James Kirkwood Movies

Directed by D.W. Griffith, Change of Heart was a standard-issue Biograph subject. The film begins on a sordid note, as a group of rapacious young men draw up a pact to "deflower" an innocent country girl. The boys hoodwink the heroine with a phony marriage, with one of the conspirators posing as the minister. At the last moment, the phony cleric finds he can't go through with it, and confesses all to the girl. His example is followed by his friends, who instantly display remorse for their wicked ways and promise to reform. Out of gratitude, the girl marries her "savior" in a genuine wedding ceremony. Location scenes for this one-reel morality play were shot in Greenwich, Connecticut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a wealthy eastern returns from a polo match to find that his father has been murdered. Later, he is riffling through his father's papers when he discovers that his family may have had a different name. He then finds evidence that causes him to suspect that a certain western rancher may be implicated in the killing. He hops in a plane and heads West, but he doesn't make it as he plane ends up crashing into the bathroom of a pretty woman. She falls in love with him, but this causes great friction with her lover, a ranch foreman. Meanwhile the bad rancher orders the foreman to bring the son to him--unarmed. Fortunately, the young man escapes and goes to meet the rancher for a final showdown. He then learns that he is his real father. The rancher then tells him that the other man's death was accidental, that he had only gone back East to confront him as he had stolen his wife and son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Stunt man Hugh Hooker starred in the title role of this late Grade-Z Western, written and directed by the redoubtable Robert Emmett Tansey. When crooked lawyer Monte Blue attempts to take over the ranch belonging to Pamela Blake and her elderly father, James Kirkwood, the Texas Kid and his sidekick (John Laurenz) come to their rescue. That is about all there is to this ramshackle affair, which, in reality, was composed of a couple of unsold television pilots. Silent stars Blue and Kirkwood were nearing the end of their long careers, while the supporting cast consisted of such relative newcomers as Terry Frost, John Compton, and Tansey regular Johnny Carpenter. Very little data exists on this film. Though completed in 1951 (just prior to Tansey's death), the picture's absolutely wretched quality reputedly caused it to go unreleased for three years. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Real-life husband and wife James Kirkwood and Lila Lee play Mr. and Mrs. in Another Man's Wife. Neglected by her husband, Lee pretends to desert him in order to win him back. This she does, but not before she and Kirkwood have gotten themselves entangled with various and sundry antagonists, including a gang of rumrunners. The film really comes to life during its rescue-at-sea finale. Wallace Beery, a few years away from full stardom, plays the glowering, grimacing villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mary Pickford played a struggling actress who marries a farmer in this sometimes poignant drama directed by James Kirkwood. Rescued from a life on the wicked stage by farmer Steve Hunter (Kirkwood), Dolly Lane (Pickford) soon tires of rural life and is easily lured back East by unscrupulous impresario Joe Canby (Russell Bassett). She becomes a big star and Canby comes to collect his reward. Perilously close to suffering a fate worse than death, Dolly is once again rescued by the stalwart Steve. Pickford and Kirkwood collaborated on nine films and the handsome actor-director also directed her closest rival, the less talented Mary Miles Minter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Produced in Hollywood by Herbert Wilcox, who had been unable to obtain sound equipment in London, this "haunted house" (actually "haunted houseboat") mystery-thriller was nevertheless Great Britain's first "all-talkie." John Loder, the only Englishman involved besides Wilcox, and Mary Brian find themselves invited on board a mysterious, fog-bound houseboat. Soon, several of their fellow passengers fall victim to a disguised madman, who proves to be none other than their host, the Reverend Eph Kelly (veteran matinee idol James Kirkwood). Written by John Willard, the author of the classic The Cat and the Canary, and featuring innovative dialogue scenes, Black Waters ultimately suffered in comparison with Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail (1930), the first "all-talkie" filmed entirely in England. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A very young Norma Shearer and a fine supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou and Mae Busch all suffered from a hackneyed screenplay in this silent society melodrama from Metro-Goldwyn, the forerunner of MGM. Shearer plays Grace Durland, a debutante forced to leave college when her father (George Fawcett) goes bankrupt. Reduced to working for a living, Grace falls in love with married Ward Trenton (James Kirkwood), whose disagreeable wife (Winifred Bryson) refuses to grant him a divorce. But when Ward sustains severe injuries in a car accident and may not be able to work again, Mrs. Trenton promptly begins divorce proceedings. Happily, Ward makes a full recovery and proposes to Grace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Described by the Biograph publicity department as a "circus romance," D.W. Griffith's The Call was partially filmed on location at Fort Lee, New Jersey. Florence Barker is cast as a sideshow hootchy-kootchy dancer who catches the eye of a virtuous young farmer. He is so impressed by her beauty that he proposes marriage, despite protests from his family. Though she'd like to escape her tawdry existence, the dancer is under the sinister influence of her no-good boyfriend. Finally shedding this human snake, she marries the farmer, and for at least a year or so the union is a happy one. But when the sideshow comes back to town, the dancer's ex-boyfriend insists that she return to him. Unable to resist his dubious charms, the dancer writes a "Dear John" letter to her farmer husband and deserts him. Ultimately, however, the "call" of decency proves stronger than the influence of her shady circus beau, and the dancer heads back to her husband, begging and receiving forgiveness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warner Oland's third appearance as humble oriental sleuth Charlie Chan was in the 1932 release Charlie Chan's Chance. This time, our hero has a personal reason to solve the murder at hand; he himself was the intended victim, but another man was killed by mistake. Keeping one step ahead of both the New York police and Scotland Yard, Chan tracks down the man responsible for the murder, who turns out to be the mastermind of a vast criminal empire. One of the film's biggest surprises was that perennial "hidden killer" Ralph Morgan was not the culprit. Charlie Chan's Chance is one of four early "Chan" talkies which no longer exist, though outtakes have shown up in various video "blooper" reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Combining the star appeal of Mary Pickford with this fairy tale seemed like a sure thing to Famous Players-Paramount. Releasing it around Christmas time just about guaranteed big box-office receipts. But except for a few inspired moments (in one, the clock's hands strike 12 and promptly shrivel up), the picture is disappointing. Perhaps Cinderella was too passive a role for Pickford's normally high-spirited approach; her performance here is flat. The photography, too, is poor, and trade paper Variety suggests that the studio rushed through filming to get that all-important holiday release. The story is really far too well known to relate, but in any case here's a brief recap: Cinderella is mistreated by her nasty stepmother (Isabel Vernon) and two homely stepsisters (Georgia Wilson and Lucille Carney). But when Prince Charming (Owen Moore, Pickford's then-husband) throws a ball, she manages to make it there with the help of a fairy godmother (and a few handy dissolves -- they were many decades away from computer effects in 1914). But when the clock strikes 12, Cinderella dashes home, losing her glass slipper along the way. The prince searches all over for the shoe's owner, finally places it on Cinderella's dainty foot and they "live happily ever after." Pickford's marriage to Moore, however, ended in divorce by the end of the 1910s and she married Douglas Fairbanks, who, for quite a long while, was a real-life Prince Charming (although, unfortunately, their marriage didn't last, either). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Forced by the dictates of his Biograph contract to give up directing in favor of "supervising," D.W. Griffith left the studio as soon as possible. Thus, though Griffith is credited as supervisor of the 4-reel Classmates, he actually had very little to do with the production. The story concerns four West Point cadets, one of whom, played by Henry B. Walthall, is unjustly expelled in his junior year. Vowing vengeance against the student who engineered his dismissal, Walthall follows the man to the steamy jungles of South America, where through various acts of conspicuous bravery he is at last able to clear his own name. Based on a play by Margaret Turnbull and William C. DeMille, Classmates was remade in 1924 with Richard Barthelmess in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide