Josephine Crowell Movies

This innovative psychological drama represents one of D.W. Griffith's early full-length feature films and contains innovations that influenced international filmmakers, particularly German ones, for decades to come. It tells the tale of a young man with a fondness for reading Edgar Allen Poe, who is forced to choose between having his uncle's wealth and marrying the girl he loves. He makes a choice and she jilts him, causing him to vent his rage and pain psychotically by strangling his uncle and sealing his corpse behind a brick fireplace wall. As in Poe's Telltale Heart, the young man's cruelty does not go unpunished, and as he sits alone in his cabin, he begins hearing the maddening beat of his dead uncle's heart. Every sound, to the poor youth, becomes another damning thump, and in desperation he runs from his cabin to hang himself. Just before he dies, the law catches up and saves him. Meanwhile, his cruel girl friend is overcome by guilt and so hurls herself from a cliff, but fortunately, this is not the end of the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The ever-increasing popularity of Wallace Reid was given an additional boost with the four-reel Mutual production Yankee From the West. Reid plays Billy Milford, a Harvard graduate whose fondness for booze loses him several prestigious jobs. On the bum in the West, Milford reluctantly agrees to help his unsavory pal Jim Dorsey (Tom Wilson) steal a mining payroll. Milford is arrested, but the loot disappears thanks to the elusive Dorsey. At this point, Swedish immigrant Grunhild (Signe Auen, later billed as Seena Owen) takes it upon herself to reform the troublesome Billy. After his release from jail, he marries Grunhild, and together they take up farming in a faraway village. Just when Billy is certain that his criminal past is dead and buried, who should reappear but Jim Dorsey, now a ham actor with a third-rate travelling troupe. Taking a liking to Grunhild, Dorsey threatens to expose Billy's past unless she agrees to leave Billy and run off with Dorsey. Fortunately, Billy shows up in time to beat Dorsey senseless -- and even more fortunately, Billy and Grunhild's farmer friends are willing to forgive and forget his previous indiscretions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a controversial novel by Robert Ellis Wales, The Penitentes was inspired by a real-life religious cult which thrived in 17th-century Mexico. A group of fanatical Roman Catholics were so dedicated to their beliefs that they staged actual crucifixions on Good Friday. Not all of the victims of this practice were willing ones, which is why the film ends with a "race to the rescue" not unlike the climax in D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. Indeed, The Penitentes was directed by Griffith assistant Jack Conway, who did an excellent job of emulating "The Master." Some have suggested that The Penitentes was written to stir up animosity against such present-day religious sects as the Mormons, but chances are that most viewers accepted the film on face value as a rip-roaring adventure yarn (with the requisite dash of romance, of course). Unfortunately, this film is sometimes confused with the much-later exploitationer Lash of the Penitentes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometime during the shooting of the landmark The Birth of a Nation, filmmaker D.W. Griffith probably wondered how he could top himself. In 1916, he showed how, with the awesome Intolerance. The film began humbly enough as a medium-budget feature entitled The Mother and the Law, wherein the lives of a poor but happily married couple are disrupted by the misguided interference of a "social reform" group. A series of unfortunate circumstances culminates in the husband's being sentenced to the gallows, a fate averted by a nick-of-time rescue engineered by his wife. In the wake of the protests attending the racist content of The Birth of a Nation, Griffith wanted to demonstrate the dangers of intolerance. The Mother and the Law filled the bill to some extent, but it just wasn't "big" enough to suit his purposes. Thus, using The Mother and the Law as merely the base of the film, Griffith added three more plotlines and expanded his cinematic thesis to epic proportions. The four separate stories of Intolerance are symbolically linked by Lillian Gish as the Woman Who Rocks the Cradle ("uniter of the here and hereafter"). The "Modern Story" is essentially The Mother and the Law; the "French Story" details the persecution of the Huguenots by Catherine de Medici (Josephine Crowell); the "Biblical Story" relates the last days of Jesus Christ (Howard Gaye); and the "Babylonian Story" concerns the defeat of King Belshazzar (Alfred Paget) by the hordes of Cyrus the Persian (George Siegmann).

Rather than being related chronologically, the four stories are told in parallel fashion, slowly at first, and then with increasing rapidity. The action in the film's final two reels leaps back and forth in time between Babylon, Calvary, 15th century France, and contemporary California. Described by one historian as "the only film fugue," Intolerance baffled many filmgoers of 1916 -- and, indeed, it is still an exhausting, overwhelming experience, even for audiences accustomed to the split-second cutting and multilayered montage sequences popularized by Sergei Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, Joel Schumacher, and MTV. On a pure entertainment level, the Babylonian sequences are the most effective, played out against one of the largest, most elaborate exterior sets ever built for a single film. The most memorable character in this sequence is "The Mountain Girl," played by star on the rise Constance Talmadge; when the Babylonian scenes were re-released as a separate feature in 1919, Talmadge's tragic death scene was altered to accommodate a happily-ever-after denouement. Other superb performances are delivered by Mae Marsh and Robert Harron in the Modern Story, and by Eugene Pallette and Margery Wilson in the French Story. Remarkably sophisticated in some scenes, appallingly naïve in others, Intolerance is a mixed bag dramatically, but one cannot deny that it is also a work of cinematic genius. The film did poorly upon its first release, not so much because its continuity was difficult to follow as because it preached a gospel of tolerance and pacifism to a nation preparing to enter World War I. Currently available prints of Intolerance run anywhere from 178 to 208 minutes; while it may be rough sledding at times, it remains essential viewing for any serious student of film technique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Norma Talmadge, already a star but not yet a STAR, played the eponymous heroine in 1916's Martha's Vindication. To protect the reputation of her best friend Dorothea (Seena Owen, Martha claims that she is the mother of the friend's illegitimate baby. Even though she is ostracized and condemned by the community in general and fire-and-brimstone preacher Hunt (Ralph Lewis) in particular, Martha refuses to tell the whole story, nor will she permit her friend -- now happily married and the mother of a legitimate child -- to speak up. Only Martha's sweetheart William (Charles West) stands by her in her hour of need, and even he has his doubts. But as indicated by the film's title, Martha is eventually proven to be as pure as the driven snow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's hard to imagine the vivaciously stylish Constance Talmadge as a boarding-house drudge, but that's the part she plays here. An old couple resides at the house with a mysterious box, which they watch over constantly. Harry Brent, an equally mysterious young man (Kenneth Harlan), moves in and convinces Betsy that there are items in the box that belong to him, and she obligingly steals it. Oscar, a grocery clerk and aspiring detective (Clyde Hopkins), believes that Harry is a crook. There are real crooks afoot, but they have nothing to do with Harry. They kidnap Betsy and the box (which she emptied into her trunk before their arrival), kill the old husband (Joseph Singleton) and knock Oscar --who is in the couple's room -- unconscious. Harry gives chase while Oscar comes to and calls on some real detectives. The police capture the crooks, and Betsy reveals the contents of the box -- the Brent family jewels and a will in Harry's favor. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In a largely successful effort to demonstrate her versatility, Mary Pickford plays a dual role in Stella Maris. As Stella Maris, Pickford is a crippled young heiress who has been raised in luxurious isolation. As Unity Blake, Pickford is a homely maidservant, subject to ill treatment from her alcoholic employer, Louise Risca (Camille Ankewich) Both Stella and Unity fall in love with Risca's long-suffering husband John (Conway Tearle). Realizing that she can never have John, Unity murders Louise so that John and Stella can be together. The shock of "America's Sweetheart" committing murder and then taking her own life was softened by showing the "pretty" Pickford--i.e., Stella Maris--enjoying a happy ending, even unto regaining the use of her legs. Stella Maris was adapted by Frances Marion from a novel by Francis J. Locke; the story was remade in 1925, with Mary Philbin in the dual lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As a child, Nellie Jarvis (Lillian Gish) witnessed a murder, but it only remains a shadowy memory. After the death of her parents, she is taken in by a poor but honest couple, the Hiltons (George Fawcett and (Eugenie Besserer). To help pay for her keep, she goes to work for a very nasty pair of neighbors, the Scrubbles (George Nichols and Josephine Crowell). The Hilton's oldest son is killed in World War I, but they are comforted when they visit his grave, and his spirit appears to them, insisting that they hang onto their farm. Nellie, meanwhile, is being brutalized by the Scrubbles; she's saved from an attack by Mr. Scrubble only because the jealous Mrs. Scrubble catches him. The second time Mr. Scrubble tries to have his way with Nellie, her memory of the murder comes back in sharp focus; the Scrubbles are the killers. This time she is saved by the Hilton's youngest son, Jimmie (Robert Harron). Oil is found on the Hilton's land, and Jimmie and Nellie promise themselves to each other. The picture, D.W. Griffith's first for First National, features beautiful pastoral photography, courtesy of cameraman G. W. "Billy" Bitzer. The spiritualist angle, with the dead son returning to visit his parents, was inserted because it was hot subject matter at the time; Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and British physicist Sir Oliver Lodge had both brought spiritualism into temporary prominence. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This spy melodrama was based on a novel by Samuel Merwin called Dinner at Eight, though it bears no relation whatsoever to the Edna Ferber/George S. Kaufman play by the same name. Gail Ellis (Ethel Clayton) lands a job as secretary to Professor Griswold (Clarence H. Geldart), an antiques dealer, and she travels with him and his wife (Josephine Crowell) to the Orient. Her adventurous spirit disturbs the Griswolds, but Rupert O'Dare (Jack Holt), who works at an antique store in Shanghai, finds it appealing. When she is accosted by a group of French sailors, O'Dare comes in handy, challenging the man who grabs her to a fight. O'Dare wins, but when Gail discovers that he is really a British detective, she takes off. He goes to the hotel where the Griswolds are staying, and when he finds them making off with a load of antiques, he tries to put them under arrest. He is overpowered, but then Gail shows up with the police. It turns out that she works for the American secret service and the Griswolds are opium smugglers. With her assignment done, she is able to resume her romance with O'Dare. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Author Gertrude Atherton wrote this story especially for the screen; it is supposedly based on a true story that happened in San Francisco's society circles. Langdon Masters, a newspaper editor and writer (Lewis S. Stone), falls in love with Madeline (Mabel Julienne Scott), the neglected wife of the aristocratic Dr. Howard Talbot (Charles Clary). Although Masters and Madeline decide that they should not see each other, when Talbot discovers the affection between them, he demands that Masters leave San Francisco and his newspaper career. Masters agrees and wanders to New York's notorious "Five Points" district, where drink and degradation follow. Madeline, fed up with her husband's cruel nature and cold demeanor, finally obtains a separation. She heads for New York and proceeds to track down Masters. She finds him in one of the city's worst dives and proceeds to pull him out of the gutter. With her love, Masters is able to once again lead a useful life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Madge Joy (Viola Dana) is an actress with a cheap theatrical troupe, but she loses her job when a stage-struck young girl with a lot of money (Priscilla Bonner) wants to take her place. Madge misses the last train out of Buckeye Junction and falls asleep in a haystack. The next morning she is found by Robert Deep (Tom Gallery), who takes her home to the family farm. His mother (Josephine Crowell) likes her immediately. However, because Madge senses that his stern, religious father (Nelson McDowell) would not approve of her profession, she claims to be a runaway orphan. The only one she is honest with is Robert, who confesses that he has written a 17-act play. Unfortunately, it's very bad. The Deeps' daughter, Susan, arrives home and it turns out that she is the same girl who took Madge's place. Pa Deep is enraged that Susan ran off to become an actress. Madge comes to her aid by saying that she is an actress herself, and will run off with Robert unless Pa Deep makes up with his daughter. Pa agrees, and Madge takes off -- alone -- for Broadway where she becomes a star. One day Robert shows up with yet another play. Whether it is better than the last one is a moot point, since his main interest is really Madge. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide