Tully Marshall Movies
Cadaverous character actor Tully Marshall attended the University of Santa Clara in the 1880s. Drifting into acting, Marshall first appeared onstage at the age of 26, turning professional shortly thereafter. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind him when he made his first film in 1914. Like his fellow actors Charles Coburn and Donald Crisp, Marshall was one of those performers who seemed to have been born at the age of 60. Throughout the silent era, he played a vast array of drunken trail scouts, lovable grandpas, unforgiving fathers, sinister attorneys and lecherous aristocrats. In films until his death at the age of 78, one of the best of Tully Marshall's last performances was as the wheelchair-bound criminal mastermind in This Gun For Hire (1942). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1928
It's Harry Carey versus Noah Beery in this amusing Western, released during the November elections, 1922. S.S. Thorpe (Beery) realizes that J. Wesley Pringle (Carey) is likely to beat him out for the position of sheriff, but plans to use any means, no matter how dirty, to keep this from happening. Simon Hibbler (Thomas Jefferson) is Pringle's biggest supporter, with the possible exception of his daughter, Georgie (Vola Vale). He also has a friend in Fite (Tully Marshall), a woefully henpecked husband whom Pringle saved from suicide. Thorpe knocks Pringle off a cliff, and when this doesn't kill him, he tries to kidnap him and frame him for murder. With Fite's help, Pringle escapes and he bribes Thorpe's Turkish masseuse into changing places with him. Then he rescues Georgie, fights off a bunch of varmints and gets back to town in time to win the election. Thorpe winds up behind bars and the new sheriff weds Georgie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Beery, Sr., Thomas Jefferson, (more)
- 1928
Pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith's days of glory were well behind him when he agreed to direct Drums of Love. Indicative of his diminishing status in Hollywood was the fact that he was now merely a hired hand at United Artists, the company he'd helped to form in 1919. The film was based on the venerable melodrama Francesca da Rimini, "updated" from 14th-century Italy to 19th-century South America. Mary Philbin and Don Alvarado were starred as illicit lovers Emanuella and Leonardo, while Lionel Barrymore glowered his way through the role of Emanuella's misshapen husband. The film was stolen by Tully Marshall as the malevolent jester who reveals Emanuella's infidelities. No longer in full control of his films, Griffith was forced to make several demeaning concessions, the most injurious of which was imposing a happy ending on the story. Despite all that was working against him, however, Griffith was occasionally able to invest his old vim and vigor into the proceedings -- especially during a spectacular action setpiece which, reversing the director's usual formula, took place at the beginning of the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Philbin, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
- 1928
The confident direction of Allan Dwan transformed The Mad Hour into something more than a mere "soap opera." Based on a novel by Elinor Glyn (the Barbara Cartland of her time), the story concerns a hasty marriage and a long, long repentance. While drunk on bootleg hootch, good-time girl Cuddles (Sally O'Neil) and college-boy Jack (Donald Reed) get married. Jack's wealthy father instantly disowns the boy, while Cuddles finds herself falsely accused of a jewel theft. While serving her prison term, Cuddles gives birth to Jack's baby, only to discover upon her release that her marriage has been annulled and her kid is illegitimate in the eyes of the law. Throwing caution to the winds, the grief-crazed Cuddles hops into a roadster and speeds off a cliff to her death -- while Jack quietly marries his former sweetheart Aimee (Alice White), the expression on his face indicating that he will be tortured with guilt for the rest of his life. The moral: Alcohol and Wedding Bells Don't Mix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally O'Neil, Alice White, (more)
- 1928
The strange and terrible things that the lust for gold can do to the soul comprise the message of this innovative, epic account of the Alaskan gold rush. Unlike Chaplin's version of the same era story, which combined hardship with comedy and culminated with a happy ending, Clarence Brown's film is disturbing. Though he follows the lives of many prospectors throughout the movie, one story receives extra attention. It is that of a gold miner who finally strikes it rich, suffers terribly to return to his true love and discovers that she has become a tawdry dance-hall girl working for a known murderer. Enraged, the prospector gets into a terrible battle that culminates in a tragic scene -- perhaps designed to make us realize how insignificant we are in the face of nature's ruthless grandeur. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Ralph Forbes, (more)
- 1928
After holding out for several months, MGM decided to take the talking-picture plunge with Alias Jimmy Valentine. Actually, the film is 90% silent, with a few arbitrarily inserted talkie sequences. Digressing but little from the oft-filmed O. Henry original, the plot concerns a reformed safecracker, here played by popular MGM light leading man William Haines. While working at an honest job at a bank, Haines' past comes back to haunt him in the form of relentless detective Lionel Barrymore. Haines is able to throw the cop off the trail until a little girl is locked in the bank's vault. Forced to utilize his highly individualized safecracking technique to rescue the girl, Haines is certain that he's destined for a long prison term. But Barrymore, taking into consideration Haines' good deed-not to mention his romance with boss' daughter Leila Hyams-pretends not to notice, and lets the former criminal off scot-free. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Haines, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
Frank Willard's barn-storming stage melodrama Cat and the Canary was filmed four times over a fifty-year period. This silent 1927 version stars Laura LaPlante as one of several potential heirs to a huge fortune. Brought to a foreboding mansion on the 20th anniversary of their eccentric benefactor's death, the heirs must sit in silence as the lawyer (Tully Marshall) recites the terms of the will. The legacy hinges upon three sealed letters, each to be opened at a strategic point in the evening. Also crucial to the inheritance is the insistence that all the heirs spend the night in the creepy old mansion. Nervous Creighton Hale appoints himself LaPlante's protector--a far from simple job, given the many hidden panels and revolving doors which festoon the house. When the lawyer is murdered, LaPlante is the principle suspect. Cat and the Canary was remade as The Cat Creeps in 1930, and under its own title in 1939 (with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard) and 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, (more)
- 1927
Handsome doctor Bryant Washburn specializes in the ailments of women -- more specifically, wealthy widows. Washburn's girlfriend Laura LaPlante is jealous of the doctor's good-looking patients, and not without reason. Heading to the mountains to get married, LaPlante and Washburn are intercepted by predatory widow Kathryn Carver, who intends to land the doc for herself. LaPlante fails to see the humor of the situation and walks out on Washburn, only to return, meek and contrite, just as the doctor is being marched down the aisle by Carver. Pretty location photography manages to obscure some of the lapses of logic in the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura La Plante, Paulette Duval, (more)
- 1927
William Boyd, in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days, played a variety of roles, but he already was showing a flair for Westerns in this film. Cowboy Jim Burgess (Boyd) leaves the West to do some traveling, and while he's in Italy he meets Polly Graydon (Elinor Fair). They meet up once again in New York, but Jim has other business to attend to -- he finds out that his father has been murdered in a sheep feud. He vows revenge and goes after his father's murderer. He kills the man in an attack, but then discovers that Polly is the heir to his ranch. Although Polly is angered by Jim's actions, she still warns him when she hears of a plot to kill him. The two of them escape the explosion meant for Jim, but the next day they are tied up by marauders. Jim escapes and fetches the law, who round up the bad guys. Jim and Polly are united. Elinor Fair was -- at least for a while -- Boyd's wife. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elinor Fair, Tom Santschi, (more)
- 1927
That creaky old Ralph Spence stage comedy-melodrama The Gorilla was given the first of its four screen treatments in 1927. The title character has been accused of several killings in the vicinity of a foreboding Hudson River mansion. The owner of the house, reclusive Uriah Townsend (Tully Marshall), is certain that he will be the Gorilla's next victim, so he summons bumbling detectives Garrity (Charlie Murray) and Mulligan (Fred Kelsey). But to no avail: Townsend is murdered, and everyone is placed under suspicion -- notably Stevens (Walter Pigeon), the sweetheart of Townsend's daughter Alice (Alice Day). In their own stumbling fashion. Garrity and Mulligan discover that the murderer is of the human variety, rescuing Alice from a grisly fate at the very last minute. The Gorilla was remade in 1930, with Walter Pigeon repeating his role, then again in 1937 (as Sh! The Octopus) and 1939 (with the Ritz Brothers). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Murray, Fred Kelsey, (more)
- 1926
The Vincent Blasco-Ibanez novel Entre Naranjos served as the inspiration for Greta Garbo's first American film, The Torrent. Garbo plays Leonora, a full-bodied Spanish peasant girl who falls in love with her landlord's son Don Rafael Bull (Ricardo Cortez). To prevent his son from marrying beneath his station, Don Rafael's father banishes Leonora from his property. She relocates in Paris, where she achieves fame and fortune as an opera singer, while back at home Don Rafael becomes a prominent politician. When Leonora returns home, she spurns his offers of marriage, even during a raging flood in which her life is in Don Rafael's hands. After this spectacular sequence, the film's surprisingly unhappy ending seems anticlimactic. Garbo's lover-mentor Mauritz Stiller had originally been slated to direct The Torrent, but at the last minute MGM opted for house director Monta Bell. Whether or not Stiller could have compensated for the script's more ludicrous passages is open to conjecture: Suffice to say that, without Garbo's presence, The Torrent would have been just so much Spanish applesauce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, (more)
- 1926
Betrayed by his wife and disillusioned by the world in general, British nobleman Lord Gervas Carew heads to Algeria, there to tend to the needs of the impoverished Arab natives. As Carew's humanity and selflessness gives him a new lease on life -- as well as a new nickname, "The White Man of the Desert" -- his treacherous wife Lady Eleanor (Katherine MacDonald) gets her comeuppance in a fittingly humiliating fashion. Her fate is kinder than the one afforded her illicit lover Lord Gerardine (Walter Pidgeon), who ends up being trampled to death. Carew's good deeds are rewarded in an unexpected manner when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Marny (Barbara Bedford) -- who happens to be the widow of the unfortunate Lord Gerardine. The title of this one should have been "What Comes Around Goes Around" (even though it was based on The Desert Healer by E. M. Hull, the author of The Sheik). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Bedford, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1926
Set in a not-so-reasonable facsimile of London's Limehouse district, Twinkletoes stars Colleen Moore as the title character, a slum girl who aspires to become a dancer. Enduring one defeat and disillusionment after another, Twinkletoes is about to end it all by jumping into the Thames. She is rescued by Chuck Lightfoot (Kenneth Harlan), a would-be prizefighter who has likewise had his share of hard knocks. Adapted from a notoriously seamy novel by Thomas Burke, Twinkletoes was considerably cleaned up for the screen, if for no other reason than to remain within the good graces of Colleen Moore's fan following. It was one of several Moore vehicles produced by the actress' then-husband, First National executive John McCormick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colleen Moore, Kenneth Harlan, (more)
- 1926
A minor silent comedy-drama, Her Big Night featured Grace Darmond, a blond former serial queen, as the secretary of a millionaire who, on her vacation, checks into a hotel posing as Countess Fontaine. She manages to ensnare her employer's handsome son (Herbert Rawlinson), but the situation becomes predictably confusing when the real countess (Vola Vale) suddenly turns up. Directed by John Ince, the brother of pioneering filmmaker Thomas H. Ince, Her Big Night was produced by low-budget company Kerman Films. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura La Plante, ZaSu Pitts, (more)
- 1925
This drama, based on the play by Marion Fairfax, concerns a woman who talks big, but does not practice what she preaches. Kate Lennox (Anna Q. Nilsson) is bored with suburban life and her husband, Harry (Lewis S. Stone). Their next-door neighbors, the hen-pecked Henry Fells (Tully Marshall) and his wife, Maud (Gertrude Short), have several boarders, among them Barbara Farley, who is Lennox's stenographer (Barbara Bedford), and Lonnie Whinston (Harold Goodwin), who is in love with Lennox's little sister, Ruth (Shirley Mason). Kate claims that women need more independence and less duty, and flirts with Ned Hollister, a car salesman (Ian Keith). Ruth takes everything Kate says to heart, and runs off with Hollister. This causes a major rift between Lennox and Kate, and he leaves for India on a job assignment. Kate regrets the result of her careless words, and wants to beg her husband's forgiveness. Barbara asserts that Lennox loves her, so Kate asks for a divorce instead. Ruth finally returns -- after discovering that Hollister was a thief and a bigamist. She left him and went to work in a factory before coming home. Whinston, still patiently waiting, is glad to have her back. Lennox returns from his trip and reunites with his conciliatory wife. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Q. Nilsson, Lewis Stone, (more)
- 1925
This silent adaptation of Franz Lehar's famous operetta (in which precious little of the original story was retained) was a rare event in Erich Von Stroheim's directorial career -- a critical and commercial success that the director was also able to complete according to his wishes (though in the latter years of his life, he would claim that the film's final moments were forced upon him by studio brass intent on a happier ending). Prince Danilo (John Gilbert) and Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy) are two brothers in the Ruritanian royal family who are notorious womanizers, frequently finding themselves competing for the same woman. When Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), a dancer from America, stops in Ruritania on a performance tour, both Danilo and Mirko are both strongly attracted to her, as is the older Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall). Each begins making plans to seduce her; however, during Sally's performance, the differences between the three men become apparent -- Danilo is attracted to the beauty of Sally's eyes and face, while Mirko is strictly interested in her body, and Sadoja's intense focus is upon her feet. Danilo introduces himself to Sally after a performance as "Danilo Petrovich," claiming to be a wealthy commoner rather than royalty. He invites her to dine at his estate after her performance, and when he "mistakenly" spills soup on her dress, it's the first step in his successful efforts to lead her to his bed. Danilo asks Sally to marry him, and she agrees. To his surprise, Danilo finds that he is eager to settle down with the American dancer, but King Nikita (George Fawcett) and Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell) forbid him to marry a woman who does not carry a royal title, and Danilo is forced to leave Sally waiting at the altar. Seizing an opportunity, the aging Sadoja asks Sally for her hand in marriage, and she grudgingly accepts; he dies on their wedding night while ecstatically rummaging through her collection of shoes. Sally inherits Sadoja's estate and retains the title of Baroness, and a year later she encounters Danilo, who is still deeply in love with Sally and wants another chance to win her heart -- although since she never learned the truth about why he never arrived for their wedding, she is not eager to be wooed by him again. Mirko also re-enters the picture in a new effort to win Sally's affections, but while Danilo is motivated by true love, Mirko's efforts are fueled by lust, both for her body and her newly-gained wealth. The Merry Widow was a lavishly-staged production shot on a long schedule (19 weeks, very unusual for the time) with a large cast of extras. If you look carefully, you can spot Clark Gable and Myrna Loy among the bit players, several years before either would become a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, John Gilbert, (more)
- 1925
The only truly interesting aspect of this melodrama is the spectacular fire aboard an ocean liner. The scene was shot in color, and to make it even more exciting, a leopard also breaks free on the ship. The lovely presence of Doris Kenyon also helps. Kenyon plays Poppy La Rue, an actress who winds up stranded in Singapore when her theatrical troupe goes bust. She winds up in the Red Light district where she works as a "hostess" (generally a silent film euphemism for prostitute), where she meets Philip Douglas, a down-at-the-heels Brit (Lloyd Hughes). While drunk, he kills a man in self-defense, and Poppy helps him to escape. Jardine (Sam Hardy), a plantation owner, is determined to have Poppy, and when she wants to escape from the Oriental underworld, he offers to help, provided she accompanies him to Penang. Douglas is also on board and when a fire breaks out in the hold, he rescues Poppy from Jardine's advances. They manage to get in a lifeboat just before the ship explodes, and are picked up by a passing vessel. Douglas' father (Hobart Bosworth) wants the couple to separate, but finally he accepts Poppy as his daughter-in-law. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Kenyon, Lloyd Hughes, (more)
- 1925
After his impressive screen debut in Sally, stage comedian Leon Errol became a full-fledged film star with this picture, set in New England's colonial days. Tidd (Errol) is a henpecked tailor who secretly dreams of being a pirate. In fact, he even makes himself a pirate costume, which unnerves his wife, Betsy (Dorothy Gish). He winds up hiding in a small boat, where he is found by a rough crew and mistaken for notorious pirate chief Dixie Bull. He is taken on board where he gets to live out his dreams. Betsy and Tidd's niece, Nancy Downs (Edna Murphy), board the Frolic in their search for Tidd, and their vessel gets in a battle with the pirate ship. Tidd wins and demands that the women be handed over -- of course, they are Betsy, Nancy, and a vamp, Madame LaTour (Nita Naldi). Tidd finally comes face-to-face with the real Dixie Bull (Walter Law) and he agrees to a duel. When Bull trips and falls, Tidd leaps on him and declares himself the victor. The truth is he is more than happy to go back to his normal, bland life, with one change -- now he can order his wife around. Dorothy Gish's then-husband, James Rennie, has a supporting role as Nancy's sweetheart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Dorothy Gish, (more)
- 1925
Harold Austin plays an impoverished sailor who poses as a British aristocrat. In this guise, he insinuates himself into the home of a wealthy man. Gladys Walton, daughter of Austin's host, is currently in love with a phony duke. Slightly more honest than his rival, Austin exposes the "duke" for the crook he truly is. He also claims Walton as his bride, as if you haven't guessed. This Anything Once bears no relation to the 1917 Franklyn Farnum vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gladys Walton, Harold Austin, (more)
- 1925
Smouldering Fires is a first-rate silent "soap opera," immaculately performed by its superb cast and brilliantly directed by Clarence Brown. Pauline Frederick plays a highly efficient middle-aged business executive, whose motto is "Let No Man Be Necessary to You." She discards this edict when she falls in love with her much-younger employee Malcolm McGregor. Though McGregor sincerely loves Frederick, her younger sister Laura LaPlante assumes that the man is a fortune hunter. After Frederick and McGregor are wed, LaPlante comes to realize that her new brother-in-law is sincere. She also realizes uncomfortably that she has fallen in love with McGregor, and he with her. Out of consideration for Frederick, the younger couple keeps their mutual attraction secret, and promise each other not to act upon their feelings. But Frederick eventually figures out the situation. Magnanimously, she declares that the marriage was a mistake, and that she'll seek a divorce before anyone is hurt. The aftermath of this triangular situation is subtly hinted at by a carefully arranged medium shot of the three principals. Never stooping to cliché or wallowing in phony sentimentality, Smouldering Fires is an honest tale about realistic people with genuine emotions. Most available prints are from the American release version; the slightly longer European version is even better, with some remarkably mature (albeit non-lurid) setpieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauline Frederick, Laura La Plante, (more)
- 1925
Paula (Fritzi Brunette), a chorus girl, marries into an aristocratic family. Unfortunately, her husband is a drunk. When he tries to give some liquor to their infant son, she brandishes a pair of scissors at him. He wrestles them away from her, then falls down the stairs and stabs himself. Due to the perjured testimony of the maid and butler, Paula is convicted of murder and sent to jail. Her son, Danny (Ben Lyon), grows up to be a movie star. There is a controversy surrounding him because he refuses to do his own stunts. The reason he won't take any chances is that he is using all his money to get his mother out of jail. Finally, to redeem himself, he agrees to participate in a charity auto race, but his mother's hearing is scheduled for the race day. Somehow, Danny manages to attend the hearing, get his mother off, and make it to the race. He proves his bravery when the track gives way and he is injured. His courage wins him the girl (Mary Astor). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Lyon, Mary Astor, (more)
- 1924
This compelling and exceptionally well-executed silent drama, from new MGM studio executives Irving Thalburg and producer Louis B. Mayer is based on a highly-regarded Russian play and features the studio's biggest stars, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert and Norma Shearer. Directed by noted Swedish filmmmaker Victor Sjostrom, it is the story of a scientific genius who is humiliated by his philandering wife and a major career set-back. To express his pain, bitterness and anger he becomes a circus clown who seems to enjoy the frequently cruel slapstick antics of his new colleagues. While in the circus, he finds a chance at renewal when he falls for a lovely bareback rider. But will he at last find happiness? Or will tragedy continue to be his closest companion? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, (more)
- 1924
Two of the silent era's more forgotten comedians, pert Dorothy Devore and rotund Walter Hiers headlined this feature comedy from short-subject specialist Christie. Losing her job at the beauty parlor, Dorothy cons her way into a position at a newspaper where she is assigned to interview an eccentric collector (Tully Marshall). While being shown a rare and expensive bracelet, a bypassing monkey grabs the jewelry, and the remainder of the farce is one long chase up and down a skyscraper, with Dorothy as an ersatz Harold Lloyd. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1924
Judge Somers (Tully Marshall) refuses to let his daughter, Edith (Sylvia Bremer), marry Jerry Warner (T. Roy Barnes) because he does not believe that the young man has any business sense. To help him out, Jerry's Uncle Bellamy (Lincoln Plumer) gives him ten thousand dollars to get started. Judge Somers tells him that if he still has that amount in six months, he can marry Edith. Warner gets off to a rocky start, since he uses half the money to buy oil stock which Somers claims is worthless. An opportunity for quick money appears in the form of an offer from newlyweds Chris and Beatrice Skinner (Harry Meyers and Wanda Hawley). Skinner's grandfather (Jack Duffy) does not approve of Beatrice and threatens to cut off his allowance. The couple decides to divorce and remarry after Skinner gets his grandfather's money. Skinner offers Warner ten thousand dollars to play the corespondent, but then he becomes unreasonably jealous and threatens to divorce Beatrice for real. It gets worse when Edith finds Warner and Beatrice together and doesn't realize it's a set-up for Skinner's grandfather. Finally everything gets untangled, grandpa decides he likes Beatrice after all, and the supposedly worthless oil stock turns out to be quite valuable. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Myers, T. Roy Barnes, (more)
- 1924
Tully Marshall plays "the Stranger," an outcast who works in a saloon frequented by Peggy Bowlin, a poor girl suffering through hard times (Betty Compson). She finds romance with Larry Darrant (Richard Dix), and her life begins to improve. They make plans to wed and leave England, but when a convict assaults Peggy, Larry gets involved and accidentally kills him. The Stranger is arrested for the murder, but he refuses to declare his innocence because he doesn't want to destroy Peggy's happiness. Larry wants to confess, but his brother Keith (Lewis Stone) has political aspirations and refuses to let him. After the Stranger is sentenced to death, however, Larry insists that he must do what is right and they show up at the scaffold. The Stranger, however, has heart failure just as the noose is being put around his neck and he dies. Larry's secret dies with him, so he and Peggy are free to pursue their dreams. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Richard Dix, (more)
