Tweet James Hall

The screening of Maybe It's Love/Eleven Men and a Girl on TCM today allowed me another chance to see James Hall, a leading man who appeared opposite many popular actresses in the late 20s, including Bebe Daniels, Clara Bow, Colleen Moore and Pola Negri, yet whose career was over by 1932. He died of cirrhosis in 1940 at only 39; his grave remains unmarked. This early end to his life brings a little sadness into watching him onscreen, especially when you realise that he looks not unlike Wallace Reid. Anyway, his performance in Maybe It's Love seemed OK, even if the character was a tad obnoxious at the beginning.

I noticed that his silent survival rate isn't particularly good; I could only find 4 that exist of the 15 he made: The Man Alone (his first screen role, at LOC), Hotel Imperial, Señorita and Four Sons (also the Lena Smith fragment, though I don't know if he's seen in it). His talkies and part-talkies have done a little better:

The Canary Murder Case (29)
The Saturday Night Kid (29)
Paramount on Parade (30)
Hell's Angels (30)
Let's Go Native (30) [run at Cinevent in 1999]
Maybe It's Love (30)
Millie (31) [on DVD from Roan]
The Good Bad Girl (31) [I *think* this was run on TCM last year]
Manhattan Tower (32) [PD; available at the Internet Archive]

are all around, which leaves the following I don't know about or couldn't confirm:

This is Heaven (29)
Dangerous Nan McGrew (30)
The Third Alarm (30)
Divorce Among Friends (30)
Mother's Millions/The She-Wolf (31)
The Lightning Flyer (31)
Sporting Chance (31)

Any information about the above films or James Hall himself is welcomed!

-Harold

...are all around, which leaves the following I don't know about or couldn't confirm:

This is Heaven (29)
Dangerous Nan McGrew (30)
The Third Alarm (30)
Divorce Among Friends (30)
Mother's Millions/The She-Wolf (31)
The Lightning Flyer (31)
Sporting Chance (31)

Any information about the above films or James Hall himself is welcomed!

-Harold

Dangerous Nan McGrew is circulating in 16mm collector prints. It's not great but it's got some fun sequences with Helen Kane; James Hall didn't leave any impression on me at all.

He strikes me as one of those guys who must've had an uncle in the executive suite. He got to play leads with nearly all of Paramount's top actresses of the late 1920s; isn't he opposite Betty Bronson in Ritzy too? Somebody must've been impressed with him, but he's never stood out in anything I've seen him in.

I've been trying to find some more information on James Hall--it ain't easy, since both his screen name and real name (James Brown) are so common. Surprisingly, Photoplay never wrote much on him*, although the Answer Man column responded to a decent number of fan queries about his origins and fan mail address. The March 1929 issue included a photo of Hall with his father, Clinton Brown, and that name finally allowed me to find the family in the 1900 and 1910 censuses. James was probably born in 1897 or 1898, depending on which census you believe, and his full name was James Edgar Brown.

How he got into the movies (aside from an executive uncle ;-) is hard to say. There is a James Hall credited with a supporting part in The Man Alone in 1923, but none of the reviews I've found mention anything about him or his character, so I really can't tell if this is the same actor. Otherwise, he was signed by Famous Players-Lasky around July 1926 for The Campus Flirt with Bebe Daniels.

The 1940 census found him living with his wife Irene in a New York hotel and working as a nightclub entertainer. His NY Times obit two months later described him as relatively forgotten and it seems that not much has changed over the years. Did Films in Review ever carry an article about him?

*Picture Play was better--they had an article about him in the June 1931 issue.

-HA

I have copies of Divorce Among Friends and Dangerous Nan McGrew.

and Mother's Millions

I have to agree with Chris Snowden. To me, he's competent but forgettable. There are others I'm more surprised got large acting roles, one of whom I'll mention soon.

He strikes me as one of those guys who must've had an uncle in the executive suite.

The Louise Fazinda edge, you mean. Hard to believe "connections" would have cut any ice with Howard Hughes, however. The lead in such a prestige production must have been coveted by many others...so how did he get it? Ben Lyon was of course a skilled aviator, but don't know about him.

I've never thought he was much either. In HOTEL IMPERIAL he's fairly dashing, but I put that down to a mustache and a well tailored uniform - and the presence of Pola Negri. By the time of HELL'S ANGELS he's overweight and even the uniform doesn't help. In MILLIE he's slimy but not in an interesting way.

He strikes me as one of those guys who must've had an uncle in the executive suite.

The Louise Fazinda edge, you mean. Hard to believe "connections" would have cut any ice with Howard Hughes, however. The lead in such a prestige production must have been coveted by many others...so how did he get it? Ben Lyon was of course a skilled aviator, but don't know about him.

Yeah, but Louise had talent. I guess Hall did too, but given the competition in Hollywood it didn't stand out in any way. I certainly have a hard time remembering him in anything.

greta

[Mike Gebert]

I actually think he's a little better in Hotel Imperial. Ironically since that's the one where he's most a prop for the gal. But that was basically his job-- look as good as John Gilbert but don't distract from the female star as Gilbert would.

I wonder about Ben Lyon too. He was by all accounts a very nice guy but I've never been much impressed by what I've seen onscreen - though I've heard WINE OF YOUTH is a good one I haven't seen it.

The problem I find with HELL'S ANGELS is that outside of the aerial sequences - and Jean Harlow- the rest of the film is a bore with no really outstanding performances.

I actually think he's a little better in Hotel Imperial. Ironically since that's the one where he's most a prop for the gal. But that was basically his job-- look as good as John Gilbert but don't distract from the female star as Gilbert would.

You're right- he actually does take the role and make something of it- he's got a nice quality of smoldering restraint. Unfortunately he doesn't have much opportunity to let go- the real emoting scenes are the property of Pola, Pola, Pola.

Looking at the other Paramount pictures Pola Negri made it seems as if they didn't want any high powered stars to draw unwanted attention. In one she's opposite Holmes Herbert and Charles Emmett Mack- neither of them likely to fan flames of passion. In BARBED WIRE Clive Brook was a fine actor but his image was one of stoic restraint. You'd never expect him to sweep her into his arms and maul her with kisses.

Wine of Youth is an excellent film with star performances by Eleanor Boardman, William Haines, and Ben Lyon. A hugely underrated film.

I wonder about Ben Lyon too. He was by all accounts a very nice guy but I've never been much impressed by what I've seen onscreen

"Very nice guy" may have been all he needed. Upon meeting Hughes, the two quickly became (& remained) good friends. Angels is actually the only role of his I can recall in which he didn't play a "very nice guy." Would be interesting to know how he fared opposite Pola, Pola, Pola, but their single encounter is reported lost; probably nothing edifying, as (restrained) comedy was what he did best.

Ben Lyon could be a touch lightweight, but he comes through reasonably well for me. I liked him in My Past and in Night Nurse he was a bit surprising. Lyon was also pretty funny croaking out a song in The Hot Heiress. He's a hard one to dislike.

Sadly I haven't seen Hall in a silent yet.

Lyon was also pretty funny croaking out a song in The Hot Heiress.

Ona Munson could inspire even me to warble. But the studio must have liked his "croaking"--he did plenty of it elsewhere, & in Her Majesty, Love, his singing was retained, while most of Marilyn Miller's was cut before release...or so I've read, incredible as it sounds.

Ben Lyon could be a touch lightweight, but he comes through reasonably well for me. I liked him in My Past and in Night Nurse he was a bit surprising. Lyon was also pretty funny croaking out a song in The Hot Heiress. He's a hard one to dislike.

Sadly I haven't seen Hall in a silent yet.

Oh, I've never disliked Lyon's acting - except maybe in Iron Man- but I thought the whole film was a dud than not even Harlow's cleavage could help.

I've heard Ben and Bebe sing a very cute version of "There's a Small Hotel".

For more on Ben Lyon:

http://voices.yahoo.com/ben-lyon-10479489.html?cat=37

I liked "The She-Wolf" a great deal. I think it's a fascinating movie, but - it's all May Robson. Nobody else gets much of a chance to give any kind of performance, especially James Hall! There used to be a really great DVD out there from a now defunct company.

But that was basically his job-- look as good as John Gilbert but don't distract from the female star as Gilbert would.

The George Brent Syndrome.

But that was basically his job-- look as good as John Gilbert but don't distract from the female star as Gilbert would.

The George Brent Syndrome.

Thinking of George Brent, I saw EX BAD BOY (1931) a few months back and Brent's performance was a pleasant surprise. He was young and slender and was very funny.

But that was basically his job-- look as good as John Gilbert but don't distract from the female star as Gilbert would.

The George Brent Syndrome.

Thinking of George Brent, I saw EX BAD BOY (1931) a few months back and Brent's performance was a pleasant surprise. He was young and slender and was very funny.

I've always found him a pleasant presence, if a tad on the banal side. He had a lucrative career, too, for as long as women's pictures were being made.

I've always found him a pleasant presence, if a tad on the banal side. He had a lucrative career, too, for as long as women's pictures were being made.

He was always a good actor- if a little improbable as a love interest on occasion. I find him to be better as he aged and moved into character parts- particularly in The Spiral Staircase.

[silentfilm]

Bebe Daniels and James Hall in The Campus Flirt (1926)

He was always a good actor- if a little improbable as a love interest on occasion.

Odd that he might seem deficient in romantic appeal on-screen...considering the real-life beauties he evidently made swoon. Most remarkable thing about his acting career, I think, was his seeming disavowal (cinematically speaking) of the Auld Sod. Always assuming him, by his speech, to be 100% All-American, probably a Mid-Western farm-boy, I was amazed to learn he came to this country an IRA renegade. And whereas every other Irish-American actor made the wearin' o' the green an inherent part of his screen persona, when did he ever do so? From the first time I saw him in Jezebel long ago, he's been, & remains, a favorite. That he was employed to avoid up-staging greats like Davis is only half the truth; the other half is that his presence served to make them look good.

The other guy is Olympics star, Charles Paddock. Paddock appeared in a handful of films and was portrayed in Chariots of Fire by Dennis Christopher.

That he was employed to avoid up-staging greats like Davis is only half the truth; the other half is that his presence served to make them look good.

It's a testament to the star power of the actresses of the time that there were actors who almost made a career out of playing the love interest for more famous females. Take First National - they gave Lloyd Hughes and Jack Mulhall role after role as Colleen Moore's boyfriend. Both were good looking guys and decent actors, but I'll also bet both were chosen (by Colleen's husband John McCormick, no less) specifically because there was no danger of them outshining Colleen. Johnny Mack Brown is another that falls into the same category, and I'm sure everyone can think of others.

Jack Mulhall was also paired with Dorothy Gish in many films.

Jack Mulhall was also paired with Dorothy Gish in many films.

And First National made Mulhall & Dorothy MacKaill a "team," briefly.