William Desmond Taylor

William Desmond Taylor

Born: April 26, 1872
Died: February 1, 1922
in Carlow, Ireland
Irish-American film director. His 1922 murder remains unsolved.

Movies for William Desmond Taylor...

Title: Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: February 4, 2016
Type: TV
Hosts Ryan & Shane discuss mysteries surrounding notorious unsolved crimes.
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Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
Title: Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
Character: (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1987
Type: Movie
Documentary on the various mysteries in Hollywood.
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The Last Chapter
Title: The Last Chapter
Released: December 1, 1914
Type: Movie
Gordon, a young war correspondent, after being wounded in the jungles of Africa, is picked up and taken back to England by James Egerton, a wealthy rubber magnate, who has been investigating conditions on his plantation, where there has been a great shortage in the year's yield. On the voyage homeward the correspondent and Egerton's daughter Alice fall in love.
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Captain Alvarez
Title: Captain Alvarez
Character: Robert W. Wainwright AKA Captain Alvarez
Released: May 18, 1914
Type: Movie
A melodrama about an American who becomes a revolutionary leader battling evil government spies in Argentina.
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A Little Madonna
Title: A Little Madonna
Character: Paul Langrois
Released: April 22, 1914
Type: Movie
Terrorized by Guido, her drunken and brutal father, Marie receives assurance from her dying mother that the Madonna will always protect her. The father reels in just after the mother has expired, too drunk to realize the woman is dead, and finding the whiskey bottle empty, abuses the child. Marie appeals to the image of the Madonna and Guido, in a frenzy of rage, smashes it on the floor. Horrified at the sacrilege, Marie screams.
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The Kiss
Title: The Kiss
Character: George Dale - a Society Man
Released: April 14, 1914
Type: Movie
Directed by Ulysses Davis, the screenplay was based on a story by Marc Edmund Jones. Long thought to have been a lost film, a copy was found and put on YouTube. The film is the only known surviving film in which director William Desmond Taylor appears as an actor. In 1964 Taylor's co-star Margaret Gibson, shortly before her death, reportedly confessed to having murdered him in 1921.
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Anne of the Golden Heart
Title: Anne of the Golden Heart
Character: George Blake
Released: January 22, 1914
Type: Movie
Upon the death of his wife, George Blake, an attorney, leaves the east. He first places his pretty young daughter, Lucy, in a convent. After traveling for a few years from place to place, in an endeavor to find some location which he might be happy in, he settles in Lariat Hollow, a mining town. He soon falls in love with a woman of the dance hall named Anne. This incites the jealousy of Larkin, the political boss of the town. To break George Blake, Larkin nominates him for mayor, purposing to have him defeated. Anne suspects the plot and tries to influence Blake to refuse the nomination. But Blake has given his word to enter the contest and goes in to win. Blake's daughter writes to her father that she wishes to remain in the convent and become a nun. The father gives his consent. Now with every eastern tie severed, he asks Anne to marry him. She accepts, but says they will wait until after the election.
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The Quakeress
Title: The Quakeress
Character: Reverend Cole
Released: August 12, 1913
Type: Movie
The setting is an early American village, where a young Quaker woman, Priscilla, is in love with the schoolmaster, John Hart. The local minister, Rev. Cole, who calls on her at her cabin with flowers, is an unwelcome suitor. In revenge, he has "blue laws" passed, among them is one requiring attendance at church on Sunday. Priscilla refuses to comply with the law and is arrested. After being plunged in and out of water and pilloried, she is banished from the colony. John goes with her. They are attacked by Indians and John is badly wounded. Priscilla manages to get back to the village in time to warn the Puritans of an impending attack. They defeat the Indians after a desperate battle. The Rev. Cole, who has been mortally wounded, begs Priscilla's forgiveness and the Puritans make amends for their harsh treatment of her.
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Granddad
Title: Granddad
Character: The Southern Colonel
Released: July 23, 1913
Type: Movie
Mildred is staying with her grandfather, Civil War veteran Jabez Burr, when she receives a letter from her father. Her father has re-married, and will be bringing his new wife home soon. But when Mildred's stepmother finds out that Jabez drinks, she takes a dislike to him, and begins to resent his closeness with Mildred...