All Films

The Bad Boy

1917 • 55 min • United States of America

Small town youth Jimmie Bates is a well-intentioned, but troubled youth. Jimmie is a rowdy boy who is always getting into trouble and playing pranks on his friends and neighbors. Although deeply in love with young Mary, he eventually spurns Mary's affection for the more outgoing and worldly young Ruth.

The Price Mark

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Broke and stranded in the Big City, Paula Lee (Dorothy Dalton) willingly becomes the mistress of "love 'em and leave 'em" playboy Fielding Powell (William Conklin). In spite of himself, Powell falls in love with Paula, and just before leaving on a business trip, he promises to marry her upon his return. In the meantime, however, Paula falls in love with dedicated charity doctor D. Melfi (Thurston Hall).

The Awakening

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Abandoned on the church steps at birth Jacques Revilly is a pariah in his small hamlet finally heading to Paris to fulfill his dream of being an artist. After three years he has become quite adept but due to his slovenly ways and appearance he has been nicknamed “The Beast” and is once again exiled among society. One night he discovers a young girl who has collapsed in the roadside snow, with the assistance of his one friend Varney they nurse her back to health and “The Beast” begins to mend his ways.

In the Fetters of Darkness

1917 • 39 min

Elinor Petipon has been arrested as suspected of the murder of her husband. She seems to have lost memory, and confronted with the husband's body, she does not even recognize him. The hearing judge decides that she shall be detained in custody for observation.

The Mark of Cain

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

After old Trowbridge is mysteriously murdered, his nephew, Kane Langdon, is accused of the crime. Trowbridge's adopted daughter Alice makes every effort to prove Kane's innocence, but to no avail. When Kane escapes from the clutches of the law, Alice works with him to investigate the crime. They soon discover that Judge Hoyt, a great friend of Trowbridge and an ardent admirer of Alice, killed Trowbridge after forging the old man's will to read that Alice would only inherit his fortune if she married the judge. The judge, confronted with the accusation, becomes so unnerved that he confesses to the crime, and all ends happily with Alice in Kane's arms.

The Golden God

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

George Woods is leading a happy and contented life with his wife and little daughter in the small town of Milford when millionaire Cyrus Morton from New York offers to make him his chauffeur. George accepts and goes to the city where he finds everyone preoccupied with the pursuit of wealth. The fever enters his blood, and upon finding Morton's lost wallet, George takes the money and plunges into the stock market. His investment is successful, and from then on he becomes obsessed with money, forgetting his wife and child in his vain pursuit. But even with the vast wealth he accumulates, George finds that he is unhappy. Through his wife Mary's efforts, he finally realizes that true happiness cannot be found in the accumulation of riches, but lies in simpler pleasures.

Thirst

1917 • 23 min • United States of America

A woman has moved to a small town boarding house to seek peace and quiet. All too soon she finds herself in a Keystone movie, where there's everything but.

The Checkered Raincoat

1917 • 31 min • Germany

Fashion salesman Amadeus flirts with the secretary when his wife Emma pays him an unexpected visit. She asks for a new coat. He gives her a checkered raincoat from his storage. At home she meets her friend Gritti, who is excited by the new garment. Emma lends it to her for a rendezvous with her fiancé. On his way home Amadeus spots Gritti leaving the house. Due to the coat he mistakes her for his wife and follows close behind. At the same time he is observed by Emma who begins her own pursuit. When Grittti enters a streetcar with her fiancé, Amadeus assumes deceit. He loses track of the couple and starts to make eyes at a young pedestrian. Emma is outraged and decides to move in with her mother, who suggests a divorce lawyer. Amadeus finds his home empty and calls the same lawyer. A meeting with the married couple is arranged for the next morning.

For Happiness

1917 • 41 min • Russia

Since Zoya Verenskaya's husband passed away ten years ago, she has been devoted to her daughter Lee. At present, Lee is in poor health, and she is in danger of losing her eyesight. Zoya's suitor Dmitry wants to get married, but Zoya is determined to wait until Lee is better. Then, on a vacation in the Crimea, they learn Lee's true feelings for Dmitry, and suddenly all of their lives are thrown into turmoil.

The Squaw Man's Son

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Hal, now fully grown, leaves his wife Edith and his estate in England to return to the land of his Indian mother.

Black Orchids

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Frivolous young Marie de Severac is frightened into following a more virtuous path, when her father relates a story in which an equally frivolous woman is entombed alive. The movie was Rex Ingram’s directorial debut, and he later remade the film as Trifling Women in 1922. Black Orchids is considered to be a lost film.

A Doll's House

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Nora Helmer has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald. Now she is being blackmailed lives in fear of her husband's finding out and of the shame such a revelation would bring to his career.

Back Stage

1917 • 13 min • United States of America

Props, the stage man, and his assistant at the Orpheum Theater, Plunkville divide their time equally between drinking and attention to duty. Trouble starts when the new acts arrive. The Wiggle sisters, a Hawaiian act, demand the star dressing room but Props turns them down, but relents when Babe, the strong man, and his beautiful wife, Ethel Burton because he is smitten. Once the show begins Props is forever getting in the way of the performers and his bibulous assistant has an unfortunate propensity for dropping the curtain at the wrong moments. Things only get crazier from there.

Durand of the Bad Lands

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

While out on a plundering expedition, outlaw Dick Durand comes upon a band of Indians attacking a group of settlers. Dick opens fire on the Indians, but before he forces them to flee, they kill everyone except three children and Durand himself.

Gall and Golf

1917 • 10 min • United States of America

Golf, we discover in this early Semon short, is a game that is played by striking a croquet ball with a hockey stick and seeing how many times it can hit Larry Semon.

At First Sight

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Famous romance writer Hartly Poole retreats to the country for inspiration. There he meets ardent admirer Justina Chaffin, who is about to marry a fortune-hunting scoundrel. After Justina and Hartly fall in love, she discovers her fiancé's deception and flees to Hartly's cottage. Seeing her car parked in front, the sheriff accuses Hartly of abduction, but all is resolved when Justina and Hartly exchange vows.

The Secret of Eve

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

A gypsy woman, Hagar, abandons her baby, Eve, on the doorstep of a Quaker family, the Fothergills, hoping for a better life for her child, who is then raised as their daughter.

Flirting with Death

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

When an aviator dies performing in a traveling circus, the circus closes and sideshow con men "Sky-High" Billy Wardell and "Domino" Dominick are arrested for giving out fake watches to wheel of fortune winners. After Domino springs the jail's lock, they jump a freight train and arrive in the next town, where Billy falls in love when Jane Higgenbotham allows them to breakfast on her freshly baked pies.

Dolly Doings

1917 • 6 min

A Dolly short.

The Love Affair of Ima Knut

1917 • 7 min • United States of America

Romantic fantasies of a man who wants his girlfriend to be thinner.

Her Country's Call

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

A mountain girl with an army-hating father, meets a handsome army captain, who teaches her how to love her country.

The Tell-Tale Step

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Giovanni Pallazzi, a former member of the Black Hand, an Italian criminal organization, comes to America with his blind daughter Lucia and prospers. Hearing of his success, his former associates demand that he aid in their support

The Haunted Pajamas

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

When Richard Hudson receives a pair of silk pajamas from a friend in China, he is unaware that they are bewitched and that whoever wears them will be transformed into someone else.

Forget-Me-Not

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Adventuress Stefanie Paoli forsakes her lover, humble fisherman Gabriel Barrato, for the arms of a nobleman, the Marquis de Mohrivart.