Josephine Crowell

Acting

Josephine Crowell

Born — Died

1859-01-10 — 1932-07-27

Place of birth

Nova Scotia, Canada

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Known for

The Birth of a Nation poster
5.9

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

The Birth of a Nation

1915

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

The Man Who Laughs poster
7.3

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.

The Man Who Laughs

1928

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm poster
5.8

Behind in the mortgage on Sunnybrook Farm and barely managing to feed seven hungry mouths, mother sends young Rebecca off to Riverboro to be raised by her wealthy Aunt Miranda. The little girl is treated like a prisoner by her strict Aunt, yet she gamely does her best to get an education. When spoiled girls at school mock the spirited Rebecca as "missy poor-house," she soon makes them come to eat their words. Despite many difficulties, Rebecca manages to help the less fortunate and spread joy in Riverboro, dreaming that her reward will come when she is "all growed up." This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

1917

The Six Best Cellars poster
9.0

Henry Carpenter and his wife Millicent are the envy of their exclusive suburban set because of their abundant wine cellar, a blessing in the face of the recent prohibition against alcohol initiated by the Volstead Act. In reality, Henry is down to his last few bottles, and, faced with an impending dinner party, he decides to save face by denouncing the evils of drink. His impassioned speech earns him the support of the Prohibition party for a Congressional seat. Henry is relishing his popularity when his aunt discovers twenty-one cases of rare wine in the cellar, forcing the candidate to choose between political and social success.

The Six Best Cellars

1920

Speedy poster
7.3

A hapless young man living in New York City rallies to save his girlfriend's grandfather's horse-drawn trolley, the last in the city, from being put out of business by a railroad company.

Speedy

1928

Film credits

2010s · 1 titles

1920s · 32 titles

The Man Who Laughs poster
7.3

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.

The Man Who Laughs

1928

The Six Best Cellars poster
9.0

Henry Carpenter and his wife Millicent are the envy of their exclusive suburban set because of their abundant wine cellar, a blessing in the face of the recent prohibition against alcohol initiated by the Volstead Act. In reality, Henry is down to his last few bottles, and, faced with an impending dinner party, he decides to save face by denouncing the evils of drink. His impassioned speech earns him the support of the Prohibition party for a Congressional seat. Henry is relishing his popularity when his aunt discovers twenty-one cases of rare wine in the cellar, forcing the candidate to choose between political and social success.

The Six Best Cellars

1920

Speedy poster
7.3

A hapless young man living in New York City rallies to save his girlfriend's grandfather's horse-drawn trolley, the last in the city, from being put out of business by a railroad company.

Speedy

1928

Home Stuff poster
8.0

Stranded in the small town of Buckeye Junction young actress Madge Joy crawls upon a load of hay and falls asleep. Knocked unconscious when young farmer Robert Deep hitches up the wagon not realizing she’s inside she awakes in the Deep living room. "Ma" Deep takes to her at once, but old “Pa” Deep looks at her sternly. Claiming to be a runaway orphan rather than an actress she becomes a member of the family. Falling for Madge Robert confesses he dreams of being a playwright, that night his sister Susan, who has run away to be an actress, reappears. Pa Deep is furious when he finds out his daughter has been on the stage, but Madge reveals that she is herself an actress threatening to go away with Robert unless he makes up with his daughter. Eventually Madge finds fame in New York with Robert following with a play he knows is right.

Home Stuff

1921

Wrong Again poster
6.8

Stable hands Stan and Ollie are tending a thoroughbred named "Blue Boy." But when they overhear two men talking about a $5000 reward for the return of the stolen "Blue Boy," they miss the part about it being the painting, not the horse. They take the horse to the owner's house to claim the reward. The owner instructs them to put "Blue Boy" on the piano and Ollie explains, "these millionaires are peculiar."

Wrong Again

1929

Shattered Idols poster
8.0

This exotic adventure drama was based on the novel, The Daughter of Brahma, and went through at least one title change before reaching the screen as Shattered Idols. Jean Hurst, the widow of a British Army officer in India, hates her crippled son David because she thinks he is a coward and a weakling. She sends him away to England for his education. When he returns to India, he falls in love with native girl Sarasvati, who he saves from being burned on a funeral pyre.

Shattered Idols

1922

The Merry Widow poster
6.7

Prince Danilo falls in love with dancer Sally O'Hara. However, his uncle, King Nikita I of Monteblanco, forbids the marriage due to her being a commoner. Thinking she's been jilted by her prince, Sally marries lecherous old Baron Sadoja, whose wealth has kept the kingdom afloat. When he suddenly dies, Sally must be wooed all over again by Danilo.

The Merry Widow

1925

For Wives Only poster
10.0

Dr. Josef Rittenhaus, a popular young society physician of Vienna, at the behest of his friend Waldstein, goes to consider a proposal by Countess von Nessa to donate a site and funds for the erection of a new sanitarium. His wife, Laura, piqued by his apparent indifference, is left in the hands of Carl Tanzer, supposedly the doctor's best friend, whose advances she rejects. Laura contrives to make her husband jealous with a bogus letter, but to no avail; later, escaping from a masher, she meets her husband's friend Fritz Schwerman, from whom she escapes after accepting a luncheon offer. While Laura tries to vamp her husband's other friends at a card game, the countess tries to make love to the doctor. Rittenhaus returns home in disgust and is happily reconciled with his wife.

For Wives Only

1926

Don't Neglect Your Wife poster
7.0

The wife of a prominent San Francisco doctor, feeling neglected by her husband, finds herself attracted to a young newspaper reporter. ...

Don't Neglect Your Wife

1921

Mantrap poster
6.2

A sexy young manicurist living with her older backwoodsman husband in a small Canadian town finds herself attracted to a young, rich and famous divorce lawyer who comes to town on vacation.

Mantrap

1926

Dog Shy poster
7.1

Charley is chased into a phone booth by a dog and agrees to help a young woman on the phone avoid getting married.

Dog Shy

1926

Dangerous to Men poster
7.0

When noted scientist John Vandam dies in the Orient, he leaves the guardianship of his eighteen-year-old daughter to his old friend Sandy Verrall. Sandy believes that Eliza is a little girl and so prepares for the arrival of a child. Displeased with the situation, Eliza decides to dress and act like a kid so that Sandy will tire of her and send her away.

Dangerous to Men

1920

Flames of the Flesh poster
10.0

Candace is deeply distraught and on the verge of suicide after being betrayed and discarded by her lover when a man named Craig Boardman intervenes. He stops her by convincing her to live and proposes a plan to exact revenge on all men. Boardman takes Candace to Paris. There, under the guidance of a famous courtesan named Madame Binnat, she changes her name to Laure and transforms into an alluring seductress. Her path crosses with members of the Eastcoat family—including an American millionaire and his sons—setting the stage for her calculated vengeance.

Flames of the Flesh

1920

Lights of the Desert poster
8.0

When the other members of a stranded theatrical company pool their funds to return to San Francisco, Yvonne Laraby remains in Colt City, Nevada, at the request of Andrew Reed, an oil company foreman, to consider his marriage proposal. There she meets oil well owner Clay Truxall, a former acquaintance, who asks her to become his secretary. Yvonne falls in love with Truxall and persuades Reed to return to his sweetheart, Marie Curtis, whom he had deserted for Yvonne.

Lights of the Desert

1922

Scrambled Weddings poster
7.0

Edward Everett Horton and Ruth Dwyer are in love and expect to get married as soon as one of them mentions it to the other. In the meantime, Lolita Lee accepts Horton's proposal, which he doesn't recall making, and Miss Dwyer is invited to be a bridesmaid. So he tells Miss Dwyer that it's Stanley Taylor she's marrying, and hopes no one spills the beans before Taylor shows up in a false beard to spike the proceedings.

Scrambled Weddings

1928

Minnie poster
8.0

Minnie, the homeliest girl in town, is devoted to her father, a discouraged inventor who has been working on a wireless device. Subject to the sneers of her neighbors, Minnie "invents" a lover and sends herself letters and flowers. Her stepsister suspects the truth and threatens to expose her. Desperate, she claims an unidentified body at the morgue and tells a reporter that this is her lover, unaware that the body is that of a Chinese man. The absent-minded reporter sees her heart and forgets about the big story. After further disappointments in the invention, Minnie's stepmother decides to leave her father. Her father then has a success and becomes rich. At a celebration, the stepsister and townspeople are surprised when a new couple appear, which turn out to be the former reporter and his lovely wife Minnie.

Minnie

1922

No Father to Guide Him poster
6.8

Charley's battle-axe mother-in-law breaks up his marriage and tries to separate him from his son. Charlie abducts the boy for a father-son outing to the beach. The mother-in-law pursues and comedy ensues.

No Father to Guide Him

1925

Bred in Old Kentucky poster
9.0

Katie O'Doone is left a worthless, run-down estate and a thoroughbred race horse. She mortgages the property in order to get the money needed to enter her horse in the Derby. Dennis Reilly, a wealthy sportsman, also has a horse in the race and his jockey accidentally runs Reilly's horse into Kate's horse, causing her horse to lose. She swears vengeance on O'Reilly. She is forced to go to work for a crooked bookie, Jake Trumbull, and a crooked competitor of Reilly's,Tod Cuyler, who plan on switching a dead-ringer horse for Reilly's favored-to-win horse, and clean up betting against Reilly's horse.

Bred in Old Kentucky

1926

Bunty Pulls the Strings poster
8.0

A woman named Bunty Bigger struggles to keep her family in line in a small Scottish village. For one, her brother Jeemy faces jail time for robbing a bank. Meanwhile, her father, Tammas, pays back the stolen money with funds given him by Susie Simpson, a woman who hopes to marry him. Susie gets angry, so Bunty borrows money to pay her back. Things turn out well when Bunty gets married in a double-wedding ceremony—during which her father not only gives her away but gets married himself. The movie is based on a play by Graham Moffat. The film is lost.

Bunty Pulls the Strings

1921

Hot Water poster
6.8

Lloyd's look at married life and the issues of the in-law. Adventures include a ride on a crowded trolley with a live turkey; A wild spin in a new auto with the in-laws in tow. Finally, a sequence in which Hubby accidentally chloroforms his mother-in-law and becomes convinced that he's killed her!

Hot Water

1924

Held by the Enemy poster
9.0

During the Civil War, Rachel Hayne, a young widow, is among those "held by the enemy" when her old family home is within the lines occupied by the Northern troops. Protected by Colonel Prescott from looters and the unwelcome attentions of Surgeon Fielding, Rachel begins to fall in love with the gallant Yankee officer. Their romance is disrupted when Rachel's husband Gordon, long reported dead, is captured as a spy and condemned to death.

Held by the Enemy

1920

Nobody's Money poster
8.0

Two newspapermen who wrote a successful book using a phony author have to come up with a real person when the book is a huge success. Ailing literary agent Jack Holt takes the job while his safe cracking friend tags along for the ride. Jack falls in love with the Governor's daughter just as the Governor is about to be blackmailed by the evil Drisco, who has planted $20,000 in the Governor's safe.

Nobody's Money

1923

Padlocked poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Padlocked

1926

Zander the Great poster
6.2

Mamie, an orphan girl who was abused in the orphanage, is taken in by Mrs. Caldwell, a kindly woman with a young son named Alexander. Mamie hits it off with the lad, and nicknames him "Zander". When Mrs. Caldwell dies, the authorities decree that the boy must be placed in the same orphanage where Mamie was mistreated. Horrified, Mamie determines to see to it that the boy will be spared the same treatment that she had to suffer.

Zander the Great

1925

Live and Let Live poster
8.0

While on a train trip, Mary Ryan runs into her old friend Jane Loomis. Mary was once a professional thief but is now reformed. Jane tells her that her uncle, Judge Loomis, has invited her to live with he and his family, but that she is planning to elope with her boyfriend instead. When the train arrives at the town where Judge Looms lives, Mary gets off and passes herself off as Jane. Complications ensue.

Live and Let Live

1921

Welcome Home poster
7.0

Fred Prouty and his wife, Nettie, are living happily until the day that his aged father shows up on their doorstep. He immediately begins creating havoc, upsetting the once-orderly household and trying to force his opinions on everyone. Nettie does her best to be patient with the old man, but the day comes when he brings a group of his pals over while she is holding a meeting of a fashionable club.

Welcome Home

1925

Ashes of Vengeance poster
6.0

This historical piece, set in the Huguenot days of France, is Norma Talmadge's 37th feature film and the longest to date at two hours. The plot involves a man forced into servitude who falls in love with the sister of his persecutor. It was Ms. Talmadge's fourth involvement with director, Frank Lloyd and the cast included future star, Wallace Beery.

Ashes of Vengeance

1923

Half a Chance poster
7.0

A convict being transported to Australia from England in the 1800's saves the life of a young girl during a shipwreck. Ten years later in England, she meets a brilliant attorney with secrets in his past.

Half a Chance

1920

Rupert of Hentzau poster
9.0

Rudolf Rassendyll returns to Ruritania to play the King once more. Lost adaptation of the eponymous Anthony Hope novel, the sequel of the "Prisoner of Zenda".

Rupert of Hentzau

1923

New Brooms poster
7.0

Thomas 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

Flowing Gold poster
9.0

Calvin Gray, a former soldier, is hired to manage the wealth of the Briskow family in a Texas oil town. As he defends them from a corrupt banker and a cunning con artist, he forms a deep connection with the Briskows' daughter, Allegheny, leading to unexpected changes in his life.

Flowing Gold

1924

Yesterday's Wife poster
10.0

Megan and Gilbert are happily married and expect to be together for life, but an argument over an insignificant issue gets out of control and results in a divorce. Years later they happen to meet at a summer resort, where Gilbert is staying with his new wife Viola and Megan is there as a companion to a rich old woman.

Yesterday's Wife

1923

1910s · 25 titles

The Birth of a Nation poster
5.9

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

The Birth of a Nation

1915

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm poster
5.8

Behind in the mortgage on Sunnybrook Farm and barely managing to feed seven hungry mouths, mother sends young Rebecca off to Riverboro to be raised by her wealthy Aunt Miranda. The little girl is treated like a prisoner by her strict Aunt, yet she gamely does her best to get an education. When spoiled girls at school mock the spirited Rebecca as "missy poor-house," she soon makes them come to eat their words. Despite many difficulties, Rebecca manages to help the less fortunate and spread joy in Riverboro, dreaming that her reward will come when she is "all growed up." This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

1917

The School Teacher and the Waif poster
4.8

Nora, the waif, is forced to attend school. She warms to her teacher for the way that he defends her against the taunts of some of the students, but when she's made to wear a dunce cap, she flees the schoolhouse in shame. Unsupervised by her alcoholic father, Nora becomes a determined truant, wandering the town during school hours. There she catches the attention of a huckster, who convinces her that they will run away and be married. The schoolmaster, meanwhile, preoccupied by Nora's absence, leaves his other students to go find her. He encounters her at a crossroads, being spirited away by the huckster, and calls the man's bluff by saying that he'll find them a minister.

The School Teacher and the Waif

1912

The Sisters poster
NR

May and her younger sister, Carol, live in a small town. May is the more lovely of the two, but Carol is wooed by Frank, a country boy. George, a city man, comes to town on a visit, falls in love with Carol and wins her away from Frank. Carol is pleased with his attentions and poor Frank is brokenhearted. Calling one day to see Carol, George meets May and falls madly in love with her, and finally runs away with her and they are married. Carol, in despair, turns back to Frank and they are married, and a year later a baby is born.

The Sisters

1914

Puppy Love poster
7.0

Young Gloria O'Connell falls in love with her neighbor, James Oliver. She is sent to a small town to stay with her three spinster aunts, while James becomes a newspaper reporter and arranges to write a story on the town and its large old-maid population. James pursues overweight "Hippo" Harger, a rival for Gloria's affections, and challenges him to a duel. When James' newspaper story appears, the disgruntled old maids hunt down the author. In a fit of anger, Gloria decides to marry "Hippo," but James rescues her at the office of the justice of the peace. The youthful lovers continue their relationship with their parents' understanding.

Puppy Love

1919

Stella Maris poster
6.8

Stella Maris is a beautiful, crippled girl, who is cared for by a rich family. They shield her from the harsh realities of the world, so that she has no idea of the cruel things that some people do. Unity Blake is a poor orphan all too familiar with the harsh realities of the real world. These two young women both fall in love with John, love which is complicated by the fact that he is still married to (though separated from) a bad wife.

Stella Maris

1918

A Child of the Paris Streets poster
NR

When the son of a leader of a Paris underworld family known as The Apaches is arrested and tried in court, the boy's mother asks the judge for mercy, but he refuses. In retaliation, the family kidnaps the judge's young daughter, and raises her to be one of their own, schooling her in the ways of crime.

A Child of the Paris Streets

1916

Hearts of the World poster
6.1

A group of youth come of age in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered. The German army invades and occupies, bringing both destruction and torture. The youngsters resist, some successfully, others tragically, until French troops retake the town.

Hearts of the World

1918

Diane of the Green Van poster
9.0

An heiress takes a road trip in a green van. Unbeknownst to her, she has four pursuers.

Diane of the Green Van

1919

Martha's Vindication poster
NR

A 1916 film directed by Chester M. Franklin.

Martha's Vindication

1916

The Avenging Conscience poster
5.9

Thwarted by his despotic uncle from continuing his love affair, a young man's thoughts turn dark as he dwells on ways to deal with his uncle. Increasingly convinced that murder is merely a natural part of life, he kills his uncle and hides the body. However, the man's conscience awakens; paranoia sets in and nightmarish visions begin to haunt him.

The Avenging Conscience

1914

Peppy Polly poster
8.0

Polly has herself arrested and committed to a reformatory in order to investigate conditions at the institution, after the committee charged with the investigation whitewashes the facts.

Peppy Polly

1919

No artwork available
9.0

A picture from the short story of Ellen Farley in "The Cavalier," and screened by John O'Brian. The story is of a girl who tries to be an author and has the usual fate of such. The new interest comes when she enters the home of the publisher because the policemen won't let her sit on the park benches and she wants to hide out of sight of them. She is starving and there is fruit on the table which she eats, but when the "burglar" comes she feels in duty bound to protect the place from him; it is the publisher, and from this meeting the two young people fall in, it always happens in fiction, why say it? But even with this ending the offering has much to commend it. Able direction and good acting give it atmosphere and it will go all right.

The Folly of Anne

1914

Pillars of Society poster
NR

Karsten Bernick is a wealthy Norwegian shipping tycoon and community leader who hides a past built on lies and moral hypocrisy. He was involved in a youthful affair in Paris with a married Bohemian actress; Bernick let his brother-in-law take the blame and fled to America, while also spreading a rumor that the man stole family money. When the wronged brother-in-law returns home years later demanding that Bernick clear his name Bernick tries to protect his social standing and financial empire from ruin, forcing a dramatic reckoning with his deceit.

Pillars of Society

1916

The Old Folks at Home poster
NR

Senator John Coburn's son Steve, who associates more with gamblers, criminals and drug addicts than with his father's congressional cronies, impulsively murders his mistress' new lover. The senator tries to use his influence to have Steve acquitted, but all of the evidence firmly and correctly implicates him, and so the jury prepares to find Steve guilty without much deliberation. Before the verdict can be announced, however, Steve's mother rises in court to make an impassioned plea for her son. As a result, moved by the mother's grief, the jurors choose to ignore all of the evidence, and declare that Steve is not guilty.

The Old Folks at Home

1916

No artwork available
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Man and His Mate

1915

No artwork available
NR

Evelyn Dare is a butterfly of fashion. David Westebrooke, her fiancé, is an altruist interested in sociology. He has made his home in the factory town of Oreville, where he works as factory manager. He takes her to their home in the factory town and there orders his housekeeper to take away her useless clothes and to supply those befitting the wife of a factory manager. Trouble lies ahead.....

The House Built Upon Sand

1916

Josselyn's Wife poster
7.0

Bessie Barriscale and Nigel Barrie play Ellen and Gibbs Josselyn, a young married couple who have spent several years in Europe while Gibbs, an artist, developed his talent. When they return to the States, they stay with Gibbs' father (Tom Guise) and stepmother (Kathleen Kirkham). Gibbs had never cared much for his stepmother, Lillian, but now he warms up to her -- a lot. Lillian is much younger than her husband and begins spending a suspicious amount of time with her stepson.

Josselyn's Wife

1919

The Tear That Burned poster
NR

The Tear That Burned is a silent movie drama.

The Tear That Burned

1914

Home, Sweet Home poster
5.0

John Howard Payne leaves home and begins a career in the theater. Despite encouragement from his mother and his sweetheart, Payne begins leading a life of dissolute habits, which soon leads to ruin and misery. In deep despair, he recalls better days, and writes a song that later provides inspiration to several others in their own times of need.

Home, Sweet Home

1914

The Bad Boy poster
NR

Small town youth Jimmie Bates is a well-intentioned, but troubled youth. Jimmie is a rowdy boy who is always getting into trouble and playing pranks on his friends and neighbors. Although deeply in love with young Mary, he eventually spurns Mary's affection for the more outgoing and worldly young Ruth.

The Bad Boy

1917

No artwork available
10.0

Young teacher Nan Cartwright leaves Virginia for a narrow-minded Western town. Facing constant harassment from townspeople, her reputation is ultimately ruined after a carriage accident forces her to spend the night in the woods.

The Little School Ma'am

1916

Betsy's Burglar poster
NR

Betsy Harlow is a hard-working maid in a boarding house. Her dream. however, is to be a detective, a dream she shares with her boyfriend Oscar, a delivery boy for a local grocer. One day a mysterious character named Harry Brent takes a room at the boarding house. Harry, seeing that Betsy is falling for his rather shady charms, persuades her to help him get a box of jewels owned by the Jaspers, an elderly couple who lives across the hall. It turns out that Harry is not quite who he seems; neither, however, are the Jaspers.

Betsy's Burglar

1917

The Fair Barbarian poster
NR

An Englishman who has made his fortune in America decides to return to England.

The Fair Barbarian

1917