Arthur Hoyt Movies
Stage actor/director Arthur Hoyt first stepped before the movie cameras in 1916. During the silent era, Hoyt played sizeable roles in such major productions as Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and The Lost World (1925). In sound films, he tended to be typecast as a henpecked husband or downtrodden office worker. One of his mostly fondly remembered talkie performances was as befuddled motel-court manager Zeke in It Happened One Night (1934). Despite advancing age, he was busy in the late 1930s, appearing in as many as 12 pictures per year. In his last active decade, Arthur Hoyt was a member of writer/director Preston Sturges' unofficial stock company, beginning with The Great McGinty (1940) and ending with The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1922
Because Owen Moore's biggest claim to fame is that he was Mary Pickford's husband before she fell in love with Douglas Fairbanks, his acting talents are generally overlooked. But he had a nice flare for farce, as he proves in this entertaining bit of fluff. Tony Churchill (Moore) has finally convinced Judge Griggs (Thomas Guise) that his past is squeaky clean and he is fit to marry the judge's daughter, Helen (Marjorie Daw). Just then Churchill's pal, Harold Wright (Arthur Hoyt), informs him that his old flame -- a chorus girl named Marion (Charlotte Mineau) -- is coming to town. Churchill had once made a not very sincere promise to marry her, but she plans to hold him to it. To get out of this dilemma, he convinces the wife (Alice Howell) of the building's superintendent (Snitz Edwards) to pretend she is married to Churchill. Since the super isn't aware of the arrangement, this causes some major complications; then Helen comes to believe that her fiancé is already married. She winds up waiting at the altar while Churchill dodges a process server and searches for some incriminating letters. He finally makes it to the church (though not on time) and the couple resolves the misunderstanding. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Moore, Marjorie Daw, (more)
- 1922
Doris May, a minor light comedienne of the 1910s and early '20s, is the star of this farce. Tom Manning (Wallace MacDonald) has become infatuated with an actress, Grace Lorimer (Christine Mayo), and his disapproving father (Otis Harlan) sends him away to Montana. As soon as he is gone, the father makes arrangements to buy the actress off. Mary Neil (May) shows up to collect the money, but the father discovers through a photograph that she is not the right girl. Nevertheless, he takes a liking to the impostor and invites her to stay at the Manning home. Mary takes him up on the offer and soon Mr. and Mrs. Manning are treating her like a daughter. Eventually Tom returns from his enforced vacation and he too falls in love with Mary. Mr. Manning rushes the couple to the altar as quickly as he can, before Tom's former sweetheart comes around to cause trouble. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy May, Wallace MacDonald, (more)
- 1921
After graduating from college, rich girl Margery Carr (Doris May) decides to do some good in the world. Much to the chagrin of her father (Otis Harlan), she decides to open an office to help derelicts. For her secretary, she picks an ex-gangster named Bubbs (who else but Bull Montana?) out of the throng. To push her cause, she throws a reception at her home and then has a party at a theater -- and of course, she invites all her down-and-outers. Eventually, she realizes that maybe she doesn't belong amongst the criminal element and returns to her sedate life as a society girl, and to her fiancé. This was Doris May's first picture in which she was starred on her own. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Based on Peter B. Kyne's The Sheriff of Cinnabar, this fine silent Western starred Hoot Gibson as Pinto Peters, who with his friend Chuckwalla Bill (Joel Day take over the newspaper in the town of Cinnabar. Their crusade against the rougher elements in town is so successful that Pinto is elected sheriff, much to the dismay of gambling house proprietor Blackie Holloway (Joe Harris). Pinto's girlfriend Jane Reedly (Molly Malone), meanwhile, stands by her crooked uncle (Joseph W. Girard) when Pinto accuses him of bothering the judge's daughter Eliza (Mary Philbin). When the uncle is mysteriously murdered the blame falls on Eliza's boyfriend Nathan (Arthur Hoyt), but Pinto suspects Blackie and catches him trying to flee with Jane and her inheritance. Red Courage was directed by B. Reeves Eason, nicknamed "Breezy," who had replaced John Ford as Universal's ace Western specialist. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Although by no means the definitive version of the Alexander Dumas story -- scenarist June Mathis modernizes it and the overall tone is rather cool for such a group of supposedly hot-blooded characters -- this picturization is notable for a number of reasons. To play Camille's lover, Armand Duval, film star Alla Nazimova hired a handsome young up-and-comer named Rudolph Valentino. Valentino's friend Mathis was primarily responsible for this -- although he had already been in a few films, the just-completed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would not be released until a few days before Camille began shooting. So the silent screen's biggest heartthrob was still a virtual unknown, as far as Nazimova was concerned. But as Armand he nearly steals the show because he seems so much more natural than Nazimova's stagey Camille -- not to mention the fact that by the film came out, Four Horsemen had already made him a star. The art direction shows the stylized hand of Natacha Rambova, and it was on this production that she and Valentino met and became lovers. The plot to Nazimova's picture stays close to the book at first -- the glamorous demi-monde gives up her lifestyle for young Armand, then gives him up at the behest of his father (William Orlamond) -- but then the ending strikes a sour note. In every other version of Camille ever filmed, the tuberculosis-stricken courtesan dies in Armand's arms. Here she dies with only Gaston (Rex Cherryman) and Nichette (Patsy Ruth Miller) in attendance -- no Armand! In spite of this huge disappointment, the picture still made money for its releasing studio, Metro. Nevertheless, this was Nazimova's last picture for the company. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alla Nazimova, Rudolph Valentino, (more)
- 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
Author Gertrude Atherton wrote this story especially for the screen; it is supposedly based on a true story that happened in San Francisco's society circles. Langdon Masters, a newspaper editor and writer (Lewis S. Stone), falls in love with Madeline (Mabel Julienne Scott), the neglected wife of the aristocratic Dr. Howard Talbot (Charles Clary). Although Masters and Madeline decide that they should not see each other, when Talbot discovers the affection between them, he demands that Masters leave San Francisco and his newspaper career. Masters agrees and wanders to New York's notorious "Five Points" district, where drink and degradation follow. Madeline, fed up with her husband's cruel nature and cold demeanor, finally obtains a separation. She heads for New York and proceeds to track down Masters. She finds him in one of the city's worst dives and proceeds to pull him out of the gutter. With her love, Masters is able to once again lead a useful life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mabel Julienne Scott, Lewis Stone, (more)
- 1920
Although Nurse Marjorie (Mary Miles Minter) proves to be a skilled caregiver, she is actually the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Donegal (Arthur Hoyt and Vera Lewis). To her parents' consternation, she has decided to take a stab at being self-supporting. Her main patients are a child with a broken leg and John Danbury (Clyde Filmore) of the House of Commons, who has been temporarily blinded. Danbury falls in love with Marjorie and becomes jealous because she's spending so much time with the other patient, who he thinks is a grown man. In an attempt to discourage the romance, Marjorie takes Danbury to meet her parents -- only they don't go to the Donegal estate, but the home of a fish dealer who has agreed to stand in. However, the woman's comically uncouth ways don't dampen his spirits or his suit, and Marjorie is finally impressed with his sincerity. So she reveals her true identity, manages to overcome the obstacle of her title, and is united with Danbury. This film was based on the novel by Israel Zangwill, who was famous for his tales of British life. It is apparently the only surviving film made by director William Desmond Taylor that starred Mary Miles Minter. In 1922, Taylor was mysteriously murdered, and although it is almost certain that Minter had nothing to do with the crime, the negative publicity still ruined her career. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Lord and Lady Bazelhurst (Arthur Hoyt and Katherine Adams respectively) own an estate in the Adirondacks next door to wealthy American Randolph Shaw (Jack Livingston). Lord Bazelhurst wants Shaw's property, even if he has to use underhanded means to get it. Appalled by his methods, Lord Bazelhurst's sister Penelope (Peggy Hyland) runs off to Shaw's estate. There -- in the midst of a Hatfield-McCoy-type feud, only amongst the very rich -- she finds love with the resourceful American. This film, which had both light comedy and melodramatic elements to it, was based on a book of the same name by author George Barr McCutcheon. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Legendary escape artist Harry Houdini stars in the offbeat adventure yarn The Grim Game. Houdini plays Harvey Hanford, a young journalist who is framed for the murder of his uncle. Since it was well-known that no jail cell or pair of handcuffs could hold Houdini, the film has to work overtime in building up suspense. The most memorable scene finds the great magician suspended by a rope between two flying airplanes. An unrehearsed plane crash during this sequence was captured on film and exploited to the hilt in Grim Game's publicity campaign. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
This blatant World War I propaganda film was based on a Henry Irving Dodge story that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. Albert Walker (Arthur Hoyt) is dismayed by the rumors and unpatriotic talk he hears around town. Disgusted with these "yellow dogs," he rounds up the boys of the village and has them challenge all those who speak against the war efforts. Not only does this plan purge the town of "yellow dogs," a plot is discovered in which a shipyard is to be blown up. The nefarious scheme is halted and the identity of the spy responsible for it is revealed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Kitty Manning (Gloria Swanson) lives with her husband, Jim (Lee Hill), a telegraph operator, at a remote railway station. After her baby dies, she can no longer stand the loneliness of the place and joins a musical show as a chorus girl. While Jim is making his way up in the railway company, Kitty is noticed by Stephen Morton, the railroad's president (Arthur Millet). Morton's wife, (Nellie Allen) only cares about his money, and he makes Kitty a proposition. She asks him to wait while she decides, but when she misses a connection as she's heading for the city, she is stuck at a station very much like the one she left. A couple is happily living there with their baby, but the husband is very ill. Since Kitty knows telegraphy, she offers to help out so that the husband can go to the hospital. While she is in charge, the trestle is struck by lightning. Kitty keeps the arriving express train from wrecking, and on board are both her husband and Morton. She turns down Morton's offer and reunites with her husband. Although Gloria Swanson had nothing good to say about this programmer in her 1980 autobiography, her performance was noted favorably by critics of the day. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
After ten years in China, Monty Gray (Franklyn Farnum) meets up with old friend Wilbur Mason. He sees a photo of Wilbur's cousin, Constance (Agnes Vernon) and immediately falls in love with the girl. Wilbur warns him that Constance's mother is determined that she will marry someone of title, but this doesn't stop Monty. He becomes "Lord Winston Radleigh" so he can woo her. At a house party thrown by Constance's family, Monty finds he has competition in a man called the Duke of Cannister. But Constance -- who isn't as title-mad as her mother -- is not interested in the Duke, or in Monty's fake title. She is interested in Monty himself, however, and sets up a situation to test his mettle -- she has a group of cowboys from her father's ranch kidnap her. Monty rises to the occasion and comes to her rescue. He has beaten up most of the cowboys when Constance tells him it was a set up. She decides that Monty is the man for her, which is just as well because it turns out that the Duke was a phony and a con man. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
