Tod Browning Movies

Priscilla Dean made a name for herself at Universal by playing charming female crooks in a number of films. The character of Cassie Cook is not so charming, however, and this unsympathetic role lost her a few points. Cassie is a mercenary opium smuggler, plain and simple. She is in China with Jules Repin (Wallace Beery) to make a killing in the drug business. Captain Jarvis (Matt Moore) is also in China on account of opium, only he's a government agent who is trying to put a halt to the smuggling. Cassie and Repin try to get him out of the way, but when Cassie falls in love with him, she decides to go straight. She is caught between Jarvis and her confederates and when the crooks manage to obtain some secret information, Jarvis loses his faith in her. A battle between the government men and the smugglers results in the burning of a village. Cassie, who has finally proved her honesty, wins Jarvis' trust once again. This picture was based on the stage play by John Colton which starred Alice Brady on Broadway. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Universal bragged that this standard crime melodrama was written by Louis Victor Eytinge, a "lifer" at the Arizona state prison. Herbert Rawlinson plays Paul Porter, who has just gotten out of the joint and, along with his pal Daddy Moffat (George Hernandez), goes back to his home town in a search for "easy money." But then Porter runs into his childhood sweetheart, Margaret Langdon (Barbara Bedford). When he discovers she is being swindled by oil sharks, he decides to go straight and help her out. The better part of the townsfolk, in fact, have been tricked by conman Jones Wiley (George Webb), but Porter outdoes him by putting up a fake oil well on the land of Colonel Culpepper (Willis Marks). Wiley buys the "gusher" from Porter for a cool hundred thou, but when he discovers he's been had he steals the money back. Porter gives chase, gets the money and returns it to the folks it belonged to in the first place. He's now a hero in his home town, and wins Margaret's hand. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Because of Rudolph Valentino's success in The Sheik, Universal deemed it a good time to bring out a desert story of their own. Ouida's novel had been filmed before with Theda Bara in the lead role of Cigarette; here, the not-as-exotic Priscilla Dean plays the half-French, half-Arab "daughter of the regiment." To escape from trouble back home, Victor (James Kirkwood) joins the Foreign Legion and becomes a corporal. Cigarette falls in love with him immediately. When she is kidnapped by Sheik Ben Ali Hammed (John Davidson), Colonel Victor comes to her rescue. Later on, when Arabs prepare to attack the regiment, she returns Victor's favor with a wild ride to warn him. She is seriously wounded in the ensuing battle, but still manages to shoot an Arab who is trying to pull down the French flag. In the book, Cigarette dies, but here, the ending is left ambiguous -- you're not told whether she survives or not. This story was filmed again as a talkie in 1936 with Claudette Colbert and Ronald Colman in the leads. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

After a string of successes including Outside the Law and The Virgin of Stamboul, Universal gave director Tod Browning's next film "special" status. But Browning, perhaps, tried a little too hard to live up to that in his attempt to make Edna Ferber's story Fanny Herself seem larger than life. In reality it's a simple tale, similar to, though not as good as Humoresque. Molly Brandeis (Grace Marvin) makes great sacrifices to send her son Theodore (John Davidson) to Europe to develop his talent as a violinist; so does his sister Fanny (Mabel Julienne Scott). But his violin playing is no match for his immoral nature, and he turns out to be a disappointment to his family. Mrs. Brandeis dies broken-hearted and Fanny, who has given up what she thought was her one chance at love, decides to go to Chicago. She forges a success as a business woman and is planning to go to Honolulu with her unhappily-married boss when she comes face to face with her old sweetheart. They realize it's not too late for them and they wind up happily together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

During her years at Universal, Priscilla Dean became known for her lady crook roles. Here she is Blue-Jean Billie, who is very well off as a result of the heists she has performed with her associate, Shaver Michael (Sam DeGrasse). When the Vanderhoofs throw a dinner to announce their daughter's engagement to Lord Harry Chesterton (Thurston Hall), Billie manages to get in. She handcuffs the special officer and proceeds to rob the guests. She makes her escape, followed only by Lord Chesterton. He catches up with her, but she ties him up and makes him her prisoner. The police, however, are hot on her trail and she is forced to flee. Chesterton gives chase once again, and once again Billie's the one who captures him. Somewhere along the way, though, she falls in love with him. It turns out that Chesterton is not a lord at all, but English Harry, another crook. He and Billie manage to evade the police and decide to go straight. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

In this adaptation of a Fannie Hurst story, Stella (Mary McLaren), an innocent shopgirl, is invited to a party by some fast friends. At the party, she has one beer -- her first -- and stumbles out into the street. She runs afoul of a detective who arrests her for being drunk and soliciting, and she is sent to jail for ten days. While she is locked up, her mother (Gertrude Claire) dies of the disgrace, and when she is released, her employers won't have her back, claiming that she might "contaminate" the other girls. Alone, broke, and scorned by everyone around her, she makes her way to a park and rests on a bench, waiting for some available man to come along. One does (Robert Anderson), and although he has lost faith in womanhood, Stella's basic goodness brings it back. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Roma (Edith Roberts) is a girl with too much energy and time on her hands. She becomes bored living with her staid aunt Henrietta (Blanche Gray) and decides to dress up as a Gypsy and head for the open road. Somehow, this open road lands her in New York, where she is promptly arrested because she is suspected of being a pickpocket. But an old lady, Mrs. Roberts (Molly McConnell), has taken pity on her, and takes her home. There, Roma meets Mrs. Roberts' son John (Harry Hilliard), and a romantic spark lights between them. However, Roma finds the Roberts as dull as her aunt, so she refuses to marry John. But John, understanding the problem, confides to Roma that he, too, leads a double life. Then he hires a group of thugs to play gypsies and plants them in an old house. He takes Roma there -- and they are raided by the police because the thugs had recently robbed a bank. John manages to extricate himself from this bit of trouble, and Roma decides he is the man for her after all. Since it turns out that Mrs. Roberts and Aunt Henrietta are friends, both families give their blessings. This comedy was a miss for director Tod Browning and star Edith Roberts, primarily because of the gross overacting of Roberts. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The first film to be produced at Metro's California studios, Tod Browning's The Legion of Death was a rather muddled fictional account of a genuine "women's battalion" fighting the Hun on behalf of Kerensky and his Allied Commission. Edith Storey starred as Princess Marya, an American-educated Russian noblewoman taking a stand against the widespread dissatisfaction among the Russian troops, many of whom had fallen prey to German bribery. Organizing her battalion of women, Marya is send into the trenches by Kerensky (H. L. Swisher), where the battalion is almost wiped out by the enemy. Our heroine, however, is saved in the nick of time by the arrival of American volunteers in general and handsome Captain Rodney Willard (Philo McCullough) in particular. Interestingly, The Legion of Death was released in March of 1918, six months prior to the real-life arrival of American troops in Murmansk. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Eyes of Mystery was one of the first full-blooded melodramas directed by Tod Browning, who soon became an acknowledged master of the genre. Based on a short story by Roy Octavus Cohen and John U. Geisy, the film was a classic "old dark house" affair, replete with hidden stairways, sliding panels and portraits with eye-holes. Happily living with her Uncle Quincy (Frank Andrews), Carma Carmichael (Edith Storey) has no desire to return to her abusive father Roger (Harry S. Northrup). Alas, Roger insists that Carma come back to him, and the stress proves too much for Quincy, who dies of an apparent heart attack. Fortunately, Roger gets his comeuppance when he comes into possession of Quincy's supposedly "haunted" Southern mansion, where he gets the scare of his life at the hands of -- who? The trick ending in Eyes of Mystery was later emulated in Tod Browning's 1927 Lon Chaney vehicle London After Midnight and its 1935 remake Mark of the Vampire (also directed by Browning). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Priscilla Dean vehicle began filming under the direction of Harry A. Pollard, but halfway through the shooting schedule Pollard fell ill and was replaced by Tod Browning, who received sole directorial credit. Having lost his fortune, Jimmy Nevins (Eddie Sutherland) is forced to join a gang of jewel thieves, headed by Mary Butler (Priscilla Dean. He ends up unwillingly cooperating in a robbery at the home of his ex-fiancee Doris Standish (Ella Hall). The hold-up takes place during Doris' wedding to a man she does not love. Spotting Jimmy, she begs him to help her escape her matrimonial fate. The crooks promptly nab Doris and hold her for ransom, whereupon Mary Butler, who has grown fond of Jimmy, abruptly changes her spots and helps our hero rescue the girl. Based on a magazine story by Evelyn Campbell, Which Woman? was remade in 1923 as Nobody's Bride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Tod Browning had only recently been promoted to directing his own features, he was able to make the most of the thin script that formed the basis for this adventure. It was based on a bit of Irish folklore about a Robin Hood-like character who stole from the rich and gave to the poor -- only here, the robber is a woman. A cold-hearted and avaricious old landowner (Sam J. Ryan) brings misery to his tenants. Peggy (Mabel Taliaferro) is enraged over his behavior, and to help out the tenants, she disguises herself as a highwayman and robs the wealthy. Her deeds become notorious and her sweetheart, Captain Dacey (Thomas J. Carrigan), is ordered to make a capture. But the plot thickens when the landowner is murdered and Dacey's gun is found by his side. Peggy dresses up as the highwayman once again to solve the killing, and is able to scare the old man's nephew (Nathan Sack) into admitting to the crime. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This love story is based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, the singer who regained his wife Eurydice from the land of the dead but lost her for good when he gazed back at her before she'd left the underworld. In this version, Orpheus is still a musician and a Greek: a flute-player (and steelworker) named Philip (Wilfred Lucas); his Eurydice is the French waitress Toinette (Carmel Myers). However, unlike the Greek original -- or the two celebrated 1950s renditions, Jean Cocteau's Orpheus and Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus -- this time the lovers overcome their separation and are happily reunited. Note the co-directing credit given actor Wilfred Lucas: Film historians today believe the citation reflects a contractual obligation rather than Lucas's actual role in making the film. Note also supporting actress Alice Rae who also performed as Alice Wilson (her real name, after her first marriage): In 1917 she married director Tod Browning; they stayed together until her death in 1944. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Former train robber Al Jennings wrote the story to this western adventure which, not surprisingly, opens with a train robbery. The railroad's president, John Houston (Wilfred Lucas), is on board with his daughter Marjorie (Colleen Moore) and his fiance Elinor (Beatrice Van). Marjorie is oblivious to the danger and believes the hold-up to be exciting and romantic. It becomes even more romantic when she encounters Dan Tracy (Monte Blue), the leader of the bandits. Instead of taking Marjorie's valuables, he exchanges rings with her. Later on, the young pair meets up again at a posh hotel. Houston meets the young man and mistakenly believes that he is his son. He tries to help Dan lead a straight life, but Dan is not particularly interested and the naive Marjorie plots to run away with him. They do so, just when Houston finds out that Dan is the son of his former wife and another man. So Houston has no compunction about shooting Dan dead when he finds him assaulting his daughter in a hidden bandit's shack. This was the third and final film that future flapper Colleen Moore made for Triangle, the film company that originally brought her out to Hollywood. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide