Walter Connolly
Actor · 1887 – 1940 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Walter Connolly (April 8, 1887 – May 28, 1940) was an American actor. While some film historians complain that a number of his performances were annoying or overbaked, he was for the most part applauded for his zesty contributions to a number of comedy classics. Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933), Broadway Bill (1934) and It Happened One Night (1934), as well as the Carole Lombard/Fredric March screwball farce Nothing Sacred (1937) as news reporter March's hot-headed editor boss are sure-fire examples. The son of the head of the Western Union relay office, he attended St. Xavier College and the University of Dublin in Ireland before making his New York debut in 1910 in an outdoor presentation of "As You Like It". For the next year or so he was a member of E.H. Sothern's touring company and played supporting roles in a number of Shakespearean shows on the road. After a few silent pictures left him unimpressed with film-making, he turned to the Broadway stage in the 1920s and scored quite well. Somewhat short and tubby, it was not difficult for the jowly, mustachioed actor to seize laughs and he found his share in such outings as "The Talking Parrot" (1923), "Applesauce" (1925), "The Springboard" (1927), "The Happy Husband" (1928), "Stepping Out" (1929), "Your Uncle Dudley" (1930), "Anatol" (1931), "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1931), "The Good Fairy" (1932) and "The Late Christopher Bean" (1932). With his talents as a stage farceur firmly established, it was time to make a second attempt at a film career and Hollywood (specifically, Columbia) wisely opened their doors to him. Interestingly, his debut in a full-length talking picture came at age 45 in the form of a drama, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), where he was third-billed as a rather benign senator. For the next seven years Connolly, often playing older than he really was, could be found everywhere giving good fluster to the greatest and glossiest of stars -- Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, and Ginger Rogers, among hordes of others. His hobbies were collecting old books and theatre programmes. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006). Connolly suffered a fatal stroke on May 28, 1940, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Movies24
Movie7.8ComedyRomanceA runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.
It Happened One Night
1934 · 1.5K votes
Movie7.3ComedyRomanceWhen a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.
Libeled Lady
1936 · 136 votes
Movie7.1ComedyDramaApple Annie is an aging New York City fruit seller whose daughter Louise has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. As she grows up, Louise is led to believe that her mother is a society matron called Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. Annie worries that her lie is in danger of being uncovered when she learns that Louise is sailing to New York with her new fiancé and his nobleman father.
Lady for a Day
1933 · 98 votes
Movie6.7AdventureDramaHuckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939 · 21 votes
Movie6.3DramaHistoryChina, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.
The Good Earth
1937 · 81 votes
Movie6.0ComedyDramaTycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...
Broadway Bill
1934 · 22 votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceWhen a small-town girl is incorrectly diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an unknowing newspaper columnist turns her into a national heroine.
Nothing Sacred
1937 · 115 votes
Movie6.3DramaRomanceAn American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932 · 104 votes
Movie7.8DramaDuring the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.
So Red the Rose
1935 · 4 votes
Movie6.8ComedyRomanceA temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.
Twentieth Century
1934 · 114 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceA wealthy man hires a poor girl to play his mistress in order to get more attention from his neglectful family.
Fifth Avenue Girl
1939 · 26 votes
Movie5.5ComedyRomanceA public relations man falls for his most difficult client's granddaughter.
Four's a Crowd
1938 · 16 votes
Movie6.8DramaRomanceBill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.
Man's Castle
1933 · 36 votes
Movie6.5ComedyDramaPolitical kingmaker Joe Quinn attempts to elevate his daughter's ambitious suitor, George Willoughby, into the the higher echelons of politics by getting him elected to Congress. His daughter, Paula Quinn, is not interested in her father's hand-picked choice of Willoughby as her husband. Willoughby is duly elected but Paula chooses weatherman/inventor Kirk Duncan as her husband.
Let's Get Married
1937 · 2 votes
Movie5.3ComedyThe wealthy Van Dyke family are constantly in the media for outrageous behavior, much to the frustration of the patriarch, Dan Van Dyke. His self-centered wife has a fondness for foreign imports, including "pet projects" like dancers and such and his spoiled children Tony and Carol have constant run-ins with the law. When Dan himself ends up in the clink for five years for tax evasion, he becomes bunk-mates with ex-bootlegger Joe "Spots" Ricardi. Ricardi lectures him on being such a push-over for an out-of-control family, so a dying Dan makes Ricardi his estate trustee once he is released from prison. Ricardi is then thrust into high society and must do everything he once nagged Dan to do.
She Couldn't Take It
1935 · 3 votes
Movie6.0MusicRomancePrincess is destined to marry the Emperor, until her sister steps in.
The King Steps Out
1936 · 10 votes
Movie7.1ComedyJenny Swanson, a waitress on a college campus, is dying to visit Paris. Thanks to English professor Ronald Brooke, she manages to make her dream come true. Besides seeing the sights in the French capital she makes friends with a wealthy family there, the Brands.
Good Girls Go to Paris
1939 · 11 votes
Movie5.4MusicRomanceIn his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.
The Great Victor Herbert
1939 · 7 votes
Movie6.9ComedyMusicAfter retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.
Start Cheering
1938 · 8 votes
Movie6.0ComedyAdventureWhile in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.
Too Hot to Handle
1938 · 21 votes
Movie6.4ActionCrimeDr. MacAuley, a kindly, beloved country doctor, is sent to Fillmore Prison. His crime was for removing a bullet from a young man who was escaping from the police.
Those High Grey Walls
1939 · 4 votes
Movie6.0DramaBroadway's most successful producer, John Forrester, is deeply in love with his wife Margaret and dreams of the future when his son Jack will step into his shoes. He sails to England to produce a show but the ship strikes a derelict wreckage and is sinking rapidly. In the ensuing wild panic, Forrester saves many lives, until finally, panic stricken by sudden fear, he dons a woman's clothes and is among the rescued. On the coast of Newfouldland, the villagers, not aware of his true identity, curse him but he is befriended by Alec who helps him conceal his identity. With a planned story of his survival, he returns to New York but cannot face his family or friends after he sees the plaque to his heroism on his New York theatre. Deciding to remain thought of as dead, he becomes a derelict himself, surviving on odd jobs as he watches from afar his now-grown son begin his career as a producer.
Whom the Gods Destroy
1934 · 3 votes
Movie5.8DocumentaryComedyFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.
Breakdowns of 1938
1938 · 4 votes
Movie7.3Short film in which Frankie Darro as a Telegram delivery boy visits various Hollywood locations to make deliveries. He visits the Los Angeles Pier and a Gala Hollywood Premiere.
Hollywood on Parade No. B-1
1934 · 3 votes