Kate Lester Movies

This ordinary romantic programmer starred Universal regulars Norman Kerry and Virginia Valli. Linnie Randall, a shopgirl (Valli), is bored with her humdrum life. Her complaints are overheard by the wealthy Garry Schuyler (Kerry), who is disguised as a mechanic. He asks her out to dinner and, to her delight, he calls in a limousine. The two of them wind up spending a whirlwind week together and marry at the end of it. Their happiness is ruined, however, when Schuyler's aristocratic mother (Kate Lester, who died before the film's release) returns from Florida and loudly voices her disapproval of her new daughter-in-law. She makes life so miserable for Linnie that she runs away. She is accidentally hit by Garry's car and taken to the hospital. He believes she is dead, and comes down with "brain fever." His mother takes him to Europe, while Linnie recovers and gives birth to his son. Linnie becomes a famous dancer, and when Garry returns and finds her still alive, they are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

On a voyage from India to London, it is rumored that an infamous cracksman is onboard -- of course, it is Raffles (House Peters), who is accompanied by his friend, Bunny Manners (Freeman Wood). Raffles warns one of his fellow passengers to keep an eye on her necklace, which promptly disappears. Although a search reveals no evidence, the necklace is returned in a pack of cigarettes upon arrival in London. Lord and Lady Amersteth (Winter Hall and Kate Lester) are having a house party and Raffles attends. Captain Bedford, a noted criminologist (Fred Esmelton), is also one of the guests and he asserts that a very valuable string of pearls cannot be stolen. This only encourages Raffles, who takes it. He also steals the heart of his hosts' daughter, Gwendolyn (Miss Du Pont). Although Bedford finally captures Raffles, he escapes with Gwendolyn's help and they run off together. Raffles returns the pearls and resolves to start a new and more honest life. E.W. Hornung's celebrated novel about a gentleman thief was filmed several times. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Pert comedienne Constance Talmadge is virtually the whole show in Goldfish. A newly married husband (Jack Mulhall) and wife (Talmadge) make a curious agreement: should either party want to terminate the relationship, that party will present the other one with a bowl of goldfish (there has to be some justification for the film's title, hasn't there?) One bowl and two husbands later, the wife is at the pinnacle of social respectability, while her songwriter ex-husband is still struggling away in poverty. Eventually, her first husband achieves success, whereupon the woman presents her latest fiance with a bowl full of fish and returns to hubby number one. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When Madame Zatianny appears, seemingly from nowhere on the social scene, everyone is taken by her beauty. The older ones say she is the mirror image of Mary Ogden, who they had known 30 years before. Lee Clavering, a budding playwright (Conway Tearle), manages to meet Madame Zatianny and they fall very much in love. He proposes, and she confesses to be the same Mary Ogden of 30 years prior, her youth restored through a gland operation. But Prince Hohenhauer, an old admirer (Alan Hale), convinces her to leave Clavering by pointing out that she prefers power over love. So she returns to Europe to continue her relief work, while Clavering consoles himself with Janet Oglethorpe, a pretty young flapper (Clara Bow). Future superstar Bow really stood out in this supporting role -- she received great notices all around -- and not long after the film's release she would become a WAMPAS Baby Star, which helped promote her fledgling career. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This second film version of the Victor Hugo novel Notre Dame de Paris (the first was a Theda Bara vehicle, The Dancer of Paris) was a super-duper-spectacular as only Hollywood of the 1920s could make them, but it is never so large that it dwarfs the contribution of its star, Lon Chaney. As the hunchbacked bellringer Quasimodo, Chaney adorned himself with a special device that made his cheeks jut out grotesquely; a contact lens that blanked out one of his eyes; and, most painfully, a huge rubber hump covered with coarse animal fur and weighing anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds. While Quasimodo is but one of many interconnecting characters in the original Hugo novel, he dominates the narrative of this expensive Universal production. Set in the walled city of Paris in the 16th century, the story is set in motion when the evil Jehan (Brandon Hurst), brother of saintly Notre Dame archdeacon Dom Claude (Nigel De Brulier), orders the dog-like Quasimodo to attempt to kidnap gypsy girl Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller). Quasimodo is captured and flogged for his crime, whereupon Esmeralda shows him kindness by offering him water. He reciprocates when Esmeralda, framed on a murder charge by the obsessed Jehan (if he can't have her, no one can), is sentenced to be hanged. Quasimodo grabs a rope and swings down from the towers of Notre Dame, rescues Esmeralda from the gallows, and carries her into the church, shouting "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" Through a series of convoluted plot twists, Clopin (Ernest Torrence), the king of beggars, leads an army of the Parisian poor to storm the gates of the cathedral and reclaim Esmeralda. Quasimodo defends both the girl and his church by tossing heavy objects and pouring molten lead upon the invaders. This climactic scene was filmed at night, requiring the services of literally every arc light in Hollywood. The Notre Dame set (which wasn't quite as large in real life as it seems on screen) remained standing on the Universal back lot for years after this film was completed, doing background service in the 1925 Lon Chaney starrer The Phantom of the Opera. With Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lon Chaney rose from mere leading player to major star, which led him to even greater success at MGM, where his reputation as "the man of a thousand faces" really got a workout. The story would be remade by in 1939 with Charles Laughton, in 1955 with Anthony Quinn, in 1982 with Anthony Hopkins, and again in 1996 as a sanitized Disney animated musical. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This domestic drama may sound tiresome, but it was considered solid entertainment in 1923. Just before he gets married, Victor Olney (Bryant Washburn) attends a bachelor party where dancer Carmen Joy (Charlotte Stevens) is performing. She is injured, and Olney winds up giving her money to pay for her medical bills. After his wedding to Constance Rives (Mabel Forrest), Olney becomes insanely jealous of all her friends, especially former suitor Clint Mowbray (Wheeler Oakman). Constance is annoyed at her husband's possessiveness, even more so when Mowbray makes it look like Olney and Carmen were having an affair. Constance leaves Olney and nurses Carmen back to health. Olney, meanwhile, gets a lecture from his mother-in-law (Kate Lester) on the proper way to treat a wife. Convinced by her words, Olney learns how to have faith in Constance. She returns to him when Carmen assures her that she was never involved with her husband. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Marshall Neilan's fame as a director of quality films was at its peak during the period this romantic melodrama was made. Because he married without the czar's consent, Prince Sergei (Richard Travers) is banished to Siberia. After having a baby girl, Sergei's wife dies. His enemies have ordered his death, so Sergei has to flee Siberia, leaving his child in the care of Vassily (Emmett Corrigan), who raises her as his own. By the time the girl, Vera, has grown to young womanhood (to be played by Lucille Rickson), the revolution has occurred and Godunoff, a Cossack brigand (Elmo Lincoln, best known as cinema's first Tarzan) declares himself governor of the province. Soldiers are sent to Siberia, among them American Walter Stanford (Conrad Nagel), who falls in love with Vera. When he is ordered back to the States, he leaves Vera in the care of his friend, Winkie, a British sergeant (Sydney Chaplin, in a bit of comic relief). Godunoff tosses Vassily in prison and forces Vera to marry him. His brutal treatment of her makes her deaf. Stanford comes back for Vera, and Godunoff heads for the shrine which is their meeting place. Vera innocently locks the door on him, not realizing that this will mean his death. With him out of the way, she is able to sail for America with Stanford. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Joseph Schenck pulled out all the stops in this costume drama starring his wife, Norma Talmadge -- it was adapted from Honore de Balzac's novel, La Duchess de Langeais by Frances Marion, and no expense was spared to bring the Napoleonic era to life. When the Duc de Langeais (Adolphe Menjou) makes a bet with the Count de Marsay (Irving Cummings) on whether his wife, the Duchess (Talmadge) would accept the attentions of any other man, she angrily leaves him. The Duc, who is a solider, goes off to the front, and the lonely Duchess proceeds to cut a swath through all the available men. Ultimately she meets General de Montriveau (Conway Tearle), and when she toys with his affections, he kidnaps her. He is about to brand her for her fickle behavior, but can't bring himself to do it. Instead, he retreats from her and refuses to respond to her letters. The despondent Duchess decides to enter a convent. But before she can take her final vows, the general learns of her whereabouts and comes for her. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Even though this light comedy never leaves the confines of its hospital setting, it's still highly amusing. Billy Grant (Richard Dix) winds up in the hospital after going on a wild spree when his fiancée breaks up with him. Jane Brown (Helene Chadwick) is his nurse, and he begs her to marry him. She agrees because she believes that he is dying. The truth is that Grant has married her just to get back at his relatives, who helped ruin his relationship with his fiancée. Jane asks to be transferred to the maternity ward, and she helps a newborn baby and its mother reunite with its father. While searching for the man, however, Jane breaks some hospital rules and she's in danger of being fired. Grant comes to her aid and also claims her as his wife. This picture was based on two stories by author Mary Roberts Rinehart. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Alice Lake stars in this clever crime drama, which had a script written by June Mathis. When spiritualist Madame Mysteria is killed in a train wreck, her three associates decide to replace her instead of declaring her dead. One of them, the Fox (Charles Clary), calls on Jean Oliver (Lake), who he knew from prison. Jean was serving time after being framed by her former employer, Mrs. Ramsey (Kate Lester), for a theft just to keep her and her son, Donald Ramsey (Carl Gerrard), from marrying. Jean agrees to the crooks' scheme providing that they help her kidnap the baby that belongs to Donald and the woman that his mother had him marry. She plans to raise the boy as a crook, and keeps him in the psychic parlors while she swindles New York society folk out of their jewelry. Meanwhile, her sweetheart prior to Ramsey, Gordon Grant (Allan Forrest), is helping his friends track down the thief who is stealing their jewels. He traces the crimes to Madame Mysteria, and the Ramsey kidnapping to Jean. He goes to the psychic's parlors and Jean has a sudden stroke of real psychic power and takes off her disguise to face Gordon. Together they approach Mrs. Ramsey and make her sign a document absolving Jean of any wrongdoing. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Author Gertrude Atherton wrote this story especially for the screen; it is supposedly based on a true story that happened in San Francisco's society circles. Langdon Masters, a newspaper editor and writer (Lewis S. Stone), falls in love with Madeline (Mabel Julienne Scott), the neglected wife of the aristocratic Dr. Howard Talbot (Charles Clary). Although Masters and Madeline decide that they should not see each other, when Talbot discovers the affection between them, he demands that Masters leave San Francisco and his newspaper career. Masters agrees and wanders to New York's notorious "Five Points" district, where drink and degradation follow. Madeline, fed up with her husband's cruel nature and cold demeanor, finally obtains a separation. She heads for New York and proceeds to track down Masters. She finds him in one of the city's worst dives and proceeds to pull him out of the gutter. With her love, Masters is able to once again lead a useful life. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Katherine MacDonald essayed a dual role in the silent romantic romantic comedy Beautiful Liar. It seems that office girl MacDonald is the exact double of a famous movie star. When the celebrity is a no-show at a benefit, MacDonald takes her place. She is forced to keep up the subterfuge, lest she lose the love of her "dream man" Charles Meredith. Turns out that Meredith has seen through her charade all along, but he loves her all the same. Beautiful Liar was based on a short story by George Marion, Jr.; its director was Wallace Worsley, of Hunchback of Notre Dame fame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi