Lloyd Whitlock Movies
The quintessential silent screen villain, tall (6'1"), mustachioed Lloyd Whitlock is perhaps best remembered as one of the kidnappers in Mary Pickford's Sparrows (1926) and for playing innumerable blackguards in B-Westerns and serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Trained as a civil engineer, Whitlock toured with several stock companies prior to making his screen debut with New York's Biograph company in the very early 1910s. By the mid-1910s, he had become a featured actor for Kleine, Kalem, and Universal and was already more often than not cast as lecherous blackmailers, crooked lawyers, medical hacks, and the like. He made the transition to sound with ease but quickly began showing up in Poverty Row productions and is memorable as the airline manager in the John Wayne serial Hurricane Express (1932) and as the boss villain in four of Wayne's Lone Star Westerns for Monogram. Although his roles greatly diminished in importance from the mid-'30s on, Whitlock remained a busy supporting actor through the 1940s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1921
Philip and Carol Lawton (Ralph Lewis and Kathlyn Williams) adopt Jeanne Millette, a French war orphan (May McAvoy). Her loyalty to the Lawtons, and to their little daughter, Betty (Gladys Fox), is unshakable; a romance with Jerry Hayes, who works for Lawton as a trainer (Bruce Gordon), should make her life complete. The Lawtons are having marital difficulties: Philip spends most of his time with his race horses, leaving Carol to feel neglected. As a result, she encourages the attentions of Alec Crosby (Lloyd Whitlock), and the illicit couple make plans to run away together while Lawton is off at a distant race track. Jeanne, however, convinces her to stay for Betty's sake. Philip returns, his suspicions regarding Crosby aroused, and he confronts his wife. Jeanne jumps in and claims that Crosby was carrying on with her, not Mrs. Lawton. Hayes catches Jeanne sneaking Crosby out of the house and the two men come to blows. Crosby dies when he falls from a balcony. Hayes realizes that Jeanne is innocent, and the Lawtons reconcile. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- May McAvoy, Bruce Gordon, (more)
- 1931
The title character is played by Dorothy Revier in this lower-case melodrama. She plays a gossip columnist whose brother, a prizefighter, is murdered. To uncover the killer, Revier (whose photograph has evidently never been published by her newspaper) goes undercover, posing as a hard-boiled nightclub hoofer. The single new aspect of this predictable effort is finding Dorothy Revier, normally cast as a scheming Other Woman, playing the heroine for a change. Anybody's Blonde was produced by a poverty-row studio bearing the name of Artclass. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Revier, Reed Howes, (more)
- 1938
Arson Gang Busters was a slick little Republic programmer highlighted by several well-staged miniature sequences, courtesy of the talented Lydecker Brothers. Robert Livingston plays a firefighter who feels that the police aren't moving fast enough in tracking down an arson ring. Livingston decides to do a little sleuthing himself, ultimately going undercover and joining the crooks. It turns out that the culprits are insurance underwriters, seeking a quick turnover by creating their own "accidents". The 65-minute Arson Gang Busters was later reissued to television as the 54-minute Arson Racket Squad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Rosalind Keith, (more)
- 1932
Marlene Dietrich stars as Helen Faraday, a German cabaret singer in the States whose husband, Ned, falls ill and his only hope is to receive expensive medical treatment at a clinic in Europe. Struggling to afford his care and to support their son Johnny, she works at a nightclub and succumbs to the advances of wealthy playboy Nick, whose gifts assist in her husband's recovery. Soon Ned recovers and returns, but when he discovers that Helen has been unfaithful, he divorces her, threatening to take their son. After running with little Johnny, she ends up a prostitute in New Orleans, where she is found by the detective hired by Ned. The boy is taken from her and Helen flees to Paris where she becomes a cabaret sensation. Upon witnessing a performance, Nick begins seeing her again and when the show moves to NYC, he secures a meeting between her and her ex -- who is finally made aware of the motivation behind her affair years before. This is the feature containing the well-known scenes where Dietrich performs stage numbers in an ape-suit and a white tuxedo (complete with top hat). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, (more)
Chinatown After Dark is where you'll find Madame Ying Su (Carmel Myers), a "dragon lady" type who'll stop at nothing to get her hands on a rare dagger belonging to the Royal House of Lee Fong. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the dagger contains a priceless jewel, the owner of which will be able to wield untold power over all of Chinatown. American Jim Bonner (Rex Lease), in love with Lee Fong's ward Lotus (Vera Reynolds), is set up as the fall guy when the dagger is stolen and a man is murdered. Bonner spends the rest of the picture trying to prove his innocence to a sneezing comic-relief detective (Billy Gilbert, in one of his first important feature-length roles. "See what happens in the underworld dens after dark!" entreated the ads for this fast-moving cheapie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Lease, Barbara Kent, (more)
- 1923
This picture is based on the novel by Leroy Scott. Because of her brains and charming manner, Cordelia Marlowe is called "the Magnificent" by her friends. But she finds herself suddenly thrust into poverty, and instead of marrying Jerry Plimpton (Lloyd Whitlock) for the financial security, she goes to work. A shifty lawyer enlists her help in getting information about a society matron who has a "past." Cordelia is innocent of his true motives, which involve blackmail, and when she discovers his game, she finds herself ostracized by Plimpton. She works to clear herself, with help from James Grayson -- a man she met while he was posing as a butler (Lewis Dayton). The lawyer is exposed as the bad guy, and Cordelia's good name is cleared. Clara Kimball Young's vogue as a star had already pretty much passed by the time she starred in this society drama. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clara Kimball Young, Huntly Gordon, (more)
- 1921
Sidney Franklin, formerly the principal director of the "Fox Kidlettes" series, works with grownups in the silent Courage. Sam DeGrasse plays a brooding Scotsman who spends 18 years in prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Only his wife Naomi Childers believes in DeGrasse's innocence. She nobly awaits her husband's return, ever seeking out the opportunity of exonerating him. Northern California proves an excellent substitute for the crags of Scotland in Courage, which was based on a short story by Andrew Soutar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Naomi Childers, Sam de Grasse, (more)
- 1922
Although this domestic drama was certainly subpar, it featured two of the most beautiful faces of the silent screen -- Katherine MacDonald and Barbara LaMarr. (LaMarr had just come off an impressive appearance in The Prisoner of Zenda and was not yet a star.) Judge James Benton (William P. Carleton Jr.) sends Joe Martin (Frank Leigh) to jail for beating his wife (LaMarr) after finding her with another man. But Benton doesn't realize that he's abusing his own wife Barbara (Benton) just as much by his neglect. He gets his just desserts when he hires an artist, Pierre (George Fisher), to paint her portrait. The day comes when the judge arrives home and finds Barbara in Pierre's arms. Without waiting for an explanation he banishes Barbara from his home. Later he asks her to come back because their separation is having a negative effect on his position, but she refuses. She meets Mrs. Martin through charity work, and the two women become friendly. When Martin gets out of jail, he heads for the judge's house with a loaded gun. Mrs. Martin warns Barbara, who goes to protect Benton. The result is that both men are reconciled with their wives.
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katherine MacDonald, Frank Leigh, (more)
- 1917
This drama was adapted from a story that Maud Pettus wrote for All Story magazine. Nancy Glenn (Ruth Stonehouse), better known as "the Spider," dresses up in boy's clothes and steals women's purses for Pop Hoagland (M. W. Testa), a fence. She only escapes arrest by detective Spike O'Neill (Harry Dunkinson) because wealthy Ralph Harding (Lloyd Whitlock) and his friend Stella Farnsworth (Betty Schade) beg him to let her go. Not long after that, Nancy, while dressed in girl's clothes, is hit by a car and carried into the Harding home. She recognizes Ralph but doesn't reveal her identity. His mother (Lydia Yeamans Titus) becomes fond of the girl and accepts her as family. But things get complicated when Pliny Drew (J. Webster Dill), one of Nancy's old associates, swindles Ralph in a mining scheme and Nancy tries to intervene. O'Neill, meanwhile, is investigating the theft of some jewelry stolen from the Harding home and suspects Nancy. The butler turns out to be the thief, and Ralph gives Drew a sound thrashing. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
After being given the "Hollywood treatment," author Johan Bojer's famed novel changed from a story of breadth and scope into a trite domestic drama. Harold Mark, a country doctor (Edward Hearn), falls in love with Thora (Barbara Bedford), who lives with her crippled grandfather (Harry Duffield). Mark cures the grandfather and he and Thora marry. They move to the city, but after Mark earns a scholarship, he gets wrapped up with a radical movement. It takes time away from both his studies and his marriage. Thora, starved for attention, falls prey to Monsieur Duparc, a charismatic sculptor (Lloyd Whitlock). She leaves Mark and goes to live with Duparc's aunt. Mark, meanwhile, becomes disillusioned with his radical friends and eventually becomes the head of a hospital. Thora realizes that she does not want to spend her life with Duparc and tells him so. He drives to see Mark, but is involved in a car accident. Duparc is brought into the hospital and Mark saves his life. Mark and Thora are finally reconciled. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Bedford, Edward Hearn, (more)
- 1921
Patsie Hannon was a model when Erich Von Stroheim discovered her and gave her the name of Miss DuPont. Duly signed to Universal, she played the female lead in Foolish Wives. The film took so long to make, however, that DuPont starred in several more program features that were released before her actual debut. Miss DuPont was not exactly one of Von Stroheim's most inspired discoveries -- with the release of this romantic drama (her second film to reach the public), trade paper Moving Picture World said, "It is stated, with the earnest hope that it does not sound patronizing, that Miss DuPont shows a little improvement in her work." There wasn't much to work with -- the story is slight and her supporting cast did not show a lot of enthusiasm for their performances. Although Jennie Blake (DuPont) claims she "can't stand the sound of waves," she winds up teaching at a seaport town called Rocky Point. Two men, Paul Whalen (Pat O'Malley) and Jim Payne (Lloyd Whitlock), vie for her; Jennie chooses Whalen. Payne becomes a lighthouse inspector and a few years later, when Whalen is out of work, he gets him a job as a lighthouse operator. It's lonely work, and Jennie appreciates Payne's visits. When Whalen is blinded he begins to believe that Jennie and Payne are having an affair. In spite of his blindness, he gets into a fight with Payne and when he knocks his head into a wall, his sight returns. He and Jennie resolve their differences. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miss Du Pont, Pat O'Malley, (more)
- 1926
Energetic cowboy Buck Jones is almost swindled out of his valuable land in this above-average silent Western produced by Fox. Like most Westerns of the era, the film was contemporary in setting and featured automobiles, trains and even motorcycles. There's gold in them thar hills and Buck must fight the unscrupulous Lloyd Whitlock and his various henchmen to keep it safe. There is a girl waiting with open arms back in Los Angeles and when her father finally changes his mind about Buck's suitability as husband material, the scene is set for a happy ending. Leading lady Sally Long was a former Ziegfeld girl who, along with Joan Crawford, Fay Wray and Mary Astor, was voted a 1926 WAMPAS Baby Star by the Hollywood publicists. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Sally Long, (more)
- 1924
Robert Fraser plays a double role in this routine melodrama co-starring Elaine Hammerstein, Gladys Brockwell, and Phyllis Haver. Mary Adams (Hammerstein) is the schoolteacher who falls for a lecherous lawyer. She marries the man who saves her from the barrister, but she soon believes he is guilty of being a thief. Her husband is stabbed by his insane mother who believes he is her long-lost husband returning after many years. Although seriously wounded, he races through a raging forest fire to be reunited with his beloved wife. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elaine Hammerstein, Robert W. Fraser, (more)
- 1925
Although he bore no relation to Douglas Fairbanks, William Fairbanks cashed in on the last name by specializing in roles that required stunt work. This lesser Fairbanks, however, was definitely of the low-budget variety, as this effective, but obviously cheaply made Columbia programmer illustrates. Jack Curtis (Fairbanks) is quite wealthy, but when he falls in love with thrill-seeking flapper Peggy Howell (Pauline Garon), he goes to work for her family as a chauffeur just to be near her. Peggy figures out his real identity quickly enough, but keeps mum. Curtis comes to her aid when she gets entangled with a society crook known as Captain Winslow (Lloyd Whitlock). The heroic young man saves Peggy from drowning, and pursues Winslow and his associate when they steal jewels from Peggy's mother (Adelaide Hallock). After retrieving the jewels and giving the crooks their just desserts, Curtis easily wins Peggy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Fairbanks
Based on H. Ashbrook's novel The Murder of Stephen Kester, Green Eyes gets off to a powerful start when host Stephen Kester (Claude Gillingwater) is found stabbed in a closet during a weekend masquerade party. The principal suspects are Kester's daughter Jean (Shirley Grey) and her fiancé Cliff (William Bakewell), whose planned marriage had been violently opposed by Jean's father. One of the party guests, mystery writer Bill Tracy (Charles Starrett), suggests to Inspector Crofton (John Wray) that there were others who wanted to see Kester dead, notably his business associates Pritchard (Alden Chase) and Hall (Arthur Clayton). When Hall commits suicide, leaving a note confessing to the murder, Crofton is satisfied -- but Tracy isn't. The "gimmick" in this well-crafted independent meller is its double-edged ending, in which two logical conclusions to the case are offered, each cancelling the other out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Grey, Charles Starrett, (more)
- 1931
In this mystery-thriller, set on Broadway, a cynical reporter looks into the killing of a New York actor who was found strangled in his dressing room. The reporter also must deal with the death of the lead actress, who is shot. One more person dies before he can solve the murders and drag the murderer into the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Kent, John Holland, (more)
- 1933
Her Splendid Folly is an old-fashioned comedy/drama from the misleadingly named firm of Progressive Pictures. Lillian Bond plays a dual role, a famous film star and her look-alike, a humble stenographer. The plot requires the stenog to pose as the movie queen, and in so doing she falls in love with Theodor von Eltz, the star's boyfriend. Her 15 minutes of fame brings Bond together with her long-lost mother Beryl Mercer, who has taken a job as a studio scrubwoman to be nearer to her daughter. Jewish-dialect comedian Alexander Carr is featured as the obligatory English-fracturing studio boss. Her Splendid Folly seems to have been filmed through the facilities of General Service Studios, then the home of Educational Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Bond, Beryl Mercer, (more)
- 1927
Glenn Tryon stars as Hiram Hastings, a cabdriver who aspires to be the next Charles Lindbergh. Trouble is, he's never been in an airplane in his life -- but he has learned to fly via correspondence school. Falling in love with Mary Sloan (Patsy Ruth Miller), the daughter of wealthy soap manufacturer Samuel Sloan (Burr McIntosh), Hiram tries to coerce the old man into sponsoring a Transatlantic plane flight. Sloan is resistant, but thanks to a little "prodding" from Hiram's pet monkey Bobbie (a busy simian actor of the period), he agrees to bankroll the flight. One thing leads to another, and by film's end both Hiram and Mary are in the cockpit of a rickety old airplane, bound for Russia! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Tryon, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1925
Although this film sounds like a 1920s version of Mr. Mom, in some ways it's more enlightened than the 1983 comedy -- for one thing, being a stay-at-home dad comes quite naturally to husband Lester Knapp (Clive Brook). Nevertheless, the idea of switching traditional husband-wife roles was quite a radical one in the days when women had only recently won the right to vote, and as such, this drama (with comic touches) was not always warmly received. Knapp is an ineffectual office worker, while his wife, Eva (Alice Joyce), is a paragon of efficiency who, although she loves her children, is woefully lacking in mothering skills. When Knapp is fired from his job, he decides to die "accidentally" so that his long-suffering family can collect on his life insurance. But (according to the title card) "Lester proved a bungler even at dying," and instead he winds up a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair. Eva turns down the charity of Knapp's old boss, Spencer Willing (Lester Whitlock), and instead asks for a job. He gives her one, as a saleslady at one of the company's stores. Eva flourishes at her new position and soon is earning almost twice as much as Knapp ever made. Meanwhile, Knapp's effect on the couple's three children is almost magical, especially when it comes to dealing with their formerly incorrigible three-year-old. This odd set-up is gradually accepted by the Knapp's friends and relatives, but then disaster strikes -- Eva notices Knapp's legs twitching in his sleep, and indeed, he finds out that he can walk again. But Knapp realizes that both he and Eva are ill-suited for the roles originally foisted on them by society, so he swears their reluctant physician, Dr. Merritt (the delightful George Fawcett), to secrecy. Not surprisingly, this picture was adapted by a woman, Mary O'Hara, from a novel by another woman, Dorothy Canfield. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Joyce, Clive Brook, (more)
- 1931
The vaudeville and Broadway comedy team of Eddie Dowling and Ray Dooley (husband and wife, despite Dooley's masculine moniker) star in the 1931 musical Honeymoon Lane. Based on Dowling's 1925 stage vehicle of the same name, the story is set in motion when the king (Armand Kaliz) of the mythical European nation of Bulgravia visits an American health resort. Hero Tim Dugan (Dowling) appoints himself the king's unofficial protector, saving him from the larcenous designs of crooked gambler Arnold Bookstein (Grant Whitlock). As Gerty Murphy, Ray Dooley attempts to repeat her trademarked "bratty kid" characterization for the screen, with variable results (Dooley was at the time in her mid-30s). Incidentally, Eddie Dowling later went "legit" as the director-star of the original 1944 production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dowling, June Collyer, (more)
- 1928
The popular (if short-lived) screen team of Glenn Tryon and Patsy Ruth Miller were back on the job in the breezy comedy Hot Heels. The two stars play a vaudeville dance team, touring the provinces in a broken-down "mellerdrammer" troupe. After a series of Snub Pollard-like gags involving a gimmick-laden hotel, the plot proper gets under way, as Tryon and Miller pin their hopes -- and their bankrolls -- on a racehorse called Hot Heels. Real-life jockey Tod Sloan appears as himself in the climactic racing sequence. Hot Heels was released a scant few weeks after the running of the 1928 Kentucky Derby (what a tie-in!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Tryon, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1928
Bespectacled Creighton Hale and 1923 Wampas Baby Star Virginia Brown Faire headlined this domestic drama from low-budget Chesterfield. Maintaining that Harvey Baremore (Hale) is stealing from his company, his employer John Kimball (Lloyd Whitlock) suggests that Mrs. Baremore (Faire) pays her husband's debt with her "friendship." As it turns out, the whole affair is concocted by Kimball to expose Baremore for the adulterer that he is: Discovered with a gold-digging blonde (Florence Dudley), Harvey makes a quick escape but is killed in a car accident. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Creighton Hale, Virginia Brown Faire, (more)
- 1938
I Am the Law is arguably the best of the late-1930s films inspired by the racket-busting career of New York district attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Edward G. Robinson switches to the right side of the law as the Dewey counterpart, here named John Lindsay (!) A feisty, no-nonsense law professor, Lindsay is approached by a group of concerned citizens to act as special prosecutor to rid up their (unnamed) state of big-time lawbreakers. He wastes no time taking charge, storming into the prosecutor's office and firing anyone whom he suspects of being "on the take." With the help of his dedicated law students, who work alongside him for free, Lindsay purges the local government of such corrupt influences as Eugene Ferguson (Otto Kruger), the outwardly respectable "brains" behind the rackets. Among the minor pleasures in I Am the Law is watching Robinson dancing the Big Apple with gun moll Wendy Barrie in an early scene, and his firing of suspicious-looking Charles Halton with a brusque "Don't like your face! Never have! You've got shifty eyes and a weak chin!" (which, indeed, were Halton's screen trademarks). Barbara O'Neil, who the following year played Scarlet O'Hara's mother in Gone with the Wind, is quietly effective as Robinson's supportive wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Barbara O'Neil, (more)
International Crime is the second of two Grand National programmers inspired by the popular "Shadow" pulp novels by Maxwell Grant. Rod La Rocque plays Lamont Cranston, famed criminologist and (in this film at least) radio crime reporter. This time around Cranston does not "cloud men's minds" hypnotically to become the invisible Shadow: he remains fully visible from beginning to end, with nary a clouded mind in sight. In attempting to solve the murder of a wealthy financier, Cranston exposes a gang of foreign saboteurs. Based on the story "The Fox Hound" by Ted Tinsley (not Maxwell Grant, as the credits claim), International Crime includes several of the supporting characters from the "Shadow" pulps. However, the heroine (Astrid Allwyn) is Phoebe Lane, not Margot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod La Rocque, Astrid Allwyn, (more)
- 1942
The sure-fire combination of Judy Canova and Joe E. Brown paid off in big laughs and excellent box-office returns in the bizarre wartime musical Joan of Ozark. While hunting quail near her home, hillbilly Judy (Canova) catches a carrier pigeon bearing a message for a ring of Nazi spies. She turns the bird over to the FBI and is lauded as a heroine-much to the dismay of Philip Munson (Jerome Cowan), whose posh New York nightclub is a cover for his Fifth Column activities. As luck would have it, theatrical agent Cliff Little (Joe E. Brown) has been sent to the Ozarks to scare up new talent for Munson's club. Little wants to sign Judy for a singing contract, but she'll have none of it until he poses as a G-Man and appoints her an honorary "G-Woman." To keep Judy happy once they're back in New York, Cliff pretends to be a spy while wandering around the nightclub-and thus it is that our hapless hero and heroine stumble upon Munson's nest of Nazis. It's hard to determine which is sillier in Joan of Ozark: Joe E. Brown's imitation of Adolf Hitler or the Keystone Kop-like climactic airplane chase. Also good for a few yocks is the closing musical number, set in "the future"-namely, 1952! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Canova, Joe E. Brown, (more)
