Eva Novak Movies

This crime melodrama was a change of pace (and a turn for the worst) for Eva Novak, who had been featured in light comedy-dramas. Kate Westhanger (Novak) is the head of a gang of crooks. She is working as a secretary to a financier so she can find out about a gold shipment. She deciphers the code and the gang gets the loot. But she believes she has been double-crossed by some of her associates. In addition she has fallen in love with Mike Pretherson (L.C. Shumway), an amateur detective who is as honest as she is deceitful, and she decides to go straight. So she and Mike try to stop the theft only to be captured by the gang. They are saved by the police in the nick of time. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

The great silent western hero William S. Hart was no longer in his prime when he produced (for Paramount-Artcraft) this moralistic tale of a Mountie chasing down the murderer of a saloon keeper. Along the way, the lawman encounters a gang of robbers and, to gain their confidence, pretends to rob a bank himself. The ruse works, and he is admitted to the gang's mountain lair. There, he falls for the sister (Eva Novak) of one of the bandits (Antrim Short). A jealous rival (Leo Willis) gets wise to the ruse, however, and the Mountie is sentenced to be hanged by the gang leader. He is rescued, in the nick of time by the girl and her brother. As it turns out, the boy is the wanted killer of the saloon keeper. Rather than arrest the brother of his beloved, officer Hart nobly resigns from the force, returning, as an inter title explains, " to his loved one no longer O'Malley of the Mounted." In accordance with changing tastes, the usually reticent Hart added several scenes of rodeo excitement to this otherwise average potboiler. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Eva Novak, who was usually the female lead for such luminaries as Tom Mix and William S. Hart, is the star of this mystery romance. A vaudeville troupe is stranded in a rural area, and they decide to eat one of their props -- a goose. Actress Rose Darrow (Novak), however, claims it as her own. She takes it to the next village, where she performs at the local amateur night show to scrape some money together. Fred Vaughn, the son of a wealthy family (Geoffrey Webb), catches her act and takes her out to eat. He helps her out by finding her a room at the farm belonging to Haskins (Calvert Carter), which is next door to his parents' estate. His parents (C. Norman Hammond and Dorothy Hagan) disapprove of the girl, but they throw a party for her anyway. During the evening, some jewels are stolen and Rose is thought to be the thief. She finds the real culprit and the Vaughns agree that Fred can marry her. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Professor Norris (Percy Challenger) is in Alaska studying the Eskimos. With him is his daughter, Aurora (Eva Novak), and David Waters, a friend who has been reared as part of the family (Starke Patterson). David is a weakling, in stark contrast to drifter Wiki Jack Horn (Herbert Heyes), who comes through town. Wiki Jack falls in love with Aurora, who is repulsed by his crude ways. When David goes gold-hunting and becomes involved with a dance hall girl, Wiki Jack starts looking better to Aurora. David becomes the victim of an avalanche, and the cold-natured Aurora warms up to Wiki Jack's passion. She finally comes to realize that underneath his brutal exterior is a fine and honorable man. On his end of things, Wiki Jack tries to please her by becoming a bit more civilized. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Cinematographer Edward Kull, who earlier had helmed 2-reel westerns for Universal, was promoted to feature-film director with Barriers of Folly, a miserly independent western starring also-ran action lead George Larkin. Larkin plays Jim Buckley, a heroic cowboy who warns pretty Eva Novak that smooth-talking city slicker (Wilfred Lucas is really after her oil-rich land. Kull directed several other poverty-row westerns before returning to his previous metier in the sound era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The Great Night hasn't an original moment in its entire 5 reels, but audiences went home satisfied anyway. William Russell plays Larry Gilmore, a carefree young man who must find a wife or lose an inheritance. To expedite matters, Gilmore's pals place an item in the newspapers about his upcoming legacy. Before long, Our Hero is besieged by hundreds of eligible females of all shapes, sizes and ages. Gilmore escapes the onslaught by disguising himself as a cop, a ruse which leads to even more misadventures. The plot of The Great Night has been utilized dozens of times, never more memorably than in Buster Keaton's Seven Chances and the Three Stooges' Brideless Groom. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

aka Hell's River Just about every actor has to work his way up from supporting roles and this even includes Rin-Tin-Tin. Known only as Rin Tin in 1922, he made a stunning debut in this drama of the Northwest, based on the James Oliver Curwood novel, The God of Her People. Pretty Maballa (Eva Novak) lives at a small French-Canadian trading post with her father. While her sweetheart Pierre, a Mountie (Irving Cummings, who also directed), is off capturing bad guys she finds herself at the mercy of Gaspard, an evil character also known as the Wolf (no, not Rin-Tin-Tin, but Wallace Beery in high villain mode). Gaspard knows that Maballa's father is wanted for a murder (which, of course, he did not commit) and threatens to have him arrested unless she marries him. Maballa has no choice, and is betrothed to Gaspard by the time Pierre returns to the post (here is where Rin-Tin-Tin appears, as the pilot dog of Pierre's team). Maballa cannot explain the situation to her Mountie boyfriend, but a priest finally tells all. Gaspard tries to take Maballa away, but Pierre follows and a fight to the death ensues. Just when things look bad for Pierre, his faithful pilot dog leaps on Gaspard and sends him flying over the cliff. Pierre and Maballa are finally reunited and Rin-Tin-Tin takes his place in movie history alongside another dog star of the silent era, Strongheart. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

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, Rovi

Victor Schertzinger both wrote and directed this melodrama. John Corbin (Percy Marmont) works for years on an invention, only to have it stolen by Jonathan "Iron Man" Moore, an iron magnate (Hobart Bosworth). When Corbin's mother (Lydie Knott) dies of starvation, he sinks to the gutter. He receives help from Grogan, a saloon keeper (George Siegmann), and redemption with the help of Hope, a mission worker (Jane Novak). When a party of slumming youths come to the saloon, Corbin has to rescue one of the girls, who turns out to be Moore's daughter, Joy (Eva Novak). Although he sees a way to get revenge on Moore, Corbin hands the girl over so Hope can take her home instead. It's only then that he discovers that Hope, too, is the daughter of Moore. He goes to the Moore home to ask forgiveness and is shot by an attendant. While he is recovering from the wound, Moore comes to see the error of his ways and makes amends. Hope, meanwhile, is won over by the man she redeemed. Jane and Eva Novak were also sisters in real life. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Viola Dana stars in this rags-to-riches comedy-drama. She plays Martha Mason, who is such an underdog in her little home town that when she graduates from school, she doesn't get a diploma because there aren't enough to go around. Having inherited 2,000 dollars, Martha convinces her father (Bert Woodruff) to let her study art in New York City. Seven years pass, in which time she becomes a huge success and is surrounded by loads of admirers. One young man in particular wants to marry her, but her only thought is of going back home, to show up all the naysayers and to reunite with her childhood sweetheart, Ben Colwell (David Butler). She returns, only to find the place as dreary as before, and Colwell -- who has never taken her seriously -- engaged to Anne Paisley (Eva Novak), daughter of the town's most wealthy citizen (Alfred Allen). Colwell has become a lawyer playing dirty politics, and Martha hands this information over to a dying local newspaper in need of a scoop. This creates the "noise" referred to in the film's title, and Colwell is chased out of town. Martha, redeemed, returns to New York to accept the proposal of the city guy she left hanging. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Hallam Cooley stars as a slick-haired slickster who comes to a small town to promote an oil well scam. So persuasive is Cooley that he not only manages to fleece the populace, but also wins over Neyna Farrell, the girl friend of down-to-earth engineering student Cullen Landis. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise for Landis, who discovers that Neyna's sister Eva Novak is his true love. As for Cooley, he is eventually exposed as a fraud by wise old bird Joseph Dowling. Costarring as "Mrs. Andrews" is May Wallace, later a regular of Hal Roach's Laurel & Hardy and Our Gang comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Eva Novak and William Fairbanks co-star in this bucolic melodrama set in the Bluegrass State. A young Kentucky woman rides a horse to victory in the big race after the regular jockey is the victim of foul play. Lloyd Whitlock, Lydia Knott, Meta Sterling, and Max Asher also appear. Asher provided comedy relief that may be deemed politically incorrect at the approach of the 21st century. Southern audiences of the time found the portrayals of blacks having too much freedom questionable if not objectionable. Sixty years after the Civil War, many Southerners were still bitter over the Confederate defeat and continued to target blacks as the reasons for their social and economic troubles. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi