Sam Hardy Movies

George Sidney and Charles Murray, the combative co-stars of the Cohens and Kellys series, do their usual in the First National comedy The Life of Riley. Riley (Murray) is the local fire chief and general-store proprietor; Meyer (Sidney) is the police chief and rival store-owner. Both Riley and Meyer vie for the attentions of the Widow Jones (Myrtle Steadman), who is partial to both men. The plot centers upon a revolutionary fire extinguisher invented by Riley, an essential factor in the outcome of the romantic rivalry. Life of Riley was partially remade (and considerably abbreviated) as the 1936 Andy Clyde 2-reeler Love Comes to Mooneyville. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most accessible of the Colleen Moore silent vehicles, Orchids and Ermine also happens to be among Moore's best and most representative films. The star is cast as Pink Watson, whose craving for such luxuries as orchids and ermine lead her to take a job as a telephone receptionist in a hotel catering to wealthy men. In the course of her many subsequent adventures, she meets a millionaire named Richard Tabor (Jack Mulhall), who to avoid predatory females has switched identities with his faithful valet Hanks (Sam Hardy). After making a half-hearted play for Hanks, Pink falls in love with Tabor, deciding that money doesn't mean anything after all -- and is she surprised when she learns Tabor's true identity. One of the highlights of Orchids and Ermine is a brief scene involving a flirtatious, cigar-smoking midget, played by 6-year-old Joe Yule Jr. -- who of course "grew up" to become Mickey Rooney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This playful spoof on the film business featured several stars including Ben Lyon, Lois Wilson, and Blanche Sweet. John Hart (Lyon) is a bank teller who gets fired after a shortage is found in his account. Desperate for work, he lands a job as a movie extra for famed director B.C. Duval (Dan Pennell, who looks and acts quite a bit like real-life director Cecil B. DeMille). Duval, with his retinue of "yes men," sees potential in young Hart and decides to make him over into a Latin lover. After they go to work on him, Hart is introduced to the press as ladykiller Don Juan Hartez. In order to promote his brand new reputation as a great lover, the press agent insists that he marry and divorce seven women in succession. After the sixth one, however, Hart gets fed up and runs off to marry his real sweetheart, Mary Kelly (Wilson), a modest little diner cook. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The Great Deception is set during WWI. Educated in Germany, British youth Cyril Mansfield (Ben Lyon) is seemingly uncertain of his loyalties when the War breaks out. Refusing to enlist in the British army, Cyril is accused of being a slacker and a coward. He then commits the ultimate betrayal by selling his services to the Germans. What none of Cyril's friends know is that he is secretly in the employ of British intelligence, pretending to be a spy for the Kaiser in order to get his hands on the enemy's secret war plans. His true purpose is revealed when his girlfriend Lois (Aileen Pringle) is kidnapped by German agent Von Markow (Lucien Prival). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Love had already grown cold for Natacha Rambova and her ex-husband, Rudolph Valentino, when this film came out. Why Rambova, a talented costume and set designer, chose to act in any picture, much less this tawdry exploitation film, is a mystery; although she was hauntingly beautiful, she had neither the presence nor personality to be a film star, and since she had worked in motion pictures for eight years by 1925, she must have already known it. Margaret (Rambova) gives up her stage career to marry Jerry Benson, an ambitious but rather ineffectual businessman (a wasted Clive Brook). The plans he presents to a big oil board fail to impress, so Margaret takes matters into her own hands and convinces the board to accept them. Benson becomes a huge success and makes an immense amount of money. William Graves, the company's president (Sam Hardy), lusts after Margaret and is determined to break up her marriage. He sends Gloria Trevor (Kathryn Hill) to seduce Benson, whom he also plots to ruin in the stock market. His schemes, however, are unsuccessful and Benson and Margaret end the film united once again. The story to this picture was based on a novel by then-popular author Laura Jean Libbey. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Just because movies before the late '20s were filmed without sound recording, it doesn't mean they were truly silent. This "heart interest" drama (an important release for First National in 1923) is a case in point -- Curtis Benton wrote the original story, inspired by the 1901 hit song "Mighty Lak' a Rose," and the tune certainly played an important part of the live score when the picture hit the theaters. Instead of the lively flappers for which she would become famous, Dorothy Mackaill plays a blind orphan, Rose Duncan, who has a special talent with the violin. Jerome Trevor, a famed pianist (Sam Hardy), hears her playing and sends her to an uncle in New York so she can become educated. But the uncle is killed in an accident on his way to meet her and she is taken in by gang leader Bull Morgan (Anders Randolph). Morgan pretends to be her uncle to elude the police, and he sees the value of keeping her around as cover. One of the crooks working under Morgan, Jimmie Harrison (James Rennie), falls in love with Rose and her beautiful music and he balks at using her to pull off a job. After a heated argument in which Rose is accidentally injured, Morgan comes under the girl's positive influence, as do the other gang members. They all decide to go straight -- even Morgan's hardened moll, Molly (Helen Montrose) -- but when they find out that Rose's blindness can be cured, they decide to pull off one last heist. Jimmie is caught and goes to prison. Trevor finally finds Rose and sends her to be trained. She is about to make her debut -- and to promise herself to Trevor -- when Jimmie shows up. Rose, who thought he was dead, is happily reunited with him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's controversial novel Uncle Tom's Cabin had a certain degree of novelty value by virtue of the fact that its star, Marguerite Clark, was cast as both the tragic Little Eva and the mischievous African American slave child Topsy. While the brunt of the film's dramatic content fell upon Eva's shoulders, Topsy handled the comedy relief, which though regarded as hilarious in 1918 might not play quite as well in today's more racially sensitive times. The film's highlight was the death of Little Eva, which offered the curious spectacle of Marguerite Clark watching herself "expire." Unlike previous versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which were either studio-bound or filmed in New York, this adaptation was largely lensed on location along the Mississippi River. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide