John Russell Movies

The Girl of the Port is a showgirl (Sally O'Neil), who finds herself stranded on the island of Fiji. While seeking a way home, she falls in love with an English nobleman (Reginald Sharland), who has come to Fiji to overcome his wartime-induced fear of fire. The nobleman's phobia again comes to surface when the showgirl's self-appointed boyfriend (Mitchell Lewis) forces our hero to participate in a Fijian fire-walking ritual. With the heroine's help, the nobleman overcomes his terror and trounces his rival. Its intriguing storyline notwithstanding, this was one picture that could really have used a stronger cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this early talkie, a musical, a Polynesian storekeeper bears his chest and sings. He also falls in love with an island girl and rescues her from a lecher who tries to force her into a marriage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The scene is New Orleans, during Mardi Gras week. The story concerns the misadventures of sailor Steve Doren (Jack Mulhall), who tries his best to support his wife Mary (Lois Moran) on his piddling income. But like seafaring men everywhere, Steve is constitutionally unreliable, especially when hip-swinging temptress Cassie Lang (Lya De Putti) sashays into view. For a while, it looks as though long-suffering Mary has been betrayed by her husband, but appearances turn out to be deceiving. Though she wasn't mentioned in the published cast list of God Gave Me 20 Cents, Paramount Pictures newcomer Thelma Todd had an important role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ronald Colman plays the title role in the first of several screen adaptations of Christopher Wren's tale of adventure in the foreign legion. Beau is the youngest of three brothers who fall into an ethical dilemma when their aunt resorts to stealing valuable jewelry from the family's collection to pay off her home. Beau takes the blame for the crime and, before he can be put in jail, flees the country, with his brothers John (Ralph Forbes) and Digby (Neil Hamilton) in tow. The Geste Brothers eventually join the French Foreign Legion, where they suffer under the tyrannical leadership of the cruel Sgt. Lejaune (Noah Beery Sr.). Unknown to Beau, Lejaune is in cahoots with men who want to capture the Geste Brothers and bring them to justice, but when Arab forces attack the Legion compound, the valiant Gestes fight with such bravery that even Lejaune is impressed with their selfless courage. It's said that Ronald Colman considered his performance in Beau Geste the finest work of his career; lip readers might get a chuckle out of some of Noah Beery Sr.'s non-subtitled dialogue, which today would have pushed the film into an R rating if it were audible. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This colorful drama of the Bowery of the 1890s was directed by Herbert Brenon. Diamond Mike (Riley Hatch) runs a Bowery saloon where, in a back room, men disguise themselves as cripples so they can beg for money. Their leader is Easy Money Charlie (Percy Marmont), who pretends to have only one arm. His enemy is a pseudo blind man, Bridgeport White-Eye (John Harrington). When street woman Portland Fancy (Juliet Brenon) dies, she convinces Charlie to take care of her four-year-old daughter. Charlie takes surprisingly good care of the girl, Mary, making sure she is raised properly and receives a good education. When she grows up (to be played by Mary Brian), a young lawyer, Philip Peyton (Neil Hamilton), falls in love with her. Mary, however, is in love with Charlie, who she believes to be a successful businessman. Charlie realizes that he's nothing but a sham and a scammer, so he confesses the truth about his line of work to Peyton and disappears. After he is reported drowned, Peyton and Mary become engaged. White-Eye sees a chance to blackmail the young couple, but Charlie reappears and really blinds his adversary in a fight. The last we see of Charlie, he is in his beggar's rags, watching Mary's wedding from outside the church. Although she does not receive billing, this was the screen debut of Louise Brooks, who played a gun moll. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This is a 7-reel British romantic drama, written by and starring Mrs. John Russell. Russell plays a woman vexed by an unfaithful husband. She seeks out her ex-beau and goes to work at his dress shop, turning the establishment into a howling success. Now: just guess what kind of business the Honorable Mrs. John Russell managed in real life. You win: Afraid of Love is little more than a feature-length "infomercial" for Mrs. Russell's thriving London dressmaking company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Ford directed this epic-scale silent western, which was one of his first major successes and was hugely influential on outdoor films that followed. David Brandon (James Gordon) is a surveyor in the Old West who dreams that one day the entire North American continent will be linked by railroads. However, to make this dream a reality, a clear trail must be found through the Rocky Mountains. With his boy Davy (Winston Miller), David sets out to find such a path, but he's ambushed by a tribe of Indians led by a white savage, Peter Jesson (Cyril Chadwick); while the boy manages to escape, David is killed. Years later, the adult Davy Brandon (George O'Brien) still believes in his father's dream of a transcontinental railroad, and legislation signed by President Abraham Lincoln has made it an official mandate. Davy is hired on as a railroad surveyor by Thomas Marsh (Will R. Walling), the father of his childhood sweetheart Miriam (Madge Bellamy). While Davy hopes to win Miriam's heart as he helps to find the trail that led to his father's death years ago, he's disappointed to discover that Miriam is already married -- and shocked to discover her husband is Peter Jesson, now working with the railroad as a civil engineer. As the Union Pacific crew presses on to their historic meeting at Promitory Point, Davy must find a way to earn Miriam's love and uncover Peter's murderous past. Shot on location in Arizona in Ford's beloved Monument Valley, The Iron Horse was a massive production that employed over 6,000 people; two temporary cities were built to accommodate them, with 100 cooks on hand to serve meals. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Argentine Love is based on a novel by Vincent Blasco-Ibanez, whose Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse made a star of Rudolph Valentino. Not surprisingly, leading man Ricardo Cortez plays a Valentino clone: a headstrong Argentinian in love with fetching senorita Bebe Daniels. But Daniels prefers the company of American engineer James Rennie. Argentine Love is kept moving at a fast clip by Allan Dwan, who was far less lugubriously self-indulgent than Four Horsemen helmsman Rex Ingram. In retrospect, it is understandable that Paramount wanted to make a Valentino film without Valentino: he had recently ankled the studio in a bitter (and well-publicized) dispute over story material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romance, based on The Passionate Vine by John Russell, displays Ramon Novarro's masculine beauty to full effect. Pastor Spencer (Edward Connelly) is a missionary in the South Seas. His daughter, Matilda (Alice Terry), would prefer to return to civilization, but Spencer wants to convert not only the natives, but Captain Hull Gregson, a rough-hewn cafe owner (Harry Morey). Gregson lusts after Matilda so he joins Spencer's church, and even closes down his cafe to prove he is sincere. This convinces the minister to give Gregson his daughter's hand. But Matilda has fallen in love with Motauri, a young native chief (Novarro). They try to run away to his home, but their plans don't work out. Although Gregson is killed, Matilda decides that she can't marry Motauri after all and he throws himself into the falls. After that, her father finally takes her away from the islands. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide