Movies by Beryl Mercer
Dumb-bells in Ermine
In a small town in Virginia, Faith Corey, daughter of a socially prominent family, meets and falls in love with Jerry Malone, a prizefighter, though her straitlaced mother wants her to marry Siegfried, a spellbinding "missionary reformer." Though Grandma Corey promotes the romance with the prizefighter, Mike, the fighter's hardboiled, wisecracking manager, tries to keep them apart; following a quarrel, Faith reconciles herself to marrying Siegfried, but when he invites a group of "weak sisters" to a revival meeting, he is disgraced when one ...
Outward Bound
A group of strangers find themselves aboard an unmanned ship, surrounded by fog and uncertain of their destination. As they attempt to make sense of their situation, the group of passengers discover a commonality that changes their perception of the nature of their journey. The film was later remade, with some changes, as Between Two Worlds (1944).
Young America
Mrs. Doray sits with a Juvenile Court Judge to learn more about problem children and what to do about them. One of the cases involves 13 year old Arthur, "the worst kid in town", who moves cars away from fiire-plugs without the knowledge of the owners. The judge gives Arthur and friend Nutty another chance. However they run into further trouble when they break into Mr. Doray's drugstore to get medicine for Nutty's grandmother. Mr. Doray is not sympathetic and completely against his wife's plan to become Arthur's guardian. More incidents oc...
Common Clay
Young Ellen Neal gets work as a servant with the wealthy Fullerton family. She falls in love with the Fullerton's handsome young son. But he leaves her with child, and when she attempts to gain recognition for her child, the Fullerton family treats her as a blackmailer. But a surprise awaits them all.
Night Must Fall
Wealthy widow Mrs. Bramson notices that her maid is distracted, and when she learns the girl's fiancé, Danny, is the reason, she summons him in. Mrs. Bramson's niece Olivia takes a liking to Danny, and comes to believe that he may have been involved in the disappearance of a local woman.
Cavalcade
A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 is seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Great War.
Midnight Morals
A rookie cop falls for a "taxi dancer" in a dance hall, but his father has strong objections to the relationship.
In Gay Madrid
Ricardo, a young law student in his home town of Madrid, is a carefree playboy who loves nightclubs and courting pretty girls. His father hopes to instill a more serious attitude in his son by transferring him to a school in the rural town of Santiago. At Santiago, his father's old friend is to be his guardian. When Ricardo arrives at Santiago he joins a fraternity, and continues his carefree lifestyle while serenading and courting his guardian's daughter, Carmina.
Unholy Love
An adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have been renamed.
Are These Our Children?
A tale of juvenile delinquency, about a high-school student neglecting his studies, partying hard, falling in with the wrong crowd and finally finding himself on trial for murder committed during a robbery.
Three Live Ghosts
An investigator is asking Mrs. Gubbins about a William Foster, who was a friend of her stepson Jimmy. Both are listed as killed in action during the Great War. It is Armistice Day, 1918, and the war is over. Who should be strolling down the street but Jimmy Gubbins, Bill 'Jones' and another man who has lost his memory. They are ghosts as the official records list them as dead and not as escaped P.O.W's. Jimmy's mother is not happy to see that Jimmy is still living as she has been spending the death benefits, but she is happy to see Bill as t...
Change of Heart
Catherine and Mack and their close friends Chris and Madge graduate from a West Coast college and fly to New York City to find work.
The Matrimonial Bed
Five years after Adolphe's death in a train wreck, he is discovered very much alive and with amnesia. Unfortunately he and his first wife are remarried and with children.
Seven Days Leave
In London, during WWI, a lonely woman who wants to feel a part of the war effort pretends to her friends to have a son fighting in the war. She is shocked when he shows up on her doorstep, and they make an agreement that he will pretend to be her son. "Seven Days Leave" is a screen adaption of James M. Barrie's play, "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals."
Lovers Courageous
A daydreaming dramatist and his beloved persevere through hard times in the hope that one of his plays will be a hit.
Broken Chains
My Marriage
When gangster's bullets put an end to the career of H.J. Barton, underworld gambling czar who masquerades as a respectable member of high society, his daughter Carol is left to bear the brunt of social stigma.
The Sky Spider
The three Morgan brothers, Glenn, Jim and Buddy are all air mail pilots. The plane flown by Jim is shot down by Hugh Jeffries for the money it carries. Another flight is made by Buddy followed by Jeffries intending to shoot him down also...
An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee
Mr. and Mrs. Warner Bros. Pictures and their precocious offspring, Little Miss Vitaphone, host a dinner in honor of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee, attended by most of the major players and song writers under contract to WB at that time.
Broken Dreams
Medical intern Robert Morley is distraught after his wife dies in childbirth. He's resentful of his new son and wants nothing to do with him. He leaves the child with his aunt and uncle and heads off to Europe to pursue his medical studies. Morley returns to his hometown six years later, now a successful doctor and engaged to be married to a beautiful socialite. He also feels differently about the boy and attempts to gain custody from his aunt and uncle.