(Archive footage)
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.
Man in Sing-a-Long Audience (uncredited)
Songwriter Gus Kahn fights to make his name, then has to fight again to survive the Depression.
Juror (uncredited)
Joe McDoakes pleads "not guilty" to a traffic violation but is convicted anyway. Handling this setback in his usual manner, the two-dollar fine quickly pyramids to a 10-year jail sentence.
(uncredited)
An American serviceman remains in France after WWII and becomes a black marketeer.
Poker Player (uncredited)
In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes experiences the pitfalls of gambling.
Wallpaper Hanger (uncredited)
Joe McDoakes and his wife go apartment hunting.
Waiter (uncredited)
An old millionaire, who believes he's dying, bequeaths his fortune to a young woman with a fanatical obsession with movie stars. But then the elderly tycoon recovers from his illness and decides he wants his money back. Comedy most notable for its numerous unbilled cameos by Warner Bros. actors.
Bus Passenger (uncredited)
無実の罪で投獄された男ビンセント・バリーは、サンクエンティン刑務所を脱獄。無実の罪で獄死した父を持つ女性アイリーンの助けを借り、顔まで変えて真犯人に近づいていくが・・・。
Gypsy (clip from "Gypsy Sweetheart", 1935) (uncredited)
Two tour guides take visitors on a promotional tour of Warner Bros.' studios.
Clerk at Hinkel's (uncredited)
Joe takes his wife on a much-needed vacation, and almost survives.
Drawing Room Gent
Funloving Pearl White, working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic vaudeville performance. Her brief stage career leads her into those "horrible" moving pictures, where she comes to love the chaotic world of silent movies, becoming queen of the serials. But the consequences of movie stardom may be more than her leading man can take
Courtroom Spectator
Christine Hunter kills an intruder and tells her husband and lawyer that it was an act of self-defense. It's later revealed that he was actually her lover and she had posed for an incriminating statue he created.
Racetrack Vendor (uncredited)
In this outing, Joe loves playing the horses and shows what you can do to improve your odds of winning.
Police in Office
After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.
Waiter (uncredited)
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Train Conductor (uncredited)
Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives.
Bartender (uncredited)
In this short western, a gang of outlaws plots to gain control of the town of Tulsa.
Seaman (uncredited)
Merchant Marine sailors Joe Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) and Steve Jarvis (Raymond Massey) are charged with getting a supply vessel to Russian allies as part of a sea convoy. When the group of ships comes under attack from a German U-boat, Rossi and Jarvis navigate through dangerous waters to evade Nazi naval forces. Though their mission across the Atlantic is extremely treacherous, they are motivated by the opportunity to strike back at the Germans, who sank one of their earlier ships.
Court Attendant (uncredited)
Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to America as an advocate of Stalinism.
Miner (Uncredited)
Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.
(archive footage)
This short film takes a nostalgic look at the Mack Sennett comedies of the silent cinema era.
Paul - Waiter at Rick's (uncredited)
戦火近づく'40年の仏領モロッコ、カサブランカは、自由を求めて渡米しようとする人々で溢れていた。ナイトクラブを経営するリックの元へ、ナチの手を逃れてここまでやって来た抵抗運動の指導者が現れる。だがその人物の妻は、かつてパリでリックと恋に落ちたイルザだった……。
One of the Gardeners (uncredited)
A doctor tries to rescue a young innocent from Nazi agents.
Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
A young woman marries a man who turns out to be a bank robber.
Mr. Peters
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.
Janitor
A World War II Hollywood propaganda film detailing the dark underside of Nazism and the Third Reich set between two brothers, Kurt and Erik Franken, whom are SS officers in the Nazi party. Kurt learns and exposes the evils of the system to Erik and tries to convince him of the immoral stance that marches under the symbol of the swastika.
Paul - Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
A reporter and a police detective sort through the clues in a night-club owner's murder.
Taxi Driver Helping Ram Singh (Uncredited)
Occupants of a London boarding house become suspects as a string of murders are discovered.
Jim's Cafe Waiter
After his doctor informs him he will die in six months, Professor Henry Todhunter decides to spend his last days killing someone who contributes nothing but harm to society. When Henry learns that his friend Betty's husband, Michael, has been painting forgeries of ancient paintings for gallery owner Ketti Moret, he investigates the fraudulent dealer's life. Judging that Ketti is truly evil, Henry prepares to murder her.
Trial Spectator (uncredited)
After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.
Proprietor of Italian Restaurant (uncredited)
While courting a young woman by mail, a rich farmer sends a photograph of his foreman instead of his own, which leads to complications when she accepts his marriage proposal.
Extra at Train Station (uncredited)
The story of legendary Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne.
Dance Contest Observer (uncredited)
The heartbreaking but hopeful tale of Danny Kenny and Peggy Nash, two sweethearts who meet and struggle through their impoverished lives in New York City. When Peggy, hoping for something better in life for both of them, breaks off her engagement to Danny, he sets out to be a championship boxer, while she becomes a dancer paired with a sleazy partner. Will tragedy reunite the former lovers?
Bumping Man Exiting Subway (uncredited)
Director William Keighley's 1940 film adaptation of S. N. Behrman's stage hit, about an aspiring playwright who finds himself an overnight Broadway success, stars James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Genevieve Tobin, Louise Beavers, Charles Ruggles and Allyn Joslyn.
Depositor (uncredited)
An embezzler's wife begs his boss for forgiveness, only to fall in love with him.
Man in Saloon (uncredited)
Leslie is being chased by the gangsters, the police and the insurance investigators. He is on the run. Falsely accused of a murder, he embarks upon a life-and-death journey to save his family.
Pete - the Nightwatchman (uncredited)
An inventor and his bride get testy in the city as they try to make ends meet.
Ship Worker (uncredited)
Dying Joan Ames meets criminal Dan Hardesty on a luxury liner as he is being transported back to America by policeman Steve Burke to face execution. Joan and Dan fall in love, their fates unbeknownst to one another.
Lumberjack (uncredited)
Outdoor drama about a newly-hired lumberjack discovering that his former girlfriend is now his new boss's wife.
Peasant
During WWI pretty German master spy Helene von Lorbeer is sent undercover to London to live with the family of a high-placed British official where she is to rendezvous with the butler Valdar, also a spy, and help him transmit secret war plans back to Germany.
Extra in Restaurant / Extra at Wedding Reception (uncredited)
In this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as she falls in love with Felix, but on the day of her engagement discovers that she carries Mickey's child.
Hospital Attendant (uncredited)
When news reporter Walter Garrett arrives at the hotel room of bombshell actress Angela Merrova to conduct an interview, he finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. He returns with the police to find the hotel empty and the body vanished. Garrett writes about the incident but is fired when Merrova, alive and well, goes to the paper to complain. Now his only chance to get his job back is to find the truth, which involves the grisly scheme of a madman.
Extra as Convict in Yard (uncredited)
T-Man Brass Bancroft goes undercover in a prison which has a secret counterfeit operation set up in the print shop.
Stagehand
A Russian dance company agrees to stage the new ballet written by a vaudeville hoofer.
Brahm
Hans Memling, a young intellectual, patriotic German, is secretly opposed to the Nazi regime. With the aid of Gustav Schultz, Father Pommer, Anna Wahl and others, he is gleaning accurate information from foreign radio broadcasts and distributing it through Germany with an underground-press operation. He convinces his brother-in-law Karl Bach, the brother of his wife Elsa, that Hitler is leading Germany toward a second world war. Karl, in love with Anna, joins the movement, determined to restore German culture and save the people from the brutality of the Storm Troopers and the Gestapo. The group has an inside link through Albert Stalhelm, a Storm Trooper and one of Hitler's Elite Guards. Albert is sickened by the brutalities he sees and wants to resign and flee Germany, but Hans persuades him to remain until they can find a replacement. He agrees, but warns the group that he is forced to join in the Nazi orgies and liquor loosens his tongue...
Fight Spectator (uncredited)
In this comedic short, when a waiter accidentally knocks out boxing champ Tiger Dorsey in Slapsie Maxie's restaurant, Maxie arranges a boxing match between the reluctant waiter and the champ.
Work Farm Gate Guard (uncredited)
Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him.
Reporter (uncredited)
Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.
Man Running in Courtroom / Policeman at Bowling Alley (uncredited)
A young man just released from a reformatory moves to a new neighborhood with his sister, intending to start a new life. However, he gets mixed up with the local mob boss and corrupt politicians and soon finds himself being framed for an arson and murder he didn't commit.
Wrestling Match Spectator (uncredited)
Torchy Blane and Steve McBride try to nab a gangster by tracking his moll.
Convict (uncredited)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Waiter at Dance (uncredited)
Nan Masters, a single mother living with her four marriageable daughters, plans to marry Sam Sloane, businessman. Out of the blue her 1st husband Jim returns after deserting the family 20 years earlier. The worldly wanderer Jim gets a cool family reception at first but his warm personality gradually wins the affections of his four daughters. In fact, youngest daughter Buff, who has her eye on a maverick of her own in Gabriel Lopez, is pleased when Jim grants his stamp of approval on her relationship. Buff plans to elope with Gabriel on her mother's wedding day, but 'unpredictable' is Gabriel's middle name.
Mexican Soldier Arresting Gabby (uncredited)
Secret Service agents try to solve the theft of treasury banknote plates.
Frieda's Mechanic (uncredited)
A famous aviator helps an amateur enter a cross-country air race for women.
Ivan - an Alien
Brass Bancroft and his sidekick Gabby Watters are recruited onto the secret service and go undercover to crack a ruthless gang that smuggles illegal aliens.
Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)
While participating in a contest at a local newspaper in which school children are asked to submit a news story, local attorney Carson Drew's daughter Nancy intercepts a real story assignment. She "covers" the inquest of the death of a woman who was poisoned. Nancy doesn't think the young woman accused of the crime is guilty and corrals her neighbor Ted into searching for a vital piece of evidence and stumbles onto the identity of the real killer.
Store Clerk (uncredited)
Torchy Blane joins her police-detective fiance to solve a series of murders involving a set of Chinese grave tablets taken and sold to a collector and death-threats written in Chinese characters.
Greek Chef
A group of disparate travelers are thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the start of WWII.
Jim - Assistant Ticket Taker (uncredited)
A boxer flees, believing he has committed a murder while he was drunk.
Gangster (uncredited)
Physician Carole Nelson, suspected of having ties to notorious gangster Joe Gurney, must prove her innocence or the Medical Board will revoke her license. When Gurney seeks her out for treatment after being shot, it could be the break Nelson needs. Now she has a chance to use her medical know-how to outwit Gurney and his goons and reestablish her professional reputation.
Jury Foreman
A French doctor sentenced for treason performs brain surgery on the prison commandant's daughter.
Miner in Mob (uncredited)
A two-fisted Canadian Mountie leads lawmen in pursuit of the thieves who stole an Edmonton-bound freighter's cargo.
Flower Convention Attendee (uncredited)
When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.
Mexican Rancher Giving Penrod a Lift (uncredited)
When a young boy disappears, a man desperate for the offered reward money turns up with an identical child.
Truck Driver (uncredited)
A trucker with a pregnant wife fights a New York mobster's protection racket.
Postman
In the French port of Marseille, a young woman named Madelon is in love with a young sailor, Marius. Discovering she is pregnant after Marius sets out to sea for several years, she marries another man to prevent the child being born out of wedlock.
Second Gendarme
When the representative of the Paris International Dance Exposition arrives in New York to invite the Academy Ballet of America to compete for monetary prizes, the taxi driver mistakenly brings him to the Club Ballé, a nightclub on the brink of declaring bankruptcy. The owners, Terry Moore and Duke Dennis, jump at the chance to go, despite being aware of the mistake. They hire ballet teacher, Luis Leoni, and his only pupil, Kay Morrow, to join the group, hoping to teach their two dozen show girls ballet en route to Paris by ship. Also going along and rooming with Kay is Mona, Terry's ex-wife, who wants to keep an eye on her alimony checks. Naturally, Kay and Terry fall in love.
Extra at Inquest (Uncredited)
When a banker is found shot dead with a gun in his hand, his daughter refuses to believe it is a suicide. With the help of a detective, she hopes to get to the bottom of the case.
Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Torchy, Steve, and Gahagan are on the trail of a bank robber aboard an ocean liner traveling from New York to L.A. via the Panama Canal.
Man Knocking on Telephone Booth
A lowly office clerk angers his fiancee and future mother-in-law by spending money intended for marriage furniture on a statue of a pretty girl, which he refuses to part with at any cost.
Pierre (uncredited)
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant must mediate a land rights dispute between an advancing railroad construction gang and French Canadian trappers in the rugged Northwest Territory of Canada.
Watchman
A young man with a checkered past struggles to make good as a fireman.
Colonel's Servant
Young Sybil visits her grandfather, a British Colonel stationed at a garrison in India, and she helps negotiate a diplomatic truce between him and the local natives.
Guiseppe - Waiter (uncredited)
A Bishop from Australia comes to Perry to ask him to take a case of a woman wrongly accused of manslaughter 22 years before. The case would involve the wealthy Mr. Brownley and the fact that his alleged granddaughter may be an imposter. With that, the Bishop leaves and is clubbed in his hotel room. Soon after, he leaves on a boat and Perry meets the woman - Ida Gilbert. Perry goes to see Mr. Brownley, but gets nowhere. Later that night, Brownley is to meet Ida, but he is shot by a woman who drops Ida's gun. Ida is arrested for the murder of Mr. Brownley and Perry gets involved.
(uncredited)
Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.
Man on streetcar (uncredited)
A Navy veteran with one leg fights to make himself a success.
Coleman
A singing lawyer and other homesteaders participate in the Oklahoma land rush and found the town of Big Rock, but the fast-growing frontier settlement quickly becomes embroiled in political and business corruption. Director Noel Smith's 1937 western stars Dick Foran, Jane Bryan, Tommy Bupp, Ed Cobb, Frank Faylen, Tom Brower and Milton Kibbee.
Pierre - Man Carrying Injured Suzy (uncredited)
After a mine cave in, the rescue crew risks their lives to search for two trapped miners.
Green Hill Patron
A singing bandleader signs on with an all-girls band.
Club Piano-Mover (uncredited)
In the underworld of Manhattan, a woman dares to stand up to one of the city's most powerful gangsters.
Fight Spectator (uncredited)
The 'Farmer Poet' Robert Burns, after a bad romance, pens "Auld Lang Syne" to much fanfare and courts high society at the expense of his blossoming relationship with beautiful Jean Armour. Soon a marriage is arranged for Jean, and Robby must race to her side before she is married off.
Flamingo Diner
An ex-con takes flight after he's framed for a jewelry store robbery and murder.
Jim Blake
A wild cowboy changes course and becomes a sheriff after his father is murdered.
Police Sergeant Clerk
After losing his bid for district attorney, an aspiring young lawyer agrees to defend a ring of car thieves.
Drug Store Diner
A businessman buys trouble when he hires his wife"s best friend as his secretary.
Man on Stairs (uncredited)
His role in the plight of an unemployed man (Humphrey Bogart) and his disabled daughter profoundly affects an intractable Irish policeman (Pat O'Brien).
Blind Beggar (uncredited)
Ambitious reporter Torchy Blane guides her policeman boyfriend to correctly pinpoint who shot the man she was interviewing.
Frontiersman (uncredited)
Patrick Henry's rousing speech before the Virginia legislature argues for colonial independence.
Fan Angry at Dugan
Gamblers try to pressure a star hockey player into throwing a game.
Poker Player (uncredited)
Lawyer Perry Mason is summoned to the Laxter mansion in the dead of night to write granddaughter Wilma out of invalid Peter Laxter's will, to keep her from marrying suspected fortune hunter Doug. Peter dies in a mysterious fire and Laxter's two grandsons, Sam Laxter and Frank Oafley, inherit his estate on the condition old caretaker Schuster and his cat Clinker are kept on. When cat-hating Sam threatens Clinker, Perry steps in and learns Laxter's death was suspicious and the family fortune and diamonds are missing. Schuster's found dead in his basement apartment, Laxter's nurse Louise is murdered with Schuster's crutch, and circumstantial evidence brings Doug to trial for Louise's death. Mason's investigation produces a surprise witness who turns the trial around. Written by Sister Grimm
Policeman in Car
A radio commentator avenges an old wrong by blowing the whistle on Hollywood scandals
Passenger (uncredited)
A singing secret agent tracks down renegades at President Lincoln's request.
Cop
A reporter gets himself sent to prison so he can solve a murder behind bars.
Patient (uncredited)
In mid-nineteenth century England the medical establishment does not recognize the value of skilled nurses, cleanliness, nutrition and kindness. Florence Nightingale's heroic measures slowly changes all of this.
Man Outside Store
The Indians need the Buffalo to survive and the Government has promised to keep the herds free from hunters. But Carter, of Carter and Barton, just signed a big contract for furs and Buffalo meat so they want the herds. The only way they can get them is to rile the Indians up enough to go on the warpath and break the treaty. After the trouble starts, the Indians get the Colonel's daughter and hold her prisoner. Written by Tony Fontana
Deck Steward (uncredited)
Musical about dingaling millionaire businessman Cedric Ames and his various employees
Man in Courtroom (uncredited)
Down-on-his-luck John Ellman is framed for a judge's murder. After he's convicted and sentenced to death, witnesses come forth and prove his innocence. But it was too late for a stay to be granted and Ellman is executed. A doctor uses an experimental procedure to restore him to life, though the full outcome is other than expected.
Party Guest
City girl marries country doctor, meets prejudice and exclusion when she tries to befriend the townspeople.
Pirate (uncredited)
Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.
Townsman with Pop
A singing medicine-show cowboy and his magician partner catch a killer.
Townsman at Celebration Party
Dr. Socrates gave up his brilliant career as surgeon in a prominent hospital because his betrothed died under his knife. He is now a struggling doctor in a small town that has a gangster's hideout.
Reporter (uncredited)
Ace reporter Curt Devlin and fellow reporter Ellen Garfield love one another, but Curt believes women are "bum newspapermen". When a murder investigation ensues, the two compete every step of the way, determined to not be scooped by the other.
Updyke Agitator (uncredited)
A Traveler's Aid worker who delights in solving people's problems gets mixed up with gangsters.
Oil Company Employee
An American oil company representative almost sacrifices his marriage for his career.
Extra at Football Game
A mother sends her young son to military school so he won't find out she's been sentenced to a prison term on a framed fraud charge.
Detective (uncredited)
A playwright descended from the Borgias family becomes a murder suspect.
Trainer (uncredited)
An honest sports columnist's greedy wife persuades him to go easy on a cheat, famous for crooked sports deals.
Counter Man
A well-cloistered and protected-against-reality group of college students get their diplomas in the heart of the Great Depression, and quickly learn that the piece of paper the diploma is written on is worth about eighteen-dollars-a-week in the job-market...for the lucky ones. Some of them fare even worse.
Truck Driver (uncredited)
A woman murders her husband's mistress and someone else gets accused of the crime.
Waiter at Sloppy Moe's (uncredited)
Two golddiggers go fishing for millionaires in Havana.
Baggage Clerk (uncredited)
Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.
Cashier
As the opening scroll tells us, Narcotic was "presented in the hope that the public may become aware of the terrific struggle to rid the world of drug addiction." The movie itself is a salacious plunge into a world of sordid pleasures. It tells us the story of Dr. William G. Davies, an infamous snake-oil salesman who started his career as a promising medical student.
Concierge
Parisian playboy plays father to an abandoned baby who interferes with his womanising.
Canadian Airport Contact (uncredited)
An Air Force washout and his buddy room with a pretty young lady. Desperate for jobs during the Depression, they finally land employment with the mob.
Revolutionary Killed by Nikita (Uncredited)
During the Russian Revolution, a young nobleman and his peasant maid flee from their homeland to Constantinople where they marry and begin a challenging new life.
Cult Member (uncredited)
A group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.
Delegate Telephoning
The Progressive Party convention is deadlocked for governor, so both sides nominate the dark horse Zachary Hicks. Kay Russell suggests they hire Hal Blake as campaign manager; but first they have to get him out of jail for not paying alimony. Blake organizes the office and coaches Hicks to answer every question by pausing and then saying, "Well yes, but then again no." Blake will sell Hicks as dumb but honest. Russell refuses to marry Blake, while Joe keeps people away from Blake's office. Blake teaches Hicks a speech by Lincoln. At the debate when the conservative candidate Underwood recites the same speech, Blake exposes him as a plagiarist. Hicks is presented for photo opportunities and gives his yes-and-no answer to any question, including whether he expects to win.
Derelict drinking milk (uncredited)
A woman married to a defense lawyer leaves him when he refuses to stop defending criminals she believes are guilty.
Movie Actor
A once great stage and screen actor has fallen from fame because of his alcoholism; his young son is determined to see his father "make good" again.
Mourner (uncredited)
フランケンシュタイン男爵家の嫡男である若き科学者ヘンリーは、生命創造の研究に没頭していた。ヘンリーは助手のフリッツと共に墓地から盗み出した死体を接合し、彼に恩師であるウォルドマン教授の研究室から人間の脳を盗んでくるように指示する。同じ頃、行方不明になったヘンリーの身を案じる婚約者のエリザベスは、共通の友人ヴィクターと共にウォルドマンの元を尋ね、ヘンリーが生命の創造を行っていることを聞き出す。三人はヘンリーが籠る山奥の塔に向かい、彼の実験に立ち会うことになる。嵐の雷光を利用して高圧電流を浴びせられた死体は生命を得て目覚め、ヘンリーは狂喜する
Don Fernandez
Burgess and Greeley are rustling horses and shooting Indians. When they kill Manual they frame Lieutenant Allister. His older brother John now attempts to defend him at his murder trial.
Revolutionary
An American ambassador arrives in a small country that is being convulsed by political intrigue and civil unrest. He befriends the young boy who is to be the country's king, to ensure that the boy is prepared to take on the role and also to see that he lives long enough to assume the crown.
Gabby
A cowboy whose friend has been swindled out of his ranch and then murdered must take care of the man's son, then he goes after the killers.
Gangster
A gang of racketeers, with the aid of a high-ranking city official has control of a big-city, and the police plant an undercover cop to gather evidence against the hoodlums - except the police keep telling the wrong person what they are up to.
Cleaning Shop Victim (uncredited)
A truck driver "too lazy to work and too nervous to steal" gets mixed up in racketeering. Naturally his underhanded business practices make him a pillar of the community.
The Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
Steve the Radio Operator
An escaped convict stows away on a ship of mutinous treasure hunters to find the crooks who framed him for murder.
'Kirsch' the Decoy
The action takes place during the Great War in the home of the First Lord of the Admiralty.
Manson
Hawk of the Hills (1927), a ten episode serial, re-edited into a five-reel feature length version released in 1929. Newhall, California. A band of Indians led by the half-breed 'The Hawk' terrorizes prospectors in a valley. When the old prospector Clyde Selby hits the mother lode, The Hawk plans to kidnap his pretty blond daughter Mary Selby. This kidnapping actually proves one of the lesser of the perils faced by the poor Mary. Laramie, a government agent, wants with the help of his friendly Shoshone Indian friends to extricate the damsel-in-distress.
The Ship's Captain
Vitaphone production reels #2471-2478; third Warner Bros. feature film - the first being The Jazz Singer and the second Tenderloin - to include talking sequences, along with the by now usual Vitaphone musical score and sound effects. A copy of this film survives at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., but the sound disks are lost.
Mike Doyle
Rinty rescues heroine June and hero Pat from all manner of desert dangers, both natural and man-made. The film's high point of tension finds the canine star rescuing Nye from a deep pit.
Dopey
Mary Carlton, who lives with her invalid father on a cotton plantation, receives a letter from Bob, her brother, in New York, stating that he faces death in the electric chair for a crime of which he claims to be innocent. Determined to save him, she goes there, learns of his association with an underworld gang, and begins to suspect Handsome Joe of a connection with the crime.
Tony Garibaldi
Sally, a girl of the tenements, is being raised by three bachelor foster-fathers, a pawnbroker, an organ-grinder and a peddler, and is very happy preparing their meals and keeping the house, while the old men bask in the attention she gives them. However, this happy home is broken up when Sally wealthy aunt appears on the scene and takes Sally back to her luxurious penthouse in order to give her the advantages of money and social position. But Sally's heart is back across the river with her plumber sweetheart, Jimmie Adams.
Manson
Exciting late-silent 10-episode serial, with all the hallmarks of the genre, including daring cavalry rescues, gold robbers and, of course, the beautiful white girl being burned at the stake by indians. Later re-edited into a feature-length film of the same name.
The Crook
When his old prison-friend's daughter is about to wed a wealthy man, the friend steals a valuable pendant and gives it to the girl's father. The father, in turn and not realizing it is stolen goods, gives it to his daughter as a wedding present. But the law shows up looking for the pendant.
Fighting Bill Ralston
Don Hathaway Jr. goes to Alaska to escape Follies girl and meets with an accident. The girl helps him and takes him to her home where jealous rival accuses him of being a bootlegger, when he is the culprit himself. Hero proves innocence and defeats rival for affection of girl.
The Ship Captain
In San Francisco, Sylvia Douglas and her fiancée, James Callahan, a reformed crook, make their getaway after Jim, disgusted with his inability to find a job, un-reforms and steals a diamond necklace. Graham, a detective, gives chase to a desolate island in the South Pacific where a rum-running gangster, Murdock, holds him captive. Callahan becomes infatuated with a native girl, Leona, and Sylvia turns to Graham for protection against the offensive Murdock. A volcano eruption causes problems for all.
Commandant
Officer in the Imperial Russian Army, Petroff, is in love with Sonia, a schoolteacher who casts her lot with revolutionaries. During a time of suppression, she is exiled with her brother to Siberia. There Petroff is sent in the discharge of his official duties and secretly renews their romance. When the Bolsheviki overthrow the government, Sonia is freed and aids in the escape of Petroff, who incurs the enmity of Egor, the revolutionary leader, because he is a royalist. Together they escape across the frozen wastes in a sledge, pursued by wolves and Egor, who has used patriotism as a cloak to conceal personal ambitions.
Joe Burger, Anna's Father
A dramatic recreation of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
Mariner
Doris Matthews, a beautiful, innocent young girl, forsakes her sweetheart, Joel Barlowe, in favor of Victor Brant, a wealthy roué. On the night before they are to elope, an old sailor gives Brant a strange potion to drink and then unfolds before his eyes "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Deeply touched by this story about the consequences of the wanton destruction of innocent beauty, Brant leaves without Doris. After some time, he returns and finds to his pained satisfaction that Doris, having overcome her infatuation for him, has again turned her tender attentions toward Joel.
Sheriff
Visiting his vast properties incognito, Hugh Nichols (Tom Mix) discovers that his land agent (Cyril Chadwick) is forcing Peggy Swain (Clara Bow) and her dad (Frank Beal) off their neighboring ranch. When decent-minded Nichols demands that the agent cease harassing the farmers, the nasty villain blows up the nearby dam, flooding the valley.
Mr. Hallijohn
This most famous of Victorian melodramas was more than half a century old, and had already been filmed several times when it came to the screen once again in 1925. Director Emmett J. Flynn had an all-star cast and kept close to the original story.
Morgan
Sam Martin grows up in the Kentucky hills with a preacher as his closest friend and father figure. The young man goes away and gets an education, and when he returns home, he wants to build a school so that others can learn, too.
Marquis Ferasti
Tom Conway, a wealthy American from Yonkers, saves a girl from assailants while in London and, with the help of a friend, Tiger Bugg, finds her lodging for the night with Molly Montrose, their actress friend. The following day, Molly discovers that both her jewels and the girl are missing, and Tom supposes that the strange girl, who gave her name as Isabel Francis, is responsible for the theft. Tom later learns that Isabel is the Princess of Lividia, who has run away from her country rather than marry King Danilo (who has also run away and is in London, paying court to Molly Montrose). Danilo and Isabel are kidnapped by agents of Lividia and taken home to be forcibly wed. Tom and Molly follow them, and Tom prevents the marriage.
Giuseppe
Dan Savage prepares his son, Randall to fight in the business world by having him trained as a pugilist. Randall shows a flare for fisticuffs, so he is taken to the Ironworkers Ball to try out his infamous "shock punch."
Pedro
Wanting his son to get away from his many girlfriends and buckle down to work, the New York industrialist father of a playboy sends him to an obscure village in Spain to find samples of a rare mineral. When the son gets to Spain, he runs afoul of the local police chief - who has a secret that he tries to keep the young man from discovering.
Sergeant LeGros
A carnival strongman and his girlfriend flee to Algiers to escape a murder charge but there they are caught again in a web of jealousy, deceit and murder.
Mike Navarro
When gangster Jimmy Donovan is made guardian of Midge, the 7-year-old brother of his friend Big Ben Murray, he decides to reform and rear Midge properly. The court takes custody of Midge, but Donovan proves himself by recovering a payroll stolen by some of his ex-colleagues, thereby winning Midge and Kitty, his girl.
Halfbreed
The sister of a silver mine owner hires a renegade pilot to fly her to her brother's rescue.
French Army Lieutenant
Under the Red Robe is a 1923 silent historical drama directed by Alan Crosland based upon the Stanley Weyman novel Under the Red Robe. The film marks the last motion picture appearance by stage actor Robert B. Mantell who plays Cardinal Richelieu and the only silent screen performance of opera singer John Charles Thomas.
A Cossack Officer
The dashing but arrogant Prince Michael Fedor Lubimoff has to flee Tsarist Russia after falling into disgrace and settles in Monte Carlo, where he resumes his life of debauchery while World War I ravages the fields of Europe… (Partially lost film; reels 3 and 9 of a total of 11 are missing.)
Humpty Logan
A blind orphan, Rose Duncan, who has a special talent with the violin. Jerome Trevor, a famed pianist, hears her playing and sends her to an uncle in New York so she can become educated. But the uncle is killed in an accident on his way to meet her and she is taken in by gang leader Bull Morgan. Morgan pretends to be her uncle to elude the police, and he sees the value of keeping her around as cover.
Captain of the Guard
Mary Tudor falls in love with a new arrival to court, Charles Brandon. She convinces her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France as part of a peace agreement.
Jose Fernand
Jose Fernand seems interested in luring Helen Barnes onto his ship than he is in smuggling. The innocent orphan miss goes, accompanied by her younger sister Alice. With the boat out to sea, Fernand proceeds to attack the girls.
A murderous gang of mysterious creepy killers mark a young heiress for death. They are led by a ghostly voice known only as the "The Mystery Mind."
Pancho
The setting of the story is Mexico. Violent bandit and cattle rustler Pancho, his rude henchman Santas and a group of raiders have sworn to drive the settlers out of the Border country. In the conflict that follows, Harry's father Bill is mortally wounded, and Pancho's hands are crushed, supposedly by the ranchers, though the act is actually committed by his traitorous and vengeful lieutenant Santas and his equally slimy compatriot Rodriguez, whom Pancho has offended by denying one his daughter's hand, and the other permission to pursue Rancher's daughter Ruth Chadwick. Pancho swears bitter revenge on the Burrels and the two factions resolve to destroy each other.
Baron von der Lancker
The true story of Edith Cavell, a British nurse who served with the underground in Belgium during the First World War.
Prison Warden of Death Row
A young heiress of an American gun factory is threatened by a masked man after her father was murdered. This criminal might be a member of her family or a German agent, who wants to get information about the factory's products, perhaps his mystery has a combined solution - we will probably never know...
Coount Rosini
Based on the spy novel of the same name by Jacques Futrelle.
Jeanette Arden dies giving birth to her daughter Autumn, and Jeanette's husband George, who had gone for a doctor, receives a head wound. The injury makes him lose his memory, and so Autumn is raised by her godfather. Many years pass, and Royal Mounted Policeman Dick Leslie is assigned to locate George. Dick meets Autumn, who also comes to the attention of the gambler, Diamond Jack.
John
A drama in which the young Mona is chased by her wicked husband, but is then helped by the fishermen Bob and Paul.
After a stirring performance, Cleo Martell, a renowned stage actress, is visited in her dressing room by Gordon Trent, a too ardent admirer. When Cleo's husband enters, a fight ensues, and Trent kills his rival in the struggle. Jack Stanley arrives on the scene to help but is accused of the murder by Cleo and is sent off to prison. The opportunistic Trent marries Jack's rich fiancée Helen Forde, who believes that her former lover is guilty of unfaithfulness. Jealous of the arrangement, Cleo eventually tells Helen the truth about the killing, causing Betty, Helen's daughter, to cry over her mother's unhappiness. Moved by the girl's tears, Cleo joins forces with Helen against Trent, and the two women go West where Jack, escaped from prison, works as a cowboy.
Steve Daubeney
Lelia Crofton, a Louisiana belle of the 1860s, loves Burleigh Mavor. By chance, she sees one of her father's black stablemen making love to a neighbor's maid, whom she supposed was white. The incident shocks Lelia and leaves a great impression upon her. When she rejects suitor Steve Daubeney, he threatens to expose a damaging secret about her mother, whom she has never met. Remembering the incident with the neighbor's maid, Lelia worries that her mother might be black, and when Daubeney learns of her fears, he leads her to believe that they are well-founded.
Ambassador of Austrania
While traveling incognito through his kingdom, Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Tholberg becomes infatuated with Katrina, the daughter of innkeeper Hermann Ardelheim, but their idyll is interrupted by the arrival of a courier bearing the news that Austrania has threatened war. Katrina is heartbroken to discover the identity of her sweetheart whom she can never hope to marry. After Ludwig's departure, Katrina overhears the plotting of two spies and with the help of her brother Roalf, she confronts them. In the ensuing struggle, Katrina kills one of them, who turns out to be the Austranian ambassador. Although Katrina admits her crime, Marshal von Trump plans to execute Roalf in order to pacify the Austranians. Katrina appeals to Ludwig, who pardons Roalf over the advice of his counselors causing Austrania to declare war. A crucial battle is fought near the Ardelheim inn, during which Katrina becomes a heroine by signaling the advance of Ludwig's troops.
Raymond Owen / Koerner
The Perils of Pauline is a motion picture serial shown in weekly installments featuring the actress Pearl White playing the title character. Pauline has often been cited as a famous example of a damsel-in-distress, although viewers will find her character more resourceful and less helpless than the classic 'damsel' stereotype. Nine episodes (from a condensed 1916 re-release) survive to this day.
Director
While on a vacation, an elderly Buffalo Bill dreams of his adventures as a young man when he scouted for the cavalry, fought Indians and captured outlaws.
Paul Panzer returns home from a night out with the boys at his bachelor's club. He wanders into the wrong apartment, where, of course, a young woman resides and panic ensues.
The Smoker
A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.
Vitagraph production of Shakespeare's Richard III.
Romeo
Two feuding houses are united with the marriage and eventual death of their children.
Man Buying Artificial Limb (uncredited)
A one-armed street peddler notices that a well-to-do man has dropped his ring. He returns it to him. The wealthy man is very grateful and, to show his appreciation, takes the peddler to a 'Limb Store', where he buys him a new arm. The recipient soon discovers that this new arm has a will of its own - causing him considerable embarrassment.
Francesca, surrounded by ladies-in-waiting at the palace. Her father enters, and together they read a letter from Lanciotto, asking for the hand of Francesca. Both are overjoyed at the union of the two great houses in marriage, and the daughter retires to dress for Lanciotto's arrival.
A traveler stays the night at a rural inn, but gets no rest as he is tormented by various spectres and mysterious happenings.
A writer of tawdry fiction falls asleep at his desk and dreams of a romantic rivalry-- One likely as familiar to film fans then as it is now-- But things take a turn for the bizarre when our hero is shot in the head. An ambitious and hilarious parody of melodramatic tropes from pioneer Blackton.
Bandit
The millionaire's child is kidnapped. Sherlock Holmes after many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes rescues the child.
