Sylvia Ashton

Though filmmaker Erich Von Stroheim's notorious profligacy had made him virtually unhirable in the US by 1929, screen-star Gloria Swanson still had faith in him. She poured a great deal of her own money in Von Stroheim's last silent film, Queen Kelly, and agreed to play the leading role to insure box-office success. When production began, Stroheim had not quite completed his script: all he had was the premise of a young Irish convent girl named Kitty Kelly (Gloria Swanson) being seduced by a German nobleman (Walter Byron) who was slated to marry the mad Queen (Seena Owen) of a tiny European principality. Brandishing a whip, the loony Queen drives the hapless Kitty from the palace. It was after shooting had started that Von Stroheim filled Swanson in on the rest of the plot: Kitty was to inherit all the worldly possessions of her aunt in German East Africa. Arriving to take charge of the estate, Kitty would learn that she was proud possessor of a string of brothels. Realizing that such a plot device would never get past the American censors, Swanson reacted in horror; she frantically called her money men in America and screamed "There's a madman in charge!" In the final release version of Queen Kelly, hastily completed by Swanson to recoup her losses and ultimately released in Europe, Kitty Kelly was forced into a marriage with brothel manager Tully Marshall, a tobacco-juiced stained degenerate. She ultimately returns to the nobleman who'd seduced her, is driven from the palace by Queen Owen, and commits suicide. This version contained dialogue sequences, and one musical interlude, sung by star Swanson. Despite its tawdry plot, Queen Kelly was beautifully photographed; its most famous shot, of Swanson praying in church, her face framed by flickering candles, was excerpted in the actress' much-later talkie Sunset Boulevard. The currently available restored version of Queen Kelly uses still pictures and explanatory titles to fill in the footage that has decomposed over the years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the oft-filmed play by Kenyon Nicholson, The Barker represented the talking-picture debut of silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney" Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Comedy specialist Edward F. Cline was a curious choice to direct the typically two-fisted Milton Sills vehicle The Crash. Sills plays the head guy of a wrecking crew who, while out on the town, is smitten by burlesque dancer Thelma Todd. At first, Sills' intentions toward Todd are strictly dishonorable, but by and by he learns to love her and ultimately asks her to be his wife. The local gossips loudly disapprove of the match, and pretty soon Sills begins to wonder if he's made a mistake, but after a spectacular train-wreck finale (hence the film's title), hero and heroine are reunited. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of First National's successful Jack Mulhall-Dorothy Mackaill vehicles, Ladies' Night is a toned-down adaptation of the venerable stage farce Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath. Womanizing ironworker Speed Dawson (Mulhall) promises to change his roving ways when he falls in love with lunch-counter waitress Helen (Mackaill). Shortly thereafter, Helen's parents (James Finlayson and Sylvia Ashton) unexpectedly strike it rich. While Ma Slocum goes on an expensive diet, Pa Slocum goes out on the town. Pa and Speed accidentally meet at a stag party held in a raucous nightclub -- while next door, Ma Slocum and Helen relax at a Turkish bath. Inevitably, Ma and Helen get locked out of the establishment clad only in towels, just as the nightclub is raided by the police. The fun really begins as Speed, Helen, and the Slocums try to avoid each other while simultaneously evading the Law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The ubiquitous J. P. McGowan warmed the director's chair for Red Signals. Though onetime matinee idol Earle Williams is starred, the film's real protagonist is Wallace McDonald, cast as a dishevelled hobo. When a series of train wrecks occur, railroad superintendent Williams is held responsible, but the real culprit is a crooked foreman who lusts after Williams' job. All of this is proven in due time by the superintendent's indigent brother McDonald -- who turns out to be a railroad detective in disguise. Some laughs are provided by Billy Franey and Frank Rice, usually cast as cowboy sidekicks but here playing McDonald's hobo companions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Norris' powerful Zola-esque novel McTeague was first filmed in 1915. While filmmaker Erich Von Stroheim would insist that he'd been enthralled by the book since it first came out in 1902, it is more likely that he didn't make the novel's acquaintance until seeing that 1915 film. Whatever the case, Von Stroheim vowed that, if he ever had enough Hollywood clout, he'd produce the "definitive" version of McTeague. After scoring an enormous financial hit with Foolish Wives, he had just that clout, and, in 1923, he began work on what he hoped would his masterpiece.

Stripped to its bare essentials, McTeague tells the story of a brutish, but basically good-natured, miner named McTeague (played by Gibson Gowland), who finds his true calling in life by taking over the practice of a traveling dentist. Setting up shop in San Francisco, McTeague falls in love with Trina (ZaSu Pitts), the daughter of German immigrants. It happens that Trina is the girlfriend of McTeague's best pal Marcus (Jean Hersholt), who is mildly resentful, but ultimately forgiving, when McTeague and Trina are married. Always seeking out an opportunity to better herself, Trina buys a lottery ticket. When the ticket pays off and she wins a fortune, the previously even-tempered Trina undergoes a complete personality change, metamorphosing into a grasping, greedy, miserly shrew, hoarding huge sums of money while her husband must get by on his meager earnings as a dentist. Trina's sudden windfall sparks a change in both McTeague and Marcus, as well; driven to distraction by his wife's avarice, McTeague turns into a violent beast, while Marcus boils with jealousy over losing the now-prosperous Trina to McTeague. Pushed too far, McTeague ultimately murders Trina and escapes to the desert with her money. Appointed a sheriff's deputy, the envious Marcus heads out to bring McTeague in, and the two men catch up with one another in the middle of Death Valley. Their water supply gone, their packhorse dead, McTeague and Marcus begin a fight to the death. McTeague manages to shoot and kill Marcus -- only to discover that Marcus has manacled himself to McTeague. Utterly defeated, he sits benumbed on the scorching rocks, awaiting madness and a horrible death.

Filming at actual locations (the murder scene was shot at a locale where a real murder had occurred, while the sweltering Death Valley sequence was, likewise, made there), Von Stroheim remained doggedly faithful to the Norris original, shooting every page word for word. The end result ran 40 reels, or roughly 10 hours of screen time. Then came the corporate intrigues. Von Stroheim, who had begun the film through the auspices of the old Goldwyn studios, now had to contend with the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer regime. Production head Irving Thalberg argued logically that no audience would sit still for ten hours of unrelenting realism. Von Stroheim reluctantly responded by paring his film down to 20 reels, but it was still far too long and depressing for MGM's taste. The director's friend Rex Ingram weeded out two more reels, warning Von Stroheim that "If you cut out another inch, I'll never speak to you again." At this point, MGM, feeling that too much money had already been spent on the project, took McTeague away from Von Stroheim and ordered June Mathis to whittle the picture down to ten reels. It is this version, retitled Greed, that was released to the public in late 1924.

Far from the financial disaster that MGM always claimed it was (the film actually posted a small profit), Greed was still too overpowering for many observers. Critics and audiences were sharply divided, some hailing the film as a work of unbridled genius, others dismissing as "an epic of the sewer." Von Stroheim, angered that his baby had been "butchered," refused to ever see the ten-reel Greed. When viewed today, the film retains its raw dramatic power; the continuity gaps and clumsy transitional titles that once seemed so unforgivable are generally ignored by contemporary audiences. Still, Greed is not a happy, high-kickin' production. Though a rewarding experience, it remains very rough sledding for those accustomed to traditional, conservative entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy-melodrama, based on the novel by Rupert Hughes (who also directed), blends fiction and reality to tell the story of a young woman's rise in Hollywood; the film uses real stars and productions (even Charles Chaplin filming A Woman of Paris) as its backdrop. Eleanor Boardman plays Remember Steddon, better known as Mem. Mem is a small-town girl who marries slick bad guy Owen Scudder (Lew Cody); Owen insures his brides and then murders them for the money. After the wedding, Mem starts to have her doubts about him and runs away while their train is chugging through the desert. She happens on a film crew and gets work as an extra, later becoming a famous dramatic actress in Hollywood with the help of director Frank Claymore (Richard Dix). Scudder finally tracks her down during a shoot involving a circus tent; when a storm sets the tent on fire, Scudder loses his life saving Mem from a wind machine's propeller. Freed from her marriage, Mem is able to choose between Claymore and her leading man. Boardman, whose first starring role finds her surrounded by a long and impressive supporting cast, wound up at the Goldwyn studios through a "New Faces" contest. Her co-winner, future star William Haines, also had a bit part as the company's assistant director. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This lighthearted film was based upon the play The Impostor by Leonard Merrick and Michael Morton. After the death of her parents, Mary Fenton (Agnes Ayers) discovers that her inheritance adds up to nothing. She can't even afford to stay in a cheap boarding house and finds herself homeless. After searching for work and having no luck, she is about to faint from hunger when she mistakes Charlie Owen (Robert Schable) for an acquaintance. A gossipy friend of Owen's discovers innocent Mary in a compromising position, and her only way out is to pretend that she is a wealthy heiress. She winds up staying with Loftus Walford and his wife (Edward Martindel and Sylvia Ashton). They try to fix her up with their son, Blake (Tom Gallery), but he hesitates because of her supposed fortune. Mary finds herself in even more trouble when she is implicated in a jewel robbery, but her innocence is eventually established. When he discovers that she is actually poor, Blake is eager to wed Mary. ZaSu Pitts was playing leads in films by 1922; she probably shows up in a supporting role here merely because she was married to leading man Tom Gallery. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Dramatic actress Ethel Clayton never reached the same lofty heights of stardom as Clara Kimball Young or Pauline Frederick, but she was a solid second-string player. She overcomes mediocre material in this society meller. Singer Anna Woodstock (Clayton) loses her voice, but a visit to a hypnotist, Dr. Joseph Kasimir (Bertram Grassby), brings it back. What Anna doesn't realize is that her illness was purely psychosomatic and Kasimir is a swindler. However, her fiancé, Christopher Armstrong (Vernon Steel), is aware of this and as district attorney is gathering enough evidence to prosecute him. Although Armstrong insists that Anna stay away from Kasimir, she visits him before she sails from Europe. Kasimir hypnotizes her and tries to kidnap her, but Jennie Dunn (ZaSu Pitts), a waif who Anna has befriended, comes to her rescue. Kasimir is found murdered that night, and Jennie is accused of the crime. Anna rushes home from Europe to testify on her behalf, but she only succeeds in implicating herself. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This farce from Paramount was loosely adapted from the play The Open Door by Oscar Blumenthal and Gustave Kadelberg. Arthur Haviland (T. Roy Barnes) and Margaret Saxby (Lila Lee) elope on the very day that her parents (Lillian Leighton and Tully Marshall) are celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. All the couples at the anniversary party have had arguments, a fact which they are desperately trying to cover up. It turns out that Arthur and Margaret have been married by the deputy at the county clerk's office because the regular clerk always goes hunting in November -- and the deputy was never properly sworn in. This not only means that the newlyweds' marriage is illegal, but that the other couples at the Saxby's party -- all of whom were married in November -- might not have valid marriages, either. The men all decide to take this to heart, but come to the realization that freedom is not all it's cracked up to be. Meanwhile, a search party is sent out to bring back Arthur and Margaret before they scandalize their parents. As in all good farces, everything turns out well in the end. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This lighthearted political satire marked the first time humorist George Ade wrote a story directly for the screen. The casting of Thomas Meighan and Lois Wilson as the two leads was impeccable. "Lazy Dan" Bentley (Meighan) may be a lawyer by profession, but all things considered, he'd rather be fishing with his friend Cale Higginson (Guy Oliver). Bentley, however, returned a hero from the European War (known by later generations as World War I) and Oglesby Fendle (William P. Carleton), the brother of his fiancée, Katherine (Wilson), talks him into running for Congress. But when Dan realizes that he's supposed to be bought off by certain politicians and special interests, he balks. Instead he becomes determined to win the nomination without the help of the corrupt backers. He creates an unusual campaign, resists Higginson's tempting invitations to go fishing -- and wins the race. He also wins the admiration of Katherine and his future brother-in-law.
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

From the beginning of her film career, Billie Dove showed a knack for playing chorus girls (it only made sense since she was a former Follies beauty), so in her first starring part for Metro, guess what her role was? Eve Allison (Dove) is that eternal movie cliché, the country girl who comes to New York City seeking fame and fortune. Within a couple of years she works her way up from the chorus to stardom. She doesn't know, however, that her lavish lifestyle has been funded by Brutus Tawney (Noah Beery). When she finds out, and realizes his motives aren't exactly honorable, she runs away from everything and joins a traveling theatrical troupe. When it reaches a small Southern town, she meets Page Brookins, a young farmer (Cullen Landis) and they fall in love. But Tawney, who has finally tracked Eve down, lies to Brookins about her background. Brookins has a hard time believing Eve, who denies that she was ever involved with Tawney. But finally the farmer wrings a confession from the big city man, and the couple are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Screenwriter Jules Furthman made a rare plunge into directing with Blushing Bride. The title character, played by Eileen Percy, is mistaken for nobility by millionaire Herbert Heyes. Before she can set him straight, Heyes marries her. She moves into her hubby's magnificent mansion, only to discover that her raffish uncle Harry Dunkinson is employed as a butler. All sorts of class-conscious comic situations occur before everything is settled to everyone's satisfaction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide