Sol Lesser Movies
Born in a tent in Spokane, Washington, producer Sol Lesser was six weeks old when his family moved to San Francisco. Not long after the 1906 earthquake, Lesser's father got out of the candy-store business in favor of the burgeoning nickelodeon industry. Lesser followed his father's footsteps, eventually running his own theatre chain and distribution center. With the 1919 Mack Sennett feature Yankee Doodle in Berlin, Lesser went into the production end of the business; his biggest silent-era success was the Lon Chaney Sr. version of Oliver Twist (1922). In the mid '20s, Lesser forsook production for distribution again, returning to the creative end of moviemaking in 1931 when, through his friendship with writer Upton Sinclair, he became involved with the Sergei Eisenstein project Thunder over Mexico. While this film fomented a great deal of anti-Russian hostility, Lesser was able to parlay the publicity into establishing his own production company, distributing his product first through 20th Century-Fox, then United Artists. His most successful ventures of the '30s included several western series with stars like George O'Brien and Smith Ballew, as well as a group of musicals featuring boy soprano Bobby Breen. These moneymakers enabled Lesser to tackle more ambitious and less surefire movie properties like 1940's Our Town. In 1943, Lesser secured the film rights for Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan; he continued making Tarzan programmers to excellent financial returns until 1958. Sol Lesser retired that year, explaining "I had reached the age that one either finishes on top or far below. I decided I would end on top, and I was satisfied." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1922
One of the most accessible of Jackie Coogan's silent vehicles, My Boy is also one of his best and most representative. 7-year-old Coogan plays an orphaned immigrant who hides out from the immigration authorities in the shack of impoverished ex-sea captain Claude Gillingwater. At first, Gillingwater is resistant to Coogan's moppet charms, but before long they are as a close as father and son. The officials eventually catch up with Coogan, and the stage is set for a unhappy ending (even after seven decades this sequence will have you reaching for the Kleenex). Fortunately, Coogan's wealthy American grandmother decides to adopt both Jackie and lovable old Gillingwater. My Boy was "supervised" by Coogan's father, a set-up roughly comparable to the proprietary interest taken in recent years by the father of Macaulay Culkin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Coogan, Claude Gillingwater, (more)
Ostensibly a vehicle for Jackie Coogan, the 1922 Oliver Twist refuses to realign the Charles Dickens novel to accommodate the personality of its star. This Frank Lloyd-directed silent film is one of the most faithful of all cinematic adaptations of the Dickens work. The orphaned Oliver, labelled a "troublemaker" because he dares to ask for more food, is farmed out to work as an undertaker's assistant. Escaping his cruel master, Oliver falls in with a gang of pickpockets, headed by the colorful Fagin (played by Lon Chaney Sr., who steals a lot more than a few watches and wallets in the course of the picture). Kindly Mr. Brownlow (Lionel Belmore), Oliver's real grandfather, tries to help the lad, but the evil Bill Sikes (George Siegmann) complicates matters. While Jackie Coogan may seem a bit too well-fed and self-sufficient to play Oliver, he was certainly more suited to the role than the star of the 1916 filmization of Oliver Twist--actress Marie Doro! Long believed to be a lost film, Oliver Twist was painstakingly restored in the early 1970s, using bits and pieces from various foreign prints and negatives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Coogan, Lon Chaney, (more)
- 1923
Pop quiz: When was the Hollywood film Drug Traffic produced? 1968? 1985? Try 1923! This exploitationer details the degradation of a drug-addicted doctor. He goes to prison, escapes, burgles his own hospital to attain narcotics. Then he Sees The Light. An unexpected tragic ending caps this Reefer Madness precursor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Tennant, Gladys Brockwell, (more)
- 1923
Little Jackie Coogan, the most popular child star of his generation, once again played a poor but spunky ragamuffin in this lachrymose silent drama from independent producer Sol Lesser. Believing her husband to be unfaithful, Helene Savelli (Josie Sedgwick) takes her little son Jackie (Coogan) to live on the Holden farm. Helene dies shortly thereafter and Jackie runs away from home when the Holdens (Bert Woodruff and Anna Townsend) are forced into the poorhouse. In the Big City, Jackie befriends Gallo (Cesare Gravina), a sidewalk musician who just happens to be the former teacher of world famous violinist Paul Savelli (Arthur Edmund Carewe), Jackie's long-lost father. Before he dies, Gallo manages not only to reunite father and son but restore the farm to the kindhearted Holdens. A family affair, Daddy was "A Jackie Coogan Production," "personally supervised by Jack Coogan" and written by "Mrs. And Mrs. Jack Coogan." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Coogan, Arthur Edmund Carewe, (more)
- 1924
Lighthouse keeper Jeremiah Judkins (Hobart Bosworth) rescues a little girl (Baby Peggy) from a storm. The girl, called Captain January, unabashedly adores her adopted father and loves her life at the lighthouse. Judkins prevents the villagers from taking her away from him, but he can't stop her aunt, Isabelle Morton (Irene Rich). Isabelle shows up one night when a vessel she is on becomes grounded. She makes her way over to the lighthouse and recognizes the little girl as the daughter of her dead sister. Captain January goes to live at the Morton's lavish home, but she longs for Judkins and her old life. She is able to sneak off and see him, and the Mortons realize that she and Judkins should be together. They make room for Judkins in their home, and the little girl is happy. This film was remade in 1936 as a vehicle for Shirley Temple. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Baby Peggy, Hobart Bosworth, (more)
- 1924
This epic Western-melodrama was based on the popular novel by Harold Bell Wright. Two old prospectors, Thad Grove (Charlie Murray) and Bob Hill (Bert Woodruff) find an infant in the cabin belonging to Sonora Jack (Mitchell Lewis), a notorious bandit. The girl, Marta, grows to womanhood (to be played by Dorothy Mackaill). Hugh Edwards (Pat O'Malley), who has been falsely accused of embezzlement, escapes to the West, where he meets Marta and they fall in love. Natachee (Robert W. Frazer), an Indian educated in White ways, rescues Marta when she rides into a storm, and Edwards saves him from bandits. The grateful Natachee shows him the mine with the iron door, which contains a wealth of gold. Sonora Jack shows up, and, angry at not being able to find the mine himself, kidnaps Marta and holds her for ransom. Edwards and Natachee hunt him down and rescue the girl. Natachee kills the bandit, and papers prove that Marta's father is the one who embezzled the funds and that he confessed before he died. Sol Lesser, who produced this film, remade it as a talkie in 1936. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1924
Husband-and-wife acting team John Bowers and Marguerite de la Motte star in this routine Western filmed on locations at Prescott, AZ. Bowers plays Lawrence Knight, the ubiquitous Eastern wastrel who leaves his debutante fiancée (de la Motte) to become a "real man," working as a lowly ranch hand in Arizona. The area, however, is suffering from a series of cattle rustlings and the newcomer is suspected of being the perpetrator. Knight clears his name in due course but loses his fiancée to another Easterner (Edward Hearn) along the way. Happily, a sweet local girl (June Marlowe) is present to comfort him. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Marguerite de la Motte, (more)
- 1924
Long before Shirley Temple, Baby Peggy Montgomery was filmdom's favorite moppet. In Helen's Babies, Montgomery plays Toddie, the niece of pretentious author Harry (Edward Everett Horton). Considering himself an expert on child-rearing, Harry finds he knows next to nothing about kids when Toddie is left in his care. Featured in the cast is "It Girl" Clara Bow, on the verge of full-blown stardom. After wearing out her welcome on screen, Montgomery grew up to become prolific author (and expert film historian) Diana Cary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Harold Bell Wright, a popular author during the silent era, was known for his sentimental and unsophisticated stories. This film, based on one of his novels, was a good representation of his written work. Brian Kent (Kenneth Harlan) regrets stealing money from a Chicago bank and decides to kill himself. He takes poison and sets off in a small boat, which goes ashore on the banks of the Missouri River. Judy, a little drudge (ZaSu Pitts), brings Kent to her mistress, who everyone calls Auntie Sue (Mary Carr). Auntie Sue is a spinster school teacher, and her kindness helps to regenerate Kent, who is going by the name Burns. He writes a novel, which Betty Jo (Helene Chadwick), a friend of Auntie Sue's, types up. A romance blossoms between Betty Jo and Kent. The jealous Judy reveals Kent's true identity to her father, who rushes to Chicago to turn him in and claim the reward. Auntie Sue beats him there, and convinces the bank president -- one of her former pupils -- not to prosecute him. The romance is complicated, however, when Kent's wife (Rosemary Theby) shows up. Mrs. Kent's boat is caught in the rapids and she drowns in spite of Kent's desperate attempts to save her. With his wife now gone, he is able to be with Betty Jo. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1930
Buck Jones' first sound western, The Lone Rider, was not a rousing success. The former Fox star had left that studio at the changeover to sound in favor of touring with a circus. The tour proved a major flop, and the show closed after playing only forty-one stands. Returning to Hollywood, Jones was essentially starting all over in the film industry and could only command a $300 salary for The Lone Rider. Stardom would return with later series entries, but at the time the actor had good reasons to be worried. The producer of Jones' comeback western was Sol Lesser whose Beverly Productions released through Columbia. Jones played The Hell's River Kid, an outlaw mistaken for a hero during a stagecoach hold-up. He becomes the leader of a vigilante group while keeping his past life a secret; until, that is, the chief outlaw (Harry Woods), begins to dig up the truth. Jones, however, heroically defeats the gang and his past is forgiven. Despite the lukewarm reception, this film was remade by Jones in 1934, as The Man Trailer, and again in 1939, as The Thundering West, a vehicle for Columbia's newest western star, Charles Starrett. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Vera Reynolds, (more)
- 1930
Still in the "Lillian Gish" phase of her career, Una Merkel plays the put-upon heroine in The Eyes of the World. The story begins with an urban romantic triangle involving handsome artist John Holland, his lover Gertrude (Fern Andra), and Gertrude's fossilized millionaire husband Brandon Hurst. Accompanying Gertrude and Hurst on a trip to the mountains, Holland falls in love with hillbilly gal Sybil (Merkel). Insanely jealous, Gertrude arranges for her wastrelly brother Hugh Huntley to seduce and abandon poor Sybil. But Holland sees through the scheme and tells Gertrude where to get off, preferring to spend the rest of his days with his sweetheart of the hills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eulalie Jensen, Hugh Huntley, (more)
- 1930
In this heart-tugging musical, a Southern boy loses his parents during the Civil War and is forcibly wrenched away from his beloved mammy and sent to New York to live with his Yankee grandma. At first the family resents the rebel upstart, but soon he charms them into loving him with his singing ability. The story is also called Rainbow on the River. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Breen, May Robson, (more)
- 1930
Returning to Gunsight, AZ, from World War II, Buck Healy (Buck Jones) finds that his younger brother Tom (Thomas Carr) has fallen in with an outlaw gang lead by Murdock (Harry Woods). The latter frames Buck in the robbery of Francisco Del Rey (Hector Sarno), a Mexican rancher whose son (Donald Reed) Buck had saved on the battlefield. Don Francisco's daughter, Juanita (Carmelita Geraghty), is kidnapped along the way, but Buck heroically affects her release and earns her love. Men Without Law was the third of eight Buck Jones Westerns produced by Sol Lesser for release by Columbia Pictures, who took over all production chores thereafter. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Harry Woods, (more)
- 1931
Every so often, western star Buck Jones got it in his head that he could play a Mexican, and never mind that his accent wouldn't have convinced a prairie dog. In The Avenger, Jones plays a man determined to track down the three men who lynched his brother. As "The Black Shadow," our hero robs the rich, gives to the poor, and romances heroine Dorothy Revier. By film's end, he has not only accomplished his various goals, but has earned a full pardon. As for Jones's overall performance, "B"-western historian Don Miller summed it up beautifully when he wrote "When Buck had to passionately proclaim Mi Amore, as he did to Dorothy Revier in The Avenger, the jig was up." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Dorothy Revier, (more)
- 1931
Buck Jones falls in love with the sister of the outlaw he has just killed in this superior B-Western from independent producer Sol Lesser. Jones plays Bob Terry, the sheriff of Red River, a town bedeviled by a series of holdups. Bob suspects that the local saloon proprietor, Flash Halloway (Robert Ellis), is behind the crimes but doesn't have enough evidence to arrest him. Instead, he corners gang member Jack Smight (Paul Fix) in a shootout, but Smight dies before he can reveal the identity of his boss. Jack's sister Mary (Loretta Sayers) arrives the very next day and Bob immediately falls in love with the pretty girl, who is unaware of her brother's criminal lifestyle. When circumstantial evidence found at yet another holdup implicates Flash, the latter tells Mary that Bob killed her brother. Angered at this betrayal, Mary agrees to marry the smooth-talking saloon owner. In retaliation, the fiery Tiana (Nena Quartero), Flash's former girlfriend, informs Bob of a scheme to steal a shipment of gold bullion and after hunting down Flash and his gang, Bob finally tells Mary the truth about her brother and they embrace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Loretta Sayers, (more)
- 1931
In this western, the leader of an outlaw band gets conned on a steamship voyage. To get revenge he holds the con man's fearless sister hostage in the mining town he calls home base. The two fall in love. Another band of desperados attacks the town. A shoot-out ensues and only the gang leader and the girl survive. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Barbara Bedford, (more)
- 1931
After unsuccessfully impersonating a Mexican in his previous The Avenger, cowboy star Buck Jones returned to form in The Texas Ranger. Jones plays the title character, who on this occasion has been assigned to bring lady bandit Carmelita Geraghty to justice. Upon learning that the heroine turned to a life of crime because she was falsely accused of murder, Jones sets about to find the real killer. Briefly posing as an outlaw, our hero infiltrates Geraghty's outlaw gang, ultimately exposing the Benedict Arnold who framed her. A few clever directorial touches aside, Texas Ranger is a traditional Jones vehicle, but that's what the fans craved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Carmelita Geraghty, (more)
- 1933
Filmed at picturesque Lake Tahoe, NV, this ultra-low-budget dog melodrama starred one of Rin-Tin-Tin's better successors, Kazan, and silent Western hero Jack Perrin, billed for unexplained reasons as "Richard Terry." The latter plays Kincaid, a Mountie coming to the aid of Judy Dean (Ruth Sullivan) and her mute friend Kickabout (Gene Toler), who are being terrorized by persons unknown because of a treasure hidden on their land. When Judy's father Seeker Dean (Lafe McKee) is murdered, Kazan) is the only one to recognize the killer, Boone Jackson (Robert Walker), a slippery stranger who masquerades as an author. Learning that the clue to the whereabouts of the treasure is to be found in the Edgar Allan Poe story The Gold Bug, Kincaid and Kickabout finally manage to convince Judy that Jackson is her enemy. The wily villain makes a quick getaway but is tracked down by Kazan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kazan the Dog, Jack Perrin, (more)
- 1933
If MGM could cast an Olympic champion it its Tarzan series, so could Sol Lesser's Principal Pictures. Thus it was that Larry "Buster" Crabbe, gold-medal winner for the 400 meter free-style swimming event in the 1932 L.A. Olympics, played the title role in Principal's 15-chapter serial Tarzan the Fearless. One of the few Tarzan epics actually based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, this one finds the Lord of the Jungle protecting pulchritudinous heroine Mary Brooks (Jacqueline Wells) from the villainous machinations of the High Priest (Mischa Auer) of Zar, God of the Jeweled Fingers. Tarzan must also avoid Jeff (Philo McCullough), a bounty hunter who has been offered a huge reward to bring the ape man to Civilization -- dead or alive! This 60-minute feature-length version of Tarzan the Fearless is mostly comprised of the first four chapters, with a rather abrupt wrap-up of several plotlines in the final two reels; another feature version, running 86 minutes, was prepared for television in 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Jacqueline Wells, (more)
- 1933
In this western, based on a Zane Grey novel, a cowboy is falsely accused of stealing cows. Fortunately, his gal stands by her man as he tries to prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
- 1934
Intrepid low-budget entrepreneur Sol Lesser attempted to recreate the popularity of the silent dog melodramas with this mix of Depression-era mise-en-scene and Grade-Z western tropes. Juvenile runaways Johnnie Diggins (Gene Toler) and Patsy Bolivar (Ruth Sullivan) meet on a freight train bound for Oregon, where the latter has an uncle. Along the way, they are rescued from a couple of lecherous hoboes (one of whom is B-Western perennial Bud Osborne) by another stowaway, Kazan, a handsome German Shepherd, whom they quickly adopt. In the small Oregon community of Wooltown, the trio uncover a scheme by local entrepreneur Dave Brownell to rustle the area's sheep. Brownell, whose own German Shepherd Champo (Prince) is spreading terror in the small community, accuses Kazan of the widespread "sheepicide" and offers a $500 reward for his capture. But aided by Dr. Elliott (Robert Manning), who has fallen in love with Patsy, Johnnie, Patsy and Kazan unmask the real culprit, Champo, whose master is apprehended by Sheriff Henry Dunkinson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Dunkinson, Henry Roquemore, (more)
- 1934
Produced at the old Mack Sennett studios by Sol Lesser's low-budget Principal Distributing Corp., this dog melodrama featured not one but two canine "stars," -- Captain and Lady. Mistreated and left to die in the desert by evil real-estate agent Joe Gilmore (Eddie Phillips), the dogs are forced to raid the local henhouses for food. Chased into the wilderness by a farmer (Bruce Mitchell), Captain later saves young lawyer John Z. Blake (Gaylord "Steve" Pendleton) from drowning in the river. Blake repays the gesture by successfully defending the dogs in a court trial. Produced solely for the juvenile trade, Fighting to Live suffered from poor photography and the miscasting of Pendleton, an actor better known for playing oafish supporting roles. Former all-American fullback Reb Russell made an inauspicious acting debut in this film, playing a mailman. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
In his first in a series of well-mounted Westerns and action melodramas for independent producer Sol Lesser, George O'Brien plays Ernest Selby, a young Easterner who cannot get rid of his inheritance -- an Arizona ranch -- soon enough. But when Sam Hepburn (Henry Hall), the wheelchair-bound operator of his ranch, mistakenly assumes that the youngster is seeking a job to get better acquainted with his haughty daughter Ann (Irene Hervey), Selby decides to stick around and look into the mysterious disappearance of 10,000 heads of cattle. With the help of cowhand Nebrasky Kemp (Syd Saylor), our hero quickly learns that nothing at the Red Rock Ranch is quite as it first appears: Old man Hepburn is only faking an injury, and the foreman, Hyslip (LeRoy Mason), knows more about the missing cattle than he cares to admit. Released by the Fox company, The Dude Ranger was filmed on location at Utah's Zion National Park. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George O'Brien, Irene Hervey, (more)
