Edmund Lowe Movies
The son of a California judge, Edmund Lowe attended Santa Clara University. He worked briefly as a teacher before joining a Los Angeles stock company. Lowe made both his Broadway and movie debut in 1917. Seemingly born to wear tuxedos and dinner jackets, Lowe became a popular leading man on both stage and screen. His career went off into a new direction when he was cast against type as the brawling, swearing Sergeant Quirt in the 1927 film version of What Price Glory. This led to several reteamings with his Glory co-star Victor McLaglen, nearly always portraying those friendly enemies Quirt and Flagg, forever spouting dialogue of the "Sez you? Sez me!" variety. In 1956, Lowe and McLaglen were teamed for the last time in the all-star Around the World In 80 Days. Lowe remained in demand for leading character roles into the 1940s, including the father of the title character in Dillinger, where he was billed over the film's ostensible star Lawrence Tierney. On TV, Lowe played two-fisted reporter David Chase on the 1951-52 series Front Page Detective. The actor was married three times; his second wife was Lilyan Tashman, who died in 1934. Edmund Lowe's final film was 1960's Heller in Pink Tights; halfway through shooting, Lowe fell seriously ill and had to be doubled in long and medium shots by actor Bernard Nedell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1924
Prince Kaloney (Edmund Lowe) is loyal to Messina's King Louis (Sheldon Lewis), even after he has been deposed. While trying to inspire the people to bring back the king, Kaloney is shot. Patricia Carson, an American heiress (Claire Adams) nurses him back to health. The king, meanwhile, is happy with his carefree life of exile, and he plots to have the prince betrayed to the conspirators in office. When he meets Patricia, he forgets his mistress and tries to win her. The jealous mistress causes a lot of trouble for the king, who is forced to flee. Kaloney is reunited with Patricia and he sets out to see that the little crown prince is placed on the throne. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Claire Adams, (more)
- 1923
When Philippa (Mary Thurman) fails to impress the man of her dreams Norman (Edmund Lowe), she conspires to break his heart in this romantic melodrama. After Norman marries Madaline (Florence Dixon), Philippa tells him his father-in-law is the burglar who murdered his mother. Madaline's mother (Edna May Oliver) reveals that it was her first husband who is the killer and that Madaline is no relation to the scoundrel. Arthur Hausman and Tyrone Power co-star in this suspenseful story of a woman scorned and her evil plans for vengeance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Thurman, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1923
Captain Richard Decatur (Edmund Lowe) is a young commander who is an undercover agent for the U.S. secret service. His ship cruises in the Panama Canal zone where he uncovers an enemy plot to dynamite the famous passage that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Peg Williams (Martha Mansfield) is the sultry vamp who tries to pry information out of the Captain. Knowing she is in league with the villain, he plays along to learn more about the nefarious scheme. Richard is drummed out of the service only to be reinstated as a hero for his bravery. Alma Tell plays Richard's faithful wife, with Betty Jewel as the Latin-beauty Delores. This patriotic film did much to spark interest in the U.S. Navy and is the first English language film for the legendary Bela Lugosi. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Bela Lugosi, (more)
- 1923
This Hawaiian romance was the last picture directed by Julia Crawford Ivers, who also penned the screenplay. Although it was later rumored she left Hollywood after the murder of director William Desmond Taylor (even though she was guiltless, she was embroiled in the scandal), she continued writing screenplays throughout the rest of the silent era. Ivers died in 1930, when sound was still in its infancy. This nicely done picture ended her directing career on a good note. Konia Markham (Betty Compson) is the daughter of an Hawaiian mother and American father. (Hawaii at the time was not yet a state, and wouldn't be for another 36 years.) She and her father, John (Edward Martindel), live on the islands, and when the handsome Bob Rutherford (Edmund Lowe) sails in from the States, she falls madly in love with him. She only discovers that Rutherford is engaged to Ethel Granville (Arline Pretty) when the girl shows up on the island. Konia tracks down a native priest and tries to have him pray Ethel to death (something some native priests were said to be capable of doing). But she repents her action and halts the proceedings just in time. Riddled with guilt, she prepares to throw herself into a volcano. Rutherford comes to her rescue. Ethel, realizing that her fiancé really loves Konia and not her, willingly gives him up. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1923
This film is based on the novel by F. Marion Crawford, and involves the court of King Philip II of Spain. Philip is jealous of his powerful and popular brother, Don John (Edmund Lowe), so he sends him to fight in the Moors, hoping that he will not return. John leaves behind the woman he loves, Dolores Mendoza (Blance Sweet). Dolores' father, General Mendoza (Hobart Bosworth), believes that John is playing with his daughter's heart and disapproves of the match. John returns victorious from the Moors and continues to push his suit. Meanwhile, Princess Eboli, the king's favorite (Aileen Pringle), is in charge of a plot to depose Philip and put John on the throne. The two royal brothers have a heated argument, and Philip leaves John for dead. To save the king, Mendoza claims responsibility. But Dolores knows the truth and threatens to tell all unless the king pardons her father. The king agrees, and when it turns out that John has only been wounded, Philip also consents to his wedding to Dolores. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanche Sweet, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1921
During the early '20s, the star/director team of Mae Murray and her husband Robert Z. Leonard was nearly unbeatable. Murray's fame was based on films like this one. Elmer Harmon (Monte Blue, Murray's co-star in several films) travels to Paris to land a contract with the French government. He gets the deal with the help of Cleo, a dancer (Murray). They fall in love and are married, but back home in the States, Harmon discovers that his small town associates do not approve of his bride. He decides to start over again in the big city, but between the pricey apartment he has rented and Cleo's expensive tastes, the money runs out quickly. In order to help out financially, Cleo teams up with an old friend, but Harmon believes she is being unfaithful. The truth is finally revealed and the couple are reconciled. In 1930, when Murray's career was on the skids, she made a talkie with the same title, but it had only the barest resemblance to the earlier film. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Monte Blue, (more)
- 1921
Stage star George Arliss had been a huge success in the 1906 stage play on which this film was based. Other versions had already been filmed, but nothing could compare to Arliss when he decided to reprise his role on screen. His character, Dr. Mueller, is the devil incarnate, determined to ruin the lives of four young lovers -- Georges, a banker (Roland Bottomly), Marie, his fiancée (Lucy Cotton), Georges' artist friend, Paul (Edmund Lowe), and Mimi, his model (Sylvia Breamer). When Marie insists that truth will always win out over evil, Mueller puts her assertion to the test. He sees that Marie and Paul are thrown together so that they fall in love with each other. Then he encourages Mimi to seduce Paul, who is guilty about betraying Georges. Just as Marie and Paul have decided to be together, Mueller convinces her that Paul is still seeing Mimi. Mueller plays with the young lovers as if they were puppets on a string, and nearly wins out. But Mimi figures out his evil lies and machinations. Before he will admit defeat, Mueller makes an unsuccessful stab at abducting Marie, but he is held at bay by a ghostly cross. The last we see of Mueller, he is smilingly engulfed in hellish flames, waiting for a new opportunity. Though new to screen technique, Arliss is delightful in this -- he turns the role into high camp as only an old ham can do. At 53, this strange looking but charismatic actor became as popular on screen as he was on stage. His wife, Florence Arliss, appears as Marie's mother. Also billed is a certain Frederick Bickel, who would later become more well known as Frederic March. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Sylvia Breamer, (more)
- 1921
Annesley Grayle (Katherine MacDonald) answers an ad for a traveling companion to an elderly matron to escape the boredom of living with her aunt. When she goes to meet the lady at the Savoy Hotel, an obviously panicky Nelson Smith (Edmund Lowe) asks her to pose as his wife to escape some impending trouble. The two proceed to the home of Ruthven Smith (Thomas Jefferson), a family friend of Annesley, but Ruthven mistakes Nelson for a thief and he shoots Nelson. Annesley's aunt banishes her from the house over her niece's affair with Nelson, but despite her aunts disapproval, the two are soon married. Later, the bride hears Nelson tell an underworld boss he will give up crime after one last heist. Annesley pleads with Nelson not to engage in any more criminal activity. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katherine MacDonald, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1920
It's obvious that this picture's screenwriters, Carey Wilson and Edmund Goulding, were referencing D.W. Griffith's Intolerance -- it begins in ancient Rome before taking its theme to modern-day (meaning 1920) New York. The Rome depicted here is at its most decadent and sensational, with Christians being sacrificed and gladiators fighting in front of a bloodthirsty crowd. And New York is almost as bloodthirsty. To destroy the happiness of a woman who jilted him years ago, a broker (Anders Randolph) kidnaps the woman's daughter Laura (Ray Dean). Her nouveau riche father, John Grimm (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) arrives from Nebraska to search for her. More complications arise when Laura and the broker's son Gordon (Edmond Lowe) fall in love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Jim Burke, also known as "the Dancer" (Edmund Lowe), is a Raffles-type character -- a gentleman jewel thief who only steals from "those who can afford it" (so say the titles). He becomes friendly with a group of society people -- so friendly, in fact, that he's offered the leading role in an amateur play they're putting on. Molly Brent (Vola Vale) is the leading wom an, and she plans to wear her famous, hundred-thousand dollar necklace in one of the scenes. Burke has a duplicate made and switches the two, but the cops are on the job. Just when they're about to get their man, however, Molly insists that the robbery is just part of the play. She does figure out eventually that Burke is a crook, but by then he has fallen in love with her and promises he will go straight. This picture was based on a play by Larry Evans and George S. Kaufman -- clearly not one of Kaufman's best efforts. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Vola Vale, (more)
- 1920
Barbara (Olive Tell) has grown tired of the endless chores at her mother's boarding house so she decides to get rid of her penniless sweetheart and marry a rich young man. Unfortunately he loses his wealth shortly after the wedding, then he dumps Barbara when he catches her flirting with an elderly man -- no matter that she was only doing it to get a stock tip. So she strikes out on her own and opens up a millinery shop. It goes under and she decides that maybe her place is with her ex-husband after all. This drab feature was based on a novel, Nothing a Year, by Charles Belmont Davis. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Clara Kimball Young stars in this mystical tour de force. She plays a woman who goes to an Oriental fortune teller in an effort to decide the path in life she should take. The seer shows her the outcome of three of the four choices she has: duty, wealth and fame. In the end she chooses love, the only road she hasn't seen. Rudolph Valentino, who was only known as a Latin dancer at the time, has a small role. It is easy to see why Young made this movie (she was also the producer) -- it was the perfect opportunity to play, basically, four different characters in one scenario. This story had a lot of appeal to other famous actresses in addition to Clara Kimball Young. Marjorie Rambeau was a sensation when she played the lead role on stage. In 1927 Gloria Swanson remade it as Love of Sunya. Not only was it Swanson's first attempt at producing, she also had Albert Parker direct it -- he was the one who directed the Clara Kimball Young version. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
In this war drama, Dorothy Dalton is Jenevieve Bouchette, an actress in New York. When she hears that her parents have been killed by German troops, she hastens back to the French village of her youth. The Germans and French have been fighting for possession of the town, and Jenevieve is victimized by a Hun who brands her with "the cross of shame." Jean Picard (Edmund Lowe), a former co-star of Jenevieve's, is now a volunteer in the French Army and he encounters her once again when he is wounded. She saves him from the Germans and sends him on his way. Then to escape the Germans, she puts on the uniform of a dead soldier. Since the French find spy maps on the uniform she has been wearing, she is ordered to be shot, but then the officer in charge sees the cross branded on her breast and releases her. Finally peace comes to the village. Jean returns, but he has lost his memory. All efforts to help him fail until Jenevieve shows him her cross. Then he remembers and the two are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Disillusioned by her own failed romances, a stern, aged aunt refuses to grant her niece permission to marry a young soldier who is preparing to fight WW I in France. To further convince her, the aunt brings forth her diary and hands it to the willful girl. Most of this silent melodrama tells the aunt's sad story. It began during the Civil War when she was a young bride. Her husband's brother is having an affair with a married woman. In order to stop the matter, the aunt's husband visits the woman. Unfortunately, her husband walks in and thinking that the fellow is the philanderer, shoots him dead. Meanwhile, the poor aunt, who knew nothing about the incident was left believing that her husband was cheating upon her. Utterly crushed, the aunt turns away from foolish notions of romance. She hopes she can prevent her niece from making the same mistake. Things look bleak until the niece finds an unopened letter that explains the whole situation and allows the ailing old aunt to die with her faith in true love restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
