William Walling

Buck Jones took a break from his cowboy duties to play a speedway driver in this highly implausible but fast-paced action melodrama from Columbia Pictures. Jones plays Bill Toomey, a mechanic promising a fatally injured driver (Pat O'Malley) to care for his crippled son Buddy (Mickey Rooney). Through his girlfriend, automobile manufacturing heiress Peggy Preston (Loretta Sayers, Bill becomes a driver himself and is the favorite to win a $5000 purse, enough money to pay for an operation that will enable Buddy to walk. But the race is sabotaged by Tom Carlis (Wallace MacDonald), Old Man Preston's (William Walling) crooked business manager, who is secretly working for the competition. Bill is framed for the accident but nevertheless manages to secure a job as a policeman. In that capacity, he is able to track down the real culprits behind the fix, win the Big Race and help restore Buddy to perfect health. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

J.P. McGowan directed this weak Western featuring former silent cowboy Bob Custer as Sgt. Ned Stone, a Canadian Mountie searching for the villain that killed his partner. At first, Stone suspects Tom (Robert "Buddy" Shaw), the brother of Ann (Blanche Mehaffey), who runs the trading post. The latter begs the real murderers, Leclerc (George Regas) and Tim McGuire (Eddie Dunn), to clear her brother's name, but they are mostly inclined to get rid of both brother and sister. In the end, Stone is aided by a mystery man, who turns out to be the chief inspector himself (William Walling) and the true villains are brought to justice. A grateful Ann then accepts Stone's proposal of marriage. A G.A. Durlam production, Riders of the North was released by low-budget company Syndicate Pictures Corp. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cowboy hero Tom Tyler dispenses Two-Fisted Justice in this energetic western. At the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln assigns Kentucky Carson (Tyler) to guard an unprotected frontier outpost. In the company of his youthful sidekick (Bobby Nelson), Carson assumes his duties, which turn out to include saving a wagon train and rounding up a vicious band of stagecoach robbers. Former 2-reel comedy star Kit Guard enjoys one of his biggest talkie roles as a "Judge Roy Bean" type, while Barbara Weeks is the obligatory female lead. Two-Fisted Justice was directed by G. A. Durlam, production supervisor of the Tom Tyler unit at Monogram. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The life of merchant seamen is realistically portrayed in this adventure.
The story centers around two sailors who find their friendship tested when both have the opportunity to become captain. Their relationship is further strained when they fall for the same female. They get a chance to prove their seamanship when their ship is assaulted by a terrible storm. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Herman Melville's classic novel gets a major revision in this screen adaptation of his seafaring novel - Hollywood's first talkie adaptation of the work. (A silent version, The Sea Beast, had been produced four years earlier). Captain Ahab Ceely (John Barrymore), a crusty and hard-drinking sailor, falls in love with Faith Mapple (Joan Bennett), the daughter of a man of the cloth. Ahab has a rival for Faith's affections in Derek (Lloyd Hughes), his wicked brother, but as Ahab sets sail, Faith pledges to him that she'll remain loyal to him while he's out to sea. While hunting for whales, Ahab is thrown overboard, and he loses his leg to a mammoth creature known to seamen as Moby Dick. When Ahab returns, he tells Faith that he won't hold her to her pledge to marry him before showing her the wooden peg that has replaced his limb. Faith shrieks in horror, and Ahab is crestfallen to realize that his romance is over. Returning to the sea, Ahab spends the next seven years searching for the great white whale Moby Dick, obsessed with getting revenge on the creature that took his leg and ruined his life. In addition to rewriting the famous first lines of the novel, in this version of Moby Dick, Ishmael doesn't even appear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A love triangle between two twin brothers and a lovely young woman provides the framework for this drama (it was the first talkie to feature an actor in a dual role). One of the brothers is a policeman; the other belongs to a band of robbers working the garment district. The cop has orders to shoot the robbers on sight. He warns his evil twin to stay away from the garment district. The twin tells him to stay out of there too. They ignore each other's advice. More trouble ensues when the bad brother abducts the other, steals his uniform, and then gets himself killed. He does this to save his other brother who gets the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

On the verge of receivership in 1926, Warner Bros. studio decides to risk its future by investing in the Vitaphone sound system. Warners' first Vitaphone release, Don Juan, was a silent film accompanied by music and sound effects. The studio took the Vitaphone process one step farther in its 1927 adaptation of the Samson Raphaelson Broadway hit The Jazz Singer, incorporating vocal musical numbers in what was essentially a non-talking film. Al Jolson stars as Jakie Rabinowitz, the son of Jewish cantor Warner Oland. Turning his back on family tradition, Jakie transforms himself into cabaret-entertainer Jack Robin. When Jack comes home to visit his parents, he is warmly greeted by his mother (Eugenie Besserer), but is cold-shouldered by his father, who feels that Jack is a traitor to his heritage by singing jazz music. Several subsequent opportunities for a reconciliation are muffed by the stubborn Jack and his equally stubborn father. On the eve of his biggest show-business triumph, Jack receives word that his father is dying. Out of respect, Jack foregoes his opening night to attend Atonement services at the temple and sing the Kol Nidre in his father's place. Through a superimposed image, we are assured that the spirit of Jack's father has at long last forgiven his son. Only twenty minutes or so of Jazz Singer is in any way a "talkie;" all of the Vitaphone sequences are built around Jolson's musical numbers. What thrilled the opening night crowds attending Jazz Singer were not so much the songs themselves but Jolson's adlibbed comments, notably in the scene where he sings "Blue Skies" to his mother. Previous short-subject experiments with sound had failed because the on-screen talent had come off stilted and unnatural; but when Jolson began chattering away in a naturalistic, conversational fashion, the delighted audiences suddenly realized that talking pictures did indeed have the capacity to entertain. Despite its many shortcomings (the storyline goes beyond mawkish, while Jolson's acting in the silent scenes is downright amateurish), The Jazz Singer was a box-office success the like of which no one had previously witnessed. The film did turn-away business for months, propelling Warner Bros. from a shoestring operation into Hollywood's leading film factory. Proof that The Jazz Singer is best viewed within its historical context is provided by the 1953 and 1980 remakes, both interminable wallows in sentimental goo. Worse still, neither one of those films had Al Jolson--who, in spite of his inadequacies as an actor, was inarguably the greatest musical entertainer of his era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Silent screen Western star Tom Mix portrays a detective investigating a series of train robberies in this fast-paced, stunt-driven oater filmed on locations at Colorado's Royal Gorge. Mix poses as a masked outlaw in order to infiltrate the outlaw gang behind the robberies, only to discover that their leader is the secretary (Carl Miller) to the railroad president (William Walling). Along the way, the hero falls in love with the president's daughter (Dorothy Dwan). Considered one of Mix's very best efforts, this well-staged and photographed Western also benefitted from good performances by the smooth Carl Miller and comedy sidekick Harry Grippe. According to the star himself, John Wayne worked as a prop boy on this film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Former Ziegfeld Follies girl Kathryn Perry is the star of the romantic comedy Woman Power. Ralph Graves portrays a wealthy wimp who is led astray by selfish cabaret dancer Margaret Livingston. Humiliated in public by Livingston's bullying boy friend Lou Tellegen, Graves rents a training camp to build up his physique. Perry, daughter of the camp's supervisor, is obviously smitten by Graves but is too shy to tell him so. A couple of Graves' sparring partners contrive to bring hero and heroine together, whereupon Graves finds a whole new purpose in life. Easily besting the snotty Tellegen in a second confrontation, the boy proves beyond all doubt that he's a "real man," thoroughly worthy of Perry's affections. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on locations at Joshua Tree National Monument and Chatsworth, CA, this surviving Rin Tin Tin melodrama features the famous canine as Lobo, the "half-breed" leader of a pack of wolves. When forest fires ruin their habitat, the starving animals trek down into the desert, where they in desperation attack the local cattle. Wounded by a treacherous cactus, Lobo is nursed back to health by young borax prospector Dave Weston (Charles Farrell), but is forced to wear a disguise lest he becomes the target of the irate ranchers. Nasty Borax Horton (Pat Hartigan), a claim jumper masquerading as the town chemist, becomes a threat to both the dog, who has a $100 reward on his head, and Weston, who has struck pure borax. On his way to stake his claim, Weston is followed by Horton, who seriously wounds him in a fight. Lobo, however, manages to alert Dave's girlfriend, May Barstow (June Marlowe), and Horton gets his just dessert. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This famous old stage melodrama by Owen Davis is directed with a lot of spirit by Emmett J. Flynn and features a first rate cast. The overworked Robert Horton (Hobart Bosworth) convinces his friend Thomas Lipton (also played by Bosworth) to take his place for a year. Mrs. Horton (Dorothy Cummings) goes on vacation and her five-year-old daughter, Allyn (Betsy Ann Hisle), is left in Lipton's care. Horton comes back and, in an argument, tries to shoot Lipton. Lipton runs off, taking the child along with him, who he raises as Nellie. When she reaches young womanhood, Lipton falls ill and Nellie (now played by Claire Windsor) finds a job as a cloak model with the help of her friend, Polly Joy (Mae Busch). The shop where Nellie works is run by Walter Peck (Lew Cody), her mother's cousin. He will receive her fortune if her lost daughter is never found. When he discovers that Nellie is the missing girl, he kidnaps her and hires two thugs to tie her to the tracks of an elevated train. That same day, Horton dies, and Lipton urges Mrs. Horton to come for her long lost daughter. Coincidentally, she and Polly are travelling on the very train that is headed for Nellie's unconscious body. But Nellie is saved in the nick of time and is happily reunited with her mother. The surprise ending reveals that the whole film was actually a play being performed in a theater. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cowboy star Tom Mix takes a break from the far West to play a rancher headed for the far North in this action-adventure. Michael Dane (Mix) is headed for gold country to join his brother Peter (Eugene Pallette) and his partner, where they have struck it rich. On the boat he meets fetching Estelle MacDonald (Kathleen Key), the niece of the trading post's manager, Cameron MacDonald (Frank Campeau), and falls in love. When he arrives, he finds disaster has struck -- Peter has been murdered and his partner is sentenced to death for the crime. Dane is convinced that the partner is innocent and goes about searching for the real culprit -- who turns out to be MacDonald. When MacDonald is killed by his own trap, Estelle is left unprotected at the camp. Dane comes to her rescue, battles a pack of fierce wolves, and returns to the States with Estelle by his side. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Everybody at Mack Sennett's Keystone studios was expected to do a little bit of everything, which is why bassett-faced comedian Hank Mann both directed and co-starred in the 2-reel laughfest The Village Blacksmith. Burly Tom Kennedy plays the title character, while gawky Polly Moran is cast as the Smithy's sweetie, a laundress. A refined young lady (Vivien Edwards) becomes fascinated by the Smithy's remarkable feats of strength, including his ability to pound nails with his knuckles. The girl succeeds in stealing Kennedy away from Moran, which of course precipitates a climactic confrontation between the two females. Though The Village Blacksmith contained more plot than was usual for Keystone, sight gags and slapstick still predominate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide