Tweet Thomas Meighan

Thomas Meighan was a big star in silents from 1919-1928. He was a leading man who was handsome and was good with his fists and on top of that, he was smart. Time and the critics, however, have not been too kind to him as he seems to be pretty much forgotten. One reason may be is the lack of accessibility of many of his films. I have only managed to see 11 of his films. The ones I have seen ( The Mating Call, Manslaughter, The Racket, M'liss, Male and Female, Conrad in Quest of His Youth, The Canadian, The Forbidden City, Why Change Your Wife?, Heart of Wetona, and Peck's Bad Boy) are fairly easy to find---but where are all the other ones? I know some play a festivals and such, but they are not available on dvd. A lot, no doubt, are lost. It's really a shame. Anyone know of any other of his films out there in dvd land?

The Rice daughter - unlike Margaret Dumont- wound up
in the Lardner canon (in “I Can’t Breathe”) while somehow
avoiding the Marx cannon (in “At The Circus”).

I think you named pretty much all the Meighan films that are readily "out there", but there is more of his work that exists in archival holdings -- and which, we can hope, will be released to DVD or Blu-Ray at some point. This is what my notes show:

The Kindling (1915) [GEH, AMPAS]
The Fighting Hope (1915) [BFI, 1100 feet; about 1 reel of 5]
Out of the Darkness (1915) [EYE]
Blackbirds (1915) [LOC, completeness uncertain]
The Secret Sin (1915) [LOC]
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916) [GEH, LOC]
The Sowers (1916) [LOC, 4 reels of 5]
Common Ground (1916) [BFI, 4375 feet of original 4512]
The Heir to the Hoorah (1916) [LOC, incomplete]
Arms and the Girl (1917) [GEH]
The Probation Wife (1919) [LOC, R1, 3-5 of 5]
Civilian Clothes (1920) [Gosfilmofond]
The Conquest of Canaan (1921) [Gosfilmofond, LOC]
Cappy Ricks (1921) [UCLA, R2 and 4 of 6; preserved in 1994]
Pied Piper Malone (1924) [Gosfilmofond]
Irish Luck (1925) [GEH]
The New Klondike (1926) [LOC, 7 reels of 8]
Young Sinners (1931) [UCLA has nitrate workprint]
Skyline (1931) [UCLA; preserved in 1979]
Cheaters at Play (1932) [UCLA; preserved in 1982]
Madison Sq. Garden (1932) [UCLA has studio nitrate print; also run at Cinefest in 2003]

And there is, of course, the Miracle Man fragment, and UCLA has 4 of the 9 sound discs for The Argyle Case (but no picture).

--HA

Hey, Ed [Larusso], how about checking out the Cecil B. DeMille directed 1916 "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" for a Kickstarter project? I'd be more than happy to help fund that one!

I think you named pretty much all the Meighan films that are readily "out there", but there is more of his work that exists in archival holdings -- and which, we can hope, will be released to DVD or Blu-Ray at some point. This is what my notes show:

The Kindling (1915) [GEH, AMPAS]
The Fighting Hope (1915) [BFI, 1100 feet; about 1 reel of 5]
Out of the Darkness (1915) [EYE]
Blackbirds (1915) [LOC, completeness uncertain]
The Secret Sin (1915) [LOC]
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916) [GEH, LOC]
The Sowers (1916) [LOC, 4 reels of 5]
Common Ground (1916) [BFI, 4375 feet of original 4512]
The Heir to the Hoorah (1916) [LOC, incomplete]
Arms and the Girl (1917) [GEH]
The Probation Wife (1919) [LOC, R1, 3-5 of 5]
Civilian Clothes (1920) [Gosfilmofond]
The Conquest of Canaan (1921) [Gosfilmofond, LOC]
Cappy Ricks (1921) [UCLA, R2 and 4 of 6; preserved in 1994]
Pied Piper Malone (1924) [Gosfilmofond]
Irish Luck (1925) [GEH]
The New Klondike (1926) [LOC, 7 reels of 8]
Young Sinners (1931) [UCLA has nitrate workprint]
Skyline (1931) [UCLA; preserved in 1979]
Cheaters at Play (1932) [UCLA; preserved in 1982]
Madison Sq. Garden (1932) [UCLA has studio nitrate print; also run at Cinefest in 2003]

And there is, of course, the Miracle Man fragment, and UCLA has 4 of the 9 sound discs for The Argyle Case (but no picture).

--HA

Wow! It's amazing the stuff that is out there. Thanks a lot for compiling this list on the whereabouts of Meighan's films.

There is a lot of films ready to be discovered with Thomas Meighan. He is one of my favourite Actors, glad He is mentioned on this thread, I have seen most of the titles on the list and own some on DVD, but, more releases of His Films will be always welcomed. I hope some more will be properly released. (Major Studios, or someone who cares for his films) He is an important Actor of the Silent Era.

[silentfilm]

Thomas Meighan and Pauline Frederick in the lost Sleeping Fires (1917)


Norma Talmadge and Thomas Meighan in the partially surviving Probation Wife (1919)


Thomas Meighan in the great film The Canadian (1926) in a photo from Derek Boothroyd's collection.

Thomas Meighan and Pauline Frederick in the lost Sleeping Fires (1917)

DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT THING ON POOR PAULINE'S HEAD???

Thomas Meighan and Pauline Frederick in the lost Sleeping Fires (1917)

DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT THING ON POOR PAULINE'S HEAD???

Looks like some sort of "fashionable" modified Chinese rice cap. A lot of movies of the time have both women AND Asiatic men with hats similar to that one! Just recently watched "A Scream in the Night" (1935) and even commented here on the hats worn by the men in the film. A recent viewing of one of the Mr. Wong films also had similar style hats in one scene. Women and men. This one with Pauline precedes them by 15 to 20 years!

Thomas Meighan and Pauline Frederick in the lost Sleeping Fires (1917)

DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT THING ON POOR PAULINE'S HEAD???

Looks like a chicken's a$$ to me.

Meighan met his wife,Frances Ring, when they were doing a play together. They married in 1910 and remained together until his death in 1936. From 1916-1927, he was one of Hollywood's leading men, in both box office success and in popularity. After 1927 he made a few films, but retired in 1929- only to return to the screen again in 1932, He retired once more in 32, but came back to do a final film in 1934-which proved that he still had some box office clout. One reporter once remarked that " thomas Meighan and Rin Tin Tin were the only Hollywood stars who had never seen a divorce court."

I'm a few days late on this, and I apologize for being a proofreading nerd, but I'm sure you meant accessibility rather than assability in your original post.

.

Thanks for proofreading-I have corrected the error. I'm always in such a rush! Now folks--back to the subject-Thomas Meighan. Why has his star practically disappeared-while others of the same period ( John Gilbert, John Barrymore, Valentino) still remain better known?

On the list, Pied Piper Malone, which I was so happy to know it survived, has yet to see the light of a release to us commoners. Many Films retrieved From Russia, apart from that one, will we ever be able to see them being released on video? (being greedy here at Nitrateville).
That is one Film to erase from Frank Thompson's Book: Lost Films, Important Movies That disappeared.
I just hope all the Films He mentioned in His Book will be found.

Interesting sidenote--Meighan's Long Island residence has been long absorbed into the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. Same with the former residences of Ed Wynn, producer Nicholas Schenck and business leader Walter Chrysler!

Where on Long Island did Meighan live? At the last Cinefest, THE NEW KLONDIKE was screened and a friend spotted a few locations in Huntington used in the early scenes of the film. I play a monthly series at an arts cinema in Huntington and was able to show the prologue to our audience (the film has been preserved by the Library of Congress) who ID'ed exactly where these scenes had been shot.

Thanks.

Ben

The 1930 Census shows Thomas Meighan, actor living at Kings Point, Nassau.
Walter Chrysler is a neighbor. ( http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/wal ... se-former/ )

The apparent street name is hard to read, it looks like Bird Ave. But I couldn't find that on Google maps.

The very next household switches to a new street, Stepping Stone Lane, which is near the Merchant Marine facilities, currently.

Rick

According to Meighan's obit in the 18 July 1936 Motion Picture Herald, his Kings Point home was known as Grenwolde. There is a Grenwolde Drive in Kings Point today, and there's also a King's Court, which is the street name shown above the illegible one. Presumably this is the general vicinity, but an exact address has eluded me so far.

And for FSF devotees, it's the same peninsula ("West Egg") where most of The Great Gatsby is set.

Edit to add: Pictures of his residence and gardens can be found in The New Movie Magazine for December 1931 (pages 44-45). It's an imposing building, with a second-floor balcony overlooking the front entrance, and Spanish-style roofing.

--HA

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916) was issued by Grapevine (?) on DVD years ago.....

The New Movie Magazine photo spread lists his home as being in Great Neck, which is the next town over from Kings Point.

Thanks for all the added info re Meighan's home, which, however the location is described, is still extant within the Academy's grounds. That whole neighborhood was sold to the Academy in 1943. Interesting area, since a stone throw's away is a former residence of George M. Cohan. It's been modified a bit, but still there.

P.S. my license plate is West Egg!