J. Searle Dawley

Directing

J. Searle Dawley

Born October 4, 1877 · Del Norte, Colorado, USA

Died March 29, 1949 · aged 71

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Searle Dawley was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor, and playwright. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for Edison, Rex Motion Picture Company, Famous Players, Fox, and other studios, he directed more than 300 short films and 56 features, which include many of the early releases of stars such as Douglas Fairbanks,…

Known For

FrankensteinFrankenstein · 1910
Frankenstein
★ 6.11910
MovieHorrorScience Fiction
Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done, Frankenstein is comforted by his fiancée; but on his wedding night he is visited by the monster.
TwilightTwilight · 1919
Twilight
★ 9.01919
MovieDrama
A baby, found strapped to a donkey in the North Carolina mountains where her father drowned, is called Twilight and raised by the Anwells. At sixteen, Twilight, in love with her foster brother Jim, who runs the family's lumber business, grows jealous when Elise Charmant, vacationing with her father, a brain specialist, monopolizes Jim at the Fireman's Ball.
Out of the DriftsOut of the Drifts · 1916
Out of the Drifts
1916
MovieRomance
An Eastern drifter stakes a claim near Boiseville but spends his nights gambling away his gold. Moll, one of the owners of the gambling hall, tries to help him quit the habit. When is neighbor, Peter Gardner teams up with Moll’s partner, Dick Weed, to try and steal the claim, Moll (who is secretly the drifter’s mother) and Gardner’s daughter, Kate, who is in love with the drifter, attempt to stop them. Gardner nearly succeeds in winning the drifter's claim in a card game, but an amnesiac named Crazy Oby suddenly regains his memory, recognizes Gardner as the man who robbed him years ago, and shoots him. Before dying, Gardner confesses that Oby is Kate’s real father. With the villains defeated and the truth revealed, the drifter and Kate find happiness together and prepare for their wedding.
College ChumsCollege Chums · 1907
College Chums
★ 6.01907
MovieComedy
While in a park, a young woman sees her fiancé being quite affectionate with another woman. When she calls him on the telephone to demand an explanation, he tells her that it was his sister. She is not satisfied, and insists on coming over to meet his 'sister'. As the young man broods over how to get out of trouble, an old college friend comes over, and he offers to pretend to be the sister. At first this works, but soon it has created even more complications.
Beyond PriceBeyond Price · 1921
Beyond Price
★ 7.01921
MovieDrama
Sally Marrio, neglected wife of a prominent shoe designer, has three wishes: to be a millionaire's wife, to be famous, and to have a child.
Laughing GasLaughing Gas · 1907
Laughing Gas
★ 5.41907
MovieComedy
A woman goes to the dentist for a toothache and is given gas. On her way home on the subway she can't stop laughing, and every other passenger catches the laughter from her.
A Good Little DevilA Good Little Devil · 1914
A Good Little Devil
1914
MovieDrama
A partially lost film, with only one surviving reel. A movie released in 1914 directed by Edwin S. Porter.
Leah KleschnaLeah Kleschna · 1913
Leah Kleschna
1913
MovieDrama
Leah Kleschna has been a thief all her life. However, an encounter with a man she intends to rob makes her question her life's course. The film is lost.

Filmography

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Out of the DriftsOut of the Drifts · 1916
Out of the Drifts
1916
MovieRomance
An Eastern drifter stakes a claim near Boiseville but spends his nights gambling away his gold. Moll, one of the owners of the gambling hall, tries to help him quit the habit. When is neighbor, Peter Gardner teams up with Moll’s partner, Dick Weed, to try and steal the claim, Moll (who is secretly the drifter’s mother) and Gardner’s daughter, Kate, who is in love with the drifter, attempt to stop them. Gardner nearly succeeds in winning the drifter's claim in a card game, but an amnesiac named Crazy Oby suddenly regains his memory, recognizes Gardner as the man who robbed him years ago, and shoots him. Before dying, Gardner confesses that Oby is Kate’s real father. With the villains defeated and the truth revealed, the drifter and Kate find happiness together and prepare for their wedding.

Director

A Romance of the Cliff DwellersA Romance of the Cliff Dwellers · 1911
A Romance of the Cliff Dwellers
★ 8.01911
MovieDramaRomance
The story itself deals with the primitive instinct of mankind; to desire was to take at strength of arms, and thus one of the chiefs chose for his own a maiden fair who was loved in turn by a young brave, and whose admiration she returned. But like unto the dark ages, whenever a man desired a maid he took her with or without her leave. Thus far did the chief go, but her lover decides to match his strength of arms for so fair a bride, and they fight upon the cliff's edge. But here the maid takes up the bow of fate and sends an arrow into the heart of her captor. Thus the two forest lovers are united, but a life for a life is the law of their race and the lover is brought to the council chamber and tried before his kinsmen. To shield the woman he loves he remains silent.

Director

Always in the WayAlways in the Way · 1915
Always in the Way
1915
MovieDrama
Four-year-old Dorothy, the daughter of rich lawyer Winfred North, is inconsolable over her mother's recent death. Her father, too absorbed with business to pay attention to his daughter and her problems, marries Helen Stillwell, a widow with her own two children. Helen ignores Dorothy while taking care of her own children, treating Dorothy as if she's always "in the way". Finally Dorothy can take no more and runs away. She is found by the Goodwins, a married missionary couple, but when they bring her home, Helen Stillwell denies knowing Dorothy at all, seeing a chance for her own children to inherit Winfred's wealth and cut Dorothy out of the picture altogether. The Goodwins take Dorothy to Africa with them to bring Christianity to the natives, but matters don't work out quite as well as they expected.

Director