Lou Tellegen Movies

Writer-director-star Willard Mack had been dead and gone for several years by the time Together We Live managed to attain a theatrical release. A ham-handed cautionary fable against communism, the film concerns a group of Civil War veterans who are appalled by the burgeoning radical movement in America. One of these vets is Hank (Willard Mack), who must suffer dissension in his own home when his two sons begin attending communist meetings. When the subversives take to the streets to spread their doctrine in a loudmouth fashion, Hank rallies his fellow senior citizens to form a united front against the enemies of democracy. Unfortunately, the "good guys" come off as lawless vigilantes, which may or may not have been Mr. Mack's intention. Surprisingly, Together We Live was not revived during the postwar Red Scare, even though it isn't much worse than such "commies under the bed" epics as The Red Menace and Big Jim McLain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Upon becoming a wife and mother, prima ballerina Mme. Lamphier (Virginia Valli) gives up her stellar career. But she can't get the theater out of her blood, and soon our heroine is training for a comeback. Violently opposed to this, Mme. Lamphier's tyrannical husband walks out on her, taking their infant daughter with him. Years and years later, Mme. Lamphier looks on tearfully as her now-grown daughter Dora (Virginia Bradford) literally follows in her mother's footstep. Stage Madness may well represent the best screen work of the highly variable Virginia Valli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of a cycle of late-1920s films dealing with the Russian Revolution, Siberia stars Alma Rubens as idealistic Russian schoolteacher Sonia Vronsky. Enraptured by the communist cause, Sonia runs afoul of the Czarist authorities and is shipped off to Siberia. Here she is protected from harm by her sweetheart, military officer Leonid Petroff (Edmund Lowe). When the revolution finally comes, even loyal Leninists like Sonia are in danger of being trampled by the surging mobs. Leonid rescues the girl from this fate, and together they embark on an exciting escape across the snowy Siberian steppes and tundras. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The celebrated Joseph Conrad novel The Silver Treasure was brought to the screen as Silver Treasure in 1926. The story is set in the mythical South American republic of Costaguana, where local hero Nostromo (George O'Brien) is regarded as the noblest man on earth. Nostromo is looked up to by everyone on the island of Sylaco, but events surrounding an Englishman named Charles Gould (Stewart Rome) put that good reputation to the test. Gould, the owner of a silver mine, asks Nostromo to protect his cargo, on the way to the wharves, from bandits. Bandits do strike, and in the ensuing fight, a woman is shot. The woman is the innkeeper's wife, and on her deathbed, she extracts a promise from Nostromo that he will marry her daughter Linda (Helene D'Algy). Nostromo agrees, even though he loves her cousin Giselle (Joan Renee). But first, Nostromo has to finish his task of seeing the silver ingots to safety. He puts the ingots on a sailboat, but he is once again attacked by bandits, this time on the sea. Nostromo's craft is wrecked, but he manages to squirrel away the silver amongst some rocks. Not wanting to marry Linda, and tempted by the thought of riches, he considers running away with Giselle and the ingots. Giselle, however, will have none of this scheme, and Nostromo is horrified at himself for even thinking of it. He confesses to Gould, who commends his honesty. After returning the silver, he discovers that Linda's mother has relinquished her death-bed request, and Nostromo is free to marry Giselle. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Long thought lost, the silent Three Bad Men is an vital ingredient in the cinematic canon of director John Ford. Often described as a film version of Peter B. Kyne's Three Godfathers (which Ford would direct in 1948), Three Bad Men is actually based on Over the Border, a novel by Herman Whitaker. The plot, which spans several years, is set in motion when three bandits appoint themselves protectors of the heroine, whose settler father is killed early in the proceedings. A subplot involves bandit Tom Santschi's efforts to wreak vengeance on the man who seduced and abandoned his sister. The film was originally supposed to star George O'Brien, Tom Mix and Buck Jones as the title characters, but since the plot required the Three Bad Men to be killed off long before the fadeout, and since all three proposed stars had large and loyal kiddie followings, the roles were recast, with character actors Santschi, Frank Campeau and J. Farrell McDonald. O'Brien was retained, albeit relegated to a less colorful heroic role. Three Bad Men should be seen in its original release form; most commercial prints are chopped up and woefully washed out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having starred in several William Steiner Production melodramas, former serial ace Charles Hutchison went behind the camera to produce this low-budget crime drama. Hutchison cast his wife, Edith Thornton, in the starring role as Norma Keith, a nice little secretary who falls for handsome but ruthless lawyer Bruce Elliot (Lou Tellegen). The scoundrel notices neither her nor her many sacrifices and instead marries Rita Thane, a mercenary blond vamp (Betty Francisco). When his new wife is accidentally killed, Bruce is convicted on circumstantial evidence of murdering her. Her love for Bruce undiminished, Norma goes in search of the truth, finding evidence to clear the lawyer in a waterfront dive, winning his true affection along the way. Leading man Lou Tellegen was the ex-husband of opera diva Geraldine Farrar, and his career was rather dramatically on the wane by 1925. Tellegen was always more an adornment than an actor, and the title of his autobiography, Women Have Been Kind, may have explained his rise to stardom. He committed suicide in 1934. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A minor mystery melodrama, producer Philip Goldstone's creaky The Verdict employed the oldest cliché of them all. Yes, the butler did indeed do it! Employers of a fashion emporium, Carol (Louise Lorraine), a sales girl, and Jimmy (William Collier Jr.), the young bookkeeper, find their innocent romance rudely interrupted by the owner's callous son, Victor Ronsard (Lou Tellegen), who wants Carol to himself. After attempting to convince Carol that Jimmy is cooking the books, Ronsard is found murdered. Arrested, tried, and sentenced to the chair, Jimmy is granted a last minute reprieve when Carol, to save her lover, confesses to the murder. Happily, the Ronsard butler (Paul Weigel) comes forward at that moment to plead guilty. The leading man of one diva (Sarah Bernhardt) and married to another (Geraldine Farrar), Dutch-born Lou Tellegen's notoriety as a ladykiller remained firm by 1925 but his professional career was in shambles. Tellegen did not handle the reality of aging very well, a fact that led to an especially messy suicide in 1934. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Broadway matinee idol (and notorious off-screen lothario) Lou Tellegan stars as "The Villain" (that's his name in the credits!) in With This Ring. The villain is brother of The Hero, played by Donald Keith. Shipwrecked on a desert island with The Girl (Alyce Mills), The Hero is separated from her, never knowing that she is carrying his child. Returning to the States, The Girl, worried that The Hero will never return, accepts the offer of marriage made by The Villain so that her baby will at least have "a name." The Villain proves to be a brute, whereupon The Lawyer (Niles Welch) offers his hand in marriage, which The Girl accepts. At this juncture, The Hero shows up, beats The Villain to a bloody pulp, and makes an "honest woman" of The Girl by marrying her, with The Lawyer generously handling the nuptial arrangements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her pre-Paramount days, Clara Bow was shoved into some pretty dismal pictures. This aimless drama was one of the worst. Marie (Bow) and Armand (Donald Keith) are two lovers who belong to a band of Apaches (members of the Parisian underworld, not the Native Americans). When they believe that wealthy scientist Pierre Marcel (Lou Tellegen) is away from his home, they go with another associate, Knifer (Jean deBriac), to burglarize it. But Marcel is home, and Armand stops Knifer from killing him. The grateful man protects Armand when the police show up. Knifer is killed and Marie escapes. Armand, who has been wounded, is nursed back to health by Marcel, and he goes on to lead an honest life. Marie sees Armand kissing another girl and she becomes bent on revenge. Armand goes away on business, and with the financial aid of the Apache leader (Otto Marieson), Marie poses as a convent-bred girl. She wins Marcel's love and marries him, only telling him of her plot after the ceremony is completed. Armand returns from London and she rushes to him. The Apaches, believing that they are being double-crossed, take a shot at her. Although she is wounded, she recovers. Marcel goes to America and arranges a divorce so that the two lovers can be together. Luckily for Bow, The Plastic Age would be released just a few months later, effectively erasing the memory of poor films like this one. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Who else would have directed a film with a title of such thundering moralistic drama but film pioneer J. Stuart Blackton? Americans in the 1920s were horrified at the growing divorce statistics, so the failure of marriage became a popular and sensational subject for motion pictures. This marriage drama was based on a novel by Basil King. When Harry Vassali (Leslie Austen) gets engaged to Petrina Faneuil (Pauline Frederick), Dick Lechmere (Lou Tellegen) warns him that his own marriage to an opera singer failed because of her ambition. The couple marries anyway, but their differences of opinion split apart their union. Although Petrina never stops loving her former husband, pride keeps them apart, and she marries Lechmere. Lechmere's ex-wife returns, her voice gone, and Lechmere gets back together with her. When she dies, he commits suicide. In her suffering, Petrina turns to the only man she could ever trust -- Vassali -- and they are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

As the year anniversary of her marriage nears, Betty Jordan (Corinne Griffith) realizes that her husband, Perry (Milton Sills), has grown indifferent to her. After numerous unsuccessful tries to put a spark back in their relationship, she decides to renew her friendship with Martin Prayle, a former suitor (Lou Tellegen). Then Betty's mother, Dorothy Van Clark (Kathlyn Williams), who has grown tired of the womanizing of her husband, Tom (perennial onscreen womanizer Phillips Smalley), takes up with an old admirer herself, Franklin Dexter (Henry Walthall). Dorothy and Dexter run off together, but she falls ill at the hotel. Betty doesn't want to wind up in the same position as her mother, and she decides to ask Jordan for a divorce. Jordan is seriously hurt when he saves a child from being hit by a car. He believes he won't recover so he sends word to Betty that she can have her freedom. Betty, however, has thought better of the idea and instead sends Prayle over to tell him good-bye. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This picture, based on the play by Paul Potter, has the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny as its backdrop. Although Ralph Seton (Lou Tellegen), a major in the English army, has served honorably, now in Cawnpore he has sunk into a life of decadence. Sir Allan Strathallan (Ernest Joy) comes down to bring Seton the Victoria Cross, and is bringing his daughter Joan (Cleo Ridgley) -Seton's sweetheart -- with him. Because of their arrival, Seton resolves to straighten out, but a native rebel, Azimoolah (Sessue Hayakawa) uses Princess Adala (Mabel Van Buren) to ruin Seton's good intentions. Joan and her father catch Seton after a revel at the Palace and they see he's not the hero they believes him to be. But then Joan is captured by Azimoolah's men and Princess Adala offers to help Seton out. After attempting to escape, both Joan and Seton are sentenced to be put to death, but the executioner is overpowered. Strathallan arrives and recognizes that Seton has redeemed himself and earned both the Cross and his daughter. This picture bears no relation to the 1915 film of the same name. (Hal Erikson's review belongs on a different page than the one it is on now -- the above review matches the credits on the current page where Hal's review now sits.) ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide