Helen Ferguson Movies
A juvenile actress with Chicago's Essanay company at the age of 13, brunette Helen Ferguson became a star -- albeit a minor one -- in action-melodramas opposite the likes of William Russell and Buck Jones. She made four Westerns opposite the latter, including Just Pals (1920), filmed by John Ford with all the beauty and sense of folksy detail that later generations came to expect from him. It wasn't Ferguson's favorite film, however, that distinction going instead to Hungry Heart (1922), a drama of Russian Jewry's struggle in the New World. "It's the best picture I've worked in," she stated at the time. The drama earned her a 1922 WAMPAS Baby Star nod, the first time this annual selection took place.Like many of her colleagues, Ferguson struggled valiantly to escape outdoor melodramas, but she was always more believable roughing it in a Hoot Gibson oater than appearing wistful in drawing rooms, and was especially effective in action serials, of which she did three. The most successful was Wild West (1925), made on a rugged location at the original 101 Ranch in Oklahoma and starring her new husband, the virile-looking William Russell.
Wedded bliss with Russell, alas, proved tragically short when the ex-athlete succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 42 in 1929. His widow turned to the legitimate stage for comfort and spent four moderately successful years on tour. Retired from acting, she returned to Hollywood in 1933 to become one of filmdom's most successful publicists, with a clientele ranging from Loretta Young -- with whom Ferguson co-authored the rather imprecise The Things I Had to Learn -- to Ed "Kookie" Byrnes. Said yet another client, legendary star Barbara Stanwyck: "I just think Helen Ferguson is a great human being. She has unfailing good sense and has always given me the best representation possible." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Brooklyn tugboat worker Eddie (Eddie Cantor), bullied and cowed by his tough-guy stepfather and stepbrothers (a la Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother), inherits $77 million from his uncle, an Egyptologist. Con artist Dot (Ethel Merman) wants to get her lunchhooks on the money, and to this end offers herself as Eddie's adopted mother (never mind that she's nearly 20 years younger), intending to have her thuggish brother Louie (Warren Hymer) bump off our hero at the first opportunity. The nonsensical plotline ends up with Eddie, Dot, Louie, pompous Southern colonel Larrabee (Berton Churchill), and nominal romantic leads Jerry (George Murphy in his film debut) and Jane (Ann Sothern) trapped in the palace of Arab potentate Mulhulla (Paul Harvey). The better-than-average comic banter includes some funny bits between Cantor and Eve Sully, of the comedy team of "Block and Sully" (her husband-partner Jesse Block is also in the picture, but just barely). Spotted among the featured players in Kid Millions are such "Our Gang" members as Stymie Beard, Scotty Beckett and Tommy Bond, and there's a specialty by the Nicholas Brothers during Cantor's obligatory "blackface" number; and yes, that's Lucille Ball as a blonde Goldwyn Girl in the harem sequence. PS: According to Ethel Merman, the film's elaborate Technicolor ice-cream factory finale, in which Eddie allows dozens of tenement kids to gorge themselves on his tasty confections, posed censorship problems: while producer Sam Goldwyn was allowed to show the little boys with comically extended stomachs, he was not permitted to do so with the little girls, for fear that the audience might think the female moppets were pregnant! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Fields, Eddie Cantor, (more)
- 1930
In rare film appearance, Broadway luminary Elsie Ferguson repeats her 1929 stage role in the 1930 film version of Scarlet Pages. Ferguson is cast as brilliant attorney Mary Bancroft, who defends nightclub songstress Nora Mason (Marian Nixon) from a murder charge. The victim was Nora's rapacious stepfather, who died while trying to assault the girl. As the trial progresses, Mary comes to the startling realization that Nora is her own out-of-wedlock daughter, given up for adoption years earlier. The film is a typical early-talkie bore, but it's worth enduring to watch the great Elsie Ferguson give her all to her art. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elsie Ferguson, John Halliday, (more)
- 1929
In this western, set aboard a California bound stagecoach, a man and woman passenger begin a flirtation that is interrupted when an robber band attacks the stage. They are saved by dashing cowboy who immediately wins the heart of the woman, much to the consternation of the man. Not willing to give up so easily, the man invites the woman, her father, a gambler, and the handsome cowpoke to his father's home. The evening becomes tense when the men begin a game of poker that explodes when the man's father loses his ranch to the gambler. It is soon revealed that several years ago the gambler had stolen the ranchers wife and daughter. This is quite a shock for the man who suddenly realizes that he has been flirting with his own sister. The evening closes on a tragic note when a gunfight between the man and the cowboy erupts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1927
The Cheaters are reformed crooks Helen Ferguson and George Hackathorne. Now gainfully employed in a fancy hotel, Ferguson and Hackathorne are forced to participate in a jewel heist by their former boss. Detective Pat O'Malley suspects that the two thieves are up to their old tricks, but decides to give them enough rope. When it is revealed that they have been strong-armed back into a life of crime, O'Malley looks the other way long enough for them to escape. Oscar Apfel, who with Cecil B. DeMille codirected the pioneering feature film The Spoilers (1914), called the shots in The Cheaters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Malley, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1927
Jaws of Steel is not the name of a carnival sideshow act, but rather the title of this standard 1928 Rin Tin Tin vehicle. In this one, the doggy hero is abandoned in the desert while in pup-hood. Upon reaching maturity, Tin Tin has undeservedly earned the reputation as a killer canine. Thus, the human characters spend most of their time hunting down the dog in hopes of collecting a huge bounty. Tin Tin redeems himself by rounding up a gang of crooks, whereupon he is reunited with his rightful owners. As was often the case in the Rin Tin Tin pictures, Warner Bros. contractee Jason Robards Sr. played second fiddle to the tail-wagging star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rin Tin Tin, Jason Robards, Sr., (more)
- 1925
Silent-screen stunt performer Richard Talmadge (born Metzetti) produced and starred in this low-budget action melodrama about a wealthy yachtsman en route to search for buried treasure on a South Seas island. After a mutiny, Bob (Talmadge) and the captain's daughter Dorothy (Helen Ferguson) find themselves marooned on the island. They discover a deserted castle containing the buried treasure but are soon in hot water with surviving mutineers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Two popular genres merged in this above-average silent comedy-drama: the western and the haunted-house farce. Universal's lackadaisical Hoot Gibson starred as a cowboy who, having broken a dinner plate over the head of a Chinese cook, is ordered by the sheriff (Frank Rice) to investigate a notorious "haunted" ranch. The "spooks," as they inevitably did in the silent era, turned out not to be supernatural at all, but a gang of outlaws who have kidnapped a young girl (Helen Ferguson). There is one distasteful element to this otherwise entertaining film: Gibson's African-American comedy valet, played according to the credits by "Ed Cowles," is actually veteran funny-man Jules Cowles in black-face! Leading lady Helen Ferguson later became one of Hollywood's more notable publicists. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoot Gibson, Jules Cowles, (more)
- 1925
Jack Newberry (E.K. Lincoln) is the millionaire's son who tries to become a Hollywood filmmaker in this melodrama. His father advances him $40,000 to make the picture with the understanding the feature must make a profit. The feature takes several comic looks at the industry, with William Russell as dictatorial director Eric Von Greed, Tom Santschi as an eccentric inventor, and comic Chester Conklin as the cameraman. A romantic side plot finds Jack in love with Florence Keaton (Helen Ferguson), whose wealthy father (Edwards Davies) has reservations about his daughter's involvement with anything Hollywood. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- E.K. Lincoln, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1925
Like many sports stars before and after him, champion sprinter Charles W. Paddock wound up in motion pictures, at least temporarily. Although the story to this action-drama didn't display Paddock's athletic talents to their best advantage, the sprinter does have a fine supporting cast. Charley Raymond (Paddock) is a college athlete who is disowned by his stern father (George Fawcett). Whilst fending for himself, the young man's clothes are stolen by a hobo, and Raymond winds up wearing tramp clothes and getting thrown off a freight train. He makes his way to a ranch where he falls in love with Mary Bowser (Helen Ferguson), the owner's daughter. Raymond shows off his sprinting skill by racing against a fast horse. A jealous suitor kidnaps Mary, and Raymond chases after them on foot. He rescues her, and later, when he returns home, he enters the Olympic games and breaks the world sprinting record. He also wins Mary. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Financed to a great extent by local businessmen and historical societies, this Colorado-lensed silent western once again portrayed a highly fictionalized nine-reel account of General George Armstrong Custer's last stand. Former serial hero Robert Frazer starred as a college-educated Native American army captain whose loyalties are divided. There were a few scenes of the army captain romancing the commander's daughter (Clara Bow, of all people), and he later rescued Helen Ferguson from a war party. But the film centered mainly on the famous final battle, with Custer as the absolute hero and the Sioux braves a mostly anonymous enemy. Veteran actress Ruth Stonehouse portrayed Custer's widow, Libby, while Johnnie Walker and Walter McGrail played rival army lieutenants. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Edeson, Clara Bow, (more)
- 1924
French actress Andree Lafayette made this American film after her success in Trilby. It was a domestic drama which was apparently part of a backlash against women's emancipation (women had only gotten the right to vote a few years before). It tried to prove that the ladies couldn't possibly hope to be a success at both business and marriage. Lafayette plays Marcia Wainwright, a young wife who is so ambitious when it comes to business, that she goes by the name of Miss Heming (married women back then were expected to stay home). When she is promoted to business manager of a large firm, it causes a rift between her and her husband, Jack (Jack Perrin). After Jack stops some bandits from holding up a railroad freight office, he is offered a promotion to a position in another city. Before he leaves, he receives an anonymous note informing him that his wife is unfaithful. He suspects that the note was written by the worthless son of Marcia's boss. He goes to the young man's home and gives him a sound thrashing. Marcia dumps her career and happily follows her husband to his new job. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Ferguson, Andree Lafayette, (more)
- 1924
Wealthy John Woodbury (Douglas MacLean) is mistaken for a patient by a trio of overeager doctors. After being put through a battery of tests (one of which involves blindfolding Woodbury, who promptly walks out on the ledge of the high rise building), he is told he only has three months left to live. Woodbury's pal, Hector Walters (Hallam Cooley), convinces him to marry his girl, Violet Stevenson (Lillian Rich), so she can clean up financially when he kicks the bucket. Unfortunately -- for Waters, at least -- Woodbury survives the three months and keeps on going. Subsequent attempts on his life don't have the desired effort, either. Eventually, Woodbury really falls in love with his wife and they head off on a belated honeymoon, with a gunman not far behind. This picture was adapted from the play by William H. Post. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas MacLean, Lillian Rich, (more)
- 1923
This "real life" drama starred some of the best second-string talent at Metro, and first-class screenwriter Frances Marion adapted the story from a stage play by James Forbes. When the world war (meaning World War I -- there was only one back then) breaks out, Mrs. Fair (Myrtle Stedman) goes to Europe as a nurse. She is decorated for bravery, and when she comes home, she discovers that she is famous. She is offered a lecture tour, which her husband (Huntly Gordon) forbids her to accept. Mrs. Fair rebels and accepts anyway, leaving her husband; son, Alan (Cullen Landis); and daughter, Sylvia (Marguerite de la Motte), on their own. At a loss without Mrs. Fair, the family moves into a hotel. Mr. Fair succumbs to the charms of a vampy neighbor, Angy Brice (Carmel Myers), while Sylvia becomes a flapper and Alan takes up gambling. When Mrs. Fair finally gets back from her tour, Alan and her husband settle down, but Sylvia is about to run off with the no-good Dudley Gillette (Ward Crane). Alan, who has married a nice girl (Helen Ferguson), saves her from disgracing herself. Mrs. Fair realizes that her neglect was what started all the trouble (this was definitely in the days before women's equality), and gladly stays home. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrtle Stedman, Huntly Gordon, (more)
- 1923
This is the second time Bayard Veiller's play made it to the silent screen (it would be made one more time in 1939 as a talkie). This version is a run-of-the-mill Norma Talmadge vehicle -- lots of high drama, with no expense spared, but in the end nothing much without its excellent cast. Talmadge plays Mary Turner, the shopgirl working for slave wages who winds up in prison for a theft she did not commit. Mary is bitter over her ruined life and swears vengeance on her former employer, Edward Gilder (Joseph Kilgour). When she gets out of prison and cannot find work, she teams up with Aggie Lynch (Eileen Percy) and they extort money out of elderly men -- but somehow manage to keep their tactics within the law. Eventually Mary meets Gilder's son, Dick (Jack Mulhall), and she makes him fall in love with her. He proposes, and after she accepts she makes her identity known to his father. Edward Gilder, desperate to get rid of her, tries to have her framed for burglary. Thief Joe Garson (Lew Cody), who loves Mary himself, falls for the plan. When he realizes he has been duped, he kills the stool pigeon, English Eddie (Ward Crane). Mary tries to have Dick accused of the murder and they are both arrested. Finally, Garson confesses to the crime, and the girl who originally stole the items that sent Mary to prison reveals that she was the culprit. Mary realizes that she really loves Dick, and the couple is united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Talmadge, Lew Cody, (more)
- 1923
Roland West, who directed this mystery, also co-wrote the stage play on which it was based. Inventor Peter Marchmont (Henry B. Walthall) goes to prison for a crime committed by James Dawson (Stuart Holmes). While he is locked up he discovers that his wife, Jewel (Alice Lake), has been involved with Dawson, and he swears revenge. Released from prison, he disguises himself and takes on the name Victor Cromport. Having invented a purple light, which makes him invisible, he begins using this device to secretly ruin Dawson's life. The detectives are baffled by the goings on, and in the end Marchmont wins back Jewel's love. As part of his revenge, he forces her to live with Dawson, who she now hates. Instead, he settles down with Ruth Marsh (Helen Ferguson), the girl who has been taking care of his son. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry B. Walthall, Alice Lake, (more)
- 1922
Western star Buck Jones is a foreman who catches a gang of cattle rustlers in this standard silent oater. Steel Brannon (Jones) is engaged to ranch owner Betty Lawson (Helen Ferguson). A visitor from the East, Josephine Hamilton (Ruth Renick), foolishly falls for Les Artwell (Jack Rollins), who is a member of "Satan" Latimer's (Maurice B. Flynn) outlaw gang. Latimer kidnaps Josephine, but Brannon and Betty are hot on the trail. A furious fight ensues in which the outlaw is thrown off a cliff into the river below. Betty, who was afraid that her foreman had fallen for her vampish friend, is reassured in the obligatory happy ending. The only unusual aspect of this very average Jones western is the appearance of Maurice "Lefty" Flynn, later a western star in his own right, as the villain. Leading lady Ferguson retired from acting at the changeover to sound and later became a powerful Hollywood publicist. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Buck" Jones, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1922
Humoresque (1920) spawned a large number of human interest films featuring Jewish immigrant mothers in the style of Vera Gordon. This picture's mother was played by Rosa Rosanova. Russian immigrants Abraham and Hannah Levin (E.A. Warner and Rosanova) bring their family to America. Like many others, they are in search of a better life, but Levin is not a great businessman and the other family members are forced to find employment. The Levins' eldest daughter Sara (Helen Ferguson) falls in love with lawyer David Kaplan (Bryant Washburn), the nephew of the tenement's greedy landlord Benjamin Rosenblatt (George Seigmann). When Hannah dresses up her kitchen by painting its walls white, Rosenblatt raises the Levins' rent. Infuriated by his action and frustrated by the harshness of life, Hannah wrecks the kitchen, and Rosenblatt takes her to court. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bryant Washburn, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1922
This brawny Universal picture was the perfect vehicle for its manly action star, Frank Mayo. Mayo is Bruce Henderson, who manages the fireworks plant for Danby & Son. Henderson is in love with the boss' daughter, Lucille (Helen Ferguson), as is sales manager Richard Mower (Charles Clary). Because he resorts to his fists during a fit of temper, Henderson is fired from his job. Lucille, who has sided with him, marries him. Danby (Melbourne McDowell) gives Mower Henderson's job, not realizing that Mower has been stealing from him. Mower attempts to call on Lucille, sending Henderson into such a fit of anger that she winds up leaving him. To save his father-in-law's business -- and his marriage -- Henderson disguises himself as a bum and gets work at the plant as a laborer. Danby and Lucille catch Mower and an associate robbing the vault. To make their getaway, the villains lock father and daughter inside. But Mower hasn't counted on Henderson, who tries to stop him. Mower takes a shot at him, but the bullet hits some explosives, and the plant erupts in flames. Henderson braves the inferno to rescue Danby and Lucille. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melbourne MacDowell, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1922
Future director David Butler plays a hobo who aspires to become a business success. Taking a correspondence course which advises him (in part) to "put on a big bluff", Butler heads to a small town, where he poses as a prominent miner. Before the ruse can be revealed, Butler has rescued the town from financial disaster. He also wins the girl, played by Helen Ferguson. Directing According to Hoyle with his customary express-train speed was Woody "One Take"VanDyke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1921
William Russell plays a construction engineer who is held responsible for the collapse of a bridge. The actual culprit is the boss' weakling son Charles Spere, who bought defective materials in hopes of pocketing the rest of the building budget. Loyally, Russell covers for Spere, then drops out of sight. Later on, he resurfaces in a small western town, where his girlfriend Helen Ferguson recognizes him but refuses to turn him in. By and by, Russell is cleared, and a happy ending is had by all-except, presumably, that wimpy cake-eater Spere. The employer's wife is played by Margaret Mann, later immortalized as "Grandma" in the early-talkie Our Gang comedies Helping Grandma and Fly My Kite (both 1931). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Russell, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1921
A small Western community is terrorized by an unscrupulous empire-builder (G. Raymond Nye) in this early Buck Jones Western directed by character actor Bernard J. Durning. Town bully Bill Terry is buying up the surrounding land but is turned down by stubborn old rancher Joe Blake (Herschel Mayall). When Bill's fiancée Doris Lane (Helen Ferguson) gets wind of a cruel scheme to frame Blake for cattle rustling, she switches sides and joins Blake's son (Jones) in his fight against the villain. In retaliation, Terry has his chief henchman Wolf Gary (Norman Selby aka Kid McCoy) abduct the girl, but the villains are defeated in a climactic gun battle. Director Durning, the husband of actress Shirley Mason, died suddenly of typhoid fever in 1923 at the young age of 23. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Helen Ferguson, (more)
- 1921
Before Paramount produced this well-received version of Edward White's novel Conjurer's House, it had been made into a play by George Broadhurst and filmed in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille (it was DeMille's second directing credit). Galen Albret (Noah Beery) is the factor, or manager, of an important trading post of the Hudson Bay Company. He's also a jealous and vindictive man, and because he believes that Graham Stewart (Edward Martindel) has slept with his wife, he sends him into the Northwoods to die. Stewart's son, who grows up with the name Ned Trent (Jack Holt), swears revenge. In his search for the killer, he winds up at Albret's post. Not realizing that he has already found his man, Trent falls in love with Albret's daughter, Virginia (Madge Bellamy). Trent is caught and sent out to the woods to die like his father, but Virginia rescues him. The circumstances surrounding the death of Trent's father are cleared up, and Albret admits his wrongdoing. Trent and Virginia are united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Madge Bellamy, (more)
- 1921
A stranger (Harry Carey) comes to the Western town of Broken Buckle, but discovers that the gambling hall there is crooked. He decides to open up an honest one of his own, but town school teacher Zoe Whipple (Helen Ferguson) wants him to do something more positive with himself. Denver Red, the proprietor of the already existing hall (Charles LeMoyne) has his own reasons for halting the stranger. But Carey persists, and the day comes when he opens his new establishment -- only it's not a gambling hall at all, but a library and school. In a gunfight, the stranger sends Denver Red packing, and wins Zoe's love. This was a rather tame entry for star Carey and director John Ford. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
For a silent screen star, Lois Wilson showed a truly charming lack of ego -- how many other beauty contest winners would be happy playing an ugly duckling like this film's title character? But Wilson did and she felt this was the best film of her career. She was aided by the capable direction of William C. DeMille -- Cecil's older brother. William's films were generally more intimate and far less flashy than his brother's, but perhaps that's why the ones that have survived are still so watchable today. Lulu Bett, a plain spinster, is a drudge in the home of her sister, Ina Deacon (Mabel Van Buren) and her husband Dwight (ever-amusing character actor Theodore Roberts). One day Dwight's traveling salesman brother, Ninian (Clarence Burton), shows up and as a joke, he and Lulu Bett have a mock marriage. As a justice of the peace, Dwight declares the marriage legal, but it turns out that Ninian already has a wife. When Lulu finds this out, she goes back to her sister's. But finally she rebels against the bad treatment she receives from the Deacon family and marries the village school teacher (handsome Milton Sills). The story to this film had already been a successful novel and play, both written by Zona Gale. Crack scenarist Clara Beranger adapted it to the screen. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lois Wilson, Milton Sills, (more)
- 1921
Director Fred J. Butler directs his son, David Butler, in this entertaining comedy-drama. Eddie Ramson (David Butler) is the scapegrace son of wealthy parents (William Walling and Lillian Lawrence). Mr. Ramson's friend, Captain Carleton (Jack Cosgrove), is leading an expedition to "Bolshevik Russia," and Eddie ends up going along with him. But Eddie's irresponsible ways continue in Russia, and he can't keep away from the vodka. He also falls in love with Sophie Semeoff, a schoolteacher (Helen Ferguson). In spite of competition from some Bolsheviks, Eddie manages to win her and brings her back to America as his wife. This does not thrill Mrs. Ramson, who believes her boy has been vamped. However, when American agents of the Russians attempt to kidnap Sophie, it is Mrs. Ramson who aids in rescuing her. Sophie reveals that her captors wanted her jewels, which belonged to her mother. She is actually a princess, so she finally wins the approval of the snobbish Mrs. Ramson. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
