Cullen Landis
Cullen Landis (July 9, 1896 – August 26, 1975) was an American motion picture actor and director whose career began in the early ears of the silent film era. James Cullen Landis was the middle of three siblings (two sons and a daughter) raised by Lulan and Margaret (née Cullen) Landis in Nashville, Tennessee, where his father supported his family as a stock broker. As a boy, James was a train enthusiast and dreamed to be an railroad engineer. Though the ambition eventually faded, his interest in railroads did not, and some years later he helped design for himself a model train set powered by steam. He began working in the fledgling film industry at age 18 around the time his older sister, Margaret Landis, appeared in her first film. In 1928 Cullen Landis starred in the first ‘all talking’ motion picture, Lights of New York. He once confided in a friend that talkies were perfect for musicals and that he was no "song and dance man". He left Hollywood for Detroit in 1930 to produce and direct industrial films for automobile companies. Landis began as a movie director, only turning to acting after his lead player broke a leg and it was discovered that the actor’s costumes fit him. He went on to become one of the more popular lead actors of the silent era, appearing in some one hundred films over 14 years. During World War II, he served as a captain with US Army Signal Corps producing training films in the South Pacific. By war’s end he was twice decorated and promoted to major. In the post war years he made documentaries for the US State Department that took him to the far corners of the world. James Cullen Landis died on August 28, 1975, aged 79, at a nursing home in Bloomfield, Michigan, three months after the death of his wife, Jane. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lights of New York
as Eddie MorganEddie is conned into fronting a speakeasy for a local gangster who intends to frame him for the...
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The Ace of Hearts
as Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited)A romantic rivalry among members of a secret society becomes even more tense when one of the men...
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Jinx
as Slicker EvansThe circus comes to town, and the town's orphans are treated to a day at the circus. The circus...
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Upstairs
as Lemuel StallingsWhile working as a dishwasher in a fashionable New York hotel, Elsie MacFarland often sneaks...
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The Voice That Thrilled the World
as Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage)This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon...
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On to Reno
as BudThis is a farce, concerning itself with a young husband and a wife who are becoming stranged...
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My Old Dutch
as Herbert BrownThe story that inspired Albert Chevalier to write his immortal Costermonger song, 'My Old...
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The Broken Mask
as PertioPertio, an Argentine dancer, has a severely scarred face that has kept him from succeeding in...
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Born Rich
as Jack Le MoyneWhen a wealthy young lady leaves the US to visit her aunt in France, her husband falls in love...
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Wasted Lives
as John GraysonAfter the death of her brother, "Tommy" Carlton makes the acquaintance of a neighbor, Harold...
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The Man Life Passed By
as Harold TrevisThe Man Life Passed By (1923)
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The Outcasts of Poker Flat
as Billy Lanyon / Tommy OakhurstThe owner of a gambling hall is entrusted with the care of a pretty young girl. He falls in love...
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Watch Your Step
as Elmer SlocumElmer Slocum has just served a jail sentence for speeding. On his first day of liberty he...
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Voices of the City
as JimmyVoices of the City is a 1921 American silent crime drama film starring Leatrice Joy and Lon...
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The Fog
as Nathan ForgeSilent World War I (WWI) romantic melodrama (based on the novel by William Dudley Pelly) .
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Soul of the Beast
as Paul NadeauThis northwoods comedy-drama, by way of a circus drama, was directed by John Griffith Wray for...
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The Famous Mrs. Fair
as Alan FairA silent film drama based on the Broadway play of the same name by James Forbes..
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The Fighting Coward
as Tom RumfordSoutherner Tom Rumford was sent up north to be raised by relatives who happen to be Quakers. As...
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With Buffalo Bill on the U. P. Trail
as Gordon KentWhen Buffalo Bill Cody learns that the Union Pacific railroad is making its way through Kansas,...
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The Devil's Skipper
as John DubrayThe Devil's Skipper was based on Demetrios Contos, a seafaring yarn by Jack London. Effectively...
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Almost a Husband
as Jerry WilsonA New England schoolteacher arrives in a small Southern town. He becomes the savior of several...
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Cheap Kisses
as Donald DillinghamRefusing to join his family in their new social life when Henry Dillingham suddenly becomes...
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Remembrance
as Seth SmithAlthough he graduated from that time-worn university, the college of hard knocks, the tireless...
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We're All Gamblers
as Georgie McCarverThe second of Thomas Meighan's three 1927 vehicles, We're All Gamblers was also the first of two...
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The Fighting Failure
as Denny O'BrienCullen Landis starred in this silent Western melodrama about a prizefighter accused of cowardice...
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Somebody's Widow
as Jack RandomA comedy in which the widow Mary makes a bet with her friends that she can win over a writer...
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Bunty Pulls the Strings
as RabA woman named Bunty Bigger struggles to keep her family in line in a small Scottish village. For...
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The Old Nest
as Jim at 22-32A mother raises her six children and one by one lets them go out into the world. Their failures...
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Pinto
as Bob DeWittWhen Pinto reaches her eighteenth birthday, the five wealthy Arizonans who adopted her upon the...
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Pioneer Trails
as Jack Dale / Jack PlainsJack is orphaned as a young child when his wagon train is ambushed by Indians. Twenty years...
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Snowblind
as Pete GarthHugh Garth hides from the law in the frozen Canadian northwest along with his young brother Pete...
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Pampered Youth
as George MinaferAn silent adaptation of Booth Tarkington's "The Magnificent Ambersons."
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A Broadway Butterfly
as Ronald SteelIrene, a young girl from a small town, arrives in New York City determined to make it on the...
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Gay and Devilish
as Peter ArmitageDoris May plays Fanchon Browne, a poor girl about to enter into a marriage of convenience with...
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Forsaking All Others
as Oliver NewellJealous of her son Oliver's interest in Penelope Mason, Mrs. Newell takes him to a resort where...
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Where the West Begins
as Ned Caldwell (as J. Cullen Landis)William Russell plays Cliff Redfern, a hard-ridin' Westerner who takes a liking to Easterner Ned...
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The Little Wild Girl
as Jules BarbierVacationing in the Canadian Northwest, a playwright and a songwriter both fall in love with...
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The Midnight Flyer
as David HendersonThe speed of lightning; the roar of thunder; the thrills of an earthquake; it's "The midnight...
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Christine of the Big Tops
as Bob HastingsWhen her circus-performer parents die in an accident, Christine (Pauline Garon) is raised by...
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Life in Hollywood No. 5
as uncreditedPart of a 7-part series exploring all aspects of Hollywood.
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The Dixie Flyer
as 'Sunrise' SmithThe railroad is building a new line, but the workers are unhappy. That's because one of the...
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Where's my Wandering Boy Tonight?
as uncreditedGarry Beecher, forgetting his mother and sweetheart, Lorna, falls in love with Veronica, a...
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It's a Great Life
as StoddardAt a boys' boarding school, young Stoddard and his pal "The Wop" develop a scheme to get rich...
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With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo
as Davy CrockettSilent film of the events of The Alamo
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The Midnight Alarm
as ChaserShortly after being made the executor of a wealthy man's estate, a man murders his benefactor....
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One Law for the Woman
as Ben MartinA naive youngster is sold a phony mine.
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Cupid In Quarantine
as The BoyfriendEleanor Field and Cullen Landis are in love, but her father, Billy Bevan, objects because.......
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Over the Garden Wall
as JackMary's sweetheart, Jack, is in the village jail for speeding, and Mary's dad, who didn't like...
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