Al Hart Movies

Prolific director Richard Thorpe helmed this average silent Western starring one of the era's lesser cowboy heroes, Buffalo Bill, Jr.. This time, he plays a lawman who goes undercover as a carnival prize-fighter in order to infiltrate a gang of robbers. Producer Lester F. Scott, Jr. threw in a couple of comedy sidekicks (including African-American Floyd Shackelford) and no less than two pretty ingenues (Peggy Shaw and Nancy Nash). Future Academy Award-winning actor Walter Brennnan, who began his screen career as an extra, played one of the villain's henchmen. Buffalo Bill, Jr later changed his name to Jay Wilsey and enjoyed a long career as a supporting player/stunt-man. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Hayden Stevenson played the title role in this, one of Universal's most popular silent serials. A mystery villain, known only as the Spider (Al Hart), is out to steal Lord Blanton's (Herbert Prior) secret formula for the manufacturing of gold. Blanton's plucky daughter, Lady Diana (Gloria Grey), hires Angus Blake, a retired Scotland Yard detective, to capture the Spider, which the eminent sleuth finally manages to do in chapter 12, "The Final Reckoning." Along the way, Blake is aided at key moments by the helpful but enigmatic Lady in White (Grace Cunard). Produced for around 100,000 dollars, Blake of Scotland Yard grossed more than three million dollars worldwide and necessitated a sequel, The Ace of Scotland Yard (1929). A remake starring Herbert Rawlinson was produced by low-budget Victory Pictures in 1937. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Louis King directed this minor William Fairbanks oater, in which the athletic star plays Duke Steele, a prospector whose life is saved by an elderly colleague, Silver Sleed (P. Dempsey Tabler). When his rescuer's wife and child are kidnapped by an evil dance-hall proprietor (Al Hart), Steele goes into action with a vengeance. Co-star P. Dempsey Tabler became the screen's second Tarzan, in The Son of Tarzan (1920). Needless to say, the middle-aged British Thespian was slightly miscast. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

More a prairie whodunit than a straight western, this minor silent melodrama starred the veteran Franklyn Farnum as a rancher solving the mystery of the missing Jack Frayne (George Rheem). It seems that Frayne was shot, in self defence, by his twin brother (also Rheem), who then assumed his identity. Francis Ford, the older brother of John Ford directed this low-budget mess for producer William M. Smith. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Silent Western star Franklyn Farnum travels West to locate a missing girl in this comedy-oater directed by John Ford's older brother Francis. Attempting to return a lost purse to a girl, Farnum finds himself in the middle of a furious labor dispute among miners. Poor Farnum is soon falsely accused of theft, trapped by outlaws in a cave and spurned by the young woman (Genevieve Bert). This inexpensive Western was one in a series of six produced by screenwriter William M. Smith for release by poverty row company Merit in 1922-1923. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

It is said that every actor wants to play Shakespeare. Will Rogers would seem a likely exception to that rule, but here he is in this silent, taking a stab (albeit comic) at Romeo. Slim (Rogers), of course, begins as a cowpuncher but his boss switches from cattle to sheep, throwing him out of work. In addition his sweetheart, Lulu (Sylvia Breamer), says he should learn to be a real lover, like Douglas Fairbanks. So Slim decides to go work in motion pictures to discover how film folk make love. After he doubles for villains and heroes alike, Lulu changes her mind -- now she thinks Romeo and Juliet is the yardstick by which all lovers should be measured. So Slim obligingly gets his hands on a copy of the play and tries to read it. Naturally he falls asleep, but he dreams the story with himself and his girl in the title roles. When he awakes, however, he throws all technique out the window, grabs Lulu away from his rival (Raymond Hatton) and drags her off to the preache r. His show of force is what she wanted after all and the film ends happily. This was the final picture of Rogers' contract with the Goldwyn Studios. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Philip Pemberton (E.J. Radcliffe) is so intent on snaring the nomination for governor that he sorely neglects his wife Dorothy (Anne Luther) and their daughter Grace (Ivy Ward). His opponent is a crooked political boss, Horton (Charles Gerard), who will use any means to destroy Pemberton's career. When he can find nothing ruinous in Pemberton's past that he can use against him, Horton decides to work on Mrs. Pemberton instead. First he gets his underlings to entice her into going to a gambling resort. But she just happens to leave before it is raided. Next, he tries to put her in a compromising position -- his plan is to tell Pemberton that he will keep mum on the situation if Pemberton renounces his candidacy. But the plan is foiled for good when the chauffeur reveals himself to be an international detective who is after Horton's cronies. Horton finally gives up, while Pemberton realizes that perhaps he should spend more time at home so that his wife is no longer tempted to go traipsing off with questionable associates. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

History tells us that would-be automobile mogul Preston Tucker was a silver-tongued con man, who misappropriated his investors' money and played fast and loose with ethics and legalities in the pursuit of his dream. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola isn't buying this: to hear Coppola tell it, Tucker was "Mr. Smith Goes to Detroit," a sincere visionary who tried and failed to buck the Big Three auto manufacturers. Moreover, he was a staunch defender of family values, as witness his inseparable relationship with his loyal wife (Joan Allen) and adoring children. It was for his family's sake, rather than any dreams of financial gain, that Tucker created the oddball three-headlight vehicle which he envisioned as the "car of the future". Naturally, the corporate fat cats of 1947 can't abide competition from a rugged individualist; thus, with several politicos in their pockets, they crush the Tucker and the man who built it. We'd have been more inclined to believe the story had Coppola adopted a straightforward Capraesque approach and not utilized all sorts of complicated camera trickery. Somehow, by presenting Tucker in so showoffy a directorial manner, the character comes off more as a sleight-of-hand artist than a bastion of sincerity. Even so, Jeff Bridges does a nice job as Tucker, as does Martin Landau as Tucker's incongruous business partner. Jeff's dad, Lloyd Bridges, appears in an uncredited role as a "bought" senator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide