A site favorite, I spent a lot of time watching Elizabeth Allan's movies and researching her life to put together THIS POST in June 2012.
She arrived in Hollywood in 1933 and appeared opposite Richard Dix in a couple of strong films, No Marriage Ties and Ace of Aces. That year's The Solitaire Man and 1934's The Mystery of Mr. X are also very entertaining, but she really scored in her tragic role opposite Clark Gable in Men in White later in 1934. Production Code enforcement only improved Miss Allan's fortunes as she went on to make her most memorable Hollywood appearances in a pair of Dickens adaptations at MGM, David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities (both 1935). Just as many people have seen her in the horror film she appeared in, Mark of the Vampire (1935), oddly tucked between the two Dickens movies for Allan.
Hollywood unraveled when she was replaced by Rosalind Russell in The Citadel (1938). Allan, then set for what became the Greer Garson part in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), made the career-breaking decision of launching a breech of contract suit against MGM for removing her from The Citadel. Imagine Miss Allan's reputation among classic movie buffs today had she been able to add these two titles to her list of credits alongside the two Dickens adaptations?
But the story has a happy ending—Elizabeth Allan returned to England and her star rose again in a very successful second act to her career.
Once more you'll find my complete Elizabeth Allan biography here: https://immortalephemera.com/19804/elizabeth-allan-biography/
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