Arvid E. Gillstrom

Directing

Arvid E. Gillstrom

Born — Died

1889-08-13 — 1935-05-21

Place of birth

Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

Known for

Melancholy Mama poster
6.0

A nightclub owner's wife, jealous of his attentions to his star singer, schemes to get her fired.

Melancholy Mama

1929

The Hero poster
5.5

The Hero is a 1917 silent comedy film featuring Billy West & Oliver Hardy.

The Hero

1917

Meet the Missus poster
9.0

When the story begins, James is confronted by his wife for his roving eyes! Soon after this, he goes to a speakeasy and begins chatting up women. One in particular catches his eye and so he brings her home to meet the wife. And here's where it gets weird. Apparently the Gleasons have an agreement that if either meets another person and falls for them, the marriage will be amicably dissolved and they'll each go their separate ways! Of course, things don't work out the way the hubby expects...and it certainly will come as a surprise to you as well!

Meet the Missus

1929

No artwork available
6.0

Props, the stage man, and his assistant at the Orpheum Theater, Plunkville divide their time equally between drinking and attention to duty. Trouble starts when the new acts arrive. The Wiggle sisters, a Hawaiian act, demand the star dressing room but Props turns them down, but relents when Babe, the strong man, and his beautiful wife, Ethel Burton because he is smitten. Once the show begins Props is forever getting in the way of the performers and his bibulous assistant has an unfortunate propensity for dropping the curtain at the wrong moments. Things only get crazier from there.

Back Stage

1917

The Villain poster
5.5

In The Villain, Billy attempted something a little different. He's still imitating Chaplin, but this time he's playing the wicked, top-hatted Charlie found in some of his earliest Keystone appearances (e.g. Mabel at the Wheel), the ones where Charlie himself seemed to be imitating the studio's recently departed Ford Sterling. Throughout this short there is much spoofing of old-time melodramas, a frequent motif of Sterling's comedies.

The Villain

1917

Smiles poster
10.0

When their father is reported missing at the front during World War I, Jane and Katherine are stamped and sent by parcel post across the country to their Aunt Lucille Forrest in New Jersey. The two girls manage to smuggle their dog into the mail bag as well. Aunt Lucille is in love with Lt. Tom Hayes, but she is angry with him after he resigns his commission at the start of the war. She does not know that Tom is in the Secret Service, and she becomes jealous of a female spy whom Tom is trailing. Jane and Katherine's mischievous pranks finally assist in capturing the spy and the secret plans, and getting Aunt Lucille back together with Tom.

Smiles

1919

Behind the camera

Melancholy Mama poster
6.0

A nightclub owner's wife, jealous of his attentions to his star singer, schemes to get her fired.

Melancholy Mama

1929

The Hero poster
5.5

The Hero is a 1917 silent comedy film featuring Billy West & Oliver Hardy.

The Hero

1917

Meet the Missus poster
9.0

When the story begins, James is confronted by his wife for his roving eyes! Soon after this, he goes to a speakeasy and begins chatting up women. One in particular catches his eye and so he brings her home to meet the wife. And here's where it gets weird. Apparently the Gleasons have an agreement that if either meets another person and falls for them, the marriage will be amicably dissolved and they'll each go their separate ways! Of course, things don't work out the way the hubby expects...and it certainly will come as a surprise to you as well!

Meet the Missus

1929

No artwork available
6.0

Props, the stage man, and his assistant at the Orpheum Theater, Plunkville divide their time equally between drinking and attention to duty. Trouble starts when the new acts arrive. The Wiggle sisters, a Hawaiian act, demand the star dressing room but Props turns them down, but relents when Babe, the strong man, and his beautiful wife, Ethel Burton because he is smitten. Once the show begins Props is forever getting in the way of the performers and his bibulous assistant has an unfortunate propensity for dropping the curtain at the wrong moments. Things only get crazier from there.

Back Stage

1917

The Villain poster
5.5

In The Villain, Billy attempted something a little different. He's still imitating Chaplin, but this time he's playing the wicked, top-hatted Charlie found in some of his earliest Keystone appearances (e.g. Mabel at the Wheel), the ones where Charlie himself seemed to be imitating the studio's recently departed Ford Sterling. Throughout this short there is much spoofing of old-time melodramas, a frequent motif of Sterling's comedies.

The Villain

1917

Smiles poster
10.0

When their father is reported missing at the front during World War I, Jane and Katherine are stamped and sent by parcel post across the country to their Aunt Lucille Forrest in New Jersey. The two girls manage to smuggle their dog into the mail bag as well. Aunt Lucille is in love with Lt. Tom Hayes, but she is angry with him after he resigns his commission at the start of the war. She does not know that Tom is in the Secret Service, and she becomes jealous of a female spy whom Tom is trailing. Jane and Katherine's mischievous pranks finally assist in capturing the spy and the secret plans, and getting Aunt Lucille back together with Tom.

Smiles

1919

The Scholar poster
4.2

Short King Bee Studios slapstick comedy featuring Billy West and Oliver Hardy

The Scholar

1918

The Pest poster
5.8

The Pest (aka The Freeloader) is a 1917 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy and starring Billy West in one of his "Charlie Chaplin" rip-off roles.

The Pest

1917

Clancy's Kosher Wedding poster
9.0

Clancy's Kosher Wedding is a 1927 silent comedy film directed by Arvid E. Gillstrom.

Clancy's Kosher Wedding

1927

No artwork available
10.0

An ordinary day - so an eventful one - of Tom Katt, a young man who works as a drugstore owner's assistant: his - very acrobatic - bike ride to his place of work; the - fanciful - way he performs his job; the - ingenious - subterfuge he finds to help his employer, who has money problems; the - swift - way he escapes the cops chasing him...

Red Pepper

1925

Hot Scotch poster
7.0

A Paramount-Christie comedy from 1928.

Hot Scotch

1948

Tell It to the Marines poster
NR

After a busy day of playing pranks on their father's servants and guests, Harry Williams' daughters Jane and Katherine tumble into bed and fall asleep. Having seen a film depicting World War I fighting in Europe, little Jane dreams that two armies, consisting entirely of mechanical dolls, are advancing against each other in battle. While Trik leads the German troops, who are guilty of committing a score of atrocities, Trak heads the Allied army, which ultimately wins the war. In the end, Jane awakens with a start to find that it has all been a dream.

Tell It to the Marines

1918

Tell It to the Marines poster
NR

After a busy day of playing pranks on their father's servants and guests, Harry Williams' daughters Jane and Katherine tumble into bed and fall asleep. Having seen a film depicting World War I fighting in Europe, little Jane dreams that two armies, consisting entirely of mechanical dolls, are advancing against each other in battle. While Trik leads the German troops, who are guilty of committing a score of atrocities, Trak heads the Allied army, which ultimately wins the war. In the end, Jane awakens with a start to find that it has all been a dream.

Tell It to the Marines

1918

No artwork available
8.0

Baby Peggy, one of the biggest child stars in movie history, does not disappoint in this charming silent comedy, even though it only exists in fragmentary form. Through the short, she interacts with a number of animals, especially a goose she wants to cook.

Peggy, Behave!

1922

Happy Days poster
6.2

Winnie Winkle's wee brother Perry captains a rag tag sandlot team.

Happy Days

1926

The Chief Cook poster
4.5

The film opens in the lobby of a small hotel, where the desk clerk/owner (Budd Ross) is addressing three members of staff: the cook, the waiter and the bellboy. It is obvious from their reactions, particularly the cook (Leo White) that whatever was said did not go down too well. His animated arms knock down the man standing behind him repeatedly until all three servants simultaneously quit. They storm off into the adjoining kitchen where a slavery maid (Blanche White) is on the floor scrubbing the floor. The men all trip over her, moan briefly and then leave.

The Chief Cook

1917

Knight Duty poster
9.0

Harry is a hobo, one step ahead of the law. After accidentally foiling a purse snatcher, he cadges a ride on a flatbed truck, is knocked out when a wax figure falls on him during the ride, and is carried into a museum by someone thinking he's another manikin. Inside, it takes him a while to figure out that he's among dummies. Then, two enterprising jewel thieves arrive to steal the museum director's priceless ruby. Cops are on hand as well: when the ruby goes missing, Harry may be the perfect fall guy. Can Harry stay away from the cops, foil the theft, and behave heroically in front of the museum director's daughter, the same woman whose purse he saved that morning?

Knight Duty

1933

No artwork available
NR

Jack Duffy is terrified of horses, so when Gayle Lloyd wants to lift the mortgage by running her horse in the harness race that Saturday, he's chosen to drive the rig. The rest of the movie is about the farcical mishaps on the way to his inevitable victory..

Nifty Nags

1927

The Knight Before Christmas poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Knight Before Christmas

1927

The Hobo poster
4.8

Billy is a hobo who hangs around the train station. He creates disruption in the ticket office, at the lunch counter, and in the lives of some of the customers.

The Hobo

1917

The Snow Cure poster
10.0

The Snow Cure is a silent Comedy short.

The Snow Cure

1916

No artwork available
NR

While there isn't a clear synopsis of this short it it known that it was a slapstick "Christie Comedy," a popular series of shorts from that era known for mechanical gags and situational humor.

Say Uncle

1928

The Framing of the Shrew poster
7.0

Privacy Robson is a downtrodden husband who takes advice from his friend Florian Slappey. He eventually gets the upper hand after starting divorce proceedings, pretending to have a new girlfriend and refusing to eat anything she cooks him.

The Framing of the Shrew

1929

Swat the Spy poster
NR

Andrew Sheldon is so busy perfecting a new explosive for the United States effort in World War I that he fails to realize that his butler, cook, housekeeper and chauffeur are all German spies. His two mischievous daughters, Jane and Katherine, however, make life difficult for the spies by throwing pies at the Kaiser's picture and clipping the butler's long, Prussian-style mustache while he sleeps. When Andrew's wife announces that she is pregnant, he tells the girls that he has written a letter requesting a baby brother for them, whereupon they decide to steal the letter, convinced that two children are enough for their family. Breaking into Andrew's laboratory, they take the "letter," actually the secret formula, but after Andrew reveals that his plans are missing, the butler enters the laboratory and seizes the invention itself.

Swat the Spy

1918

A Good Scout poster
8.0

A snappy young book agent reforms and becomes a cook for a group of Boy Scouts.

A Good Scout

1922

Cupid's Rival poster
5.0

A bumbling janitor in a fleabag hotel drives the residents crazy, and a poor artist believes that his girlfriend is having an affair with a wealthy artist living across the hall, and takes unorthodox measures to find out what's going on.

Cupid's Rival

1917

The Candy Kid poster
5.6

A Fake Chaplin movie with Billy West as the tramp.

The Candy Kid

1917

Legionnaires in Paris poster
8.0

Two American soldiers are on leave in Paris on Armistice Day and, due to a misunderstanding, believe that they've killed a man, although accidentally. When they discover that the police are looking for them, they're convinced that they're in big trouble and take off. Complications ensue.

Legionnaires in Paris

1927

His Day Out poster
3.9

In this film, West escapes a couple of cops and fights for the hand of Leatrice Joy with Oliver Hardy (doing his best Eric Campell). A barber by trade, our tramp serves his boorish clientele with similarly bad manners before the whole crowd attends a swanky Barbers' Ball.

His Day Out

1918

No artwork available
8.0

Tired Feet (1933) is a Harry Langdon comedy short done for Educational Films.

Tired Feet

1933

The Stranger poster
5.5

After a luckless prospecting trip, Billy starts homeward across the desert, mounted on his little burro with his pick, shovel and pack strapped up behind him. Finally he comes in sight of Red Dog Gulch and, hungry and thirsty, he pushes on toward the city. Susie is the daughter of the town drunkard. She starts out on her horse for a little ride, and a little way from town is attacked by Pedro and Little Casino, two Mexicans, who try to steal her horse. Billy happens along, runs the Mexicans off and takes Susie back to town.

The Stranger

1918

Hooks and Jabs poster
8.0

Harry is down and out. A woman friend from a temperance union loans him a buck. He goes to a bar and orders a glass of milk to get a free sandwich. After he loses the greenback, the burly saloon keeper confiscates Harry's sandwich and tells him to sweep the floor to pay his tab. In the back room is a boxing ring where the owner stages fights. By happenstance, Harry ends up in the ring. Outside, the temperance union pickets the saloon. Between the beer and the boxing, can Harry stay on his feet and help his crusading friend?

Hooks and Jabs

1933

No artwork available
9.0

The adventures of Baby Peggy in her own house.

The Little Rascal

1922

No artwork available
9.0

The adventures of Baby Peggy in her own house.

The Little Rascal

1922

No artwork available
4.0

We first meet Harry on the morning of his wedding day. He looks like he's been partying, but we know he's a sweet guy because he sleeps with a photo of his bride. Friends serenade Harry outside, but when he goes to the window to join in they douse him with water. As he prepares for his wedding, he looks in the mirror and it shatters. When the groom attempts to run to the church the ring slips out of his hand and is run over by a passing car. As anyone who has seen Harry's 1924 comedy HIS MARRIAGE WOW can guess, the ring sticks to the tire, and Harry must climb on to the car to retrieve it.....

Tied for Life

1933

Oft in the Silly Night poster
8.0

A chauffeur falls in love with the daughter of his employer.

Oft in the Silly Night

1929

The Big Flash poster
5.7

Would-be photographer Harry gets his big chance when a newspaper wants pictures of a prominent gangster and his girl. Harry and another photographer first visit the gangster's girl, and then wait at the scene of an expected robbery. But before they can get the pictures they want, they must first distract a policeman whose presence would otherwise deter the gangster from appearing.

The Big Flash

1932

The Hitchhiker poster
9.0

Harry Langdon messes up a movie shoot, hitches a ride on an airplane, and ruins everyone's trip. What will the passengers on the unlucky airplane do, when they learn they are stuck flying with "THE HITCHHIKER"?

The Hitchhiker

1933

The Hitchhiker poster
9.0

Harry Langdon messes up a movie shoot, hitches a ride on an airplane, and ruins everyone's trip. What will the passengers on the unlucky airplane do, when they learn they are stuck flying with "THE HITCHHIKER"?

The Hitchhiker

1933

Their Social Splash poster
4.8

Pretty Dixie Chene is abut to be married to Slim Summerville besides a swimming pool stocked with baby alligators -- wait for it -- but before the minister shows up, Charles Murray and a drunken Polly Moran manage to cause quite a fuss.

Their Social Splash

1915