John S. Robertson Movies

James Barton plays a salty old sea captain on the verge of retirement, forced to return to the sea when his funds run out. Planning to stay with his ship only long enough to pay his mortgage, Barton finds himself on the bounding main a lot longer than expected due to bad weather and unexpected delays. When his ship catches fire, Barton rescues his crew and guides them to shore. He returns to his Cape Cod home a hero, and the mortgage is forgotten. Likewise forgotten is Captain Hurricane, which disappeared shortly after its 1935 release and is seldom resurrected for TV--except in the wee small hours on cable's American Movie Classics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Shirley Temple heading the cast of Our Little Girl, it's a moot point as to who plays the title role. Temple is cast as Molly Middleton, daughter of Dr. Donald Middleton (Joel McCrea) and his wife Elsa (Rosemary Ames). Long unhappy in their marriage, Donald and Elsa have stayed together this long only for the sake of cute little Molly. The "big break" finally comes when Elsa falls in love (or thinks she does) with handsome neighbor Rolfe Brent (Lyle Talbot) and Donald has a brief fling with his office assistant Sarah Boyton (Erin O'Brien-Moore). Distressed at the thought of her parent's separation, Molly runs away from home, whereupon her mother and father heap recriminations upon one another, blaming everyone but themselves for the girl's unhappiness. John Farrell MacDonald almost steals the film in the closing scenes as a philosophical hobo who convinces Donald and Elsa to stop thinking about themselves and devote their attention -- and affection -- to Molly. Our Little Girl is based on the Florence Leighton Ptazgraf story Heaven's Gate (the significance of this title is explained at several important plot junctures). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "greatest gamble" in the life of Philip Eden (Richard Dix) is to restore his long-estranged daughter Alice's (Dorothy Wilson) will to live. Escaping from prison after serving 15 years for unintentional homicide, Eden discovers that Alice has been raised as a weak, vacillating neurotic by her vengeful mother Florence (Erin O'Brien-Moore). He promptly "kidnaps" the girl and builds up her health and spirit, finally turning her over to her sweetheart Stephen (Bruce Cabot) before voluntarily giving himself up to the Law. His Greatest Gamble allows Richard Dix to combine both his established screen personae: The misunderstood hero and the virile man of action. Not surprisingly, Dix's legions of fans ate it up like candy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lionel Barrymore plays one of those selfless general practitioners that seem to exist exclusively in the movies in One Man's Journey. Though his efforts go unappreciated by his patients and even by his own family, the far-from-wealthy Dr. Eli Watt (Barrymore) continues to dedicate his life to medicine, ultimately inspiring his son Jimmy (Buster Phelps as a child, Joel McCrea as an adult) to follow in his footsteps. As a result of his tireless efforts to pull his community through a deadly epidemic, Dr. Watt is at last honored at a testimonial dinner, where his richer and more famous colleagues lift their glasses in praise of our hero. Of course, Watt also finds time to patch up the romance between his son Jimmy and Jimmy's sweetheart Joan (Frances Dee, Mrs. Joel Crea in real life). One Man's Journey was remade by director Garson Kanin as A Man to Remember (1938) -- a rare instance in which a remake was actually better than the original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A troubled production that suffered from both severe cuts and retakes under a different director (Edward H. Griffith), this World War I melodrama fell far short of becoming another All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as had obviously been the original intention. Told in flashbacks, the antiwar drama stars William Boyd as Sergeant Bill Thatcher, the head of an American battalion fighting for control of a French village. As Thatcher listens, three wounded soldiers under his command recall how they came to the battlefields of World War I: A farm boy, Bud (Russell Gleason), defied his mother (Mary Carr) and enlisted despite being the family's sole breadwinner; a New York playboy, trapped between two women, Ina (Marion Shilling), his newest conquest, and a former mistress, Lew (Lew Cody), sought the easy way out by enlisting; finally, Private Jim Mobley (James Gleason) tells the heartfelt story of how his wife, "Mademoiselle" Fritzi (ZaSu Pitts), a carnival knife thrower, got very upset when he decided to escape housekeeping duties by joining the army. Back on the battlefield, Jim finds Bill at the machine gun, where the latter finally tells his own story of how he came to hate his German-born fiancée, Katherine (Lissi Arna), when she warned him of the futility of war. Before blowing up a railroad bridge, Bill admits to Jim that he now fully understands Katherine's sentiments. Wounded in the battle, both soldiers end up in a German Red Cross hospital where Bill is reunited with Katherine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

W.B. Maxwell's novel served as a film vehicle for Alla Nazimova in 1924; in 1930 it made an even better (although underappreciated) showcase for Evelyn Brent, who always excelled at playing bad girls. Here she is May Fisher, the mistress of a wealthy man who dies before he can change his will to make her his heir. Instead, his million dollars goes to his nephew Peter Morton (Robert Ames), who runs a mission on San Francisco's Barbary Coast. May and her maid travel to Frisco so she can get her hands on the money that she feels belongs to her. By pretending to be Mary Smith, a woman on the skids, she easily infiltrates the mission and becomes Morton's assistant. She also finds herself becoming wrapped up in Morton's cause -- and falling in love with him. Morton loves her back, preferring her to his mercenary fiancée Marion (Josephine Dunn). May continues to live her lie, even marrying Morton in the process. When he discovers the truth -- that she was his uncle's lover -- he is angry and disgusted. But May proves herself when labor unrest results in a riot at the mission. She jumps in the way of a bullet intended for Morton and is wounded. She recovers, however, to see the million dollars go towards building a new mission out in the country. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Made in the final years of director John S. Robertson's career, Night Ride is a crime drama starring Joseph Schildkraut as Joe Rooker, a reporter who finds himself pulled away from his wedding reception to cover a bank robbery. When he figures out that the robber is gang leader Tony Garotta (Edward G. Robinson), Rooker makes a case proving so and files his story. In retaliation, Garotta kidnaps him and another reporter with plans of permanently disposing of them and falsely tells the newlywed that he has bombed his house and killed his new wife, Ruth (Barbara Kent). If the police can't get there in time to save him, Rooker will die, never knowing that his wife was alive the whole time. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Mary Nolan, whose own private life was as sensationally scandalous as any of her screen roles, starred in this cinemadaptation of the stage play Drifting. Having spent several wasted months in a Shanghai opium dem, former prostitute Cassie Cook (Nolan) yearns to start her life afresh. Likewise, ex-convict Badlands McKinney (James Murray) also wants to clean up his act. Upon meeting one another, Cassie and McKinney each assume that the other is a pillar of respectability. This mutual self-deception eventually blossoms into love and opens the door for redemption. The fly in the ointment is Repen (Wheeler Oakman), an unforgiving detective who knows the truth about both Cassie and McKinney; fortunately for the plot, Repen is conveniently knocked off by one of the minor characters, a stereotypical Chinaman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lars Hanson had recently appeared as Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter when he was called on once again to play a man of the cloth. Anson Campbell (Hanson), however, has his doubts as he studies for the ministry -- he loves the sea at least as much as he loves God. Bess Morgan (Pauline Starke) is scorned by the villagers as a wicked, sinful woman, but the open-minded Campbell sides with her. This horrifies the straight-laced townsfolk, and Campbell signs on with a ship in disgust. It turns out to be a convict ship, and Bess is on board. She had promised Campbell she would change her ways, and she hold fast to this, even when the Captain (Ernest Torrence) tries to force himself on her. Rather than allow him to have his way with her, she kills herself. Her steadfastness renews Campbell's faith, and he establishes the first gospel ship, thus blending his two loves. He returns home to wed his sweetheart, Mary Phillips (Marceline Day). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The silent Shore Leave was the first film version of the Hubert Osborne play of the same name (later musicalized as Hit the Deck). Dressmaker Dorothy Mackaill falls in love with sailor Richard Barthelmess, despite the warnings of her sea captain father concerning the romantic habits of seafaring men. Sure enough, Barthelmess sails out of her life and forgets all about her. But Mackaill is firm in her belief that Barthelmess will return, and against that day repairs her dad's old ship as a "home" for the wayfaring gob. She waits for what seems like eons before Barthelmess sails back into her life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eric Fane (Richard Barthelmess) studies music in Paris, but his parents (Lee Baker and Effie Shannon) call him home and ask him to give it up to go into business. He refuses and returns to France. He gets involved with Rhea, a Russian princess (Carlotta Montery), is swept up by the Parisian nightlife, and writes popular music. He knows he isn't achieving what he set out to do and prefers to live in poverty as he searches for his artistic voice. Rhea refuses to share this life, and eventually, Eric winds up in Port Said, playing in a tawdry dancehall. He gets into an altercation with a sailor and shoots him. With the help of the woman who is in charge of the hall, Eric escapes and winds up on an island in the South Seas. There he meets Teita, an English girl whose parents are dead (Bessie Love). A romance blossoms and they make plans to marry. On the eve of the ceremony, Eric finds a mark on Teita's shoulder and believes she may have contracted leprosy. In a panic, he sends for the doctor and plays the piano while waiting for him to arrive. He writes a beautiful piece, and when the doctor shows up, he diagnoses only a minor illness. The music Eric has written proves his genius. This drama was based on an unsuccessful stage play, Great Music, by Martin Brown. It fared better onscreen because it was easier to re-create the diverse locations on film. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The play by William C. deMille and Margaret Turnbull was filmed once before in 1914. This version features Richard Barthelmess as the star and some scenes were actually shot at West Point. Duncan Irving Jr. (Barthelmess) is the son of the village postmaster (Claude Brooke) in a small southern town. He's in love with Sylvia Randolph (Madge Evans, finally old enough to play ingenues), who comes from a wealthy, snobbish family. Her cousin, Bert Stafford (Reginald Sheffield), dislikes the modest Duncan. Duncan goes to West Point and when he's an upper classman, Bert enrolls. Bert hates being ordered around, especially by Duncan, who he considers his social inferior. One day he angrily insults Duncan, who hits him. Bert fakes blindness, then takes off for South America on an expedition. Duncan is expelled and Sylvia refuses to hear his explanations. To save face, Duncan and some of his friends travel to South America to find Bert, who has become lost. After a lot of hardship and adventure, they find him and they return to the States. Bert finally tells the truth about what happened and Duncan is reinstated at West Point. He also reconciles with Sylvia and after he gets his commission, they are wed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although Richard Barthelmess was one of the bigger stars of the silent era, not all his films were worthy of his talents. This society drama was decidedly mediocre fare. The wealthy McCulloughs (Joe King and Dorothy Cumming) separate when their son, Julian, is seven. Mrs. McCullough convinces her estranged husband to let her raise the boy without his interference and she brings him up to be a weakling. When he reaches the age of 20, Julian (Barthelmess, who was actually 28 at the time) falls in love with Lynnie Willis (Dorothy Mackaill), who is far below him socially. When they are returning from a dance, the car breaks down and they are forced to find shelter at an inn, where they register as brother and sister. This causes a scandalous situation and Julian is more than willing to marry Lynnie, but his father insists that he will have the marriage annulled, since his boy is not yet 21. Julian goes away to work as a cab driver, while Mr. McCullough makes an effort to find someone else to marry Lynnie. Mr. McCullough is attacked in a garage by thugs and Julian comes to his rescue. He is injured in the fight, but it enables him to reconcile with his father. Once he has recovered Julian is able to marry Lynnie, since he has just turned 21. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide