Gustav von Seyffertitz Movies

This first version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's frequently filmed children's classic A Little Princess starred 23-year-old Mary Pickford as the 10-year-old title character. When her wealthy father marches off to war, little Sarah (Pickford) is left in a girl's boarding school. News arrives that Sarah's daddy is killed and that her allowance has been cut off, whereupon the school's cruel and spiteful headmistress forces the diminutive heroine to go to work as a servant. All sorts of humiliations and disappointments are heaped upon the plucky girl before the inevitable happy ending. The film's high point is a spirited retelling of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with Sarah acting as both narrator and central character. The popularity of The Little Princess encouraged Pickford to star in another adaptation of a Burnett novel, and the result was the 1921 box-office bonanza Little Lord Fauntleroy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "heroine" of The Countess Charming was actually the hero, played by legendary female impersonator Julian Eltinge. The star plays a wealthy bachelor who manages to get himself booted from society when he insults one of the leaders of the "400." Seeking revenge against the insultee, who happens to be a "charity crook," Eltinge disguises himself as a beautiful countess and worms his way into the villain's confidence. Exerting his "feminine wiles," the bogus countess manages to expose the social arbiter as a thief and a reprobate. So convincing was Julian Eltinge's female masquerade that he frequently issued publicity photos of himself smoking cigars and palling around with the likes of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Tom Mix, just in case anyone might assume that he enjoyed being a "girl." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Whispering Chorus was arguably the closest Cecil B. DeMille ever came to making an "art" picture. Stalwart DeMille supporting player Raymond Hatton gave the performance of his career as embezzling bank clerk John Trimble. Hoping to escape punishment for his crimes, Trimble arranges for an anonymous, mutilated corpse to be identified as his own then starts life over again with a new identity. Several years later, however, Trimble is caught in a web of circumstantial evidence, and ends up being put on trial for his own murder! Prepared to reveal his true identity, Trimble is begged not to do so by his dying mother (Edythe Chapman), since such a revelation would bring disgrace upon Trimble's "widow" Jane (Kathryn Williams), who has since become the wife of Governor George Cogswell (Elliot Dexter) and is currently pregnant with her second husband's baby. Not wishing to see his wife branded a bigamist and her unborn child labelled a bastard, Trimble maintains his silence and willingly goes to the gallows. Some of the special-effects work in The Whispering Chorus bordered on the miraculous, especially the sequence in which Trimble is "surrounded" by the voices of his Thoughts, but what lingers longest in the memory are the performances by Raymond Hatton and Edythe Chapman. Unfortunately, The Whispering Chorus was a resounding failure at the box office, convincing director DeMille to ever afterward forsake "Art" in favor of gaudy showmanship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of Cecil B. DeMille's series of sophisticated romantic comedy-dramas, Old Wives for New was adapted from a novel by David Graham. Elliot Dexter stars as David Murdock, who after several years of marriage has grown as tired of his wife Sophy as she has of him. Casting about for new female companionship, David falls for lovely Juliet Raeburn (Florence Vidor). Upon divorcing Sophy, David is poised to marry Juliet, when she is innocently mixed up in a sensational murder case. Hoping to avoid scandal, David weds another woman named Viola (Marcia Manon), who in turn walks out on David in favor of his much-younger personal secretary. Suitably chastened, David begs Juliet to take him back, which she does. To emphasize the fact that David's first wife has let herself go to seed, director DeMille cunningly (and chauvinistically) cast pert and pretty Wanda Hawley as Sophy "before marriage," and plain and dumpy Sylvia Ashton) as Sophy "after." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frenchman Henri Durand (Gustav von Seyffertits) is extremely jealous of his pretty wife (Alice Joyce). She is perfectly faithful, but he hounds her endlessly until it drives her to suicide. A decade later, their daughter (Alice Joyce) has grown into a lovely young girl, and she and her father run across Tom Franklin (Percy Marmont), the American who Durand believes was involved with his wife. He swears revenge and has his daughter entice Franklin so he can destroy him. But instead, they fall in love. It turns out that Franklin was never involved with Mrs. Durand after all, and the couple are free to pursue their romance. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

It's obvious that this picture's screenwriters, Carey Wilson and Edmund Goulding, were referencing D.W. Griffith's Intolerance -- it begins in ancient Rome before taking its theme to modern-day (meaning 1920) New York. The Rome depicted here is at its most decadent and sensational, with Christians being sacrificed and gladiators fighting in front of a bloodthirsty crowd. And New York is almost as bloodthirsty. To destroy the happiness of a woman who jilted him years ago, a broker (Anders Randolph) kidnaps the woman's daughter Laura (Ray Dean). Her nouveau riche father, John Grimm (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) arrives from Nebraska to search for her. More complications arise when Laura and the broker's son Gordon (Edmond Lowe) fall in love. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Alice Calhoun plays a surprisingly liberated young lady (for 1921) in this comedy-drama. Peggy Conrow (Calhoun) graduates from technical school with a degree in civil engineering (keep in mind that women just didn't do that in those days). Her father, Maxfield (Charles Mackay), is the most influential citizen of the sleepy rural town where he resides and he wants to inspire some civic pride. He's called away to Washington so the task falls on Peggy. Peggy's ideas, however, are far too innovative for the old-fashioned, penny-pinching townsfolk. As a result she decides to use her own property to establish a new town. She meets her match in Dr. David Ransome (Edward Langford), who opposes her move because he believes it is better to build up than to tear down. Since Dr. Ransome is also young and good-looking, it's easy to figure out how the film ends. Peggy accomplishes her goals, and wins the good doctor, on her own terms. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Film critics (at least those who weren't employed by the Hearst Corporation) frequently complained about the amount of money newspaper magnate and motion picture producer William Randolph Hearst spent on the pictures starring his companion Marion Davies. When it came to this historical adventure, they certainly had fodder to lambaste the film; it cost 1.5 million dollars, a real fortune in 1922 cash. But in spite of the over-inflated budget, critics had to admit that even at a lengthy 12 reels, this was solid entertainment -- and Davies was good in it. The picture was based on the novel by Charles Major, and what it lacked in historical accuracy it certainly made up for in the sumptuous Joseph Urban sets. Mary Tudor (Davies), the younger sister of King Henry VIII (Lyn Harding), falls in love with commoner Charles Brandon (Forrest Stanley). There are other plans for Mary, however; she is supposed to make a politically strategic marriage to the elderly King Louis XII of France (William Norris). Brandon is framed for murder, but Mary, disguised as a boy, helps him to escape. Henry tracks down his sister and her lover at a Bristol Inn, and Mary agrees to wed the French king if Brandon's life is spared. After Brandon is exiled, Mary goes ahead with the wedding, but King Louis, in his attempt to prove he is lively enough for such a pretty young bride, drops dead. His nephew and heir to the throne, Francis (William Powell, in his first really important film role), wants to wed Mary, but Brandon comes to the rescue. When Henry discovers that his sister and Brandon have married, he remarks, "I should have consented in the first place, and saved us all this trouble." The Hearst machine used the film's great expense as a promotional device, and this won the criticism of one newspaper writer, who felt that Davies' talent stood on her own. Instead of being incensed, Hearst was pleased that Davies was so passionately supported, and he hired the reporter, Louella Parsons. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Writer Jack Boyle created a timely adventure for the character of Boston Blackie Dawson in this mystery (at least it was timely in 1922) -- here the reformed crook gets tangled up in the affairs of a Grand Duchess who has escaped from Soviet Russia with some of the Romanoff jewels. A blind beggar gives Blackie (Lionel Barrymore) the jewels, which are wanted by the United States government. He knows that he is also being followed by a gang of terrorists who want to get their hands on the gems. Until he can get them to their rightful owner, he places the jewels in a safe that's wired with electricity. Petrus (Louis Wolheim) and his associate trace the booty to Blackie's home and a vicious fight breaks out. But when Petrus tries to open the safe, he is electrocuted. The crooks are rounded up and Blackie returns the valuables to Grand Duchess Tatiana (Seena Owen). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This predictable Northwest melodrama was one of the first made by William Randolph Hearst's film company, Cosmopolitan, for the Goldwyn studios. It was adapted from a story that appeared in Hearst's International Magazine and much of it was shot on-location in the Columbia Valley and around Quebec City. Lionel Barrymore, who had appeared in a prior Hearst film, Enemies of Women, stars for the producer again as pilot Conrad Dean, who is given the task of flying Miriam Helston (Seena Owen) up to the gold country to find her brother, Dick (Walter Miller). Dick, who is reopening his father's rich mines, has been kidnapped by a gang of outlaws headed by the vicious Laird (Louis Wolheim). Dean's plane is forced to land in the middle of nowhere and when he goes for help he becomes lost in a blizzard. Miriam goes looking for him and becomes snowblind (the original title of the picture was actually "Snowblind"). In this condition, she is found by Laird, who forces her to agree to marry him. While they are out searching for a priest, Dean goes looking for them in his airplane. He shows up in time to save Miriam from what is surely a fate worse than death. Dean and Miriam return to New York, where they are happily united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The talented and beautiful Marion Davies is practically lost under the opulence of this expensive, overdone historical romance. Her producer (and lover), newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was attempting to recreate the success of one of Davies' prior epic vehicles, When Knighthood Was in Flower. Once again he based the picture on a novel by Charles Major and brought in set designer Joseph Urban to work his magic. But this Major story wasn't as good as Knighthood and Urban did his work too well; the sets are both gorgeous and overwhelming. Ultimately, the production cost too much for Hearst to make a profit, even though the film performed well at the box office. The backdrop is fifteenth century France, and Charles, Duke of Burgundy (Lyn Harding) has promised his daughter, Princess Mary (Davies), that she can marry the man she loves, Prince Maximilian of Styria (Ralph Graves). But when the Swiss threaten war, the duke is compelled to take back his word and he arranges for Mary to wed the half-witted dauphin (Johnny Dooley) of France's King Louis XI (Holbrook Blinn). Mary, however, runs away and disguises herself as Yolanda, a commoner. At a silk fair she meets and falls in love with a strange knight, only to discover that it's Maximilian in disguise. Although she is found and turned over to be married to the dauphin, Maximilian rescues her. When the Duke of Burgundy is killed, Mary shows up with Maximilian by her side to rule over her people. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This drama of international crime and intrigue was based on the famous series of novels by Louis Joseph Vance. Jack Holt plays gentleman crook Michael Lanyard, also known as the Lone Wolf. The United States government has developed a ray that can stop an airplane engine in midair, but the plans, hidden in a deck of cards, are stolen. A ring of crooks known as the Pack find out that Eckstrom (Alphonse Ethier) has the plans and goes after them. One of the gang, Lucy Shannon (Dorothy Dalton), meets Lanyard and suspects that he is the Lone Wolf. Lanyard has gone to the American Embassy and offered to get the plans back, but only if the United States will allow him to live, unmolested, in America. One of the Pack gets the plans from Eckstrom, but Lanyard knocks him unconscious and steals them. He removes them from the deck of cards and secrets them away in a cigarette. Lucy has decided to help Lanyard and they plan to escape together, but the Pack finds them together, and Lucy pretends she is still on their side by holding Lanyard at bay with a revolver. Lanyard lays the deck of cards on the table and the gang takes them. Eckstrom, however, knows better and demands the cigarette. He takes off in a plane and Lanyard and Lucy pursue him for a dramatic fight in the air. Only after they get the plans and return to earth does Lanyard find out that Lucy is actually a member of the Secret Service. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The Goose Woman was inspired by the notorious Hall-Mills murder case, wherein a woman known as the "Pig Woman" was wheeled into court on her sickbed to provide damning testimony. Louise Dresser plays Marie du Nard, a celebrated opera diva who loses her voice and her reputation after giving birth to an illegitimate son. Reverting to her given name of Mary Holmes, she returns to her hometown, living in a squalid shack and raising geese. Years later, a headline-making murder case is played out in her town. Hoping to capture her past celebrity, Mary claims to be a witness to the murder. Her dreams of glory abruptly fade when she discovers that her grown son Gerald (Jack Pickford) is implicated in the crime. An excellent film by any standards, The Goose Woman served to solidify the reputation of director Clarence Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide