Frank Nelson Movies
- 1929
In this drama, a traveling troupe of actors find themselves in danger of becoming unemployed when their manager up and leaves. Two of the actors decide to marry and settle down. The lead actor helps set up the rest of the troupe with some performances. He then destroys the new marriage. Later the woman and the head actor fall in love. He then gives her the lead role in his newest show. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bessie Love
Warner Baxter, sporting a black mustache and a musical-comedy Mexican accent, stars as the Cisco Kid, the "Robin Hood of the Old West" created by O. Henry. Edmund Lowe co-stars as Cisco's "friendly enemy" Sgt. Mickey Dunne, the role that was originally to have gone to Raoul Walsh. Both men are madly in love with dusky beauty Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess), and in fact Cisco is so "far gone" that he composes a song in the girl's honor (actually, "My Tonia", first heard during the opening credits, was written by Fox studio tunesmiths Lew Brown, B.G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson). Alas, Tonia ends up betraying Cisco to Sgt. Burke. But the crafty, cold-blooded Cisco arranges for Tonia to be killed in the trap set for him (this plot resolution is faithful to O. Henry's original conception of the Cisco Kid, who wasn't really meant to be a "good guy"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1927
Veteran serial director George B. Seitz keeps things perpetually on the move in The Great Mail Robbery. Theodore von Eltz stars as Marine lieutenant Donald Macready, assigned by his commanding officer to squelch a train-robbery gang. Going undercover, Macready infiltrates the gang and monitors their every move. When the crooks plan their biggest heist, Our Hero radios the information to his superiors. A huge counter-offensive is mounted, but will Macready be able to avoid being killed by his "pals," who now know his true identity? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theodore Von Eltz, Frank Nelson, (more)
This silent screen adaptation of "Moby Dick" features John Barrymore in action as Captain Ahab Cooley, played against one of the most famous denizens of the deep, Herman Melville's great white whale. At the beginning of the story, Ahab and his step brother Dererk (George O'Hara) compete for the affections of a winsome minister's daughter, Esther Wiscasset (Dolores Costello). Meanwhile, the albino whale has been eluding harpooners, and bears the scars of many failed attacks against him. His fame has reached epic proportions. One day, Ahab and Derek are on the same whaler as the whale hoves into view. With the visual drama enhanced by the water and pitching boat, Ahab raises his harpoon to kill the beast. At that moment, Derek pushes him overboard and Ahab loses a right leg to the whale. In this scene, Barrymore's portrayal of agonizing pain as an antiseptic is poured over what remains of his leg contributed to his fame as a silents actor. Not long after this incident, the shallow Esther rebuffs Ahab as her suitor once she catches sight of his peg leg. Heartbroken at this turn of events, Ahab blames neither Esther nor his brother - instead he transfers blame and an undying hatred onto the whale. The following saga of Ahab's pursuit of the whale takes on the aura of a super-human quest, far beyond the proportions of its first motivation. One of the most popular of Barrymore's films, this version extends the story beyond the final battle of man versus whale in a variation on Melville's book. Adding publicity to the film was a bit of early Hollywood hype, unintentional though it may seem. The actress Priscella Bonner was fired by Barrymore from the role of Wiscasset, and in a curious parallel to Ahab and the mighty whale, she successfully sued the studio and won a considerable out-of-court settlement. Doubtless due to the popularity of this film, another was released in 1930 under Melville's original book title, with Barrymore again in the role of Captain Ahab. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Dolores Costello, (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)
- 1924
Zane Grey's often-filmed tale of the gunfighter's pacifist son who is forced into action by his father's erstwhile enemies was given a sumptuous production by Fox and turned into a typical Tom Mix extravaganza with all the trimmings. Mix was awarded a pretty new co-star in the blond Marian Nixon and a good supporting cast that included Harry Lonsdale as Mix's outlaw father and Brisnley Shaw as the main villain, Cal Bain. The story was filmed previously by Fox in 1919 starring William Farnum and would see two subsequent remakes: in 1930, starring George O'Brien, and in 1941, starring George Montgomery, both decidedly in the B-movie category. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1923
Paramount gave their newest star, an adolescent Douglas Fairbanks Jr., every advantage in his film debut. As support, young Fairbanks had some of the best talent from the studio's stock company, including renowned scene-stealer Theodore Roberts and Harry Myers, who had recently impressed in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The young actor himself received polite notices for his performance as Stephen Harlow Jr., who fails a class in Turkish history, and, as a result, can't graduate from college. His irate father, Stephen Sr. (Roberts), who has endowed the college, sends his boy to Turkey to learn some history firsthand and fires the professor, Mr. Gilman (James O. Barrows). When he discovers that professor Gilman has been discharged, Stephen Jr. becomes determined to get him his job back -- but first he gets involved in a Turkish revolution, led by the villainous Muley Pasha (Noah Beery Sr.), and rescues the sultan's son (Pat Moore). For his heroic acts, Stephen Jr. receives the Grand Cross of the Crescent, and he sends it to Gilman, claiming that it is for books he wrote on Turkish history. The college, seeing that Gilman is a man of prominence and distinction, reinstates him, and Stephen returns home to a proud father. This film was based on Richard Harding Davis' adventure story The Grand Cross of the Crescent. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Theodore Roberts, (more)
- 1923
This farcical melodrama starring Jack Holt was a pleasant program feature. Holt is Robert Pitt, a wealthy young idler who has just returned home to the States from London. While at a restaurant, he notices pretty Molly Creedon (Sigrid Holmquist). He sees that she has a photograph inscribed "with love" and as a joke, he makes a bet with his pals that he will obtain an autographed picture from the girl within 24 hours. But getting the photo is harder than it seemed at first, and he finally asks a burglar to help him out by stealing it. What Pitt doesn't realize is that Molly's father is "Big Phil" Creedon, the police commissioner, and there is a plot to steal some jewels from a British family. Pitt becomes a suspect in the attempted robbery, which he winds up preventing. After saving the jewels, he gets both the photograph and Molly. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Sigrid Holmquist, (more)
- 1922
Although this comedy had an awful lot of inconsistencies, it still was an nicely entertaining programmer -- plus it had the presence of handsome Jack Holt, as Horace Winsby, the lead character. Winsby is a millionaire beet sugar king who owns nearly all of California's San Geronimo Valley -- and he has mortgages on what's left over. But he's also a condescending snob who has no mercy for his debtors and that wins him no friends. He even patronizes Patricia Owens, the girl he loves (Eva Novak), and she turns down his marriage proposal. When it becomes all-too apparent that Winsby has one too many enemies in San Geronimo, he goes to New York to wait for things to cool down. He runs up a big bill at a posh hotel, and when he loses his wallet, he is unable to pay. So the hotel attaches his luggage and throws him out onto the street. Winsby has no choice but to head for a nearby park where he befriends a bum who shows him how to get by. Patricia comes to New York with her father (Joseph P. Lockney), and they find out about Winsby's dilemma. They finally trace him to a hash house where he is working as a dishwasher, a much humbler and happier man. After he straightens things out with the hotel, Winsby extends the mortgages of his debtors and brings his bum friend back home with him. Patricia approves of the new Winsby and agrees to marry him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, John P. Lockney, (more)
- 1921
George Walsh starred in this action-melodrama from Fox about a blind girl, Betty Reed, who is the sole "witness" to the murder of a mine owner and whose mistaken testimony convicts Sid Allen (Brigham Royce), her own benefactor. Years later, the adult Betty (Edna Murphy) returns to the mining town, her sight restored. Fearing that she may remember the truth, the real murderer, "Bull" Snide (Byron Douglas), has the girl kidnapped. She is saved in the nick of time by Dynamite Allen (Walsh), the son of the man wrongfully accused. Do Betty and Dynamite fall in love despite their past? Why, of course they do! Rotund comedian Billy Gilbert adds a bit of relief to the overall tension of this melodrama directed by Dell Henderson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
