Eugenia Gilbert Movies

A bookish Easterner (Hoot Gibson) is shipped off to a Western ranch for toughening up. Once on the ranch, he falls for a tough dame (Eugenia Gilbert) who is falsely accused of murdering her father's enemy. To the strains of "Courtin' Calamity," the former dude shows what he is really made of by capturing the real killer. This commonplace Western was Hoot Gibson's final part in a talkie. Carl Laemmle, the founder of Gibson's studio, Universal, and a great fan of Westerns, was running scared and didn't think outdoor pictures could do well with dialogue. Consequently, he canned all of his cowboy stars shortly after the release of Courtin' Wildcats, and Gibson's career never truly recovered. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Universal's sloppy-looking cowboy star Hoot Gibson plays the carefree son of the tough prison warden (Frank Beal) in this fine late-silent Gibson western. The penal colony is enjoying the presence of a very liberal-minded supervisor (Eugenia Gilbert), with whom Hoot naturally falls in love. She, however, is too busy rehabilitating the inmates to spare him a minute, so the resourceful hero masquerades as a hardened criminal and a trouble maker. He is soon involved with a gang of cutthroats and must use all his cunning to get out of the jam. Poverty row producer-director-star Denver Dixon (aka Art Mix aka Victor Adamson) is seen briefly as one of the inmates. The film was directed by Henry MacRae, who for many years was head of Universal's serial unit. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Producing and directing his own films, Leo Maloney almost always used the talents of Ford I. Beebe to compose his scripts. Beebe knew every cliche in the book and used several of them in this minor western, which Maloney released through the Pathé organization. On the way to claim his inheritance, Maloney is held up by a villain who proceeds to take over his identity. Maloney himself, meanwhile, is jailed for the villain's crimes but is able to escape and capture the impostor. Beebe later used everything he learned from Maloney to embark on a long and fruitful career helming "B"-Westerns and such serials as Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) and The Green Hornet (1940). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Having learned the tricks of the trade appearing in the action series The Hazards of Helen back in the mid-1910s, Leo Maloney later eked out a comfortable living producing, directing, and starring in scores of low-budget silent Westerns. In Don Desperado, Maloney plays the deputy sheriff in a small Western town terrorized by a masked stage robber known only as the Black Bandit. Leo arrests a vagrant, Frenchy (Bud Osborne), who matches the description of the outlaw. But when the citizenry, headed by Nathan Jessup (Frederick Dana), the father of Maloney's girlfriend (Eugenia Gilbert), favor a quick lynching instead of a trial, the law-abiding Maloney escapes with his prisoner. A lawyer, Blaisdell (Charles Bartlett), agrees to help, but Frenchy manages to disappear. There is another stage robbery and this time the townsfolk turn against Jessup's son (Morgan Davis). Luckily, Maloney proves that the real bandit is in reality Blaisdell, who has been paying Frenchy to attack the stagecoach line. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Produced by low-budget operators Weiss Bros. and written by future director Harry Fraser (under the pseudonym Harry P. Crist), this impecunious jungle serial starred Eugenia Gilbert as Phyllis Manley, a young girl in search of a hidden fortune. Only Phyllis' father (Harry Belmour) knows the whereabouts of the treasure and he is quickly dispatched by villain "Brute" Hanley (Albert J. Smith). Former champion gymnast Frank Merrill, in his first starring role, was cast as the heroic Rod Bedford, making this serial a rehearsal of sorts for his work as Tarzan the Mighty (1928) and Tarzan the Tiger (1929). Sound ruined Merrill's screen career and he later became parks commissioner and recreation director for the city of Los Angeles. In one of film history's more audacious moves, producer Louis Weiss dusted off the old serial in the mid-'40s, produced a few scenes with Ray "Crash" Corrigan in his gorilla suit, and re-released Perils of the Jungle under the title The White Gorilla. The silent footage (with Corrigan's voice-over) was run in sound speed, unfortunately, making everybody appear as if they were performing in a Mack Sennett farce. The film was copyrighted in 1945 but apparently not released until 1947. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Recovering war veterans Bob Custer and Tom Bay rescue ranch-owner Eugenia Gilbert and a little French war orphan (Bobby Nelson) from a nasty villain planning to rob them blind. One of producer Jesse J. Goldburg's penny-pinching little silent westerns, The Valley of Bravery had an above-average cast that included turn-of-the-century stage idol William Gillespie as the mustache-twirling villain and director Frank Nelson's little son, Bobby, as the imperiled orphan. Bobby Nelson later starred as the "Pioneer Kid" in one of Universal's last silent 2-reel series. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Rough-hewn Art Acord starred in this Universal "Blue Streak" Western as a dude-ranch foreman who disdains the place's effeminate clientele. Acord's Art Louden also despairs over the many "modern girls" visiting the ranch. Having seen a demure portrait of Iris Millard (Eugenia Gilbert), Louden is first in line when the girl arrives from the East accompanied by her father (Vin Moore). But Iris is yet another snobbish Jazz-Age flirt who won't give the rough foreman the time of day. She changes her mind, however, when Louden recovers some stolen jewelry from a gang headed by nasty Carter Blake (Erwin Renard). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Stan Laurel had quit acting -- at least temporarily -- to focus on his work as a writer and director. This Hal Roach comedy got him back in front of the cameras and legend has it that the role he played here -- as Summers, the valet to Harry Myers -- was originally meant for Oliver Hardy. Hardy, however, had burnt himself in a cooking accident and was unavailable, so Laurel was pressed into service. Once Laurel was back acting, it wasn't long before he and Hardy would be appearing together and making film history. Orvid Joy (Myers) is on a ship returning to America so he can collect his inheritance. During the voyage, he falls in love with a girl (Eugenia Gilbert) and they marry. In the States, his lawyer, Issac Goldberg (Max Davidson), has arranged a marriage because Joy cannot collect his inheritance without a bride. He wires Joy that his "wife" will be waiting for him when the ship docks. Joy's new bride misunderstands and thinks he's a bigamist so she storms off. Joy is in a panic because he can't get married to someone else -- that would really make him a bigamist. All he can do, it seems, is hire a female impersonator. His valet, Summers, is forced into a dress, but he proves to be a highly uncooperative bride. Fortunately, Joy's real bride returns just in time to make everyone happy. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Laddie was the first of three film versions of the classic rural novel by Gene Stratton-Porter. John Bowers stars as Indiana farm boy Laddie Stanton, who falls in love with Pamela Pryor (Bess Flowers), the daughter of wealthy English squire Mahlon Pryor (Arthur Clayton). Their romance is aided and abetted by the precocious antics of Laddie's kid sister, played by Gene Stratton (reportedly a relative of novelist Porter). It takes some doing, but Pamela's snobbish dad is eventually won over by the ingenuous Laddie. Produced by FBO, Laddie was remade in 1935 and 1941 by FBO's successor, RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This picture was adapted from a popular musical comedy. Colonel Dodge is a widower who enjoys his single status. After his former sweetheart, Arbutus Quilty (Louise Fazenda), threatens him with a breach of promise suit, he decides to take a vacation in Florida with his daughter, Mary (Eva Novak). Arbutus follows in pursuit, accompanied by Miss Pink (Dot Farley), a detective. At the hotel, Dodge has the house detective, Lester (Harry Myers), help him get back some incriminating letters he wrote Arbutus. Lester is successful, but Miss Pink gets the letters back. A clerk gets them from Miss Pink and finally Arbutus gets her hands on them again. Meanwhile, Mary is trying to have a romance with Jack Griffin (George O'Hara), but he dumps her because he believes that Dodge is her sweetheart instead of her father. Arbutus decides that the men will come to their senses about their romances if the girls pretend to be kidnapped; Lester makes the arrangements. But one of the kidnappers gets too rough with Mary, and Griffin manages to rescue them and reconciles with her. Arbutus resolves to stop chasing after Dodge, who immediately realizes he loves her after all. The result is that both father and daughter wind up at the altar. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The Man of the Forest was one of a seemingly endless stream of Zane Grey novels that were brought to the screen. Carl Gantvoort makes a rather colorless hero, and he's up against two impressive villains: Robert McKim and Jean Hersholt. Ailing ranch owner Al Auchincloss (Harry Lorraine) sends for his two nieces, Helen and Bo Raynor (Claire Adams and Charlotte Pierce), who are his heirs. Milt Dale, who lives in the forest (Gantvoort), comes down to help round up the cattle, and a romance springs up between him and Helen. This does not please Harvey Riggs (McKim), who is trying to get control of the ranch. Riggs gets help from bootlegger Lem Beasley (Jean Hersholt), who sends his henchmen to kidnap the girls. Dale, meanwhile, has been framed to keep him out of the way, but he still manages to rescue Helen and Bo. Beasley's attempt to poison Auchincloss is foiled when he is shot by Las Vegas, a cowboy (Frank Hayes). The bad guys are put to rout, and Dale can continue his romance with Helen. This story was filmed again in 1926 and 1933. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi