Eugene O'Brien
1880 - 1966Eugene O'Brien (Birthname: Louis O'Brien b. November 14, 1880 in Boulder, Colorado – d. April 29, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) was a silent film star and stage actor. He studied medicine at the University of Colorado at Boulder but was keener on the stage than becoming a doctor. O'Brien switched to civil engineering under his family's guidance, but his heart was still set on becoming an actor. He moved to New York City and was "discovered" by theatrical impresario Charles Frohman who signed O'Brien to a three-year contract and put him in The Builder of Bridges, which opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on October 26, 1909. O'Brien made his name playing opposite Ethel Barrymore, in a revival of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's play Trelawny of the 'Wells', which opened at the Empire Theatre on New Year's Day, 1911. O'Brien's first film, Essanay Film's The Lieutenant Governor, in which he had the starring role, played in Boulder's Curran Theatre in February 1915, giving his family its first opportunity to see him act.[3][4] World Film Corp. chief executive Lewis J. Selznick made O'Brien a screen star, putting him in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. Subsequently he was leading man opposite some of the leading female stars of the day, including Mary Pickford, Norma Talmadge and Gloria Swanson and became a silent screen matinée idol. He retired from acting when the talkies came in, making his last film, Faithless Lover, in 1928 at 47 years old. For his work on movies, he received a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Moth
Edward José
Norma Talmadge, Hassard Short
Spoiled young heiress Lucy Gillam knows only a life filled with parties and flirtations until she falls in love with a man who loves only her money. She marries him, and after their child is born, she is confronted with life's harsh realities after her husband demands more and more money with which to support his mistress.
The Moth
The Broken Melody
William P.S. Earle
Eugene O'Brien, Lucy Cotton
Stewart, an art student in the "bohemian" Greenwich Village in New York City, lives next door to his girlfriend Hedda, who wants to be a singer. One night while they are dining at their favorite cafe, a wealthy woman, Mrs. Trask, comes up to them with a proposition: she knows he is an artist and wants to go to Paris in order to study and develop his talent, and she will pay all his expenses to allow him to do that. He refuses because he doesn't want to leave Hedda, but she eventually persuades him to agree. It turns out that she as an ulterior motive for what she's doing--as does Mrs. Trask.
The Broken Melody
The Safety Curtain
Sidney Franklin
Norma Talmadge, Eugene O'Brien
Puck is a music hall dancer, married to an abusive husband. One night the music hall catches fire. Puck is rescued by an army officer and her husband perishes. Puck marries the officer and they begin a new life in India, until a man from her past finds her and makes demands.
The Safety Curtain
Secrets
Frank Borzage
Norma Talmadge, Eugene O'Brien
An old woman's memories are rekindled as she rereads her diary. She recalls her youth in England when she married a suitor over the objections of her parents and moved with him to the Wyoming frontier. They live a hardscrabble life there and suffered deprivation, hunger, Indian attacks, and the death of her baby. Although they eventually make a go of it, her husband becomes involved with another woman. Now that he is on his deathbed, will she forgive her husband after 40 years.
Secrets
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Marshall Neilan
Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien
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
Poor Little Peppina
Sidney Olcott
Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien
Holding a grudge against Robert Torrens and his wife, who live in Italy, a member of the Mafia kidnaps their infant daughter Lois. Fifteen years later, after having been raised by Italian peasants, Lois, now called Peppina, dresses as a boy and stows away on a ship to America in order to avoid a marriage to a particularly loathsome count. While aboard ship she befriends Hugh Carroll, an assistant district attorney, who arranges first-class transportation for the "boy." In New York, she once again meets her kidnapper, who fled to America after the crime. He forces Peppina to maintain the masculine disguise and to pass counterfeit bills for him, for which she is arrested. Peppina gladly exposes the kidnapper's operation to the authorities, one of whom, Hugh, recognizes her as the "boy" he met on the ship. Then, once the kidnapper has been apprehended, Peppina is reunited with her parents, after which she and Hugh, who has finally discovered that she is female, get married.
Poor Little Peppina
The Wonderful Chance
George Archainbaud
Eugene O'Brien, Martha Mansfield
Upon leaving prison, an ex con vows to go straight, but circumstances force him to return to crime. Meanwhile, a gang of crooks kidnaps a visiting British aristocrat, but the ex-con has an incredible likeness to the Englishman, and his intended hosts take him home to their mansion.
The Wonderful Chance
