Eugenie Besserer

This documentary examines the dozens of Yiddish-language talking films made in the United States and Europe between the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927 and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from early sound pictures.

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

The victim of a political assassination is resurrected by a scientific experiment. However, the effects only last for six hours, and he must find his killer in that time.

In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.

Jeannette Vaubernier, an impulsive shopgirl en route to deliver a hat, dreams of luxury and position as she saunters through the woods, and attracted by a pool of water, she disrobes and plunges in. Cosse de Brissac, a handsome private in the King's Guards, comes to her rescue and they become sweethearts. Meanwhile, Jean Du Barry, a shrewd roué, takes note of her at the millinery shop and tricks her into staying at La Gourda's, where she soon becomes a favorite among the men.

Ricardo, a young law student in his home town of Madrid, is a carefree playboy who loves nightclubs and courting pretty girls. His father hopes to instill a more serious attitude in his son by transferring him to a school in the rural town of Santiago. At Santiago, his father's old friend is to be his guardian. When Ricardo arrives at Santiago he joins a fraternity, and continues his carefree lifestyle while serenading and courting his guardian's daughter, Carmina.

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.

When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.

In France during World War I, a charming farm girl keeps a squadron of English pilots in good spirits as best as she can. She falls for a handsome newcomer who is already engaged.

Kiki, a poor young woman who sells newspapers on the street corners of Paris, is able to land a job singing and dancing at a nearby theater. While she is there, she invites herself into the life of the revue's manager, with whom she has fallen in love.

A nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan.

In order to save her extravagant mother from bankruptcy, shame and scandal, young society girl Mildred Gower is forced to accept the proposal of Lemuel Siddall, a wealthy man she loathes.

Marta Estevan is ready to leave the convent where she has been reared. Dona Luisa Artega, mother of Rafael and the young girl's guardian, arranges a marriage between the two, because she thinks that Marta's influence will rescue her son from the wild life he is leading and make a man of him. Marta rescues the American Bryton, when he is attacked by Indians, and falls in love with him.

Bill Whipple is a happy-go-lucky mechanic for MacDonald who thinks that he is the worlds greatest driver and lover. Mac has treated Bill like a son since he took him in. One day at the track, Bill sees Pat Bannon, and tries his best to impress her, but to no avail. On his way to catch a flight, he tricks Pat into taking him to the airport and she gets even by taking him up in a plane. He hates to fly, but will not show her that he is afraid and when the plane breaks up, he is a hero for rescuing her. This gets him publicity and Renny offers him his car to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Bill breaks with Mac to drive the car and puts it on the pole for the race. Then Renny double crosses Bill and plans to drive the car himself since Bill has tuned it so well.

Antonio Camaradino, florist and street musician, befriends a man robbed of his overcoat and money in a disreputable bar. Tony recognizes the man as Jorny, mayor of Avalonia, a straitlaced town where Tony was once arrested for playing his hurdy-gurdy. After this meeting, Tony's travels take him again to Avalonia. Camped on the outskirts of town, he meets June Ramsey, a cousin of the mayor's wife, ejected from town by the mayor because his reelection campaign is jeopardized by her having been seen in a roadhouse. Under considerable pressure because he wishes to conceal his previous encounter with Tony from the opposition, Jorny returns Tony's favor by asking June's forgiveness and inviting her to return to Avalonia. June accepts his apologies; she then follows Tony, with whom she has fallen in love.

Nara, the daughter of a wealthy Russian killed by the Bolsheviki, flees to America and meets Adam Pine, a sculptor, who marvels at the beauty of her hands. Through him she meets Mrs. Vanessa Yates, a patroness of the arts, and Dr. Emlen Claveloux, who is completely absorbed in science. Connor Lee, a fake spiritualist, persuades her that she has a God-given power to cure ill people, and profits financially by her success in this work. This brings her into conflict with the physician, whom she loves, but her faith in the power of will and her beauty of character finally teach him that faith is at least an important adjunct to medicine.

John Smart (William Haines), a hack writer, inherits a fortune from a distant relative and buys a castle in Laupheim. He pursues what appears to be a ghost of a beautiful woman but he learns that the so-called ghost is the estranged wife, Countess von Pless (Madge Bellamy), of the castle's previous owner, the cruel Count von Pless (Stuart Holmes). A romance blossoms despite the efforts of Count von Pless to convict Smart of obstructing justice.

A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.

A small-town, jazz-mad girl, Peggy Marston (Dorothy Revier), becomes involved with a pair of society thieves, Maurice Dumond (Armand Kalis) and Maxine (Mildred Harris), and finds herself falsely accused of possession of stolen jewels.

In managing the shipyard inherited from her father, Derith Keogh has considerable labor problems and accedes to the unreasonable demands of John Trevelyan, an anarchist labor agitator. Derith's brother John is off in pursuit of an adventuress, and Angus Campbell, her superintendent, resigns in exasperation. Angus returns, however, to help Derith persuade Trevelyan to settle a strike, which Trevelyan accomplishes in spite of being shot by one of his own men.

A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her three year old son again despite her earnest attempts to make amends. For many years the mother seeks refuge overseas and in Absinthe. In the end, her son, a young and promising lawyer unknowingly defends her in court. Ruth Chatterton gives a marvelous performance in this early talkie in her portrayal of Madame X.

Elizabeth Cheney has a wealthy husband, social prominence and everything she could want in life . . . except Ted Lutton, the man she loves. She must decide whether to give everything up to follow her heart and run off with Ted.

Katherine Brinkley, a rich young woman who delights in challenging conventions, elopes with a married young musician, Nicolai Brouevitch, but when he deserts her she is cast aside by society. Wandering off to Italy, she meets Franklin Shelby, a young American also married, with whom she falls in love.

A vaudeville magician team is broken up when Carlee, an ex--circus performer, becomes infatuated with socialite Hilda Schmittlap. Meanwhile his vaudeville partner, Claire, has chosen a new partner, but her "heart isn't in it" because she is disconsolate over Carlee. Curious about her new act, Carlee attends a performance and sees Claire nearly killed when she fails to substitute fake bullets for real ones. Rushing to her aid, Carlee realizes how much Claire means to him.

Discovering that her husband is a bigamist, Nan returns with her child to her Puget Sound logging town. She is treated as an outcast by all save Donald, her childhood sweetheart, the son of a millionaire....

When Barton Baynes's mother and father die, his Aunt Deel and Uncle Peabody provide a home for him. He grows up with Amos Grimshaw, son of a miserly moneylender who holds the farmers of the area in his power, and falls in love with Sally Dunkelberg.

Cynthia Martin’s father insists she marry before her two younger sisters Helen and Grace. So, she invents a husband for herself called Major Smith. Trouble begins when the fictitious husband Major John Smith materializes, bringing with him chaos and confusion.

Terry O'Neill is the youngest of a family of Irish firefighters. He falls in love with Helen Corwin, but complications ensue when Terry learns that her father, a wealthy contractor, has cut costs by putting his buildings in danger of fire.

After his uncle dies, founder of the fishing village of Sandy Bay, Kenwood Wright is cut off with only some marshland while his nephew, Bruce Wilton, inherits the bulk of the estate. Wright is further enraged by the engagement of Vera Mather, whom he loves, to Bruce. Wright joins forces with Donald MacTavish, a pirate captain, and wins the affections of Bruce's sister, Alice, who becomes his victim. Vera, in an attempt to save Alice, becomes involved in the scandal, and Bruce takes back the rosary he has given her to pledge his love.

When a famed matador is forced to become an outlaw, he seeks to get revenge on the dancing girl who betrayed him.

A con woman working the Atlantic City hotels targets a visiting businessman from Alabama.

Montero, son of a Gypsy leader, is about to take a bride according to primitive ritual, when the Duke de la Garda demands his right as feudal lord--to take the bride to his castle for a night. Rather than accede to the duke's advances, the girl chooses death by her own hand. Montero swears vengeance.....

Ruth Marshall's dire financial situation forces her to marry Richard Janeway, a wealthy but drunken playboy who cheats on her. Not only that, but on their honeymoon he hooks up with Lucia, a former girlfriend. Ruth becomes pregnant, but on the night their child is born, Richard decides to attend a wild party; not long afterward he throws her out of their house, threatening to give their child to his mistress. Eventually, Richard's abuse becomes more than Ruth can stand. What will she do?

A street waif of questionable parentage through circumstances is taken into a wealthy home where she is adopted and cared for until her marriage, which follows the successful attempt to expose the mystery of her birth.

A young divinity student helps and protects a down and out prostitute, at the cost of his own standing in the community.

A fortune teller tells a store clerk with a romantic disposition that she was a Spanish noblewoman in an earlier life. The girl begins to live the part of the Spanish noblewoman and romance and comedy ensue.

Unable to abide her self-righteous husband, Nadine Gathway leaves home and drops out of sight for 20 years. When Mr. Gathway dies, he leaves his huge fortune to his daughter, Joyce, on the condition that she never become involved in scandal. Joyce becomes interested in Larry Fay, whose wife sues her for alienation of affections. In Paris, Nadine, who has become the Countess de Tauro, hears of the scandal and returns to the United States, intent on helping the daughter she once deserted. A lost film.

The King of Illyris marries a neighboring princess, who finds out he has a mistress, Sephora. Revolted, she turns to Prince Alexei for friendship. Turmoil increases as a revolution demands the abdication of the King and the Queen opposes this decision.

An Irish washerwoman's daughter falls in love with one of America's most eligible bachelors, much to the dismay of the girl's parents -- and the young doctor's newly acquired fiancée! Events come to a head at the charity masked ball, which the two girls happen to attend in very similar costumes, thanks to the largesse of Molly's benevolent "fairy godfather"...

Princess Emmanuella agrees to wed the Duke of a neighboring kingdom in order to keep peace between their two countries. However, when the Duke's handsome brother arrives to escort her to her new husband, she finds herself attracted to him, and even moreso when she discovers that her future husband, whom she has never met, is ugly, brutish, and deformed.

In the prologue Sharon Kimm and Mickey Reid are childhood friends in a tenement neighborhood but are separated when Sharon is placed in an orphanage. In the story we see Sharon as a young Hollywood star whose quick rise to fame leaves her self-centered, superficial, and a spendthrift. Ironically, the film that skyrocketed her to fame was written by Mickey. But her success is brief; and when it comes crashing to earth, Mickey is there to pick up the pieces.

An early version of the classic, based more on the 1902 stage musical than on the original novel.

An unauthorised adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Produced by Selig with the intent of beating Adolph Zukor's adaptation to the screen, Zukor successfully sued and the prints were ordered to be destroyed. The film is now lost.

John Sharon, a steel magnate is immensely successful from the worldly point of view, while Ed Young, his humble employee, views himself as a failure because his income shrinks as his family responsibilities increase. Sharon's only son is a drunken disappointment, his wife becomes alienated from him, and his daughter falls critically ill.

Pretty Patience Thompson, a "girl with a singing soul," lives with her cold-hearted and avaricious father, Jeff Thompson, on their Indiana farm. Her life of drudgery is brightened by John, the hired hand, but when he asks for her hand in marriage, the old man flies into a rage and discharges him. Soon an aged but wealthy widower courts Patience, and although she still loves John, "Old Jeff" orders her to marry the widower, claiming that a father's will is the law.

A young woman who became pregnant from an assault faces legal trouble and scandal after having an abortion.

"Bird," a clerk in Fordham's drugstore, agrees to place a large sum of money in the store's safe for a traveler, but when the man requests a bottle of medicine, Bird poisons the remedy, and the visitor is found dead in his hotel. Bird flees with the money, but several years later he returns, the money long since squandered. Unless Fordham's daughter Eleanor marries him, he threatens, he will tell the police that Fordham committed the crime.

When her mother elopes with a lover and her father dies cursing the name of God, Domini Enfilden attempts to forget her pain in Beni Mora, an oasis in the Sahara. At the desert hotel, she meets and falls in love with Boris Androvsky, a tormented man of mystery. Abruptly announcing his departure one day, Boris bids farewell to Domini in the Garden of Allah

A man is found guilty of murdering a woman by way of circumstantial evidence, and is executed. Afterwards, it is discovered that his supposed victim is not dead at all, but working as a prostitute in a Western city. Scenario was written for the screen by Maibelle Heikes Justice, who was an outspoken opponent of capital punishment.

No synopsis available yet.

A scientist who is married to an amoral woman lives next door to a happily married couple. At first envying their happiness, the scientist eventually falls in love with his neighbor's wife. When her husband goes on a business trip to Africa, the scientist also goes abroad to avoid temptation but finds himself sailing from Cairo aboard the same ship as his neighbor's wife

John Bird and Franklyn Fordham were once business partners, but because of Bird’s shady dealings they part. After years of success for one and failure for the other, Bird takes drastic measures, resorting to arson before his scheme is thwarted.

Miss Otis nearly hits a derelict with her car, and out of sympathy she gives him some money and advises him to "clean up and keep clean." Soon after, the derelict meets Esther, an anarchist who involves him in a plot to blackmail a banker. When he realizes that Miss Otis is the banker's daughter, the derelict tears up the banker's check but is arrested and committed to an asylum. Esther, who is in love with the derelict, helps him escape, and he resolves to attain a position of wealth and importance. After he earns his fortune, he rejects Esther's affections and asks Miss Otis to marry him.

Horace Wadsworth (played by Guy Oliver), one of a gang of criminals also planning a bank robbery in New York, steals the titular prayer rug from its Baghdad mosque. He sells the carpet to antique dealer George Jones (Wheeler Oakman) to fund the robbery scheme. But the theft places both men and Fortune Chedsoye (Kathlyn Williams), the innocent daughter of another conspirator, in danger from the carpet's guardian.

The Eyes of Julia Deep is a 1918 silent comedy-drama film starring Mary Miles Minter, directed by Lloyd Ingraham. The film is based on the short story by the same name, written by Kate L. McLaurin. It is one of the few films starring Minter which are known to have survived.

Doris Pennington is committed to an insane asylum by her aunt, who hopes to take over Doris's fortune. Upon arrival at the asylum, however, Doris convinces the staff that the nurse who accompanies her is actually the patient and she the nurse.

When young Eva Stanley comes home from college, she finds that her mother is deeply involved in the movement to rescue "wayward" girls. Eva's boyfriend John Gilbert is sent west on a government job, and Eva finds herself lonely and neglected. She is lured onto the yacht of lecherous Leo Spencer, the dissolute brother of the district attorney.

In early lawless California, Rosie Nell, a woman of disreputable dance halls, is wrongly charged with the murder of one of her fellow entertainers. Because her daughter, who knows nothing of her mother's station in life, is to return the next day from education in the east, Rosie is granted three days of grace to be spent in company with her daughter at a nearby cabin. The three days begin happily enough, thanks to the serenades of heroic bandit Alvarez and the poetry of romantic Randolph. But Bagley, the dance hall manager, has seen the daughter and has determined to make her his own.

Beware of Strangers is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Colin Campbell