Emmett J. Flynn Movies

Although The Shannons of Broadway was not James Gleason's first film appearance as advertised, it might as well as been: Based on Gleason's own stage play, the film co-starred Gleason with his wife Lucille Webster. Mr. and Mrs. G. are cast as Mickey and Emma Shannon, a vaudeville duo who meet with a spectacular lack of success. They decide to quit trodding the boards and settle down as the owners of a hotel. But when a previously dormant real-estate transaction pays off, the Shannons are able to re-finance their return to the stage in a big-time Broadway revue. Released in both sound and silent versions, The Shannons of Broadway was remade in 1938 as Goodbye Broadway. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Laurel and Hardy are poor and unemployed until a letter arrives informing Hardy that he has inherited a fortune. Hardy moves to a large mansion, and Laurel becomes his butler. One night, Hardy comes home drunk and plays some practical jokes on Laurel. When Laurel has had enough ribbing, he chases Hardy around the house, smashing expensive art and furniture on the way. Fans of Laurel and Hardy are deeply divided over this film. Since the team does not play their normal characters, and Hardy treats Stan terribly, many fans dislike this movie, but if you overlook that fact, this is still a very funny film. Director Emmet Flynn had worked in silent films a long time but did not get along well with Laurel and Hardy and the Hal Roach team. This would be his only film with the team. ~ Bruce Calvert, Rovi

Former Broadway matinee idol Lou Tellegen tries to recapture his past magic in the 1927 potboiler Married Alive. Tellegan plays James Duxbury, an exponent of polygamy, which may not be legal but certainly provides him with several evenings of entertainment. The plot shifts into gear when professor Charles Orme (Matt Moore) falls in love with Duxbury's fourth wife Amy (Margaret Livingston). Things get dicey indeed as Orme tries to figure out whether Amy is still married to Duxbury or not -- in fact, Duxbury isn't sure either. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Yellowstone National Park was the setting for this delightful Tom Mix western that also featured a two-color Technicolor fiesta scene starring leading lady Olive Borden. Of mixed parentage (from Mexico and New England a title explains). Mix's Paul Wharton is paymaster of a railroad construction gang who will have nothing to do with his maternal heritage. That is, until he falls for the beautiful senorita Manuelita, whose honor is about to be violated by a gang of cutthroats. "In all, this is the best Mix western that has come along in some time," the trade-paper Variety acknowledged. Leading lady Borden found her career waning after the changeover to sound. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This most famous of Victorian melodramas was more than half a century old, and had already been filmed several times when it came to the screen once again in 1925. Director Emmett J. Flynn had an all-star cast and kept close to the original story. East Lynne, Lord Mount-Severn's debt-ridden estate, is purchased by Archibald Carlyle (Edmund Lowe) upon Severn's death. Carlyle also marries Mount-Severn's daughter, Lady Isabel (Alma Rubens). The couple has two children and are seemingly happy until one of the villagers, Hallijohn (Paul Panzer), is murdered. Richard Hare (Leslie Fenton), the brother of Carlyle's former sweetheart Barbara (Marjorie Daw), is accused of the murder. Barbara asks Carlyle for help, and Sir Francis Levison (Lou Tellegen) convinces Lady Isabel that her husband is having an affair. As a result, she leaves East Lynne, Carlyle, and her two children, and runs off with Levison. Eventually, he casts her off and she is involved in a train wreck. Although she was only injured, she is reported to have died, and Carlyle marries Barbara. Levison is convicted of Hallijohn's murder. When Lady Isabel hears that her eldest child is sick, she poses as a nurse to take care of him. She falls ill herself and dies in Carlyle's arms. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This Fox production was only one of a seemingly endless stream of flapper pictures that came out during the 1920s. In this one, the mother out-flappers her daughters. Katherine Manners (Ethel Clayton) has three daughters who are away at boarding school. She doesn't quite believe that they are the studious girls they claim to be, so she pays them a visit and discovers a wild party going on. Betty (Marian Harlan) and Madelyne (Madge Bellamy) swear they are going to marry their sweethearts, Jimmie (George Stewart) and Lucien (Freeman Wood), while Gwendolyn (Katherine Perry) insists that Grantland Dobbs (Douglas Gerrard) will wed her -- just as soon as he gets a divorce. Mrs. Manners urges them to wait for a little longer, and she goes off on a cruise to Europe. She comes back with a man in tow and acting far more outrageously than any of her daughters. Her behavior makes her notorious, and she even steals Lucien away from Madelyne -- Jimmie, however, proves to be true to Betty. The girls are completely disgusted with their mother and tell her so. Only then does she reveal that it was all an act to show them the error of their ways. Madelyne and Betty tone down their wild ways. Gwendolyn is not so impressed, but eventually she comes around, too. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The mother of Henry Potter (George O'Brien) died when he was born, and his father, Thomas (Ralph Lewis), spoiled him with wealth and luxury. As a result, Henry has become a wild, out-of-control young man. After he is hit with a breach of promise suit and caught in a drunken brawl, Henry is sent to San Francisco, where he falls in love with Marcelle, a dancer (Dorothy Mackaill). Although Marcelle tries to straighten him out, he proves to be as reckless as ever, and Thomas orders him shanghaied and shipped off to -- where else? -- Shanghai. There he continues his drunken ways and once again runs into Marcelle, who has become a morphine addict. Together, they battle to overcome their addictions. After getting married, the couple moves to Hawaii, where an aunt (Emily Fitzroy) tries to make Henry choose between Marcelle and his sick father. Marcelle pretends to go back on the dope so that Henry will go to his father, but he refuses to leave her. Finally she convinces him to reconcile with Thomas, who comes to accept Marcelle as part of the family. This picture was remade as talkie in 1931 as an unlikely vehicle for Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Even though this Western used the convenient "dream" premise, it still managed to please audiences. Cowboy Tod Musgrave (Charles Jones, who hadn't yet added "Buck" to his stage name) and his pal Del Hawkins (Maurice Flynn) steal a ride on a train after being kicked out of a saloon. The conductor (George Siegmann) throws them off when he discovers they have no tickets, and the two men swear revenge. While waiting on a station bench for the train to return, Musgrave and Hawkins both fall asleep. The train arrives and Musgrave and Hawkins board it. As Musgrave is giving the conductor a sound thrashing, Hawkins robs the train. When Musgrave protests, Hawkins knocks him unconscious and plants some of the money on him. As a result, Musgrave is arrested as the thief and sentenced to prison. He proves to be a model inmate, helping to quell a riot, which earns him the admiration of Dorothy Owen, who is friends with the warden's daughter (Ruth Clifford). Through reading a newspaper, Musgrave finds out that Hawkins has bought a ranch and is engaged to Dorothy. He escapes from prison to warn Dorothy of Hawkins' true nature. She goes with him to a mountain cabin and Hawkins follows. The three of them are then buried in an avalanche. Hawkins confesses, and when the sheriff (Charles K. French) digs them out, Musgrave makes him go to prison in his place. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This contrived and complicated tale of crooked politics would have been a poor vehicle for William Farnum if not for his stellar supporting cast. Although Sheriff Dick Leighton (Farnum) loves Jean Ainsworth (Lois Wilson), he is at odds with her father David Ainsworth (Robert McKim), a senator more interested in power than in honest government. When the guardian of Nora Foster (Alma Bennett) dies, the girl is left in Leighton's care, but she is murdered by Cass Blake (Fred Kohler). Blake is seriously wounded when he is captured by the sheriff's posse. In order to make Leighton look bad, Ainsworth sends a lynch mob after Blake, knowing that the sheriff will be compelled to protect him. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Former socialite Maurice "Lefty" Flynn made a bid for western stardom in this mild silent western about a stranger mistaken for an outlaw, the notorious "Night Hawk." He finds a believer in lovely Winifred Sampson (Eva Novak) who shelters the presumed outlaw from the authorities until her fiancee, unscrupulous dam engineer William Kirk (Wallace Beery) turns him in. The Stranger, however, is in reality a detective in disguise and has enough evidence to arrest Kirk, the real outlaw. The commonplace plot was used twice more, in 1927 (as a vehicle for Tom Mix) and 1933, starring George O'Brien. The brawny Flynn never made it as a bona fide western star and was actually better known from the gossip pages than for any particular film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This eight-reel Fox feature is a blatant example of the rampant racial prejudice that existed in the early part of the 20th century. Even the Photoplay review, which pans the film, smacks of racism. "When the hero of Shame hears that his mother was Chinese, he immediately dashes to the mirror and sees himself reflected with almond eyes, long nails, and a Chinese laundry. The thought drives him almost insane so he goes to Alaska and fights a wolf." Although the plot isn't quite as ludicrous as Photoplay implies, it doesn't make for a quality film. Even so, it brought John Gilbert to the attention of the powers-that-be at Fox, and they offered him a three-year contract. He signed, but only reluctantly. William Fielding (Gilbert), a young widower, is living in Shanghai with his little boy, David (Mickey Moore). A young Chinese woman looks after the child, and Foo Chang (George Siegmann), a trader, lusts after her. Because he believes she is David's mother, he kills Fielding. Fielding's faithful secretary, Li Clung (William V. Mong), takes the boy to San Francisco to be raised by his grandfather (George Nichols). As an adult, David (also played by Gilbert) fights against opium trafficking with Li Clung's help. Foo Chang, who is himself smuggling opium, tries to blackmail David into stopping his crusade by threatening to expose the fact that he is half Chinese. David is so upset at this unexpected information that he runs away from his wife and goes to Alaska, taking their infant child with him (and yes, he fights a wolf there). Li Clung follows after him, as does Foo Chang. The two Chinese men battle it out, and Foo Chang is killed. David, it turns out, is pure Caucasian, so he avoids whatever disgrace he thought he would have. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi