Bessie Eyton

Acting

Bessie Eyton

Born — Died

1890-07-05 — 1965-01-22

Place of birth

Santa Barbara, California, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

40 titles

Bessie starred in at least 200 melodrama, action westerns and crime films. In the 1910 she was visiting the Selig Film studios with a party of friends, when a director saw and liked her red hair because he said it would photograph a beautiful black, so he offered her a minor role, she had no formal training on stage, as did many early film actors, she was talented and soon rose to be one of Selig's most popular stars.

Known for

The Crisis poster
5.3

Stephen Brice, a young lawyer in Civil War-era St. Louis, falls in love with Virginia Carvel, the daughter of his benefactor. But she is loyal to the South and Brice is committed to Lincoln's cause. In the course of the war, their convictions separate them, and Virginia becomes engaged to her cousin Clarence Colfax, a Confederate officer. Brice becomes an officer under General Sherman, and eventually finds himself faced with the captured Colfax, facing execution for spying. Brice must decide whether or not to intercede in his rival's behalf.

The Crisis

1916

Blackbeard poster
8.0

Pirates attack the town of Martinique and capture the governor. But the townspeople rally back in a battle between ships.

Blackbeard

1911

No artwork available
NR

John Sharon, a steel magnate is immensely successful from the worldly point of view, while Ed Young, his humble employee, views himself as a failure because his income shrinks as his family responsibilities increase. Sharon's only son is a drunken disappointment, his wife becomes alienated from him, and his daughter falls critically ill.

Greater Wealth

1913

The Spoilers poster
6.2

The Spoilers is a 1914 film directed by Colin Campbell. It is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, with William Farnum as Roy Glennister, Kathlyn Williams as Cherry Malotte, and Tom Santschi as Alex McNamara. The film culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between Glennister and McNamara. It was adapted to screen by Lanier Bartlett from the Rex Beach novel of the same name.

The Spoilers

1914

Etienne of the Glad Heart poster
NR

Etienne Cloquet, a young woodsman, is in love with Marie, the pretty daughter of Paul Le Groux, a salmon fisher. Etienne has such a sunny disposition that he has become generally known as "Etienne of the Glad Heart."

Etienne of the Glad Heart

1914

Cheap Kisses poster
10.0

Refusing to join his family in their new social life when Henry Dillingham suddenly becomes wealthy, Donald Dillingham causes even greater disapproval by marrying chorus girl Ardell Kendall. Learning that famous sculptor Gustaf Borgstrom wishes to use Ardell as model, the Dillinghams suddenly welcome Donald and Ardell to their estate. Donald surrenders to both the jazzy pleasures and the attentions of Maybelle Wescott, but Ardell remains aloof and in order to pay off Maybelle threatens Mr. Dillingham with exposure of his infatuation with a chorus girl.

Cheap Kisses

1924

Film credits

1920s · 2 titles

1910s · 36 titles

The Crisis poster
5.3

Stephen Brice, a young lawyer in Civil War-era St. Louis, falls in love with Virginia Carvel, the daughter of his benefactor. But she is loyal to the South and Brice is committed to Lincoln's cause. In the course of the war, their convictions separate them, and Virginia becomes engaged to her cousin Clarence Colfax, a Confederate officer. Brice becomes an officer under General Sherman, and eventually finds himself faced with the captured Colfax, facing execution for spying. Brice must decide whether or not to intercede in his rival's behalf.

The Crisis

1916

Blackbeard poster
8.0

Pirates attack the town of Martinique and capture the governor. But the townspeople rally back in a battle between ships.

Blackbeard

1911

No artwork available
NR

John Sharon, a steel magnate is immensely successful from the worldly point of view, while Ed Young, his humble employee, views himself as a failure because his income shrinks as his family responsibilities increase. Sharon's only son is a drunken disappointment, his wife becomes alienated from him, and his daughter falls critically ill.

Greater Wealth

1913

The Spoilers poster
6.2

The Spoilers is a 1914 film directed by Colin Campbell. It is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, with William Farnum as Roy Glennister, Kathlyn Williams as Cherry Malotte, and Tom Santschi as Alex McNamara. The film culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between Glennister and McNamara. It was adapted to screen by Lanier Bartlett from the Rex Beach novel of the same name.

The Spoilers

1914

Etienne of the Glad Heart poster
NR

Etienne Cloquet, a young woodsman, is in love with Marie, the pretty daughter of Paul Le Groux, a salmon fisher. Etienne has such a sunny disposition that he has become generally known as "Etienne of the Glad Heart."

Etienne of the Glad Heart

1914

The Mate of the Alden Bessie poster
4.0

The captain of the "Alden Bessie" was a drunken tyrant who manhandled his men upon the slightest provocation, despite the pleadings of his daughter and the first mate who loved her in his rough way, but for whom she could feel only friendship. One night the crew killed him, and marooned the mate and the captain's daughter by sending them adrift in a small boat. Days passed upon the vast expanse of ocean, and their food was all gone and death near, when land was sighted and their boat was cast up on a coral reef, and they with difficulty made the shore. Fear of death was soon supplanted in the heart of the captain's daughter by fear of a man loving her all too well. The mate, seeing this and realizing the strength of his passion, decided to live on the side of the island, but as the months passed away his loneliness overcame him and he made his way to where she sat reading. He looked over her shoulder, and saw that she read the marriage service.

The Mate of the Alden Bessie

1912

Who Shall Take My Life? poster
NR

A man is found guilty of murdering a woman by way of circumstantial evidence, and is executed. Afterwards, it is discovered that his supposed victim is not dead at all, but working as a prostitute in a Western city. Scenario was written for the screen by Maibelle Heikes Justice, who was an outspoken opponent of capital punishment.

Who Shall Take My Life?

1917

Beware of Strangers poster
NR

Beware of Strangers is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell

Beware of Strangers

1917

The City of Purple Dreams poster
NR

Miss Otis nearly hits a derelict with her car, and out of sympathy she gives him some money and advises him to "clean up and keep clean." Soon after, the derelict meets Esther, an anarchist who involves him in a plot to blackmail a banker. When he realizes that Miss Otis is the banker's daughter, the derelict tears up the banker's check but is arrested and committed to an asylum. Esther, who is in love with the derelict, helps him escape, and he resolves to attain a position of wealth and importance. After he earns his fortune, he rejects Esther's affections and asks Miss Otis to marry him.

The City of Purple Dreams

1918

No artwork available
NR

A serio-comic tale shows wherein the East and the West strangely mingle despite Kipling's declaration that: "Never the twain shall meet."

Kid Pink and the Maharajah

1914

In the Days of the Thundering Herd poster
NR

Tom and Sally are the only survivors when their wagon train is attacked by Swift Wing's braves. Starlight aids in their escape and they join a group of hunters. But there is more trouble when the tribe attacks again.

In the Days of the Thundering Herd

1914

A Man of Honor poster
7.0

On a treasure hunt in the tropics, adventurer Mortimer Gregg discovers beautiful Horse Island, and upon his return to New York, forms a partnership with Christopher Beaumont, allegedly to develop the island's resources. Just before his death, however, Gregg reveals to his assistant manager, David Smith, that the Tropical Products Company was formed for the sole purpose of swindling the stockholders. A highly principled man who believes in the island's potential, David refuses to tamper with the company's financial reports, which so angers Beaumont that he visits Horse Island to deliver David an ultimatum.

A Man of Honor

1919

Chip of the Flying U poster
NR

When he's fired from his bank job aimless Claude Bennett decides to head West. Once he gets a job as a cowboy on the Flying "U" ranch he restyles himself as Chip and discovers who he really is through a series of adventures.

Chip of the Flying U

1914

No artwork available
7.0

Ned Halton and his young bride, Nellie, depart from the east in a prairie schooner to seek a home in the western wilds.

When the West Was Young

1914

No artwork available
10.0

Professor Duane, an ethnologist, and his assistant, Roscoe Harding, plan a journey into the wilds of Hindustan. Harding is in love with Lydia, the daughter of Professor Duane, and they are engaged to be married. Lieutenant Tavish, a British army officer, is attracted to Lydia and plans to take her away from Harding by fair means or foul.

The Red Blood of Courage

1915

Kit Carson's Wooing poster
NR

Kit Carson, scout, hunter, trapper and soldier-of-fortune, has won the enmity of Azakah, the cruel chief of a prowling band of renegade Indians.

Kit Carson's Wooing

1911

The Way of a Man with a Maid poster
7.0

When 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

In the Long Ago poster
NR

A picture which illustrates an Indian myth, a poetic love story of the long ago, in which a despised musician is refused the privilege of marrying the belle of the tribe. He proves himself not only strong enough to kill his rival, the tribe's stalwart warrior, in a struggle for the girl, but is able to make a magic flute which can and does restore the girl, now lying dead. In the closing scenes, the picture shows a short glimpse of modern life which suggests that the old myth is being played, in part, again.

In the Long Ago

1913

The Still Alarm poster
NR

"Bird," a clerk in Fordham's drugstore, agrees to place a large sum of money in the store's safe for a traveler, but when the man requests a bottle of medicine, Bird poisons the remedy, and the visitor is found dead in his hotel. Bird flees with the money, but several years later he returns, the money long since squandered. Unless Fordham's daughter Eleanor marries him, he threatens, he will tell the police that Fordham committed the crime.

The Still Alarm

1918

The Heart of Texas Ryan poster
3.6

To get in the good graces of his rancher boss’s daughter, cowboy Single Shot captures a cattle raider but then gets kidnapped by his gang of thieves.

The Heart of Texas Ryan

1917

Shotgun Jones poster
NR

Thomas Lattier is a well-to-do westerner in the cattle business. One fine day he sells a herd of cattle, receiving for it cash payment in bills of large denomination. He proceeds to town alone to deposit it in his bank. Two bad men, Bretall and Hayes, have learned of the deal and trail him with a view to securing the money.

Shotgun Jones

1914

No artwork available
8.0

In the mountains and hills of Kentucky, a feud has raged for many years between the McTriggers and the Sampsons. In vain did the authorities intervene, threaten arrests and endeavor to patch up the mimic war; all these efforts were of no avail.

His Fighting Blood

1915

Children of Banishment poster
9.0

Foreman Dick Bream, of the lumber firm of Hill and Burchard, resigns from his job to buy a profitable tract of land with stranger Allen Mackenzie. Dick's former boss Hill, desiring the land, attempts to buy out Mackenzie without Dick's knowledge. After Hill tries to prevent Dick from shipping logs over his territory, to stop them from reaching the railroad, Dick fights Hill and dynamites the logs Hill placed as an obstruction.

Children of Banishment

1919

No artwork available
NR

Billy McVeigh, a member of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, runs amuck another person of this service undeserving of its uniform, named Nome. The latter becomes his sworn enemy and is alert for a chance to "get even."

In Defiance of the Law

1914

No artwork available
9.0

John Morning, rich, without family, dreams of things that might have been. He discovers a poverty-stricken woman who is fatally injured, takes her to her home in the slum district, where she dies, and John Morning assumes charge of the woman's daughter of fourteen, Ritta. He determines to try his "great experiment," and Ritta is unaware of whom her benefactor is.

The Great Experiment

1915

The Smuggler's Sister poster
NR

A smuggler is protected by his sister, who is loved by a revenue officer.

The Smuggler's Sister

1914

No artwork available
7.0

The Rev. William Morris is the director of a small church near a state penitentiary. He is convinced that a criminal is only a good man gone wrong. Dr. Bishop, a friend of the minister, has made a life-long study of this very subject. The doctor has a daughter whom the minister loves and to whom he is engaged.

The Two Natures Within Him

1915

Alone in the Jungle poster
6.0

The Brown family, which consists of Hon. John Brown, his wife, two sons, Harold and Billy, and a young sister named Helen, has settled on an isolated plantation in the Jungles. Jack Arden, son of another English planter, who comes over frequently to hunt with the boys has fallen in love with Helen. But Papa Brown discourages the lovers, saying that Helen is too young to be married. Jack agrees to wait. Some time afterward the Browns receive a letter from Jack stating that he is coming for another week-end of shooting- with the Brown boys. On his way to the Brown's home, Jack knocks down Concho, an overseer, for being cruel to one of the slaves. His action is approved of by the Browns. In honor of Jack the family starts on a lion hunt, and, after a long trip, they return by the river route. They espy a lioness drinking at the river's edge. She is killed by Jack and taken aboard. That night Jack again asks Mr. Brown for Helen's hand and is again told to wait.

Alone in the Jungle

1913

The Usurper poster
9.0

While traveling out West, John Maddox rescues Beatrice Clive, an English girl, from a dangerous cliff. Six years pass, during which Maddox becomes a wealthy rancher. Upon returning, Maddox finds the Bulverton estate is in jeopardy and Beatrice is engaged to the villainous Sir George Trenery due to financial desperation.

The Usurper

1919

No artwork available
NR

Jan, the hunter, is in love with Marie, a French-Canadian girl. The same charmer has captivated Otto, the driver of the Wilderness Mail, a vengeful and selfish individual. Mane has a half-sister, Joan, a decided contrast to her, a sweet lovable girl not ordinarily bold or aggressive, but when aroused firm to a finish.

The Wilderness Mail

1914

No artwork available
NR

Mildred Manning is the spoiled daughter of wealthy parents. She has a host of admirers, but does not permit them to become serious. Jimmie Blake, who frequents the household more than anybody else, is a rattle-brained young chap who fancies that he is in love with Mildred and insists that he wants her to marry him. Mildred jokes him and refuses to take him seriously.

The Primitive Way

1915

No artwork available
8.0

Pierre, away in the Northland, loves Jeanne. His love is returned and they are engaged to be married. Pierre leaves for a trapping expedition, and in the meantime the girl is enamored with the tales told by Niklo, an itinerant trapper, and becomes infatuated with him.

The Law North of 65

1917

No artwork available
9.0

In the prophecy of a palm reading hag that he will find his fate through his bravery, Rudolph, the inn-keeper's assistant, obtains encouragement for his fond fancy that he was born to a noble career. Elsa. the pretty daughter of the inn-keeper, refuses to elope with Rudolph, and he seeks his fortune in the great world.

The Fork in the Road

1915

Twisted Trails poster
5.0

Ranch foreman Tom Snow is being hounded by sheriff Luke Fisher and his deputy, Brad Foster. The pair are really cattle rustlers, and they're trying to pin the blame on Snow. Snow escapes from them and leads them on a death-defying escape over a chasm.

Twisted Trails

1916

No artwork available
NR

Billy Silver, a young trapper, lives with his wife and little baby up in the region of the snows. Billy is energetic and finds trapping profitable. One morning while he is out examining his traps, the cabin catches fire. In the distance he hears the cries of his wife for help, and hastening to the scene as rapidly as he can

The White Mouse

1914

No artwork available
8.0

Simon Valjon is inordinately jealous of his pretty, young wife, Mary, who, however, never gives him cause to doubt her fidelity and affection. The young couple have their home on a South African ranch in a neighborhood infested by wild beasts, particularly lions. Kimball, an artist, seeks their hospitality.

Lassoing a Lion

1915

Behind the camera