Black Friday

Infatuation

December 1925 •English

Infatuation is based on Caesar's Wife, a story by Somerset Maugham. Dazzlingly British socialite Viola Morgan falls madly in love with professional soldier Sir Arthur Little at a dinner party. The two marry, and before long Viola has relocated to Egypt with her husband. Soon bored by her hothouse existence, Viola succumbs to the attentions of young British attache Ronald Perry.

Tarnish

August 1924 •English

The Eternal Question

July 1916 •English

Pierre Felix, a couturier, makes a $25,000 bet with Ralph Courtland that he can take a girl from the streets, dress her appropriately, and within three months have her accepted into society.

The Scarlet Woman

May 1916 •English

Bank official Hanlin Davis is ruined in the stock market. Desperate, he fails to rob the bank but kills someone in the attempt. His wife Thora goes to D.A. Hastings to plead for a light sentence which the corrupt Hastings agrees to only if Thora gives herself to him. Upon his release the worthless Davis learning of her sacrifice divorces and turns her into the street. An outcast she becomes "the scarlet woman.” When wealthy crusader Robert Blake institutes an investigation exposing D.A. Hastings he is disbarred and decides to revenge himself upon Thora, considering her the cause of his downfall. Blackmailing unscrupulous society woman, Paula Gordon, he forces her to introduce Thora to Blake as a naïve woman while deceiving Thora that he knows about her past. After they marry Hastings denounces Thora, she flees, returning to her old life, but Blake, seeing her worth seeks her and they reunite.

The Grip of Evil

July 1916 •English

An English nobleman is banished from home because of his attachment to a girl "not of his class." He marries the girl, comes to America with her, and a child, John Burton, subsequently the hero of each chapter of this serial, is born to them. 14 chapters.

Dangerous Lies

September 1921 •English

A widow's husband returns after her second marriage, and dies while assaulting her.

The Dancer of Paris

February 1926 •English

The Ace of Cads

October 1926 •English

An officer in the British Guards takes to drink when a friend and fellow officer convinces the woman they both love that he has another woman.

The Fall of the Romanoffs

January 1918 •English

The overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in Russia was such big news that the then-fledgling art of cinema couldn't help but jump on it immediately and create a couple of dramatizations.

Mother, I Need You

September 1918 •English

A young woman who became pregnant from an assault faces legal trouble and scandal after having an abortion.

A Scandal in Bohemia

April 1921 •English

Holmes and Watson match wits with an opera star intent on blackmailing a king.

Italian Blood

October 1911 •English

In the little Italian home the wife feels she is neglected and apparently it seems that her husband's love is growing cold, for he has become decidedly indifferent. She, therefore, plans with her cousin to arouse his love through jealousy. At an Italian picnic, after repeated vain efforts to draw her husband's attentions toward her, she starts off with her cousin, passing in view of her husband. His fiery nature is violently aroused with jealousy, and rushing home in a towering rage, would have wreaked disaster to the entire family, for his terrible suspicion poisons his mind even against his two little children. He learns the truth, however, and realizes now to what extreme the result of his neglect would have driven him.

A Victim of Circumstance

November 1911 •English

It is hubby's birthday and the wife wishing to surprise him, surreptitiously interviews the jeweler's clerk to order a gold watch as a present. Her mysterious action arouses suspicion in the husband, who follows her at a distance and witnesses the meeting between her and the clerk. The hour arriving for the delivery of the watch, wifey goes to the door to meet it, and while standing outside, the door closes and locks on her skirt, holding her captive. Having no key, she induces the clerk to climb through the second story window and come down to unlock the door. All would have been well, but the clerk encounters the husband and it looked had for the clerk for a while.

The Gamblers

June 1929 •English

A father-and-son team of cons gamble their firm’s assets. The son is caught investing money that doesn't belong to him and is indicted on a swindling charge. The plot gets spicy when the District Attorney handling the case is his former sweetheart's husband. This situation gives the DA an opportunity to prosecute his romantic rival.

The Spy

June 1914 •English

An American agent exchanges places in prison with a condemned British officer and brother of a woman he greatly admires and goes to the gallows.

Under Southern Skies

September 1915 •English

Lelia Crofton, a Louisiana belle of the 1860s, loves Burleigh Mavor. By chance, she sees one of her father's black stablemen making love to a neighbor's maid, whom she supposed was white. The incident shocks Lelia and leaves a great impression upon her. When she rejects suitor Steve Daubeney, he threatens to expose a damaging secret about her mother, whom she has never met. Remembering the incident with the neighbor's maid, Lelia worries that her mother might be black, and when Daubeney learns of her fears, he leads her to believe that they are well-founded.

The Changing of Silas Warner

June 1911 •English

Silas Warner dictates a letter commanding his son Harry to leave college at once and enter his office as an employee. Furthermore, Mr. Warner has in mind the marriage of his son to his partner's daughter. When Harry receives his father's letter, he returns home, but takes a decided stand in opposition to his father's ideas. Furthermore, Harry is about to be married to Rose Blend. Warner's partner, Martin, turns out to be a defaulter, and almost ruins the firm. Harry reads a newspaper account of his father's ills and trouble, so he and his wife go to see and assist him. As Mr. Warner is convalescent, he extends to his son and wife his parental blessings.

The Geranium

July 1911 •English

One glance at the poor and disordered home of the Tunisons shows us there is something still lacking. Mrs. Tunison is obliged to provide for her crippled daughter Ethel, her son, who does what he can to help her and her older daughter, who aids in every way possible. Daniel Briton, a young peddler, notices Ethel as he passes by, and gives her one of his wares, a geranium, for which she is very thankful. On successive days as the young peddler passes she waves her hand to him. One day he brings with him a doctor, who takes her to the hospital where she will get good care and attention. After a few weeks, Ethel is carried home in the arms of her generous friend, entirely restored to health. Everybody is made happy, and more so with Daniel, who marries one of Ethel's sisters.

Saved from the Harem

December 1915 •English

Ezra Hickman, of Kankakee, is a political aspirant. At a reception in Washington with his wife and daughter Amy he meets the Ambassador of Selim Bey, the ruler of a small European kingdom, Vergania. The Ambassador, seeking an American girl for his ruler, paints a glowing picture of Vergania to Hickman's wife, with the result that she persuades her husband to accept the American Consulate at. Vergania. Amy, the daughter, is enamored of Lieutenant Brice of the U.S. Navy, and reluctantly she agrees to leave him and go with her family.

The Big Fight

May 1930 •English

Based on the David Belasco stage production of the Max Marcin play in which heavyweight-champion Jack Dempsey played the role of the fighter, Tiger: This "behind-the-scenes look of a heavyweight-championship fight" looks much like all of the other boxing films in which the Champ gets involved in a frame-up and is asked to take a dive.