Grover Aloysius Whalen (1886–1962) was a prominent politician, businessman, and public relations guru in New York City during the 1930s and 1940s.
"Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers movie At the Circus (1939) and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes. It subsequently appeared in the movie The Philadelphia Story (1940), sung by Virginia Weidler as Dinah Lord.
Dolores Costello was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen" by her first husband, the actor John Barrymore. She was the mother of John Drew Barrymore and grandmother of actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore.
Virginia Anna Adeleid Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.
Babes on Broadway is a 1941 American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put on their own show, following Babes in Arms (1939) and Strike Up the Band (1940). Songs in the film include "Babes on Broadway" by Burton Lane (music) and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (lyrics), and "How About You?" by Lane with lyrics by Ralph Freed, the brother of producer Arthur Freed. The movie ends with a minstrel show performed by the main cast in blackface.
Helene Costello was an American stage and film actress, most notably of the silent era.
Noah's Ark is a 1928 American epic and disaster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Dolores Costello and George O'Brien. The story is by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film was released by the Warner Bros. studio. It is representative of the transition from silent movies to sound films, but it is essentially a hybrid film known as a part-talkie, which used the new Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. Most scenes are silent with a synchronized music score and sound effects, in particular the biblical ones, while some scenes have dialogue.
The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926 becoming Warner Brothers' highest grossing film. The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale. However, the film alters the novel's plotline by establishing prequel and sequel elements that are not in the original story—such as the romancing of Esther and Ahab's safe return, respectively—and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one. Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel. The film was so successful that in 1930 Warner Bros redid it in English and German, under the title Moby Dick, with Joan Bennett taking the role of Ahab's love because Dolores Costello was pregnant at the time.
Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1936 American drama film based on the 1886 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, and C. Aubrey Smith. The first film produced by David O. Selznick's Selznick International Pictures, it was the studio's most profitable film until Gone with the Wind. The film is directed by John Cromwell.
Henry Goes Arizona is a 1939 American Western film starring Frank Morgan.
The Rookie Cop is a 1939 film directed by David Howard and starring Tim Holt as a rookie cop who wants to prove his friend wasn't involved with a robbery. The film also stars Virginia Weidler, Janet Shaw, Frank M. Thomas, and Muriel Evans.
Lancer Spy is a 1937 American thriller film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Dolores Del Rio and George Sanders. Its plot concerns an Englishman who impersonates a German officer and a female German spy who falls in love with him.
The Third Degree is a 1926 American silent romance film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz, in his first American film, Starring Dolores Costello, it is based on the hit 1909 play of the same name written by Charles Klein that starred Helen Ware.
Tenderloin is a 1928 American part-talkie crime film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Dolores Costello. While the film was a part-talkie, it was mostly a silent film with a synchronized musical score and sound effects on Vitaphone discs. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. Tenderloin is considered a lost film, with no prints currently known to exist.
Glad Rag Doll is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Dolores Costello, Ralph Graves and Audrey Ferris. This is one of many lost films of the 1920s, no prints or Vitaphone discs survive, but the song with the same title and the trailer survives. The film's working title was Alimony Annie, but was changed match the title song. The song is both played and sung throughout the soundtrack.
Madonna of Avenue A is a 1929 pre-Code drama film directed by Michael Curtiz. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It starred Dolores Costello in one of her first sound films. This is reportedly a lost film.
The Little Irish Girl is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dolores Costello. Based on the story The Grifters, written by Edith Joan Lyttleton, it is considered to be a lost film.
I'll Wait for You is a 1941 American drama film directed by Robert B. Sinclair and written by Guy Trosper. The film stars Robert Sterling, Marsha Hunt, Virginia Weidler, Paul Kelly, Fay Holden and Henry Travers. A re-make of the 1934 film Hide-Out, it was released on May 16, 1941, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Persons in Hiding is a 1939 American crime film directed by Louis King and written by William R. Lipman and Horace McCoy. The film stars Lynne Overman, Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish, William "Bill" Henry, Helen Twelvetrees and William Frawley. The film was released on February 10, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
Whispering Enemies is a 1939 American drama film directed by Lewis D. Collins and starring Jack Holt, Dolores Costello and Addison Richards.
