Despite the fact actors in silent movies could never be audibly heard, a great many of them came from vaudeville or live plays. Some stage performers made brief appearances in movies, only to return to their love-of-their-life, personal acting before adoring theatre-goers. One talented actress who excelled on the stage but inexplicably didn't take to cinema was Beatrice Lillie, a Tony Award winner who introduced the works of Noel Coward while Cole Porter wrote songs for her.
Lillie was in a handful of films, mostly in bit parts. The greatest display of her talents has been captured in her only large role in movies, November 1926's "Exit Smiling." In her film debut, Lillie plays a cleaning woman, Violet, for a traveling acting troupe whose ambition is to perform on stage. Her break becomes a reality when a bank clerk, Jimmy Marsh (Jack Pickford), is on the run for suspected embezzlement and comes upon the traveling company. He has a knack for the dramatics, displaying his chops in front of the group's director, and receives one of the lead roles in their play. He carries Violet along onto the stage. She returns the favor by discovering the person who really stole the money in Jimmy's bank and designs a scheme to catch the perpetrator.
"Exit Smiling" is the last extant movie role for Jack Pickford. The brother of Mary Pickford, his introduction to film began in 1909 as an extra, working his way up to the lead in 1917 "Tom Sawyer." Even though his final existing movie (he was in the now lost 1928 film 'Gang War') shows no physical wear and tear on his part, Jack battled drugs and alcohol addiction throughout his young life. He was reportedly abusive to several of his wives, though his on-camera roles were of the lovable type and that of an All-American boy. After 1928, Pickford tried his hand at screenwriting and directing, all leading nowhere. On seeing Jack in 1932 in one of their rare meetings, Mary recalls her brother looking thin and sick, with his clothes hanging on him as if he were a clothes hanger. He died on January 3, 1933, at the age of 36, attributed to alcohol abuse.
"Exit Smiling" was also the film debut of actor Franklin Pangborn. Seen as a character actor in several W. C. Fields films as well as many Preston Sturges and Our Gang movies, Pangborn played that prissy, polite, highly energetic and nervous person who is a desk clerk, headwaiter and other professions where he was easily flustered. Pangborn had a short stint as Jack Paar's announcer on 'The Tonight Show' in 1957, but was released for his lack of spontaneous enthusiasm. He was replaced by a young Hugh Downs.
After "Exit Smiling," Lillie returned to the stage and starred in many Broadway and London plays and musicals. Labeled as 'The Funniest Woman in the World,' Lillie was a constant performer for the troops overseas during World War Two. As she was going on stage before a massive crowd of soldiers in 1942, she learned her son was killed in action. Giving the chance to opt out, Lillie said, "I'll cry tomorrow," and proceeded to give an applaused-filled performance. She married into the wealthy Robert Peel peerage, the grandson. The 5th Baronet Robert Peel's family had lost most of its fortune by the time Lillie married the now used-car salesman. The Baronet turned out to be a compulsive gambler, losing all Beatrice's life savings when he died in 1934. Lillie never remarried and passed away in 1989 at 94 years of age.
Lillie was in a handful of films, mostly in bit parts. The greatest display of her talents has been captured in her only large role in movies, November 1926's "Exit Smiling." In her film debut, Lillie plays a cleaning woman, Violet, for a traveling acting troupe whose ambition is to perform on stage. Her break becomes a reality when a bank clerk, Jimmy Marsh (Jack Pickford), is on the run for suspected embezzlement and comes upon the traveling company. He has a knack for the dramatics, displaying his chops in front of the group's director, and receives one of the lead roles in their play. He carries Violet along onto the stage. She returns the favor by discovering the person who really stole the money in Jimmy's bank and designs a scheme to catch the perpetrator.
"Exit Smiling" is the last extant movie role for Jack Pickford. The brother of Mary Pickford, his introduction to film began in 1909 as an extra, working his way up to the lead in 1917 "Tom Sawyer." Even though his final existing movie (he was in the now lost 1928 film 'Gang War') shows no physical wear and tear on his part, Jack battled drugs and alcohol addiction throughout his young life. He was reportedly abusive to several of his wives, though his on-camera roles were of the lovable type and that of an All-American boy. After 1928, Pickford tried his hand at screenwriting and directing, all leading nowhere. On seeing Jack in 1932 in one of their rare meetings, Mary recalls her brother looking thin and sick, with his clothes hanging on him as if he were a clothes hanger. He died on January 3, 1933, at the age of 36, attributed to alcohol abuse.
"Exit Smiling" was also the film debut of actor Franklin Pangborn. Seen as a character actor in several W. C. Fields films as well as many Preston Sturges and Our Gang movies, Pangborn played that prissy, polite, highly energetic and nervous person who is a desk clerk, headwaiter and other professions where he was easily flustered. Pangborn had a short stint as Jack Paar's announcer on 'The Tonight Show' in 1957, but was released for his lack of spontaneous enthusiasm. He was replaced by a young Hugh Downs.
After "Exit Smiling," Lillie returned to the stage and starred in many Broadway and London plays and musicals. Labeled as 'The Funniest Woman in the World,' Lillie was a constant performer for the troops overseas during World War Two. As she was going on stage before a massive crowd of soldiers in 1942, she learned her son was killed in action. Giving the chance to opt out, Lillie said, "I'll cry tomorrow," and proceeded to give an applaused-filled performance. She married into the wealthy Robert Peel peerage, the grandson. The 5th Baronet Robert Peel's family had lost most of its fortune by the time Lillie married the now used-car salesman. The Baronet turned out to be a compulsive gambler, losing all Beatrice's life savings when he died in 1934. Lillie never remarried and passed away in 1989 at 94 years of age.