(archive footage)
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
Grouch
A philosophy professor accompanies his school's rowing team on a worldwide tour.
George the Dentist (uncredited)
Longtime friends become feuding mothers-in-law when their children marry.
Angry Investor with Eyeglasses (uncredited)
An inventor and his lanky girlfriend set an altitude record in his winged contraption.
J.C. Pennypacker (uncredited)
An inept inventor and his stoic wife believe an oil well investment has paid off and that they've become wealthy overnight.
Man on Ticket Line in a Hurry
Culture shock bombards a woman and her family when they leave their hick town to help her sister out in her big-city beauty parlor.
General Harrison (uncredited)
Mary Turner gets a three years prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she plots to get back at the man responsible for her conviction.
Party Guest with Glasses (uncredited)
A bored society woman invites scandal and heartache when she falls in love with her low-born chauffeur.
Prison Doctor (uncredited)
Осужденный за убийство человека во время вождения в нетрезвом виде Кент Марлоу отправлен в тюрьму, где он встречает заключенных, замышляющих побег.
Jeweler (uncredited)
A successful songwriter, dazzled by high society, falls for a society girl who is just playing around.
Mr. Durham
A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of Hyams who has turned him down for Bushman. Haines plots dozens of extreme measures to win her over, and finally goes so far as to drag her from the altar, bound and gagged.
Lord Blanton
From the Universal synopsis: Retired Inspector Blake of Scotland Yard learns that Lord Blanton has acquired the sacred "Love Ring"---a cursed jewel that has brought grief to its previous owners. Prince Darius seeks to obtain the ring, and the mummy of a princess of an ancient country to return them to his homeland.
Eben Matthews
Skyball Smith is a Texas Ranger, assigned to investigate a series of ranch bombings.
Mr. Corbin
Millionaire's son Duke wants to be a champion boxer but takes time out to enroll in college when he sees co-ed Susie. The students wonder about his having a chauffeur and house full of servants. Susie likes him but, to get rid of her, his manager tells her Duke already has a New York chorus girl. As the students listen to a radio broadcast of his victorious fight from San Francisco, she learns that the student Duke is the boxer Duke and that there is no chorus girl.
Beleaguered Diner
A cocky, arrogant young playboy is expelled from his American polo team shortly before the big match with England.
Lord Blanton
Prequel to The Ace of Scotland Yard. This serial is presumed lost.
Bert Wagner
On his way to Steer City, Buddy Hale rescues Janet Lane from a runaway horse. Unknown to Buddy, the woman's brother Ward just shot the sheriff. Heading a ring of indignant ranchers whose cattle are being systematically rustled, Ward suspects that the sheriff and Justice Bert Wagner are leading the gang of thieves. Justice Wagner makes Buddy sheriff and sends him to arrest his predecessor's murderer.
Smith Hastings
While vain Lenore Hastings busies herself with her romantic pursuits, Lenore's kid sister Mildred tries to keep the family of her boyfriend Thomas from going broke. Mildred works up a business arrangement, whereby she will sell Thomas' father's 250 pigs for a dollar each. Though Lenore is appalled by Mildred's "disgraceful" behavior, the younger girl quickly earns the respect of everyone in town
Col. Marsh
Following the Spanish-American War, a soldier is given the assignment of finding the leader of a band of rebels in the Philippines. In order to do this, he must romance Roma, a cabaret spy working for the rebels. This does not please the daughter of his commanding officer, whom he is romancing.
Crook in Badger Game
Trusting country girl Marie Downey falls in love with touring stage-actor Clifford Dudley. As he becomes a matinee idol on Broadway, she turns a chorus girl.
Jackson Pierce
Richard Talmadge plays John Drake, a safe expert who gets work managing a safe company in South America. On the way to his new job, he gets into a fight with Dynamite Diaz (Dick Sutherland), a prize fighter who thinks that Drake has flirted with his wife (Peggy Shaw). Drake has found love on board, but it's with Dolores D'Arcy (Lorraine Eason), the daughter of a banker (Charles Hill Mailes). Once he lands in South America, however, he discovers the job was a fake and is robbed of his money and passport.
District Attorney
Richard Jones is the assistant to the district attorney. He decides to single-handedly expose a drug ring that is terrorizing Madison, a reformer. Madison's son, Bob, has become a hophead because of the ring, and Greer, Jones' rival for the hand of Madison's daughter, Constance, is the ring's leader. The district attorney himself is in league with Greer as well. Jones disguises himself as an Asian, leaps over tenement roofs, beats up a mob of Chinese gangsters, and performs several dozen other daredevil feats.
Curt Horndyke
Jim Joyce runs a garage with old Abner Hope. When Hope's granddaughter, Mary Ellen, comes to visit, Joyce falls in love with her. Joyce has a number of bizarre inventions and he dreams of harnessing the nearby falls for power, but he can't get any financing from the town banker.
Dr. Edwards (uncredited)
A general store clerk and aspiring detective investigates a mysterious disappearance that took place quite close to an empty insane asylum.
Old Man King
John Carleton is living a carefree jazz lifestyle, much to the annoyance of his father. When he can take it no longer, Carleton senior sends John to his ranch in the West, hoping that the experience will make a man of him. John's ability to ride a bucking bronco wins the friendship of the cowhands, but trouble's a-brewin' when he falls in love with Beryl King.
Nathan Norris
Rev. John Morton, who is determined to follow as closely as possible the teachings of Jesus, inherits a considerable fortune when his uncle dies. Shortly thereafter he succumbs to the wiles of Mary Carlson and marries her. To Mary's dismay, John uses his money for charitable work. When John learns that not only has Mary been unfaithful to him but she was also his uncle's mistress and became Mrs. Morton in order to share the inheritance she believed to be rightfully hers, he sends her away with his secretary.
Sir James Smythe
Jockey Johnny Jones is hired to ride The Earl of Bloomsburg's horse at the English Derby. Crooked gambler Robert Anstead frames Johnny as a thief and kidnaps his sweetheart in order to make Johnny throw the race. Will he succeed?
Ned Greenwood (as Herbert Pryor)
Delmar Spavinaw, an educated "half-breed," loves Evelyn Huntington, daughter of a racist judge. Evelyn's other suitor is Ross Kennion, a widower with one child, and owner of a vast tract of land which Spavinaw insists belongs to his Indian mother. Spavinaw seeks revenge when Judge Huntington decides to evict the squaw. Assisted by Juan Del Rey, a cattle rustler, Spavinaw steals the title to the land, wounds Kennion, stages a raid on the judge's cattle, and attempts to kidnap Kennion's son and Evelyn. The arrival of the sheriff forces him into flight across the border without his hostages. En route he meets Doll Pardeau, a school friend of Evelyn's, and together they ride for the Mexican border. Caught between a cattle stampede and a sheriff's posse, the couple catch a passing freight train, leaving calamity behind as the train slowly passes.
Capt. Graves
Someone in India is deciphering secret codes and passing information from London's Downing Street to the natives, so Captain Robert Kent comes down from London to investigate. He disguises himself as a Rajah, and Colonel Wentworth introduces him to the colony.
Leland
William Lowry rescues Claudia Royce from a burning building, and upon hearing that her parents are trying to force her to accept millionaire Leland, whom she does not love, he proposes a marriage of convenience to himself. She accepts, and Bill arranges a fake ceremony; but when she falls in love with Davidge, Bill refuses her a "divorce." Later, Bill gets rich in the manufacture of a patented fireman's pole, and when he buys a house for Claudia she realizes her love for him and they are legally married.
Newell Craig
A drama of a fugitive from justice and a fugitive from love.
Edward Thayer
Spaulding Nelson moves into an apartment after his uncle has been driven from it by the sounds of screams and whispers. Upon undertaking an investigation, he meets neighbor Barbara Bradford, whose sister Clara is being tormented by the recurring sounds of her dead husband Roldo's voice.
Kemp Farrell (as Herbert Pryor)
Sylvia Landis promises to marry the wealthy but unprincipled Quarrier because of his social standing. Avarice is the only emotion that Sylvia feels towards her fiance, and when she meets Stephen Siward, a young man afflicted with alcoholism, she falls in love.
Dr. Tom Chilton
После смерти отца-священника маленькую осиротевшую Поллианну забирает к себе ее черствая тетка Полли. У Поллианны великодушное сердце, и она завоевывает расположение горожан добрыми делами. К сожалению девочке не удается тронуть свою тетю, все еще переживающую разрыв с местным врачом. Положение меняется только после того, как Поллианна, пытаясь спасти ребенка, попадает под машину. Тогда тетя Полли осознает, как много значит для нее племянница, и, проглотив гордость, обращается к бывшему возлюбленному доктору Тому Чилтону. Благодаря его стараниям Поллианна выздоравливает, а тетя Полли и Чилтон счастливо воссоединяются.
James Barclay
Sigrid, A French dancer, diagnosed with a weak heart, is ordered by her doctor never to dance again. But when her dancing skills are needed by her lover's father to help quell a native uprising on the East Indian frontier, she determines to dance whatever the cost.
John Hastings
A young girl living a secluded and unsophisticated life is suddenly thrust into a great wealth and a frightening social whirl.
Horace Graham
Railroad magnate Gordon Rogers agrees to allow his daughter, Helen, to marry wealthy idler Billy Deering, Jr., but only if the latter can hold the same job for one month. Billy is hired for an array of jobs, including office clerk and xylophone player, but always quits just before being fired. He then finds work in a restaurant where he is required to dress as a knight in armor and pose as a statue. On one occasion, Gordon, Helen, and Billy's romantic rival, Tom, enter the restaurant, and Billy is nearly fired when Helen recognizes him. Meanwhile, Gordon plans to merge one of his railroads with a company that is in a dispute with Tom's uncle, an unprincipled financier. Acting on the promise of a generous cash reward, Tom is determined to steal documents relating to the merger.
Mark Winfield
Dearie Lane refuses to marry Fred Millard, whom she loves, because of her previous affair with roué Mark Winfield. When she confesses, Fred forgives her, and they marry and live happily in a modest home until the owner, who turns out to be Winfield, comes to collect a delinquent payment and suddenly dies. Dearie, afraid that the absent Fred will misunderstand, hides the body with the help of a boarder and a cook until midnight when they carry it down the stairs to the countryside, but the creaking of the steps is heard by Fred.
Mr. Tom Brown
The feather-brained wife of the level-headed Mr. Leffingwell. As the fashionable young couple wend their way through such standard social obligations as weekend parties, tennis matches and polo games, Mrs. Leffingwell becomes innocently involved with a couple of would-be philanderers.
An important customer at Armande's, where Iva Seldon works as a model, is Billy Ravensworth, who purchases expensive gowns for a heartless vampire named Rita Challoner. When Billy pays for a number of gowns with a bad check, Iva is sent to Rita's home to collect the finery, and there she meets Bertrand Seldon, whom she recognizes as her own father, a society man who had deserted his wife years earlier and never acknowledged Iva. Rita learns that Billy is poor and breaks off their affair, after which Iva persuades him to pose as her fiancé so that she might enter society. Billy is content to maintain the masquerade in exchange for Iva's money, but soon finds himself jealous over her apparent romance with Bertrand. Iva agrees to accompany Bertrand on a drive, but the car plunges down a cliff, whereupon she reveals her identity. Before his death, Bertrand at last recognizes his daughter, and with his fortune, she and Billy begin a new life.
Lord Sheldon
Successful model, Phyllis Clyne, convinces a down-and-out nobleman, Billy, to pass her off in society as titled gentry. They fall in love and when it turns out that her late father actually was a lord, they decide they now can marry.
The Marriage Trap is a 1918 silent film
The Doctor
Gwen's family is rich, but her parents ignore her and most of the servants push her around, so she is lonely and unhappy. Her father is concerned only with making money, and her mother cares only about her social position. But one day a servant's irresponsibility creates a crisis that causes everyone to rethink what is important to them.
Mr. Jaggers
Hoel Calloc
George Crosby, a New York lawyer, with a passion for painting, wearied of his legal duties, sails for Brittany, where he meets Renée Kerouac, a fisher-maiden, and sketches her as a Corregan, a fairy who destroys the men who refuse her love. Hoel Kalloc, her betrothed, becomes jealous, and George marries her, after saving her from Hoel's brutality.
Josi
Filmed in Cuba, A Message to Garcia is an adventure story based on the writings of Elbert Hubbard
Ali
Natali, a Hindu, marries an Englishman, Sir Christopher Madgwick. They have a daughter who is kidnapped by Natali's former suitor Sani. The girl is handed over to be trained as a vestal virgin. Natali dies and Madgwick returns to England, taking with him the precious ruby that Natali had snatched from Sani in a struggle. Years pass; Sir Christopher remarries and has two more children who mistreat him and Sani dies, revealing to the priests the location of the ruby, which he stole from them in the first place.
Gregory
Helen Moore (Grace Williams) runs off with the nephew of Senator Foote, but when their car breaks down, they go to a hotel. A conference is going on there, and the boss politico is choosing his candidate for district attorney. Hugh Graham is the boss's favorite, and also Helen's ex-fiancee. The nephew tries to force himself on her and Graham hears her cries for help. When he rescues her, he is seen by his rival, Gregory, who assumes they are having an affair. He threatens to expose this, and to protect Helen, Graham withdraws from the nomination.
Ellis Harcourt
Mr. Danbury, a theatrical manager, is visited by Ellis Harcourt, who seeks a position with one of Danbury's companies. Danbury tells him that, since he is unknown to him, he must prove his ability to act before being given any encouragement. Danbury takes a vacation, and invites some of his friends to go for a cruise with him on his yacht. One of his guests produces the latest edition of the Animated Grouch Chaser.
Lizette loves Jean but a 10,000 franc dowry insisted upon by Jean's father is keeping them apart. Paul, Lizette's "black sheep" brother, begs that she gives him her saved money so he can increase it for her - at the gaming table!! He does win but there are a few who are determined he shall not reach home with his money. Paul also suffers from a bad heart and with the stress he feels from being set upon, he takes refuge at an inn. He seals the money up in an envelope addressed to Lizette Rouget but dies before he can deliver it safely to her. Lizette is now destitute, Jean having long ago deserted her but the ghost of Paul continues to haunt the inn's bedroom to guard the money from "unworthy hands".
Richard Garvie
A dramatic one-act film. The wife of the captain of a canal boat chooses the nicer boat and nicer uniform of another captain. She reconsiders her choice when she is rescued by her own husband after a fire.
Dr. Gilderbrand
An East Side doctor is ready to move to the country when a burglar intervenes.
Jay Forsythe
Should she marry for love or for money?
Big Slim
This western, with its simple story set in a gold mining camp, recycles many of the elements found in David Belasco's influential play, THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST, produced a decade earlier.
The Admiral
While their degenerate descendant sleeps, ancestral portraits come alive and admonish him.
First Romantic Rival
The story itself deals with the primitive instinct of mankind; to desire was to take at strength of arms, and thus one of the chiefs chose for his own a maiden fair who was loved in turn by a young brave, and whose admiration she returned. But like unto the dark ages, whenever a man desired a maid he took her with or without her leave. Thus far did the chief go, but her lover decides to match his strength of arms for so fair a bride, and they fight upon the cliff's edge. But here the maid takes up the bow of fate and sends an arrow into the heart of her captor. Thus the two forest lovers are united, but a life for a life is the law of their race and the lover is brought to the council chamber and tried before his kinsmen. To shield the woman he loves he remains silent.
Second Young Fisherman
The old lighthouse keeper lives peacefully with his two daughters, who are both engaged to fisherman. One night he receives a message announcing the shipwreck...
First, the eye is introduced to the old mill itself, with a gay betrothal party in progress, and laughter and merriment on all sides. Suddenly the laughter is hushed by the martial tread of feet, and the smile of joy fades from the two young lovers' faces as the French soldiers march into the courtyard and prepare to defend the mill against the oncoming attack of the German army. The mild summer afternoon has but half way run its course towards its western home when a wounded outpost comes staggering into the courtyard with the news of the advancing German army stamped upon his blood-stained forehead. Suddenly the courtyard is filled with the smoke of battle, and we know that the long-expected attack is on.
Sheriff
The rancher whom Tom works for has entrusted Tom with a bag of gold to take to the bank. But on arriving at the bank, Tom finds that it is closed for the day. It is not long before Tom is lured into a game of cards, and loses the rancher's money. Soon there is a warrant out for Tom's arrest on a charge of embezzlement, and his situation becomes increasingly desperate.
Helper
To help a woman whose purse has been snatched, two college boys stage a murder scene and trap the purse snatcher.
John Kendrick
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.
Wedding Guest
A woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.
Gypsy/In Store
Mrs. Jones leaves her baby with the maid and goes shopping for a new hat. Meanwhile, the maid invites a band of gypsies into the house for a palm reading. After the gypsies leave, no one can find the baby, and everyone assumes it's been kidnapped, until the baby is found under a hatbox.
At Party
Франсуа, горбун, музыкант нервического склада, играет на светской вечеринке, и прекрасная дебютантка в знак признательности за его таланты дарит ему букет цветов. Это внимание Франсуа неверно истолковывает как знак любовной привязанности, и он дорожит им, вдохновляется им как символом любви. Но в конце концов ужасная истина предстает перед ним - девушка вовсе не любит его, у неё другая привязанность. Разочарование и безответная страсть разрушает его разум и скрипач сходит с ума. Ужос! Ну, а что вы хотите? Музыкант, богема... Они все эмоционально неустойчивы и на голову слабоваты - вот и сбрендил бедолага.
The Father
Уилл Сандерсон живет в деревне, его родители владеют маленькой гостиницей, у него есть девушка. Жизнь спокойна и предсказуема. Но большие амбиции заставляют его уехать в большой город, он стремится сделать карьеру. Родители не препятствуют ему, мать дает ему на память медальон с миниатюрой - своим портретом. Удача сопутствует ему. Через пять лет он занимает высокий пост в корпорации, зарабатывает большие деньги, пользуется уважением. А между тем, дела его родителей совсем плохи, они на грани разорения, и банк угрожает отнять у них гостиницу - они в безвыходном положении. Обо всем этом Уилсону сообщает в письме его давняя возлюбленная Мэри. Конечно же любящий сын немедленно спешит помочь родителям и едет на родину.
Банда грабителей выманивает отца семейства из дома, чтобы за время его отсутствия вломиться внутрь. Однако оставшиеся дома жена и дети не собираются сидеть сложа руки: они баррикадируют двери и связываются с отцом по телефону. Но и бандиты не медлят, они опытные взломщики и во-вот ворвутся в комнаты. О боже, боже! Несчастная женщина, бедные детки - они сейчас станут жертвами бессердечных злодеев! Какой кошмар! Где же хозяин дома?! Надежда только на него...
Taddeo Ferrari
В маленьком итальянском городке Кремона жил Таддео Феррари, скрипичный мастер и ученик Андреа Амати, самого известного мастера своего дела. Симпатичную дочь Феррари, Джаннину (Мэри Пикфорд), любил один из его учеников Сандро. Филиппо, юноша-калека и лучший ученик, также любил девушку чистой, святой любовью, но, осознавая свою непривлекательность, не рассчитывает на внимание красотки. Ежегодно мастеру лучшей скрипки присуждается награда в виде золотой цепи, и все ученики стремятся ее выиграть. В этом году, старый мастер в азарте объявляет дополнительный приз - руку прекрасной Джанин. Это побуждает молодых людей прилагать дополнительные усилия, чтобы победить.
A man leaves his wife and two daughters for work in a carpentry shop. At work, he initially refuses a beer with lunch, then gives in. After work, two friends take a little while to convince him to go for a refreshing malt beverage, then to have another and another....
Bill Corker
A young couple must endure a tedious visit from their aunt until their friend offers to find a way to make her leave.
John Peerybingle
After three years at sea, Edward returns home to find his sweetheart forced into an engagement with a much older man.
Party Guest
Молодые влюбленные по пустяку ссорятся и расстаются. Разлука растягивается на долгие годы. Но он все эти годы помнил ее и эти воспоминания разбивали ему сердце. Страдания и одиночество подводят его к краю могилы. И вот, у последней черты, он хочет еще раз увидеть любимый облик. Пишет ей письмо с просьбой о встрече. А что же она? Помнит ли она любовь юности? Может что-то еще и помнит... Но жизнь она ведет совсем иную - вечеринки, танцы, шампанское рекой. Она даже курит папиросы! Да-да, курит (какая распущенность)! Получив письмо, она вспоминает любимого и решает встретится с ним. Но легкомысленно идет на встречу со всей своей развеселой компанией, с кавалерами и шампанским. И что же она видит? О Боже! Её давний поклонник на смертном одре. Она осознает, что жизнь - это не только праздники и веселье. А есть и печаль и смерть. И нельзя играть чужими чувствами, это может привести к трагедии. Но искреннее раскаяние слишком запоздало...
At Inn / Servant
Nekhludoff, a Russian nobleman serving on a jury, discovers that the young girl on trial, Katusha, is someone he once seduced and abandoned and that he himself bears responsibility for reducing her to crime. He sets out to redeem her and himself in the process.
Member of Suicide Club
One of the members of a suicide club learns he has inherited some money, but only after he drew the fatal lot and is expected to kill himself. Presumed to be a lost film.
Tim Noonan
Out-of-work, Tim steals a sandwich, then knocks out the policeman who chases him. He changes into the policeman's uniform, and is approached by a wife who needs help with her drunken husband.
Two boys, twins, leave the old homestead to seek their fortune in the world. They go divergent roads, and are soon widely separated one from the other, but they grow lonesome and try to find each other's whereabouts, without success. We lose sight of Bill and Dick is seen up against it good and hard. For him the future looks like a chalk ring on a blackboard, until he happens to saunter along the Bowery, where the manager of a dime museum offers him a job to play the gorilla. It looks good so he accepts. It is pretty sort until the astute impresario decides to pull off an innovation: that is, a gorilla and lion in the same cage. Of course Dick objects most strenuously to this arrangement, but his objections are quailed with a treacherous looking run, so he is forced to share the same menagerie hallroom with the lion.
Dinner Guest / In Bar
Nellie flees her old life and goes east to become a nurse, where she marries a doctor. One of her old colleagues finds her and tries to blackmail her. When the blackmail plot is exposed, Nellie's husband expresses his complete faith in her.
Second Thief
Schneider is trying to write a speech but he can't concentrate with all the noise around him. During the night, Schneider catches burglars in his house, but when he sees they are stealing all the noisy distractions, he helps them get away.
In the Bar
A man arrives home late and drunk as usual. His wife reminds him that he's supposed to take their daughter out to a play. While watching the play, he's faced with his own drinking evils and how his life would be without them.
Man on Street
"Fine feathers make fine birds", and handsome gowns make handsome women. Hence it is when Isabelle appears on the scene clad in a gown that is a masterpiece of the dressmaker's art she easily fascinates the male contingent, among whom is Enrico, the sweetheart of Veronica, a street singer. Enrico is so enraptured at the sight of Isabelle in her resplendent attire that he becomes her abject slave, casting aside the poor, peasant-clad little Italian street singer, who has loved him devotedly. Crushed almost beyond endurance the poor girl stands sobbing at the entrance of the park where the inconsistent lever left her. Her tears attract the attention of a wealthy young couple who happen to pass. In answer to their queries she tells them how contemptibly her sweetheart acted, and all because of the fascinating influence of a gown.
Priest
At the Italian boarding house the male boarders were all smitten with the charms of Minnie, the landlady's pretty daughter, but she was of a poetic turn of mind and her soul soared above plebeianism and her aspirations were romantic. Most persistent among her suitors was Grigo, a coarse Sicilian, whose advances were odiously repulsive. The arrival at the boarding house from the old country of Giuseppe Cassella, the violinist, filled the void in her yearning heart. Romantic, poetic and a talented musician, Giuseppe was indeed a desirable husband for Minnie.
Crogan's Friend
A haughty politician, on seeing a satirical cartoon in a newspaper, rushes to the paper's offices to shoot the cartoonist. On discovering the cartoonist is a pretty woman, he falls instantly in love and wastes no time in trying to woo her.
Theatre Man
This is a very short and rare attempt at comedy by D. W. Griffith.
A castaway returns home after years lost at sea, to the wife and child he left behind. Has she waited faithfully or has she moved on?