Lilyan Tashman

A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from its origins after the invention of the movie camera, over the movie musical from the late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, up to the break dance and music videos from the 80s.

The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of edition #1, then a tribute to movie people who have died in those 25 years. Finally there are tributes to the Screen Snapshots series by Cecil De Mille, Walt Disney, Louella Parsons and Rosalind Russell.

After a tumultuous first marriage, Millie Blake learns to love her newfound independence and drags her feet on the possibility of remarriage. The years pass, and now Millie's daughter garners the attentions of men - men who once devoted their time to her mother.

The marriage of an advertising man is jeopardized when he gets a chance to sell a novel he's been working on and quits his job to concentrate on writing. In order to support the family, the wife is forced to take a job as a dancer in a Broadway show. As the marriage begins to fall apart, complications ensue when she discovers that she's pregnant.

A promotional documentary short celebrating the 20th anniversary of Paramount Pictures, complete with a studio history, interviews with stars, and clips from upcoming films–some of which never came to fruition.

Mary is an impetuous romantic who marries British aristocrat Lord Philip Rexford on a whim. Their marriage is successful, though, and they grow closer over the years. Then, a trip to the Italian Riviera unexpectedly reunites Mary with her former beau, Tommie. After some vicious gossip makes Rexford distrust her, he begins work on a divorce. Mary must now choose between the man she has married and the man she once loved.

During the Russian Revolution, a young nobleman and his peasant maid flee from their homeland to Constantinople where they marry and begin a challenging new life.

A poor but basically honest flower woman agrees to impersonate a wicked opera star.

A dynamic duo in silk and ermine entertain hick businessmen looking for a good time while in Manhattan.

An ironworker and his equally tough friend decide to leave New Orleans to work as beam-walkers on a New York City skyscraper. This arouses the ire of his Cajun girlfriend who promptly shoots at him as he walks away and then follows him to the Big Apple where she becomes a nightclub performer.

Jackie is the perpetually adolescent mother of two grown children - daughter Lee and son Jeff - who are in their early 20's. In spite of the fact that fourth husband Robert is a good provider, good step-dad, and all-around good sport about Jackie's rather wild ways, Jackie is intent on divorcing him although she seems to bear the man no resentment. It just seems that her only reason is that it's time for a change, much like an impulse to buy a new hat. Both children are upset about her decision since they have great affection for Robert. However, daughter Lee has just arrived home from school and decides to accompany her mother to Reno to look after her. On the train west, Lee meets a young mining engineer, Tom, who is headed to a job interview in California. The two hit it off and a romance buds.

A policeman investigates a woman's link to murders that are preceded by a shrilling horn inside a family mausoleum.

Five years after Adolphe's death in a train wreck, he is discovered very much alive and with amnesia. Unfortunately he and his first wife are remarried and with children.

A vaudeville and nightclub performer becomes successful and forgets who his friends really are.

The Haddocks are going on a European vacation and from their reception at the station, where the whole town goes to see them off, it is clear who wears the pants in the family - it's their daughter Mildred. Her parents often proclaim she is a genius - but she is just smarter than them, which wouldn't be too hard! On the train, Finn meets shyster Harry who sizes Finn up as a sucker and quickly wires his partner Bessie, aka "The Princess" to make Finn's acquaintance and take him for everything he has.

A group of potential heirs gather in a forbidding old house to learn which of them will inherit a fortune. Later, they learn that a flesh-rending maniac is loose.

The story of aging chorus girl Frankie Arnette, who'll do anything for publicity. Fiercely ambitious, Frankie even promises that if she is given a leading role in an upcoming Broadway musical, prominent producer Morgan Andrews will be allowed to enjoy the "attentions" of her own daughter Marilyn. But Marilyn is in love with likeable Ray Joyce, and wants no part of her mother's intrigues.

The story of eight women and how they served their country during World War I.

A bible publisher is falling in love with a chorus girl and finds himself backing a Broadway show.

A woman's ceaseless badgering sends her husband on a drinking bender. Along the way, he makes a new female acquaintance.

A young woman goes undercover to gather evidence to free her boyfriend, an attorney who has been framed for a murder he didn't commit.

The story of a woman, Frankie, and the man who has done her wrong, Johnnie.

Director Robert Florey's 1932 melodrama about a woman who suspects her husband of infidelity stars Mary Astor, Kenneth MacKenna, Tommy Conlon, Lilyan Tashman, Hale Hamilton, Cecil Cunningham and Virginia Sale.

Paul and Suzanne Giraud are happily married and living in a quiet neighborhood. When Suzanne notices that their new neighbors are expressive dancers in revealing outfits, she demands Paul speak to them about their lack of morality. Paul discovers that the woman is Georgette Lalle, an old flame.

Harriet Craig, whose obsession with material possessions and immaculate neatness results in misery for all concerned. Harriet's husband remains blind to his wife's selfishness-until his eyes are opened when he is implicated in a double murder...

Pierre, the maitre d' at the swanky Ritz Hotel in Paris, discovers that he has a son from his former marriage, which was broken up by his wealthy wife's upper-class relatives. His son, now a young man and unaware that Pierre is is father, is in danger of becoming the victim of blackmailer Mae Morin. Pierre sets out to save him from the notorious Mae.

Bulldog Drummond is a British WWI veteran who longs for some excitement after he returns to the humdrum existence of civilian life. He gets what he's looking for when a girl requests his help in freeing her uncle from a nursing home. She believes the home is just a front and that her uncle is really being held captive while the culprits try to extort his fortune from him.

The daughter of a count and the son of a shoemaker, both Hungarian, fall in love in America. As they're about to marry, the young woman is called back to Europe. When her betrothed goes after her, difficulties ensue.

Three Broadway chorus girls seek rich husbands.

Philip and Cynthia Grey are a pair of recently-wed Bostonians, and Cynthia is properly back-bay no-action quiet and dowdy, and Philip resigns himself to the quietness (no action) regularity of their home. But then along comes a blonde, Peggy Nash, who adds some action and outside-regularity to Philip's life. Cynthia is somewhat upset at this turn of events, and decides to go to Paris - the Wickedest City in the World - and get a quiet divorce. Cynthia soon finds out that Paris is a really gay city, especially after Henri de Briac, shows up and offers to be her guide to the delights of Paris (primarily him). Cynthia quickly sheds some of her dowdy ways and dowdy clothes, and is having herself what was once quaintly described as a gay old time. Philip then shows up in Paris, deciding he wants Cynthia back as his wife, and Peggy shows up right behind him and, soon, it is up to Henri to make the pairing-arrangements for the foursome.

Chorus girl Teena Johnson may be "hard-boiled," but she's no golddigger. Thus, when the father of her wealthy sweetheart Kyle Stannard tries to buy her off, Sally refuses the money. She sticks by Kyle even after he is disinherited and forced to go to work. The financial strain on the young couple's marriage eventually takes its toll, and before long they separate, with Sally returning to the chorus line to square her husband's debts.

Happiness Ahead is a persumed lost 1928 silent film drama directed by William A. Seiter and starring Colleen Moore and then husband and wife Edmund Lowe and Lilyan Tashman.

Broadway showgirl Mary Dugan is charged with murder in the knifing death of her wealthy lover and goes on trial for her life. When her defense counsel appears to bungle his job, Mary's brother Jimmy, a newly-licensed attorney, jumps into the case to defend his sister. Jimmy's courtroom style is unconventional, but he seems to be holding his own against the prosecuting attorney—until a surprise testimony changes the course of the trial...

A comedy which concerns the struggles of an ambitious department store sales clerk who is caught up in New York high society.

Railroad foreman Murray Sinclair is dismissed by George McCloud, division superintendent, for ransacking wrecks. Sinclair along with his henchmen, retire to his ranch and forays against the railroad. "Whispering Smith," engaged by the railroad to restore order, is hesitant in dealing with Sinclair when he falls in love with Marion, Sinclair's wife, who is separated from her husband and operates a small shop in Medicine Bend. Dicksie, McCloud's sweetheart, overhears Sinclair threaten McCloud, and she rides through a storm to warn him; Smith, with the aid of Bill Dancing, tracks down Sinclair and his men, and Bill kills the villain. Dicksie and McCloud marry and take Marion under their protection.

As a favor to her old chorus pal Mrs. Dexter, Broadway dancer Phyllis Sherwood agrees to play a joke on a client of Mrs. Dexter's lawyer husband. The client, a roving rogue named Clyde Thompson, has a habit of romancing married women and has already made up his mind to make Mrs. Dexter -- whom he's never met -- his next conquest. Phyllis poses as Mrs. D. to throw Clyde off the track, leading to an unending supply of humorous complications.

Show girl Jill Deverne is married to song writer Fred Deverne, and everyone is involved in the Broadway night life and endless parties. Jill is being pursued by a gangster, and she leaves her husband after he spends the night with a floozie. Jill ends up as the gangster's moll, but she soon gets tired of the lifestyle.

The Carters, a nouveau riche couple from Peoria, Illinois, decide to take a trip to Europe in the company of John Carter's best friend Henry. While in Paris, Henry begins squiring the coquettish Suzanne, who throws him over in favor of Carter.

In the prologue Sharon Kimm and Mickey Reid are childhood friends in a tenement neighborhood but are separated when Sharon is placed in an orphanage. In the story we see Sharon as a young Hollywood star whose quick rise to fame leaves her self-centered, superficial, and a spendthrift. Ironically, the film that skyrocketed her to fame was written by Mickey. But her success is brief; and when it comes crashing to earth, Mickey is there to pick up the pieces.

Maggie, a headlining comedienne with the Follies, takes a fall off the stage into the orchestra pit and lands on the drum of musician Al Cassidy. One thing leads to another, they fall in love and get married. Al becomes a famous songwriter and Maggie stays home and has children. One day Al is hired to write a big number for Selma Larson, one of the Follies' most beautiful stars, and falls for her.

Sasha Larianoff lives on Rocking Moon Island where she runs a blue fox farm with the help of Gary Tynan. Nash, a trader, has a mortgage on the farm, and Sasha is hoping to pay it off with the season's receipts. But then Sasha's fox pelts disappear, as does Gary. Nash, who is in love with Sasha himself, suggests that Gary is not the fine, upstanding man he appeared to be. This, of course, is untrue -- Gary has been trapped and tied up.

Michael Lanyard, a reformed cracks-man, adopts Adrienne, the daughter of an old friend, and goes to Southampton to attend a party celebrating her engagement to Bobby Crenshaw, the son of a wealthy society couple. The Count and Countess Polinac, international jewel thieves, also attend the party, and Count Polinac forces Lanyard to open the safe containing the jewelry of the guests by threatening to expose Lanyard's criminal past. Lanyard forestalls the count, however, and protects the valuables. The count and countess are arrested, and Michael's secret is kept safe.

Irene, a young girl from a small town, arrives in New York City determined to make it on the Broadway stage. She meets up with Cookie, a worldly chorus girl who takes Irene under her wing. When Irene falls for young Ronald, his rival Crane sets out to break up the pair so he can have Irene for his own--and he doesn't much care how he does it.

A stormy marriage of 6 months between Narcissa and Peter Williams ends in a bitter quarrel, and to gain his freedom Peter offers her more alimony than he can afford. Then he meets Mary Martin, who restores his faith in marriage. With business reverses, Peter falls behind in his alimony payments and neglects his new wife. Narcissa, however, manages to support Bertie Waring, a young sofa-hound; but she protests the delayed alimony and Mary is forced to take a job with an interior decorating establishment. Peter goes to Narcissa to appeal to her generosity, at the moment when Mary (unaware of Narcissa's identity as her husband's first wife) is working in Narcissa's apartment; seeing them together, Mary leaves in humiliation and accepts an invitation from Bertie....

The title refers to the estate owned by Flagg, a man of great wealth and few morals. He installs chorus girls there until he grows tired of them

Perry Blair starts off as a sparring partner for a fighter, but when he knocks the guy down, manager Charles Dunham immediately sees his potential. He takes Blair to New York, where he meets pretty Cecil Manners. Blair finds out that his next fight is fixed and he pulls out. When Dunham spreads a rumor that he is yellow, Blair decides to return west.

Youth meets Ambition and leaves Love, his mother, and his small-town roots for the big city. There, in his search for Experience, he meets Pleasure and hangs out at the Primrose Path with the likes of Temptation and Intoxication. Back home, Youth's mother dies, and Love tries unsuccessfully to reach him. When Youth's money runs out his newfound friends all leave him and he sinks into a life of drug addiction, aided by Habit.

Nellie Horton, when mistreated by her father, is taken in charge by Thomas Lipton. She grows up in poverty not knowing her true identity as the heiress to her mother's millions. Upon the death of her benefactor, she becomes a model in a fashionable shop. There she falls into the hands of her mother's unscrupulous nephew, who contrives to do away with her in order to obtain her fortune. ....

Nancy Carroll stars in Manhattan Cocktail as Babs, a college coed who dreams of becoming a famous actress. Joining up with her campus chums Fred (Richard Arlen) and Bob (Danny O'Shea), likewise aspiring thespians, Babes heads to Broadway with stars in her eyes. The winsome threesome are quickly disillusioned by the heartless machinations of nasty producer Renov (Paul Lukas) and his harridan wife (Lilyan Tashman). Before the plot proper gets under way, the audience is regaled with a cute "mythological" prologue, featuring the same three leading actors. Manhattan Cocktail was a silent picture, except for two brief musical numbers showcasing Nancy Carroll.

The daughter of a boarding house keeper, Iris Carroll (Tashman) is subjected to the unwanted advances of her mother's boarders. When mom dies, Iris kicks over the traces, moves out of town, buys a gorgeous wardrobe and sets about to "get even" with the entire male population.

A British nobleman, heavily in debut to a moneylender, agrees to marry the man's daughter in exchange for his debt being cleared. However, since the girl is Jewish, her new "husband" lets her know that the marriage is strictly a business matter and that he could never have romantic feelings for one of "her kind".

Chorus girl Peggy Lane, finds a small part in a new show for David North, a stages-truck country boy. At rehearsal, David meets Delerys Devore, the show's star, and she quickly offers him a larger part in her act. Quite taken with David, Delerys invites him to her home on the pretext that Peggy will be there; when Peggy does not show up, David leaves, infuriating his hostess. Derelys has Peggy fired the next day, and in reprisal Peggy goads her into a Carmenesque fight backstage just before the show. Derelys is unable to go on stage, and Peggy takes her place, becoming the hit of the show. Peggy and David are later married and give up show business, finding contentment living on a farm.

Laconic cowboy Maverick Brander just happens to be a very wealthy rancher, but the money doesn't really mean that much to him. The same can't be said for his social-climbing wife and his man-crazy daughter Bossy. His wife, with the help of some political bosses, helps Maverick get elected to Congress, where he manages to get in all sorts of trouble, including getting blackmailed by opponents of a bill he's trying to get passed.

Mary Hale hates her job in a department store, and when wealthy Gordon Kent comes around, she flirts with him and is fired. Because she is mad at her fiancé, William Norworth, Mary takes off in Kent's car and she doesn't come home until the early hours. Her father is furious and slaps her, so she leaves home. Kent offers to let her stay in his apartment, while he sleeps at the club.

The last of the impetuous Varicks, Lady Helen Haden is married to Sir Bruce Haden, a brute who treats her shamefully. She falls in love with Ned Thayer, a young American, but refuses to divorce her husband because of the attendant scandal and disgrace. Sir Bruce gains possession of a love letter written to Ned by Lady Helen and divorces her. Ned goes to Africa, and Lady Helen comes to the United States, where she encounters Rudolph Solomon, an art collector who wants her to become his mistress. The noblewoman at first refuses, but when her money runs out, she agrees to the proposal and attends a party at his home. Ned, who has learned of the divorce, comes looking for Helen and meets her at Solomon's party. Lady Helen is so humiliated and ashamed that she rushes from the house and throws herself in front of an automobile.

British comedian Reginald Denny plays a professor who is escorting three different women and needs to make a choice.

Clever vamp Eve Quinn has generally had her way with men, while her quiet, deep-thinking sister Cornelia cannot bring herself to deliberately pursue them. So Eve wins Lewis Dike, whom Cornelia loves. Immediately after her wedding Eve beings a series of dangerous adventures with Wilfred Meadows. Lewis learns of them and endeavors to reason with his wife, but she will not listen. As Cornelia is sailing for Europe, Lewis meets her at the dock, tells her that he made a mistake in marrying Eve and that they will be divorced--and that he loves Cornelia. They part with mutual assurances of a future meeting. A lost film.

Rich club-man Kirk Rainsford, attends a charity bazaar at the home of Marjorie Vail, the society girl he hopes to marry. A fire breaks out among the booths and everyone is pulled to safety except little Peggy, Marjorie's kid sister. Marjorie pleads with Kirk to save the child, but he lacks the courage, and Randolph Sherman, Kirk's rival for Marjorie's affections, plays the hero part. For Kirk's public display of cowardice, he is disowned by his father and rejected by Marjorie, who soon marries Sherman. Kirk drifts to the South Seas, eventually landing in Manila, where he becomes a derelict. When Lillie, a fellow drifter, is roughly handled in a bar, Kirk goes to her assistance; she expresses appreciation for his bravery and soon effects his regeneration through her faith in him. Kirk and Lillie journey to the interior, and they obtain work on a plantation recently purchased by Randolph Sherman. During a native uprising, Sherman is killed, and Kirk saves Marjorie from certain death.

Virginia Carter accedes to her family's pressures and marries Jordan Southwick, who comes from a wealthy and socially prominent family. However, she soon regrets her actions because she still loves her ex-boyfriend, Robert Whitney. Due to the instigation of his jealous brother Boyd, Jordan suspects Virginia of being unfaithful with Whitney.

A delightful pre-code cocktail recipe. Take three couples (add gin and tonic), their several divorces and the seven children/stepchildren of their intermarriages and blend thoroughly, and you have a mixture a too-young-to-believe Frederic March will try to straighten out.