Directing

Albert E. Smith

Born — Died

1875-06-04 — 1958-08-01

Place of birth

Faversham, Kent, England, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

43 titles

Known for

Miss Ambition poster
NR

A beautiful and ambitious young woman leaves her boyfriend for a famous sculptor, and later--after she models for his statue "Miss Ambition"--marries an old but wealthy art collector. However, things don't turn out quite the way she planned.

Miss Ambition

1918

Babs poster
8.0

Babs Marvin loves David Darrow, a young lawyer. Babs' father, the powerful Senator Marvin, is supporting Eben Sprague for a seat in the State Legislature. Darrow discovers that Sprague is a crook and threatens to expose the candidate unless the senator agrees to switch his support to him. Babs opposes Darrow's decision, fearing that it will ruin his promising law career. Determined to defeat Darrow, she promotes the candidacy of the village pauper, Hank Dawes, and contrives an elaborate campaign based upon the slogan that Dawes' election would remove him from the welfare rolls. Dawes wins the election, but Darrow is consoled with Babs's love and the senator's support of his law career.

Babs

1920

Daring Hearts poster
7.0

In the summer of 1914, Alsatian maiden Louise de Villars is attacked by two German soldiers. Hugh Brown, a visiting American, comes to her rescue and they fall in love. When war is declared, Hugh enlists in the French flying corps and shoots down thirty enemy planes. He is captured, but escapes with other prisoners while being transferred to another camp, and arrives at Louise's house to find camp commander, Baron Von Steinbach. To save Hugh from being executed, Louise offers herself to the lecherous Baron. Louise then kills him and escapes with Hugh to an American trench, where they are married by a chaplain on the final day of the war. Afterward, they leave Europe for Hoboken, New Jersey.

Daring Hearts

1919

A Rogue's Romance poster
NR

A welcome guest of the French aristocracy, Monsieur Picard having been awarded the Croix De Guerre, is also a master thief who baffles the Parisian police. One night, while Picard watches an Apache dance, he learns that one of his three adopted children is seriously ill. When his car breaks down, Picard politely forces Helen Deprenay to loan him her auto, and leaves his cross as security. The next day, the police pursue Picard to the Deprenay home where the prefect warns Helen about Picard. Helen writes to the entreating Picard, and refuses to see him until he proves himself of worth to society. Disguised as Scotland Yard agent Armand DuBois, Picard is present at the Deprenay home when a necklace is stolen. After Helen covers for him, Picard catches the thief in an attempt to swindle the entire community in a stock market scheme. He informs the police that Picard no longer exists, and escapes with Helen to a new life.

A Rogue's Romance

1919

The Cavalier's Dream poster
4.7

He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to a beautiful young girl. The changes and magical appearances are startling and instantaneous.

The Cavalier's Dream

1898

Dead Men Tell No Tales poster
6.5

Notorious pirate Joaquin Santos lives by the saying, "Dead Men Tell No Tales". He conspires with the prominent Squire Rattray to take over and plunder the Lady Jermyn, a ship carrying a considerable amount of gold, and then destroy the ship and kill its crew. Rattray, who is in love with Santos' daughter Eve, agrees to pick up the pirate, his crew and their loot on his private yacht after the deed is done. However, young George Cole, a passenger on the Lady Jermyn who is also in love with Eve, survives the attack and sets out to find her.

Dead Men Tell No Tales

1920

Film credits

Behind the camera

Miss Ambition poster
NR

A beautiful and ambitious young woman leaves her boyfriend for a famous sculptor, and later--after she models for his statue "Miss Ambition"--marries an old but wealthy art collector. However, things don't turn out quite the way she planned.

Miss Ambition

1918

Babs poster
8.0

Babs Marvin loves David Darrow, a young lawyer. Babs' father, the powerful Senator Marvin, is supporting Eben Sprague for a seat in the State Legislature. Darrow discovers that Sprague is a crook and threatens to expose the candidate unless the senator agrees to switch his support to him. Babs opposes Darrow's decision, fearing that it will ruin his promising law career. Determined to defeat Darrow, she promotes the candidacy of the village pauper, Hank Dawes, and contrives an elaborate campaign based upon the slogan that Dawes' election would remove him from the welfare rolls. Dawes wins the election, but Darrow is consoled with Babs's love and the senator's support of his law career.

Babs

1920

Daring Hearts poster
7.0

In the summer of 1914, Alsatian maiden Louise de Villars is attacked by two German soldiers. Hugh Brown, a visiting American, comes to her rescue and they fall in love. When war is declared, Hugh enlists in the French flying corps and shoots down thirty enemy planes. He is captured, but escapes with other prisoners while being transferred to another camp, and arrives at Louise's house to find camp commander, Baron Von Steinbach. To save Hugh from being executed, Louise offers herself to the lecherous Baron. Louise then kills him and escapes with Hugh to an American trench, where they are married by a chaplain on the final day of the war. Afterward, they leave Europe for Hoboken, New Jersey.

Daring Hearts

1919

A Rogue's Romance poster
NR

A welcome guest of the French aristocracy, Monsieur Picard having been awarded the Croix De Guerre, is also a master thief who baffles the Parisian police. One night, while Picard watches an Apache dance, he learns that one of his three adopted children is seriously ill. When his car breaks down, Picard politely forces Helen Deprenay to loan him her auto, and leaves his cross as security. The next day, the police pursue Picard to the Deprenay home where the prefect warns Helen about Picard. Helen writes to the entreating Picard, and refuses to see him until he proves himself of worth to society. Disguised as Scotland Yard agent Armand DuBois, Picard is present at the Deprenay home when a necklace is stolen. After Helen covers for him, Picard catches the thief in an attempt to swindle the entire community in a stock market scheme. He informs the police that Picard no longer exists, and escapes with Helen to a new life.

A Rogue's Romance

1919

The Cavalier's Dream poster
4.7

He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to a beautiful young girl. The changes and magical appearances are startling and instantaneous.

The Cavalier's Dream

1898

Dead Men Tell No Tales poster
6.5

Notorious pirate Joaquin Santos lives by the saying, "Dead Men Tell No Tales". He conspires with the prominent Squire Rattray to take over and plunder the Lady Jermyn, a ship carrying a considerable amount of gold, and then destroy the ship and kill its crew. Rattray, who is in love with Santos' daughter Eve, agrees to pick up the pirate, his crew and their loot on his private yacht after the deed is done. However, young George Cole, a passenger on the Lady Jermyn who is also in love with Eve, survives the attack and sets out to find her.

Dead Men Tell No Tales

1920

My Wild Irish Rose poster
10.0

Based on the play The Shaughraun, this is the story of Robert Ffolliat, a young Irish lad, who is done out of his land and sent off to a penal colony in Australia following false accusations by the greedy Kinchella. Conn the Shaughraun comes to his rescue, helps him to escape from the prison ship and return to Ireland where he is united with his sweetheart.

My Wild Irish Rose

1922

The Show poster
7.0

A harried propman backstage at a theater must put up with malfunctioning wind machines, roosters that spit nitroglycerine, and a gang planning to rob the theater's payroll.

The Show

1922

What's Your Reputation Worth? poster
7.0

Railroad executive Anthony Blake while navigating a divorce from his discontented wife brings his loyal secretary, Cara Deene, to live at a farm, paying her to act as his companion, which leads to scandalous misunderstandings.

What's Your Reputation Worth?

1921

Firemen Rescuing Men and Women poster
5.0

Shows the efficiency of modern life-saving methods and apparatus now in use by the fire departments. Shows the front of a building burning and two ladders raised against it. Through a thick cloud of smoke and sparks membes of the fire companies are ascending. Entering the windows they pass unfortunate occupants to their comrades, who in turn take them safely to the ground.—Edison Catalog

Firemen Rescuing Men and Women

1899

No artwork available
8.0

A woman replaces her injured beau on a spy mission.

The Despatch Bearer; or, Through the Enemy's Lines

1907

Maude's Naughty Little Brother poster
4.1

In a charming dining room a very attractive young lady is seen seated at the table, evidently waiting for the caller who is to share a quiet little dinner for two. A moment later a dude of the regular chappy type enters and seats himself at the table. As soon as the meal commences the inevitable wicked small boy sneaks in unobserved, and producing a piece of rope ties one end securely to the dude's coat tails and fastens the other to the table-cloth.

Maude's Naughty Little Brother

1900

A Little Ouija Work poster
8.0

A newlywed invites his old poker friend to meet his wife. But his friend has a plan to use their Ouiji board to recoup poker debt that he is owed.

A Little Ouija Work

1918

The Bakery poster
4.7

Well-meaning but accident-prone bakery employee Larry is involved in numerous slapstick mishaps on the job. After accidentally causing the bakery owner to fall into a vat of cake batter Larry finds his job in jeopardy, but he redeems himself by foiling a robbery planned by the bakery foreman.

The Bakery

1921

The Fall Guy poster
4.9

Larry falls afoul of wanted criminal Gentleman Joe, who runs a saloon full of tough guys and gunslingers.

The Fall Guy

1921

The Backyard poster
7.5

Jimmy Aubrey lets the kids in the alley shoot arrows at him. After he grows tired of this, he treats them like satchels to get them out of his way. A policeman shows up and he is terrified; later, disguised as a policeman, he encounters Oliver Hardy, who is in brutal mode here.

The Backyard

1920

Bears and Bad Men poster
5.1

Bears and Bad Men is a 1918 silent comedy film directed by Larry Semon[1] and featuring Stan Laurel.

Bears and Bad Men

1918

The Bell Hop poster
6.8

A government official staying in a hotel puts some important secret papers in the hotel safe. A ring of spies out to get the papers manages to steal them from the safe, and a lady government agent enlists the help of the hotel's bumbling bellhop in getting back the papers and breaking up the spy ring.

The Bell Hop

1921

The Decorator poster
6.3

Inept interior decorator Jimmy is hired to work at the home of a wealthy artist. From the moment he arrives, Jimmy's incompetence leads to disaster as he accidentally damages or destroys any piece of art that isn't securely fastened to the walls. Oliver Hardy appears in the film as "Babe," a millionaire character. Features the screen debut of Kathleen Myers.

The Decorator

1920

No artwork available
4.8

Persons who have visited the "Hub," no doubt carried away with vivid recollections of Boston's famous system of Underground Transportation and this film takes the audience from the bright sunshine into the dim obscurity of the subway. The Underground stations and rows of Electric Arc lamps are plainly shown and, after traversing the tunnel for a considerable distance, the car finally emerges opposite the railroad depot.

Panoramic View of Boston Subway from an Electric Car

1901

No artwork available
NR

Larry Semon in a double role as a poor man chasing an opportunity to steal secret plans (for a reward of $1,000.83 from a rich man) and as the headmistress of a girl's college.

Plans and Pajamas

1917

Captain Blood poster
7.5

Young Irish physician Peter Blood is exiled as a slave to Barbados, where he and his friend Jeremy are purchased by Colonel Bishop at the behest of his niece Arabella. With other slaves he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the terror of the Caribbean privateers until offered a commission in the English Navy. He defeats the French at Port Royal, and as a reward he is named governor of Jamaica and marries Arabella.

Captain Blood

1924

Dull Care poster
6.5

Semon as a detective trying to deal with some roughnecks.

Dull Care

1919

No artwork available
3.1

"Down goes the Spanish flag, and up floats the Stars and Stripes. Down falls the symbol of tyranny and oppression that has ruled in the new world for four hundred years, and up goes the Banner of Freedom. In the distance are the turrets and battlements of Morro, the last foothold of Spain in America."

Raising Old Glory Over Morro Castle

1899

The Bottom of the Well poster
NR

Stanley Deane, raised by a British governor, defends mill workers and falls for Alice, daughter of mill owner Amos Buckingham.

The Bottom of the Well

1917

A Visit to the Spiritualist poster
7.0

A countryman goes to see a spiritualist and is frightened by what he sees.

A Visit to the Spiritualist

1899

The Rent Collector poster
6.7

The Rent Collector is a 1921 American silent comedy film featuring Larry Semon & Oliver Hardy.

The Rent Collector

1921

The Head Waiter poster
7.0

The headwaiter does tricks with spaghetti that the greatest spaghetti handlers in the world never heard of. The sight makes your mouth water. Besides food, the scenes are garnished with a couple of trayfuls of beautiful girls.

The Head Waiter

1919

Squeaks and Squawks poster
6.2

A repairman falls in love with a blacksmith's daughter, who's having trouble with their greedy landlord, and helps them get one over on him.

Squeaks and Squawks

1920

"Shamrock" and "Erin" Sailing poster
5.3

The Shamrock is seen after its defeat in the 1899 America's Cup, along with the Erin, which served as its tow boat across the Atlantic.

"Shamrock" and "Erin" Sailing

1899

No artwork available
2.0

Vitagraph’s Battle of Santiago Bay (1898) blended real Spanish–American War footage with tabletop trickery. Albert E. Smith’s authentic San Juan material looked underwhelming, so he and partner J. Stuart Blackton staged the naval clash on a miniature set: cardboard ships afloat in shallow water, firecracker “explosions,” and clouds of smoke from cigars and cigarettes. Spliced together, the hybrid film was embraced as genuine by audiences and became one of the most popular war films of its day.

Battle of Santiago Bay

1898

Borrowed Husbands poster
8.0

A jazz-mad Nancy Burrard is a young matron easing her boredom by flirting with married men.

Borrowed Husbands

1924

Humpty Dumpty Circus poster
1.5

The Humpty Dumpty Circus is the first animated short film created in stop-motion technique. It features a circus with acrobats and animals in motion.

Humpty Dumpty Circus

1898

The Stage Hand poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Stage Hand

1920

The Congress of Nations poster
3.9

A magician steps upon the stage carrying a hoop covered with white paper. Then in quick succession the flags of Germany, Russia, Ireland, England and China are brought forth, and from each a soldier is produced corresponding with the flag of each nation. The magician adds a bit of comedy to the scene by producing a decidedly Hibernian policeman from the flag of Erin's Isle. The magician then waves his hand and the flags of all nations slowly dissolve and blend into one huge American flag.

The Congress of Nations

1900

Springtime poster
10.0

A street cleaner who gets into a heated altercation with his superintendent. In the chaotic aftermath of the fight and while performing his daily rounds, the street cleaner accidentally steals a baby.

Springtime

1920

Hooligan Assists the Magician poster
4.8

This is a new adventure in which our friend, Mr. Hooligan, appears in an entirely new capacity. On a stage a professor of magic is performing some wonderful experiments, and when he requests some assistance Happy Hooligan immediately volunteers his services and climbs upon the platform.

Hooligan Assists the Magician

1900

No artwork available
3.9

Although we are led to believe that the ancient alchemists were all powerful, this picture somewhat reverses the order of things...

The Clown and the Alchemist

1900

Astor Battery on Parade poster
3.7

The Astor Battery became famous after the Spanish-American war and these young men are on display in this Edison short, which was shot on Saturday, January 21, 1899. We see a parade cross Broadway onto Union Square with the mounted police, the band and then the Astor Battery. The footage of this short is still in very good condition, which adds a lot considering how little footage is available of these men.

Astor Battery on Parade

1899

No artwork available
9.0

James J. Jeffries throwing the medicine ball. An absolutely perfect picture of the champion heavyweight of the world.

Jeffries Throwing the Medicine Ball

1901