Elda Furry, known professionally as Hedda Hopper, was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, more than 35 million people read her columns. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings, Hopper named suspected Communists and was a major proponent of the Hollywood blacklist. Hopper continued to write her gossip column until her death in 1966. Her work appeared in many magazines and later on radio. She had an extended feud with Louella Parsons, an arch-rival and fellow gossip columnist.
Laura La Plante was an American film actress, whose more notable performances were in the silent era.
Ann Blyth is a retired American actress and singer. She began her career in radio as a child before transitioning to Broadway, where she appeared in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine (1941–42). Blyth signed with Universal Studios in the 1940s and made her film debut in Chip Off the Old Block (1944), followed by a series of musical comedies. Her breakout role came in Mildred Pierce (1945), where she played the scheming Veda Pierce, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Keeper of the Flame is a 1942 American drama film directed by George Cukor, and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is adapted from the 1942 novel Keeper of the Flame by I. A. R. Wylie. Hepburn plays the widow of a famous civic leader who has died in an accident. Tracy portrays a former war correspondent who intends to write a flattering biography of the dead man, only to find that his death is shrouded in mystery. Screenwriter Stewart considered the script the finest moment of his career, feeling vindicated by the assignment as he believed that Hollywood had punished him for years for his political views. Principal filming began in the last week of August 1942, four months after the release of the novel, published by Random House. The picture was filmed on a sound stage, with no location shooting. Hepburn had already begun a relationship with Tracy, and his heavy drinking led her to become his vigilant guardian during the filming.
The Last Warning is a 1928 sound part-talkie American mystery film directed by Paul Leni, and starring Laura La Plante, Montagu Love, and Margaret Livingston. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The film apparently only survives in a cut-down edited silent version which was made for theaters that had not yet converted to sound. The soundtrack for the sound version, which was also released on sound-on-disc format, survives in private hands on Vitaphone type discs.
The Last Sunset is a 1961 American Western film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, and Dorothy Malone.
Man of the Moment is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Laura La Plante and Margaret Lockwood. It was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film's art direction was by Peter Proud.
Pamela Wynne is the pseudonym of Winifred Mary Scott, née Watson, a British writer of over 60 romantic novels from 1923 until her death in 1959.
Andy Hardy Comes Home is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Howard W. Koch. It is the 16th and final film in the Andy Hardy series, with Mickey Rooney reprising his signature role. It was produced 12 years after the previous Hardy film, and was an attempt to revive what had once been an enormously popular film series. Because the film fell short of box office projections, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not continue the Andy Hardy series.
Skinner's Dress Suit is a 1926 American silent comedy film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and starring Reginald Denny. William Seiter was the director of the film which was based on the 1916 novel of the name by Henry Irving Dodge. Laura La Plante and Hedda Hopper co-star in this comedy which has seen video and DVD releases.
The Isle of Conquest is a 1919 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge and produced by Talmadge and her husband Joseph Schenck. The film is now considered lost.
Dangerous Innocence is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film written by Lewis Milestone and James O. Spearing based upon the 1923 novel Ann's an Idiot by Pamela Wynne. Directed by William A. Seiter for Universal Pictures, the film starred Laura La Plante and Eugene O'Brien.
Sadie Love is a 1919 American silent comedy film distributed by Paramount Pictures and directed by John S. Robertson. It is based on a 1915 stage play of the same name by Avery Hopwood and stars Billie Burke in the title role. In the play, Marjorie Rambeau played the Burke part.
Pagan Love Song is a 1950 American romantic musical film released by MGM and starring Esther Williams and Howard Keel. Set in Tahiti, it was based on the novel Tahiti Landfall by William S. Stone.
Her Big Night is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Melville W. Brown and written by Brown, Rex Taylor, and Nita O'Neil. It is based on the 1925 short story, Doubling for Lora, by Peggy Gaddis that was originally serialized in Breezy Stories magazine. The film stars Laura La Plante in dual role, Einar Hanson, and Zasu Pitts. The film was released on December 5, 1926 by Universal Pictures under their 'Jewel' banner.
Butterfly is an extant 1924 American silent romantic drama film feature directed by Clarence Brown and starring Kenneth Harlan, Laura La Plante, and Norman Kerry. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Butterflies in the Rain is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Edward Sloman and starring Laura La Plante, James Kirkwood and Dorothy Cumming. The film is set in England and is based on a novel of the same name by the British writer Andrew Soutar.
The Midnight Sun is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Laura La Plante, Pat O'Malley, and Michael Vavitch. It is based on a novel by the French writer Pierre Benoît. The film is set in pre-Revolutionary Tsarist Russia.
Pat O'Malley was an American vaudeville and stage performer prior to starting a prolific film career at the age of sixteen. He later had a career in television.
