William Collier, Jr. Movies

In this romance, an impoverished, struggling writer finally leaves his humble boarding house room after he is bequeathed a large inheritance. He becomes so wealthy, that he can help out a friend who is married to a philandering husband. To help her, he buys the castle in which she lives and wins her heart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, an engineering professor longs to leave his ivory tower so he can be involved in a special project taking place near Boulder Dam. He decides to go and tries to convince his wealthy student/lover to go with him. They discuss this in a night club. She doesn't really want to go. While there, they encounter another couple, a crook and his moll who offer their own unique take on the situation. The crooks offer the wealthy lovers insight into the realities of living on the lower rungs of the social ladder. At the end of the evening, the crook steals the wealthy girl's purse so he can help his pregnant girl. He gets arrested. Fortunately, the kindly professor helps him break out so he can be with his moll who needs him. Unfortunately, during the escape, the crook kills a cop and takes the professor and his girl hostage. The police surround the joint and the rich girl hides in a corner during a shoot out. The situation gets desperate and the crook and his lover vow that they will never again be parted and hand in hand leap from the window to certain death. The girl suddenly realizes the true meaning of love and decides to accompany her lover out west and start all over again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Chorus girl Barbara Bedford is left broke and stranded by a crooked producer in Backstage. Her good-hearted stage manager pal allows her and the other cast members to stay in his apartment until another job comes along. Unfortunately, our heroine's nerdish boyfriend William Collier Jr. doesn't grasp the situation. Most showbiz films of the 1920s were essentially excuses to show off plenty of female epidermis, and Backstage is no exception. Its pulchritude quotient notwithstanding, the film is quite innocent when compared to such contemporary efforts as Showgirls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The screenplay for Beware of Bachelors was credited to Mark Canfield, but it was penned pseudonymously by future movie mogul Darryl F. Zanuck. Here again is the old saw about the young couple who stand to inherit oodles of money if they can stay married for an entire year. Both hero William Collier Jr. and heroine Audrey Ferris swear eternal devotion, but their scheming cousin, who'll get the money by default in the event of a divorce, schemes to break up the couple's happy home. To this end, seductress Margaret Livingston is dispatched to lure Collier away from the nest. But with the help of an epicene perfume salesman, Ferris wins back her hubby and claims the dough. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even though his mother has been dead for three years, young Billy Andrews (a very young William Collier, Jr.) still worships her memory. So when his father (Wyndham Standing) -- the captain of a post in the untamed West -- remarries, Billy is naturally reluctant to accept the interloper, Mary (Anna Lehr). The Indians go on the warpath and trick Captain Andrews and his troops into leaving the fort while they plan an attack. But Billy rises to the occasion by first saving his stepmother, then jumping on a horse and dashing from hill to hill, bugling all the while, so that the Indians will think that the troops are returning. This keeps them at bay until his father shows up with the cavalry and saves the fort. This was Collier's very first starring role; up until then, he was just the young son of famed stage actor William Collier, Sr. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cimarron was the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture--and, until Dances with Wolves in 1990, the only one. The film begins on April 22, 1889, the opening day of the great Oklahoma Land Rush on the Cherokee Strip. Boisterous Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is cheated out of his land claim by the devious Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor). Instead of becoming a homesteader, Cravat establishes a muckraking newspaper, and with pistols in hand he becomes a widely respected (and widely feared) peacekeeper. He also displays a compassionate streak by coming to the defense of Dixie Lee, who is about to be arrested for prostitution. Cravat's insistence on sticking his nose into everyone's affairs drives a wedge between him and his young wife Sabra (Irene Dunne), but she stands by him--until he deserts her and her children, ever in pursuit of new adventures. Sabra takes over the newspaper herself, and with the moral support of her best friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), she creates a powerful publishing empire. Cimarron makes the mistake of placing most of the action early in the film, so that everything that follows the spectacular opening land-rush sequence may feel anti-climactic. While it's always enjoyable to watch Irene Dunne persevering through the years, it's rather wearing to sit through the overblown performance of Richard Dix, who seems to think that he can't make a point unless it's at the top of his lungs. Cimarron creaks badly when seen today, but it still outclasses the plodding 1960 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The budget-minded "spectacular" Convoy was based on Song of the Dragon, a novel by John Taintor Foote. Lowell Sherman stars as a slick German spy during World War 1. Sherman matches wits with-and pitches woo to-American secret agent Dorothy Mackaill. Most of the footage is cosumed by newsreel and Signal Corps clips of actual World War 1 naval battles. Released by First National, Convoy was one of the first independent productions of the Halperin Brothers, of White Zombie fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Irene Rich heads the cast of this lachrymose "mother love" drama. Rich is cast as Sylvia "Dearie" Darling, a nightclub entertainer who willingly sacrifices her own health, wealth and happiness for the sake of her son Stephen (William Collier Jr.) Alas, the ungrateful boy grows up despising his mother, doing everything he can to humiliate her once he comes of age. Only when tragedy looms over the horizon does Stephen comes to his senses. The film is told in flashback, as the repentant Stephen unfolds his life story to publisher Samuel Manley (Anders Randolph). Dearie is the sort of high-gloss soap opera that would become the province of such actresses as Ruth Chatterton, Ann Harding and Kay Francis in the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eve's Secret is that she's not the elegant society woman she seems to be. In fact, Eve (Betty Compson) is an unkempt country girl who's been "transformed," Pygmalion style, by European duke Poltava (Jack Holt). He has done this because he's fallen in love with her and wants her to be accepted by polite society. The duke begins to regret his decision when Eve's beauty attracts other men. Indeed, she begins dallying with a nouveau riche peasant boy from her own province. It takes a duel to the (almost) death for Eve and the duke to renew their love. This convoluted concoction was based on The Moon-Flower, a play by Zoe Akins and Lajos Biro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Collier Jr. stars as an ambulance surgeon, forced by circumstances to work for a gang of criminals. What the villains don't know is that Collier is in league with the police, informing the authorities of the crooks' every move. To rescue nurse Barbara Kent from harm, our hero is forced to admit his duplicity, very nearly buying himself and the heroine a one-way ticket to the river. Evidently the film's entire budget was expended on the climax, an exciting car chase between the criminals and the "radio patrol." Little Bobby Hutchins, best known as Wheezer in the "Our Gang" comedies, has a good supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This rather trite romance was saved by its colorful backdrop; the setting is the New York Bowery of the early 1890s. Mamie Rose (Mary Philbin) works as a mender in the secondhand clothing shop run by Old Levi (Max Davidson). Levi's son, Max (William Collier Jr.) is a gentle, meek soul who loves Mamie, but she has also attracted the attention of Mike Kildare (Pat O'Malley). Kildare is a pugilist and henchman for the local political boss and he's surprised when Mamie doesn't swoon over him. But soon enough he figures out that Mamie isn't the sort of girl he is used to and he decides to reform. He quits the boss, only to discover that Mamie has decided to leave town. He finds her giving Max a sweet good-bye and mistakes the scene for something more passionate. The result is an argument, after which Mamie betrays Kildare to his old gang. When she realizes exactly what she's done, it's too late and Kildare suffers a terrible beating. But the incident wins Mamie's love, and the pair marry. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Also released as Just Another Blonde, The Girl From Coney Island stars Dorothy Mackaill as the title character. The star plays Jeanne Cavanaugh, one of the more popular hostesses at a Luna Park dance emporium. Gambling-hall employee Kid Scotty (William Collier Jr.) announces to one and all that he has fallen in love with Jeanne. Hoping to "save" his friend from heartbreak, Scotty's woman-hating pal Jimmy O'Connor (Jack Mulhall) begins pitching woo at Jeanne, only to fall in love with her for real. Out of loyalty to Scotty, Jimmy refuses to pledge his devotion to Jeanne but does so anyway when it looks as though he and the girl are about to be killed in a plane crash (they aren't, of course). Upon finding out what's what, Scotty isn't terribly put out, since he's already found a new sweetie in the form of brunette dance-hall gal Diana (Louise Brooks in a thankless role), and besides, he only pretended to be in love with Jeanne so that he could bring Jimmy and Jeanne together! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide