Matheson Lang

Matheson Lang

Born: May 15, 1879
Died: April 11, 1948
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
From Wikipedia

Matheson Alexander Lang (May 15, 1879 – April 11, 1948) was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright in the early 20th century. He is best remembered for his performances roles in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays.

In 1916, Lang became one of the first major theatre stars to act on film, as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, with his wife as Portia. He went on to appear in over 30 films and was one of Britain's leading movie stars of the 1920s. Among his memorable roles were Guy Fawkes (1923), Matthias in The Wandering Jew (1923) (which also featured his wife as Judith), Henry IV in Henry, King of Navarre (1924), and Henry V in Royal Cavalcade (1935).

Lang also wrote the plays Carnival (1919) and The Purple Mask (1920), both of which were produced on Broadway and made into films.

Matheson Lang died in Bridgetown, Barbados. He was 68.

Movies for Matheson Lang...

The Cardinal
Title: The Cardinal
Character: Cardinal de Medici
Released: January 4, 1936
Type: Movie
Set in 15th-century Italy, The Cardinal stars Matheson Lang as one Cardinal de Medici. Bound by the rules of the confessional, the cardinal is unable to disclose the multitude of sins revealed to him by one of his most influential parishioners. De Medici's dilemma is compounded by the fact that the confessor has committed a murder for which the Cardinal's brother has been arrested. The basic plot gimmick was good for another go-round in the 1953 Hitchcock flick I Confess. This 7-reel British film was based on a play by Louis N. Parker.
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Drake of England
Title: Drake of England
Character: Francis Drake
Released: May 16, 1935
Type: Movie
Imposing Canadian-born stage actor and playwright Matherson Lang was one of the twentieth century's great Shakespearean players, and became Britain's foremost screen actor during the 1920s; in Drake of England, one of his final films, he takes the title role in Arthur Woods' portrayal of the life and times of the flamboyant piratical adventurer who founded Britain's sea fortunes. From clandestine romance at the court of Elizabeth I to conquests in the newly discovered lands of South America and spectacular victory over the Armada, Drake of England offers a panoramic overview of Drake's life.
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The Great Defender
Title: The Great Defender
Character: Sir Douglas Rolls
Released: November 26, 1934
Type: Movie
Sir Douglas Rolls is a highly respected defence lawyer of many years experience. Now in rapidly failing health, he is advised to retreat from the courtroom and pursue more pleasurable activities. But it is just at this point in his life that his great lost love a woman his own strong sense of duty led him to give up twenty years ago, and whom he still loves deeply walks into his chambers to ask that he defend her adulterous husband, now to stand trial for murder. Reluctantly agreeing to take on the case, Sir Douglas soon finds there is more to the story than meets the eye.
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Little Friend
Title: Little Friend
Character: John Hughes
Released: November 18, 1934
Type: Movie
A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.
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Channel Crossing
Title: Channel Crossing
Character: Jacob Van Eeden
Released: October 14, 1933
Type: Movie
Money isn't everything. Tycoon races against time to cross the English Channel in order to save a business deal, but along the way his whole value system is thrown into turmoil.
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Carnival
Title: Carnival
Character: Silvio Steno
Released: October 30, 1931
Type: Movie
During a performance of Othello a jealous actor attempts to strangle his wife who he believes has committed adultery..
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The Chinese Bungalow
Title: The Chinese Bungalow
Character: Yuan Sing
Released: September 26, 1930
Type: Movie
A young British woman marries a Chinese mandarin then falls in love with an Englishman. The mandarin plots his revenge.
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The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Title: The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Character: Sir Percy Blakeney
Released: November 5, 1928
Type: Movie
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The Blue Peter
Title: The Blue Peter
Character: David Hunter
Released: September 1, 1928
Type: Movie
After returning home to Britain from Nigeria where he has been working, an engineer becomes embroiled in a family melodrama.
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The King's Highway
Title: The King's Highway
Character: Paul Clifford
Released: October 1, 1927
Type: Movie
'1765. Judge sentences highwayman to die, then finds he is his son.' (British Film Catalogue)
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The Island of Despair
Title: The Island of Despair
Character: Stephen Rhodes
Released: December 27, 1926
Type: Movie
A shipwrecked captain saves a girl from a Spanish murderer by threatening to give him leprosy.
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The Chinese Bungalow
Title: The Chinese Bungalow
Character: Yuan Sing
Released: November 22, 1926
Type: Movie
A Mandarin marries an English girl and tries to poison her lover.
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The Secret Kingdom
Title: The Secret Kingdom
Character: John Quarrain
Released: August 1, 1925
Type: Movie
A wealthy man who acquires a mind-reading machine is soon horrified to discover what people are really thinking.
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White Slippers
Title: White Slippers
Character: Lionel Hazard
Released: August 1, 1924
Type: Movie
In Mexico a girl saves a treasure hunter from a mutinous crew and he saves her from her gambling husband.
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Slaves of Destiny
Title: Slaves of Destiny
Character: Luke Charnock
Released: March 31, 1924
Type: Movie
In Africa an Englishman is sold as a slave by a blind beggar who then weds a girl after he has killed her crooked husband.
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Henry, King of Navarre
Title: Henry, King of Navarre
Character: Henry
Released: March 1, 1924
Type: Movie
In France the Queen poisons the Huguenot Queen and weds her son to the King's sister as part of an assassination plan.
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The Wandering Jew
Title: The Wandering Jew
Character: Matathias
Released: May 1, 1923
Type: Movie
'The legend of the Wandering Jew, condemned to walk the earth until the Second Coming.' (British Film Institute)
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The Hell Ship
Title: The Hell Ship
Character: Jan Steen
Released: February 5, 1923
Type: Movie
A naval adventure that focuses on the rivalry among the crew, particularly the indignation wrought by the behavior of inplacable Captain Steen. Dick, one of the sailors, is one of the most rebellious and draws up plans to exact vengeance. The opportunity arises, but an incident that may sink the ship changes the focus of attention. The lighting for the film and the composition of the scenes are regarded as the highlights of the movie.
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Dick Turpin's Ride to York
Title: Dick Turpin's Ride to York
Character: Dick Turpin
Released: September 1, 1922
Type: Movie
A highwayman rides to York to stop a lady marrying a usurper.
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A Romance of Old Baghdad
Title: A Romance of Old Baghdad
Character: Prince Omar
Released: March 1, 1922
Type: Movie
In nineteenth century Mesopotamia a series of romantic enganglements ensue.
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Carnival
Title: Carnival
Character: Sylvio Steno
Released: June 26, 1921
Type: Movie
An actor playing Othello in a stage production of Shakespeare's play becomes jealous of his wife's supposed infidelity and seems bound to kill her in the scene in which she, enacting Othello's falsely accused wife Desdemona, is murdered by her jealous husband.
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Victory and Peace
Title: Victory and Peace
Character: Edward Arkwright
Released: December 1, 1918
Type: Movie
'Nurse saves captain from invading Germans and is saved herself when he leads counter-attack.' (British Film Catalogue)
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Masks and Faces
Title: Masks and Faces
Character: Coachman
Released: March 1, 1917
Type: Movie
An actress cures an aged flirt by posing as his wife.