Wallace Beery

  • Monte Brice – Casey at the Bat (1927)

    1921-1930ComedyMonte BriceSilentUSA

    Casey is a slovenly junk man in a turn of the twentieth century hick town who has a remarkable ability to play baseball. An unscrupulous New York scout signs him up, so Casey and his equally dishonest manager go to the big leagues. Eventually, the scout and manager conspire to get him drunk and bet against him for a crucial game with the pennant at stake.Read More »

  • Jack Conway & Howard Hawks & William A. Wellman – Viva Villa! (1934)

    Jack Conway1931-1940Howard HawksUSAWesternWilliam A. Wellman

    Quote:
    In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father’s death. In 1910, he befriends American reporter Johnny Sykes. Then a meeting with visionary Francisco Madero transforms Villa from an avenging bandit to a revolutionary general. To the tune of ‘La Cucaracha,’ his armies sweep Mexico. After victory, Villa’s bandit-like disregard for human life forces Madero to exile him. But Madero’s fall brings Villa back to raise the people against a new tyrant…Read More »

  • Josef von Sternberg – Sergeant Madden (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaJosef von SternbergUSA
    Sergeant Madden (1939)
    Sergeant Madden (1939)

    A highly respected Irish cop is pleased when his son follows him onto the force. Unfortunately, the son is more interested in rewards than in upholding the law. When he shoots a child caught stealing, the others frame him and he is sent to prison where his attitude becomes even worse than before.Read More »

  • Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton – Three Ages (1923)

    1921-1930Buster KeatonDramaEdward F. ClineFranceThriller

    Buster Keaton backed into feature filmmaking with this 1923 effort, which essentially consists of three two-reelers (Keaton’s accustomed format) edited together. The structure is a vague parody of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, with Buster fighting to win his woman from a stronger rival in the Stone Age, the Roman Empire, and modern times. It’s good but not great Keaton: the gags are chiefly basic slapstick, with little of the surrealistic refinement and visual sophistication he brought to his later features.Read More »

  • William A. Wellman – Beggars of Life [+commentaries] (1928)

    William A. Wellman1921-1930DramaQueer Cinema(s)SilentUSA

    Synopsis:
    After killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police, and reach Canada.Read More »

  • George W. Hill – Min and Bill (1930)

    1921-1930ComedyDramaGeorge W. HillUSA

    Plot: Min owns the waterfront hotel where Bill, the captain of a fishing boat, lives. Also living and working in the hotel is Nancy, whom Min took in some years ago as an abandoned girl. Now that Nancy is older, the truant officer and the police think that she should be moved to a different environment, and Min is torn between her attachment to Nancy and her concern that the waterfront may not be the best place for a young woman. Matters are brought to a head by the sudden re-appearance of Belle, Nancy’s disreputable mother. Written by Snow LeopardRead More »

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