All Films

Mama Loves Papa

1931 • 17 min

Widow Martha and widower Brandon plan to marry; their teenaged children do their slapstick best to interfere. One of "The Boy Friends" series.

Television: Swedish Version

1931 • 56 min • Sweden

A young inventor has constructed a television set. His landlady has become very skeptical of both him and his invention, perhaps mainly due to the fact that he is constantly broke and hasn't paid the rent in months. Adding to the irritation is that the hostess's daughter loves the young man and is trying to convince her employer, the director, to finance the whole thing. The director wants both her and the television set, but his evil investment doesn't come to fruition thanks to the latter.

Mother and Son

1931 • 60 min • United States of America

A woman loses all her money in the 1929 stock market crash, and in order to support her family, goes back to her previous occupation--owner of a gambling house--which her son is dead set against.

Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean

1931 • 6 min • United States of America

Al Shean performs a solo version of the classic vaudeville song "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean".

In the Night

1931 • 7 min • Germany

This live-action short subject commissioned for the 75th birthday of German romantic composer Robert Schumann juxtaposes flowing water imagery with the piano playing of artist Nina Hanson.

Magic Myxies

1931 • 10 min • United Kingdom

Short film showing (with limited accuracy) the life-cycle of myxomycetes.

Shotgun Pass

1931 • 58 min • United States of America

A rancher's plan to herd his horses is complicated by an uncooperative landowner.

Working on the Douro River

1931 • 20 min • Portugal

Short silent documentary from 1931 about those working on the River Douro in Oporto.

Skip the Maloo!

1931 • 21 min • United States of America

Charlie Chase, playing the Duke of Chasewick, but hired by Dell Henderson to play himself, and disabuse his wife and daughter of any fondness for nobility.

Law of the Rio Grande

1931 • 57 min • United States of America

Escaping from the Sheriff, Jim and Cookie decide to go straight. But when they meet their old cohort, The Blanco Kid, he tells their new boss they are outlaws and they are in trouble again.

Monsters of the Deep

1931 • 57 min

An international crew of sailors encounters fearsome creatures of the sea, including whales, sharks, stingrays, and one whopper of a devilfish.

Forty Hearts

1931 • 50 min • Soviet Union

The new power stations are beating like hearts to the pulse of modernisation. At gigantic expense and effort, the Soviet Union is rapidly industrialised. The state plan foresees the construction of forty power-generation centres across the country. However, the people must first be enlightened about the nature and use of electrical current. Horses and tractors, households and industry, nature and the world of work, neon signs and the construction of power stations all depend on this miraculous new source of energy. The famous Soviet director Lev Kuleshov masterfully realises this project with documentary shots, acted scenes, and lots of creative trick sequences.

The Herring Murder Case

1931 • 7 min • United States of America

The Herring is murdered, and detective Bimbo is trying to find his killer.

Ghost Parade

1931 • 18 min • United States of America

A series of strange, inexplicable, and increasingly frightening events takes place in Mosby Manor.

What a Night!

1931 • 58 min • United Kingdom

While staying at a reportedly haunted inn a traveller discovers that the 'ghost' is a thief.

Santa Lucia District

1931 • 60 min • Italy

After the matriarch dies, an Italian immigrant family in America disintegrates. The son tries to steal their money, and the father yearns to return to a less stressful existence back in Naples.

Rodeo Dough

1931 • 6 min • United States of America

This was a Krazy Kat cartoon made for Charles Mintz and distributed by Columbia. While the studio originally based the character on the comic strip created by George Herriman, by 1931 he was changed in design and personality to be more like Walt Disney's popular Mickey Mouse (whose cartoons, ironically, were also distributed by Columbia at the time).

Three Hollywood Girls

1931 • 20 min • United States of America

Three young girls live together in a one room apartment just scraping by while dreaming of Hollywood stardom. When one refuses a small role because they the producers won't meet her price the newest of the trio whose fresh off the bus from Omaha takes it and finds success.

The Great Pie Mystery

1931 • 22 min • United States of America

A kidnapped girl thrown off a bridge. A mother's kiss. A father's kiss--and plenty of pies in the face. Who threw those pies?

The Ridin' Fool

1931 • 50 min

The Ridin' Fool presented the bantamweight star as Steve Kendall, a young cowboy saving gambler Boston Harry from being hanged by a group of vigilantes who accuse him of having killed Jim Beckworth. The fugitives hide out at Juanita's hacienda and while their mercenary hostess decides how to best fleece her guests, the posse arrives.

Headin' for Trouble

1931 • 60 min • United States of America

Cyclone arrives in town just in time to see Slade cheat Courtney at poker. Cyclone takes Courtney's IOU and returns it to him. But Courtney is a compulsive gambler and Slade lures him back for another game, this time winning his ranch. Cyclone once again returns the note but is captured by Slade's men. Slade then heads out to force Courtney to sign over the deed.

It Might Be Worse

1931 • 18 min • United States of America

George convinces his friend John that suicide isn't the answer.

The Terror of Batignolles

1931 • 15 min • France

An expressionist comedy greatly influenced by German Expressionism set in a bohemian enclave of northern Paris, which Clouzot made shortly before he served as assistant director to Anatole Litvak and E.A. Dupont and began scripting French versions of German films at Berlin’s UFA studios.

The Lady Who Dared

1931 • 59 min • United States of America

A blackmailer falls in love with his female victim.