John St. Polis
Birthday: 1873-11-24 Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Synopsis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John M. St. Polis (November 24, 1873 – October 8, 1946) was an American actor. St. Polis was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before starting his film career, he made a name for himself on the Broadway stage, most notably in the role of Frederik in the original production of The Return of Peter Grimm (1911–12) and the play's revival in 1921, both performed at the Belasco Theatre. He appeared in 126 films between 1914 and 1943. In all of his early roles, the actor is billed as John Sainpolis. His best-known performances are as Etienne Laurier in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), and as Comte Phillipe de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). St. Polis successfully made the transition from silent cinema to "talkies" with one of his most praised performances as Dr. John M. Besant, the father of Norma Besant (played by Mary Pickford) in Coquette (1929).
Acting
On the Spot
Frankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an attempted killing suddenly swing Midvale into national prominence. Frankie and his pal, Jefferson, become involved when a wounded gangster starts to tell them where $300,000 in stolen loot is hidden, but he is murdered before he can give them all of the information. The search is on.
Rocky Mountain Rangers
Frustrated by their inability to take action against a murderous gang who killed a young boy, Texas Rangers Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton) and Rico Rinaldo (Duncan Renaldo) hatch a plan: Stony poses as an outlaw dubbed The Laredo Kid to lure the bad guys into Texas. But the plan might fall apart when the real Laredo Kid arrives on the scene in this action-packed Western.
Haunted House
Teenagers try to clear a friend accused of murder.
Boys' Reformatory
A tough street kid takes the rap for a burglary committed by the son of his foster family and is sent to a boys reformatory, where the inmates are under the thumb of corrupt guards and a brutal prison doctor.
Mr. Wong, Detective
A chemical manufacturer is killed just after asking detective James Wong to help him. So Detective Wong decides to investigate this as well as two subsequent murders.
Phantom Ranger
A Treasury Department engraver is being held captive by a counterfeiting gang that wants him to make counterfeit plates for them. A lawman is sent to rescue him.
International Crime
The second and final Grand National Pictures film to feature The Shadow, played again by Rod La Rocque. In this version, Lamont Cranston is an amateur detective and host of a radio show with his assistant Phoebe (not Margo) Lane. Cabbie Moe Shrevnitz and Commissioner Weston also appear.
The Shadow Strikes
Lamont Cranston assumes his secret identity as "The Shadow", to break up an attempted robbery at an attorney's office. When the police search the scene, Cranston must assume the identity of the attorney. Before he can leave, a phone call summons the attorney to the home of Delthern, a wealthy client, who wants a new will drawn up. As Cranston meets with him, Delthern is suddenly shot, and Cranston is quickly caught up in a new mystery.
The Dark Hour
A pair of detectives investigates the murder of an elderly millionaire who was the target of blackmail and death threats and find that there is no shortage of suspects, many of them in the victim's own family.
Three on the Trail
An evil gang is involved in both cattle rustling and the robbing of stagecoaches. Hoppy must stop them without help from the sheriff who turns out be a major outlaw himself.
The Lady in Scarlet
When a wealthy art dealer is murdered, the private investigator hired for the case discovers a web of blackmail, corruption and stolen bonds.
Death from a Distance
While a distinguished astronomer is giving a lecture in a planetarium, a shot rings out and one of the audience members is found dead. A tough detective and a brassy female reporter lock horns as they both try to break the case.
King of the Arena
Mysterious deaths have been occurring in the same towns as Miller's Circus and the Governor has sent Ken Kenton to investigate. Ken joins the show but when he realizes that Bargoff is involved, Bargoff has fled and taken Mary Hiller as a hostage. The trail leads to Baron Petroff who concocted the deadly chemical and Ken quickly finds himself the Baron's prisoner.
The World Gone Mad
A district attorney and a reporter try to find the killer of a D.A. who uncovered a massive stock fraud.
The Criminal Code
After young Robert Graham commits a murder while drunk and defending his girlfriend, he is prosecuted by ambitious Mark Brady and sentenced to 10 years. Six years later, Brady becomes the prison warden and offers the beleaguered Robert a job as his chauffeur. Robert cleans up his act, but, on the eve of his pardon, his cellmate drags him back into the world of violence, and he faces a difficult choice that could return him to prison.
Beau Ideal
An American joins the French Foreign Legion in order to rescue a boyhood friend.
A Devil with Women
Soldier of fortune Maxton is stranded in a Central American country. He and Tom, the nephew of the country's richest man, try to end Morloff's banditry but just barely escape a firing squad. They become rivals for Rosita.
Captain Thunder
A notorious Mexican bandit goes all soft and mushy when he falls for a beautiful senorita. Warner Bros.' Captain Thunder contains some of the darndest Mexican accents you've ever heard in your life. The star is Hungarian-born Victor Varconi, portraying a legendary south of the border outlaw who tries to force Canadian senorita Fay Wray to marry a rival rustler whom she despises. She pleads with the bandito so pathetically that he is moved to grant her a single wish. Without hesitation she chooses her poor but true love. The bandit king, being a somewhat honorable fellow grants the wish and without a twitch, guns down the wicked cattle thief. Fortunately the film was played for comedy, a wise decision since it probably would have garnered laughs as a straight drama anyway.
Kismet
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This film is believed lost.
The Unknown
A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost.
The Phantom of the Opera
The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
Three Weeks
A young aristocrat strikes up an affair with a mysterious woman for three weeks.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Set in the years before and during World War I, this epic tale tells the story of a rich Argentine family, one of its two descending branches being half of French heritage, the other being half German. Following the death of the family patriarch, the man's two daughters and their families resettle to France and Germany, respectively. In time the Great War breaks out, putting members of the family on opposing sides.
Laughing Bill Hyde
Convict Bill Hyde and his friend, Danny Dorgan, break out of prison, but in running from the guards, Danny is mortally wounded. The local doctor, Evan Thomas, tries so hard to save Danny that later, when Bill and the doctor meet in Alaska, the two become friends. A dying man gives his mine to the doctor, but upon discovering that it is worthless, Bill sells it to a crook named John Wesley Slayforth...
