Edward Connelly Movies

The Tim McCoy western Winners of the Wilderness was shot simultaneously with McCoy's War Paint, using the same locations for both. Boasting a larger budget than the average "B"-western, the film casts McCoy as a courageous Indian scout, determined to negotiate an honorable peace between the white settlers and his Native American friends. Though his efforts are undercut by various villains pursuing their own agendae, our hero finally prevails. The film's most startling sequence finds a nude male prisoner being burned at the stake by hostile tribesmen -- hardly the sort of thing one might expect in a film essentially designed for preteen moviegoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even without the benefit of sound, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg seems to be inundated by Franz Lehar's unforgettable songs. Director Ernst Lubitsch fashioned a gloriously schmaltzy, delightfully artificial rendition of the 1924 Lehar opera, which in turn was based on the 1902 play In Old Heidelberg. Ramon Novarro plays the title role, an ever-carousing young monarch who falls in love with ebullient barmaid Norma Shearer. Fully willing to forsake his crown for her sake, Novarro chooses duty over love when his country is threatened with revolution. He tries to let Shearer down gently, but it is clear that she will never quite get over her summer romance. Such is the genius of Ernst Lubitsch that the 1927 version of Student Prince seems a lot more alive and far less dated than the 1954 Technicolor remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the mid-1920s were deluged with films about college life, and Brown of Harvard is probably the ultimate silent film in this genre, even more significantly it is an early example of the buddy film. Never mind the romance between Harvard undergrad Tom Brown (William Haines) and professor's daughter, Mary Abbott (Mary Brian) -- the real love story, and the one that truly moves the film's plot, is the one between the handsome, athletic Brown and his weakling sidekick Jim Doolittle (Jack Pickford) (in fact, the physical contrast between the two men is echoed in another important buddy film which came out some 40 years later -- Midnight Cowboy). The relationship between the two young men is established right from the beginning, when the brash and cocky Brown easily wins over his dormitory mates but refuses to let them ostracize Doolittle. Doolittle becomes Brown's biggest champion and their mutual loyalty is much more straightforward than Brown's pursuit of Mary, who can't decide whether she hates him, loves him, or prefers his stuffy rival, Bob MacAndrews (Francis X. Bushman, Jr.). Doolittle sticks by his pal when he loses the rowing competition against Yale, and later on risks his life by chasing after Brown in a pouring rainstorm to tell him that he hasn't been scratched from the football team after all. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The Rafael Sabatini swashbuckler Bardelys the Magnificent served as an excellent vehicle for MGM's top male star John Gilbert. Set during the regime of France's King Louis XIII, the story concerns a bold young braggart named Bardelys (Gilbert), whose sexual conquests have become legendary. When informed that there is at least one member of Louis' court who will not succumb to Bardelys' charms, our hero wagers that he will able to melt this "ice princess," a regal beauty named Roxelanne de Lavedas (Eleanor Boardman). But before he can concentrate his efforts on Roxelanne, Bardelys agrees to deliver some important diplomatic documents on behalf of a dying man named Lesperon. When it turns out that Lesperon was a traitor to the throne, Bardelys is sentenced to hang. In the final scenes, our hero desperately tries to escape his fate, while Roxelanne tearfully prepares to marry the only man who can clear Bardelys' name. Unfortunately, Bardelys the Magnificent no longer exists, though a tantalizingly brief excerpt appears in the Marion Davies comedy Show People. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This silent adaptation of Franz Lehar's famous operetta (in which precious little of the original story was retained) was a rare event in Erich Von Stroheim's directorial career -- a critical and commercial success that the director was also able to complete according to his wishes (though in the latter years of his life, he would claim that the film's final moments were forced upon him by studio brass intent on a happier ending). Prince Danilo (John Gilbert) and Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy) are two brothers in the Ruritanian royal family who are notorious womanizers, frequently finding themselves competing for the same woman. When Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), a dancer from America, stops in Ruritania on a performance tour, both Danilo and Mirko are both strongly attracted to her, as is the older Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall). Each begins making plans to seduce her; however, during Sally's performance, the differences between the three men become apparent -- Danilo is attracted to the beauty of Sally's eyes and face, while Mirko is strictly interested in her body, and Sadoja's intense focus is upon her feet. Danilo introduces himself to Sally after a performance as "Danilo Petrovich," claiming to be a wealthy commoner rather than royalty. He invites her to dine at his estate after her performance, and when he "mistakenly" spills soup on her dress, it's the first step in his successful efforts to lead her to his bed. Danilo asks Sally to marry him, and she agrees. To his surprise, Danilo finds that he is eager to settle down with the American dancer, but King Nikita (George Fawcett) and Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell) forbid him to marry a woman who does not carry a royal title, and Danilo is forced to leave Sally waiting at the altar. Seizing an opportunity, the aging Sadoja asks Sally for her hand in marriage, and she grudgingly accepts; he dies on their wedding night while ecstatically rummaging through her collection of shoes. Sally inherits Sadoja's estate and retains the title of Baroness, and a year later she encounters Danilo, who is still deeply in love with Sally and wants another chance to win her heart -- although since she never learned the truth about why he never arrived for their wedding, she is not eager to be wooed by him again. Mirko also re-enters the picture in a new effort to win Sally's affections, but while Danilo is motivated by true love, Mirko's efforts are fueled by lust, both for her body and her newly-gained wealth. The Merry Widow was a lavishly-staged production shot on a long schedule (19 weeks, very unusual for the time) with a large cast of extras. If you look carefully, you can spot Clark Gable and Myrna Loy among the bit players, several years before either would become a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Just as Reginald Denny could only play an all-American boy until talkies revealed his British accent, Conrad Nagel could only have played a hillbilly with his glorious voice silenced. He's the star of this silent drama, based on the play by Lula Vollmer. Lucille LaVerne, who played Ma Cagle on stage, repeats her role here. Ma Cagle, a mountain woman of the Carolinas, has lost both her father and her husband to lawmen and, firmly believing in "an eye for an eye," waits for her son Rufe (Nagel) to reach maturity so he can exact revenge. But the World War breaks out and Rufe goes to fight in France. He is reported to be killed in action, and Ma's only comfort is a young stranger (George K. Arthur), who has deserted from a nearby training camp. Only later does she discover that the youth is the son of the man who killed her husband. Rufe, it turns out, has not been killed, but he returns home a changed man. He no longer believes in killing for revenge, and much to Ma's disgust, he refuses to shoot the stranger and lets him go free. But Rufe's ideals are put to the test when his sweetheart, Emmy Todd (Pauline Starke), is raped by Sheriff Weeks (Sam DeGrasse). He is tempted to revert to the ways of the hills, but he overcomes his baser emotions and instead marches the sheriff off to jail. This picture was Edmund Goulding's directorial debut. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This is yet another costume drama written and supervised by the eccentric Elinor Glyn, who was a Hollywood tastemaker during the silent era. Harry Vane, the Duke of Chevenix (Conrad Nagel), travels from England to the mythical kingdom of Chekia, where he falls in love with Princess Thyra (Eleanor Boardman). Thrya, however, is duty-bound to marry the king (Edward Connelly), even though he is old, ugly, and ill-tempered. When she refuses Vane's suit, he is determined to win her anyway, even after her wedding. A revolution rises in Chekia and the king is assassinated. Revolutionary leader Gigberto (Arthur Edmund Carewe) then carries Thyra away. When the people jail Gigberto, Vane disguises himself as the rebel so that he and Thyra will be tied together. The two of them are thrown into the bay, but Vane is able to free himself from his bonds and rescue Thyra. They escape to his yacht and she finally confesses her love for him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

When John Briggs (Harrison Ford) returns from the Great War (later known as World War I), he tries his hand at writing, but his stories don't sell. Then his mother falls ill so he becomes desperate and uses material from a diary he found on a dead Russian soldier. He claims to be the man, Alexis Triona, and the book becomes a huge success. Under the identity of Triona, Briggs meets and marries Olivia Gale (Enid Bennett). Ultimately he comes to realize that he can't keep the truth from his wife forever, so he writes her a confession and leaves. He is beaten by thugs and hospitalized, and during his recovery he tries to reconcile with his wife. Olivia snubs him, so he drives his car off a cliff. She rushes to his side and forgives him. He writes a novel under his own name which becomes just as successful as his first book. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

After becoming an unwed mother, Joline Hofer (Viola Dana) is cast out of her father's house. After placing her baby in a home, she becomes the party girl of the Parisian underworld. She is noticed by artist Paul Granville (Monte Blue), who uses her as a model. His paintings of her make him very successful. When he hears the tale of a barren rosebush in a monastery, he decides to paint the Madonna. Joline wants desperately to pose, but he scoffs at her offer. So she disguises herself as a boy and goes to the monastery herself. When a monk sees her posing by the rosebush, he thinks she is the Madonna. Joline tries to explain her presence, but the monk insists that the Madonna was acting through her because the bush is now blossoming. The experience causes Joline to repent her wicked ways. She gets honest employment, fetches her son, and Granville marries her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Madalyn Harlan (Estelle Taylor), the daughter of wealthy socialites, falls in love with the chauffeur Jerry Ryan (David Butler) in this uneven society drama. She and Jerry are secretly married, but Jerry's mother tells Madalyn that Jerry is through with her. She takes poison in the cabaret that holds so many happy memories. Jerry moonlights as a cabbie and discovers too late that the drunken woman at the bar is his own wife. He steers the cab towards the river as he considers plunging to his death. The film suffers from uneven editing. Although credited, performances of Noah Beery, Frank Currier, and Hank Mann have bee eliminated, Marguerite de la Motte, John Bowers, and Walter Long co-star. The apparent lack of communication between studio heads, the editor, and those in charge of continuity give an ironic twist to the term "the silent era." Watch for comedian Chester Conklin in a small part. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide