All Films

The Beckoning Trail

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Carter Raymond is a New York playboy who squanders his inherited fortune. All he has left is an abandoned mine in California, so Carter goes West to work it. "Big Jim" Helton and his daughter Mary have been squatters on the mine for years, and "Placer" Murray, from an adjoining camp, has been trying to run them off. When Carter arrives, Mary shoots him, thinking he works for Murray. Mary soon realizes her mistake, and she and her father agree to nurse Carter back to health.

Man and His Soul

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Man and His Soul is a 1916 American silent melodrama film directed by John W. Noble.

The Years of the Locust

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Despite her love for penniless Dirck Mead, Lorraine marries wealthy Aaron Roth to save her family from financial ruin.

Winning a Continent

1916 • 54 min • South Africa

This epic film was one of the first South African dramatic film productions. It tells the story of the Boers’ Great Trek at the end of the 1830s, concluding with a hegemonic reconstruction of the 1838 Battle of Blood River, where a few hundred armed Afrikaners defeated several thousand Zulus.

The Isle of Life

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Living up to a reputation for disregarding rules, author Sebastian Maure, having fallen in love with Ghirlaine Bellamy, kidnaps her to get her away from her fiancé, Vincent Pamfort. Sebastian takes Ghirlaine to a small island where, because of the force of his personality, he is treated almost as a god by the natives. During her captivity, Ghirlaine exerts a strong influence on Sebastian, and he vows to make himself into a better man.

The Eternal Grind

1916 • 41 min • United States of America

Louise (Pickford) is a sewing-machine girl in a sweatshop in New York City. She lives together with her sisters Amy (Loretta Blake) and Jane (Dorothy West) and are all deprived by bad conditions at work and sickness. Louise tries for the three of them to survive and regards herself as the keeper of her sisters. Meanwhile, she stands up to her bosses and complains about the dreadful circumstances they work in. When Amy is seduced by the son of the shop-owner, Louise butts in and stops the romance. He eventually abandons Amy and becomes seriously injured in a cave-in. Louise has a secret crush on the son herself and tries to rescue him, hoping he will admit he loves her. The film is inspired by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which took place in 1911. The only version of the film is a nitrate print in the Cinematheque Francaise, but only the first half remains.

The Danger Girl

1916 • 30 min

Madcap Gloria disguises herself as a man, in order to lure a "dangerous" vamp away from her beau, Bobbie.

Studenci

1916 • 33 min • Poland

A lost film starring Pola Negri

Fires of Conscience

1916 • 60 min • United States of America

George Baxter presents his new wife, Margery. Paul Sneed, Baxter's neighbor, knew Margery before the marriage. When Baxter returns home unexpectedly one night, he finds Sneed and his wife together. As Sneed runs away, Baxter shoots and kills him. Both Margery and Sneed's father, Judge Randolph Sneed, witness the shooting.

The Mischief Maker

1916 • 50 min

Effie Marchand refuses to marry a man she has never met, but who has been picked out by her mother, is exiled to boarding school Then, when sculpting teacher Jules Gerard asks her to pose for him, an always impulsive Effie quickly consents. During one of the modeling sessions, however, Jules tries to seduce her, and Effie is saved only when Al Tournay, a visitor to the studio, fights off the sculptor. Later, when Jules' latest nude statue looks just like Effie, who really only posed for the head, an outraged principal expels her. Effie then begins a romance with Al, and when they get married, Effie's mother takes the wedding as just one more sign of her daughter's impulsiveness. Mrs. Marchand soon finds out, however, that her new son-in-law is the man she had chosen for Effie long before, and so mother and daughter are quickly reconciled.

The Selfish Woman

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

A young engineer, Tom Morley, is building a railroad through Imperial Valley. Tom's father also wants the job, and tries to persuade his son to give up the work, but Tom refuses. Tom falls for a society girl named Alice Hale, who marries him to bring prestige to her family. Initially, Alice plots against Tom, but Tom wins her over and they work together to defeat those who are plotting to destroy Tom's work.

A Creampuff Romance

1916 • 14 min • United States of America

A Creampuff Romance is a 1916 comedy short starring Fatty Arbuckle.

The Devil's Prize

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Social-climbing Arnold St. Clair abandons his pregnant lover Myra to marry wealthy Adeline Stratton. Myra, looking to protect her child, marries Hugh Roland. Adeline's uncle Mark discovers Arnold's secret, and to keep him quiet, Arnold kills him.

The Death Swing

1916 • 12 min • United States of America

Stallings' plot to spoil the demonstration of Dick Benton's newly invented safety stop for trains seems certain of success when the locomotive is sent running wild down the tracks. Helen saves the day by climbing out on a wire stretching across the tracks and dropping to the speeding engine.

A Dream or Two Ago

1916 • 51 min • United States of America

During a jewelry-store holdup, 6-year-old Millicent Hawthorne, the neglected daughter of a wealthy socialite, falls on her head and is carried home to be reared by Mother Gumpf, the leader of the thieves. The fall cost Millicent her memory, but at night she dreams of her former high-society existence, while during the day she works for Gumpf as a pickpocket and later becomes a cabaret dancer. A friend of the Hawthornes sees Millicent perform, recognizes her, and reports back to Mrs. Hawthorne, who has vowed to be a devoted mother should she ever find her daughter. Finally, after the Hawthornes rescue Millicent from Kraft, the lecherous cabaret manager, an operation restores her memory, and she delights in the love of her long-lost mother.

A Yoke of Gold

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

During the days of the California missions, Jose Garcia becomes friends with Luis Lopez, a local Robin Hood determined to redistribute among the poor the loot of the rich. Inspired by Luis, Jose sets out to rob the home of wealthy landowner Don Ortega. On the way, however, Jose gets lost in the desert and is nearly dead when he is found by Don Ortega's aristocratic cousin, Castro Arrellanes, and Castro's daughter Carmen, who take him in and nurse him back to health. Jose quickly falls in love with Carmen, and as a result, renounces his plan of robbing the rich. Then, he learns that Luis has made plans to break into Don Ortega's house.

His Wife's Mistakes

1916 • 16 min • United States of America

Roscoe begins work on his new job as janitor of the Shortacre Building in New York. While performing his duties he enters the offices of a broker, I. Steele. The broker is out, but his wife, who knows that her husband expects a rich customer in with a check for $10,000 to close an option, mistakes Roscoe for this Mr. R.U. Stout of Showme, Missouri. Thinking to be of assistance to her husband in his business, Mrs. Steele is very affable and finally invites the supposed Mr. Stout to go to luncheon with her. Steele returns with the necessary papers and is told by his office boy that his wife has gone to a gay café with the new janitor.

The Turmoil

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

James Sheridan becomes wealthy and a power in a middle west city, where his entire life is absorbed in the turmoil of his own creation. The only thing he lacks is social standing, and this he strives to gain by methods he has successfully employed in driving a business deal.

Luke and the Bomb Throwers

1916 • 10 min • United States of America

Luke is trapped and bound by a group of terrorists.

Hulda from Holland

1916 • 50 min • United States of America

Hulda, a plucky Dutch girl, brings her three little brothers from Holland to America to live with their rich Uncle Peter. Hulda finds love with a poor artist.

The Cost of High Living

1916 • 12 min • United States of America

The Cost of High Living is a 1916 Vitagraph comedy starring William Duncan and Corinne Griffith.

The Little Samaritan

1916 • 20 min • United States of America

On the morning of her 11th birthday, Joyce reads in one of her gift books that she should perform a good deed. After giving the $5 gift to an old man in the park her mother reprimands her and warns her that old men steal little girls. She goes to the park the next day to see if this is true. Her old friend assures her it isn’t, and she invites him to come to her home. Hiding him in the attic she hears the story of how he left his little girl with friends’ years before, and when he returned, all trace of her had been lost. When Joyce’s parents return the old man recognizes Mrs. Farley as his long-lost daughter much to the delight of all except Joyce, who pouts that she can have nothing of her own without others sharing it. So, she invites a host of human derelicts in to dine, insisting that they too have lost their little girls.

Luke Laughs Last

1916 • 10 min • United States of America

Unhappy in his job as a butler (although he likes wearing a dress suit), Luke gets involved with burglars and the law.

$5,000 Reward

1916 • 12 min • United States of America

Tom Mix short