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.
June Tolliver is a Kentucky mountain girl whose family is feuding with the Falins. But their differences are temporarily put on hold when revenue officer John Hale (Antonio Moreno) comes around. He falls in love with June and sends her to the city to get an education. When she returns and the feud breaks out once again, June tries to become a peacemaker between the two families.
Because he believes that romance is dead, the city editor wants to can the "advice to the lovelorn" column. Rosalie Beckwith, the column's author, naturally disagrees with him. The editor suggests that she prove him wrong by seeing if she can find romance within a 40-mile radius of the city.
Publisher Burton exposes politician Jarvis as a crook and is run out of town. He asks his daughter Sylvia to turn the newspaper over to his editor Frank. Instead, Sylvia fires Frank and takes the publisher’s duties herself.
Stars of Yesterday documentary film.
Iris Lee is reared in the small town of Dalton by her deceased mother's friend, Martha Kane, and when she reaches adulthood, Martha's son Jim falls in love with her. When Iris fails to return his affections, Mrs. Kane treats her so coldly that Iris decides to leave the stuffy little village for the metropolis. On her journey, she accepts a ride with Jack Andrews, but after he attempts to kiss her, she leaps from the car and walks the rest of the way. While singing in the choir of a large metropolitan church, she is discovered by Jack's wealthy father Peter, who recommends her as a soloist. Light opera star Helen Manning, who has helped Iris to cultivate her voice, quarrels with her theatrical manager, and Iris is offered her position.
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is taken into the lives of a generous farmer and his sister. She grows from an adventuresome young lass into a charming and much sought-after young lady.
Lizette (Mary Miles Minter) is an orphan girl who is known to be very innocent. One day, the wealthy Henry Fauer (Eugene Forde) adopts her after seeing her selling news papers. She is now raised in his enormous mansion and is introduced to the posh life. Lizette, however, doesn't know how to deal with it and has no idea about acting like a real society woman.
Documentary short film depicting the filmmaking activity at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, featuring dozens of stars captured candidly and at work.
First episode of a series of reports on movie stars. Those seen include Douglas Fairbanks, Montague Love, Mary Miles Minter and James Kirkwood and various film studios.
The Eyes of Julia Deep is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film starring Mary Miles Minter, directed by Lloyd Ingraham. The film is based on the short story by the same name, written by Kate L. McLaurin. It is one of the few films starring Minter which are known to have survived.
When an Arizona ranchman (Willard Louis) is elected senator, he heads for Washington with his daughter, Judith Baldwin (Mary Miles Minter). But they leave behind ranch hand Tod Musgrove (Monte Blue), who is in love with Judith. In Washington, two men propose to Judith -- Congressman Hamill (Guy Oliver) and Robert Courtney (William Boyd). Since she doesn't know which one to pick, she puts them to a test at her aunt's woodland cabin.
Lady Marjorie Donegal becomes a nurse in hospital, much to the dismay of her aristocratic family. She falls in love with one of her patients, a commoner labor leader.
George Periolat plays a dual role in this film, initially as Joseph Sayles a sickly old man who has taken his daughter, Rhoda (played by Mary Miles Minter), overseas after a quarrel with his family. She yearns to return home, but he has disowned his past. After his death, Rhoda ventures to America on her own. She nearly becomes destitute for a lack of money but happens upon some questionable fortune as she takes on the chores of Rosy Taylor after inadvertently finding an envelope with money in it. Rosy had been hired as a housekeeper (thus the money), but has passed away before actually showing up for employment.
The wife of sculptor Roger Heath is killed by a maniac because of Roger's madly jealous admirer Olivia Larkin. To care for his home and son Peter, Roger hires Irish immigrant Nora O'Hallahan as a nursemaid whom he realizes is possessed by the soul of his departed wife.
The story of Swedish silent film actress Sigrid Holmquist's life (1899-1970), by using the silent film medium. It consists of already existing film clips from the 1910s and 20s. Sigrid is played by eight different stars from her era, and she also plays herself. Sigrid Holmquist was born in Borås, Sweden and her stubborn spirit led her to become a movie star in Scandinavia and Hollywood before retiring from the movies in 1926. An experimental film project.
After the death of her father, a friend hides Dimples' inheritance in a doll, which Dimples carries to her new home at her aunt's boardinghouse. Meanwhile, having just ended his engagement to Eugenia Abbott and now looking for rest and relaxation, the wealthy Robert Stanley also becomes a boarder at the aunt's, and he and Dimples quickly fall in love. Then a stock market panic puts a severe strain on Robert's assets, and he must get a lot of cash in order to avoid a disaster. Dimples finds out, takes the money from the doll, gives it to Robert's broker and, as a result, saves her sweetheart's financial empire. Once again solvent, Robert can let his mind move back to romance, and so he and Dimples start planning their marriage.
Mary Miles Minter is the title character. Pat (Minter) is a little orphan who has been raised around the circus. Her foster father is Toto the clown (Neely Edwards). Toto hopes to marry Pat until the day the circus comes to a Southern town and she meets handsome Dick Beverley (Jack Mulhall). Beverley falls in love with Pat and takes a job as trick rider just to be near her. Beverley's aristocratic parents (Winter Hall and Helen Dunbar) find out about his new job and insist that he come home. Two of the five reels survive.
Humanitarian Roberta induces her father to hire former convict, Bill, as his gardener. When she leaves on vacation, Bill steals her jewelry and eventually sells a brooch to her boyfriend, Richard, who unknowingly gives it to her as a present.
Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.
Through the death of his father, Benton Cabot is left with nothing but a small mountain cabin which he has never seen. He goes to take up his property and in the mountains meets Emmy Garrett, an untutored but attractive girl, just budding into womanhood.
Rich young Joan Hope is ashamed of how her father made his money--as a chewing gum magnate. While taking a train trip, she meets the Countess of Crex, a member of the Russian nobility--who is, in reality, a jewel thief.
A small-town girl returns home from schooling in the East to find that her father's small store and indeed the whole town are in danger of being eliminated by a ruthless land developer. The developer has a son who falls for the young girl, and together they try to come up with a plan to save her father's store and the town.
Orphan Mary Wade, is the ward of a family of farmers who keep her busy with drudgery. Mr. Jenkins, the head of the household, makes advances to Mary, she flees to the city with her dog Zippy and lands in court for imitating a beggar who pretends to be blind.
Mary Miles Minter is Sylvia, the niece of a man who leaves her a fortune. The money is in the hands of his lawyer, Baxter, who uses it to support his ambitious wife and daughter. Sylvia comes to Baxter's home and it's obvious she's not wanted there. Arnold, Baxter's son, is wasting his life away with drinking and nightclubbing, but Sylvia sweetly influences him to straighten up.
A crusty old sea captain, who hates society, lives in the hulk of his ship with his granddaughter whom he prevents from meeting people.
Judy, an orphaned waif, lives with Grandpap Ketchel, a cruel and often brutal man. The sole protector of little Denny, Ketchel's grandson, Judy is forced to accept the attentions of Jim Shuckles, whom she abhors and who has compromised her sister Olive.
When a young woman's great romance is interrupted by the influence of her lover's parents, she turns to her art as a violinist to console herself. As she is about to achieve her highest triumph, she is suddenly confronted by the return of the man she loves, and she must make a choice.
Ann Annington (Minter) writes book reviews for a newspaper and when a reporter fails his assignment to get an interview with the noted author Harold Hargrave (Glass), she undertakes to meet the young man. She rents the room next door to his work shop and by impersonating a maid soon wins his good graces.
Tillie Getz, the eldest daughter of Jacob Getz, a brutal, driving father, lives in a Pennsylvania Mennonite village. Her Mennonite aunt leaves a will by the terms of which Tillie will inherit a small fortune if she has joined the Mennonite church by age eighteen. A plot is hatched by the lawyer who drew up the will and an attempt is made to force Tillie into a marriage with Absalom Puntz, an undesirable young man, sharing her fortune being its end.
A father who despises his daughter, a boyfriend who refuses to marry the girl he knocked up, and a mother caught in the middle.
Viola Drayton (Minter) has a fascination for fairies, but real life intervenes when her father, a colonel (W.T. Carleton), is called off to the European War (that's what they called World War I in early 1915). He leaves Viola in the care of the Nevisons (Herbert Wilke and Ina Brookes) and gives them thirty thousand dollars to invest on her behalf. When word arrives that Drayton has been killed in battle, Mr. Nevison takes Viola's money for himself, but he squanders it and his wife has to take in boarders. Viola hates her life at the Nevisons so she runs away and gets a job at a theater playing...a fairy.
Mary O'Rourke, an Irish immigrant, arrives in America to find her friend Norah and their baby deserted by Norah's husband, John Stuyvesant, later claiming to be his cousin and finding a way to prove John married Norah, leading to a happy ending for all.
Bankrupt when their father dies Isabel and Bert Trevor sell their Southern home and move to New York where Bert finally finds employment as butler to wealthy Jack Craig. Ashamed of his job Bert tells Isabel that he is Craig’s partner. When Bert impulsively absconds with some of Craig’s cash to Montana Isabel thinking half the Craig residence is hers moves in. Jack smitten says nothing and they draw close. When a returning Bert exposes gold digger Lois Randall as trying to trap Jack into marriage and returns the money he took, all is forgiven.
Assuming the worst Geoffrey Challoner impulsively storms out of the house when he sees his new wife Robin reading old love letters. In his absence, Norman Craig, planning with his wife to lease an upstairs apartment owned by Judge Corcoran, wanders into the Challoners' apartment. Robin, mistaking him for a burglar, shoots him and then runs for a doctor. Returning, Geoffrey again rashly makes assumptions and immediately files for divorce. Mrs. Craig and Norman, who had merely fainted, are invited to Judge Corcoran's weekend home along with the Challoners, whom the judge hopes to reunite. Following a bewildering series of misadventures, including an attempted robbery by the maid and the chauffeur, Geoffrey learns that the love letters were his own, and the young couple are reconciled.
Rosemary van Voort lives in the countryside with her elderly Dutch parents. The wooden dolls she carves so beautifully catch the eye of a group of artists who are having a picnic in the area. Among them is aspiring opera singer Ricardo Fitzmaurice. Rosemary is convinced to move to New York City where she becomes wildly successful, but when the temperamental Madame Fedoreska, who is in love with Ricardo, becomes insanely jealous of his growing affection for Rosemary she threatens to kill her. When Madame turns up shot to death, the police look at Rosemary as a suspect--and even worse, she has no alibi.
A mountain girl with an army-hating father, meets a handsome army captain, who teaches her how to love her country.
In their small-minded New England village Liz and her alcoholic father are rejected by the townspeople. When the new minister, Henry Penfield, comes to town he is attracted to Liz. Also arriving on the same train is young artist Arnold Brice. He takes a fancy to the prettiest girl in town, Mildred Holcombe who is the daughter of a deacon of the church. Mildred and Arnold fall in love, but her brother Arthur threatens to kill the artist if he finds them together. Heedless of Arthur's threats, Mildred goes to Arnold's studio, however Liz sees Arthur following and runs to the studio to warn them. Upon Arthur arrival Liz makes it seem it was she having an affair with Arnold. The deacons plan to banish Liz but Henry discovers the truth, resigns and announces his engagement to Liz.
Phyllis Latimer goes to Fiji to rejoin her husband of three years and finds him in a state of drunken degeneracy, incapable of reform. Fleeing his advances, she escapes to a nearby island; and there she impersonates Pauline Leonard, ward of John Webster. When Latimer incites a native uprising against Webster, who hires Hindu laborers, he finds Phyllis on the island, drags her home with him, and in a frenzy gives her to the natives for a human sacrifice. Webster and the government police arrive in time to save Phyllis, and Latimer is killed in the riot. Phyllis and Webster reveal their mutual love.
Joan Doubleday is a shy spinster, who has been engaged to Monty Wade for 12 years, is secretly adored by Peter Flagg. Her young niece, Jerry, arrives and sets out to capture Monty. On the wedding day, Jerry announces that the grooms have exchanged places and that Peter will marry Joan. A quarrel prevents preparations for the wedding, but Jerry finally convinces Joan that she was meant for Peter.
Famous Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Sensational and shocking stories from Hollywood are not always fiction. Beyond anything a screenwriter could imagine, and with cast of famous stars and celebrities, this documentary goes behind the scenes to explore the real-life stories of murders in Hollywood. From the silent era to the present day, out-of-control passions, burning hatreds, and the driving greed for gain have pushed many of the rich and famous over the edge into violence - to commit bloody murder or end up as the victims of murder.
Four-year-old Dorothy, the daughter of rich lawyer Winfred North, is inconsolable over her mother's recent death. Her father, too absorbed with business to pay attention to his daughter and her problems, marries Helen Stillwell, a widow with her own two children. Helen ignores Dorothy while taking care of her own children, treating Dorothy as if she's always "in the way". Finally Dorothy can take no more and runs away. She is found by the Goodwins, a married missionary couple, but when they bring her home, Helen Stillwell denies knowing Dorothy at all, seeing a chance for her own children to inherit Winfred's wealth and cut Dorothy out of the picture altogether. The Goodwins take Dorothy to Africa with them to bring Christianity to the natives, but matters don't work out quite as well as they expected.
An old woman in Frederick, Maryland during the U.S. Civil War displays her American flag in defiance of the armies of Confederate general Thomas J. Jackson. Based on the folk tale that grew from the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.
Charity and her young brother are taken in by Merlin Durand, the son of a penurious millionaire, when their mother, a poor cleaning woman, dies. Charity is a strong believer in the world of fairy tales, and calls Merlin "The Prince". Merlin's cheapskate father cuts off his allowance until he gets a job and earns a salary, then leaves home for a "water cure". His servants immediately take a vacation, leaving the house empty, so Charity and Merlin hide there until Merlin can find a job. Charity begins to call the mansion "Charity Castle". They soon wind up involved with a strange cast of characters, including a burglar and an unemployed Shakespearean actor.
Successful Parisian dancer Yvonne Halbert grows tired of the overwatchfulness of her aunt and runs away to America. Disguised and hiding out in the steerage of a boat, Yvonne meets violinist Luigi. She dances to Luigi's accompaniment in a Greenwich Village cabaret, where she is discovered by David Marston, the producer who had negotiated to bring the famous Yvonne to America. Marston signs the supposed unknown performer and intends to bill her under the name of Yvonne, whom he believes has broken her contract with him. Apache dancer Cecile claims to be the real Yvonne, but matters are straightened out with the arrival of Aunt Marie. Yvonne marries Lawrence Bartlett, the author of the play that features her in America.
During lunch, Cuthbert King asks his sister Phyllis for a loan to pay off his gambling debts. Upon leaving the restaurant, he accidentally takes the overcoat of antique jewelry dealer Grayson Blair. When Phyllis is unable to pay her bill, Grayson, attracted to her, picks up the check, but after he arrives home and discovers that a valuable Hindu necklace he had stored in his coat pocket is missing, he suspects Phyllis as the crook. Dressing up in her brother's clothes, Phyllis finds the necklace, suspects her brother, and seeks out Grayson, whom she has discovered to be the jewel's owner. After a series of mix-ups during which Rhi, who has been trailing the necklace to return it to the Hindu idol from which it was stolen, tries unsuccessfully to kill Grayson, the overcoat is recognized, everything is cleared up, and Grayson and Phyllis become engaged.
When Easter Hicks, a Kentucky mountain girl, becomes infatuated with Clayton, a civil engineer from the city, her father Pap Hicks vows to kill Clayton. Sherd Raines, a young mountaineer who loves Easter, prevails upon Pap to reconsider, but Sherd is finally overcome by jealousy and begins to mold a bullet to kill his rival. As he prepares the mold, Sherd hears a preacher's voice denounce him for his evil intentions and he spills the hot metal.
Wealthy Mrs. John Grant Nottingham instructs her attorney to find an ugly girl to whom she will bequeath her millions, in order to spite her scheming daughter-in-law Emily Nottingham. The lawyer discovers Annie Johnson, a homely orphan who lives in a tenement, caring for Mrs. Cadogan's six children at night and working in a department store during the day. Annie is accepted by Mrs. Nottingham as her sole heir, and she soon wins the old woman's affection. Because of her new happiness, Annie changes into a lovely girl, and Emily's son Willard Kaine Nottingham falls in love with her. When Mrs. Nottingham dies, Emily contests the will and wins the inheritance for herself, but Annie's future is secured when she accepts Willard's marriage proposal.
Laura, a blind girl, has been cared for since infancy by Mike, Whitey, and Sal, three crooks who have kept her ignorant of her true surroundings. After an operation restores her sight, Laura is disillusioned and embittered by the sordidness of her environment. She falls under the evil influence of the gang's leader, Dennis Sullivan, who teaches her the art of safecracking. Just as Laura is about to perform her first job, her three benefactors are released from jail because of insufficient evidence and rush to the scene of the robbery to prevent Laura's corruption. The owner of the safe gives the four a ranch in reward for thwarting the robbery, and they all start a new life in the West.
Melissa Stark, a young girl in the Tennessee mountains tries to unite feuding families (Allisons & Watts) and help her preacher father, Jethro, while navigating romance with lawyer Tom Williams and a mistaken identity crisis that leads to her father's tragic death, after which the families reconcile. The story involves a newspaper ad for a dress, a mistaken identification of Jethro as a murder fugitive by a deputy sheriff, and a violent confrontation that ends with Jethro's innocence proven but his life lost.
On a desolate beach near a lifesaving station, Ira, the youngest member of the lifeguard crew, rescues a baby girl from a wreck. The child is cared for at the station, where the men christen her Periwinkle. Living near the station are Ephraiam Rawlins and his childless daughter Ann, a widow with maternal longings. Joyously, Ann takes charge of Periwinkle and raises the girl as her own. Grown to adulthood, Periwinkle is the bright spot for the men at the station. One day, Richard Langdon Evans, a dissolute, wealthy young New Yorker, is cast ashore from the wreck of his yacht. Periwinkle, aiding the lifesavers, helps bring him back to life. Her innocent goodness and faith transform Dick from a carousing society ne'er-do-well to a man of noble ambitions. Thus rehabilitated, Dick wins Periwinkle's hand in marriage.
When Tom Drogan drunken, wild ways, cause his mother's death, his sister Nell swears to protect and reform him. On the pretext of paying back a gambling debt, Tom brings "Kid" Hogan to the house, but ends up shooting him in the forearm. Dan Hogan, Kid's brother who is a policeman, rushes to the scene and catches Tom running away. To avoid arrest, Tom tells Dan that he fired at Kid for molesting Nell, and in the face of scandal, Dan and Kid back down. As revenge, Kid enlists Mamie, his girlfriend, to force Nell into a compromising situation with a man on a street corner. Conveniently placed, Dan arrests Nell for solicitation, but Frank Roberts, her boyfriend, arrives and extricates her. When Tom hears of the plot, he confronts Kid in a dance hall and soon a raging gun battle breaks out in which Kid is killed. Badly wounded, Tom seeks refuge with Nell, who prepares to protect him with his gun. As the police break down her door, Tom dies.
Mary Lane and her cousin Claiborne want to sell some land left to them by their family. Real-estate agent Roland Manning falls in love with her, and prepares a deal that will make money for both of them. However, shady land speculator Wade Dempster plots to get Claiborne drunk and swindle him out of the land. In order to get the honest Roland out of the way, he has him framed for a murder that Wade himself committed. Things look hopeless for Roland.
Believing her husband, Laurence Teck, to be dead in the African jungle, Carol marries musician David Verne. Laurence does come home, but, thinking it best for Carol, he returns to the jungle. The shock kills David, and Carol sets out in search of Laurence, has many adventures, and finally finds him with the friendly native king who saved him.
Ruth Holt, owner of a boardinghouse in a small college town, lives with her pretty niece "Sweet Lavender," who believes that Ruth is her mother. When boarder Clem Hale, president of the freshman class, is the victim of a prank played by several of his classmates, Lavender rescues him and the two fall in love. Clem's guardian, Horace Weatherburn, becomes concerned about his ward's adoration for a "commoner" and arrives to break up their romance. Ruth, who recognizes Washburn as Lavender's real father and the man who brought her sister grief, strongly opposes the match and sends Lavender off to boarding school. Upon learning that Clem is seriously ill, Lavender runs away to comfort her sweetheart and, in her plight, faints by the side of the road. Weatherburn finds her and is so touched by her concern, that he relents his previous disapproval. Ruth then reveals Lavender's parentage to her father who offers his blessing to the couple.
Dulcie's once-aristocratic Southern family has fallen upon hard times, so her Aunt Netta decides to take her to California in search of a millionaire husband. While Dulcie pines for Harry, her sweetheart back home, Netta triumphantly arranges an engagement with a wealthy suitor. On her wedding day, preparing to sacrifice herself for her family, Dulcie discovers that her fiance's millions actually belong to other people when he is arrested at the altar on a bank robbing charge. Meanwhile, Harry, who has come West to get Dulcie back, arrives at the wedding just as the police interrupt it. He volunteers to take the arrested fiance's place, and Dulcie accepts his offer instantly.
Jessica (Mary Miles Minter) becomes fed up with her husband Weston's (Robert Schable) womanizing and leaves him for a Wyoming ranch. Weston follows her, and violence and jealousy ensue.
One way or another, the Hollywood police have been kept busy with murders on their ground. There are numerous theories about the killings of Thelma Todd, Jack Healy (Three Stooges), Elizabeth Short, alias The Black Dahlia, Bugsy Siegal and Johnny Stompano. The files of William Desmond Taylor, Raymond Navarro and Sal Mineo are also re-opened. Femmes fatales are often deadly for the man's wallet or reputation -- these ladies killed for real. From Calamity Jane, gang boss Ma Baker and New York madame Polly Adler to axe-murderess Winnie Ruth Judd and others, we look at the Black Widow Spider syndrome. Rare archival footage and many hitherto unseen interviews, film, video clip tapes, and photographs are included in this hour-long program.