George Bancroft Movies
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, 6'2," 195-pound George Bancroft briefly served in the Navy before entering show business as a theater manager. He worked in a minstrel show for a time then tried his luck (which turned out to be very good indeed) on Broadway. In 1921, he made his first film appearance, but it wasn't until his standout performance as likeable reprobate Jack Slade in James Cruze's Pony Express (1925) that Paramount Pictures executives began grooming him for stardom. He was especially effective in the ultra-stylish gangster pictures of Josef Von Sternberg, notably Underworld (1977) (as outlaw-with-a-heart Bull Weed) and Thunderbolt (which earned him a 1929 Academy Award nomination). Budd Schulberg, son of Paramount executive B. P. Schulberg, recalled in his autobiography Moving Pictures how fame and fortune inflated Bancroft's ego to monumental proportions. Schulberg particularly treasured the moment when the actor refused to obey his director's orders that he fall down after being shot by the villain, explaining, "One bullet can't kill Bancroft!" When his particular screen "type" became commonplace in the early '30s, Bancroft's stardom faded. By the middle of the decade, he was reduced to character roles, though some of them (the editor in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, the sheriff in Stagecoach, and the title character's father in Young Tom Edison) represent his best work in talkies. George Bancroft retired in 1942 to become a rancher, a profession he pursued until his death 14 years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1928
The smokily erotic ambience of Josef Von Sternberg's silent Docks of New York is best appreciated on a big theatrical screen--but only if the available print is at the very least second-generation. George Bancroft plays a two-fisted ship's stoker on shore leave. He saves Betty Compson from committing suicide; though the girl displays little gratitude, the inebriated Bancroft impulsively marries her. After he sobers up, Bancroft is prepared to set sail and leave his new wife waiting for him...perhaps forever. The story is secondary to the virtuosity of the direction and camerawork (one scene is framed in the eye of a needle!) Considered by many to be Von Sternberg's greatest film, Docks of New York is a prime example of the silent cinema at its zenith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Betty Compson, (more)
- 1928
The 1928 Dragnet bears no relation to the 1950s TV series of the same name. This Josef von Sternberg exercise in esoterica stars George Bancroft as tough cop Two-Gun Nolan. When he becomes convinced that he has accidentally killed his partner, Nolan goes on a bender. Actually, the crime was committed by one of gangster William Powell's henchman. Powell's moll Evelyn Brent takes a liking to Nolan; she tells him the truth, whereupon Nolan pulls himself together and goes after Powell all by himself. The evocative subtitles in Dragnet were written by Herman J. Mankiewicz, who reportedly never read the original script nor ever saw the finished product. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, (more)
- 1927
Designed as a western "special" in the tradition of Covered Wagon and The Pony Express, The Rough Riders unfortunately proved a box office disappointment, causing Paramount Pictures to rethink its policy regarding epic films. Storywise, the film is a respectable if highly romanticized account of the exploits of Colonel Teddy Roosevelt (Frank Hopper) during the brief Spanish American War. The climax is of course the charge up San Juan Hill, which is restaged on a scale worthy of Moses' exodus from Egypt. The traditionally sappy romantic subplot concerns wealthy draftee Stewart Van Brunt (Charles Farrell) and the lovely Dolly (Mary Astor). Noah Beery steals the show as a swarthy reprobate named Hell's Bells. Incidentally, Frank Hopper, who played Roosevelt, was not a professional actor but instead a Los Angeles literary agent who bore an astonishing resemblance to the late President. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Hopper, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1927
Played by William H. Tooker, railroad superintendent Old Man Sweeney is but a peripheral character in this film, despite its title. George Bancroft is cast as burly railroad engineer Cannonball Casey, who falls in love with Dorie (Doris Hill), the daughter of rival engineer Luke Beamish (Chester Conklin). For his part, Luke would prefer that Doris spend her time with a suitor of his choice, Old Man Sweeney's son Jack (Jack Luden) -- and, truth to tell, Dorie favors Jack over Casey, too. Hoping to win the girl's hand, Casey challenges Jack to a wrestling match at the company picnic. Unfortunately, Jack is incapacitated just before the match, obliging the puny Beamish to enter the ring opposite the mighty Casey. The film's slapstick finale is chock full of cartoonlike gags, which is altogether fitting inasmuch as producer-director Gregory LaCava used to work at the animation firm responsible for the old Mutt and Jeff cartoons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Conklin, George Bancroft, (more)
- 1927
Underworld opens with a series of title cards setting its mood, telling of "a great city in the dead of night...streets lonely...moon clouded...buildings as empty as the cave dwellings of a forgotten age." Suddenly an explosion shatters the façade of a bank building, and the title cards announce that crime kingpin Bull Weed (George Bancroft) has "closed another account." Bull emerges from the wreckage carrying his swag, but while making his getaway, he spots a derelict (Clive Brook) wandering past, a potential witness, despite his apparent inebriated state. Instead of killing him, Weed knocks him cold, throws him in his car, and takes off, intending to figure out later what to do with his unexpected "guest." Weed turns out to be a man of many parts -- greedy and a brute when it comes to getting or keeping what he wants, but with a soft spot for the underdog, and also smart enough to recognize the importance of some knowledge that he doesn't possess. He takes a liking to the erudite but totally dissolute man, christening him "Rolls Royce" and keeping him around as an elegant stooge, advisor, and sometime driver. The man is only too happy to be taken off the streets and set up in an apartment with a full library of books at his disposal, and the two men's relationship is harmonious and mutually beneficial -- the former derelict has a home, and the crime boss gets smart advice.
Bull Weed and Rolls Royce's meeting is our introduction to the world of Weed, in which he runs much of what he surveys, but not without challengers. His most notable rival is vicious hood "Buck" Mulligan (Fred Kohler), who doesn't like Weed and also covets his girlfriend, "Feathers" McCoy (Evelyn Brent). Rolls Royce is also drawn to Feathers, who is, in turn, attracted to the gentle, witty man; however, out of decency to Bull, who has been a benefactor in his own way to both of them, they agree to stay away from each other. This drives Rolls Royce back to the bottle part of the time. Weed and Mulligan finally have it out during the underworld's annual drunken bacchanal, a wildly expressionistic sequence that must have seemed all the more dazzling and compelling to audiences in 1927, in the middle of the Prohibition Era. Mulligan tries to take advantage of his rival's passing out in a stupor by having his way with Feathers, but Bull awakens with help from Mulligan's jealous girlfriend and Rolls Royce, and proceeds to rescue Feathers and finish Mulligan -- an act that gets him charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced to die. Feathers and Rolls Royce, with the help of Bull's gang, try to help him break out on the eve of his execution, but their plan fails. Bull manages to escape on his own, though, and goes seeking revenge against Feathers and Rolls Royce, whom he believes have betrayed him. Just as Bull is about to pull out his gun, however, he discovers that Feathers and Rolls Royce had always played it straight with him, and even if they are attracted to each other, they never did anything about it, out of respect for him. He lets them go and surrenders to the police. Admonished by the head of the arresting squad that his break only gained him two hours, he smiles, saying those two hours were worth it for what he found out.
A masterpiece of the silent era that still holds up as an exciting and engrossing movie over 70 years later, and which is properly regarded as the first modern American gangster movie, Underworld has elements that anticipate such sound classics as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, and a final shoot-out similar to those in Angels With Dirty Faces (co-starring Bancroft) and Each Dawn I Die. Director Josef von Sternberg and cinematographer Bert Glennon actually manage to convey sound with pure visuals in the suspenseful jailbreak scene, and, overall, they produced a beautifully stylized film, visually expressionistic but sentimental in tone and story. The script, by Ben Hecht -- a veteran Chicago reporter -- also crawls with allusions to real-life figures, Bull Weed being a highly sanitized stand-in for Al Capone, and "Buck" Mulligan a composite of Capone's Northside mob rival Dion O'Bannion and his eventual successor, O'Bannion gang member George "Bugs" Moran. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Bull Weed and Rolls Royce's meeting is our introduction to the world of Weed, in which he runs much of what he surveys, but not without challengers. His most notable rival is vicious hood "Buck" Mulligan (Fred Kohler), who doesn't like Weed and also covets his girlfriend, "Feathers" McCoy (Evelyn Brent). Rolls Royce is also drawn to Feathers, who is, in turn, attracted to the gentle, witty man; however, out of decency to Bull, who has been a benefactor in his own way to both of them, they agree to stay away from each other. This drives Rolls Royce back to the bottle part of the time. Weed and Mulligan finally have it out during the underworld's annual drunken bacchanal, a wildly expressionistic sequence that must have seemed all the more dazzling and compelling to audiences in 1927, in the middle of the Prohibition Era. Mulligan tries to take advantage of his rival's passing out in a stupor by having his way with Feathers, but Bull awakens with help from Mulligan's jealous girlfriend and Rolls Royce, and proceeds to rescue Feathers and finish Mulligan -- an act that gets him charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced to die. Feathers and Rolls Royce, with the help of Bull's gang, try to help him break out on the eve of his execution, but their plan fails. Bull manages to escape on his own, though, and goes seeking revenge against Feathers and Rolls Royce, whom he believes have betrayed him. Just as Bull is about to pull out his gun, however, he discovers that Feathers and Rolls Royce had always played it straight with him, and even if they are attracted to each other, they never did anything about it, out of respect for him. He lets them go and surrenders to the police. Admonished by the head of the arresting squad that his break only gained him two hours, he smiles, saying those two hours were worth it for what he found out.
A masterpiece of the silent era that still holds up as an exciting and engrossing movie over 70 years later, and which is properly regarded as the first modern American gangster movie, Underworld has elements that anticipate such sound classics as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, and a final shoot-out similar to those in Angels With Dirty Faces (co-starring Bancroft) and Each Dawn I Die. Director Josef von Sternberg and cinematographer Bert Glennon actually manage to convey sound with pure visuals in the suspenseful jailbreak scene, and, overall, they produced a beautifully stylized film, visually expressionistic but sentimental in tone and story. The script, by Ben Hecht -- a veteran Chicago reporter -- also crawls with allusions to real-life figures, Bull Weed being a highly sanitized stand-in for Al Capone, and "Buck" Mulligan a composite of Capone's Northside mob rival Dion O'Bannion and his eventual successor, O'Bannion gang member George "Bugs" Moran. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1927
Confined to two basic sets and six characters, White Gold may well be the most claustrophobic western ever made. This sense of stuffiness was a deliberate artistic decision by director William K. Howard, who wanted to visually convey the entrapment experienced by heroine Jetta Goudal. The title refers to wool; the setting is a sheep ranch in Arizona. Kenneth Thompson, the son of the ranch's grim and taciturn owner (George Nichols), marries a Mexican girl, played by Goudal. The father, convinced that Jetta will eventually cheat on his son, verbally lambastes the girl at every opportunity. The old man's attitude seems to be confirmed when itinerant ranch hand George Bancroft, looking for work, harmlessly flirts with Jedda. The rancher hires Bancroft on the spot, hoping that he will forced Jetta into infidelity and thus prove her unworthy of his son. One evening, Bancroft slips into the bunkhouse where Jetta sleeps. The next morning, he is found dead of a gunshot (a startlingly casual disposal of the film's ostensible leading man!) In the film's enigmatic finale, we are never told what has really happened or what will happen thereafter; director Howard wisely assumes that the audience is intelligent enough to draw its own conclusions. Long thought lost, White Gold was slated for a remake in the 1940s, but plans were abandoned when a print could not be located. Howard himself planned to remake the project, but died before his dream could come to fruition. A good print finally resurfaced in the 1970s, and copies are now available to the home video market. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jetta Goudal, Ken Thomson, (more)
- 1926
In one of her first Paramount vehicles, Clara Bow stars as Cynthia Meade, a movie actress on location in the hills of Tennessee. Convinced that she's accidentally killed her fiance Jack Harrison (William Powell), Cynthia escapes across the state border where she is given aid and shelter by Kentucky mountaineer Wade Murrell (Warner Baxter). In the midst of a bloody mountain feud, Wade is rescued from certain death by the sudden reappearance of Harrison, who isn't dead after all. Harrison asks Cynthia to return to civilization with him, but by now she's fallen in love with her mountain man. Directed by William C. DeMille (the less-flamboyant but arguably more talented brother of Cecil B. DeMille), Runaway was successful enough to convince Paramount executives that Clara Bow was superstar material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Bow, Warner Baxter, (more)
- 1926
Based on a novel by Francis Brett Young, Sea Horses stars Florence Vidor as Helen Salvia, who is deserted early on by her no-good husband Lorenzo (William Powell). With her 4-year-old daughter Cina (Mary Dow) in tow, Helen heads to a sinister African port town in search of her husband. During the long ocean voyage, Helen is lusted after by two of the deckhands, Cochran (George Bancroft) and Harvey (Alan Simpson). Ship's captain George Glanville (Jack Holt) is also attracted to the heroine, but he's too much the gentleman to put the moves on her. At film's end, it is Glanville, with the unexpected aid of Cochran, who rescues Helen from her vicious husband. The film's highlight is a storm-at-sea sequence, a near flawless combination of scale models and miniatures. Sea Horses was directed by the talented Allan Dwan, whose self-styled "artlessness" was an art form in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, (more)
- 1926
Like most Westerns of the era, this Jack Holt vehicle from Paramount includes automobiles and even airplanes. But Holt went his rivals one better by incorporating a machine gun into a fight against a neighboring rancher who is out to ruin him. Based on a Peter B. Kyne novel, The Enchanted Hill also featured a triangle romance between Holt, rancher's daughter Mary Brian and jealous foreman Richard Arlen. The latter, a promising newcomer, basically took Holt's place in the Paramount hierarchy when the square-jawed star moved over to upstart Columbia. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, (more)
- 1926
Long derided by film historians as a talented but visually unimaginative director, James Cruze made up for any and all past artistic sins with his rousing Old Ironsides. Per its title, this 11-reel silent film is set at the time of Stephen Decatur's defeat of the Barbary pirates in Tripoli. Decatur himself (played by comic actor Johnnie Walker) is a secondary character herein -- most of the screen time goes to the romantic leads, able-bodied seaman Charles Farrell and damsel-in-permanent-distress Esther Ralston. The acting honors go to those inveterate scene-stealers Wallace Beery and George Bancroft, cast respectively as Bos'n and Gunner. The film accommodates everything from outsized sea battles to a daring rescue from the clutches of the lustful pirates. A life-sized replica of "Old Ironsides" (aka the "Constitution") was built for the film; it remained a useful piece of bric-a-brac for many a subsequent Paramount seafaring epic. When originally released, the film utilized a wide-screen technique during many of the battle sequences. The videocassette version of Old Ironsides is, of course, unable to convey this, but it does have the bonus of a rousing musical score by Gaylord Carter. This print, incidentally, is crystal clear, enabling sharp-eyed viewers to spot Boris Karloff in a bit as a menacing Saracen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Ralston, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1925
Shy cowboy Cal Thurman (Owen Moore) falls for sophisticated city girl Georgie May (Constance Bennett) in this, the first of two versions of Zane Grey's story. When Georgie May haughtily rejects the poor cowpuncher, he sets out to stake his claim, gets in trouble with a gang of crooks, and later saves the repentant Georgie May from a forest fire. Code of the West was not one of Grey's better efforts but is worthwhile as a rare glimpse of the glittering Constance Bennett, who, as The New York Times put it, "is not the kind of girl one would expect to find on an Arizona ranch." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Moore, Constance Bennett, (more)
- 1925
Having tackled a wagon train in the immensely popular The Covered Wagon (1922), James Cruze directed this would-be epic centered on the famed Pony Express. This time, however, audiences stayed away in droves. Cruze's old-fashioned staging was foremost to blame. He portrayed pretty vistas but little movement in his epics and Pony Express of course even lacked the novelty aspects that had made "Wagon" a box-office success. Austrian-born Ricardo Cortez starred as a gambler who joins the delivery service during the time of California's impending statehood. There is the obligatory Indian attack and a nasty villain played to the hilt by George Bancroft. Still and all, this silent version is superior in almost all aspects to the even more slow-moving 1953 remake starring Charlton Heston. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1925
This typically overblown Frank Lloyd-directed western takes place in the days of the California Gold Rush. Anna Q. Nilsson stars as Sandra De Hault, who heads to California in the company of three orphaned children she has adopted along the way. Taking up residence in a squalid shack, Sandra falls in with slimy saloon-owner Buck Lockwell (George Bancroft). Feeling that she's now damaged goods, she refuses to marry Stanton Holliday (Robert Frazer), the "nice boy" with whom she eventually falls in love. But Stanton rescues Sandra from her surroundings with a well-aimed sock at Buck's chin. Lionel Barrymore, then in a career slump, plays the thankless role of a philosophical gambler. The Splendid Road was based on a novel by Vingie E. Roe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Q. Nilsson, Robert W. Frazer, (more)
- 1925
A sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage (1925), The Rainbow Trail proved one of silent screen star Tom Mix's finest films. Mix appears as John Shefford, a nephew to Jim Lassiter, the character he had played in "Riders." The heroic Shefford not only manage to free his uncle from the sealed off Paradise Valley, but prevents Lassiter's adopted daughter (Anne Cornwall) from marrying a scoundrel (George Bancroft). Mix was slightly less bombastic in this film and it actually suited him. Both Riders of the Purple Sage and The Rainbow Trail had been filmed by Fox in 1918 starring William Farnum. The studio returned to the Zane Grey stories once again in 1931, this time as entries in their George O'Brien series. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Anne Cornwall, (more)
- 1924
Filmed on magnificent locations at Cedar City, Utah and Zion Canyon, this lavishly mounted Tom Mix Western was based on The Orphan by Clarence E. Mulford, the pulp writer who created Hopalong Cassidy. The story -- a man searches for the villains who murdered his parents -- was by no means new in 1925, but Mix's patented vim and vigor made it seem fresh as a daisy. During the search, Mix's Orphan gets a reputation as an outlaw himself but manages to stay one step ahead of the law. That is, until he is befriended by a kindly sheriff (DeWitt Jennings) and falls for the man's daughter (Doris May). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, George Bancroft, (more)
- 1924
A prospector (Tom Mix), falsely accused of murdering a deputy (Lucien Littlefield), comes across a wounded dog (Duke) who has been thrown off a train by a villainous railroad worker (George Bancroft). The clever pooch returns the kindness when the prospector is later arrested. The real killer proves to be the railroad worker and the prospector is released just in time to rescue the dog's owner (Lucy Fox) from a forest fire. The End. Tom Mix was undoubtedly the most flamboyant western star of his age (perhaps any age), but this downbeat oater was not one of his best. The best performances are those of the animal Thespians, Duke and Mix's horse Tony. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1922
This rough melodrama about a family of Kentucky moonshiners was directed, surprisingly, by the staid, British Charles J. Brabin. Maw Tolliver (Emily Fitzroy) is nothing but a drudge to her husband (Burr McIntosh) and four sons, all moonshiners. The fifth and youngest son, Tom (Charlie Mack), is the weakling of the clan. One of the older Tolliver boys, Lem (George Bancroft), attacks pretty Essie Hardin (Eleanor Fair) and kills her father when he tries to stop him. Even though Essie and Tom are in love, Lem declares he will marry her himself. Maw, however, refuses to let that happen. To get enough money to send Tom and Essie away, she informs the revenue officers about the still and gives the reward money to the couple. But Tom is believed to be the snitch, and the brothers swear revenge. When the authorities come to battle with the men, only one moonshiner is left alive. He returns to exact vengeance on Tom, but Maw stops him and allows the young man and Essie to escape. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Emmett Mack, Emily Fitzroy, (more)
- 1922
Vitagraph may have erroneously claimed that this comedy-drama was "the greatest picture of the year," but it did have a certain charm (even if the plot was rather hard to follow), and Macklyn Arbuckle does justice to his role as Judge Slocum Price. It takes place in the pre-Civil War era South. Judge Price has a fondness for liquor which really goes into overdrive after his wife runs away with another man and she takes their boy with her. He then spends his time wandering around the country with his teetotaling pal, Solomon Mahaffy (fine character actor Ernest Torrance). Years pass and the judge learns that his wife has died and her lover (Arthur Carew) is trying to get his hands on her son's inheritance. The judge takes the boy in and works on convincing him that he is his real father. Meanwhile, a neighbor girl, Betty Malroy (Jean Paige) is being manhandled by her guardian -- the same man who ran off with the judge's wife -- and the judge helps save her from her troubles. This picture was based on the book by Vaughan Kester. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Paige, Maclyn Arbuckle, (more)
- 1921
Director/producer Hugo Ballin made this drama without the use of subtitles. The story is based on a tale written by Sister Eileen, a Dominican nun, and marks the motion picture debut of George Bancroft. The girl (Mabel Ballin, the director's wife) leaves the convent in Rome where she has been living to stay with her uncle (Jack Dillon) in a Pennsylvanian industrial town. Her life there is miserable and she marries a crude iron worker (Bancroft) just to get away. The couple is happy enough for a few years, and a child (Georgette Bancroft) is born. When the mill owner (Wyndham Standing) meets the girl, they fall in love. This does not go unnoticed by the iron worker, and when another worker is killed in an accident he trades places with the dead man to free his wife. She marries the mill owner and they travel to Rome. They visit a Trappist monastery, where the girl's first husband has taken the orders. The former iron worker dies from the shock of seeing his wife again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mabel Ballin, George Bancroft, (more)
