Jameson Thomas Movies

The tale of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves was made into this silent picture by British producer Graham Wilson. Betty Blythe stars as the beautiful Zahrat, who is kidnapped by Abou Hassan (Herbert Langley) on the day she is to wed her lover, Omar (Jameson Thomas). Hassan sells her to Kasim Baba (Randle Ayrton), a miser and moneylender of Baghdad. But then, disguised as Chinese Prince Chu Chin Chow, he kidnaps her once again, promising her freedom if she reveals the whereabouts of some valuable jewels. He goes back on his promise, and Kasim Baba's brother Ali Baba (Judd Green) comes in search of the jewels, too. Through Ali Baba, Zahrat is freed and at a big feast. She exposes the 40 thieves hidden in 40 jugs by Hassan. He is reviled by the crowd and Zahrat finally returns to Omar. This story was remade as a talkie in 1934. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The Daughter of Love is winsome Violet Hopson. The film's euphemistic title alludes to the legitimacy of Hopson's birth, or lack of same. Wealthy John Stuart falls in love with Hopson, but Stuart's father refuses to sanction his son's marriage to a...you know what. All ends happily when it turns out that the girl is actually the daughter of highly respected physician Jameson Thomas. Isn't it amazing what could shock British folks way back in 1925? Daughter of Love was based on a novel by E. J. Key. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Everyone acts up a storm in this British melodrama. The scene is New Guinea, where trader Martin South (Eric Bransby Williams) is betrayed by his partner Mordyke (Jameson Thomas) and left for dead in the jungle. Escaping marauding wildlife and hostile natives, South finally manages to make his way back to civilization. He arrives just in time to prevent his sweetheart Eleanor (Lillian Douglas) from marrying the treacherous Mordyke. Frank Hurley was producer, director and writer of this heavy-breathing actioner, so he had only himself to blame for the tepid critical response. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roses of Picardy was based on Spanish Farm and Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four, a novel by R. H. Mottram. The story is set during WWI, when Lt. Skene (John Stuart) of the British army falls in love with Flemish lass Madeleine Vanderlynden (Lillian Hall-Davis). Trouble is, French soldier Georges d'Archeville (Jameson Thomas) is also enamored of the girl -- and Georges has the advantage of being from a wealthy, aristocratic family. Madeleine is unable to decide between the two men, but the fortunes of war determine the story's outcome. Despite the input of two top directors, Roses of Picardy was surprisingly pedestrian and plodding -- especially at an attenuated length of nine reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the later Federico Fellini picture of the same name, The White Sheik was adapted from King's Mate, a novel by author-explorer Rosita Forbes. Wandering into the Arabian foothills, English girl Rosemary Tregarthen (Lillian Hall-Davis) is kidnapped by the Riffs. She is brought before the tribal leader, the mysterious White Sheik (Jameson Thomas). Though he means her no harm, the Sheik cannot permit Rosemary to leave, lest she reveal the Riffs' hiding place. The villain of the piece, the Sheik's rival Menhebbe (Clifford McLaglen), offers to help her escape -- but at the price of her virtue. Rescued from Menhebbe's grimy clutches by the White Sheik, Rosemary instantly falls in love with her savior, and later proves her devotion by saving his life. This bit of Valentinoesque exotica was the first-ever production from British International Pictures (BIP) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a Russian dancer marries a shell-shocked WW I veteran. She has a baby, but it belongs to the fellow's best friend. The story was adapted from a popular 1920s novel by Countess Barcynska. The film was originally made as a silent. Later a soundtrack was added. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Just before making his talkie directorial debut with Atlantic, director E.A. DuPont dashed off the silent "backstage" drama Piccadilly. By the time the film was released in 1929, talking pictures had taken a firm hold of the British film industry, obliging DuPont to reshoot much of the picture with dialogue. American screen favorites Anna May Wong and Gilda Gray (the girl who popularized the "shimmy dance") head the cast, the former as Shosho, a dishwasher in the London nightclub where the latter, cast as dancer Mabel Greenfield, performs nightly. Jealous of Mabel's dancing partner Victor Smiles (Cyril Ritchard), club owner Wilmot (Jameson Thomas) fires Victor, whereupon business drops off dramatically. In desperation, Wilmot takes Shosho out of the kitchen and puts her on stage, where she scores a big success. Feeling threatened by Shosho, Mabel heads to her rival's apartment with blood in her eye. A shot rings out, Shosho falls dead, and Mabel is accused of murder. But during the trial, it turns out that Shosho was done in by her Chinese sweetheart Jim (Kim Ho Chang). In his first feature film appearance, Charles Laughton performs an outrageous bit as a rowdy night club patron; also seen in a minuscule role is young Ray Milland. The talkie version of Piccadilly wasn't released in the U.S. until 1932. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Pemberton Billing, High Treason is set in The Future -- 1940, to be exact. The Federated Countries of Europe seem poised on the brink of another war, this one sparked by a border dispute between Canada and the United States (!) Dr. Seymour (Humberstone Wright), head of the European Peace League, tries to avert the war, while Seymour's daughter Evelyn (Benita Hume) carries on a romance with Michael Deane (Jameson Thomas), the militaristic head of the Air Force. In the film's incredible denouement, Dr. Seymour is forced to resort to assassination to keep the peace (in other words, "support the anti-war movement or I'll kill you.") If one could find a print of High Treason today, one might be amused by the film's futuristic prognostications, including electric signboards in place of newspapers, private helicopters which can land on residential rooftops with impunity, two-way televisions in every home, and miniskirts on every woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The marriage between Jim and Esther Hamilton (Owen Moore and Dorothy Christy) spirals downhill rapidly when Esther purchases a sable coat for herself. Hoping to live up to her expensive accessory, Esther begins imagining herself a glamorpuss and soon is keeping company with caddish Morrell (Jameson Thomas). Jim brings his wife's galavanting to an abrupt end by committing suicide. All of this is related by the sadder-but-wiser Esther as an object lesson for young Alice Kendall (June Collyer), who out of love for her sweetheart Fred Garlan (Lloyd Hughes) returns the fur coat that she's bought on impulse. The only thing "extravagant" about this pinchpenny Tiffany Studios production is its title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In emulation of such "all-talking, all-singing, all-star" Hollywood extravaganzas as The Show of Shows and Hollywood Revue of 1929, Britain's Elstree Studios served up its own big-budget revue, Elstree Calling, in early 1930. This plotless melange of musical numbers and "Heavens My Husband!" comedy sketches rises or falls on the merits of the individual stars. Among the Elstree contractees taking part herein are Will Fyffe, Tommy Handley, Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, and Lily Morris, together with such British International Pictures "regulars" as Anna May Wong and Gordon Harker. The tenor of the production can be measured by the scene in which the exotically beautiful Ms. Wong participates in a Keystone-style pie-throwing sequence. According to the film's credits, Alfred Hitchcock was responsible for "sketches and other interpolated items," reportedly taking over direction of the film when Adrian Brunuel was fired; other sources adamantly deny that Hitchcock had anything at all to do with the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a recently abandoned wife consoles herself by heading for Reno and falling in love. Her new lover is married to a jealous woman who shoots him when she learns of the affair, leaving the sadder-but-wiser other woman to return to her home to try to make up with her own wayward spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Seldom was there a less appropriately named film company than Artclass Pictures, a firm which specialized in the lowest of low-budget productions. In Artclass's Convicted, silent-film favorite Aileen Pringle plays Barbara Norvelle, a stage actress who is being ardently pursued all over an ocean liner by her "sugar daddy" John Blair (Richard Tucker). Not long after being turned down for the umpteenth time by Barbara, Blair is found murdered, and the thousands of dollars that he has absconded with from his company appears to have been stolen. Not surprisingly, Barbara is accused of the murder, but a sharp-eyed reporter (Jameson Thomas) suspects that someone else was responsible. He's right, but it takes him the rest of the picture (all 55 minutes' worth) to prove it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide