Paul Powell Movies

In one of her autobiographies, Lillian Gish reprinted in toto the studio synopsis of the D.W. Griffith production The Lily and the Rose, then commented wryly "Now that's what I call a plot!" Wilfred Lucas plays a virile man-about-town who weds "The Lily" (Gish), only to cast her aside in favor of a sexy cabaret dancer called "The Rose" (played by Rozsika Dolly, of the Dolly Sisters). The Lily does not suspect her husband of hanky-panky until she receives an anonymous letter informing her of the fact. Hoping to win back her husband's love, she painstakingly learns a popular society dance and performs it for him. This just isn't good enough, thus husband and wife come to a parting of the ways. The Lily returns to her family home in the Deep South, while The Rose accompanies the husband to a seashore mansion. Eventually, the husband grows tired of the shallow dancer, and begins yearning for the sincerity and fidelity of his wife. Hoping to effect a reconciliation, hubby is crestfallen to learn that The Lily has already filed for divorce. Sadly, he retires to his backyard and kills himself, whereupon The Rose, concerned only for herself, callously walks out, leaving the corpse to the mercy of the seagulls. Gish was certainly right about that plot -- which, incidentally, was based on an unpublished novel by producer Griffith. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Old Ira Dayton (F.A. Turner) is a hypochondriac, so when Doc Arnold (Wilfred Lucas) says there is nothing wrong with him, he goes to a quack, Dr. Horatio Bell (Pomeroy Cannon), who proceeds to bilk him out of as much money as possible. The honest Doc Arnold is in love with Dayton's daughter, Jesse (Constance Talmadge), but Dayton disapproves of the match. Dr. Bell gets a ten thousand dollar check from Dayton, but Jesse goes to get it back. They struggle and the quack falls to the ground, mysteriously shot. Jesse is accused of murder, but Doc Arnold snoops around and discovers the shot was fired by a half-wit boy who became jealous when he saw Dr. Bell making love to the maid. After this, old man Dayton comes to his senses. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Veteran Biograph leading man/director Wilfred Lucas essays the title role in Hell-to-Pay Austin. A rough-and-tumble lumberman, Austin nonetheless has a sentimental side. When the minister father of winsome Briar Rose (Bessie Love) dies of excessive drinking, the girl is unofficially adopted by Austin and his fellow timber jockeys. Her influence transforms old "Hell-to-Pay" from a carouser-brawler to a pious Christian. And of course, once Briar Rose reaches marrying age, she takes Austin as a husband. If Hell-to-Pay Austin were available today, it might prove an eye-opener to film fans who remember Wilfred Lucas only as the stentorian prison warden in Laurel & Hardy's Pardon Us (1931). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The reason that the Rummy (Wilfred Lucas) has descended into the depths of alcoholism is revealed in flashback form: Just a year earlier, he was a crack newspaper reporter and had married a girl (Pauline Stark) whom he had met when she was being charged with solicitation in night court. She flourishes after they are wed, and attracts the interest of the paper's corrupt political boss. He convinces her to meet with him under false pretenses and then attacks her. Her husband catches them together, believes she is at fault and throws her back out onto the streets. After that, his hard drinking starts and he loses his job. But just when his life seems completely hopeless, he gets a tip that helps him expose the corrupt boss. This develops into a big story, and he gets his job at the paper back. Along the way he finds out his wife was innocent, and they reunite. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Dorothy Gish was seen at her light-comedy best in the Fine Arts production Susan Rocks the Boat. Gish plays the title character, a wealthy young woman with no discernible purpose in life and a propensity for getting into trouble. Inspired by the exploits of her role model, Joan of Arc, Susan decides to open a mission in the tenement district. Fortunately, our heroine does not carry her idolatry so far that she ends up being burned at the stake. Instead, she meets and marries Larry O'Neill (Owen Moore), the idealistic son of a slum politician. A melodrama finale, in which Larry is shot by a disgruntled office seeker and nursed back to health by Susan, was the only truly sombre touch in this otherwise chucklesome five-reeler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For reasons unknown, it took two directors to put the modestly budgeted The Sawdust Ring together. Bessie Love stars as Janet Magie, an awkward country girl who aspires to become a circus bareback rider. Together with her bucolic boyfriend Peter Weldon (Harold Goodwin), Janet runs away from home and joins a travelling circus. The couple's efforts to make their dreams come true alternate between the comic and the pathetic, and for a while the audience isn't sure that Janet will enjoy the happy ending she so richly deserves. Though she had yet to reach her twentieth birthday, Bessie Love was already an actress of considerable range and skill. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This lesser Constance Talmadge vehicle puts her in a Western forest setting. A corrupt corporation sends claim jumpers to steal land from the homesteaders and Jess (Talmadge) urges the people of the township to fight them. A government inspector (A.D. Sears), disguised as a claim jumper, settles on Jess's land and she shoots him. Then she winds up nursing him back to health -- the rest is easily guessed. They fall in love and he brings justice to the bad guys. When this film was made, it hadn't been that long since Talmadge had made her mark in Intolerance, and she doesn't live up to the potential she showed then. It took a couple more years, and quite a few more films, for her to hit her stride. This film is also known as Girl of the Timberclaims. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Believing himself to be of noble blood, fisherman Captain Parmalee (Alfred Allen) tries to foist his daughter Sydney (Carmel Myers) off on High Society. Amused by Parmalee's pretensions, a wealthy dowager named Mrs. Green tells her friends that Sydney is a duchess. The ruse works so well that socialite Dick Bradley falls in love with Sydney. When Dick's mother learns the truth, she forbids the lovers to marry, but Mrs. Green comes to the rescue once more. Available today in only a severely abbreviated version, A Society Sensation would have been utterly forgotten had not the film featured Rudolph Valentino, as Dick Bradley, in his first important role. Carmel Myers, who remained a lifelong friend of Valentino, was so impressed by his gracious manners and eagerness to please that she deliberately allowed him to upstage her in several scenes and also cast him in her next picture, All Night, arranging for him to receive a $25 raise in the bargain (thereby elevating Valentino's salary to a princely $75 per week!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After the overthrow of the Russian government in 1917, many distorted reports about the new Bolshevist regime filtered into the U.S. One involved an apparent edict claiming that all Soviet women between the ages of 17 and 35 were property of the state, to be used by the citizens however they pleased. In 1919, this subject was made into a Norma Talmadge film called The New Moon; later in the year, this picture dramatized the same edict. Paval Pavlovitch (Robert Andersen) is married to an American woman, Anna (Nell Craig). He is not happy when it is decreed that Anna and their daughter Tatyone (Colleen Moore) must register as state property. Anyone can sign a certificate to have his way with any Russian chattel, and one of Pavlovitch's old servants wants Anna, while the son of the town priest signs up for Tatyone. This catastrophe is brought to a halt when the good guys, i.e., the American Cavalry, comes charging up the street. After a fierce battle, the edict is pulled and all is well with the Pavlovitch family. As if this story wasn't ridiculous enough, the picture itself was second-rate at best. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This quickie Universal silent is narrated (via title cards) by one of the characters, Larkey (William Dyer), a hawker for a circus. He tells the tale of Kerry Byrne (Harry Hilliard), a young minister who is on a boat that lands on an obscure island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is populated by descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh, who were stranded there. The natives still dress and behave like the settlers of the 17th century, and one of them, Minnie Lee (Carmel Myers), falls in love with Byrne. The minister, however, is cold to her advances. Later on, Larkey and his men abduct the girl and bring her back to civilization as a circus freak. Byrne follows after them and he and Minnie are caught in a seemingly compromising position. Although they are innocent, Byrne clears Minnie's name -- and his -- by marrying her and joining the circus himself. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Manly Universal silent star Monroe Salisbury stars in this drama, which has a rugged lumber camp as its backdrop. Jim McKenzie (Salisbury) is the camp boss, and the owner, Halverson (Alfred Allen), comes to look things over, bringing his daughter Helen (Claire Anderson) and his niece, Adele Grey (Helen Jerome Eddy) with him. Both girls take to McKenzie -- Helen, because of his powerful physique and Adele because of his depth and humanity. McKenzie saves Helen from an accident which temporarily blinds him, and while he's recovering, Helen convinces him to marry her. They wed when his sight returns, and they have a child. But then his eyes go bad again and his helplessness causes Helen to lose interest. She becomes involved with Jean Dubrey, the camp's assistant boss (Arthur Maude) and they plan to run away together. McKenzie discovers their plans and even though he can't see, he throws himself at Dubrey and a vicious fight ensues. Helen tries to stop them, but a stray bullet of Dubrey's hits her and kills her. McKenzie wins the fight and Dubrey dies. But a blow brings blind man's sight back, and when he sees Adele he realizes that she was the right woman all along. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi