Tom London Movies
A fixture in B-Westerns from the late 1910s, first as a star, then as one of the genre's better boss villains and eventually as a grizzled comedy sidekick à la George "Gabby" Hayes, Tom London claimed to have been a train engineer, a draftsman, and a builder prior to making his acting debut at Universal in 1920. Billed under his real name of Leonard Clapham during most of the silent era, London became a star in his own right in the 1920 Red Rider series, a handful of Western two-reelers co-starring newcomer Virginia Browne Faire. There would be several additional starring vehicles, including an obscure 1923 States' Rights release entitled With Naked Fists, but Clapham/London soon found a more lasting occupation playing Boss Heavies. He began using the name Tom London as a member of Leo Maloney's stock company in the late '20s, his scowling, lantern-jawed features becoming instantly recognizable in scores of Westerns and at least 50 serials and series, silent and sound. Increasingly gaunt and with the ability of changing his appearance by removing a set of false teeth, London added comic sidekick to his resumé in the mid-'40s when, under term contract to Republic Pictures, he supported Sunset Carson in that also-ran cowboy's final series. London was married to silent screen actress Edythe Stayart (1890-1970), whom he had met on the set of Nan of the North (1922). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1925
One of the greatest western stars of all time, Ken Maynard began his long starring career for poverty-row producer J. Charles Davis. In this typical low-budget oater, Ken plays a ranch foreman suspected of being the Black Hawk, leader of a gang of outlaws. He isn't, of course, and manages to catch the real gang leader (Tom London. Davis had hired six former Ziegfeld girls for this series and it was always interesting to see how they would be fitted into the western decor. This time, the girls played stranded tourists and got in the way of the action from time to time to show a bit of leg. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Frank Lloyd, who directed The Sea Beast, tried to create another epic with this Rex Beach tale of the 1897 gold rush. The story, however, isn't all that interesting, and there are too many important characters that muddy the plot. Pierce Phillips (a miscast Ben Lyon) loses his stake in a shell game and winds up hiring himself out to carry goods for the McCaskeys to the next camp. He meets and joins up with Tom (Claude Gillingwater) and Jerry (Charles Crockett), two old prospectors, and also meets the beautiful Countess Courteau (Anna Q. Nilsson). Phillips helps her take her belongings through the rapids, but they are estranged when she reveals that she is already married. Phillips gets work as a gold weigher in a dancehall, where Laura (Dorothy Sebastian) tries to vamp him. When he turns her down, she teams up with McCaskey (Fred Kohler). They try to frame Phillips for a robbery. The Count (Philo McCullough) has gone to inform the police, but he is killed en route. Phillips is blamed for this too, but it's finally revealed that one of McCaskey's clan did the job. After all these confusing events, Phillips and the Countess find happiness. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Q. Nilsson, Ben Lyon, (more)
- 1925
Excommunicated after a bar-room brawl, veteran screen cowboy Art Acord joins up with Rex the Wonder Dog and Blackie the Horse in order to save lovely Louise Lorraine from a gang of claim jumpers. Produced by M.H. Hoffman, Three in Exile was perhaps silent western at its nadir. Acord was between contracts with Universal ("Uncle" Carl Laemmle kept firing him for drunkenness, then regretting the decision) and Hoffman had gotten him on the cheap. The leading lady, serial queen Louise Lorraine, was Acord's wife at the time. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Acord
- 1924
Lower-echelon cowboy star Leo Maloney produced and directed this inexpensive silent western, released through independent Hollywood entrepreneur William Steiner. This time Maloney plays a Texas Ranger on the trail of a gang of opium smugglers operating on the border to Mexico. Soon, he is falsely accused of being a smuggler himself but manages to clear his name, apprehend the crooks, and win the girl (Josephine Hill. As always, Maloney was well assisted by the blond Hill and a clever canine named Bullet, but an above-average supporting cast -- including Whitehorse as the girl's father and the always watchable Bud Osborne as one of the villains -- made The Loser's End one of his better efforts. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Watson, Tom London, (more)
- 1924
Famed stunt flyer Al Wilson was handsome and personable enough to successfully star in a series of fast-moving silent actioners in the 1920s. In The Air Hawk, Wilson plays the titular character, a secret service agent posing as a "regular Joe" flyboy. It is Wilson's task to track down some platinum thieves who have murdered heroine Virginia Browne Faire's father. The film's highlight is a fistfight between Wilson and the chief villain, staged on the wing of a plane in flight. As brave as Al Wilson obviously was in Air Hawk, mention should also be made of the equally fearless cinematographer Bert Longenecker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1923
An unscrupulous rancher will do just about anything to cheat a prospective buyer in this two-reel Leo Maloney Western. The arid AP Ranch is up for sale and the owner, Dan Murdock (Tom London), attempts to coerce his neighbor, Harding, into pretending that valuable WB creek belongs to the AP. When the honest Harding refuses to go along with the deceit, Murdock pulls a gun on him. To the rescue comes a stranger, John Green (Maloney), who just happens to be the prospective buyer. In revenge, Murdock accuses his elderly neighbor of cattle rustling. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Maloney, Pauline Curley, (more)
- 1923
Buster Keaton's third starring feature (discounting 1920's The Saphead, which was not conceived with Keaton in mind), Our Hospitality is a boisterous satire of family feuds and Southern codes of honor. In 1831, Keaton leaves his home in New York to take charge of his family mansion down South. En route, Keaton befriends pretty Natalie Talmadge (Keaton's real-life wife at the time), who invites him to dine at her family home. Upon meeting Talmadge's father and brothers, Keaton learns that he is the last surviving member of a family with whom Talmadge's kin have been feuding for over 20 years. The brothers are all for killing Keaton on the spot, but Talmadge's father (Joe Roberts) insists that the rules of hospitality be observed: so long as Keaton is a guest in the house, he will not be harmed. Thus, Keaton spends the next few reels alternately planning to sneak out of the mansion without being noticed, and contriving to remain within its walls as long as possible. The dilemma is resolved when Keaton rescues Talmadge from a raging waterfall (a dummy stood in for Talmadge; Keaton used no doubles, and nearly lost his life as a result). Beyond the brilliant sight gags in the closing scenes, the most memorable sequence in Our Hospitality is the bumpy train ride taken by Keaton and Talmadge in an 1831-vintage Stephenson Rocket. This 7-reel silent film represents the only joint appearance of Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge; Keaton hoped that by spending several weeks on location with his wife, he could patch up their shaky marriage (it didn't work). Also appearing in Our Hospitality are two other members of the Keaton family: Keaton's ex-vaudevillian father Joe (who performs an eye-popping "high kick") and his son Joseph Keaton IV, playing Buster as a baby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, (more)
- 1923
As might be expected, director Victor Fleming, who always did well with outdoorsy material, deftly handles this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel. Glenn Kilbourne (Richard Dix) was gassed during the war. When he comes home to New York he discovers that his fiancée, Carley Burch (Lois Wilson), has not only fallen in with a jazzy, wealthy crowd -- she's one of their leaders. Kilbourne can't cope with this and he has a relapse. A doctor recommends that he go to Arizona to recuperate, but once he has been there for a while he falls in love with the place and becomes a rancher. Carley goes out to see him, but she's disgusted by the rough life and goes back to New York. After visiting a hospitalized friend of Kilbourne's, however, Carley realizes that she's a quitter and she returns to Arizona. It's not a moment too soon -- Kilbourne is about to marry Flo Hutter (Marjorie Daw), a rancher's daughter. Flo knows that Kilbourne still loves Carley, so she willingly gives him up and returns to Lee Stanton (Leonard Clapham), who has been patiently waiting for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, (more)
Director Edwin S. Porter made film history when he completed the 13 sequences for the 12-minute The Great Train Robbery, released in 1903 but based on an 1896 story by Scott Marble. Featuring the first parallel development of separate, simultaneous scenes, and the first close-up (of an outlaw firing off a shot right at the audience), The Great Train Robbery is among the earliest narrative films with a "Western" setting. The opening scenes show the outlaws holding up the passengers and robbing the mail car in the train, before escaping on horseback. After being knocked out by the bandits, the telegraph operator regains consciousness and heads to the dance hall to get a posse together. The posse takes off to hunt down the outlaws and the chase is on. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilbert M. Anderson, George Barnes, (more)
