J.P. McGowan
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia John Paterson McGowan (February 24, 1880 – March 26, 1952) was a pioneering Hollywood actor and director and occasionally a screenwriter and producer. J. P. McGowan, as he was usually known, remains the only Australian to have been made a life member of the Screen Directors Guild (now Directors Guild of America). Born in the then-bustling railway centre of Terowie in South Australia, McGowan grew up in Adelaide (Islington) and Sydney. He was a capable horseman and served in the Second Boer War with Montmorency's Scouts as a special dispatch rider. McGowan directed and often acted in the first 33 episodes of Kalem's 1914 adventure film series, The Hazards of Helen, which eventually ran to 54 episodes, some still with McGowan's participation. While filming he began a relationship with Helen Holmes, the film's star, and the two married. They left Kalem to set up their own production company, Signal Films, which successfully made a series of railroad melodramas but lost out when their distributor (Mutual) failed. The collaboration ended when they divorced in 1925. There was an adopted daughter, Kaye. McGowan successfully made the transition from silent film to talkies. While never a major star, in a busy career that spanned four decades he is credited with acting in 232 films—mostly strong roles like sheriff or villain—writing 26 screenplays and directing 242 productions. In 1932 he directed a young John Wayne in the 12-episode rail vs airplane serial The Hurricane Express for the independent Mascot Pictures. From 1938 to 1951, as Executive Secretary of the Screen Directors Guild, he fought to secure recognition for the director within the studio systems of the film and emerging television industry. J.P. McGowan died in 1952 in Hollywood and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Known For
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.
Stagecoach
French pirate Jean Lafitte rescues a girl and joins the War of 1812.
The Buccaneer
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Les Misérables
Action-filled drama about a ship captain, ashamed of his background in the slave trade, forced against his will to again transport human cargo.
Slave Ship
Cattleman Benson finds Mildred and her brother George living in one of his cabins and their sheep are on his land. Attracted to Mildred, he not only lets her stay, he deeds part of his land to her. This leads to trouble with the other cattlemen.
Canyon Hawks
When easterner Jack Steel gets into trouble with the law again, his father sends him to his ranch out west. There he and Alice Duncan become attracted to each other. Cowhand Slim was planning to marry Alice and now kidnaps her. When Slim's girl friend learns of Slim's interest in Alice, she tells Jack where Alice is and he heads out alone to face the three kidnapers.
Manhattan Cowboy
From Death Valley in the Mojave Desert to Mount Whittier, the outlaw gangs are wreaking havoc on the gold and money shipments from the mines and ranches. Wells Fargo organizes an express service that will insure the shipments and ensure a guaranteed delivery. Granger Hume is hired to help Wells-Fargo deliver on their promise.
Gun Gospel
Human cowboy hero is teamed with Rex, King of Wild Horses, an ornery critter but a magnificent animal.
Two Outlaws
A gang of crooks kills a gold miner while trying to find out the location of the mine. They then terrorize the miner's son to get him to reveal the mine's location.
Tangled Fortunes
Lone wolf, who is stirring up the Indians against the wishes of his elders, gets the job of scout at the fort. When he hears of the approval of the new reservation, he sends his men to trap Scott and his troop before they can deliver the information.
The Red Raiders
After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington; Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.
The Prisoner of Shark Island
A young pacifist, after refusing on principle to defend her sweetheart's honor and being banished in disgrace, joins a riverboat troupe as a singer, acquires a reputation as a crackshot after a saloon brawl in which the villain of the piece accidentally kills himself with his own gun, falls in love with his former fianceé's sister and finally bullies an apprehensive family into accepting him.
Mississippi
A miner finds himself swindled by an evil horse trader named Decker.
Arizona Nights
Two safaris enter the African jungle intent on finding a white girl who is the heiress to a fortune. One safari, led by Jungle Jim, wants to make sure she gets the news that she is now a rich woman. The leaders of the other safari want to kill the girl so they can try to get hold of her inheritance.
Jungle Jim
Two friends working a jungle oil field clash when one marries a lady of the evening.
Flaming Gold
Robert Louis Stevenson's hero David Balfour joins rebel Alan Breck Stewart in 18th-century Scotland.
Kidnapped
In the 1840's Mexico has ceded California to the United States, making life nearly impossible for the Mexican population due to the influx of land and gold-crazy Americans. Farmer Joaquin Murrieta revenges the death of his wife against the four Americans who killed her and is branded an outlaw. The reward for his capture is increased as he subsequently kills the men who brutally murder his brother. Joining with bandit Three Fingered Jack, Murrieta raises an army of disaffected Mexicans and goes on a rampage against the Americans, finally forcing his erstwhile friend, Bill Warren, to lead a posse against him.
Robin Hood of El Dorado
A loose biopic based on the life of Gilded Age tycoon "Diamond" Jim Brady.
Diamond Jim
Lynne Reed, Jack Manning's fiancée, is stagestruck and wants to go to New York for a career. She is encouraged in this delusion that she is a great actress by Barnes, who offers to buy her ranch, cheaply of course, so she can have enough money to get to the Big City. Barnes has Jack thrown into jail on a trumped-up charge of cattle rustling, and organizes a lynching party to get Jack permanently out of the way. Things get more complicated when Buzz, Jack's pal, discovers the secret of Lynne's ranch. How he engineers Jack's escape, and how they save Lynne adds suspense to a surprise climax.
Where the West Begins
Don Luis O'Flagherty (Ken Maynard), a daredevil comes to the rescue of his long-lost father, "Tiger" O'Flagherty (George Nichols), the supervisor of a supply-wagon train destined for the miners in Sonora. Tiger is being terrorized by Jesse Wilks (J.P. McGowan), who hopes to starve the miners out of their claims. Falling in love with Tiger's ward, Sally (Dorothy Devore), Don Luis manages to turn the tables on Wilks, who is killed attempting to rob the supply train.