| The Pill Pounder | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gregory La Cava |
| Produced by | C.C. Burr |
| Starring | Charles Murray Clara Bow James Turfler |
| Cinematography | Charles E. Gilson |
Production company | All Star Comedies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 20 minutes (2 reels) |
| Country | United States |
The Pill Pounder is a 1923 silent film starring Charles Murray and featuring Clara Bow. The film is 20 minutes long. It was a lost film until a print was found at an auction in Omaha, Nebraska in 2023. [1] [2]
Charles Murray is a druggist ("pill pounder") who tries to host a clandestine poker game in the back room of his drugstore. [3]
The two-reel film was shot on Long Island, New York. It was directed by Gregory La Cava and features Bow and "rubber-faced vaudeville veteran Charlie Murray". [3]
In their April 28, 1923 edition, Exhibitors Herald "unhesitatingly recommended" the film. [4]
The film was purchased in a lot from a bankrupt distributor Modern Sound Offerings at an auction in 2023. The film was included in a pallet of film canisters, bought for $20. The purchaser noticed a few rare films in the lot, which could only be purchased as a unit. The lost film, which was found to be a 35mm print from either the 1950s or 1960s to be included in an anthology, was in good condition. However, this copy was missing its intertitles as well as some scenes and shots. It was cleaned up and projected for audiences at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on April 11, 2024. [3]
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.
Beyond the Rainbow is a 1922 American silent drama film starring Billie Dove, Harry T. Morey and Clara Bow in her film debut. A 16mm print of the film is in the collection of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Enemies of Women is a 1923 American silent romantic drama film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens, Gladys Hulette, Pedro de Cordoba, and Paul Panzer. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst through his Cosmopolitan Productions. Pre-fame actresses Clara Bow and Margaret Dumont have uncredited bit roles.
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 Daring Years is 1923 American silent melodrama film directed by Kenneth Webb and produced by Daniel Carson Goodman. The film starred Mildred Harris, Clara Bow, Charles Emmett Mack, and Tyrone Power Sr.
M'Liss is a 1918 American silent comedy drama film directed by Marshall Neilan, written by Frances Marion and based on a Bret Harte story. The film was made previously in 1915 and was remade again in 1922 as The Girl Who Ran Wild, starring Gladys Walton. Another same-titled remake was released in 1936, starring Anne Shirley.
Peacock Alley is a 1922 American silent drama film starring Monte Blue and Mae Murray. The film was directed by Murray's husband at the time, Robert Z. Leonard. Set design for the film was done by Charles Cadwallader. The film premiered on November 9, 1921 at the Hotel Commodore in New York City.
Black Oxen is a 1923 American silent fantasy / romantic drama film starring Corinne Griffith, Conway Tearle, and Clara Bow. Directed by Frank Lloyd, the film is based on the controversial best-selling 1923 novel of the same name by Gertrude Atherton.
Kiss Me Again is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, and Clara Bow. The film was based on the French play Divorçons! (1880), by Victorien Sardou and Émile de Najac, and the adapted version of the play Cyprienne.
Kick In is a 1922 American silent crime drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures, and starring Betty Compson and Bert Lytell. The picture was directed by George Fitzmaurice, who previously directed a 1917 film version of the story. Both films are based on Willard Mack's 1913 play that was produced on Broadway in 1914 starring John Barrymore. The supporting cast features Charles Ogle, who had played the first screen Frankenstein's monster in the original 1910 version of Frankenstein.
Shadow of the Law is a 1926 American silent crime drama film starring Clara Bow as a woman sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Directed by Wallace Worsley, the screenplay was written by Leah Baird and Grover Jones and was based on the novel Two Gates by Harry Chapman Ford.
Her Purchase Price is a 1919 silent film romance distributed by newly formed Robertson-Cole. It was directed by Howard C. Hickman and starred Bessie Barriscale.
The Gilded Lily is a surviving 1921 American silent drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Clara Beranger and Tom McNamara. The film stars Mae Murray, Lowell Sherman, Jason Robards, Sr., Charles K. Gerrard, and Leonora von Ottinger. The film was released on March 6, 1921, by Paramount Pictures.
Big Brother is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Rex Beach and Paul Sloane. The film stars Tom Moore, Edith Roberts, Raymond Hatton, Joe King, Mickey Bennett, Charles Henderson, and Paul Panzer. The film was released on December 23, 1923, by Paramount Pictures.
Don't Call It Love is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film directed by William C. deMille and written by Clara Beranger and Julian Street based upon the play Rita Coventry by Hubert Osborne. The film stars Agnes Ayres, Jack Holt, Nita Naldi, Theodore Kosloff, Rod La Rocque, and Robert Edeson. The film was released on December 24, 1923, by Paramount Pictures.
Mary of the Movies is a 1923 American silent semi-autobiographical comedy film based on the career of Marion Mack. It was written by Mack and her husband Louis Lewyn, and stars Mack and Creighton Hale. Hale and director John McDermott play fictionalized versions of themselves in the film, which was also directed by McDermott.
Breakers Ahead is a 1918 American silent drama film, directed by Charles Brabin. It stars Viola Dana, Clifford Bruce, and Mabel Van Buren, and was released on March 25, 1918.
Two Can Play is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Nat Ross and starring George Fawcett, Allan Forrest, and Clara Bow.
The Adventurous Sex is a lost 1925 American silent drama film that was directed by Charles Giblyn and starred Clara Bow, Herbert Rawlinson, and Earle Williams. The Howard Estabrook production was shot in studios in New York City and on location at Niagara Falls.
Thunder the Dog was a male German Shepherd that performed in American silent films from 1923 through 1927. Although Thunder's filmography is rather brief, his six- and seven-reel features were much longer and more elaborate than the films in which many of his fellow canine actors appeared during the silent era. His releases did, though, have to compete in the 1920s with other feature films starring rival German Shepherds such as Peter the Great, Napoleon, Rex, and, most notably, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin. During his career, Thunder worked for Paramount, Gotham Pictures, and Fox Film Corporation; and he shared screen time with Clara Bow, Dorothy Dalton, William Russell, Caryl Lincoln, and other prominent actors of the period.
