Ben Wilson Movies
- 1930
The second in a series of Buck Jones westerns produced by Sol Lesser for Columbia release, Shadow Ranch is the story of a cowboy who comes to the rescue of an embattled female rancher (Marguerite de la Motte). She is being driven off her land by opportunistic saloon owner Albert J. Smith, but the heroic Buck manages to beat the villain into submission. Filmed at the Tiffany-California studios, a rental facility, Shadow Ranch was popular enough for the story to be trotted out again less than a year later as Sunset Trail starring Ken Maynard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Veteran B-western auteur Benjamin F. Wilson (the "F" stood for "Franklin," of course) produced, directed, and starred in this very low budget silent oater about a reformed bandit turned lawman. After cleaning up a lawless town and winning the love of the local schoolmarm (Wilson regular Neva Gerber), the hero has enough energy leftover to recover a valuable silver mine from a gang of claim jumpers. Riders of the West (a typically meaningless title) also featured the talents of Ed LaNiece, Bud Osborne and Fang, a wolf dog. Edward Linden was behind the camera and the script came courtesy of the prolific Robert A. Dillon. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Wilson, Neva Gerber, (more)
- 1925
The action melodrama team of Ben Wilson and Neva Gerber strikes again in this low-budget silent western. Wilson is a rancher who accidentally blinds his rival's stenographer (Gerber) during a battle with a gang of land grabbers. The loss of sight proves temporary, however, and the two fall in love. As usual, Wilson produced the film himself but left the directorial chores to Jacques Jaccard. Although they were assumed to be man and wife off-screen, Wilson and Gerber were only business partners. In fact, Gerber was engaged to William Desmond Taylor when the flamboyant director was found murdered in February of 1922. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Wilson, Archie Ricks, (more)
- 1924
Benjamin F. Wilson directs and stars in this low-budget Arrow Western. The lead characters don't have names, they have titles: "The Man" (Wilson) is bringing "the Sister" (Helene Rosson) back home to forgiveness after she has led a wild life and become a fallen woman. When he leaves the wagon for a few minutes the Sister is raped by desperadoes. She commits suicide and the man goes after the desperadoes and kills them. A storm breaks while he is fleeing and he is forced to find shelter at the home of "the Girl," who works at a dancehall (Ruth Stonehouse). The Girl seems to be doomed to the same sort of life that the Man's Sister had lived, but she sees a way out by running off with the Man. The gang catches up with the Man, but he and the Girl hold them off with their revolvers. They escape into the anonymous West to begin life anew. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1924
This melodrama features Bryant Washburn and Mabel Forrest. Kane (Sidney DeGray) is a conservative, upstanding member of his community who keeps a tight rein on his daughter Dorothy (Forrest). Denied of the usual fun had by most girls her age, Dorothy rebels and heads for the city. When she runs out of money, she tells the Alaska Kid (Washburn), who misunderstands her motives and puts her up in the apartment of the questionable Lottie Bird (Kathleen Kirkham). Lottie convinces her to attend a party attended by gold-digging young women and lecherous old men. One of the guests turns out to be Dorothy's own father. He begins to berate her for her presence but she points out that he is the guilty party. When the Kid realizes that Dorothy is not the jazzy babe he thought she was, he falls for her. They dash back to Dorothy's home, beating her father there. But Dorothy figures that her life has been miserable enough so she keeps her father's secret from her mother (Martha Franklin), and instead forgives him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Universal action star Ben Wilson was teamed with Pathe serial hero William Courtleigh Jr. in Souls in Pawn. Since Wilson was the bigger "name" at the time, he got to play the hero, while Courtleigh was consigned to the role of a young weakling. Becoming fascinated with worldly actress Vivien Prescott, Courtleigh manages to make a public spectacle of himself. Wilson, the stalwart fiance of Courtleigh's sister, tries to save the boy from further humiliation by offering Prescott a huge sum of money to let Courtleigh off the hook. But the boy can't leave the actress alone, and during a nocturnal visit to the woman's apartment he shoots and kills her current lover. Just at that moment, Wilson arrives on the scene and gallantly assumes responsibility for the killing, for the sake of Courtleigh's sister. Wilson is sent to prison, while Courtleigh disappears from view, trying to forget his past by becoming an opium addict. On the verge of death, Courtleigh confesses all, thereby freeing Wilson to marry the boy's sister (who doesn't seem too broken up by Courtleigh's revelation). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
The reviewer for the trade magazine Variety offered the "revelation" that The Spindle of Life was based on Sidney Robinson's novel Gladsome, though anyone who saw the film's opening credits would have figured this out for himself. Neva Gerber starred as Gladsome, an uninhibited hoyden who likes to hang out with the local fishermen. While Gladsome larks and plays, her mother Mrs. Harrison (Jessie Pratt) falls under the influence of her business manager James Bradshaw (Winter Hall), who plots and plans to gain control of the old lady's fortune by marrying the heroine off to his feckless son Vincent (Hayward Mack). Fortunately, Gladsome is spared this fate when she falls in love with wealthy stockbroker "Alphabet" Carter (Ben Wilson). Evidently, a genuine fishing village was brought into service as the backdrop for The Spindle of Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Lawrence Ashmore (Ben Wilson) has fallen on hard times but he bounces back quickly when he becomes a reporter and is assigned a big story. A villain known as "The Rattler of Wall Street" is causing trouble for Jesse Craven (W.J. Higby), who happens to have a pretty young daughter, Edith (Francelia Billington). When Ashmore goes to interview Craven, who is sick in bed, he asserts that he will be ruined unless his son Larry returns at once from a trip abroad. He offers Ashmore -- coincidentally a dead-ringer for his son -- ten thousand dollars to impersonate the young man. He does, and when the real Larry comes home and is kidnapped, Ashmore confuses the bad guys by showing up. Ashmore is taken on a boat, which is wrecked in a storm, but he wins the battle for a life preserver. The villains are vanquished and Ashmore gets the girl. This was a pretty typical dramatic film for its era. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
