Charlotte Henry
Biography
Charlotte Henry was born March 3, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York,
USA. She sadly died April 11, 1980. Ms.
Henry played roles in 30 different films during the early to mid ’30s and later
played leads in some movies through the early ’40s. Ms. Henry was on stage at
age five. She was on Broadway in 1930 and later that year she acted in her
first film On Your Back. She got her first starring role in 1933's all-star
version of Alice in Wonderland. Ms. Henry retired from films in 1942. Hal Roach
probably remembered her role as Alice one year later, when she was trying out
his version of “Babes in Toyland”. Ms. Henry would definitely end up as ‘Little
Bo-Peep’, the role for which everyone remembers her the best. Ms. Henry almost
was at the 1980 ‘Sons of the Desert International Convention’, but passed away
a short time before the event.
Alice in Wonderland is frequently cited as
the film that "discovered" winsome 1930s ingénue Charlotte Henry, yet
here she is, playing the title character in the backwoods drama Lena Rivers.
Based on a popular novel by Mary J. Holmes, the film concentrates on Lena's
misadventures when her fisherman grandpa is lost at sea and she is sent to live
with her wealthy Kentucky relatives. Shunned by her pretentious aunt (Betty
Blythe) and obnoxious cousin (Joyce Compton), Lena enjoys a sudden change of
status when it is learned that her =real= father is the family's aristocratic
neighbor (James Kirkwood). As frosting on the cake, our heroine falls in love
with Durrie (Morgan Galloway), the neighbor's handsome young ward. A previous
version of Lena Rivers was filmed in 1925. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
I Live on Danger is a fast-moving thriller
with strong performances and top-notch direction -- by former screenwriter Sam
White -- which overcomes some weaknesses in the plot. Jeff Morrell (Chester
Morris) is a newscaster who gets involved in saving wrongly accused Eddie
Nelson (Edward Norris) from a murder charge. Nelson's sister, Susan Richards
(Jean Parker) is fundamental in keeping interest in the case, as she becomes
his romantic interest. Both Chester Morris and Jean Parker are fine as the
romantic pair, who fights to save the innocent man. This was Sam White's first
directorial effort and is a good showcase for White who went on to become a
notable director of "B" movies. -- Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
She's
in the Army is a fascinating vehicle for character actress Lucille Gleason (aka
Mrs. James Gleason), heretofore usually confined to supporting roles. Gleason
is cast as Hannah, a crusty, all-knowing sergeant in the Women's Ambulance and
Defense Corps. Brassy nightclub singer Diane (Veda Ann Borg) would rather
romance Army captain Steve (Lyle Talbot) than follow Hannah's orders, but
eventually she realizes that her first duty is to her country. Likewise, dizzy
Marie Wilson "smarts up" enough to prove her value to the Corps.
She's in the Army was written by Sidney Sheldon, two decades removed from his
success as a best-selling novelist and I Dream of Jeannie mentor. -- Hal
Erickson, All Movie Guide
Bowery Blitzkrieg (Mary Breslin)
Former "Dead End Kid" Huntz Hall made his first appearance
with the "East Side Kids" in 1941's Bowery Blitzkrieg. The plotline
concentrates on Danny Breslin (Bobby Jordan), a good kid in danger of going bad
thanks to the influence of two-bit crook Monk Martin (Bobby Stone). When Danny
is disqualified from the upcoming Golden Gloves boxing championship, his pal Mugs
(Leo Gorcey) takes his place. Thanks to the chicanery of Monk and his gambling
cronies, the public becomes convinced that Mugs intends to throw the fight.
Nothing could be further from the truth, but for a while it looks as though the
villains will kayo both Mugs and Danny permanently. As "Limpy", Huntz
Hall doesn't have much to do except act as Mugs' dimwitted stooge; Hall's
unique comic gifts wouldn't fully blossom until the next East Side Kids entry,
Spooks Run Wild. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Carefully measuring the success of Republic's
Clyde Beatty serial Darkest Africa, Columbia top-billed wild animal hunter
Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive" Buck in the 15-chapter Jungle Menace.
The story takes place in the mythical Asian province of Seemang, where rubber
planter Edward Elliot (John St. Polis) owns a huge and profitable plantation.
When river pirates hijack one of Elliot’s shipments, his daughter Dorothy
(Charlotte Henry) and her planter friend Tom Banning (William Bakewell)
narrowly escape with their lives. Things get worse when Elliot himself is shot
by an unknown assailant, at which point soldier-of-fortune Frank Hardy (Buck)
takes a hand in matters. For the rest of the serial, Hardy tries to ascertain
the identity of the mysterious villain who wishes to drive Elliot off his
property, while poor Dorothy is subjected to one jungle peril after another. --
Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The first of four Tom Keene westerns for Monogram
release, God's Country and the Man is fine, virile stuff in the old William S.
Hart tradition. Keene is cast as wandering cavalier Jim, who finds himself in
the Tall Timber territory of Canada. Here he runs afoul of scurrilous
gunslinger Gentry (Charles King), the scourge of the Mounties. Not only does
Jim neutralize Gentry, but he also helps a poor blacksmith (Billy Bletcher)
stake a valuable gold claim. For his initial Monogram outing, Keene is favored
with two leading ladies: Charlotte Henry, the onetime star of Alice in
Wonderland, and silent-screen favorite Betty Compson, here given an opportunity
to display her skill with the violin. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
There was some novelty value in the fact that
an actor whose initials were E.Q. was cast as intellectual sleuth Ellery Queen
in Republic's The Mandarin Mystery. That actor was Eddie Quillan, who though a
talented and appealing performer was woefully miscast as Queen. The story,
based on the Ellery Queen novel The Chinese Orange Mystery, is set in motion by
a crook who steals a $50,000 stamp, which results in two murders -- both
committed in impenetrably locked rooms. The primary suspect is Jo Temple
(Charlotte Henry), the original possessor of the stamp. Falling in love with
Jo, Ellery sets about to retrieve the stolen goods and solve the murders.
Perhaps realizing that Eddie Quillan could never be taken seriously in the
leading role, Republic opted to play The Mandarin Mystery for laughs -- another
big mistake. Originally released at 63 minutes, the film is currently available
only in its 54-minute TV-reissue form. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this crime drama, a newly deputized state trooper
gets killed on his very first day. His younger brother, desiring to follow in
his brother's footsteps swears vengeance. His sister's fiancé helps him find
the gangsters who did the killing. They find them and then trick the crooks
into entering a boarding house where they claim gold is hidden. There the
heroes discover that the crime boss is a crippled boarder who lives there. Just
when it looks like curtains for the heroes, the cops arrive and bring the
crooks to justice. -- Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Charlie Chan at the Opera (Mademoiselle Kitty)
"Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff"
read the billing on the opening credits of Charlie Chan at the Opera. Karloff
plays a once-famous opera star who has long been confined to an insane asylum.
He escapes, ostensibly to seek revenge on the diva wife (Nedda Harrigan) who'd
betrayed him years earlier. Karloff shows up during the performance of a new
opera, and within minutes the murders start. Detective William Demarest figures
the case is open and shut, but oriental sleuth Charlie Chan (Oland) is not
thoroughly convinced of Karloff's guilt--nor is he certain that Boris is
genuinely insane. To give away the ending would be churlish, but we can note
that Charlotte Henry plays Karloff's daughter, who has been raised to believe
that her father was dead. Considered by some Charlie Chan fans to be the best
of the Warner Oland efforts, Charlie Chan at the Opera is distinguished by
excellent production values, and by an original opera composed by Oscar
Levant--who allegedly agreed to this assignment provided he could include the
word "Silencio!" in his lyrics. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this drama, set at the turn-of-the-century
an ingenious young jockey finds his reputation sullied by criminals. He
cleverly outsmarts them and his reputation is restored. -- Sandra Brennan, All
Movie Guide
“B” -film historian Don Miller as “a weepie
unabashed -- and a successful one” accurately assessed forbidden Heaven.
Silent-film heartthrob Charles Farrell stars as a British working stiff named
Niba, who hopes one day to attain a Parliamentary seat. Niba's life is
permanently altered when he rescues forlorn American girl Ann (Charlotte
Henry). Though forced to give up his political dreams, Niba contentedly sets up
house with Ann, eventually falling in love with her. Then tragedy strikes -- so
suddenly that it seems to have been tacked onto the film as an afterthought
because the writers couldn't think of anything else. Despite its abrupt mood
changes, Forbidden Heaven was a real audience pleaser, allowing everyone to
enjoy a good cry. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Impressed by the popularity of radio program
about the exploits of legendary safecracker Jimmy Valentine, advertising man
Gary Howard (Roger Pryor) posts a huge reward for anyone who knows the
whereabouts of real Valentine, who is technically still a fugitive from
justice. Following a lead, Howard ends up in a small town, where it appears as
though Valentine has been living a respectable pseudonymous life as the town
banker (played by Robert Warwick, coincidentally the star of the 1915 film
Alias Jimmy Valentine!) Just as Howard is about to "expose" the
banker, another old duffer steps forth to claim that he's Valentine. By now,
Howard has fallen in love with banker's daughter Midge (Charlotte Henry), so he
decides to let sleeping crooks lie. The last-minute introduction of villainous
gangsters adds some life to this laid-back yarn. Return of Jimmy Valentine was
remade (and significantly improved upon) in 1942 as Affairs of Jimmy Valentine.
-- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
First-time director Lew Ayres performs miracles
on a tiny budget in the Civil War drama Hearts in Bondage. The story offers a
romanticized version of the events leading up to the battle between the
"ironclads" Monitor and Merrimac. Northern naval officer Kenneth
(James Dunn), the nephew of Monitor designer John Ericsson (Fritz Leiber) is
dishonorably discharged when he sinks the Merrimac instead of burning it, as
ordered. He is restored to duty as a crewmember on the Monitor, and in the
ensuing sea battle with the decommissioned Merrimac he kills Confederate
officer Raymond (David Manners), the brother of Kenneth's fiancé Constance (Mae
Clarke). The estranged sweethearts are ultimately reunited with the help of Abe
Lincoln himself! Both James Dunn and Mae Clarke are miscast in their roles, but
they do their best under the circumstances to make their material
"work" -- and often succeed. The real stars of Hearts in Bondage are
Republic's special-effects mavens Howard and Theodore Lydecker, whose splendid
utilization of scale models in the climactic Monitor-Merrimac confrontation is
both exciting and convincing. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Edward Eggleston's best-selling novel The
Hoosier Schoolmaster was brought to the screen in 1935 by Monogram Pictures,
which specialized in such bucolic entertainments. Norman Foster plays the title
character, an ex-Union soldier named Ralph. After the Civil War, Ralph takes a
schoolteacher job in a small Indiana community where resentment against
"Damn Yankees" still runs high. Before long, he gets mixed up in
local politics, hoping to purge the town of the crooked politicians who've been
squandering land-grant money on them. He is also forced to confront town bully
Bud (Fred Kohler Jr.) over the affections of pretty heroine Hannah (Charlotte
Henry) and to face down a hooded band of nightriders. The film deftly blends
small-town charm with vivid melodrama, most notably in a spelling-bee sequence,
which segues into a near-riot. The Hoosier Schoolmaster was one of the last
productions from the "old" Monogram outfit before its absorption by
Republic Pictures. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The indomitable May Robson is firmly in the
driver's seat of this Runyonesque comedy-drama. While riding through Central
Park, peppery millionaires Mary Jane Baxter (Robson) is thrown from her
carriage and rescued by three scruffy orphans (Frankie Darro, Billy Benedict,
Billy Burrud). The kids take her to the home of their guardian, Italian barber
Tony (Henry Armetta), with the intention of letting her recuperate. Upon
awakening, Mary Jane assumes that she's been kidnapped and imperiously demands
to be released. Eventually won over by her lovable young "abductors,"
Mary Jane is able to rise to the occasion magnificently when a real kidnapping
occurs. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director George Stevens' fourth feature-film
effort was a 1935 adaptation of the oft-filmed Gene Stratton Porter yarn
Laddie. Set in rural Indiana, the story revolves around the romance between a
local farm boy (John Beal) and English-born girl (Gloria Stuart). The lovers
are separated during most of the proceedings by their warring families, headed
respectively by the young man's remonstrative parents (Willard Robertson and
Dorothy Peterson) and the girl's domineering father (Donald Crisp). Ironically,
despite the parents' prattling about decency and propriety, it is a family
scandal that ultimately provides a happy ending. Good though the
"adult" actors are, little Virginia Weidler, cast as Beal’s
wise-beyond-her-years kid sister, steals the film. Previously filmed in 1926,
Laddie was remade in 1940, with Tim Holt and Virginia Gilmore in the leading
roles. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star as Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee, bumbling apprentices to the master toy maker of Toyland. All the colorful Mother Goose characters we know and love populate this joyous fairy-tale community; the one sour apple in the barrel is mean old Silas Barnaby (portrayed by Henry Kleinbach, aka Henry Brandon). Barnaby holds the mortgage on the outsized shoe where Widow Peep (Florence Roberts) and her daughter Little Bo Peep (Charlotte Henry) reside, and where Stannie and Ollie pay room and board. Bo Peep will be forced to marry the odious Barnaby if the rent isn't paid, so Stannie and Ollie try to raise the money by asking the toy maker for a raise. But the boys are fired when Stannie messes up an order from Santa Claus: instead of making six hundred toy soldiers one foot high, the dumb Mr. Dum makes one hundred toy soldiers six feet high. The wedding between Barnaby and Bo Peep goes on as planned--except that it's Stannie, disguised as the bride, who ends up walking down the altar. Publicly humiliated, Barnaby vows revenge. He steals one of the Three Little Pigs and places the blame on Bo Peep's boy friend, Tom-Tom the Piper's Son (Felix Knight).
Dying New England millionaire Cabot Barr
(George Arliss) doesn't trust any of his relatives as they flock to his
bedside, and not without justification. Barr realizes that there are a few
roses among the thorns, notably his good-hearted granddaughter (Charlotte
Henry) and his likeable adopted nephew (Frank Albertson), but the rest of the
batch are whining, greedy and manipulative. With the covert aid of his
secretary (Ralph Morgan) and his Runyonesque valet (Edward Ellis), Barr decides
to teach his family a few lessons by manipulating them to do the opposite of
what he pretends he wants them to do. As a result, the granddaughter and the
nephew fall in love, while the less-appealing relatives are enmeshed in their
own webs of deceit. The best, however, is saved for last. After Barr's death,
the family discovers that he's left behind a "living will": a reel of
film in which the old gent jovially announces his bequests -- and with equal
joviality settles a few old scores. This climactic "gimmick," later
repeated in such films as 1979's Cat and the Canary and 1985's Brewster's
Millions, is the highlight of this consistently charming and delightful George
Arliss vehicle. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Frank Craven and Ernest Pascal adapted the
Human Side from a play by Christine Ames. Long married and the parents of four
children, Gregory and Vera Sheldon break up when Gregory begins keeping time
with seductive Alma Hastings (played by Betty Lawford, Peter's mom). Despite
the subsequent divorce, Gregory can't resist visiting his ex-wife from time to
time, which arouses Alma's jealous nature. The story isn't straightened out,
however, until the four Sheldon kids -- Lucille (Charlotte Henry), Phil (Dick
Winslow), Tom (George Ernest) and Bobbie (Dickie Moore) -- take a hand in the
matter. Befitting the title, The Human Side is realistically written and acted,
enhancing the audience's empathy with the characters. -- Hal Erickson, All
Movie Guide
This star-laden version of Lewis Carroll's
novel combines elements of both the title novel and Carroll's sequel, Through
the Looking Glass. In England of the 19th century, young Alice finds that the
mirror over the library fireplace opens into a strange world. She has odd
adventures and changes size several times both before and after she follows a
time-obsessed White Rabbit (Skeets Gallagher). Soaked after nearly drowning in
a pool of tears, Alice is helped to dry off by a Dodo (Polly Moran), and
encounters a caterpillar (Ned Sparks), whose mushroom also changes Alice's
size. In a noisy home where the Cook (Lillian Harmer) and the Duchess (Alison
Skipworth) are always fighting, Alice takes care of the Duchess' baby, but it
turns into a pig and runs away. Asking directions of the Cheshire Cat (Richard
Arlen) is no help, and a tea party with the Mad Hatter (Edward Everett Horton),
the March Hare (Charlie Ruggles) and the Dormouse (Jackie Searl) is confusing
and annoying. Alice meets the Queen of Hearts (May Robson), and encounters the
Duchess again; while strolling with her, Alice meets the Gryphon (William
Austin) and the Mock Turtle (Cary Grant). The twins Tweedledum (Jack Oakie) and
Tweedledee (Roscoe Karns) recite a poem about a Walrus and a Carpenter (seen as
an animated cartoon), but when they decide to go to battle, they're chased off
by a crow. Humpty Dumpty (W.C.
Junior Durkin who burst upon the movie scene as Huck Finn in 1930's Tom
Sawyer, is the teenage star of Man Hunt. Durkin plays an aspiring detective
(courtesy of a correspondence school) who decides to take on the case of a
robbery/murder. He uncovers a cache of stolen diamonds, and is nearly rubbed
out by a mysterious baldheaded assailant. Junior's leading lady is Charlotte
Henry, who'd previously costarred with the boy in Huckleberry Finn (31) and
would have her bid for stardom later in 1933 with Alice in Wonderland. Man Hunt
was an independent production (obviously so, given the tattiness of the sets
and camerawork), distributed to the Saturday-matinee market by RKO. -- Hal
Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this romance a school maim takes a cruise
and falls for an unobtainable man, a district attorney married to a crippled
woman. -- Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
It's hard to separate fact and fancy from the
many accounts of what happened on the set when all three of the fabulous
Barrymores--Ethel, John and Lionel--appeared together for the only time in
Rasputin and the Empress. As for the end result, John offers the subtlest (!)
performance as Russian Prince Paul Chegodieff; Lionel throws all caution to the
four winds in the role of "Mad Monk" Rasputin; and Ethel comes off as
rather artificial as Empress Alexandra (Ethel was more appealing in her character
roles of the 1940s and 1950s). The plot covers the years 1913 through 1918,
during the tumultuous final years of the Romanov regime in Russia. When young
Prince Alexis (Tad Alexander), a hemophiliac, hovers near death after an
accident, the royal physicians regretfully predict an imminent demise. At the
advice of Prince Paul's impressionable sweetheart Natasha (Diana Wynyard),
Alexandra and her husband, Czar Nikolai (Ralph Morgan), call in the mysterious
Rasputin to look after Alexis. Using hypnosis, Rasputin is able to
"cure" the boy-and to slowly gain control over the royal family.
Prince Paul, concerned that Rasputin's despotic misuse of his new-found
authority will cause the people to revolt, does his best to discredit the oily
holy man, but to no avail. When Rasputin rapes Natasha, Paul attempts to shoot
the miscreant down.
Arrowsmith (uncredited - Pioneer Girl)
Sinclair Lewis' novel Arrowsmith is given so
stylish a screen treatment by producer Sam Goldwyn that at times it looks more
like an art-deco exhibit than a film. Ronald Colman stars as Martin Arrowsmith,
an idealist doctor who forsakes a cushy, big-city practice to seek out a cure
for bubonic plague. Arrowsmith's wife Helen Hayes at first balks at the
prospect of accompanying her husband to the West Indies, but she finally honors
her "wifely duties"--only to be rewarded by Arrowsmith's casual
affair with sexy Myrna Loy. When Hayes dies from smoking a plague-infected
cigarette, the conscience-stricken Arrowsmith reawakens to his duty to
humanity. It won't be readily obvious, given the streamlined look of the film,
but Arrowsmith was directed by none other than John Ford, here contributing to
the overall "class" of the production by pretentiously billing
himself as John A. Ford. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel by Mark Twain, Huckleberry
Finn stars Junior Durkin in the title role, Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer, Mitzi
Green as Becky Thatcher and Clarence Muse as Jim the slave. The film hopscotch’s
around the book, ignoring such highlights as the Grangeford-Shepherdson feud
and devoting too much time to such minor incidents as Huck and Tom's
"orchestrated" rescue of Jim. The basic storyline begins when Huck's
no-good Pap (Warner Richmond) kidnaps the boy from his guardian, the Widow
Douglas. Huck stages his own "death" and escapes down the Mississippi
on a raft, in the company of Tom Sawyer and escaped slave Jim. The threesome
link up with two confidence men, the King (Oscar Apfel) and the Duke (Eugene
Pallette). The unscrupulous pair plan fleece the grieving family of a recently
deceased man of wealth, but Huck falls in love with one of the victims of the
scam (Charlotte Henry) and thwarts the villains. Huckleberry Finn was
Paramount's follow-up to 1930's Tom Sawyer, with many of the principal actors
repeating their roles. This 1931 version of Huckleberry is easy to take, but
somewhat threadbare when compared to later remakes. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie
Guide
This comedy features Collier unwittingly
running a sweatshop and Mama Churchill keeping the suitors away from her
daughters by discussing marriage. -- , All Movie Guide
In this drama, a New York dressmaker
struggles to make it big so she can provide a good life for her beloved son. As
her son enters college, she opens a Fifth Avenue boutique. When her son falls
in love with a chorus girl, the mother is appalled. Later, the girl finds
herself a wealthy benefactor and runs up a large tab at the dress shop. The
dressmaker's son has no idea that his true love is messing around. When he
returns from college, still deeply in love, the mother attempts to blackmail
the chorine into breaking up by forcing her to pay her bill or else. -- Sandra
Brennan, All Movie Guide
Originally filmed with
Mary Pickford in 1917, the Kate Douglas Wiggin children's classic Rebecca of
Sunnybrook Farm was remade as a talkie in 1932. Though a bit long in tooth to
play the leading character, Marian Nixon (replacing a recalcitrant Janet
Gaynor) makes a charming Rebecca. Placed in the custody of her wealthy,
spiteful old Aunts Miranda (Louise Closser Hale) and Jane (Mae Marsh), the
heroine eventually wins the two biddies over with her relentless good nature,
charm and optimism. She also reforms avowed atheist Zion Simpson (Alan Hale),
convincing the old reprobate to marry his common-law wife (Eula Gay). As a
reward for all her good works, Rebecca wins the love of local doctor Ladd
(Ralph Bellamy). An in-name-only adaptation of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was
filmed six years later, with Shirley Temple in the lead. -- Hal Erickson, All
Movie Guide