Irene Rich Movies

Dauntless Dustin Farnum stars in the rugged western Man in the Open. A retired sailor, Farnum heads to the wide open spaces, where he becomes a federal ranger. When not busy battling the villains, Our Hero dallies with such saloon-hall lovelies as Claire DuBrey and such sweetness 'n' light types as Irene Rich. The climax involves a showdown with the scurrilous "Bull" Brookes (Lamar Johnstone). One wonders if director Joseph H. Lewis recalled Man in the Open while making his similarly themed Terror in a Texas Town (1958). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

Leatrice Joy and Richard Dix play an ambitious couple in this domestic drama. John and Katherine Colby (Dix and Joy) decide to put off parenthood until he has become wealthy. Their friends, Tom and Grace Donaldson (John Bowers and Louise Lovely), decide to start a family right away. While John works his way up to a position of power at a steel firm, Katherine begins to question the wisdom of their decision. When she sees how happy the Donaldsons are with their brood, she begins to feel like she has been missing something. On a drive, the Colbys are involved in an accident and Katherine is seriously injured. When she is well enough to be told, the doctor informs her that she will never be able to bear children. Katherine is shattered by this news. An ironic note -- according to her daughter, Joy was not very maternal and had to be prodded into motherhood by her then-husband, John Gilbert. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Because he was unable to give voice to his earthy wit, Will Rogers' on-film appeal was a bit limited during the silent era. Producers often didn't know what to do with him and, in fact, when Rogers began producing his own films, he didn't know what to do with himself, either. That's about the only explanation for this two-reel feature which is pretty much just a display of his lariat skills. Rogers' ropin' is shown every which way, including slow motion. He lassos a galloping horse. He lassos a rat with a piece of string. He lassos a caterwauling cat. Somewhere in the midst of all this ropin' there's the skimpiest of stories featuring Irene Rich as the girl, John Ince as the stranger, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as the inevitable foreman. But none of them get much screen time -- it's all Rogers' show. After losing quite a bit of money trying to produce and direct himself, Rogers eventually found his screen niche during the sound era. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Based on a serialized novel by Courtney Riley Cooper, Christmas Eve at Pilot Butte, this sentimental silent Western was one of 26 collaborations between director John Ford (still known as "Jack Ford") and veteran stage actor Harry Carey. Drifter Bart Carson (Carey) becomes so infatuated with the beautiful but treacherous Lady Lou (Barbara La Marr) that he is easily persuaded to assume responsibility for a crime actually committed by the lady's brother, Walker (Edward Coxen). In prison, Bart learns that Walker is not Lady Lou's brother at all, but her lover. Escaping from prison on Christmas Eve, a furious Carson heads straight to Walker's home -- only to find the man's wife (Lillian Rich) and teenage son (Georgie Stone, later George E. Stone) alone and abandoned. Taking pity on the woman, Bart gives himself up to the sheriff so she may claim the reward. Happily, Lady Lou has confessed her perfidy, and Bart is once again a free man. Shortly after making Desperate Trails, Ford and Carey had a falling out, and the director transferred to the Hoot Gibson unit. Ford, however, never forgot the veteran star, and Three Godfathers (1948), which co-starred Harry Carey, Jr., was dedicated to his memory. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Peep O'Day (Will Rogers) is the illiterate pauper of a small Southern town. When he gets the news from Judge Priest (Edward Kimball) that he has inherited a fortune from a relative back in Ireland, Peep's life changes overnight. He decides to use his money to experience the childhood he never got to have, and spends all his time having fun with the boys of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the widow Hunter (Cordelia Callahan) has him pegged as husband material and is trying to catch him. The scheming Cassius Sublette (Sydney Ainsworth) wants to get his hands on Peep's fortune, so he tries to have him declared incompetent. His accomplice is a girl from Cincinnati who poses as Peep's "niece," who will be more than happy to handle his money. Judge Priest sees through scam, the accomplice has a change of heart, and the case is dismissed. Peep returns to his young pals, leaving a broken-hearted widow Hunter in his wake. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This Hampton Del Ruth production is a very odd comedy-drama. Two sisters, Eleanor and Mary Douglas (Alta Allen and Irene Rich respectively), are both engaged to be married. Eleanor, who is about to wed district attorney William Bradley (Milton Sills), convinces Mary to break up with her fiancé, vivisectionist Dr. Paul Graydon (Henry B. Walthall). But before her wedding, Eleanor is handed a glass of water by Graydon. After taking a drink she faints. Graydon pronounces her dead and she is buried. But things start looking suspicious when a kitten drinks from the same glass and also keels over dead. The kitten, however, comes back to life. Bradley dashes to the graveyard, but Eleanor's body is missing. She is actually in Graydon's home, where he is about to use her in an experiment. He is halted when Mary shoots him. Laura LaVarnie and Tully Marshall add comic relief as the girl's maiden aunt and her unwilling suitor. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

With the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal and the William Desmond Taylor murder still fresh in people's minds, it's a wonder why the Fox studios decided to go ahead with the remake of this steamy melodrama which shot Theda Bara to stardom in 1915. But they revamped it (so to speak) and toned down the character of Gilda Fontaine (here played by Estelle Taylor) enough to avoid the ire of the censors. The miscast Taylor virtually turned Gilda into a flapper, and this alone took a lot of the power out of the story. Financier John Schuyler (Lewis Stone) must travel to Europe on business, leaving his beloved wife (Irene Rich) and daughter Muriel (Muriel Dana) at home. On board the ship he encounters the dangerous Gilda -- his associate, Avery Parmelee (Mahlon Hamilton) has already killed himself over her. Schuyler now falls under Gilda's spell, and when he returns to the U.S., he is unable to give her up. His wife forgives him and is willing to take him back, but then Gilda reappears and he knows that the only way to break free of her sensual charms is to kill her or himself. He decides on the former, but while attacking her he falls over a banister to his death. Judging from the sets, Fox spent a lot of money on this film -- and it bombed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Veteran silent star Henry Walthall shines in this drama, based on the novel by Frances Nimmo Greene. In spite of the complaints from his sister, Maggie Thornton (Irene Rich), Dr. Alan Hamilton (Milton Sills) insists on befriending Henry Garnett (Warner), who runs a gambling hall. A young woman (Claire Windsor) is brought into Hamilton's hospital unconscious, and she refuses to reveal her identity. Hamilton falls in love with the girl, who he calls Faith, and she is the only one who encourages his friendship with Garnett. On the night he keeps a rioting mob away from the gambling hall, he reveals to Faith that he is looking for Garnett's long-lost wife because the gambler has only a limited time to live. Faith finally reveals that she is the wife, but Hamilton turns around and urges her to keep her secret. His bad advice eats away at him, and he turns to drink until he is compelled to tend to his nephew, who has been badly injured. He then takes Faith to Garnett, but the dying gambler wishes her only happiness and releases her from her bond to him by drinking poison. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Although Moving Picture World claimed that director Sidney A. Franklin's work on this drama earned him a long-term contract with Warner Bros., it wasn't long before he was back directing Constance Talmadge pictures, and beginning a prestigious career at MGM. The story, based on a very popular novel of the day by Charles G. Norris, involves the romance between country boy Philip Baldwin (Monte Blue) and frivolous city girl Marjorie Jones (Marie Prevost). The couple marries, but Marjorie believes that she is being neglected by her husband. She leaves Baldwin and their baby, and, egged on by her mother (Vera Lewis), gets a divorce. The child is left in the care of a trained nurse and widow, Mrs. Grotenberg (Irene Rich), who falls in love with Baldwin. His sister, Lucy (Miss DuPont), tries to find him an suitable mate and encourages Mrs. Grotenberg to leave. During this time, Marjorie has married again and divorced, and she decides she wants Baldwin back. Mrs. Grotenberg, believing that the couple will reconcile, goes away. But Baldwin no longer loves Marjorie, and prefers to wait for Mrs. Grotenberg's return. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This drama -- slightly sensational and moralistic -- was typical of the feature fare put out by low-budget film company C.B.C., which became better known (and a better company) a few years later as Columbia. Irene Rich stars as Megan Daye, who, after divorcing her husband, Gilbert Ames (Lewis Dayton), takes back her maiden name and goes to work for the ridiculously rich and domineering Mrs. Harbours (Josephine Crowell). Ames marries Viola, a telephone operator (Eileen Percy), and runs into his ex-wife when meeting with Mrs. Harbours, who happens to be his client. Viola, meanwhile, meets up with her old friend, Victor Fleming (Philo McCullough), and it's quite possible that his character's name was no accident. The director Victor Fleming was already known for his macho, womanizing ways. Viola and Fleming go off sailing and they are drowned. Now that he is conveniently a widower, Ames is able to patch things up with Megan and they reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This historical comedy-drama resulted from the unlikely collaboration of girlish silent star Mary Pickford and sophisticated German director Ernst Lubitsch (it was also Lubitsch's first American-made film). But at least the story, adapted from the novel Don Cesar de Bazon, came closer to Pickford's persona than Lubitsch's first choice -- the baby-killing Marguerite from Goethe's Faust. Pickford's mother (who frequently advised the star on her business decisions) refused to let her even entertain the idea of playing Marguerite. In any case, Pickford is rather miscast as Rosita, the fiery Spanish singer who antagonizes the King (Holbrook Blinn) by making up a song that mocks him. The King tosses her in jail and when Don Diego (George Walsh), who Rosita loves, tries to defend her, he too is thrown in jail. While Don Diego is sentenced to be executed, the King lusts after Rosita and decides to put her up in a luxurious villa. To give her a title, he marries her to a masked nobleman, who turns out to be Don Diego. Rosita tears off the mask and resolves to save him. She cannot win the King's cooperation and believes she has failed at her mission. But the Queen (Irene Rich) has put blanks in the guns of the firing squad and Don Diego fakes his death. His body is taken to the villa where the King is trying to seduce the grief-stricken Rosita. She is ready to stab him to death when Don Diego leaps up and intervenes. The film ends with everyone happy. For reasons still not clear, Pickford came to hate this film, claiming it was the worst one she ever made. On the contrary, it's excellent entertainment and while the star is not at her very best, she still puts in a decent performance. In its day Rosita was well received critically, and it made money for United Artists. It holds up better today than some of Pickford's other vehicles. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi