Loretta Young Movies

A baby is washed up on shore, and a wealthy couple, the Stanhopes (Sydney Deany and Helen Wright) take her in and raise her. She is named Lorelei and grows up to be a pretty girl (played by Louise Lovely). One afternoon, she goes swimming with a group of her friends. Two young men, David (Jack Mulhall) and Boyce William Quinn), are on a cruise, and when they see the scantily-clad girls in the water, they decide to stop and stick around for a while. David and Lorelei fall in love, arousing the jealousy of Boyce and Lorelei's friend Julie (Carmel Myers). One evening, David and Lorelei are chasing each other around and Lorelei falls over a cliff. After a desperate search, David falls into an exhausted sleep. He has a dream loaded with a lot of strange allegorical images before waking up and finally finding his girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This romantic costumed adventure is the film that cemented Rudolph Valentino's reputation as a legendary screen lover. Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan (Valentino) takes Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayers) to his camp when he finds the beauty in the desert. Although drawn to the Sheik, Lady Diana is able to resist his amorous advances. When his former French school chum Raoul de Saint Herbert (Adolphe Menjou) convinces him to let Diana go free, she is kidnapped by the villainous Omair (Walter Long), who promises her a fate worse than death. The heroic Sheik and his army save Diana from suicide, but he is severely wounded in the melee. Diana helps the Sheik regain his strength after he saves her and she vows her everlasting love to her British-educated hero. Reviewers at the time of the film's release were very critical of the film and the performance of Valentino, suggesting the public should ask the film to be censored as it was morally objectionable. Paramount Pictures thought the film would go nowhere fast, but millions of women made Valentino an international heartthrob. Many fainted at the initial showing of the film, and Rudolph Valentino eclipsed Wallace Reid in popularity. Over 70 years after his death, Rudolph Valentino is still remembered as the first male superstar to have a direct and lasting impact on female viewers, and the word "sheik" became as synonymous with Valentino as the word "vamp" was associated with the exotic Theda Bara. Watch for seven-year-old Loretta Young in a bit part. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Naughty But Nice was based on The Bigamists, a story by Lewis Alen Brown. Gawky country girl Berenice Summers (Colleen Moore) is catapulted head-first into High Society when her Uncle Seth (Burr McIntosh) strikes oil. Shipped off to a fancy boarding school, Berenice suffers at the hands of her snooty classmates, but the last straw comes when she's publicly humiliated by local wise-guy Paul Carroll (Donald Reed). Attending her first formal dance, the now-beautified Berenice crosses Paul's path again. He is smitten by this duckling-turned-swan, but now she wants to have nothing to do with him -- or at least that's what she claims. So what does this all have to do with bigamists? Well, it seems that Berenice is a chronic liar, and somewhere along the line she claims to be married to two different men at once, leading to trouble aplenty for her ersatz husbands and nearly losing her the affections of Paul, with whom she's fallen in love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fifteen-year-old Loretta Young is 45-year-old Lon Chaney's winsome leading lady in Laugh, Clown, Laugh. Based on the war-horse stage piece by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, the film casts Chaney as (what else?) an aging circus clown, who adopts an orphaned girl and falls in love with her when she grows up. Alas-and not surprisingly-the girl loves another, prompting Chaney to perform a suicidal circus stunt, freeing her to marry the man she truly cares about (Nils Asther). Chaney had been here before, having played a similar role opposite Norma Shearer in 1924's He Who Gets Slapped. Though widely touted as Loretta Young's film debut, she had actually made earlier appearances with her sisters as a child extra. A silent film, Laugh Clown Laugh was released with a musical sound track, which highlighted the hit title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still in the Hollywood phase of his career, director Alexander Korda made his talking-picture bow with Warner Bros.' The Squall. Myrna Loy stars as Nubi, a sexy and seductive Hungarian gypsy girl who is caught in a torrential downpour. Taking refuge in a farmhouse, Nubi wreaks havoc on the male occupants, all of whom violently vie for her attentions. In other words, the film's title is both literal and symbolic. Loretta Young appears in the secondary role of Irma, sweetheart of emotional young farmer Paul Lajos (Carrol Nye). The Squall was based on a play by Jean Bart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Careless Age was based on Diversion, a play by John Van Druten. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays Wyn, a headstrong young British aristocrat whose escapades cause no end of headaches for his father Sir John (Holmes Herbert). Although married to Muriel (Loretta Young), Wyn begins courting a gold-digging musical comedy actress named Ray (Carmel Myers). But when our hero is falsely accused of murder, Muriel stands nobly by his side. The film suffers from the usual early-talkie deficiencies, but the performances -- especially from the younger members of the cast -- are vibrant and enthusiastic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

17-year-old Loretta Young is as cute as all get out in Road to Paradise. This compensates for the fact that Young isn't quite up to the dramatic demands of the script. She plays a dual role, as a society deb and her twin sister. Looking for thrills, Young ties up with a couple of crooks (Raymond Hatton and George Barraud), and ends up robbing her own sister's house. Ms. Young's leading man is the personable Jack Mulhall, in one of his last sizeable talkie roles. Road to Paradise was adapted by F. Hugh Herbert from a play by Dodson Mitchell and Zelda Sears. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a man and woman have been corresponding through a "personal" column under the names Lord Strawberries and Lady Grapefruit. When the man's neighbor is found dead upstairs, he and the lady are the prime suspects of a police inspector, who has his own very good reason for blaming them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The difference between social classes provides the basis for this comedy. The trouble begins when a drunken sot wanders into the fancy home of a woman who is hosting a gala dinner. She had invited 13 guests, and so hired Blankely's, a professional company to send her a sophisticated 14th guest. Naturally she mistakes the drunk for the hired guest and invites him to dine. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Truth About Youth is the third film version of Henry V. Esmond's play, When We Were Twenty-One. Richard Dane (David Manners) is turning twenty-one, and his guardian, Dick Carewe (Conway Tearle) has arranged a nice surprise party for him. Unfortunately, Richard (nicknamed "Imp") never shows up for the party, as he is celebrating in his own wild and free way. This includes visiting a nightclub where the seductive Kara (Myrna Loy) holds forth. Kara has a habit of toying with the affections of young men until she gets bored with them -- which is usually when their money runs out. Not knowing that Richard has no money, Kara quickly becomes involved with him. This does not sit well with Carewe, who hopes to arrange a marriage between his Richard and the sweet, simple Phyllis (Loretta Young), daughter of his housekeeper. Unbeknownst to Carewe, however, Phyllis is in love with him, despite the fact that he is much older than she. Matters become complicated when Richard marries Kara, only to be thrown out by her when she discovers his true financial status. Carewe continues his efforts to bring Richard and Phyllis together, but Phyllis finally makes her true feelings known, and she and Carewe finally get together. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide