Louis Wolheim Movies

Silent screen star John Gilbert had a tough time adapting to the talkies--not due to his voice, as is commonly believed, but because his type of florid romantic fare was no longer popular. Gentleman's Fate attempted to alter Gilbert's image by casting him as a bootlegger...albeit a reluctant one. A wealthy socialite, Gilbert learns to his chagrin that he has been financed by his supposedly dead father (Ernest Torrence), a notorious rum runner. Ruined socially, Gilbert joins the rackets himself, vying with his brother (Louis Wolheim) for control of the bootlegging territory. The love of a good woman (Leila Hyams) leads Gilbert to attempt to break up the racket, but he loses his life in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A somewhat primitive early talkie version of Rex Beach's lusty 1909 novel of Alaska salmon fishers, RKO's The Silver Horde was one of Joel McCrea's earliest breaks. Although third-billed to the more established Evelyn Brent and character star Louis Wolheim, McCrea played the leading role of Boyd Emerson, an adventurer finding himself stranded in the Alaskan wilderness along with sidekick Fraser (Raymond Hatton). Saloon hostess turned copper mine proprietress Cherry Malotte (Brent) falls in love with the newcomer and persuades business associate Tom Hilliard (William Davidson) to bankroll a salmon fishing operation for Emerson and the brutish-looking but lovable Balt (Wolheim). Emerson, however, is in love with Seattle debutante Mildred Wayland (Jean Arthur), whose snobbish father (Purnell Pratt) schemes with salmon industry magnate Frederick Marsh (Gavin Gordon) to sabotage the new endeavor. The rival fishing fleets meet in hand-to-hand battle for superiority with the Emerson-Balt crew emerging the winners. In retaliation, Marsh attempts to slander Cherry Malotte, but is killed by an out-of-control Balt. A major star of the late silent era, Evelyn Brent is struggling to convey her trademark toughness before the microphone, but McCrea makes a stalwart hero and Louis Wolheim is watchable doing almost anything. Jean Arthur is merely window dressing this early in her career, but Blanche Sweet, an icon of the early silent era, is completely wasted in a bit part as the villain's former girlfriend. It became her final screen appearance. The Silver Horde had been filmed once before, by Goldwyn in 1916 starring Myrtle Steadman as Cherry and Curtis Cooksey as Emerson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction -- and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II. The Road Back (1937) followed, and the film was remade for television in 1979. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Child star Frank "Junior" Coghlan's final film on his DeMille-Pathe contract was the military-academy drama Square Shoulders. After the death of his mother, young Tad (Coghlan) is made a ward of a newsboy's home. Proud of the Distinguished Service Cross left to him by his reportedly dead war-hero father, Tad organizes his fellow "newsies" into an ersatz army. His authority is challenged by wealthy military-school cadet Eddie (Phillipe De Lacy), but after an initial scrap, Tad and Eddie become good pals. Later on, when Tad is left a hefty sum of money by an unknown benefactor, he signs up at the same academy attended by Eddie. Little does Tad suspect that the academy's seedy stablehand Slag (Louis Wolheim) is actually his own father, who did not die on the battlefield but instead spent several years in prison. Not even after Slag sacrifices his own life to save Tad's does the boy ever learn the truth. Conceived as a silent film, Square Shoulders was transformed into a "talkie" by the expedient of adding sound to the final reel (unfortunately, only the silent version survives). Also appearing in the film are two second-generation Hollywoodites, Erich Von Stroheim Jr. and Chuck Reisner Jr. (later known as Dean Reisner). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rival arms smugglers in Cuba endeavor to be the first to send their weapons to the revolutionaries in Central America in this crime drama. One of the smugglers uses a woman to dupe the other smuggler into tripping up. Unfortunately, the woman, who has criminal problems of her own, ends up falling in love with the rival. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If Hollywood gossip columnists can be believed, Gary Cooper and Lupe Velez were lovers -- and very passionate ones -- when they co-starred in Paramount's Wolf Song. Cooper is cast as Sam Lash, a fur trapper with a randy reputation when it comes to women. But when Sam meets tempestuous Mexican damsel Lola Salazar (Velez), he falls deeply in love for the first time in his life. Lola's aristocratic father Don Solomon (Michael Vavitch) disapproves of the romance, forcing Sam to kidnap the girl and high-tail it to the mountains. After a brief period of marital contentment, Sam gets restless and leaves Lola, preferring the company of his trapper pals Gullion (Louis Wolheim) and Rube (Constantin Romanoff). But he relents and returns to his bride -- making short work of his bitter enemy, Indian leader Black Wolf (George Rigas). Completed as a silent film, Wolf Song was released as a part-talkie by virtue of the inclusion of three songs, two performed by Lupe Velez and one by radio crooner Russ Columbo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Producer Sam Goldwyn gave his usual deluxe treatment to the 1928 Vilma Banky vehicle The Awakening. Her Hungarian accent unheard, Banky plays French country lass Marie Ducrot, whose name is "mud" after she is compromised by a German soldier (Walter Byron). Turning to religion, Banky becomes one of the "sisters in white" in the field hospitals of World War 1. Meanwhile, the soldier, having been told that Banky is dead, finds out that the report was premature and greatly exaggerated. The script, by Carey Wilson and Frances Marion, is pretty soggy stuff, but "man's man" director Victor Fleming does wonders with the material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by young aviation mogul Howard Hughes, Two Arabian Nights details the exploits of eternally squabbling sergeant Louis Wolheim and private William Boyd. Captured by the Germans during WWI, our heroes escape by disguising themselves as Arabs. This clever masquerade wins Wolheim and Boyd free passage to Arabia, where they spend the rest of the picture rescuing fetching harem girl Mary Astor from the clutches of lascivious potentate Michael Vavich. Some good, low laughs are provided in the scene wherein Boyd poses as a harem eunuch (quite a surprise for Hopalong Cassidy fans!) A huge box-office hit, Two Arabian Knights won Lewis Milestone the only Academy Award ever given for "Best Comedy Direction." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alan Holt (Antonio Moreno) is a radio expert who has invented a death ray machine for the U.S. government. International spy Drakma (Tyrone Power Sr.) wants to get his hands on the invention and he sends his henchmen to attack Holt in his laboratory. Holt's sweetheart, Mary Walsworth (Agnes Ayers), is there with him and she smashes the death ray. She and Holt are captured and taken on Drakma's yacht. The spy puts Mary on a rum-runner and Holt in a workshop on a lonely island. To save Mary, Holt is ordered to build another death ray. He agrees, but instead he builds a telegraph machine and calls for help. Mary's father, the admiral of a battleship, receives Holt's message and comes to the rescue. He sends a plane to sink Drakma's yacht, and Holt takes a raft out to the rum-runner, where he holds off the crew until the arrival of Walsworth's ship. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This implausible melodrama finds a respected banker sent to jail after being set up by a dishonest teller. The crook tries to swindle a widow out of her inherited marble quarry. Babs (Baby Margaret Brown) is rescued by Charlie (Donald Gallagher) from drowning and saves the residents of a cabin from a landslide. A mysterious wanderer (Louis Wolhelm) turns out to be an undercover agent for the Justice Department who is investigating the bank scam, and the bank president is cleared and is reunited with the grateful widow. The title is taken from the popular song written by J.L. Molloy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This charming and expensively made historical romance was one of Marion Davies' best films. She spends much of the picture disguised as a boy, something she also did effectively in several other films. A young Irish lad, Patrick O'Day (Stephen Carr), inherits a fortune, providing he travels to New York to claim it within a certain period of time. His father, John (J.M. Kerrigan), manages to scrape together the money to send himself, his son, and daughter, Patricia (Davies), across the Atlantic. But the boy is sick and dies en route to New York. In order to get the money, John convinces Patricia to disguise herself as her brother. They arrive just in time to claim the inheritance, which frustrates cousin Larry Delevan (Harrison Ford), who would have received it had Pat not shown up. Although Delevan is not thrilled with his cousin's arrival, they become fast friends anyhow, and he never suspects that Pat is really a girl. Delevan wants to invest in Robert Fulton's steamship, the Clermont, and Pat loans him the money. But Delevan then wagers on a fight between Bully Boy Brewster (Harry Watson) and the Hoboken Terror (Louis Wolheim). The match is an uneven one and it looks like Delevan will lose all his money, so Pat rings a false alarm to break up the fight. When her deed is discovered, the mob drags her out to be whipped. She takes it for a few lashes before revealing that she's really a girl. Delevan falls in love with her and they marry. Contrary to popular belief, many of Marion Davies' films made money, and Little Old New York was one of them. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Horror flicks were few and far between when this melodramatic-thriller was released by Goldwyn. The powerfully named Hercules Napoleon Cameron is, in reality, a whimpering coward. His rival for the hand of Alice Winthrop (Doris Kenyon) is the courageous and dashing Harry Gaines (Louis Calhern). The three of them visit a divey waterfront saloon and find themselves shanghaied. Cameron and Gaines are forced into the service of the brutal Captain Finn (Louis Wolheim), who gives Alice the choice of either becoming his mistress or sharing a cage with a monster that is half-man, half-beast. Before Alice can decide which is the lesser evil, the monster escapes. Cameron finds Alice in her cabin, and when they go up to the deck, they find that the monster has killed the whole crew. Captain Finn tries once more to attack Alice, but he becomes the monster's next victim. Cameron and Alice dive overboard and swim towards shore, followed by the monster. When he finally realizes the threat to his sweetheart, Cameron finds some latent bravery and battles the beast in the water. An abalone snaps its shell down on the monster, and Cameron and Alice land safely on shore. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Having turned the creaky old stage melodrama Way Down East into a money-spinning film, director D.W. Griffith set about to perform the same magic with the barnstorming theatrical piece The Two Orphans. Adolphe Philippe Dennery's play told the story of two orphaned girls, one blind, who are separated early on and undergo innumerable deprivations before their tearful reunion. Though the play took place in France, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the French Revolution; this didn't stop Griffith from plunking the storyline smack dab in the middle of that late-18th-century maelstrom, allowing him full scope for the spectacular scenes which had brought him worldwide fame. Lillian Gish plays Henriette, the sighted sister, while Dorothy Gish is cast as the visually impaired Louise. Henriette brings Louise to Paris, in search of a surgeon who might be able to restore her sister's sight. Henriette is kidnapped by a lascivious nobleman, leaving Louise to wander helplessly about until she too is "stolen" by a family of beggars. Rescued by kindhearted aristocrat Chevalier de Vaudrey (Joseph Schildkraut), Henriette begins the arduous search for her lost sister. Just before the film's intermission, Henriette hears Louise begging on the streets. Before they can be reunited, Henriette is arrested by minions of the evil nobleman who'd earlier tried to seduce her. Released from the Bastille by the revolutionaries, Henriette resumes her search, only to be arrested again--this time because she has consorted with the aristocracy, and is therefore a candidate for the guillotine. The stage is thus set for a thrilling "race to the rescue" climax, and of course the reuniting of the two orphans. Orphans of the Storm was filmed at Griffith's east coast studio in Mamaroneck, New York, which explains why the exteriors are always so overcast. In an effort to be topical, Griffith took every opportunity possible to equate the French revolution with the recent Bolshevik rebellion in Russia, and to warn his audience of the dangers of mob rule (this from a man who glorified the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation!) The film opened to excellent reviews and great business; Griffith, who always placed art above commerce, poured virtually every penny of profit into his "smaller" project, Isn't Life Wonderful, which died at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide