Ward Crane Movies

Honeymoon Flats was based on a story by Earl Derr Biggers, of Charlie Chan fame. Haughty Mrs. Garland (Kathlyn Williams) is unhappy that daughter Lila (Dorothy Gulliver) has married junior executive Jim Clayton (George Lewis). Putting on the old "But dear, I'm only trying to help you" act, Mrs. G. does everything she can to break up Lila's marriage. The old busybody is finally put in her place by long-suffering Mr. Garland (Phillips Smalley). In the tradition of such stage pieces as 45 Minutes From Broadway and Too Many Cooks, Honeymoon Flats has a lot of fun at the expense of the new phenomenon of "suburbia." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jewish comedian George Sidney stars as the title character in The Auctioneer. Sidney also doubles as a pawnbroker, which allows for a steady stream of colorful supporting characters. Our hero's lifestyle undergoes a radical shake-up when he takes over the mansion of a millionaire. He manages to solve everyone's problems before the house's real owner can reclaim the place. The Auctioneer was based on a stage play by Charles Klein and Lee Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This minor racetrack drama was directed by King Baggot, at one time a prominent silent-film leading man. Robert Agnew stars as Marty Kruger, a jockey who is forced to starve himself to qualify weight-wise for the Big Race. This Kruger does at the behest of his nasty trainer Devlin (Lincoln Plummer), who cares only about winning, and hang the consequences. Winning the big race, Marty passes out from malnutrition, and in so doing reveals Devlin to be a no-good rat. As compensation, our hero is comforted by heroine Katie Kelly (Marion Nixon), who has long held a torch for him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marking the 50th anniversary of General George Armstrong Custer's famous defeat at Little Big Horn, Universal re-created the battle in their biggest production ($400,000) of the year, The Flaming Frontier. Veteran screen actor Dustin Farnum came out of semi-retirement to play Custer -- to overwhelmingly positive notices -- and according to studio publicity, the film employed several thousand extras, including many Native Americans. Universal re-created Fort Hays, Custer's outpost, on the back lot in the San Fernando Valley and a duplicate of Crane City was erected at great expense near Pendleton, Oregon. Unfortunately, the studio also cast their resident cowboy star, the lackadaisical Hoot Gibson, in the starring role, and the entire production was thus geared to Gibson's familiar shtick rather than faithfully re-telling the story of one of the great blunders in military history. In the hands of Edward Sedgwick, Gibson's usual director, the slaughter at Little Big Horn proved little more than a plot contrivance. Gibson played a Pony Express rider admitted to West Point due to the influence of a powerful senator (George Fawcett), whose daughter (Anne Cornwall) he loves. In return, Gibson assumes the blame when the senator's wastrel son (Harold Goodwin) gets in trouble with the daughter (Kathleen Key) of a crooked Indian agent (Ward Crane). Gibson is expelled and returns West to join Custer's forces. To get even with Gibson, whom he still accuses of defiling his daughter, the Indian agent conspires with Sitting Bull (African-American actor Noble Johnson) to lure Custer and his troops into an ambush. Misinformed about the strength of the enemy, Custer and his 400 men are slaughtered by Indian warriors numbering in the thousands. Gibson, meanwhile, has been sent for reinforcements, thus surviving the massacre. He later leads an uprising among the settlers against the nefarious Indian agent, who has taken the senator's daughter prisoner. Most reviewers were appreciative of Universal's great expenditure, but Variety's scribe saw the film as little more than an ordinary Gibson Western. Sadly, modern audiences are prevented from forming an opinion, as no prints now survive. However, many of the more spectacular sequences later found their way into The Indians Are Coming (1930), a Universal serial released in both silent and sound versions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Sporting Lover was produced by Faultless Pictures Corporation, leaving the picture wide open for wisecracks from the less-impressionable critics. The title character, played by Conway Tearle, is Captain Terrance Connaughton, known far and wide and as the most romantic man in the Army. Flitting from woman to woman, Connaughton finally decides to settle down when he falls in love with Lady Gwendolyn Cavens (Barbara Bedford). But alas! Lady G. will be forced to wed the evil Sir Philip Barton (Ward Crane) unless her horse "Good Luck" wins the Big Race. So just guess who straightens this mess out. That's right, it's Captain Terrance Connaughton, whose capacity for goodness is almost as big as his name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even though Big Bill Devens (Ernest Torrence) is a powerful politician, he still sticks to his working man's roots. His wife walked out on him 20 years before and his daughter, Moira (Esther Ralston), believes she is dead. Moira falls in love with Hugh Dillon, a handsome young attorney (Jack Holt), and Devens gets him a job in the district attorney's office. One night, Devens' wife, now an old, decrepit woman known as Aileen Clayton (Louise Dresser), returns to ask forgiveness. The next day Devens is found dead. Aileen is charged with the crime and she refuses to speak or reveal her true identity, since she wants to save Moira the pain of knowing who she really is. But Dillon discovers the truth and resigns from his job to represent her. He finds Devens' dictograph, which he used just before he died, to reveal that it was his partner, Henry Kelling (Richard Tucker), who killed him. Aileen is freed and Dillon wins Moira. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Directed in the manner of a lamp-lighted melodrama by Louis J. Gasnier, That Model From Paris was based on the old Goveneur Morris play The Right to Live. Heroine Marceline Day lands a job as a model at a fancy dress shoppe, through the auspices of wealthy rake Craufurd Kent. Coincidentally, Day's arrival at the shop occurs the same day that a famous French model is expected to arrive. Mistaken for the Frenchwoman, our heroine becomes the toast of the town, pursued by every wealthy bachelor in town -- including Kent, who's been trying to bed the girl from the beginning of the picture. But Day retains her virtue, finally finding true love in the form of solid and upright Bert Lytell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Silent film leading lady Priscilla Dean's best years were behind her when she made Crimson Runner. Still, her ability to convey emotion in the most subtle, economical manner possible had not dimished. Dean is cast as the "brains" of a European criminal gang. But she's not all bad: in fact, Dean and her cohorts are modern-day Robin Hoods, stealing from the very rich to give to the very poor. A kindly-and handsome-aristocrat convinces Dean to give up her life of crime, but not before she has settled accounts with those responsible for her father's death. The hero of Crimson Runner is played by Bernard Siegel, an actor better known in the 1920s for his Native American characterizations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy was based on a novel by author Edna Ferber. Although she is merely a classified ads employee, Babs Comet (Corinne Griffith) is determined to have the finer things in life. She spends all her money on clothes and eschews the subway, preferring instead to entice wealthy young men into driving her home -- of course, if any of them get fresh, she lets them have it. One man, however, won't play her game and he turns out to be garage mechanic Lloyd Whiting (Jack Mulhall). Naturally, Babs falls for him. But first she lands herself in trouble when a wealthy man puts her in a compromising position. His car "breaks down" and she is forced to spend the night walking home. Her parents (Edythe Chapman and Charles Murray) are scandalized, but the man offers to marry her. Babs turns down his offer, preferring to wed Whiting instead. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Henry Baxter (Matt Moore) is a dedicated newspaper clerk who longs to marry stenographer Beulah Dyer (Dorothy Devore) in this romantic comedy. Henry saves a little money each week to insure that someday the two lovers can be wed. When his brother dies, Henry takes another job to support his widowed sister-in-law (Adda Gleason), her two children (Turner Savage and Virginia Marshall) and a dog with 12 puppies. Henry is put under doctor's orders to rest when he suffers from exhaustion and dreams of being a hero. Newspaper boss R.S. Falk (Wilfred Lucas) discovers Henry's rival Higgins (Ward Crane) has taken credit for all of Henry's suggestions and plans a testimonial dinner to honor the recovering clerk. The party is interrupted when a fire breaks out at the sister-in-law's house, prompting Henry to become the hero once again. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Action star Ben Wilson enjoyed a modicum of success as an independent producer in the 1920s. One of Wilson's least typical outings (there were no chase scenes or last-minute rescues) was 1924's Gambling Wives. Marjorie Daw plays Ann Forrest, the wife of chronic gambler/philanderer Vincent Forrest (Edward Earle). Tired of being the object of pity and ridicule, Ann offers her affections to Van Merton (Ward Crane), the paramour of gambling casino owner Mme. Zoe (Hedda Hopper). A last-reel act of violence awakens the Forrests to their foolishness. Gambling Wives is worth noting because of the presence of two Mack Sennett veterans: director Dell Henderson, and "supporting player" Buddy the Dog. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claire Endicott (Norma Shearer) throws a wild party and her father (Charles Clary) walks in to find her flirting with the very married Milt Bisnet (Ward Crane). In an attempt to straighten her out, Endicott sends Claire to the Canadian northwoods, where his field engineer, Grimshaw (Jack Holt), is working. While fishing, Claire is swept over the rapids and Grimshaw tries to rescue her. Both of them wind up in a remote gorge, and Grimshaw goes about building a hut as a shelter. Although Grimshaw is strongly attracted to Claire, he turns her down when she offers to make love to him. An airplane finally rescues them, and when they return to New York, Claire finds herself named corespondent in the Bisnet divorce case. A scandal sheet prints a rumor that she is marrying Grimshaw to avoid the divorce scandal. As a result, Claire turns down Grimshaw's proposal, but he won't take no for an answer. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This is the second time Bayard Veiller's play made it to the silent screen (it would be made one more time in 1939 as a talkie). This version is a run-of-the-mill Norma Talmadge vehicle -- lots of high drama, with no expense spared, but in the end nothing much without its excellent cast. Talmadge plays Mary Turner, the shopgirl working for slave wages who winds up in prison for a theft she did not commit. Mary is bitter over her ruined life and swears vengeance on her former employer, Edward Gilder (Joseph Kilgour). When she gets out of prison and cannot find work, she teams up with Aggie Lynch (Eileen Percy) and they extort money out of elderly men -- but somehow manage to keep their tactics within the law. Eventually Mary meets Gilder's son, Dick (Jack Mulhall), and she makes him fall in love with her. He proposes, and after she accepts she makes her identity known to his father. Edward Gilder, desperate to get rid of her, tries to have her framed for burglary. Thief Joe Garson (Lew Cody), who loves Mary himself, falls for the plan. When he realizes he has been duped, he kills the stool pigeon, English Eddie (Ward Crane). Mary tries to have Dick accused of the murder and they are both arrested. Finally, Garson confesses to the crime, and the girl who originally stole the items that sent Mary to prison reveals that she was the culprit. Mary realizes that she really loves Dick, and the couple is united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide