Louise Lorraine Movies
American silent screen heroine Louise Lorraine (born Louise Escovar) began her career as Louise Fortune opposite Chai Hong, a Chinese screen comic known as the "Chaplin of the Orient." She was briefly mentioned as Harold Lloyd's new leading lady, but starred instead opposite Elmo Lincoln in the serial Elmo the Fearless (1920). With that, a new action queen was born and Universal signed her to a long-term contract. She was reunited with the brawny Lincoln in The Flaming Disc (1920) and The Adventures of Tarzan(1921). She was soon challenging Allene Ray's position as America's favorite damsel in distress. As fearless as the previous decade's Pearl White, Lorraine reportedly insisted on doing even the most dangerous of stunts herself -- until she witnessed an automobile overturn during the filming of The Great Circus Mystery (1925) that killed the passengers. In 1925, she married one of her leading men, the hard-drinking Art Acord, and together they left Universal to star in Westerns produced by poverty row company Truart. The strain quickly began to show both on- and offscreen, and the marriage ended in 1929. Entertaining the idea of escaping action melodramas altogether, Lorraine signed with posh MGM, but without her riding britches she was unremarkable. Returning to Universal for one final serial fling, The Lightning Express (1930), Lorraine discovered that some of the fun had gone out of filmmaking with the introduction of sound and she retired. In her later years, she remained amazed at how well both she and her serials continued to be remembered. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1925
Produced by Poverty Row company Truart and directed by comedian Billy Bletcher, this low-budget outdoors melodrama headlined the husband-and-wife team of Art Acord and Louise Lorraine, both formerly of Universal.The real stars of the film, however, were Rex, a dog, and Black Beauty, a horse. Dog and horse belong to Pattie, the "wild girl" of the title (Lorraine), who rejects a proposal from uncouth mountaineer Lige Blew in favor of romancing handsome photographer Billy Woodruff (Acord). Taking umbrage to the girl's decision, Lige frames Pattie's granddad (Andrew Waldron) for murder. The old man is shipped off to jail and Pattie is left in Lige's power. Rex and Black Beauty, however, manage to fetch Billy, who returns just in time to save the girl from a fate worse than death. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Excommunicated after a bar-room brawl, veteran screen cowboy Art Acord joins up with Rex the Wonder Dog and Blackie the Horse in order to save lovely Louise Lorraine from a gang of claim jumpers. Produced by M.H. Hoffman, Three in Exile was perhaps silent western at its nadir. Acord was between contracts with Universal ("Uncle" Carl Laemmle kept firing him for drunkenness, then regretting the decision) and Hoffman had gotten him on the cheap. The leading lady, serial queen Louise Lorraine, was Acord's wife at the time. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Acord
- 1922
This lightweight farce comedy actually has some witty moments, including a brief spoof of the 1919 silent blockbuster, Miracle Man. Mary Lorraine (Louise Lorraine) runs away on her wedding day because she does not like the groom picked out by her mother (Laura Lavernie), the amusingly named Algernon Emptihead (Robert Anderson). She winds up at a farm, where she encounters Joe Thornby (Joe Moore), who is working there primarily because he "likes chickens" (in fact, one of the birds is wearing trousers). But her haven is short-lived -- both groom and mother find her and cart her off to the seashore. Joe comes to the rescue by getting the chauffeur drunk and then disguising himself to take his place. At the shore, his next disguise is a waiter, then a Miracle Man-type seer. Joe has to rescue Mary twice -- once while riding a mule, and then by blimp. It just so happens that Joe is a millionaire, so Mother is happy when Mary chooses him as her husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louise Lorraine, Joe Moore, (more)
- 1925
A minor mystery melodrama, producer Philip Goldstone's creaky The Verdict employed the oldest cliché of them all. Yes, the butler did indeed do it! Employers of a fashion emporium, Carol (Louise Lorraine), a sales girl, and Jimmy (William Collier Jr.), the young bookkeeper, find their innocent romance rudely interrupted by the owner's callous son, Victor Ronsard (Lou Tellegen), who wants Carol to himself. After attempting to convince Carol that Jimmy is cooking the books, Ronsard is found murdered. Arrested, tried, and sentenced to the chair, Jimmy is granted a last minute reprieve when Carol, to save her lover, confesses to the murder. Happily, the Ronsard butler (Paul Weigel) comes forward at that moment to plead guilty. The leading man of one diva (Sarah Bernhardt) and married to another (Geraldine Farrar), Dutch-born Lou Tellegen's notoriety as a ladykiller remained firm by 1925 but his professional career was in shambles. Tellegen did not handle the reality of aging very well, a fact that led to an especially messy suicide in 1934. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Collier, Jr., Lou Tellegen, (more)
- 1927
The Tim McCoy western Winners of the Wilderness was shot simultaneously with McCoy's War Paint, using the same locations for both. Boasting a larger budget than the average "B"-western, the film casts McCoy as a courageous Indian scout, determined to negotiate an honorable peace between the white settlers and his Native American friends. Though his efforts are undercut by various villains pursuing their own agendae, our hero finally prevails. The film's most startling sequence finds a nude male prisoner being burned at the stake by hostile tribesmen -- hardly the sort of thing one might expect in a film essentially designed for preteen moviegoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Joan Crawford, (more)
