Raymond Griffith
Also Known As: Ray Griffith
Biography: Raymond Griffith was one of the great silent movie comedians. Later in his career, he worked behind the camera as writer and producer. Griffith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost his voice at an early age, causing him to speak for the rest of his life in a hoarse whisper. Griffith claimed that it was the result of his having to scream at the top of his lungs every night in a stage melodrama as a child actor —others have stated that a childhood disease was more likely the cause. Although a few comedy films of his are considered classics, Griffith is almost totally forgotten today. Many of his starring feature films have long since been lost, but probably the best known of his films today is Hands Up! (1926), a Civil War comedy feature directed by Clarence G. Badger, and co-starring Mack Swain, which was entered into the National Film Registry in 2005. Also considered a classic is Badger's Paths to Paradise, a caper film that is in all circulating prints missing its final reel. Like many silent comedians, he had a traditional costume; his was a top hat, white tie and tails, often augmented by a cape and/or walking stick. The coming of sound ended Griffith's acting career, but he did have one memorable role in a motion picture before retiring from the screen, playing a French soldier killed by Lew Ayres in the 1930 Lewis Milestone film All Quiet on the Western Front. He then segued into a writing/producing career at Twentieth Century Fox. Griffith choked to death at the Masquers Club in Los Angeles, California, aged 62, on November 25, 1957.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Adult: No
Birthday: January 22, 1895
Age: 130 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: November 25, 1957
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Known For:
All Quiet on the Western Front
Overview: When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-04-29
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A Dash of Courage
Overview: A band of crooks, headed by Harry Gribbon, are on a train when they learn of a telegram sent to a fellow passenger, who is a police commissioner. The wire identifies him as official collector for the Old Cops' Home. A little chloroform does for him and when the train pulls out of his destination he is still on board while Gribbon is posing as the commissioner-collector.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-05-07
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Fools First
Overview: Tommy Frazer is one of a gang of crooks lead by "Tony the Wop". Frazer gets caught and is sent up the river for three years on a forgery rap. When he gets out of prison, he finds his girl, Ann Whittaker, waiting for him -- and she's got a scheme. She is working in a bank and wants to pull an inside heist.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-05-27
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Changing Husbands
Overview: A bored rich housewife wants to go on the stage, but her husband won't let her. When she meets a despairing actress who looks exactly like her, she suggests they swap places for a little while, giving the actress a break while the rich husband is out of town. But the rich husband comes back early, causing havoc for the actress, plus the rich housewife is finding herself attracted to the actress's boyfriend.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-06-22
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Poisoned Paradise
Overview: Margot Le Blanc loses her small fortune at Monte Carlo and makes the acquaintance of Hugh Kildair, an artist, who hires her as a housekeeper. A gang of thieves set a trap for Kildair when they find that he knows a mathematical system guaranteed to win at the gambling table.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-02-29
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The Crossroads of New York
Overview: A young man from the country travels to the city to find his fortune. Although he has a letter of introduction from his wealthy uncle, the best job he can find is that of a street cleaner. He catches the eye of his landlady, who somehow manages to get the man to propose to her, but he then falls in love with a pretty young socialite, and when his rich uncle dies finds himself being sued by a gold-digging vamp who wants to her her hands on his inheritance.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-06-22
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Hands Up!
Overview: Jack, a southern spy during the Civil War, must try to capture a shipment of gold. His task is complicated by the two sisters, Native Americans, and a firing squad.
Genres: Comedy History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1926-01-11
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Paths to Paradise
Overview: Two thieves discover a professional and personal relationship when individual heist plans are thrown together by circumstance.
Genres: Comedy Crime Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-06-28
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White Tiger
Overview: Three crooks pull off a magnificent crime. As they're forced to hide out together they slowly begin to distrust each other.
Genres: Drama Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1923-12-17
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Trent's Last Case
Overview: Who killed the vicious millionaire Sigsbee Manderson? Not that pretty wife of his, surely? Philip Trent investigates.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-03-31
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Miss Bluebeard
Overview: Director Frank Tuttle's 1925 silent mistaken-identity comedy, adapted from the 1923 play "Little Miss Bluebeard", stars Bebe Daniels.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-01-26
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The Eternal Three
Overview: A doctor's adopted son turns out to be an ungrateful whelp. He beds the doctor's maid, then his secretary, and finally targets the doctor's wife, his own stepmother as his next conquest....
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1923-09-22
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The Day of Faith
Overview: Jane Maynard opens a mission in memory of philanthropist Bland Hendricks. John Anstell, son of a powerful and selfish millionaire, Michael Anstell, falls in love with Jane, to the old man's disapproval. Anstell tries to undermine Jane's work by hiring reporter Tom Barnett to write an unfavorable story about the mission.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1923-10-20
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Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model
Overview: Nellie Horton, when mistreated by her father, is taken in charge by Thomas Lipton. She grows up in poverty not knowing her true identity as the heiress to her mother's millions. Upon the death of her benefactor, she becomes a model in a fashionable shop. There she falls into the hands of her mother's unscrupulous nephew, who contrives to do away with her in order to obtain her fortune. ....
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-04-16
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Souls for Sale
Overview: A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1923-04-22
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Red Lights
Overview: A mysterious figure attempts to keep a daughter from reuniting with her father.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1923-09-30
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You'd Be Surprised
Overview: A diamond is stolen at a houseboat party given by the district attorney. He gives the thief a chance to return it by putting an empty box on a table and turning out the lights. When the lights are turned back on the box is gone, and the district attorney has a knife in his back and is quite dead. The police and the coroner arrive. There are several attempts made on the life of the coroner. Ruth Whitman is found hiding in a grandfather-clock, holding the gem box. She claims the box was pushed into her hands and she was pushed into the clock. The district attorney's butler/valet tells the coroner he saw who killed his employer and a few minutes later he is also murdered. The mystery deepens.
Genres: Comedy Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1926-09-24
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Lily of the Dust
Overview: Lily, a poor and friendless orphan, is married to a sensual and elderly Colonel in the German army who divorces her when he finds her with a former officer sweetheart. Introduced by a girl friend to Bohemian society, Lily loses the love of the young officer and marries her former lover, a wealthy art connoisseur.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-08-24
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Open All Night
Overview: Therese Duverne (Viola Dana) is bored with her even-tempered husband, Edmond (Adolphe Menjou). Isabelle Fevre (Gale Henry) suggests that Edmond go to the bicycle races and stay out all night. Then she takes Therese there and introduces her to manly Petit Mathieu, one of the racers (Maurice B. Flynn). Since he has just quarreled with his sweetheart, Lea (Jetta Goudal), he is glad to have Therese's attention and offers to run away with her after he wins the six-day race. Lea, meanwhile, is spending her time with Edmond. Therese eventually decides she doesn't care for brutes like Mathieu, and Edmond gains a temper and wins his wife back. Lea and Mathieu are reunited, while Isabelle goes back to helping her own alcoholic sweetheart, Igor (Raymond Griffith), break into the movies.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-10-12
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The Night Club
Overview: After having been stood up at his own wedding, a young man vows that he will have nothing more to ever do with women. However, he soon discovers that he has been left a fortune--on condition that he gets married. Deciding that being rich and married would be preferable to being broke and single, he goes in search of a wife, but things don't turn out quite the way he planned.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-04-26
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Time to Love
Overview: Alfred Sava-Goiu, who, after being dumped by his sweetheart, philosophically decides to end it all by jumping into the Seine. Instead, he lands in a passing boat owned by the Countess Elvire. Falling in love with his savior, Alfred returns the compliment by rescuing the Countess from a precipitous waterfall.
Genres: Romance Drama Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1927-06-18
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The Surf Girl
Overview: Many different people go swimming at a pool at Coney Island.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-07-09
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He's a Prince!
Overview: Prince Alexis is the son of the king of a small European country. His duties, though fairly unimportant, nevertheless keep him so busy that he has no time for anything else. One day he meets and falls in love with a pretty young girl and wants to spend as much time with her as possible, but the royal advisers won't allow it, as it would take away from his duties. To make matters worse, his father dies and Alexis becomes king. Frustrated at his position and his inability to spend time with the woman he loves, he comes up with a novel plan to solve his problems.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-10-05
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A Scoundrel's Toll
Overview: Slapstick comedy about a poor and unlucky life of a inventor.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-09-17
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His Foothill Folly
Overview: Raymond Griffith out in the wild west, and in the process takes care of the bad guy to save his gal.
Genres: Comedy Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-09-02
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How Stars are Made
Overview: Comedy short starring Alice Howell
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-06-14
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The Sleeping Porch
Overview: The doctor prescribes fresh air for a man with a bad cold. His wife is determined to comply with the doctor's orders even if it kills him.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-09-07
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Fine Clothes
Overview: The owner of a London clothing store is driven out of business, but later makes a triumphant return.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-08-09
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Forty Winks
Overview: The Butterworth family attorney Gaspar Le Sage, and a suitor for the hand of Eleanor Butterworth, persuades a beautiful adventuress, Annabelle Wu, to help him steal the official plans for the coastal defense of California from Eleanor's brother, Lieutenant Butterworth.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-02-02
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The Follies Girl
Overview: The relatives of dying Edward Woodruff, Nina Leffingwell, her brother Frederic, and her cousin Basil, whom she wants to marry, scheme to inherit Woodruff's wealth. Since Woodruff continually calls for an imagined granddaughter, the child of his daughter who died before they could patch up a quarrel which estranged them, Nina gets Doll, a Follies girl, to impersonate the granddaughter, try to endear herself to Woodruff, and thus inherit the money. Doll would then be paid off and the relatives would get the inheritance. When Doll's administrations cause Woodruff to recover, Nina sends for Woodruff's grandson Ned, whom he disowned for marrying beneath him, hoping that Ned will send Doll away. When Ned seems to fall in love with Doll, Nina tells Woodruff that Ned and Doll are secretly meeting in the estate lodge. Woodruff investigates and finds that Doll and Ned are married and have a baby boy. Delighted, Woodruff forgives Ned.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-04-27
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