British stage actor Boyd Irwin (1880-1957) made his first films in Australia, starting in 1915. By 1920, he was working in Hollywood for pioneer filmmaker Bessie Barriscale.
Irwin worked throughout the 1920s, notably playing Rochefort in Douglas Fairbanks’s The Three Musketeers (1921).
By the 1930s, his screen roles had diminished, though he was featured as the Zeppelin captain in Madam Satan. He also appeared, without credit, as the Swedish Ambassador in A Lady’s Morals. Irwin’s later appearances were all uncredited.
Edward A Prinz (1901-67) was the younger and lesser-known brother of LeRoy Prinz and, like his brother, was a dancer and choreographer.
The most high-profile film Prinz worked on, though without credit, was Gone with the Wind (1939). He was credited as a dancer on Madam Satan, performing in the ‘Low Down’ number with Lillian Roth. And on Dancing Lady, he was credited with directing the dance ensembles.
Danish-born actor Elsa Petersen (1897-1974) made only 28 films in Hollywood between 1922 and 1957.
Her debut was playing Reginald Denny’s love interest in one of his Leather Pushers shorts. It was then eight years till her sophomore appearance in Madam Satan. She was with Denny once again, but this time playing his maid. Petersen sings in this prominent supporting role, but all of her subsequent film appearances were uncredited.
Albert King (1903-43) was a child prodigy, giving concert performances on the piano at a very young age. He later became a singing instructor and performed in vaudeville.
As a songwriter, normally in partnership with Elsie Janis, King produced songs for a number of early sound musicals, including MGM’s Madam Satan and Reckless.
King also made an appearance in Madam Satan as Herman, Lillian Roth’s pianist.
RADA-trained Roland Young (1897-1953) acted on the British stage before working extensively on Broadway.
Young served with the US Army during the latter part of the First World War, then made his screen debut playing Watson to John Barrymore’s Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (1922). He signed a contract with MGM in 1929, and was again opposite Barrymore in his first sound film, The Unholy Night (1929). Young was rarely top billed, but was a very effective character actor.
Young appeared in three musicals in quick succession in the early 30s: Madam Satan (hosting the crazed zeppelin party), New Moon (as a tramp) and The Prodigal (as a Russian Count).
After 1932, Young worked freelance, returning to Metro to play Uriah Heep in David Copperfield (1935). He was nominated for an Oscar for playing Topper (1937), a role he returned to in two sequels. The size of his roles was less during the 1940s, but he was always a reliable supporting player. He also performed on television in the early 50s.
Lillian Rutstein (1910-80) was a talented and charismatic performer who is probably, and unjustly, most remembered today for the alcoholism that was at the centre of the biopic I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), in which she was played by Susan Hayward.
Roth made her debut on Broadway at the age of seven. After working in vaudeville in an act with her sister, she was back on Broadway. Roth lied about her age and, at 13, was cast in Artists and Models, a show famous for its nudity.
Roth’s stage career went into abeyance after Ernst Lubitsch cast her in a prominent role in The Love Parade (1930), teaming her with Lupino Lane. In the same year, she played Trixie in MGM’s Madam Satan. Roth expanded her range in 1933 in Barbara Stanwyck’s prison drama Ladies They Talk About.
Roth’s career went into decline owing to her alcoholism, but was revived by the film of her 1954 autobiography and she worked steadily, playing on Broadway and in touring shows and concerts. She made her last film in 1979.
A screen career that begins in 1915 at Famous Players-Lasky under the direction of Edwin S Porter, and ends playing Commodore Schmidlapp in the 1966 Batman picture, can be called a career. And such was the life of Reginald Leigh Dugmore (1891-1967).
Denny started out as a stage actor in the United Kingdom, travelling to America and elsewhere on theatrical tours. It has been suggested he may have appeared on screen as early as 1911, but no titles have been suggested. He played the leads in many silent films, including in Leather Pushers, a series of boxing shorts made in 1922-23. The makers of the series had a liking for punning titles like The Taming of the Shrewd (1922) and Barnaby’s Grudge (1923).
Denny transitioned to character roles in the 1930s, though he was the romantic lead in his two MGM musicals, Madam Satan and A Lady’s Morals. Later on, he played Algy in several Bulldog Drummond pictures, giving a more low-key performance than Claude Allister. He was also Maxim’s estate manager and friend in Rebecca (1940).
Reginald Denny was an aeroplane gunner during the First World War, and had a lifelong interest in aviation. This included not only flying full-size planes (he worked as a stunt pilot on at least one occasion), but also models. He designed a remote-controlled ‘drone’ which was used by the US Army in the Second World War, and also established Reginald Denny’s Hobby Shop on Hollywood Boulevard (where Marilyn Monroe worked as a teenager).
Catherine Townsend Johnson (1904-75) studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and starred in many Broadway productions, predominantly serious dramas, throughout the 1920s.
Following her marriage to director John Cromwell, Johnson moved to Los Angeles in 1928. She was brought to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Cecil B DeMille, who had himself only just moved to the studio, to star in Dynamite (1929), his first sound picture.
Johnson went on to make regular film appearances, including as the title character in DeMille’s Madam Satan, but only made 23 in total, most of them in the pre-code era. She also continued to appear on the stage, returning to Broadway in 1947 in the original production of State of the Union.
Johnson worked less in the 40s and 50s, devoting time to raising her sons, one of whom was the actor James Cromwell.
Earl Tucker (1906-37) was a popular dancer who took his name from the eccentric style of dancing he performed at, among other top venues, the Cotton Club.
Tucker did not invent the dance style, as is often claimed, but he was certainly its leading practitioner in the early 20th century. It involved the ability to sway from the hips rhythmically, creating the impression of a snake’s movements. A Black folk dance style, it was one of many aspects of Black culture purloined by Elvis Presley.
Tucker died very young and only appeared in a couple of musical shorts and, most significantly, performing the first solo dance in an MGM musical, uncredited as a bellboy in Love in the Rough. He is also believed to have filmed a routine for the uncompleted The March of Time.
