Charles Morton Movies
Hailing from Illinois, young silent actor Charles Morton was already a veteran trouper when signed to a contract with Fox in 1927. Female audiences first discovered the handsome youth opposite the studio's leading flapper, Madge Bellamy, in Colleen (1927), one of the era's many comedy-dramas with a decided influence of blarney. Morton was one of the Four Sons (1928), fighting World War I on opposite sides in John Ford's sadly lost anti-war drama, and a member of the ultimately tragic circus troupe in F.W. Murnau's near-classic Four Devils (1928). Sound, unfortunately, had an ill affect on Morton's career and he was playing bit parts by 1935. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Check and Double Check brought radio's highest-rated program to the big screen. Amos 'N' Andy were two black characters played by two white men, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. Donning blackface, Gosden and Correll are seen as well as heard as A&A, partners in the Harlem-based Fresh Air Taxicab Company. Our heroes spend most of their time helping the white romantic leads (Sue Carol and Charles Morton) try to locate a missing deed to some property owned by Morton's family. Eventually, Amos 'N' Andy unwittingly end up in a haunted house. Virtually the only genuine African Americans in the film are the members of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club orchestra, whose appearance at a high society ball is the device that brings A&A into the plot. Though no other Amos 'N' Andy films would follow, a popular TV series later aired in the 1950s with black actors cast in the leads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freeman Gosden, Charles J. Correll, (more)
- 1930
Sparring landladies provide the focus of this comedy. The two women are constantly competing to take in the most boarders at their respective homes. Though outwardly jealous rivals, the women are actually best friends. The competition gets more intense when one woman's daughter falls for the other's son. Now the women, who have secretly made a killing playing the stock market, try to see which one can put on the fanciest wedding. In the end, the couple weds and the women renew their friendship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, (more)
- 1930
This early talkie is the third version of the popular Booth Tarkington play. It is set in the mid 19th-century and centers upon a good-hearted riverboat gambler who takes on a group of criminals in New Orleans during Mardis Gras when he rushes in to save a young woman from ruination. But she is a tough cookie and doesn't even thank him. Instead, she runs away. Later he meets her again after he wins her daddy's cotton plantation in a card game. None of the locals are pleased by the gambler's presence and he is nearly lynched. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Terris, Douglas Gilmore, (more)
- 1929
The circus provides the backdrop for this melodrama that chronicles the lives of four children raised within the big top. Two of them have grown to be lovers. Though they appear inseparable, trouble ensues when a usurper takes the girl away. The picture is considered a lost work -- no copies are known to have survived. It was nonetheless regarded as an excellent film upon release (hence the 3.5 star rating); a 1928 Variety review proclaimed it "an elegantly produced, photographed, and directed picture by Fox, of high value regular release quality, and missing the super height class only because it is missing any one big kick." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Farrell MacDonald, Anders Randolf, (more)
- 1929
This part-talkie (17 minutes of dialogue in its 83-minute running time) stars Janet Gaynor as Christina, the daughter of Dutch toymaker Niklaas (Rudolph Schildkraut). Much to her dad's dismay, Christina falls in love with sideshow huckster Jan (Charles Morton). Likewise disapproving of the romance is Jan's jealous employer Mme. Bosman (Lucy Dorraine), who frames the young man on an embezzlement charge. Escaping conviction, Jan rushes back to Christina's village to rescue her from an arranged marriage. It says here that Christina was based on a story by Tristan Tupper, but it sure sounds a lot like Ferenc Molnar's Liliom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Charles Morton, (more)
- 1929
In this drama, an unemployed young woman who must support her younger brother pays a visit to a gambler who wants her body. However, he is murdered during her visit, and she is charged with the crime. But, the real killer is unmasked and dies in an accident, and her old flame shows up to romance her once again. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Astor, Charles Morton, (more)
- 1929
In this romance, a greedy poacher travels to a small island in the Bering sea to rob a seal rookery. There he falls for the governor's daughter who learns that the poacher is the estranged son of a prominent, but dead, citizen. She reveals his true identity to him, and he decides not to kill the baby seals. Unfortunately, one of his henchmen attempts to continue the slaughter. The ex-poacher stops him and is thereby, welcomed into the community. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1928
Failing miserably in the business world, a college hero becomes a lifeguard and falls for a pretty concessionaire in this breezy comedy which greatly benefitted by incorporating a beauty pageant filmed in Technicolor. Two of Fox studios' newest contract players, Charles Morton and Sally Phipps, starred as the lifeguard and concessionaire, respectively. Although throwing an obstacle race to aid an injured competitor, Morton emerges the winner when it comes to romance. A 1927 WAMPAS Baby Star, Sally Phipps was quite popular in the late '20s, especially in campus comedies, but left films in 1929 to marry department store heir Benedict Gimpel. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Morton, Sally Phipps, (more)
- 1928
Long though lost, Four Sons reemerged in the 1960s, proving anew that the silent films of director John Ford were every bit as accomplished as his talkies. More "Germanic" in tone and texture than later Ford films, Four Sons is the story of the Bernle family of Bavaria. Mother Bernle (Margaret Mann) dotes upon her four sons Joseph (James Hall), Johann (Charles Morton), Franz (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) and Andres (George Meeker), but is powerless in guiding their destinies. When WW I breaks out, her sons march off to the front: one of the boys fights for the AEF, the others for the Kaiser. The film's most poignant sequence takes place on the battlefield, when one of the sons stumbles upon his mortally wounded brother. Though the dying man's plaintive cries are heard on the Fox Movietone soundtrack, the scene itself is effectively played in pantomime. An updated version of Four Sons, wherein the locale was switched from Bavaria to Czechoslovakia, was filmed in 1940, starring Don Ameche, Alan Curtis, Robert Lowery and George Ernest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Mann, James Hall, (more)
- 1927
This flimsy but entertaining comedy-drama was based on a story by Arthur Somers Roche. It's a typical yarn of the era, about two girls who are first seen working behind the counter at a department store but who manage to become chorus girls with the help of Diamond Jim (J. Farrell MacDonald). Maybelle (Marjorie Beebe) plays for comedy and winds up being a hit, but the pretty, blonde Flo (Nancy Nash) has a tougher time. She is forced to play Lady Godiva and Bob, her steady beau (Clifford Holland), decides that this must mean she's "fast." He makes Flo a sleazy proposition, and it leads to their breakup. Waiting in the wings, however, is the "rich but honest" Dick (Charles Morton), a wealthy idler who is the backer of the show. He proves his faith in Flo by presenting her with a marriage license, and the two of them wind up happily together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Nash, Charles Morton, (more)
- 1927
A long lost silent comedy-drama, Colleen was a great success for Madge Bellamy, whose popularity reached its zenith in the mid-1920s. According to the Motion Picture News, Bellamy played a debutante who falls in love with the son (Charles Morton) of an impoverished nobleman. "Their love making under difficulties and constant squabbles form the basis of the action," the trade-paper stated rather tersely. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Thunder the Dog, Fox Studios' answer to Warner Bros.' Rin Tin Tin, stars in Wolf Fangs. The star plays a sheepherder's pup who turns "outlaw" when he's falsely accused of killing sheep. Adapting to the wild with ease, Thunder soon becomes head of a wolf pack, though his supremacy is challenged by his bitter rival Lobo. The story's "human" angle is introduced when heroine Ellen (Caryl Lincoln) tries to save the wounded Thunder from his pursuers; he returns the favor by rescuing Ellen from her sadistic guardian. Wolf Fangs was filmed on location at Mt. Baker Park in Oregon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thunder, Caryl Lincoln, (more)
