Jeanie Macpherson Movies

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

In the years before he became known for his sexy domestic films and elaborate spectaculars, fledgling director Cecil B. DeMille tried his hand at many different types of stories. So this romantic drama, which takes place during the Balkan war, is not really a departure for him -- he was still discovering where his tastes and talents really lie. This film was also Blanche Sweet's second film for DeMille -- her first was The Warrens of Virginia. Mahmud, a young Turkish nobleman (a not very Turkish looking House Peters) is captured by the Montenegrins and handed over to Sonya Martinovich (Sweet) to work on her farm. She treats him hatefully, forcing him to toil and whipping him for the slightest infraction. But Sonya's little brother, Milos (Gerald Ward), befriends the Turk and slowly she begins to warm up to him, too. Turkish soldiers attack the village and their commanding officer tries to rape Sonya. Mahmud fights him off and the Montenegrins retake the village. At the war's end, Mahmud is stripped of his land because of his actions in protecting Sonya. Sonya, meanwhile, is tossed off her own land and her home burned. The two fugitives find each other on the road and are reunited in love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Producer Jesse Lasky and stage impresario David Belasco teamed up for several films in the mid-teens and this tale of nineteenth-century California was their first project. Originally a Belasco play with Frances Starr, it became a Cecil B. DeMille/Oscar Apfel-directed feature. It opens up with a band of claim jumpers, led by the villainous Esra Kincaid (Dick LaReno), taking over the Espinoza ranch. The bandits kill the ranch's owner (Sydney Deane) and forces the daughter (future scenarist Jeanie MacPherson) to take her own life. Into this strife-ridden land comes Kearney (J. S. Johnston), an agent sent by the government to bring order out of the chaos. He romances Juanita (Bessie Barriscale), daughter of the Castros, then discovers that the Castro rancho is next on Kincaid's list for attack. Kearney calls for the cavalry, then holds off the outlaws long enough for them to arrive. With the battle won, he is able to declare his love for the vivacious Juanita. While there was a lot of potential to this picture -- it was both based and filmed in California, the involvement of Belasco, etc. -- some of it was cheaply shot, and it showed. Other pictures by the Lasky/Belasco/DeMille team -- notably The Warrens of Virginia -- would turn out far better. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

By 1910, D.W. Griffith was far too busy to personally direct all of Biograph's films, thus he legislated authority to such assistants as Frank Powell, Dell Henderson and Mack Sennett. One of the studio's Griffith-less efforts of 1910 was the one-reel comedy A Gold Necklace. It all starts when two young men fall in love with two young ladies. One of the young Romeos purchases a gold necklace for his "Juliet." Alas, the necklace is delivered to the wrong woman, causing no end of trouble for all four protagonists. The trade magazine Variety took the film to task for showing one of the virginal heroines entering a restaurant without an escort (Horrors!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Biograph melodrama Two Little Waifs was partially filmed on location in Greenwich, Connecticut. Placed in an orphanage, the two title characters pine away for their recently deceased mother. Meanwhile, a wealthy woman mourns over the loss of her only daughter. It is only a matter of time before the woman and the two waifs will meet, become enchanted with each other, and live together happily ever after. The film was a blatant and shameless tug at the audience's heartstrings, and few directors could have pulled it off with as much taste and finesse as D. W. Griffith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Described by the Biograph publicity department as a "circus romance," D.W. Griffith's The Call was partially filmed on location at Fort Lee, New Jersey. Florence Barker is cast as a sideshow hootchy-kootchy dancer who catches the eye of a virtuous young farmer. He is so impressed by her beauty that he proposes marriage, despite protests from his family. Though she'd like to escape her tawdry existence, the dancer is under the sinister influence of her no-good boyfriend. Finally shedding this human snake, she marries the farmer, and for at least a year or so the union is a happy one. But when the sideshow comes back to town, the dancer's ex-boyfriend insists that she return to him. Unable to resist his dubious charms, the dancer writes a "Dear John" letter to her farmer husband and deserts him. Ultimately, however, the "call" of decency proves stronger than the influence of her shady circus beau, and the dancer heads back to her husband, begging and receiving forgiveness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide