B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason Movies

Based on Peter B. Kyne's Tidy Toreador, this fairly outrageous Western romp featured Universal's lackadaisical cowboy Hoot Gibson as Billy Halen, foreman of "Pop" Tully's (Otis Harlan) Peaceful Valley Ranch. Suffering a bad case of poison ivy, Billy finds not only relief but an improved appearance in mud collected from a nearby marsh. Jasper Thornby (Frank Beal) hears of the miracle mud, which also promises to improve the appearance of the wearer, and attempts to buy Tully's ranch. The old man declines, and Jasper instead purchases the mortgage, ordering Pop to pay or get out. A plan by Thornby's secretary (Edward Coxen) to kidnap Billy fails, and the cowpoke-turned-entrepreneur instead sells his patent medicine to a rival druggist, thus earning enough money to save Pop Tully's ranch. Appearing as the villain's innocent ward is Sally Rand, the future "fan dancer." A WAMPAS Baby Star of 1927, Rand had enjoyed little success in films when she discovered her lucrative second career during the 1932 Chicago World's Fair. The rest, as they say, is show business history. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Popular silent Western star Fred Thomson was known for the wholesomeness of his pictures. Here, a little boy plays a far more important role than supposed co-star Bess Flowers (and in any case, they both play second fiddle to Thomson's majestic horse, Silver King). Fred Saunders (Thomson) is known as Lone Hand because he only uses his left hand. For a mysterious reason, his right hand is always kept in his pocket and most people assume it is useless. Two outlaws decide to make use of Saunders' peculiarity and they frame him for a series of stage coach robberies they have perpetrated -- one of them uses only his left hand, just like Saunders. An orphanage burns down and Saunders rescues Buddy (Billy Butts), a crippled boy, and soon he has outfitted him in little Western togs and given him a burro. As the townsfolk come to believe that Saunders is robbing stagecoaches, he reveals the reason he never uses his right hand to Buddy -- he is really a surgeon of note, and when his sister died before he was able to operate on her, he decided never to use his right hand again. He breaks his vow to operate on Buddy and repair his leg, and with the help of Silver King and Alice Mills (Flowers), he eludes the posse so he can perform the delicate procedure. Once he has taken care of Buddy, Saunders tracks down the real robbers and forces them to confess. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Coast Patrol was a threadbare silent 5-reeler starring Kenneth MacDonald as an officer in the titular patrol. Nothing much happens really, except for a few misunderstandings, fistfights and boat chases. The film was, from all reports, well photographed; too bad there wasn't anything truly worth photographing. Spottiswoode Aitken, once one of the stalwarts of D.W. Griffith's stock company, is wasted in a minor role. If Coast Patrol has any distinction, it is that it served as one of the first leading-lady assignments for the very young Fay Wray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Fairbanks (no relation to Douglas) stars in this low-budget prizefight melodrama. An aspiring boxer, blacksmith Bob Nichols (Fairbanks) gets his big chance when local champ Knockout Riley (Frank S. Hagney) injures his hand just before a big bout. Nichols takes Knockout's place in the ring, where he finds that his opponent is definitely no pushover. It looks bad for our hero, but with luck and perseverance -- not to mention some sidelines encouragement from his sweetheart Polly (Edith Roberts) -- he emerges triumphant. The film's biggest selling angle is the prizefight finale, expertly staged by actionmeister B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The advertising tag "four years in the making" is usually so much press-agent puffery. In the case of the 1926 silent version of Ben Hur, it was the unvarnished truth--and the filmmakers had the scars to prove it. The story behind the film is now part of Hollywood folklore: the cast and production crew changes (star George Walsh summarily dumped in favor of Roman Novarro, director Charles J. Brabin replaced by Fred Niblo, writer-supervisor June Mathis-who'd spearheaded the project in the first place-abruptly fired); the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the troublesome location shooting in Italy--money that was lost when most of the footage proved unusable; the extra expenditure of refilming in Hollywood; and the huge chunk of the film's profits eaten up by the 50% royalty deal set up with theatrical producers Klaw and Erlanger, who controlled the rights to General Lew Wallace's novel. The end result reflected the turbulent production conditions: Ben Hur is an extraordinarily uneven experience, with moments of cinematic brilliance and pulse-pounding thrills alternating with long stretches of stagey boredom. The film follows the original Wallace story to the letter: Judah Ben-Hur (Novarro), a wealthy Jew living under the reign of the Caesars, is betrayed by his best friend, ambitious Roman centurion Messala (Francis X. Bushman). Ben-Hur's family is sent to prison, while he himself is condemned to the galleys. During a violent sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of galleon commander Quintus Arrius (Frank Currier). The grateful commander adopts Ben-Hur as his son and bankrolls his desire to become a champion charioteer. Thirsting for revenge, Ben-Hur agrees to race against his old nemesis Messala. The latter is fatally injured during the race; with his dying breath, Messala reveals that Ben-Hur's family, previously reported dead, are actually alive--but living as lepers. The story is subtitled A Tale of the Christ because, at various junctures in his life, Ben-Hur has been touched by the hand of Jesus. Ben-Hur must totally embrace Christ's edict of love and forgiveness before he can be reunited with his family. As Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem, Ben-Hur's mother (Claire McDowell) and sister (Kathleen Key), having also embraced the Christian philosophy, are miraculously cured of their leprosy. Most of these plot elements, together with the romance between Ben-Hur and the lovely Esther (May McAvoy), reappeared in the 1959 remake of Ben-Hur--which, fortunately, did not include the ridiculous subplot involving the alluring Iras (Carmel Myers), who attempts to seduce Ben-Hur just before the big race. The film's highlights--the sea battle, the now-legendary chariot race--were produced on a far grander scale than in the 1959 version; unfortunately, both highlights took place in the first half of the picture, leaving the viewers with a rather dreary, drawn out denouement (the remake wisely placed the sea battle in part one, and the race in part two). The Technicolor Nativity sequences were condemned in 1926 as being in poor taste, but when seen today are beautifully handled and restful on the eye (oddly, no one complained about the nude female revellers during a later Technicolor pageant scene!) Ben Hur cost $4 million and grossed $9 million on its first release. The aforementioned royalty arrangement left MGM with only a $1 million take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eva Novak and William Fairbanks co-star in this bucolic melodrama set in the Bluegrass State. A young Kentucky woman rides a horse to victory in the big race after the regular jockey is the victim of foul play. Lloyd Whitlock, Lydia Knott, Meta Sterling, and Max Asher also appear. Asher provided comedy relief that may be deemed politically incorrect at the approach of the 21st century. Southern audiences of the time found the portrayals of blacks having too much freedom questionable if not objectionable. Sixty years after the Civil War, many Southerners were still bitter over the Confederate defeat and continued to target blacks as the reasons for their social and economic troubles. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This independently produced silent western introduced former Miller Ranch rodeo cowboy Bob Custer to the screen. Custer remained decidedly also-ran, but his westerns for independent producer Jesse J. Goldburg were well-made and popular with neighborhood theaters. Custer stars this time as Texas Ranger Steele who goes undercover as an outlaw in order to infiltrate a gang led by the notorious masked bandit, Black Hawk. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Released in 12 chapters, two reels each, this Universal serial starred the veteran William Desmond as Phineas Fogg III, the equally enterprising grandson of Jules Verne's famous circumnavigator. Veteran character player Alfred Hollingsworth played Phineas Fogg II. A child of the industrial age, the younger Fogg pledges to circle the globe in no less than 18 days in an effort to consolidate a company producing synthetic fuel. But while Phineas III endeavors to use the groundbreaking fuel for the benefit of all mankind, a nasty vice president (Wade Boteler) attempts to steal the invention for his own nefarious purposes. Chased by the villain around the globe, Phineas is aided in his quest by lovely Laura La Plante, a rising Universal ingénue with a bright future in light comedy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Western star Buck Jones is a foreman who catches a gang of cattle rustlers in this standard silent oater. Steel Brannon (Jones) is engaged to ranch owner Betty Lawson (Helen Ferguson). A visitor from the East, Josephine Hamilton (Ruth Renick), foolishly falls for Les Artwell (Jack Rollins), who is a member of "Satan" Latimer's (Maurice B. Flynn) outlaw gang. Latimer kidnaps Josephine, but Brannon and Betty are hot on the trail. A furious fight ensues in which the outlaw is thrown off a cliff into the river below. Betty, who was afraid that her foreman had fallen for her vampish friend, is reassured in the obligatory happy ending. The only unusual aspect of this very average Jones western is the appearance of Maurice "Lefty" Flynn, later a western star in his own right, as the villain. Leading lady Ferguson retired from acting at the changeover to sound and later became a powerful Hollywood publicist. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Working undercover as ranch hands, U.S. marshal Franklyn Farnum (no relation to Western stars William and Dustin Farnum) and his Chinese ally (played by British actor Andrew Waldron) infiltrate a gang terrorizing a pretty ranch owner. This obscure silent Western was directed by genre specialist B. Reeves Eason for independent producer Phil Goldstone. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Jonathan Meek (Jack Perrin) is the new minister in the straight-laced New England hamlet of Pleasanton. The circus has come to town and the congregation is insisting that Meek prepare a sermon protesting the pink tights worn by tightrope walker Mazie Darnton (Gladys Walton) right when she parachutes onto his roof. He quickly hides her and manages to avoid a scandal. When a fire breaks out at the church and Mazie rescues a little boy from a burning tower, she goes from being a pariah to a hero. One would think that Mazie and the reverend would end the picture in the requisite clinch, but instead she returns to her old sweetheart. This Universal picture was made while Irving Thalberg was there; originally he wanted to cast an unknown actress named Norma Shearer in the role of Mazie. She didn't get the part, but years later she became a star under Thalberg when they were both working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She also became his wife. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

An above-average silent western starring Harry Carey, Human Stuff centers on the ubiquitous feud between sheep herders and cattlemen. An Eastern boy (Carey) is shipped West to tend the family's sheep ranch. Carey's presence angers the neighboring cattle ranchers, whose leader (Charles LeMoyne) resorts to kidnapping to get his point across. Portraying Carey's millionaire father, German-born character actor Rudolph Christians made a rare western appearance in this film, one of the corpulent star's last. Christians died suddenly of a heart attack during the filming of Erich Von Stroheim's Foolish Wives (1921), and his remaining scenes were filmed with Robert Edeson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide