All Films

The Beggar Maid

1921 • 30 min • United States of America

The painter Burne-Jones and his famed painting "The Beggar Maid" are depicted in this speculative drama about the creation of the painting. Burne-Jones plays matchmaker for a young British nobleman who has fallen in love with a servant girl on his estate. The artist shows that love can thrive between members of different classes by depicting on canvas a picture from Tennyson's poem about the love of King Cophetua for a beggar maid. As he relates the story of the poem in words and through his painting, the young earl sees the application to his own situation.

Beating the Game

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

Professional safecracker Fancy Charlie breaks into the apartment of G.B. Lawson, a criminologist, and mistakenly believes that he has robbed a fellow safecracker. Out of "professional courtesy" he informs Lawson of what he has done. Instead of calling the police, Lawson--who believes in the philosophy of "honor among thieves"--makes a deal with Charlie: to show Charlie that it's actually more profitable to be a legitimate businessman then a crook, he'll give Charlie some money if Charlie will use it to establish a legitimate business in the small town of Plumfield, and at the end of a year they will divide up whatever profits Charlie is able to make honestly. Charlie agrees, but soon discovers that things aren't going to be quite as easy as he thought.

Across the Divide

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

Left in the care of his half-breed brother, Buck, by his dying mother, Wallace Layson has no knowledge of his family history. His father, knowing that his son will inherit a ranch on his 21st birthday, tries to secure the property for himself by persuading a dance hall girl to come between the boy and his fiancée. When Buck learns of the plan he decides to foil it without his half-brother knowing.

Blind Hearts

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

In 1898 friends John Thomas and Lars Larson travel to the Yukon with their wives to make their fortunes. While in Alaska Thomas' wife gives birth to a boy, and Larson's wife has a girl, Julia. However, Larson spots a birthmark on his daughter's shoulder that resembles one on Thomas' shoulder, and he begins to suspect that he may not actually be the girl's father. Over the next 20 years the two become millionaires, but Larson's wife dies. Julia and Thomas fall in love and wish to marry, but Larson is determined to oppose it.

The Death in the Greenstreet

1921 • 52 min • Germany

A little girl falls into the hands of a hypnotist the morning after the assassination of a jeweler. A visitor of the uncomfortable host confesses himself as the perpetrator, the girl can testify and delivers the two villains of the police.

The Mistress of Shenstone

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

The husband of Lady Myra Ingleby is off fighting in the World War. She is devastated when Sir Derysk Brand tells her that her husband has been killed. The War Office gives her the details - Lord Ingleby was killed, not by enemy fire, but because of an error committed by one of his fellowmen, whose name is never to be disclosed. The grieving widow retreats to her Cornwall estate for a rest. Staying at the inn is a man known as Jim Airth, who carries a grief of his own.

The Love Special

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Jim Glover is an engineer in charge of constructing a railroad to the sea. He gives the company president Gage a tour of the area of land coveted for its use as a short cut that can save hours on the journey. After the officials visit a recently constructed dam, the train makes a stop in a dull town, and Gage's daughter Laura throws a charity bazaar to combat the boredom. Jim puts together a mock-holdup that saves the event from financial ruin, endearing Laura to him. Later, an accident traps three workers in a cave, and Jim is called away to rescue the victims.

Fishing

1921 • 8 min • United States of America

Max is too rushed to do a thorough job of drawing Koko this morning. Max is going fishing. However, to amuse the clown, he draws a fishing pole and a pond before he goes.

A Broken Doll

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Ranch hand Tommy Dawes has a special bond with little Rosemary, the crippled daughter of his boss Bill Nyall. When Tommy accidentally breaks Rosemary's favorite doll one day, he borrows a $20 gold piece from the foreman's mattress to go to town and buy a new doll. However, on the way there he is ambushed and robbed by an escaped convict

Invisible Ink

1921 • 8 min • United States of America

Koko The Clown continually interrupts an animator, who turns his attention to trapping the clown.

The Smart Sex

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Rose, a stranded showgirl, participates in a local amateur show and wins the prize. After the performance, she meets a wealthy young man who buys her supper, gets her accommodation on a farm adjoining his father's estate, and turns farmhand to win her love.

Nobody's Fool

1921 • 50 min

Unattractive and poor Polly Gordon, is taken to the college dance by eligible Vincent DePuyster only as part of a fraternity initiation. Suitors flock to her, however, when she inherits half a million dollars from her aunt, but she grows cynical and dismisses them.

Desire: The Tragedy of a Dancer

1921 • 59 min • Germany

A young Russian dancer in Geneva returns to Russia, where he falls in love with a grand duchess. He is arrested but manages to escape. Lost film.

At the Stage Door

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

As children, sisters Helen Mathews and Mary Mathews couldn't be more dissimilar--Helen is selfish, thoughtless and self-centered, while Mary is exactly the opposite. Later, Helen--out of spite--steals Mary's boyfriend. May has enough and leaves home to become a chorus girl in New York City. She eventually becomes a star and attracts a young millionaire, Philip Pierce, but--to the astonishment of the other chorus girls--she turns him down. Philip, however, doesn't intend to take this rejection without a fight.

Cheated Love

1921 • 50 min

Sonya Schnoema, a Jewish girl, comes to the United States as an immigrant and works in her father's ghetto grocery store, where she gains the affections of a young settlement worker, David Dahlman. But she loves Mischa, a young doctor who soon arrives from Odessa, and to aid him financially, she distinguishes herself in the local Yiddish theater.

Silent Years

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

Jo Morey, who lives in the St. Lawrence River Valley, inherits her father's barren farm and devotes her entire energies to cultivating it and caring for her invalid sister. Henry Langley meets Jo and proposes marriage to her. She asks him to wait until she is free, but Langley refuses and marries Mary Malden. Eight years later Jo has paid off the mortgage to Captain Longville, and one night she finds a baby in her house; it is Langley's, and a note requests that its parentage be kept secret.

A Parisian Scandal

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Without social or romantic interests, young Basil Hammond goes to Paris to study paleontology and to bring back a report to his guardian on the manners and moral character of her granddaughter, Liane. At first he is disgusted by her attempts to vamp him, but eventually, he falls in love with her.

Modeling

1921 • 8 min • United States of America

The Clown causes trouble for the Cartoonist, and a sculptor using the studio, when he escapes from his backdrop and hides in the wet clay of a bust.

Prometheus, Banker

1921 • 15 min • France

A vamp seduces a banker and breaks with him when she's obtained all that she wanted.

Too Much Speed

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Egotistical race-car driver Dusty Rhoades learns that humility pays off even better than acclaim.

A Heart to Let

1921 • 50 min • United States of America

Agatha Kent inherits a southern mansion from her maiden aunt, Agatha. When she advertises for boarders, Burton Forbes, who is blind and alone in the world, recalls his visits to Aunt Agatha as a boy and rents a room. Assuming the roles of her aunt and an Irish maid, young Agatha looks after her guest, who is distressed over a broken engagement. His gratitude for her kindness ripens into love, which she reciprocates, unaware that his sight has returned. A lucky turn on the stock market results in the restoration of Burton's fortune, and when his former fiancée asks to resume their engagement, he rejects her for Agatha. A lost film.

The Sin of Martha Queed

1921 • 60 min • United States of America

Due to a misunderstanding, and the vicious streak of her relative David Boyd, Martha Queed is believed to be involved in an illicit affair with Arnold Barry. Her small-minded father, Marvin, insists they marry but the following morning when David is found murdered Arnold is suspected. As sentencing approaches a series of events materialize to prove his innocence.

Straight from the Shoulder

1921 • 60 min

Played mostly for laughs, this silent Western featured the"The Mediator," a drifter who manages to restore peace both within a family and between miners and their powerful employer.

Be My Wife

1921 • 57 min • United States of America

Max is determined to woo Mary, despite her Aunt Agatha's disapproval. Then, Max and Mary become embroiled in the world of Madam Coralie, a prominent dressmaker-bootlegger.