Lila Lee

Lila Lee

Birth : 1905-07-25, Union Hill, New Jersey, USA

Death : 1973-11-13

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. In 1918, she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature, The Cruise of the Make-Believes, garnered the teenaged starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Lee bore more than a slight resemblance to Ann Little, a former Paramount star and frequent Reid co-star who was leaving the film business and at this stage in her career an even stronger resemblance to Marguerite Clark. In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920s and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films. As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen whose popularity did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B movies.

Profile

Lila Lee

Movies

Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers
Viola Zickafoose
Darby Clyde Fenster and Jerry Martin are a pair of penniless nincompoop-drifters who hop a freight train on their way to Florida. Our intrepid heroes find themselves facing one comic situation after another in this gloriously loopy Southern fried comedy-with-music.
The Emperor's New Clothes
Wringmouth
This is a straight version of the old fairy tale, with John Carradine as the Emperor. It was filmed in South Florida, with exteriors in Coral Gables and Miami's Vizcaya. The hero bests the villainous efforts of two scheming tailors who convince the vain king that their clothes are so marvelous that only smart people can see them.
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Self (archive footage)
A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death.
Nation Aflame
Mona Franklin Burtis
Believing they can make a ton of money, a gang of opportunists uses the country's racial and ethnic tensions to start a Ku Klux Klan-type organization.
Two Wise Maids
Ethel Harriman
The two leading ladies are cast as Prudence and Agatha, a pair of old-fashioned schoolteachers in an old-fashioned small town. Disdaining the wimpy theories of "progressive" education, Prudence and Agatha stick to the reliable "Three R's," often teaching to the tune of a hickory stick. Though ridiculed for their so-called outmoded methods, the heroines manage to turn out quite a few prize students, earning the undying gratitude of the local citizenry.
Country Gentlemen
Louise Heath
After being run out of town after town for trying to sell worthless stock, two con artists breeze into the small town of Chesterville, where they find themselves accused of kidnapping a young boy to whom they offered a ride. When that misunderstanding is cleared up, the two conmen hatch a plot to unload all their worthless paper on the gullible citizens of Chesterville.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Miss Prentiss, Bradford's Receptionist
A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
The People's Enemy
Katherine Carr
Money was what gangster Vince M. Falcone wanted most and he did lay hands on millions of dollars by fair means or (mostly) foul. But once he became rich what he craved for was respectability. So why not marry a lovely society lady? And with a young daughter as a bonus Mister Falcone could show off among the creme de la creme. Of course when times got rough he felt free to desert his wife and little girl. Fortunately Taps, a lawyer working for the underworld, will console them both.
I Can't Escape
Mae Nichols
An ex-convict, unable to get a good job because of his prison record, gets mixed up in a phony stock scam.
In Love with Life
Sharon
Professor John Sylvestus Applegate has been dismissed from his college teaching position for objecting too loudly to the predominant part that football and other sports play in the curriculum, and soon finds himself dead broke when publishers show no interest in the dry material he brings to them. He meets a young boy, Laury and his mother, Sharon in the park and is quite taken with them. He gets a job-prospect letter, as a private tutor, and applies at once. His employer is Mr. Morley, a surly, sour, mean-tempered old man who informs John he is to act as a tutor for his grandson, who turns out to be Laury. Sharon, Morleys daughter had eloped against her father's wishes and was abandoned by her husband after Laury's birth.
Whirlpool
Helen Rankin Morrison
An ex-convict tries to connect with the daughter who doesn't even know he exists.
Lone Cowboy
Eleanor Jones
The Intruder
Connie Wayne
A murder is committed aboard a cruise ship just before it sinks in a storm. The survivors, including the killer, land on a mysterious jungle island.
The Iron Master
Janet Stillman
The wealthy owner of an iron foundry dies, and his greedy heirs are outraged when they find out that he left his entire estate not to them but to the foreman of his foundry.
Face in the Sky
Sharon Hadley
Joe and Lucky travel around New England painting barns in exchange for an advertisement on one side. The meet Madge, who is cruelly treated by a her father who plans to marry her off to someone she despises.
Officer Thirteen
Doris Dane
A motorcycle policeman's partner is deliberately run off the road and killed by a member of a syndicate that controls the gambling--and much of the justice system--in his town. When the killer is freed because of perjured testimony and the corrupt legal system, the dead officer's partner quits the force and vows to bring the killer to justice.
False Faces
Georgia Rand
The philandering Dr. Silas Brenton is fired from his position at a large hospital and given 24 hours to vacate the state. He sets himself up in Chicago as a "prestigious" plastic surgeon to the stars. However, Brenton's silver tongue can't cover up his dubious methods, and an investigation into his practice is launched by the examining board of plastic surgeons. A delirious film à clef based on the loathsome career of Henry J. Schireson, the self-styled “King of Quacks”.
The Night of June 13
Trudie Morrow
Elna Curry, once a concert pianist, develops an unfounded jealousy of neighbor, Trudie Morrow. Elna who suffers from neurasthenia, believes that Trudie is having an affair with her husband, John, and vows revenge on Trudie. John explains to Trudie Elna's condition and plan. Trudie, being good-hearted tells John that she'll move. One evening, John returns late from work to discover Elna dead. John burns Elna's suicide note to protect Trudie. This results in John being charged for murder and put on trial.
Exposure
Doris Corbin
A reporter runs into a pretty young girl who has inherited her father's failing business. She wants to give it up, but he tries to convince her to make a go of it.
War Correspondent
Julie March
In this war drama, a brave reporter tries to remain detached while covering the war in Shanghai. While there, he falls for an ex-streetwalker, but must compete with a mercenary pilot for her love. By the end, the correspondent loses his objectivity after he helps the pilot save the woman from the enemy. The rescue costs the pilot his life.
Unholy Love
Jane Bradford
An adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have been renamed.
Radio Patrol
Sue Kennedy
A policeman in need of money is persuaded to take a $1000 bribe to stay away the night a packing house is to be robbed.
Misbehaving Ladies
Princess Ellen
Ellen, a young American girl who married a European prince and moved to his country, is preparing to return to the US, after having paid off all the debts left by her now-deceased husband. However, when she returns early, no one recognizes her and even her aunt Kate mistakes her for the princess' dressmaker. Her ex-boyfriend Joe, who recognizes her immediately, suggests that Ellen continue with the charade and have some fun, but a series of misunderstandings causes trouble for her.
Woman Hungry
Judith Temple
This film, believed lost, was based on William Vaughn Moody's 1906 play The Great Divide. The story was filmed as a silent film by MGM as The Great Divide (1925) and as an early silent/sound hybrid by First National also called The Great Divide (1929). Judith Temple has come West to Arizona for some excitement. As she says goodbye to her brother and his wife, who are returning to the East, Dr. Neil Cranford, who is in love with her, is called away to tend the broken ribs of a man injured in a barroom brawl.
The Gorilla
Alice Denby
A series of murders that take place in an old, dark mansion are suspected of being committed by an ape. (lost film)
The Unholy Three
Rosie O'Grady
A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.
Double Cross Roads
Mary Carlyle
Based on a novel by William R. Lipman
Those Who Dance
Nora Brady
A policeman doubles as a gunman to get in with the mob.
Second Wife
Florence Wendell Fairchild
A man's pregnant second wife gets upset when he decides to go overseas to his young son, who may be dying of typhoid fever.
The Sacred Flame
Stella Taylor
Colonel Maurice Taylor of the Royal Flying Corps is hopelessly injured in an airplane crash immediately following his marriage to Stella. Maurice is non-functional in most of the physical areas of marriage that count, but Stella attends to his other needs faithfully for three years. Then his brother, Colin, shows up from South America, and he and Stella fall passionately in love and are making plans to run away together. Mother Taylor is aware of the romance, as is Nurse Weyland, who is secretly in love with Maurice, and now hates Stella for her careless attitude toward Maurice's patiently-borne sufferings. Maurice is also aware of the affair. He has a talk with his wife and brother. Complications arise.
Show of Shows
Performer in 'What Became of the Floradora Boys' Number
It's 1929. The studio gave the cinema its voice gave offered the audiences a chance to see their favorite actors and actresses from the silent screen era to see and for the first time can be heard in a gaudy, grandiose music comedy revue. But also appear actors and actresses from the first 'talkies', stars from Broadway and of course the German shepherd Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay is the host of the more than 70 well-known stars who show various acts.
Love, Live & Laugh
Margharita
Any movie that starts Jewish entertainer George Jessel as an Italian accordionist named Luigi can't be all bad. In love with the beautiful Margharita (Lila Lee), Luigi lands a job in the music store owned by the girl's uncle. Ultimately, however, our hero does the Pagliacci act when Margharita evinces a preference for handsome Pasquale (David Rollins). The film's best scene takes place in a nursery full of talented tots, a sequence that undoubtedly reminded Jessel of his days with Gus Edwards' "Schoolroom" act. Exercising his droit du seigneur, Georgie Jessel sings the title tune.
Flight
Elinor
Two Marine pilots in love with the same girl are assigned a mission to find a notorious bandit in Nicaragua. This early talkie from director Frank Capra, released in 1929, stars Jack Holt, Ralph Graves and Lila Lee.
Honky Tonk
Beth
Nightclub hostess Sophie Leonard educates her daughter Beth abroad and keeps her life secret for her. But suddenly the daughter shows up.
Dark Streets
Katie Dean
Pat and Danny McGlone are identical twin brothers, rivals and competitors in everything they do, and Pat grows up and becomes a policeman while Danny turns to a life of crime. They now find themselves on the opposite sides of the law, and both are in love with a pretty Irish girl from their neighborhood, Kate Dean. Before long one has to prove that blood is thicker than water.
Drag
Dot
1928-29 film directed by Frank Lloyd. It was an Oscar nominee for Best Director in the second year of the Academy Awards. The story concerns a man's family life, especially his wife's parents and their impact on his peace and solitude. it is a light comedy and supposedly is available at, at least, one unknown archive. It has been shown in recent years at one film festival in LA. This is an important film due to its Oscar status and because it is in existence somewhere and deserves to be mentioned.
Queen of the Night Clubs
Bea Walters
Irked by the success of a brassy nightclub owner. her rivals set out to drive her out of business, and frame her for a murder in the bargain.
The Black Pearl
Eugenie Bromley
A pearl stolen from an Indian idol results in nothing but trouble for its owner. After he receives death threats by note pinned to a dagger, he decides to gather his relatives in his old mansion for a reading of his will. Unfortunately, the family members are being mysteriously bumped off one by one. The butler and an heiress set out to discover what's going on.
Fashion News
Self (1930)
Hollywood actresses including Jeanette Loff and Raquel Torres modeling Spring fashions in color.
Just Married
Victoire
After many outrageous moments, a young girl marries her former acquaintance, not with her fiancee.
The Adorable Cheat
Marion Dorsey
The daughter of a wealthy industrialist wants to take over the company when her father retires, but the father--an old-fashioned sort who doesn't believe that "girls" belong in business--is planning on leaving the company to her wastrel playboy brother. In order to prove to her dad that she can handle the job, she disguises herself as an ordinary "working girl" and gets a job in her dad's plant. There she meets and falls in love with a clerk. She brings the young man home to meet her folks, but during the evening the family safe is robbed, and all signs point to her new boyfriend.
The Little Wild Girl
Marie Cleste
Vacationing in the Canadian Northwest, a playwright and a songwriter both fall in love with Marie Cleste and take her back with them to New York when her father and her sweetheart apparently die in a forest fire. (The father did perish; the sweetheart escaped, crippled, with his blinded Indian guide into the forest to hide his infirmities.)
Top Sergeant Mulligan
The girl
During World War I a vaudeville entertainer, Mickey, is helping to recruit officers for the army and finds himself in the service along with his female partner, who is also his girlfriend. At training camp he comes up against Top Sergeant Mulligan, who proceeds to make life miserable for him. If that wasn't enough, it turns out that Mulligan, the captain and a YMCA worker are all making a play for his girlfriend.
One Increasing Purpose
Elizabeth Glade
Stars Edmund Lowe as WWI veteran Slim Paris. Though most of his comrades died in battle, Paris returns home with nary a scratch. This convinces him that his life has a "greater purpose" in the scheme of things, so he sets about to find that purpose.
Fascinating Youth
Lila Lee
Playboy Teddy Ward wants to marry Jeannie King, an artist, but his father wants him to marry Loris Lane, but tells Teddy he can marry whom he pleases if he will make the Mountain Inn a profitable operation. Teddy agrees, and with the support of his friends arranges an ice-boat race with a $10,000 prize to the winner. A problem arises when his father refuses to pay such an amount. Teddy thinks one of his friends will win the race and refuse the prize, but champion racer "Duke" Slade shows up and Teddy knows he will take the money. Some movie stars show up and, while using their own names, are definitely not playing "Self" in this fictional film.
The New Klondike
Evelyn Lane
Tom Kelly, a small-town baseball pitcher, is sent to a minor-league team in Florida, and fails to make the team. He starts dabbling in real estate, in the midst of the Florida land boom (in which a lot of the land sold was under water), makes a fortune and buys into the team that cut him from its roster.
Broken Hearts
Ruth Esterin
A Jewish writer in Czarist Russia is forced to flee when the government comes after him for his "objectionable" writings. He emigrates to the US, where he settles in New York City's Lower East Side.
Coming Through
Alice Rand
Because he wants a promotion, Tom Blackford marries Alice Rand, the daughter of his boss, John Rand. Rand is aware of Blackford's motivations and he sends him to take over as superintendent of one of the company's mines in the hopes that he will fail.
The Midnight Girl
Anna
A corrupt art patron finds himself in love with the same girl as his stepson.
Another Man's Wife
Helen Brand
Vengeful husband pursues, kidnaps his wife aboard a deserted ship when he becomes injured and taken aboard, then sinks in a collision following a fight with the captain for his wife. Stars real life husband-wife James Kirkwood, Lila Lee.
Wandering Husbands
Diana Moreland
Diana Moreland, suspecting that her husband is cheating on her with Marilyn Foster, catches the two of them having a rendezvous at a roadhouse. Instead of screaming at them, she invites Marilyn back to her home. However, Diana has prepared a test to see just who it is that her husband really loves.
Love's Whirlpool
Molly
Toughened criminal Jim Reagan tries to persuade his brother, Larry, to go straight, but Larry attempts to rob a banker, Richard Milton, and is arrested. Milton refuses to be lenient, and when Larry is killed trying to escape from prison, Jim and his wife, Molly, resolve to have vengeance.
Woman-Proof
Louise Halliday
At sight of a woman, he got a ticket for speeding.
Homeward Bound
Mary Brent
A group of seven people find themselves on a ship in the middle of an endless ocean, with no recollection of how they got there. (lost film)
The Ne'er-Do-Well
Chiquita
The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923)
Ebb Tide
Ruth Attwater
An old skipper, Captain Davis, has as his companions two derelicts -- one, Huish, is a Cockney, and the other, Robert Herrick was once a gentleman. In Tahiti they board a schooner and a storm takes them to an uncharted island. Living there is pearl broker Richard Attwater, and his daughter Ruth. Attwater is bitter because a supposed friend stole his wife and he has sworn to wreak vengeance on any white man he happens to encounter. Davis and Huish want to get their hands on his pearls, while, Herrick falls in love with the man's daughter.
The Ghost Breaker
Maria Theresa, a Spanish Heiress
A young man and his manservant, escaping from a backwoods family feud, are persuaded by a beautiful young heiress to help her rid her newly-gained Spanish castle of ghosts.
Blood and Sand
Carmen
Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother's wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and takes his childhood sweetheart Carmen as his bride. He meets the Marquis' daughter Doña Sol and finds himself in the awkward position of being in love with two women, which threatens the stability of his family and his position in society. He finds interesting parallels in the life of the infamous bandit Plumitas when they eventually meet by chance.
The Dictator
Juanita
A silent romantic adventure melodrama (from the play and novel by Richard Harding) about a womanizer who follows a beautiful Hispanic woman to her home country and his adventures there. He ends up helping her father become dictator of the entire country, and is rewarded with marriage to her and he is named Minister of Finance!
The Fast Freight
Elsie
Unreleased in America, this was one of Arbuckle's last starring roles in a feature film.
The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom.
One Glorious Day
Molly McIntyre
Ek is a disembodied spirit, required to wait his turn in the boring cosmos until he is allowed to inhabit an earthly body. Impatient, he sneaks off to earth to find a body and, after several failed attempts, finds Professor Ezra Botts, a timid old pedant and researcher of psychic phenomena. Life fairly well kicks Professor Botts around as it does all timid souls, and he gets little love or respect. But during an experimental trance, he is able to leave his body behind and at that moment, Ek sees his chance and slips in, taking over the professor's body. The "new" professor is energetic, charismatic, and dynamic, and from the limbo in which he floats, the real professor fears that Ek is going to wear out the tired old body before he, Botts, can return to it. And just how is he supposed to get back into his body, anyway?
Rent Free
Barbara Teller
A penniless artist moves into an abandoned house, but is discovered by the daughter of its former owner.
After the Show
Eileen
After the Show was adapted from Rita Weiman's story "The Stage Door." Lila Lee plays Eileen, a starry-eyed young girl employed as a chorus dancer in New York. Eileen can never be certain if the men in her life are sincere, or if they perceive her as mere temporary plaything. Among the "stage door johnnies," "tired businessmen" and "sugar daddies" surrounding Eileen are Jack Holt and Carlton S. King.
Crazy to Marry
Annabelle Landis
A doctor who believes he can cure criminals takes on a big challenge.
Gasoline Gus
Sal Jo Banty
Based on the comic strip character and his auto obsessed life.
The Dollar-a-Year Man
Peggy Bruce
Hijinks surrounding the attendance of a Prince at a Yacht Club dinner.
Midsummer Madness
Daisy Osborne
Because Bob Meredith (Jack Holt) spends all his time working, his wife Margaret (Lois Wilson) feels the romance has ebbed away from their marriage. One night, while Meredith is at the office, family friend Julian Osborn (Conrad Nagel) -- whose own spouse (Lila Lee) is out of town -takes Margaret to a dance. They wind up at a hunting lodge and begin to get carried away, but stop before things get out of hand. The pair agree to keep their encounter a secret, but unfortunately, they've been seen and word gets back to their spouses.
The Charm School
Elsie
Austin Bevans, a lively car-salesman, suddenly finds himself heir to the Bevans School for Girls. Since Austin feels that acquiring grace and charm are more important to a young girl than acquiring knowledge, academic courses are dropped, and a charm school emerges. He submits to the charms of Elsie, a student at the school, whose grandfather takes him into his employ after a newly discovered will dispossesses him of the school. Elsie resents Austin for accepting a job with those who formerly thought him undesirable, but later she relents and takes him back.
The Soul of Youth
Vera Hamilton
After directing him as the title character in Huckleberry Finn, William Desmond Taylor again used boy actor Lewis Sargent in this picture. His character, known merely as "the boy," has been raised in an orphanage where he has caused as much trouble as possible. He finally can't stand living there anymore and runs away. On the streets he finds a friend in Mike (Ernest Butterworth), a newsboy. Mike teaches him how to survive but inevitably the boy gets hauled into court. However, the judge sees potential in him and hands him over to be adopted by a young politician. The judge, incidentally, is played by Judge Ben Lindsey, who was famous in his day for his efforts to give delinquent boys a decent chance in life.
Terror Island
Beverly West
Inventor Harry Harper (Harry Houdini) travels to the South Seas, where there is buried treasure belonging to a girl, Beverly West (Lila Lee). Naturally, others are after the loot, and Beverly's father (Fred Turner) is being held captive by cannibals until she returns to them with a pearl that belongs to one of their idols. The climax consists of Harper saving Beverly from a safe which has been lowered into the sea.
Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
Princess Irma
A light-hearted romantic adventure.
Male and Female
Tweeny, the scullery maid
When an aristocratic family and their servants are shipwrecked, the butler becomes their ruler.
The Lottery Man
Polly
Young Jack Wright offers his hand in marriage to the winner of a lottery, but after committing to the winner falls in love with another woman.
The Secret Garden
Mary Lennox
A young British girl born and raised in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's estate. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected.