Pat O'Malley Movies
Vaudeville and stage performer Pat O'Malley was a mere lad of seventeen (or thereabouts) when he inaugurated his film career at the Edison company in 1907. A dependable "collar-ad" leading man possessed of an athlete's physique, O'Malley rose to stardom at the Kalem Studios during the teens. From 1918 to 1927, O'Malley hopscotched around Hollywood, appearing at Universal, First National, Vitagraph and Paramount; he starred in war films (Heart of Humanity [1918]), westerns (The Virginian [1922]) and adaptations of bestsellers (Brothers Under the Skin [1922]). His talkie debut in 1929's Alibi would seem to have heralded a thriving sound career, but O'Malley had aged rather suddenly, and could no longer pass as a romantic lead. He worked in some 400 films in bits and supporting roles, frequently showing up in "reunion" films in the company of his fellow silent screen veterans (Hollywood Boulevard [1936], and A Little Bit of Heaven [1941]). O'Malley remained "on call" into the early '60s for such TV shows as The Twilight Zone and such films as The Days of Wine and Roses (1962). Pat O'Malley's film credits are often confused with those of Irish comedian/dialectian J. Pat O'Malley (1901-1985) and Australian performer John P. O'Malley (1916-1959). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1921
Mild-mannered Wilkins (William V. Mong) has been a bookkeeper for the firm of Bates and Stryker for 15 years without receiving a raise. His sweetheart and co-worker, Emily (Helen Jerome Eddy), is waiting too, because a raise would enable them to marry. Then Wilkins is tricked by Don (Hal Cooley), the son of Bates, the firm's senior partner (Lincoln Plummer), into covering his gambling debts. Don sells him some land which proves to be underwater. Wilkins finally snaps. After helping Don escape from a Chinese gambling den, he takes him to the submerged land and pushes his head under water. Then it turns out that the land is rich in oil. With the profits, Wilkins is able to marry Emily and buy out Bates, whom he generously keeps on as sales manager. Meanwhile, Wilkins' friend Jimmy (Pat O'Malley) marries his own sweetheart, Dorothy (Marguerite de la Motte), the daughter of the firm's other partner, Stryker (Charles Hill Mailes). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William V. Mong, Marguerite de la Motte, (more)
- 1920
Dinty O'Sullivan (Wesley Barry) is the son of poor Irish immigrants. His father was killed the day he and his mother arrived in the U.S. so he supports his sick mother by working as a newsboy. He goes on to form a syndicate of newsboys and his 12-year-old ambitions are only temporarily damped by the death of his mother. Meanwhile, after his son is sentenced to death, an opium smuggler seeks vengeance on Judge Whitely (J. Barney Sherry) by kidnapping his daughter. Through his fellow newsboys, Dinty finds out about this plot and rescues the girl. As a result, the judge takes the resourceful boy into his home. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Viola Dana was Metro Pictures' top star when False Evidence came out in 1919. Promised in marriage to wealthy Lot Gordon (Joe King), Scottish lassie Madelon MacTavish (Dana) prefers Lot's poor relation Burr Gordon (Wheeler Oakman). The wisdom of her choice is proven later on, when a vengeful Lot tries to rape the girl. She stabs the bounder, whereupon Burr gallantly takes the blame. When Lot recovers, Madelon fesses up and agrees to marry him if he won't prosecute Burr. It takes the Hand of God to sort this one out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1919
By 1918, Priscilla Dean's popularity was quickly growing; however, this comedy is not one of her best efforts. Daphne Trowbridge (Dean) is a contrary young lady who is driving her aunt and uncle (Marion Skinner and Frederick Vroom) mad. Finally they decide to marry her off and they choose Tom Dunstan (Pat O'Malley) -- whose family owns the estate next door -- as a likely prospect. Dunstan is willing, but Daphne turns him down purely because her relatives are so in favor of the match. Dunstan disappears and Daphne's relatives choose another young man who they pretend to hate. Daphne almost falls for it, but just before the wedding, she discovers the truth and calls everything off. At this juncture, she decides to hire a husband in name only just to please her aunt and uncle, and chooses a heavily bearded stranger who she meets at the station. What she doesn't realize is that it's Dunstan, who has been up north looking into his lumber interests. After he shaves off his beard, she is not convinced he is the man she married, so he tells some big lies about the supposed stranger and then disappears up north again. He reappears fully bearded and kidnaps Daphne up to the woods, where he teaches her to be a proper wife. Daphne has loved Dunstan all along anyhow, so when she realizes that he really is the man she wed, she is perfectly happy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Even though World War I had just reached its end, the war films kept coming. While The Heart of Humanity had a similar plot to D.W. Griffith's Hearts of the World, it was by no means some cheap knock-off. Director Alan Holubar worked hard (sometimes too hard for this post-war era) to make the battle scenes as authentic as possible. The story centers around Nanette (Dorothy Phillips), an American girl living in a small Canadian village, who is in love with John Patricia (William Stowell), the eldest of five brothers. The war interrupts their romantic idyll, as everyone goes overseas to Belgium and France. Nanette becomes a Red Cross nurse and is terrorized by the evil Prussian Lt. von Eberhard (Erich Von Stroheim, who played a similar, but smaller role in Hearts of the World). It is up to John to save her from the Hun's advances. It was in this film that Von Stroheim, who had become famous for his wicked portrayals of German officers, was billed as "The Man You Love to Hate." This was his first movie for Universal; he would be both director and star of the next one, Blind Husbands. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Adopted Son was one of six films directed by Charles J. Brabin in 1917. Francis X. Bushman plays "Two-Gun" Carter, who by virtue of family ties finds himself engaged in a long-standing mountain feud. Bushman wants to marry Beverly Bayne (the actor's real-life wife at the time), but the warring families won't hear of it. Everything is solved when Bushman's genuine family heritage is revealed in Reel Six. Adopted Son was based on a story by Max Brand, of Destry Rides Again and Dr. Kildare fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
The first British screen version of Oscar Wilde's classic novel of the libertine who remains perpetually young while his portrait registers the ravages of a dissolute life, this six-reel production from director Fred W. Durrant was dismissed as rather stodgy. The British-born, German-raised Henry Victor, later to be immortalized as the villain in Tod Browning's Freaks (1932), played the title role, with British actress Pat O'Malley in the role played so memorably by Angela Lansbury in the 1944 Hollywood version. The Picture of Dorian Gray was filmed earlier in Denmark, Russia, and, twice in the United States. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1915
Once again, Viola Dana was put through her screen paces by her husband, director John H. Collins, in Edison's Gladiola. Deeply in love with a wealthy city dweller, country girl Dana follows him to the Big Apple and agrees to become his mistress. But when his wife returns, the now-pregnant heroine is cast out of the house. Returning to her home village, Dana is branded a harlot and adulterer by the oh-so-pious townsfolk. Later on, her city lover, now widowed, shows up to ask Dana's hand in marriage. By now, however, she is impervious to his honeyed words and sends him on his way, preferring instead to become the wife of her childhood sweetheart, who has stood by her all along despite the scornful words of the rest of the community. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
