War and Peace: 1918

Destiny: or, the Soul of a Woman

September 1915 •English

Artist Standish using his wife Mary as his model finishes a painting of the Madonna. When the Connoisseur and the Parishioner inspect the picture, the Connoisseur tells Standish that the model was a one-time paramour. Buying the painting they depart. Standish confronts Mary, who tells him that she believed herself legally married to the Connoisseur. Unbelieving he ejects her and their baby son. Penniless Mary leaves her boy on the steps of a monastery. Years later before becoming a monk the boy is sent to see the world. Wandering into a café he is seduced by Beauty as the other inmates of the place, Lust, Rum, Avarice and Passion dance around him. The proprietor enters; it is Mary. Recognizing the crucifix, she left with him as a baby she persuades him to go back without revealing her identity. After he becomes a priest Mary, now a bedraggled old woman enters his church. She recognizes him and just before she dies her son gives her absolution.

Threads of Fate

January 1917 •English

Abandoned as an infant on a stranger’s doorstep by her faithless mother, Marcella, Dorothea is taken in by Tom & Sarah Wentworth who in time inherit a vast coal mine in Pennsylvania. Now a young woman “Dot” falls in love with veterinarian Dr. Grant Hunter but her social climbing mother frowns on the match. Sara has set her sights on the Marquis del Carnavacchi for her daughter unaware that he is both a mobster and the lover of her errant natural mother. By chance Dot’s real father, Jim Gregory, also resides in the town and as tensions rise, he and Marcella join to save Dot from both harm and marriage to the wrong man.

The Bludgeon

October 1915 •English

When Carl Evendorr (John Dunn) comes into money, his wife Irene (Kathryn Osterman) becomes greedy and socially ambitious. She foolishly allows a social leech, Mrs. Wharton (Clara Whipple), into her life and the woman does everything she can to manipulate money out of her. Mrs. Wharton and her associates put Irene in a compromising position and her husband walks in and believes the worst.

The Awakening

December 1917 •English

Abandoned on the church steps at birth Jacques Revilly is a pariah in his small hamlet finally heading to Paris to fulfill his dream of being an artist. After three years he has become quite adept but due to his slovenly ways and appearance he has been nicknamed “The Beast” and is once again exiled among society. One night he discovers a young girl who has collapsed in the roadside snow, with the assistance of his one friend Varney they nurse her back to health and “The Beast” begins to mend his ways.

Our Mutual Friend

June 1921 •Danish

After his father's will stipulates he must marry Bella Wilfer to inherit his fortune, John Harmon fakes his death to avoid the marriage and the threats on his life. He returns as John Rokesmith and becomes the secretary for the Boffins, who inherit Harmon's estate following his alleged death.

The Wings

September 1916 •Swedish

The story is that of a conniving countess coming between a gay sculptor, Claude Zoret, and his bisexual model and lover, Mikaël, ultimately leading to Zoret's death in a raging storm at the base of a statue of Mikaël as the mythological Icarus. The film is missing 19 minutes of run time.

Dead Man's Curve

January 1928 •English

A grease monkey discovers a defect in an auto engine being turned out by his employer. But since our hero discovers this only after losing an important race, his boss chalks up the loss to Fairbanks' supposed cowardice.

Polly of the Circus

September 1917 •English

When circus aerialist Polly Fisher is injured, she is taken to the nearby home of minister John Hartley. The two fall in love and marry secretly. But when the news leaks out, the minister loses his pastorate over disdain by the parishioners for Polly's background as a performer. Polly must decide whether to stay with the man she loves or leave him for the good of his calling.

The Making of O'Malley

June 1925 •English

A policeman falls for a teacher, and befriends her students. A gang of bootleggers threatens his newfound joys.

Tyrol in Arms

August 1914 •German

On 2 December 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte succeed in the glorious  "Three Emperors" at Austerlitz, the Austrian Empire to  defeat. Condition of the peace treaty is the surrender of the country Tyrol to the French...

Greed

December 1924 •English

A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.

A Fortune Hunter

March 1921 •Swedish

Historical drama which features Gösta Ekman as the dashing rogue who steals the heart of the ethereal Mary Johnson.

A Scarlet Angel

October 1922 •Swedish

The criminal couple Louise Kent and Charles Zukor stages a coup in the luxury restaurant Oriental. In the midst of a dance number goes suddenly all the lights out. In the confusion that arises one of the elegant guests is deprived of her jewelry.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

September 1916 •English

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Fair Game

February 1928 •German

A Star Is Born

October 1954 •English

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

The Moth of Moonbi

January 1926 •English

Charles Chauvel's first feature tells the story of a country girl, Dell Ferris (the Moth of Moonbi), drawn to the bright lights of the big city where her inheritance is soon frittered away with high society revelling. A wiser Dell returns to Moonbi Station where she is beset by the cattle rustler Jack Bronson, but finally finds peace and happiness with the faithful head stockman, Tom. Only part of the film survives to this day.

Winds of Chance

August 1925 •English

A love triangle set against the turn-of-the-century gold rush.

Meir Ezofowicz

October 1911 •Polish

Majority of the movie is lost - only 5-7 minutes remain to this day. Two influential Jewish families: The Ezofovichs, famous for their modern views advocating the assimilation of Jews, and the Todros, Karaites preaching a return to the teachings of the Bible live in the same town.

The Pit and the Pendulum

July 1913 •English

Alice Guy's version of Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum. This film is partially lost.