Marjorie Daw Movies

Educational Films, a curiously-named firm specializing in 2-reel comedies, branched out into features with the aviation actioner Sky Ranger. Based on the popular "Russ Farrell" magazine stories, the film stars Reed Howes as the dashing, devil-may-care flyboy hero. For the sake of heroine Marjorie Daw, Howes undertakes a flight to a tough border town, where Daw's daddy is being held captive by Chinese smugglers. An expert stuntman, Howes was not essentially an aviator, thus most of the more dangerous flying stunts were performed by doubles. Diminutive short-subject funster Bobby Dunn provides marginal comic relief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ever-smiling Johnny Hines plays a farm boy who supports himself and his mother (Margaret Seddon) by selling canned fruit preserves to tourists. Unfortunately, Hines is despised by his new stepfather (Edmund Breese), who kicks our hero off the farm. Stowing away on a Pullman car, Hines meets and falls in love with pretty heiress Marjorie Daw, who encourages the boy to try his luck in the Big City. Landing a job as a waiter, Hines figures out a method to sell his mother's preserves to the high-society crowd. The story ends up, as expected, at a fancy party held by heroine Daw, where after several hilarious social gaffes Hines scores a big hit with his home-made jams and jellies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An average Tim McCoy Western, this film benefitted from the sumptuous production values that only MGM would lavish on what essentially was a series oater. McCoy, a former real-life Native American language translator, played Lieutenant Lang, charged with keeping the peace with the Indians by ridding the territory of white squatters and trappers. Only trading-post operator Marjorie Daw, refuses to leave, necessitating the inevitable rescue from the stalwart Lieutenant Lang. Charles Thurston appeared as real-life General Sherman and an unidentified actor portrayed General Custer. Although profitable, the MGM McCoy Western melodramas were discontinued at the changeover to sound and the studio never again produced series Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Fabled Broadway musical comedy star Raymond Hitchcock heads the cast of this amiable programmer. Though Hitchcock is top-billed as Henry Carter, the plotline proper is set in motion by Theodore von Eltz, cast as conservative businessman John Morgan. In order to land an important client (Hitchcock), Morgan is obliged to escort a beautiful redhead to a costume ball. Finding out about this, and suspecting that some hanky-panky is involved, Morgan's wife Angela (Marjorie Daw) dons a mask and a red wig and offers herself as the companion of her unwitting hubby. Angela's jealousy-motivated subterfuge works to everyone's advantage when she manages to cinch the deal for Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

Cowboy Ben Wilson arrives at Arthur Mackley's ranch just in time to prevent the daughter of the house (Marjorie Daw) from marrying scoundrel Reed Howes in this low-budget Western which benefitted from a strong supporting cast. There is the inevitable crooked ranch foreman, of course, played by stunt-man Yakima Canutt. At one point in the film, Canutt actually appears to get stoned on marijuana, a first (and last) for a B-Western. Co-star Reed Howes was perhaps Hollywood's most handsome actor, known prior to his screen debut as the model for the "Arrow Collar" ads. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Alfred Hitchcock provided the screenplay for this drama about marital discord between the aristocrat Adrian St. Clair (Clive Brook) and his cold-hearted wife Drusilla (Alice Joyce). Harris returns from the war to find his wife is as unresponsive as ever. His affair with a passionate French woman (Marjorie Daw) makes Drusilla realize she must change her ways to avoid divorce and scandal. Victor McLaglen also appears in this drama that is the first to credit the legendary Hitchcock with his debut as the screenwriter. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This comedy-drama was just one of dozens made in the early '20s which cautioned against the evils of jazz while showing its wickedness in loving detail (by the middle of the decade, jazz baby Clara Bow made moralizing films like this one seem ridiculous). As Bessie Bowden, Marguerite de la Motte starts off as a nice, old-fashioned young lady. The equally nice, old-fashioned John Hargraves (Pat O'Malley) proposes to her and she accepts. But then Bessie becomes infatuated with jazz hound Austin Trull (Allan Forrest), and overnight she becomes a frivolous flapper. Hargraves, to his dismay, can't seem to get her attention. Bessie's father (William V. Mong) modernizes the family home and tries to keep up with Bessie's new pals in an attempt to keep his daughter around, and he encourages Hargraves to do the same. But Bessie only wakes up when she becomes the subject of a very risqué portrait. Realizing that she is at risk of losing her good name, she returns to Hargraves and respectability. Early silent comedienne Alice Howell adds comic relief as the family maid. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This farce was based on the musical comedy by Otto A. Harbach and Louis A. Hirsch, which was adapted from the play The Aviator by James H. Montgomery. Douglas MacLean -- who was especially good at farce comedy -- plays the lead, Robert Street. Street is an author whose novel about aviation, Going Up, is a best seller. The only catch is that he has a horror of flying and the one time he was in a plane, he swore never to fly again. But when he escapes to a summer resort, he finds that everyone there knows his name thanks to his pal, Hopkinson Brown (Hallam Cooley). He decides to leave, but then he meets and falls in love with Grace Douglas (Marjorie Daw). Not only does she convince him to stay, but she inspires his courage -- and he needs a lot of that because his romantic rival, Jules Gaillard (Francis McDonald), is the best aviator in France. Gaillard has dared him into competing, and in spite of all of Steele's efforts --and those of his friends -- he has no choice but to take flight. In spite of everything, Street is a complete success in the air, and back on the ground he wins Grace's heart. A very boyish looking Mervyn Leroy -- many years away from his fame as a director -- had a bit part as a bellboy. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Author Anthony Hope's sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda had been filmed once before, in 1915. But filmgoers were far more likely to compare this production to Rex Ingram's version of Prisoner of Zenda, which was released in 1922. Rupert of Hentzau suffered greatly in comparison; in spite of lavish production values and an all-star cast, it just didn't have the same spark as Zenda. Part of the reason is the casting -- some of those big names just weren't right for their roles. Bert Lytell was a poor replacement for Lewis Stone, Lew Cody was no Ramon Novarro, and Elaine Hammerstein was nothing more than decorative. Although Rupert of Hentzau (Cody) was supposedly killed at the end of Prisoner of Zenda, he actually escaped and is still alive to cause trouble for Queen Flavia (Hammerstein). Tired of the bad treatment she suffers at the hands of the King (Lytell), Flavia sends for his look-alike, Rudolph Rassendyll (also Lytell). But Rupert intercepts her letter and plans to use it so that he can take the throne. He kills the king and it looks like his scheme may be successful, but Rassendyll defeats him in a duel. Flavia winds up abdicating so that she can become Rassendyll's wife. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This virile drama, produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures, was based on the novel by then-popular author Peter B. Kyne. After serving in Siberia during the Great War, Don Mike Farrell (Forrest Stanley) returns to California to discover that his father has died and the family ranch is now in the hands of John Parker (Alfred Allen). Parker's daughter, Kay (Marjorie Daw), falls in love with Farrell and tries to help him get his rights back. Her attempts, however, are in vain. Parker is working in partnership with Okada, a Japanese land speculator (Warner Oland), who is determined to have the ranch for himself. Farrell has to use all his resourcefulness to defeat the two men. First, he raises the necessary money through chasing down one of his father's debtors, and raises the rest at the racetrack. He then bluffs Parker and wins back his land -- along with Parker's admiration and Kay's hand. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Because Owen Moore's biggest claim to fame is that he was Mary Pickford's husband before she fell in love with Douglas Fairbanks, his acting talents are generally overlooked. But he had a nice flare for farce, as he proves in this entertaining bit of fluff. Tony Churchill (Moore) has finally convinced Judge Griggs (Thomas Guise) that his past is squeaky clean and he is fit to marry the judge's daughter, Helen (Marjorie Daw). Just then Churchill's pal, Harold Wright (Arthur Hoyt), informs him that his old flame -- a chorus girl named Marion (Charlotte Mineau) -- is coming to town. Churchill had once made a not very sincere promise to marry her, but she plans to hold him to it. To get out of this dilemma, he convinces the wife (Alice Howell) of the building's superintendent (Snitz Edwards) to pretend she is married to Churchill. Since the super isn't aware of the arrangement, this causes some major complications; then Helen comes to believe that her fiancé is already married. She winds up waiting at the altar while Churchill dodges a process server and searches for some incriminating letters. He finally makes it to the church (though not on time) and the couple resolves the misunderstanding. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

With the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal and the William Desmond Taylor murder still fresh in people's minds, it's a wonder why the Fox studios decided to go ahead with the remake of this steamy melodrama which shot Theda Bara to stardom in 1915. But they revamped it (so to speak) and toned down the character of Gilda Fontaine (here played by Estelle Taylor) enough to avoid the ire of the censors. The miscast Taylor virtually turned Gilda into a flapper, and this alone took a lot of the power out of the story. Financier John Schuyler (Lewis Stone) must travel to Europe on business, leaving his beloved wife (Irene Rich) and daughter Muriel (Muriel Dana) at home. On board the ship he encounters the dangerous Gilda -- his associate, Avery Parmelee (Mahlon Hamilton) has already killed himself over her. Schuyler now falls under Gilda's spell, and when he returns to the U.S., he is unable to give her up. His wife forgives him and is willing to take him back, but then Gilda reappears and he knows that the only way to break free of her sensual charms is to kill her or himself. He decides on the former, but while attacking her he falls over a banister to his death. Judging from the sets, Fox spent a lot of money on this film -- and it bombed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi