Stuart Holmes Movies
It is probably correct to assume that American actor Stuart Holmes never turned down work. In films since 1914's Life's Shop Window, Holmes showed up in roles both large and microscopic until 1962. In his early days (he entered the movie business in 1911), Holmes cut quite a villainous swath with his oily moustache and cold, baleful glare. He played Black Michael in the 1922 version of The Prisoner of Zenda and Alec D'Uberville in Tess of the D'Ubervilles (1923), and also could be seen as wicked land barons in the many westerns of the period. While firmly established in feature films, Holmes had no qualms about accepting bad-guy parts in comedy shorts, notably Stan Laurel's Should Tall Men Marry? (1926) In talkies, Holmes' non-descript voice tended to work against his demonic bearing. Had Tom Mix's My Pal the King (1932) been a silent picture, Holmes would have been ideal as one of the corrupt noblemen plotting the death of boy king Mickey Rooney; instead, Holmes was cast as Rooney's bumbling but honest chamberlain. By the mid '30s, Holmes' hair had turned white, giving him the veneer of a shopkeeper or courtroom bailiff. He signed a contract for bits and extra roles at Warner Bros, spending the next two decades popping up at odd moments in such features as Confession (1937), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), and in such short subjects as At the Stroke of Twelve (1941). Stuart Holmes remained on call at Central Casting for major films like Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) until his retirement; he died of an abdominal aortic aneurism at the age of 83. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1914
World War I (then known as the European War) had only just started in earnest when a small film company put together this drama. America, in fact, hadn't yet taken sides, and in keeping with this neutral stance, both sides are treated fairly, if a bit unrealistically. Germans occupy a small town near the southeastern border of France. A young German lieutenant, Eric von Rodek (Stuart Holmes) wrecks the interior of a chateau while drunk, and is upbraided by Yvonne Granpre (Edith Hallor), a girl who lives there. Later, when he encounters her in an inn, he tries to have his way with her. She resists, and he comes to his senses. But then the innkeeper tries to force himself on her, and von Rodek kills him. Because of his misdeeds, von Rodek is sent on a dangerous and possibly fatal mission, Yvonne, meanwhile, is taken for a spy and sentenced to be executed. Von Rodek returns just in time to save her and the couple anxiously await the war's end so that they can be together -- of course, little do they (or anyone else) realize that peace will take four more years. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Produced and directed by Universal Pictures stalwart Will H. Davis, Thou Shalt Not offered character actor Stuart Holmes one of his biggest and flashiest screen roles. Set in the Frozen North, the film focuses on a romantic triangle involving a prospector, his wife, and the wife's no-good lover. During a showdown with the lover, the husband kills the man, but "pays" for his crime when his wife dies of a long and painful illness. Our hero finds redemption when he falls in love with the sister of the man he killed. Managing to elude the authorities, the now-reformed prospector starts life anew with his lady love. Thou Shalt Not ran four reels, which translated roughly to 60 minutes' screen time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1914
You've probably already deduced that the silent In the Stretch is a racetrack story. Writer/director Phil Scovelle casts himself as an honest jockey surrounded on all sides by dishonesty. After serving time in jail (he wasn't always honest), Scovelle exposes a crooked gambling ring. He simultaneously wins the Big Race and the heart of heroine Courtney Collins. And he does it all in a record 48 minutes (or four reels, whichever comes first). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
This was Theda Bara's third starring film, and the first which she carried all on her own, with no other name actors in the cast. Based on the Alexander Dumas story, The Clemenceau Case involves Iza, a vampire-wife (Bara), whose wicked ways scandalize her husband, Pierre (William E. Shay). She threatens to bring his best friend, Constantin Ritz (Stuart Holmes), to ruin. Ultimately, her husband, fed up with her antics, murders her then calls the police with an unruffled calm. One truly ludicrous aspect of the picture was a snake which supposedly co-starred with Bara. Her character kept the creature as a pet, and much ado was made over how dangerous it was. In reality, it was stuffed, which is all-too apparent in still photographs (no actual print of the film is known to exist). Nevertheless, the film was a huge success with both critics and audiences alike -- perhaps its huge box office was helped along by the vilification it received from social reformers. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1915
The first of 23 Theda Bara films to be directed by J. Gordon Edwards (the step-grandfather of Blake Edwards), this film was also the first to have a happy ending. Bara once again seeks vengeance on a cheating husband (Stuart Holmes), but instead of routinely destroying a series of men, Bara's Francesca Brabaut falls in love with a nice artist and lives happily ever after. The Galley Slave was based on a Victorian stage play and enjoyed less than booming business. As a consequence, Theda's employer, Fox, quickly ordered up the much more lurid Destruction (1915). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Mrs. Henry Wood's war-horse novel and play East Lynne has been filmed so often that we've lost count. This 1916 version was the first American adaptation. Theda Bara is cast as Lady Isabel, whose past indiscretions (including running off with a murderer) eventually catch up with her. Under an assumed name, Lady Isabel takes a job as a governess to be near her own little son, now dying of consumption. Unfortunately, this adaptation of East Lynne no longer exists, so nobody knows how well the usually vampish Bara portrayed a sympathetic character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
In his long screen career, Stuart Holmes played everything from romantic leads to 2-reel comedy villains to gray-haired bit parts. Holmes was afforded top billing in Fox's The Sins of Men, in which he was cast as George Marvin, who in later years might have been a suitable Ayn Rand hero. A disciple of "The Creed of Selfishness," Marvin is dedicated to gratifying his own needs and desires at the expense of everyone else. The creator of this creed is German philosopher Wilhelm Schumann (Tom Burrough, who comes to a sorry end when a grieving father, angered that Marvin has seduced his daughter, storms into Schumann's home and shoots the old man dead. The last-reel revelation that the entire story was a bad dream undoubtedly disappointed many hardcore melodrama fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
It is nothing short of tragic that none of the elaborate Annette Kellerman vehicles directed by Herbert Brenon exists today. In addition to her legendary swimming skills, Kellerman was a charming and captivating actress, and as a bonus she looked sensational in the revealing costumes chosen for her by the box-office savvy Brenon. Like Kellerman's previous Neptune's Daughter, the "million dollar" Fox production Daughter of the Gods was a lavish fairy tale, set long long ago in a land far far away. The setting was an Atlantis-like kingdom, where the heroine was forced to contend sword-and-sorcery style with various and sundry ghoulies, ghosties and goblins -- as well as a few human villains -- before achieving true happiness with her Prince Charming. Stills exist of Daughter of the Gods showing the shapely Kellerman clad in little more than her long, flowing hair; for this reason alone, moviegoers should mourn the loss of this undoubtedly fascinating film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Desperately tired of playing man-eating "vamps," Theda Bara begged to play Ouida's 1901 Foreign Legion heroine, "Cigarette," in the fourth screen version of this enduring drama. The Legion's mascot, Cigarette falls for an Englishman, Bertie Cecil (Herbert Heyes), and when he is sentenced to a firing squad, she heroically takes the bullet herself. Directed by Bara regular J. Gordon Edwards (the step-grandfather of Blake Edwards), Under Two Flags was a major critical and popular success despite obvious Long Island locations standing in for the North African desert. Making his screen debut in this film, handsome but somewhat stodgy Herbert Heyes embarked on a long career than lasted until the late '50s; he is perhaps best remembered for playing Montgomery Clift's millionaire uncle in A Place in the Sun (1951). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Mary Doone (Theda Bara) is a poor British girl who runs away from her adopted family because the father made a pass at her. She lives at a parish house, and at the outbreak of World War I, she becomes a Red Cross nurse. At the front she meets war correspondent Lloyd Stanley (Stuart Holmes). Stanley tries to have his way with her but she is saved when the hospital tent is bombed. To get away from Stanley, she takes on the clothes and identity of an (apparently) dead girl, Ethel Wardley (Madeleine Le Nard). Ethel was on her way to live with Lady Clifford (Lucia Moore), an aunt she has never seen. So that's where Mary goes. There she meets and falls in love with Ethel's cousin Elliott (A.H. Van Buren). They become engaged. But Ethel is not dead and she recovers from her wounds. She and Stanley head for the Clifford estate to blow Mary's cover. It doesn't matter, however, because Mary has already admitted the ruse, and the family has forgiven and accepted her anyhow. Bara was going through a very un-vampish period in her career during the time this film was made -- it was sandwiched between Under Two Flags and Romeo and Juliet. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
When producer-star Demi Moore added a gratuitous "burned at the stake" scene to her 1995 vanity-production version of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, she was raked over the coals for distorting and misrepresenting the original novel. While this may be true, it should be noted that Moore was not the first filmmaker to "improve" the Hawthorne novel by dragging in elements of the Salem witch trial. That honor goes to director Carl Harbaugh, who was responsible for the 1917 version of The Scarlet Letter. In this one, Mary Martin (not the same-named musical comedy actress) starred as Hester Prynne, whose refusal to name the father of her illegitimate daughter results in her being symbolically branded with an "A" for adultery by her Puritanical neighbors. The man who brought about Hester's shame was Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale (Stuart Holmes), who begs Hester to allow him to confess his sins. But Hester, aware that the townsfolk considers Dimmesdale a role model, insists that he keep his silence. When the truth does come out, the film digresses spectacularly from the Hawthorne original, as the townspeople accuse Hester of "bewitching" the weak-willed minister. Thus it is that the heroine is condemned to be burned as a sorceress, a fate from which she is rescued only by the fevered pleas of the repentant Dimmesdale. It was suggested by the trade magazine Variety that the "burning" gimmick was inspired by the recent Cecil B. DeMille production Joan the Woman. Whatever the case, this version of The Scarlet Letter was justifiably dwarfed by the more faithful 1926 adaptation starring Lillian Gish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1919
This Norma Talmadge vehicle broached a subject that was timely in 1919 -the overthrow of the Russian government and the changes wrought by the new regime. Talmadge plays Princess Marie Pavlona and the picture opens at a sumptuous ball where she is awaiting her fiancé, Prince Michail Koloyar (Pedro deCordoba). But the Red army attack the palatial residence, leaving it in ruins. The lovers, however, have not been caught. Marie changes her identity and become Sonia Sazonoff, a peasant who runs a grocery shop. Meanwhile, the Prince is pretending to be Red to avoid suspicion, but he is caught. Although he is ordered to be shot, he manages to escape. And Sonia/Marie is having her own problems -- there has been an edict that all women between the ages of 23 and 32 are property of the State and must register (there apparently were newspaper reports of just such a decree in Russia at the time). Vicious ruler Kemenoff (Charles Gerard) is urging her to register so he can have her as his own, but she refuses. Instead, she is secretly helping women escape to the border. Finally she is caught doing this, and she is a good candidate for execution. But Prince Michail comes to her rescue, while Kemenoff commits suicide. The lovers exile themselves to a new home where they can be happy and free. With a plot that stretches credibility and facts, this was rather a weak film for Norma Talmadge. But it is interesting to note the sympathy thrown to the nobility, and the depiction of the revolutionaries as evil and bloodthirsty; it was more a statement on American politics of the era than on conditions in Russia. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Nancy Lee (Norma Talmadge) is a Southern belle with a good pedigree whose family, nevertheless, is impoverished. They refuse to allow her to marry the man of her heart, Anthony Weir (Conway Tearle), because, although he has money, his family tree is lacking. Nancy sends Anthony away but then rebelliously marries a New Yorker who throws all his money away on partying. He dies not long after they are wed and leaves her nearly penniless. Anthony's nephew passes himself off to Nancy as a man of wealth, so she accepts the money he offers to loan her. But he has actually embezzled the cash, and Anthony berates Nancy because he believes his nephew stole the money on her behalf. But his nephew reveals that he misrepresented himself to Nancy, and then Anthony finds out that she's no longer a part of her dead husband's fast crowd. So the two are finally reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Fred Hartley (Ned Hay) is a hard-working family man; Mrs. Hartley (Ellen Cassidy) prefers to waste her time flitting around in society. She meets J. Douglas Kerr (Stuart Holmes), a very slick character, and he weasels his way into her affections. The U.S. enters World War I and Hartley feels it is his patriotic duty to enlist. While he is fighting in France, Kerr works on convincing Mrs. Hartley that he won't return and that she should marry him. To force matters, he sends a fake telegram informing her that Mr. Hartley has been killed. She buys into all this, but in the nick of time her husband returns. Kerr's plan is foiled, but he manages to escape retribution. Mrs. Hartley, meanwhile, revels in her husband's forgiveness. George Jessel and Evelyn Brent had small roles in this mediocre programmer. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
WWI flying ace Lt. Bert Hall played himself in the thrill-packed wartime actioner Romance of the Air. When his plane is shot down over occupied territory, Hall disguises himself as a German soldier in hopes of making an undetected escape. Instead, he is reunited with his American sweetheart Edith Day (likewise playing herself), who was stranded in Europe when the war commenced. Hall "borrows" an enemy plane and flies back to his own lines, with Day and her best friend, the Countess of Moravia (Florence Billings). Alas, the Countess turns out to be a German spy, and Hall is accused of being in her employ. Exonerated by a military tribunal, Hall dedicates himself to smashing the Countess' network of spies. Based on Bert Hall's autobiographical novel L'Air. Romance of the Air was filmed with full cooperation of the U.S. government, which loaned out a variety of aircraft to the filmmakers. During its initial release, the film was accompanied by a "live" lecture delivered by Lt. Hall himself. Few audience members dared to question the veracity of the film in Hall's presence, but the trade paper Moving Picture World was not quite so chivalrous: "Lieutenant Hall rings true, but his story does not." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1919
A former lover returns to plague newlywed Beth Vinton (Rubye de Remer) and her husband. To prevent a scandal, Beth arranges a convenient "accident" for her awkward paramour. As it turns out, her husband rescues the Other Man. Grateful and a little ashamed, the ex-lover leaves Beth's life forever. Dust of Desire is set in South America, which looks a lot like the wilds of Catalina. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1920
This low-budget melodrama was released by Republic. Nellie Vaughan (Grace Davison) leaves home because of the constant arguments between her father and her brother, Dan (J.W. Johnson). She finds work as a flower girl in a cafe, where she meets the wealthy Pelton Van Teel (Montague Love). Devlin Maddox (Stuart Holmes) sees an opportunity to blackmail Van Teel, and he tells Nellie that the young man has been boasting that he is keeping her. Nellie is infuriated and she offers to help Maddox to get revenge. The idea is to have Nellie marry Van Teel, and then squeeze money out of his father for a separation settlement. Things don't work out as planned -- Nellie falls in love with Van Teel and convinces him to marry her. When his father offers her money to divorce him, she turns him down. Her brother Dan, meanwhile, believes that Van Teel has seduced Nellie, so he shoots and wounds him. Nellie proves that they are married and helps him to escape. Van Teel has been losing money to Maddox, who shows up with a check he claims is worthless and threatens to make trouble. Nellie takes the check from him at gunpoint. A detective, who has been investigating Maddox at the request of Van Teel's father, arrests the swindler, and Nellie and Van Teel find happiness together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Vania (Emmy Wehlen) is a political refugee who travels from Russia to the United States. But even in America, she is pursued by assassins known as "the Ring of Death" because she carries certain papers given to her back home by her father. She marries a man who turns out to be a drug addict, and in a heated argument, she shoots him. A young lawyer defends her, then falls in love with her. When one of the men who is after Vania gets shot, he admits that he was responsible for the bullet that killed her husband. So Vania and her lawyer wind up together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
After a string of successes including Outside the Law and The Virgin of Stamboul, Universal gave director Tod Browning's next film "special" status. But Browning, perhaps, tried a little too hard to live up to that in his attempt to make Edna Ferber's story Fanny Herself seem larger than life. In reality it's a simple tale, similar to, though not as good as Humoresque. Molly Brandeis (Grace Marvin) makes great sacrifices to send her son Theodore (John Davidson) to Europe to develop his talent as a violinist; so does his sister Fanny (Mabel Julienne Scott). But his violin playing is no match for his immoral nature, and he turns out to be a disappointment to his family. Mrs. Brandeis dies broken-hearted and Fanny, who has given up what she thought was her one chance at love, decides to go to Chicago. She forges a success as a business woman and is planning to go to Honolulu with her unhappily-married boss when she comes face to face with her old sweetheart. They realize it's not too late for them and they wind up happily together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
The mystical novels of Vicente Blasco-Ibanez were much prized by ambitious silent filmmaker Rex Ingram, who filmed two of them in the 1920s, both ostensibly vehicles for his actress wife Alice Terry. The first of the two, Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, was infinitely more successful than the second (Mare Nostrum), a fact that can be attributed to two little words: Rudolph Valentino. The quintessential Latin Lover stars as Julio, the scion of a wealthy Argentinian family. During the years prior to World War I, Julio's relatives relocate to Germany and France, with Julio opting for the latter country, where he opens an art studio. Here he carries on a torrid affair with Alice Terry, the wife of an attorney. When World War I breaks out, Terry joins the Red Cross and her husband enlists in the army, while the carefree Julio avoids involvement in the conflict. Only when visited by the spectres of the Four Horseman--war, conquest, famine, and death--does Julio don a uniform. His death is a symbolic sacrifice on behalf of Ms. Terry, whose husband has been blinded in the war: and, in an additional symbolic grace-note, Julio dies at the hands of his own cousin, now a German officer. The film's Big Money sequence was the one in which Rudolph Valentino danced the forbidden tango in a dingy, smoke-filled Argentinian cantina. That's what made him a star, not all that mumbo-jumbo about fate, destiny, and Four Horsemen. Proof that Valentino and not Blasco-Ibanez was the principal drawing card of this film was the 1962 remake, in which Glenn Ford portrays Julio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry, (more)
- 1921
Wife May Collins is convinced by a homewrecking female (Marcia Manon) that her husband Richard Dix is unfaithful. Upon learning that she's been hoodwinked, Collins decides to use a few underhanded feminine wiles herself. By proving herself the equal of the woman who broke up her home, wifey wins back hubby. This is what people used to do before talk radio, we suppose. All's Fair in Love was based on The Bridal Path, a play by Thompson Buchanan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1922
This epic-scale silent adaptation of the popular novel by Anthony Hope concerns Rudolph (Lewis S. Stone), a member of the royal family of Ruritania who is about to be crowned King. However, his conniving and ill-tempered brother has designs on the throne, and he drugs his sibling shortly before his coronation. Rudolph's allies find a British tourist who bears a striking resemblance to the would-be king, Rudolph Rassendyll (also played by Stone). They persuade the visitor to pose as Rudolph during the coronation to prevent the brother from usurping the crown. When the brother's henchmen discover that the Englishman is posing as Rudolph, they lock the real monarch away in a dungeon and attempt to expose the false king before he can be given the crown. The Prisoner of Zenda was directed by Rex Ingram, one of the most important directors of the American silent cinema, and co-starred Alice Terry as Princess Flavia and Robert Edeson as Colonel Sapt. The story was previously filmed in 1915, and would enjoy three more remakes during the sound era. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, (more)
- 1922
Following a year-long absence from the screen, Gladys Brockwell returned to films in this Universal melodrama. When she tries to save her friend from the repercussions of an affair, Carol Gordon (Brockwell) gets in trouble with her own newly-wed husband -- he believes that she's the one who has been unfaithful and sends her away. Jack Gregory (Stuart Holmes) -- the man who had the affair with her friend -- now believes that Carol will be an easy mark. But Carol has other things on her mind -- she accompanies him to a South Seas island only to keep him from ruining other women's lives. While on the island, she meets the manly David Hardy (Mahlon Hamilton) and falls in love. Gregory tries to have his way with Hardy's sister Elouise (Edna Murphy), but Carol puts a halt to his scheming. Conveniently, Carol's husband (who was much older than she) dies, and Gregory comes down with some sort of jungle fever and perishes too, so she and Hardy are free to be together. Some comic relief is provided by the always-funny Kate Price, who plays Carol's hefty servant. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1922
Because of Rudolph Valentino's success in The Sheik, Universal deemed it a good time to bring out a desert story of their own. Ouida's novel had been filmed before with Theda Bara in the lead role of Cigarette; here, the not-as-exotic Priscilla Dean plays the half-French, half-Arab "daughter of the regiment." To escape from trouble back home, Victor (James Kirkwood) joins the Foreign Legion and becomes a corporal. Cigarette falls in love with him immediately. When she is kidnapped by Sheik Ben Ali Hammed (John Davidson), Colonel Victor comes to her rescue. Later on, when Arabs prepare to attack the regiment, she returns Victor's favor with a wild ride to warn him. She is seriously wounded in the ensuing battle, but still manages to shoot an Arab who is trying to pull down the French flag. In the book, Cigarette dies, but here, the ending is left ambiguous -- you're not told whether she survives or not. This story was filmed again as a talkie in 1936 with Claudette Colbert and Ronald Colman in the leads. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Priscilla Dean, John Davidson, (more)
