Frank Powell

A nostalgic look at film clips from the Silent era.

A doctor suspends the life of a mourning lover and he is revived 200 years later.

While an immigrant couple are detained by authorities to see if they're fit, a smuggler tries to sneak a bottle into their luggage, but he accidentally gets trapped inside, and gets sent to the house where the new Americans will work.

Ranch foreman Kerry has boarded with Kitty Tynan and her mother for five years in western Canada, his past is a mystery to everyone. He is actually an English aristocrat who lost all his money gambling and left the country in search of work. Kerry and his friend Horan own an option on property which crooked lawyer Burlingame is trying to secure. Burlingame's cohort Logan murders Hogan, and is caught and arrested. In the trial, Burlingame forces Kerry to admit his past, and succeeds in preventing Kerry from receiving bank assistance. When Kerry is shot, Kitty opens a letter from Kerry's wife that he had been carrying for five years, and cables her. Kerry's wife arrives and informs him that his last bet in England had turned out to be a $20,000 winner. Kerry is able to use the money just in time to foil Burlingame and secure the property, thus winning prosperity and the affections of his wife.

Mrs. Balfame is a 1917 Mystery Drama

Mrs. Balfame is a 1917 Mystery Drama

Driven from Russia by the persecution of the police, who had caused the death of his wife, was Ivan Pavloff, a Nihilist, accompanied by his two infant twin daughters Olga and Nina, en route to America in search of freedom.

James Wadsworth sets his sights on the lovely society girl Anna Dalton and determines to marry her. To achieve that goal, he follows her everywhere she goes, including on a ship to South America. He comes up with a plan to make her love him--he throws her overboard, follows her over the side and swims with her to a deserted island. His somewhat unorthodox method works and he wins over Anna, but problems arise when Richard Towne, Anna's fiancé who has been searching for her, finds the island and discovers the two.

"My heart is ice, my passion consuming fire. Let men beware," exclaimed Theda Bara (via an inter-title, of course) in this "Vamp" melodrama based on Grabriele D'Annunzio's 1898 story La Gioconda.

Dorothy, the girl who presides over the notion counter of the Emporium, the general store in a country town, is the sole support of her aged grandparents, with whom she lives. Her sweetheart, Bob, is the boy-of-all-work in the same store. To the Emporium comes a flashy drummer from the city to sell the merchant a bill of goods.

John Schuyler, a happily married lawyer, is appointed diplomat and sent to England; But, due to an unfortunate accident, his wife and child can not come along with him. On the ship to England, Schuyler meets the notorious Vampire-- A relentless gold-digger who causes the moral degradation of those she seduces, first fascinating and then draining the very life from her victims.

John Schuyler, a happily married lawyer, is appointed diplomat and sent to England; But, due to an unfortunate accident, his wife and child can not come along with him. On the ship to England, Schuyler meets the notorious Vampire-- A relentless gold-digger who causes the moral degradation of those she seduces, first fascinating and then draining the very life from her victims.

John Schuyler, a happily married lawyer, is appointed diplomat and sent to England; But, due to an unfortunate accident, his wife and child can not come along with him. On the ship to England, Schuyler meets the notorious Vampire-- A relentless gold-digger who causes the moral degradation of those she seduces, first fascinating and then draining the very life from her victims.

John Schuyler, a happily married lawyer, is appointed diplomat and sent to England; But, due to an unfortunate accident, his wife and child can not come along with him. On the ship to England, Schuyler meets the notorious Vampire-- A relentless gold-digger who causes the moral degradation of those she seduces, first fascinating and then draining the very life from her victims.

Former newsboy and jockey Joe Braxton, becomes a millionaire rancher and decides to visit New York. He soon becomes the prey of swindler Tom Linson and socialite Viola Grayson. Linson defrauds Braxton's old employer, Colonel Downs, and attempts to corrupt Eleanor, the colonel's daughter. When Eleanor learns that Linson intends to destroy Joe on the stock exchange, she warns him, disregarding Linson's threat to ruin her reputation. Eleanor is too late, but Joe recovers his losses by riding Mongrel to victory in the Kentucky Futurity, after having stacked his last dollar on the horse's success.

Set in London (but filmed in New Jersey), the story endeavors to prove that man's greatest enemy is liquor. When elderly tosspot John Warriner is shot for trespassing, Warriner's son holds property owner Sir Arthur Stanton. Thus begins a bitter and deadly feud between the Warriner and Stanton clans, fueled by rotgut booze. Prints of the film survive in the film archives of the Library of Congress and the Museum of Modern Art.

An ambitious bank teller (Edward Jose) steals a large deposit and starts life over under an assumed name. While he is becoming a lawyer and making his way up the ladder of success with the help of a political boss, the wife he left behind (Eleanor Woodruff) remains destitute and is forced to give up her child to an orphanage. The girl is adopted and grows up (played as an adult by Virginia Pearson) to become the secretary to an honest young lawyer. But the girl has the same quirk that her father had, and it causes her to steal a bracelet at a department store. She is arrested and finds herself before her father, who is now a judge.

Steve Monteith and Ezra Mason, upper class men, and Bill Bronson, a plebe, are chums and roommates at West Point before the Civil War. Steve prepares to leave for his home in Virginia, and Mason and he exchange photographs before parting. General Abner Montieth, Steve's father, and his sister Clairette are overjoyed and surprised when Steve arrives. Aunt Margie and her adopted daughter, Joan Fitzhugh, who is very fond of Steve, join the family and give Steve a warm welcome. One year later the rumble of war is heard. Steve, now a major, and his father, General, leave at the head of separate companies with the Confederate troops.

He was one of a league whom society thought honest. The little French lady who became his wife believed him a diplomatic spy for her government, so she sailed quite contentedly off to America to work with him. Far from home and friends, she learned his true character, but the crisis was met.

Harry loved Betty, and vice versa, but Harry was very shy. No matter how he tried, he never could muster up sufficient courage to propose, despite the fact that Betty always endeavored to help him out. An idea! He writes his proposal, and invents a sentimental code of signals. The letter reads: "If you will accept me, wear red roses; if you are in doubt, the pink. If you do not love me and reject me, wear the white."

A comedy short about a man trying to get a new hat.

Poor Hiram didn't anticipate the trouble laid out for him when he and his wife went for a stroll in the park.

Bessie, the new school teacher, arrives at the little western village, and on her way to the school she meets a gang of cowboys who bestow boxes of candy and other little offerings. Not long after the girl is seized with a jumping toothache. Each boy suggests a cure, but without success. Tom, however, now appears and offers a cure. He leaves her a note stating if she will submit to his treatment he will guarantee to cure her toothache. She is in such agony that she is inclined to submit to anything, and so, though not knowing what the cure may be, consents. After great preliminaries Tom administers a resounding kiss upon her cheek..

Mazie lends her necklace to Nellie, her guest. Nellie is asleep in a hammock when Sam, her sweetheart, arrives in his auto. He awakens Nellie with a kiss. As she starts up she drops the necklace in the grass and their efforts to find it prove futile. Sam promises to buy her one to replace it, thinking it was her own properly. He has her minutely describe it that he may get an exact duplicate. Meanwhile, the governess has found the necklace and given it to its owner, Mazie, who is unknown to Sam. He sees it on Mazie's neck and after a chase insists on purchasing it.

A rich nobleman steals a perfume merchant's wife just prior to the French Revolution, in which the perfumer is a leader of the peasants. His priest made him swear an oath to leave vengeance to God, however.

Two spinsters on their way to church, are accosted by a couple of burly tramps. When Mabel is called to the church meeting with her mother, she sends Muggsy a note asking him to meet her after the service so he may walk home with her. Muggsy is there on time, however, the old ladies are afraid to make the return trip unaccompanied. The pastor asks that a man escort them home. Poor Muggsy gets chosen, and when the trio reach the deserted part of the road, the tramps again appear.

Diplomacy was not Tom's strong suit. So when May showed to him her latest painting he poured scorn on it. He was anxious to discourage her from painting, knowing full well that she would never become a great artist. Howard, his rival, was more diplomatic. He praised her efforts, and is at once the top-notcher in May's esteem.

The quartet comprising this story are of ages as the months are to each other. June, a young college boy, finds his resources in depletion, and to improve his financial condition, proposes to October, a wealthy spinster of the "where-is-he" stage, and is accepted with avidity, and so these two soul "mis"-mates start their engagement inning. Later, December, a wealthy old bachelor, proposes to May, a pretty miss of eighteen, and the promise of fine gowns, jewels and automobiles, so dear to the heart of the fair sex, induces her to accept with half-hearted tolerance, hence they also start the engagement period. Everything goes finely until the quartet meet.

Clarence McKnight and Felix De Grosse are rivals for the heart of pretty little Letitia Mooney, but it is evident that Clarence is the favored one. However, Letty becomes jealous of her cousin, who seems to have a feeling down in her heart for Clarence, and engages his attention whenever she gets the chance.

Two eccentric Frenchmen argue for the hand of an eligible American girl, who finally discouraged both of them by introducing her betrothed.

In the heart of the American west, a miner toils day after day at his rocker box while his young daughter keeps his camp. His daughter persuades him to return to civilization, where they may enjoy the fruits of their labor. Both are happy in the anticipation of what seems a bright future. While she's away, a desert wanderer appears at the camp, and at the sight of the old man weighing his gold is seized with cupidity. He himself had toiled long in the wilds, but with no success, so he demands that the old man divide his gains with him. This, of course, the miner decries, and the wanderer uses force to obtain the old man's gold. The wanderer collapses in the desert, only to be rescued by a certain young woman: the miner's daughter.

"It's in the surprise" that great plays are made and battles won, and our tenderfoot friend, appreciating this, pulls a victory that is amazing.

Bored by a doting wife who is too eager to please (she even puts a cigar in his mouth and lights it), Mr. Avery falls for a dancer, and is invited to a party she is throwing in his honor. Over her husband’s shoulder, the wife reads a letter from the dancer, with the telltale salutation "My dear boy", and threatens to poison herself if he goes. To show that he is not to be deterred by such a melodramatic trick, Avery takes the vial and pours the poison into a wine glass, saying if she decides to do this, why not do it with style? He then leaves, but not without misgivings. At the party the dancer offers him wine in a glass which looks exactly like the one he had handed to his suicidal spouse. This triggers an attack of conscience, and Avery rushes home, to find his wife in a swoon which he takes for her threat fulfilled. Madly, he bursts into the dancer’s party, confesses assisted suicide, and dies.

To Walter Holden since the death of his wife, falls the responsibility of raising his only child.

A young bride wonders at her husband's frequent absences. Suspicion mounts. What can the young man find more alluring than she, herself?

Adonese is returning home from seeing the woman he is courting, and he is driving around a corner when his car accidentally brushes against the tramp 'Faithful' and knocks him over. Feeling sorry for him, Adonese helps him up and buys him a new suit of clothes. The naively innocent Faithful reads too much into this gesture, and he begins to follow his benefactor everywhere, expecting to receive future gifts.

An historical dramatization of a Spanish woman during the reign of Spanish and Mexican owned California in the early 19th century.

Mildred lives with her husband, the prospector Steve Clark, in an out-of-the-way cabin in the mountains. She is affectionate and considerate, but her husband shows little if any concern for her, let alone love. A newcomer of friendly disposition and good humor one days runs into Clark and later finds Mildred by herself at home. Lonely and lovesick, she is overwhelmed by his lively attention and apparent affection.

Owen Moore is addicted to gambling and about to lose his family and job because of it. James Kirkwood, his brother-in-law, shows up and cures him of his gambling fever.

The hero, a young contractor, is mistaken by the heroine for a laborer, while he thinks she is the maid although she is the daughter of the manor. The hero continues to represent himself as a laborer in order to see the maid. The daughter, in order to continue her impersonation, borrows the maid's clothes. At the end the two main characters are brought together in their true light with the blessing of their respective mothers.

The evils of drink cause a man to separate from his family. In time he becomes sober and prosperous. Then he meets and falls in love with a young woman, and they become engaged. Unbeknownst to him this young woman is his own daughter.

On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.

During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, Catholic worship is forbidden on pain of death. Three soldiers are arrested as Catholics and condemned to die. Cromwell decides to spare two of them and to determine which should die by chance. The guards bring the first child they meet. Whichever soldier she gives the 'death disc' to shall die. Cromwell is charmed by the girl and gives her his signet ring. By chance the child is the daughter of one of the soldiers and gives the death disc to her father, because she thinks it's pretty. The child is returned home to her mother, who learns of her husband's pending execution and of the power of the ring. She rushes to the place of execution and saves her husband by producing the ring.

After being jilted for another, a woman sends her lover's old letters to the new fiancée and looks forward to the reaction. But when she spots her old lover's glove left behind, she has a change of heart and repents.

A disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters is courted by a blind man. Will he still love her when his sight is restored?

During the French Revolution, a wealthy couple lives safely by professing republican beliefs. When a mob attacks a nearby chateau an aristocrat bursts into the couple's home. They save his life by disguising him as a servant, but he soon forces his attentions on the wife. Hearing their struggle, the husband intervenes and, stripping the aristocrat of his disguise, thrusts him outdoors to be killed by the mob.

Soon after their engagement, Bill goes to sea, and Emily vows to stay true until his return. Unknown to her, Bill marries another woman from a different port. Emily waits faithfully for six years, finally becoming dangerously ill. When Bill suddenly appears in town with his family, Joe, who has loved Emily all along, forces Bill to make Emily's final moments happy by pretending he has returned to marry her.

An honest worker, John Whitney, finds himself unemployed and unable to provide for his family. Desperate, he robs a rich man's home and is arrested. One of the police officers is an old friend and accompanies Whitney home to allow a farewell with his wife. Humiliated, Whitney decides to kill himself and his family. The rich man learns of his desperate situation and arrives in time to save the family and drops the charges.

Fanny is the wife of Ben Webster, a trapper, and while he is an affectionate and dutiful husband, she yearns for something which appears better than her lot. She reasons: "Have I not youth and beauty and attainments far above this environment? Why should I be compelled to toil and struggle in this wilderness?"

George Peabody is a young man who has been giving free rein to his inclinations, the principal one being drink. One might have concluded he was lost, but there was the chance which the hand of Providence always bestows in the person of pretty little Ruth King, who had secretly loved George since their childhood days. She succeeds in persuading him from his reckless life, and he determines to cut off from his old loose companions by going out West and making a man of himself. Bidding Ruth and her mother good-bye, he realizes that he loves his little preserver and promises to return worthy of her love and confidence. They plight their troth with their first kiss and a heart shaped locket, which Ruth wears, she breaking it in two, giving George one side while she retains the other, which symbolized the reunion of their hearts with his return.

An Indian comforts a dying prospector in his last moments. In exchange, the prospector tells him the location of his gold claim. A group of cowboys tries to get the information and go as far as kidnapping the Indian's wife.

In an Indian tribe, a girl escapes from her father and suitor to be with the man she loves.

Mary Rollins is torn between selfish depravity and righteous living. After she's coerced into helping with the burglary of her minister's apartment, she comes face to face with her misdeeds.

A country boy and a city boy are both courting the same girl. The girl sees the country boy's tender treatment of a wounded bird and chooses him.

A royal woman rejects her arranged marriage. The cardinal hatches a plan: the suitor will shave and change clothes. He arranges with 4 clowns to stage an attack on the princess which he easily repels. It works; the princess falls for him, especially when the cardinal arranges his arrest.

While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.

Mrs. Kendrick borrows a jeweled necklace from a friend for an important social event. The necklace is stolen, and Mr. Kendrick goes into debt to replace it. The thief discovers it's costume jewelry, but the Kendricks never learns the truth; Husband and wife struggle for years to pay off the huge debt.

A woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.

A disfigured violinist mistakes a token of appreciation for a love bouquet. When he realizes his mistake, he loses his mind.

A son leaves to seek his fortune in the city. Many years later he returns and checks into his parents' inn. They don't recognize him, but noticing his fat wallet, plan to rob him.

It's Bob Allen's twenty-first birthday. His mother and his brother Jack, a policeman present him with a cap, personalized with his initals in the lining. Jack then goes to work and Bob goes out also. Later in the evening, Jack is called to the scene of a robbery, where he finds the cap with his brother's initials. Dismayed by the idea that his brother is a thief, he goes home and confronts Bob with the evidence. Though it breaks their mother's heart, Jack does his duty and leads his brother out in handcuffs.

A music teacher is in love with Helen, one of his students, but she rejects him. In his anger he joins a communist group who plan to blow up a rich capitalist's house. When he realizes it's Helen's house, he tries to stop the plan.

Mack Sennett appears as a man at the dance and a cop in this film produced by the Biograph Company.