Cinematic Era: 1913 Vintage

The Right of Way

An Edison Kinetophone short presenting an on-stage minstrel company performing musical numbers and patter; made as part of Edison’s early synchronized sound demonstrations.

American horror movie from 1913.

John Burling, a detective, rounds up some members of the Night Hawk gang. Bill Hanks, the chief, swears to get even with him. Tim, a little street waif, entering the saloon where the gang are consulting with Maime, a female accomplice, overhears some of their threats. He is discovered and kicked out of the place by Hanks. The next day, Tim, half starving, picks up a purse in the street which he has seen a lady drop. He is tempted to steal it, but in the end gives it back to her. Burling sees this, is struck with the boy's honesty, and being in need of a page boy, hires him and dubs him "Buttons."' Maime visits Burling and leaves him an address to come to investigate a robbery which has occurred at her home. Tim recognizes her as she goes out, follows her and has his suspicions confirmed by seeing her with one of the gang on the street. He goes to warn his master, but Burling has already gone.

A peasant girl sent to make a claim on her family's ancestral home in England's Wessex is seduced and left with child by its current owner.

Mrs. Strong, by reason of a good right arm, is absolute manager of her husband and his finances. While on a shopping expedition she collides with a passerby, spilling the contents of her purse. After they are restored to her, she misses her husband's pocketbook, and thinking the gentleman who bumped into her took it, she gives chase and succeeds in taking a pocketbook away from him. She relates the incident to her husband. He discovers his purse on the dresser. The restoration of the pocketbook to its rightful owner is very amusing.

A lost film. A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.

He was a hard-headed old business man and very mercenary, so when he received a letter from a debtor in a little country town asking for more time in which to pay the amount he owed, he decided to show no mercy. But on the way to the home of his debtors he had an accident. He slipped and fell from a cliff upon a projecting ledge below. He was thinking less of the money than of the chances of prolonging his life when he heard someone call him, and looking up he saw a girl standing on the cliff.

A young man journeys from a difficult childhood to maturity, exploring social injustice, personal development, and the complexities of human relationships.

Hanna is a lush and her artist friend abandons her only to reacquaint himself with when she is down and out. His motive is to paint her as a washed up women. When she realizes his intentions she ruins his painting and him.

A young man, pressured by his father to choose a wealthy bride over his true love, dreams of marrying the rich girl. The dream vividly depicts the unhappiness and financial ruin that follow. Upon awakening, he resolves to marry the girl he loves. His father, seeing the dream's truth, relents, and the young man marries his beloved, leading to a happy ending.

While touring Egypt, Harris and his wife visit an old temple and are fascinated by a sacred scimitar, which, at the corner of a shrine, is religiously guarded by Hadjji, a Mohammedan priest. The wife is a curio fiend, and demands that Harris secure the scimitar, but the husband, having read in his guidebook that the scimitar was supposedly presented to the prophet in a vision and that the vengeance of Allah will follow whosoever disturbs it, begs her to abandon the foolish idea. She insists. That night Harris enters the temple with a rope ladder, steals the scimitar and escapes.

To avoid ruin, an impoverished count arranges a marriage between his daughter and a wealthy man she does not love. After an accident, she is taken in by a gifted artist who saves her from an unseemly fate.

Hanni, the shop girl, comes from a milieu like Zille, from which she is freed, so to speak, by Ferdinand, a wealthy elderly gentleman. The first date turns into a shopping spree, and after the new clothes come a new home. Since we write the year 1913 and at that time the cinema was still chaste, Max Mack saved us the details of the Techtelmechtel. To keep the story going, they both learn the new fashion dance: Tango, which Lieutenant Lulu has tried in vain. A tango competition makes the comedy a mix-up comedy: it wins - who wouldn't have thought it - Hanni as the tango queen.

'Calamity,' having fallen into money, receives a letter purporting to be from two long lost cousins, who were really Los Angeles confidence men. With her burro she goes to Los Angeles. After many adventures, she succeeds in getting her burro into the Pullman, and is met at the great amusement park, Venice, by the confidence men.

Adolph is a great pianist who prefers the simple pleasures such as frankfurters and sauerkraut but is so constantly pursued by society women that he gets no peace and comfort. After being chased everywhere in the end he escapes by donning a disguise and finally finding peace and quiet.

Brown is troubled with an over-abundance of affection, and his wife and mother-in-law convince him of their displeasure in many ways. Brown has a friend who has never met Brown's folks, and becomes acquainted with Mrs. Brown while she is with her mother. He invites them for an automobile ride and manages to start up the automobile as soon as Mrs. Brown has seated herself, leaving her mother behind. That worthy lady, however, runs after the machine and refuses to get lost. The friend has sent word to Brown to meet him at a restaurant, and Brown has a lot of nice champagne iced and awaits his guests. He is thunderstruck when his wife walks in, soon followed by his mother-in-law, who sit down to enjoy his hospitality.

A short film directed by James Young and starring Charles Kent & Clara Kimball Young.

Max loves a charming girl to distraction, but her father declares that his daughter shall never marry anyone but a musician. Max tries his hand at all kinds of instruments, only to fail lamentably. Eventually, he bluffs the professor by using a mechanical instrument, only to have his clever trick discovered on the evening of his betrothal.

His beloved wife having died, Mark Boland sells his furniture and seeks to forget his sorrow in dissipation. He comes in contact with David Yarnall, a man who has been discharged from the employ of Jim Driscoll, a prosperous Quaker, for his dissolute habits. Yarnall persuades Boland to help him rob the home of Driscoll.

"In thirty minutes Granite Mountain will crumble," echoed the deep determined voice of Brice, the Trust agent, who broke the silence of the gulch, speaking to Slocum, the treacherous employee of the Independent Power Co., who had come to the way of doing disreputable business by the cash route.

The boys are fagged with the long summer's work and are undecided where to spend their vacation. One day Eddie is idly looking over the paper when he sees that a young man has met and married a wealthy heiress at the beach; suddenly, nothing but the beach will suit them. Eddie sees the boss and they are given permission to take a vacation.

The story concerns the difficulties of a clerk in the war department, betrothed to the daughter of an ambassador, who loses his position by the change of administration.

An lost adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Difficulties ensue when Calino and Onésime get married on the same day, in the same registry office.

Seeing Cutey play the part of a maid of all work at a college play, Alys Trevor seeks an introduction to him and they soon become good friends. She takes him with her to present him to her mother, whom she finds talking to a stranger, Lord Goodbluff. Mama does not seem very pleased to meet Cutey. Later Cutey calls at the Trevor house to see Alys and meets Goodbluff there, who soon quarrels with him. Mrs. Trevor, entering in the midst of the dispute, requests Cutey to leave the house and apologizes to Goodbluff for the young man's behavior. Then she sends a note to Cutey, telling him that her daughter is no longer free to receive his calls. By a strange occurrence, Cutey's suspicions of Goodbluff are aroused and he determines to watch him. Noticing an advertisement in the paper for a maid of all work, inserted by Mrs. Trevor, he obtains the necessary disguise and applies for the position, which he gets.

The bored clubman sought the excitement of the street. The husband, believing himself neglected for his child, left his home. There in the back saloon seeking shelter from the storm, the two met the demi-monde. The clubman displayed his enticing work of art, when to their surprise a picture of the Madonna and child confronted their view. The storm over, they went forth into the sunshine of the world.

Garment manufacturer Sergius cuts his workers' wages, prompting a protest led by two Russian sisters, Olga and Vera. Sergius's affluent daughters, Hattie and Helen, decide to support the workers' cause, moving into the sisters' tenement and joining the workforce, much to their father's dismay. In a dramatic turn, the daughters bring their work to the factory and confront Sergius. They make a final appeal to him in his office, where he eventually relents and agrees to meet the workers' demands. Following this victory, Hattie and Helen decide to return home to their father, and the good news is shared with all the factory girls, ending the story on a note of general rejoicing.

In this three part recreation of the life of Queen Louise of Prussia specific historical moments ,such as her meeting her future spouse, are presented tableaux style with the exact dates noted and often in the authentic settings.

An aristocratic woman, Lady Isabel, leaves her husband and children when she suspects him of adultery, a notion which had been suggested to her by the scheming and murderous Captain Levison. Life on the continent with Levison does not work out as she had envisaged so, eight years later, she returns to England and finds her husband has remarried. She cannot bear to be away from her family and so dons a disguise, gaining employment with them as a governess. When her young son, Willie, dies she is unable to comfort him as she would like, and she too dies.

Lester Phillips finds that the allurements of Beatrice Esmond, an adventuress, have attracted him, and he endeavors to disentangle himself. But she loves Lester and is trying to keep his love inveigles her admirer, Zolan, into going to the home of Lester's sweetheart to poison her mind against him, which he does, Beatrice then fascinates Lester's young brother, Francis.

A spoof of Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Alice Guy-Blache for Solax Film Company.

A child is kidnapped and forced to sell flowers on the street.

Dr. Sharp and his wife, Gretchen, live happily together in a little western town until the advent of the doctor's brother, Fred, who comes from the east to spend his vacation near his brother. He meets the doctor's wife and immediately falls in love, but visits her only when he knows his brother is away. The doctor learning of Fred's visits, shoots him. He repents, however, when he sees his brother's serious condition and does all he can to restore him.

George Veditz, one-time president of the National Association of the Deaf of the United States, outlines the right of deaf people to sign instead of speak. The film is presented in American Sign Language and has no sub- or intertitles.

The first Finnish full-length feature film and the first film adaptation of Minna Canth’s play of the same name. Orphaned Sylvi is married to her older guardian Aksel Vahli, but is in love with her childhood friend Viktor Hoving. A difficult situation drives Sylv to desperate deeds. A approximately 27-minute version of the film’s surviving scenes, with the most explanatory text, has been reconstructed.

When Mrs. Van Nostra returned from Europe her new tiara was much advertised. A new lady's maid arrived, highly recommended, but following events proved that she was but the accomplice of Raffles. His crafty substitution of the diamonds on the famous tiara was discovered by the society detective, who captured the offenders in spite of their clever ruse.

The story of this film begins with the ominous day on which Lord Bellomont gave William Kidd a commission to rid the seas of pirates. Instead of complying with Lord Bellomont's desires, Kidd immediately commenced a series of piratical attacks at first on French and Spanish vessels and later on ships of all nationalities indiscriminately.

Broncho Billy, baring received a letter from an old friend of his, Steve Brady, requesting him to take care of his child. Brady dies and the child, a young girl of eight, is sent to the far western country where her now departed father knew that she would grow up to be an honorable and true daughter of his native country.

"Chuck" Peters, a gambler, is in love with Nell Braley, the daughter of the town saloon keeper. Nell, however, loves Bob Coleman, a cattleman. The express messenger is held up in the woods and the bandit escapes, leaving a snake hatband as a clue. Coleman inherits money, and as he is riding to the next town, finds the hatband and buckles it around his sombrero.

Reno Bill, a desperado, discovers the sheriff and the express agent in the act of holding up the stage. The next day Reno Bill is captured by Fred Church and his young assistant, when they find him annoying a pretty young girl. They take him to jail and when the bandit sees the sheriff and agent he contemptuously tells Church of their treachery.

Advantage was taken of the fact that a floral parade was being held at Pasadena, Cal. in which the Keystone car was entered and won second prize, to produce a comedy film around the incident. Fred Mace and Mabel Normand are invited to take part in the parade, and Mack Sennett plans to keep her away and take her place Accordingly Mabel is locked up in her dressing room. But she escapes after considerable difficulty. She rushes to the line of march and makes frantic and amusing efforts to catch the Keystone automobile while the two sleuths attempt to dodge her. Mabel gets into difficulties with the police who are endeavoring to maintain order, and is championed by Ford Sterling, who is among the spectators.

An extrabiblical tale of Barabbas and Judith Iscariot, the presumed sister of Judas, starring Constance Crawley and Arthur Maude.

A dramatic one-act film. The wife of the captain of a canal boat chooses the nicer boat and nicer uniform of another captain. She reconsiders her choice when she is rescued by her own husband after a fire.

Jack Breen and his wife, Lizzie, are professional crooks, who live in a fine house and set themselves up as belonging to the best. Breen gets his living by various means, including begging. He dresses in ragged clothes and picks up crusts in the street, which he pretends to eat, thereby exciting the sympathy of passers-by.

Two boys from Labrador, Canada, visit their aunt in Westcheser, New York. Although it's in the middle of a cold winter in New York, the nephews from Labrador are used to much colder weather and think the New York winter is too warm for them, and act accordingly.

Alkali Ike, a cowpuncher, is given his walking papers for neglect of duty. He has little trouble, however, in securing a position on Sophie Clutts' ranch. His trial is a hard and tedious one, the gladiatoress standing over him with a powerful six-shooter, and every time he drops his work, a bullet from the aforementioned piece of artillery hastily reminds him of his necessary toil.

Nellie's father is a judge, afflicted with a species of St. Vitus' dance. When he feels an attack coming on he takes a dose of medicine which always brings relief. One day he forgets the medicine, and feeling the attack coming on he sends Nellie home for the medicine. She jumps into her auto and drives like the wind, pursued by two bicycle cops. One of the cops is a rejected suitor, and he hopes to catch her and arrest her, for spite. The other cop is the accepted lover, and he rides to save her. Amusing situations are shown while the trio are riding at terrific speed. Nellie is arrested, but is released upon the plea of her sweetheart.

Paul Worthington, a Federal private, receives a letter from their family physician apprising him of the dangerous illness of his mother. He takes the letter to the commanding officer with a request for a "leave of absence," but Col. Colfax refuses emphatically. Paul determines to visit his mother at any cost, however, realizing the gravity of his offense at the time of war. He leaves the camp, does his filial duty, and while at home General Buchner and his aides from the Confederate side use the lower part of the house for a consultation as it is in the war zone. Paul manages to overhear an important plan to trap General Grant. He memorizes, gets through the lines, warns the great Commander in time, and is pardoned for his loyal desertion.

It was mother who through false love had sinned. Years later on her deathbed, as the last sacraments were administered, she confesses the folly of her youth. Her husband, a straightforward, conscientious man, had loved the boy as his own. A few days later the priest gives the son a note his mother had left him. The few lines on the first page sting him to the heart, but he does not weaken and his conscience tells him not to turn the leaf of his absolute disaster.

A socially-minded drama about a doctor who keeps his fiancée waiting at their engagement party, because a sick child needs help.

Georgie Burns is a conceited, athletic individual, who has turned his home into a gymnasium. His pretty wife is exceedingly vexed but cannot cure him of his love for strenuous sports. A forlorn tramp comes to the floor begging for a meal, and George promptly knocks him down.

The young girl May is taken by her father to a girls' boarding school. However, May is quite a wild girl: she makes music in the dormitory at night, dances, and so on. One day she threatens another girl in her class and, as punishment, is made to stay behind after school. She ties the curtains together and escapes, leaving behind a note saying that she will never return to this school. Her father reports her missing at the police station. Once on the street, May meets two tramps, who take her to their home. May's youth and innocence have a disarming effect, and the tramps try to improve themselves and their lives in order to win her affection. Together with May, they go to a tavern, where a quarrel breaks out. The police arrive and arrest May. Her father comes to pick her up at the police station, where May also charms all the officers. Later, May brings her father to visit the tramps, who are offered jobs as a reward for their kindness and care.

Grace Walker, a young Miss, attends a dinner dance wearing tight slippers. She accidentally kicks off one slipper to relieve her foot, but the guests' feet accidentally kick it away. Grace leaves the room in her stockinged foot, hoping to find the owner. Dick Evans, a young man, finds the slipper and tries to find the owner. He eventually finds Grace behind potted plants with one foot visible. Grace denies knowing about the slipper, and Dick devises a clever plan: he traps a mouse in a trap in the house, causing the ladies to climb chairs. Grace admits ownership of the slipper, allowing her to join in the whirl.

A girl falls in love with a rich passerby. She breaks off her engagement, marries the rich man and moves to the city. After five years she feels very lonely, and goes to stay with her sister who lives a simple life with her family. She also sees her ex-fiance. When she is back in town, she realizes how empty her life is.

A lost film. A successful stage actress with a hidden past as a criminal is kept on the path of righteousness by a benefactor.

Two friends on a jaunt in the Alps soon become rivals fighting over a damsel's heart. The suitors barter their muskets for Shrapnel bombshells fastened to their back. Chases and special effects guaranteed!