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- 1922
In spite of an original beginning, this Hoot Gibson picture quickly gets down to the usual Western business, with the hero at odds with a crooked ranch foreman. Gibson's co-star here is Louise Lorraine, whose stunt skills rivaled that of any cowboy's. After returning from World War I, Bill Perkins (Gibson) travels across country by hitching a ride in a airplane. He parachutes down near a ranch where he looks for work. All he is able to get is a job as the cook's helper. Foreman Mark Peters (Charles LeMoyne) wants to steal the ranch land, and he convinces Perkins to pose as the heir to the property. He agrees, and along the way discovers that Peters and his gang are rustlers. Through his craftiness, Perkins rounds up Peters and his men -- and then turns around and proves that he really is the heir to the ranch. He also wins the hand of pretty Ann Forrest (Lorraine). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Gertrude Short, (more)
- 1922
Popular Universal leading man Frank Mayo is put through his customary paces in The Altar Stairs. Mayo plays a rugged ship's captain who comes to the rescue of a group of South Sea natives. The locals have embraced Christianity, but a gang of unscrupulous opportunists have shown up, hoping to exploit this new-found reliogisity. Mayo sets things aright, winning native girl Dagmar Godowsky in the process. Based on a novel by G. B. Lancaster, The Altar Stairs is breezily directed by western-movie vet Lambert Hillyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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)
- 1921
Produced by the low-budget Weiss brothers, Leonard and Louis, The Adventures of Tarzan was the first of no less than five jungle serials to be produced in the span of only ten months and by far the most popular. Starring burly Elmo Lincoln, and 16-year-old Louise Lorraine as Jane, the 15-chapter cliffhanger was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Return of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Returning to his beloved jungle kingdom, Tarzan spurns the love of Queen la of Opal (Lillian Worth), who in revenge attempts to sabotage the jungle king's efforts to defeat a treasure-hunting Bolshevik, Rokoff (Frank Whitson), and his own cousin, William Clayton (Percy Pembroke), a pretender to the title of Lord Greystoke. The early chapters of The Adventures of Tarzan came in for some criticism from bluenoses and Lincoln's manly chest was quickly covered up. Unbeknownst to the majority of moviegoers, Elmo was doubled by 1918 gymnastic champion Frank Merrill, whose athletic skills did much to ensure success. Merrill would eventually play Lord Greystoke in two Universal serials: Tarzan the Mighty (1928) and Tarzan the Tiger (1929), the last mentioned a partial remake of The Adventures of Tarzan featuring the exotic Kithnou as the evil jungle queen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elmo Lincoln, Louise Lorraine, (more)
- 1920
Universal's top serial queen, Grace Cunard was all set to start this sequel to the popular Elmo the Mighty (1919) when felled by illness. The beneficiary of Miss Cunard's misfortune was former comedienne Louise Lorraine, who thus embarked on a lucrative stint in serials that would garner her a faithful following through the 1920s. The male star, of course, was the screen's first Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, whose popularity as the Jungle King had earned him title billing. Playing the Stranger, a young adventurer, Elmo is shanghaied by Checko the Crimp (V.L. Barnes) and forced to work in a Northwoods lumber camp. Capitalist Robert Stillwell (William Chapman), meanwhile, has in his possession the proof of a murder actually committed by his own attorney (Roy Watson), who will stop at nothing to prevent disclosure. Stillwell's daughter, Edith (Lorraine), is kidnapped and it is up to Elmo to not only free the damsel in distress but quell a mutiny onboard a vessel bound for a secret gold mine. Needless to say, everything is worked out by the 18th and final chapter, "The Fateful Letter." Elmo the Fearless was produced by the Stern brothers, Abe and Julius, relatives of Universal founder Carl Laemmle, and directed by J.P. McGowan, an old hand at this sort of thing. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Elmo Lincoln, the screen's first Tarzan, plays both the hero and the villain's henchman in this serial released in 18 chapters by Universal. One of those crazed professors so beloved by pulp writers has invented a lens capable of reducing iron and steel to ashes, a contraption coveted by yet another master criminal. Opposing the forces of evil are Secret Service agent Elmo Gray (Lincoln) and the professor's daughter (Louise Lorraine), but the team is frustrated at every turn by the agent's identical twin brother (also Lincoln), who has been hypnotized into doing the villain's bidding. Law and order, however, prevail in the final chapter which, not too surprisingly, is entitled "The End of the Trail." Lee Kohlmar plays the professor, Roy Watson is the master criminal, and the entire concoction is directed with a firm sense of melodrama by newcomer Robert F. Hill. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
