Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose.
Wilfred Van Norman Lucas was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter.
Ida Estelle Taylor was an American actress, singer, model, and animal rights activist who was the second of world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's four wives. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.
Grace Cunard was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions, and directed no fewer than eight of them. In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the shorts, serials, and features she developed in collaboration with Francis Ford. Her younger sister, Mina Cunard, was also a film actress.
Tol'able David is a 1921 American silent film based on the 1917 Joseph Hergesheimer short story of the same name. It was adapted to the screen by Edmund Goulding and directed by Henry King for Inspiration Pictures. A rustic tale of violence set in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, it was filmed in Blue Grass, Virginia, with some locals featured in minor roles.
Henry Martyn Blossom, Jr. was an American writer, playwright, novelist, opera librettist, and lyricist. He first gained wide attention for his second novel, Checkers: A Hard Luck Story (1896), which was successfully adapted by Blossom into a 1903 Broadway play, Checkers. It was Blossom's first stage work and his first critical success in the theatre. The play in turn was adapted by others creatives into two silent films, one in 1913 and the other in 1919, and the play was the basis for the 1920 Broadway musical Honey Girl. Checkers was soon followed by Blossom's first critical success as a lyricist, the comic opera The Yankee Consul (1903), on which he collaborated with fellow Saint Louis resident and composer Alfred G. Robyn. This work was also adapted into a silent film in 1921. He later collaborated with Robyn again; writing the book and lyrics for their 1912 musical All for the Ladies.
Hobart Henley was an American silent film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He was involved in over 60 films either as an actor or director or both from 1914 to 1934.
Gold Heels is a 1924 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation and directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The film is loosely based on legendary racing horse Gold Heels and the novel Checkers: A Hard Luck Story by Henry Martyn Blossom.
Dangerous Corner is a 1934 American mystery film directed by Phil Rosen, using a screenplay by Anne Morrison Chapin, Madeleine Ruthven, Ralph Berton, and Eugene Berton, which was based on a novel and play of the same name by J. B. Priestley. It starred Virginia Bruce, Conrad Nagel, and Melvyn Douglas.
By Your Leave is a 1934 American domestic comedy film directed by Lloyd Corrigan from a script by Allan Scott, Lewis Foster, and Sam Mintz. The screenplay was based on a play of the same name by Gladys Hurlbut and Emma B. C. Wells, which had a short run early in the year at the Morosco Theatre. The film was produced by Pandro S. Berman, and starred Frank Morgan and Genevieve Tobin, although several other actresses were initially scheduled to appear in the film, including Mary Astor and Ann Harding. Both stars were on loan to RKO from other studios. It marked the film debuts of two notable Broadway actors, Glenn Anders and Gene Lockhart, the latter of which had a lengthy Hollywood career. By Your Leave opened on November 9, 1934, and received mostly positive reviews.
The Arizonian is a 1935 American Western film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Richard Dix, Margot Grahame, Preston Foster, and Louis Calhern. The screenplay was by Dudley Nichols. The film was released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 28, 1935.
Don't Turn 'Em Loose is a 1936 American crime drama film directed by Ben Stoloff and produced by RKO Radio Pictures, who released the film on September 18, 1936. Written by Harry Segall and Ferdinand Reyher, the production's screenplay is at least partially based on "Homecoming" by Thomas Walsh, a short story published in Collier's magazine in March 1936. The film costars Lewis Stone, James Gleason, Bruce Cabot, Louise Latimer and Betty Grable.
Sand! is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Lambert Hillyer based upon the Russell A. Boggs short story "Dan Kurrie’s Inning." The film stars William S. Hart, Mary Thurman, G. Raymond Nye, Patricia Palmer, Bill Patton, and S.J. Bingham. It was released on June 20, 1920, by Paramount Pictures.
The Ancient Mariner is a 1925 American silent fantasy drama film based on the popular 1798 poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The film was directed by Henry Otto and Chester Bennett, and it was adapted for the screen by Eve Unsell. The film stars Clara Bow, Gladys Brockwell, Nigel De Brulier and was distributed by Fox Film Corporation. The film is presumed to be lost.
Shoes is a 1916 silent film drama directed by Lois Weber and starring Mary MacLaren. It was distributed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company and produced by Bluebird Photoplays, a subsidiary of Universal based in New York City and with access to Universal's studio facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey as well as in California. Shoes was added to the National Film Registry in 2014.
Dragnet Patrol is a 1931 American Pre-Code melodrama film directed by Frank R. Strayer from a script by W. Scott Darling. The film stars Glenn Tryon, Vera Reynolds, and Marjorie Beebe, and was released by Action Pictures on December 15, 1931.
Drums of the Congo is a 1942 American drama film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Ona Munson, Stuart Erwin, and Peggy Moran, and was released on July 17, 1942.
Astra Film Corp was an American film production company that produced silent films. Louis J. Gasnier was the company's president. George B. Seitz co-founded it. It was making films by 1916. It became Louis J. Gasnier Productions after Seitz left.
Bluebird Photoplays was an American film production company that filmed at Universal Pictures studios in California and New Jersey, and distributed its films via Universal Pictures during the silent film era. It had a $500,000 studio in New Jersey.
"It was a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and employed Universal stars and used Universal’s facilities but the pictures were marketed independently from Carl Laemmle’s umbrella company."—Anke Brouwers
Checkers: A Hard Luck Story is a novel by Henry Blossom. First published in 1896, the novel is set during the World's Columbian Exposition and follows businessman Jack Preston as he develops a friendship with the horse racing tout and gambler Edward "Checkers" Campbell. Much of the action of the novel takes place at the American Derby in Arlington Park just outside of Chicago, and at a variety of bars and gambling establishments in Chicago. The novel was the basis for the 1924 silent film Gold Heels.
