John H. Collins

Directing

John H. Collins

Born — Died

1889-12-31 — 1918-10-31

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

American film director. Married to Viola Dana. Died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Known for

The Gates of Eden poster
NR

Evelyn and her boyfriend William Bard are members of a small Shaker community. They rock the community one day when they announce that they want to get married and have children, in direct opposition to the Shaker prohibition against marriage and procreating. The Shakers drive the couple out of town, but before she leaves Evelyn gives birth to a daughter, Eve. Shortly afterward Evelyn dies, and the Shakers inform William that their daughter Eve has died also. William leaves town, but vows to take his revenge on the Shakers, whom he blames for the loss of his family.

The Gates of Eden

1916

God's Law and Man's poster
NR

Dr. Claude Drummond, a young English doctor in India, saves Ameia, a young girl, from being sacrificed to the priests of the temple of Krishna by buying her as his wife. Returning to England upon the death of his elder brother, who was the heir to the estate, Claude finds that his father has arranged a marriage between himself and Olive Dennison, the daughter of the Major-General. To please his father, Claude is about to submit to the marriage, although neither he nor Olive love each other, when Ameia arrives from India. Discovering that her existence is a barrier to her husband's advantageous alliance, Ameia takes poison but is saved by an antidote administered by Claude. It is then discovered that Ameia is actually the daughter of Major-General Dennison, by a native wife whom he had deserted. Thus, Claude finds it possible to be true to his love and to his father's wish that he marry the general's daughter.

God's Law and Man's

1917

A Weaver of Dreams poster
NR

Unrequited love rules the day as both wealthy Judith Sylvester and her invalid aunt pine for men who got away, but happiness lays ahead for one while hopeful dreams sustain the other.

A Weaver of Dreams

1918

The Cossack Whip poster
8.0

Feodor Turov, chief of the Russian Czar's secret police, orders his Cossacks to attack a village he believes to be infested with rebels. The Cossacks attack the village and massacre almost everyone, and the young Katerina is whipped to death. Before escaping to England, her sister Darya swears to avenge her sister's death. Years later--now one of the world's most famous prima ballerinas--she returns to Russia. Turov falls in love with her and manages to secure a meeting. She coyly asks him to take her to see a prison first. As it turns out, what he has planned for her is nothing compared to what she has planned for him.

The Cossack Whip

1916

The Mortal Sin poster
NR

George Anderson, a struggling author, works in the daytime as a clerk in the office of Emmet Standish, the publisher, and at night writes on his novel, "The Mortal Sin."

The Mortal Sin

1917

Riders of the Night poster
7.0

Another of a successful string of Metro features directed by the vastly underrated John H. Collins, Riders of the Night was set in Kentucky hill country. Collins' wifeViola Dana stars as Sally Castleton, a country girl in love with a brooding and idealistic aristocrat. When her sweetheart joins a night-riding vigilante organization, Sally is temporarily dismayed but resolves to hide the man from the authorities.

Riders of the Night

1918

Behind the camera

The Gates of Eden poster
NR

Evelyn and her boyfriend William Bard are members of a small Shaker community. They rock the community one day when they announce that they want to get married and have children, in direct opposition to the Shaker prohibition against marriage and procreating. The Shakers drive the couple out of town, but before she leaves Evelyn gives birth to a daughter, Eve. Shortly afterward Evelyn dies, and the Shakers inform William that their daughter Eve has died also. William leaves town, but vows to take his revenge on the Shakers, whom he blames for the loss of his family.

The Gates of Eden

1916

The Gates of Eden poster
NR

Evelyn and her boyfriend William Bard are members of a small Shaker community. They rock the community one day when they announce that they want to get married and have children, in direct opposition to the Shaker prohibition against marriage and procreating. The Shakers drive the couple out of town, but before she leaves Evelyn gives birth to a daughter, Eve. Shortly afterward Evelyn dies, and the Shakers inform William that their daughter Eve has died also. William leaves town, but vows to take his revenge on the Shakers, whom he blames for the loss of his family.

The Gates of Eden

1916

God's Law and Man's poster
NR

Dr. Claude Drummond, a young English doctor in India, saves Ameia, a young girl, from being sacrificed to the priests of the temple of Krishna by buying her as his wife. Returning to England upon the death of his elder brother, who was the heir to the estate, Claude finds that his father has arranged a marriage between himself and Olive Dennison, the daughter of the Major-General. To please his father, Claude is about to submit to the marriage, although neither he nor Olive love each other, when Ameia arrives from India. Discovering that her existence is a barrier to her husband's advantageous alliance, Ameia takes poison but is saved by an antidote administered by Claude. It is then discovered that Ameia is actually the daughter of Major-General Dennison, by a native wife whom he had deserted. Thus, Claude finds it possible to be true to his love and to his father's wish that he marry the general's daughter.

God's Law and Man's

1917

God's Law and Man's poster
NR

Dr. Claude Drummond, a young English doctor in India, saves Ameia, a young girl, from being sacrificed to the priests of the temple of Krishna by buying her as his wife. Returning to England upon the death of his elder brother, who was the heir to the estate, Claude finds that his father has arranged a marriage between himself and Olive Dennison, the daughter of the Major-General. To please his father, Claude is about to submit to the marriage, although neither he nor Olive love each other, when Ameia arrives from India. Discovering that her existence is a barrier to her husband's advantageous alliance, Ameia takes poison but is saved by an antidote administered by Claude. It is then discovered that Ameia is actually the daughter of Major-General Dennison, by a native wife whom he had deserted. Thus, Claude finds it possible to be true to his love and to his father's wish that he marry the general's daughter.

God's Law and Man's

1917

A Weaver of Dreams poster
NR

Unrequited love rules the day as both wealthy Judith Sylvester and her invalid aunt pine for men who got away, but happiness lays ahead for one while hopeful dreams sustain the other.

A Weaver of Dreams

1918

A Weaver of Dreams poster
NR

Unrequited love rules the day as both wealthy Judith Sylvester and her invalid aunt pine for men who got away, but happiness lays ahead for one while hopeful dreams sustain the other.

A Weaver of Dreams

1918

The Cossack Whip poster
8.0

Feodor Turov, chief of the Russian Czar's secret police, orders his Cossacks to attack a village he believes to be infested with rebels. The Cossacks attack the village and massacre almost everyone, and the young Katerina is whipped to death. Before escaping to England, her sister Darya swears to avenge her sister's death. Years later--now one of the world's most famous prima ballerinas--she returns to Russia. Turov falls in love with her and manages to secure a meeting. She coyly asks him to take her to see a prison first. As it turns out, what he has planned for her is nothing compared to what she has planned for him.

The Cossack Whip

1916

The Mortal Sin poster
NR

George Anderson, a struggling author, works in the daytime as a clerk in the office of Emmet Standish, the publisher, and at night writes on his novel, "The Mortal Sin."

The Mortal Sin

1917

The Mortal Sin poster
NR

George Anderson, a struggling author, works in the daytime as a clerk in the office of Emmet Standish, the publisher, and at night writes on his novel, "The Mortal Sin."

The Mortal Sin

1917

Riders of the Night poster
7.0

Another of a successful string of Metro features directed by the vastly underrated John H. Collins, Riders of the Night was set in Kentucky hill country. Collins' wifeViola Dana stars as Sally Castleton, a country girl in love with a brooding and idealistic aristocrat. When her sweetheart joins a night-riding vigilante organization, Sally is temporarily dismayed but resolves to hide the man from the authorities.

Riders of the Night

1918

The Light of Happiness poster
NR

Tangletop, is the daughter of the town drunk with her tattered clothes and unkempt hair has been made a social outcast. As a result, she seems to be the perfect actress for the role that Emmett Dwight has developed in order to deceive his wealthy ward, Lowell Van Orden, who, during his blindness, fell in love with Mollie Dean. Since Emmett wants his daughter Madeline to marry Lowell, he tells his ward, after his eyesight has been restored, that Tangletop, who gladly goes along with the plan, is Mollie. As Emmett hoped, his ward's ardor starts to cool, but then, after Tangletop comes under the influence of the Reverend Clyde Harmon, she confesses everything to Lowell. As soon as she finishes, Lowell seeks out the real Mollie and marries her, after which Tangletop marries Clyde.

The Light of Happiness

1916

The Light of Happiness poster
NR

Tangletop, is the daughter of the town drunk with her tattered clothes and unkempt hair has been made a social outcast. As a result, she seems to be the perfect actress for the role that Emmett Dwight has developed in order to deceive his wealthy ward, Lowell Van Orden, who, during his blindness, fell in love with Mollie Dean. Since Emmett wants his daughter Madeline to marry Lowell, he tells his ward, after his eyesight has been restored, that Tangletop, who gladly goes along with the plan, is Mollie. As Emmett hoped, his ward's ardor starts to cool, but then, after Tangletop comes under the influence of the Reverend Clyde Harmon, she confesses everything to Lowell. As soon as she finishes, Lowell seeks out the real Mollie and marries her, after which Tangletop marries Clyde.

The Light of Happiness

1916

Aladdin's Other Lamp poster
NR

As a baby, Patsy Smith is kidnapped by her father following a bitter quarrel with her mother. After her father dies at sea, a seafarer named Captain Barnaby places Patsy at Mrs. Duff's boardinghouse. She grows up working as a domestic drudge, deeply unhappy with her life. Inspired by Captain Barnaby's storytelling about Aladdin, Patsy sets out to find an old Oriental lamp that once belonged to her father. She learns that Mrs. Duff sold it to a junk peddler and goes to buy it back. Patsy rubs the lamp, unleashing a Genie. The Genie helps Patsy by providing her with fine clothing, exposing her abusive boardinghouse mistress, and eventually reuniting Patsy with her long-lost mother. With her life transformed, Patsy also finds romance with Harry, a young man who resides at the boardinghouse.

Aladdin's Other Lamp

1917

A Wife by Proxy poster
8.0

The film opens in Ireland, as a dying Patrick McNairne tells his daughter Jerry to go to New York and look up Norton Burbeck, a wealthy young man whose life Patrick had saved some time earlier (the surviving print, largely complete, lacks the second page insert of a letter explaining the full background). The affable Burbeck is due to inherit his uncle’s fortune provided he’s married by November; if not, the inheritance will go to his cousin Howard Curtis. An adventuress, Beatrice Gaden, and her husband Dick are in cahoots with Curtis: Beatrice pretends to be single in order to string Norton along up to the November date, at which time Curtis will come into the money and give a share to his unscrupulous partners.

A Wife by Proxy

1917

The Flower of No Man's Land poster
NR

Echo, the orphaned "flower of no man's land," has been raised by an Indian foster father, Kahoma. Then, when opera singer Roy Talbot goes West to recover his health, Echo falls instantly in love and forgets all about Big Bill, her cowboy sweetheart. Roy marries Echo and takes her back East, but soon after returning to his adoring public, he loses all interest in her. Finally, Echo leaves Roy and goes back to the wilderness, where she discovers that Roy had already been married when they met and had deserted his wife years before. For so deceiving his adopted daughter, Kahoma tracks Roy down and kills him, while Echo forgets about her big-city unhappiness and returns to Big Bill, with whom she makes plans to marry.

The Flower of No Man's Land

1916

The Flower of No Man's Land poster
NR

Echo, the orphaned "flower of no man's land," has been raised by an Indian foster father, Kahoma. Then, when opera singer Roy Talbot goes West to recover his health, Echo falls instantly in love and forgets all about Big Bill, her cowboy sweetheart. Roy marries Echo and takes her back East, but soon after returning to his adoring public, he loses all interest in her. Finally, Echo leaves Roy and goes back to the wilderness, where she discovers that Roy had already been married when they met and had deserted his wife years before. For so deceiving his adopted daughter, Kahoma tracks Roy down and kills him, while Echo forgets about her big-city unhappiness and returns to Big Bill, with whom she makes plans to marry.

The Flower of No Man's Land

1916

Children of Eve poster
6.2

An illegitimate child of the slums comes to faith. Later, she chooses to labor in a canning factory in order to investigate its poor conditions, not realizing she has a significant connection to the cold-hearted factory owner.

Children of Eve

1915

Children of Eve poster
6.2

An illegitimate child of the slums comes to faith. Later, she chooses to labor in a canning factory in order to investigate its poor conditions, not realizing she has a significant connection to the cold-hearted factory owner.

Children of Eve

1915

On Dangerous Paths poster
NR

Viola Dana plays Eleanor, a minister's daughter who comes to New York to visit her older sister, a successful businesswoman. Eleanor manages to get a job as a nurse in a major metropolitan hospital. One night, she is called upon to look after a drunken tourist, who turns out to be her hometown sweetheart Roger (Pat O'Malley).

On Dangerous Paths

1915

The Girl Without a Soul poster
6.8

The story of two young sisters, one a somewhat demure musician who is in love with a scoundrel who's no good for her, and the other a wild, free spirit who is the object of a shy young carpenter's affections.

The Girl Without a Soul

1917

The Girl Without a Soul poster
6.8

The story of two young sisters, one a somewhat demure musician who is in love with a scoundrel who's no good for her, and the other a wild, free spirit who is the object of a shy young carpenter's affections.

The Girl Without a Soul

1917

The Innocence of Ruth poster
4.5

The young Ruth Travers, left an orphan after the death of her father financially ruined by Mortimer Reynolds, is welcomed at home by Jimmy Carter, a young millionaire who becomes her guardian. Ruth's winsome qualities gradually win Jimmy's heart. Meanwhile at a Charity Ball, Ruth meets Mr. Reynolds, who is contriving to ruin her virtue.

The Innocence of Ruth

1916

Blue Jeans poster
5.9

June, a young orphan, is befriended by Perry Bascom when he shares his lunch with her on the road to Rising Sun. They soon fall in love and marry, only to find out that a woman in Perry's past has come to town to make trouble. Teaming up with the local political bully, the schemers set out to make Perry's life miserable, but June sticks by her husband to the end.

Blue Jeans

1917

No artwork available
NR

A short public service film warning people in New Jersey to stay out of the way of oncoming streetcars. The message is framed in a cute romantic comedy.

Making a Convert

1914

No artwork available
NR

Viola Dana stars as the child of a widower who marries again, much to her dismay. Despite all attempts by the adults, the child refuses to accept her new step-mother

The Portrait in the Attic

1915

The Winding Trail poster
NR

To avenge her sister's disgrace and death, Audrey Graham leaves her theatrical engagements in New York, and in one of the caravans of the early '70's seeks Hell's Paradise, a mining camp to which Steele, the betrayer, has gone. The caravan nearly perishes in Death Valley, and Audrey, disguised as a child, goes to seek relief from a band of outlaws. Her subterfuge is perceived and she is given her liberty only on condition that she bring Steele to the bandit, who married a woman Steele deceived. Audrey keeps her word but turns aside the happiness within her grasp for the sake of the other woman.

The Winding Trail

1918

No artwork available
NR

When Mary’s father refuses to let her attend a prize fight because he thinks it’s undignified for a young lady, she disguises herself in her brother's clothes, which sets in motion a series of misunderstandings that almost wreck a marriage and land Mary in jail — but all works out in the end!

Opportunity

1918

No artwork available
NR

When Mary’s father refuses to let her attend a prize fight because he thinks it’s undignified for a young lady, she disguises herself in her brother's clothes, which sets in motion a series of misunderstandings that almost wreck a marriage and land Mary in jail — but all works out in the end!

Opportunity

1918

Gladiola poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Gladiola

1915

The Gold Cure poster
7.0

Annice Paisch and her friend, Edna Lawson, almost despair of finding husbands in their dull hometown until Annice is struck with the idea of strewing tacks over the heavily traveled road that passes her house. New Yorker Vance Duncan promptly has an accident and is forced to recuperate in the home of Annice's father, the local doctor. Vance sends Annice to the telegraph station to wire his uncle, Mike Darcy, and there she meets detective Robert Cord, who informs her that Vance is a hopeless alcoholic. Uncle Mike arrives and Annice immediately falls in love with him, while Edna longs for Vance. Cord has Vance imprisoned in Dr. Dumbbell's Sanitarium for Drunkards, but Annice, masquerading as a patient, smuggles him out. They arrive home to find someone else's "Uncle Mike" chastising the detective for tracking down the wrong man, and the four young lovers finally are left in peace.

The Gold Cure

1919

The Gold Cure poster
7.0

Annice Paisch and her friend, Edna Lawson, almost despair of finding husbands in their dull hometown until Annice is struck with the idea of strewing tacks over the heavily traveled road that passes her house. New Yorker Vance Duncan promptly has an accident and is forced to recuperate in the home of Annice's father, the local doctor. Vance sends Annice to the telegraph station to wire his uncle, Mike Darcy, and there she meets detective Robert Cord, who informs her that Vance is a hopeless alcoholic. Uncle Mike arrives and Annice immediately falls in love with him, while Edna longs for Vance. Cord has Vance imprisoned in Dr. Dumbbell's Sanitarium for Drunkards, but Annice, masquerading as a patient, smuggles him out. They arrive home to find someone else's "Uncle Mike" chastising the detective for tracking down the wrong man, and the four young lovers finally are left in peace.

The Gold Cure

1919

No artwork available
NR

From his mysterious headquarters, in the heart of Chinatown, a nefarious crime lord plots the overthrow of the republic.

The Mission of Mr. Foo

1915

No artwork available
NR

A winning lottery ticket and the theft of half of it leads to both joy and a lot of trouble for former coworkers Abe and Kitty as well as Abe’s daughter Minnie and her true love David Moss.

Cohen's Luck

1915

Flower of the Dusk poster
NR

Blind Ambrose North is tormented by the suspicion that his wife Constance committed suicide when their crippled daughter Barbara was only two, because she did not love him. Before her death, Constance wrote Barbara a letter to be opened on the girl's twenty-first birthday, but when Barbara opens it and learns that her mother killed herself to escape a doomed love affair with Lawrence Austin, she invents a different story for Ambrose, knowing that the truth would hurt him too deeply.

Flower of the Dusk

1918

Flower of the Dusk poster
NR

Blind Ambrose North is tormented by the suspicion that his wife Constance committed suicide when their crippled daughter Barbara was only two, because she did not love him. Before her death, Constance wrote Barbara a letter to be opened on the girl's twenty-first birthday, but when Barbara opens it and learns that her mother killed herself to escape a doomed love affair with Lawrence Austin, she invents a different story for Ambrose, knowing that the truth would hurt him too deeply.

Flower of the Dusk

1918

Satan Junior poster
9.0

Famous playwright Paul Worden decamps to a country bungalow to work on a new play, rehearsing with his leading lady, Marjorie Sinclair, who is staying nearby. Going riding one day to relax, Paul rescues his neighbor, teenager Diana Ardway when her horse runs wild. The pair clash initially, as she does with Marjorie, but after a series of misunderstandings true love triumphs.

Satan Junior

1919

Satan Junior poster
9.0

Famous playwright Paul Worden decamps to a country bungalow to work on a new play, rehearsing with his leading lady, Marjorie Sinclair, who is staying nearby. Going riding one day to relax, Paul rescues his neighbor, teenager Diana Ardway when her horse runs wild. The pair clash initially, as she does with Marjorie, but after a series of misunderstandings true love triumphs.

Satan Junior

1919

What Could She Do? poster
NR

The death of her father brought Sylvia Fairfax face to face with conditions which she was unequipped to handle, and, after an unsuccessful attempt to fill the position of governess in the Windermere home, caused her to go to New York. (Note: Only 2 of 3 reels exist)

What Could She Do?

1914

Rosie O'Grady poster
NR

An innocent young New York newsstand worker is deceived by a famous boxer, leading to an international betrayal, murder, and a dramatic courtroom trial.

Rosie O'Grady

1917

Rosie O'Grady poster
NR

An innocent young New York newsstand worker is deceived by a famous boxer, leading to an international betrayal, murder, and a dramatic courtroom trial.

Rosie O'Grady

1917