Edmund Burns Movies

With Mack Swain and Arthur Houseman in the cast, it's obvious that this murder mystery-melodrama has a lot of comic relief. There are murders being committed, and each one is foretold by a phone call in which a whispering voice relates the hour it will happen. After two of these strange deaths, Doris Stockbridge (Anita Stewart) finds her own life in danger. She and her sweetheart, Barry (Edmund Burns), call in a pair of detectives, Cassidy and McCarthy (Swain and Houseman, respectively). Not that this pair is capable of doing much. In fact, their efforts come to naught until a bloodhound is called in on the case. The dog proves to be smarter than the detectives. This trio helps (or hinders) Barry as he attempts to find the killer -- which he does primarily through his own wit. The guilty parties -- an escaped convict and a mad inventor -- are rounded up before they can harm Doris. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Anita Stewart, once the pride and joy of Metro Pictures, had to make do with lesser productions at smaller studios in the latter part of the 1920s. One of her better "minor" pictures was Tiffany Productions' Lodge in the Wilderness. She plays the feisty owner of a lumber camp, while leading man Edmund Burns plays a logging engineer. When the camp's much-hated superintendent Larry Steers is murdered, Burns is targeted as the likely killer. With the help of Stewart, Burns proves his innocence. Lodge in the Wilderness is capped by a convincingly staged forest fire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in majestic Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon, Utah, this Paramount Zane Grey Western starred Jack Holt as Nevada, a fugitive from justice left to die in the desert by his treacherous partner Bill Hall (Tom Santschi). Nevada is rescued by Ben Ide (Edmund Burns), a young rancher engaged to Ina Blaine (Arlette Marchal). Ina falls in love with the newcomer, but Nevada, out of gratitude to Ben, spurns her advances. Dejected, the girl falls into the clutches of Bill Hall, now an infamous rustler. Learning of Ina's plight, Nevada charges into Hall's stronghold, killing an associate of the villain (Christian J. Frank) along the way. Cornered by the rustlers, Nevada and Ina seek refuge on a mountain ledge where they are rescued by Ben and his posse. Nevada is cleared of all wrongdoings and, with Ben's blessings, proposes to Ina. Forlorn River, which author Grey published as a novel in 1927, was remade by Paramount in 1936 starring Larry "Buster" Crabbe. The characters of Nevada and Ben Ide also appeared in Nevada (1927) -- again directed by Waters -- and two remakes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Judy Nichols (Leatrice Joy), a poor girl from Chicago, has decided she cannot marry without money. Her sweetheart, Ronald McKane, a struggling civil engineer (Edmund Burns), is encouraging her to join him in New York, but she only goes when she is bequeathed an inheritance. Unfortunately, the amount adds up to less than ten dollars a week. When she meets banker Sanford Gillespie (Robert Edeson), she convinces him to help McKane out financially. Once McKane has become a success, Judy marries him, but then he becomes interested in another woman. Judy seeks revenge and asks Gillespie to ruin her estranged husband, offering him anything he wants in return. Gillespie destroys McKane in short order, and the ruined man storms over to his home. Judy has already arrived to make good her end of the bargain. When McKane finds her there, he furiously attacks her. Gillespie stops him and, rather surprisingly, the couple make up and reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The influential New York critic Mordaunt Hall declared this circus melodrama a "light after-dinner entertainment which won't tax the mentality of a babe." Based on a 1910 British novel by William J. Locke, Simon the Jester starred Eugene O'Brien as a young member of Parliament wounded in the war. Given only months to live, Simon leaves his his seat and the larger part of his fortune to his friend Dale Kynnersly (Edmund Burns), who in return must marry his benefactor's fiance. Kynnersly, however, is infatuated with circus bareback rider Lola Brandt (Lillian Rich), whose horse is cruelly killed by her husband (Henry B. Walthall. Simon, who has fallen in love with Lola, chases the husband to Tangiers and is injured in a fight. Told by a local doctor that he will now live, Simon returns to the circus to once again confront Brandt. The latter is fortuitously killed by Midget, the clown (William Platt), leaving Simon and Lola free to plan a life together. A typical Edwardian melodrama, Simon the Jester had been filmed by Universal in 1915 starring Edwin Arden in the title-role. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, 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

Child actor Wesley Barry (who was actually 16 when he made this picture) played in several Mary Pickford films and his starring role in this drama almost seems like a male version of any number of Pickford roles. Ben Applegate (Barry) is left in charge of the farm after the death of his father and he also has to take care of his two younger brothers, Joe (Spec O'Donnell) and Andy (Bruce Guerin). Their guardian, Uncle Grimes (George Nichols), wants the farm for himself so he sends them to an orphan asylum. Ben manages to rescue his brothers from the institution and they all head for the courthouse to battle for their rights. Along the way, Ben has made friends with Arthur Grant (Edward Burns) and his sweetheart, Hazel Warren (Helen Jerome Eddy). The couple decides to marry so they can adopt the Applegate boys, which nicely solves their dilemma. Barry was one of those rare actors whose career went comfortably from childhood to adulthood. After playing small roles in various films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he became a director. William Beaudine, who was behind the megaphone for The Country Kid, was well-known in the silent era for his work with youngsters, but in the sound era he became more famous for making quickie, low-budget pictures. His ease with child actors came in handy once again when he began directing the Lassie television series. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The handsome but uninspired Lloyd Hughes plays a young Cajun man in this drama produced by Thomas Ince. Jeff Newland (Edward Burns) is an unruly youth whose aristocratic Southern father, Colonel Newland (Frank Keenan), disowns him. In his place, the colonel adopts Coddy Jakes, a Cajun boy (Hughes), and sets out to educate him. Coddy saves family friend Helen Meanix (Marguerite de la Motte) from a runaway horse. When he finds out about Jeff's dissolute ways, he kidnaps him and takes him to the mountains. Through sheer force of will, Coddy makes Jeff reform, and they become fast friends. Coddy is falsely accused of murdering a revenue officer and thrown in jail. Jeff and his father, who have reconciled, save Coddy from being lynched. Meanwhile, Coddy's fellow Cajuns have set the forests on fire in an attempt to burn the town down. Helen goes after Coddy and reveals that she loves him. They are overcome by the smoke, but a rescuing party finds them still alive. ~ Janiss Garza, 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