Russell Simpson Movies
American actor Russell Simpson is another of those character players who seemed to have been born in middle age. From his first screen appearance in 1910 to his last in 1959, Simpson personified the grizzled, taciturn mountain man who held strangers at bay with his shotgun and vowed that his daughter would never marry into that family he'd been feudin' with fer nigh on to forty years. It was not always thus. After prospecting in the 1898 Alaska gold rush, Simpson returned to the States and launched a career as a touring actor in stock -- most frequently cast in romantic leads. This led to a long association with Broadway impresario David Belasco. Briefly flirting with New York-based films in 1910, Simpson returned to the stage, then chose movies on a permanent basis in 1917. Of his hundreds of motion picture and TV appearances, Russell Simpson is best known for his participation in the films of director John Ford, most memorably as Pa Joad in 1940's The Grapes of Wrath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1930
The tall and virile Johnny Mack Brown portrays the short and dyspeptic outlaw William Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid. Wallace Beery is more effectively cast as Pat Garrett, the sheriff who's sworn to bring in Billy dead or alive despite his grudging friendship for the young killer. Hardly the "homicidal moron" described by western historians, the movie's Billy has a certain amount of charm, though he's shown to be a cold-blooded killer when the opportunity arises. The film's ending was shot twice: One ending retained fidelity to the facts by having Garrett kill Billy, while the other denouement allowed Billy to ride into the sunset, as Garrett beatifically looked on. Over the protests of western purists, the second ending was used in the American release version, though the more tragic climax was seen by European audiences. Billy the Kid was originally released in a 70mm widescreen process called Realife; to avoid confusion with MGM's 1941 Billy the Kid, the earlier film has been retitled The Highwayman Rides for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, Wallace Beery, (more)
To date, this D.W. Griffith epic is the only talking-picture effort to encapsulate the entire life of Abraham Lincoln, from cradle to grave. The script, credited to Stephen Vincent Benet, manages to include all the familiar high points, including Lincoln's tragic romance with Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel, allegedly cast because of her resemblance to Griffith favorite Lillian Gish), his lawyer days in Illinois, his contentious marriage to Mary Todd (Kay Hammond), his heartbreaking decision to declare war upon the South, his pardoning of a condemned sentry during the Civil War, and his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth (expansively portrayed by Ian Keith). This was D.W. Griffith's first talkie, and the master does his best with the somewhat pedantic dialogue sequences; but as always, Griffith's forte was spectacle and montage, as witness the cross-cut scenes of Yankees and Rebels marching off to war and the pulse-pounding ride of General Sheridan (Frank Campeau) through the Shenandoah Valley. Thanks to the wizardry of production designer William Cameron Menzies, many of the scenes appear far more elaborate than they really were; Menzies can also be credited with the unforgettable finale, as Honest Abe's Kentucky log cabin dissolves to the Lincoln Memorial. As Abraham Lincoln, Walter Huston is a tower of strength, making even the most florid of speeches sound human and credible; only during the protracted death scene of Ann Rutledge does Huston falter, and then the fault is as much Griffith's as his. Road-shown at nearly two hours (including a prologue showing slaves being brought to America), Abraham Lincoln was pared down to 97 minutes by United Artists, and in that length it proved a box-office success, boding well for D.W. Griffith's future in talkies (alas, it proved to be his next-to-last film; Griffith's final effort, The Struggle was a financial disaster). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Kay Hammond, (more)
- 1930
Mary Philbin, best remembered as the heroine of the 1925 Lon Chaney version of Phantom of the Opera, stars in this murky low-budget melodrama. Philbin plays the daughter of truculent lighthouse keeper Russell Simpson. She goes ga-ga over society rake Edmund Burns, which greatly displeases her father. So put out is dead old dad that he goes after Burns with an axe, whereupon Philbin arms herself with a gun. Since most of After the Fog is set in a lighthouse, it is altogether appropriate that it was put together by Beacon Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Philbin, Russell Simpson, (more)
- 1929
Not a remake of the pre-1920 film of the same name, The Kid's Clever was Glenn Tryon's last silent vehicle; he would pursue a brief talkie acting career before going behind the cameras as a producer. On this occasion, Tryon plays Bugs Raymond, a would-be inventor who has developed a car that runs without gasoline or any other kind of fuel. Through the auspices of Ruth Decker (Kathryn Crawford), daughter of automobile magnate John Decker (Russell Simpson), Bugs is able to stage a demonstration of his invention. The test run goes disastrously wrong, but it turns out that this is the handiwork of Bug's crooked rival Ashton Steele (Lloyd Whitlock). Things are set aright when Bugs and Ruth virtually kidnap Decker and force him to take another test ride -- this one a smashing success. Black comedian Stepin Fetchit is seen in a tiny role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Simpson
- 1929
In this drama, a junkman, Maurice Chevalier in his American film debut, rescues a drowning boy from the Seine. The boy's mother had been attempting to kill herself and her son as well. The junkman cannot save the mother. He takes the boy to his grandfather. There he encounters the boy's aunt with whom he falls in love. The junkman is spotted while singing in the Flea Market and is hired to sing in a music hall. One of the owners is afraid that the junkman will fall for one of the chorines and begs him to leave, but the junkman is hooked and will not leave. Songs include: "Yes, We have No Bananas", "Les Ananas", "Dites-Moi, Ma Mere", "Louise", "Wait Till You See My Cherie", "It's A Habit of Mine", and "On Top of the World Alone" and "Valentine". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Russell Simpson, (more)
- 1929
Only three minutes of the 74-minute Noisy Neighbors contains any dialogue; the rest of the film has hardly any noise at all. Written for the screen by F. Hugh Herbert (of Kiss and Tell and The Moon is Blue fame), the story focuses on a family of second-string vaudevillians, played by genuine vaudeville trouper Eddie Quillan and his real-life family. Inheriting a Southern plantation, Quillan and his brood land in the middle of a raging hillbilly feud. One of the mountain patriarches is played by old DeMille reliable Theodore Roberts, in his final screen appearance; he died shortly before the film's release. Also in the cast is pert ex-Sennett bathing beauty Alberta Vaughan (who appeared in a swimsuit in the film's production stills, but not on screen), and bombastic comedian Billy Gilbert, in his movie debut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberta Vaughn, Theodore Roberts, (more)
- 1929
Not even Joe E. Brown's most fervent fans have much to say about his appearance in the 1929 part-talkie My Lady's Past -- mainly because the film seems to have long since disappeared. In her first talking role, Belle Bennett (who previously co-starred with Brown in Molly and Me) plays another of her "damaged goods" roles, this time as small-town matron Mamie Reynolds. Engaged to Mamie for ten years, novelist Sam Young (Brown) is finally about to pop the question when he learns of his sweetheart's checkered past. After a drunken soliloquy of eight minutes' duration, Sam decides to forgive and forget, but not before settling accounts with the film's villain, narrow-minded John Parker (Russell Simpson). Joe E. Brown would be better served by his later vehicles for Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Belle Bennett, Joe E. Brown, (more)
- 1929
The Sap is Edward Everett Horton, a small-towner with big plans, but lacking the wherewithal to put them in motion. Even worse, Horton allows everyone to take advantage of him, further driving the nails into the coffin of his ambitions. When his brother-in-law gets mixed up with an embezzlement scheme, the Sap loyally takes the rap, going so far as to conspire with a couple of crooks to replace the money. This time, however, things turn out to our hero's advantage -- though just how this happens isn't entirely clear, even when one sees the movie. Co-starring in The Sap is silent-film ingenue Patsy Ruth Miller, an old friend of Edward Everett Horton, who'd previously appeared with Horton's California-based repertory theatre along with such mutual chums as Mary Astor, Laura LaPlante and Franklin Pangborn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Everett Horton, Alan Hale, (more)
- 1928
Some first-rate underwater photography distinguishes this otherwise flat film version of Jack London's A Raid on the Oyster Pirates. Patsy Ruth Miller stars as the romantic bone of contention between pearl divers Malcolm McGregor and Wallace MacDonald. When McGregor's brother is murdered, Miller is arrested for the crime. The actual killer, however, is MacDonald, who does an expert job covering his tracks. The truth comes out, however, when McGregor is obliged to rescue MacDonald from the tentacles of a giant squid (the film's best sequence). A handful of medium shots of underdressed hula-hula girls undoubtedly helped to keep the audience awake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McGregor, Wallace MacDonald, (more)
- 1928
The team behind MGM's Tim McCoy unit went "down under" for their inspiration for this silent "Western" about a British nobleman who kills a man in a duel and is banished for life to a penal colony in faraway Australia. McCoy breaks out of prison to become a sort of Robin Hood of the Bush, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. That is, until his father Russell Simpson, the district's new High Commissioner, gets in trouble with a gang of real bandits who have kidnapped McCoy's foster sister Marian Douglas. Filmed in and around New Hall, California, this "Eastern" enjoyed the usual high standard of the MGM McCoy oaters. Formerly known as En Gregory, leading lady Marian Douglas actually did hail from Australia. Future Universal director Arthur Lubin plays McCoy's weakling brother. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Douglas, Russell Simpson, (more)
- 1928
A prison melodrama with a heart, Life's Mockery starred Betty Compson as Kit Miller, the daughter of notorious gangster Wolf Miller (Russell Simpson). Fleeing the law, Kit is knocked unconscious and brought to a prison whose warden, John Fullerton (Alec B. Francis, believes that criminals may be completely reformed under the proper environment. Suffering from amnesia, the girl is led to believe that the faint memories from her past are merely part of a feverish nightmare. The warden's son Wade (Theodore von Eltz) falls in love with the girl, but their idyll and her reformation are soon threatened by the re-emergence of Wolf Miller. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Theodore Von Eltz, (more)
- 1928
The strange and terrible things that the lust for gold can do to the soul comprise the message of this innovative, epic account of the Alaskan gold rush. Unlike Chaplin's version of the same era story, which combined hardship with comedy and culminated with a happy ending, Clarence Brown's film is disturbing. Though he follows the lives of many prospectors throughout the movie, one story receives extra attention. It is that of a gold miner who finally strikes it rich, suffers terribly to return to his true love and discovers that she has become a tawdry dance-hall girl working for a known murderer. Enraged, the prospector gets into a terrible battle that culminates in a tragic scene -- perhaps designed to make us realize how insignificant we are in the face of nature's ruthless grandeur. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Ralph Forbes, (more)
- 1927
Wild Geese is based on a novel by Martha Ostenso, originally serialized in the pages of The Pictorial Review. The story is set in rural Minnesota, where farm wife Amelia Gare (Belle Bennett) is forced to endure the tyranny of her domineering husband Caleb Gare (Russell Simpson). In spite of everything, Amelia does her utmost to make certain that her children will be able to survive -- and, hopefully, escape -- their cruel paterfamilias. As it turns out, however, the family is "liberated" only by the long-overdue demise of Amelia's husband. It sounds stilted and cliched, but contemporary reviewers noted that the film was rescued by its actors, who offered three-dimensional characterizations rather than stock stereotypes. Wild Geese was geared primarily to "regional" audiences, who responded enthusiastically. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Belle Bennett, Russell Simpson, (more)
- 1927
Legendary racecar driver Barney Oldfield plays himself in the engaging little period piece The First Auto. Russell Simpson plays livery-stable owner Hank Armstrong, who is appalled beyond words when his son Bob (Charles E. Mack) comes home with one of those newfangled "horseless carriages." Throwing Bob out of the house, Hank stubbornly sticks to his stable business, only to be driven into bankruptcy by the ever-growing popularity of the automobile. When Bob returns to his hometown to participate in an auto race, his father, having temporarily gone off the beam, agrees to sabotage the boy's car to make certain that he loses. Only when he attends the race does Hank realize that he's booby-trapped his own son's vehicle. On cue, the car blows up, but Bob emerges unscathed, setting the stage for an emotional reunion between father and son. Long believed lost, The First Auto has been restored to nearly its original length and has frequently been telecast over the Turner Classic Movies cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barney Oldfield, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1927
In this lavishly produced MGM production, the ethereal Lillian Gish is a bit more earthy than normal, due in part to the selection of her co-star, he-man Norman Kerry. "Suggested by" the well-known song, the story involves two feuding Scottish clans, the MacDonalds and the Camerons. Annie Laurie (Gish) tries to bring the two clans together peacefully at her home, Maxwelton, but winds up being the cause for even more enmity because both Ian MacDonald (Kerry) and Donald Cameron (Creighton Hale) love her. She throws her lot in with Ian when the vengeful Donald uses underhanded means to get rid of his foes. Annie battles the Camerons and climbs a mountain to light a warning beacon. After her ordeal, Ian carries her to a barge and they sail over the loch. The last part of the film was shot in two-strip Technicolor. Annie Laurie wound up losing 264,000 dollars, which certainly did not help the ever-worsening relationship between Gish and the studio. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Gish, Norman Kerry, (more)
- 1927
Heart of the Yukon was one of director W.S. Van Dyke's last independent films before he began his lengthy association with MGM. Filmed on location near Tacoma, Washington, the story is set during the Alaska Gold Rush. Plain-looking Anita Wayne (Anne Cornwall) wanders into a rowdy boomtown in search of her prospector father. Hoping to get his mitts on a gold mine that Anita has inherited, raffish saloon owner Cash Gynon (Russell Simpson) pretends to be her daddy. But hero Jim Winston (John Bowers) saves Anita from Cash's clutches, just in time for the ugly-duckling heroine to emerge as a gorgeous swan. As an added fillip, Anita is reunited with her father -- reformed town drunk "Old Skin Full" (Frank Campeau). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Anne Cornwall, (more)
- 1927
During the late '20s, Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton made a series of comedies for Paramount. Although the studio hyped them quite a bit, there was nothing really special about the pairing, and the two actors (Beery especially) had better success apart in the long run. This picture was made along the same lines as two other Beery/ Hatton films, Behind the Front and We're in the Navy Now, but it wasn't as successful. Wally (Beery) and Ray (Hatton) are cousins whose grandfather, McTavish (Russell Simpson), is an aviation fanatic. To win favor with him, they join the U.S. Flying Corps when they enlist to fight in World War I. The two men wind up in a runaway balloon that sets them down behind enemy lines. But instead of being captured as prisoners of war, Wally and Ray are mistakenly considered heroes by the Germans, who send them back to U.S. lines as spies. They are captured by Allied forces, who really believe they are spies, and they're almost executed. Along the way, Wally and Ray fall in love with twin sisters, Grisette and Griselle, one loyal to the French, the other to the Germans (both played by Louise Brooks). In spite of a dual role, Brooks doesn't have much to do -- Moving Picture World felt that "any intelligent extra girl" could have handled the part. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1927
A sturdy, reliable cast distinguishes the so-so outdoor drama God's Great Wilderness. The main character is a nasty backwoods general-store owner, who browbeats his wife and son into cowering submission and regularly cheats his customers. In contrast, a rival store owner has the milk of human kindness flowing through his veins. Tragedy strikes both storekeepers, leaving both men alone and destitute. But while the nastier of the two is left with nothing to show for his life, the kindly owner is showered with sympathy and charity. The best performance was rendered by John Ford "regular" Russell Simpson as the nominal villain. God's Great Wilderness was a rare screenwriting effort from former D. W. Griffith stock-company player Spottiswood Aiken. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Simpson, Lillian Rich, (more)
- 1927
A young boy (Johnny Harron) defends his mother against his violently abusive stepfather (Noah Beery) in this tragic melodrama. The focus of the film is the cruelty of the man who takes pride in the fact his wife and stepson consider him insane. Ethel Grey Terry, ZaSu Pitts, and Russell Simpson co-star with memorable screen-villain Beery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Harron, Viora Daniels, (more)
- 1926
The Earth Woman was one of several films produced by Mrs. Wallace Reid (Dorothy Davenport), who after the drug-induced death of her movie-idol husband dedicated herself to saving impressionable filmgoers from the evils and pitfalls of modern life. The story is set in the hills of Tennessee, where practically everybody gets smashed on rotgut moonshine. A drink-benumbed hillbilly tries to rape heroine Sally Tilden (Priscilla Bonner), setting off a chain reaction of violence, murder, and false confessions. Through it all, "earth mother" Martha Tilden (Mary Alden) tries to hold her very dysfunctional brood together. Perhaps it was the notoriety of the still seething Hatfield-McCoy feud that prompted so many filmmakers to turn out "backwoods" dramas like this one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Alden, Russell Simpson, (more)
- 1926
The frequently filmed Alice Hegan Rice novel Lovey Mary was given the slick MGM treatment in 1926. Bessie Love plays the title character, a 17-year-old orphanage runaway. Taken in by poor-but-kindly Mrs. Wiggs (Mary Alden), Lovey Mary spreads good cheer wherever she goes, even "curing" the town's leading sourpuss. She finally gets a share of happiness herself when Mrs. Wiggs' oldest son Billy (William Haines) pops the question. Lovey Mary was originally the sequel to Mrs. Rice's Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch itself filmed more than once over the years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bessie Love, William Haines, (more)
- 1926
Based on a magazine serial by the prolific Peter B. Kyne, this silent Western featured rising star George O'Brien as Bradley Blatchford, a college graduate who returns to the old homestead only to find that his father (Russell Simpson) is engaging in a bit of cattle rustling. This unpleasant discovery threatens to put a halt to Bradley's engagement to schoolmarm Sybil Hamilton (Anita Stewart), but then Sybil is also accused of rustling. Sybil, however, was framed by a real cattle rustler and the lovers are reunited. Veteran Vitagraph ingénue Anita Stewart played one of her very last romantic leads in this Western whereas young George O'Brien went on to immortality opposite Janet Gaynor in the beautiful Sunrise (1927), and, later still, B-Western stardom at RKO. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Anita Stewart, (more)
- 1926
The Social Highwayman is a light-fingered jewel thief who preys on high-society folk. Greenhorn newspaper reporter Jay Walker (John Patrick) decides to make a name for himself by bringing the crook to justice. Before his adventure is through, our hero is in store for quite a few surprises, and not a few perils. As a fringe benefit, however, he wins the love of heiress Elsie Van Tyler (Dorothy Devore). It was clear that nobody involved in The Social Highwayman was taking the thing seriously, as witness such subtitles as "Evening came because afternoon had gone and morning was not due until dawn" (which sounds like something out of a Laurel and Hardy comedy). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Patrick, Montagu Love, (more)
- 1925
Harold Bell Wright, a popular author during the silent era, was known for his sentimental and unsophisticated stories. This film, based on one of his novels, was a good representation of his written work. Brian Kent (Kenneth Harlan) regrets stealing money from a Chicago bank and decides to kill himself. He takes poison and sets off in a small boat, which goes ashore on the banks of the Missouri River. Judy, a little drudge (ZaSu Pitts), brings Kent to her mistress, who everyone calls Auntie Sue (Mary Carr). Auntie Sue is a spinster school teacher, and her kindness helps to regenerate Kent, who is going by the name Burns. He writes a novel, which Betty Jo (Helene Chadwick), a friend of Auntie Sue's, types up. A romance blossoms between Betty Jo and Kent. The jealous Judy reveals Kent's true identity to her father, who rushes to Chicago to turn him in and claim the reward. Auntie Sue beats him there, and convinces the bank president -- one of her former pupils -- not to prosecute him. The romance is complicated, however, when Kent's wife (Rosemary Theby) shows up. Mrs. Kent's boat is caught in the rapids and she drowns in spite of Kent's desperate attempts to save her. With his wife now gone, he is able to be with Betty Jo. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Based on a Pushkin novel, The Eagle stars Rudolph Valentino as a Russian cossack who is the special favorite of the formidable Catherine the Great (Louise Dresser). He spurns her attentions, preferring not to be a kept consort. When his lands are stolen from him, Valentino transforms into a Robin-Hood-like masked avenger. Vilma Banky plays the daughter of the man who killed Valentino's own father. Despite his thirst for revenge, our hero falls in love with Vilma, who goes the "Lois Lane" route of adoring the masked-avenger Valentino but disdaining the unmasked Rudy, little guessing that the two are one in the same. Watch quickly for Gary Cooper as one of Valentino's masked minions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, (more)
