House Peters Movies

Simple girl meets hero boy, hero boy convinces simple girl not to marry evil boy. ~ All Movie Guide

Prisoners of the Storm was based on the rugged James Oliver Curwood yarn The Quest of Joan. When two Canadian prospectors strike gold, they make plans to stake a mutual claim at a faraway trading post. One of the prospectors is murdered en route to the post, and that's when Mountie Walter McGrail enters the picture. Following orders, he sets out to arrest the surviving prospector on suspicion of murder. But McGrail's resolve weakens when the prospector's pretty daughter Peggy Montgomery (former child star "Baby Peggy") nurses him back to health when he's injured in a blinding snowstorm. Certain by now that Montgomery's father is innocent, McGrail dedicates himself to tracking down the real killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A typical silent programmer, this Universal "Jewel" production features House Peters as a millionaire yachtsman whose girlfriend (Patsy Ruth Miller) falls for a fortune hunter (Richard Travers). Peters arranges for the girl to be brought aboard his yacht where, swathed in bandages, he manages to convince her that he is Travers. A wedding ceremony is performed but when she learns the truth, Patsy accuses Peters of kidnapping. Attempting to flee in a decrepit rowboat, the girl is rescued in the nick of time by Peters' Chinese crew members (Togo Yamamotoand George Kuwa) and returned to the yacht. Near death from exposure, Patsy is nursed back to health by Peters, whom she forgives. Head Winds was directed by Herbert Blaché, the former husband of pioneering female director Alice Guy-Blaché. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Counsel for Defense is set in a graft-ridden town, where the crooked politicians railroad the local doctor (Jay Hunt) into prison. The villains want to take over the town waterworks, and this they can't do if the doctor is nosing around spotting health violations. When a typhoid epidemic inevitably breaks out, the imprisoned doctor's daughter (Betty Compson) launches a reform campaign in the local newspaper. The rascals are thrown out, the doctor's reputation is restored, and the daughter marries the newspaper's editor (House Peters). Filmed in 1925, Counsel for Defense lay on the shelf for over a year before it found a distributor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring veteran leading man House Peters, this Raoul Walsh-directed silent melodrama was filmed on location in Tahiti. Peters played Captain Blackbird, who, on the island of Pago Pago meets lovely Lorna (Pauline Starke), a white girl promised by an evil trader, Faulke (eorge Siegmann), to Chief Waki (Carl Harbaugh). Although the frightened girl and her handsome lover Lloyd Warren (Antonio Moreno), beg the captain for his help, Blackbird refuses. That is, until a chance meeting with Faulke discloses that Lorna is actually his daughter. This muddled melodrama marked the screen debut of future MGM star William Haines. The always wisecracking Haines, who appeared unbilled in Lost and Found), had little good to say about the film's leading man, often referring to the British-born star as "Outhouse" Peters. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

John Hempstead (House Peters), a former actor, now serves as the benign religious leader of a small community. Marian Dournay (Grace Carlyle), Hempstead's spiteful ex-sweetheart, accuses the minister of theft. In order to prove his innocence -- and to nab the actual culprit -- Hempstead is forced to resort to his old actor's tricks. The strategy works, forcing the genuine thief to turn himself in. Held to Answer was produced by the Metro corporation, a scant few months before the studio's absorption into MGM. Its supporting cast ranges from former Biograph leading man Charles Hill Mailes to star-in-the-making Evelyn Brent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the wild party held by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle that allegedly resulted in a girl's death, and the unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor, Women's Clubs -- and the film industry itself -- began to clamor for what was called "clean" entertainment. This picture was Universal's attempt to come up with something wholesome, but it was really just a standard (though well-done) melodrama in a country setting -- the scenes of innocent rural life apparently meant to make it "clean." Tom Logan (House Peters) is taken in by a scheming city woman, Barbara Kay (Edith Hallor). Barbara knows that Tom will inherit his father's land, which sits on a coal field, and she wants a piece of the action. His father (Russell Simpson) sees right through her, and cuts Tom off when he marries her. They have a baby and everything seems all right for a while, but then Barbara tires of the drudgery of farm life. She asks her old lover, just out of prison, to come for her. Tom's father tries to stop them and the lover kills him. Tom thinks that his wife is the guilty one and takes the blame. But Barbara, who is being mistreated by her lover, confesses the truth. After Tom gets out, he finds Barbara and her lover together. The two men fight, and Barbara is killed trying to protect Tom. Tom and his child return to the farm and to his old mother (Gertrude Claire). Incidentally, the story to this picture was written by Hal Reid, father of Wallace Reid -- the star who would die a year later from drug addiction and create yet another Hollywood scandal.
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Frank Lloyd's competent directing kept this typical Northwoods drama from sinking too far into the realm of the ordinary. Fosdick, a soft New York society man (Allan Forrest), tries to toughen up by becoming a lumberjack in the Northwoods. He marries Marcia, an orphan at the camp (Fritzi Brunette), but soon he tires of the hard life there and returns back East. Marcia is left behind, destined to be forgotten until oil is found on her land. Fosdick, who has worn out his welcome with his relatives, finds out about the oil strike and returns to her, much to the disgust of foreman Barnes, who loves the girl (House Peters). When Marica comes down with a contagious disease, Barnes forces the cowardly Fosdick to care for her. Fosdick becomes ill himself, and dies. Marcia, who has feared Barnes all along, finally comes to the realization that he is all man -- and all hers. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this silent crime melodrama, an ex-con marries a teacher and tries to start a new life in the city. Unfortunately, he is harassed by a detective who is looking for one of the ex-con's former gang mates. When the con refuses to cooperate, the detective frames him and gets him sent back to the pen. Meanwhile, his wife, terrified that her newborn baby will be a criminal like it's father, gives the child up for adoption. As soon as the ex-con is again released, he rushes out for murderous revenge against the detective. Not wanting her husband to get in more trouble, his wife rushes to the gumshoe's house to warn him. It is there that she discovers that he has adopted her child. Seeing that she misses her off-spring, the soft-hearted copper returns the child and helps the family get back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two European countries send teams out to the uncivilized African kingdom of M'tela, each of them determined to be the first to arrive. One group is headed by John Culbertson (House Peters), the other by an apparently nameless woman known only as Madame, or the Leopard Woman (Louise Glaum). When the two parties meet in the desert, Madame is forced to seek aid from Culbertson. Her government has given her orders to kill Culbertson but she finds herself falling for him. When he spurns her after making love to her, however, she sends a man to do him in. He fails at his mission, and it's just as well since Madame had decided she really loves him after all. Culbertson becomes blinded by the sun, creating yet another quandary for Madame: Should she choose duty or love? Naturally she chooses love, and Culbertson's country reaches M'tela first. But it's all worth it to Madame, because once his sight is restored, Culbertson declares his love for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Kerry (House Peters) is a young Irishman who has a fatal love for gambling. When he marries a wealthy English girl, he promises to lay off the betting, but he can't resist laying 10,000 dollars down on the Derby. He loses the nut and decides to go away until he can make the money back. Just before he leaves, he receives a note from his wife which he is sure is filled with recriminations, so he never opens it. Eventually Kerry makes his way to western Canada, where he settles under an assumed name. For five years he works to make up the money, but he becomes involved with some swindlers. When he is shot, a girl who has befriended him finally opens his wife's letter, which is anything but nasty. She cables the wife, who comes to Canada and saves an option on some land that the swindlers almost snatched away. The option clears exactly 10,000 dollars, and husband and wife are reunited. This film was based on a story by Sir Gilbert Parker. It is interesting to note that it wasn't made in Hollywood, New York, or even in Canada, where much of the action takes place -- it was shot in San Antonio, Texas. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Stephen Ghent, a rough miner (House Peters) promises to marry Ruth Jordan (Ethel Clayton) in name only. However, he breaks his vow and she resentfully turns her back on him. Then she gets caught in a landslide and he saves her, but she still isn't completely won over to him until she discovers he has been sending money to her mother in the East. This picture, based on the play by William Vaughn Moody, was either shot in the Grand Canyon, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, and director Edgar Lewis used the scenery to emphasize the dramatic mood. In the mid-1910s, when filmmaking was still in it early development stage, this was a big deal. It was also still novel for people to see faraway places on film, especially used within a fictional context. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide