(archive footage)
The careers of D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin are chronicled culminating in the formation of United Artists and 1919.
Various (archive footage)
Charles Chaplin añade nueva música y narración a tres de sus comedias mudas: "Vida de perro", "Armas al hombro" y "El peregrino".
(archive footage)
A compilation of early-day silent films that serves as a glimpse back to the formative days of the movie industry as a salute to Hollywood's Golden Year, so proclaimed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce as 1953.
(archive footage)
This short film takes a nostalgic look at the Mack Sennett comedies of the silent cinema era.
Captain Wiggins - the Lighthouse Keeper
Two marines stationed in the Chinese port of Hang Chow decide to swear off women and join the lighthouse patrol.
A cub reporter rashly makes a promise to solve a murder mystery within 24 hours, then must make good on his boast.
Stout Hearts and Willing Hands is a 1931 short comedy film directed by Bryan Foy. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1932 for Best Short Subject (Comedy), but was disqualified.
Le Bottin
The Haddocks are going on a European vacation and from their reception at the station, where the whole town goes to see them off, it is clear who wears the pants in the family - it's their daughter Mildred. Her parents often proclaim she is a genius - but she is just smarter than them, which wouldn't be too hard! On the train, Finn meets shyster Harry who sizes Finn up as a sucker and quickly wires his partner Bessie, aka "The Princess" to make Finn's acquaintance and take him for everything he has.
First Fat Diner (uncredited)
Mr. Schmidt's costume store is bankrupt because he spends his time on Rube Goldberg-style inventions; the creditors send a young manager who falls for Schmidt's niece Louise, but she'll have none of him. Schmidt's friends Ted, Queenie, and some goofy firemen try to help out; things come to a slapstick head when Louise needs rescuing from a fire.
Mack
Two street cleaners save the life of the police commissioner. In gratitude, he gives them jobs as policemen. Their first assignment? Capture the #1 criminal on the "Ten Most Wanted" list.
Dutchy
The sister of a sponge diver killed by a stingray loves an escaped convict posing as a priest.
Magistrate
Feyda is a man of wealth and has many fine qualities, but he is powerless to resist gambling and beautiful women. Feyda falls instantly in love with Lisa, who is engaged to his dear friend Victor.
Hotel Proprietor
En su primer aniversario, Ann Reagan descubre que su cuñada está involucrada con un personaje turbio con el que ella solía intimar y decide intervenir.
Robert Bunce
A producer decides to reopen a theater, that had been closed five years previously when one of the actors was murdered during a performance, by staging a production of the same play with the remaining members of the original cast.
Detective Ryan
Wealthy Bob visits his mother's Florida houseboat in order to remove her jewelry and stumbles upon a bobbed-hair bandit and her male accomplice, who mistake him for another burglar. A fight is broken up by the arrival of an elderly couple (still more burglars) who are posing as guests. Bob keeps his identity secret and passes himself off as the butler; the girl and her partner pretend to be the maid and the cook. A couple of idiotic detectives, arrive on the scene, closely followed by a heavy fog that traps them all on board.
Wilbur Ashcraft
The Girl from Nowhere is a comedy short
Tillie's Father
The ring master is plotting to get the circus owner done away with in a lion cage so he can take over.
Sir Francis Beekman
A bordo de un trasatlántico, dos chicas intentan atrapar a uno de los solterones más ricos en América.
Wilfred Ashcraft - Director
Mack Sennett comedy short subject spoofing filmmaking, with girls, lions, and limburger cheese.
Bragg
Laconic cowboy Maverick Brander just happens to be a very wealthy rancher, but the money doesn't really mean that much to him. The same can't be said for his social-climbing wife and his man-crazy daughter Bossy. His wife, with the help of some political bosses, helps Maverick get elected to Congress, where he manages to get in all sorts of trouble, including getting blackmailed by opponents of a bill he's trying to get passed.
Irving Spiegelberg
Becky (1927) film
Judge
Joe Merril, hijo del millonario propietario de una popular cadena de tiendas, se hace pasar por Joe Grant para trabajar en el almacén de una de las tiendas de su padre y así demostrar que puede triunfar sin la influencia de éste. En el almacén conoce a Maggie Johnson, y los dos se enamoran. Pero esto supone un problema, porque la señora Merril ha planeado que su hijo se case con Millicent Rogers, una chica de la alta sociedad...
Vladimir Gaidaroff
There is hunger in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. One day while dim-witted peasant Sergei is searching corpses for food, he meets a young woman looking for the town of Novokursk. She asks Sergei to help her get there, and to tell anyone they might meet that he is her husband.
Mike Kelly
The neighborly "feud" between a Jewish and an Irish families escalates when two of their youngsters fall in love.
Nicholas
François Villon, in his lifetime the most renowned poet in France, is also a prankster, an occasional criminal, and an ardent patriot.
A woman hears of a murder plot through a whispered voice on the telephone.
Jerome Underwood
Henry Williams, out in Arizona looking for a cure for his imaginary ills, stops at the ranch of Jud Morgan, and decides to stay. Jud's daughter, Sally, attracts his attention, although she is engaged to be married to Sheriff Bob Wells. Henry rides with her to town, where she wants to go shopping for her wedding clothes, but they run out of gas. No, problem' Henry holds up a passing motorist, with a monkey-wrench, and takes gasoline out of his car. They stop at a ranch where the foreman makes them become the cook and dishwasher. Then Jerome Underwood and his daughter, Harriet, arrive and they recognize Henry and Sally as the ones who held them up for gas. The jealous sheriff adds to the complications.
Ludwig
Department-store models Flo and Marian set their sights on wealthy young soft-drink magnate J. A. Smith. Through a misunderstanding, they pick on the wrong J. A. Smith, a fortune hunter himself who assumes that Marian is a wealthy widow. Meanwhile, Marian falls for the real Smith, never dreaming that he's the millionaire.
Pastryman
Kiki se gana la vida vendiendo periódicos por las calles de París. Cuando se entera que una chica del coro ha sido despedida de la revista Folies Barbes dirigida por Víctor Renal, encuentra un camino para realizar su sueño y solicita el trabajo. Kiki se gasta todo su dinero en comprar ropa adecuada, pero es expulsada de la prueba ya que no ha sido recomendada por la Agencia de colocación. Pero no ceja en su empeño. Mientras está en la sala esperando para otra prueba, es confundida con la secretaria de Renald por una solicitante de la Agencia, quien le da a Kiki su carta de recomendación. Ésta se apropia de la carta y se la presenta a Renald, quien le procura otra audición...
Bimbo-Bomba
Sea Horses is a 1926 American drama silent film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Becky Gardiner, James Shelley Hamilton and Francis Brett Young. The film stars Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, William Powell, George Bancroft, Mack Swain, Frank Campeau and Allan Simpson. The film was released on February 22, 1926, by Paramount Pictures. It is considered a lost film.
Don Matías
A young girl and her father are kicked out of their house by a cruel noblewoman, and the girl's heart is broken when her sweetheart, the noblewoman's son, won't go to Paris with them. After becoming an opera star in Paris, the girl returns to her homeland and finds her romance with the nobleman rekindled.
Innkeeper (uncredited)
Cuando Vladimir Dubrovsky rehúsa convertirse en amante de la zarina Catalina II, ésta, herida en su orgullo, lo acusa de ser un criminal y ordena que lo capturen vivo o muerto. Las propiedades de la familia Dubrovsky son inmediatamente confiscadas y entregadas a Kyrilla Troekouroff, un hombre cruel que provoca la muerte del padre de Vladimir. Cuando éste se entera, jura vengarse y, para ello, se oculta tras un antifaz negro y actúa con el apodo de Águila Negra. Para ejecutar su venganza, se disfraza de preceptor y entra en la casa de Troekouroff como profesor de francés de Mascha, la hija de su enemigo. Pero sus planes se tambalean cuando empieza a enamorarse de la joven.
Big Jim McKay
Aventuras de un solitario buscador de oro en Alaska, donde se topa con varios personajes rudos, y se enamora de la hermosa Georgia, a la que trata de conquistar.
The Vamp's Husband
Pitfalls of a Big City is a 1923 short comedy
The Girl's Father
A rival courtships in a variety of absurd situations.
Deacon
Charlot (Charles Chaplin) logra fugarse de la cárcel y en la huída roba los hábitos de un pastor, vestido de tal manera que al llegar a un pueblo los habitantes lo confunden con el párroco al que estaban esperando...
Foreman
Charlot trabaja de peón. Cuando llega tarde, le regala al capataz un lirio blanco para que le perdone, pero es tan lento en su trabajo que el capataz lo traslada a la sección de albañilería, donde trabaja tan deprisa que los compañeros no pueden seguirlo. Cuando la hija del capataz aparece, Charlot pierde la cabeza...
Edna's Father (uncredited)
Chaplin interpreta tanto a un rico señor como a un vagabundo. Ambos se encuentran en situaciones paradójicas donde uno es tomado por el otro.
Ambrose Schnitz
Mack "Ambrose" Swain, the ladies man, finds himself in all kinds of lady trouble.
Director
Mack "Ambrose" Swain, the ladies man, finds himself in all kinds of lady trouble.
The Sheriff
A slapstick comedy featuring Mack Swain.
Boarder (unconfirmed)
The Late Lamented is a 1917 Comedy short.
Ambrose
A woman has moved to a small town boarding house to seek peace and quiet. All too soon she finds herself in a Keystone movie, where there's everything but.
Walter Ambrose
Café ownder Mack Swain goes gaga over a gal.
Rover Peabody - the Chosen One
The Pullman Bride is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Gloria Swanson.
Ambrose
Ambrose likes his mother's assistant, but when she inherits a fortune, the obstacles to their relationship keep mounting.
Jim - a Big Hearted Sheriff
Jim, the apple of his mother's eyes, is the big-hearted galoot of a man and is sheriff of his small town. He is sweet on Nell, who he has known all his life. Just as he is about to propose to her, he finds out that he has missed his opportunity as Diamond Dan, a big city slicker, has already proposed to her, to which she's accepted.
Handsome Jack
The star of a film attends a public showing.
The Spy
Swain and Conklin, two international secret service men of questionable reputation, have taken up headquarters in an underground refuge from which they direct their operations. They are engaged in an effort to steal a valuable code book from Prime Minister Cogley.
Ambrose
Walrus and his wife run the Walrus Hotel, which acrobats Mr. & Mrs. Ambrose are staying at. Walrus gets a letter from his insurance broker Mr. Cinder demanding a payment. Short on cash, Walrus decides to get his tenants' money now. Ambrose and his wife are in the middle of a domestic squabble when Walrus pays a visit, and his presence only makes things worse. Mr. Cinder visits Walrus himself, and he carelessly throws his cigarette into a trash can. After he leaves, the hotel catches on fire and the rest of the film is a thrilling five-minute race to pay off the insurance!
Mabel's Rival's Husband
Mabel has just gotten engaged during a housewarming party of which her mother is the hostess. When an annoying party guest persuades Mabel to dance with him, Mabel hurries through the dance and then goes to look for her fiancé, only to discover him caressing another woman. Her fiancé finds not only Mabel, but also her mother, very displeased, and not inclined to believe his explanation.
Ambrose
Ambrose's nasty temper gets him in trouble when he accidentally puts his boss's attractive daughter in danger.
Ambrose
King Ambrose chooses a queen from among the maidens of his kingdom. After they are married, Robin, a young man the queen had known earlier, attempts to steal her from her royal husband. Robin shoots arrows with notes attached and the queen initially runs away with him. The queen, however, rejects her former suitor in favor of the king after Ambrose saves her from a snake. Her rejected suitor plots with the jester to bomb the palace but their plot backfires.
Ambrose
A couple of roving husbands are caught at the seashore by their wives.
Ambrose
Mack Swain is making a dress for Louise Fazenda. He discovers his dressmaker's dummy requires his adjustment, so he pulls out his hatchet for the job. Through the window shade, onlookers -- including her husband -- see him as killing a woman.
Audience Member (uncredited)
A happy young couple become engaged, and soon afterwards they are married. But after their marriage, the husband begins to stay out carousing with his friends, leaving his wife at home with her mother. Then, when the three of them go to the opera together, the husband spots one of his friends in another box. Soon the domestic difficulties reach their peak.
Ambrose
Ambrose loses his girl-friend to Harry Gribbon in the park. When Ambrose's "girl-friend"'s twin sister and husband arrive everybody gets mixed-up between the two twins.
Pa Ambrose
Marksman Ambrose accidentally shoots a beer stein his wife has bought for him as a gift, so he tries to replace it.
The Grafter
Largely a typical Keystone flirting-in-the-park one-reeler, this one is differentiated slightly by dressing the players in early nineteenth century garb and having them adopt antiquated manners.
Fight Spectator
Charles Murray out romancing in the park.
The Bartender
Featuring Charlie Chaplin's half-brother as The Husband, Phyllis Allen as The Wife, Slim Summerville as The Boy Friend, Cecile Arnold as The Girl Friend, and Mack Swain as The Bartender.
Ambrose
Bankers Mack Swain & Chester Conklin courting each other's wives.
Ambrose Schnitz
Fatty es un vagabundo inofensivo. Cuando entra en el bar de Ambrose Schnitz con la idea de almorzar gratis y de beber algo de aguardiente sin pagar, el señor Schnitz lo echa. Alguien ha estado volando por los aires las tabernas de las personas que tratan mal a las personas sin recursos, por lo que los clientes de Schnitz le juegan una mala pasada, dejándole una nota anónima en la que le dicen que el lugar va a explotar a las 3 de la tarde. Schnitz cree que Fatty es el culpable, por lo que cuando lo ve aparecer cuando faltan pocos minutos para las tres, provisto de un queso de bola, cree que está armado con una bomba y huye despavorido del local, en busca de la policía. Fatty no sabe qué ha pasado, pero ahora tiene la barra entera para él..
Ambrose
After Walrus has been shot, Ambrose takes him into his house. When Ambrose sees Walrus flirting with his wife he leaves. When Walrus runs away with Mrs. Ambrose, Ambrose gets on a horse to save her. The Keystone Kops are also after Walrus.
Ambrose
The ever-disreputable Reggie Gussle, mistreating his caddy and generally making an ass of himself on the golf course, receives a well-deserved golf ball to the noggin, temporarily rendering him disoriented. The offending golfer, Ambrose, and his wife feel terrible about the erring ball; but if they knew what Gussle was capable of, they'd have left him lying on the green. Later, at his social club, Gussle gets thrown out of a card game for cheating. Ambrose, ignorant of the exiting Gussle's dishonesty, greets him warmly before joining the game himself. Gussle suddenly has an idea that will give him revenge on the card players and get rid of Ambrose so that Gussle can make his moves on his gullible friend's beautiful wife.
Ambrose
After running into a friend and two ladies, a married man sends his wife a note saying that he's taken a train for business, but then his wife reads that the train crashed.
Other People's Business
King Lowbrow
Situada en la Edad de Piedra, el Rey Low-Brow gobierna el lugar y tiene un harén de esposas. Weakchin (Chaplin) llega al lugar (donde cada hombre tiene un centenar de esposas) y se enamora de la esposa favorita del rey. Charlot pelea con el rey y lo arroja por un acantilado. Como se lo presume muerto, Charlot se corona rey y comienza a disfrutar de su favorita con todo el harén a sus pies.
Ambrose
Charlot y su esposa están paseando por el parque, encuentran a Ambrose y su esposa y Charlot comienza a cortejar a esta última desencadenando el conflicto.
Cafe Patron - In from the Mines
A city slicker tries to woo a country girl while her boyfriend fixes his tire.
Ambrose
Fatty, his wife and mother-in-law are on a ferry to Catalina Island for an outing. So are Mabel and her father. Mabel and Fatty flirt with each other, and Fatty tosses her father overboard, thinking he is another suitor. The boat docks and the two go their separate ways. Mack Swain tries to pick Mabel up, too. All go to rent bathing suits, Fatty locks Mack in a dressing room with mother-in-law. Fatty and Mabel feed a large fish to a seal at the water's edge, and then engage in some graceful and comic diving. Swain, Avery, Durfee and Davenport see them diving and corner them...everyone's relationship to each other is revealed. —Ben Model, ben@silentclowns.com
Restaurant Proprietor
Fatty's Wine Party is a 1914 American short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle.
Tillie's father
Charlot es un timador de ciudad que induce a Tillie a robar los ahorros de su padre y huya con él. Una vez ha llegado a la ciudad, Charlot se apropia del dinero y vuelve junto a Mabel, su primer amor y pareja del delito. Esta considerado como el primer largometraje del genero de comedia de la historia.
Ambrose
Charlot y su amigo Ambrose se encuentran en el restaurante, y accidentalmente cada uno se lleva el abrigo del otro
Mike, Charlie's Partner
A Charlot y su compañero le encomiendan entregar un piano y retirar otro. Confunden las direcciones y tratan de ejecutar la tarea aún contra la voluntad de los propietarios hasta que, finalmente, el piano cae por una ventana a la calle.
Mr. Walrus
Mabel y su novio van al autodromo y Charlot toma su lugar para ingresar sin pagar en tanto el novio y un amigo de Charlot son expulsados por un policía.
The Married Flirt
Hello, Mabel (also known as On a Busy Wire) is a 1914 American short silent comedy film directed by Mack Sennett.
Patient
Chaplin es el ayudante de un dentista con muchos pacientes. Uno de esos pacientas cae rendido ante al gas anestésico, al que el ayudante cura con un golpe en la cabeza El dentista manda a Chaplin a rellenar una prescripción, en el camino tiene un lió con un hombre gordo esperado afuera de la farmacia, se produce una persecución en que Chaplin por casualidad le quita la falda a la mujer del dentista, que pasaba por allí. Llaman al dentista avisándole que su esposa ha tenido un accidente, y al regresar Chaplin usurpa su puesto. Elige a la paciente más bonita, se sienta encima, le toma la nariz con las pinzas y la besa en la boca. Entra un nuevo paciente, pero también está esperando aquel tipo con que se había liado. Se persiguen, corren, entra todo el mundo y la casa se convierte en un caos, concluyendo todos o golpeados o desmayados.
(unconfirmed)
A Rowboat Romance is a 1914 Comedy short.
Wellington, a Ladykiller
Mabel llega a casa después de haber sido humillada por un matón al que su esposo no peleará. El marido va a emborracharse a un bar. Mabel entretanto consigue un maniquí para que su marido se entrene en el boxeo. Al retornar a casa, el esposo ebrio la confunde e invita a salir.
(unconfirmed)
A comedy short that revolves around a poker game, both above and underneath the table. This is considered to be a lost film.
Gambler (uncredited)
Un par de vagabundos deciden fingir una pelea de exhibición de boxeo para un promotor. En tanto Pug, un tipo de buen corazón pero alborotador, enfrenta un grupo de atrevidos que molesta a su novia. Impresionados por sus habilidades deciden hacerlo pasar por Cyclone Flynn, el campeón, y hacerlo participar de un encuentro de boxeo.
Another rival
Tres hombres pelearán por el amor de una encantadora joven. Uno de ellos, Charlot, consigue sacarlos del juego haciendo trampa y usando un mazo y encerrándolos en un granero. Un niño precoz intenta, sin éxito, competir con Charlot.
A silent comedy short directed by Mabel Normand.
Husband
Chaplin representa el personaje de una mujer de carácter fuerte que encuentra a su marido cortejando una mujer. En su furia la mujer irrumpe en un set de filmación derribando al director de la película, encarnado por Mack Sennett y a un policía representado por Billy Gilbert hasta que finalmente el esposo empuja a su mujer de un muelle haciéndola caer al agua.
Husband
Aprovechando la ausencia momentánea del esposo, Charlot coquetea con una dama en un banco del parque. Cuando el mismo regresa increpa a Charlot y le hace una escena a su mujer. En el hotel, donde la discusión continúa, Charlot se equivoca de puerta, reencuentra a la pareja y se hace expulsar violentamente. Charlot se acuesta en una habitación vecina pero la mujer, que es sonámbula, se le aparece y Charlot la devuelve a su habitación provocando un alboroto con el esposo y con todo el hotel. Refugiado en la parte exterior de una ventana, bajo la lluvia, es rescatado por la policía. En la batahola final Charlot trata de escapar pero la sonámbula vuelve a caer en sus brazos.
Tough Patron / Party Guest / Boy's Father (uncredited)
Mientras atraviesa un parque Charlot encuentra a Mabel, una joven de alta sociedad, y a dos malandrines que la están asaltando y logra ponerlos en fuga. En agradecimiento la joven lo invita a una fiesta. Charlot, que era camarero en un café de un barrio pobre, se hace pasar por un conde y concurre a la misma. Sus barrabasadas y su vulgaridad llaman la atención pero no lo delatan. Charlot regresa a su trabajo y justo allí concurre el festejante de Mabel, y rival de Charlot, con algunos amigos en tren de visitar un lugar para ellos desusado. Finaliza la película con un alboroto final al ser descubierta su impostura.
Spectator at Races
Charlie, competing with his rival's race car, offers Mabel a ride on his motorcycle but drops her in a puddle. He also kidnaps his rival before the race. But Mabel decides to take the wheels in his place, thus causing a threat to Charlie. As the race progresses, despite a very late start, Mabel manages to gain a lead of three laps. Charlie with his henchmen, tries to sabotage the race by using oil and bombs on the track. They seem to succeed for a while, but their dirty tricks were not enough to stop the high-spirited Mabel from winning the race.
A short comedy directed by Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett. believed to be a lost film.
Crook (uncredited)
Two criminals chase a plainclothes policeman who, while taking out his dog, witnesses their crime.
A Robust Romeo is a 1914 movie starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Emma Bell Clifton.
The Belle's Boyfriend
Ford Sterling and Mack Swain are a couple of neighborhood toughs who fight over Emma Clifton and get involved in burglary in this Keystone from 1914.
Villager
The Under-Sheriff is a 1914 movie starring Roscoe Arbuckle and George Nichols.
Villager / Cop
Mabel has two suitors - an oily con man, whom she mocks in a very funny scene where she is shown twiddling a fake moustache and making her feelings very clearly felt. Even in this early comedy her natural fun comes through. The one she really loves is clumsy yokel Ford Sterling, who is determined to buy an oil well that the con man has for sale. The conman gets a local fellow to pour oil over the property. Ford falls for it and buys it - Mabel and he are to be married. Then the fellow confesses that it was just a scam - there was no oil.
Cop at Station House
Fatty rescues the daughter of the police commisioner and is given a job as an officer as a reward, but its not all its cracked up to be!
Desk Sergeant / Park Attendant
Two rivals for Mabel's hand play a series of dirty tricks on each other. Finally, one of them gets Mabel alone and is about to marry her, but his rival comes up with a strange scheme to stop them. Soon the Keystone Kops arrive on the scene, and chaos quickly ensues.
