Molly Malone Movies

Joan Forsythe (Molly Malone) arrives in the town of Cache D'Orr, near the Canadian border, to find and claim an inheritance that was left by her late father. Furthermore, in order to find the clue to the fortune in gold, in a hidden mine, she must make contact with a Native American, Black Eagle (Jay J. Bryan). Once in Cache D'Orr, she crosses paths with Wynne Kendall (Maurice B. "Lefty" Flynn), an upper-class ne'er-do-well trying to make good in the eyes of his wealthy uncle, who is newly arrived in the wilderness, his identity a secret, trying to find out why the furs received at the trading post owned by his uncle's company have been dropping for the past couple of years. This puts him on a collision course with Ewart Garth (Joe Bonomo), the brutal and corrupt manager of the trading post. But he and Joan end up with parallel and conflicting interests, as he has posted a bounty for the head of White Fury, the magnificent stallion that leads a herd of wild horses (and recently ran off with Garth's prize brood mare); and White Fury also carries the clue to the location of Joan's legacy. Can the righteous and plucky but genteel Joan and the upright Wynne overcome the brutal Garth, even with the help of Black Eagle, and save the stallion and the herd? Originally released as a serial, The Golden Stallion had enough characters and good enough acting to hold audiences' interest for ten episodes. It was co-authored by future director/producer William A. Berke, whose career lasted another 30 years, and was among the better late silent serial produced by renowned Poverty Row mogul Nat Levine. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this minor silent Western, a playful "kidnapping" goes horribly wrong when a gang of bank robbers enters the picture. Buddy Roosevelt starred as Buddy Miller, a young cowboy persuaded to "kidnap" prominent banker Henry Morton (Lafe McKee), whom the Morton family feels needs a rest. But when Mrs. Morton (Winifred Landis) and daughter Sylvia receive a ransom note, they assume that Buddy has deceived them. In reality, the young man and his comic sidekick (Robert Homans) are tracking down the real kidnappers, a gang of desperados headed by a disgruntled clerk (Al Taylor). The Bandit Buster was produced on the cheap by Lester F. Scott, Jr. and directed with the usual efficiency by Richard Thorpe. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A millionaire's son once again toughens up on a western ranch in this low-budget silent western produced by veteran director Harry S. Webb. Jack Perrin plays the wastrel turned hero this time and is soon on the trail of the villains who absconded with the payroll. In between the fast riding, Perrin has to dodge the amorous advances of widow Eva Thatcher. Like many Perrin westerns, this one was played mostly for comedy. Unfortunately, Perrin was no Hoot Gibson or Tom Mix and everything appeared a bit strained. African-American actor Martin Turner offered yet another of his stereotypical sidekick turns, this time as a character "humorously" referred to as "Snowball." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Bunyan (Wesley Barry, who was too old for former child roles, but too young to be a credible adult) works as a garage mechanic and his sweetheart, Molly Coshgan (Molly Malone), also works there. When Johnny Prentiss, the lightweight champion (Johnny Relasco), comes into the garage and starts flirting with Molly, Bunyan wants to fight him. This gives Prentiss' manager, Jim Canby (Frank Campeau) an idea -- he offers to pay Bunyan to stage comic fights to amuse the audience. Bunyan agrees since he is saving up to buy a partnership in the garage. When Prentiss comes back to town for another fight, Canby offers Bunyan 200 dollars for every round that he can stay in the ring with the champ. Bunyan is thrilled because a thousand dollars is what he needs for the partnership. He only manages to stay for four rounds, but he's still a hero to Molly, who goes to see him. She's stopped, however, by Prentiss, who makes a grab for her. Bunyan immediately springs into action and knocks his opponent cold. Canby lets him have the full thousand, and Bunyan is able to buy the partnership and wed Molly. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Manly Universal star Frank Mayo stars in this tale of the Northwest. Gilead, a lumber town, is divided into two halves: on one side are the churches and God-fearing folk; across the street are the saloons and the troublemakers. Enoch Kidder (Russell Simpson) and his son John (Mayo) live on the "good" side, while Enoch's black sheep brother, Aaron (Wilfred Lucas), spends his time running a dancehall on the "bad" side. Aaron is determined to corrupt his nephew and bring him over to his side of town, and when Ruth (Molly Malone) appears, it looks like she will be helpful to his cause. The pretty girl has lost her memory and John resolves to help her. Aaron kidnaps Ruth, knowing that John will come after her. Enoch is furious that Aaron is trying to destroy John, and the animosity between the two brothers explodes into an all-out feud. While his father and uncle fight it out, John aids Ruth in regaining her memory. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

A man who believes he is a murderer travels the world to escape his past in this often confusing crime drama. Richard Dix stars in a double role of twin brothers Paul and Arthur Ellison. Arthur flees New York for South America for help from his brother Paul, an engineer by trade. Paul feels partially responsible for Arthur's behavior after he accidentally shot him in a childhood mishap. Arthur assumed his brother's identity and travels to the Orient. Sylvia (Elsa Chetwood) meets him five years later and assumes he is Paul. Romance between the two lead to marriage plans, but an oily gambler named Craig (Herbert Prior) is on board the ship bound for America. Prior tries to kill Arthur and collect the reward money to cover his debts. Arthur holds a diamond given to him by a grateful native prince after saving people from a plague. A final showdown between Arthur and the gambler reveals Prior was the one who committed the murder that has tormented Arthur the last five years. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This light comedy was based on the George Ade play, and Ade in turn seems to have been inspired by It Pays to Advertise, because it's basically the same plot. Ed Swinger (Jack Pickford) has a college degree but no apparent skills. He wants to marry Caroline Pickering (Molly Malone), the daughter of Septimus Pickering, the pickle king (George Hernandez). But Pickering doesn't think Swinger is son-in-law material. To get him out of the way, he gives Swinger twenty thousand dollars and says that if he can double it in 30 days, he can have Caroline. Of course, Pickering is confident that he will get most of his money back and get rid of Swinger. In fact, he manages the former by secretly selling the young man fifteen thousand dollars' worth of bogus oil stock. With five thousand dollars left, Swinger enlists the help of a college chum who wants to break into advertising. They create a campaign around "Bingo Pickles," most of which are just Pickering's pickles with new labels. Everywhere the pickle king goes, he finds himself inundated with "Bingo Pickles" ads. Finally he decides it's best if he buys out the concern and is forced to cough up a hundred thousand dollars -- plus advertising costs. When he finds out that the whole thing was a trick of Swinger's, Pickering is a good enough sport to let him wed Caroline. If Pickford (younger brother of screen star Mary Pickford) doesn't make much of an impression here, perhaps there's a reason -- in September, 1920 his wife, actress Olive Thomas, died under mysterious circumstances, and Pickford mourned deeply for many months. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although he wouldn't find his true place in motion pictures until the talkie era, humorist Will Rogers certainly made a lot of films during the early '20s. Here he brings his down-to-earth persona to an O. Henry story, Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking. Whistling Dick is a hobo who loves life and classical music; in fact, he loves everything except work. He travels south to New Orleans for the winter and finds out that some of his fellow tramps are planning to rob a plantation on Christmas night. He is befriended by Nadine (Molly Malone), the daughter of Lovejoy, the plantation owner (Edward M. Kimball). Nadine has two suitors, Hunter, an overseer (John Bowers), and Richmond (Darrel Foss), who is broke and in league with the tramps, which Dick finds out. The tramps, afraid that Dick will give the plan away, capture him, but he manages to write a note and put it in a stocking with a rock. This he tosses through the Lovejoy's dining room window. The bad guys are captured and Dick becomes a guest at the Lovejoys'. They are more than happy to offer him steady employment on the plantation, which inspires him to leave at his earliest convenience. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Tom Moore stars in this light comedy. He is Tom O'Gara, who arrives in New York from Ireland and takes a job as a fireman (instead of the stereotypical policeman like most movie Irishmen of the silent era). One night, while fighting a fire, he saves Claudia Royce (Helene Chadwick), the daughter of a wealthy family. Claudia had been staying with a friend to avoid Loland (Herbert Prior), who wants to marry her. When she confesses that her parents are trying to force her into the marriage, O'Gara suggests that he marry her to keep the man away. She agrees, but O'Gara puts on a mock ceremony, figuring that Claudia will want to have the marriage annulled anyway. O'Gara winds up inventing an appliance that becomes a success, and he and Claudia never forget each other. Eventually they decide to make their union legal. An interesting side note -- Renée Adorée, a few years off from stardom, plays Moore's sister. In real life, she had recently become his bride. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stop Thief was adapted from the popular Broadway comedy of the same name, with Mary Ryan repeating her original stage role. The story revolves around a pair of thieves, Nell Jones (Ryan) and Jack Doogan (Harry Mestayer), and their efforts to go straight. But before they can do so, Nell and Jack decide to pull off one last "big job." To this end, Nell takes a servant's job in the home of a wealthy family, intending to allow Jack access into the house in the dead of night. After several items of value are stolen, Nell's employers are convinced that they themselves are kleptomaniacs, whereupon they hire a detective to protect the house from themselves. The "detective" is none other than Jack, in a classic case of the fox guarding the chicken coop! Ultimately, Nell and Jack are caught in the act, but their employers decide to let them go free -- but only on the condition that the larcenous pair get married immediately and promise steadfastly never to steal again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This two reeler is basically an excuse for Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle to make a mockery of various vaudeville turns and back stage attitudes and antics. It's territory he knew well, since he spent the early years of his career traveling from one small theater to another. The main interest here is that Buster Keaton, who co-starred, stole a couple of gags for later films that he made on his own. The opening shot, in which what appears to be a room is only a set, is strikingly similar to a scene in 1921's The Playhouse. A later gag, where a piece of scenery falls onto Arbuckle, framing him in its second-story window, is repeated on a much, much grander scale in Keaton's 1928 feature Steamboat Bill, Jr. On the other hand, Arbuckle borrowed from Keaton, too -- at one point during the stage show, he throws Keaton at a heckler. Keaton spent his childhood performing on stage with his mother and father, and his father, Joe, was known to use his young son in the same manner for the same reason. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Now considered lost, Thieves Gold was another in a lengthy series of westerns starring Harry Carey and directed by John Ford. Once again cast as "Cheyenne Harry," the star plays the foreman of the Savage Ranch, where his sole companion is his Uncle Larkin. Fed up with his isolated existence, Harry quits his job and heads to the border town of Agua Preista, where he joins up with soldier-of-fortune Curt Simons. Before long, our hero has been swept up with a scheme to rob a gold shipment but is dissuaded from this disastrous course when he falls in love with runaway heiress Alice Norris. Thieves Gold contained plenty of fisticuffs and gunplay, but the little humanistic touches provided by star Carey and director Ford lifted the film out of the standard Western syndrome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Over the course of 26 Westerns, director John Ford (then billed as Jack Ford) and star Harry Carey made a winning team. Carey's character, usually known as Cheyenne Harry, faced just about every situation known to cowboys in these pictures. Here he runs afoul of bad guy Dave Bland (Bill Gettinger). Through terrorizing all of those around him with a group called the Phantom Riders, Bland has managed to chase everyone away from the government's grazing land at Paradise Creek. If anyone questions his right to sole usage of the land, the lead Phantom Rider, called "the Unknown" (Vester Pegg), puts a deadly end to the argument. Into this dangerous scenario comes Cheyenne Harry with his small herd of cattle. He finds out about the situation from Grant (Buck Connor) who -- of course -- has a pretty daughter, Molly (Molly Malone). With Molly's help (Harry has taught her how to use a heliograph), and the help of the Forest Rangers, Harry ends Bland's reign of terror. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide