Raymond Griffith
Actor · 1895 – 1957 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Raymond Griffith was one of the great silent movie comedians. Later in his career, he worked behind the camera as writer and producer. Griffith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost his voice at an early age, causing him to speak for the rest of his life in a hoarse whisper. Griffith claimed that it was the result of his having to scream at the top of his lungs every night in a stage melodrama as a child actor —others have stated that a childhood disease was more likely the cause. Although a few comedy films of his are considered classics, Griffith is almost totally forgotten today. Many of his starring feature films have long since been lost, but probably the best known of his films today is Hands Up! (1926), a Civil War comedy feature directed by Clarence G. Badger, and co-starring Mack Swain, which was entered into the National Film Registry in 2005. Also considered a classic is Badger's Paths to Paradise, a caper film that is in all circulating prints missing its final reel. Like many silent comedians, he had a traditional costume; his was a top hat, white tie and tails, often augmented by a cape and/or walking stick. The coming of sound ended Griffith's acting career, but he did have one memorable role in a motion picture before retiring from the screen, playing a French soldier killed by Lew Ayres in the 1930 Lewis Milestone film All Quiet on the Western Front. He then segued into a writing/producing career at Twentieth Century Fox. Griffith choked to death at the Masquers Club in Los Angeles, California, aged 62, on November 25, 1957.
Movies24
Movie7.8DramaWarWhen a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 · 976 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMysteryA diamond is stolen at a houseboat party given by the district attorney. He gives the thief a chance to return it by putting an empty box on a table and turning out the lights. When the lights are turned back on the box is gone, and the district attorney has a knife in his back and is quite dead. The police and the coroner arrive. There are several attempts made on the life of the coroner. Ruth Whitman is found hiding in a grandfather-clock, holding the gem box. She claims the box was pushed into her hands and she was pushed into the clock. The district attorney's butler/valet tells the coroner he saw who killed his employer and a few minutes later he is also murdered. The mystery deepens.
You'd Be Surprised
1926 · 5 votes
Movie8.0ComedyA young married couple appears before a judge to get a divorce. The wife shows the judge some pictures of her husband with his arms around another woman, as "proof" that he was cheating on her. The husband, for his part, claims that he was just innocently helping the woman and that he was being blackmailed by the photographer who took the picture.
Love, Honor and Behave
1920 · 1 votes
Movie7.0ComedyA young man from the country travels to the city to find his fortune. Although he has a letter of introduction from his wealthy uncle, the best job he can find is that of a street cleaner. He catches the eye of his landlady, who somehow manages to get the man to propose to her, but he then falls in love with a pretty young socialite, and when his rich uncle dies finds himself being sued by a gold-digging vamp who wants to her her hands on his inheritance.
The Crossroads of New York
1922 · 1 votes
Movie9.0DramaNellie Horton, when mistreated by her father, is taken in charge by Thomas Lipton. She grows up in poverty not knowing her true identity as the heiress to her mother's millions. Upon the death of her benefactor, she becomes a model in a fashionable shop. There she falls into the hands of her mother's unscrupulous nephew, who contrives to do away with her in order to obtain her fortune. ....
Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model
1924 · 1 votes
Movie7.0ComedyPrince Alexis is the son of the king of a small European country. His duties, though fairly unimportant, nevertheless keep him so busy that he has no time for anything else. One day he meets and falls in love with a pretty young girl and wants to spend as much time with her as possible, but the royal advisers won't allow it, as it would take away from his duties. To make matters worse, his father dies and Alexis becomes king. Frustrated at his position and his inability to spend time with the woman he loves, he comes up with a novel plan to solve his problems.
He's a Prince!
1925 · 1 votes
Movie8.0ComedyAfter a misunderstanding between a well-to-do young man and the girl he wanted to marry, he decides to arbitrarily marry the first random girl that will accept him. This proves harder that he he thought, and late at night and groggy, he gets into his house after some trouble and help from the police, only to realize he's not in his house, but trapped in a strange one with a married woman.
Wet Paint
1926 · 1 votes
Movie6.3ComedyDramaA young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Souls for Sale
1923 · 22 votes
Movie8.0CrimeMysteryWho killed the vicious millionaire Sigsbee Manderson? Not that pretty wife of his, surely? Philip Trent investigates.
Trent's Last Case
1929 · 1 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
Movie5.3DramaCrimeInternational crooks Sylvia, Roy and 'Count Donelli' come to America and cooperate to rob wealthy homes by using a gimmick known as a chess-playing machine. Sylvia and Roy soon learn the truth about not only themselves but also their partner-in-crime.
White Tiger
1923 · 14 votes
Movie8.0DramaJane Maynard opens a mission in memory of philanthropist Bland Hendricks. John Anstell, son of a powerful and selfish millionaire, Michael Anstell, falls in love with Jane, to the old man's disapproval. Anstell tries to undermine Jane's work by hiring reporter Tom Barnett to write an unfavorable story about the mission.
The Day of Faith
1923 · 1 votes
Movie9.0CrimeDramaExpecting to die soon or to go insane, Sir Oliver Holt disappears into the London slums intending to commit suicide; but he is dissuaded by Glad, a cheerful girl whose sweetheart (a burglar called "The Dandy") Sir Oliver has sent to obtain money from his safe. The Dandy discovers Arthur Holt, Sir Oliver's nephew, already looting the safe; and he (The Dandy) is framed for the murder of a policeman.
The Dawn of a Tomorrow
1924 · 1 votes
Movie8.0DramaLily, a poor and friendless orphan, is married to a sensual and elderly Colonel in the German army who divorces her when he finds her with a former officer sweetheart. Introduced by a girl friend to Bohemian society, Lily loses the love of the young officer and marries her former lover, a wealthy art connoisseur.
Lily of the Dust
1924 · 1 votes
- MovieComedy
A band of crooks, headed by Harry Gribbon, are on a train when they learn of a telegram sent to a fellow passenger, who is a police commissioner. The wire identifies him as official collector for the Old Cops' Home. A little chloroform does for him and when the train pulls out of his destination he is still on board while Gribbon is posing as the commissioner-collector.
Movie6.5ComedySlapstick comedy about a poor and unlucky life of a inventor.
A Scoundrel's Toll
1916 · 2 votes
Movie6.2ComedyCrimeTwo thieves discover a professional and personal relationship when individual heist plans are thrown together by circumstance.
Paths to Paradise
1925 · 12 votes
Movie8.0DramaMargot Le Blanc loses her small fortune at Monte Carlo and makes the acquaintance of Hugh Kildair, an artist, who hires her as a housekeeper. A gang of thieves set a trap for Kildair when they find that he knows a mathematical system guaranteed to win at the gambling table.
Poisoned Paradise
1924 · 1 votes
Movie7.0ComedyA bored rich housewife wants to go on the stage, but her husband won't let her. When she meets a despairing actress who looks exactly like her, she suggests they swap places for a little while, giving the actress a break while the rich husband is out of town. But the rich husband comes back early, causing havoc for the actress, plus the rich housewife is finding herself attracted to the actress's boyfriend.
Changing Husbands
1924 · 1 votes
Movie8.0ComedyThe relatives of dying Edward Woodruff, Nina Leffingwell, her brother Frederic, and her cousin Basil, whom she wants to marry, scheme to inherit Woodruff's wealth. Since Woodruff continually calls for an imagined granddaughter, the child of his daughter who died before they could patch up a quarrel which estranged them, Nina gets Doll, a Follies girl, to impersonate the granddaughter, try to endear herself to Woodruff, and thus inherit the money. Doll would then be paid off and the relatives would get the inheritance. When Doll's administrations cause Woodruff to recover, Nina sends for Woodruff's grandson Ned, whom he disowned for marrying beneath him, hoping that Ned will send Doll away. When Ned seems to fall in love with Doll, Nina tells Woodruff that Ned and Doll are secretly meeting in the estate lodge. Woodruff investigates and finds that Doll and Ned are married and have a baby boy. Delighted, Woodruff forgives Ned.
The Follies Girl
1919 · 1 votes
Movie10.0RomanceDramaAlfred Sava-Goiu, who, after being dumped by his sweetheart, philosophically decides to end it all by jumping into the Seine. Instead, he lands in a passing boat owned by the Countess Elvire. Falling in love with his savior, Alfred returns the compliment by rescuing the Countess from a precipitous waterfall.
Time to Love
1927 · 1 votes
Movie6.7ComedyRomanceDirector Frank Tuttle's 1925 silent mistaken-identity comedy, adapted from the 1923 play "Little Miss Bluebeard", stars Bebe Daniels.
Miss Bluebeard
1925 · 3 votes
- Movie7.0
The doctor prescribes fresh air for a man with a bad cold. His wife is determined to comply with the doctor's orders even if it kills him.
The Sleeping Porch
1929 · 1 votes
Movie8.0ComedyDramaThe Butterworth family attorney Gaspar Le Sage, and a suitor for the hand of Eleanor Butterworth, persuades a beautiful adventuress, Annabelle Wu, to help him steal the official plans for the coastal defense of California from Eleanor's brother, Lieutenant Butterworth.
Forty Winks
1925 · 1 votes