William Nicholas Selig

Production

William Nicholas Selig

Born — Died

1864-03-14 — 1948-07-15

Place of birth

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Known for

Production

Credits

40 titles

Known for

The Crisis poster
5.3

Stephen Brice, a young lawyer in Civil War-era St. Louis, falls in love with Virginia Carvel, the daughter of his benefactor. But she is loyal to the South and Brice is committed to Lincoln's cause. In the course of the war, their convictions separate them, and Virginia becomes engaged to her cousin Clarence Colfax, a Confederate officer. Brice becomes an officer under General Sherman, and eventually finds himself faced with the captured Colfax, facing execution for spying. Brice must decide whether or not to intercede in his rival's behalf.

The Crisis

1916

Monte Cristo poster
6.0

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.

Monte Cristo

1912

The Sanitarium poster
5.3

A young man transforms his uncle's palatial residence into a sanitarium only to end up paying back the money his patients gave him.

The Sanitarium

1910

Blackbeard poster
8.0

Pirates attack the town of Martinique and capture the governor. But the townspeople rally back in a battle between ships.

Blackbeard

1911

Vanishing Trails poster
9.0

A 15-chapter Western serial. The serial involves the mystery of the murder of William Stillman (Wells) and the finding of the heir to his fortune. Silent Joe (Farnum) arrives in an effort to discover the murderer and prove that he is the true heir. He and the heroine Lou (Anderson) have their adventures in the mountainous terrain with its "vanishing trails." They are aided by The Shadow (Orlamond), a demented scientist with his trained dog, and several remarkable, death-dealing inventions.

Vanishing Trails

1920

Unto Those Who Sin poster
9.0

Nadia, a stenographer, must give her meager earnings to her drunken father. When he shoots his wife's lover, Nadia decides to move in with her flashy girl friend Mabel, who soon introduces her to the fast life.

Unto Those Who Sin

1916

Behind the camera

The Crisis poster
5.3

Stephen Brice, a young lawyer in Civil War-era St. Louis, falls in love with Virginia Carvel, the daughter of his benefactor. But she is loyal to the South and Brice is committed to Lincoln's cause. In the course of the war, their convictions separate them, and Virginia becomes engaged to her cousin Clarence Colfax, a Confederate officer. Brice becomes an officer under General Sherman, and eventually finds himself faced with the captured Colfax, facing execution for spying. Brice must decide whether or not to intercede in his rival's behalf.

The Crisis

1916

Monte Cristo poster
6.0

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.

Monte Cristo

1912

The Sanitarium poster
5.3

A young man transforms his uncle's palatial residence into a sanitarium only to end up paying back the money his patients gave him.

The Sanitarium

1910

Blackbeard poster
8.0

Pirates attack the town of Martinique and capture the governor. But the townspeople rally back in a battle between ships.

Blackbeard

1911

Vanishing Trails poster
9.0

A 15-chapter Western serial. The serial involves the mystery of the murder of William Stillman (Wells) and the finding of the heir to his fortune. Silent Joe (Farnum) arrives in an effort to discover the murderer and prove that he is the true heir. He and the heroine Lou (Anderson) have their adventures in the mountainous terrain with its "vanishing trails." They are aided by The Shadow (Orlamond), a demented scientist with his trained dog, and several remarkable, death-dealing inventions.

Vanishing Trails

1920

Unto Those Who Sin poster
9.0

Nadia, a stenographer, must give her meager earnings to her drunken father. When he shoots his wife's lover, Nadia decides to move in with her flashy girl friend Mabel, who soon introduces her to the fast life.

Unto Those Who Sin

1916

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poster
8.0

Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1908

The Man from Texas poster
5.0

A cowboy gets a message that his sister's husband has left her in ill health. When he gets there, Texas finds her dead. He sets out to track down the promise-breaker and avenge his sister. On the way, Texas meets Moya Dalton, the fiery daughter of a rancher, and attempts to court her.

The Man from Texas

1915

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz poster
5.4

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

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

1910

No artwork available
NR

Walton the pharmacist, convicted of selling drugged candy to children, is released from prison through the intercession of political “boss” Lee O'Neil. Unfettered by conscience, Walton opens a disreputable pool hall and hires Tony, an Italian ex-convict, as a pool hustler. The pool hall becomes a meeting place for criminals and naïve young men, including Elmer, a bank messenger, and Bingham, the neglected son of wealthy parents. One night at a cabaret, Bingham and Tony meet O'Neil’s daughter, Hazel. Tony borrows Bingham’s car without permission and takes Hazel for a late-night drive. After Bingham reports the theft to police, a chase ensues, and Hazel is killed when the car is struck by a locomotive. While detectives wait for Tony at the pool room, they thwart a pair of thugs who attempt to rob Elmer. The bank messenger confesses that he learned to gamble at the pool room, prompting the authorities to force Walton out of business. Tony survives the wreck and is taken into custody.

The Making of Crooks

1915

No artwork available
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Ingratitude of Liz Taylor

1915

The Still Alarm poster
NR

"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.

The Still Alarm

1918

The Rosary poster
7.0

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.

The Rosary

1922

No artwork available
NR

Jim Montgomery is wrongfully convicted of murder after being assaulted by burglars who use his tools in a robbery. While imprisoned, he escapes with the help of his cellmate, Bill Hawkins, and later assumes a new identity as a cotton mill superintendent. Ultimately, Bill reveals the true murderer, Gutzler, clearing Jim's name and allowing him to reclaim his life. This silent drama short is presumably lost.

The Quarry

1915

The Stagecoach Driver and the Girl poster
NR

Silent western starring Tom Mix

The Stagecoach Driver and the Girl

1915

The City of Purple Dreams poster
NR

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.

The City of Purple Dreams

1918

No artwork available
NR

1915 American silent mystery film directed by Thomas N. Heffron.

The House of a Thousand Candles

1915

In the Long Ago poster
NR

A picture which illustrates an Indian myth, a poetic love story of the long ago, in which a despised musician is refused the privilege of marrying the belle of the tribe. He proves himself not only strong enough to kill his rival, the tribe's stalwart warrior, in a struggle for the girl, but is able to make a magic flute which can and does restore the girl, now lying dead. In the closing scenes, the picture shows a short glimpse of modern life which suggests that the old myth is being played, in part, again.

In the Long Ago

1913

No artwork available
NR

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 Carpet from Bagdad

1915

Brown of Harvard poster
NR

Tom Brown shows up at Harvard, confident and a bit arrogant. He becomes a rival of Bob McAndrew, not only in football and rowing crew, but also for the affections of Mary Abbott, a professor's daughter.

Brown of Harvard

1918

Auction of Souls poster
4.9

A Hollywood biographical film about a survivor's experience of the Armenian Genocide. Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian plays herself in the film which is based on her published memoirs. It is thought to be the first film about made about genocide. All known complete copies of the film have been lost. A restored and edited 24-minute segment of the historic motion picture was released in 2009 by the Armenian Genocide Resource Center of Northern California. It is based on a rare surviving reel of film edited in Soviet Armenia.

Auction of Souls

1919

The Count of Monte Cristo poster
5.2

Adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo

1908

No artwork available
10.0

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.

The Still Alarm

1911

No artwork available
10.0

A fisherman discovers a young woman on a long-uninhabited island who gives him the ominous warning that those who land on Dead Man's Isle don't have long to live.

The Mystery of Dead Man's Isle

1915

The Poetic Justice of Omar Khan poster
9.0

Betrayal and duplicity in the deserts of the Pasha before a happy resolution.

The Poetic Justice of Omar Khan

1915

The Jungle Princess poster
5.3

Juanita Hansen as Princess Elyata of Tirzah, a "white goddess" ruling a hidden city, who saves American adventurers (George Chesebro and Frank Clark) from a treacherous slave trader, Gagga (Hector Dion), amid wild animal threats. Edited down from the 15 chapter serial "The Lost City"

The Jungle Princess

1920

The Heart of Texas Ryan poster
3.6

To get in the good graces of his rancher boss’s daughter, cowboy Single Shot captures a cattle raider but then gets kidnapped by his gang of thieves.

The Heart of Texas Ryan

1917

The Circular Staircase poster
NR

Wealthy spinster, Rachel Innes rents a country house with her niece and nephew for the summer, only for a series of strange occurrences and a murder at the house's circular staircase to lead to shocking revelations about the home's owner and the family secrets within the house.

The Circular Staircase

1915

The Land of Oz poster
NR

The Emerald City in all its splendor with all the familiar characters so dear to the hearts of children - Little Dorothy, the scarecrow, the woodman, the cowardly lion, and the wizard continuing on their triumphal entry to the mystic city, adding new characters, new situations, and scintillating comedy. Dorothy, who has so won her way into the good graces of lovers of fairy folk, finds new encounters in the rebellion army of General Jinger [sic] showing myriads of Leith soldiers in glittering apparel forming one surprise after the other, until the whole resolves itself into a spectacle worthy of the best artists in picturedom. Those who have followed the two preceding pictures of this great subject cannot but appreciate "The Land of Oz," the crowning effort of the Oz series.

The Land of Oz

1910

No artwork available
10.0

A comedy drama which clearly portrays the adventures of a country chap who falls into the hands of the servants of his city cousin, who has instructed them to make it pleasant for him.

Making It Pleasant for Him

1909

The Millionaire Baby poster
NR

Who stole "The Millionaire Baby?" Did the plotting Doctor Pool finally accomplish his bold determination? Did Valerie Carew, former Burlesque Queen conquered by Mother-Love seize an advantageous opportunity and steal away her loved one? Did Marion Ocumpaugh have knowledge of Gwendolyn's disappearance? Did Justin Carew, finally recognizing his wife and desiring a reconciliation, see the light and kidnap his own child? This film is presumably lost.

The Millionaire Baby

1915

Alas! Poor Yorick! poster
5.0

A mentally deranged sanatorium patient imagines that he is the world's greatest actor.

Alas! Poor Yorick!

1913

The Hobo's Rest Cure poster
7.0

Bill Grogan, a happy hobo, having successfully eluded all sorts of allurements to go to work and having discharged himself from several easy jobs after numerous attempts to get painlessly injured, frightens a chauffeur into believing that he had been injured by a baby carriage. Eventually he reaches the limit of his restful ambition by getting a cot in a hospital.

The Hobo's Rest Cure

1912

No artwork available
8.0

A young girl is kidnapped and thrown in the empty basket of a hot-air balloon. The balloon is accidentally cut loose and drifts to the middle of darkest Africa. The young girl is captured by cannibals, but instead of being eaten, she is turned into a goddess by the tribe. Years afterward, a young man who had been a childhood friend of hers mounts an expedition into the jungle to find and rescue her.

The Jungle Goddess

1922

No artwork available
6.5

Amateur aviator Harold McNutt's hopes of taking flight result in an escalating series of high jinks.

The Awful Adventures of an Aviator

1915

No artwork available
9.0

Jim is tasked with taking the daily deposit to the bank. On his way, he happens to overhear an intense argument between a man and his wife, drawing him into their backyard. Once there he is “Tempted by Necessity” to help them.

Tempted by Necessity

1912

Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz poster
3.0

Dorothy and the Scarecrow are now in the Emerald City. They have become friendly with the Wizard, and together with the woodman, the cowardly lion, and several new creations equally delightful, they journey through Oz -- the earthquake -- and into the glass city. The Scarecrow is elated to think he is going to get his brains at last and be like other men are; the Tin-Woodman is bent upon getting a heart, and the cowardly lion pleads with the great Oz for courage. All these are granted by his Highness. Dorothy picks the princess. -- The Dangerous Mangaboos. -- Into the black pit, and out again. We then see Jim, the cab horse, and myriads of pleasant surprises that hold and fascinate.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz

1910

The Golden Thought poster
NR

A deputy marshal rounds up the bad guys and gets the girl.

The Golden Thought

1916

Danger Trail poster
NR

John Howland travels to the frozen North to build a branch of the Hudson Bay Railroad. There he meets and falls in love with Meleese Thoreau who warns him that her three bloodthirsty brothers, Max, Pierre and François, have sworn vengeance against a man named John Howland, the son of a man who killed their mother, and that torture and death await him along the route to his station.

Danger Trail

1917

A Dangerous Adventure poster
7.0

Grace Darmond, who had made quite a splash in the 1921 (and still extant) serial The Hope Diamond Mystery, returned to the Saturday matinees as Marjorie Stanton, the treasure-hunting damsel-in-distress of A Dangerous Adventure, produced in 15 chapters and directed by two of the Warner Brothers, Sam and Jack L. Warner. Marjorie and her sister Edith (Derelys Perdue) accompany their uncle (Jack Richardson) on a treasure hunt to Darkest Africa, where the latter fiendishly attempts to sell Marjorie to Ubanga (Rex de Roselli), the local High Priest. Happily, also along for the ride is handsome MacDonald Hayden (Philo McCullough), a wild game hunter who rescues both girls from several fates worse than death.

A Dangerous Adventure

1922