William Desmond

Acting

William Desmond

Born — Died

1878-01-23 — 1949-11-03

Place of birth

Horseheads, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Starting out in dramatic parts, Desmond soon switched to westerns and action serials, and became a major western star. When the sound era began Desmond was almost 50 years old, and was soon relegated to supporting roles.

Known for

Phantom of the Opera poster
6.2

Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.

Phantom of the Opera

1943

No artwork available
NR

A prefect is converted to Christianity and dies in the arena with his lover.

The Sign of the Cross

1904

Tall in the Saddle poster
6.6

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

Tall in the Saddle

1944

The Egg and I poster
7.0

World War II veteran Bob MacDonald surprises his new wife, Betty, by quitting his city job and moving them to a dilapidated farm in the country. While Betty gamely struggles with managing the crumbling house and holding off nosy neighbors and a recalcitrant pig, Bob makes plans for crops and livestock. The couple's bliss is shaken by a visit from a beautiful farm owner, who seems to want more from Bob than just managing her property.

The Egg and I

1947

Flash Gordon poster
6.4

Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

Flash Gordon

1936

The Mummy's Ghost poster
5.6

An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning that Ananka's spirit has been reincarnated into another body, he kidnaps a young woman of Egyptian descent with a mysterious resemblance to the princess. However, the high priest's greedy desires cause him to lose control of the mummy...

The Mummy's Ghost

1944

Film credits

1940s · 15 titles

Phantom of the Opera poster
6.2

Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.

Phantom of the Opera

1943

Tall in the Saddle poster
6.6

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

Tall in the Saddle

1944

The Egg and I poster
7.0

World War II veteran Bob MacDonald surprises his new wife, Betty, by quitting his city job and moving them to a dilapidated farm in the country. While Betty gamely struggles with managing the crumbling house and holding off nosy neighbors and a recalcitrant pig, Bob makes plans for crops and livestock. The couple's bliss is shaken by a visit from a beautiful farm owner, who seems to want more from Bob than just managing her property.

The Egg and I

1947

The Mummy's Ghost poster
5.6

An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning that Ananka's spirit has been reincarnated into another body, he kidnaps a young woman of Egyptian descent with a mysterious resemblance to the princess. However, the high priest's greedy desires cause him to lose control of the mummy...

The Mummy's Ghost

1944

Phantom Lady poster
6.9

A devoted secretary embarks on a dangerous mission to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his wife.

Phantom Lady

1944

The Boys from Syracuse poster
6.4

The action takes place in Ephesus in ancient Asia Minor, and the concerns The efforts of two boys from Syracuse, Anthipholus and his servant Dromio, to find their long-lost twins who, for reason of plot confusion, are also named Anthipholus and Dromio. Complications arise when the wife of the Ephesians, Adriana and her servant Luce, mistake the two strangers for their husband, though the couples eventually get sorted out after Adriana's sister Luciana and the Syracuse Antipholus admit their love

The Boys from Syracuse

1940

Trail Street poster
6.5

Bat Masterson's old friend Billy Burns convinces him to become marshal of Liberal, Kansas and help the residents fight drought and a destructive range war.

Trail Street

1947

The Return of the Durango Kid poster
8.7

A masked outlaw steals from bank robbers to help the poor.

The Return of the Durango Kid

1945

The Climax poster
5.5

Dr. Hohner, theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano when his jealousy drives him to the point of mad obsession. Ten years later, another young singer reminds Hohner of the late diva and his old mania kicks in. Hohner wants to prevent her from singing for anyone but him, even if it means silencing her forever.

The Climax

1944

The Naughty Nineties poster
6.7

In the gay '90s, cardsharps take over a Mississippi riverboat from a kindly captain. Their first act is to change the showboat into a floating gambling house. A ham actor and his bumbling sidekick try to devise a way to help the captain regain ownership of the vessel.

The Naughty Nineties

1945

Winners of the West poster
7.0

Beyond Hell's Gate Pass is territory controlled by a man who calls himself King Carter; he uses a variety of schemes to prevent the railroad from being built, for fear it will finish his control of (what he considers) his land.

Winners of the West

1940

Junior G-Men poster
6.5

A gang of urban street kids and a club of suburban would-be federal agents, at first rivals, join forces to rescue the father of one of the kids, the inventor of a super-explosive and its remote detonator, from the clutches of a band of foreign subversives call the "Flaming Torch Gang". A 12-episode movie serial with the chapters: •1. Enemies Within •2. The Blast of Doom •3. Human Dynamite •4. Blazing Danger •5. Trapped By Traitors •6. Traitors' Treachery •7. Flaming Death •8. Hurled Through Space •9. The Plunge of Peril •10.The Toll of Treason •11.Descending Doom •12.The Power of Patriotism

Junior G-Men

1940

Thank Your Lucky Stars poster
6.2

An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

1943

Thunder Mountain poster
6.0

Marvin Hayden returns to find his ranch is about to be sold at auction and the Hayden Jorth feud still going strong. Carson wants the Hayden ranch and tries to kill Hayden. When he fails he kills Chick Jorth with a rock. As Hayden does not carry a gun and the two had argued earlier, Hayden is arrested for the murder. With Hayden in jail, his friends Chito, Ginger, and his Lawyer Gardner now go to work to find the murderer.

Thunder Mountain

1947

Code of the West poster
7.7

Knowing the railroad is coming, Carter is after the rancher's land. Bob and Chito return just in time to save Banker Stockton and his money from Carter's men. When Stockton then lends the ranchers money, Carter has them burned out. Bob knows Carter is responsible and when Carter's henchman Saunders is recognized, Bob goes into action.

Code of the West

1947

1930s · 27 titles

Flash Gordon poster
6.4

Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

Flash Gordon

1936

Naughty Marietta poster
5.5

In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and escapes to colonial New Orleans, where she finds an unlikely true love.

Naughty Marietta

1935

The Phantom of the Air poster
7.0

An adventure serial presented in 12 chapters. Inventor Thomas Edmunds uses a super plane, 'The Phantom,' to protect his new anti-gravity invention, the Contragrav, from theft.

The Phantom of the Air

1933

Tim Tyler's Luck poster
7.0

A 12-episode serial in which Tim Tyler goes to Africa in search of his father in gorilla country. He meets up with Laura, who is after Spider Webb who has framed her brother. Webb causes the death of Tim's father, but is eventually tracked down.

Tim Tyler's Luck

1937

I Can't Escape poster
6.7

An ex-convict, unable to get a good job because of his prison record, gets mixed up in a phony stock scam.

I Can't Escape

1934

Battling with Buffalo Bill poster
5.8

A western adventure serial in 12 episodes. Buffalo Bill battles gambler Jim Rodney who is trying to scare off the townspeople so he can gain possession of a gold strike discovered in the area. A nearby Indian tribe is provoked to attack the town and the cavalry is called in.

Battling with Buffalo Bill

1931

The Cowboy and the Bandit poster
7.0

Bill travels to a new state after the outlaw Scarface saves him from a lynch mob. There he takes a job on the Barton ranch and joins in the fight against gang leader Larkin. Finding a wounded Scarface he helps him recover. Arrested by Larkin's stooge Sheriff, and with another lynch mob after him, he once again needs Scarface's help.

The Cowboy and the Bandit

1935

Frisco Kid poster
7.0

After a roustabout sailor avoids being shanghaied in 1850s San Francisco, his audacity helps him rise to a position of power in the vice industry of the infamous Barbary Coast.

Frisco Kid

1935

Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery poster
8.0

A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs as he foils a plan by corrupt profiteers to steal an island's oil reserves.

Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery

1935

Custer's Last Stand poster
5.3

Kit Cardigan seeks the killer of his father...among other plot threads leading up to the famous historical incident.

Custer's Last Stand

1936

Frontier Days poster
4.3

Henry Jethrow is after the Wilson ranch. He has George Wilson unknowningly sign a note for the ranch, has him killed, and then presents the note. The Pinto Kid, investigating cattle rustlers, accidentally drops his glove at the murder scene and now has a price on his head. He has Beth Wilson turn him and use the reward money to reclaim the note. Now he has to escape jail and find the real killers.

Frontier Days

1934

Clancy of the Mounted poster
8.0

A Canadian Mountie is assigned to bring in his brother, who was framed for the murder of a gold mine owner. Based on Robert W. Service's poem "Clancy of the Mounted Police."

Clancy of the Mounted

1933

Laughing at Life poster
7.3

Easter, a soldier of fortune and gunrunner, leaves his family behind escaping from the authorities and an American detective named Mason. His globe hopping escape leads him finally to South America, where he is hired to organize a band of revolutionaries, unaware that they plan to eliminate him when his job is done.

Laughing at Life

1933

Song of the Saddle poster
7.3

Frank Sr. sells his supplies to Hook, but then Hook has the Bannion Boys bushwhack his wagon to get the money back. Frank is murdered, but Junior gets away. He comes back 10 years later to settle the score as the Singing Cowboy. He finds that Hook is still doing his dirty deeds on the unsuspecting people. Along the way, Frank meets the lovely Jen, who came out in the same wagon train 10 years before.

Song of the Saddle

1936

Rustlers of Red Dog poster
8.5

A movie serial in 12 chapters: After gold is discovered in the town of Nugget, the titular band of thieves and cutthroats inundates the frontier settlement. A group of three compatriots -- upstanding ex-sheriff Jack Woods, his harmonica-playing friend Laramie and tricky, smooth-talking gambler Deacon -- combine their respective skills in a fateful struggle to deceive and disarm the gang.

Rustlers of Red Dog

1935

The Way of the West poster
7.0

Government agent Gordon, working undercover, is investigating a cattleman sheepman war. The Culprit is Horton and when Horton kills Parker he frames Gordon. His identity revealed, the Sheriff lets Gordon escape to go after the real killer.

The Way of the West

1934

Gordon of Ghost City poster
6.5

A cowboy is hired to track down a gang of rustlers, but gets involved with a beautiful girl trying to run her grandfather's gold mine and other outlaws who are trying to stop her.

Gordon of Ghost City

1933

Headin' for the Rio Grande poster
8.0

Singing cowboy Tex Saunders finds himself in a heap of trouble when he agrees to investigate local gangsters at the behest of a lovely lady. As payment for his pains, he's framed by a saloon owner for killing bad guy Red Dugan and forced to sweat it out in jail. Will his faithful sidekick, Chilo, show up to save his skin … or will Tex have a date with the gallows?

Headin' for the Rio Grande

1936

The Vigilantes Are Coming poster
7.8

A masked hero called "The Eagle" leads California ranchers in a struggle against Russian Cossacks who are plotting to take over California and turn it into a Russian colony.

The Vigilantes Are Coming

1936

The Adventures of Frank Merriwell poster
5.7

A 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for his missing father. His adventures involve a mysterious inscription on a ring, buried treasure, kidnaping and Indian raids. He saves his father and returns to school just in time to win a decisive baseball game with his remarkable pitching and hitting.

The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

1936

Pirate Treasure poster
5.5

An accomplished aviator sets out to locate treasure hidden by one of his ancestors. He encounters interference from various adversaries.

Pirate Treasure

1934

The Call of the Savage poster
6.0

Two competing teams of scientists search the African jungles for a secret formula.

The Call of the Savage

1935

The Rustler's Roundup poster
9.0

Winters is after the Brand ranch, and his man Brett who is foreman there is rustling the Brand stock. But Tom is on to their game and breaks up their attempt to buy the ranch. When they plan to rustle their horses, Tom must not only rescue Danny Brand, who is their prisoner, but stop the rustlers.

The Rustler's Roundup

1933

Courage of the North poster
5.5

A Mountie (John Preston) catches fur thieves with the help of his horse, Dynamite, and dog, Captain.

Courage of the North

1935

Song of the Gringo poster
6.0

In his film debut Ritter is sent to investigate miners being killed and their mines confiscated. The culprit is Evans and after Tex joins the gang, he is sent to kill two more miners. When Estaban is killed, Tex is put on trial for all three murders.

Song of the Gringo

1936

The Ghost Rider poster
6.3

Jim Bullard escapes from prison and returns to settle matters with the Rascob's that framed him. He kills two of them leaving an ace as his calling card. Bull remembers the deck of cards that fell when he fought Dave had no aces and the Rascob's set out after him. Trapped in a cabin, Dave receives unexpected help from Bullard.

The Ghost Rider

1935

Hell-Bent for Frisco poster
9.0

After his girlfriend's brother is murdered, a San Francisco newspapermen goes on the track of his killers.

Hell-Bent for Frisco

1931

1920s · 9 titles

The Vanishing Rider poster
7.0

William Desmond plays Jim Davis, a secret service agent by day and masked avenger by night. Ethlyne Clair provided feminine appeal, while Bud Osborne, as the notorious Butch Bradley, and a young Boris Karloff took care of the villainy.

The Vanishing Rider

1928

The Meddler poster
5.0

Richard Gilmore, a staid Wall Street broker, is jilted by Dot Parkhurst when he fails to provide her with the romance and adventure that she wants out of life. Richard then goes west in an effort to prove himself a man and becomes a highwayman known as "The Meddler," robbing people only to return to them all that he stole, keeping only a valueless memento for himself.

The Meddler

1925

The Extra Girl poster
6.4

Sue Graham is a small town girl who wants to be a motion picture star. She wins a contract when a picture of a very pretty girl is sent to a studio instead of her picture. When she arrives in Hollywood, the mistake is discovered and she starts working in the props department of the studio instead. Her parents then come out to California and invest some money with a very shifty individual.

The Extra Girl

1923

The Extra Girl poster
6.4

Sue Graham is a small town girl who wants to be a motion picture star. She wins a contract when a picture of a very pretty girl is sent to a studio instead of her picture. When she arrives in Hollywood, the mistake is discovered and she starts working in the props department of the studio instead. Her parents then come out to California and invest some money with a very shifty individual.

The Extra Girl

1923

No Defense poster
10.0

No Defense is a 1929 romantic drama directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Monte Blue. It was a silent film with part talking and sound-effects by the Vitaphone Company. It was distributed by Warner Brothers.

No Defense

1929

The Devil's Trademark poster
9.0

Former criminal Fred Benton, now older, tries to go straight working in a bank. Meanwhile young Tom Benton and his grandmother Millie find themselves in a financial descent that threatens the family's legacy. Adapted by screenwriter Dorothy Yost from the magazine story "Pedigree" by Calvin Johnston focuses on how people can go wrong.

The Devil's Trademark

1928

Shadows of the North poster
10.0

Ben Darby and Pancake, his father, are owners of a mining claim in Northwest Canada. Ben goes to war, leaving Pancake to run the mine. During Ben's absence three claim jumpers take possession of the mine: one of the men is the father of Beatrice, Ben's sweetheart; another, a rival suitor. Pancake is murdered when he and Ben plot to regain the claim. Ben kidnaps Beatrice, resolving to obtain revenge through her. Ben finds that she knew nothing of the stolen claim and that her father was innocent of Pancake's murder. Ben then resolves to find the culprit and bring them to justice.

Shadows of the North

1923

Twin Beds poster
7.0

A young husband just wants to spend a quiet evening at home with his wife, but her collection of zany friends make hash of his hopes.

Twin Beds

1920

Outwitted poster
8.0

After being captured by T-Man Jack Blaisdell and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor on a counterfeiting rap, Tiger McGuire is sprung from jail by his old gang. Vowing to get even with Jack, Tiger kidnaps the young man's fiancée, Helen (Holmes), bringing the girl to his hideout, a fancy yacht owned by Lucy Carlisle.

Outwitted

1925

1910s · 8 titles

The Pretender poster
NR

After Bob Baldwin is fired for playing too many jokes on the tenderfoot owner of the Diamond K Ranch, he sets out for the nearby town of Freloe Beanos and meets Percival Longstreet on the way. Percival has been seriously injured in an accident and is therefore unable to assume his duties as the town's new schoolmaster. Distressed, Percival confesses that he and his sister Dolly, who is en route to the town, are doomed to starve, which so moves Bob that he agrees to serve as the schoolmaster during Percival's convalescence.

The Pretender

1918

The Criminal poster
NR

A young Italian immigrant girl, uneducated and superstitious, finds an abandoned baby on the stairs of her tenement, with a note attached explaining the baby is illegitimate. A young newspaper reporter, whom the girl knows from waiting on him at the restaurant where she works, reads the note for her. But the police arrest her, at no evidence whatsoever other than possession of the baby, for kidnapping.

The Criminal

1916

Whitewashed Walls poster
9.0

In the tiny Latin American country of Altamura, American architect, sculptor, and adventurer Larry Donovan is executing a magnificent palace for the vain, diminutive Governor Romero, who is angered by Larry's lack of respect. After leading his co-workers in a riotous Fourth of July celebration, Larry responds to the insults of Generalissimo Pedro Mendez by knocking him out.

Whitewashed Walls

1919

Her Code of Honor poster
8.0

A man brings up, on Long Island, the illegitimate daughter of a deceased woman who'd been an art student in love with a married Parisian. Is a French man the daughter, now grown up, attracted to a descendant of that same Parisian as well?

Her Code of Honor

1919

No artwork available
NR

After years on the international crime circuit, "Silver Jim" Farrel shares a comfortable and honest suburban life with Marjory, his sister, until word comes that an old friend from his thieving days is in desperate need of cash. To save his bankrupt friend from jail, Jim reluctantly executes a jewel heist, being careful not to involve Marjory or his sweetheart, who know nothing of his past, in the scheme.

Time Locks and Diamonds

1917

Captain of His Soul poster
10.0

At the suggestion of his sons Horace and Henry, aging Ebenezer Boyce turns over control of his pistol factory to Martin. However, when Ebenezer discovers the extent of Martin's dishonesty and corruption, the shock gives the old man a heart attack and he dies. Soon afterward Martin is discovered dead, and the brothers begin to suspect each other of the murder.

Captain of His Soul

1918

Peer Gynt poster
NR

A fantasy from Ibsen's verse drama. Ne'er-do-well and braggart Peer Gynt has many adventures in varied countries, making and losing money, gaining fortune at others' expense, until he finds salvation in the love of Solveig.

Peer Gynt

1915

No artwork available
NR

In Belgium, at the outbreak of the war, Russian agent Olga Raminoff shoots at a German general when the enemy enters town. Ray Bourke, an American traveler, gives her the protection of his name, but nevertheless both are sentenced to death. They are rescued by an allied rescue plane and later, bound for home, Ray meets an old college friend, Curt Schreiber, who is in the service of the German government. Schreiber has important papers to be delivered to Washington and, knowing that he will be searched on board ship, gives them to Ray. Olga beseeches Ray to give the papers up for her sake, but his word to Schreiber is sacred. Nearing America, Ray tells her that he will make an effort to return the papers if she will marry him.

Paws of the Bear

1917