Big Town Ideas

Children of Jazz

July 1923 •English

Babs Weston agrees to marry adventurer Richard Forestall before his hasty departure, accepting his ring and promising to be faithful. Richard returns to find that his fiancée has become a "victim of jazz" and is engaged to two other men, one of whom is not yet divorced. He leaves Babs and visits his parents on their island in the Caribbean Sea, where, by coincidence, Babs and some of her thrill-seeking friends become stranded. Richard proceeds to reform the young wastrels by giving them useful occupations, and wins Babs over to a more healthful life.

Captain Barnacle's Legacy

September 1912 •English

Captain Barnacle receives a letter telling him that Mr. Markham, a South African whose life he saved some years ago, has died, leaving him a legacy in money and some property and jewels in South Africa. The will stipulates that he shall visit the property in person.

Manželka něco tuší

October 1938 •Czech

Mabel’s Awful Mistakes

May 1913 •English

Mabel has two suitors, Smith and Jones. Smith is an elderly man who impetuously sweeps everything before him, and his dashing ways win Mabel's heart. Poor Jones is downcast when he learns that Mabel is to marry Smith, and follows Smith home. He learns that Smith is already married and has ten little children.

Those Good Old Days

April 1913 •English

His subjects have been vainly petitioning the king for improvements in his reign, without avail. The king pays too much attention to the sweetheart of a country bumpkin who shows his resentment by chasing his royal highness with a pistol and perforating the royal legs. The king takes refuge in the top of a tree, from which ignominious position he is finally rescued by his courtiers. In consideration of the bumpkin promising not to tell the queen of this latest escapade, the king grants the petition of his subjects.

His Sister's Children

September 1911 •English

Harry Burton's sister and her husband are suddenly called away for a few days on business and telegraph him to come to their home and take care of their two little boys, "Toddie and Budge." He at once complies, and is soon with the children, assuming his duties as "governor." Helen Manton, stopping in the same town, thinks a great deal of Harry Burton, and naturally he of her.

Humor Risk

December 1921 •English

Harpo played the hero, a detective named Watson who "made his entrance in a high hat, sliding down a coal chute into the basement". Groucho played an "old movie" villain, who "sported a long moustache and was clad in black", while Chico was probably his "chuckling [Italian] henchman". Zeppo portrayed a playboy who was the owner of a nightclub in which most of the action took place, including "a cabaret, [which allowed] the inclusion of a dance number". The final shot showed Groucho "in ball and chain, trudging slowly off into the gloaming". Harpo, in a rare moment of romantic glory, gets the girl in the end. This film is lost.

Dead Man’s Honor

May 1911 •English

Hugh and Henry Watson, two brothers, are in love with Helen Mallory. She rejects Hugh and accepts Henry. Hugh, broken-hearted, goes west, leaving a note to his mother telling her the reason for his going away. Hugh is the apple of his mother's eye, and she grieves herself into a collapse and is dying with sorrow. Her sight fails her. Henry tells his mother that he will go in search of his brother.

Through His Wife’s Picture

October 1911 •English

Mr. Nelson is a "newlywed" and carries his darling wife's picture with him always. However, he almost falls for the temptation to go to the mask-ball, inviting an erstwhile lady friend to go with him, telling her that he would dress as a pirate and she to go as a Spanish gypsy. At the sight of his wife's portrait, however, he realizes his intended wrong-doing and changes his mind, asking a friend to go in his stead. The office boy mixes the letters and wifey gets the one he intended for the girl, and she goes to catch her erring hubby. So while hubby waits at home, wifey is keeping her eye on the bold, bad pirate she believes to be her husband.

Why He Gave Up

December 1911 •English

Hubby is anxious to get away for a little time at the beach with the boys, and works up a quarrel with wifey over a new hat, the bill for which he is asked to pay. Making this excuse, he goes off with his chums. The wife is an expert swimmer and diver and is invited to attend a meet of the ladies' swimming club, of which she was formerly a member. Her husband's treatment induces her to accept the invitation. The affair takes place at the very beach to which the husband hied himself. One may imagine that hubby has not only plunged into the cooling waters of the surf, but into domestic hot water as well.

The Deacon Outwitted

January 1913 •English

The deacon's daughter, Betty, is in love with Harold Price. The deacon wants to buy a horse from Harry's father, but because Mr. Price will not give it to him at his own figure the deacon quarrels with Price, and forbids his daughter to see Harry. A troupe of minstrels, stranded, are walking back to New York, and Harry and Betty meet them. They make up as actors, and, accompanied by their new-found friends, rush to the deacon's home and tell him they are an eloping couple who wish to be married. The deacon ties the knot, and after the ceremony the make-up is removed, and he finds he has officiated at his own daughter's wedding. He finally sees the humor of the situation, and his charitable spirit is shared by Harry's father, who makes him a present of the horse he coveted.

Mr. Grouch at the Seashore

August 1912 •English

This ill-tempered gentleman accompanies his wife to the seashore, but being so insanely jealous of her makes the stay there rather unpleasant. First of all, he refuses to go bathing in the surf with her, and she, despite his command not to, goes in alone. Towering with rage at his wile's defiance, he gets himself into several embarrassing positions. In fact he makes a fool of himself generally.

The Bowling Match

September 1913 •English

An amusing bowling match between Messrs. Sauer and Kraut. The balls and pins are manipulated by an electric magnet and perform some queer antics. There is, of course, the usual roughhouse finish, with Ford and Mabel in the important parts. Good fun, without offense.

The Cure That Failed

January 1913 •English

George is addicted to the flowing cup, and his friends all try to reform him. His intentions are good, but his will is weak and he cannot resist the companionship of bibulous friends. Drastic measures are resorted to, to cure him. One of his friends dresses as a woman, who presents a fierce aspect. When George awakens he is told that while under the influence of liquor he has married his woman, and she proceeds to assert herself. George is in a terrible mental state, but finally he sees the shoe of the "woman" who has forgotten to change those pedal protectors, and the scheme dawns upon him.

Uneasy Payments

May 1927 •English

Bee Haven, a little country girl from Missouri, wins a Charleston contest and goes to New York to pursue a theatrical career, accompanied by Charlie Ross, a bucolic sheik. Her country attire merely amuses the stage managers, but Tom Gatesby, a backer, persuades Bozoni, a cabaret owner, to give her a job. She innocently accepts money from Bozoni to furnish a luxury apartment; and when disillusioned Bozoni cancels the payments for her furniture and new clothes, Bee tries to avoid the gown-collectors, but they retrieve her gown and fur coat. In desperation, she joins a revue chorus, doing a lingerie number that results in a fight with Valentia, the star of the show. Tom rescues Bee from her precarious position, and all ends happily.

Some Steamer Scooping

February 1914 •English

The Baron Lafitte is in love with and proposes to Adelaide Burton, daughter of Andrew Burton, a wealthy manufacturer. Clara Lane, a newspaper reporter, has been assigned to watch the movements of the Baron. She is further instructed to make a scoop of their movements. Tom Drake is in love with Clara, and is her persistent follower throughout.

Too Much Burglar

November 1914 •English

An exceptionally capable girl, Trixie Joyce, proves a great help, to her mother, a widow with a large family of girls. They receive a proposition from Henrietta Joyce, Mrs. Joyce's wealthy sister-in-law, to take Trixie as a companion, feed and clothe her and in place of wages, send her mother an allowance sufficient to support the rest of the family. Both realize it is the solution of a hard problem, and Trixie accepts the offer. Henrietta is close-fisted and selfish in money matters, but she also has a strain of morbidly-romantic sentiment in her nature, so the largest part of Trixie's work is reading aloud to her mistress quantities of swashbuckling, mid-Victorian novels.

For Husbands Only

September 1918 •English

A sheltered young woman began a romance with a playboy, under the mistaken assumption that they'd get married. When she finds this isn't the case, she starts a feud with him which continues even after her marriage to somebody else.

Passing Through

August 1921 •English

Passing Through is a 1921 American silent comedy drama film, directed by William A. Seiter and written by Agnes Christine Johnston, and Joseph F. Poland.

The Outside Woman

February 1921 •English

The Outside Woman is a lost 1921 American comedy film directed by Sam Wood and written by Douglas Bronston.