Tully Marshall Movies

Viola Dana plays Ruth Ambrose, a citified interior decorator who expands her business to the country. The locals don't quite know what to make of the sophisticated Ruth, but she soon wins them over. After renovating a general store, Ruth finds true love in the form of farm boy Raymond McKee. Comedy relief is in the pudgy hands of Walter Hiers, while Tully Marshall goes through his "wizened rustic" repertoire. Along Came Ruth was released by Metro-Goldwyn, just before the company evolved into MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romance, which has the Orient as its background, strongly reflects the racial prejudices of its day. When Frank and Dreka Langley (Sam DeGrasse and Rosemary Theby) have an argument, Frank shoots himself. Left alone in the Malay Penninsula, Dreka goes to join her brother (Tully Marshall). On her way, she gives birth to a son, which she leaves in the care of a Chinese couple. While staying with her brother, Dreka becomes romantically involved with John Dangerfield (Wyndham Standing), who is married. The affair ruins them both, but Dangerfield manages to regenerate himself and he goes to a Chinese monastery. There he finds a little boy -- which happens to be Dreka's -- and adopts him. As a young man, Billy (Raymond McKee), goes to college in America, where he meets Dangerfield's daughter, Shirley (Barbara Bedford), and they fall in love. Billy is told he is Chinese, so he returns to China, where he finds Dreka, who informs him he is white. Billy and Shirley are happily reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Pulp writer Henry Herbert Knibb wrote the original story of this silent Hoot Gibson western, which enjoyed an above-average cast that included statuesque comedienne Gertrude Astor as a saloon belle, a devilish-looking Tully Marshall as a notorious outlaw named "The Spider," as well as future western series stars Fred Humes and Newton House. The last mentioned, a freckle-faced kid actor whose riding skills were highly admired at the time, played the hero as a child. Leading lady Gladys Hulette, a pioneering actress who had risen to fame as Princess Nicotine back in 1909, was suffering a career setback at the time despite having been Richard Barthelmess' leading lady in Tol'able David (1921). All that star power notwithstanding, Ridin' Kid from Powder River emerged as an average Gibson outing in which the cowboy star tracks down the villain who murdered his father. An enduring cliche, the story was remade by Gibson in 1930 as The Mounted Stranger. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When Beth Alden (Irene Rich), the daughter of the prominent local banker, goes on a hayride with Jack Fenton (Monte Blue), a terrible storm forces the couple to take shelter at the home of Jack's parents. Lightning strikes the house, and Jack rescues Beth from the blazing building. Jack escapes with his life but is hideously scarred and tragically loses his parents in the fire. Beth's grateful father gets Jack a job at the bank, but a scheming embezzler pins the blame on Jack when the books are audited. Although acquitted in the court, public opinion is against Jack,and he is forced to leave town. Later he is hospitalized when he suffers injuries in another fire, and a kindly surgeon (Tully Marshall) offers Jack the chance to have his features restored and he consents. With his scars removed, Jack returns home to seek revenge against the felonious financier who ruined his banking career. His efforts are halted by Beth when she professes her love for the man who saved her life. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

James Cruze revived the western genre and presented audiences with the first western epic in the spectacular 1923 film The Covered Wagon, chronicling the largest wagon train to ever cross the valley of the Platte River. The film takes place in 1848, when two wagon trains -- one led by Jesse Wingate (Charles Ogle), the other by Will Banion (J. Warren Kerrigan) -- as they travel from Kansas City, over the Oregon Trail, to destinations in California and Oregon. As the wagons make their way over the tortuous trail, many obstacles are encountered -- the crossing of the Platte River, an Indian attack, and a prairie fire. On the way to California, human stories unfold -- the most prominent of which revolves around Will and Molly Wingate (Lois Wilson). Molly's fiancé, Sam Woodhull (Alan Hale), out to discredit Will, succeeds in having Will and his wagons banished from the train and head off to the California gold fields. By that point, Molly has fallen in love with Will and sends Jackson (Ernest Torrence) to find him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Although he was completely eclipsed by his incredibly gifted relative, Sidney Chaplin was a fine farceur who could be almost as funny as brother Charles Chaplin. Here he just about steals the show from a group of other solid players. Blanche (Sylvia Breamer) will inherit her aunt's large estate, providing that she gets married within 24 hours. She chooses to wed John Ingram (Tully Marshall), an old man living at a rest home who is not expected to live much longer. She has been seen by the young, good-looking Thomas Burton (Owen Moore), who has fallen in love with her at first sight. With the help of his valet, Judd (Chaplin), he disguises himself as Ingram, whiskers and all, and marries Blanche himself. Then things get really complicated, since the old man's secretary plans to kill the old man off himself as part of a plot to acquire the fortune. Meanwhile, Blanche has taken the old man home to enjoy his last moments -- but the old man is actually Judd in disguise, while Burton pretends to be his nephew. Finally the real Ingram shows up, amidst much confusion. When the hired gunman sends for his thugs, Judd calls for help from everyone he can think of. The police, firemen, the navy, the army and several dozen others appear on the scene and the crooks are rounded up. When Blanche realizes it was Burton she actually married, she decides to make him her permanent husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Dorothy Dalton stars in this colorful gypsy tale. Co-starring is Charles de Roche, in his first American film (later in the year, De Roche would be seen as Rameses in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments). Tartar girl Sahande (Dalton) is auctioned off to help pay the debts of her father, Osman (Fred Huntley). Her fiancé, Sender (Theodore Kosloff), is outbid by a gypsy chief, Costa (de Roche). Sahande is furious at this turn of events, and after their wedding that night, Costa makes a deal with her: she has ten days to return his love, or to have Sender fight him. Sender turns out to be something less than honest, and he enlists the help of a crowd of men to capture Costa. They imprison the gypsy in a tower, which catches fire. Sahande comes to his rescue, and she acknowledges that he is really a better man than Sender. With that, the couple is united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This obscure silent Western was a typical example of the pioneer spirit still alive in the 1920s. Producer Morris R. Schlank, director-writer Alvin J. Neitz, and a cast of fine, if unaffiliated, supporting actors travelled to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to "shoot" this Northwest Mounted Police melodrama. The group named themselves Rocky Mountains Productions, and Neitz filmed his little tale with money invested by local Cheyenne businessmen, several of whom acted in bit parts in the film. The story was not original, to say the least: Mounted police inspector Noah Beery battles not only a gang of opium smugglers but also a haughty society belle, played -- vigorously -- by Irene Rich. Appearing in a supporting role, local boy Fred Hank returned with the company to Hollywood and headlined a series of very low-budget Western 2-reelers before returning to the obscurity from whence he had come. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This second film version of the Victor Hugo novel Notre Dame de Paris (the first was a Theda Bara vehicle, The Dancer of Paris) was a super-duper-spectacular as only Hollywood of the 1920s could make them, but it is never so large that it dwarfs the contribution of its star, Lon Chaney. As the hunchbacked bellringer Quasimodo, Chaney adorned himself with a special device that made his cheeks jut out grotesquely; a contact lens that blanked out one of his eyes; and, most painfully, a huge rubber hump covered with coarse animal fur and weighing anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds. While Quasimodo is but one of many interconnecting characters in the original Hugo novel, he dominates the narrative of this expensive Universal production. Set in the walled city of Paris in the 16th century, the story is set in motion when the evil Jehan (Brandon Hurst), brother of saintly Notre Dame archdeacon Dom Claude (Nigel De Brulier), orders the dog-like Quasimodo to attempt to kidnap gypsy girl Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller). Quasimodo is captured and flogged for his crime, whereupon Esmeralda shows him kindness by offering him water. He reciprocates when Esmeralda, framed on a murder charge by the obsessed Jehan (if he can't have her, no one can), is sentenced to be hanged. Quasimodo grabs a rope and swings down from the towers of Notre Dame, rescues Esmeralda from the gallows, and carries her into the church, shouting "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" Through a series of convoluted plot twists, Clopin (Ernest Torrence), the king of beggars, leads an army of the Parisian poor to storm the gates of the cathedral and reclaim Esmeralda. Quasimodo defends both the girl and his church by tossing heavy objects and pouring molten lead upon the invaders. This climactic scene was filmed at night, requiring the services of literally every arc light in Hollywood. The Notre Dame set (which wasn't quite as large in real life as it seems on screen) remained standing on the Universal back lot for years after this film was completed, doing background service in the 1925 Lon Chaney starrer The Phantom of the Opera. With Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lon Chaney rose from mere leading player to major star, which led him to even greater success at MGM, where his reputation as "the man of a thousand faces" really got a workout. The story would be remade by in 1939 with Charles Laughton, in 1955 with Anthony Quinn, in 1982 with Anthony Hopkins, and again in 1996 as a sanitized Disney animated musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In spite of an excellent American cast and two well-established directors, Australian action star Rex "Snowy" Baker isn't able to drum up much excitement with this melodrama. Richard Carleton (Baker) is in love with Mary (Gladys Brockwell), but he loses her to a romantic rival. To forget her, Carleton retreats to the mountains where he starts a new life with new friends. They establish a health resort, and Mary, now a widow, shows up in hopes of restoring her young son to health. Along the way, Carleton has made some enemies (standard silent villains Robert McKim and Noah Beery Sr.), and they plan to get their hands on the resort and steal Carleton's horse, Mankiller, which has been entered in a big race. Carleton, however, is able to outsmart his foes, and gets Mankiller to the track in time to win the race. He manages to hang onto his resort and win Mary's hand. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Silent screen stunt-man Richard Talmadge also produced this fine action melodrama, one of the few of his starring films to be extant. The former acrobat and stunt double for Douglas Fairbanks plays Barry Macklin, the supposedly worthless son of a cement factory owner (John Steppling). Assigned to visit Hillsboro, a town scheduled for paving, Barry becomes involved in a scheme to rob local bank. Proving himself a man of action instead of a wastrel, Barry not only catches the robbers in the act, but is also able to reveal that the town's mayor (Tully Marshall) is the real force behind the plot. As a reward, the young man regains his father's admiration and marries the daughter (Eileen Percy) of the town's new mayor (George Nichols). Like Talmadge himself, the blonde Miss Percy was a veteran of Douglas Fairbanks' stock company, having co-starred in no less than four Fairbanks vehicles, including Wild and Woolly and The Man from Painted Post (both 1917). Let's Go was executive produced by low-budget entrepreneur Phil Goldstone, who had been churning out Talmadge films since 1921. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although the Vitagraph studio had seen better days by 1922, it was still capable of putting out some entertaining films, such as this light comedy. Edward Everett Horton stars as Arthur Barnes, a bank clerk who is engaged to Helen (Margaret Landis), the daughter of the bank's president, James Wilbur (Wilbur Higby). When Barnes walks under a ladder, the superstitious Helen insists that he find it again and walk back under it to remove the "jinx." Barnes' attempts to get the ladder land him in a number of difficult situations. First, the police accuse him of using the ladder to rob a house. Barnes eludes the cops by dashing into the bank -- which is being robbed. The thieves flee just as Wilbur walks in, and Barnes, fearing even more trouble, runs away. He is finally caught, taken to court, and accused of the bank robbery. Things look bad until a witness shows up who actually saw the robbery and got the money back from the crooks. Barnes is freed and he and Helen are happily reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

14-year-old boys are far more sophisticated now than they were during the 1910s and 1920s, so this picture, based on the Booth Tarkington stories, may sound a bit puerile. The moviegoers of its day, however, were able to relate back to their own childhoods, especially with the capable direction of Marhsall Neilan and the charm of young Wesley Barry as the title character. Penrod is a typical boy (at least for the 1920s) who likes to read Wild West stories and play with his friends. Along with his pals, he organizes the "American Boy's Protective Society," which wins the derision of the townsfolk. But when the boys capture a band of notorious robbers, they become local heroes. Penrod also wins pretty little Clara Horton (who, at 19, wasn't quite "little" enough for the part) from his rival. Included in the stellar cast is the exceptionally talented youngster, Frederick "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, who was borrowed from the Hal Roach Studios especially for this film. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide