Complete Filmography: Miriam Cooper

Miriam Cooper claimed she wanted to retire in 1916; that she wouldn't miss film at all. But her husband Raoul Walsh insisted she join him, and until the end of their marriage she did just that. In 1924 she reiterated her wish to not be on screen and then just left. She never made a talkie, she never appeared on TV, she never took a shot at radio. She went on to live the life she had claimed she always wanted (despite the fatal flaw of not including Raoul)

She got her wish. People left her alone until the 60s when those hippy kids found her again and asked her to speak about silent film. Despite doing work on par with Lillian Gish and Minta Durfee she ended up little more than a memory in film history. Everyone who sees her on screen says shes excellent. However there is a reason I believe she is forgotten. A reason she just might beat Theda at. Keep reading to find out!

Some important notes as this is one of the first shorts filmographies we've done. Shorts and Features are broken up separately. Also since there is just so little information out there about many of these shorts they are presumed lost until proven else wise. If you have any information feel free to write us.



Surviving Shorts

*A Blot on the 'Scutcheon
1911 though IMBD has it as 1912 (every other source says 1911; and IMBD also thinks Miriam entered film in 1910 which she didn't). Miriam and a friend wandered to the Biograph Studios out of curiosity one day. No one stopped them so they went right up to the dark room. A man asked them if they'd be extras and for $5 a day they agreed. Her friend got scared and bailed but Miriam wanted the money so she stayed. She chose being a scullery maid over Page boy because she hated the slacks. Griffith was impressed with her and took a screen test...but this would be her last work for Griffith for awhile. 

*The Tide of Battle
1912. One of her first films for Kalem as part of the Florida stock company. A print exists in the Library of Congress. 

*The Toll Gate Raiders
1913. A print survives of this one as well. 

Possibly Surviving Shorts
It is of note after her extra appearance for Biograph Miriam went and couldn't get her foot back in the door. She searched all over town before signing with Kalem for who she did some extra work (lord knows what films those would be) and was offered a shot at joining their stock company that was heading to Florida to film.

Anna Q. Nilsson was the star of the company and most of the films centered around adventure and especially the not so long ago Civil War. Miriam was used more and more as she could swim and ride a horse (and as she recalled for one film: both at the same time). However they paid her a measly rate even though she was starting to be billed as a star. When she asked for a raise they didn't say anything, then gave her a pink slip the next day shortly before the company left back home.

IMBD has a HUGE list of films that...could have had Miriam in them. Whether these films even exist is questionable. The list of films she 'might have' been in vs the ones she actually lists is about the same length. Judging by some of the titles I suspect they're recuts or she just simply wasn't in them. Some of the films shes listed as being for take place once a return from FL occurred. 2 of those films are "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "The Octaroon". Uncle Tom may or may not exist and the Octaroon does. I suspect she wasn't in these films but if anyone can say else wise please do.

Once Miriam returned to New York she went back to Biograph which soon would lead her to join Griffith at Reliance Majestic. While he planned his epic the cast and crew were brought to California to act out a bunch of films, hoping to keep the cash coming in. Some of these Raoul directed, some he didn't. Whether any of these exist or not is also unknown. Since Griffith didn't direct them I guess history decided they were unimportant. 

Surviving Features 

*Home Sweet Home

1914. Schickel lists this as lost but apparently it has been found. One of Griffith's first attempts at a long film, interweaving various stories together. Miriam had the role as 'The Fiancee'. It has been released on DVD with Judith of Bethulia by Kino. Click here to purchase. 

*The Birth of a Nation
1915. Umm do we really need to say more? Miriam played Margaret Cameron (the Southern Sister who isn't so annoying you want to rape and murder her). This film is now in the public domain so you can get it quite easily. You can watch and download it for free at the Internet Archive by clicking here. I'm not gonna lie I haven't sat through that one yet since I have the DVD but be warned some DVDs cut out footage. It should run 190 minutes or somewhere near that. Image Entertainment has one of the most complete (and antique...from 98!) DVD releases. Click here to purchase. 

*Intolerance
1916. Another Griffith masterpiece. Miriam played 'The Friendless One' who gets to shoot people. This film is also in the public domain so again it can be watched free at the internet archive by clicking here. It's also on a million DVDs which you can purchase by clicking here. 

*Kindred of the Dust
1922. One of her rare star features to survive! And totally worth it too: she burned the hell out of her eyes accidentally starring into a stage light. Even into old age it affected her. Miriam found it a dull movie but it did decent at the box office. It was the last independent film for Raoul and it was the last film the two made together. A print exists at the International Museum of Photography and Film at the George Eastman House film archive. It has been restored and screened a few times. Excuse me where is our DVD release?!?! Yup this film hasn't even been released for home viewing. And you wonder why Miriam is so forgotten? 

*Is Money Everything?
1923. Norman Kerry! I love Norman Kerry! However this wasn't Miriam's finest moment. She had always said 'unless I act for Raoul I don't act'. Well...they needed money and were in the midst of hating each other. They had 'the Valentino problem' i.e. no matter what came in they spent like they had tons. Her business manager suggested a small independent film company that would only pay $650 a week (seriously! For someone of her status that's very little) and film in Detroit for no real good reason. She claims it was a horror and she doesn't remember much of it. Ironic that its one of her few surviving films. A 35 MM print exists but again not released. Miriam would probably be happier for that. Grapevine Video recently released it on DVD.




Lost Features


*The Honor System
1917. Raoul Walsh signed with FOX and despite her protests he brought Miriam with him. This film was shot on location and showed the injustice of the prison system. Miriam said she befriended prisoners while there and would send them gifts and letters even after she left. She also took notice that on death row the white guys were never executed; but the Hispanic ones were. She lamented in her autobiography that this film was lost as she considered it one of the greatest ever. Sadly thanks to the FOX vault fire we'll probably see it the day we see Theda Bara's "Cleopatra" (in other words when hell freezes over). There are pictures of the stills in Miriam's autobiography. 

*The Innocent Sinner
1917. Stills in Miriam's autobio. Her only note of the film was in one scene Raoul sneaked in for good luck (one of the stills shows this). FOX. 

*The Woman and the Law
1918. One of their bigger hits. It was based on Valentino's unrequited love (and scandalous friend) Blanca De Saulles and how she killed her husband over custody of their son. Miriam resembled Blanca so greatly that they considered not publishing her name...insinuating it was Blanca herself. However in the end they didn't go that route (Miriam said she wouldn't stand for it) The rest of the film is extremely thinly veiled in naming and such. They cast Peggy Hopkins Joyce (one of the most famous gold diggers ever) as the mistress which Miriam felt was perfect. Miriam claims she was so dense that it took until the premiere for Hopkins to realize just what her role was about. When she did figure it out she apparently screamed "Where's that son of a bitch I'll kill him!" at the premiere. Classy. Raoul hid under a cashier's skirt until she left! The film was so racy that it got what was basically an X rating; no children allowed. Obviously that caused quite a stir. 

*The Prussian Cur
1918. Miriam makes my point about 'we went from degrading Negros to degrading Germans' when commenting on this film. WW1 had just broken out and Raoul didn't want to fight. Fox wanted a patriotic film like everyone else (To Hell with the Kaiser anyone?) Both Miriam and Raoul found this to be the worst picture they ever did. Raoul literally wrote it was the 'rottenest picture' and that he was forced into it. The film was released 2 months before the end of the War and flopped hard. They were kinda glad for that. 

*Evangeline
1919. This was one of Miriam's most famous starring roles. And it could possibly exist as rumors have swirled around it. However no proof yet so it falls in the lost category. 

*The Oath
1920. Miriam said she loved the picture and loved the whole thing. The story was of a Jewish girl who marries a Christian boy at the risk of being disinherited. They keep the marriage a secret until her husband is on trial for murdering her father and she confesses they are married. The husband doesn't love her so she kills herself. Miriam said it was the perfect role, dramatic in every scene. She also got to wear expensive costumes; something she didn't usually do. However the movie flopped hard, according to her she was 'the only one to love it. It was Raoul's only film that didn't make money'. Miriam had control over the entire production from casting to direction and since she got the worst reviews of her career it crushed her dearly. 

*The Deep Purple
1920. Shot in New York it was based off a play written by a friend of Walsh's. It was his first independent picture for Mayflower and was 'a family production'. Miriam's brother was his assistant and her son and mother were extras. Someone reviewed this film for IMBD claiming in detail to have seen it...however apparently this guy is a jokester and it is indeed lost which is sad. 

*The Girl Who Came Back
1923. After her disastrous "Is Money Everything" this was an apt title. She made $1,000 a week which was much improved from her last salary. It opened to good business and had critical success. 

*The Broken Wing
1923. This was Miriam's last film. She was happy to play alongside old friend Walter Long who she noted "I didn't kill this time" (like Intolerance). As the title implies a plane was part of the plot. They wanted Miriam to just sit in one but she refused, afraid it would take off. It was until the end of her life she took her first plane ride. She disliked the director Tom Forman who she claimed was a major lush by this point. For her big scene he turned up drunk, let her do one take, and then waved his hand to close up production. Miriam said after the premiere she was in tears because it was so bad. She seriously ended it this time and as she noted, "For all the times I thought I'd retired for good and then came back to films, I finally wound up my career in a stinker made by a drunk. What a hell of an ending". Indeed.

The Complete Miriam Cooper Filmography List

Purple means fully exists

Blue means this film partially exists or in clip form

Pink means lost

* means released on DVD or VHS

Shorts Only

1912:
(for Biograph)
*A Blot on the 'Scutcheon
(for Kalem Company)
Victim of Circumstances
Battle of Pottsburg Bridge
Tide of Battle
War's Havoc
The Drummer Girl of Vicksburg
The Colonel's Escape
The Buglier of Battery B
The Soldier Brothers of Susannah
The Siege of Petersburg
The Darling of the CSA
Saved from Court Martial
A Railroad Lochinvar
His Mother's Picture
The Girl in the Caboose
The Pony Express Girl
Battle in the Virginia Hills
The Water Right War
The Battle Wits
A Race with Time


1913:
A Sawmill Hazard
A Desperate Chance
The Turning Point
The Battle of Bloody Ford
A Treacherous Shot
The Farm Bully
The Toll Gate Raiders
Infamous Don Miguel
Captured by Strategy

1914:
For Reliance Majestic
The Stolen Radium
For His Master
When Fate Frowned
A Diamond in the Rough
The Gunman
The Dishonored Medal
The Odalisque
The Double Deception
The Fatal Black Bean
His Return
The Burned Hand

Features Only

1914:
*Home Sweet Home

1915:
*Birth of a Nation

1916:
*Intolerance

1917:

The Honor System
The Silent Lie
The Innocent Sinner
Betrayed

1918:
The Woman and the Law
The Prussian Cur

1919:
Evangeline
Should a Husband forgive?

1920:
The Deep Purple
The Oath

1921:
Serenade

1922:
Kindred of the Dust

1923:
*Is Money everything?
The Girl Who Came Back
Daughters of the Rich
Her Accidental Husband
After the Ball
The Broken Wing

My thanks as always goes to nitrateville especially users SilentFilm and Peter Kalm. This is by far the hardest filmography I've ever done so...the help was extremely appreciated!


Why the Low Survival Rate?

Well in Miriam's case a good chunk of those shorts and maybe even features MIGHT exist. Kalem held on till 1917 when they sold to Vitagraph who held on till the late 20s when they sold to Warner Brothers. Some Kalem films still indeed survive and some of them are from the early years. But is there any interest in them? Anna Q. Nilsson is no Mary Pickford (who apparently was with them for like 5 minutes). And beyond that the rest of their ''stars'' had faded by the early 1920s rendering them forgettable. That right there could account for lost films, but some of it just may be around.

As for the Reliance shorts lord even knows. There again is no good reason for those to be missing and they might just exist. The traditional wisdom goes "Raoul Walsh was signed with FOX, FOX burned, pre 1920s Walsh doesn't exist". But that's not fully true. His works for Reliance wouldn't have burned in that fire. There is an alarming lack of information about Raoul's silents anywhere (of course most of the common sites fail to realize he was married 3 times either). When Reliance went belly up that too could have done away with the shorts, but its just absolutely unknown. More than anything there is a huge likelihood in my opinion that SOME of these shorts may exist.

As for Miriam's features we do know the most important ones (the Walsh ones) are likely gone forever due to the FOX fire. But some of Walsh's independent films (Evangeline, The Deep Purple) weren't for FOX...it is possible they survive out there somewhere. Miriam's later films very well could still be around (a Belasco production, etc) but there probably isn't much interest in seeking them out. I've been outraged many a times over the treatment of old films and how many are just rotting away in archives somewhere...but I don't think I've ever been more outraged than I am right this moment.

BEYOND the fact that these films just might be out there the very few that are confirmed to exist are also just sitting in vaults. Kindred of the Dust was restored and mentioned in a NFPF newsletter announcing the Treasures from American Film Archives DVD release...in 2004. Since then 3 sets of those DVDs have been released full of films...and not one with Kindred of the Dust. It apparently had a few screenings a few years ago as well; but it hasn't been shown frequently or anything. It may be too ironic that the two films Miriam didn't think very highly of are the only 2 to survive...but why are they just rotting away?

Film Survival Rate

Many people see Miriam in Birth and Intolerance and like her quite a bit. They read her bio and are even more intrigued...but sadly they've basically seen the body of her surviving work. In fact in all irony despite her hate of Theda, Miriam beats her hardcore in the film survival race. Click here for those results. Only 3 of her 40 shorts exist, or 7%. Only 5 of her 21 features still exist meaning about 24%. All together that means 8 of her 61 pieces of work exist meaning 13%...she has a lower result than all the vamps! Just absolutely mind boggling.

If you would like to see Miriam's final two features released on DVD please join our Honor Project to do just that by clicking here (its a two second thing!). Thanks!