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- Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- Left a penniless orphan at 14, Jane Eyre is adopted by her uncle, who has ample means to provide for her and also loves her dearly. Her uncle's family considers her an intruder and do all in their power to prevent her from becoming a full member of their family, but during his lifetime she receives some degree of kindness and consideration. Unfortunately, he dies and leaves her without a friend in the world and his unfeeling widow sends her to a badly-run orphan asylum. Five years later she leaves the asylum to accept the position of governess to Lord Rochester's little niece, daughter of his late brother. Her mother has become insane and is living in Lord Rochester's home under his protection. Jane is engaged by Lord Rochester's housekeeper during his absence from home, and her first meeting with her employer is both exciting and romantic. She is sitting by the edge of the road reading when Lord Rochester rides up to his ancestral home. The sight of his huge dog, coming upon her suddenly, so startles Jane that she jumps to her feet, causing Lord Rochester's horse to shy and throw it rider. He injures his ankle, and has to be assisted to remount "the little witch," as he calls her, who is the cause of his accident. That same evening in his home, he is surprised to find that "the little witch" of his adventure is living in his house as his niece's governess. Jane's rich relations, the Reeds, visit Lord Rochester, and persistently insult and humiliate her by treating her like a servant. Lord Rochester, however, is not blind to her sweetness, nor to the cruelty of her cousin, who is trying to win Lord Rochester's hand and fortune. One evening the maniac escapes from her nurse and sets fire to the room in which Lord Rochester has fallen asleep. He is saved from a horrible death by Jane. When next Jane's haughty aunt and cousins call on Lord Rochester, they are just in time to be introduced to his bride, who is none other than the despised Jane Eyre.
- A gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
- An indictment of the evils of child labor, the film was controversial in its time for its use of actual footage of children employed in a working mill.
- A young sculptor searches for the perfect model to inspire his work.
- Oklahoma lawyer Al Jennings, whose father was a famous and respected judge, is enraged at the murder of his brother Ed, shot in the back by two killers. As if that wasn't enough, he finds himself falsely accused of robbery, and while escaping those phony charges he is chased and shot by a posse. Although wounded, he manages to elude the posse but takes his revenge by robbing a country store. It's not long before he has his own outlaw gang, with headquarters at the Spike S Ranch. A local sheriff is determined to capture him, so Al and his brother Frank make plans for one last, big robbery before leaving Oklahoma forever.
- May Read is the daughter of a wealthy widow. May has been blind from childhood, but bears her affliction bravely. While her mother is out of the house one day, the building catches fire. The cowardly servants forget May and run out of the house. The blind girl, unable to help herself, would have perished had it not been for the bravery of Frank Larson, who fights his way into the house, and carries May into the street. But in so doing Frank is disfigured for life. The young couple fall in love and the mother consents to their marriage, as Frank, outside of his physical affliction, is an eligible man. Two years later, when the couple are possessed of a child, their family physician finds that he can restore May's lost sight. Frank consents to the operation, although he fears that, when May sees, the sight of his scarred face will lose him her love. After the operation, which is successful, the doctor warns May not to remove the bandages, as it may mean that her sight will be lost again. But the desire to see her baby and her husband are too strong. May removes the bandage, and finds that her child is as beautiful as she had expected. Then she glances at her husband, who is standing in the strong light. It blinds her, and she never sees again. But she knows that her baby is all she hoped it to be, and she believes her husband looks as she had pictured him. So despite her great affliction, she is thoroughly happy.
- Robin Hood and his followers aid the poor and oppressed from their hideout in Sherwood Forest, pursued by the Sheriff of Nottingham.
- When Barbara Norton is left orphaned, she goes to live with her aunt and uncle. Time passes, now grown to adulthood, Barbara, becomes engaged to a wealthy young man who believes in pacifism. When the United States declares war on Germany, Barbara's fiance declines to enlist, and so Barbara gives him back his engagement ring and goes to France as a Red Cross nurse. En route, her steamer is torpedoed and Barbara is assumed to be drowned. Even this tragedy does not inspire the young man's patriotism and when solicited to enlist, he declares that the United States be damned. These sentiments shock an old friend of his father's, who brings the young man a copy of the book The Man Without a Country . Upon reading the book, the young man visualizes the story of Philip Nolan and is compelled to serve his country. As he is about to go to war, Barbara returns, and the two lovers embrace.
- A young artist is a great lover of the beautiful, and has a natural horror of anything repulsive. He fails in love with a girl who satisfies his artistic requirements. The Girl's father, a worldly wise inventor, does not approve of his daughter's choice. He realizes that the young artist has many limitations, and doubts if he will make his daughter happy. The girl, when told of his fears, at first laughs them to scorn. Then she begins to doubt herself. Finally, a chance comes to test the father's theory. There is an explosion in the laboratory, and the girl, in trying to save her father, is badly injured. The artist hurries around to the house, and finds that the girl he loves is disfigured for life. She offers him his freedom and returns him his ring. The young man is not of the stuff of which heroes are made. His love cannot survive the loss of the girl's beauty. He takes the ring and hurries away. And the fears of the father are proven. As time rolls on the artist finds that he cannot forget the girl he once hoped to wed. Gradually he forgets her beauty, and thinks more and more of her character and mental attributes. Humbly he returns to the house, and again pleads his suit. At first the girl repels him, finally she consents to take him back. She is heavily veiled when they meet, but she does not raise the veil, neither does be ask her to. Her physical appearance is of no importance he tells her, and so far as he is concerned, this is the truth. For he is no longer the artist, he is the sincere lover. Still wearing her veil, but her beauty regained, the girl accompanies him to the altar. When they return to his studio, the veil is lifted, and with a radiant smile she goes to his arms.
- Basil Hallward, a celebrated artist, had completed a portrait which he privately declared was his masterpiece. It was a picture of Dorian Gray, a wealthy and handsome young man, who was a great favorite in London society. Basil and Dorian were looking at the painting in the artist's studio when Lord Henry Wotton, a mutual friend, came in. He complimented Dorian upon the picture, and remarked that in years to come it would be something to look back upon, for it would remind him of what he had been in the days of his youth. Dorian was deeply in love with an obscure actress who played Shakespearian roles in a minor theater. For a time he wooed her from afar, finally scraped up courage and secured an introduction, and speedily won the love of the simple-hearted girl. One evening he told her of his love, and she gladly consented to marry. The next evening Dorian was again in the theater, this time accompanied by Basil and Lord Henry. Dorian had told them of the actress they came prepared to admire, but remained to laugh, for her work was woefully mediocre, in fact so bad that the audience hissed her from the stage. Angered, Dorian abruptly left his friends and went back upon the stage. He reproached his charmer, and she told him she never again would act well, for his love had taught her "the hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant" in which she had always played. She looked to him for consolation; he threw her from him with reproaches and angrily told her she killed his love, and that he would never see her again. Then he left, and heard in the morning that she killed herself. It only stirred him vaguely. A little later he idly looked at his picture, it was not the same picture; there was a touch of cruelty about the lips. The picture he secretly hid in the attic of his home. As the years rolled on he became more evil, but those who heard the stories about him could not believe them, for he always had the look of one who kept himself unspotted from the world. But there were moments of anguish of which no one knew, the times when he slinked up to his attic, drew aside the draperies that concealed a portrait, and saw for himself how his wickedness was indelibly stamped upon his picture. He would examine it with minute interest, and sometimes he would laugh when he realized that to the world he was still young and pure in appearance. One day he determined to get rid of this hateful reminder of his vices. He smiled as he picked up a knife, and smiled again as he sunk the knife into the breast of the horrible painting. There was a terrible cry, and when the servants broke in the door, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master, as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled and loathsome of visage. It was not until they examined the rings that they realized who it was.
- Glady's erratic uncle leaves her a fortune, provided she will marry her second cousin, Tom Flint. Flint is a crabbed old miser, besides, the girl is already betrothed to the young man of her choice. But it is marry Flint or surrender her share in her uncle's will to the cousin to whom, from reputation, she detests. Old Arthur, the cook on Glady's father's canal-boat, determines to play Cupid. He disguises himself as a large, ill-natured woman and palms himself off as Glady's to his would-be fiancé, who calls at the canal-boat. Old Arthur takes Flint out rowing. The suitor falls into a coal chute, and later he pitches overboard. All in all, the visitor has an awful day of it. When the executor of the estate, as soon as Flint has been brought to on the canal-boat, asks him if he will marry his cousin, Flint, despite his love of money, bellows, "NO." Since the girl has not declined, the fortune goes entirely to her. She marries the man she loves. Arthur is richly rewarded for his services.
- The series tells the story of Amy Dorrit, who spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father, who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her boss's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.
- Henry Dennys, a wealthy Englishman, has two sons who are frequently brought into the company of Edith Danvers, whose father, a retired general, lives on the adjoining property. As the youths approach manhood each one unknown to the other is secretly in love with the girl. The elder son is sent to Sandhurst, from there enters the army as an officer and sees several years' service in India. Upon the death of his father he returns home to take charge of the estate and finds that his brother has fled to Australia. The younger man, it appears, has led a wild life and his evil deeds and extravagance force him to depart under an assumed name. Very soon after his return, the heir resumes his courtship of Edith, but she refuses him, telling him that although she has always liked him she cannot marry him. Heartbroken, he departs from his home. In a little fishing village, he meets a beautiful uneducated girl and is flattered by the respect she pays him. He finally determines to marry her and she consents. The wedding is held in the village church and as they drive away he is surprised when his bride bursts into tears. She sobbingly explains that no one has ever loved her, her grandmother, her only living relative, was glad to get rid of her, and that her husband simply married her out of pity. She then adds, "The only friend I had was little Jim, my dog, and I have left him behind." Hoping to comfort her the husband leans out of the window of the carriage to give orders to the driver to return, and is touched when he sees the little dog painfully trotting along beside the carriage hoping to keep up with them. The animal is restored to his mistress. After a happy honeymoon the couple return to their beautiful home, and slowly sorrow comes into the wife's life. It is all due to Edith, and the worst of it is that the husband does not notice it. Edith is so hopeful, so ready to assist the heir's poor wife, that his heart is filled with gratitude to her. The wife is convinced that her husband's love is slipping from her. Edith and the husband have some secret they are keeping from the wife and the wife frequently surprises them in mysterious conferences. She does not know that the husband is protecting Edith from the consequences of her own folly. Edith has been secretly married to the younger brother and knew she would be disinherited if her father ever learned the truth. Edith's husband unexpectedly returns from Australia and refuses to depart without seeing his wife. He first calls secretly upon his brother and when he slips out of the house to meet Edith, the heir's bride witnesses the meeting and believes it is her own husband, who is showering kisses upon the woman she regards as her rival. The wife at first determines to take her husband's life, but her courage fails her at the last moment, and she dashes from his hand a glass containing poisoned wine. Her husband does not realize the cause of her action and fears she is going insane. This belief is strengthened the following day when it is found she has disappeared. On the banks of a body of water near her home some personal possessions of hers are found, also her little dog Jim, and the belief is that she has committed suicide by leaping into the water. The husband mourns her as dead, and erects a headstone to her memory in the village graveyard. The woman still lives, however. She did not drown, but wandered from her home. She finally is given refuge in an asylum conducted by a religious order. While convalescing she was reading an old newspaper and came upon an account of the wedding of her fair rival and the son of Henry Dennys, the former owner of Colworth. She believed the item referred to her husband and fell in a faint before completing the article which identified the bridegroom as the younger son of whose existence she never knew. Convinced that life held no further joy for her the wife determined to join the religious order and become a lay sister, the fact that she had been married preventing her from taking the final vows. A number of years later the lay sister and an elderly sister are on their way to New Zealand. They change trains at the junction town in which the Colworth estate is located. There the wife again meets her rival, now apparently a happy, contented woman with her two children. Overcome by emotion the lay sister staggers out of the station and finally enters the village graveyard. There her attention is attracted to a man lying on a grave. Believing him to be injured she hurries to him. It is her husband and the grave over which he is weeping is surmounted by a headstone bearing the wife's name. The wife finds that her suspicions have all been groundless. The elder sister returns while they are conversing and rejoices. She tells the wife there is no reason why she should not return to her husband. She joins their hands and the sorrows of the wife are ended as her husband puts his arm about her.
- Episode 1: "The Mystic Message of the Spotted Collar" Zudora, 18, has a guardian, Hassam Ali, a disciple of Hindu mysticism. Hassam Ali was a fakir with a small caravan circus. Zudora's mother was his sister and the rope walker. Zudora's father remained in a small mining town where he prospected for gold. As the story opens Zudora, her mother and Hassam Ali, her uncle, are visiting the town of Zudora's birth and where Zudora's father is still prospecting. Zudora's father finds that the Zudora mine yields a wonderful run of gold. He becomes over-zealous and is killed in an explosion. He wills the entire mine, which is valued at $20,000,000, to Zudora, when she reaches her eighteenth birthday, and in the event of Zudora's death, going to the nearest heir-at-law. Zudora's mother receives information of her husband's death when she is about to ascend the rope and give her performance. She falls to the ground, and with a dying gasp turns over to Hassam Ali the guardianship of Zudora. Zudora reaches her eighteenth year. Hassam Ali has set himself up as a mystic, but his one purpose in life is to rid himself of Zudora, so that the mine will be his. He is also anxious to rid himself of John Storm, Zudora's sweetheart. He has kept from Zudora the information about her inheritance. He at last arrives at one plan that seems safe. Zudora has evidenced quite wonderful powers of deduction. He tells her that since she has always been so anxious to incorporate herself in his work, he will give her the next twenty cases he is called upon to solve. He says: "If you win, you may marry John Storm. If you lose on any one of them, you renounce him forever." Zudora's sweetheart is involved in a great case for the city. Opposed to him is one Bienreith, a prominent lawyer. The case is going well for John Storm. Hassam Ali decides that after eighteen years of waiting it is time to use heroic measures. He denounces Storm in front of Zudora, and then tells her about the twenty cases. The very first thing in the courtroom, Storm slaps the face of Bienreith, after a particularly insulting speech, and is invited to a duel that night. An hour later the newspapers are full of her sweetheart's trouble. Zudora rushes to his side and finds him practicing with a revolver. She plans to keep him from meeting Bienreith. She purchases a drug, and drops it in a glass of drinking water. Next morning the papers tell of Storm's disappearance. The great mystery of it is that Bienreith has been found dead in his room and the blame placed upon John Storm. Storm is arrested. Zudora rushes to her uncle and begs that this be her first case. When she goes to Bienreith's home that morning she finds the collar that he had worn when killed. It has queer markings on it. She studies the lines carefully, but can make no headway. Storm is formally charged with the murder. She reaches the courtroom just in time to say, "Stop, he is not guilty...," and falls into a faint. Hassam Ali and Burns, a confederate, watch as the girl recovers and explains that she has solved the mystery. Burns is placing a revolver, equipped with a silencer against her neck, when she turns suddenly and takes a pencil from his pocket to prove her contention to the court. She realizes, in looking at the mark, that there is a similarity between the markings of Burns' pencil and the markings on the collar. Court is adjourned. Zudora induces Burns to accompany her home. Under hypnosis he confesses to killing Bienreith. Zudora had placed two lawyers behind the curtains and they hear the confession. Zudora has solved her first case and Hassam Ali congratulates her. In the courtroom Zudora clasps Storm in her arms as the judge proclaims him free.
- The second of "Thanhouser Big Productions," a monthly schedule, Joseph in the Land of Egypt was a true "feature" film, a new class of film which came to dominate the market by the end of 1914. A feature was an hour or more, heavily advertised, with elaborate production values, often with higher ticket prices, longer runs per theater, strongly promoted star cast and was always a drama. Thanhouser followed up on the enormous success one year earlier of THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM with a familiar Biblical story, large and highly decorated (and highly populated) sets, elaborate costumes and (something new) star promotion. Only a few "Thanhouser Big Productions" in early 1914 included specially-commissioned scores from Tams Music Library. It had been common for accompanists to improvise or use standard selections from theater and classical music, or "cue sheets" of compilations tailored specifically to the film. Beginning in 1915, the biggest features included original scores commissioned by the production studio. The performed score for JOSEPH IN THE LAND OF EGYPT is a combination of the written original music and the musician's improvisation based on its themes. This original music is a transition to the fully-composed scores introduced in Europe and the U.S. a year later. Whether it is another Thanhouser innovation is a subject for research. As in all the other titles in this Thanhouser collection, organist Ben Model exhibits the demanding and skillful art of improvisation.
- A romantic tale from Shakespeare's late career, concerning the trials of the virtuous Princess Imogen.
- John Hancock, one of the most ardent of American patriots, had more to lose than had practically any of his associates in the revolution against George the Third. A millionaire at the time when a man with $10,000 was regarded as wealthy, the revolution absolutely beggared him, as he had predicted it would, but from start to finish he did all he could to win freedom for his country. To Samuel Adams is accorded much of the credit of winning the handsome young millionaire to the side of the patriots, but his sweetheart, Dolly Quincy, afterward his wife, also had much to do with the stand he took. For she was an ardent American. Hancock was an active figure in the famous "Boston Tea Party," when the tea ships form England were attacked, and the wares thrown overboard. He did not, like some of the others, try to avoid recognition by disguising himself as an Indian, but was present with the crowd on the ship, trying to preserve order, seeing that nothing except the tea was disturbed. Hancock was really the cause of the first fighting, that of Lexington, when the British regulars were repulsed by the farmers and minute men. Gage dispatched troops to seize munitions of war at Concord, but on the way they were ordered to stop at Lexington, where Hancock and Adams were, and arrest both men as traitors, Gage planning to send them to England for trial and execution. But the plan was foiled by Paul Revere, who learning of the expedition in time made his historical ride and, besides arousing the countryside, gave Hancock and Adams the warning that enabled them to make their escape. Hancock was a member of the Continental Congress and his election as President came about in a dramatic way. The patriots were in session, when an official message came from Gage, offering pardons to "all rebels" except Hancock and Adams, who it was declared "would receive condign punishment." The answer was the prompt election of Hancock as President, and when Benjamin Harrison introduced him to the assemblage as its presiding officer, he remarked grimly: "We will show Britain how much we value her proscriptions." As presiding officer, it was Hancock's privilege to first sign the Declaration of Independence, which he did in large, bold characters, saying, "I write so that George the Third may read without his spectacles." And at the time he signed there were many among the patriots who believed that Hancock had signed his death warrant. Hancock gained his nickname, "The Cavalier of American Liberty," because of his elaborate costumes. Even in these days he would be called a dandy. His garb was particularly remarked upon at a time when Americans, particularly in New England where he lived, were plainly dressed.
- Dr. Primrose, the vicar of Wakefield, enjoys life with his wife and five children. His two daughters, Olivia and Sophia, are courted by two apparent gentlemen, Mr. Burchell and Squire Thornhill, who is Dr. Primrose's landlord. But when Mr. Burchell is supposed to have seduced and abandoned Olivia, the Primrose family finds its fortunes dwindling in every sense. It is learned that Burchell is innocent of the seduction, and the real villain is unmasked, but not before Primrose and his family come very near disaster.
- An ill-fated pair of teenage lovers are destroyed by the feud between their families.
- This twenty-three episode serial told the story of a secret society called The Black Hundred and its attempts to gain control of a lost million dollars.
- When suddenly Ella elopes, her mother dies from the shock, and her father, General Darrington disinherits her. Years later, after her husband dies, Ella is taken ill and can only be saved by an expensive operation. When her appeals to her father for money return unopened, she sends her daughter Bery, who manages to soften her grandfather, and he gives her gold and a necklace. After the General is found dead from an andiron blow, and the will, which favored lawyer Lennox Dunbar, cannot be found, Beryl is arrested. Her brother Bertie arrives unexpectedly, however, and testifies that when he argued with the General, a lightning bolt caused the old man to fall and drop the andiron he was raising, which then hit him, while the will flew into the fire. Lennox, who believed Beryl innocent, rushes in with a photograph imprinted on a window which occurred when the lightning struck, proving Bertie's story. After Beryl tries to give the inheritance to Lennox, they discover that they love each other.
- The kings of Bohemia and Sicilia, monarchs of adjoining kingdoms, have been close friends since boyhood. But after each has assumed his regal duties, they find that they are unable to see much of each other. Therefore, as the story opens they have not met in several years, during which each has married and the King of Bohemia has sired a son, now four years old. The King of Bohemia enjoys a visit to his boyhood friend of Sicilia, is royally received and presented to his host's queen who, n fulfilling her hostess duties, unconsciously arouses her royal husband's jealousy. Blinded by jealousy, the King of Sicilia orders his royal guest, whom he considers his rival, poisoned. The King of Bohemia escapes a horrible death through the confession of the courtier who has been employed to kill him. He returns safely to his own kingdom, carrying with him the courtier who saved his life. Enraged at the escape of his victim, the King of Sicilia orders his Queen imprisoned. From her prison the Queen sends her infant daughter to her royal father, hoping to soften his heart. But the King will not be won over. He heartlessly orders the child taken beyond the borders of his kingdom and left in the wilderness to perish. The Queen is tried at a public tribunal and there, overcome with grief at the false accusation, she swoons and is pronounced dead by her lady-in-waiting Paulina. The body is left in Paulina's charge, and when the Queen revives later, she is taken to Paulina's house, where she dwells in seclusion, her existence unknown to all but Paulina. A shepherd of Bohemia finds the infant Princess of Sicilia, takes her to his home, and raises her as his daughter, keeping her costly robes and jewels so that at some future time they might assist in identifying her as the child of wealthy parents. After 15 years, the young Prince of Bohemia is seen starting out from the palace in a mysterious manner. When his father, the King, questions where he is going, he refuses to answer. The King allows him to go, but he trails him accompanied by his trusted friend. The Prince disguises himself as a shepherd, in which guise he romances a beautiful maiden whom he supposes is only the simple shepherdess she appears to be--but she is actually the Princess of Sicilia. The King arrives at the shepherd's hut just in time to hear the Prince announce his intention of marrying the shepherdess. The King forbids the engagement and leaves the Prince in anger. His faithful courtier, however, befriends the young couple and advises them to fly for protection to the court of the King of Sicilia. The lovers arrive in Sicilia accompanied by the old shepherd. Here they are gladly received by the repentant King, who, too late, realizes that his jealousy was groundless. He mourns his lost Queen and his estranged friend. The shepherd, in endeavoring to prove that his adopted daughter is of gentle birth, thus permitting of her marriage to the Prince, shows the King the clothes she had been wearing when he found her as a baby, and the King recognizes the clothes as those his own child wore. The King of Bohemia then arrives upon the scene and is told the glad news amid general rejoicings. As a final surprise the royal party is invited by Paulina to visit her house and there view a statue of the Queen. The statue comes to life before the eyes of the royal party, or rather the Queen who had made up to resemble a statue, extends her hand to her grieving spouse, who is glad to receive her, whom he had thought lost and now found again.
- A good example of the clever light comedy Thanhouser produced for its Falstaff label, while other studios cranked out broad slapstick comedies. Harry Benham and Mignon Anderson were versatile and popular Thanhouser stars, here showing considerable skill in light comedy, a genre that invites plenty of satirical social observation in areas such as the burgeoning beauty-salon industry. Cinema technique shows much more intricate editing and freer use of close-ups than just a year or two earlier.
- A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle.
- A messenger boy is wrongfully accused of stealing bonds worth $20,000.
- Coogan is injured by a delayed blast. Brown, his employer, refuses aid when requested by Mary Coogan. Nellie Coogan, following her mother, meets Beth, Brown's daughter, who has strayed from home. Beth forgets where she lives, and Mary, returning from Brown's, ignorant of Beth's identity, takes her and Nell to the Coogan home. Left alone, the children eat headache pills, and when discovered are seriously ill. Both are put to bed and Mary is again dispatched to Brown to tell that Beth is dying. The Browns, after a night at Coogan's, forget caste, and Brown's indifference of a few hours before dispels, and he recognizes the law of humanity.
- The Country Girl lives in eighteenth century England. Her old guardian keeps her in seclusion on his country estate, meaning to marry her. She grows to womanhood without ever having seen any young men. When Phyllis is eighteen, the Squire takes her to London, where she is to be made his wife. His sister, Alithea, goes with them. The Squire intends Alithea for Sparkish, a boon companion of his. In London Phyllis meets Belville, a handsome youth. They fall in love. Alithea is attracted to young Harcourt, and the idea of marrying their aged suitors becomes unendurable to both the girls. The Squire schemes to break off the affair between his ward and Belville. At his dictation, she writes her lover a note, telling him that she detests him and hopes she may never see him again. But at the last moment, she substitutes another note she has written, urging Belville to have a minister in readiness so that she may escape and marry him. The Squire delivers the letter. On his return, Phyllis pretends to him that it is not she, but Alithea, who loves Belville. The Squire, overjoyed, writes Belville his full consent to his marriage "with this lady," and Phyllis, disguised in Alithea's mantle, hat and veil, is the bearer of the note. Thus, she keeps the tryst and she and Bellville are married. The old Squire has no choice left but to realize that youth must wed with youth. He consents to the marriage, also to that of Alithea and Harcourt.
- A young woman forced into servitude by her family gets more than she bargained for when her fairy godmother magically permits her to go to the royal ball.
- Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, is a kindly man, but a student. His fondness for literature gives his enemies a chance to plot against him, and through the machinations of his own brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples, Prospero is dethroned and Antonio assumes his throne. The conspirators are afraid to execute Prospero, who is beloved by the people, so they take him to sea, and set him adrift in an open boat with his little daughter, Miranda, expecting that they would never be heard of again. Fortunately for Prospero and the child, they drift ashore on an island. It is inhabited solely by good fairies and wicked sprites. Prospero wins the favor of the former, and is able to subdue the latter and make them subservient to his will. On this island, father and daughter reside for twelve years. Then Prospero learns by his magic, that his brother, the King of Naples and the latter's son are passengers on a ship that is sailing near the island. By aid of his powers he is able to draw the ship to the island, where it is wrecked, but Prospero so arranges it that no lives are lost. His enemies now being in his power, he proceeds to punish them. Antonio and the King of Naples are forced to wander around the island, while Ariel, a good but mischievous fairy, plays all manners of pranks upon them. Ferdinand is conducted to the presence of Prospero, and set to menial work. He meets Miranda, and falls in love with her, the very thing that Prospero had set himself to bring about. In the end, Prospero forgives the two men who have wronged him on condition that they relinquish their thrones to Miranda and Ferdinand, who have agreed to marry and live happy forever afterward.
- Unable to find help to work his farm, a farmer gets a bright idea--he advertises that any man willing to work on his farm will be permitted to court his two daughters. The girls and their mother don't take kindly to being offered as an "incentive", so when some college boys show up looking to take advantage of both offers, the girls come up with a plan of their own.
- Captain John Smith comes to America at the head of a band of English colonists and settles Jamestown, Virginia. While at the lead of the colony Smith makes a trip of exploration into the interior, and is captured there by King Powhatan, the acknowledged head of all the redmen in Virginia. Powhatan orders his prisoner's execution. Just as the fatal club is about to descend, Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of the King, throws herself before her father. She begs so fervently that the white man's life be spared that Powhatan relents and orders his release. Captain Smith returns in safety to his friends. Later, Pocahontas is taken prisoner by the English, and held as hostage. While a prisoner, she is converted to Christianity, and falls in love with Rolfe, a handsome young Englishman. They are married in a rude little church at Jamestown, and the Indian princess sails away with her husband to England. There she is received with royal honors by King James I, but the foreign flower cannot stand transplanting. She soon sickens and dies, and in her last hours is visited by visions of the home in the wilderness that she would fly back to if she could.
- The source of "The Vagabonds" is a different kind of classic: a poem by an influential, prolific writer of inspirational and cautionary stories for children, particularly boys. "The Vagabonds" is a series of flashbacks where a penniless, friendless tramp relates the story of his downfall due to drink. The author J.T. Trowbridge had also been a well-known pre-Civil War abolitionist. His poem "The Vagabonds" was first published in 1863. This relatively fine print shows the rapid improvements in camera lenses in the mid-1910s, and independent studios like Thanhouser finally had access to the best cameras and equipment with the breaking of the Patents Trust in 1915. The variety of camera setups and fluidity of editing is quite modern compared to just a year or two earlier. Thanhouser Film Corporation was almost in disarray following the 1914 death of its brilliant manager Charles J. Hite and the subsequent departure of many employees. In addition, big studio competitors were realizing big profits from lengthier films and celebrity-star promotion that Mutual's Thanhouser was not keeping pace with. The turnaround began when Edwin Thanhouser returned as general manager in early 1915 and the company was soon reorganized. He also was made an executive and a director of Mutual.
- Fanny, a rural old maid, lives with her niece, May, and has a primitive fear of tramps, burglars, and the male sex in general. She has, according to traditions of her kind, a cat, and as the cat wandered at night it brought trouble to Fanny. Silas, a neighbor, entertaining home folk at a reunion, needed Ford's bed for the company, and sent him to Fanny's house to seek shelter for the night. Fanny and May had just spread fly-paper to catch a pesky fly, and the cat getting into it, after Ford had retired, and Fanny and May got 'neath the coverlets. Fanny was sure it was Ford prowling around. Ford imagined it was the old maid with designs on his freedom, and he escaped before she had a chance to drag him to the marriage market. Fanny and May get out to go to Silas's, and after a brave party returns to Fanny's house, they discover that Fanny's fear of burglars as unnecessary, and Boyd, a city "feller" captivated with the rosy-cheeked May, made known his intention of protecting her till death did them part.
- Outside the door of the home of a sculptor and his mother, fell a poor, friendless young girl. They took the girl in and cared for her, and as time went on the mother began to regard her as her daughter. The son regarded the affectionate advances of the girl with only brotherly love. But there came a time when the misgivings of the son changed, for he began to pay scant attentions to a young beauty he met at a reception and who was characterized as a woman with a heart "cold as marble." This piqued the beauty, who was accustomed to abject adulation. She determined to bring him to her feet and in this she succeeded. She offered to pose for him, and, spurred on by such a splendid model and her praises, he produced a figure which was acclaimed by all the critics as a masterpiece. With fame thus attained he neglected his home and spent all his time wooing the beauty, who was cold and impassive as the statue. The sculptor was warned by an editor friend that the beauty did not care for him and that he would meet the fate of her other admirers. The sculptor, disbelieving his friend's warning, fell asleep and dreamed that he was a sculptor in ancient Athens when Diogenes, the philosopher, lived. He had created a beautiful statue for a rich man, and having fallen in love with his work, he was loath the part with it when the rich man came to claim it. The rich man then ordered the soldiers to carry the statue away, and they were on the point of doing so when Diogenes appeared and told them that the statue should decide who the owner would he. The sculptor presented his case, pleading great love, which the statue paid no heed to; then the rich man displayed jewels and money, and immediately the statue extended its arms to him. The sculptor then awoke and found that it was only a dream. He was happy in the beauty's company until he found that she had pledged herself to another. This drove him frantic, and, rushing to his studio, he smashed the statue and fell dying on the floor, where he was found by the beauty and the friend. The latter indignantly ordered the beauty from the home she had wrecked.
- A foundling is raised in a convent and becomes a nun there, until she falls in love with a wounded soldier under her care. When she leaves the convent, a statue of the Virgin Mary comes to life and assumes the girl's appearance to carry on her work.
- The Princess Priscilla of Rurilia was a refined and dainty young woman, and had never worried about love or sweethearts. It came as a shock to her when her uncle, who presided over the small country, announced that she was to marry Prince Wilhelm of Ogram, one of their neighbors. Perhaps the princess might have acquiesced had it not been that she took a great dislike to Prince Wilhelm, a man of bad habits and n terrible reputation. Anyway, the princess told her uncle she would never marry the prince, and the king retorted in a way purely regal; he ordered his niece to remain a close prisoner in her rooms until she was prepared to obey his commands. It never struck the king that the princess would run away, but that was precisely what she did. So, aided by her faithful nurse, they arrived in America in course of time, and as they had money and jewels, the problem of high cost of living did not bother them at first. At last their money did run out, and the old nurse, becoming sick, had to be removed to a hospital. The doctor who attended her was a kindly old man, and he secured the princess a job as maid in the home of a wealthy family, never suspecting that she was of royal blood. The real man arrived in the shape of the wealthy brother of the mistress. He fell violently in lore with the maid and proposed to marry her, but at first she coyly refused him. Womanlike, she wanted to appear her best on such an occasion, and her chance came. The minister from Ruralia called upon the mistress of the princess, and to his surprise met one of his royal house in servant's garb. The princess induced him to keep her secret, and also to get an invitation for her to the ball, which was to be given at the house. There the princess appeared in all her splendor. The diplomat accompanying her expected that she would announce her intention of returning to her home; to his surprise, however, she took this occasion to accept her lover, remarking that she preferred an honest man's love to a throne.
- Three wise men from the East follow a star to Bethlehem in search of the infant Jesus.
- Silas Croft was a kindly old Englishman who had a farm in South Africa. With him resided his two nieces, whom he had taken from their drunken, worthless father when they were of a tender age. Jess, the elder, was brilliant and educated; Bess, the younger was beautiful, but frankly admitted that she did not possess the mental attainments of Jess. The two were great friends, and Jess, although the senior by only three years, had almost a motherly affection for her pretty little sister. Croft, finding old age stealing upon him, advertised for a partner, stipulating that he must be a gentleman. Probably it was his secret idea that the right man might come along, and fall in love with his favorite, beautiful Bessie. Captain John Neil, an English army officer, who had found his income insufficient to support him in his profession, heard of the business opportunity and accepted it. Jess, the unimpressionable, speedily fell in love with him, and her womanly intuition told her that she could win him, for he was fascinated by her. The girl was happy for a while, but suddenly learned that her little sister was also in love with the handsome Englishman. The elder sister realized that happiness for her, meant sorrow, probably life-long sorrow, for Bess. Accustomed to making sacrifices for the girl she so tenderly loved, Jess made another. On the pretext of a visit to an old school friend, she absented herself from home, knowing that Neil would be bound to fall in love with Bess, who was beautiful and amiable. The expected happened. At the time Jess departed, Neil liked both girls, but preferred Jess. Thrown into daily companionship with Bess, he soon grew to love her, and made her happy by proposing to her. And little sister wrote to big sister, telling her the glorious news, never even suspecting the truth. Jess received the letter in her place of refuge, and rejoiced that she had been able to ensure the happiness of Bess, while at the same time she wept in secret over the fate that had taken all romance out of her young life. At this time, the rebellion which freed the Transvaal from British rule was brewing. Croft, who at first doubted that any trouble was impending, at last realizes the gravity of the situation, and Neil consents to go to Pretoria and bring Jess home before it is too late. The gallant soldier arrives in the city, but is unable to leave with his charge, because the Boers have besieged the place, and even couriers cannot pierce the lines. A certain Frank Muller, son of a Boer and an Englishwoman, is one of the leaders in the revolt. He had proposed to Bess and been rejected. Learning that his successful rival is in Pretoria, he plans to dispose of him. Pretending great friendliness, he sends Neil a pass for Jess and himself, signed by Oom Paul Kruger. The unsuspecting Englishman falls into the trap, and with the girl, leaves under the charge of a Boer escort, furnished by Muller. These men have been tricked into believing that Kruger has ordered that the couple be killed, and while they are crossing a river, fire upon them and believe they are slain. Jess and Neil, however, have a miraculous escape. Following the crossing of the river under fire, on their way to Pretoria, Jess and Neil become separated, and the girl reaches the farm alone. There she finds that the villain Muller has been ahead of her, and that her uncle is a prisoner, on a charge of treason. Muller, who is military head of the district, tells Bess that Croft will be convicted and hanged unless Bess consents to marry him. The girl, however, refuses, the court-martial is held, and when Jess arrives, her uncle is under sentence to die at dawn, a few hours away. There is no one to whom she can appeal, and Jess, grief-stricken, decides to be her own avenger. Muller is asleep in his tent, waiting for the dawn when the last of the protectors of the girl he covets shall be separated from her by death. He awakes with a start. Bending over him is Jess. He believes it is a visitor from another world, for he could have sworn that he had seen her die a horrible death. Stricken with terror, unable to speak or make a motion, he goes to his death, his last thought being that there is a life beyond the grave, and that evil brings its own punishment. Jess wanders away into the desert and dies. Neil, searching, finds the body. The troubles of the others are finally swept away, and Neil and Bess live happily many years in their English home, never realizing that they owe everything to the self-sacrificing Jess, although they sincerely mourn and miss her.
- Nell (Gladys Hulette) leaves the farm to start a candy store in New York, but has a troubled start until she meets Jack Monroe (William Park Jr.), a young spendthrift who helps her attract business. They fall in love, marry, and move in with Jack's father (J. H. Gilmour). Nell soon discovers that Jack is a drug addict. In sympathy, Jack's father offers to annul the marriage, but Nell refuses, wishing instead to commit herself to the indefinite struggle of pursuing the road to Jack's rehabilitation.
- Comte Paul De Valreas is attracted to Frou Frou, the frivolous wife of Henri De Sartorys and the indifferent mother of their young son Georges. Paul persuades Frou Frou to bring her somber sister Louise, who secretly loves Henri, into the household, thus freeing her from any domestic duties. Frou Frou returns Paul's affections and neglects her husband and son even more than before. Louise quickly assumes direction of Henri's home and innocently supplants Frou Frou in the eyes of her husband and child. Sensing that her presence is no longer needed at the Sartorys estate, Frou Frou bitterly denounces Louise and then elopes with Paul to Venice. Henri pursues them and slays his rival in a duel. Alone in Venice, Frou Frou becomes gravely ill. She is found on her deathbed by Louise, who summons Henri and Georges. As she dies, Frou Frou gives the three her blessing.
- An innocent man is accused of murdering his aunt.
- Do you believe in love at first sight? Well, Boyd Marshall, who was a bachelor in comfortable quarters and circumstances, would have told you that it was impossible until it happened to him, and then it was only a photograph of the girl which he received through the mail. The photo should have gone to the girl's brother-in-law, but on account of a similarity in names, was delivered, through the mischievous machination of Dan Cupid. Into the hands of the man who was to come to be the only man in the world for the girl. She was on her way to school by way of New York and expected her brother-in-law to show her some of the showplaces of the great city before she went on to put the finishing touches to her education. Under the circumstances, can you blame Boyd for assuming the role of brother-in-law and piloting a charming companion about the city? And then when he was compelled to confess and ask forgiveness and took the girl to the brother-in-law's house, and found him out, how do you suppose he avoided the horns of the dilemma? Why the only logical way out was "The Little Church Around the Corner."
- An optimistic girl survives city life as a shoeshine until she ends up in Children's Court. Just as she helps her geranium, Sally, to grow, a kindly judge sees her potential and takes her to his mother's country home to flourish.
- Two young people marry in a Continental village and receive the congratulations of all save the rejected suitor. He bides his time while the couple live happily and are blessed twice with children. War is declared after the husband has suffered an injury for life and the rejected suitor enlists. At the front he distinguishes himself, becomes a sergeant and then is captured. In prison, his spirit languishes and he accepts an offer to become a spy. Returning to his native village, the spy tells a thrilling story about how he escaped and is applauded by all. The patriot takes him home, and never hears how the spy made love to his wife behind his back. The wife, however, turned him down as hard as she had done before she was married. The spy now signals to the enemy that the village is free of troops, and when the foreign contingent arrives he tells the commander that an attempt will be made to blow up the bridge behind them. Then he goes back to the village, says help is on the way; the bridge must be destroyed. The patriot offers to do this, and is caught red-handed and sentenced to be hanged. The spy now openly taunts him, telling him he is going to take his wife. As the spy is struggling with the wife, the patriot appears. He is wet and covered with blood, for the rope broke and he dropped into the river and swam ashore. Approaching troops shoot the spy by mistake and the patriot and his wife escape.
- "The Yorkshire Kid" is a clever little bantam weight prizefighter, who is blissfully unaware of his antecedents. All he knows is that when he was very young he had "folks" who came from England, but they all died so long ago he does not even remember them. He is perfectly contented with his lot, and knocks out his man joyfully every time he gets a chance. Love, however, deals him an uppercut. He meets, while out on the road training, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, whom he worships from afar. He is in the depths of despair, realizing that a prizefighter can never meet a "swell dame who has her own benzine buggy." Suddenly he is confronted with the news that through the death of an old man in England he is now a belted Earl, instead of a belted prizefighter, with an independent fortune on the side. With wealth and a title, he easily obtains an introduction to the lady he adores. With most girls his title would have been enough to make a conquest easy, but this particular young woman is not at all dazzled by his high position. She is rather inclined to like him. If it were not for the fact that he is decidedly undersized and she thinks him a typical, anemic little lord. The secret of his former profession the "Kid" guards jealously. He discovers that he can look the part of an Earl, if he does not give himself away often by opening his mouth. The effect upon others is that they think him a timid little man, unduly silent. He woos the American girl persistently, but she refuses to take him seriously. Not until he forcibly carries her off in an airship, and knocks out his brawny rival in a fistic encounter, does she even deign to notice him. When, however, he proves himself a man of action and resource, to say nothing of an exceedingly strong right arm, she decides that the British Peerage is not as puny as it has been painted, and determines to join the ranks of the aristocracy.
- Julie de Mortemar, the ward of Cardinal Richelieu, is in love with Adrian de Mauprat, a soldier of fortune. Louis the Thirteenth is in love with her himself, as is also his favorite, Count de Baradas. Cardinal Richelieu, in order to protect his ward from the King, marries her to de Mauprat. Under the influence of Baradas, King Louis issues an order for the annulment of the marriage and demands that she return to court. Baradas conspires with Gaston, Duke d'Orleans, a brother of Louis the Thirteenth, to dethrone the King and murder his prime minister, Cardinal Richelieu. Baradas poisons de Mauprat's mind against Richelieu and induces him to join in the conspiracy against the King. The conspirators attempt to murder Richelieu. De Mauprat enters his chambers at night, but he meets Richelieu, who proves to de Mauprat that Baradas has lied to him in showing that the Cardinal was de Mauprat's enemy. The conspirators are at the door to murder Richelieu, but the Cardinal and de Mauprat trick him by pretending that Richelieu has been strangled in his sleep. The conspirators have sent a document to Count de Baradas, who, at the head of his army, is on the French frontier. This document contains the names of all concerned in the conspiracy. Richelieu, by the aid of his spies, obtains possession of that document, exposes the conspirators to the monarch and assumes his old position at court as the Prime Minister of Louis Thirteenth. The husband of his ward is made to have no regrets for his loyalty in the Cardinal's great time of need.