Harold Austin Movies
- 1933
Eat 'Em Alive is an exploitational "outdoor" film about natural predators and their helpless prey. The audience is almost immediately regaled by a lengthy scene in which one rattlesnake swallows another. Soon thereafter, a centipede makes a meal of a spider then enjoys the arachnid's entrails as an after-dinner snack. As a topper, a gila monster and a snake duke it out, with the victor devouring the vanquished. The narrator points out all the salient points of this "survival of the fittest" battle in gleefully gory detail. Eat 'Em Alive merely proves that documentary films like Faces of Death and TV shows like When Animals Attack were not merely aberrations of the 1980s and 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1926
Produced and directed by Harry J. Brown, this minor silent action melodrama starred former male model Reed Howes as a habitual night club patron. Howes' wealthy father (Joseph W. Girard) is so troubled by his son's hedonistic lifestyle that he plans to have him "abducted." The plan, alas, goes awry when the hired kidnappers abduct their employer instead. One of the gang members, a young girl (Gladys Hulette) posing as a cigarette vendor, switches allegiance after falling in love with Howes, and the gang is caught. A veteran screen ingenue who had begun her career with the Edison company in the early '10s, Gladys Hulette is best remembered for playing Richard Barthelmess' romantic interest in the classic Tol'able David (1921). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1925
Dog star Strongheart, perhaps the most popular rival of canine hero Rin-Tin-Tin, heads the cast of North Star. The "human" plot concerns wealthy young man Noel Blake (Ken Maynard), on the lam from the law after ostensibly murdering a man. Noel tries to start life over again, only to be victimized by blackmailer Dick Robbins (Stuart Holmes). A bit quicker on the uptake than the Authorities, Strongheart figures out that Robbins is the real murderer, and by film's end he has dragged the villain to justice. Syd Crossley and Jerry Mandy, two refugees from the Hal Roach comedy studios, do their best to steal the picture from Strongheart as a pair of slapstick hoboes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Strongheart, Virginia Lee Corbin, (more)
- 1925
Harold Austin plays an impoverished sailor who poses as a British aristocrat. In this guise, he insinuates himself into the home of a wealthy man. Gladys Walton, daughter of Austin's host, is currently in love with a phony duke. Slightly more honest than his rival, Austin exposes the "duke" for the crook he truly is. He also claims Walton as his bride, as if you haven't guessed. This Anything Once bears no relation to the 1917 Franklyn Farnum vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gladys Walton, Harold Austin, (more)
- 1924
Jesse J. Goldburg (the "J" stood for "Jesse," of all things!) produced this minor silent western starring Franklyn Farnum as a rancher falsely accused of cattle theft. The true culprit, however, is megalomaniacal cattle baron Andrew Waldron, who wants all the land for himself. Although hailing from Boston, rugged Franklyn Farnum was not related to fellow Bostonians William and Dustin Farnum. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1924
Pictures starring dogs, especially German Shepherds, were quite popular in the early 1920s -- in addition to Strongheart and Rin-Tin-Tin, there was Thunder, who was reportedly decorated for his valor at Verdun during the World War. Like any canine actor, Thunder was bound to draw attention away from the human performers, but even he couldn't eclipse charismatic Clara Bow, who was his co-star. The excellent notices received by Bow and Thunder proved they were both too good for this trite story. When Frank Larned (J.P. Hogan) is killed in the war, his sister Martha (Bow) and little brother Dick (Joe Butterworth) are left to fend for themselves. Larned's pal Roy Chambers (Harold Austin) is gassed in France, and once he is back in the States, his doctor orders him to rest in the mountains. He stays with Martha, along with a dog (Thunder) who saved his life during a battle. Martha has been terrorized by Jim Howard (James Mason) and his half-wit brother Ez (Eddie Phillips), and Chambers protects her from them. When Dick is hurt, Chambers goes off in search of a doctor. While he is away, Ez kills Jim and then tries to attack Martha. Thunder comes to the rescue in his master's absence, and when Chambers returns, he and Martha wed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Harold Austin, (more)
- 1924
Before Rin-Tin-Tin there was Strongheart, the trained police dog belonging to screenwriter Jane Murfin. This picture is a double romance of the frozen North -- human and dog -- and the dogs' love affair is the more believable of the two. David (Harold Austin) thinks he has killed a man during a fight over his dog, Strongheart (himself), so he escapes to a small town far up north. The only girl living up there is an orphan, Sally (Irene Rich), and David falls in love with her. Strongheart decides to search for love himself and lures Lady Jule, a female shepherd, away from a pack of timber wolves. It turns out that David has competition for Sally in John LeRoy, an unscrupulous fur trader (John Richardson). David earns money to go home by entering himself and Strongheart in a dog race, which he wins by taking a risky shortcut over a glacier. Sally, meanwhile, finds Lady Jule and her puppies in an abandoned warehouse, along with a mound of stolen furs. LeRoy discovers Sally there and attacks her. Strongheart goes for David who saves Sally and gives LeRoy a sound thrashing. David's father arrives with the news that the man David injured is still alive, so he is able to return home with his girl and his dogs. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lillian Rich
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