Russell Simpson Trailers
The Horse Soldiers TrailerThe Tin Star TrailerThe Lonely Man Trailer
Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company.
At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City.
By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain.
Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920).
Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death.
He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Most Popular Russell Simpson Trailers
Total trailers found: 198
19 April 1932
A foreword warns against the peril of yellow journalism, and the story illustrates it by following events in the upstate New York town of Cornwall after prominant financier George Ferguson is killed.
31 December 1943
Bat Masterson, who after failing to secure a job as a newspaper reporter becomes marshal of Dodge City.
19 January 1934
Thinly veiled reworking of the Wyatt Earp story with the renamed Michael Wyatt rolling into Tombstone, becoming acquainted, teaming up, and cleaning up the town with the help of “Doc” Warren and saloon singer Queenie La Verne, while sweet young maiden Mary Reid waits patiently on the sidelines.
13 July 1933
When the fiendish Sinclair Sable arranges the kidnapping of the beautiful Benecia Beamish, only the members of the Beer and Bicycle Club can save her.
01 September 1934
A radio station's janitor is sent to the Kentucky Hills to round-up some hillbilly talent. He poses as a hillbilly (from the Minnesota sector) to gain their confidence.
19 August 1939
This short subject is a lavish costumed color production which dramatizes the birth of the American Bill of Rights.
21 July 1937
Stranded on an island, a blind artist (Warren Hull) falls in love with a native (Movita).
30 December 1944
Having been falsely court marshaled for cowardice and sentenced to prison by the Army, Jed Kilton escapes and heads to Nevada Springs to see his kid brother.
19 August 1922
Innocent country boy Tom Logan is taken in by the scheming Barbara Kay, a city woman who knows Tom is set to inherit his fathers farm which sits on a rich coal field.
02 March 1918
Unrequited love rules the day as both wealthy Judith Sylvester and her invalid aunt pine for men who got away, but happiness lays ahead for one while hopeful dreams sustain the other.
08 June 1925
After a stormy six year marriage, Barnaby Powers divorces his wife Richmiel. She returns home, taking their young son Oliver with her.
30 September 1939
A young man helps a marshal in his battle against outlaws.
08 February 1944
A young Eastern lawyer, seriously injured in a stage holdup, secures the help of Hoppy, California and Jimmy in completing his mission to his woman cousin's ranch in Texas.
23 March 1940
Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers.
15 October 1918
Another of a successful string of Metro features directed by the vastly underrated John H. Collins, Riders of the Night was set in Kentucky hill country.
28 January 1924
Ellie Byrne and Don Lane, chums, living in the poor section of a factory town, go away to make their fortunes.
14 June 1939
A caravan of settlers is arriving and the ranchers intend to keep them out. It looks like a range war but Sheriff Jim gets the ranchers to accept the settlers.
13 July 1932
Cub reporter Daniel Greely gets a job on a big city newspaper. A string of robberies occur and the owner of the paper blames the police for not rounding up the crooks.
20 March 1942
Texas Ranger Buck Dunne is assigned to round up a gang of bank robbers. The leader of the gang turns out to be the "respectable" Judge Longstreth, making life difficult for Dunne inasmuch as he's in love with Longstreth's niece Barbara.
22 March 1921
Hugh Garth hides from the law in the frozen Canadian northwest along with his young brother Pete and Pete's former nurse, Bella, who loves Hugh unrequitedly.
11 June 1927
John Dale and Abner Hawkins are members of Andrew Jackson's Tennessee Militia, assigned to make peace with the Creek Indian tribe in general and the treacherous White Snake in particular.
19 October 1939
After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington.
31 January 1945
In the 1920s, enterprising Louise Randall is determined to succeed in a man's world. Despite numerous setbacks, she always picks herself back up and moves forward again.
01 March 1942
Humble stamp dealer Otto Becker has little to do with international politics, so when he receives a surprise visit from his estranged twin brother and Nazi spy, Baron Hugo von Detner, his world is thrown into turmoil.
25 August 1948
Set at the beginning of the Civil War, Tap Roots is all about a county in Mississippi which chooses to secede from the state rather than enter the conflict.
16 October 1930
Billy, after shooting down land baron William Donovan's henchmen for killing Billy's boss, is hunted down and captured by his friend, Sheriff Pat Garrett.
20 August 1923
Bela, reared by Indians, learns that she is a white orphan and runs away from the Indian village to avoid marrying a brave from the tribe.
31 January 1942
The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.
17 December 1922
PEG O MY HEART (Metro Studios, 1922), directed by King Vidor, under the supervision of J. Hartley Manners, introduces the legendary theatrical actress Laurette Taylor (1884-1946) to the screen reprising the role she made famous as a poor Irish farm girl who inherits a fortune but would rather have happiness instead.
12 February 1937
When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachusetts.
10 October 1931
A young woman runs away from an abusive home and pre-arranged marriage only to be frustrated in her attempts to find happiness with a handsome engineer.
17 October 1946
Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen.
15 March 1940
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure.
09 November 1947
A couple of Confederate soldiers, returning home from the Civil War, find Texas transformed into an armed camp with a quasi-dictator gathering up land and power as fast as he can.
26 November 1939
The army's effort to capture Apache chief Geronimo, who is leading a band of warriors on a rampage of raiding and murder, is hampered by a feud between two officers--who are father and son.
27 March 1932
Young Lena Rivers, who was born out of wedlock, goes to live with a rich uncle. Unfortunately, her uncle's wife and daughter make no secret of their dislike of Lena and that they don't want her in their family.
02 January 1929
A Parisian junk dealer has to choose between love and fame after he rescues a boy.
26 July 1951
Al Stewart and Wilbert are magicians doing a stage act when they run into Wilbert's cousin, Dorothy McCoy.
13 September 1940
With the army after him and his partner deserting, Reb decides that a change of scenery would be nice so he heads for Wyoming with Dave.
22 July 1954
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
22 June 1919
Jack Pickford got his own production company when his sister Mary signed a huge contract with First National, and this was its first product.
06 November 1920
On board his trading schooner in the South Pacific, tough sea captain Black Pawl confronts his own son, who has grown up in his father's shadow and reflects only his dark side.
05 July 1937
Retired lawman Kentucky Wade and his three buddies, Mike Morales, "Dude" Hanford and "Trigger" Benton come to Brimstone and help their friends Larry Munro and his sister, Lucy , in their fight to retain control of Larry's rich ore mine.
07 December 1945
After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt.
11 April 1949
Hoping to become a lawyer, Alec (Roddy McDowall) becomes a tuna fisherman in order to pay a debt. This turn of events puts Alec on the outs with his taciturn family.
24 October 1952
Cattle baron Devereaux Burke is enlisted by an aging Andrew Jackson to dissuade Sam Houston from establishing Texas as a republic.
27 September 1940
Based on the story of the famous Mormon leader, it follows Brigham Young and his challenge to transport his people across the Rocky mountains to settle in Salt Lake City.
10 October 1955
There's a box social coming up, and Curly asks Laurey if she'll be his date. Trouble is, Laurey thinks he's waited too long, and in a fit of pique accepts an offer from the boorish ranch hand Jud instead.
22 December 1948
In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England.
06 December 1925
Young Sandra De Hault arrives by ship in Sacramento, California, during the 1849 Gold Rush. While on board she adopted three children whose mother had died during the voyage.
12 February 1938
Colonel Ferris, a wealthy farmer in northern California, is strongly opposed to hydraulic mining, a new method developed during the gold rush of the 1870's, which is flooding the area's prosperous farmlands.
25 September 1954
Tensions erupt within an Arizona cattle baron's household when his three sons vie for control of the ranch.
29 September 1944
When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered.
11 June 1959
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail supply center. Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander.
09 June 1939
In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law.
24 December 1943
A poor country girl from Vermont travels to New York City to attend a theatrical school.
01 November 1949
The discovery of a way of turning petrol into water makes a fortune and romance for the young inventor.
22 April 1950
Two young horse traders guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter rugged terrain, the cutthroat Clegg gang, hospitable Navajo, and moral challenges on the journey.
02 January 1921
A woman named Bunty Bigger struggles to keep her family in line in a small Scottish village. For one, her brother Jeemy faces jail time for robbing a bank.
09 March 1919
A dancehall girl struggles to make a life for herself in the mining camps of Alaska, despite the obstacle of a villainous gambler.
