Alice Hollister Movies

Pauline Frederick stars in this romance, based on the Louis Joseph Vance novel Mrs. Paramor. Nelly (Frederick) is so intent on her writing career, that she neglects her appearance and her husband, Wayne (Huntly Gordon). Jill Wetherell (Mae Busch), who is looking for a rich husband, finds Wayne to be easy prey and Nelly catches them together. She divorces Wayne and travels to Europe. Jill, however, throws Wayne over for Perley Rex (Conrad Nagel). Nelly becomes a writer of note under the pseudonym Mrs. Paramor. She also takes advantage of her easy access to the latest Paris fashions and becomes a truly stylish and beautiful woman. Along the way, she meets Rex and discovers he is married to Jill. They all take the same ship back to the States, and while Jill is seasick in her room, Nelly steals Rex's affection. When Jill goes to "the other woman" to beg for her husband, she is surprised to see that it's Nelly. Nelly lets Jill have Rex, but she realizes she has never stopped loving Wayne. She calls for him, and they are reunited. One novel scene near the end of the film shows Nelly hosting a banquet and mahjong party which is attended by an impressive group of movie stars, including Mae Murray, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Aileen Pringle, and many others; all of them, of course, signed to Metro-Goldwyn, the studio that released the picture. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

When Blanche Warren (Irene Rich) finds out that her sister, Adele (Ora Carew), is about to marry the notorious Hugh Sainsbury (Alan Hale), she and Adele's sweetheart, Chester Thomas (William Scott), rush to the sanitarium where Sainsbury works. Blanche arrives first and the next morning Sainsbury is found murdered. A deaf patient claims that she saw Blanche commit the crime, and she is arrested. A blind patient arrives who heard the murder being committed and when he hears Blanche's voice, he says she is not the killer. When a nurse comes in and speaks, the blind man points her out as the guilty party. The nurse confesses that Sainsbury had betrayed her, and that is why she murdered him. Adele apologizes to Thomas and they are reunited. Blanche is freed and she is able to be with her own sweetheart, Harland Day (Ramsey Wallace). ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Theda Bara may have been the "vamp" of the silver screen in 1915, but it was Olga Petrova who played the leading role in Metro's The Vampire. The story begins at a resort in the Adirondacks, where injured motorist Jane Lagrange (Petrova) is brought to recover from her wounds. Once she's out of danger, Jane proves to be a most bewitching "guest," and before long she has wrapped every one of the male hotel patrons around her little finger. She has a particularly powerful effect over married men, who need only take one look at Jane before deciding to desert their wives and families. Eventually, Jane is "invited" to leave the hotel, whereupon she embarks for Europe in search of more poor fools whom she can seduce. Such is her fame on the continent that she is known only as "The Vampire," loved by all but loving no one in return. All this changes when a handsome American arrives in Paris on a diplomatic mission. Falling deeply and truly in love with the American, Jane cannot bring herself to betray him as she has so many others. Guess who dies nobly at the end of this one. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

During its brief but colorful history, the pioneering Kalem company turned out a number of box-office successes. Foremost among these was From the Manger to the Cross, a tableaulike reenactment of the Passion Play. Robert Henderson-Bland played Jesus, while Gene Gaunthier and Jack Clark were seen as Mary and Joseph. Though the costumes were sometimes anachronistic, the film's overall authenticity was heightened by the expensive decision to lens the picture on location in The Holy Land. Made during Easter week of 1912, From the Manger to the Cross was still being exhibited by religious groups well into the late 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi