Ford Sterling

Story of an inventor who, suffering betrayal in life, makes a career of it by becoming a clown whose act consists of getting slapped by all the other clowns. He falls in love with another circus performer, and those who betrayed him enter his life yet again. (imdb)

This star-laden version of Lewis Carroll's novel combines elements of both the title novel and Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass.

Millie Stope lives with her grandfather on a remote Island off the Florida coast. Her grandfather fled there for political reasons. But they're not alone. An escaped prisoner, Nicholas, is terrorizing them, and further more, he's interested in Millie. John Woolfolk has lost his wife in an accident and tries to forget by sailing in his yacht. (imdb)

A blowhard who poses as a railroad executive (but is really just a $30-a-week clerk) catches a young bride and then drives her family's finances to the brink of ruin. (imdb)

Charlie and another man compete in trying to help a young lady cross a muddy street. The rival finds a wooden plank which Charlie takes from him. They fight over an umbrella belonging to the rival. A policeman settles the dispute, ultimately arresting the rival. An innocent tramp is pushed into the lake. (imdb)

Out of costume, Charlie is a clean-shaven dandy who, somewhat drunk, visits a dance hall. There the wardrobe girl has three rival admirers: the band leader, one of the musicians, and now Charlie. (imdb)

Action scenes of early automobile racing highlight this story of Papa's efforts to thwart Mabel's romantic infatuation with a race car driver. (imdb)

A fresh-faced waitress and a celebrity-obsessed cook enter into a warmhearted romance.

Sally was an orphan who got her name from the telephone exchange where she was abandoned as a baby. In the orphanage, she discovered the joy of dancing and has been practicing since. Working as a waitress, she goes from job to job until she finds a job that also allows her to dance. At the restaurant, she meets Blair, and they both fall for each other, but Blair is engaged to Marcia... (imdb)

Behind enemy lines, Captain Bob White disguises himself as a woman in order to fool members of the German High Command, including the Kaiser himself. (imdb)

A sexy young manicurist living with her older backwoodsman husband in a small Canadian town finds herself attracted to a young, rich and famous divorce lawyer who comes to town on vacation. (imdb)

After being spurned by the girl, the twirly mustached villain tries to get his revenge.

Comedy based the tale of the beheading of John the Baptist at Salome's request.

A grocery clerk's romance affair

Cohen and his rival Goldberg enlist in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Goldberg receives a lieutenant's commission while Cohen becomes a sergeant. During the Battle of Gettysburg, Cohen inadvertently becomes a hero when he tosses back an enemy hand grenade and raises a fallen flag in the midst of the conflict. Goldberg conspires to have Cohen shot by a firing squad, but Cohen's girlfriend Rebecca rides to the rescue. (Wikipedia)

When the daughter of a newspaper publisher is falsely charged with murder, a reporter on her father's paper goes into hiding with her. At first hoping to get an exclusive story, the reporter eventually finds himself falling in love and trying to find the real killer. (imdb)

The wealthy von Wellingens are shocked when the father of their son Fred's fiancée Lia juggles desserts at a formal dinner. They encourage Fred to break the engagement. Lia goes to Berlin to marry a Baron von Schwarzdorf, and Fred arrives too late to stop the marriage. (imdb)

This Keystone comedy features Charlie Chaplin making an extended and very funny cameo as a policeman. Chaplin had claimed in interviews that he'd played a bit-role as a policeman while at Keystone Studios. The film was believed lost and Chaplin's appearance unknown until a print was discovered in 2010 at a Michigan antique sale. (imdb)

Ford Sterling and Mack Swain are a couple of neighborhood toughs who fight over Emma Clifton and get involved in burglary in this Keystone from 1914. (imdb)

A judge and his frivolous wife are celebrating their second wedding anniversary. The wife insists he buy her a gift. He goes out and buys her a necklace and pendant, which he promptly loses. Its finder is the judge's district attorney, who thinks he can give it to the girl he is trying to woo, namely the judge's wife. An unemployed young man happens to have what was the discarded jewelry case, and the judge seeing it in his possession believes the unemployed man stole the necklace and pendant. (imdb)

A gang of thieves continually threaten or attempt to kill the Mayor, always setting up the bumbling Chief of Police as the culprit. The Chief's very friendly relationship with the Mayor's wife doesn't help. When the Mayor's valuables are stolen the Chief is given a chance to redeem himself. (imdb)

A happy young couple become engaged, and soon afterwards they are married. But after their marriage, the husband begins to stay out carousing with his friends, leaving his wife at home with her mother. Then, when the three of them go to the opera together, the husband spots one of his friends in another box. Soon the domestic difficulties reach their peak. (imdb)

A young woman works as a cook as the sole means of support for herself and her husband, who, because of the nature of his profession, only works one day a year. She is unaware that her wealthy, aging and gout-ridden employer, Phillip Nobrains, has left her everything in his will. (imdb)

A banker's young daughter, playing a game of "hide and seek", is apparently locked within the vault resulting in comedic rescue. (imdb)

Mabel has two suitors - an oily con man, whom she mocks in a very funny scene where she is shown twiddling a fake moustache and making her feelings very clearly felt. Even in this early comedy her natural fun comes through. The one she really loves is clumsy yokel Ford Sterling, who is determined to buy an oil well that the con man has for sale. The conman gets a local fellow to pour oil over the property. Ford falls for it and buys it - Mabel and he are to be married. (imdb)

Two rivals for Mabel's hand play a series of dirty tricks on each other. Finally, one of them gets Mabel alone and is about to marry her, but his rival comes up with a strange scheme to stop them. Soon the Keystone Kops arrive on the scene, and chaos quickly ensues. (imdb)

A Bandit is a 1913 short comedy film featuring Fatty Arbuckle. (en.wikipedia.org)

This early Keystone has Pete spying on his neighbor's wife through one of those little knotholes in a fence. The neighbor (Sterling) notices and chases him all over town with sheriff and family close behind. Fatty Arbuckle plays the peeper's wife(!). (imdb)

Toplitsky runs a second-hand clothing shop, but his partner "admires" his wife. Two conniving businessmen, intent on gaining a place in the store, inform Toplitsky of an upcoming tryst. A runaway bear adds to the complications. (imdb)

early Keystone as Ford Sterling and Nick Coghley fight over Mabel Normand, their weapon of choice being - cheese! Sterling's usual over-the-top mugging works hilariously to express the vileness of the cheese. (imdb)

Professor Smelts the band leader gets into a romantic rivalry with one of his musicians over the affections of a pretty girl. (imdb)

A Mack Sennett comedy short starring Dell Henderson & Mabel Normand. (imdb)

An RKO comedy short featuring Betty Grable who gets secretly married while her family is trying to fix her up with someone wealthy.

The Keystone Hotel hosts a very prestigeous beauty contest. When the cross-eyed judge presents the first prize to an elderly cleaning woman, angry members of the audience respond by hurling custard pies. The Keystone Kops are summoned, and arrive just in time to get plastered with pastry. (imdb)

This is quite like "Helen's Marriage" which came out a few months earlier in 1912. Once again, Edward Dillon is trying to elope with Mabel Normand, but papa interferes. The big joke is when Ford Sterling and Elmer Booth kidnap the minister in order to marry Dillon and Normand. They mistakingly get Papa instead. It is the one strong gag in the film. (imdb)

After a dastardly villain steals milk from a baby, he tries to put the heroine through a laundry press. (imdb)

A Keystone film, especially from the beginnings, is always worth attention.This film is notable for the profit which it manages to derive from derisory material. It plays more on the resources of comedy than those of burlesque.

'Rainbow Girls' has just opened and closed on Broadway when Dixie, a actress in it, runs into smooth talking Hollywood Director Frank Buelow. He tells her she would be a natural, promises her a movie contract, and so she goes to Hollywood, but there is no contract for her. She meets Donny, a washed-up veteran actress (Blanche Sweet), on the lot who becomes her friend. (imdb)

In this drama, a traveling troupe of actors find themselves in danger of becoming unemployed when their manager up and leaves. Two of the actors decide to marry and settle down. The lead actor helps set up the rest of the troupe with some performances. He then destroys the new marriage. Later the woman and the head actor fall in love. He then gives her the lead role in his newest show. (allmovie.com)

Betty thinks she loves Stacey, but when their elopement is foiled by her father she realizes that is was Terry she was really meant for. This is bad news for her sister Mary Jane, who also loves Terry. (imdb)

When a hotel orchestra leader starts to flirt with a girl in the audience, her fiancé is very displeased. Then the orchestra leader finds out that the hotel flower girl is really a rich heiress, and he shifts his attentions to her. Now the flower girl's boyfriend is unhappy, and soon there are even more complications. (imdb)

A dancing instructor gets involved with a newly rich family. (imdb)

After his wedding ceremony is interrupted, Krause runs amok in a park while his bride waits forlornly with the minister. (imdb)

Mack takes Mabel to Coney Island, only to have her stolen by slick Ford, who is temporarily out of sight of a watchful wife and children.

Squire Peachem used the mortgage he holds on the innkeeper's property as a lever to win his daughter, but the daughter cannot see it that way as she loves a young swell, Randolph Roanoke. The squire, with the aid of his trusty but ignorant henchman, Blaa Blaa, seeks to sidetrack Roanoke.

Perkins likes to fish, and his wife scolds about his lazy habits. She hides her savings in an old stocking, which she conceals under the mattress of the bed. A tramp enters the open window and steals the hoard. She imagines her husband has taken the money and is very angry. A policeman has seen the tramp and gives chase. Hard pressed, he throws the stocking into the river. While the policeman continues his pursuit, Perkins sits down on the sand to fish. (imdb)

Casey is a slovenly junk man in a turn of the twentieth century hick town who has a remarkable ability to play baseball. An unscrupulous New York scout signs him up, so Casey and his equally dishonest manager go to the big leagues. Eventually, the scout and manager conspire to get him drunk and bet against him for a crucial game with the pennant at stake. (imdb)

A newspaper publisher finds out that his wild daughter has fallen in with a ring of gamblers. A reporter who has infiltrated the gang to get a story falls in love with the gang's female leader, and when the two are caught in a police raid, they find themselves in equal amounts of trouble. (imdb)

Warner is an old veteran in love with the widow Simpson. His rival is an old farmer, named Burns. Warner stands in front of the old soldiers' home, telling a crowd of old veterans of the battles he took part in, and as he unfolds the tales the scenes are depicted in the film. Burns, with rake in his hand, listens doubtfully, makes a few sarcastic remarks and walks away. (imdb)

A man plots to kill a friend and marry his wife in order to get hold of insurance money.

Ford Sterling in the park courting.

Another hotel-room mix-up with the suspicious wife, Grace King (Josephine Whittell), checking up on her husband, Ford King (Ford Sterling),who is trying to sell his jewelry line to a lady buyer, Frances Brown (Kitty McHugh). The house detective (Edgar Dearing) gets involved and the room-service waiter, (Billy Dooley), constantly gets himself and his tray knocked over.

Ford Sterling is married to a very jealous wife, who has a hobby of collecting French dolls. In order to keep her appeased and unsuspecting. he buys her an expensive doll for her birthday. But before he can give it to her, he gets mixed up with the blonde at the cigar-store, the doll gets burned up, and his wife is also burned up about many things.

Set in 1830, when the Italian provinces of the Austrian Empire are in revolt. Colonel Vultow is an Austrian cavalry officer and has been assigned to bring Lombardy and its rebellious nobles under control. He leads his cavalry forces to the castle of revolutionary leader Count Adrian Beltrami, with the intention of arresting him. By coincidence, Vultow arrives there during Adrian's wedding day.

Love and Rubbish is a 1913 movie starring Ford Sterling and Charles Avery.

A comedy short with Ford Sterling impersonating a band leader and a flirtatious Mabel Normand creating trouble between her admirer, Caesar, and the leader.