Mae Busch Movies
Australian-born Mae Busch was the daughter of an opera singer mother and a symphony conductor father. Her family came to the U.S. when Mae was 3 years old, and she was placed in a convent school while her parents toured the world. While still a teenager, Mae achieved stage stardom by replacing Lillian Lorraine in the musical comedy Over the River. In 1915 she became a Mack Sennett bathing beauty at the invitation of her close friend, Sennett-star Mabel Normand. Later, Mae was hired by Eric von Stroheim to play a lusty Spanish dancer in Stroheim's The Devil's Passkey. The director used her again in Foolish Wives (1922), casting Mae as the amoral--and fraudulent--Princess Vera. She was later signed by MGM, where she was billed as "the versatile vamp." Upset at the nondescript leading-lady roles she was getting, Mae walked out of her contract; this action caused producers to hesitate casting Mae in major productions. While free-lancing at second-rate studios, Mae accepted a comedy-vamp role in the Hal Roach 2-reeler Love 'Em and Weep (1927), which represented her first appearance with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Though she made an impressive sound feature-film debut in Roland West's Alibi (1929), the steely-voiced Ms. Busch's stardom had passed, and for the most part her talkie assignments were bits and secondary roles. Her best opportunities in the 1930s came in the films of Laurel and Hardy, where she was often cast as a shrewish wife or sharp-tongued "lady of the evening." In the team's Oliver the Eighth (1934), she essayed her most flamboyant role as an insane widow with a penchant for marrying and murdering any man named Oliver--which happened to be the first name of the hapless Mr. Hardy. Ms. Busch went into semi-retirement in the 1940s, occasionally resurfacing in small roles in such films as Ziegfeld Girl (1946); she died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Formerly married to silent-film star Francis McDonald, Mae Busch was also the aunt of 1960s leading lady Brenda Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1928
Lon Chaney Sr. eschews his trademarked makeup in the MGM crime melodrama While the City Sleeps. The plot is sparked by the misbehavior of heroine Myrtle (Anita Page), who enjoys rubbing shoulders with gangsters like Skeeter (Wheeler Oakman). When she learns too much about Skeeter's set-up, Myrtle is put on the spot by the mob. Crusty veteran police officer Dan (Lon Chaney) takes it upon himself to put Myrtle in "protective custody" in his own apartment. Old Dan falls in love with the girl, but at fadeout time he willingly gives up to likeable reformed gangster Marty (Carroll Nye). The film is a heady combination of standard cops-and-robbers fare and "low" humor, featuring several visual jokes centering around the policeman protagonist's sore feet. Mae Busch, Lon Chaney's leading lady in Unholy Three, shows up in a flashy supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Anita Page, (more)
- 1928
Director James W. Horne, best known today for his Laurel and Hardy comedies, called the shots on the inexpensive "emotional" drama Black Butterflies. Heroine Dorinda Maxwell (Jobyna Ralston) enters into a marriage of convenience, even though she cannot abide her new husband. In so doing, she is separated from her true love, David Goddard (Robert Frazer). Fate and the scriptwriters contrive to keep hero and heroine apart for the balance of the picture; at one point, Goddard is blinded in an auto accident. All turns out OK in the end except for the "heavy" of the piece, vampish Kitty Perkins (Mae Busch, likewise a future Laurel and Hardy "regular"), who must pay for her sins with her life. Black Butterflies reaches three possible endings, opting at last for the weakest of the three. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jobyna Ralston, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1928
Director Howard Hawks never attempted another Valentinoesque melodrama like Fazil. Beautiful Fabienne (Greta Nissen) is wooed and won by Arab sheik Fazil (Charles Farrell, who is a bit on the thin side for this role). He takes her off to his fabulous palace, where he holds her a virtual prisoner, refusing to let her see anyone else. Fabienne can't get over past loves -- nor can they get over her, as evidenced by their elaborate attempt to rescue her. Only when Fazil is mortally wounded by her rescuers does Fabienne realizes she's truly in love with him. She takes poison and dies by his side. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Farrell, Greta Nissen, (more)
- 1928
Sisters of Eve was based on The Tempting of Tavenake, a story by the prolific E. Phillips Oppenheim. Creighton Hale plays a naive young minister who falls under the spell of married temptress Betty Blythe. Supposedly a woman of independent means, Blythe is actually a four-flusher who keeps her wealthy husband doped up on cocaine so that he'll sign her checks with no questions asked. Only the timely intervention of his true love Anita Stewart saves Hale from becoming Blythe's next victim. The ending, in which hero and heroine find true happiness at last on a remote desert island, is vintage Oppenheim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Stewart, Betty Blythe, (more)
- 1927
Mae Busch's career was at its nadir when she starred in this low-budget political drama. Helen Hanby (Busch) weds governor John Rhodes (William Desmond) while he is in the midst of running for reelection. In his suitcase, Helen finds a portrait of her sister, who killed herself after being betrayed by a man in Europe. Helen immediately assumes that Rhodes is the guilty party and turns against him. She gives money to Rhodes' opponent and tries to wreck her husband's social standing. Finally, Rhodes' brother, Jimmy (Ray Hallor), finds out why Helen has turned into such a harpy and confesses that he was the one who had wronged her sister. Helen is devastated when she finds out that she has practically ruined the career of an innocent man whom she loves. Rhodes, however, understands her rash behavior and reveals that he still loves her and is willing to forgive. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Desmond, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1927
Although she is primarily remembered as a foil for the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch worked in films, from comedies to heavy dramas all throughout the late 1910s and '20s. She stars in this Universal "jewel," which was based on a novel by Gertrude Atherton, a popular author of the era. Ida Hook is an ambitious dance hall girl who meets up with Gregory, a struggling miner (Pat O'Malley). They marry and he strikes it rich. Ora Blake, a scheming society woman (Jane Winton), decides she wants Gregory for herself and invites Ida on a European trip in the hopes that she will fall for someone else. Ora makes Ida appear cold and mercenary, which causes a rift between the couple. When Ida learns her supposed friend's true nature, they have a fight in a mine shaft. The shaft begins to flood, and Ida winds up dragging Ora to safety. She and Gregory are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Confronted by a blackmailing former girlfriend (Mae Busch), recently wed businessman Titus Tillsbury (James Finlayson) is forced to quickly cover up when his suspicious new bride visits the office. In order to keep the old flame away from his home and the society party he's hosting that night, Tillsbury instructs one of his business associates, Romaine Ricketts (Stan Laurel), to keep her occupied. When the lady slips from Rickett's clumsy grasp and does crash the affair, Romaine quickly introduces her to everyone as his wife. The scheme crumbles as Ricketts' real wife shows up, joining Tillsbury's spouse in giving the two husbands everything that's coming to them. This film really features Laurel, with only a smattering of Hardy. Ollie, almost unrecognizable in thick glasses and handlebar moustache, has scant screen time as a befuddled party guest. This simple storyline, with most of the comedy material intact and Hardy stepping into Finlayson's part, was to become the basis of Chickens Come Home (1931), one of the team's classic sound films. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1927
Leon DeCosta's novel The Fruits of Divorce was the inspiration for San Francisco Nights. British actor Percy Marmont stars as attorney John Vickery, who gives up his practice and crawls into a booze bottle when his wife walks out on him. Vickery ends up a derelict in the Barbary Coast region of San Francisco, where he is "rescued" by Flo (Mae Busch), a golden-hearted saloon gal whom he'd previously saved from a prison term. Before long, Vickery has become a wealthy and powerful criminal lawyer, catering to the crime bosses of Frisco and throwing ethics to the four winds. Our hero finally reforms after he finds himself in the middle of a deadly gang war fomented by a weasel named "Flash" (George Stone). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Percy Marmont, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1927
Fading star Mae Busch and up-and-coming Jean Arthur play major roles in Husband Hunters. A variation of the old "Gold-Diggers of Broadway" formula, the story concerns the amorous exploits of chorus girls Marie (Busch) and Helen (Duane Thompson), who dedicate themselves to landing millionaire hubbies. The girls enlist innocent young Letty Crane (Jean Arthur), a small-town girl who hopes to make it big on Broadway, in their scheme. Sure enough, Letty's heart is broken by a no-good cad, but by fade-out time she is the only one of the three female protagonists who has found lasting romance. Mildred Harris, the former wife of Charlie Chaplin, appears in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Busch, Charles Delaney, (more)
- 1927
Louis J. Gasnier, whose directorial technique hadn't progressed much since his 1914 effort The Perils of Pauline, did rather better than expected in 1927's Beauty Shoppers. Young Peggy Raymond (Doris Hill) aspires to become a model, while art-gallery proprietor Maddox (Ward Crane) aspires to get his mitts on Peggy. When our heroine turns him down, Maddox frames Peggy for the theft of a painting. She is saved from prison through the efforts of handsome artist Dick Merwin (Thomas Haines). Mae Busch has all the best scenes as Peggy's gold-digging roommate who ends up with a rich husband and a passel of headaches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Busch, James Marcus, (more)
- 1926
Theodore Von Eltz and Robert Ober love their respective wives, Mae Busch and Marceline Day, but Busch loves only furs and jewels. Taking Day into her confidence, Busch instructs the girl in the subtle art of getting her husband Ober to indulge her every whim. But Day is more interested in her husband than in material possessions, so she forgets all about utilizing her feminine wiles and devotes herself to being a dutiful wife. Things don't work out so well for Busch, who comes to a sorry end when her husband Von Eltz finds her enjoying the favors of another man. Fools of Fashion was based on The Other Woman, a novel by George Randolph Chester. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marceline Day, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1926
This so-so comedy starring Edward Everett Horton is notable because his co-star, Mae Busch, plays a domineering wife -- the type of role she would become known for in the 1930s when she was foil to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Horatio Slipaway (Horton) is your classic hen-pecked husband who doesn't fare any better at the office. True to his name, he slips away from his home but before he can get very far, he is hit by a streetcar. He is given 500 dollars to settle his case, and he pretends to have lost his memory so he can use the money to start life all over again. He takes the name Pete Peters (of Peru), wins big in the stock market, and sets himself up in a new apartment. His wife, Martha (Busch), discovers him after believing he was dead. She decides she wants him back and does everything she can to make him return, including buying a new wardrobe with the insurance money she received upon his "death." Horatio, however, refuses to admit he is anyone but Pete Peters of Peru until Martha has him kidnapped. Pete is faced with a group of surgeons determined to bring him back to his senses, so he finally agrees that yes, he is Horatio, and the couple are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1926
Husband Huntley Gordon has convinced himself that he's the head of the household, but the viewer knows full well that wifey Mae Busch is the true power behind the throne. When the couple has a baby, Gordon soon realizes who's boss as his wife runs the house like an armed camp, ordering her husband to stick to the baby doctor's strict feeding, clothing, and burping regimen. Rebelling against the tyranny of Busch and her squalling tot, Gordon seeks solace elsewhere, only to get mixed up with a sharp safecracker (Ian Keith). In the end, the couple learns how to raise their baby without raising the roof. Audiences laughed immoderately at this minor domestic farce, and the critics were likewise amused. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huntly Gordon, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1925
What would normally have been a standard society drama is brightened up by good direction courtesy of Robert Z. Leonard, and by Theodore Kosloff, who plays Time dressed as a clown, and who comments on the events of the passing years. Nora Dakon (Mae Busch) leaves her husband and runs off with Larry Brundage (Lew Cody in his standard role), who has seduced her. Nora's husband dies and Brundage leaves her. Years pass and Nora becomes a renowned opera singer while her daughter, Ruth (Gertrude Olmstead), has grown up into a beautiful young woman. Brundage comes sniffing around again and decides he wants to get his hands on Ruth. In spite of Nora's attempts to stop him, he almost gets to marry Ruth. But finally, Nora puts herself and Brundage in a compromising situation, just so Ruth can discover them. Now that she finally understands what kind of man Brundage is, Ruth returns to her nice young suitor, Tom Cautley (Creighton Hale). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Australian actress Mae Busch was the Frivolous Sal of the title in this melodrama in a western setting. Saloon-owner Sal married a handsome actor (Eugene O'Brien), whose young son (Ben Alexander) mightily disapproved of. So did mine-foreman Tom Santschi, who wanted Sal all to himself and attempted to break up the marriage. There is a sub-plot concerning stolen gold, but true love once again wins out over avarice. Both Eugene O'Brien and Mae Busch were experiencing a career slump when this film was made, he due mainly to his advancing years, she because of a much-publicized affair with producer Mack Sennett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eugene O'Brien, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1925
Although Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning had made a couple of films together earlier in their careers, this unique melodrama marked the beginning of a string of chilling, macabre silent films, which included West of Zanzibar, The Unknown, and The Black Bird. Chaney is Echo, a sideshow ventriloquist. He cooks up a scam with two other members of the sideshow -- Hercules, the strong man (Victor McLaglen), and Tweedledee, a midget (Harry Earles). The three of them open up a bird store full of parrots that have impressive vocabularies -- but only when Echo, dressed as proprietress Granny O'Grady, is around. When the buyer takes the bird home and it won't talk, Granny comes around with a baby (Tweedledee in swaddling clothes). While "Granny" (using his powers of ventriloquism) coaxes the parrot into speaking, the midget cases the joint to see if there's anything worth robbing later. Trouble comes when they hire Hector, a simple soul (Matt Moore), as a clerk. Echo's pickpocket sweetheart, Rosie (Mae Busch) falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Hercules and Tweedledee murder a man while they're in the midst of one of their robberies. Hector is arrested for the crime while the others flee. To save Hector, Rosie finally agrees to give him up if Echo saves him. By throwing his voice, Echo makes Hector appear to give testimony which frees him. When Rosie goes to Echo, however, he sends her back to Hector, while he returns to the side show. His two cohorts meet their end when they run afoul of Echo's pet gorilla. This hugely successful film was remade as Chaney's first -- and last -- talkie. Harry Earles (who might also be remembered from his starring role in Freaks) reprises his role as Tweedledee. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1925
Mae Busch and Owen Moore star in this tale of redemption. Robert Morton (Moore) becomes involved with Dora Malcolm (Dorothy King), a grafter, and she encourages him to forge his father's name on a check. He is caught and his father (Burr McIntosh) allows him to go to jail. Two years later, Robert is released and he winds up down and out in a dive on the Barbary Coast. There he meets Camille (Busch), one of the women there, and she inspires him to straighten out his life. After much effort, he lands work and earns back his self-respect, all with Camille's love and encouragement. Morton senior seeks out his son to ask for forgiveness. He tries to convince Robert to leave Camille, but Robert refuses and claims that they are already married. Morton learns to appreciate everything that Camille has done for his boy, and he accepts both of them into his life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1924
The wooden performances by a usually fine cast of players suggest that the script to this melodrama -- based on the poem The Spell of the Yukon by Robert W. Service -- is to blame. Barbara LaMarr plays "the lady known as Lou," who is stuck performing in a divey South American cabaret where her husband, Jim (Percy Marmont), plays piano. When "Dangerous Dan" McGrew (Lew Cody) promises to put her name in lights on Broadway, Lou takes off with him, hoping to make enough money to send for Jim and their little boy (Philippe deLacy). Jim follows and catches up with McGrew in a New York nightclub. The two men fight it out and the place catches fire. Jim only narrowly escapes from the flames. McGrew takes Lou up to an Alaskan saloon, where she lures gamblers to his games. Jim shows up in Alaska and finally gives McGrew the fatal shot he deserves. When he discovers that Lou has been faithful to him this whole time, the couple is reunited. Service's poem was filmed once before, in 1915. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara La Marr, Lew Cody, (more)
- 1924
This famous old stage melodrama by Owen Davis is directed with a lot of spirit by Emmett J. Flynn and features a first rate cast. The overworked Robert Horton (Hobart Bosworth) convinces his friend Thomas Lipton (also played by Bosworth) to take his place for a year. Mrs. Horton (Dorothy Cummings) goes on vacation and her five-year-old daughter, Allyn (Betsy Ann Hisle), is left in Lipton's care. Horton comes back and, in an argument, tries to shoot Lipton. Lipton runs off, taking the child along with him, who he raises as Nellie. When she reaches young womanhood, Lipton falls ill and Nellie (now played by Claire Windsor) finds a job as a cloak model with the help of her friend, Polly Joy (Mae Busch). The shop where Nellie works is run by Walter Peck (Lew Cody), her mother's cousin. He will receive her fortune if her lost daughter is never found. When he discovers that Nellie is the missing girl, he kidnaps her and hires two thugs to tie her to the tracks of an elevated train. That same day, Horton dies, and Lipton urges Mrs. Horton to come for her long lost daughter. Coincidentally, she and Polly are travelling on the very train that is headed for Nellie's unconscious body. But Nellie is saved in the nick of time and is happily reunited with her mother. The surprise ending reveals that the whole film was actually a play being performed in a theater. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Windsor, Betsy Ann Hisle, (more)
- 1924
After seeing their mother (Eugenie Besserer) struggle to eke out a meager existence for her family, her daughters Jeanette (Mae Busch) and Alice (Wanda Hawley) take different paths. Jeanette finds work as a stenographer, while Alice marries a poor workman and gives birth to a brood of children. Jeanette has a suitor, Martin Devlin (Robert W. Frazer), but she turns him down until she is unfairly named co-respondent in her boss' divorce case. To save herself from scandal, Jeanette marries Devlin and tries to settle down. She is miserable over losing her independence, and Devlin's extravagant ways are no help. Jeanette finally decides to leave her husband and return to the working world. She is no happier there, and when she sees how happy Alice is as a stay-at-home mom -- poor as she is -- Jeanette reconciles with Devlin. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Busch, Robert W. Frazer, (more)
- 1924
This powerful drama, based on the novel The Master of Man, by Sir Hall Caine, was the first time Swedish director Victor Sjorstrom made a film in America. When her stepfather (De Witt Jennings) locks her out of the house, Bessie Collister (Mae Busch) finds refuge with Victor Stowell (Conrad Nagel), who she had met earlier that evening at a dance. They spend the night together and Stowell decides he must marry her instead of his fiancee, Fennella Stanley (Patsy Ruth Miller). When he goes to tell his father, the deemster (a judicial officer on the Isle of Man, where the action takes place), Stowell finds him dead. Victor's friend, Alick Gell (Creighton Hale), falls in love with Bessie, but runs home to her mother (Evelyn Selbie) after finding out she is pregnant. Stowell becomes deemster in his father's place, and his first case is Bessie, who is accused of killing her baby. Although Gell defends Bessie, she is sentenced to die. Stowell helps Bessie escape from jail, and she runs away with Gell. Enraged at Bessie's escape, am mob gathers and Stowell admits to being the man who helped her -- and that he is the father of her dead child. He gets a two-year prison sentence, but Fennella has forgiven him his transgression, and meets him at the prison where they are married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hobart Bosworth, Creighton Hale, (more)
- 1924
A very young Norma Shearer and a fine supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou and Mae Busch all suffered from a hackneyed screenplay in this silent society melodrama from Metro-Goldwyn, the forerunner of MGM. Shearer plays Grace Durland, a debutante forced to leave college when her father (George Fawcett) goes bankrupt. Reduced to working for a living, Grace falls in love with married Ward Trenton (James Kirkwood), whose disagreeable wife (Winifred Bryson) refuses to grant him a divorce. But when Ward sustains severe injuries in a car accident and may not be able to work again, Mrs. Trenton promptly begins divorce proceedings. Happily, Ward makes a full recovery and proposes to Grace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1924
Pauline Frederick stars in this romance, based on the Louis Joseph Vance novel Mrs. Paramor. Nelly (Frederick) is so intent on her writing career, that she neglects her appearance and her husband, Wayne (Huntly Gordon). Jill Wetherell (Mae Busch), who is looking for a rich husband, finds Wayne to be easy prey and Nelly catches them together. She divorces Wayne and travels to Europe. Jill, however, throws Wayne over for Perley Rex (Conrad Nagel). Nelly becomes a writer of note under the pseudonym Mrs. Paramor. She also takes advantage of her easy access to the latest Paris fashions and becomes a truly stylish and beautiful woman. Along the way, she meets Rex and discovers he is married to Jill. They all take the same ship back to the States, and while Jill is seasick in her room, Nelly steals Rex's affection. When Jill goes to "the other woman" to beg for her husband, she is surprised to see that it's Nelly. Nelly lets Jill have Rex, but she realizes she has never stopped loving Wayne. She calls for him, and they are reunited. One novel scene near the end of the film shows Nelly hosting a banquet and mahjong party which is attended by an impressive group of movie stars, including Mae Murray, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Aileen Pringle, and many others; all of them, of course, signed to Metro-Goldwyn, the studio that released the picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauline Frederick, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1924
In spite of the depressing, often tragic, circumstances in this drama, director Finis Fox somehow managed to add in comic relief featuring the likes of Hank Mann, Snitz Edwards, Cissy Fitzgerald, and Hugh Fay. Wall Street operator and all-around bad guy Morgan Wallace has his wife (Irene Rich) locked up in an insane asylum so that he can live the life of a carefree bachelor. He decides he wants to get his hands on the wife (Mae Busch) of a minister (Lucien Littlefield) and convinces her to join him for a yacht party. When the ship leaves port and the wife is forced to spend the night on board, she feels that she has been disgraced and leaves home so that her husband and child believe she has died. Fifteen years later, she gets her revenge on the man who wronged her by having him sent to prison for defrauding the government. When he is released, he is murdered by his own wife (proving that perhaps she was a little crazy after all). The son of the minister (Rex Lease), who joins the clergy himself, is instrumental in bringing his mother back to the family. In a coincidental note, Rex Lease studied for the ministry before becoming an actor. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Wallace, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1924
Although she's best known for her work in comedies, especially for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, Mae Busch starred in quite a few dramas throughout most of the 1920s. Here she is Marjorie Stockton, a fickle flapper who has loads of suitors. She won't give any of them the time of day, however, until she meets her match in the equally fickle Monte Covington (Frank Mayo). He shows no interest in her until, on a trip to California, he saves her from the unwanted advances of Teddy Hamilton (Lloyd Whitlock). Marjorie and Covington wind up getting married, but when one of her former suitors, Peter Noyes (Elliot Dexter), temporarily goes blind, she offers him her support and friendship. Both Hamilton and Covington believe she has fallen in love with Noyes. Marjorie sincerely loves her new husband and they reconcile. Hamilton, however, is furious that he has lost out and he shoots the couple. Their wounds are not serious and while they recuperate they confirm their love for each other. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
