James Chapin Movies

Judging from this action picture, Charles Hutchison might as well have never left serials -- he performs enough stunts here to fill up ten episodes. Family black sheep Bob Sinclair (Hutchison) returns home after buying a ranch in Mexico to discover that his brother, Edwin (Earl Metcalf), is guilty of more wrongdoing than he could ever have dreamed up. Not only has Edwin been robbing his father, he's also encouraged Charles Stafford (George Hackathorne), the brother of Bob's sweetheart, Edith (Edith Thornton), to do the same. While trying to make the robbery look like an outside job, Stafford accidentally knocks down Lionel (David Torrence), Edwin and Bob's father, and nearly kills him. Edwin covers his tracks by pinning the assault on Bob, who is forced to stowaway on a boat headed for Mexico. Also on the ship are Edwin and Edith. Edwin is trying to trick Edith into marrying him, but Bob rescues her and they swim to shore. They expose Edwin's plot, and he is arrested. After being cleared, Bob weds Edith. By 1924, Hutchison was focusing more on his directing and producing career than he was on acting. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Pennsylvania-born action star Charles Hutchison plays the title role in this silent adventure about a globetrotting reporter who lands in the middle of a revolution in the Republic of Guadala. General Moreno (Frank Leigh) is planning to overthrow President Bonilla (Alphonse Martell) and establish a dictatorship, but Hutch, who has fallen in love with the general's innocent ward (Edith Thornton), manages to prevent disaster. A favorite with the small fry, Charles Hutchison enjoyed a huge following in the 1920s, despite the often ramshackle appearance of his endeavors. Leading lady Edith Thornton was Mrs. Hutchison in real life. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In Poison, one of his half-dozen low-budget melodramas for Poverty Row producer William Steiner, former serial ace Charles Hutchison played Bob Marston, a San Francisco socialite turned amateur detective assigned to apprehend a gang of bootleggers. Staging a raid on the gang's hideout, a secret cave, Bob not only catches the gang leader, but also rescues a lovely kidnap victim, Doris Townsend. The latter was played by Edith Thornton, Hutchison's real-life wife. Czech-born character actor Otto Lederer played the main villain, with Frank Hagney of B-Western infamy as his chief henchman. Poison, which Hutchison had written himself, was distributed to small towns exclusively by the New-Cal Film Corp. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi