George Hackathorne Movies

The Turmoil was one of Booth Tarkington's most popular novels, and when Universal brought it to the screen, they assigned it to director Hobart Henley, who had directed another Tarkington book-turned-film, The Flirt. James Sheridan Sr. (Emmett Corrigan) is a powerful industrial force in his town, and he expects his three sons to follow in his footsteps. Two of them, Jim (Theodore Von Eltz) and Roscoe (Edward Hearn), willingly follow his decree, but Bibbs (George Hackathorne), the youngest, wants to become a writer. Sheridan forces him to go to work at the shop and he falls apart. The other sons are faring even worse -- Roscoe is so wrapped up in business that his wife Sybil (Eileen Pearcy) gets involved with a womanizer. Jim is drowned when a dam he is working on bursts. Mary Ventrees (Eleanor Boardman) had become engaged to Jim even though she didn't love him, and Bibbs falls for her. He knows that her family has little money, so he proposes. When she turns him down, Sheridan, who has come to see the error of his ways, works on Bibbs' behalf to bring the young people together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Best known today as the film which cost director Erich Von Stroheim his job at Universal Studios, Merry Go Round contains enough Von Stroheim touches to suggest that "official" director Rupert Julian merely tied together the film's loose ends. The titular merry-go-round is owned by the unspeakable George Siegmann, who inflicts all sorts of casual cruelties upon organ-grinder Mary Philbin. In addition to enduring Siegmann, Philbin must decide whether or not Austrian-count Norman Kerry truly loves her, or is merely toying with her in the months before his arranged marriage with countess Dorothy Wallace. The latter seems to be the case when Kerry goes through with his marriage. While fighting in the Franco-Prussian war, Kerry fortuitously comes across Philbin's dying father (Cesare Gravina), who roundly chastises the count before expiring. After the war, an impoverished and widowed Kerry tries to make amends to Philbin, who by now is herself engaged to hunchbacked circus performer George Hackathorne. A happy ending is in store for all concerned except the villainous Siegmann (remember him?), who suffers an appropriately grisly demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pigeon Deering (Maurine Powers) is the poor girl from the slums who is witness to a murder in this moral melodrama. She confesses to the crime to satisfy her craving for publicity. Attorney Arthur Beal (Rod La Rocque) successfully clears her name in a much-publicized trial. When Pigeon decides on a stage career, her attorney advises against the idea and fears unfavorable publicity will haunt her. She ignores his advice and Arthur lures her to an "audition" at his country estate. The lawyer hires a man (William Gudgeon) as a crazed "fan" to chase the girl. After her experience, Pigeon is willing to give up Broadway to be Arthur's wife. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Clara Kimball Young plays twin sisters, one a cabaret entertainer, the other a nun, in this melodrama produced and directed by her husband Harry Garson. Convent novitiate Janet Trevor agrees to exchange places with her worldly sister Lucy, who mistakenly believes that she has killed her longtime friend, politician John McBride (William P. Carleton). McBride had been attempting to save Lucy from her drug habit when a gun accidentally went off, but unbeknownst to Lucy he survived with only minor injuries. Impersonating Lucy, Janet wins everyone at the Cubist Café with her rendition of religious songs, but when she spurns the unwanted attentions of cabaret owner Alan Graves (Richard Graves), the latter threatens to expose McBride as the killer of one of his waiters. Janet, however, persuades the real culprit, lovesick hunchback Ramez (George Hackathorne), to come forward and when McBride discovers that the waiter, Lorenz (Jean De Limur), is not dead at all, but in hiding, Graves admits defeat. Free from accusations, Lucy and McBride plan to marry while Janet returns to her novitiate. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Director Allan Dwan does the best he can with middling material in this routine drama. When Arnold Barry (Niles Welch) travels to the mountains, he falls in love with Martha Queed (Mary Thurman). Because she wants to see the inside of his hunting cabin, Martha fakes a sprained ankle. She and Barry are seen by David Boyd, a drunk and a distant relative of Martha's (Frank Campeau). Boyd tells the girl's extremely strict, old-fashioned father (Joseph J. Dowling), and he is horrified. He orders Martha to marry Boyd to save her reputation. The next morning, Boyd is found dead and Barry is arrested on circumstantial evidence. Martha disappears into a marsh and is rescued by Atlas, a crippled young man (George Hackathorne). He nurses her, and when he discovers that Barry has been sentenced to death, he confesses that he is Boyd's killer and commits suicide. As soon as he is released, Barry finds Martha and takes her to the hospital. When she recovers, they marry. Martha's mother (Eugenie Besserer), who has left her cruel husband, serves as the witness. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

According to this Lois Weber production, men don't really seem to know what they want at all -- first Frank (J. Frank Glendon) wants to be an inventor. Then he wants to marry his childhood sweetheart, Hallie (the lovely Claire Windsor). Then he wants children. Then, when his inventions bring him financial success, he becomes restless, so he takes up with another woman. Eventually he figures out that the woman's reputation is less than squeaky clean, so he wants his wife back. But he sees Yost, one of Hallie's former admirers (Hallam Cooley), walk into their house and believes she is unfaithful. Months later, he finds out through his brother Arthur (George Hackathorne) that she's been true all this time, and Hallie lets him come back to her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Comic actress ZaSu Pitts got her first really big break when she starred in this King Vidor-directed feature. Ezra Scroggs (Jack McDonald) is a shiftless gambler who has let his hotel, the Lakeview, fall on hard times. Finally his daughter Nancy (Pitts)) gets fed up seeing all the business go to his rival, Si Whittaker (William Devaull) at the Majestic, and she decides to do something about it. She takes the old Lakeview jalopy to the station and grabs a potential guest who introduces himself as Peter (David Butler). When he explains that he's supposed to be on a special diet, Nancy poo-poos this with a Christian Science quote. He finds the meal he's served so delicious that he brags about it all over town and the Lakeview is once again in the money. What Peter doesn't tell Nancy before he leaves is that he has fallen for her. Ezra's bad habits continue and he gambles away his fortune and the hotel. He drowns during a drunken spree and Nancy receives six thousand dollars insurance money. She takes the funds and goes to finishing school. Since all the girls are getting letters from their sweethearts, she makes one up, using the name of a famous baseball player. One of the girls becomes suspicious and takes her to a box party at the next game where the ballplayer will appear. It turns out that he is Peter, and he and Nancy are happily reunited. Vidor used the Christian Science reference only because his investors insisted on it -- they wanted to repeat the success of Turn in the Road, Vidor's prior film with them, which had a Christian Science theme. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Coming as it did on the heels of what many consider to be Mary Pickford's greatest triumph, Stella Maris (1918), this film seemed almost too lightweight in comparison. The situation -- a poor girl's introduction to High Society -- was already old hat in 1918, but luckily, the star and her director, Marshall Neilan, made what could have been a poor imitation of Pygmalion into one of the best social satires of the era. Amarilly Jenkins is a beloved Lower East Side urchin by day and no-nonsense cigarette girl at the tough Cyclone Café -- an establishment complete with prostitutes and leering "Johns" -- by night. She is in love with bartender Terry (William Scott), but when society sculptor Gordon Phillips (the grandly mustachioed Norman Kerry) is beaten up in a brawl, Amarilly brings the young man home to her mother, an Irish laundrywoman (Kate Price). Gordon's own mother, Mrs. Stuyvesant Phillips (Ida Waterman) of the Park Avenue Stuyvesant Phillipses, looks upon Amarilly as an interesting social experiment, inviting the girl to stay at their palatial home. The dowager, however, is alarmed when Gordon falls in love with Amarilly. To prove a point, Gordon's mother invites Mrs. Jenkins to tea with the Phillips family, and Amarilly's Irish immigrant mother doesn't disappoint, entertaining the assembly by dancing an impromptu jig with the family butler. The haughty Mrs. Phillips might have avoided this spectacle had she only known that both Amarilly and Gordon had long ago realized that they were wrong for each other. Having wryly observed how the other half lived, Amarilly returns happily to her bartender in Clothes-Line Alley. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Even though World War I had just reached its end, the war films kept coming. While The Heart of Humanity had a similar plot to D.W. Griffith's Hearts of the World, it was by no means some cheap knock-off. Director Alan Holubar worked hard (sometimes too hard for this post-war era) to make the battle scenes as authentic as possible. The story centers around Nanette (Dorothy Phillips), an American girl living in a small Canadian village, who is in love with John Patricia (William Stowell), the eldest of five brothers. The war interrupts their romantic idyll, as everyone goes overseas to Belgium and France. Nanette becomes a Red Cross nurse and is terrorized by the evil Prussian Lt. von Eberhard (Erich Von Stroheim, who played a similar, but smaller role in Hearts of the World). It is up to John to save her from the Hun's advances. It was in this film that Von Stroheim, who had become famous for his wicked portrayals of German officers, was billed as "The Man You Love to Hate." This was his first movie for Universal; he would be both director and star of the next one, Blind Husbands. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide