
Directing
Fred Niblo
Born 1874-01-06 · York, Nebraska, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fred Niblo (January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer. Niblo was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in York, Nebraska, to a French mother and a father who had served as a captain in the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. Using the stage name, Fred Niblo, Liedtke began his show business career performing in vaudeville and in live theater. After more than twenty years doing live performing as a monologist, during which he traveled extensively around the globe, he worked in Australia from 1912 through 1915, where he turned to the burgeoning motion picture industry and made his first two films. As a Hollywood director, he is most remembered for several notable films beginning with his 1920 work The Mark of Zorro which starred Douglas Fairbanks. The following year he teamed up with Fairbanks again in The Three Musketeers and then directed Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand. In 1924, Niblo directed the film Thy Name Is Woman. In 1925, Niblo was the principal director of the epic Ben-Hur that was one of the most expensive films of the day but became the third highest-grossing silent film in cinema history. Niblo followed up on this success with two major 1926 works, The Temptress starring Greta Garbo in her second film in America, and Norma Talmadge in Camille. Niblo went on to direct some of the greatest stars of the era including Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish, and Ronald Colman. In 1930 he directed his first talkie with two of the biggest names in show business, John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in a film titled Redemption. Fred Niblo retired in 1933 after more than forty years in show business. The last sixteen years were used to make more than forty films, most of which were feature length projects. He was an important personality in the early years of Hollywood and was one of the original founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In recognition of his role in the development of the film industry, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7014 Hollywood Boulevard on February 8, 1960. His Ben-Hur film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Fred Niblo died in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery near his wife Enid Bennett in Glendale, California. His son with Josephine Cohan, Fred Niblo, Jr. (1903–1973) was a successful Hollywood screenwriter.
Acting credits
A comedy short directed by character Slim Summerville.
Hello, 'Frisco
1924
6.1Gopher City Kansas hosts a beauty contest. The winner, Elvira Plunkett, and her mother go to Hollywood. The Chamber of Commerce also provides Elvira with an agent, Gopher City's own Elmer J. Butz. Elmer likes Elvira and the shy Elvira likes him, but Mrs. Plunkett, a formidable woman, has little use for hapless Elmer. On the train west, they meet movie star Larry Mitchell, who takes a shine to Elvira and helps her meet MGM directors once they get to Tinsel Town. Elmer, meanwhile, wants to help Elvira with her career and he also wants to be her man. Movie stardom does come to the Gopher City entourage, but to whom is a surprise. And who will win the lovely Elvira's hand?
Free and Easy
1930
6.3A radio correspondent tries to rescue a burlesque queen from her marriage to a Nazi official.
Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942
5.8Famed detective and crime novelist Ellery Queen solves a case involving the suspicious death of a rich man whose inheritors fight over his estate.
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940
6.0Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson are Broadway stars who return to Universal Studios to make another movie. The mere mention of Olsen and Johnson's names evacuates the studio and terrorizes the management and personnel. Undaunted, the comedians hire an assistant director and unknown talent, and set out to make their own movie.
Crazy House
1943
6.3A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Souls for Sale
1923
8.0An aspiring actress goes to Hollywood to make movies and marries a soda jerk.
A Man's Man
1929
6.3A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.
1925 Studio Tour
1925
7.0Hollywood stuntman falls in love with a big name actress but still wants to pursue his risky career. The women gives him a choice-the stunts or her. He chooses the stunts and still manages to get her.
I'm Still Alive
1940
7.0A matinée idol and a bumbling manager fight for the love of a would-be starlet. Estrellados is the Spanish version of Free and Easy (1930) with Hispanic/Spanish-speaking actors.
Estrellados
1930
6.5Henry Aldrich wants to win a trip to Alaska.
Life with Henry
1941
Nell Bradley, the daughter of a wealthy bootlegger, who is encouraged to improve herself through education by Reverend Charles Alden.
Scandalous Tongues
1922
NRAn episode of the Screen Snapshots newsreels, showing seven segments of filmmakers behind the scenes. Featuring Oscar Micheaux,Colleen Moore, Ormer Locklear, and more.
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 7)
1920
8.0Silent directed by Victor Schertzinger
The Bootlegger's Daughter
1922
The comedic adventures of amiable con man J. Rufus Wallingford and his partner "Blackie" Daw. They travel the country promoting elaborate financial schemes to swindle corrupt business cliques while often aiding those cheated out of their inheritances.
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
—
Pretty young Nell Bradley is the daughter of a saloonkeeper in a "dry" town, and is looked down upon by townspeople, but Rev. Charles Alden, the town minister, finds himself attracted to her. One day at Nell's father's bar, a traveling salesman gets a young woman intoxicated, intending to "have his way" with her. Nell sees this and gets the bartender to save the young woman's virtue, but just at that moment Rev. Alden walks in and mistakenly believes that Nell has gotten the girl drunk. Complications ensue.
Coals of Fire
1918
Behind the camera
7.3A duke has deposed Prince Mauritz's father, so Mauritz spends his time in affairs with a countess, the duke's wife and a gypsy girl Adrienne. Years later she is a famous actress in a play resembling the sad story of their earlier relationship. He falls in love with her again. The jealous duchess and the duke arrange to have him shot by firing squad but revolutionaries save him and make him King.
Dream of Love
1928
7.3Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
5.0In a prologue, as a woman pages through a book, male figures, including a musketeer, a cowboy, a swordsman and a military officer, appear and bow. In the main story, the visit of Prince Ferdinandi sends New York society ladies scurrying to purchase gowns for the upcoming ball. The woman seen earlier looking longingly at the book, model Marjorie Bowen, fights off the advances of Cadwallader Smith, who accompanies a patron. When handsome Sir Derwain Leeds, the prince's aide-de-camp, arrives to see his fiancée Yvette Fernau outfitted, Marjorie exchanges a shy smile with him.
Silk Hosiery
1920
7.2Don Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked avenger Zorro. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
The Mark of Zorro
1920
7.3A beautiful Russian spy seduces an Austrian military officer in order to obtain secret plans. When she falls in love with him, both are placed in danger.
The Mysterious Lady
1928
8.0A young wife slaves for her cad of a husband. When she learns that he has been "stepping out" with his secretary, she gets revenge by going after the attentions of her husband's employer.
Stepping Out
1919
6.1A gambler, hopelessly in debt, agrees to pay off his debt by allowing his creditor to take out a life insurance policy on him and collecting once the one-year suicide clause has elapsed.
The Big Gamble
1931
9.0Set during the 16th-century Spanish occupation of Flanders, the story concentrates on the fiercely patriotic Mark Van Ryke (Colman). Donning the guise of "Leatherface," a swashbuckling masked avenger, Van Ryke performs his derring-do on behalf of the Prince of Orange (Nigel de Brulier). Naturally, Van Ruke considers beautiful Spanish aristocrat Donna Leonora de Vargas (Vilma Banky) to be a bitter enemy, and the feeling is mutual. To no one's surprise, however, Van Ryke and Donna Leonara eventually fall in love (hence the title). The pulse-pounding climax finds Van Ryke riding hell-for-leather through a rainstorm to warn the Flemish troops about the Spaniards' plans to burn the city of Ghent to the ground. Two Lovers was based on Madame Orczy's novel Leatherface, and adapted for the screen by Alice Duer Miller.
Two Lovers
1928
5.8Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother's wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and takes his childhood sweetheart Carmen as his bride. He meets the Marquis' daughter Doña Sol and finds himself in the awkward position of being in love with two women, which threatens the stability of his family and his position in society. He finds interesting parallels in the life of the infamous bandit Plumitas when they eventually meet by chance.
Blood and Sand
1922
5.8Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother's wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and takes his childhood sweetheart Carmen as his bride. He meets the Marquis' daughter Doña Sol and finds himself in the awkward position of being in love with two women, which threatens the stability of his family and his position in society. He finds interesting parallels in the life of the infamous bandit Plumitas when they eventually meet by chance.
Blood and Sand
1922
8.0Robert Sheldon is an honest young man sent by his mother to work for a wealthy city financier who turns out to be his estranged father. When Robert uncovers his father's corrupt financial schemes, a violent conflict erupts, leading to a murder accusation that is ultimately resolved by his mother's intervention.
Mother o' Mine
1921
5.7An English explorer disturbed by the practices of an isolated tribe attempts to rescue a native girl he has become fascinated with. THE DEVIL DANCER was highly praised at time of release for its exquisite cinematography, especially in the use of light and shadow. The film received an Academy Award nomination in this category. Sadly, it is among the lost. No prints or negatives are known to survive.
The Devil Dancer
1927
Princeton Hadley feels obligated to pay alimony to Judith, the widow of his deceased friend Billy Westover, due to favors Billy had done for him in the past, even though the law doesn't require it. Billy had lost his fortune and was recently divorced from Judith before his untimely death in an accident. Princeton later meets Judith, unaware of her identity, and falls in love with her.
Her Husband's Friend
1920
3.7Based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils.
Camille
1927
6.6A Broadway actress uses her sex appeal to ruin a marriage only to dump her lover for a richer prospect.
Sex
1920
6.4In 17th century France, young D'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.
The Three Musketeers
1921
6.7A seductive woman forsakes her husband and lover to pursue a young engineer.
The Temptress
1926
5.7In Russia in the early 1900s, Fedya, a handsome, self-indulgent womanizer, falls in love with and marries Lisa, his friend Victor's fiancée. Fedya quickly tires of domestic life and resumes his profligate ways, drinking and gambling away his family's fortune. Lisa refuses to leave him despite his deplorable ways, so he takes drastic measures to ensure that she will no longer be harmed by his actions and reputation.
Redemption
1930
6.0Idealistic young American falls under the influence of Communist agitators.
Dangerous Hours
1919
10.0One of the guests tries to foil a gang of jewel-robbers during a country house weekend party.
Diamond Cut Diamond
1932
6.2Wise-guy carnival barker Windy bilks a group of cowboys out of their money, gets caught and is forced into working off the debt on their ranch. He falls in love with Molly, the pretty owner of the ranch, but runs afoul of foreman Steve, who also loves Molly.
Way Out West
1930
7.0Because Amy Fortesque's dying grandfather advises her to get all the joys out of life, she marries Dick Gaylord because he is funny, rather than Walter Melrose, a staid young lawyer who loves her.
What Every Woman Learns
1919
6.3Carl Behrend, son of a wealthy businessman, marries Pauli Arndt, daughter of a pacifist professor. When World War I breaks out, Carl is drafted. Pauli and her family and friends are left behind to experience the suffering which befell civilians during the war. Her luck worsens when her father is dismissed from his professorship for teaching that war is evil. Her father argues violently with Carl's father, and degradation and despair descend on Pauli and her family as they await Carl's return from the front.
The Enemy
1927
6.3Carl Behrend, son of a wealthy businessman, marries Pauli Arndt, daughter of a pacifist professor. When World War I breaks out, Carl is drafted. Pauli and her family and friends are left behind to experience the suffering which befell civilians during the war. Her luck worsens when her father is dismissed from his professorship for teaching that war is evil. Her father argues violently with Carl's father, and degradation and despair descend on Pauli and her family as they await Carl's return from the front.
The Enemy
1927