Sorry no river pictures today. Yesterday, I did manage to see three new old movies with Lionel Atwill in supporting roles. The leads were some of my favorite actors so it worked out well.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film from the Dr. Kildare series before. In this one, Lionel Barrymore needs a long rest for his health but resists. So Lew Ayers tricks him by taking on the case of a millionaire’s (Atwill) daughter. The plot is not the world’s most plausible but the repartee between Barrymore and Ayers makes the movie work.
This is an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel. Irene Dunne returns to New York from Europe after her marriage to a Russian aristocrat fails. The prospect of divorce scandalizes her high society family but her sophistication and openness are even more shocking to them. Cousin John Boles, who is engaged to another woman, is appealed to to get her to behave. Eventually her way of thinking wins him over and things get even more complicated. I adore Dunne and this was my favorite of the three. Atwill plays Dunne’s disreputable nouveau riche suitor.
Dunne plays a singer who falls for high class rotter Phillips Holmes while on tour in London. He is totally dependent on his father (Atwill) for income. He is furious when he find out Dunne and his son have secretly married and cuts him off without a cent. The couple try to make a go of it in France but Holmes is unfit for gainful employment and eventually weakens. When Dunne falls pregnant the plot turns ultra melodramatic ending in one the most astounding courtroom scenes ever. Once again, Dunne is enough for me.
