The Alibi

The Keys to Happiness

January 1913 •Russian

Directed by Vladimir Gardin and Yakov Protazanov, this two-part epic was the most expensive Russian film at the time and smashed box office records. It is now considered lost, with only a 4 minute clip surviving.

A Son of the Sahara

April 1924 •English

As a boy, Raoul is reared by an Arab tribe in Algerian Sahara. Years later, as a refined Europeanized gentleman, he falls in love with Barbara, an officer's daughter, who rejects him when she discovers his background. Affecting a raid, he captures her and then secretly buys her at a slave auction. When she is rescued by French troops, however, his ancestry is established and they find happiness together.

The Forward Pass

November 1929 •English

Marty Reid, the star quarterback at Sanford College, is constantly singled out by the opposition for punishment, and he swears to his pal, Honey Smith, and to Coach Wilson that he will quit the game forever. Ed Kirby, who dislikes Reid, calls him yellow, and Wilson gets Patricia Carlyle, the college vamp, to induce Reid to play. At a sorority dance, where only football players can cut in, Kirby persecutes Reid by dancing with Pat, and as a result Reid does apply to play in the game.

The Furnace

November 1920 •English

Folly Vallance marries millionaire Anthony Bond for his money, but he insists on a marriage in name only. Entering the social scene she befriends Bond's close friend Keene Mordaunt. When Count Svensen tries to extort Folly into running away with him, Keene pursues them to a country house where they meet Anthony, who accuses his friend of treachery. Folly finally recognizes her love for her husband and explains the cause of her actions; Bond forgives her leading to their reconciliation.

A Blind Bargain

December 1922 •English

Chaney plays two roles: mad scientist Arthur Lamb and Lamb's "experiment", known only as the Ape Man. This hideous creature was the result of Lamb's attempts to transplant animal glands into human beings. A lost film.

After Five

January 1915 •English

Thinking that he has lost both his money and his beloved Nora's in a bad investment young New Yorker Ted Ewing arranges for his own murder. Suddenly he discovers the money is safe and has in fact doubled and sets out to cancel the contract on his life. But will he be able to do so in time?

The Square Root

January 1969 •English

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

Larceny

July 1996 •English

A man breaks into a flat, startling the occupant. They argue about the new girlfriend of the 'burglar', who's come to get her stuff. Then a third man bursts out of the cupboard...

The Cave Girl

December 1921 •English

Margot Sperry, who keeps house for her guardian, a professor who wants to revert to primitive modes of living, finds it difficult to find food in the winter wilderness and resorts to pilfering from the Bates's winter camp. Divvy, engaged to a girl he does not love, meets Margot on one of her raids and falls in love with her. Baptiste, a half-breed employed by the Bates family, is discharged for stealing and burns the camp, driving the family to refuge with Margot. Elsie, hoping to regain Divvy's affections, dresses in boyish clothes similar to Margot's. Joining forces with Baptiste, they capture Margot, and Baptiste takes her in a canoe downstream. Realizing her mistake, Elsie warns Divvy, who bests the half-breed and then rescues Margot from the falls. A lost film.

The Iron Woman

October 1916 •English

Steel mill owner Sarah Maitland has raised her two children, Blair and Nannie, to be honest and caring, however Blair disappoints her when he seduces the wife of his best friend and breaks up her marriage. No one is happy but it takes a near fatal accident to set things right.

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.

Colomba

November 1918 •German

Jealousy

September 1929 •English

Yvonne, proprietor of a Paris gown shop, marries Pierre, a poor artist, concealing from him an affair she had with Rigaud, an elderly boulevardier who bought the shop for her.

Auferstehung. Katjuscha Maslowa

August 1923 •German

A nobleman wishes to help the woman he had seduced and abandoned years earlier when he learns that she is now on trial for murder.

Daybreak

January 1918 •English

Edith Frome (Stevens) finds it impossible to live with her alcoholic husband Arthur (L ‘Estrange), and finally leaves him. After three years she returns but leaves each evening, returning late arousing the suspicion of her husband. Having her followed he soon learns that she visits a child. Suspecting the worst because of her friendship with Dr. David Brett (Phillips), he institutes divorce proceedings. Edith confesses the truth about the child and Arthur, realizing his folly, swears off liquor and they are reunited.

Flapper Wives

February 1924 •English

Broad-minded rector Stephen Carey is ousted from his church by his vestrymen and befriends Claudia Bigelow, a young divorcée who defended his position in the church. Claudia's carelessness in leaving a cigarette burning causes Jimsy, the housekeeper's son, to go blind. Stephen's prayers restore the boy's sight, and a happy future is predicted for all.

The Sea Wolf

July 1926 •English

Captain "Wolf" Larsen, the absolute master of a seal schooner, is a mystic and philosopher, though he rules his men with an iron hand. On a ferry going from San Francisco to Oakland, Van Weyden, a critic, and Maud Brewster, a novelist, meet in masquerade costumes and are forced overboard when their boat collides with a steamer. Humphrey, then Maud, are picked up by Larsen's crew. Because of her costume, Maud is taken for a boy and placed in the custody of Mugridge, the cook, who attempts to attack her upon discovering her identity. Larsen takes her under his protection and decides to marry her; but as the ceremony begins, the crew mutinies, and Larsen is stricken with blindness as he faces the rebels. The ship is set afire, and though Humphrey and Maud are rescued by another steamer, Larsen, deserted by his crew, refuses to quit his ship and is enveloped in flames.

Icebound

March 1924 •English

Ben Jordan runs away after accidentally setting fire to a barn in his small New England community. He returns when his mother dies to find that she has left everything to her ward, Jane Crosby.

Lovebound

April 1923 •English

Besse Belwin works as a stenographer for district attorney John Mobley. It doesn't take long for Mobley to fall in love with his cute little employee and he proposes. Besse doesn't reveal that her father has a criminal past which he has since renounced.

The Working of a Miracle

June 1915 •English

Roy Conover has just returned to his village home from college.