Phillips Holmes

Phillips Holmes

Born: July 22, 1907
Died: August 12, 1942
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phillips Raymond Holmes (July 22, 1907 – August 12, 1942) was an American actor. In 1928 Holmes was spotted in the undergraduate crowd at Princeton University during the filming of Frank Tuttle's Varsity and offered a screen test. In the early 1930s he became a popular leading man, playing leads in a few important productions, notably in Josef von Sternberg's An American Tragedy.

At Paramount, Holmes starred in melodrama and comedy. In 1933 his Paramount contract ran out and he moved to MGM for one year. As the decade progressed, his career declined, and he appeared in a few box-office failures, including Sam Goldwyn's poorly received Nana (1934). His last American movie was General Spanky (1936). In 1938 Holmes appeared in two UK movies. Housemaster was his last film. Then he returned to acting on stage in the United States.

At the start of World War II, Holmes joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed in a mid-air collision in northwest Ontario, Canada in 1942.

For his contributions to the film industry, Phillips Holmes was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Movies for Phillips Holmes...

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Title: The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 1, 1988
Type: Movie
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Title: Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 10, 1972
Type: Movie
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
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The Big Parade of Comedy
Title: The Big Parade of Comedy
Character: Ernest DeGraff in 'Dinner at Eight' (arch. footage) (uncredited)
Released: September 2, 1964
Type: Movie
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
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Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Title: Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Character: 'Dinner at Eight' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: December 31, 1961
Type: Movie
Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O. Selznick, who epitomized the era of the auteur producer in the 30s and 40s.
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Housemaster
Title: Housemaster
Character: Philip de Pourville
Released: January 31, 1938
Type: Movie
Three girls arrive at a stuffy English public school and cause all sorts of problems with both the staff and pupils.
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The Dominant Sex
Title: The Dominant Sex
Character: Dick Shale
Released: January 26, 1937
Type: Movie
A mature comedy based on the hit stage play in which a loving but strained marriage is put to the test!
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General Spanky
Title: General Spanky
Character: Marshall Valient
Released: December 11, 1936
Type: Movie
Orphaned shoeshine boy Spanky is working on a Mississippi riverboat during the Civil War. There he befriends young runaway slave Buckwheat. After wronging a vicious gambler, Spanky and Buckwheat are forced to jump ship. Finding solace at a nearby house, the two are picked by Marshall Valiant for an important mission. This inspires Spanky to organize the local kids to form a small army of their own.
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The House of a Thousand Candles
Title: The House of a Thousand Candles
Character: Tony Carleton
Released: April 2, 1936
Type: Movie
The story of diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel, who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered by sinister master spy Sebastian, owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles.
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Chatterbox
Title: Chatterbox
Character: Philip 'Phil' Greene Jr.
Released: January 17, 1936
Type: Movie
Teenage orphan Jenny Yates becomes starstruck when a revival of an old Victorian melodrama passes through her small New England town, to the disapproval of her stern grandfather, Uriah. Stowing away in the car of Philip Greene, a wealthy young man working with the theater troupe, Jenny talks her way into the play's lead role. But director Archie Fisher doesn't tell her that the new version of the play is meant as a spoof.
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Ten Minute Alibi
Title: Ten Minute Alibi
Character: Colin Derwent
Released: August 12, 1935
Type: Movie
Derwent dreams up an unbreakable alibi for a murder. Once the crime is attempted, it then falls to Pember and Brace of Scotland Yard to sort things out.
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The Divine Spark
Title: The Divine Spark
Character: Vincenzo Bellini
Released: June 1, 1935
Type: Movie
British musical film directed by Carmine Gallone.
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Caravan
Title: Caravan
Character: Lieutenant Von Tokay
Released: December 30, 1934
Type: Movie
A countess marries a Gypsy fiddler instead of a baron's son at harvest time in Tokay wine country, Hungary.
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Great Expectations
Title: Great Expectations
Character: Pip
Released: October 22, 1934
Type: Movie
A young boy, Pip, encounters an escaped prisoner, Magwitch, and steals food for him. After the convict is captured, Pip meets the reclusive Miss Havisham and her niece, Estella, eventually becoming friends with the girl. Wealth comes to Pip via a mysterious benefactor and he goes off to London for an education. As adults, Pip and Estella become romantic, and Pip learns the identity of his patron.
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No Ransom
Title: No Ransom
Character: Tom Wilson
Released: October 7, 1934
Type: Movie
In this family comedy, the wealthy executive of a steel company must endure life with a strict, teetotaling wife, a wild daughter, and a deadbeat son. To gain some much needed attention, the lonesome fellow hires a hitman to kill him. Instead, the gunman kidnaps him to frighten the family into appreciating their devoted father.
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Million Dollar Ransom
Title: Million Dollar Ransom
Character: Stan Casserly
Released: September 1, 1934
Type: Movie
To stop his mother from marrying a man he doesn't like, a young millionaire hires an ex-con in helping him fake his own kidnaping.
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Nana
Title: Nana
Character: Lieutenant George Muffat
Released: February 1, 1934
Type: Movie
Young Parisian Nana wards off of a boozed-up military officer at a local restaurant, and fellow diner Gaston Greiner is so impressed with her pluck that he decides to make her a performer at his musical theater. Soon, Nana is a star, and the girlfriend of Greiner and two other men. But when he learns that she's been getting around, Greiner fires her. As she tries to reclaim her singing job while dodging yet another suitor, her treachery might get the better of her.
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Dinner at Eight
Title: Dinner at Eight
Character: Ernest DeGraff
Released: December 22, 1933
Type: Movie
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
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Stage Mother
Title: Stage Mother
Character: Lord Reggie Aylesworth
Released: September 29, 1933
Type: Movie
Kitty Lorraine has one purpose in life: turning her daughter Shirley into a star. Kitty controls every aspect of the girl's nascent career -- even blackmailing a stage manager so that Shirley can take a more prestigious gig. But Kitty goes too far when she breaks up her daughter's budding relationship with sweet artist Warren Foster. Heartbroken, Shirley sets off on a series of disastrous but profitable relationships.
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Penthouse
Title: Penthouse
Character: Tom Siddall
Released: September 8, 1933
Type: Movie
Gertie Waxted knows how notorious gangster Jim Crelliman runs his rackets, because she's long been under the hoodlum's thumb. She's secretly helping lawyer Jackson Durant in a snoop job aimed at pinning a murder on the thug. Her life will be in peril when that secret gets out.
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Beauty for Sale
Title: Beauty for Sale
Character: Burt Barton
Released: September 1, 1933
Type: Movie
A beautiful woman lands a job at an exclusive salon that deals with the wives of wealthy businessmen. Her contact with these men leads to a series of affairs.
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The Big Brain
Title: The Big Brain
Character: Terry Van Sloan
Released: August 4, 1933
Type: Movie
A small-town barber finds himself short of stature but a giant in the world of stock promotion. As his bank account grows, Stone's ethics diminish, and soon he's playing fast and loose with other people's money. Disgruntled investor Fay Wray is the one who finally blows the whistle on the prevaricating hair-snipper.
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Storm at Daybreak
Title: Storm at Daybreak
Character: Csaholyi
Released: June 14, 1933
Type: Movie
Sarajevo June 28, 1914. Dushan, the Serbian mayor of a Hungarian town, has come to see the parade of Archduke Ferdinand. While there he runs into Geza, an old friend in the Hungarian Army and invites him to come to his house and visit him and his new wife.
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Looking Forward
Title: Looking Forward
Character: Michael Service
Released: April 28, 1933
Type: Movie
Depression Era story set in London about a wealthy shop owner who goes bankrupt and is forced to fire his faithful staff.
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Men Must Fight
Title: Men Must Fight
Character: Bob Seward
Released: February 17, 1933
Type: Movie
Prophetic tale of a mother in 1940 trying to keep her son out of war.
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The Secret of Madame Blanche
Title: The Secret of Madame Blanche
Character: Leonard St. John
Released: February 3, 1933
Type: Movie
A murder trial reunites a former chorus girl and her son, a grandson of an English aristocrat.
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70,000 Witnesses
Title: 70,000 Witnesses
Character: Buck Buchan
Released: September 9, 1932
Type: Movie
College football player is asked to dope a star teammate by his crooked gambler brother. He refuses, but they player is doped anyway and collapses and dies. A detective has the whole game re-enacted to find important clues.
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Make Me a Star
Title: Make Me a Star
Character: Phillips Holmes (uncredited)
Released: July 1, 1932
Type: Movie
A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.
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Night Court
Title: Night Court
Character: Mike Thomas
Released: June 4, 1932
Type: Movie
A corrupt night court judge tears an innocent young family apart in his efforts to elude a special prosecutor.
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Broken Lullaby
Title: Broken Lullaby
Character: Paul Renard
Released: January 19, 1932
Type: Movie
A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.
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Two Kinds of Women
Title: Two Kinds of Women
Character: Joseph Gresham Jr.
Released: January 16, 1932
Type: Movie
The daughter of a senator from South Dakota visits Manhattan for the first time, eager to see the sights of the big city. While there, she finds herself caught up in an affair with a married man, whose wife soon commits suicide. Complications ensue.
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An American Tragedy
Title: An American Tragedy
Character: Clyde Griffiths
Released: August 22, 1931
Type: Movie
A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
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Confessions of a Co-Ed
Title: Confessions of a Co-Ed
Character: Dan Carter
Released: July 11, 1931
Type: Movie
A young college student gets pregnant by the man she loves, but circumstances prevent their marrying, so she marries a classmate she doesn't love. Soon, however, her lover returns, and she finds herself in a dilemma as to who to choose.
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The House That Shadows Built
Title: The House That Shadows Built
Character: (archive footage)
Released: July 8, 1931
Type: Movie
The House That Shadows Built (1931) is a short feature, roughly 48 minutes long, from Paramount Pictures made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the studio's founding in 1912. It was a promotional film for exhibitors and never had a regular theatrical release and includes a brief history of Paramount, interviews with various actors, and clips from upcoming projects (some of which never came to fruition). The title comes from a biography of Paramount founder Adolph Zukor, The House That Shadows Built (1928), by William Henry Irwin.
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Stolen Heaven
Title: Stolen Heaven
Character: Joe Bartlett
Released: February 20, 1931
Type: Movie
A hooker gets followed home by a man she thinks is drunk, but it turns out he's been wounded in a robbery of a radio factory where he used to work. As the police swarm into the seedy tenement, she decides to help him, and the two form an uneasy alliance culminating in a suicide pact.
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The Criminal Code
Title: The Criminal Code
Character: Robert Graham
Released: January 3, 1931
Type: Movie
After young Robert Graham commits a murder while drunk and defending his girlfriend, he is prosecuted by ambitious Mark Brady and sentenced to 10 years. Six years later, Brady becomes the prison warden and offers the beleaguered Robert a job as his chauffeur. Robert cleans up his act, but, on the eve of his pardon, his cellmate drags him back into the world of violence, and he faces a difficult choice that could return him to prison.
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Man to Man
Title: Man to Man
Character: Michael Bolton
Released: December 5, 1930
Type: Movie
A young man attempts to overcome the memory of his father, who was sent to jail for committing a murder.
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Her Man
Title: Her Man
Character: Dan
Released: September 21, 1930
Type: Movie
A prostitute sees a friendly sailor as a way out of Havana's grimy underworld.
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Grumpy
Title: Grumpy
Character: Ernest Heron
Released: August 1, 1930
Type: Movie
An exhaustingly cantankerous old man solves a jewel robbery.
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Galas de la Paramount
Title: Galas de la Paramount
Character: Self (from original version)
Released: July 31, 1930
Type: Movie
Spanish-language version of PARAMOUNT ON PARADE (q.v.), with new sequences of interest to Spanish-speaking audiences mixed with original- version sequences.
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The Devil's Holiday
Title: The Devil's Holiday
Character: David Stone
Released: May 9, 1930
Type: Movie
Beautiful manicurist Hallie Hobart sets her sights on handsome David Stone, the son of wealthy wheat farmer Ezra Stone. Professing to hate men, Hallie is only interested in luring David in for a lucrative business deal. David easily falls in love, but older brother Mark brands Hallie a gold-digger. To get even with the straight-laced Stone family, Hallie accepts David's marriage proposal.
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Only the Brave
Title: Only the Brave
Character: Capt. Robert Darrington
Released: March 7, 1930
Type: Movie
Cooper is a Union Army officer who after being jilted by girlfriend, Virginia Bruce, volunteers on what could be a suicide mission. He volunteers to go behind enemy lines disguised in Confederate gray as a staff officer to Robert E. Lee. He's to ride to a certain plantation which is a local brigade headquarters and deliberately let himself by caught with maps showing false Union troop dispositions. Of course the penalty then as now is execution.
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Pointed Heels
Title: Pointed Heels
Character: Donald Ogden
Released: December 20, 1929
Type: Movie
Fay Wray plays a beautiful showgirl who falls for a rich Park Avenue guy played by Phillips Holmes. William Powell is a producer in love with Miss Wray, but he won't use his influences to take any advantages.... as usual, he's a perfect gentleman. Pointed Heels was supposed to have been a vehicle for "boop-boop-a-doop" girl Helen Kane, but by the time the film was released, Kane's role was reduced to a supporting part.
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The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Title: The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Character: Roger Longmore
Released: October 26, 1929
Type: Movie
The Return of Sherlock Holmes was the first sound film to feature Sherlock Holmes.
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Stairs of Sand
Title: Stairs of Sand
Character: Adam Wansfell (as Phillips R. Holmes)
Released: June 8, 1929
Type: Movie
An outlaw with a Heart of Gold sacrificing his own life for the happiness of two young people in love.
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The Wild Party
Title: The Wild Party
Character: Phil
Released: April 6, 1929
Type: Movie
Wild girls at a college pay more attention to parties than their classes. But when one party girl, Stella Ames, goes too far at a local bar and gets in trouble, her professor has to rescue her. Gossip linking the two escalates until Stella proves she is decent by shielding an innocent girl and winning the professor's respect.
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His Private Life
Title: His Private Life
Character: Pierrot (uncredited)
Released: November 17, 1928
Type: Movie
Story of a Frenchman who seduces women all over Paris, but he meets his match in a proper American tourist. He does everything he can to seduce her, but he will only find romance when he does so on her terms!
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Varsity
Title: Varsity
Character: Middlebrook
Released: October 27, 1928
Type: Movie
The story deals with college life at Princeton with a different angle of situations and romance than is usually served from the screen (Tampa Times, Nov. 1928)