Lawson Butt Movies

In this British action film, an early talkie, a young German girl is hypnotized by a circus performer who makes her do risky parachute jumps. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Taking time out from his fine series of historical westerns, Colonel Tim McCoy starred in this action melodrama set in China during the Boxer Rebellion. He plays Captain Robert Kelly, an attaché at the American Embassy in Peking, who falls for a pretty Englishwoman, Lady Patricia Rudledge (Claire Windsor). Foolishly visiting a local temple in the midst of the rebellion, the latter is attacked by an enemy priest (Sojin), whom Kelly manages to keep at bay until the girl is safely back with the allied forces. The brave captain then goes on to basically fight and destroy the enemy forces all by his lonesome. As the title implies, this melodrama was rather typical of the mindless racism of 1920s Hollywood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This "all star" romance picture uses the Chicago fire of 1871 as its backdrop. Wayne Morgan (Frank Mayo) finds out from his mother that a valuable painting belonging to them has been stolen. To locate it, he gets a job as a porter for an art shop owned by Mark Randolph (Eric Mayne). He finds a copy of the painting there and declares it a fake. The thief, Howard Mellon (Harry T. Morey), is exposed and sent to prison. Christine Randolph (Mabel Ballin), who made the copy, explains the machinations behind the plot and she and Morgan begin a romance. The great Chicago fire breaks out when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicks over a lantern and the whole city catches fire. Morgan saves Christine from the flames and the couple are united. This film was based on a novel about the fire by Reverend E.P. Roe. Roe's book did not serve as the inspiration for the far more successful 1938 film about the fire, In Old Chicago. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Per its title, Lady of the Lake was inspired by the Sir Walter Scott poem. The titular lady, played by Benita Hume (later Mrs. Ronald Colman), is exiled from her homeland by royal decree. Though she has every right to be bitter, Hume saves King James V (Percy Marmont) from being killed by bandits. Given the shoddy production values of most British silent films, Lady of the Lake was a work of art by comparison. In 1931, the film was reissued with a new music and sound-effects track. It is this 55-minute version, minus the tacked-on soundtrack, that is most readily available today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cecil B. DeMille's first screen version of The Ten Commandments is only peripherally a Biblical story. The film's first 45 minutes recaps the struggle between Moses (Theodore Roberts) and Rameses (Charles de Roche) over the liberation of the Hebrews. Only after the Lord has imposed a series of plagues upon Egypt does Rameses relent and permit the Exodus to take place--only to go back on his word a few moments later. The scenes of thousands of Hebrews trekking across the desert, the parting of the Red Sea (an effect accomplished in part by splitting a bowl of gelatin down the middle) and the pre-Commandments revelries before the Golden Calf--complete with a fetchingly undressed Estelle Taylor as Miriam--are produced on a spectacular scale...but this is only the beginning. Just as Moses is invoking the Wrath of God upon the ungrateful Hebrews, the film dissolves to the present day (1923, that is). We are introduced to the MacTavish Family: pious, Bible-thumping Martha McTavish (Edythe Chapman) and her sons, straight-arrow John (Richard Dix) and hedonistic Dan (Rod LaRocque). Both sons love Mary Leigh (Leatrice Joy), but the roguish Dan wins out. While John continues honoring the Ten Commandments, Dan breaks as many as he can get his hands on, especially after falling under the spell of Eurasian adventuress Sally Lung (Nita Naldi). Before the uplifting climax, wherein John and Mary finally get together with (it is implied) the blessings of Heaven, we are treated to a series of disastrous plot turns, including the death of mother McTavish in a collapsing church, Sally Lung's revelation that she has leprosy, and a wild speedboat chase. All that's missing is the kitchen sink. Partially filmed in Technicolor at a then-astronomical cost of $1.2 million (a sum that caused a decade-long rift between Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures), The Ten Commandments grossed several times that amount. DeMille's 1956 Ten Commandments dispenses with the modern story to concentrate on the life of Moses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama has Pauline Frederick portraying a surprisingly independent woman for 1921. Dorothy Keith (Frederick) marries Joel Gant (Clyde Fillmore) because she loves him. But that love dies when Gant is forced to give up his mining company and becomes a mean-spirited bootlegger who drinks up all his profits. Dorothy, who has been raised in luxury in the East, winds up taking in washing to make ends meet. Living with the unhappy couple is Gant's ten-year-old niece, Chrissy (Evelyn McCoy). One night when Gant comes home drunk, he sets out to beat Chrissy with a whip. Dorothy, who has had enough of Gant's brutality, points a revolver at him and ties him up. Then she lets him have it with his own whip and turns him out of the house. He is arrested for bootlegging, and she returns East, where she finds work at a mining company. She becomes very successful and a lawyer wants to marry her. Gant eventually comes sniffing around, but Dorothy refuses to have anything to do with him. He resolves to reform, and his efforts impress Dorothy so much that they are reconciled. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

A group of crooks in New York City's Chinatown hear about an old hermit (Joseph J. Dowling) in a small upstate village who's performing miraculous cures. When they find out that the man is blind and deaf, they decide to pay him a visit. The leader, Tom Burke (Thomas Meighan), has his girlfriend Rose (Betty Compson), pose as the hermit's long-lost grand niece. Burke, Rose and the other crooks, the Frog (Lon Chaney) and the Dope, a morphine addict (J. M. Dumont), all become part of the hermit's household. The Frog fakes being a cripple, and the hoodlums figure that when he pretends to be cured, people will pay loads of money -- to the gang -- for the hermit's services. But they find out that the hermit's powers are real. This begins a change in the crooks -- the Dope quits drugs, the Frog is adopted by a gray-haired country lady, and when Rose is courted by a millionaire, she prefers to stay with Burke, who is finally won over by the hermit's faith. This film was based on a play by George M. Cohan, which was adapted from a book by Frank Packard. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Louise Glaum, who outside of Theda Bara was perhaps the screen's most popular "vamp," headed the cast of Shackled. Glaum was starred as woman-of-the-world Lola Dexter, who carries on a romance with wastrelly millionaire Walter Cosgrove (Charles West) on the assumption that he intends to marry her. But the caddish Cosgrove dumps Lola in favor of a more lucrative marriage to heiress Edith Danfield (Roberta Wilson). Declaring vengeance against all men, Lola uses the "payoff money" given to her by Cosgrove to purchase a fabulous wardrobe and fancy yacht, the better to seek out wealthy male victims. Eventually she grows to hate herself and tries to commit suicide, but she is prevented from doing so by a kindly invalid (Lawson Butt) who turns out to be Edith's father. Invited to visit the invalid's home, Lola is uncomfortably reunited with Cosgrove, but she agrees to keep mum about their past relationship. When Edith's former sweetheart James Ashley (John Gilbert) returns from the battlefields of France, however, Lola quickly deduces that Edith is still in love with the boy. Hoping to provide Edith with grounds for divorce, Lola puts the moves on Cosgrove, who, being the bounder that he is, enthusiastically succumbs to her charms. When Cosgrove realizes what Lola is up to, Cosgrove tries to murder her but ends up accidentally killing himself. Edith and James are reunited, while Edith's father, willing to forgive Lola for her past transgressions, proposes marriage to her. Lola promises to give him her answer the following day -- then quietly slips out of the Danfield mansion, never to return. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide