Edmund Burns Movies

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

The always reliable Elsie Ferguson stars in Danger Mark. Made before the advent of nationwide Prohibition, the film is a hard-hitting indictment of the evils of alcohol. Ferguson plays a society girl whose life is ruined by her fondness for the grape. She manages to pull herself together in time to rescue her boy friend (Mahlon Hamilton) from likewise drinking himself into oblivion. It's a creaky tale, but Elsie Ferguson saves the proceedings with her subtle underplaying. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Morgan's Raiders could well be described as a family affair; its director was Wilfred Lucas, and its writer was Lucas' then-wife Bess Meredyth. The story is set during the Civil War, with Northern officer John Davidson (Edward Burns) falling in love with Southern belle Betsy Dawley (Violet Mersereau), only to fall out of love for her when war is declared. Betsy's father, "Handsome Harry" Dawley (Frank Holland) is a special operative for guerilla leader Colonel Morgan, and in this capacity he is assigned to deliver an important message behind enemy lines. When Dawley is shot and wounded, his daughter Betsy dons male drag and completes her father's mission. Subsequently, Betsy is captured by a Northern spy, who threatens to kill her if she doesn't surrender herself sexually. Swooping down to rescue Betsy is John Davidson, who by now is quite willing to forget the political differences which have come between himself and the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Don't let that title fool you: Male and Female is really James M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton, as interpreted by Cecil B. DeMille. Thomas Meighan plays Crichton, the very proper butler in the British household of Lord Loam (Theodore Roberts). When masters and servants go on a yachting excursion, the vessel is destroyed in a storm, marooning everyone on a desert island. The helpless aristocrats must turn to the resourceful Crichton for survival. Before long, Crichton is ruling the roost, while his masters are cheerfully performing the most menial of tasks. Haughty Lady Mary (Gloria Swanson) foregoes her class-conscious upbringing and falls in love with Crichton. Once the castaways are rescued and brought back to England, however, the original class distinctions are restored. Lady Mary goes ahead with a marriage to stuffy Lord Brockelhurst as scheduled, but it is obvious that she will be unhappy in this "socially correct" union. Meawhile, Crichton finds happiness with scullery maid Tweeny (Lila Lee), who has loved him all along. Feeling that the Barrie play didn't have sufficient "punch" to go over with 1919 filmgoers, DeMille interpolated a dream sequence in which Gloria Swanson imagines herself a Babylonian princess; this gave the actress the opportunity to share a scene with a live and none-too-docile lion. One would think that critics of the era would haul DeMille over the coals for taking so many liberties with The Admirable Crichton, but such was not the case. One reviewer of Male and Female even congratulated DeMille for making Barrie "filmable"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Author George Clayton (H.B. Warner) is a skeptic when it comes to hypnotism. Nevertheless, he allows mesmerist Norman Osgood to put him under. The next day, Harrison Kirke (Howard Davies) is found murdered, and Clayton is the prime suspect because Osgood -- who had a grudge against the victim -- supposedly commanded him to do the deed "one hour before dawn." Only through the skilled work of Inspector Steele (Wilton Taylor) is Clayton found innocent of the crime. This mystery story received fine direction at the hands of Henry King, who was beginning to make quite a name for himself. It was based on Mansfield Scott's novel, Behind Red Curtains. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Prolific writer Max Brand, famous for such oft-filmed works as Destry Rides Again, penned the story upon which the silent Children of the Night was based. William Russell plays a young clerk who escapes the boring routine of his job via Mittyesque daydreams. The heroine in his imagined adventures is office stenographer Ruth Rennick. The dream sequences themselves are handled with just the right blend of satire and conviction by one-time 2-reel comedian Jack Dillon. Co-starring in Children of the Night is Lefty Flynn, later the breezy star of several silent western programmers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although it sounds ludicrous to slap a black wig on vivacious blonde Constance Talmadge and try to pass her off as a Chinese maiden, somehow it worked in this picture, which was based on the famed play by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymes. Talmadge didn't look particularly Asian -- and it really shows when she's hugging some real Chinese children -- but her personality managed to carry the humorous parts of the film well enough so that this could be overlooked. Helping out was Warner Oland, who practically stole the show -- although he is of Swedish birth, he made a career of playing Asians (and actually looked the part). In the early 1930s his name was synonymous with fictional detective Charlie Chan, who he played in a series of films. Ming Toy (Talmadge) is about to be sold into slavery when she's saved by Billy Benson, a handsome young American (Edward Burns). She lands in San Francisco, where Charlie Yong, the king of Chinatown (Oland) decides he wants her for himself. His attempts to kidnap her are foiled by Benson, who takes her home. His parents (Winter Hall and Lillian Lawrence) are horrified at the thought that their son is in love with an Asian woman. But it turns out that Ming Toy is really a white girl, stolen from a missionary couple (which explains why she looked so strange next to all the other Chinese folks), so the parents give the young couple their blessing. This picture was remade as a talkie in 1930, this time starring fiery Latina Lupe Velez as the Chinese girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although United Artists was primarily formed to release films from its founders -- Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith -- the firm almost immediately began releasing pictures from other sources. This comedy-drama, based on a Saturday Evening Post story by Earl Derr Biggers and starring the always excellent George Arliss, was a good choice. After suffering a nervous breakdown as the result of hard business dealings, millionaire James Alden (Arliss) is forced into retirement. But Alden is not happy being part of the social whirl, so he sneaks around behind his wife (Ida Darling) and daughter, Angie (Doris Kenyon), and gets another job. He goes into partnership with young Bill Merrick (Edward Burns) and they open a garage. It turns out that running a garage is every bit as cutthroat as big business was, and to complicate matters, Angie is in love with Merrick without realizing that her father is his partner. The partners manage to make their garage a success, and Angie and Merrick agree to wed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although busy with the Tom Mix and Buck Jones westerns, the Fox company also issued non-series oaters such as Lights of the Desert, a triangle melodrama geared more toward female audiences than the usual action fan. Brunette Shirley Mason, the younger sister of Metro star Viola Dana, played a touring actress stranded in a flyspeck Nevada town. She dallies with a couple of prospectors (Allan Forrest and Edward Burns) but an acting job lures her to San Francisco and into the arms of a slick oil man (James Mason. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This fluffy Mae Murray vehicle was dressed up with a Graustarkian veneer, but in reality it was merely an excuse for the star to wear exotic costumes and perform a few of her famous dance numbers. Jazzmania is a mythical kingdom devoted to dancing and revelry. But the country takes a darker turn when Queen Ninon (Murray) refuses to marry Prince Otto, the pretender to the throne (Jean Hersholt). He begins a revolution and Queen Ninon flees the bombs for the United States, accompanied by a handsome American newspaper reporter, Jerry Langdon (Rod La Rocque). She proceeds to enthrall New York with her dances, but she decides to return to her country and take care of Otto. After soundly deposing him she turns the nation into a republic, introducing it to modern conveniences -- Model Ts, for example (but she wisely leaves out the latest American innovation -- prohibition). Now that the crown is but a fond memory, Ninon gladly weds Langdon. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Ultra suave Adolph Menjou plays an urbane, filthy rich bachelor who finds himself falling for a socialite just as carefree as he. At first he is delighted by her gadabout ways, but after a while her cocquettish ways towards others begin to grate upon him. Deciding he needs a break from shallowness he lets a room in a boarding house for theater people. There he meets a struggling ex-convict. Her prison record causes her to lose her job. Smitten by her beauty and earthiness, the playboy takes her in and tries to help her integrate into his glittering world by telling people that she is his ward. things are finally looking up when a crooked detective appears and tries to blackmail her. Fortunately, her millionaire hero isn't about to let her life be destroyed again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Action melodrama factory FBO produced this very average silent western about an Easterner travelling West in search of, of all things, a famous recipe! The fop takes a position as a ranch hand and gets in the way of a cattle-rustling scheme. Maurice "Lefty" Flynn, a burly former socialite, basically played himself in this potboiler directed by Harry Garson, a mediocre filmmaker better known as the husband of silent-screen star Clara Kimball Young. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide