Walter James Movies

Invisible Stripes is a cookie-cutter Warners prison drama which rounds up the usual suspects. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart are top-billed, and as is often the case in such a circumstance, it is Raft who is given the larger (albeit less interesting) role. Raft plays Cliff Taylor, an ex-convict who finds that his "invisible stripes" prevent him from getting a decent job. Cliff's younger brother (William Holden) shows unfortunate signs of following his older sibling's footsteps when he is pressured into crime to support himself and his girl friend (Jane Bryan). To save his brother, Cliff joins Humphrey Bogart's gang and earns enough dishonest money to set his brother up in business. But movie censorship prevails, and all of the miscreants in Invisible Stripes--even those motivated by good intentions--must pay the penalty. Side note: The prankish Humphrey Bogart spent so much time needling newcomer William Holden that Holden nearly came to blows with the older actor; the animosity persisted into the Bogart-Holden costarring feature Sabrina, made fourteen years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harold Lloyd plays a professor of Egyptology, frightened by the notion that he has fallen under an ancient Egyptian curse. Lloyd has the opportunity to join an archeological expedition to search for a missing tablet that will determine his fate, but he has to travel from Los Angeles to New York before the party sails to Egypt. Alas, Lloyd is also required to appear in court to answer charges of "indecent exposure" (it's a long story). The rest of the film is a frantic chase with the authorities pursuing the fugitive professor across the country, highlighted by a daredevil sequence atop a moving train. Most of the individual gags are funny, but Professor Beware is several notches below the standard set by Harold Lloyd's silent films. The lukewarm boxoffice response to this film would convince Lloyd that he should retire from performing--which he did, returning to the screen only for 1947's Sins of Harold Diddlebock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on fact, this turn-of-the-century crime drama stars Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck (husband and wife at the time). Taylor plays a seemingly disreputable young man who joins a gang of murderous bank robbers, headed by Victor McLaglen. Stanwyck is a beer-hall entertainer, who disapproves of Taylor's activities and tries to reform him. She needn't bother: Taylor is in reality an undercover detective, on a top secret mission for President William McKinley. So anxious is Taylor to bring McLaglen to justice that he allows himself to be convicted of murder. The agent is confident that the president will keep him from hanging--but McKinley is assassinated before he can intervene. Stanwyck rescues Taylor by pleading his case with McKinley's successor, Teddy Roosevelt (Sidney Blackmer). The plot of This is My Affair was impressive enough to inspire at least one imitation: Night Riders, a 1939 Republic western wherein the martyred president who shares the hero's secret is James A. Garfield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episodic satire of the Machine Age is considered Charles Chaplin's last "silent" film, although Chaplin uses sound, vocal, and musical effects throughout. Chaplin stars as an assembly-line worker driven insane by the monotony of his job. After a long spell in an asylum, he searches for work, only to be mistakenly arrested as a Red agitator. Released after foiling a prison break, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of orphaned gamine (Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. He takes on several new jobs for her benefit, but every job ends with a quick dismissal and yet another jail term. During one of his incarcerations, she is hired to dance at a nightclub and arranges for him to be hired there as a singing waiter. He proves an enormous success, but they are both forced to flee their jobs when the orphanage officials show up to claim the girl. Dispirited, she moans, "What's the use of trying?" But the ever-resourceful Chaplin tells her to never say die, and our last image is of Chaplin and The Gamine strolling down a California highway towards new adventures. The plotline of Modern Times is as loosely constructed as any of Chaplin's pre-1915 short subjects, permitting ample space for several of the comedian's most memorable routines: the "automated feeding machine," a nocturnal roller-skating episode, and Chaplin's double-talk song rendition in the nightclub sequence. In addition to producing, directing, writing, and starring in Modern Times, Chaplin also composed its theme song, Smile, which would later be adopted as Jerry Lewis' signature tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To say that ace stuntman Richard Talmadge was invariably better than his movie vehicles is small praise, indeed, since most of his films were shabbily produced and miserably directed. Scareheads isn't much better than the usual Talmadge epic, but the star is as watchable as ever. This time, Talmadge plays a reporter who conducts a campaign against the crooked incumbent mayor. As a result, our hero is framed for murder and tossed into the jug. Through a series of eye-popping athletics, Talmadge escapes from jail to track down the real killers. Scareheads represents the first major screen appearance of perennial ingenue Jacqueline Wells, who later enjoyed a lengthy "second career" as leading ladyJulie Bishop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful crime drama a woman is threatened by an angry husband and a man comes to her aid. Unfortunately, after he accidentally kills the husband, the woman flees the crime scene and he ends up imprisoned. While doing his time, he and his cell mate, a con artist, become friends. The con man helps the fellow escape. He then goes to a small town, changes his identity and gets a job as a mill worker. To make himself more anonymous, the fellow sticks his fingers in a milling machine to scrape off his fingerprints. Later, his cell-mate breaks out and the fellow sends him to New York to find the woman so she can help clear his name. Unfortunately, the woman has become a famous extortionist and immediately turns the con artist in to the cops. She then makes a beeline to the hapless millworker to begin blackmailing him. Unfortunately for her, he refuses to let her intimidate him and in the end proves his innocence and gets her arrested instead. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A popular comedy duo towards the end of the silent era, Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatten once again join forces for this rollicking comedy concerning a pair of nitwits who unwittingly become embroiled in an age old feud between two mountain families. When snake-oil salesmen Pete (Beery) and Gus (Hatten) accidentally stumble directly into the battleground of the warring Hicks and Beagle clans, it appears as if our bumbling heroes may have hocked their last bottle of the elixir. Though Pete continually interrupts Gus in his attempts to perform his latest magic trick, Gus eventually gets his moment in the spotlight to predictably disastrous results. Will the feud finally be resolved by the prospect of an impending marriage between members of the warring clans, or Pete and Gus' lame brained antics simply serve to add more fuel to the fire? ~ All Movie Guide

The title character is world-famous lothario Norman Kerry, who has given up keeping track of all his female conquests. While strolling to yet another dalliance, Kerry is struck down by a car. He is nursed back to health by winsome Lois Moran. Genuinely falling in love for the first time in his life, Kerry must scurry about settling his other affairs before he can happily-ever-after with Lois. Way down on the cast list of Irresistible Lover is future "Dagwood Bumstead" Arthur Lake, here cast as one "Jack Kennedy"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even taking into consideration such worthy candidates as Safety Last and The Freshman, many Harold Lloyd fans regard The Kid Brother as his finest film. A humorous variation on Tol'able David, the film stars Lloyd as Harold Hickory, the youngest member of the rural Hickory family. Though out-muscled by his sheriff father (Walter James) and brawny brothers (Olin Francis, Leo Willis), Harold is the cleverest of the Hickorys, industriously figuring out all sorts of clever devices to streamline his housekeeping chores. Still, his father and brothers treat him as the baby of the family, leaving him to mind the farm while they head for a town meeting. In his dad's absence, however, Harold is deputized to deliver a "cease and desist" summons to a travelling carnival which has pitched camp nearby. Upon arriving at the carnival, Harold discovers that its owner is the lovely Mary Powers (Jobyna Ralston), whom he'd met the day before. A fire breaks out in the tent, leaving Mary homeless, but Harold invites her to stay the night at his farm -- making certain that his roughneck brothers observe the proper social amenities. The next day, it is discovered that the money for an important dam project, left in the care of Harold's father, has been stolen. The elder Hickory is held responsible, but the real culprit is brutish carnival strongman Sandoni (Constantin Romanoff). Through a chain of incredible coincidences, Harold finds himself facing Sandoni on board a derelict boat. For a while, it looks as though Sandoni is going to mop the deck with Harold, but our hero gains the upper hand when he finds out that his behemoth opponent can't swim! Just as his father is about to be lynched by the angry mob, Harold delivers the unconscious Sandoni to the doorstep of the jail. Proudly, Harold's father declares "Son, you're a true Hickory!" -- but the story isn't quite over yet, since Harold still has to propose to Mary, and to clean the clock of the local bully who's been annoying him all through the picture. Beautifully photographed and expertly directed (Lewis Milestone, though uncredited, helmed many of the important scenes), The Kid Brother is everything a good silent comedy should be, and an enduring testament to the brilliance of Harold Lloyd. Best bit: That eye-popping crane shot as Harold shinnies up a tree to bid several fond farewells to the departing Mary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cowboy Mark King (Tom Mix) comes to the aid of an old miner, Honeycutt (George Berrell) who, in gratitude, reveals the location of a secret gold mine. To get to the mine, however, King must fight an evil claim jumper, Gratton (Robert Cain), whose fiance, Gloria (Alice Calhoun), he once saved from falling off a cliff. The hero defeats Gratton in a showdown and wins both the gold and the girl. Despite the trite plot, the trade-paper Motion Picture New classed Everlasting Whisper as "distinctly high grade." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Thirty-two year old Mary Pickford returned to form as America's Sweetheart as Little Annie Rooney, a tough teenager from the streets who gets into mischief with her little gang of ruffians. She has a boyfriend, Joe Kelly (William Haines), whom she is sweet on. But when her father (Walter James) is killed, her brother Tim (Gordon Griffith) thinks that Joe is the murderer. Tim shoots Joe with his father's gun, but Annie, convinced of Joe's innocence, gives him a blood transfusion and saves his life. She then organizes her gang of street kids to search for the real killer of her father. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide