Fifth Avenue

The Last Laugh

December 1924 •German

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

Words and Music by -

May 1919 •English

Impresario Thomas Sullivan arrives in Ossawatomie, Kansas, to debut a new musical show written by local boy Gene Harris. After auditioning with a song by her bookkeeper boyfriend Brian McBride Sullivan hires Millicent Lloyd and takes her to New York City, where she becomes a famous singer. Brian, arriving in the city with a new opera, keeps his presence secret from Millicent until he has achieved success. But Harris suffering writer’s block steals Brian's work and presents it to Sullivan as his own. With the help of music publisher Gus Hertz, Brian exposes Harris and reclaims his composition. He and Millicent are reunited, and the opera goes on to enormous success.

The House Behind the Cedars

January 1927 •English

Rena is a young woman of mixed race. Although she is romantically pursued by an upwardly mobile African American named Frank, Rena does not decide in his favor. Her appearance allows her to pass for white, as she is of majority European ancestry, although she has grown up in the black community. She meets and falls in love with George Tryon, a young white aristocrat. But as their relationship deepens, Rena believes she has to acknowledge her African ancestry. Considered a lost film.

The Shadow on the Wall

January 1925 •English

George Walters is a youth who is dominated by Bleary, a heartless bully, who forces him to pose as the son of millionaire George Warring, kidnapped as a baby. The missing son had a twin brother who had recently died, but a painting of the shadow of the late son is on one wall. Walters' shadow matches this painting perfectly, establishing him as the missing son to the Warring family. Walters falls in love with Warring's daughter Lucia and finds that the family attorney Glaxton is slowly poisoning the old man.

The Square Root

January 1969 •English

Photographer Peter Christiansen, University of Miami student, does a picture story at an LSD party on the beach.

Billie

May 1912 •English

Billie is the "little mother" of the family and cares for the two smaller children. Her father has fallen under the spell of drink. Billie has become hardened by her struggle against the drink demon in her father and treats him with scant consideration.

Carmen

November 1915 •English

A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.

Forbidden Love

July 1921 •English

New England fisherman John Van Zandt sons Harold and Peter are in love with Eileen Arden, though she favors the younger brother Harold. The jealous Peter convinces Eileen that Harold is circulating false rumors about her, then convinces his younger brother to move to Boston. Six years later, John is unable to work so Harold returns to help support the family, finding employment as a lighthouse keeper. Peter jealousy is once again aroused and his drunken rage results in the death of his child, Anne. After realizing that Eileen knows of his deceit years earlier, Peter attempts to kill Harold in the lighthouse, but instead falls to his own death during the ensuing struggle.

A House Divided

April 1919 •English

Orphan Mary Lord, the ward of Sir Arthur Stanhope of Parliament, is attracted to Philip Carmichael, a young politician, who ignores her and goes through a supposedly mock marriage at a wild party with actress Sheelah Delayne. Years later, Philip falls in love with Mary, now married to Sir Arthur, who dies from a stroke when he sees Philip and Mary together. Remorseful, they try to keep apart but eventually marry in France. Later, Sheelah confronts Philip with their son and proof that they are married. When Philip is arrested for bigamy, Mary testifies, to her humiliation, that she and Philip are not married, and then disappears. After her son dies, Sheelah goes to France as a canteen worker and finds Mary wandering in a daze. Feeling pity, Sheelah has her marriage annulled and sends for Philip. When Mary hears soldiers sing a song she used to sing to Philip, she recognizes Philip and they resume their marriage.

As a Man Thinks

April 1919 •English

Prominent New York magazine publisher Frank Clayton visits Paris, France,with his wife Elinor and young son Dick. He is shown around the city by Benjamin De Lota, an art critic who is a contributor to Clayton's magazine, and among the people he introduces to Frank is model Mimi Chardenet. Frank is immediately taken with the young beauty, and they begin an affair. When Elinor happens upon her husband and Mimi walking together, he introduces her as a new writer for his magazine. However, when they return to New York, Elinor learns of his fling with Mimi. Complications ensue.

The Great Victory, Wilson or the Kaiser? The Fall of the Hohenzollerns

January 1919 •English

After a prologue where we are shown the backgrounds of Wilhelm II and Woodrow Wilson, we see the story of Conrad Le Brett from Alsace-Lorraine. Forced to fight for Germany Conrad, sees soldiers taking girls into a church to rape them and kills one who murders a baby. Shot in the encounter he is taken to a Brussels hospital run by nurse Edith Cavell where he falls in love with American nurse, Amy Gordon. After Edith Cavell assassination and the murder of Conrad’s sister Vilma by the evil Lieutenant Ober Conrad honors her dying request that he go to America and defend Alsace-Lorraine's reputation. Once there he convinces President Wilson that Alsatians should be allowed to enlist. Fighting with the "doughboys," Conrad kills Ober, and after the armistice, returns to Amy.

Scandalous Tongues

October 1922 •English

Nell Bradley, the daughter of a wealthy bootlegger, who is encouraged to improve herself through education by Reverend Charles Alden.

Cabiria

June 1914 •Italian

Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?

L'Âge d'or

November 1930 •French

The film consists of a series of tightly interlinked vignettes, the most sustained of which details the story of a man and a woman who are passionately in love. Their attempts to consummate their passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, by the Church and bourgeois society in general.

Martin Eden

August 1914 •English

The tale of an individualist proletarian in a time marked by the rise of mass political movements. In early 20th-century Italy, illiterate sailor Martin Eden seeks fame as a writer while torn between the love of a bourgeois girl and allegiance to his social class.

Los opositores

May 1960 •Spanish

The Fast Express

March 1924 •English

15 chapter adventure serial: 1. Facing the Crisis 2. Vanishing Diamonds 3. Woman of Mystery 4. Haunted House 5. Perils of the City 6. Cipher Message 7. Bandit Raiders 8. Impostor's Scheme 9. Falsely Accused 10. Path of Danger 11. The Abduction 12. The Trial Run 13. The False Summons 14. Black Treasure 15. Retribution

Not So Long Ago

September 1925 •English

Against the backdrop of New York City of the early 1850s, a young woman -- naively seeking to win the love she reads about in the romance novels she devours -- finds one prospect in an earnest denizen of the Bowery, and another in an elegant young aristocrat. Focusing on the bygone era's fashions, the novelty of the bicycle-built-for-two, and an inventor's quest for the horseless carriage, the film gently stirs the audiences' nostalgia for simpler times.

Sister Taste Comparison

July 1988 •Japanese

Pinku distributed by Xces / Nikkatsu.

Revenge Sex Woman Commits

November 1981 •Japanese

Pinku distributed by Million. Rumi Tama's directorial debut.