Today’s Underrated Actor Spotlight: Leila Hyams

One of my favorites: the very lovely and most agreeable Hyams often played leading lady roles, but was always satisfactory in them and even managed to steal a scene or two when given the chance. She was born on May 1^st, 1905 in New York City. She was the child of vaudeville performers John Hyams and Leila McIntyre, who appeared in several films themselves, often in uncredited roles. Leila worked with her parents when she was a child and went on to model and eventually move to Hollywood. Her first film was the Barbara La Marr vehicle Sandra (1924) and continued to appear in supporting roles for silent pictures such as A Girl in Every Port (1928) and The Crimson City (1928). She also did work as a leading lady. She caught the attention of MGM studios and they quickly placed her opposite one of their most popular stars, William Haines in Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928). After that, they kept her on hand whenever they needed a pretty blonde face. She made some of their early talkies such as The Far Call (1929) and The Idle Rich (1929).

When she proved that she could handle herself well in the new medium, the studio decided to have her work with every leading man on the lot while they continued creating new talkies. She worked with Basil Rathbone in his stint as Philo Vance in The Bishop Murder Case (1930). She played Robert Montgomery’s sister and Chester Morris’s love-interest in the critically acclaimed The Big House (1930). She worked with William Haines again in The Girl Said No (1930), Way Out West (1930), and The New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford (1931). She also worked with John Gilbert in Way for a Sailor (1930), Gentleman’s Fate (1931), and The Phantom of Paris (1931), the latter being one of his finest talkies. Despite always working well with her male co-stars and complimenting them nicely, her parts got slightly less substantial by the next year.

Two of her best known movies were Freaks (1932) and Island of Lost Souls (1932) and while the former gave her some memorable scenes with Wallace Ford, the latter only allowed her to be eye candy for any men in the audience who didn’t think Kathleen Burke’s panther woman was enough. The films are better known for their horror aspects rather than their casts. She was in the well-remembered Jean Harlow vehicle Red-Headed Woman (1932) as Chester Morris’s loving wife who he cheats on with the more naughty Harlow. It does, however, cause one to wonder why Morris would cheat on such a caring and lovely wife as Hyams in the first place and she is too likeable not to root for. She played Bing Crosby’s leading lady in The Big Broadcast (1932), the first of several films of that name to come. In the early 1930s, however, Bing’s leading ladies were just there to be there and Hyams was hardly an exception. Hyams continued playing a string of leading lady parts, the a good deal of her movies weren’t as well known or acclaimed as her previous stints, despite being just as good as ever.

Before her young retirement in 1936, she managed to make a few more worthy pictures. There was the terribly underrated The Poor Rich (1934) with many great comedians such as Edna May Oliver, Edward Everett Horton, and Thelma Todd. Despite the stellar cast, everyone got their chance to shine. Hyams is incredibly entertaining as a woman who poses as brother and sister Oliver and Horton’s maid so that they can pretend they’re still rich. Problems arise, however, due to Horton’s evident crush on Hyams, which is quite adorable. Another good part, in quite a well-known picture was Nell Kenner in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). She plays a dancer who’s cast out by the upper crust members of Red Gap for having fun parties, but she manages to win over Earl Roland Young in the end. The scene where she shows him how to play the drums to ‘Pretty Baby’ is a highlight in a film filled with them. Hyams last film wasn’t long after that with Yellow Jack (1936) as the leading lady of Richard Dix. She, however, stuck around Hollywood society as the wife of agent Phil Berg, who she married in 1927 and remained married to until her death of a heart attack on December 4^th, 1977. Although her roles weren’t big and often weren’t showy, she was always a pleasure to watch.

~Bianca