Coit Albertson Movies

Having made his screen debut in the 1918 Boston Blackie's Little Pal and survived an indifferent Fox version in 1923, Jack Boyle's dime-novel detective found a temporary berth in 1927 at down-market Chadwick Pictures, who cast screen newcomer Raymond Glenn in the title-role and assigned former serial queen Leah Baird to write a screenplay based on Boyle's original story. Released from prison, former jewel thief Boston Blackie undertakes the reformation of pretty Corliss Palmer, who is suspected of having stolen a valuable necklace from cabaret dancer Rosemary Cooper. As it turns out, Cooper's errant father had given the necklace to the vamp and Boston saves the day by performing one final heist: returning the gem to its owner's safe. Adding a bit of kiddie appeal, Chadwick cast veteran canine star Strongheart as Blackie's sidekick. Raymond Glenn would change his name later that year to Bob Custer and embark on a moderately successful career in B-Westerns. Boston Blackie, meanwhile, had to wait until the 1940s to enjoy his greatest success, in a regular series produced by Columbia Pictures and starring Chester Morris. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Follies star Ann Pennington had been away from motion pictures for several years when she played the title role in this drama. Naturally she gets the opportunity to display her terpsichorean talents, and she's accompanied by the then-hugely popular Vincent Lopez Orchestra which, unfortunately, couldn't be heard in a silent film. Mimi (Pennington) is the mad dancer of the Latin Quarter, and sculptor Serge Verlaine (E. Coit Albertson) is impressed by her charms. She agrees to pose nude for him only because of the poverty of her blind father. When her father commits suicide, Mimi goes to the U.S., where her relatives are shocked when they get word of her modeling. So she travels to Washington, D.C., where she meets and falls in love with Keith Arundel (Johnnie Walker). Verlaine arrives with his statue and threatens to expose Mimi as the model unless she marries him. Mimi smashes the head of the statue and Arundel's uncle writes the sculptor a check to keep him quiet. With her reputation saved, Mimi is able to marry Arundel. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This heavy-handed drama from the Arrow film company is based on a particularly unrealistic premise -- that a man, suddenly gone blind, would mistake another woman for his wife. When Red Cross nurse Hilda Nevers (Jane Novak) returns from the Orient, she is left penniless because her father has died. She goes to work at a hospital where Dr. Kitchell (Gordon Standing) is impressed by her voice, which is almost identical to that of his lover, Evelyn Wentworth (Louise Carter). Evelyn is engaged to Lawrence Sinton (Niles Welch), but only for his money. On their wedding night, Sinton is blinded when a burglar hits him on the head. Hilda is substituted for Evelyn, who is then free to continue her affair with the doctor. A family friend finally exposes the situation, but by then, Hilda and Sinton have fallen in love. Sinton has an operation that restores his sight, and he and Hilda are united. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Stage actor William Faversham makes one of his infrequent screen appearances in The Sixth Commandment. John Brandt (John Bohn), Robert Fields (Neil Hamilton), and Marian Calhoun (Kathleen Martyn) all grow up together. John grows up to be a preacher, but has nevertheless inherited the biggest fault of his father, David (Faversham) -- stubborn pride. Although he loves Marian, he keeps his distance because everyone assumes that she and Robert will marry. When the World War breaks out, both John and Robert go to France. John is blinded while helping Robert. When they return from the war, Robert neglects Marian for other women and she breaks up with him. John threatens Robert's life because of his callous treatment of the girl he has always loved. After John's blindness is cured, Robert is found dead and he becomes a murder suspect. Eventually he is found innocent and he and Marian are able to wed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This emotional melodrama was based on the novel Cheating Wives, by Leota Morgan. Mary Alden (who played Senator Stoneman's mulatto mistress in Birth of a Nation) is Alice, a society woman who is disowned by her parents when she marries blacksmith John Larkin (William Welsh). Business does not go well for Larkin, and he, Alice, and their three children (Edward Quinn, freckled Mickey Bennett, and Helen Rowland) live in abject poverty. The wealthy Robert Lewis (Coit Albertson) leaves his wife because she refuses to have children. To win him back, Mrs. Lewis decides to adopt a baby and then claim it as her own. She hires a lawyer who finds Alice and offers her 50 thousand dollars for her infant girl. After struggling with the decision, Alice decides her baby would be better off growing up in privileged circumstances and accepts the offer. The Lewises are reunited, and Alice spends a lot of time at their home so she can see her baby. Larkin, believing that Alice is interested in Lewis, becomes jealous and storms over with a gun. In his attempt to shoot Lewis, the baby is hit. As she is dying, Alice reveals that the baby is hers. But just as things are getting unbearably sad, Alice wakes up -- it was all a terrible dream. She goes to the lawyer and turns down the offer. A rich aunt then offers to help the Larkins out financially. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Although this mystery was released in 1922, the outmoded fashions worn by the women show that it was shot a couple of years earlier -- skirt lengths rose considerably in two years' time. The film company had good reason to hold back this Marguerite Marsh vehicle, as it was poorly constructed and probably should have stayed on the shelf. When John W. Weston (Richard Stewart) is found dead of a gunshot wound, a burglar and cocaine addict, Bert Manners (William Kendall), is accused of the murder. But Helen Marsley (Marsh), a friend of Weston's daughter, Grace (Edna Holman), thinks the man is innocent and decides to investigate. She proves Manners didn't do it, and then accuses Weston's brother, Martin Hartley (Joseph Marba), of the deed. It turns out that Weston actually committed suicide, but Hartley is guilty of stealing some valuable bonds.Marguerite Marsh, incidentally, was the sister of screen star Mae Marsh. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi