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- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFrank PowellGrace HendersonJames KirkwoodAn unscrupulous and greedy capitalist speculator decides to corner the wheat market for his own profit, establishing complete control over the markets.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonLinda ArvidsonAdele DeGardeA drinking man arrives home, late and sozzled as usual. His wife reminds him that he promised to take their child to a play. The play proves to be a morality tale about the evils of drink; he sees the parallels in his own life and swears off the demon brew.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man and two women sit down to eat dinner, but several unexpected surprises prevent them from their repast: the legs of the table grow, the table disappears into the floor, and a ghostly spirit appears and takes possession of the man.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsStephanie LongfellowArthur V. JohnsonHenry B. WalthallMary is coerced into helping with a burglary of a minister's apartment. Later she repents and goes to the minister's storefront mission to help.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónIn a medieval palace, an astronomer with a telescope shows the king.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorRomeo BosettiLouis FeuilladeStarsRenée CarlA beautiful young woman walking home from visiting the shops. Causes more than enough problems for every man she passes, who stop to admire her beauty.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsJeanne MareylaA man attempts to sit on a stool, only to find a woman has magically appear to steal his place. This happens again and again. Soon, more amazing transformations occur.
- Consequences result when a father breaks up his son's engagement.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonStarsD.W. GriffithLinda ArvidsonEdward DillonA husband finishes packing a suitcase, and then says good-bye to his wife. As soon as he is gone, the wife has her maid help her to dress for a costume ball. Meanwhile, the husband meets a friend, and the two of them put on costumes and go to the same party. At the ball, the husband and wife meet without recognizing each other, then they dance together, and start a flirtation. Once they become suspicious of each other, they each make plans to trap the other.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFlorence LawrenceHarry SolterLinda ArvidsonWhile spending the night at wealthy widow Wharton's home, Myrtle steals a pearl necklace and cleverly hides the loot. Little does she know the widow knows a thing or two about fingerprinting.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMabel StoughtonLinda ArvidsonGeorge GebhardtArtemisia Sophia Stebbins was a lovelorn maiden who had delved deep into the mysteries of "Three Weeks," as well as being conversant with the teachings of Laura Jean Libby. Her one hobby was to possess a hubby. Many there were whom she tried to hook, but in vain, for truth to say. Arte was of pulchritude a bit shy. She had the complexion of pale rhubarb and a figure like a wheat sack. Still her motto was "nil desperandum," and she was ever hopeful. One thing in her favor, her father. Obediah Stebbins, avowed his aid. Of the visitors who called at the Stebbins' domicile, Hezekiah Horubeak seemed the most probable to corral, so Artemisia set to work. Hez at first was a trifle recalcitrant, but was soon subdued by Obediah's gun, which we must admit possessed egregious powers of persuasion. The day for the wedding was set, and to the village church there flocked the natives to witness this momentous affair. All was progressing serenely until the all-important question was put to Hezekiah, and instead of answering "Yea," he kicked over the trace and tried to beat it. His escape by way of the door was intercepted, so it happens that the little church is in sore need of a stained glass window, for Hez took a portion of it with him in his haste. Out and over the lawn he gallops with the congregation at his heels, Artemisia Sophia well in the lead. Down from the terrace onto the road they leap and across the meadow until they come to a fence, on the other side of which are two boys shooting crap. Over this hurdle they vault coming plump down on the poor boys, almost crushing the life out of them. Regaining his equilibrium, Hez forges on coming to the very acropolis of the town. The descent therefrom is decidedly precipitous and makes Hez hesitate for a moment, but only a moment, for the howling horde is still in pursuit, so down be goes in leaps and falls to the bottom, followed by a veritable avalanche of human beings. Owing to this mix-up Hez has a chance to distance them a little, and being almost exhausted, he attempts to climb a tree, but too late for the gang is soon upon him, and carry him back to the church where the ceremony is started again, and when he is asked that all-important question he fairly yells, "Yes, b'gosh!" Artemisia is now asked the question, and to the amazement of all present she says, "Not on your county fair tintype," and flounces haughtily out of the church, leaving poor Hezekiah in a state of utter collapse, surrounded by sympathizing friends.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulA barmaid plies a swell with smiles and with cherries from a box that's just been delivered. When she refuses a cherry to a roughly-dressed tradesman who runs a tab at the bar, he pays off his debt in a huff, using all his week's pay. He then storms penniless and without provisions into his ill-furnished house where his wife and two children, ill-clad and ill-fed, cower. Is there any hope for him and for his family? If he does realize how low he's sunk, what help is there to lift him up? Will the family ever know the taste of cherries?
- DirectorCharles Decroix
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonStarsEdward DillonLinda ArvidsonD.W. GriffithTwo adolescent students at college are by circumstances thrown together almost continuously. They are classmates, roommates and players on the college football team, and being stalwart, athletic youths, have won hearty encomiums from the spectators for their superb work on the "gridiron." They were the fastest of friends until a young girl appeared and by the workings of cruel fate was beloved by both. Now the golden woof in the weave of friendship becomes badly tangled, as we shall see. The girl has given her heart to one of the classmates, unknown to the other, who meets her for the first time at the football game, by the way, a most spirited scene, showing the team's quarters and then the actual game, which is undoubtedly the finest ever photographed. The graduation exercises follow and are attended by the highest dignitaries of Church and State, prominent among whom will be seen President Roosevelt, Bishop Potter, Seth Low, etc. This is followed in time by the graduation ball, during the course of which there is a confetti dance. This, without exception, is the most beautiful scene ever shown in motion pictures. As the dance progresses the dancers are showered with a veritable blizzard of tiny stars and ribbons, producing an effect simply indescribable. It is during these festivities that the youth confesses his love for the girl, and is plunged into the depths of despair when told that her heart is another's, his chum. How coldly do the classmates part, when the next day they start on their divergent paths of life. The unsuccessful suitor to the West, where he engages in mining pursuits, and the other to the metropolis of the East, becoming a successful financier, the owner of fast horses and, above all, the liege lord of the fair charmer. Two years later the Westerner is drawn on business East, and meets his old classmate. The dead coals of their friendship are mildly rekindled and an invitation accepted to visit the Easterner's home. While the trio are enjoying a pleasant chat over old times, an urgent message calls the husband to his stable on account of the illness of his most valuable racer, leaving his wife to entertain his chum until his return. The chum takes advantage of his absence to renew his protestations of love, which are spurned by the wife, who, when he becomes persistent, attempts to avoid him, mounting the stairs leading to the upper floor. He follows, whereupon the wife, with a well-directed blow, sends him reeling down the stairs, crashing through the balustrade to the floor below, just as the husband reenters, amazed at the sight. The woman's denunciation of the false friend brings about a terrific combat. About the room they struggle, smashing furniture and bric-a-brac to atoms, until the husband lands a powerful blow upon his adversary, dropping him like a log. He picks up a chair and would brain him but for his wife, who leaps between them, forming a picture and finish to a film story seldom, if ever, equaled.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJames KirkwoodMarion LeonardArthur V. JohnsonThis story of the Black Hills consistently tells of the unrequited love of a Sioux brave for his chief's daughter, and how he premonished the awful results of her ominous marriage with a white cowboy. Clear Eyes, the daughter of Chief Thunder Cloud, is beloved by Comata, a Sioux brave, but having met and listened to the persuasion of Bud Watkins, a cowboy, leaves her mountain home to become his squaw. Poor little confiding Clear Eyes lives only for Bud, and he at first seems devoted to her, but at the end of two years, a little papoose arriving meanwhile to bless their union, he tires of her, and courts Miss Nellie Howe, a white girl, who thinks him single. Comata, however, has unremittingly watched his movements, and vows to avenge his lost one. Following him to the white girl's home, he sees enough to convince him of the whelp's villainy, so he goes and reveals the truth to Clear Eyes. The poor squaw is stunned by the news, and yet she herself has discerned a change in Bud towards her. Clear Eyes bowed in grief, Comata leaves taking the papoose with him, which he shows to Miss Nellie as evidence of Bud's perfidy. The girl must satisfy herself, so she retains the child and sends for Bud. He, confronted, cannot deny the truth. Clear Eyes discovering the absence of her papoose, Is told of its whereabouts by Comata, who guides her to the place. A painful scene takes place, during which Bud is ordered off by Nellie's father, and the child restored to Clear Eyes. The heart-broken squaw goes back to her cabin, resumes her native attire, and starts back with her baby for her home in the mountains.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFlorence LawrenceCharles InsleeArthur V. JohnsonA beautiful romance of a girl from the Golden West. Confidence is the flower grown from the seed of true friendship, watered by the tears of adversity, and often assailed by the blight of calumny. For as Shakespeare says', "be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny." So it was with little Nellie Burton, the orphan girl of the rancho, who budding into womanhood, realizes her position and appreciates the low brutal character of the habitués of the Dive, even discerning the true nature of her fancied sweetheart, Jim Colt, who was to say the least an unconscionable villain. Tiring of her present environments she decides to leave the place seek a nobler and higher life. To this end she makes her way eastward and applies for a position as nurse at a New York hospital, and we next find her engaged in that work of mercy "ministering to the sick." Her mild manners and pure nature impress the head surgeon, a man of eminence in his profession, to such an extent that he finds himself deeply in love with this poor self-sacrificing girl. He proposes marriage, which she at first mildly declines, but he at length persuades her, and they are married. However, there must come a cloud, and this is in the shape of her girlhood sweetheart, Colt, who has migrated East, and living on his wits. He runs across Nellie in the company with her husband as she enters her own home. The low conniving nature at once asserts itself and he plans a scheme of blackmail, using as capital her pure innocent love letters. Waiting a favorable opportunity, Jim Colt "visits'' her and with a threat of showing these letters to her husband he extorts money from her. This gone he comes for more, and as she has no ready cash he takes her jewels. The money raised on these goes the same way, so he calls to make another demand. This the poor helpless girl finds unable to meet, and during their argument the surgeon enters. Colt then hands the missives over to the husband who, taking the packet throws them into the tire and has Colt forcibly ejected from the place, with the positive injunction never to return.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsIn this trickery extravaganza, Excelsior, the wizard of illusion, pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket, and after that, everything is possible in his rare and spectacular show.
- A family sends a man out for some bread. Instead, he seems to be trying to find every drink in Paris. Another man goes out after him, but does the same. They both return, utterly drunk.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJames KirkwoodMarion LeonardFrank PowellFanny 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?" Truly, she did not know just what she yearned for, still a change of any sort would have been acceptable. Discontent is stamped upon her countenance, as Ben bids her good bye for a hunting trip in the North Woods. Webster embarks in his canoe, and sighting game, stands to fire. The light craft is overturned, throwing him into the water. Weighted down by his heavy clothing and cartridge belt, he would have drowned had not his plight been witnessed from the shore by Ed Hilton, a Canadian hunter. Hilton leaps in and succeeds in dragging the half-drowned trapper to land, where a strong friendship springs up between the two, and as night falls they make camp and sleep under the same blanket. Next morning they part with a vow of eternal friendship. Fanny goes to the village grocery store, and by chance meets Hilton, and it is a case of love at first sight with both, each, of course, ignorant of the other's identity. A second meeting is contrived and Hilton, thinking her a single girl, suggests an elopement, to which she consents. A meeting place is planned, and Fanny is there and leaves with Hilton his cabin. She has, however, left a note for Ben saying that she "is tired, and is going away." Poor Webster's heart nearly breaks as he reads this short, but cutting letter. Grief at first possesses him, then revenge. Taking up his gun, he starts after her. He hits a trail with the aid of a couple of villagers who had witnessed unseen the clandestine meeting of Fanny and the Canadian. Tracking them to the cabin he bursts in a few moments after their arrival. You may imagine the amazement on both sides when Ben finds Hilton is the man, and Hilton learns that Webster's wife is the woman. Hilton proves his innocence by commanding Webster to shoot; but no, Ben cannot kill the man to whom he owes his life, and so he staggers out and hack to his own home. Hilton, on the other hand, drives the heartless Fanny from him. She goes out, and for a time is undecided, when she resolves to face her husband and beg his forgiveness. Night has fallen and the cabin is in darkness when she enters. Going to the next room she gets the lantern, by which light she sees her husband sitting with his head reclining on the table. She assumes it is his grief, but on touching him, his inert form falls to the floor, he has terminated his existence. The shock causes her to recoil, and so doing knocks over the lantern, extinguishing the light. There in the shaft of moonlight we leave her kneeling beside the awful result of her discontent. "Oh, thou fool!"
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJohn R. CumpsonFlorence LawrenceLinda ArvidsonA new bride has made a batch of biscuits. Her husband pretends to like them, so she delivers the rest to his office. But one bite of these biscuits induces violent illness, and soon all his visitors (he runs a theatrical booking agency), plus the workmen at home, are ill. When she shows up at the office, they all go after her.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsKate BruceFrank PowellOwen MooreA policeman faces a difficult decision when he finds out that his brother is a thief.
- DirectorLouis J. GasnierStarsMax LinderA well-grown boy sees a box of his father's cigars, and pockets one. He goes downstairs, and no sooner is he out of the building when he joyously sticks the cheroot into his mouth. Feeling like a man, he goes to a nearby café, orders a drink, and then lights the weed. A close range view of his face is now given. He is flirting with a girl sitting near him. In a little while the cigar begins to act, and between the smiles towards the damsel there is interspersed a sickly expression. The sick feeling gains, but the young man keeps on smoking until he feels very ill; still unwilling to admit defeat. he loosens his collar and coat in an endeavor to be comfortable, but the waiter finally sees him and starts him home. Very ill and groggy, he finds the keyhole after much groping, and enters the wrong room. Here an indignant lodger seizes him and fires him downstairs. This seems to revive him somewhat, and the poor, sick boy makes his way to his own home where his fond mother is seen administering to the would-be man.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterAnimated intertitles help tell the tale of how a skinflint and his wife cheat their suburban neighbor at cards.
- DirectorPercy StowAn elderly woman is determined to board an omnibus that does not want to stop for her.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsJ. Stuart BlacktonA cartoonist draws faces and figures on a blackboard - and they come to life.
- DirectorJ.H. MartinMen expose a fake medium's tricks and take revenge.
- DirectorGaston VelleStencil colour and exotic décor add dazzle to a magic show conducted by white performers in yellowface.
- DirectorAlice GuyA heavily pregnant woman has a series of irrepressible cravings while walking with her family.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles InsleeHarry SolterGeorge GebhardtThe central figure is an old miser, who in parsimony is a Harpahon who, like Fosene, boarded his money in a secret cellar, where he met his death. We first find him begging on the street; a young girl passes and drops her purse, which the miser picks up. When she returns to regain it he knocks her insensible and makes off. Finding a generous roll of notes in the purse, he goes to the bank to have them exchanged for gold coin. A couple of thugs witness the transaction and are at once infected by the money fever. They follow the miser to his home, the cellar, and while he sleeps they break in and are securing the money when he awakes. They pounce upon him and he is made to pay the penalty of his greed with his life. The thugs go to their own squalid hovel, which is presided over by an old hag. She is sent from the room and they divide the spoils. While the division is equal, each is invidious of the other's share. They retire, both possessed of the same thought, one waiting for the other to fall asleep. One lies with a pistol in hand; the other with a dagger. At length one gets up to stab the other, but receives a bullet in his breast. With a mighty effort he plunges the dagger into the heart of his adversary and both fall over dead. The shot brings in the old hag, who, finding them both dead, seizes their loot and in a frenzy pours it out upon the table. In doing so she knocks the lighted candle to the floor, which ignites the litter of straw and rubbish and the place is soon in flames, incinerating the three. A holocaust upon the altar of Mammon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThree marauders are plotting to raid a little family, and eventually they are seen lurking around the house. The young daughter is alone and they pounce upon her, binding and gagging her securely. Then they seize the family savings, which are concealed in a kettle, and are about to leave, when the servant enters, but he is quickly disposed of as are also both parents and the villains, who are residents of the village, make off, first, however, throwing in the girl's eyes a concoction which blinds her. At this juncture the girl's sweetheart enters, and for a moment stands aghast at the scene which confronts him. Not knowing just what to do, he picks up one of the bloody knives, and as he is gazing at it the police dash into the house and he is immediately seized and carried off, protesting his innocence. Meanwhile the girl is led out of the house, where a kindly old gentleman, seeing her plight, administers a drug to her which restores her eyesight immediately. The innocent man, however, is brought before the judge to defend himself. Furious villagers point accusing fingers at him, and among them are the three thieves who committed the crime and who think it wiser to attend the trial with the rest of their neighbors. But while matters are going strongly against the young man the girl is brought in, her eyesight restored. The identity of the culprit is left to her, and she, gazing around the courtroom for a moment, promptly points out the guilty ones. To strengthen the case, the mother also identifies the thieves, and they are roughly handled by the gendarmes, while the vindicated lover embraces his sweetheart and her mother.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardFrank PowellDuring 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsClowns ride in on a wagon drawn by a skeletal horse. The clowns proceed to transform from blackface performers to white costumed clowns, and back again, as they perform zany antics.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonA man who has placed a personal advertisement for a prospective wife goes to wait at the meeting place that he designated. Soon a woman comes in response to the advertisement. Before the two have a chance to converse, several more women arrive on the scene. Now completely flustered, the man flees, initiating a lengthy chase.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsGertrude RobinsonGeorge NicholsJames KirkwoodPippa awakes and faces the world outside with a song. Unknown to her, the music has a healing effect on all who hear her as she passes by.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerGladys HuletteA drowsy pipe-smoker attempts to nap, only to be tormented relentlessly by the mischievous Princess Nicotine and her fairy companion.
- DirectorLewin FitzhamonCecil M. HepworthStarsBlairMay ClarkBarbara HepworthA dog leads its master to his kidnapped baby.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonFlorence LawrenceMarion LeonardFree adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's powerful novel. The subject opens with the return home of Prince Dimitri, who meets the maid Katusha, a little peasant girl, and is instantly charmed with her beauty. Young, artless and innocent, as pretty as a rose, she unwittingly fascinates the prince. His noble bearing likewise impresses her, and his little attentions flatter her, until at length she is unable to resist his advances. The poor girl is meted the usual fate. An alliance is out of the question. The disparity of their ranks even forbids it, and soon the prince must cast her aside. Five years later we find that the girl, who is now a loathsome sight, has learned the bitter lesson of the eternal truth, "The wages of sin is death." It is death to the soul at all events. She has gone down to the lowest depths and is arrested in a low Russian tavern. As she is carried to the tribunal she passes Prince Dimitri, who now sees the terrible result of his sins. He grows repentant and attempts to plead her cause before the jury, but they are a callous lot and pay no attention to the arguments for nor against, and by force of habit vote to send her to Siberia. She is dragged out to the pen of detention and herded with a lot of poor unfortunates, who scarcely bear any resemblance to human beings. The repentant prince determines to give up his life to right the wrong he has done, and visits her here with a view of turning her now vicious nature, handing her a copy of the Bible. She does not recognize him at first, but when she does she flies into fury, beating his body and face with her fists and the book. He leaves her and she sits moodily on the bench with the book on her lap. Shortly she turns its pages and lo, the Resurrection! Her eyes fall on the passage (John xi, 25), "And Jesus said unto her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live." In an instant her whole being changes. There is hope for her salvation, and she reads on. The guards arrive and we next see her with the poor unfortunates trudging over the snow-clad steppes toward the goal from whence few return. She becomes the ministering angel, sharing her comforts with them. The prince, meanwhile, has secured her pardon and hastens after her. Giving her the welcome notice, he begs her to return with him as his wife: but no, she prefers to work out her salvation helping those poor souls to whom a kindness is an indescribable blessing, and bidding him farewell, she renounces the world for the path of duty, so we leave her kneeling on the snow at the foot of the Holy Cross.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFlorence LawrenceGeorge GebhardtGladys EganThis early D.W. Griffith short shows the director's interest in Jewish ghetto life, portrayed here with sympathy and sentimentality. The melodramatic plot involves the conflict between generations in an immigrant Jewish family.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJames KirkwoodMarion LeonardOwen MooreA husband suspects his wife of an affair. The wife's cousin borrows a shawl to meet her lover in the garden. The husband spies the couple embracing, and, thinking it's his wife, he strikes the lover. The thought that he has killed a man temporarily unhinges the husband's mind until he can be convinced that the lover is still alive.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFlorence LawrenceLinda ArvidsonRobert HarronStruggling with poverty and a relative's declining health, a young woman struggles to find employment.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA British trick film in which a motorist ends up driving around the rings of Saturn.
- DirectorAlice GuyAlice Guy (later known as Alice Guy-Blaché) tackles the subject of bad parenting in this dramatic, tear-jerking short.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithG.W. BitzerStarsArthur V. JohnsonLinda ArvidsonGladys EganOn a warm and sunny summer's day, a mother and father take their young daughter Dollie on a riverside outing. A gypsy basket peddler happens along, and is angered when the mother refuses to buy his wares. He attacks mother and daughter but is driven off by the father. Later the gypsy sneaks back and kidnaps the girl. A rescue party is organized but the gypsy conceals the child in a 30 gallon barrel which he precariously places on the tail of the wagon. He and his gypsy-wife make their getaway by fording the river with the wagon. The barrel, with Dollie still inside, breaks free, tumbling into into the river; it starts floating toward the peril of a nearby waterfall . . .
- DirectorWalter R. BoothAn inventor uses a wireless controlled flying torpedo to destroy enemy airships.
- DirectorViggo LarsenStarsMargrete JespersenViggo LarsenThe peace of the anarchist and his wife's house is disturbed by the mother-in-law. He sees no other advice than to blow her up.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterThe scene opens in an artist's studio, the artist asleep in his chair. A large old fashioned clock opens and a young lady comes out and awaking the artist, requests him to paint her picture. While the artist is executing the work a clown comes from the clock, takes in the situation and begins to make love to the lady. The artist detects him and compels him to desist his love making. He continues to paint. The clown becomes interested and asks the artist to allow him to paint the picture, and begins smearing a whitewash brush over the canvas, when lo, a most perfect image of the young lady appears. The image then steps down from the frame, joins the young lady in the studio, and the figures, each a perfect counterpart of the other begin to dance to the great astonishment of the artist. The clown the by waving his hand causes the figures of the two girls to merge into one. The artist then assumes his seat and awakens from his dream with a great shock.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonClara T. BracyMary PickfordA confirmed bachelor learns that he will inherit his late uncle's fortune only if he marries, which he does reluctantly. Shortly afterward he returns to his bachelor lifestyle but realizes he can't get his wife's face out of his thoughts.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsGilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' AndersonA.C. AbadieGeorge BarnesA group of bandits stage a brazen train hold-up, only to find a determined posse hot on their heels.
- DirectorAlbert CapellaniStarsGabriel MoreauRenée CogeRansartAn old man, a bell ringer from Notre-Dame, repudiates his daughter who is playing with a man who is not well. The scoundrel abandons the young woman with a baby, and she has no other solution than to leave her little one to her father, who takes care of her with enough affection. But the mother tries to see the little one again, against the advice of the grandfather.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsJames KirkwoodFlorence LawrenceFrank PowellA 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.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles InsleeHarry SolterFlorence LawrenceGeorge Redfeather, the hero of this subject, returns from Carlisle, where he not only graduated with high honors, but was also the star of the college football team. At a reception given in his honor by Lieut. Penrose, an Indian agent, the civilized brave meets Gladys, the lieutenant's daughter, and falls desperately in love with her. You may be sure he is indignantly repulsed by Gladys and ordered from the house for his presumption by her father. With pique he leaves, and we next find him in his own room, crushed and disappointed, for he realizes the truth: "Good enough as a hero, but not as a husband." What was the use of his struggle? As he reasons, his long suppressed nature asserts itself and he hears the call of the wild: "Out there is your sphere, on the boundless plains, careless and free, among your kind and kin, where all is truth." Here he sits; this nostalgic fever growing more intense every second, until in a fury he tears off the conventional clothes he wears, donning in their stead his suit of leather, with blanket and feathered headgear. Thus garbed, and with a bottle of whiskey, he makes his way back to his former associates in the wilds. He plans vengeance and the opportunity presents itself, when he surprises Gladys out horseback riding. He captures her after a spirited chase and intended holding her captive, but she appeals to him, calling to his mind the presence of the All Powerful Master above, who knows and sees all things, and who is even now calling to him to do right. He listens to the call of this Higher Voice, and helping her to her saddle, sadly watches her ride off homeward.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsRachel GilletGeorges MélièsA family has a sick woman at home. Her girl goes out in the snow to beg.
- DirectorGaston VelleThe town-crier summons the inhabitants of the town and they read a manifesto which is posted on a wall announcing the fact that at 4 o'clock on that day the Lord Mayor will receive bids for the building of a town clock. One of those who reads it is an old clockmaker, who, stopping before the placard, reflects long and thoughtfully before putting in his bid for the work. While he thus stands the devil appears on the scene and hands him a drawing showing a clock of exquisite workmanship such as could never have been fashioned by human hands. The old man accepts this design from the evil one and is next seen competing with other clock-makers for the work. Of course his bid is accepted and the Mayor instructs him to begin his work at once. He is how seen in his shop, tinkering with springs and wheels and other mechanism, when suddenly Mephisto appears again. The latter presents a paper to the old man, which he finds on reading to be a contract so drawn up that if he, the clock-maker, agrees to same, the wonderful clock will be his, but at the price of his own soul, which the devil proposes to take into his own keeping. The clockmaker at first refuses vehemently to consider such a proposition, but the devil with some mysterious passing of the hands causes all of the Roman figures on the clock to appear as in a tableau and execute a pretty dance, after which they quickly vanish. Again he proffers the contract, but the old man is still steadfast in his refusal, but Satan, not to be thwarted in his wicked designs, causes to appear another tableau which shows a shop of flaming fire, in which the devil and his emissaries are at work with anvil and forge molding the parts of the clock. Suddenly the scene changes and the wonderful piece of mechanism is seen complete and perfect. The clock-maker is bewildered and tries to move toward it, but the devil intercepts him and then the entire scene disappears. With the image of the wonderful clock whirling in his brain, the old man accepts the proposition of Mephisto and signs the contract, but while he is in the act of affixing his signature to the document, his daughter slips unseen into the room and witnesses his act. Now the devil leads his victim out into the public square and bringing his infernal power into play causes the gigantic timepiece to rise to its proper place. The Mayor now appears and seeing the marvelous clock orders the town crier to summon the inhabitants of the town, who quickly gather around in mute admiration. On the appearance of the old man, the supposed creator of this wonderful work, he is quickly raised from the ground and borne on the shoulders of the jubilant and admiring crowd. This happy scene, however, is not of long duration, for the old man's daughter coming in upon them upbraids her father for his act in contracting with the devil and raising her hand hurls a rock at the face of the clock, smashing it completely. Now Mephisto appears to claim the old man's soul, but the daughter, aware of his intention, draws, forth a cross, at the sight of which the evil spirit takes flight. The exposure of his wickedness and dishonesty causes the old clockmaker to lose his reason, and he soon becomes a raving maniac. He is next seen at a tavern, where he happens to see a clock, which he dashes to the ground in maniacal fury. It seems that the devil still has control over the old man, for when they are gathered together and he raises his cup to drink, his glass as well as those of the other guests seems filled with flame instead of liquid. The old man now becomes violent and tears around the room in a rage. One now sees the delusions of the unfortunate man's diseased brain, which cause a wine cask to become a clock, and then change into a hideous human visage. The next scene shows the old clockmaker in his home, where all manner of imps persist in tormenting him, and finally the devil himself appears and mockingly flaunts the signed contract before his agonized victim. The old man's daughter now comes in and endeavors to help her father, but Mephisto is obdurate and is just about to seize the aged man when the Angel of Light and Truth descends with flaming sword and quickly routs the evil one. The last scene of the film is symbolic of the angel's victory over the devil. Here a pretty tableau is seen, which terminates with a picture of the Angel pointing to the ground, where the devil lies crouching and quivering with fear. -- The Moving Picture World, November 30, 1907
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonAlbert E. SmithAlthough we are led to believe that the ancient alchemists were all powerful, this picture somewhat reverses the order of things. The clown plays some wonderful pranks on the old professor. He appears in numerous startling positions, using his club with great effect and always escaping punishment. At last the alchemist brings his magic power into use, and calling two hooded assistants, orders a large cauldron brought in. The climax, by which the clown finally disposes of the alchemist, is startling in the extreme.
- DirectorAlice GuyIn a society in which gender roles are switched, will men tolerate being unequal?
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFrank PowellFlorence LawrenceGladys EganWhile 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.
- DirectorRomeo BosettiAlice GuyStarsRomeo BosettiComedy is benefited by originality. In this Alice Guy short, an alcoholic is inadvertently sewn in to a mattress. With that unique premise, havoc ensues.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsMlle. BodsonManuelGeorges MélièsAs the clock strikes twelve, a weary astronomer attempts to answer the impertinent enquiries of his young students by scrutinising an impending lunar eclipse, as an effeminate and delicate moon caresses the mighty sun's hungry cosmic rays.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsJ. Stuart BlacktonA cartoonist defies reality when he draws objects that become three-dimensional after he lifts them off his sketch pad.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeA comedy about social convention. A maid allows a soldier into the kitchen triggering, if discovered, potentially embarrassing liaisons.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsDavid MilesJames KirkwoodLinda ArvidsonA disfigured violinist mistakes a token of appreciation for a love bouquet. When he realizes his mistake, he loses his mind.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsAnita HendrieAdele DeGardeOwen MooreAn anonymous donor drops a gold coin in the shoe of a homeless girl as she sleeps. A gambler with a 'sure thing' borrows the coin and wins a fortune, but he can't find her again to repay her.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsFernande AlbanyManuelGeorges MélièsThe scene opens in the bar of a saloon, showing the various stages of intoxication of its patrons. One of the manufactured articles is much further soused than his fellows and it requires the efforts of the police, who are called in by the bartender, to get him away from the worship of Bacchus and convey him to his home, where they leave him. His wife and daughter have retired, and when he comes in they are awakened from slumber and upbraid him for his condition. This treatment infuriates the already angry man and he commences to belabor them; they try to defend themselves, but are overcome. Their puny efforts are of no avail against the strength of the madman, who ultimately throws them through the window. The outside of the house, which is undergoing repairs, is now seen, with scaffold, etc, fixed. A peddler is now seen approaching with his pack in shape of a large palmier strapped to his back. Just as he arrives under the window the daughter is seen to fall out of it, into the basket, and is thus saved from danger. The mother next follows, and her hair catching one of the beams of the scaffold, she is also saved from harm and is gently brought to the ground, joining her daughter, and both rejoice at their miraculous escape, and go for the police to help them. In the meantime, the husband and father in the home, overcome by the horror of the tragedy, is instantly sobered, and in remorse for his drunken freak, looks round, and seeing a piece of rope, proceeds to hang himself. The rope breaks and lands him in a bucket of water, which further cools off the effects of the liquor, when to his utter bewilderment his wife and daughter appear, accompanied by an officer. The now thoroughly sobered man is overjoyed to find they are not hurt and begs their forgiveness, which is granted. He then signs the pledge, promising to abstain in future from all intoxicants, to the great joy and delight of his now happy wife and daughter.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree friends go on a trip and decided to rest at an abandoned house. Everything seems pretty normal until really weird things start to happen.
- DirectorGaston VelleStarsJulienne MathieuIn this version of the ancient fable, a poor man is given a hen which lays golden eggs, but he is overwhelmed by the urge to get at the gold inside the chicken.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsHenri VilbertA wall full of advertising posters comes to life.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsMary FullerMarc McDermottHerbert PriorThe story revolves itself around a Western cowboy who has been sent to the town of Cedar Gulch to deposit gold in the bank for his boss. Arriving too late in the night to dispose of the gold, he seeks out the pretty daughter of the gambling-house keeper who has given her heart unto his keeping. While waiting for the bank to open in the morning, he becomes fascinated with the sight of the money being won at a gambling table, and starts to gamble with his boss's money. Luck is against him, and scarcely before he realizes it he has lost all. Ruin, disgrace, and prison or lynching stare him in the face. Only seeking to get back what he has lost he tries to rob the gambling house at night, and here he comes face to face with the little girl whom he loves. He confesses to her his crime and shame, and the woman's love spreads forth its hands to shield him. She seeks out Rattlesnake Jim, the Sheriff of Cedar Gulch, who also is in love with her, and implores his aid for her unworthy lover. A warrant for the cowboy's arrest reaches Jim while she is at his cabin and he struggles manfully to follow its mandates to the letter, but his love for the girl causes him to swerve from his strict path of duty and he decides to give the guilty man a fighting chance. Either he or the cowboy must quit Cedar Gulch at once. In other words, one of them must die. To live and not do his duty is a thought that has never entered Jim's mind. So these men of iron and nerve fight a novel duel in the Sheriff's lonely cabin, at which he has ordered the cowboy to report. Baring their arms to the elbow they sit at opposite sides of a table, calmly waiting for a great, poisonous rattlesnake to rise from its bed, which opens in the center of the table, and choose its victim. Slowly it uncoils itself upon the table with fangs darting in and out, it rears its head, the men watching its every move in fearful silence. At a moment when it seems that the awful suspense will be ended by a deadly strike fate interferes, and though justice miscarries, yet Cupid's arrow finds an unsuspecting but not unwilling victim in the person of the lion-hearted Sheriff, whose manly conduct, in contrast with that of her lover, reveals to the girl his true worth. All this is told with a wonderful dramatic strength and power, and one never loses interest for a moment.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDeep into a vast cavern of the pitch-black inferno, a couple of professional dancers demonstrate the cakewalk that is currently so much in vogue, and now, everyone in the once-gloomy underworld is doing the crazy dance. Who is the best?
- DirectorWilliam HaggarStarsWalter HaggarViolet HaggarLily HaggarThe story of Charles Peace, one of Britain's most notorious criminals. Peace was an expert in cat burglary. The film reconstructs Peace's real-life leap from a train on his way to trial for the murder of Arthur Dyson.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMarion LeonardMary PickfordRuth HartA disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters is courted by a blind man. Will he still love her when his sight is restored?
- DirectorJames WilliamsonA poor young girl tries to sell matches in a snowstorm. After being robbed by bullies, she lights matches which illuminate visions of a far happier Christmas than the one she faces.
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe same mysterious ring of Émile Cohl's THE MAGIC HOOP reappears here to bring to life a case of toy soldiers (ninety years ahead of TOY STORY). When one is left behind, a strange course of events leads him to a distant tribe. THE LITTLE SOLDIER WHO BECAME A GOD is easily one of the most surreal of Cohl's live action/stop motion hybrids. This film features actors performing in blackface. Fandor does not condone racist stereotyping, but blackface is nonetheless a significant aspect of American history in general and film history specifically. Early cinema was deeply rooted in vaudeville, where blackface was a popular staple. As film critic Ty Burr wrote in a recent assessment of Al Jolson's THE JAZZ SINGER, "Minstrelsy was the then-accepted cultural mechanism by which the governing white culture could appropriate and tame various representations of black people." The history of blackface is complex (even African American performers donned burnt cork to appear onstage in the early 1900s), and its legacy is far from being resolved. While blackface iconography appears offensive today, it remains deeply telling of the culture from which it emerged.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothOn the roof of an ancient palace appear a young Knight and his lady. While they are making love an ugly old witch appears and is rather troublesome. The Knight commands her to leave, and when he is about to force her away she sits on her broom and rises to the moon. After disappearing she causes various hob-goblins to haunt the pair, the last of them stealing away the lady while the Knight's back is turned. The Knight, frantic with grief, is suddenly confronted by a Fairy, who presents him with a magical sword, and tells him that he can use it to regain the young woman.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeA midsummer Phantasy. The man having been attacked by footpads, puts on a suit of medieval armor which has been magnetized at a dynamo by two boys. Every metallic article which he approaches flies to him, to the great consternation of many people.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsDavid MilesMarion LeonardMary PickfordA gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonStarsEdward DillonA happy Russian family is shattered when the father is arrested for treason.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA band-leader assembles an orchestra by mystifying means.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsOwen MooreLottie PickfordKate BruceAn Indian village is forced to leave its land by white settlers, and must make a long and weary journey to find a new home. The settlers make one young Indian woman stay behind. This woman is thus separated from her sweetheart, whose elderly father needs his help on the journey ahead.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsRose KingHerbert PriorCaroline HarrisMiss Louise Leroque was one of those charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks, and after she married John Kendrick, she suffered an incessant yearning for all those delicacies and luxuries she felt were her due. John was a bighearted, indulgent husband whose every thought was for his wife's happiness, and while Louise was a devoted wife, still there was the strain of selfishness ever apparent, for she who studies her glass neglects her heart. She yearned for ostentation, and poor John was in no position to appease this desire. However, an occasion presents itself when they can at least bask in the radiance of the social limelight, in an invitation to attend a reception tendered a foreign prince. John is in the height of elation, hut Louise meets him with that time-honored remark, "I've nothing to wear." Well, he feels the strength of her argument, so goes and pawns his watch and chain to procure her a gown fitting for the occasion. The gown emphasizes the absence of jewel ornamentation, so they visit their friend and neighbor, who lends them a handsome necklace. At the reception she makes quite a stir and is presented to the prince, who becomes decidedly attentive. Arriving home after the affair, Louise rehearses the incidents of the event, when suddenly she stands petrified with horror. "My God! The necklace is gone." High and low they search, and even back to the ballroom, but without result, for we have seen it stolen from her neck by a sneak thief while she is talking with the prince. Unable to find the necklace, they swear to give their fingers to the bone, their life's blood until it is paid for. But then there is the humiliation of not returning the jewels, so they hunt for a duplicate. At the jeweler's they find one, in appearance an exact copy, but the price is $20,000. Twenty thousand dollars to ones in their condition meant a large fortune. However, John borrows money on his salary, gets loans from his various friends and is granted a large advance by his employer, giving notes for same: in fact, mortgaging his very life as the result of vanity. With the money he purchases the duplicate and gives it to their friend, who is unaware of the substitution. Meanwhile, the thief has taken the necklace to a pawnshop and finds it is a worthless imitation, and so throws it into the rubbish heap. Five years later we find the couple toiling, toiling, but still in bondage; after night in the endeavor to make a little extra above his ordinary salary. Ten years we find them, still hounded by the note collectors, aged and broken in health, yet determined. Twenty years, and the last penny on the necklace is paid, but at the expense of their bodily strength. Having cleared up his debt with his employer, he is discharged, being too feeble to do the work. As a last resort they write to their friend, confessing the substitution of the jewels, and their plight as a result, begging that she give them some slight assistance. Their friend, of course, is amazed, she cognizant of the worthlessness of her property, so hastens to give Louise back the jewels, arriving only in time to put them about her neck when she sinks back dead. John, poor fellow, is found sitting in a chair at the head of the bed, also dead. They had received vanity's reward.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterReveals the most important stages of life, through one couple.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles WestHerbert PriorAnita HendrieA 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.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsFlorence LawrenceArthur V. JohnsonLinda ArvidsonBased on Shakespeare's play: Petruchio courts the bad-tempered Katharina, and tries to change her aggressive behavior.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterSeven toy teddy bears of varying sizes suddenly come to life, getting in all sorts of merry misadventures.
- DirectorAlice GuyPerhaps you're familiar with lycanthropy? More commonly known as a "werewolf" (a man that becomes a wolf), lycanthropes are a type of therianthrope. In this silent short from the early 1900s, we learn the truth about a man that becomes an ape. Evolution in reverse? Naturally, unexpected adjustments occur as "normal" folks adapt to the ape-man and vice versa.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterSeveral men take watermelons from a melon patch, and are pursued.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonFlorence LawrenceMary PickfordA woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles InsleeGeorge GebhardtHarry SolterThe Zulu chief of the Amatabele tribe has an only daughter who dies of fever at age 4; in the opening scene of this Biograph story he is burying her. Scarcely has the poor bereft father laid the little one in the ground, when the war cry is heard resounding in the hills. There is an uprising and the chief is summoned to action. Tearing himself from the grave of his little girl, he arms himself with his assegai and oxhide shield and is soon at the head of his band of savages, with sinister designs on the Boers. The Boers themselves have become active, and scouts have been sent out to warn those nomadic South Africans who might be on the road. One family, comprising a Boer, his wife and a four-year-old girl, is trapped, and despite extreme measures to elude the merciless black brutes, soon overtaken. Finding escape hopeless, the Boer leaps from his wagon, and sending his wife and child into the woods, seizes his rifle, in the vain hope of holding the savages at bay while the woman and child seek a place of safety. There is a shower of assegais, one of which pierces the poor fellow, dropping him into the road. Up rush the prancing, jibbing, gibbering barbarians. Finding the man dead, they rush on to find the others. The distracted woman hides the girl in a niche in the rooks, while she goes to find some avenue of escape, but she is at once apprehended and taken by the band to their camp, their chief remaining behind. The baby now comes forward to appeal to the Zulu, who is so reminded by her of his own lost treasure that his cruel nature at once softens as the little one offers her dollie as ransom for her mother. The chief is so moved that he vows to save the mother's life, if it costs him his own. Placing the little one in a crevice in the rocks, where she soon falls asleep, he goes to find the mother. Arriving at the camp, he demands the release of the woman, which his followers grant with protests. Back he goes to get the child, but the wily devils have anticipated him and carried her off. He soon overtakes them, however, and after slaying three in a terrific conflict, delivers the child to its mother, and then sees them safely to their destination. The subject is a beautiful story of parental affection, portrayed in a most novel manner, besides being intensely thrilling.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLinda ArvidsonJohn R. CumpsonFlora FinchSet in an early cinema house, this comic short illustrates the problems with the gals' hats obscuring the movie patron's line of vision.
- DirectorAlbert Capellani
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterBased on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Eliza, a slave who has a young child, pleads with Tom, another slave, to escape with her. Tom does not leave, but Eliza flees with her child. After getting some help to escape the slave traders who are looking for her, she then must try to cross the icy Ohio River if she wants to be free. Meanwhile, Tom is sold from one master to another, and his fortunes vary widely.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsVesta VictoriaAlec B. FrancisWAITING AT THE CHURCH was inspired by a 1906 hit song of the same name, which was often sung by a woman dressed in a wedding gown. Porter and McCutcheon turned the song's con artist into an overeager pater familias whose efforts to get married are prevented not just by his wife but a horde of children, who seem familiar with his modus operandi. The discrepancy between the film and and the song was a key to its humor.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsDavid MilesFlorence LawrenceGladys EganA man returns home a mean drunk after drinks after work. When he makes a habit of it, his little girl goes searching to fetch her father home, with tragic results.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsMarion LeonardDavid MilesMary PickfordA dying man sends a note to his lost love, asking her to visit him. As a lark she does, but brings along some drunken party guests. They find him dead, and she repents her lightheartedness.