Held to Answer

Christina

December 1929 •English

This part-talkie (17 minutes of dialogue in its 83-minute running time) tells the tale of Christina, the daughter of Dutch toymaker Niklaas. Much to her dad's dismay, Christina falls in love with sideshow huckster Jan. Likewise disapproving of the romance is Jan's jealous employer Mme. Bosman, who frames the young man on an embezzlement charge.

Curtain

September 1920 •English

Nancy Bradshaw (Katherine MacDonald) is a popular stage star who quits her career to marry millionaire clubman Dick Cunningham (Charles Richman). But after a few years of marriage, he starts seeing other women. Figuring that her public was more faithful to her than her husband, Nancy returns to the stage.

After the Show

October 1921 •English

After the Show was adapted from Rita Weiman's story "The Stage Door." Lila Lee plays Eileen, a starry-eyed young girl employed as a chorus dancer in New York. Eileen can never be certain if the men in her life are sincere, or if they perceive her as mere temporary plaything. Among the "stage door johnnies," "tired businessmen" and "sugar daddies" surrounding Eileen are Jack Holt and Carlton S. King.

The Social Code

October 1923 •English

Babs Van Buren saves her lover from the electric chair and at the same time extricates her older sister, Connie from a trying situation.

The Bugle Call

August 1927 •English

Tale of a young bugler whose stepmother attempts to supplant the mother who only lives in his memory.

Java Head

January 1923 •English

Gerrit Ammidon, despairing of any chance to marry his love, Nettie Vollar, because of a bitter feud between his father and her grandfather, sails to China to "get away from it all". While in Shanghai he rescues a beautiful young woman being attacked by a gang of street toughs. She turns out to be Taou Yuen, a Manchu princess. Gerrit discovers that, unless she finds a husband, she will be put to death, and he agrees to marry her. They return to Java Head, the Ammidon family home in Salem, Massachusetts, but Gerrit's "homecoming" has some unexpected consequences.

The Love Mart

December 1927 •English

Victor, an adventurous young swashbuckler in 19th-century New Orleans, takes possession of a barber shop as the result of winning a duel, and decides to settle down to a life as a barber. He meets a beautiful young woman and pursues her, but she dismisses his attentions because she thinks he is just a barber. Also pursuing the woman is the evil Capt. Remy, whom she also brushes off. He, however, doesn't take rejection so lightly, and forges papers "proving" that the girl is a "quadroon"--part black, which means that she can be sold as a slave. She is sold to Capt. Remy, and when Victor hears of it, he determines to rescue her.

The Wire Pullers

June 1916 •English

A group of soldiers who, while attempting to pull barbed wire, face a series of comedic mishaps and unexpected consequences, ultimately resulting in a chaotic and humorous situation.

The False Part

June 1916 •English

The story deals with moving picture life, much of the locale being around Universal City. Herbert Rawlinson, played by himself, is introduced in his dressing room and is shown later doing the usual day's work on the stage. During a visit to the studio a young lady becomes infatuated with him leading to complications and humor.

Little Red Decides

February 1918 •English

Upon learning that the parents of "Little Red" have died, the cowboys of Colonel Ferdinand Aliso's ranch adopt the boy. Parson Jones and his church committee protest that the child should be brought up in more refined surroundings, but the cowboys, particularly Duck Sing, Aliso's Chinese cook, are so enamored of Little Red that they donate their poker money to the church to placate the congregation. After Little Red catches pneumonia and nearly dies, however, Dr. Kirk insists that the boy either live with the minister or acquire a mother through the marriage of one of the cowboys. While Little Red is recuperating at the parson's home, ranch hand Tom Gilroy courts the only marriageable women in town -- a widow and two spinsters -- but much to his relief, they all turn him down. In the end, Duck Sing and the colonel join forces and legally adopt him.

A Man's Girlhood

October 1919 •German

A Man's Girlhood examines in comic form the conundrums of intersexuality. Depicts the memories of the author, published in 1907 as an anonymous biography under the pseudonym NOBody, but was, following the taste of the time, dramatically oversubscribed. A child born without a clear gender is raised by the father as a boy, later by the uncle as a girl and dissected after death.

The Avenger

August 1933 •English

A disgraced former District Attorney plots his revenge on the members of a criminal gang who had him framed and sent to prison.

Brooding Eyes

March 1926 •English

Slim Jim Carey, the leader of a criminal gang, is in reality a nobleman called Lord Talbois, and his daughter is the rightful heir to the family estate. When "Slim Jim"'s gang finds out about this, they conspire to cheat her out of her inheritance by passing off one of the gangster's girlfriends as the real daughter. Unbeknownst to the gang, however, their leader isn't dead and finds out what they're up to. Complications ensue.

Vanity Fair

February 1923 •English

Adventuress Becky Sharp lives by her wits and charm in an effort to ascend from humble backgrounds into society. She fails to lure Joseph Sedley, the brother of her chum Amelia, into marriage but succeeds with Rawdon Crawley, the son of her employer. However, his family's displeasure keeps Becky from living in wealth, as she had hoped to do. Ever the flirt, Becky has affairs with George Osborne soon after he marries Amelia and with Lord Steyne while Rawdon is away at war with Napoleon. Her adventures come to an end, however; neither Rawdon nor Steyne will have her, and Becky is reduced to touring the Continent under an assumed name. Her lesson learned, Becky brings together Amelia and her faithful suitor, Captain Dobbin, after George is killed in battle; and finally she returns to London to live a quiet life. A lost film.

The Woman Who Invented Love

January 1918 •Russian

From Headquarters

April 1929 •English

United States Marine Corps Captain "Happy" Smith and Gunnery Sergeant Wilmer lead a squadron of Marines in a search of a party of American tourists lost in a Central America banana republic jungle.

The City of Dim Faces

July 1918 •English

Chinese merchant Wing Lung and Elizabeth Mendall, an American, marry and have a son named Jang Lung. Because Elizabeth wants Jang Lung to be raised as a Christian, Wing Lung locks her in the cellar and she becomes insane. Jang meets Marcell Matthews at an Eastern university, and she returns with him to San Francisco to be married.

The Fox Woman

July 1915 •English

According to Japanese legend, the Fox Woman was not possessed of a soul. To exist, she was obliged to steal the soul of others.

Pals in Paradise

November 1926 •English

Bill Harvey discovers a lost mine, rich with gold. Geraldine "Jerry" Howard has the claim to it left her by her father. Bill tells her that the death of the claimant, her father, makes a claim void. Infuriated, she goes to John Kenton, a crooked lawyer, for aid. Kenton sees an opportunity for wealth if he marries Geraldine, but Bill tells her that Kenton is only after her money. She gets more infuriated. While Bill and a posse are raiding an immoral cabaret, Kenton raids the Paradise freight depot to steal the money. The depot catches fire and Kenton shoots his henchman to save himself. The town and Geraldine think Kenton is a hero. It is up to Bill to prove otherwise.

Romance of a Rogue

October 1928 •English

A low-key silent drama of a man seeking vengeance on the villain whose lies sent him to prison on the night of his wedding.