LOUISIANA, Mo. — It was his final film, but he and his movie star wife are still making an impact more than a century later.
Louisiana native Neil Cameron Hardin Jr. starred in “The Girl in the Rain.” The black-and-white silent picture was released on July 17, 1920.
The tale includes everything from an arrest and jailbreak to love and chases, and has more twists and turns than a Missouri county road. Unlike films of today that can sometimes drag on, the story is in told in 50 minutes. Critics loved it.
“Wee-ee-ee! Want to feel like that? Take a look at ‘The Girl in the Rain,’” wrote Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times. “The picture has all the elements of suspense and excitement that you find in our best crook plays. It’s a feature that you’ll never regret seeing.”
Robert C. McElravy of Moving Picture World called it a “surprisingly compact and lucid mixture of mystery and romance” that “plunges at once into a situation that stirs the imagination.”
Photoplay magazine said the melodrama was “pleasantly sweetened with a large lump of romance.”
Hardin was born in Louisiana on Sept. 20, 1880. Cam, as he was called, hailed from a distinguished pioneer family that included doctors, attorneys and politicians.
He, too, became a lawyer, but a 1918 article about the origins of his artistic talent concluded there was no way his thespian abilities came from genes.
“Neil Hardin did not imitate any of his ancestors when he went on the stage,” the article said. “Any of the people up around Louisiana, Mo., where he was brought up, when they get to talking about the success he has made, say they never thought ‘Cam’ Hardin would turn out to be an actor.”
In 1916, the good-looking star met New York City native Gloria Payton. Though almost two decades apart in age, they fell for each other right away.
Cam’s high intelligence and strong physique helped him land roles opposite some of the leading ladies of the time. A newspaper article called him “one of the strongest men in films.”
While Gloria made only nine movies compared with Cam’s 27, she was more popular with audiences. A March 1917 tidbit in a gossip column marveled at Payton’s rise to fame, and offered a little-used description of her vitality – saying she had “spizzerinctum.”
The only time the couple appeared onscreen together came in the 1917 drama “Temptation and the Girl.”
Despite acclaim, the pair decided to return to the Louisiana home Cam’s grandfather built in 1844. He resumed his lawyer duties and she remained ever the lady. Despite celebrity status, the Hardins were always approachable.
Cam died in 1969 and Gloria followed 20 years later, but interest from a trust they left is still providing scholarships to Louisiana High School students. The generosity fit perfectly with their ideals.
“Try to leave things a little better than you found them,” Gloria once advised.