St. Elmo

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.

The Reckless Lady

January 1926 •English

Set amidst French resorts and featuring gambling casinos and an automobile race, a mother and wife develops a mania for gambling, much to the dismay of her husband and daughter. A lost film.

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.

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.

Over the Garden Wall

June 1910 •English

Making the best of her genteel poverty, our heroine prepares to attend the dance to which she has been invited, and, after surveying the general effect of her plain and somewhat passé attire, goes on her way with a painful self-consciousness to the home of her friend.

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 Woman of Redemption

June 1918 •English

Gene Romaine lives in the solitude of Tall Pine Mountain with her father, fire warden for the Stanton Lumber Company. They live alone, but her mother's grave is in the little clearing and the father has promised never to leave it. To them comes McDaniels, the logging boss, who is attracted by Jean and offers her father to discard his Indian wife for the young girl. Romaine indignantly refuses and is threatened with dismissal. Gene, knowing he cannot bear to leave his wife's grave, assents to the marriage in spite of her father's protests. Stanton, chief owner of the lumber company, maroons his worthless son in the woods, in the hope of reforming him. Gene takes care of him when he sprains his ankle, and he protects her from McDaniels and is blamed for the murder of the boss when his vengeful Indian wife stabs him in the back.

The Oldest Law

May 1918 •English

Following the death of her father, a Maine trapper, Jennie Cox moves to New York to earn her living.

A Model's Confession

June 1918 •English

An important customer at Armande's, where Iva Seldon works as a model, is Billy Ravensworth, who purchases expensive gowns for a heartless vampire named Rita Challoner. When Billy pays for a number of gowns with a bad check, Iva is sent to Rita's home to collect the finery, and there she meets Bertrand Seldon, whom she recognizes as her own father, a society man who had deserted his wife years earlier and never acknowledged Iva. Rita learns that Billy is poor and breaks off their affair, after which Iva persuades him to pose as her fiancé so that she might enter society. Billy is content to maintain the masquerade in exchange for Iva's money, but soon finds himself jealous over her apparent romance with Bertrand. Iva agrees to accompany Bertrand on a drive, but the car plunges down a cliff, whereupon she reveals her identity. Before his death, Bertrand at last recognizes his daughter, and with his fortune, she and Billy begin a new life.

The Toymaker

October 1912 •English

An old German toymaker, Hans Greyburg, living in a little flat on the east side of New York, while engaged one day making and dressing dolls, is visited by Dot Avery, the little girl from the flat above. He is fond of children and makes friends with her and gives her an old doll.

The Saintly Sinner

February 1917 •English

When her father goes broke in the stock market, Jane Lee is forced to leave her prestigious boarding school. Glad-handing John Brock, an old friend of Jane's father, arranges for the girl to be hired as his stenographer. But Brock's lecherous ulterior motives become obvious when he locks Jane in the office and tries to rape her. When she manages to escape his advances, Brock vengefully frames the girl on a robbery charge.

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.

Tesha

August 1928 •English

The luminous Maria Corda stars as the eponymous Tesha, a celebrated Russian dancer who marries an Englishman (Thomas). The couple long for a child but after five years of happy marriage, remain childless. On a trip to Southampton Tesha succumbs to a brief fling with a stranger (Cavanagh), unleashing a barrage of unforeseen consequences and emotional turmoil. The superb cinematography is by the great German cinematographer Werner Brandes who worked on dozens of prestige British productions in the 1920s. Originally shot silent, sound was added in 1929.

Vultures and Doves

August 1912 •English

"Thirty per cent dividend! Is your money supporting you? If not, call and see us. Rising Sun Copper Company." This is the bait that the vultures throw out to catch the "doves," widows and orphans.

The Irony of Fate

September 1912 •English

Virginia Jameson, a girl of lovely disposition, is wooed by a man much older than herself whom she very much dislikes, but who stands very high in the favor of her parents. She might have married another man had not fate decreed otherwise. She meets and accidentally escapes the man she could have loved and would have married; she stooped to tie her shoe-strings, diverting her attention from him. Had their eyes met, both their lives would have been different. Leroy Farley, the man favored by her parents, prevails and she marries him. Her life is unhappy, notwithstanding his great riches and social prominence.

Subway Sadie

September 1926 •English

A New York fur saleswoman falls for a man she meets on the subway and must decide if she wants to accept a much dreamed for work transfer to Paris, or stay and get married.

Peacock Alley

January 1922 •English

A young man brings his new worldly Parisian wife back home to Pennsylvania.

The Masked Woman

January 1927 •English

Baron Tolento lusts for Diane Delatour, his physician's wife, and donates money to their favorite charity, a children's home, in hope of gaining her favor. When Delatour is called away, Tolento inveigles Diane into attending a party at his house. There he threatens to ruin her husband if she does not submit to his demands within three months. Diane retaliates by showing him a letter proving that Tolento has only three months to live, according to a specialist. Delatour learns of his wife's presence at the party from one of the baron's women, and when Tolento makes Diane heir to his fortune, he becomes convinced of her infidelity.