Writing

J. Grubb Alexander

Born — Died

1887-12-25 — 1932-01-11

Place of birth

Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

40 titles

Known for

Behind the camera

The Road to Singapore poster
5.6

A woman's life falls to pieces when she's caught cheating on her husband.

The Road to Singapore

1931

Moby Dick poster
5.6

Herman Melville's mad Capt. Ahab (John Barrymore) spends years hunting the white whale that got his leg.

Moby Dick

1930

The Gamblers poster
9.0

A father-and-son team of cons gamble their firm’s assets. The son is caught investing money that doesn't belong to him and is indicted on a swindling charge. The plot gets spicy when the District Attorney handling the case is his former sweetheart's husband. This situation gives the DA an opportunity to prosecute his romantic rival.

The Gamblers

1929

Outward Bound poster
6.0

A group of strangers find themselves aboard an unmanned ship, surrounded by fog and uncertain of their destination. As they attempt to make sense of their situation, the group of passengers discover a commonality that changes their perception of the nature of their journey. The film was later remade, with some changes, as Between Two Worlds (1944).

Outward Bound

1930

The Chinese Parrot poster
10.0

The plot is motivated by a pearl necklace, which has caused the death and/or ruination of all its owners. The second screen appearance of detective Charlie Chan.

The Chinese Parrot

1927

The Hatchet Man poster
5.4

When he's forced to kill his best friend, a Chinese hit man adopts the man's daughter.

The Hatchet Man

1932

Isle of Escape poster
6.5

On a South Sea island, Stella operates a hotel for her mother, who is constantly drunk on liquor smuggled by Shane, the principal trader and virtual dictator of the island. Dave Wade, exhausted from the heat, lands on the shore near the hotel and reports having escaped from a nearby cannibal island. Stella has her servants, Manua and Loru, care for him, but Shane, to whom she is married but with whom she has never lived, orders him taken to his house, intent on stealing his gold. In a drunken orgy, Shane takes the gold, provoking a fight in which Stella aids Wade. When Ma Blackney dies and Stella recovers the gold, she suggests they go to another island and establish a trading business; but because of a misunderstanding, Stella is kidnaped by the natives and taken to the cannibal island. Disregarding their differences, Wade and Shane join forces and go to the island; Shane sacrifices himself to stall the cannibals while Stella and Wade flee to the sea.

Isle of Escape

1930

No artwork available
10.0

Mary and John Rand marry right after graduating law school, but John chooses to join the ministry. After the birth of their daughter, Henrietta, and unhappy in that life, Mary persuades John to consent to a divorce. She resumes practicing law and with the help of Bruce Corbin is eventually elected Attorney General, becoming romantically involved with him as well. Meanwhile, Henrietta grows up neglected and enters a free life of jazz and drinking. She catches Corbin’s eye and he falls for her. What follows is a tale of murder, revenge and redemption.

Passionate Youth

1925

The Mad Genius poster
6.4

A crippled puppeteer rescues an abused young boy and turns the boy into a great ballet dancer. Complications ensue when, as a young man, the dancer falls in love with a young woman the puppeteer is also in love with.

The Mad Genius

1931

The Lone Wolf Returns poster
7.0

The Lone Wolf, an international thief who is expert in dodging the police, is rifling a wall safe when he senses the approach of detectives. Secreting a necklace in a cigarette case, he makes a hasty retreat. In disguise, he climbs to the balcony of another house where a bal masque is in progress and conceals himself in Marcia Mayfair's boudoir. Later he mingles with the guests and dances with Marcia. Lanyard is disclosed as a stranger when detectives force the guests to unmask, but Marcia remains silent while Lanyard replaces the jewels lifted from her bedroom. Lanyard is warned by Detective Crane, who suspects him but has no evidence. A visit to a bohemian resort owned by Morphew, leader of a band of thieves, provokes a heated argument in which Lanyard is threatened; and Marcia and Lanyard barely escape being caught in a raid. Their romance is threatened when Marcia's jewels are again stolen, but Lanyard traps Morphew and his gang and brings them to justice.

The Lone Wolf Returns

1926

Svengali poster
6.3

A music maestro uses hypnotism on a young model he meets in Paris to make her both his muse and wife.

Svengali

1931

The Lash of Power poster
NR

John Rand, having lived in a small town his entire life, dreams of possessing wealth and power in New York. Napoleon Bonaparte has long been his ideal, and one day he feels a message from the departed general urging him to take up the fight for world supremacy. He goes to the city ready to begin the battle, and there, aided by his Napoleonic visions, John amasses a great fortune, ruthlessly destroying everyone who presents an obstacle to his lust for power.

The Lash of Power

1917

A Notorious Affair poster
4.5

A scheming musician seduces a wealthy woman for love and money.

A Notorious Affair

1930

Sweet Kitty Bellairs poster
6.5

Kitty Bellairs, a flirtatious young woman of 18th Century England, cuts a swath of broken hearts and romantic conquests as she visits a resort with her sister.

Sweet Kitty Bellairs

1930

The County Fair poster
5.3

"The County Fair" begins with a nasty rich guy threatening to turn an old lady onto the street--unless her niece (who lives with her) marries this man's son. While she's dead set against it, the niece is a sweet thing and would do anything to help her aunt--even marry the rich jerk. However, a possible way out is presented. When a poor young man is taken in and fed, he turns out (naturally) to be a jockey and thinks he can win the $3000 prize at the fair and save the farm.

The County Fair

1920

The High Sign poster
NR

In order to be admitted to his school fraternity, David Bruce is told to impersonate a Balkan prince. In that guise, Bruce leaves for the prince's tiny municipality. En route, he becomes involved with a gang of anarchists who order him to kill the prince he is supposed to be impersonating.

The High Sign

1917

No artwork available
8.0

In 1899, Kansas farmer Wade Harkin and his wife Ruth pull up stakes and head for the Alaskan gold fields to make their fortune. When they reach Seattle, Washington, Wade tells Ruth to meet him aboard their ship going north, but when she arrives, she is unable to find him because he is involved in a private poker game.

Belle of Alaska

1922

The Devil's Claim poster
9.0

A Persian novelist living in New York throws aside the woman who loves him, and she gets an American woman to help get him back. Meanwhile, the novelist's current novel is in progress, and it's dramatized for us as he writes.

The Devil's Claim

1920

Bigger Than Barnum's poster
8.0

In an effort to boost declining ticket sales and revive lagging business, a ruthless circus manager orders his headline tightrope act to perform their dangerous stunts completely without safety nets. The tightrope troupe consists of Peter Blandin, his son Robert, and a young performer named Juanita Calles. The narrative follows the immense physical danger, interpersonal tension, and dramatic sacrifices the performers face as they risk their lives high above the circus floor to keep the show alive.

Bigger Than Barnum's

1926

Freedom of the Press poster
8.0

When a newspaper owner is murdered, his son takes over his crusade against a corrupt politician with criminal associations.

Freedom of the Press

1928

The Gates of Doom poster
NR

Indore, an Indian woman married to the English Captain Terence Unger is imprisoned by the prince after she gives birth to a baby daughter named Agatha. On his deathbed, Unger beseeches his friend Francis Duane to care for Agatha which Duane does, returning to England with the infant.

The Gates of Doom

1917

No artwork available
9.0

Joan Cameron is engaged against her will to Paul Bisson, the trading post factor. While her father and Bisson are away, Joan's sister, Esther, elopes with trapper Jules Perrault, and Joan meets Barry O'Neil, a dashing Northwest Mounted Police officer who falls in love with her and departs, promising to return.

Colleen of the Pines

1922

The Brand of Lopez poster
7.0

When a famed matador is forced to become an outlaw, he seeks to get revenge on the dancing girl who betrayed him.

The Brand of Lopez

1920

Fighting Mad poster
1.0

Doctor Lambert takes his wife west to a mining town, where he can both minister and doctor. His wife is not happy and upon discovering she is pregnant, runs away with a gambler. He soon dumps her, and she comes back and dies giving birth to a baby girl. Lambert, out of his mind with rage, leaves the baby on a doorstep and vows to never have faith again. He returns to the mining town fifteen years later a drunkard. He meets young, kind Lily Sawyer and is greatly impressed by her compassionate nature. Meanwhile, the gambler has returned and decides to abduct Lily, but his partner recognizes Lambert and tells him Lily is his daughter. He kills the gambler before he can harm Lily and soon his faith returns.

Fighting Mad

1917

Maid o' the Storm poster
NR

Scottish fisherman Andy MacTavish rescues a baby whom he discovers washed up on the shore during a storm, and names her Ariel. As a girl, Ariel often dances on the beach and dreams of a man who will appear to her out of the mist. Her dream comes true when she witnesses an airplane crash in which the pilot, Franklin Shirley, is injured.

Maid o' the Storm

1918

The Scarlet Crystal poster
NR

Priscilla Worth, an innocent country girl, goes to the city to visit her aunt, who has sent for her, thinking that her childlike simplicity will afford a welcome relief to Vincent Morgan, a wealthy bachelor and man-about-town. The plan works, but soon after Vincent and Priscilla's marriage, Vincent, besieged by his friends to return to his gay life and suspicious of his wife's relationship with Durant--an artist who has painted her portrait--yields to temptation.

The Scarlet Crystal

1917

The Phantom's Secret poster
NR

At the death of Count de Beaulieu, his daughter Jeanne learns that her father had been the arch-criminal known as The Phantom. The only other person who knew her father's identity was his lieutenant, Franz Leroux, who now demands that Jeanne marry him in return for his silence.

The Phantom's Secret

1917

The King of the Turf poster
7.0

Genteel southern horse-breeder Col. Richard Fairfax is framed on the charge of embezzlement by Martyn Selsby, his business partner, and sentenced to jail.

The King of the Turf

1926

Mixed Blood poster
NR

For Nita Valyez, who is half-Spanish and half-Irish, Carlos represents potential violence and danger, two things to which she is both attracted and repelled. In contrast, she has only a passing interest in Big Jim, the town's honest, good-hearted sheriff. Then, after Carlos kills a faro dealer, he forces Nita to make an escape with him.

Mixed Blood

1916

Not Guilty poster
7.0

A drama of a fugitive from justice and a fugitive from love.

Not Guilty

1921

The Sign of the Poppy poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Sign of the Poppy

1916

Demon of the Sea poster
10.0

Ahab pursues a whale that chewed off a leg when his brother, vying with him for the hand of a minister's daughter, pushed him overboard. When he has caught the monstrous whale he will then deal with his brother.

Demon of the Sea

1931

No artwork available
NR

Frank, riding through the storm, approaches the station, to give ten thousand dollars worth of gold, which he has just brought from the mine, into safe keeping. Dave the agent hears him, and when he finally appeared, disappointment awaited Frank. "I can't take charge of the money," says Dave. "I'm sorry, Frank, but the train is late, and the gold can't go on tonight. I saw two suspicious-looking characters hanging around here, and I won't take the responsibility."

The Empty Gun

1917

Blue Blood poster
10.0

Although Spencer Wellington (Howard Hickman) comes from an old, aristocratic family, he carries a bad gene. His doctor, John Rand (George Fisher) recommends that he never marry, but Wellington ignores his advice and weds Grace Valiant (Mary Mersch), who the doctor himself loves. Grace checks out Wellington's family tree and discovers the gene, but she's already pregnant. She gives birth to a child with a birth defect that kills him.

Blue Blood

1918

Midnight Rose poster
9.0

Midnight Rose, a dancer in the Gold Coast Cabaret, loves Tim Regan, an underworld gang leader who decides to go straight in spite of entreaties from other gang members. A dying gangster requests that Tim adopt his 4-year-old son, Sonny; and realizing that the boy needs a mother, Tim induces Rose to marry him. She soon tires of housework, grows jealous of Tim's fondness for Sonny, and consequently returns to the cabaret, where Corbin, her former suitor, rehires her. When Tim, disillusioned, participates in a gang robbery, Corbin informs the police, whereupon Tim is caught and sent to prison.

Midnight Rose

1928

Shackled poster
NR

A destitute young woman named Lola Dexter falls in love with Walter Cosgrove, who establishes her in a luxurious apartment and promises to marry her. After his fortune has been squandered, however, he woos and marries wealthy Edith Danfield while her sweetheart, James Ashley, is fighting in the trenches overseas. Embittered, Lola decides that from now on she will use men to her own advantage and travels to Florida to seek her first victim. She soon loses heart, however, and is about to commit suicide when Edith's invalid father, Thomas Danfield, convinces her to begin her life anew. The two become close friends and together return home, where they find that Edith, neglected and abused by Walter, has realized her mistake and is longing for James. To provide Edith with grounds for divorce, Lola allows Walter to enter her room, but when he rushes to attack her in a drunken rage, he falls down the stairs and is killed.

Shackled

1918

Murder Will Out poster
7.0

A wealthy young club man is engaged to a senator’s daughter but becomes involved with a gang of blackmailers.

Murder Will Out

1930

The Sea Wolf poster
6.0

Captain "Wolf" Larsen, the absolute master of a seal schooner, is a mystic and philosopher, though he rules his men with an iron hand. On a ferry going from San Francisco to Oakland, Van Weyden, a critic, and Maud Brewster, a novelist, meet in masquerade costumes and are forced overboard when their boat collides with a steamer. Humphrey, then Maud, are picked up by Larsen's crew. Because of her costume, Maud is taken for a boy and placed in the custody of Mugridge, the cook, who attempts to attack her upon discovering her identity. Larsen takes her under his protection and decides to marry her; but as the ceremony begins, the crew mutinies, and Larsen is stricken with blindness as he faces the rebels. The ship is set afire, and though Humphrey and Maud are rescued by another steamer, Larsen, deserted by his crew, refuses to quit his ship and is enveloped in flames.

The Sea Wolf

1926

No artwork available
9.0

Marie Moselle, an amateur Parisian sculptress, quarrels with her fiancé, Théophile, a society type of the ennui school, regarding her artistic ambitions, and he is horrified when she selects Louis, a huge apache, as a model.

Shattered Dreams

1922

Fear Not poster
NR

Brothers James and Allen Mornington are both addicted to cocaine and both believe that their addiction is caused by a hereditary failing. James rises to the position of judge, but when Allen is brought into his court on drug charges, James resigns. The two brothers, along with James's daughter, Hilda, then retire to the country to fight their desire for drugs.

Fear Not

1917