (George B. Williams), adopts an Irish orphan, Rosie O'Grady (Walton). "Popa" Rosenstein's son Nat (Eddie Sutherland) works for a silk manufacturing company, and while delivering lunch to the young man, Rosie meets shipping clerk Terry O'Brien (Jack Dougherty). Nat, who's not a terribly ambitious sort, stops by the pool room while on his way home from his job and his cohorts there steal his shipping instructions. The goods are stolen, and Nat is sent to jail. An old Irishman, Tim McCarthy (Walter Perry), offers to help Nat out if Rosie will marry him. She agrees, only to discover that Nat is robbing his former employers. But then the truth comes out -- he was only pretending to be in league with his pool room pals so that he could trap them. All is well in the Rosenstein family, and McCarthy graciously hands Rosie back to O'Brien. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This picture takes the same basic premise as Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper and tailors it to minor Universal star Gladys Walton. Nora McShane (Walton) is the daughter of a violent drunk (Gordon McGregor). One day, while she is out fetching his beer, she wanders onto the Vanderfleet estate. Before the gardener can chase her off, she's seen by Beatrice Vanderfleet (Walton again), and the two girls realize how much they look alike. Since Nora hates her life, and Beatrice is bored with hers, they decide to exchange places. Beatrice, as Nora, is discovered right away by the drunk father, who decides to hold her for ransom. Nora, meanwhile, has a hard time fitting in as a Vanderfleet. The father's kidnap scheme is foiled and eventually the girl's true identities are established. Beatrice returns home, and Nora is adopted by the Vanderfleets. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Olga Petrova stars as Jean Servian, an artist specializing in tiny cameos. Warned that she will lose her eyesight if she persists in her chosen profession, Jean accepts the marriage proposal of wealthy widower Geoffrey Vane (Arthur Hoops), but only after telling him that she is wedding him for convenience. Given a free hand in conducting her private affairs, Jean carries on a romance with handsome young artist Philip Derblay (Pierre Le May). Finally decided that Philip is much too mercenary and callow for her tastes, Jean returns to her husband. Later on, Vane's grown daughter Lucille (Evelyn Brent) becomes infatuated with Philip. Hoping to save Lucille from throwing her life away, Jean tries to dissuade Philip, but when he laughs in her face, Jean shoots him down. During the subsequent trial, Jean is selflessly supported by her aging husband, whereupon she realizes that she is truly in love with him after all. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi