ZaSu Pitts was an American actress whose career spanned nearly five decades, starring in many silent film dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic Greed, and comedies, before transitioning successfully to mostly comedy roles with the advent of sound films. She also appeared on numerous radio shows and, later, made her mark on television. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 at 6554 Hollywood Blvd.
42nd Street is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon, with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starred an ensemble cast of Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, and Ginger Rogers.
Dames is a 1934 Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert. Production numbers and songs include "When You Were a Smile on Your Mother's Lips ", "The Girl at the Ironing Board", "I Only Have Eyes for You", "Dames" and "Try to See It My Way".
Dorothy Michelle Provine was an American singer, dancer and actress. Born in 1935 in Deadwood, South Dakota, she grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was hired in 1958 by Warner Bros., after which she first starred in The Bonnie Parker Story and played many roles in TV series. During the 1960s, Provine starred in series such as The Alaskans and The Roaring Twenties, and her major roles in movies included It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Good Neighbor Sam (1964) with Jack Lemmon, That Darn Cat! (1965), Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966), Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), and Never a Dull Moment (1968) with Dick Van Dyke and Edward G. Robinson. In 1968, Provine married the film and television director Robert Day and mostly retired. She died of emphysema on April 25, 2010, in Bremerton, Washington.
Dorothy Mackaill was a British-American actress, most active during the silent-film era and into the pre-Code era of the early 1930s.
Bright Lights, later retitled Adventures in Africa, is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It premiered in Los Angeles in July 1930 but was edited and rereleased in early 1931. Although it was photographed entirely in Technicolor, the only surviving print is in black and white. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Frank Fay, Noah Beery and Frank McHugh. It also features the screen debut of John Carradine, who appears in a small, uncredited role.
The Office Wife is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie debut for Joan Blondell who would become one of the major Warner Bros. stars for the following nine years.
Pretty Ladies is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film starring ZaSu Pitts and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is a fictional recreation of the famed Ziegfeld Follies. Directed by Monta Bell, the film was written by Alice D. G. Miller and featured intertitles by Joseph Farnham. Pretty Ladies originally featured musical color sequences, some in two-color Technicolor. However, the color sequences are now considered lost.
Better Times is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by King Vidor. A print survives in the EYE Institut Filmmuseum Nederlands. Produced by the Brentwood Corporation, the film stars the then unknown Zasu Pitts in an early screen appearance.
Poor Relations is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor. Produced by the Brentwood Corporation, the film starred Vidor’s wife Florence Vidor and featured comedienne Zasu Pitts.
Rhythm in the Clouds is a 1937 American film directed by John H. Auer.
The Flirting Widow is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams and Claude Gillingwater. It was produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
The Great Divide is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Dorothy Mackaill. Released in both silent and sound versions, it was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. The film is a remake of The Great Divide, made at MGM in 1925 and also directed by Barker. There was another remake in 1931 as the full sound film Woman Hungry. All three films are based on the 1906 Broadway play The Great Divide by William Vaughn Moody.
The Squall is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Myrna Loy, Richard Tucker, Alice Joyce and Loretta Young, and based on the 1926 play The Squall by Jean Bart.
Her Private Life is a surviving 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Billie Dove, Walter Pidgeon and Holmes Herbert. The plot concerns an English aristocrat who causes a scandal when she divorces her husband and runs off with a young American. The film had been considered a lost film. However, in July 2016, according to the Library of Congress, the film was found in an Italian archive.
The Reckless Hour is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, H.B. Warner and Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures, which was controlled by Warner Brothers. It was based on the play Ambush by Arthur Richman.
Strictly Modern is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Dorothy Mackaill and Sidney Blackmer. It was produced and released by First National Pictures and was based on the play, entitled Cousin Kate, written by Hubert Henry Davies.
Naughty but Nice is a 1939 Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright, starring Dick Powell and Ann Sheridan and featuring Gale Page, Ronald Reagan, and Helen Broderick, with Allen Jenkins, ZaSu Pitts, and Maxie Rosenbloom in supporting roles. The original story and screenplay were written by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald, and the film includes songs with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, as well as music adapted from Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Mozart, Robert Schumann, and Wagner. Ann Sheridan did her own singing in the film, except for song "In a Moment of Weakness", in which she was dubbed by Vera Van.
Mexican Spitfire at Sea is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Leslie Goodwins and written by Charles E. Roberts and Jerry Cady. It is the fourth film in the Mexican Spitfire series, which began in 1939. The film stars Lupe Vélez, Leon Errol, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, ZaSu Pitts, Elisabeth Risdon, and Florence Bates. The film was released on March 13, 1942, by RKO Radio Pictures.
Mr. Skitch is a 1933 American comedy film directed by James Cruze and written by Sonya Levien and Ralph Spence. The film stars Will Rogers, Rochelle Hudson, ZaSu Pitts, Florence Desmond, Harry Green and Charles Starrett. The film was released on December 22, 1933, by Fox Film Corporation.
