Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
James Oliver Curwood was an American action-adventure writer and conservationist. His books were often based on adventures set in the Hudson Bay area, the Yukon or Alaska and ranked among the top-ten best sellers in the United States in the early and mid 1920s, according to Publishers Weekly. At least one hundred and eighty motion pictures have been based on or directly inspired by his novels and short stories; one was produced in three versions from 1919 to 1953. At the time of his death, Curwood was the highest paid author in the world.
Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.
Lillian Bohny, known professionally as Billie Dove, was an American actress.
The Thundering Herd is a 1925 American silent Western film, now lost. It is directed by William K. Howard and starring Jack Holt, Lois Wilson, Noah Beery, Sr. and Raymond Hatton. Based on Zane Grey's 1925 novel of the same name and written by Lucien Hubbard, the film is about a trader who uncovers a scheme to blame the Indians for a buffalo-herd massacre. It was one of a series of critically and commercially successful Zane Grey westerns produced by Jesse Lasky and Adolph Zukor for Paramount Pictures.
Irvin V. Willat was an American film director of the silent film era. He directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937. Early in his career Willat worked as a cinematographer on several films. His older brother Edwin Willat (1882–1950) was cinematographer on several silent films.
Sunset Pass is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott, Tom Keene, Harry Carey, and Noah Beery. The picture was based on a Zane Grey novel, along with several other theatrical films with similar casts also based upon Zane Grey novels directed by Hathaway in 1933.
The Heritage of the Desert is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Irvin Willat and based on the novel of the same name by Zane Grey. It stars Bebe Daniels, Ernest Torrence, and Noah Beery. The film was released by Paramount Pictures with sequences filmed in an early Technicolor process.
Wild Horse Mesa is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Jack Holt, Noah Beery Sr., Billie Dove, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Based on the novel Wild Horse Mesa by Zane Grey, the film is about a rancher who, desperate for money, decides to trap and sell wild horses using barbed wire. The local Navajo tribe tries to persuade him not to do it. The film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. Wild Horse Mesa was filmed on location in Colorado. Prints of the film have survived.
The Fighting Coward is a 1924 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky, released by Paramount Pictures, and directed by James Cruze. The film stars Ernest Torrence, Mary Astor, Noah Beery, Sr., Phyllis Haver, and Cullen Landis. The film is based on the play Magnolia by Booth Tarkington, from 1904.
North of 36 is a 1924 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the novel, North of 36, by Emerson Hough. The film was directed by Irvin Willat and stars Jack Holt and Lois Wilson. This film was preserved in the Library of Congress in the 1970s and has been restored by that archive with a new screening of the restored film in the summer of 2011 in upstate New York.
Careers is a 1929 American all-talking pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and produced and released by First National Pictures. It stars Billie Dove and features Antonio Moreno, Thelma Todd and Noah Beery. The film was based on a 1924 German play entitled Karriere, written by Alfred Schirokauer and Paul Rosenhayn.
Wanderer of the Wasteland is a 1945 American Western film directed by Wallace Grissell and Edward Killy and starring James Warren in his RKO debut replacing Robert Mitchum who had starred in Nevada and West of the Pecos from the same screenwriter and director. Richard Martin, and Audrey Long also star in the film. The screenplay was written by Norman Houston loosely based on the 1923 novel Wanderer of the Wasteland by Zane Grey, the film is about a young cowboy searching for the man who killed his father when he was a boy. With his lifelong friend at his side, he travels the country following his one clue—a distinctive brand on the killer's horse. When he tracks down the now elderly murderer, he finds he cannot kill him because of his feelings for the man's kindhearted daughter. Wanderer of the Wasteland was filmed on location in Lone Pine, California. Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, the film was released on September 28, 1945 in the United States.
The Light of Western Stars is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by William K. Howard and starring Jack Holt, Billie Dove, and Noah Beery. The film was based on a 1914 Zane Grey novel and had been filmed before in 1918.
Less Than Kin is a lost 1918 American silent comedy film directed by Donald Crisp and written by Marion Fairfax and Alice Duer Miller. The film stars Wallace Reid, Ann Little, Raymond Hatton, Noah Beery, Sr., James Neill and Charles Ogle. The film was released on July 21, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
A Daughter of the Wolf is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and written by Marion Fairfax and Hugh Pendexter. The film stars Lila Lee, Elliott Dexter, Clarence Geldart, Raymond Hatton, Richard Wayne, and Minnie Devereaux. The film was released on June 22, 1919, by Paramount Pictures.
Rugged Water is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Shelley Hamilton and Joseph C. Lincoln. The film stars Lois Wilson, Wallace Beery, Warner Baxter, Phyllis Haver, Dot Farley, J. P. Lockney, James Mason, and Willard Cooley. The film was released on August 17, 1925, by Paramount Pictures.
The Ancient Highway is a 1925 American silent adventure film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Shelley Hamilton and Eve Unsell based upon the novel of the same name by James Oliver Curwood. The film stars Jack Holt, Billie Dove, Montagu Love, Stanley Taylor, Lloyd Whitlock, and William A. Carroll. The film was released on November 8, 1925, by Paramount Pictures.
The Enchanted Hill is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Shelley Hamilton and Peter B. Kyne. The film stars Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, Noah Beery, Sr., Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, George Bancroft, and Ray Thompson. The film was released on January 18, 1926, by Paramount Pictures.
Wanderer of the Wasteland is a 1935 American Western film directed by Otho Lovering and written by Stuart Anthony. It is based on the 1923 novel Wanderer of the Wasteland by Zane Grey. The film stars Dean Jagger, Gail Patrick, Edward Ellis, Monte Blue, Buster Crabbe and Trixie Friganza. The film was released on September 9, 1935, by Paramount Pictures.
