Movies by J. Farrell MacDonald

Mysterious Crossing
While crossing on the train ferry to New Orleans, roving reporter Addison Francis Murphy borrows money from singing hillbilly "Carolina," then loses it all in a crap game. Outside on deck, Murphy sees two men shaking hands, and after he looks away, hears a splash of water and discovers both men have disappeared...

County Fair
Racetrack drama about a young jockey accused of drugging his horse.

70,000 Witnesses
College football player is asked to dope a star teammate by his crooked gambler brother. He refuses, but they player is doped anyway and collapses and dies. A detective has the whole game re-enacted to find important clues.

The Pride of the Legion
After suffering a traumatic injury, a policeman resigns from the force and, after he's saved from a suicide attempt, goes to work at a café frequented by gangsters.

Sporting Blood
A horse with great potential is reluctantly sold by the breeder and by chance passes through multiple hands who do not treat him well.

Murder on the Campus
A popular young student finds herself accused of a series of murders that have occurred on the college campus. Her boyfriend, a reporter for the local newspaper, knows she didn't do it, and and sets out to prove her innocence and catch the real killer.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Shep Comes Home
Little Larry Havens, whose father died in WWII, runs away from home to keep from being separated from "Shep," his father's dog. In Arizona, he is befriended by a kindly Mexican, Manuel Ortiz, who he is able to repay in time, with the aid of Sheriff "Cap" Weatherby, when Ortiz is suspected of crimes committed by local gangsters. "Shep" is instrumental in saving Ortiz from a lynching, and Larry, "Shep" and Ortiz all find a home with a couple they have befriended.

A Sporting Chance
John Stonehouse (William Russell) checks into a hotel, intending to commit suicide. But instead he winds up helping a girl, Gilberte Bonheur (Fritzi Brunette), out of a jam. He finds her bending over a man who she has apparently killed, and since he's about to kill himself anyway, he offers to assume the blame. Throw a valuable emerald into the works, and the fact that the dead man suddenly comes back to life, and Stonehouse -- not to mention the audience -- becomes thoroughly befuddled by it all. Everything clears up, however, when Gilberte...

One Thrilling Night
A honeymoon couple in New York for one night of wedded bliss before he's to join the army, become involved with gangsters after they find a cadaver under their bed.

Action
Three Outlaws came across a stranded baby and must decide to save the child or escape from the law.

Men Without Women
Made during the early days of sound cinema, this tense submarine adventure is an intriguing example of a hybrid silent-talkie. A disgraced English sub commander changes his name to Burke and joins the American Navy. When the U.S. submarine on which he is serving as a torpedo launcher begins to sink, Burke must make the ultimate sacrifice to save as many crew men as possible..

The Family Upstairs

Conspiracy
American Steve Kendall, a freighter's radio officer, discovers seaman Carlson sending an unauthorized message ashore as the ship approaches his war-poised homeland. Carlson is shot in cold blood when he jumps ship and Kendall, implicated in the espionage, swims ashore to avoid arrest. A woman he meets at the dock hides him in her apartment, where he learns Carlson was her brother, and they both work in a sabotage ring. Nedra is a singer at Tio's Cafe, and she approaches Tio for help when both the saboteurs and the secret police try to captur...

Mickey the Kid
A bank robber and his boy make a run for it during winter in a bus full of children.

The Hit Parade
Agent Pete Garland is fired by society singer Monica Barrett after he got her a new radio contract, because she thinks her lawyer friend Teddy Leeds fits in better with her social status. To get even, Pete wants to make an unknown singer into a star. He finds Ruth Allison, drives her hard through rehearsals and makes her a star. But she is worried about her past, something she hasn't told Pete: She's an ex-convict and jumped bail in order to keep her partners in crime out of it. Further she's in love with Pete, but feels that he's still carr...

Mademoiselle Midnight
Renée (Mae Murray) is the heiress of a Mexican ranch, granddaughter of a woman known for her recklessness and frivolity at night. This first "Mademoiselle Midnight" is banished in the opening scene by Napoleon III at Empress Eugenie's insistence to Mexico. Renee is kept locked at the hacienda at night by her father to prevent her following in her grandmother's wayward footsteps. She falls in love with a visiting American (Monte Blue) but is also pursued by the craven outlaw Manuel Corrales. Miss Murray gets to do some of her trademark dancin...

The Last Alarm
A recently retired fire captain suffers from boredom, until one of his friends is killed battling an arson fire. It becomes his purpose in life to track down the arsonist. As he gets closer to finding the killer, things become dangerous for him and his family.

The Crime Doctor
When he finds out that his wife is having an affair, a criminologist commits the perfect murder--and pins the crime on his wife's boyfriend so well that the man is convicted of the murder.

The Spirit of Notre Dame
Story of two friends who play football, one of whom is a self-centered quarterback who thinks he's the only man on the team.