
Acting
James Neill
Born — Died
1860-09-29 — 1931-03-16
Place of birth
Savannah, Georgia, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
62 titles
James Neill (September 29, 1860 – March 16, 1931) was an American stage actor and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 113 films between 1913 and 1930. His wife, and frequent costar on stage and screen, was Edythe Chapman.
Known for
6.4The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.
The King of Kings
1927
6.4The first part tells the story of Moses leading the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, his receipt of the tablets and the worship of the golden calf. The second part shows the efficacy of the commandments in modern life through a story set in San Francisco. Two brothers, rivals for the love of Mary, also come into conflict when John discovers Dan used shoddy materials to construct a cathedral.
The Ten Commandments
1923
9.0Corinne d'Alys (Daniels) achieves sudden success on the stage and among her many admirers is noted artist Robert Townsend (Menjou). Robert is married to Elsa (Williams), the sister of John Elliott (Stone), the producer responsible for Corinne's rise to fame. The young woman's head is turned by the praise she receives and, despite John's warning against Robert, she permits the latter to paint her portrait and pay her a good deal of attention. John himself loves Corinne and believes that wisdom will come to her with time.
The World's Applause
1923
6.8Leila Porter comes to dislike her husband James, a glue king who is always eating onions and looking sloppy. But after she divorces him and marries two-timing playboy Schuyler Van Sutphen the now-reformed James looks pretty good.
Don't Change Your Husband
1919
NRIn planning to break into the house of the wealthy Bob Van Dyke, Jenny's stepfather decides that his stepdaughter should do most of the dirty work, and Jenny, not wanting to disappoint him, grudgingly agrees. As soon as she enters the house, Bob catches her, but then goes back to his bedroom after making her give her word not to take anything. Jenny breaks her promise...
The Ragamuffin
1916
6.3A young American has her ship torpedoed by a German U-boat but makes it back to her ancestral home in France, where she witnesses German brutality firsthand.
The Little American
1917
Film credits
1930s · 2 titles
6.2A gambler wanted for murder hides under the guise of a clergyman.
Shooting Straight
1930
7.0Cooper is a Union Army officer who after being jilted by girlfriend, Virginia Bruce, volunteers on what could be a suicide mission. He volunteers to go behind enemy lines disguised in Confederate gray as a staff officer to Robert E. Lee. He's to ride to a certain plantation which is a local brigade headquarters and deliberately let himself be caught with maps showing false Union troop positions. Of course, the penalty, then as now, is execution.
Only the Brave
1930
1920s · 14 titles
6.4The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.
The King of Kings
1927
6.4The first part tells the story of Moses leading the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, his receipt of the tablets and the worship of the golden calf. The second part shows the efficacy of the commandments in modern life through a story set in San Francisco. Two brothers, rivals for the love of Mary, also come into conflict when John discovers Dan used shoddy materials to construct a cathedral.
The Ten Commandments
1923
9.0Corinne d'Alys (Daniels) achieves sudden success on the stage and among her many admirers is noted artist Robert Townsend (Menjou). Robert is married to Elsa (Williams), the sister of John Elliott (Stone), the producer responsible for Corinne's rise to fame. The young woman's head is turned by the praise she receives and, despite John's warning against Robert, she permits the latter to paint her portrait and pay her a good deal of attention. John himself loves Corinne and believes that wisdom will come to her with time.
The World's Applause
1923
8.0Paul Bonard an artist, loses his memory when he receives a blow on the head from one of two apaches fighting over Wildcat, a sultry stepper in a cafe. He becomes an apache himself, falls in love with Wildcat and paints her portrait--his masterpiece. Wildcat learns Paul's identity and restores him to his family, though realizing that she will lose him. Surgery restores Paul's memory, but some subconscious force guides him back to the cafe and Wildcat's love.
A Man's Mate
1924
7.0When Ellen Linden comes back home from finishing school, she finds out that her wealthy father has lost all his money. She must get a job to help support the family, and goes to work as a secretary in the brokerage firm of Phillips and Rand. Both partners find themselves attracted to her, but each has a different approach: Phillipls takes the rough, aggressive route and Rand does the opposite, complimenting and flattering her at every opportunity. However, she falls in love with Tom Galloway, a young inventor who has come up with a new type of soft drink, "Here's How". in which Ellen attempts to interest the brokers. Phillips, however, doesn't take rejection lightly and schemes to break up Ellen and Galloway using his unwitting partner. This film is lost.
Any Woman
1925
7.0Thomas Bates Sr. (Robert McWade) takes his broom manufacturing business very seriously, and his idle son, Tom Jr. (Neil Hamilton), calls him a grouch. As a result, Bates decides to teach his son a lesson by putting him in charge of the business for a year.
New Brooms
1925
5.5Society-girl thrillseeker Lydia's fun comes to an end when she accidentally causes the death of motorcycle policeman.
Manslaughter
1922
10.0James Berkeley (who wants to get rich) and Allan Franklin (determined to be a great engineer) are rivals for the hand of Lois Miller. Berkeley marries her, and 15 years later, though he has not realized his ambition, he keeps his wife luxuriously attired as a "trademark" of his prosperity. Allan, who has obtained a large tract of oil land from the Mexican Government, visits the Berkeleys; and James, hoping to profit from his wealth, goes to Mexico with him, accompanied by Lois, who unwillingly agrees to help her husband. When Allan and Lois realize their love for each other, James, refusing to become angry, is denounced by his wife. A band of Mexican bandits attempt to capture Lois, and in the attack James is slain. Allan rescues Lois, and they escape across the border.
Her Husband’s Trademark
1922
9.0Most of the scenes are laid in a parrot-and-monkey country in South America, a land where "it is always after dinner." The Llano Kid, a Texas bad man, flees there from justice. The consul persuades him to play the long-lost son of a Castilian family, and tattoos a coat of arms on the back of the Kid's hand to make the deception complete. The Kid is taken into the household, trusted and loved by the gladdened mother. For the first time he has a home. The romance develops. And when the time comes to rob and flee he has too much manhood to break the loving mother's heart. The surprise comes when it is revealed that the man the Kid killed in Texas was the real son.
A Double-Dyed Deceiver
1920
6.5In this partially lost silent film, a man working as a motion picture extra in Hollywood westerns impresses a visiting sheikh with his boxing skills and is engaged to go to Arabia, where he becomes involved in warring and falls in love with a beautiful princess.
The Thrill Chaser
1923
8.0The solution to a murder hinges on two witnesses: a deaf woman and a blind man.
A Voice in the Dark
1921
5.9Though betrothed to fellow socialite Richard, Iris weds her chauffeur Tom leaving Richard to marry the family laundress' daughter Shamrock. Class differences lead to divorces and remarriages.
Saturday Night
1922
4.8Young Kenneth Jamieson's millionaire father, fed up with his son's wild escapades, sends him to stay on a chicken farm in the small village of Dedham. On the day he arrives there pretty Diane Lee, the niece of local Rev. David Lee, arrives from Paris. A few days later Kenneth, reverting back to his wild ways, gets drunk and makes a spectacle of himself, but rather than reproving him, Rev. Lee gives him a heart-to-heart talk and gets Kenneth to turn his life around. Meanwhile, the reverend--barely able to get by on the pittance the local vestrymen pay him--asks for a raise but is denied it, being told that he must send Diane away before they'll even consider giving him any extra money. Soon afterward Kenneth falls gravely ill. His father, hearing of Kenneth's condition and of his infatuation with Diane, arrives at the village to see his son and isn't ready for what he finds.
Thank You
1925
6.6Millionaire William van Luyn falls in love with his secretary Joan Thayer and marries her. Her family, part of "the great middle class" (as blowhard nephew Henry keeps reminding us), is happy for Joan, but reluctant to take charity from Will. He moves in with them, and they keep resisting, until one day he takes drastic action.
The Idle Rich
1929
1910s · 44 titles
6.8Leila Porter comes to dislike her husband James, a glue king who is always eating onions and looking sloppy. But after she divorces him and marries two-timing playboy Schuyler Van Sutphen the now-reformed James looks pretty good.
Don't Change Your Husband
1919
NRIn planning to break into the house of the wealthy Bob Van Dyke, Jenny's stepfather decides that his stepdaughter should do most of the dirty work, and Jenny, not wanting to disappoint him, grudgingly agrees. As soon as she enters the house, Bob catches her, but then goes back to his bedroom after making her give her word not to take anything. Jenny breaks her promise...
The Ragamuffin
1916
6.3A young American has her ship torpedoed by a German U-boat but makes it back to her ancestral home in France, where she witnesses German brutality firsthand.
The Little American
1917
NRA Scots-Irish lad comes to America hoping to find his fortune. On the sea voyage he meets and falls for a lovely young girl, but they are parted on arrival. Years later, in the Kentucky town where he has settled and prospered, he meets the girl again, and both sparks and complications arise.
Sandy
1918
6.0A venal, spoiled stockbroker's wife impulsively embezzles $10,000 from the charity she chairs and desperately turns to a Burmese ivory trader to replace the stolen money.
The Cheat
1915
10.0A fur smuggler's daughter asks to accompany him on his trip to the US to sell his furs. She falls for Robert, a young man who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend for a rich man. She and Robert fall in love, but her father suddenly takes her back to Canada to avoid tax agents. Robert searcher for her for a year, and when he finally finds her, he must fight both her father and her father's gang for her. Complications ensue.
A Daughter of the Wolf
1919
NRA silent drama film directed by James Young
The Lash
1916
1.0The children of a a novelist, Nicholas, contract scarlet fever. His wife Anne stays in the house to take care of them, but the house is quarantined by the authorities and Nicholas, not being allowed in the house, takes a room in town until the quarantine is lifted. Lonely, he begins to feel attracted to his illustrator, Esmee. They begin an affair, but soon Nicholas finds that Esmee's expensive tastes are driving him to bankruptcy. His wife finds out about the affair, and devises a plan to teach her husband a lesson and get his mistress out of the picture at the same time.
Women's Weapons
1918
NRJimmie Dexter is on his way to college when his mother discovers that her stocks have stopped paying dividends. Jean Hilton, who has always loved Jimmie, offers to secretly stake him using her own inheritance. So Jimmie goes off to college, none the wiser, and gets tangled up with vampy cabaret singer Diana Parish.
The Girl at Home
1917
10.0Dick Tavish, a young New Yorker, decides that there is money in cows, and he buys a western ranch. When the novelty has worn off he decided there is monotony as well. Then he falls in love with a girl on a calendar, and life takes on a new interest, particularly after he discovers who the girl is. The fact that her uncle swindled him on the ranch does not matter. He figures he can take care of the uncle, and he does, but not until he has been forced to masquerade as a woman, and have half the men at a fashionable resort fall in love with him.
The Widow's Might
1918
NRJules Lemaire, a happy-go-lucky French-Canadian lumberman, arrives at the Nemo lumber camp carrying a baby. His love for the child wins him the respect of Joy Farnsworth, the daughter of the camp's foreman, but this arouses the jealousy of Big Jim Burgess, the camp bully.
Jules of the Strong Heart
1918
4.0Esra Kincaid takes land by force and, having taken the Espinoza land, his sights are set on the Castro rancho. Government agent Kearney holds him off till the cavalry shows up and he can declare his love for Juanita, called “the Rose of the Rancho.”
The Rose of the Rancho
1914
NRAs the Civil War begins Ned Burton leaves his Southern love Agatha Warren and joins the Union army. He is later protected and saved from death by Agatha in spite of her loyalty to the South.
The Warrens of Virginia
1915
NRA married couple, each in love with another, attempts to unentangle themselves from their marriage in order to be with the one each truly loves. But the more they untangle one knot, the faster more confusing knots appear.
We Can't Have Everything
1918
7.0A young girl living a secluded and unsophisticated life is suddenly thrust into a great wealth and a frightening social whirl.
Her Kingdom of Dreams
1919
10.0Madison Hale, a wealthy American financier, is bidding against Govrian Texler, the financial advisor to the King Stephen III of Maritizia, for the concession to run a transcontinental railway through the country. After Madison's son, Dick, completes his college education, he decides to visit Maritizia, the birthplace of his great-grandfather. There he meets Princess Irenia and they fall in love, arousing the jealousy of Ferdinand Vaslof, Govrian's nephew, who is also in love with the princess.
What Money Can't Buy
1917
NRWilliam C. DeMille adapted his screenplay for The Woman on the stage play by DeMille's father Henry and David Belasco. The story is set in Washington D.C., courtesy of the Lasky Studio's scenic department. Lois Meredith plays the title character, a woman of questionable morals currently involved with young politician James Neill. Political boss Theodore Roberts hopes to ruin Neill by making public the young man's romantic entanglements.
The Woman
1915
NRHenry Sherwin is led to believe by mine expert James Fleming that the mine he invested all his money in is valueless, though Fleming has discovered a rich vein of gold that he keeps secret. When Sherwin dies shortly thereafter, he leaves his daughter Betty in the care of John Kenwood and his sister, Constance, who allows Betty to believe she has an income, sending her to boarding school while they surreptitiously go to work to support her. Upon her return home Fleming pursues her but she rejects him, and he tells her the mine is worthless. However, a dream leads her to believe otherwise and after much travail she discovers the truth as well as Fleming’s duplicity. John declares his long-hidden love for her, and they are wed.
Betty to the Rescue
1917
NRSato (Sessue Hayakawa) faithfully works for importer James Thornton (James Neill). When the old man dies, he leaves his daughter Mildred (Vivian Martin) in Sato's care. Sato loves the girl, but as he is Japanese he cannot hope to ever marry her (at least not in the racially prejudiced era of the early 1900s). Besides, Mildred loves Harry Maxwell (Tom Forman), who was raised alongside her.
Forbidden Paths
1917
6.4John Trimble has embezzled and obtains another identity by having a mutilated body buried in his place. He is later arrested for murdering himself. During the trial his mother, before dying from shock, asks him to keep his identity secret since his wife is now married to the Governor and expecting a child.
The Whispering Chorus
1918
5.7A WWI English officer is inspired the night before a dangerous mission by a vision of Joan of Arc, whose story he relives.
Joan the Woman
1916
NRCount Von Herbeck, the chancellor to the Grand Duke of Ehrenstein, is married but keeps the fact secret on account of his high ambitions. His wife, dying, writes him a letter urging him to make their little child a great lady. A lost film.
The Goose Girl
1915
NRFishermaid Marcia Manot finds an emerald which once belonged to a Norse queen and is cursed. Greedy American Silas Martin marries her, then sets her up for divorce. She kills him and weds his business manager Sterling, but a detective learns about Silas' death.
The Devil Stone
1917
7.0When shipping clerk Arthur McArney falls in love with pretty stenographer Elsa Owenson, he finds himself in stiff competition with a fat but wealthy broker named Sankey. Elsa's expensive tastes lead Arthur to spend a week's salary on an evening's entertainment, part with his watch to pay their taxicab fare, and borrow money from his friends to buy her extravagant gifts. Finally, Arthur is forced to take on odd jobs and night duty, which so impresses his employer, Hallet, that he gives the clerk a small raise. After Arthur spends $200 on the proper attire to wear to a lavish Halloween party, Hallet calls him to the office that evening, and Elsa attends the affair with Sankey. To reward his employee's dedication, Hallet promotes Arthur to the post of branch manager. Elsa accepts Arthur's marriage proposal with the promise that she will henceforth economize.
The Way of a Man with a Maid
1918
NRAn orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Oliver Twist
1916
8.0Everywoman is a lost 1919 American silent film allegory film directed by George Melford based on a 1911 play Everywoman by Walter Browne.
Everywoman
1919
NRTom Wells is dissatisfied with his lot in life. Wondering aloud whether he'd be happier if things were different, he soon gets his chance to find out. The rest of the story is an extension on the old proverb which begins "Be careful what you wish for."
The House with the Golden Windows
1916
NRHelen Ainsworth, a young philanthropist, who is interested in a prison reform movement, is engaged to Norman Morris, administrator of the Ainsworth millions and the undiscovered "man higher up," grafting through his influence with prison wardens. He is also having an "affair" with Felice, Helen's maid, an ex-convict.
The Prison Without Walls
1917
NRLady Jocelyn, a favorite in the court of England's King James, escapes a forced marriage to the hated Lord Carnal by fleeing to American colonies. There she meets and marries Captain Ralph Percy. Pursued by Lord Carnal, Lady Jocelyn and her new husband eventually find themselves shipwrecked on a desert island with Lord Carnal.
To Have and to Hold
1916
NRMelaine is captured by a northern soldier while she is carrying secret southern messages. She falls into the hands of her father's former superior who attempts to compromise her. She is saved by a successful Confederate attack.
Those Without Sin
1917
NRBased on a play by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Originally released in six reels, but later cut to four due to poor reviews.
Richelieu
1914
"Peg" O'Connell, a cheerful, unrefined Irish girl from a fishing village, moves in with her wealthy, haughty aunt, Mrs. Chichester, in England to satisfy the terms of her grandfather's will. Peg faces cold treatment from her aunt and cousin, who are in financial trouble and covet the inheritance, creating a "clash of classes" dynamic. Peg falls for Jerry, a family friend who is actually Sir Gerald Adair, the executor of her estate and her guardian. After overcoming misunderstandings and an attempt to return to her father, Peg finds happiness, love, and acceptance, with the story highlighting the superiority of her honest nature over aristocratic snobbery.
Peg o' My Heart
1919
NRWhen the third partner in their small Cape Cod trading business dies, Shad Gould and Zoeth Hamilton adopt his little daughter Mary-'Gusta. After several years, the two old salts decide that Mary should be properly educated and send her to an exclusive school in Boston, telling her that her father left her a large fortune. In Boston, Mary meets Crawford Smith, but their happiness together is threatened when she learns that he is the son of Edgar Fuller (alias Smith), a scoundrel who had run off with Zoeth's wife and stolen his money.
A Petticoat Pilot
1918
NRWhen a young girl is placed under hypnotism, it's discovered that she has a split personality.
The Case of Becky
1915
NRCol. Landers adopts two children, "How," an Indian boy, and Bess, whose parents were killed in an Indian uprising. When the children are grown, How proposes to Bess, whom he has loved since his childhood. She accepts his proposal, thus angering Clayton Craig, Lander's nephew who also wants to marry her. After Lander's death, How is exiled from the ranch, so he and Bess buy new land. One day, after he has been away, How returns to his cabin to see Bess and Craig embracing. How grants Bess her freedom after which she marries Craig and moves to New York. Some time later, How discovers oil on the land that he gave Bess, so he follows them to New York. There he finds that Craig has been unfaithful to Bess. In the end, Bess rejects Craig so that she and How can remarry and find "a trail to happiness together." -From TCM.com Database, powered by the AFI.
Where the Trail Divides
1914
NRSensible Betty Manners is the wife of the frivolous John Manners. John fritters away his time playing the horses rather than paying attention to his job on Wall Street. He pays dearly for this when the market goes wrong, and he is wiped out. Coincidentally an old friend, Sir Harry, arrives bringing the news of a vast fortune left Betty and she is now Lady Betty. Betty keeps the news a secret from John, who has taken up with a Mrs. Airlie. But as John comes to believe Betty has become involved with Sir Harry, his jealousy is awoken, and he acts rashly until explanations all around straighten everything out.
A School for Husbands
1917
Carlton, disapproving of his dissipated son and the latter's scheming wife, on his death-bed makes his will in favor of his devoted niece, Marcia. Hearing of this the previous couple plan to balk the father; their scheming is overheard by the cracksman, who has stealthily entered the house. The son and his wife retire and the cracksman creeps upstairs and enters Marcia's room. Affected by her beauty and innocence as she lays sleeping, he determines to assist her; following the son into the sick man's room he snatches the stolen will from his hand.
The Heart of a Cracksman
1913
Dorothy informs the cracksman that when he has finally renounced his life of thieving he may return to her and claim her. The cracksman resolves to be worthy of her. In his home he doubts his ability to reform and takes out his revolver. A vision of the girl comes to him and he is about to cast it aside when a tray of gleaming jewels crosses his vision. His resolution wavers. He places the gun in his pocket and sallies out.
The Cracksman's Reformation
1913
NRSoon after arriving in the U.S., Romanian immigrant Franz Libelt dies, leaving his daughter Michelna an orphan. The girl is befriended by newsboy Blackie Moyle, who invites her to share his home, which is a large piano box in a vacant lot. After he teaches her to be a "newsie," she cuts her hair, dresses as a boy, and changes her name to Mike. When Blackie is blinded while protecting her from a thief, Mike is forced to find a way to support them both
The Trouble Buster
1917
Wally and the girl are in love. The rich broker covets the girl, but is rejected. The broker bids the father good-bye just as the latter receives a telegram, telling him that he is a large sum short on margins. The broker reads and tells the father he will help him if he is allowed to marry the daughter. The father agrees against his will. The girl agrees to the self-sacrifice to save her father's honor. Money triumphs, and the broker and the girl marry, but as time goes on, he ill-treats her shamefully.
Whoso Diggeth a Pit
1914
"Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo" is an interesting play of intrigue between the Grand Duke Augustus Peter of Russia, whose incognito is Mr. Grex, an English Secret Service agent, Lord Huntersley and a young American millionaire on pleasure bent, Richard Lane. Mr. Grex and two other diplomats who unofficially represent France and Germany, plan to meet as if by chance in Monte Carlo for the purpose of arranging a secret pact.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
1915
NRThe old Atwell home is said to be haunted, and Jeremy Foster, the gardener--who is actually the head of a band of thieves that use the house for a hideout--does his best to keep the superstition alive. Despite the rumors, impoverished sisters Lois and Alice Atwell decide to move into the empty family home. They take possession the same night that Ted Rawson is ordered to explore the place as an initiation rite by his fraternity.
The Ghost House
1917
NRLopaka, a poor Hawaiian fisherman, falls in love with Kokua, a young girl of royal blood. Her father refuses to let him marry her, though, unless Lopaka can bring him two feather cloaks from a rare bird. While searching the mountains for the bird, Lopaka encounters a dying priest of Pele who sells him a wishing bottle in which Kono, the god of the volcanos, is confined.
The Bottle Imp
1917
NREdward Abeles and Theodore Roberts as a couple of prospectors who get involved with greedy city types on a business trip to New York.
Ready Money
1914
Behind the camera
NRCol. Landers adopts two children, "How," an Indian boy, and Bess, whose parents were killed in an Indian uprising. When the children are grown, How proposes to Bess, whom he has loved since his childhood. She accepts his proposal, thus angering Clayton Craig, Lander's nephew who also wants to marry her. After Lander's death, How is exiled from the ranch, so he and Bess buy new land. One day, after he has been away, How returns to his cabin to see Bess and Craig embracing. How grants Bess her freedom after which she marries Craig and moves to New York. Some time later, How discovers oil on the land that he gave Bess, so he follows them to New York. There he finds that Craig has been unfaithful to Bess. In the end, Bess rejects Craig so that she and How can remarry and find "a trail to happiness together." -From TCM.com Database, powered by the AFI.
Where the Trail Divides
1914
NRRussian brothers Count Boris and Alexis Rabourdin obtain a Japanese coastline defense map and plan to sell it to German agents in London. In America, Alexis schemes to marry wealthy Eve Bertram, who loves him. Boris, meanwhile, falls in love with Christine Lesley, Eve's neighbor whom Eve's brother Guy, an amateur inventor experimenting with explosives, also loves.
The Clue
1915
