
Directing
Monty Banks
Born — Died
1897-07-14 — 1950-01-07
Place of birth
Cesena, Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Known for
Directing
Credits
100 titles
Monty Banks was a short, stocky but somehow debonair Italian-born comic actor, later also writer and director. In the US from 1914, he first appeared on stage in musical comedy and cabaret. By 1917 he was working as a dancer in New York's Dominguez Cafe. After this he turned to films, acting and doing stunt work at Keystone, Universal and for Al Christie. Changing his name from Mario Bianchi to Monty Banks may have been prompted by Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle as a passing reference to his playing '"montebanks". By 1919 Banks had moved to Vitagraph to play a villain in The Grocery Clerk (1919), foil to star comic Larry Semon. Banks first came to the fore in his own right as star of the "Welcome C…
Known for
6.0Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has to manage getting supplies into town without interfering with troop movements, all the while dealing with colorful citizens of the town. One of his quests is to replace the bell which orders the town's life.
A Bell for Adano
1945
6.5Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.
Blood and Sand
1941
Because Colin has a charming smile, he seduces his boss, a great decorator. And Colin, who ruined himself to approach the young woman, succeeds in becoming her partner and then her husband.
Votre sourire
1934
A young poultry farmer is flattered and persuaded into financing a film production. He attempts to interfere in the direction, is swindled and left in the lurch but eventually manages to turn the tables on his former associates.
Hello, Sweetheart
1935
6.0Laurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.
Great Guns
1941
A wild taxi driver can't get ahead with his fares but he is still willing to help his sweetheart at the drugstore, especially when he figures out how to sell hair tonic
Taxi Please
1923
Film credits
1940s · 2 titles
6.0Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has to manage getting supplies into town without interfering with troop movements, all the while dealing with colorful citizens of the town. One of his quests is to replace the bell which orders the town's life.
A Bell for Adano
1945
6.5Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.
Blood and Sand
1941
1930s · 12 titles
7.0The owner of a professional help agency poses as a poet at a wealthy patron's ball and prevents a necklace from being stolen by thieves.
Leave It to Me
1933
An American woman is fooled into thinking that she is the heiress to an estate in England.
The Girl in Possession
1934
7.0A useless secretary and his private detective friend try to help an heiress from being swindled by her guardian.
For the Love of Mike
1932
8.0The owner of a small Italian restaurant in central London is left a million pound inheritance, the only stipulation to the will being that he cannot speak or write anything for a period of one month.
So You Won't Talk
1935
7.5Love blossoms after a young man rescues a pretty girl who attempted to drown herself.
Man of the Moment
1935
10.0Slapstick comedy in which luckless slate club treasurer Bill Smithers is sent to prison for three years after being mistakenly accused of stealing funds.
Tonight's the Night - Pass It On
1931
8.0A model inherits a great deal of money and pretends to be a movie star.
Heads We Go
1933
7.1A rich American businessman in London makes believe he's lost all his money so that his daughter will marry a composer.
You Made Me Love You
1933
5.7A lancashire singer buys a pub in Clydebank and hits money troubles when the shipbyards are closed. She takes a petition to London to try to get them reopened.
Shipyard Sally
1939
5.8When a meek secretary goes to work for her new boss, she becomes a sophisticated lady.
The Church Mouse
1934
British comedy. It was released in the United States the following year under the alternative title Trouble Ahead.
Falling in Love
1934
7.0A woman prevents a popular stage performer getting arrested for drunk driving, though has to pretend to be a rich benefactor when she next meets him.
Queen of Hearts
1936
1920s · 29 titles
A wild taxi driver can't get ahead with his fares but he is still willing to help his sweetheart at the drugstore, especially when he figures out how to sell hair tonic
Taxi Please
1923
NRBrilliantino the Bullfighter (originally titled Flood and Sand) is one of the first spoofs of Blood and Sand, Paramount’s smoldering matador melodrama that set box offices ablaze. Like Mud and Sand, starring Stan Laurel, the Banks parody was rushed into theaters in November 1922, while memory of the Valentino vehicle was fresh. The concept of Monty Banks impersonating the passionate matador must have been innately hilarious to audiences who had seen the original picture.
Brilliantine the Bull Fighter
1922
NRLovable buffoon Monty Banks tries to relax, but ultimately spends his day worrying about who is keeping company with his wife.
Where Is My Wife?
1921
7.0The Boy, involved in a maritime disaster as a child, suffers from hydrophobia. He invents a life preserver that automatically inflates when it hits the water, using it to save the life of Rose Ryan, the daughter of a steamship magnate.
Keep Smiling
1925
Monty Banks plays a groom who is about to get married. In fact, he has the marriage license just about in hand. Apparently, he's had a bachelor party the night before and when his fiancée rings him, he can't find the phone, but there's several other guys sleeping it off. The landlady suspects that some hijinks have gone on and looks to investigate. Monty figures things out pretty quickly. Luckily for him, one of the gentlemen sleeping it off is in a policeman's uniform and Monty has him pretend he's arrested everybody in the room.
Wedding Bells
1924
Very hungry Monty chases a garbage truck all around town to retrieve a box lunch thrown away by a picky young lady.
Derby Day
1922
9.0A Monty Banks comedy that includes the 'Undressing in the Upper Berth' routine
Horse Shoes
1927
NRMonty Banks becomes a car salesman and is shifted to Africa to sell one to King Obogeegee.
Africa F.O.B.
1925
Monty Banks finds love and mischief at the amusement park, in this two-reel comedy
Hot Sands
1924
6.1Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.
The Garage
1920
NRA hunting comedy full of cartoonish gags.
Fresh Air
1921
7.0An American on his honeymoon in Paris, organises the kidnapping of his interfering mother-in-law.
Adam's Apple
1928
Monty chases a goose. Hilarity ensues. (This film is partially lost.)
A Wild Goose Chase
1924
5.2English-language version. "Atlantic" is a drama film based on the sinking of the RMS "Titanic" and set aboard a fictional ship, called the "Atlantic". The main plotline revolves around a man who has a shipboard affair with a fellow passenger, which is eventually discovered by his wife. The ship also has aboard an elderly couple, the Rools, who are on their anniversary cruise. Midway across the Atlantic Ocean, the "Atlantic" strikes an iceberg and is damaged to the point where it is sinking into the Atlantic.
Atlantic
1929
Monty is the driver of a delivery wagon for a cleaning and dyeing establishment, romps with a Ford and gets himself into many ridiculous scrapes.
Cleaned and Dry
1921
6.5Virginia Craig will become super-wealthy and gain sole control of her factory, unless insubordinate schemers can trick her into marrying one of their clique. Unfortunately for them, she loves Monty, one of her employees. When the schemers' plot is discovered, a chase starts away from the factory and onto a runaway train.
Chasing Choo Choos
1927
9.0Monty Milde, would-be newspaper reporter, stumbles into a high-profile kidnapping mystery.
Atta Boy
1926
NRThe misadventures of a young man who sets out in his flivver to stop the girl he loves from being forcibly married to a rival.
A Flivver Wedding
1920
8.0A recently engaged girl invites her parents to meet her fiance. They learn that he also loves another woman.
The Compulsory Husband
1929
Monty Banks becomes a sailor in the hunt for his girl.
The Covered Schooner
1923
Monty and his wife are newlyweds dealing with things like making breakfast that’s edible and dealing with a persistent book salesman. Only reel 1 survives, so a proper plot synopsis is difficult.
In and Out
1921
A lawyer spends the weekend with a married actress at the same hotel as his wife and her lover. This British silent film exists in an abridged 2-reel (32-min) format.
Week-End Wives
1929
8.0Monty Banks gets involved in tracking down a stolen fortune, his adventures culminating in a whirlwind, gag-filled climax at sea.
A Perfect Gentleman
1928
9.0A naive young man joins the Army in order to become a pilot.
Flying Luck
1927
Monty is trying to collect rent from a couple of tough deadbeats who have made a sport of beating rent collectors.
Pay or Move
1924
NRMonty Banks comedy produced by Warners.
Nearly Married
1920
Horse racing hijinks in the Old South with Monty Banks.
Love's Handicap
1923
7.0Monty appears as a chap whose prospective father-in-law, to find out the stuff of which he is made, sets him out to peddle an encyclopedia which no one else can sell.
Paging Love
1923
7.0A gang of bad guys menace a feller's gal. She hides in a freight car and a misstep sends the otherwise-empty train out of the station with the lever pushed to full speed. As the train gains speed, the captive's boyfriend must board the runaway train, repel the pursing gang, get his girl out of the box car, and somehow get the two of them to safety. Tunnels, a water tower, a steep grade, and a frayed rope complicate the hero's task.
Play Safe
1927
1910s · 14 titles
5.8"Fatty", a poor good hearted farm boy is deeply in love with Winifred, a farmer's daughter. A rich neighbor offers the farmer a large plot of land if Winifred marries his slow witted son Al. "Fatty" has less then one day to save heartbroken Winifred from the rushed ceremony.
Love
1919
7.0Not one but two of Charlie Chaplin impersonators, Harry Mann and Monty Banks, a film directed by Charley Chase still under the name of Charles Parrott. They go driving around town experiencing various car theft problems.
Don't Park Here
1919
NRCunard turns into The Queen of the Apaches, an outlaw who steals from the rich to gives to the poor, always leaving a purple mask behind as a trademark.
The Purple Mask
1916
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Cold Hearts and Hot Flames
1916
10.0Roscoe Arbuckle plays a Douglas Fairbanks fan who becomes a rotund version of his hero. As "The Sheriff", he must rescue abducted schoolteacher Betty Compson.
The Sheriff
1918
7.0Monty Banks plays a paramour who starts all sort of silly highjinks with Eva Novak and Carolyne Wright
The Belles of Liberty
1918
NRMisadventures of a traveling company of actors performing for one night in a small town. When the troupe's leading lady deserts the show for a better paying job as a waitress, a young woman from the town gets the role for one night.
One Night Only
1919
7.0Four men are out rabbit hunting and encounter a beautiful young lady, who promises to marry the first one who brings her a white rabbit.
Her First False Hare
1919
9.0Augustus Billings has a domineering mother-in-law, and to get away from both her and his wife, he takes a trip, claiming that he is going off to check on Mexican oil investments. But he's really going on a cruise with Mrs. Dathis, who has purchased his yacht. To throw everyone off track, he uses the name Mr. Johnson. When he decides to repeat the trip, however, all hell breaks loose -- the jealous Mr. Dathis is out to get his hands on this Johnson character, while a real Mr. Johnson shows up in Mexico, and Mrs. Billings shows up with her mother, and the confusion continues from there.
Too Much Johnson
1919
7.0The headwaiter does tricks with spaghetti that the greatest spaghetti handlers in the world never heard of. The sight makes your mouth water. Besides food, the scenes are garnished with a couple of trayfuls of beautiful girls.
The Head Waiter
1919
An industrious criminal plays his game so crookedly that he "double crosses" himself.
Did She Do Wrong?
1918
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle confronts the Kaiser in his headquarters, and tells him that he will be be defeated by "scraps of paper," i.e. War Bonds.
A Scrap of Paper
1918
5.8Big Ben has the largest store in the town of New Ralgia. His chief clerk is in love with the post mistress. The three of them get involved in a series of mishaps with their customers and with the town ladies' man, whose advances conceal a more sinister purpose.
The Grocery Clerk
1919
10.0A French perfume salesman is mistaken for a bootlegger. Partially missing two-reeler with 11 minutes surviving.
A Blind Pig
1918
Behind the camera
Because Colin has a charming smile, he seduces his boss, a great decorator. And Colin, who ruined himself to approach the young woman, succeeds in becoming her partner and then her husband.
Votre sourire
1934
A young poultry farmer is flattered and persuaded into financing a film production. He attempts to interfere in the direction, is swindled and left in the lurch but eventually manages to turn the tables on his former associates.
Hello, Sweetheart
1935
6.0Laurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.
Great Guns
1941
5.0A perpetual dreamer talks his wife into moving with him from their home in Australia to South Africa, where he hopes to discover gold and finally become wealthy.
We're Going to Be Rich
1938
7.0The owner of a professional help agency poses as a poet at a wealthy patron's ball and prevents a necklace from being stolen by thieves.
Leave It to Me
1933
An American woman is fooled into thinking that she is the heiress to an estate in England.
The Girl in Possession
1934
An American woman is fooled into thinking that she is the heiress to an estate in England.
The Girl in Possession
1934
7.0A useless secretary and his private detective friend try to help an heiress from being swindled by her guardian.
For the Love of Mike
1932
A beauty salon owner puts on a cabaret.
The Musical Beauty Shop
1930
7.0The Boy, involved in a maritime disaster as a child, suffers from hydrophobia. He invents a life preserver that automatically inflates when it hits the water, using it to save the life of Rose Ryan, the daughter of a steamship magnate.
Keep Smiling
1925
7.5Love blossoms after a young man rescues a pretty girl who attempted to drown herself.
Man of the Moment
1935
7.0When their ship arrives in an Arabian port, the sailors are given shore leave among them Bill Biggles, who has previously had little success with women. Visiting a sheik who has long been under obligation to him, Bill is welcomed at the palace, and the polygamous ruler, who has abducted a damsel, decides to absent himself and appoint Bill as his deputy. It seems Bill's luck is set to change dramatically until the wives decide to go on strike!
Why Sailors Leave Home
1930
10.0Slapstick comedy in which luckless slate club treasurer Bill Smithers is sent to prison for three years after being mistakenly accused of stealing funds.
Tonight's the Night - Pass It On
1931
Farcical confusions ensue when newlywed bride Peggy Gay overhears her husband Jack discussing the purchase of a piano, and somehow interprets what he has said to mean he is the father of an illegitimate child.
My Wife's Family
1931
6.5Despite being on his uppers, George is still prepared to pawn his beloved banjo in order to help his girlfriend save her niece from the orphanage. Help seems to be at hand when George is left a fortune by his old auntie, but unfortunately his inheritance is hidden inside a chair which has already been auctioned off! Can George and his chums track down his rightful due before his grasping solicitor (Alastair Sim, in an early film appearance) snatches the lot? It's hard to say, but he still finds time to perform both the title song and the classic 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.
Keep Your Seats, Please
1936
8.0A model inherits a great deal of money and pretends to be a movie star.
Heads We Go
1933
7.1A rich American businessman in London makes believe he's lost all his money so that his daughter will marry a composer.
You Made Me Love You
1933
9.0A Monty Banks comedy that includes the 'Undressing in the Upper Berth' routine
Horse Shoes
1927
6.5George Shuttleworth is convinced that he has the talent to win the Isle of Man TT races, despite what his neighbours back home in Wigan may think. During the trials, the brakes go on George's bike, 'The Shuttleworth Snap', which he made himself. As a result, he breaks the TT lap record, becoming an instant motor-cycling star. As the big race approaches, George soon realises that other jealous riders will stop at nothing to make sure he does not take part in the race. An early George Formby film and probably his best.
No Limit
1935
Monty Banks finds love and mischief at the amusement park, in this two-reel comedy
Hot Sands
1924
A comedy musical Directed by Monty Banks.
Amateur Night in London
1930
A comedy musical Directed by Monty Banks.
Amateur Night in London
1930
7.0A musical comedy directed by Monty Banks. A cook recalls a night spent in a French estaminet in 1915.
Not So Quiet on the Western Front
1930
5.7A lancashire singer buys a pub in Clydebank and hits money troubles when the shipbyards are closed. She takes a petition to London to try to get them reopened.
Shipyard Sally
1939
7.0A man sponges off an old comrade from the First World War who believes he has saved his life during the war, although this ultimately proves not to be true.
Poor Old Bill
1931
An agile waiter unmasks a cabaret conjurer as a thief.
The New Waiter
1930
10.0A comedy film directed by Monty Banks.
Old Soldiers Never Die
1931
10.0A comedy film directed by Monty Banks.
Old Soldiers Never Die
1931
7.5Wee Georgie Wood and his gang have their sights set on a notorious villain.
The Black Hand Gang
1930
5.8When a meek secretary goes to work for her new boss, she becomes a sophisticated lady.
The Church Mouse
1934
9.5A lion-tamer's partly innate and partly acquired attitude to other living beings - that they shall submit without question to his will - is applied with unseeing kindness to an orphan girl whom the lion tamer adopts.
18 Minutes
1935
British comedy. It was released in the United States the following year under the alternative title Trouble Ahead.
Falling in Love
1934
8.0A gambler has the same name as a billionaire. Suddenly he gets lucky, finds love and wins 24 million.
Love and Luck
1932
7.0A woman prevents a popular stage performer getting arrested for drunk driving, though has to pretend to be a rich benefactor when she next meets him.
Queen of Hearts
1936
A bank clerk takes the blame for a theft which he believes was committed by his ex-convict father.
Father and Son
1935
8.0A recently engaged girl invites her parents to meet her fiance. They learn that he also loves another woman.
The Compulsory Husband
1929
10.0As he pursues Joan Blossom, ruined gambler Jeff Cheddar is mistaken for two-faced financier Jay Cheddar, eventually leading to Joan's stockbroker father, Sir Henry Blossom, investing heavily in a supposedly worthless gold mine. Financial chaos ensues in a farcical comedy of confused identities, romantic entanglements, and a fortune hiding in a hat.
Money for Nothing
1932
10.0In India, a British soldier saves the jeweled eye of a sacred idol.
Kiss Me Sergeant
1930
7.0The guardian of an heiress tries to destroy the reputation of her lover by planting drugs on him.
Cocktails
1928
8.0While staying at a reportedly haunted inn a traveller discovers that the 'ghost' is a thief.
What a Night!
1931


