Owen Moore

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.

Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.

A nostalgic look at film clips from the Silent era.

Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her idol Norman Maine, is sent for a screen test, and before long attains stardom as newly minted Vicki Lester. She and Norman marry, though his career soon dwindles to nothing due to his chronic alcoholism.

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more male friends than can be imagined. One is a vicious escaped criminal on the way to see 'his' girl, unaware she hasn't exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader.

Bar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.

Alice Kendall is the darling of her social set, the sons and daughters of millionaires, although Alice's mother has impoverished herself to provide Alice with the luxuries she expects as her right. Mom blows what's left of her fortune to provide the best trousseau that money can buy when Alice marries Fred Garlan, and then wishes Fred lots of luck. Now, Alice is trying to coax Fred into buying her a new sable coat while Fred is busily trying to borrow enough money to keep his business afloat.

Stout Hearts and Willing Hands is a 1931 short comedy film directed by Bryan Foy. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1932 for Best Short Subject (Comedy), but was disqualified.

Rebecca (Sally O'Neil) is a salesgirl who gets a chance at a Broadway show; there, she attracts and is ultimately rejected by a society playboy.

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Richard Boyd, a wealthy idler who has inherited the Boyd Shipping Company, decides to prove himself to his fiancée, Pauline. A fleet of ships on which the company has an option is coveted by Oriental merchant-tycoon J. Young. Aided by Andrew Dunn, general manager of the Boyd concern, Young has Boyd and Pauline shanghaied; and Sam, his Negro valet, follows. Following a spectacular shipwreck, the couple are rescued; there is a race between a hydroplane and a motorboat; but after a series of exploits in Young's stronghold, Richard, aided by Sam, gets the ships and the girl.

Two thieves, the Blackbird and West End Bertie, fall for the same girl, a French nightclub performer named Fifi. Each man tries to outdo the other to win her heart.

Three New York Irish brothers cross paths as policeman, doctor and bootlegger.

Gilda is a crook who wants to go straight, but her pals keep holding her back. She moves to Hollywood to begin anew but the old gang follows behind. Can she stop them from ruining her new life?

Blanche will inherit her aunt's large estate, providing that she gets married within 24 hours. She chooses to wed John, an old man living at a rest home who is not expected to live much longer.

Cal Thurman, a timid fellow, thinking that the woman he is to meet at the train station is an old maid, avoids her when he finds that she is a pretty young woman who flirts with the cowboys. He finally uses rough methods to win her love and, after through flames in a forest fire, succeeds in winning her. A lost film.

Torment is a 1924 American silent film crime drama produced and directed by Maurice Tourneur and distributed by Associated First National. This film stars Bessie Love, Owen Moore, and Jean Hersholt.

Anthony Churchill, about to marry Helen Griggs, is on six months' probation imposed upon him by Helen's father, who knows Anthony has been wild in his earlier days. Marion, a forgotten flame, turns up with incriminating love letters which Anthony has written and threatens a breach of promise suit.

A busload of passengers gets stranded in a snowstorm and take refuge in an abandoned church, where they run into a mysterious man who may be on the run from the law.

Steve Perkins decides to borrow Winnie, the newly acquired wife of his roommate Percival, in order to meet his Aunt Sarah's wishes and receive his inheritance sooner. The aunt is so impressed with Winifred that she leaves the money in the name of the framed-up wife. Aunty, however, runs into Winifred and her real husband Percy together and becomes suspicious.

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Frank Andrews is a successful businessman. He has always found pride and joy in the company of his wife, son and daughter. He suddenly finds himself enthralled by the advances of a gay young woman siren, who lives in the same apartment house as he does. So marked an influence does she have over him as time progresses that at last he quite forgets his home ties, neglects his family, and goes the way of many other men who have forgotten the meaning of paternity and blood ties. The story is advanced through many scenes enacted with the accompanying notes of New York's night life, and the denouement comes when the faithful wife discovers her husband's infidelity. At this time the mother's mind nearly loses balance, while Jane, the beautiful daughter, crazed by the grief of her mother, determines to take part in the tragedy. With revolver in hand she steals up to the apartment of the woman, but her frail nature is overcome by the temperamental anger of the woman and her mission fails.

Rolling Stones is a 1916 American drama silent film directed by Dell Henderson.

A lost film. George Dupont, a young farmer, is living with his parents on the farm, while his sweetheart, Sadie Allen, resides on an adjoining farm. George finds rural life irksome and is satisfied that he has talent as an artist. He enters a school of art. Unfortunately, a year passes and his money is exhausted, so the instructor tells him he has no talent, and dismissed him from the school. George tries to write home of his failure, but his nerve fails him. Meanwhile those at home have been waiting in vain for a letter, so Sadie resolves to go to the city and look him up.

Susan, a pretty society girl, bored with her lot in life, reads and decides to use her time and money to help the poor. She founds the Joan of Arc Mission and quickly becomes an easy mark for con men.

Good-hearted Cinderella is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, but she is able to go to the Royal Ball with the help of the Fairy Godmother. Based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale, and featuring unforgettable chemistry between Pickford and then-husband Owen Moore as Prince Charming.

Nell Gwyn and King Charles II fall in love after meeting at a fox hunt. Nell soon learns the jealous Duchess of Portsmouth is a spy and conspiring with the Duke of Buckingham to place Charles at the mercy of the King of France. Nell boldly disguises herself as a fashionable young blade and wins the confidence of the Duchess. Now entrusted with the delivery of important documents, she makes sure they go to the King of England rather than the King of France.

After the death of her father, Betty Lockwood goes to Graystone Gables, the estate where he had been the caretaker, to spend some time alone there. She meets David Chandler, Graystone's owner, who is attracted to her and tells her to come back whenever she wants to. Betty's mother soon remarries, but her new stepfather is not the same kind of man that her father was

A woman returning from a trip to Paris must help U.S. customs inspectors find a valuable necklace suspected to be in the possession of a fellow traveler. The film is presumed lost.

A rejected suitor rebuffs the woman he loves after the death of her husband.

A lost film. A wealthy young man's marriage to a mountain girl he meets while hunting is disastrous until she abandons him and later reappears incognito as a tutored and sophisticated woman.

A loutish husband neglects his patient, loving wife to enjoy a night on the town. When he comes home drunk and irritable, he mistreats her. Then he falls asleep, and has a dream that causes him to reconsider the way that he treats his wife.

Young Frederica Calhoun, naïve to the ways of the world, having grown up on her father’s Montana ranch, is swept off her feet by the arrival of Lord Cecil Grosvenor, a prospective buyer. He opens her eyes to a hitherto undreamed-of world of refinement and he by her unfailing sweet disposition and sunny bubbling good spirits. They are soon engaged, but during a trip to New York to visit his sister Frederica begins to let her doubts get the better of her and disguising herself as a man follows him to the French Ball, but all turns out well in the end.

A lost film. Mary has been invited by friends to officiate at a charity bazaar as the fortune teller. Her brother invites his artist friend Jack to pay them a visit. On the way home the auto breaks down and Mary in her gypsy costume decides to walk on. Jack arriving by train also decides to walk. On the way he spies a gypsy camp. Further on he encounters Mary, who has hurt her ankle. He is smitten by her beauty and asks her if she belongs to the gypsy camp he has just seen. She says no and escapes, dropping a side comb. He picks it up and decides to find her again. He comes to the house and meets the family, including Mary, but does not recognize her in her ordinary clothes.

Justina Howland lives in Mexico near the U.S. border with her uncle Miguel and his son, Luis Alvarez. The uncle plans to have Justina marry Luis in order to get the money which she will inherit. Matters come to a climax when Miguel sends for a priest and announces the marriage will take place at once. Justina escapes on the mule that brought the padre to marry her and crosses the border, where she is given shelter by the soldiers under command of Lieutenant Morton.

Two sisters want to know whether there is romance in their future. One sister pulls the petals off of a flower, while the other has her fortune told by a gypsy. When the gypsy tells the fortune so as to serve his own purposes, complications soon develop.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

A son leaves to seek his fortune in the city. Many years later he returns and checks into his parents' inn. They don't recognize him, but noticing his fat wallet, plan to rob him.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Harry leaves his new wife at home while he goes out to play poker. Angry, his wife fakes evidence that she has had a male caller while he was gone.

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 man leaves his wife and two daughters for work in a carpentry shop. At work, he initially refuses a beer with lunch, then gives in. After work, two friends take a little while to convince him to go for a refreshing malt beverage, then to have another and another....

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

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.

"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.

Two boys, twins, leave the old homestead to seek their fortune in the world. They go divergent roads, and are soon widely separated one from the other, but they grow lonesome and try to find each other's whereabouts, without success. We lose sight of Bill and Dick is seen up against it good and hard. For him the future looks like a chalk ring on a blackboard, until he happens to saunter along the Bowery, where the manager of a dime museum offers him a job to play the gorilla. It looks good so he accepts. It is pretty sort until the astute impresario decides to pull off an innovation: that is, a gorilla and lion in the same cage. Of course Dick objects most strenuously to this arrangement, but his objections are quailed with a treacherous looking run, so he is forced to share the same menagerie hallroom with the lion.

Mrs. Kendrick borrows a jeweled necklace from a friend for an important social event. The necklace is stolen, and Mr. Kendrick goes into debt to replace it. The thief discovers it's costume jewelry, but the Kendricks never learns the truth; Husband and wife struggle for years to pay off the huge debt.

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 bored Lady Helen goes slumming as a domestic in a boarding house. There she falls in love with a sensitive young musician. The other women in the house are jealous, and accuse her of trying to steal the musician's violin. Lady Helen retreats to her own home, and arranges a position for the musician which allows them to be together.

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