All Films

A Night of Horror

1917 • 56 min • Germany

An extremely jealous artist slips into a monkey costume and kills all those men who come too close to his wife, another artist.

The Dying Swan

1917 • 49 min • Russia

After being betrayed by her playboy lover, a heartbroken mute young woman joins a ballet company; during a performance of “The Dying Swan,” she enraptures a painter obsessed with portraying death genuinely.

Miss Robinson Crusoe

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Rich, spoiled social butterfly Pamela Sayre lives the good life with her two maiden aunts. Bertie Holden, the somewhat slacker son of a wealthy couple, is in love with Pamela, who seems to prefer muscular, daredevil-type men, which Bertie definitely isn't. Pamela flirts with the wealthy but much older Charles Van Gordon in order to make Bertie jealous, but her plan seems to backfire.

The Boss of the Lazy Y

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

A 1917 film directed by Clifford Smith.

A Magdalene of the Hills

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Herbert Grayson has timber holdings in a Southern state. One of his mills is burned, and he accuses Len Mathis, a young mountaineer. In trying to avoid arrest Len is killed, and old John Mathis, his father, swears to shoot Grayson or any member of his family on sight. His young daughter, Renie, makes the same vow. Grayson is anxious to gain control of lands owned by Mathis, Grayson's nephew, Eric Southard, volunteers to effect the purchase.

Patsy

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Fearing that his daughter Patsy is becoming a tomboy, John Primmel sends her to a friend back East for education and refinement. Arriving in New York, Patsy discovers that her father's friend has died and his apartment is now inhabited by his son, Dick Hewitt. Dick allows Patsy to stay, and they hire a maid, a housekeeper, and a butler.

Bobby Bumps: Tanks

1917 • 10 min

A little boy and his beloved puppy find themselves in and out of mischief after crafting a homemade tank.

The Lash of Power

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

John Rand, having lived in a small town his entire life, dreams of possessing wealth and power in New York. Napoleon Bonaparte has long been his ideal, and one day he feels a message from the departed general urging him to take up the fight for world supremacy. He goes to the city ready to begin the battle, and there, aided by his Napoleonic visions, John amasses a great fortune, ruthlessly destroying everyone who presents an obstacle to his lust for power.

A Country Hero

1917 • 20 min • United States of America

Fatty plays a village blacksmith in “Jazzville,” an imaginary rural village. There is a rivalry between Fatty and Cy Klone, the garage owner, over the affections of a pretty schoolteacher. A city chap unites the two rivals when he tries to steal the girl. An annual village ball features amateur talent in vaudeville stunts with Keaton as a wriggling Fatima who charms a long black stocking from a cigar box like a snake. The film is presumed lost.

The Innocent Sinner

1917 • 60 min • United States of America

An innocent country girl, Mary Ellen Ellis, moves to the city with an experienced man, Walter Benton, under the promise of marriage. Once in the city, she finds herself in a "world of crime" but reforms a burglar named Bull Clark. Clark, in turn, saves her from another criminal called "The Weasel," and repays her with his gratitude.

The Girl, Glory

1917 • 55 min • United States of America

Glory Wharton is the granddaughter of civil war veteran Jed Wharton. Jed entertains everyone with his war stories, but has a serious drinking problem. Glory is determined to help him overcome this.

The Social Leper

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

A clairvoyant warns divorcée Adrienne Van Couver to beware of Robert Warren, whom she has spurned. The warning comes true after Adrienne's ex-husband, John Dean, meets Warren, an old friend, and tells him the story of his marriage to Adrienne. He tells how her frivolity and malice caused both the death of their only child, and after their divorce John’s romance with Lorraine Barkley who left him for lawyer Henry Armstrong. Enraged by Adrienne's treachery, Warren goes to her apartment and kills her. Dean arrives after Warren has fled and is arrested for the murder. Believing that Dean is innocent, Lorraine persuades Armstrong to defend him. After a last-minute confession by John is cleared.

The Man from Montana

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

When Dad Petzel is swindled out of the Busy Bee mine, his partner, Duke Farley, ventures East to capture the crooks.

The Plow Woman

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

After her mother's death, Mary not only becomes the household slave of her overbearing father, Scottish American Andy MacTavish but also becomes a mother to her little sister Ruth at their home on the Dakota plains.

Life's Whirlpool

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Ethel Barrymore plays the wife of an abusive country squire. So nasty is her husband that he all but forces her to seek solace in the arms of her former sweetheart (played by Alan Hale in his leading-man period). Their clandestine relationship finally comes out in the open when the nasty husband is killed by his irate tenants.

The Greater Law

1917 • 50 min

Failing to hear from her brother Jimmy after his departure for the Klondike, Barbara Henderson goes in search of him. Arriving in the frozen North, Barbara learns that her brother has been murdered and vows vengeance.

Den mystiske selskabsdame

1917 • 45 min

The notorious criminal Barra is approached by Agent Frank for a profitable collaboration. The brand new designs of a revolutionary internal combustion engine is the target. Engineer von Rosen at the Osman Corporation is the trusted envoy for the transfer of the drawings/designs. Frank is determined to intercept and obtain the valuable goods for his client. A competitor in the mechanical industry. Barra is keen to get started. And he intend to use his wife as a magnet, to get the attention of Osman director von Spangen.

A Reckless Romeo

1917 • 23 min • United States of America

Roscoe flirts with a girl in the park. Later he takes his wife and mother-in-law to the movies only to see his flirtation showing on the screen.

The Rough House

1917 • 20 min • United States of America

Living under the same roof with his newly-wed wife and his mother-in-law, a careless Mr Rough sets the nuptial bedroom on fire, as the residence's cook tries to woo the maid who only has eyes for the charming delivery boy. As one thing leads to another, Mr Rough ends up preparing dinner for a pair of duplicitous guests, when, clearly, he should be staying out of the kitchen. Does Mrs Rough know the visitors' true intentions? But, above all, how will this disastrous dinner party at the Rough house end?

A Wife by Proxy

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

The film opens in Ireland, as a dying Patrick McNairne tells his daughter Jerry to go to New York and look up Norton Burbeck, a wealthy young man whose life Patrick had saved some time earlier (the surviving print, largely complete, lacks the second page insert of a letter explaining the full background). The affable Burbeck is due to inherit his uncle’s fortune provided he’s married by November; if not, the inheritance will go to his cousin Howard Curtis. An adventuress, Beatrice Gaden, and her husband Dick are in cahoots with Curtis: Beatrice pretends to be single in order to string Norton along up to the November date, at which time Curtis will come into the money and give a share to his unscrupulous partners.

The Man Without a Country

1917 • 60 min • United States of America

Convicted in a revolutionary conspiracy, a man rashly states that he wishes never again to hear the name of the United States of America. The judge grants him his wish, sentencing him to life aboard a ship always at sea, aboard with sailors under orders never to let him hear of his homeland in any way. The punishment nearly destroys him, while changing him thoroughly.

The Millionaire's Double

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

After his wife has run off with another man, New Yorker Bide Bennington decides to stay in Europe. After hearing of his wife's death years later, he returns home but finds it lonely there and heads West. While he is gone his house is robbed, and the leader of the crooks, Richard Glendo, leaves Bennington's coat and identification on an East River pier. The newspapers pick up on this and announce Bennington's "suicide." Since he is now officially deceased, Bennington decides to start life all over again -- but first he must foil a scheme by a gang of con artists, who have forced pretty Constance Brent to pose as Bennington's widow so that they can lay claim to his estate.

The Duchess of Doubt

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Clover Ames's life consists only of the drudge work that she performs at her Aunt Sarah's boardinghouse. No longer able to withstand her aunt's abuse, Clover runs away and obtains a job as a maid to a wealthy woman. Willed $7,000 by Pierre Dubois, a boarder at her aunt's house, Clover, inspired by a novel that she has read, poses as a duchess at a fashionable winter resort. There she meets and falls in love with Walter Gray, who is also traveling incognito as a ribbon clerk. When Clover's money runs out, her trick is discovered and she vanishes. Obtaining employment in Gray's department store, Clover learns that her ribbon clerk is actually the owner's son, who rushes her to the wedding bureau.

The Cost of Hatred

1917 • 50 min • United States of America

Justus Graves (Theodore Roberts) is a mean-spirited human being, so it's no surprise that when he returns home from a business trip, he finds his wife Elsie (Kathlyn Williams) in the arms of another man (J.W. Johnston). Graves shoots and wounds the man, then hides with his little daughter in Mexico.