Joseph de Grasse Movies
Filmmaker Joseph de Grasse was a director of silent actioners and melodramas. He was born in Canada and is the older brother of Sam De Grasse. Before his acting debut in 1910 de Grasse had been a journalist and theatrical thespian. He turned to directing in the teens, and after the mid 1920s he began acting again for a time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1926
Mary Carr is once more cast as a saintly matriarch in The Hidden Way. This time she plays the sweet, grey-haired mother of Mary (Gloria Grey), a wide-eyed young innocent who brings three hoboes home for a nice dinner. What Mary doesn't know is that two of her new "friends," Bill (Tom Santschi) and Mulligan (Ned Sparks), are ex-convicts. Under the influence of Mary's mom, Bill decides to "go straight," as does the third hobo, handsome Harry (Arthur Rankin), who has fallen in love with Mary. Discovering an artesian well on Mary's property, Bill and Harry decide to turn the house into the headquarters for a pure-spring-water company. Once the two ex-bums have accumulated a tidy nest egg on behalf of Mary, Mulligan reveals his true colors by stealing the money and heading for the border. But Mulligan's two former partners capture the thief before he gets very far, paving the way for a happy -- and financially lucrative -- ending for Mary and her Mom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Carr, Gloria Grey, (more)
- 1924
Because of the recent Tea Pot Dome scandal, oil fields were a big topic of discussion in early 1924. Even though this melodrama concerned a scandal of a different sort, its setting in the Texas oil lands gave it a timely feel. Unfairly given a dishonorable discharge from the army, Calvin Gray (Milton Sills) lands in Dallas, where he manages to win the trust of a jeweler and is able to sell a number of diamonds to the nouveau riche Briskows (Bert Woodruff and Josephine Crowell). He makes friends with the family, who have made their fortune in oil, and rescues their son, Buddy (John Roche), from the clutches of an adventuress known as the Suicide Blonde (Cissy Fitzgerald). The Briskows, in turn, help him prove false the charges that caused his dismissal from the army. Although Gray was involved with Barbara Parker (Alice Calhoun), when Allie, the Briskow daughter (Anna Q. Nilsson), saves him from a flood of burning oil, he discovers that he really loves her. Meanwhile, Buddy wins Barbara as his sweetheart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Q. Nilsson, Milton Sills, (more)
- 1923
Charles Ray returns to playing a bashful rural boy in this character study, loosely based on the James Whitcomb Riley poem. He's John Middleton, who protests furiously when his mother (Edythe Chapman) tells him that she has adopted an orphan girl. But John grows to love Mary (Patsy Ruth Miller) -- in fact, he falls in love with her. On their way home from a dance, he proposes but she turns him down, explaining that she is already engaged to his rival, Willie Brown (Ramsey Wallace). The startled John loses control of the horses and is thrown out of the carriage. While going through a semi-conscious dream state, he has a pair of visions. In the first he embraces Mary so violently that he kills her. In the second, he shoots Willie and then himself. He awakens from these nightmares determined to overcome these inner demons. Although broken-hearted, he stays out of Mary and Willie's romance. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Ray, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1923
Owen Moore has an unlikely dual role in this melodrama. Robert Wells (Moore) is an American born in China who, unbeknownst to him, has an Oriental half-brother (also Moore). Wells' uncle sends him to help Ray Williams (Robert McKim) build bridges in China. Williams is in league with Chinese reactionaries and he discredits Wells by turning him into a drug addict. Wells eventually becomes an outcast and is in a stupor when he is found by his half-brother, Kong Sue, the son of the Lord of Thundergate, a powerful Mandarin reactionary (Tully Marshall). Kong Sue has run off with some money, and he changes clothes with lookalike Wells so he can more effectively disappear. So Wells wakes up to find himself the son of the Lord of Thundergate. He is finally able to expose Williams and his nefarious plot and, along the way, meets Ellen Ainsmith (Virginia Brown Faire), a white girl who has been raised as a Chinese. He saves her from a forced marriage to the Lord of Thundergate, wins her heart and recovers from his addiction. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Owen Moore, Sylvia Breamer, (more)
- 1922
Although $Charles Ray doesn't play one of his country boy roles in his first picture for United Artists, John Paul Bart could be considered the city cousin -- he's a poor pants presser who believes that clothes really can make the man and sets out to prove it. He "borrows" a dress suit from the tailor shop where he works and crashes a fancy reception. Even though he risks making a fool of himself, Bart draws the attention of Abraham Nathan, the president of a steamship company (Stanton Heck). Nathan invites Bart on a cruise, and he is able to show off his real talents as a mediator when labor unrest occurs. Nathan is impressed and gives him an important job in his firm. Bart continues his romance with Tanya Huber (Ethel Grandin), his sweetheart from the tailor's shop, but he has a rival in one of the labor leaders. The worker exposes him as a former clothes presser and the humiliated Bart goes back to the tailor's shop. Nathan, however, doesn't care about Bart's past and tracks him down. Bart is back where he really belongs, and he and Tanya become engaged. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Ray, Thomas Ricketts, (more)
- 1921
With the onslaught of the Roaring Twenties, there was a backlash instigated by people who were nostalgic for simpler times. This attitude could very well be summed up in the James Whitcomb Riley poem on which this Charles Ray vehicle was based. There isn't a title card to be had in the whole picture -- but none are needed, since there's really no plot. It's all just Ray doing what he did best -- acting the part of a bare-footed Indiana boy. Ezra (Ray) is the prototypical rural youth -- he's frequently late for school and would just as soon skip it altogether in favor of fishing at the "old swimmin' hole" with his pals. He proves his manliness by puffing on a pipe filled with corn silk -- and gets ill for his efforts. Ezra and a fat boy named Skinny (Lincoln Stedman) are rivals for Myrtle (Laura LaPlante, in one of her first notable roles). Myrtle favors Skinny, which results in various battles between the two boys. When the farmers' picnic comes around, Ezra gets Myrtle to accompany him in a boat ride, but she dumps him in the water and goes off with Skinny. Ezra, however, still manages to find romance with the kindly Esther (Marjorie Prevost), who has loved him from afar. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Ray, James Gordon, (more)
- 1920
Charles Ray was almost 30 when he played 19-year-old Andy Cavanaugh, a love-struck country boy. That alone goes a long way to explain why Ray eventually grew weary of playing the young rural characters that were so popular with his fans. Nevertheless, he portrayed them very well, and he pulls off this weak story almost single-handedly. Andy works as a clerk in a store and the object of his affections is Phyllis Laurin (Clara Horton), the daughter of the local judge (Frank Norcross). Andy's rival is the son of his wealthy boss. Along with lots of money, the rival has a car; all Andy has is his talent for dancing and his utter devotion to Phyllis. Devotion wins out, and Phyllis accepts his proposal. At the jewelry store, she picks out a 500 dollar ring. Poor Andy makes but 18 dollars a week, but he puts down a deposit anyway, hoping that he'll figure out a way to come up with the rest. As fate would have it, there is a bandit terrorizing the town and a 1,000 dollar reward has been offered for his capture. On the night that Andy's father (George Nichols) tries to prevent him from attending a dance, he sneaks out the window and falls right on top of the bandit. Andy drags the bandit to the dance and is hailed as a hero. He discovers that the rival has paid cash for the ring Phyllis wanted, but he ties him up and takes it back. Not only has Andy won Phyllis and the reward, he has earned his manhood. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Ray
- 1919
The Wildcat of Paris is Colette (Priscilla Dean), the sweetheart of a criminal gangleader. Colette and her lover break into the home of a famous sculptor, hoping to steal a statue worth 20,000 francs. The sculptor catches them in the act, and though the gang boss escapes, Colette does not and is kept prisoner by the would-be victim. Looking her over from head to foot, the sculptor slyly promises not to turn Colette over to the cops if she will agree to pose for him in the nude. By and by, Colette falls in love with her gentle captor, whereupon her fellow gang members decide that she must be eliminated. But by this time, our heroine has been "inspired" by the story of Joan of Arc as related to her by her sculptor lover, and she single-handedly fights off her attackers. Her devotion to the memory of Saint Joan continues to serve Colette well when the Germans try to invade Paris in the waning days of WWI. The climax finds "avenging angel" Colette leading the Parisian peasants in a counteroffensive against the hateful Huns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Young country nurse Helen Armes (Dorothy Dalton) arrives in New York City to visit a friend and her husband. They go out for a New Year's Eve celebration, accompanied by a young profligate. When they arrive at the cabaret, the wastrel's brother is there, and seeing how innocent Helen is, insists that she is taken home. But at the hotel, this bad seed tries, unsuccessfully, to force himself on her then later tells his brother the girl was the one who made a pass. The brothers quarrel and the good one is temporarily blinded. His nurse is none other than Helen, but she uses a different name so he won't know that the woman caring for him was the type to go cabaret-hopping. When she discovers the bad brother trying to steal from her patient, she convinces him to do something decent and enlist. As a result, he goes to France, where he is killed in action. The good brother falls in love with Helen and proposes marriage, but when he regains his sight he finds out who she really is and leaves her because he believes his dead brother's story. But the brother's ghost visits him and clears her name, so they are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Film star Dorothy Phillips courageously tackled one of the most complex roles ever written when she starred in this 1917 adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Doll's House. That Phillips was not quite up to the challenge was readily apparent to the critics, but fans of the actress were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Retaining all the cynicism and bleakness of the stage original, the film charts the progress of the long-suffering Nora Helvsted (Phillips) as she matures from "trophy wife" to Her Own Woman. The film's highlight, like the play, was the climax, when Nora literally and symbolically slams the door on her dunderheaded, patronizing husband Torvald (William Stowell). The film's best performance was delivered by Lon Chaney Sr. as the blackmailing Nils Krogstad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Some critics took Franklin Farnum to task for too closely emulating his screen "role model" Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in The Fighting Grin. Others merely followed the audience's lead by sitting back and enjoying the show. Described as "a western love story," the film cast Farnum as Billy Kennedy, the son of wealthy rancher Otis Kennedy (Charles Hill Mailes). For many, many years, the elder Kennedy has waged a range war against his friend-turned-enemy Amos Meredith (Fred Montague). The animosity between the two ranchers intensifies when Billy falls in love with Meredith's daughter Janice (Edith Johnson). When the young lovers announce their plans to marry, Billy is kidnapped by his own father to prevent such an eventuality. To escape his dad's minions, our hero is compelled to disguise himself as a notorious bandit -- and the plot really takes off from there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Bookish Richard (Franklyn Farnum) is in love with Helen (Juanita Hansen), who spurns him because he's not "manly" enough to suit her tastes. Conversely, Richard can't stand the Countess Wintershim (Catherine Henry), who's just ga-ga over him. Hoping to escape the Countess, Richard pretends to have drowned. Meanwhile, Helen has fallen for Spike, a boxing champion who happens to be Richard's exact double (Farnum plays both roles). With Spike's help, Richard wins Helen's hand and heart, but not before a wild-and-woolly seance sequence in which the "deceased" hero seemingly returns from the Great Beyond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Having been misinformed that all French girls are morally suspect, American soldier David Kendall (Edwin August) is in for quite a shock when he's shipped Over There. After meeting several "nice" Frenchwomen, David returns to the states with a whole new perspective on things. It isn't long before he falls in love with Nenette (Carmel Myers), the daughter of French-born restaurateur Armande Bisson (Andrew Robson). But when Nenette is implicated in a murder, the disillusioned David instantly repudiates her -- and by extension, all Daughters of France. By film's end, however, David learns the folly of sweeping generalizations. If a print could be found of Broadway Scandal, chances are that supporting player Lon Chaney Sr., here cast as gangster "Kink" Colby, would emerge as the picture's best actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
After WWI, opera singer Gerve (Grace Cunard) meets a member of the German army, Karl Wetz (Herbert Prior) and his wife, Vyera (Dora Rogers), in Paris. Vyera senses that something is going on between Gerve and her husband, but she can't quite figure it out. Gerve's sweetheart, Phillippe (Edward Cecil), also wonders what is going on, but Gerve comes clean with him. When the war was going on, Phillippe had fallen into the hands of the Germans and Gerve had sacrificed herself to Wetz in order to save his life. The result was a child, and now Wetz wants to renew his affair with Gerve. This painful situation is finally relieved when the jealous Mrs. Wetz angrily kills her husband. With Wetz gone, Phillippe and Gerve are able to pursue their love in peace. The Great War (otherwise known as WWI) had only been over for a couple of months when this drama was released, so Universal must have pumped it out pretty quickly. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
The Winged Mystery was supposed to have been taken seriously, but audiences and critics alike regarded the film as a laugh riot. Most of the story takes place in a grim country mansion, which serves as an "airstrip" for a collection of carrier pigeons. Each time one of the pigeons takes flight, its course is charted by a flashlight, wielded by a sinister Man of Mystery. Hero Franklin Farnum, attending a weekend party held at the mansion, tries to figure out the purpose behind all this aviary traffic. A few explosions and fistfights later, the mystery is solved. The highlight of The Winged Mystery was a knock-down, drag-out fight between the heroine and a slinky villainess; it wasn't much of highlight, true, but it was better than nothing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
New York man-about-town Theodore Crosby (Franklin Farnum) inherits a western ranch, but only on condition that he spend six months living on the premises. Taking to the Wild Frontier like a fish to water, Crosby immediately adopts western clothes and manners, which makes him something of a laughing stock. Everyone stops laughing, however, when our hero rescues the fetching Dorothy Stuart (Marjory Lawrence) from the clutches of local bad guy "Horned Toad" Smith (Raymond Wells). One of the best of the many Douglas Fairbanks Sr. wannabes, Franklin Farnum became even more popular when he developed his own screen style. The 1925 comedy Anything Once was not a remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Roger Curwell (William Stowell) is disowned by his father (Joseph W. Girard) because of his desire to be an artist. But instead of making good as a painter, Roger finds himself drunk and on the skids in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. At a dive run by Hell Morgan (Alfred Allen), he meets Lola (Dorothy Phillips), who nurses him back to physical and moral health. Slater Noble (Lon Chaney, who made a great villain even in the days before his horrific makeup jobs) wants Lola too, and separates the lovers. Meanwhile, Roger's father dies and he inherits his fortune. An old "friend" comes back into his life with designs on the money, but Lola stops the game. As all of this comes to a head, however, the 1906 San Franciso earthquake intervenes. Roger and Lola are separated, but finally he finds her in a tent on a hill. Hell Morgan and Slater's two lieutenants have been killed, so nothing is left that can keep the couple apart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Triumph was adapted from a story by Samuel Hopkins Adams, originally serialized in the pages of Collier's magazine. Arriving in New York in hopes of becoming an actress, country girl Nell Baxter (Dorothy Phillips) immediately catches the eye of rapacious theater manager Paul Nelhoff (Lon Chaney Sr.). The manager casts Nell as the leading lady of his latest production, with the implicit understanding that she will repay him for his kindnesses in the boudoir. But upon discovering that Nell intends to retain her virtue, Nelhoff spitefully threatens to close the show. The girl rushes to Nelhoff's apartment, hoping to persuade him to change his mind. When he refuses unless she agrees to sleep with him, she stabs him to death then escapes to the home of her true love, playwright Dudley Weyman (William Stowell. Nell confesses her crime to Dudley, who advises her to go on stage that night as if nothing had happened. After she leaves, Dudley writes a letter to the police taking responsibility for Nelhoff's killing then commits suicide. During Act Two of the play, Nell learns of Dudley's sacrifice. Thus it is that in the emotional final scene of the play, in which her character kills herself, Nell uses a real dagger to take her own life. The mood is abruptly shattered when it is revealed that the whole film has been a horrible dream, experienced by Nell while waiting for the New York-bound train. Scared witless by her nightmare, Nell decides not to become an actress and hightails it back to the arms of her childhood sweetheart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
After several years of lending support to "bigger" Universal contract players, Lon Chaney Sr. was at last afforded star billing in Pay Me. Typically, however, Chaney's character, shiftless wanderer Joe Lawson, was secondary to the film's "official" star, Dorothy Phillips. The story concentrates on Marta (Phillips), the daughter of faded dance-hall girl Nita (Claire Du Brey). Utterly ignorant of her mother's previous occupation, Marta is confronted by a man who claims to be her father and insists on being paid a huge sum of "hush money." The outcome of the film is contingent upon the re-awakening of the blackmailer's sense of decency and honor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
In the Dark Ages of the silent era, when female movie characters were expecting, their pregnancies never, ever showed -- the baby just miraculously appeared one day. While this seems ludicrous now, somehow audiences of the day were able to suspend disbelief, which is why they didn't laugh at this domestic drama. Ralph Hadley (William Stowell) has divorced Jessica (Maud George) and married Amy (Dorothy Phillips), but he still has financial ties to his first wife through their joint ownership of some stocks. While discussing these certificates, Hadley and Jessica renew their love. The gossip gets back to Amy, who is pregnant. Instead of telling her husband, she goes to Jessica with the news. Jessica is conscience-ridden and decides to marry her old flame, Billy Kilmartin (Lon Chaney, before fame and makeup). When Hadley learns of their wedding, he is beside himself with grief. He goes home to commit suicide only to be told he has become a father. He then resolves to be a real husband to Amy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Playboy Franklyn Farnum inherits a Western ranch on the condition that he shall run it properly for 6 months. A villain (none other than Lon Chaney) makes an attempt to distract him from reaching the goal, but Farnum, no longer the wastrel of yore, persists and becomes full owner of the property. Despite a strong supporting cast -- including veteran vamp Claire Du Brey, the always menacing Sam De Grasse and, of course, Chaney -- Anything Once was deemed only fair entertainment by most reviewers. The rough-hewn Farnum, despite hailing from Boston, was decidedly miscast as a socialite. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franklin Farnum, Claire Du Brey, (more)
- 1917
Dorothy Phillips has a dual role in this picture, as pickpocket "Flash" Fan, and her sister, innocent shopgirl Mary Graham. The two live next door to each other in a boarding house, and when Mary collapses from starvation, Fan gives her a checkered coat. Unfortunately, the police have identified Fan as "the girl in the checkered coat," and they arrest Mary. However, they discover they have the wrong girl and let her go. Mary finds work with Mrs. Maitland (Mrs. A.E. Witting) and love with David Norman (William Stowell). But Mrs. Maitland's nephew Hector (Lon Chaney) wants to steal her valuables and gets Fan to help him out. The pair are foiled, which only serves to bring Mary and David closer together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1917
This drama was based on the then-popular novel by Richard Hardin Davis. Billy Winthrop (Franklyn Farnum) is the idle son of Samuel Winthrop (Al Filson). When Billy discovers that it's destroying his father financially to constantly get him out of trouble, he straightens up. Although Billy loves Beatrice Forbes (Edith Johnson), she is already engaged to marry Ernest Peabody (Sam deGrasse), the son of banker Cyrus Peabody (Howard Crampton). Billy and Beatrice plan to elope, but it isn't as easy for them to run off together as they thought it would be. They get tangled up in situations involving forgery and murder that need to be solved before they can get married. Both Peabody father and son are revealed as the crooks. Director Joseph deGrasse was the older brother of Sam deGrasse. A pre-stardom Lon Chaney has a small but intense role as Beatrice's father, Paul Revere Forbes. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
The Grasp of Greed was a Hollywoodization of H. Rider Haggard's novel John Meeson's Will. En route to Australia, beautiful authoress Alice Gordon (Louise Lovely) is shipwrecked on a desert island in the company of wealthy book publisher John Meeson (C.N. Hammond). Sensing that his days are numbered, and lacking pencil and paper, Meeson tattoos his last will and testament on Alice's lovely back. Upon reaching civilization, the now-fully-clothed heroine finds herself pursued by all manner of fortune hunters and scurrilous villains, all of whom are anxious to grab a glimpse of her naked back. Though all of this was supposed to have been taken seriously, secondary villain Lon Chaney Sr. wisely played his character in a tongue-in-cheek manner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Louise Lovely stars in The Gilded Spider. The lovely Ms. Lovely plays a European dancing girl, driven to suicide by a callous American millionaire (Gilmore Hammond). Years later, the dancer's daughter (also played by Lovely) comes to America to seek vengeance. The girl is accompanied by her taciturn Italian father, played by Lon Chaney with a modicum of makeup. The millionaire receives his comeuppance, but the strain of the situation also proves fatal for the girl's father. There's nary a laugh in the whole 5 reels of The Gilded Spider. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
