Robert Harron Movies
Teenaged New Yorker Robert Harron escaped the bleak poverty of his Irish-immigrant neighborhood by taking a messenger job at the American Biograph film studios in the Bronx. When director D. W. Griffith arrived at Biograph in 1908, he took a liking to Harron and decided to take advantage of the boy's photogenic qualities. Before he was 20 years old, Harron was one of the busiest and most popular players at Biograph, acting opposite such "youngsters" as the Gish Sisters and Mary Pickford and playing an exhausting variety of characters, from country bumpkins to hollow-eyed drug addicts. He played one large role and several smaller ones in Griffith's groundbreaking Birth of a Nation (1915), and was prominently featured as the young man unjustly sentenced to hang in the director's follow-up epic Intolerance (1916). He remained with Griffith in 1920, then broke off to form his own production company. Unfortunately, Harron never realized his goal. In September of 1920, Harron died when he was fatally wounded by a gunshot to the left lung in what was officially ruled an accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1908
The French-based Gaumont company churned out quite a few brief comedies in their New York headquarters. One of these was Thompson's Night Out with the Police, a domestic farce probably inspired by Biograph's "Jones Family" series. Somewhat the worse for drink, Mr. Thompson is weaving his way home late one evening when he is accosted by a pair of uniformed policemen. The cops want to escort Thompson home, but he's too far gone to give them his address. Rifling through Thompson's pockets, the officers find several business cards with names and addresses. After taking our hero to the wrong house five times in a row, the weary gendarmes drag Thompson to the station house, where he spends a peaceful night snoozing away in a comfy cell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1908
Most film historians agree that D. W. Griffith was sole director at Biograph Studios during the fall and winter of 1908. No evidence exists that Biograph's The Valet's Wife was directed by Griffith, though chances are he at least supervised the film. Unable to live on the allowance provided by his clergyman uncle, a prodigal young man claims to have gotten married so that uncle will increase his weekly check. Naturally, uncle wants to pay a visit to the nonexistent bride, so our hero tries to pass off his valet's wife as his own. Things get even stickier when the prevaricating young man is also forced to produce a "baby son" -- and the only infant he can readily get his hands on is a black child (a standard comedy device in 1908). Fortunately, uncle has a sense of humor, and all is forgiven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1909
Running 211 feet (approximately 4 minutes), Little Darling was filmed right after the more ambitious D. W. Griffith production 1776: or, The Hessian Renegades. Appearing in both films as the heroine was 16-year-old Mary Pickford. A country couple receives a letter announcing that their city relatives are sending their "little darling" for a visit. Having never met the "darling," the couple sets about to create a nursery, filling the room with all sorts of baby toys. Imagine their surprise when the Little Darling turns out to be a rambunctious teenager (played, of course, by Pickford). Most of the film was shot on the premises of the Caudebac Inn, D.W. Griffith's Upstate New York headquarters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
