All Films

Would You Forgive?

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Mrs. John Cleveland, victim of an overly-jealous husband, adopts a child but, fearing to bring it into her own household, furnishes another home for it, and places the little girl in charge of a nurse. Paul Horton, ex-convict and former sweetheart of Mrs. Cleveland, returns to the city and finds that his former nurse is the same woman who is caring for Mrs. Cleveland's child. Horton accuses her of leading a double life and demands money to keep the matter quiet. Her diamonds are given to him and he pawns them. The husband, finding the rings gone, places detectives on the trail. Finding that Horton has pawned them he shuns his wife. But Horton shows him a letter which proves that the child adopted by Mrs. Cleveland really belongs to her husband. Though the jealous husband had been unwilling to forgive, the loving wife grants forgiveness.

Vicenta

1920 • 19 min • France

Prince Romano seduces Vicenta, a waitress in a shabby inn. She escapes to join him in Paris.

Steam pumping station in Lemmer

1920 • 4 min • Netherlands

Reportage about the opening of the pumping station in Lemmer, Netherlands.

Clouds

1920 • 15 min

A silent documentary showcasing various types of clouds, punctuated by lines from a Percy Shelley poem.

Dangerous to Men

1920 • 60 min • United States of America

When noted scientist John Vandam dies in the Orient, he leaves the guardianship of his eighteen-year-old daughter to his old friend Sandy Verrall. Sandy believes that Eliza is a little girl and so prepares for the arrival of a child. Displeased with the situation, Eliza decides to dress and act like a kid so that Sandy will tire of her and send her away.

The Five Accursed Gentlemen

1920 • 60 min • France

When five gentlemen humiliate a merchant in a Tunisian bazaar, the latter curses them, telling them the order of their deaths within a given time frame. The men begin to die in the order they were chosen...

Indoor Sports by Tad

1920 • 2 min • United States of America

The film begins with an obese woman going to the shoe store and insisting she's a size 3 1/2--though she's obviously much larger. Then, out of the blue, a cat and a stick figure appear and make fun of the woman--making fat jokes and the like.

White Youth

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Convent-reared Aline Ann Belame receives a letter from her grandfather General Belame, whom she had never previously met. The letter summons Aline to the old man's plantation to meet the husband he has chosen for her. Elated at the prospect of having a home and a husband, Aline arrives at the plantation only to learn that her fiancé, Monsieur Cayetane, is a withered old man. Aline refuses the match and soon falls in love with Burton Striker, who is installing a vault door on the General's wine cellar.

April Folly

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

April Poole (Davies), a young writer in love with publisher Kerry Sarle (Tearle), visits the office of Mr. Sarle and his partner Ronald Kenna (Frank) and reads her latest story to them. She has made Sarle the hero, Kenna the villain, and herself the heroine. In the story, April changes places with Lady Diana Mannister (Marshall), who is being sent to South Africa to separate her from her lover, a young artist. A famous diamond that Lady Diana is to deliver at the end of her journey is given to April. Thieves trail her during her journey. With efforts by Kenna to steal the diamond prevented by the intervention of Sarle, the story comes to a close.

Birthright

1920 • 50 min

A movie directed by Edward L. Hemmer.

Out of the Storm

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Impressed with Margaret Hill's singing ability, Al Levering takes her from the notorious dive in which she is performing and pays for her musical education. Just as she is about to join an opera company, Levering is arrested for embezzlement and Margaret, out of gratitude, promises to marry him when he is released. Later, Margaret meets and falls in love with nobleman John Ordham. Separated during a shipwreck, the two lose track of each other and five years pass, during which time Margaret has become a famous opera star.

The Shadow of Rosalie Byrnes

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Leontine Maddern is a self-centered, unscrupulous actress, while her twin sister Leona is a serious and compassionate artist. Because of a scandal in which Leontine was involved, Leona uses her mother's maiden name of Rosalie Byrnes. Rosalie meets and falls in love with Lt. Gerald Cromwell and after they marry, Cromwell is sent overseas. His family, desiring that Gerald marry wealth, approaches Leontine and, mistaking her for Rosalie, offers to buy her off, and she accepts.

Runnin' Straight

1920 • 20 min • United States of America

A young slum-reared fellow makes good with a man who befriends him and then sacrifices his good name to save the latter's son.

Love and Liquor

1920 • 60 min • Myanmar

Facing bankruptcy after losing a card game, U Bo Shwe and his daughter Khin May must defend themselves against the former's creditor, Maung Tin.

Two Kinds of Love

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Fred Watson, ravaged by consumption, travels to the lonely country known as Dead Man's Gulch in hopes of regaining his health. Accompanying Fred is his family, comprised of Kate, his son Bobbie and dog Mickey. Coming upon two shacks, they meet Bill Dorgan, a rough-bearded hermit who, after leering at Kate, invites the family to occupy the deserted cabin owned by Bill Mason, imprisoned for the murder of his partner. Meanwhile, his innocence established, Mason is pardoned from jail and returns to his cabin, bitter against the world. Gradually he is softened by Kate's charms and confides to her that he is searching for the gold that he and his partner had hidden years before, but is hampered by a missing section of the treasure map which disappeared the night of his partner's death.

Dynamite

1920 • 20 min • United States of America

Trouble is stirred up at a munitions factory by a Walking Delegate.

Girl of the Sea

1920 • 60 min • United States of America

Stephen Verrill dies, leaving the deed to a valuable gold mine to his wife and child. Verrill's widow, planning to establish a company to operate the mine, sails aboard the steamer Caribee bound for New York. With the aid of Allen, the mate, Cuttle, a notorious trader, scuttles the ship on a wild coastline. As the lifeboat drifts towards a small island, it is overturned by a giant octopus, and the baby is washed ashore, the mine deed tied to her neck.

A Common Level

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

Cruel and ignorant, Matthew Ryan threatens to destroy his business competitor, Schuyler, unless Schuyler's daughter Marion succumbs to his demands, Marion likens Ryan to Attila the Hun. Puzzled by Marion's reference, Ryan returns home to read an account of Attila. Falling asleep while reading, he dreams of a mysterious figure who draws parallels between Ryan and Attila. Attila is depicted as a cruel and brutish figure who wreaks havoc across the Eastern Empire, until finally meeting his death at the hands of his abused bride. Upon awakening, Ryan is so deeply affected by his experiences that he begs forgiveness for his vicious behavior and frees Marion from his demands.

A Slave of Vanity

1920 • 60 min • United States of America

Iris, a British aristocrat, must choose between the poor Laurence and the rich Frederick. She decides to marry the wealthier Frederick, but at the last minute she changes her mind and runs off to Italy with Laurence. However, things do not work out quite the way she planned. A lost film.

The Law of the Yukon

1920 • 60 min • United States of America

A young newspaper man from San Francisco arrives in the Yukon to start a newspaper and conflict ensues. Based on the poem by Robert W. Service.

Jerry on the Job: A False Alarm

1920 • 3 min • United States of America

Jerry his boss sees some kind of commotion from far away though it's only viewable from above a fence blocking the rest of it. So he and Jerry get a sheriff who when they arrive at the fence suggests a constable who then suggests a cop. In between all those encounters, we see them all take the long walks to various places of which one of those-up a hanging bridge-provides some good humour when they fall down on it a couple of times. When all of the above all gather together, they walk another long distance to the other side of the fence.

Mules and Gob Talk

1920 • 12 min

The surviving print of Mules and Gob Talk (the original introduction is missing) begins with spectacular vistas of Yellowstone National Park and majestic herds of buffalo (“a snooty lot” in the intertitles) and ends with “wild” deer being fed by tourists and foraging in garbage cans. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation, New Zealand Project, in 2012.

The Testing Block

1920 • 60 min • United States of America

The tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with the traveling girl violinist Nelly Gray. Sierra forces her into marrying him. They have a child, but family life is interrupted by the gambler Ringe, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringe.

The Challenge of the Law

1920 • 50 min • United States of America

A Canadian Mountie pursues an outlaw across the border into the America...