Conway Tearle

The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of edition #1, then a tribute to movie people who have died in those 25 years. Finally there are tributes to the Screen Snapshots series by Cecil De Mille, Walt Disney, Louella Parsons and Rosalind Russell.

Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.

A blackmailer falls in love with his female victim.

A young man falls into the clutches of a nightclub singer who corrupts him.

A young lady named Hilda who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and dreams of being a great singer. An upcoming visit by Sir Julian, a famous composer arriving from London, drives jealous Mrs. Clarkson (an interfering biddy who fancies she can sing - but can't) to send away Hilda, so he doesn't hear Hilda has a good voice. Meanwhile, an infamous outlaw named Stingaree has just arrived in town and kidnaps Sir Julian, then poses as him at the Clarksons, where he meets Hilda a few hours before she is to leave.

Singer Rose Carlton, otherwise known as 'The San Francisco Doll', accidentally kills her controlling boyfriend when he tries to prevent her from leaving. To evade the police, Rose sets sail for Nome with captain Bull Bracket. When the ship takes on another passenger, reformer Annie Alden, Carlton's life is changed forever, and she sets out to honor a deeply personal debt.

A respected war correspondent is found murdered, with three bullets--from three different guns--in him. Three different men are arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder, but only one can be the actual killer. A criminologist sets out to find who is really guilty.

In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society.

Kirk Allenby is hired by the Cattleman's Association to track down and arrest a rancher who they believe is stealing cattle. Allenby finds his quarry but is astounded to discover that that man, Bob Enright, looks enough like him to be his twin. He is forced to shoot Enright, but as the man lay dying he gets Allenby to promise that he will help Enright's sister, who is being forced to marry the real boss of the cattle rustling operation, who has framed Enright in order to take over his ranch.

The Wrecker wrecks trains on the L & R Railroad. One of his victims is Larry Baker's father. Baker wants to find the evildoer, among a host of suspects, but it will be difficult since the Wrecker can disguise himself to look like almost anyone

When the daughter of a newspaper publisher is falsely charged with murder, a reporter on her father's paper goes into hiding with her. At first hoping to get an exclusive story, the reporter eventually finds himself falling in love and trying to find the real killer.

A beautiful blonde makes a career out of seducing and then blackmailing wealthy married men. She is found murdered after demanding a $5000 payoff from her latest victim, and the detective investigating the case finds out that she was involved in a lot more than just blackmail.

Someone is murdering the cast and crew of a new Hollywood movie, and the leading lady may be next. As a police detective locks down the lot and refuses to let anyone leave, the studio’s publicity head and his secretary attempt to solve the murders themselves.

A woman meets a conceited young novelist aboard a yacht, and decides to teach him a lesson he won't forget.

A kept secretary in the big city must rethink her choices when her hometown flame comes back into her life.

Bobby Jones uses some unorthodox (some might say magical) methods to help a man with his drive.

A woman is accused of murdering a man who molested her young daughter.

When a girl tries to drown herself in the Seine, she is rescued by dancer Gonzalo Montrez. She then becomes a famous dancer known as the White Moth.

Bella Donna, a seductive woman snares Nigel Armine into marriage and he takes her to Egypt to live. Tired of her simple husband, Bella becomes involved with brutish Baroudi.

Zara is a phony psychic in a Hungarian carnival who, under the guidance of a Svengali-like con man crashes—and proceeds to swindle—American high society.

Michael Faversham, a puritanical minister determined to stomp out immorality, orders one of his parishioners, Rose Gibbard, to confess in public that she is the mother of an illegitimate child, knowing that it will bring shame and condemnation to her. Meanwhile, he is consumed with desire for another of his parishioners, the lovely Audrey Lesden. One day the two of them find themselves alone on a deserted island, and the attraction of Faversham and the married Audrey for each other is too difficult for them to resist. Complications ensue.

Spoiled society girl Beth Wynn agrees to stake her marriage to Francis Fraser on the outcome of an airplane race with him.

Lorenzo Carilo selects more-or-less menial jobs at which to make a living, other more "select" jobs not paying enough, and then he meets and falls in love with Vivian Forrester the daughter of a new-rich family. What's a poor boy to do? He might pose as a French Duke.

A glittering drama of Imperial Russia in the days before the Revolution and the reckless life of the aristocracy in the days of the Czar, featuring gorgeous gowns, beautiful women and spectacular settings.

Robert, a young steelworker, lives with his family and George, a good friend who has invented a new method of refining steel and promises Robert that they will split the proceeds if they sell the process to their employer. Robert goes to the company's board of directors and receives what he considers to be a good offer, but his wife June doesn't think it's enough. She talks to the board and persuades them to make George the company president. Now that he's rich, Robert becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair with George, and he embarks on his own affair with a sophisticated, attractive--and ambitious--woman.

A young mother, Mildred, doesn't know that her husband Walter is cheating on her. One night she attends a party with a friend of her husband's, and the man gets drunk and begins groping her when they get home. Her husband sees this and uses it as an excuse to sue his wife for divorce. In the ensuing trial he wins, due to fraudulent evidence, and gets custody of the child. Complications ensue.

Lord Cyril Wimborne, a barrister, divorces his wife, Myra, and takes custody of their child, Kenyon, when he finds her name linked with the profligate Major Pollock. Myra goes into seclusion while Pollock, intending to conceal Myra's innocence, goes to Burma. A few years later Myra sees Kenyon in the park with Mrs. Debenham, a widow with designs on Wimborne. Noting the resemblance between the lady in the park (whom he calls his "princess") and a photograph of his mother, Kenyon invites Myra to dinner at a time when his father, who has curtailed the visits to the park, plans to be away. At the same time Harold Courtenay, an old family friend, sees an opportunity to reunite the estranged couple.

Bruce Paine arrives as a fugitive on Paradise Island. Fiancée Alice Burroughs remains steadfast in her faith for Bruce and waits for his name to be cleared back home. Young native islander Marua sees no reason to wait and pursues Bruce herself. Set in a remote, exotic locale.

Capt. Deering, a British war hero whose exploits in the Arabian desert have earned him the nickname "The Man of Stone", returns home to London to discover that his fiancé, the wealthy Lady Mary Fortescue, has left him for another man. Devastated, he returns to the desert and begins to drink heavily, which results in his becoming gravely ill. He is cared for by the lovely Laila, an Arab woman who falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Lady Mary has broken up with the man she dumped Deering for and travels to the desert, determined to get him back and to let nothing stand in her way.

Billy Clifford, who has served a sentence in reform school for devoted friend Talbot, later in life becomes a successful gambler. He meets and falls in love with Helen Morely, daughter of the mayor. His partner, advised that the mayor intends to raid his establishment, kidnaps Helen and holds her prisoner as security against the raid.

Three Broadway chorus girls seek rich husbands.

Bill Matthews, foreman for Bethel Steel, works hard to perfect a means for the elimination of waste in steel manufacture. Philip Colt, inheritor of the steel mill, is in love with Daphne Van Steer, whose father is in financial straits. One day, visiting the mill with Philip, Daphne witnesses Bill thrash an insolent workman, and is impressed with his strength though she then snubs him. Bill soon perfects his invention, and coming into great wealth, resolves to become Daphne's social equal by employing socialite May Larrabee to coach him.

Mae Murray plays a willful American lass whose wealthy dad (Robert Edeson) sends her to Paris so that she may pick up some "refinement." Instead, she picks up a fortune-hunting nobleman, played as a frivolous fop by a monocled Andre Beranger. True-blue hero Conway Tearle prevents Murray from making a bigger fool of herself than she already is.

Wallace Phillips is tricked out of his share of his father's fortune by his brother Gordon. Wallace changes places with his brother and manages to fool even Gordon's wife. A lost film.

A beautiful French actress is the unwitting force behind the suicide of one of her admirers. A scandal erupts, threatening to destroy her reputation.

Valerie West, a beautiful artist's model, falls for wealthy artist Louis Neville. However, his aristocratic family doesn't approve of the relationship and persuades Valerie to promise that she won't marry him. She does, however, tell Louis that she will become his common-law wife on a certain date the following summer. Complications ensue.

When Wade Cameron, chairman of the Better Plays Society, stops the production of actress Gilda Lamont's first stage success, she attempts to revenge herself by affecting another personality and earning his confidence. He assigns her a role in an improvised production of a new play as an unknown actress, derails her attempt to expose him, and ends by winning her heart.

A 1922 film directed by Frank Lloyd.

Fanny von Berg's engagement to Count Maxim von Hurtig is suddenly broken off and she is denounced by her family for a suspected indiscretion. When they are reduced to starvation by the war, the family members accept her earnings without acknowledging the source. As the hostess of a Viennese night club, Fanny becomes the mistress of a rich war profiteer. The Count, loving her still, prevents her from making further sacrifices for her or his people, and they find ultimate happiness in the prospect of a new life together. A lost film.

A Manhattan playboy falls for a mysterious European woman, whom he notices is an exact double for a famous socialite who disappeared at the turn of the century. At first he thinks it's just a coincidence, as the beautiful young woman he's romancing is much younger than the woman who vanished, who would be in her late 50s or early 60s by now. Soon, however, he begins to believe that maybe it's not such a coincidence after all.

In order to raise money for surgery for his crippled brother, Jim Barry accepts a job with Warner, leader of a gang of narcotics smugglers.

This silent drama's story is based on the Broadway play Hail and Farewell by William Hurlbut.

When Marie Callender is left a fortune by a wealthy old admirer on the condition that she marry the man she loves, Marie targets Ernest Lismore but is too shy to ask him to marry her. Instead, Marie disguises herself as an elderly woman of considerable wealth and offers to bail Ernest out of his impending bankruptcy in exchange for marriage, with the understanding that if Ernest ever falls in love with another woman she will grant him a divorce. Then Marie disguises herself as June Dayne in order to make her husband fall in love with her. She succeeds, and when Ernest confesses his love for another woman, Marie discards her disguise and Ernest discovers that the woman with whom he is in love is his own wife.

Lola de Breze loves Lord Arthur Fallaray from afar, though there seems to be no way to bring them together -- he is England's Colonial Secretary and married, while she is merely a working class maiden. But when she is given a maid's position in his household, it brings her that much closer to her idol. She puts on a fancy gown and heads to the Ritz in hopes of getting a formal introduction. After being fired from the household, she follows Fallaray to his country home and nurses him when he falls ill. Lord Fallaray's wife Lady Feo doesn't love him and is having an affair with Paul Chalfont. When it looks like he will be faced with scandal, Fallaray contemplates giving up politics and marrying Lola.

An idealistic sea captain, Dick Carson (Conway Tearle), is wounded by revenue officers while smuggling arms to a South American country. He finds aid and refuge at the home of Dr. Jordan (J. Barney Sherry) whose young wife, Dorothy (Doris Kenyon), is being courted by Andrews (Crauford Kent), who kills the doctor in a quarrel. To avoid the revenue officers, Carson takes them aboard his ship and sets sail for the Far East. He and Dorothy fall in love but, first, he must deal with a mutiny on his ship.

No synopsis available yet.

Explorers to the South Pole in an airship Zeppelin crash in the frozen Antarctic and must struggle for survival in the land of eternal snow and ice.

When young Gloria Waring's wealthy father dies, she discovers that her brother--who is heir to the family fortune--is about to marry a well-known golddigger named Teddy Lamont. Gloria steals the will from her father's attorney, James Hamilton, so Teddy won't find out how much money her future husband will inherit. Hamilton finds out about her theft but is unexpectedly sympathetic to Gloria about it. It turns out that Hamilton has reasons for his behavior, and when Gloria discovers why, complications ensue.

Captain Terrance Connaughton loses his stable of horses in a card game with Algernon Cravens.

Dr. Paul Carrington is a rising young surgeon engaged to selfish socialite Marion Ainsworth who resents the time he devotes to his profession. During an outing, Marion intercepts a crucial emergency hospital message meant for Paul, causing him to miss a vital operation and ruining his professional reputation. Discovering her deceit, Paul shoulders the blame to shield her and flees to a remote tropical island to live in solitude. A year later, Marion sets out to find him but is shipwrecked. She washes ashore on Paul's island, where he divides the land between them, promises to protect her, but strictly forbids her from disturbing him and his work.

Stella Maris is a beautiful, crippled girl, who is cared for by a rich family. They shield her from the harsh realities of the world, so that she has no idea of the cruel things that some people do. Unity Blake is a poor orphan all too familiar with the harsh realities of the real world. These two young women both fall in love with John, love which is complicated by the fact that he is still married to (though separated from) a bad wife.

Franti, an organ grinder of the poor districts of New York, has a daughter, Isola, who sings to his street piano's accompaniment.

After her family is financially ruined in a lawsuit by John Rutherford of Wall Street, Carol Raymond leaves Virginia to set matters straight. Three weeks later, after marrying Bruce Armitage, the now deceased Rutherford's nephew and heir, Carol tells her father the story in a letter: When she arrived, she succeeded in making Armitage fall in love with her. However, Armitage's twin brother, Alan Rutherford, and an adventuress lured her to a roadhouse. After she drank much champagne, Rutherford, appearing as Armitage, attempted to assault her until she threatened to jump from a balcony. When she saw both Rutherford and Armitage together, she learned that it was the disinherited twin brother who pursued the suit. She then married Armitage. As she finishes the letter, Rutherford, after binding Armitage in the cellar, enters her bedroom, but Armitage escapes just in time to save Carol from Rutherford's embrace.

A 1919 film directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

The overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in Russia was such big news that the then-fledgling art of cinema couldn't help but jump on it immediately and create a couple of dramatizations.

No synopsis available yet.

While waiting for the detained Lord Traverse, the guest of honor at an English society party, the guests play a game wherein each must tell a complete story before a cigarette burns out. Heléne Dearing relates that her proud father John left England after being exposed as a card cheat and became a whiskey runner near a Canadian lumber camp.

When she is orphaned Lily Upjohn, from the London slums, becomes a chorus girl at the Pandora Theatre. During a performance a scene painter drops some paint near Lily and her screams prompt the show's composer to create a hit song "Mind the Paint Girl," which Lily makes an overnight sensation. She is courted by young officer Nicholas Jeyes and by Lord Francombe. Driving both men to near ruin she promises marriage to both but in the end choses neither.

Based on the Novel by Robert W. Chambers of New York City life among the upper-crust, Valerie West , artist/model and philosopher, undergoes much sorrow and joy, many trials and tribulations, and final triumph on her journey to become the living personification of sweet and noble womanhood.

Natali, a Hindu, marries an Englishman, Sir Christopher Madgwick. They have a daughter who is kidnapped by Natali's former suitor Sani. The girl is handed over to be trained as a vestal virgin. Natali dies and Madgwick returns to England, taking with him the precious ruby that Natali had snatched from Sani in a struggle. Years pass; Sir Christopher remarries and has two more children who mistreat him and Sani dies, revealing to the priests the location of the ruby, which he stole from them in the first place.