Henry J. Herbert Movies

Director John Ford made his talking-picture debut with the 3-reel (32-minute) Fox "featurette" Napoleon's Barber. Faithfully adapted from a vaudeville sketch by Arthur Caesar, the film is little more than a shaggy-dog story about an anarchistic French barber (Frank Reicher) who regales his customers with stories of his deep-abiding hatred for Emperor Napoleon (Otto Mattiesen). After telling his latest patron of the horrible fate that awaits Napoleon should the emperor ever enter the barbershop, our hero is somewhat taken aback to discover that he's been shaving "the Little Corporal" himself! Napoleon's Barber was used to test the efficiency of the Fox Movietone system in "exterior" dialogue sequences, a test which the equipment passed with flying colors. The sound recording was less effective during the interior scenes, moving one critic to remark that the characters' voices seemed to be emanating from their vest pockets. The film was the first in a series of Movietone short subjects which were ballyhooed by Fox as "feature films in themselves"; the series came to an ignominious end in 1929 with a group of poorly received Clark and McCullough comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The star of Cross Breed is Silverstreak, one of the many canine clones of Rin-Tin-Tin who glutted the 1920s movie market. Silverstreak is cast as a cowardly dog who must prove his courage by film's end. In a parralel development, chicken-hearted human hero Johnny Walker likewise must prove his grit. Producer Sam Bischoff spent the least amount possible on the film, requiring director Noel Mason Smith to make lemonade out of a lemon. Cross Breed really comes to life during an exciting lumber-camp finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Fairbanks may not have been the best "B"-picture actor in Hollywood, but he was certainly one of the busiest. In One Chance in a Million, Fairbanks plays Secret Service agent Jerry Blaine. Hot on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves, Jerry briefly poses as a crook himself to gain the gang's confidence. Before the final reel has expended itself, our hero has prevented a big-time heist and has prevented millionaire's daughter Ruth Torrence (Viora Daniels) from marrying one of the criminals. Cadaverous comedian Eddie Borden provides laughs as the wimpish Horace Featherby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The publicity packet for The Mystery Club boasted an "all-star cast" -- which, by 1926 standards, it was. Nat Carr, Henry Herbert and Jed Prouty play the three members of the Mystery Club who enter into a wager predicated on the notion that each of the men will be able to commit a crime and escape undetected and unpunished. Soon thereafter, the club members are led to believe that a fourth, unknown party is stealing the ill-gotten gains from their various crimes. The topper comes when one of the clubmen is apparently murdered. But hero Dick Bernard (Matt Moore) discovers what the audience suspected all the time -- that the "dead" man has been systematically robbing his comrades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Colleen Moore may have been The Perfect Flapper, but as an actress she longed to spread her creative wings. She insisted on portraying the lead character in this adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel -- a 19th century girl doomed to a life of drudgery, who ages over 30 years throughout the course of the film. While So Big made a credible show at the box office (and Moore received accolades for her performance) it didn't compare to the block-busting sales of her flapper comedies. Selina Peake (Moore) lives a privileged existence until the death of her father (Sam DeGrasse). The girl is shocked to discover that he was killed in a gambling den, and she is left without a dime. She goes to work as a school teacher in a Dutch colony at High Prairie and marries Purvis DeJong (John Bowers), a farmer who is none too bright. The one light of her life is a son, Dirk. After Purvis' death, Selina is forced to sell vegetables door to door. She is finally given aid by the father of an old school chum and after much hard work she manages to make the farm turn a profit, which enables her to send Dirk (Ben Lyon) to school. He becomes an architect and has a romance with Dallas O'Meara (Phyllis Haver), an artist. But Pauline Storm (Rosemary Theby), a married woman who has helped him, convinces him to run off with her. Selina discovers the plan and begs the illicit pair to reconsider. Pauline's husband (Henry Herbert) walks in and threatens to name Dirk as corespondent in a divorce suit. Selina talks him out of it and Dirk returns to Dallas. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Maybe the reason that Alice Calhoun's name has faded into the far reaches of silent film history is because she was difficult to cast -- she wasn't a winsome, Lillian Gish type ingenue, a glamour girl a la Gloria Swanson, or a lively flapper like Colleen Moore. She earned some attention from her performance in The Little Minister (in a role later made famous by Katherine Hepburn), and she also stands out in this Cinderella story of a girl from the slums who makes good. Two clubmen, Robert Ware (Herbert Fortier) and Judge Arnold (Ramsey Wallace), debate whether it is possible for someone from the gutter to rise above their environment (this theme was actually more popular as a comedy -- The Three Stooges did it in Hoi Polloi, and Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd did it in Trading Places). Although the Judge has his doubts, he allows Ware to save a girl, Mag (Calhoun), from a prison term and take her home. After Ware has gone to work on her, the World War (there was only one in those days) breaks out and she joins up as a nurse. Judge Arnold has enlisted and become a major, and when he is wounded, Mag, now known as Margaret, nurses him back to health. He falls in love with her, never realizing who she really is. But he finds out when the war ends and he returns home. This is one bet he is happy to lose. Incidentally, this was one of many films where Oliver Hardy (pre-Stan Laurel) plays a bit part as a heavy -- both literally and figuratively. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this adventure-romance was loosely adapted from the O. Henry story Cabbages and Kings, it seems like it was more likely made as an excuse to have the virile Earle Williams slug a bunch of bad guys and show off his manly physique. While Ramon Olivarra (Williams) is being educated in the U.S., his father is deposed from his high government position in an unnamed Latin American country. Olivarra sneaks into the country under an assumed name so that he can help overthrow the present government. His arrival in the town of Coralio causes a stir, and he beats up half the army there while falling in love with Pasa Ortiz, the prettiest girl in the land (Patsy Ruth Miller). Unfortunately for Olivarra, he finds himself locked up in the local jail just when he is needed to lead the revolution. He manages to escape in time to get in on the action and shock the town by revealing his true identity. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In a change of pace, cowboy hero Tom Mix plays a Canadian mountie in The Cyclone. Despite his new surroundings, Mix comports himself in the same fashion that he would in any of his western epics. This time, Mix is hot on the trail of fur smugglers. Hoping to rescue heroine Colleen Moore with the least amount of noise, Mix muffles the hoofbeats of his horse Tony by covering the animal's hooves with burlap. In her autobiography, Colleen Moore recalled that, shortly after play-acting at being kidnapped in The Cyclone, she was briefly kidnapped for real by a lovestruck Native American who worshipped her from afar during filming (don't worry, folks; nothing happened). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After killing the man who compromised his wife, George Baxter (William Farnum) heads westward to escape prosecution. He tells his sad story to Margery Burke (Gladys Brockwell), who tries to persuade Baxter to return home and accept responsibility for his actions. When Baxter finally does so, he discovers that the presiding judge is the father of the murdered man. Ah, but His Honor is a firm proponent of "The Unwritten Law," whereby any man can be forgiven for killing his wife's lover. This denouement was hardly the most unbelievable aspect of The Fires of Conscience, which coasted along on the strength of star William Farnum's box-office clout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide