Henry Kolker

Acting

Henry Kolker

Born 1874-11-12 · Berlin, Germany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874) [some sources 1870] Berlin, Prussia, Germany – July 15, 1947, Los Angeles, California) was an American stage and film actor and director. Kolker came to America at the age of five and his family settled in Quincy, Illinois. Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Warwick, had a substantial stage career behind him before entering silent films. On stage he appeared opposite such leading ladies as Edith Wynne Matthison, Bertha Kalich and Ruth Chatterton. Kolker is best remembered for his motion picture appearances and for appearing with Barbara Stanwyck in the ground-breaking Pre-Code film Baby Face (1933) as the elderly CEO of the company whom Stanwyck's character seduces. Another well remembered part is as Mr. Seton, father of Katharine Hepburn and Lew Ayres in the 1938 film Holiday directed by George Cukor. Kolker entered films as an actor in 1915 and eventually ended up trying his hand at directing. Kolker's best known directorial effort is Disraeli (1921), starring George Arliss which is now a lost film with only one reel remaining. Prints however exist in Europe and Russia.

Acting credits

Baby Face poster
7.2

A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.

Baby Face

1933

Diamond Jim poster
6.5

A loose biopic based on the life of Gilded Age tycoon "Diamond" Jim Brady.

Diamond Jim

1935

Let Us Live poster
6.8

When a confused eyewitness identifies New York City cabbie Brick Tennant as a killer, he is sentenced to death for a murder that he wasn't involved in. Though no one is willing to listen to the innocent prisoner's pleas for freedom, Brick's faithful fiancée, Mary, knows that her lover is innocent because she was with him when the crime was committed. As the scheduled execution draws ever nearer, Mary begins to investigate the murder herself.

Let Us Live

1939

The Devil Is Driving poster
6.5

In the fine tradition of And Sudden Death, Columbia's The Devil is Driving tabulates the dangers of drunken driving in an exciting, unabashedly melodramatic fashion. In his first true portrayal of a "little creep," Elisha Cook Jr. stars as Tony, the spoiled-rotten son of the wealthy and influential Mr. Stevens.

The Devil Is Driving

1937

Union Pacific poster
6.7

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?

Union Pacific

1939

No artwork available
NR

Robert Denman, a manager at a construction company, loses everything he has to the throws of alcoholism.

The Warning

1915

A Woman's Face poster
6.8

A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.

A Woman's Face

1941

Marie Antoinette poster
6.6

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.

Marie Antoinette

1938

Holiday poster
7.3

Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams — Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire — and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancée has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!

Holiday

1938

Hello, Sister! poster
6.0

While Peggy deeply falls in love with Jimmy, her best friend Millie becomes increasingly frustrated with men and very jealous with Peggy, so she tries everything to destroy the new love.

Hello, Sister!

1933

Romeo and Juliet poster
6.3

Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.

Romeo and Juliet

1936

Bullets or Ballots poster
6.6

After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.

Bullets or Ballots

1936

Love, Live & Laugh poster
9.0

Any movie that starts Jewish entertainer George Jessel as an Italian accordionist named Luigi can't be all bad. In love with the beautiful Margharita (Lila Lee), Luigi lands a job in the music store owned by the girl's uncle. Ultimately, however, our hero does the Pagliacci act when Margharita evinces a preference for handsome Pasquale (David Rollins). The film's best scene takes place in a nursery full of talented tots, a sequence that undoubtedly reminded Jessel of his days with Gus Edwards' "Schoolroom" act. Exercising his droit du seigneur, Georgie Jessel sings the title tune.

Love, Live & Laugh

1929

The Black Room poster
6.5

In a 16th-century European town, the ruling family has been given a prophecy that, should there ever be twin boys born, the younger will murder the older; so is dismayed when twins are born to the popular baron. The older grows to be a selfish, slovenly man, who inherits the castle at his father's death and becomes ruler over the formerly happy villagers. He enjoys his power until he learns his younger brother is returning from abroad and, afraid of the prophecy, he determines to murder his sibling, hide his body in the "black room" - an old torture chamber sealed away behind the fireplace - and then impersonate him, right down to his withered arm. In this way he hopes to not only avoid the prophecy, but also escape consequences of his other criminal deeds and obtain marriage to a local girl of the nobility...

The Black Room

1935

Go Into Your Dance poster
7.2

An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters.

Go Into Your Dance

1935

The Real Glory poster
6.3

Fort Mysang, southern Philippine Islands, under US rule, 1906. A small group of army officers and native troops resist the fierce and treacherous attacks of the ruthless Alisang and his fanatical followers.

The Real Glory

1939

Rasputin and the Empress poster
5.5

The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

Rasputin and the Empress

1932

Abraham Lincoln poster
5.5

A biopic dramatizing Abraham Lincoln's life through a series of vignettes depicting its defining chapters: his romance with Ann Rutledge; his early years as a country lawyer; his marriage to Mary Todd; his debates with Stephen A. Douglas; the election of 1860; his presidency during the Civil War; and his assassination in Ford’s Theater in 1865.

Abraham Lincoln

1930

Imitation of Life poster
7.0

A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.

Imitation of Life

1934

The Adventures of Marco Polo poster
6.2

The Venetian traveler Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan and foils a plotter with fireworks in medieval China.

The Adventures of Marco Polo

1938

Sally, Irene and Mary poster
5.7

Sally, Irene and Mary are chorus girls who each have a different approach to life and love. The three women face temptation, betrayal and tragedy while performing together in a Broadway show.

Sally, Irene and Mary

1925

Theodora Goes Wild poster
6.6

The small-town prudes of Lynnfield are up in arms over 'The Sinner,' a sexy best-seller. They little suspect that author 'Caroline Adams' is really Theodora Lynn, scion of the town's leading family. Michael Grant, devil-may-care book jacket illustrator, penetrates Theodora's incognito and sets out to 'free her' from Lynnfield against her will. But Michael has a secret too, and gets a taste of his own medicine.

Theodora Goes Wild

1936

The Cowboy and the Lady poster
6.3

Mary Smith decides after a lifetime of being a shut-in to do something wild while her father is out campaigning for the presidency, so she takes off for the family's home in West Palm Beach and inadvertently becomes romantically entangled with earnest cowboy Stretch Willoughby. Neither the dalliance nor the cowboy fit with the upper class image projected by her esteemed father, forcing her to choose.

The Cowboy and the Lady

1938

Let Them Live poster
8.0

A young man goes up against a crooked town boss.

Let Them Live

1937

Behind the camera

No artwork available
NR

Sant'Ilario is a 1923 silent film

Sant'Ilario

1923

The Leopardess poster
8.0

On a South Sea island, wealthy hunter Scott Quaigg meets Tiare, the daughter of a drunken Scotsman and a native woman, who happily give permission to marry her. While sailing to his home in New York, Quaigg treats Tiare roughly and throws Captain Croft overboard when he comes to her defense. Quaigg attempts to tame Tiare by exploiting her superstitions and threatening her with the same whip he uses on his pet leopard. Later, Tiare awaits her husband's return from a hunting trip with a gun and fires as a man enters, only to discover that it is Captain Croft, who was saved from drowning. Quaigg finds them together and releases the leopard. However, the beast kills its master before being shot by Croft. Afterward, Tiare and Croft return to the South Seas together.

The Leopardess

1923

The Third Generation poster
7.0

When Alden Van Dusen, a third-generation member of a prestigious old New York family, is faced with the alternatives of allowing his firm to go bankrupt or becoming involved in fraud, he decides on suicide. As he is about to drown himself, Alden is attacked by a thug and, in the ensuing struggle, his assailant is killed. Seizing upon the opportunity, Alden changes identities with the dead man and drifts West, where he becomes an employee in his firm's mine.

The Third Generation

1920

The Third Generation poster
7.0

When Alden Van Dusen, a third-generation member of a prestigious old New York family, is faced with the alternatives of allowing his firm to go bankrupt or becoming involved in fraud, he decides on suicide. As he is about to drown himself, Alden is attacked by a thug and, in the ensuing struggle, his assailant is killed. Seizing upon the opportunity, Alden changes identities with the dead man and drifts West, where he becomes an employee in his firm's mine.

The Third Generation

1920

The Snow Bride poster
9.0

Annette is in love with Sheriff André Porel, but her father Gaston, promises her to Paul Gerard, after Gerard witnesses Gaston kill Indian Charlie. Despondent, Annette considers suicide, but Gerard drinks the poison by mistake. Annette is convicted of murder and is being led to her execution by André when an avalanche buries the gallows and Gaston. The villagers take this as a sign of Annette's innocence; she is released and marries André.

The Snow Bride

1923

I Will Repay poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

I Will Repay

1924

The Woman Michael Married poster
9.0

Mira Sacky (Bessie Barriscale) will inherit a fortune if she is able to come up with ten thousand dollars for lawyers' fees. Since she has no money of her own, the only way she can think of raising the funds is to marry someone wealthy. When she gets the attention of Michael Ordsay (Jack Holt), she quickly asks him to marry her. It seems to be a mismatch, so Mira obtains the needed money from his kindly father (Tom Guise), and heads for Rome, where she undergoes voice training and becomes an operatic star.

The Woman Michael Married

1919

The Greatest Love poster
8.0

Director Henry Kolker's silent romantic melodrama starred Vera Gordon, who was billed as "The 'Mother' of 'Humoresque'", Bertram Marburgh, Yvonne Shelton, Hugh Huntley, and William H. Tooker

The Greatest Love

1920

The Purple Highway poster
10.0

Two inmates and a cleaning girl at a home for struggling artists achieve success and fame when they pool their talents and produce a smash hit Broadway musical. Edgar ( Monte Blue ), the playwright, is in love with April ( Madge Kennedy ), the ex- leading lady, but she doesn't discover that she loves him until it's almost too late.

The Purple Highway

1923

Bucking the Tiger poster
9.0

Five down-on-their-luck miners in Circle City, Alaska gather at a local hotel, desperate to recoup their depleted finances. MacDonald, a former football star, suggests they buy an insurance policy on whichever man draws the fatal ace. At the end of the year, that man would commit suicide so the remaining four could collect the payout. MacDonald purposefully draws the ace, but soon after discovers a gold vein in his mine. He abandons the suicidal insurance plan and shares his newfound wealth with the group. The fortune also saves a woman named Emily—who traveled to the harsh north to marry a man who turned out to be broke—and she begins a romance with MacDonald instead.

Bucking the Tiger

1921

A Man's Country poster
8.0

Dance-hall queen Kate Carewe is the toast of the gold-mining camp of Huxley's Gulch. One day a minister, Ralph Bowen, arrives to "clean up" the town. He is scorned by the miners, gamblers and "loose women" of the place, especially Kate, who resents that Bowen calls her a "scarlet woman".

A Man's Country

1919

The Palace of Darkened Windows poster
8.0

While traveling through India with her Aunt Eva, Arlee Eversham meets Billy Hill, an American, and Captain Falconer, a British officer, both of whom fall in love with her. Curiosity leads Arlee to accept an invitation from the Rajah of the province to visit his palace. Aunt Eva receives a letter of invitation intended for her niece and, thinking that it is for herself, goes to the palace. Once there, both women are held prisoners, destined to become members of the Rajah's harem, until Arlee manages to send word to Billy of her predicament. Accompanied by Captain Falconer, Billy leads a successful rescue in which he saves Arlee, and the Captain discovers, much to his consternation, that he has rescued Aunt Eva.

The Palace of Darkened Windows

1920

The Fighter poster
10.0

Following her father's death, Dey is taken in by Caleb Conover. When Conover's rival, Jimmy Blacardo, attempts to ruin him, Dey urges him to fight back, leading to a temporary victory. However, a media exposé on Dey's father causes a rift, driving her to a mountain retreat to uncover the truth. After Conover confesses his love, he faces a series of escalating crises—including mentally willing Dey back to life after a drowning accident and surviving a dramatic train crash—before ultimately destroying his rivals.

The Fighter

1921

Disraeli poster
7.0

The story of British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and the purchase by England of the Suez Canal.

Disraeli

1921

No artwork available
10.0

Katie Abbott, despairing of being a wallflower, is about to attempt suicide in the village pond when she is rescued by a young stranger.

Heart of Twenty

1920

The Great Well poster
10.0

In India a major tries to cash in on a dry oil well but shoots himself when the oil returns.

The Great Well

1924