A Fool There Was

Myra Pendleton was sent away to be raised after her mother died in childbirth. Now that she's a young woman, her father wants her to return, but instead of simply welcoming her back, he pretends to be the Pendleton Family attorney, who presents her with a lovely home. But the house actually belongs to Kirk Waring (Warner Baxter), who has been abroad. Waring returns to find that he's been swindled out of both house and fortune.

Broad-minded rector Stephen Carey is ousted from his church by his vestrymen and befriends Claudia Bigelow, a young divorcée who defended his position in the church. Claudia's carelessness in leaving a cigarette burning causes Jimsy, the housekeeper's son, to go blind. Stephen's prayers restore the boy's sight, and a happy future is predicted for all.

Kathleen, the daughter of a poor tenant farmer, dreams of her wedding with her beloved Terrence. The dream is interrupted when the Squire of the estate takes an interest in Kathleen and forces her father to allow him to marry her to forgive the father's debt.

Fedora, a beautiful and elegant woman of Russian society, travels to Paris in search of her fiance's murderer.

Fernande marries a man and schemes to get his wealth when his expected death occurs. But he dies before he can change his will. She next tries to kill the son who inherits, but he outfoxes her.

In order to protect Grant Demarest from a siren named Margot, Stuart Ames attempts to disillusion him about the girl. Margot threatens to kill herself; Grant reaches for the gun and is accidentally shot. Blaming himself for his friend's death, Stuart books passage on a liner, where he meets Rene, the daughter of a dishonest dealer in gems. They are shipwrecked, and Rene returns to the United States, becoming the guest of Margot, her childhood friend. Rene is later lured to a wilderness cabin by Dysart (an accomplice of Rene's father who is disguised as a count); he attempts to assault her, and Ames, who has followed them, knocks him over a cliff. Ames and Rene make plans to be married.

Italian peasant girl deserts her fiancé for wealthy gangster and departs for America.

"Mismates" is the story of a wealthy youth who, against his mother's wishes, marries a poor girl and is disowned. At first determined to support himself and his wife, he soon craves the accustomed luxury and deserts his wife and child. On false information provided by the boy's mother and substantiated by himself the wife is sent to jail and the child kidnapped by the husband. This is where the drama kicks in.

Wealthy young American Carrington O'Connell is traveling Europe with a "social advisor" to become more polished and sophisticated. While stopping at an inn in Switzerland, he is entranced by pretty young Adrienne Le Blanc, whose parents own the inn and in which she entertains travelers. Adrienne falls for him, but his "advisor" warns him against such a socially "unacceptable" relationship, and he reluctantly leaves. Adrienne soon gets a contract with a theatrical agent for appearances at a musical hall in America, where she happens to meet Carrington's wealthy father Michael. Complications ensue.

The marriage of Jim and Esther spirals downhill rapidly when Esther purchases a sable coat for herself. Hoping to live up to her expensive accessory, Esther soon is keeping company with caddish Morrell. Jim brings his wife's galavanting to an abrupt end by committing suicide. Esther as an object lesson for young Alice Kendall, returns the fur coat that she's bought on impulse.

As described in a film magazine, determined that her son Francesco (Verdi) will have every advantage of a successful reign when he grows to manhood, Duchess Gismonda refuses all offers of marriage. A sudden danger to her son prompts her to offer her kingdom to the man who rescues the child. Almerio (Foote) braves the dangers of the lion's den to save the child, but because he is a slave the Duchess refuses to fulfill her vow. Gradually, she learns to love him, and after he assumes the guilt for a murder that she committed, Gismonda confesses to the crime and in the presence of her people makes Almerio her consort.

When she goes to tell her husband Hubert that she is expecting a child, Caroline Knollys finds him in the arms of another woman. Caroline leaves him and, not telling him of her pregnancy, runs off to Europe where she has her child and becomes the toast of European society. Then she returns to settle with her husband once and for all.

Lass and her six little puppies are lying near the kennel upon the suburban estate of Mr. Jameson, the wealthy New York broker. Mrs. Jameson, his wife, is walking about the estate accompanied by her six months' old baby and its nurse. She stops and speaks kindly to Lass and her little family. Picking up one of the little dogs, she playfully puts it in the carriage with the baby and petting the little animal, returns it to its mother. She continues upon her walk. This same little puppy strays away from its little brothers and sisters and reaching the railroad tracks, it wanders into the next village, where it is met by a crowd of youngsters that are gathered about the station. They playfully abuse the little animal.

This picture is based on the same story that became D.W. Griffith's Orphans of the Storm in 1921. This version, made by the Fox Studios, stars famous "vamp" actress Theda Bara in the role that Lillian Gish later made famous

Sincere but struggling sculptor Tommasso (Caruso--bushy moustache, gawky) works in an ornamental plaster shop, but his masterpiece on the side is a bust of his cousin Caroli (Caruso--no moustache, polished), who is the Metropolitan Opera's leading tenor. Tommasso hopes to marry his model Rosa, but her father, restaurant owner Pietro, wants her to find someone more settled and money-conscious, such as the greengrocer Lombardi down the street. Tommasso, he says, throws away his money, such as for a pair of tickets to take Rosa to the opera to see his famed cousin. After the opera, the cousins cross paths in the swanky Galeotto's restaurant, but when neither recognizes the other, Tommasso is generally mocked and Rosa believes him a liar and unworthy. Tommasso must recover his reputation and make a sale, preferably the Caroli bust to his cousin, in order to win Rosa back.

In this lost film, Theda Bara took the role of spoiled, deceiving nymphomaniac "vixen" Elsie Drummond. She wooed Wall Street businessman Martin Stevens (A. H. Van Buren) away from his interest in her sweet sister Helen (Mary G. Martin). She continued to seek after rich men, eventually marrying young statesman Knowles Murray (Herbert Heyes) (again stolen from Helen) - but still willing to be unfaithful with Stevens who had since regained his fortune. (filmsite.org)

Hilda and Berta Nordstrom, although identical in appearance, are opposites in temperament. Berta weds naval engineer Robert Hallowell, deserts him in Europe, and travels to the Orient in search of the gay life where she becomes a notorious courtesan known as The Yellow Typhoon.

Faced with the tragic responsibility of choosing between the happiness of her 16-year-old daughter Pamela or saving the life of an innocent man, Marie Baudin's first impulse is to sacrifice all for her own. But she has second thoughts that bring complications to all.

Helen Corning, a rich "Yankee" widow's daughter, antagonizes her Southern neighbors when she speeds in her roadster. After she causes Brett Page's stalled Ford to overturn, Helen rams Judge Carroll's wagon, upsetting his eggs which fly into his whiskers. Furious, the Judge sends Helen to jail for thirty days. Brett, taking advantage of the town's ancient law that allows townspeople to hire prisoners for twenty cents per day, takes the uncooperative Helen into his home to cook and clean.

Society girl Rosalind Chalmers misses the last ferry to the Thousand Islands and is taken over in the decrepit motorboat of One-Cylinder Sam, who is really William Kellogg, heir to the Davidson millions trying to raise money for an expensive vase of his uncle’s that he broke. On the journey they break down and much to his surprise Rosalind, who’s hobby is engines, fixes theirs. Once landed the pair are off on a series of adventures with Rosalind mistakenly assuming “Sam” is a burglar until all is explained by which time they are in love.

In the sordid shirt factory in which she works, Sadie Hicks dreams of the great outdoors. Surrounded by men of puny minds and flabby bodies, her fancy goes out to great manhood that is strong of mind and muscle. Translated in the language of the shirt factory life she knows best, she finds that she admires a man with a 44 chest. She sees a shipment of 44s all ready to be sent to Arizona, and she writes a little note and tucks it into one of the shirts. On account of a rush order, the box is sent to Canada and the shirt with Sadie's note reaches John Stoddard, a wealthy civil engineer, who prefers the life of the woods to the polite society enjoyed by his family and friends.

Young playwright Harold Montague travels to the Kentucky mountains to seek the local color that his manager has complained is lacking in his new play. There he falls in love with Kate Kendall, a mountain girl, and tries to befriend a group of moonshiners, who regard him with suspicion because of their fear of revenue officers.

The true story of the life of the movies first femme-fatale, Theda Bara, who made over 40 films, only a handful of which survive. Born in America, her film producers insisted she was an exotic foreigner, born in Egypt. Her most famous film was "Cleopatra" (Fox, 1917).

Lolette an exotic and spirited peasant girl lives In the small Spanish village of Juanguera . Although ardently courted by the native swains, and particularly a bandit called The Tiger, Lolette prefers Maurice Tabor, a French artist who has come to Juanguera to paint. Because he refuses to take her to Paris, Lolette accepts a gift of stolen jewels from The Tiger and follows Maurice to France.

An unprecedented anthology of never-before-told true stories by and about some of Hollywood's most interesting stars, legends, and wannabes, and takes readers inside Hollywood's inner sanctum to show how casting decisions are made, who makes them, and who has the final word.

Proud old Major Neal disowns his only child, a beautiful girl, because he considers her marriage a misalliance. Years pass. The old major becomes a recluse feared by all. One morning, a hamper is found beneath the Major's covered driveway.The hamper contains a baby girl.