Wesley Ruggles Movies

A Night at the Show is the most elaborate two-reeler directed by Charlie Chaplin during his 1915-1916 stay at Essanay studios. Based on "A Night in an English Music Hall," the Fred Karno-produced ensemble sketch which brought Chaplin to the U.S. in 1910, the film is set in a crowded theater, where a series of mediocre variety acts try to entertain the audience. Chaplin plays two roles: a slick-haired dandy in the orchestra seats, who flirts with the female performers at every possible opportunity, and "Mr. Rowdy," a walrus-mustached drunkard who heckles the actors from the balcony. The film comes to an abrupt end when Mr. Rowdy gets hold of a fire hose and douses everyone in sight. A Night at the Show is usually released on video in tandem with several other Essanay Chaplin films, notably The Bank and Shanghaied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charlie Chaplin's 10th Essanay film marks a further development for him in story construction, gag development and the use of pathos along with physical comedy. Chaplin enters the bank importantly, strolls down a staircase and opens a large safe. He emerges carrying a mop and bucket and dons his janitor's uniform. He wanders into the lobby/reception area and accidentally puts his soaking mop into the top hat of a bond salesman, (Lawrence A. Bowes) who's waiting for the arrival of the Bank President. Hitting the salesman and a bank worker (Leo White) with the wet mop, he's chased away to the back office where he finds fellow janitor Billy Armstrong with whom a series of minor battles occur.

Edna Purviance, a stenographer, arrives at work with a birthday present, a tie, for a cashier whose name is also Charles, Carl Stockdale. She types a note: "To Charles with love from Edna." Chaplin finds the note and tie and assumes they're for him, and it's clear he loves Purviance. He brings her a bouquet of flowers and leaves a note "To Edna with love, Charlie." The bank president arrives and rejects the bond salesman's pitch and the angry salesman vows revenge. As the salesman stands dazed, Chaplin, told to mail a letter, indicates that he doesn't look well, takes his pulse and tells him to stick out his tongue, on which Chaplin moistens the postage stamp. The Cashier comes in to thank Purviance for the tie and tells her that it wasn't he who left the flowers, but Charlie the Janitor. Angry, Purviance calls Chaplin a fool and, unaware that he's watching through the door, throws the flowers into a trash basket. Crushed, Chaplin retrieves the flowers, goes back downstairs to the vault and sits down to rest.

Shortly afterward, the bond salesman along with four seedy crooks enter the bank. Two of them go upstairs and see the president, Purviance and the Cashier counting money. When Purviance and Charles head downstairs to the vault, they hold up the president. The other three intercept Charles and Purviance downstairs. At the first opportunity, Charles pushes Purviance over and runs away, but he's held at gunpoint by one of the crooks as the other tussles with the president. Meanwhile her screams have awakened Chaplin and he rescues her, kicking three of the crooks into the safe and locking it as Purviance collapses. Carrying her over one shoulder, he climbs the stairs and rescues the cashier by disarming the crook. He then takes care of the other thief, rescuing the president. When the police have the robbers in custody, Chaplin is congratulated by the president. He wanders into the office and takes the flowers out of his coat. Purviance enters and picks up the flowers, smiling, and the look of love and hope on Chaplin's face is truly angelic. They embrace, but just then the camera crossfades -- it was all a dream, and Chaplin awakens in the vault kissing a mop. As the picture fades, he wanders off screen holding the flowers. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide

Charlie Chaplin's sixth film for the Mutual Film Corporation is a marvel of sight gags, comic transformations and brilliant pantomime. Charlie plays an assistant in a pawnshop, where he arrives late for work and is scolded by the portly Pawnbroker, played by Henry Bergman in his first role in a Chaplin film. Bergman was to go on to play in most of the Chaplin films through Modern Times, also filling the roles of Assistant Director, gagman and confidant. Charlie annoys his rival employee (John Rand) with his dusting and a series of conflicts between them arise. They must go outside and clean the store front, and Charlie, trapping Rand between the rungs of a ladder, performs a ballet-like boxing scene, striking his helpless opponent until a cop arrives on the scene, whereupon Charlie's movements become the most graceful of dances. Back inside the shop, their fight escalates until the Pawnbroker enters and angrily discharges Charlie. The little fellow's heart-breaking pleas for forgiveness, during which he mimes that he has many children ranging in height from about two to seven feet, cause the boss to relent. Alone again, Charlie renews his attack on Rand with vigor, but just as he's about to deliver the coup de grace, Edna Purviance, the boss' daughter, enters from the back room curious as to the commotion. Charlie swiftly lays down on the floor and Edna scolds the near-unconscious Rand for striking "a mere child," patting Charlie's cheek as he admires her figure. She takes him into the kitchen and gives him a doughnut, which Chaplin's wonderful pantomime ability makes us believe weighs 20 pounds, as he exercises with it as if it were a dumbbell. When Rand enters, the fight resumes, but hearing the racket the boss comes in and Charlie quickly resumes his role as baker then goes to the safe to retrieve his lunch. Manning the shop Charlie encounters three customers, the first an old actor wanting to pawn his late wife's ring for five dollars. His histrionics touch Charlie deeply. He gives the bereaved man 10 dollars from the till and the ring back as well. When the man offers to gives Charlie change and pulls out huge wad of bills, Charlie knows he's been had. Meanwhile, another customer arrives wishing to pawn an alarm clock. In a long, brilliant scene of comic transformations, better seen than described, Charlie becomes surgeon, jeweller, ribbon clerk and mechanic as he dismantles and destroys the clock to the total amazement of the customer, Albert Austin. Gathering the detritus of the ruined timepiece and sweeping them into Austin's derby, Charlie rejects the item, sending the protesting customer packing with a blow from a rubber hammer. His next customer is a lady with a bowl of goldfish, which Charlie tests for authenticity by pouring muriatic acid (the famous "acid test") into the bowl. The boss emerges and he sends the lady away. Meanwhile Charlie and Rand are at it again, and a flying wad of dough catches both boss and crook in the face. The boss chases Charlie from the kitchen, whereupon Charlie hides in a trunk to avoid punishment. Just then the crook emerges from the safe, gun drawn, stolen diamonds under his arm and holds the others at bay. Charlie heroically emerges from the trunk, and in balletic movements, smashes the crook over the head, embraces Edna, receives a pat on the back from the boss and delivers one final back kick to his rival. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide

Charlie Chaplin's last film for Essanay (not counting the compilation, Triple Trouble) was released after he had moved on to the Mutual Film Corporation. Charlie is released from prison with the customary few dollars in his pocket. He's approached on the street by a fake preacher who asks Charlie to "Let me help you go straight," making him sob with his touching sermon, while picking his pocket. Charlie encounters a drunk with his pocketwatch hanging from his vest, but resists the temptation of stealing it. A few moments later, after realizing he has been robbed, Charlie sees the preacher with the drunk and notes, after the preacher departs, that the watch is gone. Approached by a real preacher this time, Charlie chases him down the street. As evening approaches Charlie goes to a seedy flophouse, but is ejected because he cannot pay. He encounters an old cellmate on the street and is recruited to participate in the robbery of Edna's house. Charlie proves an inept burglar, making so much noise that Edna is roused, and she calls the police before confronting them. She begs them not to go upstairs because her mother is very ill and the shock might kill her. She even provides food and beer for the burglars, asking Charlie to let her help him to go straight. But Charlie's partner is heartless and heads upstairs despite Edna's pleas. When Edna tries to stop him, he threatens to strike her and that is too much for Charlie, who fights with the thief until the police arrive. Firing his pistol, the thief escapes through a back window, but the cops catch Charlie before he can escape. Edna, grateful to Charlie for his protection, lies to the police telling them Charlie is her husband. After the cops leave, Edna gives Charlie a coin and sends him off. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide

Hero Gerald Ackland (Edward Earle) is not inclined to wait for America's entry into WWI. Long before his own country's official declaration, he heads to France to defend the Forces of Democracy against the Kaiser's hordes. While flying his airplane across enemy lines, our hero is forced to bail out, whereupon he locates a conveniently abandoned machine gun. As German bullets whizz around him, he remains at his post, mowing down the enemy with ruthless determination. Even in 1917, audiences didn't swallow the fabricated heroics of For France, so the producer felt obliged to insert a shot of the American flag at the end, just so he could claim that his film ended with a standing ovation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After she has been acquitted of the murder of her husband, Anne Winchester Wharton (Alice Joyce) escapes notoriety by moving to a small country town. She meets and has a romance with David Brinton (Percy Marmont), a widower with a teen-age daughter, Julia (Lucy Fox). But word of Anne's former troubles reaches the village and she becomes the target of a lot of gossip. Then when she is protecting Julia from the attentions of a shifty character, he meets with an accident and she is once again accused of murder. Brinton steadfastly stands by Anne during all of this, and eventually she is found to be innocent. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Jim Crocker (Owen Moore) is an American newspaperman who finds notoriety in London, much to the dismay of his highly proper aunt and uncle (William Haze and Dora Mill Adams). After his last fistfight -- this one with a nobleman -- Jim begins to think that maybe returning to the States isn't such a bad idea. The fact that the pretty Ann Chester (Zeena Keefe) is also heading Stateside is another inspiration. But before the two of them head off into the proverbial sunset, Jim finds quite a bit of adventure back in his home country, too. This film's story was written by P.G. Wodehouse and originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. It was remade in 1936 with Robert Montgomery as Jim and Madge Evans (a child star in 1920, when this version was made) as Ann. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This melodrama bears no relation to the 1919 Doris Kenyon Western of the same name. It is based on the Cynthia Stockley novel and instead of the Wild West, it takes place in London and South Africa. Sir Hugh (Raymond Blathwayt) wants his daughter, Lady Vivienne (Priscilla Dean), to marry nouveau riche society man Henry Porthen (Noah Beery). But Lady Vivienne is not thrilled with Porthen's lowbrow ways. Porthen nevertheless convinces her to come to his country home, along with an acquaintance, Freddy Sutherland (Lloyd Whitlock). During the visit, his jealous secretary, Joan Rudd (Helen Raymond), kills him and Sutherland, afraid of being accused of the murder, runs away. A few years after this scandal, Lady Vivienne travels to South Africa to inspect her father's holdings. She is saved from bandits by Kerry Burgess, a young homesteader (Robert Ellis). While the pair fall in love, they also uncover a scheme to blow up a dam. Lady Vivienne finds Sutherland and learns the truth about Porthen's murder, and she also rescues her lover, Burgess, when the dam is blown up and the valley is flooded. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Agnes Ayres stars as Muriel Gray in the lightning-paced comedy Heart Raider. Described in an introductory title as "a speed girl," Muriel proves this assertion true as she chases after her wealthy boyfriend John Dennis (Mahlon Hamilton). Meanwhile, Muriel's father Reginald Gray (Frazer Coulter) is forced to take out an insurance policy, covering any damage wrought by his daughter in her zany pursuit of Dennis. The insurance company really has its hands full whenever the heroine gets behind the wheel of a roadster or speedboat. Such were the vagaries of Hollywood that, within 10 years after the release of Heart Raider, both of its leading players would be scrounging around for bit parts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The plot of this romantic melodrama was rather ludicrous; the filmmakers may have figured the only way to give it credibility was to make the tale a figment of the heroine's imagination. Marie Campbell (Ethel Clayton) is a frivolous young lady who has a habit of running up huge bills on her father's account. Finally the frustrated Anthony Campbell (Edward Kimball) threatens to send his daughter to China for her sins, which doesn't bother her in the least since her fiancé, George Holt (Rockcliffe Fellows), is going there on business; the next thing she knows, she's on her way. Her Chinese maid gives her a little vase bearing a sacred symbol. There is some superstition surrounding the item and it seems like every Chinese inhabitant wants to get his hand on it. As a result, Marie finds herself being pursued by numerous threatening thieves. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The upstart Warner Bros. took a whack at Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1920 novel about an American-born countess (Beverly Bayne) whose estrangement from her brutish Polish husband (Stuart Holmes) becomes a cause for celebration in her socially prominent New York family. The flamboyant countess takes up with the fiancée (Elliot Dexter) of her cousin, and together they lead a Bohemian life. Hoping to forget the countess, the young man marries the wall-flower cousin (Edith Roberts). Soon enough, the new bride is expecting, and her philandering husband repents. The Age of Innocence) marked a comeback of sorts for Bayne and Dexter, both fast fading stars of the past decade. The Age of Innocence was filmed again in 1934, with Irene Dunne as the countess and the underrated Julie Haydon as the cousin, and, perhaps even more memorably, in a sumptuous 1993 production directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The brother of director Raoul Walsh, George Walsh starred in this low-budget gangster melodrama directed by Wesley Ruggles. Walsh plays Jack Banning, a motorcycle cop by day and undercover agent by night. Disguising himself as "Strongarm Samson," Banning infiltrates a gang of smugglers headed by Richard Courtney (a very young Brian Donlevy). Unfortunately, Marion Marcy (Ruth Dwyer) recognizes him and spills the beans to Courtney. The villain orders his henchman, Spanish Joe (Lucien Prival), to take the undercover cop "for a ride," but Banning escapes with the help of female undercover agent Dorina (Laura De Cardi). Marion, who has come to love the heroic policeman, is kidnapped by Courtney, but Banning manages to rescue her in the nick of time. With the gang behind bars, Banning and Marion can finally plan a future together. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Universal star Laura LaPlante struggles to fill out a very scanty story in this lightweight farce comedy. Molly and Sam Thornhill (LaPlante and John Harron) are a young couple who have been married less than a year. Although they dearly love each other, they argue constantly over every little thing. But when Molly discovers a pair of silk stockings in Sam's pocket, it's a very big deal. Even though Sam is completely innocent -- one of the girls at work took them off during her lunch hour and hid them as a joke -- Molly is determined to get a divorce. She lies to the judge, claiming that her meek, retiring husband is a gambler, a womanizer, and a wife beater. She manages to get her decree, but both she and Sam regret it almost immediately. Before the final decree goes through, Molly discovers that if Sam compromises her, the divorce will be void. She heads for his room in order to make that happen but wanders into the wrong room -- and the fun is on. Needless to say, the couple are embracing once again by the final frame. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide