Jack Cunningham
Writing
Biography
Date of Death 4 October1941, Santa Monica, California (cerebral hemorrhage) One the more prolific and fast working screenwriters in Hollywood. He once completed ten five-reel films in ten-weeks. Between 1918 and 1925 he turned out one hundred full-length films. Had been the editor of The Pittsburgh Leader and The New York Evening Sun. Was working for the publicity department of an Eastern US film company when he decided to try his hand at scenario writing. His father, Maurice Frederick Cunningham (c.1861-1937), was a building contractor who had built many of the Hollywood studios constructed in the early 1920s. Never recovered from a stroke he suffered while working on the film Union Pacific (1939).
Known For

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?
Union Pacific

15 part adventure serial directed by W. S. Van Dyke survives in a Russian archive.
Double Adventure

A young divinity student helps and protects a down and out prostitute, at the cost of his own standing in the community.
Captain Salvation

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

Ranch owner John Hardy becomes the dupe of Cleo Dade when he marries her and brings her home to be a mother to his daughter Rose.
Border Raiders

Salesman Warren Kent develops the idea of "The Unending Courtship" and manages to convince his new wife Betty of his theory, which entails their living separately and only meeting on Wednesday evenings, as they did while they were engaged. Warren's boss, however, who was never enamored of the idea, fires him when he bungles an account and loses the company a large order. On top of that, through a series of misunderstandings Warren comes to believe that his wife is pregnant and his mother-in-law believes that Warren is having an affair with Betty's friend Ethel. Things go downhill for Warren from there.
All Wrong

A buffalo hunter tries to stop a thief and his minions from stealing hides.
Buffalo Stampede

Tonto Daley (Stuart Erwin) is a failed ranch hand who accidentally causes a wagon accident, leading him to abandon his job. He becomes a hog farmer, but is framed for cattle rustling by a former foreman, prompting him to fight back and clear his name with the help of Nina Weston (Verna Hillie).
Under the Tonto Rim

In this historical adventure based on traditional legend concerning Leif Ericsson and the first Viking settlers to reach North America by sea, Norse half-brothers vie for a throne and for the same woman.
The Viking

In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.
To the Last Man

A ranch manager falls in love with a banker's daughter, but after a quarrel with the girl's parents, flee across the border into Mexico.
Flaming Guns

A nobleman vows to avenge the death of his father by the hands of pirates. To this end, he infiltrates the pirate band; Acting in character, he single-handedly captures a merchant vessel, but things are complicated when he finds that there is a beautiful young woman of royal blood aboard.
The Black Pirate

John Marble, a construction engineer is stricken by paralysis and begins to envision the growth of love between his wife Marion and his best friend, Bob Alten. Bent on suicide, however, the shock of seeing his wife and child endangered on a broken bridge shakes him to recover from his illness and discover that his suspicions were all imaginary.
The Man Who Fights Alone
Broadway matinee idol, Shakespearean actor Reginald Thorpe, is found dead in his dressing room on the eve of his departure for Hollywood. Thorpe's understudy, Tony Hill, is suspected, particularly in light of his skill with knives. Thorpe, however, was a lady's man who seems to have been involved in blackmailing one of his lovers.
The Deceiver

After he inherits some money, Harold Bissonette ("pronounced bis-on-ay") decides to give up the grocery business, move to California and run an orange grove. Despite his family's objections and the news that the land he bought is worthless, Bissonette packs up and drives out to California with his nagging wife Amelia and children.
It's a Gift

Egyptologist, Dean Lambert, accused of car-theft, skips bail and begins a cross-country trek to join a group in New York headed for Egypt. With the police close on his trail he gets in and out of scrapes along the way.
Professor Beware

Beasley, who is after Gayner's land, plans to kidnap his daughter. But Dale overhears their plan and kidnaps her himself. When Gayner arrives to retrieve his daughter, Beasley kills him and makes the Sheriff arrest Dale for the murder.
Man of the Forest

A newspaperwoman finds trouble aplenty when an Inca tribe believes her to be the reincarnation of their long-lost princess.
Hands Up

Don Cesar De Vega crosses swords with a vicious member of the Queen's Guard, and steals the affection of a young heiress. When the officer frames the young upstart for murder, Don Cesar fakes his own death and retreats to the crumbling ruins of the family castle he plots his vengeance.
Don Q Son of Zorro

To boost the ratings of a kiddie show, the host agrees to take guardianship of of a bratty boy who has a lovely older sister.