John Steppling
Actor · 1870 – 1932 · Essen, Germany
John Steppling (8 August 1870 in Essen, Germany – 5 April 1932 in Hollywood, California) was a German-American silent film actor. He moved to America at a young age and entered film in 1912 aged 42. He starred in a total of 230 films between then and 1928, beginning with one of the first feature films ever made, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. He is also credited with directing 7 films. He is the grandfather of playwright John Steppling.
Movies23
Movie8.0DramaComedyMary is marrying Jimmie, from whom she has kept a secret; Mary remains in love with another man. Problems ensue, jeopardizing the tranquility of their relationship.
Memory Lane
1926 · 1 votes
Movie7.4DramaA young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.
Broken Lullaby
1932 · 46 votes
Movie1.0ComedyDramaA lost film. A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.
Caprice
1913 · 1 votes
Movie10.0HistoryDramaA biographical film featuring the presidency and assassination of Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.
The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln
1924 · 1 votes
Movie10.0ComedyCrimeWealthy wastrel Neil Sparks devotes more attention to the pursuit of pleasure than to his inherited oil business. Neil's neglect allows two schemers, Craig and Abbott, to siphon the Sparks' Texas oil through the construction of an illegal pipeline. Upon receiving notification that his wells are running dry, and in an attempt to rid himself of the unwelcome attentions of his mercenary fiancée, Bess Kinloch, Neil ventures West to investigate, using an assumed name. Discovering the theft, Neil sends for his butler, and the two of them force the crooks to buy a parcel of land and deed the property to Myrtle Pratt, whose father had been swindled and murdered by the scoundrels. Justice served, Neil returns East to be followed by Myrtle and her five brothers, who arrive during his engagement party to Bess. Neil shocks his guests by announcing that the children are his, and he and Myrtle wed.
Live Sparks
1920 · 1 votes
- Movie10.0Drama
Comrades Three
1915 · 1 votes
- Movie8.0Drama
Steven Brooks, a young man who finds himself entangled in a complicated situation involving his wife, Mrs. Steven Brooks, and another woman named Nell. The relationships and events that unfold ultimately test Steven's resolve and character, leading to a dramatic conclusion.
The Resolve
1915 · 1 votes
- Movie10.0DramaWestern
Tom Allen, a hardworking young miner. He cautions his wife, Beatrice, about the presence of a "worthless chap" named Joe Hills, who frequently loiters around their cabin. Hills subsequently steals Allen's gold, and Beatrice discovers him in the act.
Justified
1915 · 1 votes
- MovieDrama
Fred Rees proposes to Edith Shanlon, contingent on her mother's approval, which is initially denied due to the mother's desire for a wealthy match. A dream reveals the potential unhappiness of such a marriage when Edith's mother envisions Edith married to a wealthy man who neglects her. The dream, filled with infidelity and public humiliation, convinces the mother that a loveless, wealthy marriage is not worth it. Upon waking, she happily grants her consent to Fred and Edith's union.
The Problem
1915
Movie6.0ComedyPrincess Triloff, an emigrée from Czarist Russia, escapes to America where she becomes a patron of the arts. She falls in love with the verses of impoverished poet Owen Carey and becomes his anonymous benefactor. When Owen inherits a fortune from his rich Uncle Krakerfeller, he assumes his uncle's identity and confers his own upon an impoverished friend, Frank Manners. At a resort, Owen meets the princess and falls in love with her, but is chagrined to discover that she is enamored with Manners. The princess finally discovers Owen's real identity and the two fall in love.
Billions
1920 · 2 votes
Movie8.0ComedyThe best man at an upcoming wedding goes to a jeweler to pick up the wedding ring and is also given a bracelet, on approval, worth $25,000. On his way home, a pigeon swoops down and snags the bracelet. The man must track down the pigeon and get the bracelet back so he won't have to pay for it--but that's easier said than done.
Wedding Bills
1927 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0Comedy
A shipping clerk falls under the spell of a socialite, but eventually returns to the girl from his own social class who really loves him.
Their Hour
1928 · 1 votes
Movie10.0DramaJane Goring, a ruthlessly ambitious actress, forsakes her life as a wife and mother for the stage. Returning home from a performance one night, Jane is disgusted to find her husband Robert McNaughton victimized by a tubercular cough and so banishes him and her young daughter to a sanitarium in Colorado. Years pass, finding Jane still estranged from her family. On the opening night of her new play, Jane finds herself upstaged and outperformed by Gloria Cromwell, a rising young actress, who, unknown to Jane, is her abandoned daughter. Returning home, Jane is haunted by visions of her husband and child and begins to sob. Looking up from her pillow, she is startled to see her husband with Gloria.
Madame Peacock
1920 · 1 votes
Movie8.0RomanceComedyWhen a wealthy young lady loses her inheritance, she decides to apply for work in disguise. In prim and proper working girl attire she becomes the respectable companion of a woman looking to reform her wayward nephew.
Glass Houses
1922 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0Drama
At the palatial home of a merchant the latter's wife entertains her husband's friends. The guests have all departed save one, the husband's most intimate and trusted friend. That this man should abuse the confidence of his friend and attempt to force his attentions upon the wife was a thing the merchant deemed little call to fortify against.
Jim
1914 · 1 votes
Movie7.0ComedyAustin Starfield has his greedy eye on a steel mill belonging to Eve Burnside. He persuades an impoverished count, Leon Molnar to marry Eve so he can then gain control of her fortune.
Eve's Lover
1925 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0DramaRomance
Within earshot of her fiancé Leo Holmes and his friend Bruce Morgan Louise Wilke says she could never marry a man who was a drunkard. Morgan, secretly in love with Louise, gets Leo intoxicated and sends him to her home. Louise breaks off the engagement and Bruce pursues her. Undecided, she slips into a dream where she is mired in a life of misery with Morgan, who has become a worse drunkard than Holmes as well as selfish and brutal. In trying to defend herself from Bruce she kills him with a pair of shears. Holmes, a poor derelict, hears her scream, rushes to her rescue. Louise awakens and sends for Leo.
The Derelict
1915 · 1 votes
- Movie9.0Drama
Discovering the day before her marriage that her fiancé is already married Violet Day has a breakdown. To recover her physician, Dr. King advises her to spend several months in the mountains. After some time there she meets young mountaineer Tom Sexton. The couple are smitten both thinking the other is a native of the area. Tom had also been sent to the region by Dr. King and when the doctor arrives for a vacation the pair both swear him to secrecy, much to his amusement.
The Deception
1915 · 1 votes
Movie6.0ComedyJohn Steppling is Billy McGrath in this popular series directed by Archer McMackin, of which this is the only existing example. Billy wants to be a Broadway producer but finds is isn't so easy.
Billy McGrath on Broadway
1913 · 2 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMysteryPercy Schwartz is the son of a rich trash-can manufacturer but forgoes joining the company business in order to write thriller movie stories about bigger-than-life heroes, which he also aspires to be. Percy is deeply in love with Ruth Rand, the niece of Dr. Rand. a world-exploring scientist who majors in the mysteries of the Orient. The latter, after hearing Percy read one of his blood-curdling scenarios to the awe-struck Ruth, decides to test Percy character. Percy goes to ask Dr. Rand for Ruth's hand-in-marriage and finds him in his study going through some Orienral artifacts with his giant Hindu servant, Kotah. Dr. Rand later informs Percy that Ruth has been abducted and he needs Percy to help rescue her.
Fools in the Dark
1924 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0Drama
A maid in the politician's household is bribed to call on the young man late at night, for the purpose of establishing a scandal which he is to be forced to sell his paper in order to hush up. The arrangements, overheard by the daughter, are frustrated by her locking the maid in her closet, and impersonating her herself. The result is comical and satisfying.
Reprisal
1915 · 1 votes
- MovieComedyDrama
Insurance adjuster John Smith leaves for a nearby town to adjust a loss. He tells Mrs. Smith that he will be home in a few days. Traveling salesman John Smith leaves for a short business trip. He also tells Mrs. Smith to expect him in a few days. Salesman John wires his wife that he will be held up until the next day. Adjuster John Smith wires his wife that he will be home on the midnight express and to have lunch ready for him. The messages get crossed and many comical misunderstandings results until all is happily resolved.
Mixed Wires
1915
- Movie9.0Drama
Young Mary Lehner is deceived and abandoned by Ralph Moore, a manipulative social climber. Mary, daughter of a blacksmith, falls for Moore while he's taking advantage of her father's hospitality. After Moore leaves her pregnant and heartbroken, she flees to the city, faces hardship, and eventually gives birth to their child. Meanwhile, Moore, now engaged to a wealthy woman, experiences a night of drunken debauchery and insults, ultimately leading him to a deserted house where he encounters Mary again. Seeing her and learning of her suffering, Moore finally recognizes his obligation to her and their child. They reconcile and Mary returns to a respectable social standing.
His Obligation
1915 · 1 votes