Henry B. Walthall: Film Reviews--The Talkies 1929-1932
A Tribute Page to the Silent Film Star

Home, Sweet Home Biography: Sweet Home Alabama The D.W. Griffith Years Escaping "Poverty Row" Bibliography: Contemporary Articles Obits & Secondary Sources Film Reviews: The Silents 1909-1910 The Silents 1911-1915 The Silents 1916-1927 The Talkies 1929-1932 The Talkies 1933-1934 The Talkies 1935-1936 Other Stuff: Walthall Hollywood Sites ***NEW*** Memorabilia Links/Contact

Police Court lobby card.

Note on the grading system: The "Walthall Factor" Grade is not an evaluation of Henry B. Walthall's acting skills as he never gave a bad performance even when the film, and his part in it, was lame. The Walthall Factor is a combination of Walthall's time on screen, the treatment of his role (was the character he played worthy of his talents), and--ultimately--whether or not I enjoyed watching him in the role (it is, after all, my website).

 

"Let me announce the engagement of
my son Tom to...a woman (phew)"

 

• River of Romance (Released June 29, 1929) Just when I thought there were no more Walthall films avaiable on DVD/VHS I run across this little gem. Taking place in the American South in the 1840s, Henry plays the part of General Jeff Rumford, patriarch of Magnolia Mansion. His son, Tom (played by Wings leading man Charles "Buddy" Rogers) has just returned from, as his father puts it, "up north for an education in Philadelphia and other foreign parts." Gen. Rumford's two young female wards are both infatuated with the rather effeminate Tom. The younger of the two, Lucy, admires his intelligence and gentle nature and enjoys listening to him tell stories about his travels in his dreamy way. Tom, however, is courting her elder sister, the flirtatious and stuck up southern belle Elvira.
  
  Meanwhile, Major Patterson and his brother Joe arrive from Alabama where they have just killed a man in a feud. Major Patterson brags about his family's prowess in the Patterson/Jones feud and remarks with outrage how some law makers are trying to put through a law declaring dueling and "the killing of a man in an honorable feud" illegal. Gen. Rumford's response: "Their reason is beyond my comprehension." Tom finds such attitudes about killing "odd" and realizes his ideas are much different from the traditional views of the southern plantation. Lucy admires Tom for being different in this regard but Elvira is swept away by the masculine appeal of Major Patterson.
  
  During a party to introduce Tom to the wealthy families around Magnolia, Tom and Elvira's engagement is announced, much to Lucy's chagrin. Major Patterson, however, is away to kill the "last of the Joneses" and, when he returns, he declares to General Rumford that "there is a certain divine animation in [his] bosom" toward Miss Elvira. The General allows Elriva to tell Patterson of her engagement. Furious, Patterson demands a duel with Tom but Tom refuses. This refusal is a shocking blow to his father who is of the tradition that defending one's honor is one of the most important requirements of being a man. Elvira has a hissy fit over the "cowardly" Tom but Lucy supports his decision. Realizing he cannot stay at Magnolia, Tom leaves and Elvira eventually marries Patterson.
  
  Soon Tom comes into contact with General Orlando Jackson (Wallace Beery), a lovable ruffian who shows Tom that he can have a tough reputation by his words and demeanor without having to kill anyone. Tom adopts the persona of the notorious Col. Blake whose reputation spreads all the way to Magnolia Mansion. Tom hopes to attend Lucy's coming out party and, in a chance encounter, finds Joe Patterson gambling away his father's money in a card game with Jackson. Upon Tom's leaving, General Rumford put the Pattersons in charge of the family plantation and they have been cheating the General left and right. Tom decides to confront the Pattersons as the notorious Col. Blake. Who will be the coward now?
  
  In one interesting scene a man attending Tom's party asks Gen. Rumford if his son has changed since living "among the wickedness up north." Rumford replies that he had also been exposed to the same "northern wickedness" when he was a young man getting an education and asks if the man noticed anything changed in him. The man replies "Only your accent, general, only your accent. Why half the time I can't tell you from one of these Quaker preachers." Henry certainly lost whatever southern accent he had long before the talkies came around. River of Romance is one of my favorite Walthall films. It may not be a classic, but it is funny and the characters are hilarious. Walthall Factor: A- Film Grade: A

   

  
  Checking himself out in a mirror in Phantom in
  the House. Henry, you look maaaavelous!.

   

• The Phantom in the House (Released October 20, 1929) Despite the title, this 1929 film is not a horror picture with a ghost flying around; rather, it is a murder drama. Ricardo Cortez is given top billing in this film, but this is really Henry B. Walthall's film. Walthall is Boyd Milburn, an inventor who can't catch a break. His wife, Peggy, tries to gain the assistance of a man who can help her husband in exchange for her "friendship" (whatever that means). When the man gets fresh (really, how else is he suppose to take her "friendship" offer?), she kills him. Boyd takes the blame for the murder and serves 15 years in prison, during which time he sends his wife illustrations of his inventions for her to patent under her name (which she's changed).
  
  After he is paroled, he returns to find his wife living high off the hog in a posh hotel thanks to the money earned from his inventions. He also sees his daughter, Dorothy, who does not know he is her father. Wanting to protect his daughter from the knowledge that her father served time as a murderer, Milburn is introduced to her as Mr. Boyd, a friend of her father who she believes died as a war hero. Judge Thompson, who sent Milburn to prison and has since been a friend and protector of Peggy and Dorothy, tells Milburn he should leave his family for good so that his daughter will never know the truth about him. Milburn refuses, especially when his wife threatens to take away Dorothy's inheritance if she marries her true love, Paul (Cortez), a man of whom her mother disapproves because he does not have a fancy title. Milburn's wife learns to accept Paul (well, Boyd had to threaten her at first), but Judge Thompson is set on stopping the marriage. He schedules a meeting with Paul and tells him Dorothy's father was a murderer. He threatens to tell her the truth if Paul does not cancel the engagement. The judge turns up dead and Paul is accused of the murder. Will Boyd Milburn take the fall again?
  
  The acting is typical of the early talkies. For the most part it is stilted, although Walthall, of course, shows himself the consummate pro with his subtle style and I thought Nancy Welford, who played Dorothy, was quite good as the spunky girl who could see right through the melodramatic wealthy suitors chasing after her (she also gets to place a decent lip-lock on Henry at the end). Speaking of overly melodramatic, Grace Valentine is often very "affected" as Peggy. One interesting scene is when Milburn is leaving prison after his parole and the warden gives him a bill. "Money's shrunk a bit," Milburn comments. The warden replies, "That's the new money, just half the size and you'll find that it just buys half as much." I didn't know paper currency was a different size back in the day. The strange furniture with the funky chairs with no backs was also an interesting detail to an otherwise bland film. Walthall Factor: A Film Grade: B

   

  
  Reunited with DW Griffith in the famous
  director's last Civil War drama.

   

• Abraham Lincoln (Released November 8, 1930) Walthall has a very brief part in D.W. Griffith's first talkie. In about a 3-minute scene, Walthall comforts a defeated General Lee and is told to reverse an order he gave to execute a spy so as not to allow another man to die unnecessarily (adding a little Confederate sympathy). The film is a nice speedy course through the life of Lincoln, although I think the Lincoln-Douglas Debate scenes were too chopped up. Walthall Factor: C Film Grade: B

   

  
  "It's hard to say 'Black Bug's Blood' when you're drunk"

   

• Police Court (Released February 20, 1932) This film offers one of the few leading roles for Henry Walthall in the Talkies era, and boy is it a good one! Walthall plays Nat Barry, once a great actor who finds himself in a Police Court charged with being an "habitual drunkard." The judge is about to lower the boom until Barry's devoted son rushes in and successfully pleads for the court to give the former star a second chance. The son takes care of Nat, finding him work (Nat ends up playing Lincoln and General Lee at a sleazy carnival), even giving him a shave. The son remains convinced that his father will rise to the top of the acting profession again. The scenes where Nat breaks down, especially his last scene, are very well-done. The emotion and passion in his face and voice reveals his character's unrelenting anguish. Definitely one of his best performance of the Talkies. Nat's final scene is also a little spooky, considering that Walthall would collapse and later die in real life during the filming of China Clipper. Walthall Factor: A+ Film Grade: B+

   

  
  "Waiters used to bring me special menus here."
  As Tommy Winthrop in Hotel Continental.

   

• Hotel Continental (Released March 7, 1932) In this B-film, Walthall plays a role similar to Nat Barry in Police Court but in no way as significant. His one scene lasts a whole 2:30. Walthall plays Tommy Winthrop who once was a big wig at the Hotel Continental but now must sneak in to the bellboy's taunts of "bum." Winthrop gives his sob story while the piano player begins to play "Love in Bloom" (a rather funny scene). Winthrop later appears to have jumped out of a window to his death, but viewers of the film soon learn that Winthrop is actually an actor from way back who fakes suicide to help the leading character evacuate the room where he has hidden a load of cash (a curious twist in a rather drawn-out plot). The film does show those old-time phone operators which is interesting. One can sense some deep respect for Walthall in this film, as the camera focuses on him when he speaks what few lines he has. Walthall looks nice, but his lack of screen time lowers the Walthall Factor grade. Walthall Factor: C+ Film Grade: C

   

  
  "So, this film will be a 'cult classic' someday?"

   

• Alias Mary Smith (Released July 15, 1932) In this B-movie "cult classic," Walthall plays the tough DA Mr. Atwell who questions the leading characters in the picture about a gangster-related murder. Walthall is in one 10-minute scene. For the most part, the film is slow and boring with a bland romance between John Darrow and Blanche Mehaffey. I do not understand how it could obtain the "near-cult" status that is advertised on the VHS box. Walthall Factor: B- Film Grade: D+

   

  
  Some actor in Ride Him, Cowboy. I forget his name.

   

• Ride Him, Cowboy (Released August 23, 1932) Ride Him, Cowboy (what a terrible name!) is an early John Wayne western that gives Walthall a very decent role. This film starts off with a silly western style court scene that puts a horse on trial. After being convicted of kicking a man in the head, the horse is sentenced to death. Enter John Wayne's character--John Drury--who insists that he can tame the horse (appropriately called "Duke"). After some rodeo riding, the horse is tamed and Walthall's character (Duke's owner John Gaut) is very grateful to the young visitor and invites him to a town meeting. At this meeting, Wayne's character learns of a mysterious hoodlum known as "The Hawk" who has been terrorizing the town. Drury volunteers to hunt him down and is accompanied through the desert by the man who prosecuted Duke (the horse, not Wayne). Of course, Wayne's guide turns out to be the Hawk. No problem. Wayne has "Duke" who is smarter than Trigger and Mr. Ed combined. First, however, Wayne's character is put on trial in a mickey mouse court after his harmonica was found at a crime scene (planted by the Hawk). Walthall's character is quick to jump on the angry mob bandwagon which was a little surprising to me as I thought he would be a more sympathetic character. Gaut's granddaughter believes in Wayne, of course, and Wayne will end up saving her from the Hawk's gang and earn Gaut's and the town's apology. Walthall gets third billing in this film and has a nice amount of time on screen. Walthall Factor: A- Film Grade: B

   

  
  One of my favorite Walthall characters.
  As Mark Armstrong in Klondike.

   

• Klondike (Released August 30, 1932) Interesting film about a doctor named Robert Cromwell who is acquitted of murder after he supposedly tried an experimental procedure on a terminally-ill patient. Still condemned by his community, Cromwell flies off with a friend in an attempt to gain a pilot's license. They crash land in the Alaskan Klondike, with only the doctor surviving. Klondike residents find him and take the doctor to the Armstrong trading post where--low and behold--resides a man afflicted with the very same disease suffered by the patient Dr. Cromwell was accused of killing (how convenient). Cromwell also encounters the afflicted man's fiance Klondike (yes, that's her name) to add a bit of romantic intrigue. Henry Walthall plays the crippled man's father, Mark Armstrong, a rather surly fellow who does whatever he can to get Dr. Cromwell to perform the controversial operation on his son. Walthall is given several emotional scenes in this film. The scene where his character watches on nervously as his son goes under the knife, is asked several times to leave the room, but is fearful to leave his son's side, really showcases Walthall's strengths as an actor (able to tell more in his facial expressions during one scene than in the spoken words of an entire script). Klondike is evidence that Walthall remained a silent star through and through. The film, itself, is surprisingly quite good. Walthall Factor: A Film Grade: A-

   

  
  "Oh...let's see. I'll take a #3, Supersize with a file
  in it." In Roxor's prison in Chandu the Magician.

   

• Chandu the Magician (Released September 18, 1932) This film had a lot of promise but, for me, fell flat. Walthall plays Robert Regent, the brother-in-law of Chandu the Magician, who has just perfected a death ray (why he built such a thing is not revealed). He is kidnapped by the evil Roxor (Bela Lugosi), who wants to use Regent's invention for his own devilish aims. Chandu the Magician must intervene to save the world from destruction. Walthall is only seen at a distance through the first part of the film (being kidnapped and tortured by Roxor's men). Later, Walthall gets some lines while watching his daughter being sold unless he offers the secret to operating the death ray (he doesn't give in) and seeing his family slowly fall through a collapsing floor. At this point, Regent is finally willing to help Roxor use the device, or so that is what he wants Roxor to think--of course, all the credit for heroism will go to Chandu. This plot alone would have made for a great film, but the storyline is often preoccupied by Chandu's frivolous romance with a princess and the silly drunken exploits of Chandu's alcoholic sidekick. Walthall Factor: B Film Grade: C+

   

  
  "The only words of advice I can give you,
  my boy, is don't share your bed with the goat."

   

• Cabin in the Cotton (Released October 15, 1932) Walthall is pictured in the opening credits of this film, but is only in one scene lasting 5 minutes. Here, as Eph Clinton, Walthall tries to convince his nephew to give his tenant-farming family the financial books of the seemingly heartless plantation owner Norwood, who has been cheating the farmers out of their earnings for years. Unlike most good guy/bad guy plots, the nephew, who is the son of a tenant farmer and bookkeeper for Norwood, sees both sides of the dispute and concludes each is to blame for the financial problems of the plantation. Walthall brings the emotions and understanding of his character's short scene to its fullest. In his sick bed, Walthall's heavy breathing and occasional labored speech reveals a character who has lived a rough life on the plantation and is desperate to bring some sense of justice for his family. Walthall Factor: B- Film Grade: B
  

   

  
  "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more..."
  Sarge getting his point across in Me & My Gal.

   

• Me and My Gal (Released December 4, 1932) This movie is just plain BAD, and not the good kind of bad either. It starts off with a long and pointless drunken scene (the drunk claims a fish stole his bait. How unfunny is that?!) and doesn't seem to improve much from there. Not even Spencer Tracy's (Detective Danny Dolan) skills can salvage this annoyance. Wait, it gets better. Walthall plays Sargent John Collins (known simply as "Sarge"). He suffers from a mysterious paralytic condition and can only communicate through the blinking of his eyes (luckily, he was in the signals corps during the First World War and can blink Morse code). Sarge is left in the care of his daughter-in-law, who is caught up with bank robber Duke Castenega who has escaped prison. Sarge blinks code to Dolan and his gal letting them know that the fugitive is being harbored in his attic. Walthall just sits in a wheelchair grinning and blinking for the duration he is on the screen (his character would make a cute piece of furniture). I kept thinking he may miraculously recover, but not to be. Even in the last scene only his head is seen poking up from the back of a convertible. The only interesting part of this film was a couple of references to contemporary happenings. Tracy mentions Al Smith would have made a good president (Smith lost to Herbert Hoover who was into the last year of his unpopular administration). Tracy and co-star Joan Bennett reenact a scene from Strange Interlude (another 1932 film which included Walthall among its cast) during which the thoughts of the characters are audible to the audience. This film is one of those lame ones I warned you about in the "Walthall Factor" note above. Walthall Factor: C+ Film Grade: D

   

  
  "Well, wadda ya know? I didn't think a lion would eat Ex-Lax."

   

• Central Park (Released December 10, 1932) Weird film that, at first, I didn't care for. I was a little biased against the film when I saw that Wallace Ford was the leading man as I remember the incredibly annoying character he played in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. After watching it a few times, though, I liked the film and Ford better. It chronicles a day in the life around New York's Central Park. It is not a typical day, though, as Walthall's character remarks, "Nothing happens in Central Park anymore. People have even stopped trying to commit suicide."
  
  Three story lines are running in this film. Some come together, others don't (as in life, I guess). The main story is the meeting of Dot (Joan Blondell) and Rick (Wallace Ford). Both are down on their luck and strike up a friendship. Dot, a tough, wise-cracking dame, gets caught up with gangsters who are posing as cops to steal proceeds that are supposed to go to the poor. After lunch with Dot, Rick is kidnapped by the mob as a precaution and he does whatever he can to break from the gang's hideout to help Dot out of the jam.
  
  The other stories involve a policeman named Charlie and an escaped lunatic named Smiley who was a former lion keeper at the Central Park zoo. Henry Walthall plays Eby (pronounced Ebby) who is a kindly groundskeeper with a nice sense of humor [he didn't say that "Ex-lax" joke above, though]. Although he has good intentions, he serves as an enabler for Charlie who considers retirement because of his eyesight but is convinced to stay on the force by Eby so he will earn his pension that is due him in another week. This decision proves costly, as Charlie does not see a crazed Smiley at the zoo. Smiley will lock a cruel lion keeper in a cage with one of the lions to be mauled nearly to death. The lion will escape and terrorize a fancy restaurant. Although the charge of gross misconduct on the part of Charlie is, of course, very serious, Eby still encourages his friend to buck up.
  
  The film has a happy ending for one of the stories and a sad ending for the other (again, such as life, I guess). The film is interesting but it just goes all over the place. Walthall is on screen for only 2:39 in this hour-long film. Walthall Factor: C Film Grade: C+

   

  
  "Don't cry. Remember, there are no small parts,
  only small actors. Oh, don't start crying again."

   

• Strange Interlude (Released December 30, 1932) Innovative film, based on the Eugene O'Neill play, that includes thoughts of the characters that are audible to the audience. Walthall plays Prof. Leeds, the father of the main character Nina. Nina is a very obsessive, neurotic woman who controls the hearts of three men while pining away for her dead fiance Gordon, killed in the Great War. Walthall is on for the first 7 minutes and has an impressive emotional scene with Nina during which he explains his need to keep her by his side (yet another man obsessed with her), his jealousy of Gordon, and his disapproval towards her going to Europe to take care of wounded soldiers (sounds like a good idea to me for a self-centered diva obsessed with her dead boyfriend, but what do I know?). Unfortunately, Walthall's character dies after this scene. Despite Prof Leeds's death, the film is actually quite good once you get used to the audible thoughts and the overall sappiness. Nina continues to control the lives of her three suitors. She enters a marriage with a man she does not love and, due to a secret curse in his bloodline, cannot bare his child. She decides, as any woman would, to have another man's child and pose it as her husband's. Curiously, she names her son Gordon (this woman is a little sick in the head) and, of course, falls in love with the baby's real father (played by Clark Gable). The film covers their lives through old age. Walthall's character is almost unnecessary, except as a way to introduce Nina's obsession with Gordon and to add yet another man who is fixated on her. I added a "+" to the Walthall Factor grade to account for the nice bit of emotion in Prof. Leeds's only scene. Walthall Factor: C+ Film Grade: A-

   

  
  
  

Free Web Counter