Billie Dove was a former Broadway showgirl, a famous beauty who broke into films in 1921 at age 18. She made about 50 films, about a dozen after the talkies hit Hollywood.
In ONE NIGHT AT SUSIE'S she plays a showgirl who gets involved with a young man (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) despite his mother's disapproval. The real trouble is that the mother (Helen Ware) is head of a mob although she has kept her son out of the rackets.
He writes a sketch that Dove gets into a show but she falls into the clutches of a lecherous producer. In an attempted rape, she kills him, but Fairbanks takes the rap to protect her. She goes free and becomes a minor star in the show. Fairbanks writes a full play and she hawks it all over town. When she realizes that his writing is the only thing keeping him alive in prison, she makes a tawdry deal with another producer to get the play into production. She becomes a star.
The mother, of course, is fully aware of all this but realizes that Dove's motives are good. When Fairbanks is finally released from prison, the mobster mother decides to clear the way for her son and daughter in law to have a happy life.
The three stars are good. Dove has a pleasant voice and never overacts. Co-stars include Tully Marshall, John Loder, and James Crane. Dove retired from films in 1932 after finishing BLONDIE OF THE FOLLIES with Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery.
In ONE NIGHT AT SUSIE'S she plays a showgirl who gets involved with a young man (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) despite his mother's disapproval. The real trouble is that the mother (Helen Ware) is head of a mob although she has kept her son out of the rackets.
He writes a sketch that Dove gets into a show but she falls into the clutches of a lecherous producer. In an attempted rape, she kills him, but Fairbanks takes the rap to protect her. She goes free and becomes a minor star in the show. Fairbanks writes a full play and she hawks it all over town. When she realizes that his writing is the only thing keeping him alive in prison, she makes a tawdry deal with another producer to get the play into production. She becomes a star.
The mother, of course, is fully aware of all this but realizes that Dove's motives are good. When Fairbanks is finally released from prison, the mobster mother decides to clear the way for her son and daughter in law to have a happy life.
The three stars are good. Dove has a pleasant voice and never overacts. Co-stars include Tully Marshall, John Loder, and James Crane. Dove retired from films in 1932 after finishing BLONDIE OF THE FOLLIES with Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery.