Douglas MacLeanFilmography

Great Guy

Crew: Producer

Actors: James Cagney, Mae Clarke, James Burke, Robert Gleckler, Henry Kolker

Synopsis: After retiring from a boxing career, Johnny Cave (James Cagney) accepts an appointment to serve as head of the Bureau of Weights and Measures. However, when he discovers that his organization is full of corruption and lies, he sets out to uncover the scam, much to the dismay of his girlfriend Read More

Accent on Youth

Crew: Producer

Actors: Sylvia Sidney, Herbert Marshall, Phillip Reed, Holmes Herbert, Catherine Doucet

Synopsis: Based on Samson Raphaelson's stage play, Accent on Youth focuses on a May-December romance. Herbert Marshall (46 years old at the time) is a successful middle-aged playwright; Constance Cummings is his young secretary, who prefers the company of mature men. She sets her cap on marrying the Read More

People Will Talk

Crew: Producer

Actors: Charlie Ruggles, Leila Hyams, Dean Jagger, Ruthelma Stevens

Synopsis: No relation to the 1951 Cary Grant film of the same name, People Will Talk was another of Paramount's moneymaking comedies starring Charles Ruggles and Mary Boland. This time the middle-aged pair try to patch up the marriage of their daughter (Leila Hyams) and son-in-law (Dean Jagger, with hair). Read More

Two for Tonight

Crew: Producer

Actors: Bing Crosby, Joan Bennett, Mary Boland, Lynne Overman, Thelma Todd

Synopsis: Based on an obscure stage comedy, the Paramount musical Two for Tonight stars Bing Crosby as would-be composer and playwright Gilbert Gordon. Hired by music publisher Alexander Myers (Maurice Cass) to write a musical for temperamental stage star Lilly Bianca (Thelma Todd), Gordon is less than Read More

So Red the Rose

Crew: Producer

Actors: Margaret Sullavan, Walter Connolly, Janet Beecher, Harry Ellerbe, Robert Cummings

Synopsis: So Red the Rose is a Civil War drama that plays like a warm-up for Gone With the Wind--and, unlike Wind, has two genuine Southerners in the leading roles. Margaret Sullavan is the aristocratic mistress of a sprawling Southern plantation, whose sheltered lifestyle is rent asunder by the War. Read More

Ladies Should Listen

Crew: Producer

Actors: Cary Grant, Frances Drake, Edward Everett Horton, Charles Arnt, Rosita Moreno

Synopsis: In this romantic comedy, a Parisian businessman heads for South American for a busman's holiday. There he hopes to have some fun and negotiate a deal concerning the mining of valuable nitrate deposits. Naturally, he carries the necessary contract with him. Knowing this, two con-artists conspire to Read More

Melody in Spring

Crew: Producer

Actors: Lanny Ross, Mary Boland, Ann Sothern, George Meeker

Synopsis: Radio tenor Lanny Ross made a game but unsuccessful bid for film stardom in Paramount's Melody in Spring. Though Ross, cast as one John Craddock, is given top billing, the picture belongs to the delightful screen team of Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland as Warren and Mary Blodgett, sponsors of a Read More

Six of a Kind

Crew: Screen Story

Actors: Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, George Burns, W.C. Fields, Gracie Allen

Synopsis: The "six" are Charlie Ruggles, Mary Boland, George Burns, Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, and Alison Skipworth, who star in this cross-country comedy. Planning a motor vacation to California, J. Pinkham Whinney (Ruggles) and Flora Whinney (Boland) advertise for a couple to help drive and share Read More

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Crew: Producer

Actors: Pauline Lord, W.C. Fields, ZaSu Pitts, Evelyn Venable, Kent Taylor

Synopsis: Frequently and misleadingly advertised as a W.C. Fields vehicle, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch confines the Great Man's appearance to the final two reels. The rest of the picture is a ploddingly paced adaptation of the hoary old Anne Hagan Rice novel about how wonderful it is to be poor. In a Read More

Mama Loves Papa

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, Lilyan Tashman, George Barbier, Morgan Wallace

Synopsis: The felicitous screen team of Mary Boland and Charles Ruggles once more collaborated with director Norman Z. McLeod for the delightful Mama Loves Papa. Middle-class Wilbur Todd (Ruggles) is content with his lot in life, but his wife Jessie (Boland) is an inveterate social climber. Convinced that Read More

Tillie and Gus

Crew: Producer

Actors: W.C. Fields, Alison Skipworth, Baby Le Roy, Jacqueline Wells, Clifford Jones, George Barbier

Synopsis: Alison Skipworth and W.C. Fields play Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom, a husband-and-wife team of con artists. The larcenous couple is summoned to a small town by their niece (Jacqueline Wells) and her husband (Clifford Jones) when the niece's father dies. Hoping for a sizeable inheritance Read More

Caught Plastered

Crew: Associate Producer

Actors: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Lucy Beaumont, Jason Robards, Sr.

Synopsis: After briefly splitting for a brace of unsuccessful solo ventures, the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were reunited in one of their best vehicles, Caught Plastered. Bert and Bob are cast as itinerant vaudevillians Tommy and Egbert, who find themselves stranded in a small Midwestern Read More

Laugh and Get Rich

Crew: Screen Story

Actors: Hugh Herbert, Edna May Oliver, Dorothy Lee, Robert Emmett Keane, John Harron

Synopsis: This Depression-era comedy takes place in the boarding house run by the indomitable Sarah Austin (Edna May Oliver). Sarah's indigent husband Joe (Hugh Herbert), spends most of his time cooking up pie-in-the-sky get-rich-quick schemes, few of which come to fruition. In time-honored "domestic Read More

Too Many Cooks

Crew: Producer

Actors: Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee, Roscoe Ates, Robert McWade

Synopsis: When RKO Radio decided to split up the studio's moneymaking comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, in hopes of earning twice as much at the box-office, the results were sad indeed. Bert Wheeler's solo venture, Too Many Cooks, is marginally better than Bob Woolsey's Everything's Rosie but Read More

Cracked Nuts

Crew: Producer

Actors: Edna May Oliver, Dorothy Lee, Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey

Synopsis: Ostensibly a "team" vehicle for Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Cracked Nuts is half over before Bert and Bob even get together! The first scenes belong to Wheeler, cast as spendthrift millionaire Wendell Graham, who is in love with Betty Harrington (Dorothy Lee). Betty's aunt Minnie (Edna May Oliver Read More

The Carnation Kid

Actors: Douglas MacLean, William B. Davidson, Charles Hill Mailes, Francis McDonald

Synopsis: It's a case of mistaken identity in this convoluted comedy that centers around a country bumpkin mistaken for a Chicago hitman. The story begins in Chatham, Illinois as an honest district attorney is about to be elected. This worries the town mob-boss because the new D.A. is sworn to get all the Read More

Divorce Made Easy

Let It Rain

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Shirley Mason, Wade Boteler, Frank Campeau

Synopsis: Douglas MacLean, who made his mark during the 1920s as a light comedian, stars as a Marine sergeant in this comedy-drama, which he co-produced with Paramount. The studio must have seen this picture as a sure bet at the box office -- MacLean's first breakthrough picture in 1919 was 23 1/2 Hours Read More

Soft Cushions

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Sue Carol, Richard Carle, Russell Powell, Frank Leigh

Synopsis: This spoof of Doug Fairbanks' Thief of Bagdad amusingly combines traditional Arabian Nights melodrama with up-to-date "Roaring 20s" irreverence. Douglas MacLean stars as The Young Thief, who falls in love with The Girl, played by Sue Carol (later a powerful talent agent, as well as the wife of Read More

Hold That Lion

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Walter Hiers, Constance Howard, Cyril Chadwick, Wade Boteler

Synopsis: Falling for pretty Marjorie Brand (Constance Howard), young man-about-town Daniel Hastings (Douglas MacLean) follows her home, only to discover that Marjorie is about to embark with her professor father (George C. Pearce) on a hunting expedition to Africa. Undaunted, Daniel pursues the girl Read More

That's My Baby

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Margaret Morris, Wade Boteler

Synopsis: Likeable Douglas MacLean breezes his way through the tailor-made vehicle That's My Baby. Jilted on his wedding day, Alan Boyd (MacLean) vows never to get involved with a woman ever again. But a promise to oneself is the easiest kind to break, as Boyd discovers when he falls in love with Helen Read More

Introduce Me

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Robert Ober, E.J. Ratcliffe, Anne Cornwall, Lee Shumway

Synopsis: Once he was established as a star, light comedian Douglas MacLean began producing his own films. This was one of a string of entertaining, successful pictures. Jimmy Clark (MacLean) and his pal, Algy Baker (Robert Ober), are American tourists traveling through Europe. Jimmy instantly falls in love Read More

Seven Keys to Baldpate

Crew: Producer

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Edith Roberts, Crauford Kent, Ned Sparks

Synopsis: Earl Derr Biggers' novel was made into a play by George M. Cohan and had already come to the screen twice before (once with Cohan himself in the lead role) when this silent version was made. Light comedy star Douglas MacLean was a good choice for the role of William Magee, and the plot was changed Read More

Yankee Consul

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Patsy Ruth Miller, Arthur Stuart Hull, Stanhope Wheatcroft, Eulalie Jensen

Synopsis: This farce starring Douglas MacLean was based on an old musical comedy by Henry Blossom, Jr. and Alfred G. Robyn. The wealthy Dudley Ainsworth (MacLean) is bored with life, and when he has an attack of "nerves," his doctor suggests that he needs some excitement in his life. Ainsworth doesn't think Read More

Never Say Die

Crew: Producer

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Lillian Rich, Helen Ferguson, Hallam Cooley, Lucien Littlefield

Synopsis: Wealthy John Woodbury (Douglas MacLean) is mistaken for a patient by a trio of overeager doctors. After being put through a battery of tests (one of which involves blindfolding Woodbury, who promptly walks out on the ledge of the high rise building), he is told he only has three months left to Read More

The Sunshine Trail

Synopsis: Although he is forgotten today, Douglas MacLean was one of the best purveyors of light comedy during the 1920s. While there was nothing particularly striking about this particular Western comedy (which was produced by Thomas Ince), MacLean and director James W. Horne (famous later for his work Read More

Bell Boy 13

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Margaret Loomis, John Steppling

Synopsis: While this Douglas MacLean comedy was pleasant enough, it paled in comparison to his prior film, The Hottentot, which was released right before this one. Ellery Elrod (John Steppling) is fed up with his nephew, Harry (MacLean) -- he wants him to marry a rich spinster and get serious about Read More

Going Up

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Hallam Cooley, Arthur Stuart Hull, Francis McDonald, Hughie Mack

Synopsis: This farce was based on the musical comedy by Otto A. Harbach and Louis A. Hirsch, which was adapted from the play The Aviator by James H. Montgomery. Douglas MacLean -- who was especially good at farce comedy -- plays the lead, Robert Street. Street is an author whose novel about aviation, Going Read More

A Man of Action

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Marguerite de la Motte, Raymond Hatton, Arthur Millett

Synopsis: Light-comedy actor Douglas MacLean stars in this hilarious mystery capably directed by James W. Horne. Bruce MacAllister, a wealthy San Franciscan (MacLean), leads a pampered and uneventful life. That changes when his sweetheart Helen Summer (Marguerite de la Motte) says she likes "a man of Read More

Hottentot

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Madge Bellamy, Lila Leslie, Truly Shattuck

Synopsis: Producer Thomas Ince brought the William Collier/Victor Mapes-penned stage farce to the screen for his light comedy star Douglas MacLean. A few changes were made -- in the play Sam Harrington was an adept horseman who shied away from the beasts after an accident. In the film, MacLean as Harrington Read More

The Home Stretch

Actors: Walt Whitman, Margaret Livingston, Wade Boteler

Synopsis: Johnny Hardwick (Douglas MacLean) is the owner of the fastest horse in the next race. Although it's almost guaranteed that he will win big, Hardwick ruins his chance by saving a little girl who has run out onto the track. The child's father shows his gratitude later on when he offers Hardwick a Read More

One a Minute

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Marian de Beck, Victor Potel, Frances Raymond, Andrew Robson

Synopsis: Jimmy Knight (Douglas MacLean) inherits a drug store that's not doing very well; his rival, Silas P. Rogers (Andrew Robson), is tough competition. Knight is in love with Rogers' daughter, Miriam (Marian de Beck), and he knows she prefers a fighter, so when her father offers to buy him out, he Read More

Chickens

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Gladys George, Edith Yorke

Synopsis: This so-so light comedy vehicle for Douglas MacLean was based on the Saturday Evening Post story, "Yancona Yillies," by Herschel Hall. Because of a provision in his uncle's will, wealthy Deems Stanwood (MacLean) is forced to go live in the country. He starts liking it there when he meets the Read More

Passing Thru

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Madge Bellamy, Otto Hoffman, Cameron Coffey, Willard Robards

Synopsis: Billy Barton, a bank teller (Douglas MacLean), gets himself in a load of trouble when he takes responsibility for some money stolen by Fred Kingston (Louis Natheaux), the son of the bank president (Bert Hadley). Fred has promised to come clean but he never does and Billy finds himself on a train Read More

The Rookie's Return

Actors: Douglas MacLean, Doris May, Frank Currier, Leo White, Kathleen Key

Synopsis: Douglas MacLean and Doris May made a number of popular light comedies in the late 1910s and early '20s. In the spirit of their first hit 23 1/2 Hours Leave, MacLean once again plays an army sergeant, only this picture shows his adventures after he has returned home from France. James Stewart Lee Read More

The Jailbird

Synopsis: Douglas MacLean, one of the best of the straight comedians of the 1920s ("straight" in those days referred to actors who eschewed slapstick and wild costumes), stars in 1920's The Jailbird. With only six months left to serve, likable crook Shakespeare Clancy (MacLean) decides to take an early Read More

Captain Kidd, Jr.

Synopsis: This comic tale of buried treasure should have been a winner, but it turned out to be one on Mary Pickford's misses. The credits were solid -- the prestigious William Desmond Taylor directed, and Frances Marion wrote the scenario from a Rida Johnson Young play. The other leading players (Douglas MacLean Read More

The Hun Within

Synopsis: By the time this picture was released, World War I was nearly over and the public was tired of the same old spy stories. This picture has Dorothy Gish doing her patriotic duty by submerging her comic talents in favor of wartime melodrama. Beth (Gish) lives with her sick father (Adolphe Lestina). Read More

Mirandy Smiles

Actors: Vivian Martin, Douglas MacLean, Lewis Willoughby, Gean Gennung

Synopsis: In this quaint, simple story, Mirandy Judkins (Vivian Martin) helps her mother make ends meet by working as a scrub girl at the local opera house. She meets Teddy Lawrence (Douglas MacLean), the church organist, and a romance develops between the two. Although Mirandy is uneducated, she manages to Read More

Johanna Enlists

Synopsis: Silent star Mary Pickford once referred to director William Desmond Taylor as "a very charming man who directed me in three very bad pictures." This was one of them. Not that he didn't have help in creating this anemic vehicle -- the story was written by Rupert Hughes and the scenario was by Frances Marion Read More

As Ye Sow

Synopsis: In this convoluted drama a chauffeur falls in love with his boss's daughter and marries her, causing his aged father to suffer a fatal coronary. She quickly becomes pregnant and after the child's birth finds out that her husband is an abusive drunk. She tries to force him to stop drinking, but Read More