The Cast

Emory Johnson (Director) – Johnson began his film career in 1913 as an actor, appearing in 75 titles over the next nine years. In 1922 Johnson moved to the other side of the camera, beginning his directorial career.  Johnson was to direct thirteen titles in all, ten of which while working with his mother Emilie, a writer. Frequently focusing his films on the lives of ordinary workers, Johnson was to claim this interest was prompted when instructed to slow down by a policeman while speeding down San Francisco’s Market street. A discussion followed with Emilie as to what the stories of these civil servants might be, from which Emilie developed the script for In The Name of the Law, Johnson’s directorial debut. Johnson’s final film as a director, The Phantom Express, was released in 1932.

Ralph Lewis (Tom McDonald) – Starting his career on the stage, Lewis began making films in 1912 and was to appear in 160 titles before his death in a car accident in 1937. Given lead billing in The Last Edition, Lewis appeared in six of Emory Johnson’s films. Lewis’s most famous appearance came in D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation in 1915. Lewis was to work with Griffith a further six times, including the 1916 epic Intolerance and Griffith’s 1930 biopic Abraham Lincoln.

John Bailey (Jim Lannigan) – Our research has turned up very little on John Bailey. We would be exceptionally grateful for any information regarding Mr. Bailey, his life, and his career.

Billy Bakewell (“Ink” Donovan) – Though The Last Edition was one of his first roles, William ‘Billy’ Bakewell was to enjoy a long career in film and television, including roles in the 1930 Universal adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front and Disney’s 1950’s series Davy Crockett. Bakewell served on the board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund for four decades and in later life worked as a real estate agent in Beverly Hills.

Wade Boteler (Mike Fitzgerald) – Character actor Boteler had an onscreen career spanning 25 years until his death in 1943. Frequently cast as a police officer, at the time of his death his three sons were all serving within the police. Boteler also starred in the original film serials of The Green Hornet.

Joseph Campbell (William Wilson) – Our research has turned up very little on Joseph Campbell. We would be exceptionally grateful for any information regarding Mr. Campbell, his life, and his career.

Will Frank (Sam Blotz) – The Last Edition was Frank’s second and final screen appearance, having made his debut four years earlier in 1921’s Headin’ North.

Ray Hallor (Ray McDonald) – Hallor came from a family of actors, with sisters Edith and Ethel also appearing before the camera. Hallor’s screen career was to last 15 years taking in 34 appearances.

David Kirby (“Red’ Moran”) – A native of St Louis, Missouri, David ‘Red’ Kirby began his film career in 1917 and was to appear in 40 films over the next 11 years.

Rex Lease (Clarence Walker) – Having begun to appear in films only one year prior to The Last Edition, Lease went on to have a long career infront of the camera, particularly in Westerns, making his final appearance in 1960. Lease was also to turn his hand to writing for the screen, penning 1928’s The Candy Kid and 1932’s Trapped in Tia Juana.

Lila Leslie (Mary McDonald) – Originally hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Leslie entered the industry in 1914, spending most of her first three years appearing in films by the Lubin Manufacturing Company in its own final years of operation. Leslie’s career continued throughout the 1910’s and 20’s though was to slow considerably following the advent of the talkies. Her final film,  the 1933 short What to Do, was her only non-silent appearance.

Daniel J. O’Brien (Chief of Police) – O’Brien who makes a brief appearance in The Last Edition as the Chief of Police, was at the time the serving Chief of Police for San Francisco. Holding this position from 1920 – 1928,  O’Brien had also appeared as a fictionalized Chief of Police in 1924’s Little Robinson Crusoe.  O’Brien was also the father of George O’Brien, a successful actor of the 1920’s and 30’s, best known as the lead in F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise (1927).

Tom O’Brien (“Bull” Collins) – Californian O’Brien had a 22 year in front of the camera, his final appearance coming in 1936’s Phantom of Santa Fe, a film actually shot five years earlier. O’Brien was to work with Emory Johnson again after The Last Edition, appearing in Johnson’s 1932 film The Phantom Express.

Louis (Lou) Payne (Jerome Hamilton) –  William Louis Payne enjoyed most onscreen success during the 1920’s and early 30’s, though continued to appear in films, usually uncredited, with his final appearance coming in the 1951 epic, Quo Vadis.

Cuyler Supplee (Gerald Fuller) – Originally a stage actor, Supplee entered the movie business in 1925, though the end of his onscreen career was to coincide with the arrival of the talkies. One appearance was to follow, though uncredited, in Paramount’s successful The Lives of a Bengal Lancer in 1935.

Frances Teague (Polly McDonald) – San Franciscan Teague had a brief onscreen career, appearing in only six films, from John Ford’s The Iron Horse in 1924 until her final apperance in the 1927 film serial, The Trail of the Tiger.

Ada Mae Vaughn (Fanny O’Grady) – The younger sister of actress Alberta Vaughn, Kentuckian Vaughn was identified as a rising star by Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in 1927, though her career stalled following this and she was credited in only one further film. Following her marriage to her second husband, Viscount D’Anvray, Vaughn relocated to France, though was to die at the age of 37 in Studio City, California.

C. Hollister Walker (Harry Owens) – Our research has turned up very little on C Hollister Walker. We would be exceptionally grateful for any information regarding Mr. Walker, his life, and his career.

Lee Willard (Aaron Hoffman) – Willard enjoyed a long career in film, appearing in over 100 titles from 1913 until his death in 1940. Most of these came in the 1910’s and 20’s, including frequent roles in the Broncho Billy films, early Westerns produced by the Essanany Film Manufacturing Company. Willard’s later appearances were largely in uncredited roles, including one in Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.