The Stolen Bride

A Son of the Sahara

April 1924 •English

As a boy, Raoul is reared by an Arab tribe in Algerian Sahara. Years later, as a refined Europeanized gentleman, he falls in love with Barbara, an officer's daughter, who rejects him when she discovers his background. Affecting a raid, he captures her and then secretly buys her at a slave auction. When she is rescued by French troops, however, his ancestry is established and they find happiness together.

Eräs elämän murhenäytelmä

January 1916 •Finnish

Martin Eden

August 1914 •English

A sad story about how a working-class man tries, and succeeds, to become a writer, but finds difficulty in fitting into that world.

The Forward Pass

November 1929 •English

Marty Reid, the star quarterback at Sanford College, is constantly singled out by the opposition for punishment, and he swears to his pal, Honey Smith, and to Coach Wilson that he will quit the game forever. Ed Kirby, who dislikes Reid, calls him yellow, and Wilson gets Patricia Carlyle, the college vamp, to induce Reid to play. At a sorority dance, where only football players can cut in, Kirby persecutes Reid by dancing with Pat, and as a result Reid does apply to play in the game.

The Case of Lena Smith

January 1929 •English

A peasant girl goes to great lengths to protect her child in 19th century Vienna. The film is considered lost, and only four minutes of footage are known to remain.

Die Diktatur der Liebe. 1. Die böse Lust

January 1921 •German

A tale of cheating in both love and business.

Gesprengte Ketten

January 1915 •German

A young woman's life has very little going for her, her mother having died and her alcoholic father having abandoned her. Nevertheless, she climbs her way out of the underclass, going from prostitute to wife of a count.

The Eternal Sin

March 1917 •English

Gennaro, the son of Lucretia Borgia, lives unaware of the identity of his mother, who has married the Duke of Ferrara. After Lucretia's brother is killed by five conspirators, the fathers of Gennaro's dearest friends, Lucretia tortures the old men to death. Later, Gennaro and his companions journey to Lucretia's domain, and she sees her son for the first time. The Duke, who believes him to be her lover, poisons him, but Lucretia administers the antidote in time and saves his life. Then she schemes to poison her sons' five friends for their fathers' mistake.

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried

February 1924 •German

Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, travels to Worms, capital of the Burgundian kingdom, to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Kriemhild.

Way Down East

September 1920 •English

A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

December 1925 •English

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

Above the Lake

May 1995 •Russian

Avant-garde homage to pre-revolution Russian silent movies, and to the poet Aleksandr Blok.

Ramona

March 1928 •English

Based on the Helen Hunt Jackson novel of 1884 about a young woman of partial Native American descent, who experiences love and loss in 1800s California.

The Life of Moses

December 1909 •English

Released in five parts (The Persecution of the Children of Israel by the Egyptians, Forty Years in the Land of Midian, The Plagues of Egypt and the Deliverance of the Hebrews, The Victory of Israel, The Promised Land), 4 December 1909 to 19 February 1910. A Vitagraph advertisement in the Moving Picture World (31 Dec. 1909) refers to The Life of Moses as a "Biblical Film-de-Luxe". It is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.

Petersburg Slums

January 1915 •Russian

Five-episode adaptation of the eponymous Russian novel, directed by Pyotr Chardynin et al.

The Beautiful Leukanida

April 1912 •Russian

Two insects fight over the hand of a beautiful lady.

The Prosecutor

February 1917 •Russian

Prosecutor Olsen's lover, the singer-songwriter Betsy, leaves him for a new passion. And he, speaking in court as a prosecutor, remains deaf to the dictates of feelings, a ruthless servant of the harsh Law. Some time later, Betsy kills her new lover in a fit of jealousy; Olsen, who retained his feelings, nevertheless becomes her accuser at the trial. He seeks the condemnation of Betsy, but comes to the realization that he lived unrighteously, allowing himself to be judged, becoming a servant of Themis. Exit in the classic tradition of the great mute: Olsen commits suicide.

A Man's Home

December 1921 •English

Frederick Osborn is too busy to tend to his family duties and his wife Frances feels neglected. But Frederick's attention is caught when his wife takes up with a pair of companions to whom she is devoted, but whom he sees as more than a little shady.

The Good Provider

April 1922 •English

A prosperous small-town peddler accedes to his family's wish to move from their secure existence to the uncertainty of New York City. It proves fruitless and eventually his kin sees the error of their ways and return to their true home.

Cohen's Luck

June 1915 •English

A winning lottery ticket and the theft of half of it leads to both joy and a lot of trouble for former coworkers Abe and Kitty as well as Abe’s daughter Minnie and her true love David Moss.