Reed Howes Movies
One of several male models to achieve some success in action films of the '20s, Hermon Reed Howes was forever saddled with the tag "Arrow Collar Man," despite the fact that he had been only one of several future luminaries to have posed for famed artist J.C. Leyenecker's memorable Arrow ads. (Future screen actors Fredric March and Brian Donlevy also did yeoman duty for the company.)A graduate of the University of Utah and the Harvard Graduate School, Howes had served two and a half years in the navy prior to entering onto the stage. He became a leading man for the likes of Peggy Wood and Billie Burke, and entered films in 1923, courtesy of low-budget producer Ben Wilson, who cast the handsome newcomer as the lead in a series of breathless melodramas released by Rayart. Howes reached a silent screen pinnacle of sorts as Clara Bow's leading man in Rough House Rosie (1927), but his starring days were over with the advent of sound. There was nothing inherently wrong with Howes voice, but it didn't do anything for him either. His acting before the microphone seemed too stiff. He was still as handsome as ever, but his good looks were often hidden behind a scruffy beard or mustache. The veteran actor then drifted into supporting roles in B-Westerns and serials, his appearances sometimes devoid of dialogue, and more often than not, he was unbilled. Howes did his fair share of television in the '50s as well, but ill health forced him to retire after playing a police inspector in Edward D. Wood Jr.'s The Sinister Urge, filmed in July of 1960 and a guest spot on television's Mr. Ed. He died of cancer at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1923
This low-budget action-thriller marked the film debut of "Arrow Collar man" (or, rather, the most famous of several Arrow Collar men) Reed Howes. Millionaire Jeremy Ellsworth (Joseph Blake) is getting on in years, and he wants to provide for his grown grandson, John (Howes), and little granddaughter, Beatrice (Rita Rogan) in his will. His scheming secretary has other plans, however, and has a friend of his pose as John, who is working in a lumber camp and can't be located. Old Ellsworth discovers that the young man he believes is his grandson is an impostor, and dies of the shock. Word finally reaches John that someone is pretending to be him in his grandfather's house, so he leaves the camp. Thugs overpower him, once he arrives home, and they kidnap Beatrice. John tracks down the kidnappers with the help of an airplane and rescues his little sister. The crooked secretary and his associates are brought to justice. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Blake, Henry Sedley, (more)
- 1924
Jack Wade (Reed Howes) is the son of a wealthy father who runs a successful ship-building company. He uses his athletic prowess to defeat the villainous competitors who are out to financially ruin his father. The films is a vehicle for the handsome Reed Howes to appear in various costume changes for the benefit of his female fans. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Ethel Shannon, (more)
- 1924
Richard Armstrong (Reed Howe) has invented a carburetor that will enable his car to win a road race. Until that happens, however, he's working on a skyscraper being built by Robert Steele (Frank Beal). Armstrong falls for Steele's daughter, Doris (Alma Bennett), but her father won't hear of the match. His choice is Reynard Trask (William Bailey), who is posing as a broker, but is really an underworld leader. Steele finally tells Armstrong that if he comes up with five thousand dollars in 30 days, he will consider a match with Doris. Since that's the amount of the prize money for the race, Armstrong sees some hope. Just as he's about to end the race in first place, he gets sidetracked saving a child. Trask, meanwhile, convinces Doris that Armstrong is untrue and she agrees to marry him. Armstrong is able to unearth Trask's nefarious doings and rescues Doris at the altar. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1924
Cowboy Ben Wilson arrives at Arthur Mackley's ranch just in time to prevent the daughter of the house (Marjorie Daw) from marrying scoundrel Reed Howes in this low-budget Western which benefitted from a strong supporting cast. There is the inevitable crooked ranch foreman, of course, played by stunt-man Yakima Canutt. At one point in the film, Canutt actually appears to get stoned on marijuana, a first (and last) for a B-Western. Co-star Reed Howes was perhaps Hollywood's most handsome actor, known prior to his screen debut as the model for the "Arrow Collar" ads. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benjamin F. Wilson, Marjorie Daw, (more)
- 1924
Reed Howes, former "Arrow Collar Man" turned action hero, stars in Geared to Go as the son of a taxi-company CEO (George Nichols). Upon learning that his father is unfairly stamping out all competition, the young man goes to work for a rival cab firm. Hostilities erupt into violence ere long, and it's up to the son and his sweetheart (Carmelita Geraghty) to smooth things out. Along the way, the star has plenty of opportunities to display his manly physique and considerable athletic prowess. Elements of the plotline of Geared to Go continued to resurface in films throughout the 1930s, notably Jimmy Cagney's 1932 programmer Taxi! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Reed Howes, the original Arrow Collar man (or so his publicity claimed), stars in The Bashful Buccaneer. Howes plays a writer of rip-roaring sea adventures who (naturally) has never been on the bounding main in his life. To glean first-hand information, he hires out a boat owned by heroine Dorothy Dwan and heads out on a treasure hunt. He proves he's got what it takes when the crew stages a mutiny. Featured in the cast was "Gunboat" Smith, a popular boxer of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Dorothy Dwan, (more)
- 1925
This mystery was based on a novel written by 20 popular authors, each of whom contributed a chapter. The point of each chapter was to put the characters in such a tight predicament that the next writer would have to be exceptionally clever to get them out of it. As can be imagined, the film that resulted from the book was fast-paced and had almost constant action. Connemara Moore (Marie Prevost) has two suitors, one who likes bobbed hair and the other who doesn't. Both have proposed and she promises to reveal which one she has accepted by either bobbing her hair or not bobbing. In reality, she can't decide between them, so she accepts a ride with a stranger, David Lacy (Kenneth Harlan, at the time Prevost's real-life husband). The ride leads her to all sorts of adventures involving bootleggers, a fight on a private yacht, an attack by hijackers, and other tense situations. Connemara is rescued by Lacy, who turns out to be a government agent, and when she shows up with only half her hair bobbed, it's an indication that she has chosen him as her husband-to-be. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Prevost, Kenneth Harlan, (more)
- 1925
Handsome action star Reed Howes, the former "Arrow Collar Man," starred in this low-budget silent melodrama as an adventuresome Yankee who saves the duly elected president of a South American republic from being overthrown by his unscrupulous secretary. Having fallen in love with Rosita Gonzales (Carmelita Geraghty), the daughter of the president of Costa Blanca, Ted Clayton accidentally overhears El Diablo (Jack Mower) discussing a scheme to illegally take control of the government. Braving a series of perils, Ted manages to get an audience with the president (Eric Mayne) and later helps defend the palace from El Diablo and his gang of cutthroats. Produced by Harry Joe Brown for small-scale Rayart Pictures, Cyclone Cavalier was a fast-paced yarn with more than a passing resemblance to the average low-budget B-Western. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmelita Geraghty, Wilfred Lucas, (more)
- 1925
This independently made comedy-drama used a formula which was very familiar to 1920s filmgoers: take a fast car, a handsome, athletic Wallace Reid-type star (in this case, it's former Arrow Collar man Reed Howes), add a bit of romance, and finish up with a thrilling climax in which the hero wins an auto race. Pat O'Farrell (Howes) works as a milkman for his uncle, who owns a dairy company. While on the job, he rescues Estelle Knight (Mildred Harris) from a group of thugs. The pair fall in love, and he discovers that her father (Charles Clary) is an automobile manufacturer. Stanton Wade, a crooked lawyer (Sheldon Lewis), has stolen an invention called a "super-charger," and O'Farrell gets it back. When he finds out that Estelle's father is in debt to Wade, he enters a race with one of his cars and equips it with the super-charger. In spite of all Wade's attempts to stop him, O'Farrell makes it to the race and emerges victorious. With the prize money he is able to pay Mr. Knight's debt before Wade can take over the company. And, of course, he wins Estelle too. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes
- 1925
More substantial than most of the potboilers produced in the late '20s by Harry J. Brown, The Snob Buster starred former male model Reed Howes as a conceited socialite who returns from the war a true democrat. The new and improved Ted Pendergast cares only for the welfare of fellow veteran Butch McGuire (David Kirby), a pugilist, and Pendergast, Sr. (Wilfred Lucas) promptly has him committed to a sanitarium. Junior quickly escapes, however, and moves in with Butch and his lovely sister Molly (Gloria Grey). A local prize fighter, Kid Lowry (Ray Johnston), goads the newcomer into a grudge match, but Ted is forcibly returned to the sanitarium by his father as the contest is about to start. He escapes once again, and with Molly cheering him on, he wins the big match and, in time, his father's acceptance. One of the best-looking stars of his generation, Reed Howes was no actor in any real sense of the word, and his career descended into bit parts after the changeover to sound. He continued to appear in Westerns and action melodramas until shortly before his death in 1964. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Wilfred Lucas, (more)
- 1925
Produced on the cheap by Harry J. Brown, this silent car-racing drama starred former male model Reed Howes and Ruth Dwyer as lovers whose feuding fathers (J.P. McGowan and Henry A. Barrows), former business partners, are both dead set against the union. When the girl's father discovers that his rival's enterprising son has built his own race car and plans to enter the big race, the jealous manufacturer indulges in a bit of sabotage. But despite numerous perils, Howes manages not only to win the race but also reunite the partners. Crack O'Dawn was photographed by Lee Garmes, an ace cinematographer and lighting expert who would win an Academy Award for Shanghai Express seven years later. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, J.P. McGowan, (more)
- 1925
Former fashion model Reed Howes stars in this routine drama about a son who inherits a car, a valet, and a dime from his millionaire father. Jimmy Thomspon, Margaret Morris, and Wilfred Lucas co-star in this forgettable film hampered by Howes' lack of emotional register before the camera. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Jimmy Thompson, (more)
- 1926
That fine physical specimen Reed Howes stars in the airborne actioner High Flier. An erstwhile inventor, Howes befriends a titled Frenchman who likewise enjoys tinkering with gadgets. The plot contrives to have Howes pose as the French nobleman, which earns him the temporary scorn of heroine Ethel Shannon, the daughter of a wealthy plane manufacturer. All turns out well for the hero when his propeller invention is proven a smashing success -- but not before he is forced to "take the air" himself. A heady combination of laughs and thrills, High Flier delighted its target audience back in 1926, and might well be worth seeing again -- if one could locate a print, that is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Ethel Shannon, (more)
- 1926
Admittedly, gridiron flash Harold "Red" Grange was more at home on the football field than before the cameras, but he was an agreeable screen presence in his handful of starring films. In Racing Romeo, his second movie vehicle, Grange is cast as auto mechanic and aspiring racer Red Walden. For the sake of the lovely Sally (Jobyna Ralston), Red enters the obligatory Big Race. Three guesses as to who crosses the finish line ahead of the other cars (and the first two guesses don't count!) Providing strong support for the personable Mr. Grange are such sure-handed comic performers as Trixie Friganza and Walter Hiers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes
- 1926
Former male model Reed Howes, Mildred Harris (the ex-wife of Charles Chaplin), and ace screen villain Sheldon Lewis starred in this low-budget silent action melodrama about a war veteran battling a gang of crooks out to steal his invention, a "self-starter" device for military tanks. An also-ran leading man of the late silent era, Howes starred in a series of low-budget melodramas produced and often directed by Harry J. Brown. He was reduced to bit parts and "walk-ons" in talkies. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1926
Produced and directed by Harry J. Brown, this minor silent action melodrama starred former male model Reed Howes as a habitual night club patron. Howes' wealthy father (Joseph W. Girard) is so troubled by his son's hedonistic lifestyle that he plans to have him "abducted." The plan, alas, goes awry when the hired kidnappers abduct their employer instead. One of the gang members, a young girl (Gladys Hulette) posing as a cigarette vendor, switches allegiance after falling in love with Howes, and the gang is caught. A veteran screen ingenue who had begun her career with the Edison company in the early '10s, Gladys Hulette is best remembered for playing Richard Barthelmess' romantic interest in the classic Tol'able David (1921). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1926
Thunder the Dog, one of the worthier rivals of canine star Rin Tin Tin, heads the cast of Wings of the Storm. Curiously, the plot is quite "human," with a cowardly, pampered German Shepherd becoming a hero when he's adopted by a rugged forest ranger (Reed Howes). The daring doggie not only rescues his former owner (Virginia Brown Faire) from an untimely death but also exposes the treachery of a villainous lumber-camp superintendent (Bill Martin). The climactic sequence, in which the bad guy unloads a supply of logs on the helpless hero and heroine, is the equal of anything ever seen in a Rin Tin Tin opus. Wings of the Storm was directed by John G. Blystone, whose gallery of cinematic collaborators ranged from Tom Mix to Laurel and Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Russell, Reed Howes, (more)
- 1926
Former "Arrow Collar" man Reed Howes once again gets to show off his pecs in the low-budget Kentucky Handicap. Howes plays a horse owner who, through the chicanery of the villains, is banned from racing just before the Kentucky Derby. He manages to clear his name just in time for the first bugle call. Need it be added that he also wins the race -- and the girl, played by the toothsome Marjorie Daw? Director Harry Joe Brown is better known for his producing activities in the 1950s, especially his topnotch series of Randolph Scott pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Alice Calhoun, (more)
- 1926
Reed Howes, the original Arrow Collar man, stars in the action-packed Danger Quest. Set amongst the African diamond mines, the story concerns a fearless young mining engineer named Bob Rollins (Reed Howes) who must contend not only with the natural dangers surrounding him, but also such human antagonists as all-around villain Otto Shugars (Fred Kohler Sr.) J.P. McGowan, later a prolific "B"-western director, was seen as seedy gambler Colonel Spiffy, while Ethel Shannon, one of the busiest if not most famous starlets of the silent screen, is the heroine Nan Colby. Also in the cast as tribal chieftain Umhattan is veteran black actor George Reed, who was normally seen as a Southern minister. Some of Reed Howes' stunting in Danger Quest is not to be believed, especially when he rides his horse between two pursuing riders then pushes both men out of their saddles! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Ethel Shannon, (more)
- 1926
Comedy and thrills are doled out in equal measure in the Buck Jones western The Gentle Cyclone. The story is motivated by a long-standing feud, which comes to a head when each of the warring families tries to adopt an orphan girl who is about to receive a huge inheritance. Into the fray comes a cowboy named Wales (Buck Jones), who tries to put an end to the feud -- and line his own pocket -- by adopting the girl himself. When he discovers that the "child" is actually a full-grown woman (Rose Blossom), and a real looker at that, Wales begins entertaining thoughts of matrimony -- but the picture isn't over just yet. Stealing the show from the hero and heroine is Oliver Hardy playing a bucolic sheriff -- still a year or so away from his teaming with Stan Laurel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rose Blossom, Buck Jones, (more)
- 1927
"Rough House Rosie" Reilly (Clara Bow) just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Hoping to become a Broadway actress, Rosie gets mixed up with rowdies and ends up in jail. Much the same thing happens when she tries to crash High Society. Eventually, Rosie finds her true niche in life when she falls in love with handsome prizefighter Joe Hennessey (Reed Howes) and helps him to win the championship bout by using her goo-goo eyes to distract his opponent. Arthur Houseman, later one of screendom's favorite "comic drunks," plays a comparatively straight role as gambler Kid Farrell, while Joseph W. Girard, perennial police chief in many a talkie serial, goes through his usual paces here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Reed Howes, (more)
- 1927
Handsome Reed Howes once again played a racecar driver in this silent action melodrama produced and directed, low-budget style, by Harry J. Brown. Howes portrayed Jack Harlowe, the son of an auto manufacturer who falls for the daughter of his father's business rival. The girl (Ruth Dwyer) wants him to drive for her father (Myles McCarthy) in the big race, but Jack is committed to pilot the Harlowe car. Until, that is, he learns that a rival (Ernest Hilliard) plans to throw the race. With his father's (James Bradbury, Sr.) permission, the daredevil youth beats the odds to win the race for his future father-in-law. Although not an official remake, The Racing Fool bore an uncanny resemblance to The Crack O'Dawn, a 1925 Harry J. Brown production which had also starred Howes and Dwyer. A former male model, Reed Howes had little more than a nice physique to offer and was reduced to playing bit parts after the changeover to sound. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes
- 1927
The Romantic Rogue is handsome Reed Howes, the scion of a disreputable family of peddlers. In the tradition of his forebears, Howes sets up shop in a small town to sell his family's line of patent medicine. But whereas the previous members of Howes' brood knew that their snake oil is bogus, our hero genuinely believes in the stuff -- and his faith in the medicine is contagious, resulting in "miracle cures" that are more due to self-determination and optimism than anything else. In the end, Howes realizes that his wares are worthless, but it hardly matters, since his goodwill-spreading has won him the heart of heroine Ena Gregory. James Bradbury and Syd Crossley co-star as a pair of Mutt-and-Jeff comic sidekicks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Ena Gregory, (more)
- 1927
Better known for his good looks than any acting capabilities, former male model Reed Howes starred in this silent action melodrama as the ne'er-do-well son of a railroad tycoon who attempts to regain his father's trust by landing an all-important ore-hauling contract. A rival railroad entrepreneur (J.P. McGowan, who also directed) does his best to sabotage the endeavor, but Howes perseveres against the odds. The film was built around footage of a spectacular train collision, which was in reality a stunt photographed at the South Dakota State Fair some years previously. Director J.P. McGowan's long love affair with trains had begun with The Hazards of Helen, a legendary 2-reel series that had starred his then-wife Helen Holmes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruth Dwyer, Dot Farley, (more)
- 1927
Reed Howes stars as Mike O'Malley, a daring racecar driver, known as "The Scorcher" for his tendency to "burn up" the track. The wealthy heroine (Thelma Parr) is in love with Mike but feels that he's too irresponsible for marriage. But when the future of his business partner Goldberg (Hank Mann) is at stake, Mike shows that he's comprised of equal parts bravado and common sense. The last-reel race sequence is the best part of the picture, combining clever camerawork with razor-sharp editing. Director Harry Joe Brown later went into the production end of the business, forming a lucrative partnership with western star Randolph Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reed Howes, Hank Mann, (more)
