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Monta Bell is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Director of Photography and Editor American born on 5 february 1891 at Washington, D.C. (USA)
Monta Bell (February 5, 1891 – February 4, 1958) was an American film director, film producer and film editor.
Bell joined up with Paramount Pictures serving as head of production at the Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens in New York. As sound films came in, Bell directed a number of high comedies and low melodramas later moving to producing films.
Bell was married for a brief time to actress Betty Lawford, cousin of actor Peter Lawford. Monta directed 20 films from 1924 to 1945. In addition, he producer 20 films and wrote 9 screenplays.
He died on February 4, 1958 at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital, one day before his 67th birthday. He is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA
Source : Wikidata
Monta Bell
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Nationality USA
Birth 5 february 1891 at Washington, D.C. (USA)
Death 4 february 1958 (at 66 years) at Hollywood (USA)
Birth 5 february 1891 at Washington, D.C. (USA)
Death 4 february 1958 (at 66 years) at Hollywood (USA)
Biography
Starting as a journalist in Washington DC, Bell later played on stage and entered films in 1923 as an actor. Charlie Chaplin employed Bell as a film editor and assistant director and in 1924, he became a full-fledged director of sophisticated sex comedies. Bell is known for directing Greta Garbo's first American film, Torrent.Bell joined up with Paramount Pictures serving as head of production at the Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens in New York. As sound films came in, Bell directed a number of high comedies and low melodramas later moving to producing films.
Bell was married for a brief time to actress Betty Lawford, cousin of actor Peter Lawford. Monta directed 20 films from 1924 to 1945. In addition, he producer 20 films and wrote 9 screenplays.
He died on February 4, 1958 at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital, one day before his 67th birthday. He is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA
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Filmography of Monta Bell (35 films)
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The Chaplin Revue (1959)
, 1h59Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Charlie Chaplin, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman, Sydney Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Tom Murray
Roles Various (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rating76%
The Pilgrim (1923)
, 59minutesDirected by Charles Reisner, Charlie Chaplin
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Western
Themes Films about religion
Actors Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, Edna Purviance, Sydney Chaplin, Mack Swain, Monta Bell
Roles Policeman (uncredited)
Rating71%
The Pilgrim (Chaplin), an escaped convict, steals a minister's clothes to replace his prison uniform. At a train station, he encounters an eloping couple who want him to marry them. The woman's father shows up and takes her away.
The Adventurer (1917)
, 24minutesDirected by Charlie Chaplin
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Adventure
Actors Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Charlie Chaplin, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin, Monta Bell
Roles Man (uncredited)
Rating72%
Charlot, un prisonnier, réussit à échapper à la vigilance des gardiens de la prison. Il sauve ensuite une jeune femme et sa mère de la noyade en se faisant passer pour un millionnaire, et il est ensuite invité à la réception donnée en son honneur par les parents de la jeune fille. Pourtant, l'un des invités va reconnaître en lui le bagnard évadé. Une course-poursuite s'engage alors.
Director
The Worst Woman in Paris? (1933)
, 1h16Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Benita Hume, Adolphe Menjou, Harvey Stephens, Helen Chandler, Margaret Seddon, Leonard Carey
Rating67%
Downstairs (1932)
, 1h17Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce, John Gilbert, Hedda Hopper, Reginald Owen, Olga Baclanova
Rating69%
The film opens with Baron Von Burgen's (Reginald Owen) head butler Albert (Paul Lukas) marrying the young maid, Anna (Virginia Bruce), on the Baron's Austrian estate. During the ceremony, chauffeur Karl Schneider (John Gilbert) arrives, and soon finds an old acquaintance - a former lover - Countess De Marnac (Hedda Hopper), who appears displeased with Karl mixing with her elite friends. That night, when Françoise (Lucien Littlefield), one of the butlers, gets too drunk too work, Albert is summoned to take over his shift. Anna, now unaccompanied, is visited by Karl, who wins over her sympathy by telling her about his unfortunate childhood.
Personal Maid (1931)
, 1h14Directed by Monta Bell, Lothar Mendes
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Nancy Carroll, Pat O'Brien, Gene Raymond, Mary Boland, George Fawcett, Donald Meek
Rating63%
Young Man of Manhattan (1930)
, 1h19Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Claudette Colbert, Norman Foster, Ginger Rogers, Charles Ruggles, Leslie Austin
Rating60%
Jealousy comes between a young couple of newspaper people when the wife earns more money and becomes more famous than her husband. Especially his alcohol addiction becomes the dividing element, whereas the young Puff Randolph girl chasing him, and her editor falling in love with her are merely elements that challenge their love.
East Is West (1930)
, 1h15Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Politique, Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays
Actors Lupe Vélez, Lew Ayres, Edward G. Robinson, E. Alyn Warren, Henry Kolker, Tetsu Komai
Rating60%
En Chine, une jeune femme du nom de Ming Toy, est proche d'être vendue par son père aux enchères quand Billy Benson, un jeune et élégant américain, arrivant de son pays natal dans l'espoir de trouver une chinoise à marier, surenchérit et la sauve de l'esclavage. Un de ses vieux amis, Lo Sang Kee, l’emmène à San Francisco mais finit par la vendre à Charlie Yong, le roi de Chinatown qui souhaite prendre Ming Toy pour femme. Devant le refus de la jeune femme, Benson, malgré plusieurs essais infructueux, réussit à l'enlever de force et décide alors de la prendre chez lui. Mais ses parents, horrifiés à la pensée de voir leur fils épouser une chinoise, la rejettent. Crainte vite effacée quand elle leur explique qu'elle est une femme blanche, qu'elle a été élevée par une famille chinoise lorsque ses parents, un couple de missionnaires, furent assassinés, expliquant alors sa proximité avec la culture et les mœurs chinois dont elle est imprégnés. Les parents décident alors de bénir leur union.
The Bellamy Trial (1929)
, 1h35Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Leatrice Joy, Betty Bronson, Edward J. Nugent, Kenneth Thomson, Margaret Livingston, Margaret Seddon
Rating60%
After Midnight (1927)
Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Norma Shearer, Gwen Lee, Lawrence Gray, Eddie Sturgis, John Mack Brown
Rating69%
A story of New York's nightlife: Mary (Norma Shearer) is a cabaret hostess with a heart of gold and her sister Maizie (Gwen Lee) is a gold-digger with no heart.
Man, Woman and Sin (1927)
Directed by John Gilbert, Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Jeanne Eagels, John Gilbert, Gladys Brockwell, Marc McDermott, Philip W. Anderson, Hayden Stevenson
Rating59%
Torrent (1926)
, 1h27Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Melodrama, Romance
Actors Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmstead, Edward Connelly, Lucien Littlefield, Martha Mattox
Rating68%
The wealthy matriarch Dona Bernarda Brull (Mattox) is irritated by her son Rafael's infatuation with the orange farmer's (Edward Connelly) daughter, Leonora (Garbo). She forbids him to see her, something that causes Leonora great heartache, to say nothing of her family's financial condition. Using the singing talent cultivated by her wannabe father Pedro, Leonara leaves her humble home to later become a sensation on the stages of Paris, as La Brunna, where nobleman and other rich gentleman express their approval of her "talents".
The Boy Friend (1926)
, 1h5Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Marceline Day, John Harron, Gwen Lee, George K. Arthur, Ward Crane, Gertrude Astor
Rating69%
Comedy about a small-town girl unhappy with her family, and a boy trying to please her by throwing a big party.
Upstage (1926)
, 1h16Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about television
Actors Norma Shearer, Tenen Holtz, Gwen Lee, Émile Chautard, Dorothy Phillips, Rolfe Sedan
Rating68%
Dolly (Norma Shearer) is a stagestruck girl whose career has begun to wane until she displays show-must-go-on courage by standing-in as target in a knife-throwing act.
Lady of the Night (1925)
, 1h2Directed by Monta Bell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Norma Shearer, Malcolm McGregor, Dale Fuller, George K. Arthur, Fred Esmelton, Lew Harvey
Rating66%
Chris Helmer (Lew Harvey) is sentenced to 20 years in prison by Judge Banning (Fred Esmelton), and has to leave his wife and baby girl. By coincidence, the judge has a daughter about the same age.