Jack Pickford Movies
American actor Jack Pickford, born Jack Smith, was the younger brother of screen legend Mary Pickford. He began his career as a child actor on-stage; he later -- thanks to his sister who helped him sign with Biograph in 1910 -- became a romantic lead in films. When Mary Pickford signed her notorious million-dollar deal with First National in 1917, she insisted that her brother also be given a generous contract. Soon, his own talent established him as a minor star. Occasionally Jack Pickford directed films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1928
Gang War stars Jack Pickford as speakeasy musician Clyde Baxter and Olive Borden as Flowers, a dime-a-dance girl. When Clyde falls in love with Flowers, he finds he has a deadly rival in the form of gangster Blackjack (Eddie Gribbon). During an all-out war between two rival gangs, Blackjack proves he's a "right" guy by sacrificing himself to save Clyde and Flowers. The brutish Walter Long is right in his element as the film's "bad" gangster. Completed as a silent film, Gang War was converted into a part-talkie with an irrelevant prologue sequence involving reporters Lorin Raker and David McKee; appearing in this sequence is a young Mabel Albertson, long before she became everybody's meddling mother-in-law on TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorin Raker, Mabel Albertson, (more)
- 1926
While the mid-1920s were deluged with films about college life, and Brown of Harvard is probably the ultimate silent film in this genre, even more significantly it is an early example of the buddy film. Never mind the romance between Harvard undergrad Tom Brown (William Haines) and professor's daughter, Mary Abbott (Mary Brian) -- the real love story, and the one that truly moves the film's plot, is the one between the handsome, athletic Brown and his weakling sidekick Jim Doolittle (Jack Pickford) (in fact, the physical contrast between the two men is echoed in another important buddy film which came out some 40 years later -- Midnight Cowboy). The relationship between the two young men is established right from the beginning, when the brash and cocky Brown easily wins over his dormitory mates but refuses to let them ostracize Doolittle. Doolittle becomes Brown's biggest champion and their mutual loyalty is much more straightforward than Brown's pursuit of Mary, who can't decide whether she hates him, loves him, or prefers his stuffy rival, Bob MacAndrews (Francis X. Bushman, Jr.). Doolittle sticks by his pal when he loses the rowing competition against Yale, and later on risks his life by chasing after Brown in a pouring rainstorm to tell him that he hasn't been scratched from the football team after all. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Pickford, Mary Brian, (more)
Long believed lost, the silent thriller-chiller The Bat finally resurfaced in the mid-1970s and proved well-worth the wait. Based on the play by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the plot is set in motion by a maniacal serial killer who dresses in a bat costume and flashes a batlike shadow on the wall just before he strikes. Most of the action takes place in the spooky old mansion of mystery writer Mrs. Cornelia Van Gorder (Emily Fitzroy), where a number of innocent bystanders, chiseling crooks, murder suspects and cowering bystanders converge. When the police show up, everything seems to be under control -- and then The Bat strikes again! The film's surprise ending was rather better handled in the 1930 talkie remake The Bat Whispers, but otherwise The Bat is a remarkable achievement, boasting superbly shuddery cinematography by Arthur Edeson and some absolutely eye-popping special effects, courtesy of production designer William Cameron Menzies. Some current prints of The Bat include an eerie musical score culled from episodes of TV's The Twilight Zone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tullio Carminatti, Charles Herzinger, (more)
- 1926
Exit Smiling is perhaps the only film that ever fully utilized the comic genius of the incomparable Beatrice Lillie. The star is cast as the wardrobe lady of a touring theatrical company. She is introduced to the audience via subtitle as "Violet, the drudge of the troupe...Who also plays parts like 'Nothing' in Much Ado About Nothing." Though bogged down in a treacly plot concerning fugitive-from-justice Jimmy Marsh (Jack Pickford), Lillie manages to rise above the material with her first-rate clowning. Her particular highlight is an extended routine involving a string of pearls (a Lillie "standard" that she'd use time and again on stage). Alas, after the box-office failure of Exit Smiling, Bea Lillie would be confined to secondary film roles, often as not far beneath her talents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beatrice Lillie, Jack Pickford, (more)
The Goose Woman was inspired by the notorious Hall-Mills murder case, wherein a woman known as the "Pig Woman" was wheeled into court on her sickbed to provide damning testimony. Louise Dresser plays Marie du Nard, a celebrated opera diva who loses her voice and her reputation after giving birth to an illegitimate son. Reverting to her given name of Mary Holmes, she returns to her hometown, living in a squalid shack and raising geese. Years later, a headline-making murder case is played out in her town. Hoping to capture her past celebrity, Mary claims to be a witness to the murder. Her dreams of glory abruptly fade when she discovers that her grown son Gerald (Jack Pickford) is implicated in the crime. An excellent film by any standards, The Goose Woman served to solidify the reputation of director Clarence Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louise Dresser, Jack Pickford, (more)
- 1925
Alla Nazimova, an ethereal Russian actress who preferred to bill herself as just plain Nazimova, tops the cast of My Son. The "son" in this instance is Portuguese youth Jack Pickford, who lives and works in a New England fishing town with his devoted mother (Nazimova). Pickford courts disaster when he falls for a gorgeous adventuress (Constance Bennett). His mother and his sweetheart (Mary Akin) despair over Pickford's outrageous behavior, and for a while it looks as though he'll never wise up. My Son was adapted from the stage play by Martha M. Stanley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alla Nazimova, Jack Pickford, (more)
- 1925
This very slight comedy features Jack Pickford and Norma Shearer (the latter was borrowed from MGM to appear in this United Artists film). Jim Joyce (Pickford) runs a garage with old Abner Hope (Alec B. Francis). When Hope's granddaughter, Mary Ellen (Shearer), comes to visit, Joyce falls in love with her. Joyce has a number of bizarre inventions and he dreams of harnessing the nearby falls for power, but he can't get any financing from Curt Horndyke, the town banker (Herbert Pryor). Hope, who is fascinated with astronomy, predicts the end of the world and gives Joyce all his money. With his newfound wealth, Joyce is able to impress Horndyke, who offers to help raise capital for the falls project. The power plant opens, but Joyce is injured during a harsh storm. While unconscious he has a vision of the end of the world in which civilization is destroyed. He awakens to a more mundane and happier scene, with Mary Ellen by his side. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Pickford, Claire McDowell, (more)
- 1923
Jack Pickford made a strong showing in this romantic drama, adapted from the novel by W.B.M. Ferguson. Two schemers, Crimmins (Clarence Burton) and Lilly Allen (Ethel Grey Terry), dope jockey Billy Garrison (Pickford) and cause him to be disqualified from the Carter Handicap. His bad luck continues when he is attacked and beaten after trying to drink away the memory of this disgrace. Because of his head injuries, he loses his memory and is discovered wandering around New York by a pair of kindly tramps. They find the address of Sue Desha (Madge Bellamy) in his pocket and they send him there. Sue, who loves Garrison and knows his story, gets him a job working in the stables belonging to her father, the Colonel (Charles A. Stevenson). Garrison's riding talent earns him a promotion to jockey and he is scheduled to ride in the Kentucky Derby. But Crimmins finds out and reveals Garrison's identity to the Colonel, who fires him. The villain's conniving ways, however, are uncovered in time to put Garrison back in the race. He rides the Colonel's horse to victory and proposes to Sue. This picture was an attempt by Pickford's famous sister, Mary Pickford, to inject some life into Jack's flagging career. She also wrote the titles, and (on a more economical note) lent co-star Madge Bellamy her own frocks to wear on screen. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Pickford, Madge Bellamy, (more)
- 1923
The premise is clichéd -- it's the usual tale of a pretty girl from the sticks trying to break into movies -- but this satire gives it a number of unexpected turns. In addition, just about every star in Hollywood -- not just those at Paramount, the releasing studio -- has a cameo at one point or another during the film's eight reels. Ironically, nearly all of the lead actors are unknowns (although George K. Arthur would become a noted character comedian). Angela Whitaker (Hope Brown) of Centreville is convinced she has a chance in Hollywood -- all her friends tell her so. So she heads West with her Uncle Joel (Luke Cosgrave) in tow. But Angela has no luck in Tinseltown, while her uncle starts landing roles left and right because of his curious image. Eventually the rest of the family, including Angela's sweetheart Lem Lefferts (Arthur), her grandmother (Ruby Lafayette), and her aunt (Eleanor Lawson) come to Hollywood. All Angela's relatives get movie work because they're character types. Finally a screenwriter tries to help Angela out, but Lem winds up landing a role instead. He becomes a star, which suits Angela just fine because she has married him. The couple have twins, and the babies -- not to mention the couple's pet parrot -- wind up in films, while Angela remains at home. The most notable cameo in this picture is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who had been shunned in motion pictures since the 1921 scandal surrounding a Labor Day party that allegedly resulted in the death of starlet Virginia Rappe. Here he returns as a man standing in a casting line. When it's his turn to come up to the window, it is shut in his face and a "closed" sign put out. Unfortunately this gag turned out to be all too true; Arbuckle was not seen in front of a camera again until 1932. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luke Cosgrave, George K. Arthur, (more)
- 1921
This light comedy was based on the George Ade play, and Ade in turn seems to have been inspired by It Pays to Advertise, because it's basically the same plot. Ed Swinger (Jack Pickford) has a college degree but no apparent skills. He wants to marry Caroline Pickering (Molly Malone), the daughter of Septimus Pickering, the pickle king (George Hernandez). But Pickering doesn't think Swinger is son-in-law material. To get him out of the way, he gives Swinger twenty thousand dollars and says that if he can double it in 30 days, he can have Caroline. Of course, Pickering is confident that he will get most of his money back and get rid of Swinger. In fact, he manages the former by secretly selling the young man fifteen thousand dollars' worth of bogus oil stock. With five thousand dollars left, Swinger enlists the help of a college chum who wants to break into advertising. They create a campaign around "Bingo Pickles," most of which are just Pickering's pickles with new labels. Everywhere the pickle king goes, he finds himself inundated with "Bingo Pickles" ads. Finally he decides it's best if he buys out the concern and is forced to cough up a hundred thousand dollars -- plus advertising costs. When he finds out that the whole thing was a trick of Swinger's, Pickering is a good enough sport to let him wed Caroline. If Pickford (younger brother of screen star Mary Pickford) doesn't make much of an impression here, perhaps there's a reason -- in September, 1920 his wife, actress Olive Thomas, died under mysterious circumstances, and Pickford mourned deeply for many months. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Pickford, Molly Malone, (more)
For her fourth United Artists picture, Mary Pickford once again plays a poor little rich girl. This one, Jeanne, is so neglected that when her mother, Hortense (Gertrude Astor), remarries, she is pawned off on her Belgian nurse. Five years later, when Hortense returns to fetch Jeanne, the nurse has decided to keep her and claims she has died. But then World War I breaks out, and Jeanne is shipped to her mother in America. She is so overwhelmed by the wealth that surrounds her, however, that she can't tell her mother who she is. Instead, she goes to work as a maid. But when some guests at a weekend party plot to fleece Hortense's husband (Wilfred Lucas), Jeanne saves the day and finally reveals her true identity. There is a joyous reunion all around. Mary's brother, Jack Pickford, supposedly co-d irected this picture; more likely she hired him to keep him busy because he was still grieving over the September, 1920 death of his wife Olive Thomas. Through the Back Door and its immediate predecessor, The Love Light, were not notable Pickford films -- although they made money, neither were blockbusters. Her next project, Little Lord Fauntleroy, did markedly better. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Pickford, Gertrude Astor, (more)
Mary Pickford was at the height of her fame as "America's Sweetheart" when she took on the challenge of playing two roles -- a mother and her young son -- in this silent drama with comic accents. Cedric Fauntleroy (Pickford) is growing up under difficult circumstances in New York City; his father was the son of the Earl of Dorincourt (Claude Gillingwater Sr.), but he has passed on, and since the Earl never approved of Cedric's mother Dearest (also played by Pickford), whom he felt was only after his son's money, the Earl severed all ties with his daughter-in-law and grandson. However, the Earl discovers that he's in poor health, and he realizes that Cedric is the logical heir to his estate; hoping to mend fences, the Earl has Cedric brought back to England to live with him. However, while Dearest is allowed to come along, she is not allowed to stay at the Earl's estate with her son, as he has yet to forgive her. In time, another boy appears at the Earl's doorstep claiming that he is the rightful heir to the Earl's fortune and that Cedric is merely an imposter; it takes some quick thinking by Cedric, Dearest, and their friends to save the day. Little Lord Fauntleroy was photographed by Charles Rosher Sr., one of the most accomplished cinematographers of the silent era; he planned and executed the film's most famous shot, an elaborate double exposure in which Pickford as Dearest kisses Pickford as Cedric; lasting only three seconds onscreen, the shot took 15 hours to set up and shoot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Pickford, Claude Gillingwater, (more)
- 1920
Mark Bullway (Lionel Belmore) is frustrated with his lazy son, Harry (Jack Pickford), who is looking for nothing more than a good time. Bullway's secretary, Prue Winn (Priscilla Bonner), enables Harry by doing his work for him. When father and son are out for a drive, they almost run over Matt Sills, a blind man (Alec B. Francis). When Harry yells at Sills for his carelessness, he replies with, "May you always have everything you want." Bullway is intrigued by Sills' comment and meets with him regarding Harry. Sills affirms that if Harry gets everything he wants, it will help make a man of him. So Bullway makes sure his son gets all he ever wanted, even paying the mercenary Leonore Pennell (Shannon Day) for every day she can make Harry happy. Leonore lasts for about four days, then goes off with a man she really cares for. This helps to wake Harry up and he comes to the realization that he must earn the things he wants in life if he really wants to appreciate them. He promptly begins working in his father's factory and discovers true love with Prue. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Advertised as a sequel to director William Desmond Taylor's Tom Sawyer, Huck and Tom was actually an extenuation of the earlier film, utilizing incidents from Mark Twain's novel that had gone unfilmed the first time around. Repeating their roles from Tom Sawyer are Jack Pickford as Tom and Robert Gordon as Huck, neither of whom were exactly the adolescents depicted in the novel. Having witnessed a graveyard murder committed by Injun Joe (Frank Lanning), the superstitious heroes swear each other to secrecy. But when town drunk Muff Potter (Tom Bates) is accused of the killing, Tom and Huck put their own lives on the line to finger the guilty party. Injun Joe escapes prosecution, only to meet his doom at Tom's hands in a spooky old cave. Apparently, director Taylor was unhappy with both Tom Sawyer and Huck and Tom, and when time came for him to film Huckleberry Finn in 1920, he did his best to correct the "mistakes" in the two earlier films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Gordon, Jack Pickford, (more)
- 1917
This version of the Mark Twain novel contains its more homespun situations -- the whitewashing episode, Tom's courtship of Becky Thatcher (Clara Horton), his decision to run away with his pals Huck Finn (Robert Gordon) and Joe Harper (Antrim Short), and their "return from the dead" at their own funeral. Left out is the murder committed by Injun Joe and his death at Tom's hands. But just about everything that was missing here was filmed in 1918's Huck and Tom, made with the same cast, which included Jack Pickford as 15-year-old Tom. Pickford was a bit too old and worldly-wise for the part -- but since he was the brother of America's Sweetheart, Mary Pickford, the casting choice seemed logical on the surface. Both films were directed by William Desmond Taylor, who also made Huckleberry Finn in 1920, this time with actors young enough to realistically portray Tom and Huck. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Pickford, Clara Horton, (more)
- 1917
Mary Pickford's brother Jack starred in this silent oater as a boxer who runs West after killing an opponent in the ring. He obtains work as a ranch hand and uses his fists to rid the community of a gang of Mexican outlaws. Produced by the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company for Paramount release, the film was directed by William Desmond Taylor, a handsome if somewhat mysterious Irishman who on February 1, 1922 became the victim in Hollywood's most notorious murder case. Billed as "Hart Hoxie," future Universal star Jack Hoxie played the role of ranch foreman in this film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1917
This 1917 filmization of Dickens' Great Expectations manages to pack quite a lot of the complex storyline into a brisk five reels (approximately 60 minutes' running time!) Jack Pickford, Mary's popular actor brother, stars as Pip, the humbled rural youth whose entree into proper society is financed by a mysterious benefactor. Louise Huff co-stars as the bewitching Estella, while Frank Losee plays the brutish convict Magwitch, and Grace Barton is seen as the addled Miss Havisham. So why were two directors credited on Great Expectations? Well, it seems that the film's original director, Robert G. Vignola, fell ill a few days before shooting wrapped, compelling Joseph Kaufman to finish the job. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
Set in Spain, Pretty Sister of Jose was based on a story by Frances Hodgson Burnett, an author better known for such British-based fare as Little Lord Fauntleroy. Marguerite Clark plays the title character, the daughter of a philandering Spanish aristocrat. Soured on all men because of her father's behavior, the heroine spurns every one of her suitors. That the "right man" eventually comes along is as inevitable as the sun rising in the East. Featured in the cast of The Pretty Sister of Jose were Mary Pickford's talented brother Jack Pickford and future director Rupert Julian, here cast as a fearless toreador. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
The commanding officer of the title is played by Donald Crisp. When he inherits two children from his late sister, Crisp is forced to take a wife. The young lady elected to this task is Alice Dovey, who doesn't particularly like her new husband, but who is virtually ordered into matrimony by her officer father. Dovey enters into a casual affair with captain Marshall Neilan, regretting her actions when it appears that Crisp might have murdered one of her former beaus. Chock full of life's little surprises, The Commanding Officer was an intriguing early effort from ever-dependable director Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
Practically the whole Pickford clan showed up in Fanchon the Cricket. Mary Pickford plays the granddaughter of a woman suspected of being a witch. The poor girl is rescued from the torments of her peers by the hero. She reciprocates by nursing him through an illness, and also by rescuing his feeble-minded brother from an unhappy fate. Pickford's siblings Jack and Lottie played supporting roles, but the main attraction was the film debut of teenaged dance team Fred and Adele Astaire--before they hit it big on Broadway. Frances Marion adapted Fanchon the Cricket from a novel by George Sand; curiously, considering the historical significance of the film, Marion had no memory of working on it when asked in the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
This typical silent rags-to-riches comedy-drama featured Mary Pickford and her real-life brother Jack as sibling orphans sheltered from the world by a maiden aunt (Gertrude Norman). Suddenly, Jane (Pickford) inherits a large sum of money, enabling the two to start "living." Becoming sophisticates almost over night, Jane and John take to the air in newfangled aeroplanes, dabble with city slickers (including a haughty vamp played by screenwriter Frances Marion), and wear the latest fashion. Both Jane and John, however, eventually learn that not all that glitters is gold. Famous Players-Lasky, the producing company, hired real-life aviator Glenn Martin for a key role in this film. According to Frances Marion, the bespectacled Martin refused to kiss her as the scenario demanded "because my mother wouldn't like it." For the first and only time (also according to Marion), Adolph Zukor, the mighty chairman of Paramount, was called to the set to diplomatically convince Martin to follow the script. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Home Sweet Home has been referred to by its leading lady Lillian Gish as "the first all-star film." Indeed, virtually every member of director D.W.Griffith's celebrated stock company appears in this three-part, five-reel biographical drama. Based on the life of John Howard Payne, composer of the "world-famous" title song, the film stars Henry B. Walthall as Payne, herein depicted as a brilliant but unstable artist who never found the happiness embodied in his songs. As incidents in Payne's life are enacted on the screen -- his early failures, his success as a playwright in England and as a composer in France, and his lonely, embittered final years in Africa -- these scenes are counterpointed with three "sub-stories," in which the song Home Sweet Home is shown to have a profound effect on several different people. In Episode One, a western miner (Robert Harron) nearly leaves his waitress sweetheart Mae Marsh), but they are reunited to the strains of the Payne song. In Episode Two, the song causes a faithless wife (Blanche Sweet) to renounce her lover (Owen Moore) and return to her husband (Courtenay Foote). And in the final episode, two quarrelling brothers (Donald Crisp and James Kirkwood) kill each other, leaving their grieving mother to find solace in the familiar strains of Home Sweet Home. Though Lillian Gish also spoke respectfully of her artistic collaborations with D.W. Griffith, even she found the film's final scene -- in which, dressed as Heavenly angel, she rescues John Howard Payne from the bowels of Hell -- a bit difficult to watch with a straight face. This silly denouement aside, Home Sweet Home, a joint effort of the Reliance and Mutual film companies, was quite wonderful entertainment, and one of the most successful of Griffith's pre-Birth of a Nation endeavors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, (more)
- 1914
Mary Pickford's stardom was still very much on the ascendant when she made this film for Famous Players. The Mornes are Virginia mountain people, and the head of the clan (Robert Broderick) is a moonshiner. His son, Lancer (James Kirkwood, also the film's director), goes off to college, but he returns when his father is arrested by revenuers. Anemone (Pickford), the niece of Mrs. Breckinridge (Ida Waterman), draws the attention of Fisher Morne, Lancer's crude cousin (Harry C. Browne). Fisher abducts Anemone, but Lancer decides he wants her for himself. The two men battle it out and Lancer marries Anemone against her will. She claims to hate him so he declares that the marriage will be "in name only" until she decides she loves him. Anemone returns to her aunt, but when she finds out that the revenuers are on Lancer's trail, she warns him and is by his side to chase them off. They end the film together. Pickford's brother, Jack Pickford, has a bit part as "a young Clansman." The studio re-released this film in the fall of 1918 -- Pickford had just made a couple of poor films (How Could You, Jean? and Johanna Enlists), and they thought one of her older films could help redeem her at the box office. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1914
The sprightly Marguerite Clark stars in this light romantic drama. Letty Roberts (Clark) is a naive little country girl who attracts the attention of Arnold Boyd (Harold Lockwood), a wealthy man who has gone on a retreat from the city. They become friends, but then his younger brother Gerald (James Cooley) shows up. Gerald's interest in Letty is not so innocent, and to Arnold's dismay, she falls for his flirtatious ways. The couple elope, and Arnold chases after them. He drags the newly-wed Letty away from the altar and his brother, and thwarts all her efforts to get away. Ultimately he brings her to his Fifth Avenue mansion and introduces her as his wife. He asks her to go along with the ruse but doesn't tell her why. Eventually the truth comes out -- Gerald is already married, and his wedding with Letty was invalid. Letty comes to see beyond Arnold's stern exterior and falls in love with him. Jack Pickford (younger brother of the already wildly popular Mary Pickford) has a small role of a country boy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
