Maurice Costello Movies

John Wayne goes up against the lottery racket, 1880 Louisiana-style, in this passable time-killer from Republic Pictures. Arriving from New England to look into the Louisiana lottery on behalf of uplifter Blanche Brunot (Helen Westley), attorney John Reynolds (Wayne) falls in love with sultry Julie Mirbeau (Osa Munson), who attempts to persuade him that her father's gaming business is on the up and up. When a New Orleans restaurateur, Gaston (Shimen Ruskin), is found murdered, Reynolds begins to suspect that General Mirbeau's (Henry Stephenson) gang is behind the killing. To meet the attorney halfway, Mirbeau fires his chief henchman, Blackie (Ray Middleton), but is himself killed by one of Blackie's men, Cuffy Brown (Jack Pennick). Reynolds, who has been appointed special city attorney, pays his respect to Julie, but the angry girl accuses him of indirectly causing the death of her father and then flaunts her engagement to Blackie. Said engagement, however, suffers a fatal blow when Julie finds her fiancé in the arms of gambling hall hostess Pearl (Jacqueline Dalya). Taking the stand in court against the racket, Julie's testimony is interrupted when a rainstorm sweeps the area, breaking a levee. While pursuing a fleeing Blackie, Reynolds orders a steamship to block the hole in the levee, a plan that ultimately saves New Orleans. Having survived the potential disaster, Julie leaves the lottery racket behind and agrees to become Mrs. Reynolds. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Teenaged soprano Gloria Jean plays the Little-Miss-Fixit heroine in Universal's Little Bit of Heaven. The most precocious member of an impoverished 10th Avenue family, little Midge (Gloria Jean) makes an impulsive appearance on a "man in the street" radio interview show. Catapulted to stardom, Midge becomes the primary support for her family, all of whom begin behaving atrociously and overspended insanely. The only one who doesn't go over the top is Midge's lovable Grandpa (C. Aubrey Smith), with whom our heroine concocts a scheme (straight out of Shirley Temple!) to teach her relatives a lesson. In the previous Gloria Jean starrer If I Had My Way, Universal featured several former Broadway favorites, including Blanche Ring and Julian Eltinge, in cameo roles: the studio repeats this stunt in Little Bit of Heaven, showcasing such silent-movie greats as Maurice Costello, Noah Beery Sr., Charles Ray, Monte Blue, William Desmond and Pat O'Malley as the heroine's "adopted uncles". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based upon an idea by Broadway columnist Mark Hellinger, The Roaring Twenties opens during World War I as doughboys Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn), and George Hally (Humphrey Bogart) discuss what they will do when the war is over. Bartlett wants to go back to repairing cabs, and Hart yearns to be a lawyer, but it becomes clear that Hally has less reputable plans in mind for himself. Come the end of the war, things are not as easy for veterans like Bartlett as they should be. He is unable to get his old job back and ends up driving a cab for little money. One night he is asked to deliver a package (which turns out to be whiskey) to an address that turns out to be a speakeasy. This starts him on a life of crime, as he gets deeper involved as a bootlegger. Things are not made easy by a rival bootlegger -- who turns out to be Hally. The two join forces and prosper. Hart shares in their prosperity, as Bartlett engages him to take care of his legal matters. Unfortunately, Hart is also interested in Jean Sherman (Priscilla Lane), a young woman that Bartlett has had an eye on for quite some time. He loses her to Hart at about the same time that his criminal empire crumbles, and he is reduced to driving a cab again while Hally continues to prosper with his ruthless ways. Eventually, Hart -- now a crusading prosecutor -- runs afoul of Hally, who tells Jean that he will kill him if he doesn't change his ways. Jean begs Bartlett to intercede with Hally; because he still is carrying a torch for her, Bartlett agrees -- but by doing so, he may have signed his own death warrant. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

This sixth installment in MGM's "Andy Hardy" series is among the best, thanks in great part to the breezy direction of "Woody" Van Dyke. In this outing, teenaged Andy (Mickey Rooney) develops a crush on his high-school drama teacher Rose Meredith (Helen Gilbert). Andy's dad Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) knows that his son is riding for a fall, but he decides to let the boy find out for himself that there's a big difference between youthful infatuation and true love. Sure enough, when Andy proposes marriage to Rose, she reveals that she already has a fiancee. It's a crushing blow for our hero-but only temporarily, since his perennial sweetheart Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) is waiting in the wings. Outside of the puppy-love main plot, the film is at its best when Andy writes a play as a vehicle for himself and Rose, with the expected silly results. Less than five months after the release of Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever, Columbia Pictures "answered" the film with the zany 2-reel comedy Andy Clyde Gets Spring Chicken. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hollywood Boulevard is a trenchant look at the underside of Tinseltown. Though the nominal hero is a disillusioned screenwriter played by Robert Cummings (whose dialogue anticipates the lines spoken by William Holden in 1950's Sunset Boulevard), the focus of the story is John Halliday as a washed-up film star. Desperately, Halliday accepts the offer from a sleazy "tell all" magazine to write his memoirs. The actor's estranged family is devastated by the resultant scandal, and out love for his daughter (Marsha Hunt), Halliday tries to break his contract. But the publisher (C. Henry Gordon) threatens to ruin Halliday's comeback attempt if he refuses to write the rest of his memoirs. In a scuffle, the publisher kills Halliday, and the blame falls on the actor's daughter. But wise guy screenwriter Cummings gets to the truth of the mystery. A slick B-plus crime melodrama, Hollywood Boulevard has the added bonus of several well-known silent film personalities (Charles Ray, Francis X. Bushman, Maurice Costello, Mae Marsh etc.) in cameo roles, as well as a guest appearance by Gary Cooper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the better "Abie's Irish Rose" derivations of the late 1920s, The Shamrock and the Rose was adapted from a play by Owen Davis Sr. Set in New York's Lower East Side, "where the melting pot boils over," it's the story of a Jewish girl (Olive Hasbrouck) who falls in love with an Irish boy (Edmund Burns). While the hero's parents are delighted at the prospect of his marriage, the girl's mother and father are beside themselves, prompting the heroine to consider converting to Catholicism. She is diverted from this course by an understanding priest (former matinee idol Maurice Costello, in a very minor role) who exhorts her to take pride in her Hebraic heritage. The differences between the two families are settled comedically a year or so later, when the heroine is rushed to the maternity hospital. The film's best performance is delivered by Keystone veteran Mack Swain as the hero's boisterous father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the most popular of the many silent adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' famous story of a courtesan who finds true love too late. In this version, a man who has been suffering from a bout of depression buys a painting of a beautiful women and discovers that her diary is included in the deal. As he reads her words, the ghost of the woman, who is named Camille (Norma Talmadge), appears before him to tell her sad story. Camille began her life under poor circumstances, but with determination she went from a humble shop girl to the most elegant and wealthy courtesan in Paris. However, selling her affections has not brought her real love. She meets a student named Armand (Gilbert Roland), who soon falls in love with the mysterious beauty. However, even though Camille has fallen in love with him, she resists his advances; Armand's father (Maurice Costello) has learned of his son's desire for her, and he has begged her to stay away from Armand, as an affair between them would bring scandal and shame to the young man. Before long, Camille contracts tuberculosis, and Armand encounters his would-be love as she bravely tries to hide her soon-to-be fatal condition from him. This is thought to be the ninth film based on the Dumas story (including adaptations under other names), and like several others, this film is currently lost, barring a future discovery of a print by film scholars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This domestic drama was supposed to be an indictment of the supposedly lax divorce laws then current. Because Redfield (Maurice Costello) has fallen on hard times financially, his wife, Eugenie (Marie Shotwell), welcomes the arrival of Bronson Gibbs (Montagu Love), who offers to save the family if he can marry their daughter, Cynthia (Helene Chadwick). Cynthia elopes with Ernest Herrick (Lawford Davidson), a young man who has not won Eugenie's approval. She throws the couple out of the house, and Gibbs plots with Greenwich Village inhabitant Veerah Vale (Mary Thurman) to compromise Herrick. The plot seems like it's working -- after Gibbs sends Cynthia some of Herrick's letters to Veerah, she files for divorce. They reconcile when their child is seriously injured. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Seemingly the only reason for this drama was its proliferation of cameos -- the gambling hall where the action takes place sports the likes of Flora Finch, Henry Hull, Diana Allen and Dagmar Godowsky. The actual star is Edith Roberts. Before he can avenge a crooked card game, Dan Carrington (Montagu Love) suffers heart failure and dies in his chair. John Tralee (Norman Trevor), the cheater, feels a pang of guilt when he discovers that he has taken all of Carrington's money and adopts the dead man's little girl, Lois. The girl grows up (to be played by Roberts) and the gambling hall becomes her second home. A millionaire, Peter Marineaux (Walter Booth), accuses Lois of throwing a roulette game. Lois -- who has fallen in love with Marineaux -- manipulates the wheel so that he wins her. Her gamble pays off and she wins Marineaux as a husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This Vitagraph drama was a routine programmer. Edith (Edith Allen) gives up her artistic career when she marries Jack Banton (Ralph Kellard). Banton turns out to be a womanizer and eventually he deserts Edith. He heads for Cuba, where he has an affair with the vampy Juanita (Dagmar Godowsky), while Edith returns to her career. At a friend's suggestion, she claims to be a widow, and her artwork becomes successful because of the help offered by critic Josiah Wright (Maurice Costello). Wright falls in love with her, so she tells him the truth about her husband. His weak heart can't take the news and he dies, willing her a large sum of money. Edith has fallen in love with Wright's nephew, Norman (David Powell), but Banton -- who has heard of the inheritance -- returns. Edith buys him off. As he's leaving, a jealous suitor of Juanita's kills him. Now an actual widow, Edith is free to wed Norman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Pretty Dorothy Dalton co-stars with the handsome but not as stellar David Powell in this action-packed Paramount drama. The wealthy but idle Roger Wainright (Powell) finds himself falling in love with Gale Brenon (Dalton), a modern, independent young lady who manages several Florida orange groves. While Wainright is enjoying himself at a local gambling resort, the place is raided by revenuers and Sheriff Holmes (Jack Richardson) is killed in the ensuing gun fight. Wainright escapes and Gale hides him, later helping him to escape into the swamp. But the dead man is her father, and when she discovers that Wainright is suspected of being the one who discharged the fatal shot, she leads the posse to him. At the last moment, her love for him causes her to weaken, but he turns himself in anyway. A friend, Mabel Van Buren (Martha Mansfield), reveals that she witnessed the killing, and that it was another officer, Deputy Brown (former matinee idol Maurice Costello), who did the dirty deed. Evidence backs her up, and Wainright and Gale are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide