Bad Girl is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Sally Eilers, James Dunn, and Minna Gombell. The screenplay was adapted by Edwin J. Burke from the 1928 novel by Viña Delmar and the 1930 play by Delmar and Brian Marlowe. The plot follows the courtship and marriage of two young, working-class people and the misunderstandings that result from their not having learned to trust and communicate with one another. The film propelled then-unknown actors Eilers and Dunn to stardom. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Jason Nelson Robards Jr. was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting.
Florence Turner was an American actress who became known as the "Vitagraph Girl" in early silent films.
Sally Blane was an American actress who appeared in more than 100 movies.
Jason Nelson Robards was an American stage and screen actor, and the father of actor Jason Robards Jr. Robards appeared in many films, initially as a leading man, then in character roles and occasional bit parts. Most of his final roles were in television.
Mother Machree is a 1928 American sound drama film, directed by John Ford, based on the 1924 work The Story of Mother Machree by Rida Johnson Young about a poor Irish immigrant in America. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. Rida Johnson Young had invented Mother Machree in the stage show Barry of Ballymoore in 1910. John Wayne had a minor role in the film.
Dorothea Sally Eilers was an American actress.
Spite Marriage is a 1929 American sound comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last film without audible dialogue, although he had wanted it to be a "talkie" or full sound film. Keaton later wrote gags for some up-and-coming MGM stars like Red Skelton, and from this film recycled many gags, some shot-for-shot, for Skelton's 1943 film I Dood It.
On Trial is a 1928 American talking drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., and directed by Archie Mayo. The film starred Pauline Frederick, Lois Wilson, Bert Lytell, Holmes Herbert, and Jason Robards. The film is based on the 1914 Broadway play of the same name by Elmer Rice. A silent version of the film was also released on December 29, 1928.
The Battle of the Sexes is a 1928 American sound comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film starred Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, and Sally O'Neil. It was released by United Artists. The film was a remake by Griffith of an earlier film he directed in 1914, which starred Lillian Gish. Both films are based on the novel The Single Standard by Daniel Carson Goodman; the story was adapted for this production by Gerrit J. Lloyd.
The Cohens and Kellys is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray, George Sidney, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the Cohens and Kellys film serials. The film is perhaps best known today as the subject of Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., a copyright infringement case, in which Judge Learned Hand articulated the doctrine that copyright protection does not cover the characteristics of stock characters in a story.
Broadway Babies, aka Broadway Daddies (UK) and Ragazze d'America (Italy), is a 1929 all-talking Pre-Code black and white American musical film produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starred Alice White and Charles Delaney. This was White's first sound film with dialogue.
The Gamblers is a 1929 American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring H.B. Warner, Lois Wilson and Jason Robards Sr. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is considered to be a lost film.
Tracked by the Police is a 1927 silent film produced and distributed by the Warner Bros. with a story written by Darryl Zanuck. It stars dog actor Rin Tin Tin. Ray Enright directed with 'Rinty's' costars being Jason Robards, Sr. and Virginia Brown Faire. The film may have had a Vitaphone sound effects/music track that is now lost. The film is preserved at the Library of Congress.
The Isle of Lost Ships is a 1929 talking film released in an alternative silent version with a Vitaphone track of effects and music. The picture was produced by Richard A. Rowland and distributed by Warner Bros. Irvin Willat was the director with Jason Robards Sr., Virginia Valli and Noah Beery Sr. in the leads. It is based on the 1909 novel The Isle of Dead Ships by Crittenden Marriott, and is also a remake of Maurice Tourneur's now lost 1923 classic of the same name. This film is preserved at the Library of Congress.
Dry Martini is a 1928 film comedy produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation starring Mary Astor and Matt Moore. The Movietone sound system was used for music and sound effects but otherwise it is a silent film. A silent version was also made. Samuel L. Rothafel also contributed music for the film. It was adapted from the 1926 novel Dry Martini: a Gentleman Turns to Love by John Thomas. Ray Flynn was an assistant director.
Sailor's Holiday is a 1929 American pre-Code sound comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and produced and distributed by Pathé Exchange. The film was also released in a silent version.
Mother Knows Best is a 1928 American sound film directed by John G. Blystone, based on a novel by Edna Ferber, fictionalizing the life of vaudevillian Elsie Janis. The film was Fox's first part talkie, using the Movietone sound system which had primarily been used for synchronised music scores and effects tracks in Fox features beforehand, although as early as "Mother Machree" (1928), a single synchronous singing sequence was included in the film. The talking sequences in Mother Knows Best were directed by actor Charles Judels, while the synchronized sequences were directed by John G. Blystone. The film starred Madge Bellamy, with Louise Dresser as her domineering mother, Barry Norton, and Albert Gran.
The Flying Marine is a 1929 American action film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Ben Lyon, Shirley Mason and Jason Robards Sr. The film centers around a tale of brothers romancing the same girl. The Flying Marine was released in both sound and silent versions.
The Good-Bye Kiss is a 1928 American sound comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and written by Jefferson Moffitt, Mack Sennett and Carl Harbaugh. This film was released with a synchronized musical track with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound system. The film stars Johnny Burke, Sally Eilers, Matty Kemp, Wheeler Oakman, Irving Bacon and Lionel Belmore. The film was released on July 8, 1928, by First National Pictures.
