George E. Stone Movies
Probably no one came by the label "Runyon-esque" more honestly than Polish-born actor George E. Stone; a close friend of writer Damon Runyon, Stone was seemingly put on this earth to play characters named Society Max and Toothpick Charlie, and to mouth such colloquialisms as "It is known far and wide" and "More than somewhat." Starting his career as a Broadway "hoofer," the diminutive Stone made his film bow as "the Sewer Rat" in the 1927 silent Seventh Heaven. His most prolific film years were 1929 to 1936, during which period he showed up in dozens of Warner Bros. "urban" films and backstage musicals, and also appeared as the doomed Earle Williams in the 1931 version of The Front Page. He was so closely associated with gangster parts by 1936 that Warners felt obligated to commission a magazine article showing Stone being transformed, via makeup, into an un-gangsterish Spaniard for Anthony Adverse (1936). For producer Hal Roach, Stone played three of his oddest film roles: a self-pitying serial killer in The Housekeeper's Daughter (1938), an amorous Indian brave in Road Show (1940), and Japanese envoy Suki Yaki in The Devil With Hitler (1942). Stone's most popular role of the 1940s was as "the Runt" in Columbia's Boston Blackie series. In the late '40s, Stone was forced to severely curtail his acting assignments due to failing eyesight. Though he was totally blind by the mid-'50s, Stone's show business friends, aware of the actor's precarious financial state, saw to it that he got TV and film work, even if it meant that his co-stars had to literally lead him by the hand around the set. No one was kinder to George E. Stone than the cast and crew of the Perry Mason TV series, in which Stone was given prominent billing as the Court Clerk, a part that required nothing more of him than sitting silently at a desk and occasionally holding a Bible before a witness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1916
Norma Talmadge, already a star but not yet a STAR, played the eponymous heroine in 1916's Martha's Vindication. To protect the reputation of her best friend Dorothea (Seena Owen, Martha claims that she is the mother of the friend's illegitimate baby. Even though she is ostracized and condemned by the community in general and fire-and-brimstone preacher Hunt (Ralph Lewis) in particular, Martha refuses to tell the whole story, nor will she permit her friend -- now happily married and the mother of a legitimate child -- to speak up. Only Martha's sweetheart William (Charles West) stands by her in her hour of need, and even he has his doubts. But as indicated by the film's title, Martha is eventually proven to be as pure as the driven snow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Instead of marrying her childhood sweetheart, Charles Brown (William Hinckley), Cora (Norma Talmadge) has married the more well-heeled Arthur Vincent (Eugene Pallette). But Vincent, the son of a bank president, neglects Cora and their two children in favor of dancer Jane Courtenay (Jewel Carmen). Cora spends a lot of time with her sister and her sister's husband (who happens to be Charles' brother) and wishes she had chosen a better spouse. Meanwhile, Vincent goes from bad to worse -- Jane convinces him to team up with some of her friends and rob his father's bank. The crooks get away with this only temporarily -- eventually they are discovered, and most of them, including Vincent and Jane, are killed in the ensuing chase. So finally Cora is free to wed the man she should have married in the first place. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Talmadge, Eugene Pallette, (more)
- 1916
A veteran of the Spanish-American War and a proud patriot, Bob Wiley (William S. Hart) finds himself swindled out of a fortune by a corrupt local politician. Hart's Wiley goes to Washington to complain but proves unsuccessful. Returning to the homestead, he finds his little son (Georgie, later George E. Stone) murdered and his heart fills with bitterness towards the country he once loved. Joining up with Mexican General Zapilla's forces, Wiley becomes a spy and misdirects the American forces into an ambush. The enormity of his betrayal slowly dawning on him, Wiley manages to save the local town from the Mexican usurpers, pledges allegiance to the flag and becomes once again a patriotic American. Only William S. Hart could get away with an overbaked plot like this, and only this early in his career. Most reviewers, however, bought the story. "It is probably the best thing Hart has done, and the entire production is of high quality," opined Louis Reeves Harrison in the influential Moving Picture World. A couple of names in the supporting cast stand out: Francis Carpenter, a blond child star very popular at the time, here playing a child who reminds the hero of what he has lost, and, further down the list, British-born character actor Percy Dempsey Tabler, who later played a rather unlikely Tarzan in the serial The Son of Tarzan (1920). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1916
The Little School Ma'am is Nan, portrayed by Dorothy Gish. A Southern gal, Nan heads westward to take charge of a classroom in a puritanical frontier village. Though dedicated to her job, she yearns for the companionship of a male over the age of 12. Virginia-born playwright Wilbur Howard (Elmer Clifton) newly arrived in town for a vacation, falls hard for winsome Nan. Their chastely conducted romance stirs up a great deal of gossip, leading to a devastating scandal. In the end, it is Nan's loyal schoolkids who clear up matters so that Nan and Wilbur can be married. Stills exist from The Little School Ma'am showing Dorothy Gish in a pirate costume, suggesting that a masquerade party was somehow woven into the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Dorothy Gish stars as Gretchen, the daughter of Dutch immigrant Ralph Lewis. Doing her best to adjust to her strange new homeland of the USA, Gretchen falls in love with Italian-American Frank Bennett. The plot thickens when she is kidnapped by gangsters so that her father, an engraver, will be forced to make counterfeit plates. A rousing (and amusing) rescue scene caps this cinemadaptation of Bernard McConville's story Gretchen Blunders In. Curiously, the film is not mentioned in the otherwise thorough 1973 coffee-table book Lillian and Dorothy Gish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Gish, Ralph Lewis, (more)
- 1916
After they become parents, crooks Grace and John Remington (Norma Talmadge and Ralph Lewis) go straight, and John becomes a very successful businessman. Their past catches up with them when a former associate, Jimmy Briggs (Eugene Pallette), comes around and begins blackmailing John. John gets fed up with Briggs' incessant demands and tries to send him away. But Briggs threatens to send Grace -- who has never done time -- to jail unless John helps him out with a robbery. John is forced to comply. The house to be robbed happens to belong to a wealthy friend of the Remingtons, and Grace is spending the night there with her three children (Nino Fovieri, Francis Carpenter, and Fern Collier). John solves his dilemma by tossing Briggs off a window ledge. Apparently, he doesn't have to pay for this particular crime, because the film ends with the couple apparently living happily ever after. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
What everybody's doing would appear to be writing film scenarios: This satiric two-reel crime story is also a send up of the motion-picture industry, which it spoofs by means of a framing story about a pair of youngsters who concoct movie stories. The kids devise a tale about a vicious crook (Tully Marshall), which then is dramatized in this short. The crook manipulates a gullible young society gentleman (Howard Gaye) and dupes him into assisting in a daring robbery by making him think he is actually rescuing a young woman (Lillian Webster) who is in trouble. 16/2rl ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tully Marshall, Howard Gaye, (more)
- 1918
During World War I, every director made at least one film about the battles going on in Europe, even Cecil B. DeMille. These pictures were rarely very distinguished, and this drama was certainly one of DeMille's lesser efforts. Florence Vidor plays Yvonne, a Belgian girl who marries a German man, Karl Von Krutz G. Butler Clonbough. The war breaks out after Von Krutz confesses to Yvonne that he is a spy, he leaves for the German forces. Later, when the United States enters the war, Captain Jefferson Strong (Bryant Washburn) becomes a spy for the Allies. He is ordered to take on the identity of Von Krutz so that he can go behind the lines and blow up a liquid fire base. However, Yvonne is caring for 65 war orphans and they will all die if the detonation goes off, so Strong is forced to cut the wires. Although he undergoes a court martial, Belgian's King Albert (Winter Hall) frees him. Von Krutz conveniently dies, enabling Strong and Yvonne to be together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Yes, this is the classic Arabian Nights story, with Ali Baba discovering the treasure in the cave that opens to the magic words, "Open Sesame." But there's a twist here -- all the roles from Ali Baba (George Stone) to his beloved, dancing girl Morgianna (Gertrude Messinger) to Abdulla (Raymond Nye) are played by children. And yes, tiny Gertrude Messinger performed a hootchie-koo dance. Fox filmed a series of classic stories, such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, with kiddie actors, in the hopes of grabbing the child audience. Even in the days of their original release, they were curios. Sidney A. Franklin, who later went on to a distinguished career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed this picture. It is likely that he did not keep it on his resume. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Cowboy hero William S. Hart tries something altogether different in this film. He plays Hairpin Harry Dutton, a burglar who is sent to prison. He spends his incarceration dreaming of his pretty young wife (Juanita Hansen) and son and making firm resolutions for the day he gets released. But when he finally gets out, his plans are dashed -- his friend (Walter Long) informs him that his wife has divorced him. Not only that -- she has married the policeman who arrested him. Angrily, the former burglar plans to seek revenge, but when he sees his son, he realizes his actions would be pointless and wrong. So, leaving his ex-wife with her new husband, he starts off on a new life, taking his son with him. While well-received, this film did not encourage Hart to abandon his Western roots very often. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
William Farnum, the Mel Gibson of the teens, stars in Jungle Trail. Farnum plays an adventurer whose rival in love sends him off to Africa on a wild goose chase. Marked for assassination, Farnum eludes his would-be killers and is adopted by a native tribe. Rising to the status of "White God," Farnum is eventually able to settle accounts with his rival in the States. Featured among the bit players in Jungle Trail is Italian actor Henry Armetta, whose days of comic-relief prominence were still a decade in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1920
This picture was a departure, both for star Buck Jones and director John Ford (in those days known as Jack Ford). Instead of a manly Western, the focus here is on simple character study, even if it does end with a flurry of action. Bim (Jones) is the town ne'er-do'well, but he proves to be of some worth when he befriends a scruffy 13-year-old youngster Bill (George Stone), who has been thrown off a freight train. Teacher Mary Bruce (Helen Ferguson) takes note of the affection Bim shows towards the boy and insists that Bill be sent to school. Bim is also an admirer of Mary's, but she already has a sweetheart, the shifty Harvey Cahill (William Buckly). Harvey, the cashier at the express office, has come up short at work, so he asks Mary to loan him the school memorial fund. She does, but the school committee asks for the money before Mary can replace it. To save her Bim gets the money back and makes it look like he took it in the first place. Then Bill is virtually held captive by a couple who believe he is the missing son of a rich family. Bim exposes a gang of robbers and becomes a hero. In addition he finds the real missing boy and his parents give him -- and Bill -- the ten thousand dollar reward. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
William S. Hart takes his good-bad man character out of the West for this capital-versus-labor drama. Widower Robert Evans (Hart) labors as a factory foreman, and his young son, Danny (Will Jim Hatton), works alongside him. Evans urges his boss, Henry Chapple (Frank Brownlee), to repair the machinery before an accident happens, but Chapple is more concerned with contracts than with the safety of his workers. That same day, Danny is caught in a defective belt and killed. Evans, distraught over his son's death, is walking by the river when he sees Chapple's car plunge into the water. He saves the baby (Richard Headrick) and runs away with it, leaving the Chapples to believe their child has drowned. He raises the boy, Georgie (played as a youngster by Georgie Stone), as his own. When he encounters Chapple and his wife (Myrtle Steadman), and he sees how badly Mrs. Chapple still misses her son, he confesses that he has their boy and returns him to them. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William S. Hart, Frank Brownlee, (more)
- 1921
Bessie Love stars in this comedy, adapted from a novel by Belle K. Maniates. Love, as Penny, arrives in the West by aeroplane. She is considered a suspicious character and thrown into jail. Kurt Walters, a ranch foreman and deputy sheriff (Wheeler Oakman), discovers that she is the same girl that his friend, Jo Gary (Raymond Cannon), met in Chicago. Gary fell in love with her, but she confessed she was a thief. Since Penny claims she wants to reform, Walters releases her and sends her to live with Mrs. Kingdon (Lizette Thorne). In spite of her teasing and taunts (or perhaps because of them), Walters finds himself falling in love with Penny. The arrival of a mysterious stranger reveals that Penny is not really running from a gang of crooks like she claimed -- she's actually an actress who is trying to get away from her manager, who wants her to renew her contract. In the end, Penny prefers to stay on the ranch with Walters. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Even this early in his career, director John Ford (going by Jack Ford at the time) was known for Westerns and other manly pictures (his credits included a series of films with Western star Harry Carey). So it's a surprise to see him credited with this film, starring the dainty Shirley Mason as a Russian dancer. Mason, as Jackie, is part of a dance troupe managed by Bill Bowman (a villainous Harry Carter), but she runs away when he makes a pass at her. She finds her savior in a rich young American, Mervyn Carter (William Scott), who funds her lessons with a famous teacher. But when Jackie makes her debut, the hated Bowman shows up and tries to force her to come back to him. She gives him money, which is not enough for him, so Carter gives him a sound thrashing and sends him on his way. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
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, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Star Thomas Meighan reportedly picked out the story himself, and the role of Billy Kane is a good one for him. Kane is a crook who burglarizes wealthy people's homes, but when his uncle leaves him a million dollars, he decides to reform. He goes to Europe, and on the liner he meets Dorothea Welter (Grace Darmond), the daughter of a millionaire whose home he once robbed. In Paris, the Welters, not knowing of their friend's past, allow him to take Dorothea out dancing. She meets Marechal, a French crook (Lloyd Whitlock), while Kane flirts with dancer Andree Duphot (Jacqueline Logan). Chicoq, a member of the French underworld (the always villainous Walter Long), wants Andree for himself and he and Kane get into a fight. Chicoq kidnaps Andree and takes her off to the country. Meanwhile, Dorothea marries Marechal, but he takes off when he discovers that Mr. Welter (Fred Vroom) will not support them. Dorothea is able to tell Kane where Chicoq is keeping Andree, and he goes to her rescue. He shoots up the farmhouse where the gang is staying, killing Chicoq and Marechal. The newly widowed Dorothea is free from her unfortunate marriage, and Kane weds Andree. Although the vaguely racist title to this comedy-drama sounds a bit jarring to modern-day ears, it was a common saying back in the 1920s. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Meighan, Jacqueline Logan, (more)
- 1926
This lively outing chronicles the adventures of a daring young buck who defies his father, who grounded the lad for getting bad grades, and swipes his neighbor's car so he can take his girl to the dance. Afterward, he and his buddies begin playing "chicken" and the lad destroys his neighbor's rig. He then takes it to a body shop, unknowing that it is really run by crooks who use the cars for robberies. The innocent youth and his gal end up working as getaway drivers while the crooks rob his father's company. The crooks shoot his father during the heist and then threaten to kill him unless he drives. They force him to go the speed limit so as not to attract undue attention. The ever-defiant youth does just the opposite and peels off towards the police department where all ends happily. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Keckley, Arthur Rankin, (more)
- 1927
Leon DeCosta's novel The Fruits of Divorce was the inspiration for San Francisco Nights. British actor Percy Marmont stars as attorney John Vickery, who gives up his practice and crawls into a booze bottle when his wife walks out on him. Vickery ends up a derelict in the Barbary Coast region of San Francisco, where he is "rescued" by Flo (Mae Busch), a golden-hearted saloon gal whom he'd previously saved from a prison term. Before long, Vickery has become a wealthy and powerful criminal lawyer, catering to the crime bosses of Frisco and throwing ethics to the four winds. Our hero finally reforms after he finds himself in the middle of a deadly gang war fomented by a weasel named "Flash" (George Stone). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Percy Marmont, Mae Busch, (more)
- 1927
In 1927, Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress with her performance in this film, among the most celebrated romances of the late silent era. Chico (Charles Farrell) is a poor sewer worker who has only two dreams in life: to be promoted to sweeping streets and to find a woman who will be his wife. While he prays for guidance and blessings, he continues to work in the filth beneath the Parisian streets. However, one day he meets Diane (Gaynor), a beautiful woman who has been handed many hardships in life and is being chased by the police for a petty crime. Chico helps her hide from the cops, and soon the two have fallen in love. Despite their poverty, they give each other a reason to go on, and they happily marry. But their bliss is shattered when Chico is called to fight in World War I; Diane lives for the day he returns, and when she's told that Chico was killed in battle, her world collapses and she renounces her faith in God. However, while Chico was severely injured on the battlefield and is now blind, he did not die, and now he must find his way back to the woman he loves. In addition to Gaynor's Oscar, Seventh Heaven earned statuettes for director Frank Borzage and screenwriter Benjamin F. Glazer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, (more)
- 1927
Brass Knuckles opens with a prison break, which is quelled by good-natured convict Monte Blue. As a reward, Blue is pardoned, whereupon he honors a promise made behind bars and visits orphanage resident Betty Bronson, the daughter of a condemned prisoner. Assuming that the girl is a mere adolescent, our hero is pleasantly surprised to discover that Bronson is a fully-grown young lady. He isn't so keen on Bronson escaping the orphan asylum and tagging along with him, but what can one do? The plot takes a sinister turn when escaped con William Russell shows up, claiming to be Bronson's late father. Blue gets there just in time to prevent the heroine from being raped, whereupon he realizes that he's been in love with her all along. Monte Blue is well served by the formula-bound screenplay, but Betty Bronson's unique talents are wasted once more. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monte Blue, Betty Bronson, (more)
- 1928
This solid gangster flick from director Lewis Milestone was based on a stage play and earned a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. Louis Wolheim stars as Nick Scarsi, a tough-guy bootlegger with political connections that enrage a local police captain, McQuigg (Thomas Meighan). In order to get rid of his enemy, Nick use his influence to get McQuigg transferred to an out-of-the-way duty post, which only further inflames the determined cop's animosity. In the meantime, Nick's brother Joe (George Stone) is about to get himself in trouble with a beautiful singer, Helen (Marie Prevost), and Nick tries to prevent a match-up by humiliating her at a party. After Joe kills an innocent pedestrian in a car accident, he's arrested under a phony name. To get even with the brothers, Helen alerts the police that Joe is a big-time gangster's brother, putting Nick, who has also killed a police officer, at the mercy of McQuigg and a district attorney (Sam De Grasse). Tragically, stars Wolheim and Prevost would both be dead by the early 1930's, he of cancer and she of starvation and alcoholism. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, (more)
- 1928
Warner Bros. contractees Myrna Loy and Walter Pidgeon were "borrowed" by low-budget Lumas pictures for the 1928 military drama Turn Back the Hours. Based on the venerable stage play by Edward E. Rose, the film stars Pidgeon as a Naval officer who is dishonorably discharged for cowardice. While being transported home to England, Pidgeon is caught in the middle of a shipwreck, from which he is rescued by passenger Loy. Recuperating in the Caribbean home of Loy's wealthy father, our hero returns the favor by rescuing the heroine and her daddy from a gang of bandits. In so doing, Pidgeon regains his courage and self-respect -- not to mention the love of the grateful Loy. Elements of Turn Back the Hours later resurfaced in the 1942 Humphrey Bogart vehicle Across the Pacific. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1928
After achieving stardom as Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Patsy Ruth Miller developed into a first-rate comedienne. In Beautiful but Dumb, she plays a mousy secretary who couldn't attract a man if she removed all her clothes. Instead, she merely removes her glasses and-presto!--she's beating off the guys with a stick. As a further means of landing a man, the hyper-intelligent Miller pretends to be a dimwit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Ruth Miller, Charles Byer, (more)
