Carl Laemmle, Sr. Movies
The father of the great Hollywood star system and the original movie mogul, Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Studios, was an influential figure indeed. He was born to a middle-class Jewish family, the 10th of 13 children in Laupheim, Germany. By age 13 he had become a bookkeeper and four years later he was an office manager. In search of new opportunities, he moved to the U.S. at age 17 and began working as a courier for a New York drug store in 1884. After holding down several odd-jobs in Chicago, Laemmle settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where he became the manager of a clothing store.Following marriage to his employer's daughter, Laemmle moved back to the Windy City and spent his savings on one of the nickelodeons that had become so popular amongst the working class. It was a lucrative venture, and in early 1906, he was able to open another and two months later still another. Because he found the local film exchange an unreliable source of new film, the enterprising Laemmle launched his own Laemmle Film Service the following year. It too proved profitable and it wasn't long before he was among the biggest film distributors in North America. His largest competitor was the powerful, notoriously ruthless Motion Picture Patents Company. Unlike other small distributors, Laemmle refused to succumb to their pressure and would neither sell his business to them nor shut it down. Instead he founded the Independent Motion Picture Company of America (IMP), made Hiawatha, and launched an unprecedented publicity campaign designed to both promote the film and slander the Patents Company. In 1910, he stole the beloved "Biograph Girl," Florence Lawrence from them.
As soon as Lawrence signed to IMP, flamboyant, daring Laemmle planted a newspaper report announcing the tragic death of the "Biograph Girl." The next day he published an ad deriding the false report and proudly pronounced Lawrence as the new "Imp Girl." His next catch was Mary Pickford. With her, Lawrence and others, Laemmle further broke with tradition by playing up their glamour, inundating the news with their exploits and publicly using their names at every opportunity. In this way, Laemmle began the star system that continues today. In the midst of ongoing battles with the Patents company, Laemmle began buying up smaller companies and created the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, becoming one of the bigger studios in Hollywood. Located on a 230-acre parcel, he launched the studio in 1915 in a huge public ceremony attended by over 20,000 fans. Calling it Universal City, that is exactly what Laemmle's studio became.
A small, portly and eccentric man, it wasn't long before Laemmle was called "Uncle Carl" by his myriad of employees (whom he treated like family). During this time, Laemmle helped such studio giants as Irving Thalberg and Harry Cohn get their start. When his son Carl Laemmle, Jr. turned 21, Carl, Sr. turned over the company to him. It was a mistake that nearly ruined the studio, for Laemmle Jr. proved to be too extravagant to be able to successfully helm the company through the Depression. Thanks to his son's mismanagement, the elder Laemmle ended up selling the once-great studio for a mere $5 million. He died four years later, just as Universal was beginning to once again rise to its former greatness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In the opener of Universal's 15-chapter serial Tarzan the Tiger, Tarzan, aka Lord Greystoke (Frank Merrill), returns to Africa with his bride, Lady Jane (Natalie Kingston), hoping to locate the famous Jewels of Opar and thus save the Greystoke estate in England. At their plantation, the noble couple is entertaining seemingly friendly scientist Albert Werper (Al Ferguson) who, unbeknownst to the Greystokes, is in reality a greedy soldier of fortune. To Werper, Tarzan explains how he, years ago, rescued Lady Jane from La (Mme. Kithnou), the jealous Queen of Opar. "Have you no pity for me -- a woman like yourself," a tied-up Jane had pleaded, but to no avail. Happily, Tarzan had arrived with not a second to spare to rescue Jane from certain death. Now, and despite Jane's misgivings, the Englishman is planning to return to Opar. Werper, meanwhile, conspires with Tarzan's enemy, slave trader Achmet Zek (Sheldon Lewis), to sell Lady Jane to the highest bidder. The following night, while Tarzan is fighting the ferocious lion Numa, Zek and his band of Nomads kidnap a prostrate Jane. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1928
Ted Wells starred as ranch foreman turned crime fighter in this long lost Universal western directed by action ace Ray Taylor. Having inherited her grandfather's ranch, city girl Diana Standish (Betty Caldwell) finds herself forced to reject the attentions of smooth-talking Dick Merrihew (Walter Shumway). The latter, however, proves to be the leader of a gang of cattle rustlers and it is up to ranch foreman Jonny Parker (Wells) to save both the girl's property and her honor. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Milasch, Myrtis Crinley, (more)
- 1927
In this typical silent Universal "Blue Streak Western," a couple of crooked real estate speculators (Boris Bullock and Captain C.E. Anderson) conspire to acquire the potentially valuable Lawton ranch by less than savory means. Visiting the ranch, the smooth Bullock falls for the rancher's pretty daughter, Madge (Joyce Compton) and soon the Lawtons are ready to literally give away the farm. Happily, foreman Larry Day (Fred Humes) sees right through Bullock's slick facade and saves the day. As they did in several other Universal Westerns, Dick L'Estrange, Pee Wee Holmes, Ben Corbett and Scotty Mattraw added comic relief as the Lawton ranch hands. Border Cavalier was directed by a very young William Wyler, a distant relative of studio owner "Uncle" Carl Laemmle who, as humorist Ogden Nash once pointed out, "had a very big Faemmle!" ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Humes, Joyce Compton, (more)
- 1926
Marking the 50th anniversary of General George Armstrong Custer's famous defeat at Little Big Horn, Universal re-created the battle in their biggest production ($400,000) of the year, The Flaming Frontier. Veteran screen actor Dustin Farnum came out of semi-retirement to play Custer -- to overwhelmingly positive notices -- and according to studio publicity, the film employed several thousand extras, including many Native Americans. Universal re-created Fort Hays, Custer's outpost, on the back lot in the San Fernando Valley and a duplicate of Crane City was erected at great expense near Pendleton, Oregon. Unfortunately, the studio also cast their resident cowboy star, the lackadaisical Hoot Gibson, in the starring role, and the entire production was thus geared to Gibson's familiar shtick rather than faithfully re-telling the story of one of the great blunders in military history. In the hands of Edward Sedgwick, Gibson's usual director, the slaughter at Little Big Horn proved little more than a plot contrivance. Gibson played a Pony Express rider admitted to West Point due to the influence of a powerful senator (George Fawcett), whose daughter (Anne Cornwall) he loves. In return, Gibson assumes the blame when the senator's wastrel son (Harold Goodwin) gets in trouble with the daughter (Kathleen Key) of a crooked Indian agent (Ward Crane). Gibson is expelled and returns West to join Custer's forces. To get even with Gibson, whom he still accuses of defiling his daughter, the Indian agent conspires with Sitting Bull (African-American actor Noble Johnson) to lure Custer and his troops into an ambush. Misinformed about the strength of the enemy, Custer and his 400 men are slaughtered by Indian warriors numbering in the thousands. Gibson, meanwhile, has been sent for reinforcements, thus surviving the massacre. He later leads an uprising among the settlers against the nefarious Indian agent, who has taken the senator's daughter prisoner. Most reviewers were appreciative of Universal's great expenditure, but Variety's scribe saw the film as little more than an ordinary Gibson Western. Sadly, modern audiences are prevented from forming an opinion, as no prints now survive. However, many of the more spectacular sequences later found their way into The Indians Are Coming (1930), a Universal serial released in both silent and sound versions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Anne Cornwall, (more)
- 1926
The best of comic actor Reginald Denny's silent vehicles, Skinner's Dress Suit is a surprising contemporary piece about status-seeking. Denny is an office worker whose wife Laura LaPlante hectors him into asking for a raise. Not only does Denny get the extra dough, but he's asked to take a cut in salary. Nonetheless, he tells LaPlante that he's gotten the increase, whereupon she delightedly makes plans to spend several hundred dollars on home and wardrobe improvements. Denny is fitted out with a new dress suit, which makes him a social success--and obliges him to stay one step ahead of the tailor whenever he's behind in his payments. Just when it appears as though Denny will be swamped in debt, a series of cute coincidences transform him into his office's most valued employee. This second film adaptation of Henry Irving Dodge's novel Skinner's Dress Suit is a vast improvement upon the 1917 filming, with a peppy Charleston sequence thrown in as a bonus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Laura La Plante, (more)
- 1926
Having squandered his allowance, gay blade Tom Eggett (Reginald Denny) is given a second chance when he inherits his uncle's department store. If he can post a profit within three months, the store will be his forever; if not, it's back to the unemployment line. An aficionado of amusement parks, Tom transforms the store into a funfair for the masses, with roller-skating sales clerks, scantily clad female mannequins, and various and sundry games of chance. Store manager Cyrus Crabb (Lucien Littlefield), who aspires to Tom's job, tries his best to undermine our hero, but with the help of pretty secretary Grace Gordon (Blanche Mehaffey) Tom wins out at the end. Take It From Me was another winner from the stellar actor-director team of Reginald Denny and William A. Seiter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Blanche Mehaffey, (more)
- 1926
A typical assembly line Universal Western, The Phantom Bullet stars Hoot Gibson as Click Farlane, a Colorado cowboy returning to the old homestead when his father (John T. Prince is murdered by a mysterious gang of rustlers. To learn all he can about the murderer, Click assumes the disguise of a complete nincompoop, a ruse that succeeds only after a couple of close calls. Along the way, our hero falls in love with blonde houseguest Jane Terrill (Eileen Percy). The Phantom Bullet was based on Click of the Triangle T, a short story by Oscar J. Friend. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
This routine domestic drama was based on a stage play by Owen Davis. Jane Cornwall, a wealthy heiress (Virginia Valli), secretly uses her fortune to help her sweetheart, James Van Clinton (Forrest Stanley), perfect his invention -- a "Tele-Vision-Scope" (a device which enables people to see each other while talking on the phone). After the device succeeds, Jane and Van Clinton wed and begin a family. After a few years of marriage, Van Clinton becomes bored and falls prey to the charms of Helen Newhall (Margaret Livingston). He neglects his business, forcing his partner to sell his half in order to save the company. To Van Clinton's surprise, his partner isn't Judge Seymour (George Fawcett), like he thought -- it's Jane. And Jane, who has discovered the affair (through the use of the Tele-Vision-Scope, no less), refuses to help him out. Now that he's made a royal mess out of his life, Van Clinton buckles down and really gets to work. Once he has learned a bit of humility, Jane and his young daughter return. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Valli, Forrest Stanley, (more)
- 1925
Although appearing a bit stout in his tights, Joe Bonomo, of saltwater taffy and physical culture fame, became a star with this action serial set in a circus milieu. Bonomo's acrobatic prowess became so popular that a grateful Universal added five extra chapters to what had been projected as a ten-chapter offering. Bonomo played circus acrobat Welles "Red" Landow, Louise Lorraine was the heroine, tightrope artist Trixie Tremaine, and such studio stalwarts as Slim Cole, Sam Polo, Monte Montague, and Albert Prisco added extra color as a gang of Hindu agents battling over an invaluable ruby. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
During the 1920s, Reginald Denny was popular in pictures for portraying all-American young men (this changed after the sound era revealed his British accent). He plays Thomas Berford, who inherited his father's business and has made a huge success of it. The only competitor who remains uncowed is George Stone (Tyrone Power Sr.). Stone becomes really furious when his daughter Alicia (Marion Nixon) becomes engaged to Berford. Trouble brews for the young businessman when a girl, Claire (Pauline Garon), shows up and claims that he married her on January 9, 1923. Berford is desperate to prove her wrong and, with his secretary Henry (Lee Moran), goes on a mad chase to track down the only man who has a record of his whereabouts on that day. During the search, Berford grabs the wrong briefcase by mistake and discovers it is loaded with money. His search is a failure and he goes home, only to be faced once again with Claire. Then Alicia shows up and Berford scrambles to hide the two women from each other. Finally, the police and Alicia's father converge on Berford's house. When Claire finds out that Berford is in love with Alicia she admits that she was hired by Stone to cause trouble. The money Berford took turns out to be his own, and in the midst of all the confusion, Alicia calls on a minister and marries her man. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Marian Nixon, (more)
This adventure virtually butchers its source, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel. But with stop-motion photography and special effects that were incredibly innovative in 1924 and 1925, who cared? These effects were the whole film, and Wallace Beery's inspired performance was a bonus. The tale opens on reporter Edward Malone (Lloyd Hughes), who wants to marry Gladys Hungerford (Alma Bennett). Gladys, however, only wants to marry a man of great deeds. So Malone, having asked his editor for an adventuresome assignment, is given the task of interviewing Professor Challenger (Beery), who is planning an expedition to a "lost world." Malone accompanies Challenger and his men to South America where, on a great plateau, they find a prehistoric world occupied by dinosaurs and ape-like men. They barely escape with their lives, but they manage to bring a brontosaurus back to London. The beast breaks out and terrorizes the city before crashing through the London bridge and swimming out toward the ocean to freedom. In the midst of all this, Malone has fallen in love with Paula White, the daughter of an explorer (Bessie Love). Since Gladys, it turns out, has married a clerk, Malone is able to wed his new sweetheart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes, (more)
Lon Chaney stars as Erik, the Phantom, in what is probably his most famous and certainly his most horrifying role. Produced by Universal, the film shot in 1923 and shelved for nearly two years, and was subjected to intensive studio tinkering. While many expected a disaster, the film turned out to be a rousing success. It was both the stepping off point for Chaney's run as a superstar at MGM and the prototype for the horror film cycle at Universal in the 1930s. The story concerns Erik, a much-feared fiend who haunts the Paris Opera House. Lurking around the damp, dank passages deep in the cellars of the theater, he secretly coaches understudy Christine Daae (Mary Philbin) to be an opera star. Through a startling sequence of terrors, including sending a giant chandelier crashing down on the opera patrons, the Phantom forces the lead soprano to withdraw from the opera, permitting Christine to step in. Luring Christine into his subterranean lair below the opera house, the Phantom confesses his love. But Christine is in love with Raoul de Chagny (Norman Kerry). The Phantom demands that Christine break off her relationship with Raoul before he'll allow her to return to the opera house stage. She agrees, but immediately upon her release from the Phantom's lair, she runs into the arms of Raoul and they plan to flee to England after her performance that night. The Phantom overhears their conversation and, during her performance, the Phantom kidnaps Christine, taking her to the depths of his dungeon. It is left to Raoul and Simon Buquet (Gibson Gowland), a secret service agent, to track down the Phantom and rescue Christine. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, (more)
- 1924
Virile House Peters stars in this melodrama based on the stage play by Lincoln J. Carter. Tornado (Peters) has come to a lumber camp to work as a foreman because he wants to escape his heartbreak -- through lies and manipulation, his former friend, Ross Travers (Richard Tucker) won the hand of his sweetheart, Ruth (Ruth Clifford). But his past comes back to haunt him when Travers and Ruth show up in the lumber town. Travers does everything he can to keep Tornado and Ruth apart, but finally Ruth learns the truth about her husband's deception. Tornado sees the brutal way that Travers treats Ruth, and threatens him. Travers and Ruth take an early train out of town, but a cyclone rears up. Tornado single-handedly saves the town by breaking the log jam, but the logs also destroy a bridge just as the train is going over. It falls in the water and Tornado goes to the rescue. He saves Ruth and then goes back for Travers but he is too late -- which conveniently makes Ruth a widow. She is now free to be with Tornado for the requisite happy ending. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- House Peters, Ruth Clifford, (more)
- 1923
This was the second time Lois Weber filmed Clara Louise Burnham's Christian Science novel Jewel (the first time was in 1915 with Ella Hall). Mr. Everingham (Claude Gillingwater) is a wealthy but misanthropic old man. He is not thrilled when Madge, his eldest son's widow (Frances Raymond), comes to visit, bringing her adult daughter, Eloise (Jacqueline Gadsden), along with her. And no one is happy when Jewel, the daughter of Everingham's estranged youngest son (Jane Mercer), shows up. In spite of being surrounded by hatred and animosity, Jewel is cheerful and pleasant, just like her mother told her to be. Eventually her sunny demeanor melts everybody's hearts and through the little girl, the old man is able to reunite with his son (Robert W. Frazer). Unfortunately, this Pollyanna type of story did not go over as well in the jazz-mad 1920s as it did in the more reserved 1910s, and Weber did not make another film for three years. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Mercer, Claude Gillingwater, (more)
This second film version of the Victor Hugo novel Notre Dame de Paris (the first was a Theda Bara vehicle, The Dancer of Paris) was a super-duper-spectacular as only Hollywood of the 1920s could make them, but it is never so large that it dwarfs the contribution of its star, Lon Chaney. As the hunchbacked bellringer Quasimodo, Chaney adorned himself with a special device that made his cheeks jut out grotesquely; a contact lens that blanked out one of his eyes; and, most painfully, a huge rubber hump covered with coarse animal fur and weighing anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds. While Quasimodo is but one of many interconnecting characters in the original Hugo novel, he dominates the narrative of this expensive Universal production. Set in the walled city of Paris in the 16th century, the story is set in motion when the evil Jehan (Brandon Hurst), brother of saintly Notre Dame archdeacon Dom Claude (Nigel De Brulier), orders the dog-like Quasimodo to attempt to kidnap gypsy girl Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller). Quasimodo is captured and flogged for his crime, whereupon Esmeralda shows him kindness by offering him water. He reciprocates when Esmeralda, framed on a murder charge by the obsessed Jehan (if he can't have her, no one can), is sentenced to be hanged. Quasimodo grabs a rope and swings down from the towers of Notre Dame, rescues Esmeralda from the gallows, and carries her into the church, shouting "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" Through a series of convoluted plot twists, Clopin (Ernest Torrence), the king of beggars, leads an army of the Parisian poor to storm the gates of the cathedral and reclaim Esmeralda. Quasimodo defends both the girl and his church by tossing heavy objects and pouring molten lead upon the invaders. This climactic scene was filmed at night, requiring the services of literally every arc light in Hollywood. The Notre Dame set (which wasn't quite as large in real life as it seems on screen) remained standing on the Universal back lot for years after this film was completed, doing background service in the 1925 Lon Chaney starrer The Phantom of the Opera. With Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lon Chaney rose from mere leading player to major star, which led him to even greater success at MGM, where his reputation as "the man of a thousand faces" really got a workout. The story would be remade by in 1939 with Charles Laughton, in 1955 with Anthony Quinn, in 1982 with Anthony Hopkins, and again in 1996 as a sanitized Disney animated musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Ernest Torrence, (more)
- 1923
An unscrupulous gang attempts to corner the wheat market in this low-budget but popular serial from Universal starring future cowboy ace Fred Thomson and intrepid veteran Ann Little. Little reportedly performed a couple of hair-raising stunts such as hanging on to the wing of an ascending airplane and leaping from one speeding automobile to another. Considering that famed stunt pilot Al Wilson appeared as the villain, Little was probably in fairly good hands. Financier Gregory Markham (Herbert Fortier) has in his possession a letter incriminating a gang, who promptly kidnap Miss Markham (Little), whom they keep in a subterranean cave. Enter Jack Alden (Thomson), who not only manages to rescue the damsel in distress but also saves the world from certain starvation. A newcomer to films, the handsome Thomson was the husband of screenwriter Frances Marion and went on to become perhaps Tom Mix's closest rival before dying at the young age of 37. Thomson was doubled by Al Wilson, Jack Fowler, and Cliff Bergere in The Eagle's Talons, his only serial. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
This tale of a crook's reform takes place in the San Francisco of the early 1900s. Predictably, Lon Chaney plays a crook and a misshapen cripple (the type of role almost expected of him at this point in his career). Anne Vincent, better known as "Queen Anne" (Christine Mayo), sends Wilse Dilling (Chaney) to a small town to keep an eye on Mischa Hadley (William Welsh), an embezzling banker who is her lover. Dilling falls in love with Hadley's daughter, Gertrude (Virginia Valli), and blows up the bank's safe to destroy incriminating records. The blast, however, leaves Gertrude a cripple, and Dilling uses his savings to restore her to health. Queen Anne, whose greed knows no end, has told Hadley that he will either give her more money or give her his daughter. Ultimately, she has Gertrude kidnapped and taken to a Chinese den. Dilling rescues her and she helps in his regeneration. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake shakes everything up, and Dilling's reform is complete. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney
- 1923
Priscilla Dean made a name for herself at Universal by playing charming female crooks in a number of films. The character of Cassie Cook is not so charming, however, and this unsympathetic role lost her a few points. Cassie is a mercenary opium smuggler, plain and simple. She is in China with Jules Repin (Wallace Beery) to make a killing in the drug business. Captain Jarvis (Matt Moore) is also in China on account of opium, only he's a government agent who is trying to put a halt to the smuggling. Cassie and Repin try to get him out of the way, but when Cassie falls in love with him, she decides to go straight. She is caught between Jarvis and her confederates and when the crooks manage to obtain some secret information, Jarvis loses his faith in her. A battle between the government men and the smugglers results in the burning of a village. Cassie, who has finally proved her honesty, wins Jarvis' trust once again. This picture was based on the stage play by John Colton which starred Alice Brady on Broadway. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Priscilla Dean, Matt Moore, (more)
- 1915
Rupert Julian was producer, director, author and star of the Universal three-reeler Gilded Youth. Julian plays Pinky Cochrane, one of a trio of starving artists: the other two are Sam Wellbridge (Bertram Grossby) and Mac MacTavish (O.E. Wilson). When one of their favorite models dies, the three heroes take charge of the woman's infant son Victor. Once the boy has grown to manhood, his three foster fathers decide to choose a likely wife for their "shared" son. But Victor falls in love with another girl, forcing Pinky to "sacrifice" himself by stealing the girl away from the boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
