Otto Hoffman Movies

This romantic drama only used half the clichés of the typical horse racing story. There's the impoverished Colonel (or in this case, a judge) and his pretty daughter, who may have to marry the bad guy who has the mortgage on the family home. At least the story draws the line at this juncture -- there are no drugged or kidnapped jockeys and the heroine doesn't put on the jockey's outfit to ride the horse to victory, which is the way most racing melodramas end. Judge Roberts (Frank Keenan) is living a life of genteel poverty, but he doesn't let his daughter, Virginia (Claire Windsor), know. He rears her in luxurious circumstances by selling off his land, bit by bit, until all that is left is the old homestead and a racehorse, who is about to have a colt. But the horse gets out of the stable during a rainstorm and dies after giving birth. The colt, Dixie, just barely survives. Johnny Sheridan (Lloyd Hughes) is down on his luck, and Judge Roberts takes him in. The young man works in the stable and when the colt, Dixie, is badly injured, he saves its life. Dexter, a trainer for a neighboring millionaire (John St. Polis), finally tells Virginia the truth about her father's circumstances. Dixie is entered in a big race and wins 50 thousand dollars, saving Virginia from marrying the man who carries the mortgage on the old homestead. It turns out that Sheridan comes from a good family, so he is able to marry Virginia. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This plodding melodrama fails to measure up to the original 1917 version directed by Charles Giblyn. Mildred Gower (Alma Rubens) is a young woman who marries an old sea captain to save her mother (Eugenie Besserer) from losing the family home. A young physician who loves her accuses her of selling herself to the old salt and peppers her with questions. Her husband conveniently drowns at sea, leaving Mildred free to pursue romance with the dashing doctor. William Walsh, Freeman Wood, and Otto Hoffman co-star with Frank Mayo, Lloyd Whitlock, and Wilfred Lucas in this inferior remake. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Dorothy Davenport billed herself by her private name, Mrs. Wallace Reid, for this melodrama about drug addiction. She was making a powerful point by doing so because her husband, film star Wallace Reid, had died at the beginning of 1923 as a result of his morphine habit. An exploitative bit of propaganda, Human Wreckage was nevertheless well made -- Davenport was supported by a solid cast that included James Kirkwood, Bessie Love, and Robert McKim, and the screenplay was written by C. Gardner Sullivan. Jimmy Browne, a junkie (George Hackathorne), is arrested after robbing a pawnshop, and his friend Mary Finnegan (Love) approaches Ethel MacFarland (Davenport) about the dilemma. Ethel's husband Alan (Kirkwood) is a lawyer of note, and he gets Browne released to a sanitarium to be cured. MacFarland is overworked, and his doctor (McKim) prescribes narcotics. Soon he is hooked, adverselt affecting his life and his work -- he even makes sure that Steve Stone (Harry Northrup), the head of the drug ring, gets acquitted of charges. Eventually he begs his wife to take him away so that he can kick his habit., but he is only able to quit for good when he believes that Ethel herself is succumbing to the lure of drugs. Now cured, he heads a campaign to wipe out drugs. Stone tries to escape, but Browne, who is driving him away, runs the car into a train, killing them both. This picture was made in the wake of several notorious Hollywood scandals -- Reid's drug addiction being only one -- and was a weak attempt to convince Middle America that the film capital was willing to clean up its act. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Lest exhibitors didn't think the source material's title (based on a novel by then-popular writer Kathleen Norris) was particularly exciting, Warner Brothers offered the alternative title, "Flaming Passion," to this Jack Conway melodrama. In the belief that his noble title will lead her to a glamorous life, Lucretia (Irene Rich) marries Sir Allen Lombard (Marc MacDermott). Her hopes are dashed however, when she discovers he leads a dissolute lifestyle. Because of his decadent ways, Lombard eventually finds himself confined to a wheelchair and becomes a drug addict. He tricks Lucretia into giving him an overdose, which kills him. She is accused of murder, but the district attorney, Stephen Winship (Monte Blue), absolves her from any blame. He falls in love with her, but he has just become engaged to Mimi (Norma Shearer), a ward of his father (Alec B. Francis). He goes ahead with the marriage only because he believes that Lucretia does not love him. The truth is that she has gone off with his brother Fred (John Roche) to help him with a problem. A forest fire breaks out and Lucretia tries to save Mimi, only to be stuck on a bridge that is washed away by a bursting dam. Winship saves both of them, but Mimi dies from her injuries. With her death, Winship and Lucretia are free to be together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this rather artificial drama, Shirley Mason plays Constance Bailey, a rich girl who refuses to marry her sweetheart, Bruce Von Griff (Alan Forrest), until she has done some good in the world. She finds work as a teacher on New York's Lower East Side, and one day Bruce shows up in a policeman's uniform -- he has joined the force partly to keep an eye on her, and partly because he wants to do some good in the world himself. He keeps proposing to Constance, who keeps turning him down. She helps a little boy (Pat Moore) and his blind sister (Helen Stone). Meanwhile, Bruce is trying to track down a thief (Otto Hoffman). Coincidentally, the same crook attacks Constance, so Bruce gets to save his sweetheart and collar the wanted man at the same time. Eventually Constance figures she's done enough good and accepts Bruce's proposal. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This comedy is in a similar vein to the popular Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, which was released the year before. Herbert Rawlinson plays salesman Bob Mortimer, who loses his job but finds he is wealthy when he picks up what he believes to be his valise and finds it stuffed with a million dollars. The bag actually belongs to a crook who is running from the cops. When Mortimer arrives in the hick town of Croesus, he's approached by a slick con artist who calls himself Professor Lang (Lincoln Plumer). Lang mistakes Mortimer for another crook and convinces him to trick the villagers into giving them money for a phony promotion. The sheriff finally gets on their case, resulting in a Keystone-type pursuit. Eventually Mortimer encourages Lang to turn straight and they do right by the villagers. Mortimer also wins the requisite girl, played by former Mack Sennett bathing beauty, Harriet Hammond. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Silent cowboy-star Hoot Gibson specialized in playing ruffled, slightly comical cowpokes suffering from a mix of shyness and brash action. In this typical silent Gibson western, the "Hooter" plays a Quaker, whose father (William Welsh) is falsely accused of murder. The son, up until then the butt of endless jokes because of his pacifist ways, kidnaps the sheriff's pretty daughter (Edna Murphy) in order to enforce a fair trial for his father. She falls for the hero, of course, and he is allowed to track down the real killer (Wade Boteler). A pretty brunette known for her "flapper" roles, Edna Murphy was at one time married to director Mervyn LeRoy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Even though this light comedy never leaves the confines of its hospital setting, it's still highly amusing. Billy Grant (Richard Dix) winds up in the hospital after going on a wild spree when his fiancée breaks up with him. Jane Brown (Helene Chadwick) is his nurse, and he begs her to marry him. She agrees because she believes that he is dying. The truth is that Grant has married her just to get back at his relatives, who helped ruin his relationship with his fiancée. Jane asks to be transferred to the maternity ward, and she helps a newborn baby and its mother reunite with its father. While searching for the man, however, Jane breaks some hospital rules and she's in danger of being fired. Grant comes to her aid and also claims her as his wife. This picture was based on two stories by author Mary Roberts Rinehart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This character study was adapted from Henning Berger's play, Synafloden, which was known as The Deluge in its English translation. Stratton's Cafe is located in the town of Cottonia, near the banks of the Mississippi River. Since it is below river level, Stratton (Will Walling) has water-tight doors installed. One day the flood alarm sounds and Stratton locks up his cafe. Inside are Billy Bear, a young broker (Richard Dix), Poppy, the chorus girl he once loved (Helene Chadwick), and a number of other people, including a tramp, an alcoholic street preacher, a shyster lawyer, two cotton traders who are enemies, and an out-of-work actor. When they all realize they will probably die of suffocation, they undergo a shift in consciousness. Everyone reforms and forgives their fellowmen in the spirit of brotherly love. Finally they decide to face the flood head on and fling open the doors. To their surprise, the water has receded and all is well. Not surprisingly, everyone immediately reverts to their old, wicked selves -- at least that's the way it was in the play. In the film version, Billy Bear and Poppy hang onto their ideals and head off to get a marriage license. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

When the brutal Captain Briggs (a miscast Dustin Farnum) destroys a Malay idol, a native witch (Evelyn Selbie) puts a curse on him. From there on in, death follows him. He marries, but his wife dies when their son is born. The son reaches adulthood and weds, but the couple catch a fever and die, leaving Briggs with an orphaned grandson. The boy, Hal (Bernard J. Durning, also the film's director), grows up to be as violent and mean-tempered as his grandfather. He gets into a brawl and is stabbed by a poison dagger. Briggs, who had once had his own encounter with a poison dagger, has both the poison and the antidote -- unfortunately, he doesn't recall which is which. But he risks his life by tasting one of the powders. It turns out to be the antidote, and he gives it to Hal, who recovers. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This light comedy was based on the George Ade play, and Ade in turn seems to have been inspired by It Pays to Advertise, because it's basically the same plot. Ed Swinger (Jack Pickford) has a college degree but no apparent skills. He wants to marry Caroline Pickering (Molly Malone), the daughter of Septimus Pickering, the pickle king (George Hernandez). But Pickering doesn't think Swinger is son-in-law material. To get him out of the way, he gives Swinger twenty thousand dollars and says that if he can double it in 30 days, he can have Caroline. Of course, Pickering is confident that he will get most of his money back and get rid of Swinger. In fact, he manages the former by secretly selling the young man fifteen thousand dollars' worth of bogus oil stock. With five thousand dollars left, Swinger enlists the help of a college chum who wants to break into advertising. They create a campaign around "Bingo Pickles," most of which are just Pickering's pickles with new labels. Everywhere the pickle king goes, he finds himself inundated with "Bingo Pickles" ads. Finally he decides it's best if he buys out the concern and is forced to cough up a hundred thousand dollars -- plus advertising costs. When he finds out that the whole thing was a trick of Swinger's, Pickering is a good enough sport to let him wed Caroline. If Pickford (younger brother of screen star Mary Pickford) doesn't make much of an impression here, perhaps there's a reason -- in September, 1920 his wife, actress Olive Thomas, died under mysterious circumstances, and Pickford mourned deeply for many months. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

A major -- and rare -- failure from legendary producer Thomas H. Ince, The Bronze Bell starred British-born stage idol Courtenay Foote as a Long Island socialite doubling as an Far Eastern revolutionary. As the title indicated, the story hinged upon a huge bell, the possession of which could shake the British Empire to its foundation. Far too expensive for its own good, the production was further marred by the death of minor player John L. Franck, killed in a special effects explosion.on the set. The Bronze Bell was based on a novel by Louis Joseph Vance, the creator of The Lone Wolf. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide