Mabel Taliaferro Movies
Before Mary Pickford was named "America's Sweetheart," actress Mabel Taliaferro was known as "the Sweetheart of American Movies." Born in New York City, she was a small child when she first began appearing on Broadway. In 1911, she appeared in the Selig Studios filmization of Cinderella. Taliaferro continued performing in films through her retirement in 1921. In 1940, she appeared in one final film, My Love Came Back. Taliaferro is the sister of film and stage actress Edith Taliaferro and the cousin of actress Bessie Barriscale. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1940
Olivia DeHavilland stars as a music student whose education is secretly subsidized by the aging owner of a phonograph factory (Charles Winninger). The old man hopes to vicariously live his own musical aspirations through the young woman's success. DeHavilland, however, is just as interested in romance as in music, and with the help of her best friend (Jane Wyman) she sets about to win a handsome husband (Jeffrey Lynn). Featured in the supporting cast are William Orr, the son-in-law of studio head Jack Warner (and later a TV producer) and former silent screen ingenue Mabel Taliaferro. My Love Came Back, a remake of a mid-1930s Austrian film musical, was the first Hollywood assignment for director Curtis Bernhardt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Jeffrey Lynn, (more)
- 1921
Tommy Sandys (Gareth Hughes) is a poor Scottish boy who has an endless imagination. At the age of 16, he comes to the town of Thrums with his sister, Elspeth (Leila Frost). They meet Grizel (May McAvoy), a sweet young girl whose mother is known as the Painted Lady (Mabel Taliaferro). This woman was deceived by a man and is now unhinged; Grizel is actually head of the household, and she takes care of all the chores. Tommy protects Grizel from the taunts of the local boys, and she falls in love with him. Because of his vivid imagination, Tommy eventually goes to London and becomes a very successful novelist. He returns to Thrums where he finds that Grizel still loves him. In a sentimental moment, he proposes to her. Grizel realizes that he doesn't really love her and she turns him down. So Tommy returns to London where he is lionized by Lady Alice Pippinworth (Virginia Valli) and her friends. This whimsical film was based on two of Sir James M. Barrie's novels, Sentimental Tommy and Tommy and Grizel. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gareth Hughes, May McAvoy, (more)
- 1917
Filmed on location at Saranac Lake and the St. Lawrence River in New York State, The Jury of Fate starred Mabel Taliaferro in the dual role of the Labordie twins, Jeanne (a girl) and Jacques (a boy). Jeanne grows up resigned to the fact that Jacques is her father's favorite child. Thus, when Jacques accidentally drowns, Jeanne cuts her hair short and assumes her brother's identity. While this rash act prevents Jeanne's father from suffering a fatal heart attack, it throws the girl's boyfriend Donald (William Sherwood) into despair; after all, if "Jacques" is still alive, then Jeanne would have to be the drowned twin. The hero and heroine are not reunited until the very end of the picture, by which time Jeanne has become the unwitting cause of the deaths of two men -- who, fortunately for the purposes of the plot, are the villains of the piece. The Jury of Fate contained many of the bizarre, surrealistic elements that would soon become de rigueur in the films of director Tod Browning. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mabel Taliaferro, William Sherwood, (more)
- 1916
God's Half Acre stars J. W. Johnston as famed novelist Henry Norman. Seeking "local color" for his latest book, Norman moves into an old folks' home (today it'd be called a "senior center"). Here he falls in love with Blossom (Mabel Taliaferro), one of the staffers. Alas, Norman is already married to the icy Rose (Helen Dahl). Fate takes a hand in matters, however, leaving Norman free to follow his heart. It is fascinating to ponder the fact that many of the elderly bit players in God's Half Acre had been alive at the time of the Alamo and the Civil War. The film was adapted by June Mathis from a story by Shannon Fife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
It's New Year's Eve, but writer Alice Lambert (Mabel Taliaferro), who has had bad luck selling her stories, is not celebrating. She pours her heart out to her three friends, Larry (Richard Barbee), Henry (George Fauncefort), and Tony (William Cahill). Larry, after looking over her rejected manuscripts, suggests that she write something with a new twist. But their little party breaks up over an argument, and Alice is alone when Larry's friend, Tom Leighton (Henry Mortimer) arrives. Alice is in such a deep depression that she is about to commit suicide, but Leighton convinces her to make a deal with him. If she will hold off for a year, he will take out a policy on her life for $50,000. Out of that he will loan her $30,000 (quite a sum in those days), and when she kills herself in a year, he will collect on the policy, thus getting the original $30,000 back, plus $20,000 in interest. She agrees and has a great year, enjoying all sorts of luxuries and falling in love with Leighton. Unfortunately, Leighton is already engaged to someone else (Jeanette Horton), so by the end of the year, Alice is miserable again and ready to kill herself. It turns out that Leighton's fiancée is willing to break off the engagement, but when he rushes to Alice, he discovers that he is too late. Then the picture cuts back to the original New Year's Eve -- the whole film was just the "new twist" that Alice had put in one of her stories. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Eclair's When Rome Ruled was an opulent if not entirely successful imitation of the Italian "epic" films then flooding the American market. Mabel Taliaferro stars as Nydia, an Early Christian girl seemingly singled out for exclusive persecution by the despotic empress of Rome. The empress' ire seems to have been aroused by the fact that her erstwhile sweetheart, handsome centurion Caius (a very young Ernest Truex) is in love with Nydia. The obligatory "throwing the Christians to the lions" scene was a disappointment, especially since the lions seemed bored at the prospect of gnawing the writhing extras. Director George Fitzmaurice would later display considerably more skill at staging action scenes in such films as Son of the Sheik. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
