Estelle Taylor Movies

On the verge of leaving Fox Studios for MGM, silent romantic star John Gilbert appeared in California Romance. Gilbert plays a soldier-of-fortune, living in pre-statehood California. With the aid of the US cavalry, Gilbert fends off those who would block California's entry into the Union. Along the way, he wins the heart of separatist-sympathizer Estelle Taylor. Director Jerome Storm, who'd previously worked on the popular Charlie Ray vehicles at Ince, wrapped this one up in a fast four reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This adventurous drama of Russia's revolutionary days was based on the stage play by Earl Carroll. Wallace Beery -- at the time one of filmdom's most dependable villains -- has the title of role of Felix Bavu, an illiterate brute who has used the revolution to promote his own power-hungry aims. He encourages the people to pillage the castle of Prince Markoff (Josef Swickard), only because he wants the prince's jewels. Opposing him is Mischka Vleck (Forrest Stanley), an honest revolutionary of less violent disposition. Before the revolution, Vleck worked in the prince's household, and he loves his daughter, Princess Annia (Estelle Taylor). He hides Annia from Bavu, who has decided he wants her for himself. Bavu's efforts to get rid of Vleck are unsuccessful, and Vleck and Annia escape the castle. Bavu follows in pursuit, but the couple manages to escape the strife-ridden country. Now that the revolution has deemed them equals, Annia and Vleck can declare their love for each other. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cimarron was the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture--and, until Dances with Wolves in 1990, the only one. The film begins on April 22, 1889, the opening day of the great Oklahoma Land Rush on the Cherokee Strip. Boisterous Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is cheated out of his land claim by the devious Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor). Instead of becoming a homesteader, Cravat establishes a muckraking newspaper, and with pistols in hand he becomes a widely respected (and widely feared) peacekeeper. He also displays a compassionate streak by coming to the defense of Dixie Lee, who is about to be arrested for prostitution. Cravat's insistence on sticking his nose into everyone's affairs drives a wedge between him and his young wife Sabra (Irene Dunne), but she stands by him--until he deserts her and her children, ever in pursuit of new adventures. Sabra takes over the newspaper herself, and with the moral support of her best friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), she creates a powerful publishing empire. Cimarron makes the mistake of placing most of the action early in the film, so that everything that follows the spectacular opening land-rush sequence may feel anti-climactic. While it's always enjoyable to watch Irene Dunne persevering through the years, it's rather wearing to sit through the overblown performance of Richard Dix, who seems to think that he can't make a point unless it's at the top of his lungs. Cimarron creaks badly when seen today, but it still outclasses the plodding 1960 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Historically important as the first film to carry a Vitaphone sound track (consisting of music and sound effects, but no dialogue) Don Juan is a first-rate production by any standards, and would have been just as good with or without musical accompaniment. John Barrymore plays the legendary lover Don Juan, raised by his cynical father (also played by Barrymore) to "love 'em and leave 'em", and to never trust any woman. All of this changes when he meets the beautiful Adriana Della Varnese (Mary Astor). When it seems that Adriana has betrayed him in favor of a wealthy marriage to the lecherous Count Donati (Montague Love), Don Juan renounces her and returns to his rakish ways. What he doesn't know is that Adriana is a political pawn, who has been forced into an alliance with Donati by the calculating Borgias (Estelle Taylor and Noah Beery Sr.). By the time Don Juan finds out that his true love is still true, he has been tossed in prison for killing Donati in a spectacular duel. He breaks out, rescues Adriana from the Borgias' torture chamber, and escapes with his beloved to the safety of Spain. The plot is, of course, more complicated than that, but so fascinating is John Barrymore's performance that it's difficult to concentrate on anything else. The film's highlights include the out-sized duel between Barrymore and Montagu Love, capped by Barrymore's spectacular leap from the top of a huge staircase, and the torture chamber sequences, wherein Barrymore sneaks past the Borgia guards by assuming the facial characteristics of fiendish torturer Gustav von Seyfertitz--and this without makeup. "In the know" film historians may read a lot more into the Barrymore/Mary Astor love scenes than is readily apparent, forearmed as they are with the knowledge that John and Mary had once been passionate lovers offscreen. Scenarist Bess Meredyth used the Lord Byron poem Don Juan as a mere stepping stone for this imaginative, exquisitely filmed romantic adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hiram Scudder (Tyrone Power, Sr.) is a blind cobbler, whose son Tommy (Tom Douglas) is in love with the pretty but ambitious Peggy Hawthorne (Estelle Taylor). When Peggy insists that Tommy go out into the world and make something of himself before she marries him, Hiram is reluctant to let his son go. Then engineer Alec Campbell (Gladden James) comes to town and Peggy flirts with him to make Tommy jealous. The two men become bitter rivals for Peggy's hand. Alec plans to abscond with his company's payroll, but he and Tommy get in a fight which sets the Scudder home on fire. Only one of them leaves the burning building alive, and it is believed that Alec was killed. Hiram, however, disagrees, claiming that he can recognize anyone by their footsteps, and that eventually Alec will return for the bag of money which he left behind. In spite of the skepticism of the townsfolk, he is right. Alec does return for the money and Hiram chokes him to death. Director Charles J. Brabin allowed two of his principals -- Tyrone Power, Sr., and Tom Douglas -- to overact. Power, who had had a long stage career and performed in some important films, including D.W. Griffith's Dream Street, should have known better. If you're wondering where Power's son, future screen luminary Tyrone Power, was when this film was being made, he was with his mother, Patia -- his parents had been divorced for several years. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

George O'Brien, Fox Studios' general-purpose leading man, heads the cast of Honor Bound. The story opens in the bedroom of hero John Ogletree (George O'Brien), who is awakened from his slumbers by the unexpected arrival of Evelyn (Evelyn Brent), a total stranger. Claiming that she's fleeing from her brutal husband, Evelyn begs John to protect her. On cue, the husband shows up and in the ensuing struggle is accidentally killed. Arrested for manslaughter, John nobly serves his sentence without ever implicating Evelyn in her husband's death. Our hero subsequently joins a prison work gang, assigned to the coal mines owned by one Mr. Mortimer (Tom Santschi) -- who happens to be Evelyn's new husband. Feeling guilty for John's plight, Evelyn arranges for him to have the relatively cushy job of Mortimer's chauffeur. This naturally arouses the suspicions of Mortimer, who promptly assigns John to "grunge" duty in the mines. A fire set by a fellow convict is blamed on John, but this time Evelyn steps forward to exonerate the long-suffering hero, freeing him to marry his true love, pretty nurse Selma Ritchie (Leila Hyams). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This first film version of Ferenc Molnar's poignant fantasy Liliom was supposed to have reunited the director Frank Borzage and stars Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor of Fox's 1927 box-office smash Seventh Heaven. But Gaynor was enmeshed in one of her periodic contract disputes with the studio, so she was replaced by Rose Hobart. Set in the suburbs of Budapest, the film centers on the rocky romantic relationship between studdish carnival barker Liliom (Farrell) and his working-girl sweetheart Julie (Hobart). Fired by jealous carnival owner Mme. Muscat (Estelle Taylor), the swaggering Liliom is financially unprepared for Julie's pregnancy. Needing plenty of money fast, he agrees to participate in a robbery masterminded by "The Buzzard" (Lee Tracy), a two-bit thief. The hold-up goes horribly awry, whereupon Liliom, rather than face arrest, commits suicide. His soul is whisked by a modernistic celestial train to the outer gates of Heaven where he stands trial before the Court of Judgment. After ten years in Purgatory, he is given the opportunity to visit Earth for one day to make amends for past wrongs. He meets for the first time his daughter, Marie (Mildred Van Dorn), and tries to give her a stolen gift. When she backs off from him in terror, Liliom slaps the girl, just as he had her mother. A failure in death as in life, Liliom wearily returns to Purgatory, while Julie, somehow sensing what has happened, comforts her confused daughter. At present considered a "lost" film, Liliom was faithfully remade three years later in France, with Charles Boyer as the title character and Fritz Lang in the director's chair; this version is still extant. The property was reworked again as the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel, itself duly filmed by 20th Century Fox in 1956. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

aka The Count of Monte Cristo Much of John Gilbert's early work as a leading man was done at the Fox Studios. He made nineteen pictures for the company, but only two are still in existence -- this adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, and 1923's Cameo Kirby. As Edmond Danton, and later as the Count of Monte Cristo, Gilbert at times seems too mannered -- a habit that he would have to watch throughout his career. Danton is dragged away from his wedding feast with Countess Mercedes (Estelle Taylor) and falsely imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. He swears to wreak vengeance on those who wronged him, if he ever escapes. Eventually he is able to dig his way out, and with another prisoner, he goes to the island of Monte Cristo, where he finds an immense treasure. He returns home as the Count of Monte Cristo and, as he promised, proceeds to destroy all his enemies. Featured in a supporting role is Renee Adorée, who would star with Gilbert in several of his pictures, most notably The Big Parade. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

While no one could ever call the cast to this melodrama "all star," it certainly features some of the best second-stringers and character actors who were around in 1923. James Watkins (Willard Louis), who owns a department store, is even more wicked than your average womanizer. He has Danny Mulvey (William Scott) sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit just so that he can woo his sister Mame (Estelle Taylor). When he is released, Mulvey finds out that Watkins is also after his own sweetheart, Josie (Mae Busch), who is a clerk at the store. Mulvey, Mrs. Watkins (Claire Dubrey) and Mame all decide to catch Watkins at his game, so Josie agrees to meet him at the store one night. He doesn't realize that the others are hiding and watching him. When he tries to embrace Josie she threatens to kill him, and he turns out the lights. When they come back on he is dead. Josie is arrested for his murder, but Mulvey confesses to save her. The truth is that both of them are innocent. When Mulvey's home catches on fire, Mame is badly burned while saving a little girl (Josephine Adair). Mame doesn't survive her injuries, but before she dies, she confesses that it was she who killed Watkins. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Estelle Taylor was at the peak of her career when she made this drama -- her role in The Ten Commandments a year earlier had put her in the public eye, and her romance with boxing champ Jack Dempsey (along with their subsequent marriage) made her a prominent face in the newspapers and fan magazines. Taylor plays Gloria Dawn, who weds James Malvern (Lawford Davidson), a wealthy philanderer who doesn't let his marriage interfere with his love affairs. The couple honeymoons in the Canadian wilds, and Pierre duCharme (Mahlon Hamilton), the caretaker of Malvern's estate, falls in love with Gloria. He rescues her when her canoe is about to go over the falls. Back in town, Malvern lures Anne Cabot (Mary Thurman), the governor's sister, to his home. As a result of his involvement with Anne, Malvern is murdered, but circumstances point to duCharme as the killer. He is sentenced to death, but Gloria tracks down the real killer, and tells the governor (Edmund Breese) about his sister's involvement in Malvern's life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The heavy-breathing Singapore Mutiny owes a great deal to such previous passion-in-the-tropics efforts as Rain and The Hairy Ape. Estelle Taylor plays a shady Broadwayite who books passage on an oil tanker. It isn't long before the all-male crew degenerates into a brawling mob, maddened as they are by Taylor's dazzling beauty. But the girl has eyes only for stowaway Gardner James, who appears to be a spineless jellyfish until he asserts himself during the climactic mutiny. Director Ralph Ince, as usual, has reserved a plum leading role for himself, in this cast the part of the ship's brutish head stoker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thomas Meighan single-handedly saves Alaska in this James Oliver Curwood tale of the Northwest, which was shot on-location in British Columbia and Alberta. The Holt family wants to stop big business from destroying Alaska's pristine beauty. The elder Holt is killed, and his son, Alan (Meighan), is left to continue the fight. He heads for Washington to stop John Graham (Alphonse Ethier) from carrying on his dirty dealings in Alaska, but the government won't step in to help. On the ship returning home, he meets Mary Standish (Estelle Taylor), who is being watched over by Rossland, Graham's lieutenant (John St. Polis). Just before the ship reaches the port, Mary leaps overboard. Alan searches frantically for her and finds her at the home of one of his men. She reveals that she is married to Graham, who abuses her mercilessly. Graham insists that Alan give up Mary, and when he refuses, goes after them. Graham and Alan come to blows, and one of Graham's henchmen, in an attempt to shoot Alan, kills his boss instead. Because of Graham's death, Mary is conveniently freed up to marry Alan -- and Alaska is saved. Anna May Wong, who would shortly make her mark in Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s Thief of Baghdad, has a bit part as Keok, an Eskimo girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cecil B. DeMille's first screen version of The Ten Commandments is only peripherally a Biblical story. The film's first 45 minutes recaps the struggle between Moses (Theodore Roberts) and Rameses (Charles de Roche) over the liberation of the Hebrews. Only after the Lord has imposed a series of plagues upon Egypt does Rameses relent and permit the Exodus to take place--only to go back on his word a few moments later. The scenes of thousands of Hebrews trekking across the desert, the parting of the Red Sea (an effect accomplished in part by splitting a bowl of gelatin down the middle) and the pre-Commandments revelries before the Golden Calf--complete with a fetchingly undressed Estelle Taylor as Miriam--are produced on a spectacular scale...but this is only the beginning. Just as Moses is invoking the Wrath of God upon the ungrateful Hebrews, the film dissolves to the present day (1923, that is). We are introduced to the MacTavish Family: pious, Bible-thumping Martha McTavish (Edythe Chapman) and her sons, straight-arrow John (Richard Dix) and hedonistic Dan (Rod LaRocque). Both sons love Mary Leigh (Leatrice Joy), but the roguish Dan wins out. While John continues honoring the Ten Commandments, Dan breaks as many as he can get his hands on, especially after falling under the spell of Eurasian adventuress Sally Lung (Nita Naldi). Before the uplifting climax, wherein John and Mary finally get together with (it is implied) the blessings of Heaven, we are treated to a series of disastrous plot turns, including the death of mother McTavish in a collapsing church, Sally Lung's revelation that she has leprosy, and a wild speedboat chase. All that's missing is the kitchen sink. Partially filmed in Technicolor at a then-astronomical cost of $1.2 million (a sum that caused a decade-long rift between Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures), The Ten Commandments grossed several times that amount. DeMille's 1956 Ten Commandments dispenses with the modern story to concentrate on the life of Moses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide