Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an Anglo-American import-export company. Robertson-Cole began distributing films in the United States that December and opened a Los Angeles production facility in 1920. Late that year, R-C entered into a working relationship with East Coast financier Joseph P. Kennedy. A business reorganization in 1922 led to its assumption of the FBO name, first for all its distribution operations and ultimately for its own productions as well. Through Kennedy, the studio contracted with Western leading man Fred Thomson, who grew by 1925 into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. Thomson was just one of several silent screen cowboys with whom FBO became identified.
The Impossible Mrs. Bellew is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the 1916 novel of the same name by David Lisle.
The Whip Hand is a 1951 American film directed by William Cameron Menzies and starring Carla Balenda and Elliott Reid.
Scarlet Seas is a surviving 1929 American synchronized sound romantic adventure film produced by Richard A. Rowland and distributed by First National Pictures. Although there is no audible dialogue, the film was released with a musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc recording process. The picture was directed by John Francis Dillon. It starred Richard Barthelmess, Betty Compson, and a teen-aged Loretta Young. Originally, the film was presumed lost.
The Ridin' Renegade is a 1928 American silent Western film directed by Wallace Fox for Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) and starring Bob Steele, Nancy Drexel and Lafe McKee. The film was distributed by FBO and commercially released in the United States on February 19, 1928.
Archie Marshek was an American film editor whose 44-year career spanned six decades.
Hugh Trevor was an American actor whose short career began at the very end of the silent era in 1927. He would appear in nineteen films in the scant six years during which he was active. He did not fare well with the advent of talking pictures, and retired from the industry in 1931. His life was cut short when he unexpectedly died from complications following appendectomy surgery in 1933.
The Air Legion is a 1929 aviation silent film about airmail produced and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America(FBO) and was released just as FBO was being turned into RKO Pictures. In Canada, the film was distributed by the Alliance Communications Corporation. Aviation historian Michael Paris considered the film as "virtually the last silent film" on the topic of airmail flying.
A School for Husbands is a lost 1917 American comedy silent film directed by George Melford, written by Hugh Stanislaus Stange and Harvey F. Thew, and starring Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Edythe Chapman, Frank Elliott, Mabel Van Buren and James Neill. It was released on April 5, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.
Christine of the Big Tops is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film starring Pauline Garon and Cullen Landis. It is one of the first films of the prolific Warner's director Archie Mayo.
The Finger Points is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by John Monk Saunders, W.R. Burnett and Robert Lord. The film stars Richard Barthelmess, Fay Wray, Regis Toomey, Robert Elliott, Clark Gable, Oscar Apfel and Robert Gleckler. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 11, 1931.
Alfred Emory Johnson was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. As a teenager, he started acting in silent films. Early in his career, Carl Laemmle chose Emory to become a Universal Studio leading man. He also became part of one of the early Hollywood celebrity marriages when he wed Ella Hall.
Let 'er Buck is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Hoot Gibson.
Temptations of a Shop Girl is a lost 1927 silent crime drama directed by Tom Terriss, with Betty Compson and Pauline Garon leading the cast. B-movie studio Chadwick Pictures was the production company.
The Flaming Frontier is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Hoot Gibson. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The Fortune Hunter is a lost 1914 silent film directed by Barry O'Neil. It stars actor William Elliott and Ethel Clayton. The Lubin Manufacturing Company produced.
The Fortune Hunter is a lost 1927 synchronized sound film comedy directed by Charles Reisner and starring Syd Chaplin. It is based on the 1909 Broadway play The Fortune Hunter by Winchell Smith. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film was produced by Warner Brothers.
The Spitfire is a 1924 American silent society drama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Betty Blythe and Lowell Sherman.
Win That Girl is a lost 1928 synchronized sound film comedy directed by David Butler and starring David Rollins and Sue Carol. It was produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film movietone process.
Mile-a-Minute Romeo is a 1923 American silent Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Robert N. Lee. It is based on the 1922 novel Gun Gentlemen by Max Brand. The film stars Tom Mix, Betty Jewel, J. Gordon Russell, James Mason, Duke R. Lee and James Quinn. The film was released on November 18, 1923, by Fox Film Corporation.
