Tom Powers

Cinema a century ago was a new, exciting and highly democratic form of entertainment. Picture houses nationwide offered a sociable, lively environment in which to relax and escape from the daily grind. With feature films still rare, the programme was an entertaining, ever-changing roster of short items with live musical accompaniment. 100 years on, this special compilation from the BFI National Archive recreates the glorious miscellany of comedies, dramas, travelogues and newsreels which would have constituted a typical night out in 1914. Our selection includes a comic short about a face-pulling competition, a sensational episode of The Perils of Pauline, scenes of Allied troops celebrating Christmas at the Front, and an early sighting of one of cinema’s greatest icons.

Marc Hill is the attorney for Emmet Devrey, a real estate developer with a past, who is being blackmailed by his former partner Sam Baggett. When Sam's unfaithful wife Marge cooks up a scheme with her used car salesman lover Jeff Calder to bilk both Devrey and her alcoholic husband, Sam is killed and Devrey is accused of the crime. Mark is called to prove his employers innocence.

Story follows the rise and subsequent fall of the notorious head of a New York crime family, who decides to testify against his pals in order to avoid being killed by his fellow cohorts.

John Stewart trata de establecer la ley y el orden en su pequeña localidad de Arizona, sin hacer uso de la violencia. Sin embargo, su vecino Wick Campbell no es de la misma opinión, y desea contratar los servicios de un pistolero.

Un vaquero americano (Glenn Ford) transporta ganado de Estados Unidos a la selva de Brasil, donde ha vendido una manada de toros por una pequeña fortuna. Al llegar allí, tiene que enfrentarse a dos ganaderos peleados entre sí.

Un millonario muere en un accidente de aviación cerca de la casa del profesor Patrick Cory, un científico que realiza experimentos sobre el cerebro. Cory decide extraer el cerebro del cadáver y mantenerlo vivo de manera artificial. Sin embargo, el cerebro se va adueñando progresivamente de la voluntad del científico cuando intenta comunicarse con él telepáticamente.

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in his first film adventure. Originally screened in 3D.

Obligado a cumplir condena por matar a dos hombres en defensa propia, Billy Reynolds, antiguo ayudante del sheriff, es encarcelado en la prisión de máxima seguridad de la comarca. Allí se encontrará con Jessie Gormar, un hombre cruel y despiadado que prometió matarle cuando saliera de prisión.

Professional killer Bus Crow is hired by cattlemen to eliminate squatters. When Marshal Sam Rochelle is sent to investigate, saloon owner Hallie has to be a reluctant witness.

Una partida de búsqueda y captura de unos forajidos vuelve sin éxito de su expedición. A través de un flashback conoceremos el robo cometido por un padre y sus dos hijos, y cómo un sheriff borrachín se une, sin la complacencia del resto, al grupo que trata de capturarlos.

Fiel adaptación para el cine de la obra homónima de Shakespeare. Terminada la guerra civil entre César y Pompeyo (49-46 a. C.), César se convierte en dictador vitalicio y concentra en su persona todos los poderes, lo cual implica, de hecho, la desaparición de la República. En el año 44 a. C., Casio y Bruto, dos nobles romanos defensores a ultranza de las libertades republicanas, encabezan una conjura contra el dictador, que es asesinado en los idus de marzo de ese mismo año. Cabría destacar el apologético (y demagógico) discurso que pronuncia Marco Antonio en defensa de César con el fin de soliviantar a la plebe contra los tiranicidas. Con esta obra Mankiewicz propone una lección política sobre los regímenes autoritarios.

Mike Martin becomes a deputy marshal and takes on a gang of cattle rustlers.

Joseph Cotten plays an assistant bank manager who steals $1,000,000 from the safe late on a Friday and then plans to flee to Brazil over the weekend.

Finalizada la Guerra de la Secesión (1861-1865), dos hermanos vuelven al rancho de su padre. El más joven regresa dispuesto a reanudar su trabajo como vaquero al lado de su padre (Rock Hudson); en cambio, el mayor (Robert Ryan) se ha convertido en un hombre sin escrúpulos, cruel y ambicioso, que aspira a enriquecerse utilizando todos los medios a su alcance. Los hermanos siguen, pues, caminos muy distintos, pero el destino hará que, finalmente, tengan que enfrentarse.

An unsophisticated country girl accidentally joins the army.

Paul Callan es un boxeador sordomudo que conoce a Sonya Bartow, una mujer fatal que le seduce por conveniencia para ganarse unos cuartos. Por otro lado, aparece en escena la periodista Ann Hollis, que se enamora de Paul y le anima a operarse para recuperar el oído.(

Story of a girl who witnesses murder of notorious international jewel thief. Afraid that the gang will attack her, she flees to Paris.

La historia de la difícil construcción de la línea de ferrocarril que unía la ciudad de Denver con el Río Grande, atravesando las escarpadas montañas de Colorado. Un hombre deberá luchar contra un grupo de codiciosos trabajadores que pretenden sabotear el tendido en su propio beneficio.

A Cuban businessman's (Nestor Paiva) daughter (Estelita) elopes with a professor (Robert Clarke) instead of marrying a banker's son.

Durante un vuelo con destino a Los Ángeles, traban amistad cuatro pasajeros que tienen problemas muy diferentes. A causa de una fuerte tormenta, el avión intenta aterrizar en Las Vegas, pero acaba estrellándose. El único superviviente del grupo decide visitar a las familias de los tres fallecidos. (FILMAFFINITY)

In a racially mixed American town, a five-year-old black girl falls unnoticed into a hidden, forgotten well on her way to school. Having nothing better to go on, the police follow up a report that the child was seen with a white stranger, and rumors run wild. Before hapless, innocent Claude Packard is even found, popular hysteria has him tried and convicted. But is he guilty?

Abraham Lincoln viajará en tren a Washington con motivo de su investidura y, aprovechando la ocasión, se está tramando un complot para asesinarlo a su paso por Baltimore. El detective de Nueva York John Kennedy (Dick Powell) intenta alertar a sus superiores sobre el plan, pero sus sospechas se desestiman. Entonces decide subir al tren para intentar frustrar el asesinato él mismo. No está seguro en quién confiar, pero encuentra un aliado potencial en Ginny Beaufort (Paula Raymond), la hermana de uno de los conspiradores.

Story of how the Coast Guard trained to help win World War II.

Citizens of Fairview are outraged when they learn children from the "Patch", a squalid migrant camp on the outskirts of town, will soon be attending Fairview's school.

Sean O'Malley, un popular promotor de boxeo que vive postrado en una silla de ruedas, ha perdido su prestigio profesional. Su hija Pat se ha hecho cargo de las responsabilidades de su padre y mantiene una relación sentimental con Johnny Monterez, el mejor boxeador de Sean. Durante un entrenamiento, Johnny se lesiona una mano y deciden ocultárselo a la prensa.

El empresario Archer, el general retirado Powers y el investigador aeroespacial Anderson colaboran en la puesta en órbita de un cohete propulsado con energía atómica. Construyen la nave espacial "Luna" en una base secreta del desierto de Mojave, pero agentes de una potencia extranjera intentan sabotearles. Cuando ven peligrar la misión, deciden adelantarse a sus enemigos y despegar con destino a la Luna...

Un U.S. Marshall intenta recuperar un cargamento de oro robado. (FILMAFFINITY)

Brandon Bourne no puede despegarse de su amante, Isabel Lorrisson. Sin embargo, su mujer, Jessie, lo intenta todo para conservar su amor. Las cosas se complicaránn cuando Lorrisson sea asesinada y el detective que lleve el caso se enamore de Jessie.

A young man who steals valuable Oriental objects for a lady friend who operates an antique shop gets mixed up in a twisted murder plot.

Un periodista (Alan Ladd) investiga la vida de una mujer que ha aparecido muerta con evidentes signos de haberse suicidado. Gracias a las entrevistas con personas que la conocieron va haciendo encajar las piezas de un complejo rompecabezas que lo arrastra hasta los bajos fondos y lo pone en contacto con violentos personajes.

A cop investigates the shooting of another policeman... that may have been involved in crooked activities.

A California railroad agent hunts two brothers for murder and robbing a payroll express.

Joe Bascomb persigue al estafador Harry Lambert hasta la Ciudad de México, luego de que Harry aparentemente lo estafara en un negocio de acciones petrolíferas en los Estados Unidos. Harry es el agente artístico de la ex-novia de Joe, Mary, quien bajo el nombre de Montana se hace pasar por torera. Cuando Joe se encuentra con Harry en la plaza de toros, Mary está a punto de tirar su montera a la multitud donde el afortunado destinatario será proclamado 'embajador de buena voluntad' en la Semana del Amigo Americano, una festividad local que permite al ganador viajar por México durante una semana. En realidad Harry lo ha arreglado para que Mary arroje la montera a Gus Adamson, otro estafador, pero en vez de eso, Mary se la lanza enfurecida a Joe. Resulta que Joe ahora es el 'embajador de buena voluntad' pero, a su vez, también está siendo perseguido por las autoridades estadounidenses por participar en la estafa del petróleo...

An ex-convict on his way to make his fortune in a gold mine in Arizona has his trip interrupted when the residents of a small Mexican village believe him to be a sacred religious figure.

Adaptación de una obra teatral. Un extraño cliente de un bar (James Cagney), una especie de filósofo e insaciable bebedor de caro champagne, al que le gusta escuchar viejas canciones en la gramola del bar, se hace amigo de Morris, un chico muy formal y un poco retrasado, que se ocupa de hacer todos los recados que Cagney le encarga: apostar a los caballos, recoger juguetes de niños y comprarse goma de mascar...

Dos soldados mueren mientras estaban vigilando un cargamento de oro. El oficial Haven, perteneciente a la inteligencia militar, se hace cargo del caso. Pronto descubre que la banda que aterroriza a la zona tiene como líder a una bella mujer, propietaria de una casa de juego.

El reportero de un periódico y la hija de un funcionario de inmigración se unen para denunciar la corrupción que existe en la ciudad de Nueva York.

A wealthy man hires a detective to investigate his wife's mysterious past.

The fourth film in Columbia's "Rusty" series is a lecture against gossiping. A young army veteran comes to town, and Danny and his friends learn that he had spent time in a military stockade for an infraction of a regulation. Danny's friends spread the story all over town. The seriousness of the minor infraction grows with each telling. As a sidebar, Rusty finds a mate and becomes a father.

Cine negro a cargo del realizador Irving Pichel con un atractivo reparto encabezado por Robert Young (que carga un tanto las tintas en su interpretación antipática) y la estupenda Susan Hayward. A partir de un juicio iniciado en contra de un hombre acusado del asesinato de la que fuera su amante, salen a relucir las infidelidades y los intereses económicos sobre los que descansa su matrimonio y que serán determinantes en su situación legal.

Danny Mitchell, feeling that he has been misunderstood by his parents, takes his dog, Rusty, and leaves home, camping out near the trailer of veterinary Dr. Francis Xavier Ray. Gas escapes in the trailer during the night, and Rusty rescues the vet before he is overcome.

Una mujer de origen sueco, abandona la granja de su padre rumbo a la gran ciudad. Allí se emplea como sirvienta en la casa del congresista Glen Morley, y a fuerza de tesón pronto llega a triunfar en política, logrando un puesto en Washington dentro del Congreso. (FILMAFFINITY)

Quirt Evans (John Wayne), un pistolero malherido, llega a un pequeño pueblo donde una familia le cura y le devuelve la vida. La sencillez y camaradería de la familia cambian la forma de ver las cosas de Quirt, que lentamente se va enamorando de Penélope (Gail Russell), la joven y bella hija de la familia. Pero Laredo Stevens (Bruce Cabot), su mortal enemigo, va tras él y, tarde o temprano, tendrán que enfrentarse... (FILMAFFINITY)

Adaptación del diario homónimo de Richard Henry Dana Jr., un estudiante de Harvard que relata las durísimas experiencias vividas durante una travesía en barco como marinero desde el Cabo de Hornos hasta California.

A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.

A boy's tall tale about a gun puts his parents and school principal in jail.

Cuando Johnny, terminada la II Guerra Mundial (1939-1945), vuelve a su casa, descubre que Helen, su mujer, ha encontrado un nuevo amor, Eddie, el dueño de un night club llamado 'La dalia azul'. Al principio se siente tan anonadado que piensa en vengarse, pero inmediatamente abandona la idea y se va. Cuando, al día siguiente, su mujer aparece muerta, él se convierte en el principal sospechoso. No tendrá entonces más remedio que buscar al asesino, y Joyce, la esposa de Eddie, le ayudará a encontrarlo

The story of Joe Ferrill, whose efforts to raise enough money so that his imprisoned father can live comfortably upon release come to naught when the elder Ferrill dies behind bars. Vowing revenge on Society, Joe aligns himself with a bunch of gangsters. He intends to use his mob connections to get even with auditor John Mitchell, the man whose testimony sent Joe's dad to the Big House. But Joe hasn't counted on falling in love with Mitchell's pretty daughter Chris.

A reporter learns that an executed killer has taken over a scientist's mind.

Un piloto de la armada (Fred MacMurray) está a punto de ser derribado al participar en una arriesgada misión. Finalmente cae en la propiedad de una muchacha llamada Peggy (Claudette Colbert), estableciéndose una divertida confusión entre el nombre de su perro 'Piggy' y el de la chica. Esto lleva al novio de Peggy a creer que el piloto está enamorado de ella.

MacMurray es un vendedor de seguros que, en connivencia con Barbara Stanwyck, elabora un plan para asesinar al marido de ella y quedarse con el dinero de su seguro. Obra cumbre del género, uno de los ejercicios de suspense más fascinantes de todos los tiempos.

Daisy and her husband both go in for a face-pulling contest, but when the big day comes she is unable to attend the competition, and her husband wins instead. When the next opportunity comes around, she is determined to win -- but gets a little over-enthusiastic on the way to the contest and finds herself in trouble! She is most ungrateful for her rescue; fate, however, catches up with her that night…

Aunque no es la primera película animada de largometraje, como a veces se piensa, fue la primera caricatura en presentar un personaje con una personalidad atractiva. La aparición de un verdadero personaje lo distinguió de anteriores "películas de trucos" animadas, como las de Blackton y Cohl, y lo convierte en el predecesor de dibujos animados populares posteriores, como los de Walt Disney. La película también fue la primera creada con animación de fotogramas clave.

Seeing Cutey play the part of a maid of all work at a college play, Alys Trevor seeks an introduction to him and they soon become good friends. She takes him with her to present him to her mother, whom she finds talking to a stranger, Lord Goodbluff. Mama does not seem very pleased to meet Cutey. Later Cutey calls at the Trevor house to see Alys and meets Goodbluff there, who soon quarrels with him. Mrs. Trevor, entering in the midst of the dispute, requests Cutey to leave the house and apologizes to Goodbluff for the young man's behavior. Then she sends a note to Cutey, telling him that her daughter is no longer free to receive his calls. By a strange occurrence, Cutey's suspicions of Goodbluff are aroused and he determines to watch him. Noticing an advertisement in the paper for a maid of all work, inserted by Mrs. Trevor, he obtains the necessary disguise and applies for the position, which he gets.

From his apartment, where he lives a cheerless widower's life, overlooking Washington Park, Alan Dale sees a refined, but poverty-stricken old gentleman on one of the park benches. Calling his butler, he instructs him to go down and tell the old man he would like to see him. When the butler approaches the elderly man the old fellow is somewhat skeptical, but finally consents to go with him. Alan receives his guest cordially and tells him why he has requested him to come and invites him to dinner. During the meal the old man tells his life's story: how he married a young woman, and after the birth of a little daughter, she died. How his daughter had married a young fellow and gone to live in New York, and how he had lost his money. The last news he had received of her was of her death.

A comic one-act film featuring the character Bunny, which takes place in an office.

This domestic comedy depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on the weekly poker game.

Dolly Dillard jumps at the conclusion that George Gordon is playing her false, as he affectionately greets his sister at the train when she comes to pay him a visit. Dolly, who is not acquainted with his sister, sends back her engagement ring. Sad and disconsolate, she saunters to the cliffs overlooking the seashore, trying to forget her imagined wrong. As she is climbing down the side of the rocky prominence, her foot slips and she falls into a narrow crevice. She finds herself helpless with a sprained ankle. Remembering George's returned match-case, she tears a piece of cloth from her skirt; writes with a burnt match a note, telling of her accident. She ties it around her shoe and throws it over the cliff to her collie dog Jean, who carries the missive to George, who at once, after summoning aid, goes to her rescue, accompanied by his sister.

Four young college students find themselves with no money and a lot of debts. Each has received a peremptory refusal from home to send any more money to them and they are in despair. Suddenly Claude has an idea. They will hire Susan B. Gabonthy to lecture for them, clear about one hundred dollars apiece, and have enough to tide them over into the next term.

Employed as secretary to Howard Abele, Marjorie Abbott attracts the attention of Sydney, her employer's son, who falls desperately in love with her. Mr. Abele is strenuously opposed to their marriage and he quarrels with his son. Marjorie has a half-brother, Dave, who is of an inventive turn of mind.

Emphatically opposed to Jack Moss, old Mr. McGillicuddy puts the ban on his marriage to his daughter Dolly. The old gentleman is adamant to the appeals of the young lovers and interposes his interference on every occasion, when they get together. McGillicuddy is seized with an attack of the gout, which handicaps him, and it is then Jack arranges with Dolly to elope.

A drama about a poor composer who is betrayed by his family and left alone.

Everybody's ordered out on a strike when Benjamin Cohen, proprietor of a sweat-shop, reduces the employees' wages ten per cent. Rebecca Barish, a young Jewess, and her father, reluctantly go out with the rest. Unable to find other work, their circumstances become so reduced that Rebecca is obliged to go to the pawnshop with some of their belongings, and while there, Jacob Stattler, the pawnbroker, takes a fancy to her, and offers her father, through a schatehen, five hundred dollars to give her to him in manage.

Peter Barton leaves his wealth to his niece, Mary, disinheriting his dissipated son, Edgar, who steals the will. Jack Smart, a rascal, an associate of Edgar's, keeps close watch upon him. At the point of a revolver he compels Edgar to surrender the will to him. Mary, the niece, is obliged to go to work, takes a position as a reporter, and meets Tom Swayne, who falls in love with her. Tom sees Jack Smart in a restaurant, and after the villain leaves, Tom picks up a menu card, upon which Smart has written some hieroglyphics. Mary shows him an envelope which she picked up in her uncle's room, where Smart took the will from Edgar, after he had stolen it. Tom compares it and the hieroglyphics on it with those on the menu card. They are the same.

Set in Biblical times, this tells the story of how Jesus affected the lives of two people: Joseph, a young Jewish man, and Maximums, a centurion in the Roman army.

A Western drama in which a gang steals John’s horse and then kidnaps Polly when she tries to warn the new buyer.

A mountaineer, who has been shot by a pursuing sheriff, is concealed by a mountain girl in her cabin. When the sheriff arrives, she gives him whiskey, while secretly removing the bullets from his gun.