Robert Warwick Movies
As a boy growing up in Sacramento, Robert Warwick sang in his church choir. Encouraged to pursue music as a vocation, Warwick studied in Paris for an operatic career. He abandoned singing for straight acting when, in 1903, he was hired by Clyde Fitch as an understudy in the Broadway play Glad of It. Within a few year, Warwick was a major stage star in New York. He managed to retain his matinee-idol status when he switched from stage to screen, starring in such films as A Modern Othello and Alias Jimmy Valentine and at one point heading his own production company. He returned to the stage in 1920, then resumed his Hollywood career in authoritative supporting roles. His pear-shaped tones ideally suited for talkies, Warwick played such characters as Neptune in Night Life of the Gods (1933), Sir Francis Knolly in Mary of Scotland (1936) and Lord Montague in Romeo and Juliet (1936). He appeared in many of the Errol Flynn "historicals" at Warner Bros. (Prince and the Pauper, Adventures of Robin Hood, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex); in more contemporary fare, he could usually be found in a military uniform or wing-collared tuxedo. From The Great McGinty (1940) onward, Warwick was a particular favorite of producer/director Preston Sturges, who was fond of providing plum acting opportunities to veteran character actors. Warwick's best performance under Sturges' guidance was as the brusque Hollywood executive who insists upon injecting "a little sex" in all of his studio's product in Sullivan's Travels (1942). During the 1950s, Warwick played several variations on "Charles Waterman," the broken-down Shakespearean ham that he'd portrayed in In a Lonely Place (1950). He remained in harness until his eighties, playing key roles on such TV series as The Twilight Zone and The Law and Mr. Jones. Robert Warwick was married twice, to actresses Josephine Whittell and Stella Lattimore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1917
Director Maurice Tourneur transformed Frances Marion's perfunctory scenario Girl's Folly into a visual delight that resulted in not a few oohs and ahhs from 1917 audiences. June Elvidge plays an impressionable country lass who is thrilled when a movie company sets up camp near her home. She falls in love with the troupe's handsome leading man Robert Warwick, who responds by offering to surround her in luxury if she will live with him--not marry him, mind you, but live with him. Only the arrival of the girl's kindly mother dissuades Warwick from deflowering the lovely June. He Does the Right Thing by bidding her a chaste farewell when his film-making responsibilities are completed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
This film, made a couple of years before Prohibition went into effect, was basically prohibition propaganda posing as entertainment. John Smith (Robert Warwick) is a dope fiend and drunkard who decides to reform. He travels to a mission in Cincinnati and straightens up, but he cannot remember his past. Nevertheless, he becomes a prohibitionist leader. In Washington, he falls in love with Edith Mallon (Doris Kenyon), whose senator father is controlled by the Whiskey Trust. Senator Mallon and his cronies want very much to pin a scandal on John Smith so that the Prohibition movement will be discredited. They believe they have done this when a man and woman from Smith's past appear, and the woman fabricates some stories about him. Eventually, though, she admits to her lies, and Smith finally recalls his past. As it turns out, the only scandalous aspects of it were his already-known drink and drug addictions. Since these have been cured (at least that's the way they saw it in the days before 12-step programs), he is free to be with Edith. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Dependable leading man Robert Warwick (who went on to become an even more dependable featured player) stars in Fruits of Desire. Warwick is cast as a hayseed who rises to the top of the executive heap at a local steel mill. In his rise to success, he forgets his humble upbringings, and manages to sever relations with all his old friends. He even trods upon the affections of his faithful girl friend. Warwick's ultimate fall from grace brings things full circle in this cinemadaptation of Henry Russell Miller's novel The Ambition of Mark Truitt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
When Virginian Judge Lee Sands (Charles Brandt) is ruined by a Wall Street manipulator, his daughter Beulah (Gerda Holmes) heads north to New York City and obtains work as a stenographer. But she's not just trying to make her way in a cruel world; she's working for Peter Brownley (Clarence Harvey), the man who double-crossed her father. She sneaks around to help get investment information for her father -- and also evidence to destroy Brownley. But she also falls in love with her employer's son, Robert (Robert Warwick). Robert catches her at her tricks and locks her in his office until the close of the stock market. She confesses all and he forgives her. The couple's love helps reconcile their warring fathers. This picture was based on a story by Thomas W. Lawson. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Not to be confused with the 1918 Harry T. Morey vehicle of the same name, the 1916 western All Man was adapted by Frances Marion from a story by Willard Mack. The title refers to hero Jim Blake, played by Robert Warwick. To prove his worth to his highly judgemental father, socialite Blake heads to Montana, Where Men are Men (and women, presumably, are very happy). In his efforts to make good, Blake befriends sisters Ethel and Alice Maynard (Gerda Holmes, Mollie King), adding a dash of romantic intrigue to the stew. Though set in the Wide Open Spaces, All Man was all too obviously filmed in New Jersey, headquarters of the World Film Corporation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
The first half of this picture leans heavily on the romance and the historical drama doesn't kick in until later. Nathan Hale (Robert Warwick) is a country school teacher who falls in love with Alice Adams (Gail Kane), one of his pupils. Hale begins to take his part in the revolution by becoming a Minute Man, and his bravery earns him a promotion. When a man is needed to go behind Red Coat lines, he volunteers for the job. He nearly succeeds, but he is tripped up when Alice is tricked into causing his identification. With his execution, he becomes one of America's heroes. For all its pomp and period costumes, this really was nothing more than an ordinary feature. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Warwick, Gail Kane, (more)
- 1915
The Face in the Moonlight in this World Films 5-reeler belonged to a wanted criminal, played by Robert Warwick. The heroine espies the face and declares her undying love. Thing of it is, the girl doesn't love the criminal but instead is enamored of his "good" twin brother. The story, set during the Napoleon era, was a hodgepodge of flashbacks, flashforwards and visual "interior monologues." It all added up to the usual "romance in wartime" cliches, including the heroine's last-minute appeals to save her beloved from a firing squad. The film's split-screen photography was well handled, which apparently was more than could be said for the script, which was based on a play by Robert Mantell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
The Stolen Voice packed a lot of plot into its brisk five reels. Robert Warwick plays an immensely successful opera singer, admired by men and adored by women. One of Warwick's biggest fans is a "mystery woman" who sends him roses. The woman's husband, a doctor, jealously casts a hypnotic spell over the singer, robbing him of his voice. Unable to overcome this handicap, Warwick quickly loses his following and is deserted by his false friends. Fortunately, an old pal, now a movie director, gets Warwick a job in silent pictures, where his lack of voice is no handicap (this plot twist was probably inspired by the fate of prominent stage actor Hobart Bosworth, who enjoyed a long and successful screen career after his voice failed him). The nasty doctor who hypnotized Warwick is so upset by his rival's resurgence of popularity that he suffers a fatal heart attack. A happy ending is assured when the film director casts Warwick opposite his new "discovery" -- a former flower girl (Frances Nelson) who has worshipped our hero from afar ever since Reel One. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
Lee Randall (Robert Warwick) is a man who leads a double life. By day he is a respectable person; by night he robs banks. His gang stages an elaborate break-in at a bank, but they are discovered while fleeing the scene of the crime, and the gang is captured. (During their stay in jail, real shots of prisoners in Sing Sing are shown -- though some of the prisoners didn't want their faces in the movie!). When Randall is released from prison after serving his time, the film becomes a traditional melodrama, telling the story of a man who tries to go straight and the difficulties that he encounters after he and his cronies get out of prison. When Randall has established a new life (keeping the books at a bank), a detective comes calling. The detective wants to pin an old bank heist on Randall. At the same time, a small girl is accidentally locked in the bank vault. Randall must use his safe-cracking skills to free her, even though it may send him back to prison. This film is one of several important gangster films released in the mid-teens. Director Maurice Tourneur's most imaginative camera work of the film is in the first 15 minutes when the gang executes a bank heist. There are several deep-staged set-ups that have characters in real locations (like a train) instead of just on studio sets. The heist features an over-the-head shot of the cubicles in the bank to show the night watchman just missing the crooks. ~ Bruce Calvert, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Director Maurice Tourneur's second American film was this five-reel adaptation of George Broadhurst's play The Man of the Hour. Robert Warwick, who appeared in several early Tourneur productions, stars as a mysterious stranger who arrives unannounced in New York -- and within two months is elected mayor! Though seemingly possessing few (if any) legislative skills, Warwick manages to rule firmly but honestly, throwing the "rascals" out with a combination of pugnacity and common sense. The film's sets were particularly noteworthy, especially a faithful re-creation of New York's Aldermanic Chamber. Very typical of the three-act romantic comedies then in vogue, Man of the Hour was a success for both star and director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Long before he became the beloved blowhard of many a Preston Sturges film, Robert Warwick was a handsome, virile Broadway leading man. The Dollar Mark is one of several pre-1920 films to star Warwick in his prime. The story concerns a crooked financial scheme and a run on a bank. It culminates with a convincing thrill sequence involving a bursting dam. According to contemporary reviews, The Dollar Mark would have been better with less plot and more action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
