CriterionForum Lists Project - The Pre-1920s (Version 3.0)
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- DirectorMauritz StillerStarsErik StocklassaBror BergerRichard LundIn 16th century Sweden, the lives of three Scottish mercenaries and a vicar's family intersect after a crime forever alters a small coastal town. As the three try to escape, they find themselves trapped when all ships are frozen in ice.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsVitold PolonskyOlga RakhmanovaVera KaralliAndrei lives a secluded life with his aunt, studying and thinking about his now-deceased mother. His friend Tsenin is concerned, and tries to get Andrei to accompany him to social events. After watching the actress Zoya Kadmina perform, Andrei is fascinated with her, and is then astounded to receive a note from her. He has only one brief meeting with her, and then three months later he is shocked to learn of her death. He now becomes obsessed with her memory, and he decides that he must find out all that he can about her.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRichard BarthelmessDonald CrispA frail waif, abused by her brutal boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmEdith ErastoffJohn EkmanA stranger comes to work at widow Halla's farm.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsMusidoraÉdouard MathéMarcel LévesqueAn intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRobert HarronMae MarshThe story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
- DirectorWinsor McCayStarsWinsor McCayAn animated dramatization of the notorious World War I German torpedoing of the ocean liner, Lusitania.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsVera KaralliAleksandr KheruvimovVitold PolonskyA grief-stricken ballerina becomes the obsession of an increasingly unhinged artist.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsRockliffe FellowesAnna Q. NilssonWilliam SheerA boy surrounded by violence grows up to become an infamous gangster.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsCarl Walther MeyerElith PioHalvard HoffA judge sees his illegitimate daughter facing a trial for the murder of her newborn child, also out of wedlock. He is certain that she will be sentenced to death.
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyLois WeberStarsLois WeberVal PaulDouglas GerrardAbandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczMr Beetle seeks companionship from a statuesque dragonfly dancer, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, a slender grasshopper and an industrious cameraman, watches their every move. Will Mrs Beetle forgive him? Will he get away with adultery?
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsSam De GrasseFrancelia BillingtonErich von StroheimAn Austrian officer sets out to seduce a neglected young wife.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsRomuald JoubéMaxime DesjardinsSéverin-MarsThe story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorInspector Juve is tasked to investigate and capture an infamous criminal Fantomas.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorIn Part Two of Louis Feuillade's 5 1/2-hour epic follows Fantômas, the criminal lord of Paris, master of disguise, the creeping assassin in black, as he is pursued by the equally resourceful Inspector Juve.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorAfter a body disappears from inside the prison, a series of crimes take place, all seemingly by the dead man. With Juve presumed dead, Fandor must investigate alone. Will Fantomas finally be brought to justice?
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreGeorges MelchiorLaurent MorléasThe press and the public opinion suggest that Inspector Juve may in fact be Fantômas. As Juve is jailed, the actual Fantômas schemes to keep him behind bars forever.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené NavarreEdmund BreonGeorges MelchiorHaving committed murder in Belgium, Fantomas is sentenced to life imprisonment. Two crimes committed in France suggest to inspector Juve that the Fantomas gang is still at work. He conceives the idea that if Fantomas is set free it will be possible to follow him and capture him and the remaining members of the gang. The villain escapes from prison and makes his way to the railroad station and boards a train where he is tracked by private detectives. When the train stops at a country station, Fantomas alights with the intention of making good his escape, but he finds that he is being followed by two detectives, whom he recognizes. He goes back to his carriage, which leads the detectives to think he is quite safe, but he crosses the train and leaves by the opposite door, jumping into the baggage wagon of the train on the opposite rail. Just at that moment the train moves and a magistrate who happens to have nearly missed the train also jumps into the baggage wagon. Fantomas was who hiding, attacks the magistrate, and after a severe struggle in which he is victorious assumes the disguise of the magistrate and takes his clothes and papers. He continues the journey as the magistrate, successfully rescues certain criminals, who are brought before him to be tried, and manages to blackmail several members of society, with whom he is brought in contact. While here he is recognized by Fandor, the young and clever journalist who happens to come into the district and who has suspicions as to the authenticity of the magistrate. He decides to keep watch upon him. His suspicions are well founded and he identifies the magistrate as none other than Fantomas. After much trouble, he is able to get papers committing Fantomas to prison, but Fantomas' suspecting his immediate arrest, issues an order to the head warden, and tells him that it is Detective Juve's intention to be arrested disguised as Fantomas. The warden is not to tell a soul of the detective's intentional disguise, but is to let him remain in prison until 12 o'clock midnight, when the head warden is to personally release him. The police, not suspecting anything of this, feel quite safe when Fantomas is put in the cell and securely barred and locked. His scheme works favorably and once more Fantomas is at large.
- This film is part of the Mitchell and Kenyon collection - an amazing visual record of everyday life in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. Wave to Morecambe's seasiders in 1901, courtesy of this Mitchell and Kenyon tracking shot.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsVictor JansonOssi OswaldaHarry LiedtkeAn American heiress seeks the hand of an impoverished German prince.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmAugust FalckEdith ErastoffTerje Vigen, a sailor, suffers the loss of his family through the cruelty of another man. Years later, when his enemy's family finds itself dependent on Terje's beneficence, Terje must decide whether to avenge himself.
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsHilda BorgströmGeorg GrönroosAron LindgrenFinancial struggles separate a single mother from her children.
- DirectorCharles SwickardWilliam S. HartClifford SmithStarsWilliam S. HartClara WilliamsJack StandingIn the wayward western town known as Hell's Hinges, a local tough guy is reformed by the faith of a good woman.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenKaren CaspersenOtto ReinwaldOn the brink of war, Lt. van Hauen is summoned to take command of the cruiser, but due to unforeseen events, he is wrongfully convicted as a traitor.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsTula BelleRobin MacdougallEdwin E. ReedWith the aid and guidance of a magical fairy, two peasant children set out in search of the elusive "Blue Bird of Happiness".
- DirectorLois WeberStarsCourtenay FooteMyrtle StedmanHerbert StandingThe parallel stories of a modern preacher and a medieval monk, Gabriel the Ascetic, who is killed by an ignorant mob for making a nude statue representing Truth, which is also represented by a ghostly naked girl who flits throughout the film.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellA reformed tramp becomes a police constable who must fight a huge thug who dominates an inner-city street.
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsPina MenichelliFebo MariMario, an unknown painter, remains struck and obsessed with meeting a famous poet, already married, who will be able to charm him, so that he will no longer have the talent created to be able to paint.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsDouglas FairbanksAlbert MacQuarrieKathleen CliffordPsychiatrist Dr. Ulrich Metz attempts to drive Daniel Brown to suicide.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenKaren CaspersenPeter FjelstrupA criminal escapes from prison, however a betrayal leads to his second arrest.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsElena P. SmirnovaNina KosljaninowaMichael SalarowSeamstress Mary dreams of a better life in luxury instead of her badly-paying sweatshop grind. Her dreams come true when she draws the attention of Victor, a bourgeoisie, who invites her to dinner and makes her a lady. But about a year later, she has become tired of him, and thanks to her his money is almost gone. When he asks that they settle down outside the big city, where his money should be enough for a modest living, she breaks with him and picks up a new lover. Victor is trying to shoot her, then himself, but finally gives up. A year later, he is living in a shabby, cold room under the roof, still trying to meet her again, a thing she definitely refuses, and showing him her feelings towards him, by ordering that he should get three Rubels when he leaves the stairs to her house. This has predictable results.
- DirectorHarold M. ShawStarsMartin FullerMrs. William BechtelWalter EdwinA young boy, opressed by his mother, goes on an outing in the country with a social welfare group where he dares to dream of a land where the cares of his ordinary life fade.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsOssi OswaldaHermann ThimigVictor JansonForced into marriage by his uncle, a man decides to fool him by marrying a life-like mechanical doll instead.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsAlexander WyrubowF. WerchowzewaViktor ArensSergei's beloved wife Yelena has passed away, and the bereaved husband is inconsolable. He remains obsessed with pictures of Yelena and with a braid of her hair that he has saved. One day, while walking in the street, he passes by a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Yelena. He follows her to a theater where the woman, an actress named Tina, is part of an opera. After the performance, Sergei goes back stage, and he soon strikes up a friendship with Tina. But it is not long before his obsessions create severe tensions in their relationship.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA British trick film in which a motorist ends up driving around the rings of Saturn.
- DirectorReginald BarkerStarsGeorge BebanClara WilliamsJ. Frank BurkeAn Italian immigrant and his sweetheart search for a better life in America, but the harsh realities of life in the slums of New York City lay waste to their hopes and dreams.
- DirectorG.W. BitzerIn one long take, the camera shows us the journey of a subway train as it makes its way from Union Square to the old Grand Central Station.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsEmma BauerTasya BormanN. DennitsynaSince Zoya Verenskaya's husband passed away ten years ago, she has been devoted to her daughter Lee. At present, Lee is in poor health, and she is in danger of losing her eyesight. Zoya's suitor Dmitry wants to get married, but Zoya is determined to wait until Lee is better. Then, on a vacation in the Crimea, they learn Lee's true feelings for Dmitry, and suddenly all of their lives are thrown into turmoil.
- DirectorYevgeny BauerStarsNina ChernovaA. UgrjumovV. DemertA young, rich woman decides to dedicate her life to helping the poor, but a tragic incident changes her life.
- DirectorJames NeillStarsJ. Warren KerriganJessalyn Van TrumpGeorge PeriolatBetty is giving a lawn party. When it is discovered that 13 are at the table the servant is sent out to bring in a passerby. The wanderer is brought in and seated beside Joe and Klein, two of Betty's admirers. That evening, Joe proposes to Betty, who refuses, and Klein watches for his chance to force his attentions on her. Maddened that he should be interrupted by the wanderer and refused by Betty, the next morning Klein writes to her father that she must pay the note for $1000 immediately. The wanderer finds this note on the floor. Klein goes to the squire, instructing him to collect the note. The squire collects his own note first. After a wordy argument with the colonel, he succeeds and is then ordered from the house. The wanderer notes it all and follows the squire. Later we find the wanderer at the tavern, where he is insulted by Klein. Joe enters, and, foolishly jealous of the wanderer, demands to meet him on the dueling grounds. Late that night the wanderer is seen writing a note enclosing $1,000. The colonel finds it under his door and after attempting an explanation from the wanderer, pays off his overdue note to Klein. Again we find the wanderer and Klein at the tavern. Klein urges the man to play cards. In the game he loses the money just paid. The wanderer turns it over to the squire saying that he is the messenger of another. Joe and the wanderer face each other for the duel. The wanderer manages to slightly wound the impetuous youth. Betty rushes up, having been warned, and inquires if Joe is badly injured. The wanderer smiles sadly and placing her hand in that of Joe's, tells her that the boy has fought for her and is worthy. He then resumes his journey.
- DirectorLéonce PerretStarsLéonce PerretLouis LeubasMaurice LagrenéeThe young daughter of an army captain missing in action runs away from school and is kidnapped by Parisian lowlifes. When the kidnapper flees to Nice with the child, the kind-hearted employee of one of his accomplices sets off in pursuit.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceEric CampbellCharlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreWomen washing their clothes by the river.
- DirectorJames WilliamsonStarsSam DaltonA man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera and cinematographer. He steps back, chews, and grins.
- DirectorLouis LumièreWorkers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHarry CareyMolly MaloneL.M. WellsA ranch foreman battles a rich stockbroker for the affections of a beautiful young woman.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssErnst LudwigAdolf PaulFoenss, a Danish star, is the perfect creature manufactured in a laboratory by Kuehne. Having discovered his origins, that he has no 'soul' and is incapable of love, he revenges himself on mankind, instigating revolutions and becoming a monstrous but beautiful tyrant, relentlessly pursued by his creator-father who seeks to rectify his mistake.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssFriedrich KühneTheodor Loos
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssFriedrich KühneTheodor Loos
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssFriedrich KühneTheodor LoosRichard Ortmann the artificial man (Homunculus) has become the head of the corporation that represents the capital and power of the country, but he has stopped believing in human love. All the more clear is his goal now: the annihilation of mankind.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssFriedrich KühneTheodor Loos
- DirectorÉmile CohlThe first all-animated film in history, a series of scenes without much narrative structure, but morphing into each other.
- DirectorWallace McCutcheonEdwin S. PorterSeven toy teddy bears of varying sizes suddenly come to life, getting in all sorts of merry misadventures.
- A coal miner says good-bye to his wife and children, and heads off to work. He reaches the mine, prepares his lamp, and then descends into the mine along with some other workers. As he and the others work inside the mine, the coal is sent to the surface, where others at the mining site are ready to process the coal and to prepare it for shipping.
- 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.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsOssi OswaldaCurt GoetzFerry SiklaA teenaged tomboy, tired of being bossed around by her strict guardian, impersonates a man so she can have more fun, but discovers that being the opposite sex isn't as easy as she had hoped.
- DirectorFrancis FordThomas H. InceStarsFrancis FordEthel GrandinAnn LittleThe U.S. Army and the Indians sign a peace treaty. However, a group of surveyors trespass on the Indians' land and violate the treaty. The Army refuses to listen to the Indians' complaints, and the surveyors are killed by the Indians. A vicious Indian war ensues, culminating in an Indian attack on an army fort.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
- DirectorFrank HurleyStarsErnest ShackletonFrank WorsleyJ. StenhouseThe story of the 1914-1916 Antarctic exploration mission of Sir Ernest Shackleton. The ship sails south, breaking the ice, and ultimately getting trapped by the fast-changing weather. The ship breaks up in the ice, and while 22 men and 70 dogs wait on Elephant Island, Shackleton and a crew of five take a 20-foot lifeboat 800 miles to South Georgia Island to mount a rescue mission. We also get a good look at the exotic animals of the region, particularly the penguins.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceDave AndersonThe Little Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city.
- DirectorRomeo BosettiÉmile CohlA film of more than unusual interest. Those who are familiar with the length of time it takes to make a picture wherein oil the furniture in the house moves out automatically, will appreciate the great labor of making this film.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMary FullerCharles OgleAugustus PhillipsThe first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtLil DagoverRessel OrlaKay Hoog finds a message that indicates that some Incas are still alive, but the secret organisation "Die Spinnen" wants the Incas' gold....
- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtRessel OrlaGeorg JohnKay Hoog wants to stop the organisation "Die Spinnen" to get a certain diamond, that will give the owning woman the crown of Asia, but the man, who should be the owner of that diamond, doesn't know of its existence....
- DirectorJ.H. MartinA conjurer makes furniture return from the bailiff's.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterA panorama of Coney Island, taken at night: the camera sweeps across the scene from a vantage point well above the area. It then moves in for closer views of Dreamland and Luna Park.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsRaymond HattonKathlyn WilliamsEdythe ChapmanJohn Trimble has embezzled and obtains another identity by having a mutilated body buried in his place. He is later arrested for murdering himself. During the trial his mother, before dying from shock, asks him to keep his identity secret since his wife is now married to the Governor and expecting a child.
- DirectorFebo MariArturo AmbrosioStarsEleonora DuseFebo MariNietta MordegliaSet in Sardinia, a barren and disconsolate land, where Rosalia, a poor young mother, entrusts her only son, Anania, to the natural father, who is well-off and already married. The years pass. Rosalia ages in misery, Anania becomes an adult and is about to marry. He returns to the country in order to find his mother and invite her to the wedding, but his fiancée does not appreciate this. Rosalia is abandoned once again...
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsWilliam K.L. DicksonThe earliest extant sound film. William K.L. Dickson stands in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder. As he plays a violin, two men dance in the foreground. This film was made to demonstrate a new Thomas Edison machine, the Kinetophone. These machines were Kinetoscope peepshow viewers mated with Thomas Edison wax cylinder phonographs. But the Kinetophone never caught on and this film was never released. The film still exists, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost.
- DirectorWinsor McCayStarsWinsor McCayGeorge McManusRoy L. McCardellThe cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.
- DirectorLéonce PerretStarsSuzanne GrandaisÉmile KeppensLéonce PerretCount Fernand De Keramic plots against his niece in order to acquire her wealth to pay his debts.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsVivian MartinAlec B. FrancisChester BarnettAfter being expelled from college, Giles runs away from home and meets and falls for a young lady.
- DirectorRobert W. PaulStarsAlfred CollinsA stationary camera looks on as two dapper gents play a game of chess. One drinks and smokes, and when he looks away, his opponent moves two pieces. A fight ensues, first with the squirting of a seltzer bottle, then with fisticuffs. The combatants wrestle each other to the floor and continue the fight out of the camera's view, hidden by the table. The waiter arrives to haul both of them out.
- DirectorGeorge S. FlemingEdwin S. PorterStarsEdwin S. PorterVivian VaughanArthur WhiteA fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.
- DirectorChester M. FranklinSidney FranklinStarsDorothy GishRalph LewisEugene PalletteA kind Dutch immigrant and her bumbling father are blackmailed by a gang of counterfeiters.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseOne of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsRené CrestéMusidoraRené PoyenA twelve-part serial following the adventures of the masked vigilante Judex as he fights against criminals led by the corrupt banker Favrauxom.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreAlexandre PromioA train is leaving a railway station at the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the very end of the train a barren, rocky landscape is seen, and some ruins of very old buildings,. Five men walk along the track, tipping their hats when the train departs. When it approaches the station building more people are seen, people of different ethnicity and religion. Some men wear fezzes on their heads and canes in their hands. A Franciscan monk comes walking in the middle of a mixed group of people. The platform outside the station is crowded with people waiting for the next train. Among them is a man with a sword at his side. The big windows of the station are covered with shutters. After the station the train passes a long fence, enclosing a lumberyard.
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyLois WeberStarsTyrone Power Sr.Mrs. Tyrone PowerMarie WalcampA District Attorney's outspoken stand on abortion lands him in trouble with the local community.
- DirectorFrancis J. MarionWallace McCutcheonFrom the point of view of the front end of a train, a group of robbers on a handcar rob the train and murder one of its crew.
- 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.
- DirectorReginald BarkerThomas H. InceRaymond B. WestStarsHoward HickmanEnid MarkeyLola MayChrist takes on the form of a pacifist count to end a senseless war.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsHenri DuvalChristiane MandelysMaurice VinotNymphs and cupids dance in celebration of the arrival of Spring.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsLoie FullerAngelic and demonic serpentine dances from dawn of cinema by the Lumière Brothers film, called the Serpentine Dance. The dancer is Loie Fuller; the pioneer modern dancer. Recorded in 1896 in Paris, and hand-colored frame by frame.
- Knud, a vicar's son, meets Magda, a piano teacher, on a tram. He falls in love with her and introduces her to his parents. She refuses to go with them to the Sunday service and convinces him to go to the circus with her.
- DirectorNino OxiliaStarsLyda BorelliAndrea HabayUgo BazziniA Faustian tale about an old woman who makes a pact with Mephisto to regain her youth, in return she must stay away from love. After the deal she meets two brothers who fall in love with her.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinAlbert AustinA drunken homeowner has a difficult time getting about in his home after arriving home late at night.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsHenry RousselEmile TramontHenri GougetOn a dare, a man vows to spend the night in a wax museum filled with ghoulish scenes of true crimes. At first, he scoffs, but soon the scenes that are depicted begin to affect his mind.
- DirectorHanns Heinz EwersStellan RyeStarsPaul WegenerGrete BergerLyda SalmonovaBalduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.
- DirectorRollin S. SturgeonStarsCharles BennettMary CharlesonMyrtle GonzalezWhile plowing his fields one day, farmer John Cameron notices that his horse Jerry looks sick, so he stops work and takes the team up to the barn. He looses Jerry and lets him go into a loose box while he puts his other horse into his stall as usual. Cameron finds that Jerry is in bad shape, and at once he sets off to see a veterinary surgeon who gives him medicine, but doesn't come to see what's actually wrong with Jerry. That same morning, John's daughter Julia receives a reply from the principal of the School of Arts and Sciences to a letter she had written, asking the cost of a course she wishes to take. She has long hoped to get something better than a college education, and has been saving all the money she could make on her chickens so she can afford it. Her frivolous-minded older sister Bessie already attends the school, but their parents who also have several younger children, cannot afford to send Julia as well. Julia has invested much work and self-denial to save what she has, and now she's overjoyed to learn hat she has just enough to put her through. t That night, Jerry dies. Cameron despairs because Jim, Jerry's teammate, is old and not strong enough to plow alone. Unless Cameron is able to get his seed into the ground and reap the harvest, he will be unable to meet the mortgage payment that is due in the autumn. Both he and his wife are greatly distressed, for it looks like their work of years in improving the farm will all be wasted. Knowing this, Julia decides to forego her college course and offer them the money so they can buy a new horse. This is difficult; she has long dreamed of her new life. The sight of her frivolous sister, who does not seem to realize what opportunities she has, only makes her loss more painful. At first her father will not accept the money, knowing of the dream of his daughter's heart, but at length she persuades him to do so, all the time wearing a smiling face as though it means nothing to her. Truly it is such commonplace sacrifices as these that demand the highest courage.
- DirectorRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleStarsRoscoe 'Fatty' ArbuckleBuster KeatonAl St. JohnChaos reigns at an upscale restaurant as a cook and a waiter juggle their responsibilities.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithStarsLaura BayleySmith casts his wife as a sluttish housewife who is mutilated by lighting her oven with paraffin.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsBlanche SweetMadge KirbyCharles Hill MailesA lonely young woman lives with her strict father who forbids her to wear make-up. One day at an ice cream social, she meets a young man you seems interested in her. However, unknown to her, he is a burglar who is only interested in breaking into her father's house. One night she is awakened by a noise. Grabbing a pistol, she enters her father's downstairs office where she confronts a masked intruder . . .
- DirectorWalter R. BoothAn inventor uses a wireless controlled flying torpedo to destroy enemy airships.