Joseph Henaberry Movies

The most successful and artistically advanced film of its time, The Birth of a Nation has also sparked protests, riots, and divisiveness since its first release. The film tells the story of the Civil War and its aftermath, as seen through the eyes of two families. The Stonemans hail from the North, the Camerons from the South. When war breaks out, the Stonemans cast their lot with the Union, while the Camerons are loyal to Dixie. After the war, Ben Cameron (Henry B. Walthall), distressed that his beloved south is now under the rule of blacks and carpetbaggers, organizes several like-minded Southerners into a secret vigilante group called the Ku Klux Klan. When Cameron's beloved younger sister Flora (Mae Marsh) leaps to her death rather than surrender to the lustful advances of renegade slave Gus (Walter Long), the Klan wages war on the new Northern-inspired government and ultimately restores "order" to the South. In the original prints, Griffith suggested that the black population be shipped to Liberia, citing Abraham Lincoln as the inspiration for this ethnic cleansing. Showings of Birth of a Nation were picketed and boycotted from the start, and as recently as 1995, Turner Classic Movies cancelled a showing of a restored print in the wake of the racial tensions around the O.J. Simpson trial verdict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometime during the shooting of the landmark The Birth of a Nation, filmmaker D.W. Griffith probably wondered how he could top himself. In 1916, he showed how, with the awesome Intolerance. The film began humbly enough as a medium-budget feature entitled The Mother and the Law, wherein the lives of a poor but happily married couple are disrupted by the misguided interference of a "social reform" group. A series of unfortunate circumstances culminates in the husband's being sentenced to the gallows, a fate averted by a nick-of-time rescue engineered by his wife. In the wake of the protests attending the racist content of The Birth of a Nation, Griffith wanted to demonstrate the dangers of intolerance. The Mother and the Law filled the bill to some extent, but it just wasn't "big" enough to suit his purposes. Thus, using The Mother and the Law as merely the base of the film, Griffith added three more plotlines and expanded his cinematic thesis to epic proportions. The four separate stories of Intolerance are symbolically linked by Lillian Gish as the Woman Who Rocks the Cradle ("uniter of the here and hereafter"). The "Modern Story" is essentially The Mother and the Law; the "French Story" details the persecution of the Huguenots by Catherine de Medici (Josephine Crowell); the "Biblical Story" relates the last days of Jesus Christ (Howard Gaye); and the "Babylonian Story" concerns the defeat of King Belshazzar (Alfred Paget) by the hordes of Cyrus the Persian (George Siegmann).

Rather than being related chronologically, the four stories are told in parallel fashion, slowly at first, and then with increasing rapidity. The action in the film's final two reels leaps back and forth in time between Babylon, Calvary, 15th century France, and contemporary California. Described by one historian as "the only film fugue," Intolerance baffled many filmgoers of 1916 -- and, indeed, it is still an exhausting, overwhelming experience, even for audiences accustomed to the split-second cutting and multilayered montage sequences popularized by Sergei Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, Joel Schumacher, and MTV. On a pure entertainment level, the Babylonian sequences are the most effective, played out against one of the largest, most elaborate exterior sets ever built for a single film. The most memorable character in this sequence is "The Mountain Girl," played by star on the rise Constance Talmadge; when the Babylonian scenes were re-released as a separate feature in 1919, Talmadge's tragic death scene was altered to accommodate a happily-ever-after denouement. Other superb performances are delivered by Mae Marsh and Robert Harron in the Modern Story, and by Eugene Pallette and Margery Wilson in the French Story. Remarkably sophisticated in some scenes, appallingly naïve in others, Intolerance is a mixed bag dramatically, but one cannot deny that it is also a work of cinematic genius. The film did poorly upon its first release, not so much because its continuity was difficult to follow as because it preached a gospel of tolerance and pacifism to a nation preparing to enter World War I. Currently available prints of Intolerance run anywhere from 178 to 208 minutes; while it may be rough sledding at times, it remains essential viewing for any serious student of film technique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rancher Warren Bronson (Herbert Standing) is plagued by cattle rustlers, so he gets Western detective Fancy Jim Sherwood (Douglas Fairbanks) on the case. Fancy Jim disguises himself as an Eastern wimp and easily discovers that Bull Madden (Frank Campeau) is the head of the rustlers. Jim also falls in love with Jane Forbes (Eileen Percy), a school teacher who has been harassed by Madden. Before rounding up the rustlers and getting the girl, Fairbanks gives full reign to his usual stunts -- climbing up the sides of buildings, mounting a dashing horse, and other leaps and bounds. This wasn't a stand-out vehicle for the athletic star, but according to reviews of the day it was entertaining nevertheless. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cub reporter Douglas Fairbanks Sr. gets his big break when he is assigned to interview a self-made millionaire (James Neill). Unfortunately, the millionaire is notoriously averse to interviews, thus Fairbanks is compelled to go through all sorts of verbal, mental and physical calisthenics to "get his man." When all else fails, our hero breaks into the interviewee's mansion and forces the man into a statement at gunpoint! Impressed by the boy's nerve, the millionaire offers him a job, but Fairbanks turns him down, preferring instead to spend his spare time wooing heroine Marjorie Daw and tracking down an elusive gang boss (Frank Campeau). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alisa Randall (Mildred Harris) is a young wife whose neediness is driving her husband Knox (Milton Sills) up a wall. She finally figures out that maybe if she treated him indifferently instead of constantly calling him at the office, she might get better results. This tactic also works for her friend Clarissa (Mary Alden), who is Knox's sister. But Clarissa gets involved with another man, and to save the marriage, Alisa pretends to be the one who is having the affair. Her husband, however, knows the truth and understands. This picture was based on the play by Frank Stayton. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

At first Louise Glaum, famed for her vamp roles, seems to be a bit miscast in this seven-reeler -- Mary Norwood (Glaum) is the ever faithful wife of Lloyd (Matt Moore), an opium-smoking womanizer. But when Lloyd becomes entangled in an underworld murder, Mary believes he is innocent and sets about to prove it. She disguises herself as a Chicago con woman and spends the rest of the movie vamping everyone in sight -- something Glaum excelled at -- until she finds the real killer. The story to this picture would have been tired and dull if it had been written by anyone but C. Gardner Sullivan. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Before Paramount produced this well-received version of Edward White's novel Conjurer's House, it had been made into a play by George Broadhurst and filmed in 1914 by Cecil B. DeMille (it was DeMille's second directing credit). Galen Albret (Noah Beery) is the factor, or manager, of an important trading post of the Hudson Bay Company. He's also a jealous and vindictive man, and because he believes that Graham Stewart (Edward Martindel) has slept with his wife, he sends him into the Northwoods to die. Stewart's son, who grows up with the name Ned Trent (Jack Holt), swears revenge. In his search for the killer, he winds up at Albret's post. Not realizing that he has already found his man, Trent falls in love with Albret's daughter, Virginia (Madge Bellamy). Trent is caught and sent out to the woods to die like his father, but Virginia rescues him. The circumstances surrounding the death of Trent's father are cleared up, and Albret admits his wrongdoing. Trent and Virginia are united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Mary Miles Minter once more emulates her great rival Mary Pickford in Don't Call Me Little Girl. Ms. Minter plays a Miss Fixit type who descends upon a small town and warms everyone's heart therein. Her biggest task is to land a husband for her plain-jane cousin Ruth Stonehouse. Don't Call Me Little Girl was directed by Joseph Henaberry, Fatty Arbuckle's favorite director; ironically, within a year both Minter and Arbucke's careers would be destroyed by scandal. The film was based on Jerry, a play by Catherine Chisholm Cushing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Virile Jack Holt was perfectly cast as the title character in this brawling South Seas drama. New Yorker Robert Kendall (Holt) inherits a pearl fishery from his uncle. It is located next to another fishing ground, and the men of both fisheries are constantly at odds. Kendall has to make a trip to the South Seas to claim the inheritance and to bring order to the area. As is usual for Jack Holt's characters, Kendall uses his fists to solve nearly every obstacle he discovers, battling two divers, Ricardo (Edwin Stevens) and Nilsson (Clarence Burton), and fighting for his rights. Kendall also falls in love with Rita Durand (Sylvia Breamer), the beautiful daughter of the owner of the adjoining fishery. Rita's father is murdered by a thief who wants to steal his fortune in pearls. Kendall tracks down the killer and brings him to justice. The grateful Rita consents to become Kendall's wife. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This Western -- which like many silent-era pictures was based on a Saturday Evening Post story (this one by Peter B. Kyne) -- was Jack Holt's second starring vehicle. The rough character he plays here suited him well, and he would continue to find success playing virile fighting men throughout his career. With the help of Red Barton (Wade Boteler), Phil (Holt) makes a spectacular escape from jail. He obtains a parson's outfit from a pawnshop and shortly thereafter winds up in a barroom brawl. One of the other brawlers is Chuckwalla Bill (J.P. Lockney), the newly elected mayor of the town of Panamint. Bill likes Phil's style and brings him in as the new pastor. To make his way in this tough Western town, the pseudo-preacher has to fight his way through the town's rough element. He wins the town's respect -- and the love of dancehall girl Sunflower Sadie (Mabel Van Buren). He also wins over the religious people of Panamint and brings the two opposing factions, good and bad, together. But then the law catches up with him and he has to go back to prison to finish his term. Sadie promises to wait for him, and when he finally is released, there she is, with open arms. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this comedy had an awful lot of inconsistencies, it still was an nicely entertaining programmer -- plus it had the presence of handsome Jack Holt, as Horace Winsby, the lead character. Winsby is a millionaire beet sugar king who owns nearly all of California's San Geronimo Valley -- and he has mortgages on what's left over. But he's also a condescending snob who has no mercy for his debtors and that wins him no friends. He even patronizes Patricia Owens, the girl he loves (Eva Novak), and she turns down his marriage proposal. When it becomes all-too apparent that Winsby has one too many enemies in San Geronimo, he goes to New York to wait for things to cool down. He runs up a big bill at a posh hotel, and when he loses his wallet, he is unable to pay. So the hotel attaches his luggage and throws him out onto the street. Winsby has no choice but to head for a nearby park where he befriends a bum who shows him how to get by. Patricia comes to New York with her father (Joseph P. Lockney), and they find out about Winsby's dilemma. They finally trace him to a hash house where he is working as a dishwasher, a much humbler and happier man. After he straightens things out with the hotel, Winsby extends the mortgages of his debtors and brings his bum friend back home with him. Patricia approves of the new Winsby and agrees to marry him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This farcical melodrama starring Jack Holt was a pleasant program feature. Holt is Robert Pitt, a wealthy young idler who has just returned home to the States from London. While at a restaurant, he notices pretty Molly Creedon (Sigrid Holmquist). He sees that she has a photograph inscribed "with love" and as a joke, he makes a bet with his pals that he will obtain an autographed picture from the girl within 24 hours. But getting the photo is harder than it seemed at first, and he finally asks a burglar to help him out by stealing it. What Pitt doesn't realize is that Molly's father is "Big Phil" Creedon, the police commissioner, and there is a plot to steal some jewels from a British family. Pitt becomes a suspect in the attempted robbery, which he winds up preventing. After saving the jewels, he gets both the photograph and Molly. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jack Holt plays Sam Sandell, an American engineer working in India who rescues a pretty half-caste girl (Aileen Pringle) from a tiger's attack, but is badly wounded himself. The girl, Chameli Brentwood, nurses him back to health and out of gratitude he marries her, ignoring the fact that he has a fiancée, Harriet Halehurst (Eva Novak), back home. The couple had argued before Sandell left the States, and Harriet shows up in India hoping for a reconciliation. Instead she finds that Sandell has decided to stay with his new bride. But in the racially prejudiced 1920s, this could never be a satisfactory denouement, so the scenarists get Chameli out of the way by making her unfaithful. She runs off with Raj Singh (Bertram Grassby) -- "a man of her own race," noted trade paper Motion Picture News -- then dies, conveniently enabling Sandell and Harriet to reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide