Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 7

This post completes my overview of Margerie Lowry in the movies.

A Made-To-Order Hero (1928)

Starring Ted Wells (seen above), Marjorie Bonner played Margery Murray, Pearl Sindelar, Jack Pratt, Ben Corbett and Gilbert Holmes. Directed by Edgar Lewis, and written by William A. Berke and Gardner Bradford, released on June 03 of 1928 in the USA.

As with many westerns of the silent era, much of this is played for humor. Aunty says niece Margery Bonner must marry a society man—or a hero, so cowboy Ted Wells has his pals (Dick L’Strange, Pee Wee Holmes, Ben Corbett, Scotty Maltraw) pretend to be outlaws as he rides to Margery’s fake rescue—as a hero! But Ted’s plans go awry when a real outlaw (Jack Pratt) shows up. Wells (1899-1947) was handsome, a superb horseman and even exhibited decent acting skills here, but was stymied when Universal shut down production of westerns in late ‘29 during the transition to sound. Ted continued to work sporadically as a stuntman, double (for Hopalong Cassidy) and extra in westerns and serials through 1947, but primarily found employment as a ranch manager in Colorado and co-owned a concrete block manufacturing business. He did manage to star in two bottom of the barrel Robert J. Horner westerns (DEFYING THE LAW and PHANTOM COWBOY, both ‘35) in the sound era that did absolutely noting to enhance his status in the film business. Silent Westerns

Trial of Courage 1928



Director: Wallace Fox; Writers: Frank Howard Clark, Helen Gregg; Stars: Bob Steele (seen above), Marjorie Bonner as Ruth Tobin and Thomas G. Lingham. No further details available.

Sinner's Parade 1928



Director: John G. Adolfi; Writers: David Lewis (story), Beatrice Van (adaptation), Stars: Victor Varconi (seen above), Dorothy Revier and John Patrick. Margerie plays Sadie in the film.

The Columbia programmer Sinner's Parade stars studio utility player Victor Varconi as shady dance-hall proprietor Al Morton. Schoolteacher Mary Tracy (Dorothy Revier) goes to work for Al to support her family. When Bill Adams (John Patrick), the son of anti-vice campaigner Mrs. Adams (Clara Selwynne), falls for Mary, she tries to quit her job, but Al won't let her. The girl's resentment for Al intensifies when the joint is raided and she loses her teaching job as a result. Amazingly, however, Al turns out to be the hero of the piece when the "respectable" Bill Adams reveals himself to be a gangster boss, whereupon Mary saves Al from being taken for a ride by Adams' hired goons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Rider of the Sierras (short) 1929

Director: Ray Taylor; Writers: William Berke (scenario), William Berke (story); Stars: Edmund Cobb, Marjorie Bonner and Bob Kortman. No other details available.

Dangerous Days (short) 1929

Director: Jack Nelson; Stars: Bobby Nelson, Edmund Cobb and Marjorie Bonner.

The Sign of the Cross 1932



The Sign of the Cross (1932) is a pre-Code epic film released by Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman, and based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett. Read more on Wikipedia

Margerie played an uncredited Roman woman.



The Film Parade 1933

Director: J. Stuart Blackton; Writer: Howard Gaye; Stars: Kent Stevenson, Marian Constance Blackton and Violet Virginia Blackton. Margerie plays woman in Daguerre's Studio.

A two-reel short from Alliance (produced in England and not the USA as some sources indicate)covering the history of "moving pictures" from 1848 to the (then) present, and even going into detail about how stationary frames of pictures are made to move, and how Sound is put onto the track. Footage from many silent films is used, including Mary Pickford (identified as Gladys Nicholson) in 1910's "Simple Charity", and Camille's death scene from "La Dame aux cemelias" in which Sarah Bernhardt dies standing on her feet (possibly to ensure the other performers didn't upstage her) and takes her own sweet time doing it. Marlene Dietrich sings "Falling in Love Again" from the English version of "The Blue Angel", which is good as the German-language title of that song is tough to write on a keyboard that has no accent marks. This short's title was changed to "March of the Movies" in the USA, which makes more sense than what most of the US film titles were changed to in England. IMDb

A Clip From The Film Parade: A History Of Early Cinema - A funny movie is a click away

The above film has been released as follows:



The DVD is still available from Amazon which means this is the easiest way to see Margerie in a movie! As she is impossible to identify in the uncredited roles in the De Mille movies.

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 6

I continue my look at Margerie Lowry in the movies.

King of Kings 1927

Margerie had an undetermined/uncredited part in the film.

The King of Kings (1927) is a silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a religious movie about the last weeks of Jesus before his crucifixion. H. B. Warner starred as Jesus. One of the last sequences of the movie, the Resurrection, is in Technicolor. Read more on Wikipedia

You can watch the movie on You Tube:



Poor Girls 1927


A Vivid Drama of the Night Clubs of New York IMDb

Director: William James Craft; Writers: Sophie Bogen (story), William Branch; Stars: Dorothy Revier (seen below), Edmund Burns and Ruth Stonehouse. Margerie played Vivian Stewart in the film.



The "poor girls" in this big-city melodrama are actually one in number: heroine Dorothy Revier, who has been raised to believe that she was born into a wealthy and well-connected family. Upon learning that her sainted mother is a "mere" nightclub hostess, the pampered Revier leaves home in a huff and heads for New York, where she lands a job in a department store. Only after being threatened by various urban pitfalls does Revier come to realize how much she truly owes her mother for sheltering her from such perils. Critics in 1927 complained that Dorothy Revier's character was too unsympathetic to sustain interest for six full reels. Nor were they impressed by leading man Edmund Burns, whom they found stiffer than usual. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi Artist Direct



The Four-Footed Ranger 1928



Director: Stuart Paton; Writers: Gardner Bradford (titles), Paul M. Bryan (screenplay), and 2 more credits; Cast: Dynamite the dog, Edmund Cobb [Jack Dunne], Marjorie Bonner [Katy Pearl Lee], Pearl Sindelar [Mary Doolittle], Francis Ford [Brom Hockley], Pat Rooney (Patrick Rooney) [Bull Becker], Frank M. Clark (Frank Clark) [‘Handsome’ Thomas], Carl Sepulveda [Jake], Lee Lin [the Chinese cook. I am unsure whether that is Marg in the above still from the movie.



Assisted by an above-average cast that included veteran Western lead Edmund Cobb (seen above)and rising ingénue Marjorie Bonner, Universal's Rin Tin Tin clone Dynamite headlined this likable silent Western}. Dynamite and Ranger {Cobb} are called in to investigate a series of cattle rustlings. In order to get close to the gang, {Cobb} dons the disguise of ranch hand on the {Lee} ranch. The owner of the ranch, unbeknownst to {Cobb}, is pretty {Marjorie Bonner}, who arrives from the East with a maiden aunt (Pearl Sindelar}) in tow. After numerous romantic and action-packed interludes, the ranger and his dog manage to unmask the leader of the rustlers, ranch foreman {Francis Ford}, and his underling, {Pat Rooney}. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 5

The 5th post on Marg's film career is about what can now be seen an ironic tale of alcohol abuse made in the year that her future husband Malc was setting off for the Orient aboard the Pyrrhus from Birkenhead. This was the only film she made with her sister Priscilla. You can read more about the sisters in Anthony Slides's book Silent Topics.

Paying The Price 1927

Director: David Selman; Writer: Dorothy Howell; Stars: Margerie with her sister Priscilla Bonner and John Miljan

This minor Columbia effort is a cautionary fable against alcohol abuse. Despite the efforts of a pious minister, two pretty sisters -- played by real-life siblings Marjorie and Priscilla Bonner (seen above) are led astray by city slicker John Miljan. Hoping to have his way with the girls, the villain invites them to a party and spikes their lemonade. The girls' outraged father kills the rapacious Miljan but manages to cover his tracks at the murder scene. Things take a sorry turn when an innocent young man is placed on trial for the murder -- and the girls' father is selected to serve on the jury! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi



It was during this time that the two sisters joined "The Thalians" as can be read in the snippet below from Photoplay:



Read more about the hostess of "The Thalians" Jobanya Ralston here

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 4

A further look at the films of Margerie Lowry:

Broadway Lady 1925

Directed by Wesley Ruggles; Writers: Fred Myton (screenplay), Fred Myton (story. Stars: Evelyn Brent (seen above in the film), Theodore von Eltz, Margerie plays Mary Andrews.

BROADWAY LADY. THE Pretty good story with Evelyn Brent as a chorus girl with a heart of gold who marries into society and is innocently involved in a murder. Photoplay March 1925


Broadway Lady 1925

The smoldering Evelyn Brent starred in this silent melodrama about a chorus girl who turns down a proposal of marriage from a wealthy young scion (Theodore Von Eltz, only to change her mind in order to annoy his uppity relatives. But when Von Eltz's dimwitted sister (Joyce Compton) is found in the company of a very much murdered playboy, Evelyn nobly assumes the blame in a misguided attempt to shield the girl. In the end, both Evelyn and Joyce are saved by chorine Marjorie Bonner, who confesses to having killed the man out of jealousy. Amazingly, Broadway Lady was directed by Wesley Ruggles, a Hollywood professional with some taste who should have known better. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Secret Orders 1926

Director: Chester Withey; Writers: J. Grubb Alexander, Martin Justice (story; Stars: Harold Goodwin, Robert Frazer and Evelyn Brent. Marjorie Bonner played Mary, Janet's friend played by Evelyn Brent.

Evelyn Brent was known for playing lady crooks in the 1920s (in fact, she carried this typecasting into the sound era). In this drama -- very similar to the play Three Faces East, according to trade magazine Film Daily -- Brent switches to the right side of the law. Janet Graham (Brent) marries Eddie Delano (Harold Goodwin), only to discover she was being used as a front -- Delano didn't want to go fight in Europe because his work as a crook was netting him a lot of money. Janet's response is to become a secret service agent during WWI. Her boss, in charge of transports, is Bruce Corbin (Robert Frazer), and they fall in love. Delano, on the other hand, becomes an instrument of the Germans and spies on Corbin's transports. He kidnaps Janet and forces her to accompany him. She sends a radio transmission warning of the German sub, which is subsequently sunk. Corbin comes to her rescue, and Delano is killed. With her unwanted husband out of the way, Janet is able to marry her boss. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

SECRET ORDERS— F. B. O— The war spy system is again served for your entertainment. You won't object because Evelyn Brent is a treat for the optics. Photoplay June 1926

Riding Romance 1926

Margerie plays Beth Brandon.

Filmed partially on location in Arkansas, this silent western was one of eight produced by Morris R. Schlank and directed by J.P. McGowan. In order to cash in on Universal's popular Jack Hoxie, Schlank hired Hoxie's half-brother, Alton Stone, and without missing a beat renamed the youngster Al Hoxie. In Riding Romance, Hoxie prevents rancher's daughter Marjorie Bonner from marrying a scoundrel in order to save her ranch. As it turns out, Bonner's unscrupulous suitor is also the man who railroaded her brother in a rustling scheme. The sister of Priscilla Bonner, Marjorie Bonner was a decided step up from the amateur actresses usually cast in cheap Westerns in the '20s. The rest of the supporting cast was equally above-average and included Arthur Morrison, Steve Clemente, and stunt-man Cliff Lyons. ~ Hans J. Wollstein,



Part of the film was shot in Lone Pine California according to the Lone Pine Film History Museum.

Rapid Fire Romance 1926

Director: Harry Joe Brown Stars: Billy Sullivan, Harry Buckley, Margerie plays Dixie Demnman.

Falling in with crooks, Tommy Oliver plays role of willing disciple with hope of inducing girl member of gang to forsake pathway of crime. Girl reforms and they both succeed in saving small town bank from thieves. They face future happiness. ( Motion Picture News Booking Guide, 11:43, Oct 1926.)

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 3

The third post in a series looking at Margerie Lowry in the movies.

The Ancient Highway 1925

The Ancient Highway (1925) American B&W : Seven reels / 6034 feet Directed by Irvin Willat; Cast: Jack Holt [Cliff Brant], Billie Dove [Antoinette St. Ives], Montagu Love [Ivan Hurd], Stanley Taylor [Gaspard St. Ives], Lloyd Whitlock [John Denis], William A. Carroll [Ambrose], Marjorie Bonner [Angel Fanchon], Christian J. Frank [George Bolden. A Famous Players-Lasky Corporation production; distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation. / Scenario by James Shelley Hamilton and Eve Unsell, from the novel The Ancient Highway: A Novel of High Hearts and Open Roads by James Oliver Curwood. Cinematography by Alfred Gilks. Presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky. / © 16 November 1925 [LP22006]. Premiered 8 November 1925 in New York, New York. General release, 16 November 1925. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Stuntman R.D. Jones drowned while shooting a river rapids canoe stunt for the film. Silent Era (Note that the novel, the film is based on, was written by James Oliver Curwood who Malc later identified with in his short story Elephant and Colosseum.

As "The Ancient Highway" pursues its course, one can't help hoping during the initial chapters that the story won't go any nearer to the great open spaces than the rooms in which the hero holds forth in town. But it does, and soon one perceives on the same screen on which Milton Sills was exhibited in "The Knockout" some more logrolling, dynamiting and a series of hectic scenes, in which the hero and the heroine are blown into the turbulent waters among the great tree trunks.

The captions have to make up for the lack of action in a number of places, for there is not much interest in a man and a woman merely gazing into each other's eyes. One subtitle announces that there was no moon that night; but when the scenes are depicted it seems wonderfully clear, and one can't help realizing that the sun, at least, was somewhere in the skies at the time this episode was taken—before it went through the process of blue tinting. Jack Holt officiates as Cliff Brant in this yarn. When he rescues Antoinette St. Ives from a peregrination on that supposedly awful night he can't resist picking up her hand and kissing it ravenously.

Too much ground is covered in this subject, with the consequence that the interest in the story suffers. While Cliff is devoting his herculean energies toward freeing the masses of logs, the opposition camp has the bright idea of dynamiting a hill so that much of it will fall into the stream and thus undo all Cliff's good work.

The Villain informs the heroine that he dares everything because he loves her, and Antoinette thereupon declares that he does not know what love is. She points to Cliff, who, she says, is risking his life for her.

There is the usual misunderstanding between Antoinette and Cliff. In fact it seems as if Antoinette anticipates the conflict. The comedy character flops and falls over anything that happens to be near him, so that it appears as if he were the type of individual who would trip over an ant.

Mr. Holt is sincere in his rôle, even if he does overdo the kissing scenes. He is a clean-cut player and the implausible scenes are not attributable to him, but to the scenarist and the director. Billie Dove is active and attractive as Antoinette. Montagu Love gives a sound performance as the villain.

Those who like logrolling and dynamiting thrills will find this picture leaves nothing to the imagination. NY Times By MORDAUNT HALL. Published: November 11, 1925



Photos from the Silent Screen Stills Archive

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 2

This is the second post about Marg's film appearances.

Margerie appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's 1934 Cleopatra as an uncredited Roman girl. You can watch the movie below and try and get a glimpse of her!!:

Cleopatra 1934

Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 1

There is very little biographical information available about Margerie Bonner, Malc's second wife, before she met Malc in 1938 except what has been published in Day's and Bowker's biographies of Malc. Both biographers give scant details of her career as an actress in Hollywood. The most detailed discussion of Margerie's film career is Anthony Slide's Chapter Malcolm Lowry's Silent Film Connection: Margerie Bonner in Silent Topics: Essays on undocumented areas of silent film which was first published in an abbreviated version in the Malcolm Lowry Review, Fall 1991/Spring 1992. I recently checked the IMBd website and discovered that she is appeared in twenty films which is the most detailed list of her movie career to date:

Reno 1923
Daughters of Today 1924
High and Handsome 1925
The Ancient Highway 1925
Broadway Lady 1925
Secret Orders 1926
Riding Romance 1926
Rapid Fire Romance 1926
Paying The Price 1927
King of Kings 1927
Poor Girls 1927
The Four-Footed-Ranger 1928
A Made-to-Order-Hero 1928
Trail of Courage 1928
Sinner's Parade 1928
A Rider of the Sierras (short)1929
Dangerous Days (short) 1929
The Sign of the Cross 1932
The Film Parade 1933
Cleopatra 1934

I intend on looking at each of the films in detail over a series of posts:

Reno 1923



Directed by Rupert Hughes

Margerie played Marjory Towne in the film.

Roy Tappan obtains a divorce from Emily, his second wife, and marries Dora Carson, who has just divorced her husband. Emily, left penniless with two children, marries Walter Heath, a former suitor. She then discovers that she cannot live with her new husband because the divorce is not legal in her home state. Tappan and his new wife soon run out of money, each having thought the other was wealthy. His aunt promises to support him in exchange for his two children. He kidnaps the children and hides them from Emily in his aunt's home. After Emily and Walter find them, they go to Yellowstone Park, where they are considered legally married. Tappan follows and is killed after a fight with Walter when a boiling geyser throws him into the air and drops him onto the rocks below. TCM

Daughters of Today (1924)




Directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon

Margerie plays Maisie in the film

Country girl Mabel Vandegrift enrolls in a fashionable city college and there she joins a fast-moving crowd. During a houseparty Reggy Adams tries to force his attentions on her, but she escapes. Later, when he is found dead, she is accused of murdering him. Her country sweetheart, Peter Farnham, solves the mystery, and all ends happily. IMDb

High and Handsome (1925)



Margerie played Myrt Riley in the film. I couldn't find a synopsis.

I will return to Margerie's movies in the future