Matheson Lang
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia Matheson Alexander Lang (May 15, 1879 – April 11, 1948) was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright in the early 20th century. He is best remembered for his performances roles in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays. In 1916, Lang became one of the first major theatre stars to act on film, as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, with his wife as Portia. He went on to appear in over 30 films and was one of Britain's leading movie stars of the 1920s. Among his memorable roles were Guy Fawkes (1923), Matthias in The Wandering Jew (1923) (which also featured his wife as Judith), Henry IV in Henry, King of Navarre (1924), and Henry V in Royal Cavalcade (1935). Lang also wrote the plays Carnival (1919) and The Purple Mask (1920), both of which were produced on Broadway and made into films. Matheson Lang died in Bridgetown, Barbados. He was 68.
Known For
Money isn't everything. Tycoon races against time to cross the English Channel in order to save a business deal, but along the way his whole value system is thrown into turmoil.
Channel Crossing
Imposing Canadian-born stage actor and playwright Matherson Lang was one of the twentieth century's great Shakespearean players, and became Britain's foremost screen actor during the 1920s; in Drake of England, one of his final films, he takes the title role in Arthur Woods' portrayal of the life and times of the flamboyant piratical adventurer who founded Britain's sea fortunes. From clandestine romance at the court of Elizabeth I to conquests in the newly discovered lands of South America and spectacular victory over the Armada, Drake of England offers a panoramic overview of Drake's life.
Drake of England
A naval adventure that focuses on the rivalry among the crew, particularly the indignation wrought by the behavior of inplacable Captain Steen. Dick, one of the sailors, is one of the most rebellious and draws up plans to exact vengeance. The opportunity arises, but an incident that may sink the ship changes the focus of attention. The lighting for the film and the composition of the scenes are regarded as the highlights of the movie.
The Hell Ship
All but a prisoner in the exotic Malayan retreat she shares with her Chinese financier husband, Yuan Sing, British singer Sadie Merivale begins a dangerous affair with nearby plantation owner Harold Marquess. But when Sing discovers his wife’s betrayal, he plots to regain his honor by slowly torturing her lover to death.
The Chinese Bungalow
Sir Douglas Rolls is a highly respected defence lawyer of many years experience. Now in rapidly failing health, he is advised to retreat from the courtroom and pursue more pleasurable activities. But it is just at this point in his life that his great lost love a woman his own strong sense of duty led him to give up twenty years ago, and whom he still loves deeply walks into his chambers to ask that he defend her adulterous husband, now to stand trial for murder. Reluctantly agreeing to take on the case, Sir Douglas soon finds there is more to the story than meets the eye.
The Great Defender
A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.
Little Friend
Set in 15th-century Italy, The Cardinal stars Matheson Lang as one Cardinal de Medici. Bound by the rules of the confessional, the cardinal is unable to disclose the multitude of sins revealed to him by one of his most influential parishioners. De Medici's dilemma is compounded by the fact that the confessor has committed a murder for which the Cardinal's brother has been arrested. The basic plot gimmick was good for another go-round in the 1953 Hitchcock flick I Confess. This 7-reel British film was based on a play by Louis N. Parker.
The Cardinal
No description available.
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
An actress cures an aged flirt by posing as his wife.
Masks and Faces
An actor playing Othello in a stage production of Shakespeare's play becomes jealous of his wife's supposed infidelity and seems bound to kill her in the scene in which she, enacting Othello's falsely accused wife Desdemona, is murdered by her jealous husband.
Carnival
During a performance of Othello a jealous actor attempts to strangle his wife who he believes has committed adultery..
Carnival
'Nurse saves captain from invading Germans and is saved herself when he leads counter-attack.' (British Film Catalogue)
Victory and Peace
In France the Queen poisons the Huguenot Queen and weds her son to the King's sister as part of an assassination plan.
Henry, King of Navarre
In nineteenth century Mesopotamia a series of romantic enganglements ensue.
A Romance of Old Baghdad
In Africa an Englishman is sold as a slave by a blind beggar who then weds a girl after he has killed her crooked husband.
Slaves of Destiny
Papists hire a Dutchman to blow up Parliament in revenge for an anti-Catholic decree.
Guy Fawkes
'The legend of the Wandering Jew, condemned to walk the earth until the Second Coming.' (British Film Institute)
The Wandering Jew
A highwayman rides to York to stop a lady marrying a usurper.
Dick Turpin's Ride to York
A shipwrecked captain saves a girl from a Spanish murderer by threatening to give him leprosy.
The Island of Despair
A wealthy man who acquires a mind-reading machine is soon horrified to discover what people are really thinking.