Mary Warren
- 1934
In this melodrama set within an Irish hospital, a handsome young physicician is pursued by two women. He is attracted to one of them, but as she has expensive taste he does not feel he can afford to be with her. The other woman is a manipulator and tricks him into an engagement with a kiss. The poor physician is utterly confused and so heads into the country to help with a typhoid epidemic. As soon as it is halted, he finds that he himself has the dread disease. All his colleagues believe he is a goner, but true love prevails and the first one takes care of him until his health is restored. Often cited as the first "talkie" to feature a primarily Irish cast. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lester Matthews, Nancy Burne, (more)
- 1922
Come on Over is the saga of an Irish-American family. What's past is prologue in this case, as the trials and tribulations of earlier generations dictate the behavior of the contemporary family members. Colleen Moore heads the cast as the spirited Moyna Killea. The other character names sound like a 1910 NYPD roll call: O'Mealia, Morahan, Carmody, Dugan etc. As usual, the only people we're allowed to dislike are stuffed shirts who look down upon the Hibernian heroes and heroines. Come on Over was written by Rupert Hughes, the uncle of zillionaire Howard Hughes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colleen Moore, Ralph Graves, (more)
- 1921
Before he was known as "the man of a thousand faces," Lon Chaney had already become famous for portraying underworld characters. If he does not come off well in this Goldwyn picture, in which he plays a gang leader, it has nothing to do with his acting and everything to do with the editing. The film was based on a controversial tale of the underworld, The Night Rose, by Leroy Scott. The Censorship Commission refused to give it their stamp of approval, so it was recut, which eliminated much of Chaney's part. Leatrice Joy co-stars -- this was one of the last pictures she made before signing with Paramount and Cecil B. DeMille. Duke McGee (Chaney) takes a liking to Georgia Rodman (Joy), with little regard to the fact that she is the sweetheart of his bookkeeper, Jimmy (Cullen Landis). He decides to frame Jimmy, thus getting him out of the way, but Sally, McGee's former mistress (Betty Schade), foils his plan. Jimmy, however, is shot before he can get away. Georgia believes Jimmy is dead and goes to a ball thrown by McGee to exact revenge. But Sally grabs the gun from her hands and completes the job for her. Jimmy recovers from his wounds, and the picture ends happily. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leatrice Joy, Lon Chaney, (more)
- 1921
Will Rogers plays the lead in this adaptation of a Saturday Evening Post story. While Rogers really needed talkies to bring him cinema superstardom, he could only have portrayed the character of Yal in silents -- after all, who ever heard of Will Rogers with a Swedish accent? Seduced by the promises of America, two sailors --Yal and his pal Skole (Bert Sprotte) -- travel from Sweden to San Francisco. Yal sends a thousand dollars to Hulda, his sweetheart (Mary Warren), so that she can join him, but he never hears from her again. He winds up falling in love with Annie (Doris Pawn) and investing in a delicatessen. But he loses the store and then finds Annie and Skole together. After a passage of several years Hulda finally arrives and she and Yal are married. Only after the wedding does she admit that she was adopted by wealthy Captain Larsen (Charles A. Smith), and that he left her a fortune -- she thought Yal wouldn't marry her if he knew she was a woman of wealth. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Mary Warren, (more)
- 1920
Barry O'Connor (former heavyweight champion James J. Corbett, otherwise known as "Gentleman Jim") is the son of Patrick O'Connor (Richard Cummings), the district boss for New York's Lower East Side. The elder O'Connor has a rival, the up-and-coming Edgar Jones (Harry Northrup), who isn't too fond of Barry, either. A mayoral election is coming up, and it looks like O'Connor will throw his ward's votes to William Tompkins (Frederick Vroom), but then Tompkins' daughter Mary (Cora Drew) tosses Barry out of her home for dancing with a maid. To keep from losing O'Connor's support, Tompkins drags his haughty daughter to apologize to Barry, and to lead the Grand March with him. Jones shows up, and when he's mean to Mary for not dancing with him, Barry pummels him and several of his associates, too. This intrigues Mary, and the girl from Fifth Avenue comes to love the Lower East Side boy. Director John Ford, then known as Jack Ford, was better known for his work on Westerns (then and later in his career), but he wasn't out of place on this picture with its brawling, brawny Irish characters. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Pamela (Marguerite Clark), Violet (Mary Warren) and Kate (Helene Chadwick) are roommates who have been disappointed in love. Pamela, fed up with the male race, declares herself a man-hater, and the other girls follow suit. But Edgar Holt (Harrison Ford) comes along and scoffs at Pam's silly ideas. Predictably, she falls for him in a big way. When she finds out that the other two girls have already broken their vows -- Kate has been secretly married and Violet is engaged -- she drops her man-hating facade like a lead weight. This film was adapted from a play of the same name by Clyde Fitch. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Carmel Myers' co-star in this amusing farce is a handsome newcomer named Rodolpho de Valentina -- later to become famous as Rudolph Valentino. Even at this early date in his career, Valentino commands attention and shows a surprising flair for comedy. Dick Thayer (Valentino) is in love with Bess Lane (Myers) and he convinces his friends, William and Maud Harcourt (Charles Dorian and Mary Warren), to invite them both to a dinner they are throwing. Another guest is Bradford (William Dyer), a millionaire. Harcourt wants Bradford to loan him some money, but Bradford first wants to see how well he manages his household. Unfortunately, Harcourt has just fired all his servants in a fit of pique. In order to favorably impress Bradford, Harcourt and his wife take over the servant's roles and ask Thayer and Bess to pose as them. The dinner goes off well until Bradford decides he likes the pseudo-Harcourts so much that he must spend the night. This causes a number of complications, including a visit from Bess' irate father, Colonel Lane (Wadsworth Harris). By morning, everything is cleared up and Thayer has won Bess over. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
William Desmond stars as "The Sea Panther," a gentleman pirate plying his trade in Days of Olde. Though ruthless with his enemies, the hero is at heart a romantic, demanding that his fellow pirates treat their female prisoners with dignity and respect. Eventually, Desmond is overthrown in a mutiny and clapped into irons. He is rescued by heroine Mary Warren, who disguises herself as a boy for the occasion. Critics agreed that the acting in The Sea Panther was vastly superior to the film's rather seedy production values. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
