William Wellman Movies
A one-time juvenile petty criminal and hockey player, William Wellman went on to serve in the French Foreign Legion and later became a World War I air ace. Having lived a life that seemingly could only have come out of a movie, Wellman entered pictures after an accidental meeting with Douglas Fairbanks Sr., after accidentally landing his barnstorming plane on the latter's estate. Between 1920 and 1923, he rose from bit actor to studio gofer to director. After a stint in westerns, Wellman was chosen in 1927 to direct Wings, a major drama dealing with pilots during World War I that was highlighted by air combat and flight sequences that remain impressive over 60 years later. The movie earned the first Academy Award ever given for Best Picture, and Wellman's career was made. In the '30s, he proved adept at handling a variety of subjects, including the violent and controversial The Public Enemy, the original version of A Star Is Born, and the viciously satirical Nothing Sacred. Wellman's '40s work was similarly distinguished, and included The Ox-Bow Incident, The Story of G.I. Joe, and the Battle of the Bulge re-enactment Battleground, broken up by the occasional comedy such as Lady of Burlesque. Wellman's best work of the '50s was done in association with John Wayne, in Island in the Sky and The High and the Mighty, both about aviation. His final film was Lafayette Escadrille, about the unit in which Wellman had flown during World War I. Wellman's films, whether comedies or dramas, are usually vehicles for their male leads (or, in the case of Lady of Burlesque, the heroine) to successfully chew up the scenery as actors, and present themselves as bold--if occasionally fatally flawed--figures, often wrestling with personal demons that they don't fully understand themselves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1924
Searching for his wayward brother, saddle tramp Donnegan (Buck Jones) gets in trouble with a bully and is thrown off a freight train in this average Buck Jones oater. Unconscious, the hero is picked up by lovely Lou Macon (Marian Nixon) and her father (Harry Lonsdale), both of whom are on their way to recover their valuable mining property. The bully turns up again, and so does Donnegan's brother who, lo and behold, is Lou's fiancée. For a silent western, Vagabond Trail is a bit on the complicated side, but everything, including the relationship of the two brothers, is neatly wrapped up by the fade-out. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Coleman, George H. Reed, (more)
- 1923
Fox Western star Buck Jones enjoyed a change of pace in this boxing melodrama directed by a young William Wellman. Returning from the war, Dan O'Hara discovers that his wife has left him for another man. To find a new purpose in life, Big Dan turns his home into a gym for street boys, where he teaches them how to box. He later falls in love with pretty Dora Allen (Marian Nixon), but a jealous woman (Jacqueline Gadsden) is only too happy to inform Dora of Big Dan's marital status. Fortunately, the errant wife obligingly dies in a sanitarium, leaving Dan and Dora free to marry. Big Dan successfully mixed action with sentiment, leaving the comic relief to veteran comedian Monte Collins and African-American actress Mattie Peters, the latter portraying a no-nonsense factotum named Ophelia. Hired originally to keep the studio's reigning cowboy star Tom Mix in line, Buck Jones proved to be no mere copy and quickly found his own audience. Unlike Tom Mix, Jones would regularly be cast in non-Westerns, but his bread-and-butter remained sagebrush tales. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eileen O'Malley, Buck Jones, (more)
- 1923
In this simple little romantic drama, Charles "Buck" Jones plays fireman Andy McGee. McGee becomes a fireman over the protests of his mother (Lucy Beaumont), who doesn't want to see her son sacrifice his life the way his father did. When she dies, McGee adopts little Elizabeth Stevens (Eileen O'Malley), who takes care of him instead of vice versa. Along the way he meets Agnes Evans, a chorus girl (Marian Nixon), and falls in love. He finds out she is married to a worthless alcoholic, and he sadly has to write her off. When the home in which she lives catches fire, he comes to the rescue and saves her. Then he finds out that her husband -- who had locked her in her room -- is still inside. McGee does his duty and goes back for the husband. His heroic attempt to rescue the man, however, is in vain. The death of Agnes' nasty husband paves the way for her relationship with McGee. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1923
This stereotypical rural tale wastes the talents of Charles "Buck" Jones, who was far better off in Westerns, where he would eventually earn his fame. Here he is Andy Hanks, an itinerant fix-it man who comes to town with his horse and dog as his only pals. He falls in love with Angela Trent (Ruth Dwyer), a young woman with an air of mystery about her. The village miser, Seth Poggins (Frank Weed), wants her for his wife, and she does her best to avoid his pestering. When a man is seen entering Angela's home late one night, the whole town is scandalized. It turns out that Angela has a husband, and he burns down the library. Hanks is blamed for the crime and he is beaten when he refuses to confess. Eventually his innocence is established and the husband dies when he sinks into a bed of quicksand. Hanks saves Angela from the further attentions of Poggins by marrying her himself. This picture was one of the lesser directorial efforts early on in the career of William Wellman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Weed, Ruth Dwyer, (more)
- 1923
Although this was one of William Wellman's early directorial efforts, his talent still shows through in this Western programmer. Dustin Farnum stars as Bill, a gambler, whose friend Scipio (Ralph Cloninger) goes in search of his wife Jessie (Jacqueline Gadsden). Jessie, fed up with her life of poverty, has run off with the wealthy and villainous James (Lloyd Whitlock). She has left behind her two children (Muriel McCormack and Micky McBan) on James' promise that she can send for them later. Scipio leaves the tots with Bill when he goes on his search. With the help of three old gamblers, Bill cares for the children. In short order, he keeps them from being kidnapped by James, saves a gold shipment from being stolen, and convinces Jessie to return to her husband, who finds oil on his property. Ultimately, Bill sacrifices his life in his attempt to round up the villains. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Cloninger, Lloyd Whitlock, (more)
- 1920
William Russell did his best work in Westerns, and here he plays saloon owner Bill Lark, who is given three days to live when he ends up the loser in a dispute with villain Jim Pemberton (Henry J. Herbert). Lark figures that he might as well do some good with the time he has left and tends to the one family in the town of Suffering Creek. The wife has run off with Pemberton, and Lark takes care of the twin children (Malcolm Cripo and Helen Stone) while the father goes after the wayward couple. Lark gets the wife to return to her husband and drives a stage coach through an attack of bandits headed by Pemberton before the husband finally gets his vengeance and shoots the villain down. So Lark escapes his death sentence and returns to his dance hall girlfriend (Louise Lovely). This picture was based on a story by Ridgwell Cullum. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
According to her autobiography, Dark Lady of the Silents, film star Miriam Cooper brought the idea of filming Longfellow's poem to her then-husband, director Raoul Walsh. She also claims that she originally had little desire to play the title character -- but of course, she wound up in the lead anyhow. The picture itself begins with a quarrel between two lovers. To bring them to their senses, the girl's father reads them the poem Evangeline... On their wedding day, a pair of Acadian lovers (Cooper and Albert Roscoe) are separated when English soldiers interrupt the proceedings. The couple don't reunite until old age. Perhaps Cooper wasn't being coy when she said she wasn't interested in the role of Evangeline -- even though the film was quite successful, the long-suffering character doesn't have much dramatic bite. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Teddy Drake (Douglas Fairbanks) is an idle clubman who wakes up to the fact that he's incredibly selfish. He wants to see what he's really made of, so he heads out West. While on the train, he changes clothes with Lopez (Albert McQuarrie), who claims he wants to go see his sick mother. Perhaps that's true, but he's also on the lam from a crooked sheriff (Frank Campeau) after screwing up a job. Teddy manages to evade the sheriff and his minions with the usual brand of Fairbanks athletics. Along the way he meets Rita (Marjorie Daw), who is being held captive with her brother (William Wellman) because they've hidden their fortune and refuse to tell the sheriff where it is. Teddy, of course, proves his unselfishness by going through quite a lot of trouble (and the requisite stuntwork) to vanquish the sheriff and, of course, he wins the girl. This was Fairbanks' last picture for Paramount -- he had just formed United Artists with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith. It was a pretty weak finale, though not as bad as his previous Paramount offering, Arizona. Fairbanks was still a few films away from discovering his swashbuckling persona, which revealed itself in 1920's Mark of Zorro. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
