For Robert Montgomery completists...
... and the reason I say that is Robert Montgomery's first credited role in a film was in the 1929 version of this film. Afterwards, he acted under contract to MGM. Beryl Mercer, Claude Allister, and Charles McNaughton reprise their roles from the original, so if you want a pretty good idea of the kind of film Montgomery debuted in, watching this would do the trick.
Mrs. Gibbens (Beryl Mercer) is a middle aged English woman living off of the life insurance of her dead stepson, killed in World War I. An American detective comes to her and inquires about a friend of her stepson, William Jones. He tells her that he is wanted in America and that there is a one thousand pound reward for anybody who turns him in. This reward greatly interests the very greedy Mrs. Gibbens. In the meantime the armistice occurs. And it also turns out that her stepson is not dead after all. He was in a POW camp and managed to escape along with his pal Bill Jones (Richard Arlen) and a soldier whom they know nothing about because he is suffering from what was then called "shell shock". They call him "Spoofy" and have been looking after him. And all three are headed home, to Mrs. Gibben's flat.
Mrs. Gibbens is both happy and sad, but not for the normal reasons. She is upset that she will get no more installments on her son's life insurance since he is now proven alive, but she is also happy that Bill Jones is not only alive, he is staying in her flat. This means that it should be easy for her to get her hands on the reward money for Bill Jones. Also, Spoofy turns out to be not so harmless after all when he goes out one night and kidnaps a rich family's baby and robs their house of some expensive jewels. So now they are all in trouble if discovered.
Beryl Mercer was very good in a rare leading role as a perpetually tipsy maternal bottomless pit of greed. Richard Arlen is playing at 37 the role Robert Montgomery was playing at age 24 back in 1929, but still it gives you a general idea of the kind and size of the role that probably got MGM's attention. Since MGM made this later version, I rather wonder why Montgomery didn't reprise his role too, unless MGM considered him too big a star by this time to be in one of their second features.
Mrs. Gibbens (Beryl Mercer) is a middle aged English woman living off of the life insurance of her dead stepson, killed in World War I. An American detective comes to her and inquires about a friend of her stepson, William Jones. He tells her that he is wanted in America and that there is a one thousand pound reward for anybody who turns him in. This reward greatly interests the very greedy Mrs. Gibbens. In the meantime the armistice occurs. And it also turns out that her stepson is not dead after all. He was in a POW camp and managed to escape along with his pal Bill Jones (Richard Arlen) and a soldier whom they know nothing about because he is suffering from what was then called "shell shock". They call him "Spoofy" and have been looking after him. And all three are headed home, to Mrs. Gibben's flat.
Mrs. Gibbens is both happy and sad, but not for the normal reasons. She is upset that she will get no more installments on her son's life insurance since he is now proven alive, but she is also happy that Bill Jones is not only alive, he is staying in her flat. This means that it should be easy for her to get her hands on the reward money for Bill Jones. Also, Spoofy turns out to be not so harmless after all when he goes out one night and kidnaps a rich family's baby and robs their house of some expensive jewels. So now they are all in trouble if discovered.
Beryl Mercer was very good in a rare leading role as a perpetually tipsy maternal bottomless pit of greed. Richard Arlen is playing at 37 the role Robert Montgomery was playing at age 24 back in 1929, but still it gives you a general idea of the kind and size of the role that probably got MGM's attention. Since MGM made this later version, I rather wonder why Montgomery didn't reprise his role too, unless MGM considered him too big a star by this time to be in one of their second features.
- AlsExGal
- Nov 6, 2022