Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic screen presence and versatility. She was a favorite of directors, including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra, and made 85 films in 38 years before turning to television.
Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a star on the New York stage, the repercussions of her involvement in a weight loss scam motivated her to switch careers to the film business. Spending several years in California appearing in numerous productions, she eventually formed her own company.
The following is an overview of 1927 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Ann Sothern was an American actress who worked on stage, radio, film, and television, in a career that spanned nearly six decades. Sothern began her career in the late 1920s in bit parts in films. In 1930, she made her Broadway stage debut and soon worked her way up to starring roles. In 1939, MGM cast her as Maisie Ravier, a brash yet lovable Brooklyn showgirl. The character proved to be popular and spawned a successful film series and a network radio series.
The Whales of August is a 1987 American drama film directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Bette Davis and Lillian Gish as elderly sisters. Also in the cast were Ann Sothern as one of their friends, and Vincent Price as a peripheral member of the former Russian aristocracy. The story is based on the play of the same title by David Berry.
Daniel Frohman was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.
Meet John Doe is a 1941 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film is about a "grassroots" political campaign created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist with the involvement of a hired homeless man and pursued by the paper's wealthy owner. It became a box-office hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story. It was ranked No. 49 in AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Cheers. In 1969, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. It was the first of two features Capra made for Warner Brothers, after he left Columbia Pictures, the other being Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).
Lottie Williams was an American character actress whose career spanned both the silent and sound film eras.
Gold Diggers of 1935 is an American musical film directed and choreographed by Busby Berkeley, his first time as a film's overall director. It stars Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh, and features Joseph Cawthorn, Grant Mitchell, Dorothy Dare, and Winifred Shaw. The songs were written by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film is best known for its famous "Lullaby of Broadway" production number. That song, sung by Shaw, also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The screenplay was by Manuel Seff and Peter Milne, based on a story by Robert Lord, who also produced the film, and Milne.
Rexford Raymond "Rex" Cherryman was an American actor of the stage and screen whose career was most prolific during the 1920s.
John Boles was an American singer and actor best known for playing Victor Moritz in the 1931 film Frankenstein.
Variety Girl is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Among many others, the studio contract players include Gary Cooper, Alan Ladd, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Barbara Stanwyck and Paula Raymond.
The Noose is a 1926 play in three acts written by Willard Mack. It is a melodrama, with a large cast, fast pacing, and two settings. The story tells of a young man condemned for the murder of a fellow bootlegger, and his refusal to explain why he did it.
Barbara Stanwyck was a prolific American actress and dancer who appeared in a total of 95 theatrically released full-length motion pictures. Orphaned before she was old enough to attend school, she became fascinated by the burgeoning film industry, and actress Pearl White in particular, whom she would mimic on the playgrounds. "Pearl White was my goddess, and her courage, her grace, and her triumphs lifted me out of this world."
There's Always Tomorrow is a 1956 American romantic melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett. The screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld was adapted from the novel of the same name by Ursula Parrott. The plot concerns a man's unhappiness with his domestic life and romantic relationship with a former employee. The film was produced by Ross Hunter for Universal Pictures, which had also produced the 1934 adaptation of Parrott's novel. It was released in the United States on January 8, 1956.
The Locked Door is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice, and starring Rod LaRocque, Barbara Stanwyck, William "Stage" Boyd and Betty Bronson. It is based on the 1919 play The Sign on the Door by Channing Pollock. The play was first adapted for the screen in 1921 as The Sign on the Door, starring Norma Talmadge. It was Stanwyck's first starring role and first talking film.
Dulcy is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Sidney A. Franklin and starring Constance Talmadge. The film was adapted from the Broadway production of the same name written by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. The play opened in New York in August 1921 and ran for 241 performances.
Rose-Marie is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Lucien Hubbard. It was the first of three Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adaptations of the 1924 operetta Broadway musical Rose-Marie. The best-known film adaptation starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald was released in 1936; another film was released in 1954. All three versions are set in the Canadian wilderness.
The Auctioneer is a 1927 American silent comedy drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring George Sidney, Marian Nixon and Gareth Hughes. It was originally planned for Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell to appear in supporting roles in the film, before both had become stars by that point and other actors were cast. The film was adapted from a (1901) David Belasco stage play of the same name which starred David Warfield.
Charlotte Ives Boissevain, born Charlotte Danziger, was an American actress who appeared on Broadway and in silent films.
