Bernard McConville Movies
American screenwriter Bernard McConville's first known credit was 1915's Missing Links. McConville went on to script a variety of subjects, including the "Fox Kiddies" spectacular Alladin and His Wonderful Lamp (1917), the Mary Pickford vehicle Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) and the Mabel Normand comedy feature The Extra Girl (1923). One of his most interesting assignments was Charles Ray's The Old Swimmin' Hole (1921), one of the few silent films to completely dispense with subtitles. Briefly out of work at the beginning of the talkie era, Bernard McConville was back on the job in 1932, turning out western after western until 1943. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1916
The Little School Ma'am is Nan, portrayed by Dorothy Gish. A Southern gal, Nan heads westward to take charge of a classroom in a puritanical frontier village. Though dedicated to her job, she yearns for the companionship of a male over the age of 12. Virginia-born playwright Wilbur Howard (Elmer Clifton) newly arrived in town for a vacation, falls hard for winsome Nan. Their chastely conducted romance stirs up a great deal of gossip, leading to a devastating scandal. In the end, it is Nan's loyal schoolkids who clear up matters so that Nan and Wilbur can be married. Stills exist from The Little School Ma'am showing Dorothy Gish in a pirate costume, suggesting that a masquerade party was somehow woven into the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Dorothy Gish stars as Gretchen, the daughter of Dutch immigrant Ralph Lewis. Doing her best to adjust to her strange new homeland of the USA, Gretchen falls in love with Italian-American Frank Bennett. The plot thickens when she is kidnapped by gangsters so that her father, an engraver, will be forced to make counterfeit plates. A rousing (and amusing) rescue scene caps this cinemadaptation of Bernard McConville's story Gretchen Blunders In. Curiously, the film is not mentioned in the otherwise thorough 1973 coffee-table book Lillian and Dorothy Gish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Gish, Ralph Lewis, (more)
- 1918
Yes, this is the classic Arabian Nights story, with Ali Baba discovering the treasure in the cave that opens to the magic words, "Open Sesame." But there's a twist here -- all the roles from Ali Baba (George Stone) to his beloved, dancing girl Morgianna (Gertrude Messinger) to Abdulla (Raymond Nye) are played by children. And yes, tiny Gertrude Messinger performed a hootchie-koo dance. Fox filmed a series of classic stories, such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, with kiddie actors, in the hopes of grabbing the child audience. Even in the days of their original release, they were curios. Sidney A. Franklin, who later went on to a distinguished career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed this picture. It is likely that he did not keep it on his resume. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
In a odd bit of casting, the strong-willed, 20-year-old Edith Roberts starts out as a meek, 12-year-old ragamuffin in this drama. Orphan Eleanor Hamlin (Roberts) is living with her grandparents in a Cape Cod village, but they hand her over to wealthy Beulah Page (Winifred Greenwood), who offers to adopt her. Unfortunately, Beulah, a single woman, knows next to nothing about children and has no maternal instincts whatsoever. Her friends, however, are taken with Eleanor, especially Beulah's lover, Peter Bolling (Thornton Church). Because the girl is stealing her thunder, Beulah selfishly ships her off to boarding school. But when Eleanor returns a polished and pretty young woman, Beulah's life takes a turn for the worse because Peter falls in love with her. Upset that she has come between the couple, Eleanor runs back to her grandparents. Peter follows, but she hides from him. Christmas comes and Beulah misses Eleanor after all. The girl returns and offers to simply be her child, not her rival for Peter, and she is welcomed back to the fold -- an unsatisfying end to an unrealistic picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winifred Greenwood, Hallam Cooley, (more)
- 1919
Amy Burke (Mary Pickford) is as spoiled, temperamental and contrary a lass as her grandfather, Alexander Guthrie (Ralph Lewis), is ruthless and cutthroat a businessman. Amy is bored with the privileged life on Riverside Drive, so when her father, John Burke (Dwight Crittenden), returns to New York, she demands that she go with him instead of traveling through Europe with her grandfather. It comes as a shock to Amy that her father, a writer, is living in a tenement and that she has lost all the perks she had as a child of wealth. But soon she adjusts to life in the slums, wearing loud, mismatched outfits and shooting craps with the best of the kids. And through fraternizing with neighbors, such as the ever-battling Pat O'Shaughnessy (Andrew Arbuckle) and Abram Issacs (Max Davidson) and the nice, but mysterious John Graham (Kenneth Harlan), she learns to be a real person. Watching over the transformation is her grandfather, who has come in disguise to keep an eye on her. But his own transformation is not complete until one night, when Amy and John -- who is now her beau -- break into the Guthrie residence in search of papers which were falsely used to send him to prison. Although they are caught, Guthrie not only forgives them, he consents to their marriage. This was the second of three films Pickford made for First National. In spite of the stellar cast, and the help of director idney A. Franklin and screenwriter Frances Marion, this picture -- based on Burkses' Amy by Julie M. Lippman -- is not one of Pickford's very best. Amy is far too nasty at the beginning, and it takes the audience quite a few reels to forgive her ill-tempered antics. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
This film was one of Mary Pickford's attempts to add at least a touch of maturity to her little girl characterizations. She is a Kentucky mountain girl in this romantic adventure film, and Harold Goodwin is the boy who befriends her. Sam DeGrasse was the villain. Future silent-screen idol Jack Gilbert also had a small role. While Heart O' the Hills received politely positive reviews and some interest surrounded Pickford's more mature role (the character was teen-aged; Mary herself was 27), there were no real raves. After this, Pickford firmly returned to the security of her more youthful portrayals -- her next film was Pollyanna. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Pickford, John Gilbert, (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
- 1921
This eight-reel Fox feature is a blatant example of the rampant racial prejudice that existed in the early part of the 20th century. Even the Photoplay review, which pans the film, smacks of racism. "When the hero of Shame hears that his mother was Chinese, he immediately dashes to the mirror and sees himself reflected with almond eyes, long nails, and a Chinese laundry. The thought drives him almost insane so he goes to Alaska and fights a wolf." Although the plot isn't quite as ludicrous as Photoplay implies, it doesn't make for a quality film. Even so, it brought John Gilbert to the attention of the powers-that-be at Fox, and they offered him a three-year contract. He signed, but only reluctantly. William Fielding (Gilbert), a young widower, is living in Shanghai with his little boy, David (Mickey Moore). A young Chinese woman looks after the child, and Foo Chang (George Siegmann), a trader, lusts after her. Because he believes she is David's mother, he kills Fielding. Fielding's faithful secretary, Li Clung (William V. Mong), takes the boy to San Francisco to be raised by his grandfather (George Nichols). As an adult, David (also played by Gilbert) fights against opium trafficking with Li Clung's help. Foo Chang, who is himself smuggling opium, tries to blackmail David into stopping his crusade by threatening to expose the fact that he is half Chinese. David is so upset at this unexpected information that he runs away from his wife and goes to Alaska, taking their infant child with him (and yes, he fights a wolf there). Li Clung follows after him, as does Foo Chang. The two Chinese men battle it out, and Foo Chang is killed. David, it turns out, is pure Caucasian, so he avoids whatever disgrace he thought he would have. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gilbert, Mickey Moore, (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)
- 1921
It is said that every actor wants to play Shakespeare. Will Rogers would seem a likely exception to that rule, but here he is in this silent, taking a stab (albeit comic) at Romeo. Slim (Rogers), of course, begins as a cowpuncher but his boss switches from cattle to sheep, throwing him out of work. In addition his sweetheart, Lulu (Sylvia Breamer), says he should learn to be a real lover, like Douglas Fairbanks. So Slim decides to go work in motion pictures to discover how film folk make love. After he doubles for villains and heroes alike, Lulu changes her mind -- now she thinks Romeo and Juliet is the yardstick by which all lovers should be measured. So Slim obligingly gets his hands on a copy of the play and tries to read it. Naturally he falls asleep, but he dreams the story with himself and his girl in the title roles. When he awakes, however, he throws all technique out the window, grabs Lulu away from his rival (Raymond Hatton) and drags her off to the preache r. His show of force is what she wanted after all and the film ends happily. This was the final picture of Rogers' contract with the Goldwyn Studios. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Sylvia Breamer, (more)
- 1921
Story has it that Douglas Fairbanks was approached for the role of the Yankee, Martin Cavendish. It certainly would have made interesting casting, but Harry Myers (who, a decade later, would appear as Charles Chaplin's rich, boozy friend in City Lights) does a fine job in the part. This spectacular production was a big release for the Fox studios in 1921. Wealthy Martin Cavendish is in love with Sandy, his mother's secretary (Pauline Starke). His mother (Adele Farrington), however, wants him to marry Lady Grey Gordon (Rosemary Theby). One night, a burglar breaks into the mansion and attacks Cavendish with a spear belonging to a suit of armor. Cavendish is knocked unconscious and he wakes up in a dream where he is being poked by a knight, Sir Sagramore (George Siegmann). Sagramore takes Cavendish to King Arthur's court, where he saves himself from being tortured to death by claiming a solar eclipse was his doing. Cavendish is made a knight with the title Sir Boss, and he brings the modern-day luxuries of 1921 to medieval times, including tin lizzies, plumbing, and telephones. He rescues Lady Alisande la Cartelone (Starke) from the wicked Queen Morgan Le Fay (Theby). When he goes to battle Sir Sagramore at a tournament, he shows up dressed as a cowboy and lassos him off his horse. Then he has the king (Charles Clary) dress as a peasant to make him understand that "all this nobility stuff is bunk." When Cavendish finally awakens from his dream, he goes to Sandy and they elope. Mark Twain's famous tale has been filmed numerous times; other notable Yankees have been Will Rogers and Bing Crosby. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Myers, Pauline Starke, (more)
Mary Pickford was at the height of her fame as "America's Sweetheart" when she took on the challenge of playing two roles -- a mother and her young son -- in this silent drama with comic accents. Cedric Fauntleroy (Pickford) is growing up under difficult circumstances in New York City; his father was the son of the Earl of Dorincourt (Claude Gillingwater Sr.), but he has passed on, and since the Earl never approved of Cedric's mother Dearest (also played by Pickford), whom he felt was only after his son's money, the Earl severed all ties with his daughter-in-law and grandson. However, the Earl discovers that he's in poor health, and he realizes that Cedric is the logical heir to his estate; hoping to mend fences, the Earl has Cedric brought back to England to live with him. However, while Dearest is allowed to come along, she is not allowed to stay at the Earl's estate with her son, as he has yet to forgive her. In time, another boy appears at the Earl's doorstep claiming that he is the rightful heir to the Earl's fortune and that Cedric is merely an imposter; it takes some quick thinking by Cedric, Dearest, and their friends to save the day. Little Lord Fauntleroy was photographed by Charles Rosher Sr., one of the most accomplished cinematographers of the silent era; he planned and executed the film's most famous shot, an elaborate double exposure in which Pickford as Dearest kisses Pickford as Cedric; lasting only three seconds onscreen, the shot took 15 hours to set up and shoot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Pickford, Claude Gillingwater, (more)
- 1922
aka The Count of Monte Cristo Much of John Gilbert's early work as a leading man was done at the Fox Studios. He made nineteen pictures for the company, but only two are still in existence -- this adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, and 1923's Cameo Kirby. As Edmond Danton, and later as the Count of Monte Cristo, Gilbert at times seems too mannered -- a habit that he would have to watch throughout his career. Danton is dragged away from his wedding feast with Countess Mercedes (Estelle Taylor) and falsely imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. He swears to wreak vengeance on those who wronged him, if he ever escapes. Eventually he is able to dig his way out, and with another prisoner, he goes to the island of Monte Cristo, where he finds an immense treasure. He returns home as the Count of Monte Cristo and, as he promised, proceeds to destroy all his enemies. Featured in a supporting role is Renee Adorée, who would star with Gilbert in several of his pictures, most notably The Big Parade. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gilbert, Estelle Taylor, (more)
- 1922
Based on the popular novel of rural life by Charles Felton Pidgin, this motion picture featured most of the star names that Paramount had in 1922. After meeting a pretty girl in the park, Quincy Adams Sawyer, a young, up-and-coming lawyer, is called to the village of Mason's Corners by his father's friend, Deacon Pettengill (Edward Connelly). An older woman, Mrs. Putnam (Claire McDowell), is being swindled by her lawyer, Obadiah Strout (Lon Chaney, who was a master villain with or without makeup). The woman's daughter, Lindy (Barbara LaMarr), tries to vamp Sawyer, but he discovers that the girl he met, Alice (Blanche Sweet), is Pettengill's niece, and she has gone blind since the time they met. A romance develops between Alice and Sawyer nevertheless. Strout, afraid of being exposed, convinces the village blacksmith, Abner Stiles (Elmo Lincoln), that Sawyer means him no good, so Stiles offers his aid. Lindy leads Alice onto a ferry, and Stiles cuts the rope and sends the little boat adrift. Lindy, however, repents her actions and tells all to Sawyer, who goes to Alice's rescue. He saves her just before the ferry goes over the falls. In the excitement, Alice's eyesight returns. Stiles, discovering that he has been duped, kills Strout. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Blanche Sweet, (more)
- 1923
Mabel Normand's last feature-length film is also one of her most entertaining. Sue Graham (Normand) lives in the tiny hamlet of River Bend. When her parents (George Nichols and Anna Hernandez) refuse to let her marry her sweetheart, Dave Giddings (Ralph Graves), she enters a movie contest and wins. But Sue finds stardom in Hollywood very elusive and winds up working in the wardrobe department at a studio. She convinces her parents to sell everything they have to join her in Hollywood, but they are taken in by a swindler and lose all their money. Giddings comes out to help Sue get a better job, but she is determined to track down the swindler and get the money back. Eventually she is successful and everyone returns to River Bend. Normand has one of her most memorable comic moments when she leads a lion around on a leash, fully convinced it is a dog in disguise. Shortly after this picture was released, Normand was involved in a scandal in which her chauffeur shot a male friend with whom she had been drinking. After the 1921 murder scandal involving her colleague Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and the unsolved killing of her good friend, director William Desmond Taylor in 1922, this was the last straw. A number of states banned her from the screen (Ohio's attorney general remarked, "This film star has been entirely too closely connected with disgraceful shooting affairs.") Producer Mack Sennett released Normand from her contract and her career never recovered. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Nichols, Anna Hernandez, (more)
- 1923
In this comedy romance, Claude Gillingwater plays a Southern Colonel who has the impossible task of keeping Viola Dana away from the lure of the Jazz Age. Because he disapproved of his daughter's marriage, Colonel Charles Cavanaugh (Gillingwater) takes it out on his granddaughter, Miss Emmy Lou (Dana) by dressing her in the crinolines of yore and keeping her secluded from the modern world. But when Emmy Lou spies a good-looking young man, she bolts from her grandfather's farm and heads for her aunt's place. Not only is the aunt way more up-to-date, she is throwing a party for a group of frivolous young things. It seemingly only takes moments before Emmy Lou has bobbed her hair, slipped on a short skirt and become a flapper (this could only be credible with Dana playing the role). Two of the men there, Davis Jordan (John Bowers) and Augusts Biddle (Allan Forrest), fall for her. When she finds out her grandfather is about to kill himself, Emmy dutifully returns home, followed by Jordan and Biddle. The Colonel welcomes the two young suitors into his home while Emmy Lou decides which one she loves best. When she takes too long to figure it out, Cavanaugh pushes the envelope by setting up a duel between the men. The pistols, it turns out, aren't loaded but Emmy is ignorant of the fact and chooses Jordan, who has behaved more honorably. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viola Dana, Lillian Lawrence, (more)
- 1923
While this fast-paced action picture from cowboy star Tom Mix was a little lighter on the Western scenes than normal (a good portion of it takes place on a tramp steamer and in China), it otherwise has all the typical elements of Mix's work: He beats up bad guys left and right, Tony the Wonder Horse shows off a few tricks, and he doesn't get overly cozy with leading lady Claire Adams ("smushy stuff" did not appeal to Mix's youthful male fans). Mix is Grant Malvern, a rancher who befriends scientist Quentin Durant (Tom S. Guise) after rescuing him from a trio of Chinese crooks. The crooks want to find Durant's Arizona gold mine, and the map to the location is contained in a pair of rings. After the crooks track down Durant and kill him, one of the rings winds up with Durant's daughter, Helen (Adams), and the other falls into Malvern's hands. As a result, Malvern finds himself pursued by the same men who throw him into the San Francisco bay. A tramp steamer picks him up, and he works his way across the Pacific until he lands in China, where the battle for Durant's mine picks up again. Malvern and Helen have to fight their way out of a Chinese den and make their way back to the States to claim the mine. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Mix
- 1924
Mary Philbin, whose performance in The Merry-Go-Round had earned her critical raves, stars in this rather lightweight Universal "Jewel." William Tudor (Joseph J. Dowling) is so overloaded with debt that he is forced to give up the family castle, Pencarreg. After selling it to John Kershaw (Dewitt Jennings), a war millionaire, he goes to London with his granddaughter, Irene (Philbin). Owen (William Haines), Tudor's nephew and Irene's sweetheart, travels to South Africa to oversee his father's mines. Irene finds work as a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, and Christopher Kershaw (Freeman S. Wood), John's womanizing son, falls in love with her. She refuses to have anything to do with him, but then her grandfather falls ill and she hears that Owen has been killed in South Africa. Tudor's doctor suggests that a return to the family castle may prolong the old man's life, so Irene accepts Christopher's marriage proposal. Just after the wedding, Owen (who clearly wasn't dead after all) shows up at Pencarreg. The castle bears a curse, which falls upon Christopher when a huge chandelier crashes down on his head. He is killed, so Irene and Owen are able to reunite. Owen buys the castle back from John Kershaw, and Irene's grandfather returns home. This drama was based on the novel The Inheritors by L.A.R. Wylie. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Philbin, Joseph J. Dowling, (more)
- 1924
Although the plot to this romance was complicated, the actors didn't have all that much to do, which was just as well; the star was Mary Philbin, an immensely charming actress with a limited amount of talent. Mitsi (Philbin) is an orphan girl raised in a convent. Her grandfather had disowned her mother and now wants to find her. The people he has hired to help him, however, are dishonest and want to get their hands on the money due Mitsi. One of them, Madame Bolomeff (Rose Dione), spirits the girl away from the convent and puts her up in a room over a squalid Parisian cafe. She runs away to live with her friend from the convent, who has been adopted by Christian (Robert Cain). Mitsi goes to work as a maid for her grandfather and eventually her true identity is revealed. After saving Christian from marrying an adventuress, Mitsi weds him herself. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Philbin, Robert Cain, (more)
- 1925
This Fox production was only one of a seemingly endless stream of flapper pictures that came out during the 1920s. In this one, the mother out-flappers her daughters. Katherine Manners (Ethel Clayton) has three daughters who are away at boarding school. She doesn't quite believe that they are the studious girls they claim to be, so she pays them a visit and discovers a wild party going on. Betty (Marian Harlan) and Madelyne (Madge Bellamy) swear they are going to marry their sweethearts, Jimmie (George Stewart) and Lucien (Freeman Wood), while Gwendolyn (Katherine Perry) insists that Grantland Dobbs (Douglas Gerrard) will wed her -- just as soon as he gets a divorce. Mrs. Manners urges them to wait for a little longer, and she goes off on a cruise to Europe. She comes back with a man in tow and acting far more outrageously than any of her daughters. Her behavior makes her notorious, and she even steals Lucien away from Madelyne -- Jimmie, however, proves to be true to Betty. The girls are completely disgusted with their mother and tell her so. Only then does she reveal that it was all an act to show them the error of their ways. Madelyne and Betty tone down their wild ways. Gwendolyn is not so impressed, but eventually she comes around, too. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1925
Esther Ralston, who plays a nice chorus girl in this comedy-drama, is upstaged by Margaret Livingston, who has a much-flashier role as her not-so-nice friend. Ralston is Alice O'Neil, who is in love with Bertie Lenox (Joseph Striker), the son of a nouveau riche family. His sister Marian (Margaret Morris) loves the chauffeur, a down-to-earth young man by the name of Henry Morgan (Warner Baxter). Their parents (Edwards Davis and Kathlyn Williams) naturally are less than thrilled with Bertie and Marian's choices -- after all, Alice wants Bertie to give up his money and go to work! And they've picked out Arthur Rockmere (William Austin) as a mate for Marian. Rockmere sets up a meeting with Alice in an attempt to buy her off, which angers Bertie. A fight outside of a supper club results and everyone lands in jail -- except for Alice's friend Millie (Livingston), who bails them all out with the bribery money. In the end, both Bertie and Marian wed their sweethearts, while Millie weds their uncle, George Grafton (Larry Steers). This picture is based on the play by David Grey and Avery Hopwood. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warner Baxter, Esther Ralston, (more)
- 1926
Volcano takes forever to get to the climactic eruption. In the meantime, the audience is subjected to the travails of convent-bred Zabette de Chauvalons, who upon returning to her father's estate in Martinique discovers that daddy has died and the property is now in the hands of her evil stepmother. Because of her dusky complexion, it is assumed that Zabette is the illegitimate offspring of her French father and a local native woman, and as consequence she is forced to live in the island's mulatto district. Here she is lusted after by mulatto villain Quembo (Wallace Beery), while handsome white aristocrat Stephane Sequineau (Ricardo Cortez) vows to take the heroine away from her tawdry surroundings. On cue, a volcanic eruption solves everyone's problems -- while simultaneously laying waste to the entire island! Exceptional special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1927
Though Will Rogers was still packing 'em in on Broadway, he was considered a Hollywood has-been when he starred in the independently produced A Texas Steer. Rogers also wrote the screenplay of this "topical comedy," in which he plays Texas rancher Maverick Brander, who is maneuvered into politics by his status-seeking wife Ma (Louise Fazenda). Unfortunately, Maverick finds himself at the mercy of a trio of corrupt political hacks who want our hero to use his influence to push through a piece of questionable legislation. The opponents of the bill contrive to abduct Maverick, but he escapes in time to strike a blow for honesty in Washington. The level of humor in the film can be gauged by such character names as "Bossy Brander," "Dixie Style" and "Fairleigh Bright." A Texas Steer had its moments, but Will Rogers would have to wait until talkies arrived to fully blossom as a film star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Louise Fazenda, (more)
