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: 180
04 August 1947
A mysterious Civil War veteran courts a Missouri farmer's daughter amid postwar unrest.
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.
25 September 1954
Cattle baron Matt Devereaux raids a copper smelter that is polluting his water, then divides his property among his sons.
26 July 1941
The Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.
08 November 1925
Vladimir Dubrouvsky, a lieutenant in the Russian army, catches the eye of Czarina Catherine II. He spurns her advances and flees, and she puts out a warrant for his arrest, dead or alive.
26 December 1946
11 year old Davy discovers that a chained gentle dog, Buck, is badly wounded around the neck because of the thick, tight collar he is made to constantly wear by his unfeeling owner.
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.
17 September 1938
A lumberman takes on a sleezy corporate giant wanting to move in and do whatever it takes to drive everyone else out of business.
01 December 1956
During a ride with his new pony Sinoya, the young Clay Gibson by chance finds the secret housing of the multiple murderer Tris Hatten.
03 August 1955
During the Texas War of Independence of 1836 American frontiersman and pioneer Jim Bowie pleads for caution with the rebellious Texicans.
25 September 1936
Half-Indian girl brought up in a wealthy household is loved by the son of the house against his family's wishes and loves another Indian employed by the household.
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.
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.
11 June 1942
When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.
26 June 1936
A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.
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.
24 April 1937
Stalwart Appalachian woman finds romance as she struggles to better herself and her people amid prejudice and familial abuse.
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.
05 December 1930
A young man attempts to overcome the memory of his father, who was sent to jail for committing a murder.
21 September 1950
Carefree Chuck Connor is on his way west and stops off to see an old friend and his four lads. When his host is killed in a riding accident Chuck realises he must take care of the family.
21 June 1957
Aging gunslinger Jacob Wade hopes to settle down with his estranged son, but his old enemies have other plans for him.
19 July 1945
An easy-going cowboy is mistaken by the townsfolk for a notorious gunman. The cowboy decides it would be best to leave town, until he meets the gunman's girlfriend.
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.
18 April 1936
In a small town in Indiana in the 1890s, the domineering and ambitious Mrs. Biddle arranges a marriage between her spoiled daughter Thelma and the town's prize catch, harvester David Langston, who is wedded to the soil.
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.
01 July 1948
A man is bent on taking revenge on those responsible for his fiancée's death.
04 June 1937
Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell struggles to free his country from English rule, but his relationship with married Katie O'Shea threatens to ruin all his dreams of freedom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
25 November 1956
The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religious sect is strongly opposed to violence and war.
02 May 1953
With the election approaching, a judge in a Southern town at the turn of the 20th century is involved variously in revealing the real identity of a young woman, reliving his Civil War memories, and preventing the lynching of an African youth.
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.
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.
25 March 1918
After young Ruth Bowman's mother dies, the child is raised by Agatha Pixley, and in time, the girl falls in love with Agatha's son, Eric.
16 November 1941
A hunter happens upon a fugitive and his daughter living in a Georgia swamp. He falls in love with the girl and persuades the fugitive to return to town.
26 July 1951
Al Stewart and Wilbert are magicians doing a stage act when they run into Wilbert's cousin, Dorothy McCoy.
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.
14 March 1941
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills.
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.
10 December 1938
A two-fisted Canadian Mountie leads lawmen in pursuit of the thieves who stole an Edmonton-bound freighter's cargo.
21 July 1937
Stranded on an island, a blind artist (Warren Hull) falls in love with a native (Movita).
03 July 1940
Viennese surgeon Dr. Braun and his daughter Leni come to a small town in North Dakota as refugees from Hitler.
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.
27 June 1934
Two families, cotton merchants in England and America, with branches in France and Prussia swear to stand by each other in a belief that a great business firmly established in four countries will be able to withstand even such another calamity as the Napoleonic Wars from which Europe is slowly recovering.
02 April 1943
When three Texas Rangers try to investigate kidnapped Mexicans being used as forced labor in the mines of Silver Bullet, they are framed for murder by the town's corrupt sheriff.
22 December 1932
A farmer strikes it rich out West, then leaves his wife for a young beauty.
19 August 1939
This short subject is a lavish costumed color production which dramatizes the birth of the American Bill of Rights.
23 October 1957
An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.
19 October 1939
After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington.
14 May 1935
Right after the Civil War, an ex-Union soldier sets out to become a schoolmaster in his small town, even though many locals still harbor a resentment against "Yankees".
06 October 1933
A man's life is retold just after his funeral. Beginning as a track walker, Tom Garner rose through all sorts of railroad jobs to head the company.
01 January 1953
In 1904, Doc Tilbee, medicine show huckster and champion tall-tale teller, gives a ride to a young boy escaped from an orphanage, where bad conditions (the result of political graft) are being investigated by new appointee Zerelda Wing, who doesn't know that her fiancée is one of the politicians responsible.
26 September 1932
Sharecropper's son Marvin tries to help his community overcome poverty and ignorance.
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.
24 January 1931
Pioneers and a family man leave Virginia for Kentucky during the Revolutionary War.
26 September 1941
Based on Zane Grey's tale of a man who gains an unfair reputation as a gunfighter while out to avenge his father's death.
