John Lynch Movies

Though his career went into decline in the talkie era, director Mal St. Clair was responsible for some of the funniest, frothiest film fare of the 1920s. Based on a tried-and-true stage play by Alfred Savoir, The Grand Duchess and the Waiter stars Florence Vidor and Adolphe Menjou as the title characters. Menjou isn't really a waiter at all, but a Parisian millionaire in disguise. He poses as one of the hired help so as to come into close proximity with the love of his life, beautiful noblewoman Vidor. The stars work together as copacetically here as they did in another classic Mal St. Clair-directed silent, Are Parents People? (1925). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This breezy summer comedy-drama was shot on-location in Florida. It was typical fun 1920s fare, which Moving Picture World called "a jazz picture from the word go." The trade magazine referred Betty Compson's character, Joan Bruce, as "a girl whose only thought was the mad pursuit of pleasure and thrills and the conquest of the other sex." Of course, the pleasure-mad maiden will come down to earth by the film's end, but not before becoming involved in a lot of hijinks. Joan chases after Grant North (Benjamin F. Finney Jr.), who, much to her surprise, refuses to have anything to do with her. When she gets in a motorboat accident, he rescues her and their romance finally begins. He leaves on a short business trip and although Joan has sworn to be good, she is lured to a yacht belonging to Ranson Tate (Lawford Davidson), a bootlegger. Because the incident has caused a rift with his wife, Tate threatens to cause a scandal unless Joan breaks her engagement to North. This she does by diving into a pool completely naked (or, as naked as 1920s censorship would allow). She then accompanies Tate to an island. North, who knows she still loves him, chases after them with his friend, Colonel Forbes (J. Barney Sherry). Tate is attacking Joan as North arrives to rescue her. Not long after, the Coast Guard shows up to arrest Tate and his bootlegging crew. North forgives Joan's peccadillos and they are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This domestic comedy-drama seems to owe a lot of its spirit to filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, who made quite a few similar films. When Beth (Eleanor Boardman) marries Peter Marsh (Conrad Nagel), they find their ideas of domestic bliss are very different. Peter dreams of power and a large family, while Beth envisions an vast wardrobe. Her extravagant spending sends her husband into debt and their quarrels grow heated. Just about this time, Daniel Rankin (Lew Cody), another resident in the apartment building where the Marshes live, comes into the picture. He's a self-admitted expert in "understanding misunderstood women," and he sees Beth as easy prey. With the help of his chauffeur and the Marsh's chauffeur, Rankin arranges for Beth's car to "break down." He comes to her aid and offers his sympathetic ear. His presence does not exactly thrill Peter. When Rankin throws a dance in Beth's honor, Peter forbids her to go. She defies him and leaves, but Rankin, who isn't such a bad sort, realizes that she still loves her husband. He sits her down and tells her the Biblical story of David (Warner Oland) and Bath-Sheba (Mabel Julienne Scott), and sends Beth home to Peter. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This epic production was the last film that producer and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst produced for Paramount (after that, his production company, Cosmopolitan, went over to Goldwyn, which later merged with MGM). It was based on a novel by Vicenti Blasco Ibanez, who also wrote The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In addition to lavish sets by Joseph Urban, the cast and crew also filmed on-location in Paris and Monte Carlo. Russian Prince Lubimoff (Lionel Barrymore) thinks only of his wealth and his own gratification. After fighting a duel, he has to flee from the ire of the Czar, and Duchess Alicia (Alma Rubens) helps him to get out of the country. While he is staying at his villa in Monte Carlo, World War I breaks out, but neither he nor his associates even consider going to fight. Lubimoff, who won't even acknowledge that he is in love with Alicia, is incensed when he finds her embracing a young man. Without realizing that it is her 16-year-old son, Lubimoff and his friends form a group called "Enemies of Women." Because of the war, the feudal estates are lost, and Alicia's son dies just before he is about to enter into a duel. Lubimoff, who has finally realized that the world does not revolve around him, goes to fight and uses the money he has left to help the downtrodden. On the front lines, he meets Alicia, who has become a Red Cross nurse, and they are united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This well-cast drama was based on the play by Samuel Shipman. When Marion Dorsey (Hope Hampton) is away in Europe, her husband Andrew (Conrad Nagel) becomes involved with Vivian Hepburn (Nita Naldi). The scheming Vivian has a partner, Guy Tarlow (Lew Cody), who runs a gambling club and they get Dorsey so far into debt that he is compelled to sign a note with the name of his firm. Because he can't redeem the note, Dorsey faces a prison sentence, but Marion returns home and saves him. By posing as a wealthy widow, she vamps Tarlow and gets him to open up the safe containing the note and the money that her husband lost. Vivian throws a potential jail sentence in Marion's face, pointing that she herself committed "lawful larceny" by stealing Dorsey's love and destroying his honor. But Marion is able to outwit the villainous couple and clear her husband's name. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This virile drama, produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures, was based on the novel by then-popular author Peter B. Kyne. After serving in Siberia during the Great War, Don Mike Farrell (Forrest Stanley) returns to California to discover that his father has died and the family ranch is now in the hands of John Parker (Alfred Allen). Parker's daughter, Kay (Marjorie Daw), falls in love with Farrell and tries to help him get his rights back. Her attempts, however, are in vain. Parker is working in partnership with Okada, a Japanese land speculator (Warner Oland), who is determined to have the ranch for himself. Farrell has to use all his resourcefulness to defeat the two men. First, he raises the necessary money through chasing down one of his father's debtors, and raises the rest at the racetrack. He then bluffs Parker and wins back his land -- along with Parker's admiration and Kay's hand. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jules (William Desmond) is the last of the once-respected Ingraham family. He is a drunk, scorned by everyone in the New England village in which he lives, the only exception being his own butler (Walt Whitman). When Jules is up to his neck in mortgage and debt, he is cast from the family house by the town banker, Rufus Moore (Robert McKim). Mercy Reed (Margery Wilson), who because of an indiscretion in her past, is the town's other outcast, takes him in and tries to cure him of his alcoholic ways. She reforms him, but the outraged villagers can't stand having the two living under one roof in unwedded bliss, so a mob heads for Mercy's home. But in the midst of the melee, Mercy reveals that the man who wronged her initially was Rufus Moore. In addition to that, Moore was illegally taking property belonging to Jules. Moore is disgraced, and Jules, after discovering that some old oil wells have now made him rich, marries Mercy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide