French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 53. Photo: Film Erka Prodisco.
British postcard by Picturegoer, no. 250.
Mexican postcard by CIF, no. 1584. Vera Reynolds and Ricardo Cortez in Feet of Clay (Cecil B. DeMille, 1924).
Comedy shorts
Vera Reynolds was born on the 25th of November 1899 in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.
She made her film debut in 1917 and appeared in comedy shorts, working, for example, for Mack Sennett or Al Christie.
In 1921 and 1922, she was Eddie Barry’s leading lady in a series of comedies distributed by Arrow Pictures.
She also played opposite Stan Laurel in The Pest (1922).
Her first feature film was Prodigal Daughters (1923), as Gloria Swanson’s sister.
Italian postcard by G.B. Falci-Editore, Milano. Vera Reynolds and Ricardo Cortez in Feet of Clay (Cecil B. DeMille, 1924).
British embossed postcard, no. 94.
Cecil B. DeMille
Vera Reynolds was then professionally linked to Cecil B. DeMille for several years.
Under his direction, she played in Feet of Clay (1924), which had her making a round trip to the afterworld, and The Golden Bed (1925), as vamp Lillian Rich’s gentle and decent sister. She was also featured in The Night Club (1925), adapted from a 1913 play by Cecil B. DeMille and his brother, William C. de Mille.
In 1925, the famous director left Paramount and founded his own production unit, the DeMille Pictures Corporation, whose films would be distributed by P.D.C. His first personally directed release through this new partnership was The Road to Yesterday (1925), in which Vera co-starred with Jetta Goudal, Joseph Schildkraut and William Boyd.
Under the De Mille Pictures Corporation banner, she also starred, under various directors’ helm, in Silence (1926), Sunny Side Up (1926), Risky Business (1926), Corporal Kate (1926), The Little Adventuress (1927), Almost Human (1927) and The Main Event (1927).
In August 1927, it was reported that she had attempted suicide by taking poison. She denied it, claiming that it was accidental and that she simply had suffered from food poisoning.
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5130. Photo: P.D.C. / Sascha Verleih.
Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5130. Photo: P.D.C. / Sascha Verleih. Vera Reynolds in Sunny Side Up (Donald Crisp, 1926).
Decline
From 1928 on, Vera Reynolds' career began to decline.
Her last silents were Golf Widows (1928) for Columbia, The Divine Sinner (1928) for Trem Carr Pictures and Jazzland (1928) for Carlos Productions.
She made her talkie debut in a Madge Bellamy vehicle, Tonight at Twelve (1929), and was then Buck Jones’ leading lady in the western The Lone Rider (1930).
Afterwards, she got leading roles in films distributed by Poverty Row studios such as Tiffany, Chesterfield, Sono Art-World Pictures, Action Pictures or Mayfair, where her name could still have some marquee value. She was featured in, for example, Borrowed Wives (1930), The Lawless Woman (1931), Neck and Neck (1931), Dragnet Patrol (1931) and Gorilla Ship (1932).
Her filmography ended with Tangled Destinies (1932).
Romanian postcard. Photo: Kawa-Film. Vera Reynolds in Sunny Side Up (Donald Crisp, 1926).
Romanian postcard. Photo: Kawa-Film. Vera Reynolds and Kenneth Thompson in Risky Business (Alan Hale, 1926).
A complicated private life
Vera Reynolds had a rather complicated private life. In 1919, she married comedian Earl Montgomery. After their divorce, she married actor, director and future screenwriter Robert Ellis in 1926.
In September 1937, it was reported that she had filed a breach of promise suit against Ellis. In March 1938, the suit was called off after a month’s hearing. Vera claimed that she had married Ellis in Greenwich Village in 1926 and that, after the ceremony was found to be invalid, he had promised to remarry her. Both testified that they had lived together as man and wife ever since, but Ellis contended they never were married. A settlement was found when the couple agreed to a legal marriage ceremony. An attorney quite prophetically pointed out that this agreement didn’t necessarily mean an immediate reconciliation.
Time Magazine announced their (re)marriage in April 1938. In December, Vera filed for divorce but very quickly dismissed the action. In late 1941, she was back in the news when she contested the terms of a separation agreement allowing her to receive monthly payments from Ellis. He maintained she had full knowledge of the deal when signing it and that, therefore, she was not in a position to litigate. Vera Reynolds and Robert Ellis finally divorced for good.
In 1943, Ellis married Helen Logan. On the marriage certificate, he listed himself as 'divorced' and mentioned three previous marriages. His former wives were all actresses: Irene Fenwick, May Allison and Vera Reynolds. Helen Logan had been Ellis’ collaborator since 1935. Together, they had penned numerous screenplays for 20th Century Fox.
Vera Reynolds passed away on the 22nd of April 1962 in Los Angeles.
Mexican postcard, no. 64.
British postcard by Picturegoer, no. 250a.
Fan photo.
Text and postcards: Marlene Pilaete.
No comments:
Post a Comment