Madge Evans

Acting

Madge Evans

Born 1909-07-01 · New York City, New York, USA

Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark. By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in 'Peter Ibbetson' with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with 'Daisy Mayme' and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noel Coward's costume drama 'The Marquise' (1927). Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman' , such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.

Acting credits

What Every Woman Knows poster
7.6

Aspiring young Scottish politician John Shand enters into an unusual agreement with the wealthy Wylie family -- if they fund his education, he must marry their daughter, Maggie. Staying true to his word, John weds Maggie and begins a successful career, thanks largely to his savvy wife. The couple's relationship is placed in jeopardy when John faces temptation in the form of the lovely aristocrat Lady Sybil Tenterden.

What Every Woman Knows

1934

Dinner at Eight poster
6.8

An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.

Dinner at Eight

1933

David Copperfield poster
6.7

A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.

David Copperfield

1935

Army Girl poster
6.8

A young captain hoping to replace the U.S. Army's horses with mechanized vehicles faces court-martial after his commanding officer, who's opposed to modern changes, is killed.

Army Girl

1938

Fugitive Lovers poster
6.2

In a hopeful effort to evade gangster Legs Caffey, chorus girl Letty Morris hops a bus in New York bound for Los Angeles--with Legs close on her heels. Along the way the bus picks up escaped convict Paul Porter, who quickly allies himself with Letty. With the police in hot pursuit and Legs monitoring his every move with Letty, Paul is running out of both time and ideas.

Fugitive Lovers

1934

Seventeen poster
NR

Seventeen year old William Sylvanus Baxter has fallen madly in love with young coquette, Lola Pratt. After spending all of his money on the fickle girl, she runs off with an older man. William now heartbroken, contemplates suicide, until a friend from childhood, May Parcher, pays a visit and William decides to fall in love with her.

Seventeen

1916

Piccadilly Jim poster
6.8

Jim's father wants to marry Eugenia, but her sister Netta refuses to allow it. When Jim sees Ann at a club, he falls for her even though she is with Lord Priory. He meets her the next day at the riding path, but she quickly loses him. He searches all over for her, not knowing that his father's hopeful fiancée is her Aunt. As his caricature work suffers as he searches, he is fired from his paper. But he makes a comeback with the comics 'Rags to Riches' which is based upon the Pett's. But this upsets the Pett's so much that they go back to New York, and he follows, being careful not to let them know that he is the one who draws the strip that parodies them.

Piccadilly Jim

1936

Are You Listening? poster
5.6

WBLA is on the air, presenting the live music, the sudsy dramas and the sell-sell-sell of commercial interludes that keep consumers buying and sponsors smiling. But one sponsor, a producer of plumbing supplies, isn’t happy. So WBLA scriptwriter Bill Grimes is bounced from his job, setting in motion this movie’s turn from comedic to darkly tragic. William Haines, two years removed from being Tinseltown’s top male star, plays Grimes in a melodrama noted for its glimpses of live radio production and for a Depression-era ethos that includes peroxide cuties eager to land a job, a sugar daddy or both.

Are You Listening?

1932

Beloved Adventuress poster
1.0

Romantic melodrama of musical comedy star Juliette La Monde's thoughtless pursuit of love and pleasure with various men until her ultimate redemption through sacrifice.

Beloved Adventuress

1917

The Mayor of Hell poster
7.0

Members of a teenage gang are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the callous Thompson. Soon Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner, arrives and takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. Thompson needs a quick way to discredit him.

The Mayor of Hell

1933

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? poster
6.3

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975

Pennies from Heaven poster
7.2

Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.

Pennies from Heaven

1936

Home Wanted poster
10.0

Every night, Madge Dow of the Middleport Orphanage, imagines herself in the lighted room in the house across the way, being tucked into bed by a beautiful mother. After Madge and her friend Spotty escape to visit settlement worker Letty Thompson, and Letty encourages them to investigate the house, they find a grumpy, gout-ridden old Major there, still irritated over his daughter's marriage years ago without his consent.

Home Wanted

1919

Sudden Riches poster
NR

Successful, but financially struggling architect Robert Crewe is devoted to his wife Marion and daughter Emily. Unknown to him, his Uncle Abner harbors a spite for him because Robert's father stole Abner's fiancée, who died in childbirth after their marriage. Mad for revenge Abner hires a beauty to break up Robert's home, but she fails. When Abner dies, he leaves Robert his fortune hoping it will lead to Robert's downfall. He is almost proved correct but when Robert and Marion are threatened with Emily's death, they finally decide to change their lives and bring the family back together.

Sudden Riches

1916

Hell Below poster
6.0

On leave in Italy, Lt. Tommy Knowlton falls in love with Jean Standish, who's not only married, but is the daughter of his submarine's commander. Friction between the two officers becomes intolerable once at sea and after Commander Toler is forced to abandon Tommy's best friend topside while the sub dives to escape enemy planes, Tommy is no longer able to contain his anger.

Hell Below

1933

Huddle poster
7.0

Tony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale college. Over the four years of his college career he learns about football, love, and class prejudice.

Huddle

1932

Guilty Hands poster
5.9

A district attorney commits the perfect murder when he kills his daughter's womanizing fiancé and then tries framing the fiancé's lover.

Guilty Hands

1931

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum poster
7.6

A New York tramp falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt.

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

1933

The Greeks Had a Word for Them poster
5.6

A trio of money-hungry women rent a luxurious penthouse, spending their dough on drink and debonair clothing, backbiting and catfighting as they steal each other's boyfriends.

The Greeks Had a Word for Them

1932

Stand Up and Cheer! poster
5.3

President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering through the Depression. The new secretary soon runs afoul of political lobbyists out to destroy his department.

Stand Up and Cheer!

1934

Made on Broadway poster
7.0

A satire about the power of publicity. Robert Montgomery plays Jeff Bidwell, a dashing Broadway press agent who has his own private club where he cultivates the rich and powerful. With the help of his selfless ex-wife (Madge Evans), Jeff molds an illiterate, suicidal young woman (Sally Eilers) into a celebrity socialite.

Made on Broadway

1933

Son of India poster
5.7

An Indian jewel merchant goes from penniless to wealthy in this story about gratitude.

Son of India

1931

No artwork available
NR

Silent film drama...

The Revolt

1916

West of Broadway poster
6.8

A wealthy soldier returns home after WWI, discovers his socialite fiancee no longer wants to marry him, and weds an admitted gold-digger he's just met after a night of drinking and partying.

West of Broadway

1931