Marion Leonard

A nostalgic look at film clips from the Silent era.

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.

The husband of the young woman is shot by a rejected suitor and she is left with an infant boy, who is to be spared until he reaches man's estate. Standing over the dead body of her husband she vows vengeance.

In a quaint fishing village Bill and Mary are childhood sweethearts. Ten years roll by, and the boy, now a young man, gives the girl a ring and they now renew their vows. They are both very happy until fate interferes. Bill, while strolling on the shore, espies a raft with an object on it that looks like a human being, far out at sea. He swims to the raft and finds an exhausted fisherman lying prone upon it. Pushing the raft to the shore, he, with the aid of others, revives the stranger. Joe is the stranger's name and he and Bill become staunch friends. Mary becomes smitten with Joe and cruelly casts Bill aside.

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.

A little girl and her father are among the settlers in a small western town. The father is very friendly with the neighboring Indian tribe and is presented with a quaint piece of metal representing a dragon's claw, the tribe's good luck omen. Some time later, while traveling with his daughter, he is held up by a band of bandits and shot dead. A bandit takes from him this dragon's claw. Years pass. The little girl has grown into a beautiful young lady. She marries. Their love is very real and their life most happy. He decides to go out west to see a mine that yields the richest gold and his wife expresses a desire to go along with him. The mine is christened "The Dragon's Claw," because of an Indian charm the man owns. While out on a western desert, he shows the dragon's claw to his wife. She then recognizes it as the kind her father possessed when he was killed. She has understood it to be the only one of its kind. She now believes it is her husband who killed her father.

A young girl living in Salem attracts the attentions of The Puritan. After he's brushed off by the girl, he becomes furious and desiring revenge, declares to a council of elders that the girl and her mother are witches.

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.

A Feudal Lord and his bride were visited by their cousin at a time when this Lord was presenting to his bride the family heirloom the Great Ruby of Irskaat. The cousin coveted it, and was determined to secure it. The Lord receives a call to arms and appreciating the danger of leaving this valuable jewel unguarded, buries it in a secluded part of the grounds. His soldiers now assembled, he departs, leaving his wife to the care of his trusted servants. No sooner had he left than the cousin returns with the subterfuge that he will stay at the palace guarding the wife until the Lord's return. This the wife appreciates, believing his tender well meant. Surreptitiously he rids the palace of the servants, placing his own in their stead; The poor woman is now in the absolute power of this despicable villain.

Sarah Leeson, a servant who hides a confession on her deathbed at Porthgenna Tower regarding the true, illegitimate parentage of her child, Rosamond. Rosamond is raised as the legitimate daughter of Mrs. Treverton but is the daughter of Sarah Leeson and a local miner. Years later, a grown-up Rosamond marries the blind owner of the tower, Leonard Frankland. Sarah, having previously served as a nurse, warns Rosamond to avoid the room containing the hidden confession. Rosamond discovers the paper, revealing her true parentage and illegitimacy to herself and her husband, who decides to reject the inheritance.

In the heart of the American west, a miner toils day after day at his rocker box while his young daughter keeps his camp. His daughter persuades him to return to civilization, where they may enjoy the fruits of their labor. Both are happy in the anticipation of what seems a bright future. While she's away, a desert wanderer appears at the camp, and at the sight of the old man weighing his gold is seized with cupidity. He himself had toiled long in the wilds, but with no success, so he demands that the old man divide his gains with him. This, of course, the miner decries, and the wanderer uses force to obtain the old man's gold. The wanderer collapses in the desert, only to be rescued by a certain young woman: the miner's daughter.

A newspaper woman buys a statuette from an Italian peddler and is given her change in counterfeit bills. Throught the peddler, she tracks down the counterfeiters.

Two sisters, Nellie and Florence, support themselves and their mother by sewing. A man accompanying a wealthy client tempts first Nellie and then Florence to leave with him. Nellie rejects him, but Florence goes to his decadent apartment and becomes his mistress. Nellie marries a diligent carpenter and raises a growing family. Eventually the Tempter tosses Florence out, and she dies alone and impoverished.

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.

The princess was an earnest, down-to-earth girl who despised royal pomp and embodied the struggles of common humanity. Yet, she was condemned to a political marriage with a lifeless aristocrat whose extreme "blue blood" guaranteed her nothing but misery.

The girl decided after what happened at the garden party that she did not want his love any longer, but could not live without it. She decided to leave this world. Her unexpected caller had something to say about that. He did not have to read "Sarah Hardcrab's Advice to the Lovelorn" to know what to do. Being a very human and sensible person, he brought two young people together in his own original way.

A 1913 short directed by Stanner E.V Taylor and starring Marion Leonard.

A peasant family comprising the father, mother and little boy child are happy in their own sphere until one day several courtiers of a hunting party stopped at the humble home for refreshments. The men are particularly struck with the beauty of the young wife, and as their Duke is in the depths of boredom they suggest carrying her off to court. However, they think it best to first consult the Duke, who in the extreme of ennui, is most agreeable to the plans. Hence, the poor wife is torn from her husband and child and taken to court to be made a lady by the Duke.

Mabel, a young woman living in a large mansion, is courted by Tom Darrell, a neighbour of the same class. Meanwhile, Ruth, Mabel’s laundress, is courted by the equally lowly Steve. Ruth and Steve watch the wealthy couple’s courtship enviously. Both couples marry; the Darrells have a daughter, and Ruth and Steve a son and daughter. Tom tires of Mabel and his daughter, and runs away with another woman. Later, Mabel’s little girl is stricken with diphtheria and dies, despite her mother’s offering the doctor all her wealth if he can cure her. Meanwhile, Ruth and Steve’s children remain healthy, and their domestic happiness prevents their persisting envy of Mabel’s wealth from embittering them.

Mrs. Despard, a butterfly of society, finding herself widowed and without means, sends her little daughter Lena, to live with fisher folk in a seacoast town, while she seeks ways and means to continue the life of luxury and ease she has become accustomed to. With the aid of a young adventuress, she conducts a gambling house for the sons of the wealthy, and prosperity smiles upon her until her partner after a severe quarrel leaves her. Unfortunately, the partner, young and attractive, starts a rival gambling house and the scions of the wealthy soon become conspicuous by their absence. Desperate, the widow seeks other means of attracting the men, and lighting upon a letter and photograph of her daughter, decides upon bringing her to the city and make her the magnet that will draw the trade to the gambling tables.

The evils of drink cause a man to separate from his family. In time he becomes sober and prosperous. Then he meets and falls in love with a young woman, and they become engaged. Unbeknownst to him this young woman is his own daughter.

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.

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.

An anonymous donor drops a gold coin in the shoe of a homeless girl as she sleeps. A gambler with a 'sure thing' borrows the coin and wins a fortune, but he can't find her again to repay her.

A gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home.

William is drawn to Edward's wife, Helen. Sensing his feelings might lead him into an affair, he decides to go away. As he says goodbye to Helen, Edward spies from behind a curtain. Soon afterwards Edward shoots himself, believing Helen can be happier with William. When William returns to convince Helen to become his wife, she refuses, blaming herself for Edward's suicide.

A court fool believes the Duke is after his beautiful daughter, and arranges to have the Duke murdered. The daughter overhears the plot and, disguised in the Duke's cloak, sacrifices her life to save him.

A woman in love with an unsuccessful author tries to convince a publisher to accept his work.

Soon after their engagement, Bill goes to sea, and Emily vows to stay true until his return. Unknown to her, Bill marries another woman from a different port. Emily waits faithfully for six years, finally becoming dangerously ill. When Bill suddenly appears in town with his family, Joe, who has loved Emily all along, forces Bill to make Emily's final moments happy by pretending he has returned to marry her.

A short version of James Fenimore Cooper's famous tale about Natty Bumppo, or "Hawkeye," and his exploits during the French and Indian war.

A woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.

An honest worker, John Whitney, finds himself unemployed and unable to provide for his family. Desperate, he robs a rich man's home and is arrested. One of the police officers is an old friend and accompanies Whitney home to allow a farewell with his wife. Humiliated, Whitney decides to kill himself and his family. The rich man learns of his desperate situation and arrives in time to save the family and drops the charges.

"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.

Hidalgo offers his daughter's hand in marriage when he can't repay a loan to Manuella. But when Manuella overhears the daughter bidding farewell to her lover, he is so moved by their devotion that he cancels the debt.

Sisters guarding their house from a burglar set upon stealing their daddy's money.

Mons. Flamant, a typical roué of the French nobility, is surrounded by all the pleasures and pastimes his fabulous wealth can procure. In a quest of diversion he visits the art rooms, just as a young girl enters with a magnificent piece of sculpture and places it on sale. The roué is so impressed with the work and the girl that he purchases it at once and follows her to the atelier, where he learns that she is the maid of the sculptress, whom he sees and at once falls passionately in love with her, but when he learns that she is totally blind, his feelings change to one of deepest pity.

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.

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.

In the lonely wilds of Southern California there stands a rural tavern, kept by an old trapper, who had been widowed years ago; his wife leaving him a most precious legacy in the being of a pretty daughter.

A Duke's daughter is loved by a gallant knight, but her father wants her to marry another. With the help of his friends, the knight hatches an elaborate scheme to marry his sweetheart.

D.W. Griffith film about an elderly father who grows tired of seeing his son bring home beautiful women so he gets a makeover and heads out on the prowl.

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.

During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, Catholic worship is forbidden on pain of death. Three soldiers are arrested as Catholics and condemned to die. Cromwell decides to spare two of them and to determine which should die by chance. The guards bring the first child they meet. Whichever soldier she gives the 'death disc' to shall die. Cromwell is charmed by the girl and gives her his signet ring. By chance the child is the daughter of one of the soldiers and gives the death disc to her father, because she thinks it's pretty. The child is returned home to her mother, who learns of her husband's pending execution and of the power of the ring. She rushes to the place of execution and saves her husband by producing the ring.

At the Italian boarding house the male boarders were all smitten with the charms of Minnie, the landlady's pretty daughter, but she was of a poetic turn of mind and her soul soared above plebeianism and her aspirations were romantic. Most persistent among her suitors was Grigo, a coarse Sicilian, whose advances were odiously repulsive. The arrival at the boarding house from the old country of Giuseppe Cassella, the violinist, filled the void in her yearning heart. Romantic, poetic and a talented musician, Giuseppe was indeed a desirable husband for Minnie.

The amateur dramatic society chooses the Joneses' residence as the location of its next meeting, and both Joneses catch 'the acting bug' in this split-reel subject.

A disfigured violinist mistakes a token of appreciation for a love bouquet. When he realizes his mistake, he loses his mind.

The children of a household attempt to capture Santa, but they catch something else entirely.

An Indian comforts a dying prospector in his last moments. In exchange, the prospector tells him the location of his gold claim. A group of cowboys tries to get the information and go as far as kidnapping the Indian's wife.

A husband suspects his wife of an affair. The wife's cousin borrows a shawl to meet her lover in the garden. The husband spies the couple embracing, and, thinking it's his wife, he strikes the lover. The thought that he has killed a man temporarily unhinges the husband's mind until he can be convinced that the lover is still alive.

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.

A new bride has made a batch of biscuits. Her husband pretends to like them, so she delivers the rest to his office. But one bite of these biscuits makes you violently ill, and soon all his visitors (he runs a theatrical booking agency), plus the workmen at home, are ill; when she shows up at the office, they all go after her.

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

A group of collegiates decide to go for a splash. A lunatic, having escaped from a nearby asylum, heads for the surf, brandishing a knife. Innocent seaside fun becomes a struggle against a maniac on the water.

A shoe-factory worker puts a note in a shoe box offering to marry the lucky buyer. As a result, she is dismissed from her job, but her employer finds her so attractive that he suggests a new job for her, as his wife.

At the Crossroads of Life is a typically Victorian-style melodrama in which a girl's wishes to be an actress are condemned by her stern father, a man of the cloth who has no time for those in the acting profession.

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.

Fanny is the wife of Ben Webster, a trapper, and while he is an affectionate and dutiful husband, she yearns for something which appears better than her lot. She reasons: "Have I not youth and beauty and attainments far above this environment? Why should I be compelled to toil and struggle in this wilderness?"

A gang of lawless freebooters who terrorized the country and made travel in the mountains a hazardous pastime hold up a stylish landau in which are seated an old gentleman, a duenna, and a pretty young Senora. The inevitable happens; all are relieved of their valuables, and while the gentleman and duenna are sent on their way, the girl is held a prisoner.

Millionaire Edward Ross fakes bankruptcy during a dinner party to test his fawning friends, who immediately abandon him. Disillusioned, he leaves his wealthy life to work as a factory porter and find true friendship among the working class. When a factory overseer insults a worker named Jennie, Edward defends her by knocking the man down, sparking a close bond between them. Edward later falls severely ill and penniless, prompting Jennie to secretly sell her beautiful blonde hair to buy him food and medicine. Touched by her profound sacrifice, Edward recovers, reveals his true wealth, and marries her, bringing her into his world of luxury.

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.