D.W. Griffith, Billy Bitzer, Biograph Company, Robert Harron, silent film, silent movie stars, free classic film, old movies, silent film streaming, silent era, archive films, rare films, silent crime drama, silent classics, classic images, classic films

   Robert Harron is the man on the right talking to the station clerk

Directed by                         D.W. Griffith
Produced by                       Biograph Company
Cinematography                G.W. Bitzer
Starring                              George Nichols, Owen Moore, Florence Barker, Anthony O'Sullivan, Robert Harron
Distributed by                    Biograph Company
Release date                       January 10, 1910
Running time                     12 min.
Country                              United States
Language                            Silent, English intertitles


"Her Terrible Ordeal" is a short crime drama directed by D. W. Griffith. This film illustrates the work of our stars cinematographer Billy Bitzer and Robert Harron.

Robert Harron plays a man at the station waiting for a train.

An office girl is locked in a vault by a passing salesman who becomes a robber.  Her beau discovers her predicament, but cannot to unlock the door. The odds seem against the girl. Her man is desperate to find the manager, who left to catch a train and who is the only one that knows the combination. Will the race against the clock save the girl, who is running out of time and oxygen?

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    Robert Harron is seen behind the back of the piano store manager William J. Butler

Directed by                       D.W. Griffith
Cinematography by        Billy Bitzer
Starring                             Marion Sunshine, W. Chrystie Miller, Edward Dillon, Charles West, Robert Harron
Distributed by                   Biograph Company
Release date                      Novermber 17, 1910
Country                             United States
Running time                    12 m.

This film is part of our series 'Hidden Gems'. It can be watched by registered users who make a donation. For more details, please click here.

"Sunshine Sue" is a short drama directed by D.W. Griffith.  The film is included in our program to illustrate the work of two of our stars: actor Robert Harron and cinematographer Billy Bitzer.

A country girl follows a city suitor, but is left alone and must fend for herself.

We trust that silent film lovers will not judge harshly the quality of the print.  Many early D.W. Griffith films are only available in a paper print format, and we are all very lucky that they have survived the trials of time for us to enjoy.

   Marion Sunshine

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Registration and donation are required to watch the films part of the series 'Hidden Gems'. Please complete the steps in the article 'Gems for Donation' before proceeding.

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Below is a short preview of the film.

    Robert Harron

Directed by                       D.W. Griffith
Cinematography by        Billy Bitzer
Starring                             Lionel Barrymore, Henry B. Walthall,  Robert Harron, Harry Carey
Distributed by                   Biograph Company
Release date                      December16, 1912
Country                             United States
Running time                    15 m.

"The Burglar's Dilemma" is a short drama directed by D.W. Griffith.  The film is included in our program to illustrate the work of two of our stars: actor Robert Harron and cinematographer Billy Bitzer.

A burglar is framed for murder.

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   Robert Harron and Harry Carey

    Robert Harron

Directed by                       D.W. Griffith
Cinematography by        Billy Bitzer
Starring                             Guy Hedlund, George Nichols, Kate Bruce, Jack Pickford, Robert Harron
Distributed by                   Biograph Company
Release date                      August 29, 1910
Country                             United States
Running time                    13 m.

"The Modern Prodigal", A Story in Symbolism, is a short drama directed by D.W. Griffith.  The film is included in our program to illustrate the work of two of our stars: actor Robert Harron and cinematographer Billy Bitzer.

Guy Hedlund plays the Prodigal, George Nichols is the sheriff, Jack Pickford is the sheriff's son and Robert Harron is a young man at the post office.

A fugitive saves the sheriff's son from drowning, but the sheriff arrests him anyway.

   Robert Harron joins the crowd discussing the award for the fugitive's capture

  Mary Pickford and Robert Harron

Directed by               D.W. Griffith
Produced by             Biograph Company
Starring                     Edwin August, Mary Pickford, Robert Harron, Charles Hill Mailes
Cinematography       Billy Bitzer
Distributed by           General Film Company
Release date               June 27, 1912
Running time             13 min.
Country                      United States
Language                    Silent film, English intertitles

This film is part of our Silent Gems Collection and the DVD is available on Ebay. This film is on DVD "Mary Pickford Rare Shorts disc II".

Update:
You don't have to leave our website in order to obtain the films from our Silent Gems Collection. These gems are now available to our users in exchange for donation. For details click here.

This film is part of our series 'Hidden Gems'. It can be watched by registered users who make a donation. For more details, please click here.

"The School Teacher and the Waif" is a short drama, included in our program to illustrate the work of our stars Robert Harron and Billy Bitzer.

An unhappy girl intends to run away, lured by a marriage proposal from a stranger. Her kindly teacher is the only one that can stop her.

   Robert Harron does some reading in class

 Attention please.

Registration and donation are required to watch the films part of the series 'Hidden Gems'. Please complete the steps in the article 'Gems for Donation' before proceeding.

Registered users who made the required donation please click here to watch this gem.

Below is a short preview of the film. 

    Mary Pickford and Charles West

Directed by                       D.W. Griffith
Cinematography by        Billy Bitzer
Starring                             Dell Henderson, Mary Pickford, Charles West, George Nichols, Robert Harron
Distributed by                   General Film Company
Release date                      January 5, 1911
Country                             United States
Running time                    13 m.

This film is part of our series 'Hidden Gems'. It can be watched by registered users who make a donation. For more details, please click here.

"When a Man Loves" is a short drama directed by D.W. Griffith.  The film is included in our program to illustrate the work of two of our stars: actor Robert Harron and cinematographer Billy Bitzer.

A country girl's suitor is rejected by her father in favor of a much older man, his old buddy. Robert Harron has a small part as the preacher's assistant.

We trust that silent film lovers will not judge harshly the quality of the print.  Many early D.W. Griffith films are only available in a paper print format, and we are all very lucky that they have survived the trials of time for us to enjoy.

   A scene with Dell Henderson, Mary Pickford and Robert Harron (on the right)

Attention please.

Registration and donation are required to watch the films part of the series 'Hidden Gems'. Please complete the steps in the article 'Gems for Donation' before proceeding.

Registered users who made the required donation please click here to watch this gem.



Below is a short preview of the film.

   Robert Harron - a nice portrait

Silent Hall of Fame is looking for contributors to create an original biography for this star.

Robert Emmett "Bobby" Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is known for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916).

Robert Harron was born Robert Emmett Harron in New York City, New York, U.S., he was second oldest child of nine siblings in a poor, working-class Irish-Catholic family. He attended the Christian Brothers school in Greenwich Village and beginning at the age of thirteen found work as a messenger boy for American Biograph Studios to help support his family. Within a year of working for Biograph, Robert Harron and Christian Brothers friend and classmate James Smith were noticed by newly hired director D.W. Griffith who put both young boys under contract and the pair began appearing in bit parts for the studio. His first film was the now lost 1907 Biograph short Bobby's Kodak. Harron quickly became a favorite of Griffith and Griffith began to give the 14-year-old increasingly larger film roles.

The teenaged Robert Harron was often cast by Griffith in the role of the sensitive and naïve boy, who was overwhelmingly sympathetic and appealing to American film-goers in the very early years of American motion pictures and not far removed from Harron's real-life persona; Harron was often described as a quiet and soft-spoken youth. It was these traits that helped garner much public interest in the young actor, especially amongst young female fans. In 1912 alone, Robert Harron appeared in nearly forty films at Biograph.

Harron is probably best recalled for his roles in the three epic Griffith films: 1914's Judith of Bethulia, opposite Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall and Dorothy and Lillian Gish, 1915's controversial all-star cast The Birth of a Nation, and 1916's colossal multi-scenario Intolerance opposite such popular stars of the era Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Wallace Reid, Harold Lockwood, Carol Dempster and Mildred Harris. One of Harron's most popular roles of the era came in 1919 when he starred opposite Lillian Gish in the Griffith directed romantic film True Heart Susie.

Robert Harron's film career continued to flourish throughout the 1910s and he was occasionally paired with leading actresses Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish with romantic plots, often in roles that cemented his sensitive boy image. Harron had, in fact, a burgeoning off-screen romantic relationship with Dorothy Gish. By 1920 however, it was reported that film director D. W. Griffith's interest in the young actor had waned and when Griffith hired film actor Richard Barthelmess to star in his 1920 film Way Down East, Harron was inconsolable. On September 5, 1920, while in New York City to attend the film premiere of Way Down East, Harron fatally shot himself in the left lung in his hotel room with a revolver that he had placed in a jacket.

Supposedly the weapon was purchased during the afternoon from a street begger as Harron did not believe in just handing out money unless something was bought. That was done because he wanted people to feel as if they actually earned the funds given. The shooting story is related as that while changing jackets for the evening's event, the gun fell out of the pocket and when it struck the floor the bullet was released.

Although the death was officially ruled accidental, many historians believe that Harron committed suicide. However, many of those closest to the actor vehemently refuted that Harron, a devout Catholic, would ever have considered suicide. While on his deathbed, Harron reportedly confided to his boyhood priest that his gunshot wound was the result of an accident.

Robert Harron was 27 years old at the time of his death and had never married. His film career spanned nearly fifteen years and Harron had appeared in over two hundred films.

Harron was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York City.

From Filmbug

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Selected Filmography

    Robert Harron and Mae Marsh in "Intolerance" (1916).