J.P. McGowan
Actor · 1880 – 1952 · Terowie, Australia
From Wikipedia John Paterson McGowan (February 24, 1880 – March 26, 1952) was a pioneering Hollywood actor and director and occasionally a screenwriter and producer. J. P. McGowan, as he was usually known, remains the only Australian to have been made a life member of the Screen Directors Guild (now Directors Guild of America). Born in the then-bustling railway centre of Terowie in South Australia, McGowan grew up in Adelaide (Islington) and Sydney. He was a capable horseman and served in the Second Boer War with Montmorency's Scouts as a special dispatch rider. McGowan directed and often acted in the first 33 episodes of Kalem's 1914 adventure film series, The Hazards of Helen, which eventually ran to 54 episodes, some still with McGowan's participation. While filming he began a relationship with Helen Holmes, the film's star, and the two married. They left Kalem to set up their own production company, Signal Films, which successfully made a series of railroad melodramas but lost out when their distributor (Mutual) failed. The collaboration ended when they divorced in 1925. There was an adopted daughter, Kaye. McGowan successfully made the transition from silent film to talkies. While never a major star, in a busy career that spanned four decades he is credited with acting in 232 films—mostly strong roles like sheriff or villain—writing 26 screenplays and directing 242 productions. In 1932 he directed a young John Wayne in the 12-episode rail vs airplane serial The Hurricane Express for the independent Mascot Pictures. From 1938 to 1951, as Executive Secretary of the Screen Directors Guild, he fought to secure recognition for the director within the studio systems of the film and emerging television industry. J.P. McGowan died in 1952 in Hollywood and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Movies24
Movie7.6WesternA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.
Stagecoach
1939 · 1.3K votes
Movie7.0WesternA U.S. soldier goes after bandits in California, although it is still owned by Mexico.
Señor Americano
1929 · 1 votes
Movie6.9DramaHistoryAfter healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth — responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln — Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.
The Prisoner of Shark Island
1936 · 62 votes
Movie10.0WesternFrom Death Valley in the Mojave Desert to Mount Whittier, the outlaw gangs are wreaking havoc on the gold and money shipments from the mines and ranches. Wells Fargo organizes an express service that will insure the shipments and ensure a guaranteed delivery. Granger Hume is hired to help Wells-Fargo deliver on their promise.
Gun Gospel
1927 · 1 votes
Movie7.1DramaHistoryIn 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Les Misérables
1935 · 59 votes
- Movie8.0ActionDrama
An American adventurer goes into the interior of Africa on a quest for the great starfire diamond.
Danger Quest
1 votes
MovieWesternWhispering Smith is a virile, fearless type of the true American whoso theory of life is to give every man a chance to show what is in him. There is nothing of the bully or braggart about him. He is only a man who knows instinctively what is right and never falters in his steps to see that justice is given where it is deserved and crime punished on the same basis. Originally shot as a serial to be called "Whispering Smith", distributor Mutual Films decided to release it as two separate films - this film, which was released first, and Medicine Bend (1916).
Whispering Smith
1916
Movie8.0DramaTwo men in love with the same girl race to save her when she is trapped aboard a ship on fire in storm-swept seas.
Stormy Seas
1923 · 1 votes
- Movie8.0Drama
The old sheriff dies. In jest, the mountaineers nominate Kaintucky Bill, the worst moonshiner in the state, for the office. Considering it a huge joke, Kaintucky Bill takes the oath of office.
Kaintucky Bill
1914 · 1 votes
Movie8.0DramaWesternNew Yorker John Holmes, who has made a fortune on Wall Street, receives an urgent message to go West because a California gold mine in which he has invested may be lost due to the larceny of his foreman. Once in California, he meets Dolores Verdiego, who became an innocent victim of the foreman and his gang when she was coerced into making a false ownership claim on the mine from an old charter.
Duped
1925 · 1 votes
Movie5.6AdventureComedyAn Arizona gas station owner faces comic adventures after traveling with an eccentric millionaire to New City, where he meets up with a small-time con woman and is repeatedly mistaken for a gangster.
She Had to Eat
1937 · 5 votes
Movie3.0WesternDonald Custer loses in a poker game to 'Ace High' having forged his father's name to a check. Knowing the game was crooked, Buck returns to retrieve the check only to find Donald already there and Carlotta dead. When Buck sends Donald away, things look bad when 'Ace High' finds him with the body.
Red Blood
1925 · 1 votes
Movie10.0DramaWith ruin staring him in the face, Manning, of Manning and Company, commits a theft which averts the crash. The scoundrel cleverly contrives to throw suspicion upon Reynolds, an old and faithful employee. Reynolds receives a three-year sentence. Beatrice, the daughter of Manning's victim, believes in her father's innocence. Led to believe Manning the real cause of her father's tribulations, Beatrice vows to wreak vengeance upon the scoundrel.
His Nemesis
1914 · 1 votes
Movie6.4AdventureFrench pirate Jean Lafitte rescues a girl and joins the War of 1812.
The Buccaneer
1938 · 12 votes
Movie6.6DramaMysteryA traitor is lurking somewhere aboard the USS Carolina, and Lt. Tom Randolph is determined to find the offender. First a revolutionary new piece of technology -- an electric firing device -- is sabotaged. Then one of the cruiser's crew is murdered. In order to catch the killer, the captain locks down the ship. With foreign dignitaries, corporate goons and even Tom's girlfriend, Betty, trapped on the vessel, there is no shortage of suspects.
Murder in the Fleet
1935 · 5 votes
MovieThrillerWhispering Smith, a railroad detective, is sent to Medicine Bend to suppress the looting of cars.
Medicine Bend
1916
Movie5.8CrimeRomanceA proud, pro-capital punishment district attorney with a 90% execution rate, finds himself wrongly convicted of murdering his estranged wife and sentenced to die. The woman he loves and his investigator rival for her affections rally to find the real killer, while he is confronted by the misery of life on death row.
The Accusing Finger
1936 · 4 votes
Movie6.8MusicComedyA young pacifist, after refusing on principle to defend her sweetheart's honor and being banished in disgrace, joins a riverboat troupe as a singer, acquires a reputation as a crackshot after a saloon brawl in which the villain of the piece accidentally kills himself with his own gun, falls in love with his former fianceé's sister and finally bullies an apprehensive family into accepting him.
Mississippi
1935 · 8 votes
Movie5.1AdventureDramaAction-filled drama about a ship captain, ashamed of his background in the slave trade, forced against his will to again transport human cargo.
Slave Ship
1937 · 8 votes
Movie5.2ActionHistoryIn the 1840's Mexico has ceded California to the United States, making life nearly impossible for the Mexican population due to the influx of land and gold-crazy Americans. Farmer Joaquin Murrieta revenges the death of his wife against the four Americans who killed her and is branded an outlaw. The reward for his capture is increased as he subsequently kills the men who brutally murder his brother. Joining with bandit Three Fingered Jack, Murrieta raises an army of disaffected Mexicans and goes on a rampage against the Americans, finally forcing his erstwhile friend, Bill Warren, to lead a posse against him.
Robin Hood of El Dorado
1936 · 6 votes
Movie6.8AdventureRomanceHighwayman Dick Turpin rides 200 miles to save his wife from the gallows in 18th-century England.
The Lady and the Bandit
1951 · 4 votes
Movie8.0WesternBaffled
1924 · 1 votes
Movie5.1ActionWesternJohn Bishop discovers a plot to rob a silver mine belonging to his girlfriend Mary's father and, to foil the evildoers, he joins them.
Somewhere in Sonora
1933 · 13 votes
Movie5.7CrimeDramaNotorious racketeer Joe Albany kills James Flowers when he discovers he is embezzling from the club they own. Joe escapes through a window and hails a taxi, but when he gets nervous at the sound of sirens, he jumps out. Hardware salesman Peter Harris accidentally hits Joe with his car, and unharmed, Joe seizes this opportunity to hide in Peter's car. Peter is so drunk that Joe is able to con him into believing that he is Charles Edwards, a fellow hardware man who was with him at a convention, and in the guise of friendship, accompanies Peter to his suburban home. The next morning, Joe gets antsy and wants to leave, but Peter's family, his wife Mary, young son Robert and daughter Jane all entreat him to stay.
Hunted Men
1938 · 3 votes