Arthur V. Johnson

A nostalgic look at film clips from the Silent era.

In the Kingdom of Never-Never Land there live a great Lord and Lady, each presiding over their own domain. This great Lord goes for a stroll through his estate and coming to the border of his own land he is struck by the entrancing beauty of the contiguous estate, so like his own, that the inclination to intrude is irresistible. His peregrination is halted by the appearance of the great Lady, who is indeed as fair as the flowers that clothe her land. He introduces himself and invites her to stroll with him in his gardens. She is in like manner entranced by the beauty of his possessions. How alike in beauty are they; a veritable fairyland. If they were only one, for it seems they should be. This thought is mutual, and the Lord proposes a way, a marriage, and so a betrothal of convenience ensues. They know nothing of love and so are content in the anticipation of being Lord and Lady of all Never-Never Land.

The hero, a young contractor, is mistaken by the heroine for a laborer, while he thinks she is the maid although she is the daughter of the manor. The hero continues to represent himself as a laborer in order to see the maid. The daughter, in order to continue her impersonation, borrows the maid's clothes. At the end the two main characters are brought together in their true light with the blessing of their respective mothers.

"It's in the surprise" that great plays are made and battles won, and our tenderfoot friend, appreciating this, pulls a victory that is amazing.

No synopsis available yet.

Marion lives in a house that becomes a place of safety—or a "refuge"—for a man fleeing from danger. A group of criminals waits for a wealthy homeowner to leave before breaking into the house to threaten his wife and daughters. The family members barricade themselves inside one of the rooms for safety as the thieves attempt to break through the door. Upon discovering the situation, the father rushes back home in a desperate attempt to save his family from intruders.

Tony Gazeco, one of the workers in the factory, is an anarchist and agitator. Being of excitable nature he is looked upon by the other men as a leader and during the lunch hour makes impassionate speeches. Will and May Mason passing in an auto are witnesses to one of the tirades and going to the office of Fred Jackson, the owner, tell him of the probable strike...

A melodrama about a boy who initially wants nothing to do with his stepmother.

A young society swain is stolen away from the young blind girl he loves by a rapacious queen of the demi-monde who is only out for his wealth…at first. Soon enough, she falls for him and is purified by her feelings. Realizing she will ruin his life if they stay together, she commits suicide in the gray of the dawn, and he returns to his true love.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

The film follows a, love triangle in a Maine fishing village, where a girl named Rosie (Lawrence) gives a rose to two brothers who are vying for her hand. The plot involves jealousy, a fight at sea for a rose, a near-death experience, and a final resolution where the younger brother gets the girl.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

In Camarillo, principality of the Spanish dominion, there lived two brothers, Jose and Manuel. Born in a noble Spanish family and reared by a mother noble in both station and character, they were vastly different morally. Jose was a dutiful son and upright young man, while Manuel was the black sheep. It was on Easter Sunday morning during the processional that Manuel appears in an intoxicated condition and foully ridicules the priests and acolytes as they enter the chapel of the old mission. At this the mother's pride is hurt beyond endurance and she exiles her profligate son from her forever. Manuel is shunned as a viper and while making his way along the road, meets Pedro, the notorious political outlaw, who sympathizes with him and offers him inducements to join him, and so takes him to his camp. Meanwhile, Jose woos and wins the Red Rose of Capistran and the day for the wedding is set.

Two eccentric Frenchmen argue for the hand of an eligible American girl, who finally discouraged both of them by introducing her betrothed.

Neglected by a husband too engrossed by his activities and social obligations, a woman convinces a girlfriend to dress as a man and make love to her openly in the hope to arouse her spouse’s jealousy. Dressed as a male, her friend causes a commotion among the couple’s acquaintances. When the husband eventually catches the newcomer making overtures to his wife, he challenges his rival to a duel.

Unable to bear the abuse of her drunken soldier husband, the wife left her home and went to the city, where she became a nurse in a hospital. Her husband, recovering from a spree, treated his wife's disappearance as a joke and soon went with his company to the Philippines. Meantime a doctor at the hospital had fallen in love with the young wife and when news came from the Philippines that her husband had been killed she married him. They were very happy and a child was born to them. To a friend in her old home she sent a photograph of herself and family. Then her soldier husband returned for he had not been killed. During a reception at her new home he appeared on the scene. A dancer was to be there, but being unable to keep the engagement, the wife had prepared to perform the dance herself. The appearance of her soldier husband greatly excited her for it made her second marriage illegal.

A husband uses a ruse to sneak back into the house after a night out.

An orphaned young woman rejects her appointed suitor and falls in love with her guardian.

The orphan girl of San Gabriel meets and is attracted by a Spanish stranger. The Spaniard is accused of cheating and set to be lynched, but is saved by the girl's ruse, who later becomes his bride.

No synopsis available yet.

A rich nobleman steals a perfume merchant's wife just prior to the French Revolution, in which the perfumer is a leader of the peasants. His priest made him swear an oath to leave vengeance to God, however.

Aunt Jane's nieces and nephews bicker over an anticipated legacy.

A dance hall girl is converted to a religious life by a phony evangelist. But can he, himself, be saved?

No synopsis available yet.

This film with a highly offensive and racist title tells the story of Jose, a handsome young Mexican, who leaves his home in the Sierra Madre Mountains with a cross-embroidered gauntlet from his mother. In a border tavern, he is falsely accused of theft after a Chinese servant frames him. A lynch mob attempts to hang Jose, but Mildred West, a romantic newcomer, discovers the real thief and saves Jose just in time. Grateful, Jose cuts the gauntlet in half, giving Mildred the wrist portion as a pledge of lifelong protection. Over the next five years, Jose falls into alcoholism due to his hopeless love for Mildred, who is now the wife of engineer Tom Berkeley. The villainous Bill Gates recruits Jose to attack the couple and kidnap Mildred and, during the assault, Jose discovers Mildred’s dropped gauntlet token. Recognizing his savior, Jose turns on Gates, kills him in a fierce battle, saves Mildred, and returns reformed to his mother.

After being jilted for another, a woman sends her lover's old letters to the new fiancée and looks forward to the reaction. But when she spots her old lover's glove left behind, she has a change of heart and repents.

Agnes, a singer in a country church, is practicing one day when a vaudeville manager hears her and offers her a job. Over the objections of the curate who loves her, she accepts the offer and goes to the city. Later the curate goes to hear Agnes perform and, fearing that her soul is being corrupted by show business, he asks her to return to the small town with him. When she refuses, he is prepared to kill her in order to protect the purity of her soul. This brings about her change of heart, and together they return to the little church.

A girl from the New York slums falls in with crooks. After her love is arrested following a barfight turned deadly, her life seems directionless-- that is, until she's saved from the streets by a band of Salvationists. She enrolls, and soon afterward encounters her former love in the same bar. Her faith is real, and strong, and her former love doesn't like this.

During the American Revolution, a young soldier carrying a crucial message to General Washington is spotted and pursued by a group of enemy soldiers. He takes refuge with a civilian family, but is soon detected. The family and their neighbors must then make plans to see that the important message gets through after all.

A king grows suspicious of his favored woman's affection for an Italian troubadour. After confirming their secret romance, he takes a cruel revenge by sealing the lovers inside a secluded tower chamber with no means of escape.

A contest is being held in Cremona for the best violin, with Giannina's hand in marriage as the prize. Filippo is secretly in love with her, but is also ashamed of being a cripple, so he switches his superior violin with that of another apprentice, Sandro, whom Giannina loves.

A music teacher is in love with Helen, one of his students, but she rejects him. In his hurt he joins an anarchist group who plan to blow up a rich capitalist's house. When he realizes it's Helen's house, he tries to stop the plan.

Antonine, a worthless, good-for-nothing scoundrel, demands money of his cousin Galora, an energetic, provident husband and father. His demands are met with a positive rebuff, and when he becomes insistent be is forcibly ejected by Galora. As he leaves the tenement he vows to get even, and lies in wait until Galora has gone out on business. Climbing to the fifth floor, on which the Galoras live, he watches his chance, which comes when Mrs. Galora goes for an instant to visit a neighbor on the same floor. Darting into the apartment and raising the window he perceives the awful result of a drop to the ground, five stories below, and so evolves a plan that is dastardly in the extreme. Taking the infant child from the cradle, and placing it in a basket he lets it out with a short rope, the end of which he secures by letting the sash down on it, so that to raise the window would precipitate the baby to destruction.

Two miners are fighting over a woman, and one is about to murder the other in his sleep. At the critical moment, the woman introduces her fiancé from the city.

Pippa awakes and faces the world outside with a song. Unbeknown to her, the music has a healing effect on all who hear her as she passes by.

Schneider is trying to write a speech but he can't concentrate with all the noise around him. During the night, Schneider catches burglars in his house, but when he sees they are stealing all the noisy distractions, he helps them get away.

A man arrives home late and drunk as usual. His wife reminds him that he's supposed to take their daughter out to a play. While watching the play, he's faced with his own drinking evils and how his life would be without them.

Out-of-work, Tim steals a sandwich, then knocks out the policeman who chases him. He changes into the policeman's uniform, and is approached by a wife who needs help with her drunken husband.

A mother punishes her son for eating a plate of cream puffs, unaware that the daughter really did it. As the daughter watches the punishment, she feels guilty, and confesses her misdeed.

As Poe's lover is slowly dying, he struggles to make money to care for her.

An Indian village is forced to leave its land by white settlers, and must make a long and weary journey to find a new home. The settlers make one young Indian woman stay behind. This woman is thus separated from her sweetheart, whose elderly father needs his help on the journey ahead

"Fine feathers make fine birds", and handsome gowns make handsome women. Hence it is when Isabelle appears on the scene clad in a gown that is a masterpiece of the dressmaker's art she easily fascinates the male contingent, among whom is Enrico, the sweetheart of Veronica, a street singer. Enrico is so enraptured at the sight of Isabelle in her resplendent attire that he becomes her abject slave, casting aside the poor, peasant-clad little Italian street singer, who has loved him devotedly. Crushed almost beyond endurance the poor girl stands sobbing at the entrance of the park where the inconsistent lever left her. Her tears attract the attention of a wealthy young couple who happen to pass. In answer to their queries she tells them how contemptibly her sweetheart acted, and all because of the fascinating influence of a gown.

After three years at sea, Edward returns home to find his sweetheart forced into an engagement with a much older man.

Based on Shakespeare's play. Petruchio courts the bad-tempered Katharina, and tries to change her aggressive behavior.

Mr. and Mrs. Hilton throw a New Year's Eve party. They agree not to drink the punch themselves, but as guests begin to arrive their resolve weakens, and soon they are both cavorting drunkenly. Next morning Mr. Hilton, feeling very sick, is conscience-stricken over his drunkenness and his behavior with another woman. He fears to face his wife until he discovers that she feels just as guilty herself.

A disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters is courted by a blind man. Will he still love her when his sight is restored?

George Redfeather, the hero of this subject, returns from Carlisle, where he not only graduated with high honors, but was also the star of the college football team. At a reception given in his honor by Lieut. Penrose, an Indian agent, the civilized brave meets Gladys, the lieutenant's daughter, and falls desperately in love with her.

A royal woman rejects her arranged marriage. The cardinal hatches a plan: the suitor will shave and change clothes. He arranges with 4 clowns to stage an attack on the princess which he easily repels. It works; the princess falls for him, especially when the cardinal arranges his arrest.

Mr. Jones at the Ball is a 1908 American silent short comedy film, part of the once-popular Biograph series centered around the titular Jones and his long-suffering wife. In this film, Jones rips his suit pants and chaos ensues.

In desperation at her mother's illness and their need of money, a young girl determines to go into the underworld in quest of relief, but a woman of the world, touched by her innocence, stops her in time, rebukes the villainous libertine who is about to claim her, and leads the girl back to her home. The act of virtue is rewarded, and the girl obtains work and is about to wed an honorable young man, when the villain learns the fact and stops the wedding with a false accusation. But the worldly woman again comes to the rescue and with a revolver forces the extortionist to retract.

"A pathetic story of mother's grief. No more intense emotion can be imagined than a mother's grief for her dead child. and this Biograph subject beautifully portrays a story of maternal bereavement. It also shows the seemingly cruel workings of fate in taking from the earth the happy, well-cared for child while leaving the poor, ragged orphan to be starved and beaten by a couple of merciless wretches, into whose hands she has fallen." --Moving Picture World, Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 2nd, 1909).

On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.

A young couple must endure a tedious visit from their aunt until their friend offers to find a way to make her leave.

A man gets revenge on his cheating wife by killing her and her lover. He thinks he has killed his daughter as well, but she survives and is adopted by the sheriff. A few years later the man, now an outlaw, ambushes the sheriff and plans to kidnap and murder the sheriff's daughter.

Adaptation of a poem written by Thomas Hood.

A mountain girl is seduced by a traveler from the valley. Her brother tracks the seducer down and kills him. In retaliation, the sheriff captures the brother and prepares to lynch him. Mother intervenes and, to save her son the disgrace of hanging, shoots him.

Harry's jealous former mistress puts poison in some candy intended for his new fiancée. Harry discovers what she has done, and races to save his fiancée before she eats the candy.