The Gilded Spider

In 15th century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.

Divinity student John Fairmeadow likes his liquor and as a result is expelled from the seminary. He travels out West and lands in a camp where lumberman Batch has just died. He reads the funeral service and befriends the dead man's daughter Pattie.

An unscrupulous gambler is falsely accused of murder. To avoid capture, he disguises himself as a priest. But his priestly role causes a change in his life and he finds himself making unusual choices.

Although she is secretly in love with Wade Clayton, Laura Sheldon accedes to the wishes of her parents and marrries George Baring. Soon after, war breaks out between the North and South, and Clayton is made captain of the regiment. The entreaties of Laura prompt Baring to enlist against his will. Seized with fear during battle, Baring attempts to run away but is shot by a comrade and left for dead. At the finish of the war, Clayton returns home and relates how bravely Baring died in action. A few years later, Baring, who had been hiding in Cuba, returns.

A young disabled girl invites a poor family over for Christmas dinner.

Mary Brenton, daughter of wealthy Anthony Brenton, marries a man her father doesn't approve of, and they become estranged. When she tries to return home, her father refuses to let her in. Her daughter, Angele, disguises herself as a Belgian war refugee and her grandfather--not knowing who she really is--takes her into his house and, eventually, into his heart.

During a raging storm, a baby is washed up on shore on an island in Greece and is adopted by the wealthy Stanhopes, who name her Lorelei. Eighteen years later, Lorelei, now a woman, invites her school friends to spend their vacation at her villa. One of her guests, Julie, is insanely jealous of Lorelei. One day Gerald Waldron, a disenchanted society fop, sails by on his yacht, accompanied by his social-climbing friend, Hartley Royce. Seeing Lorelei and her friends swimming, they decide to go ashore. Both Gerald and Hartley fall in love with Lorelei, and Julie rages, finding herself relegated to Hartley. Together Hartley and Julie plot to separate the lovers.

In pre-Civil War days, a woman dies in childbirth. Her sister, believing the child to be illegitimate, leaves the baby in the care of one of her sister's slaves.

James Fairfax, editor of the scandalous Morning Argus, stops at nothing for a juicy story, much to the disdain of his staff—especially reporter Dolly Clare.

Wealthy Jack Stimson (Jay Belasco) falls in love with Broadway diva Velma Vrooman (Gretchen Lederer), and for her sake bankrolls the musical production in which she is currently starred. But when Velma proves to be fickle and unreliable, Jack shifts his affections to humble chorus girl Bobbie (Louise Lovely).

Although Kenneth Carmont and Esther Saunders, criminal Bert Saunders' sister, love each other, Esther marries detective Elwood Collins, who agrees to stop pursuing Bert if she accepts his proposal. One night, Kenneth and Esther hide Bert, who has escaped from the police. The same night, Kenneth's father is murdered. The evidence implicates Kenneth, who cannot supply his whereabouts at the time of the crime, as that would give away Bert. Esther cannot clear Kenneth for the same reason, and because it would let her husband know that she was with her former sweetheart.

Beverly Arnold is a secretary in the law firm of John Cumberland and Stephen Gray. Both men court her, but Beverly succumbs to the charms of Gray. With her help, he writes a bestselling novel which leads him to give up his law career. After their marriage, Beverly continues to aid Gray with his writing, bringing a touch to his work that makes him famous. Gray, however, in his conceit, becomes bored with his wife and divorces her for Hedda Kossiter, a vampirish artist. Beverly, freed from Gray, becomes a literary success in her own right. Gray, anxious to win her back, is dismayed to discover that her heart has turned to his former partner, John Cumberland.

Montgomery Seaton, one of the idle rich, pays more attention to his friends' business than to his marital situation.

Nita is the popular dancer in a French circus. The strong man, Max, is her guardian and lends her to an interested artist, James Blackthorne, who promises to educate her for three years, then return her to Max. Nita is in love with one of the performers, Pierre. After three years Max calls for her at the convent, but Nita is afraid of him and runs away. Blackthorne asks his fiancé to give her a home, but Nita overhears a conversation about herself and fears she is not wanted. When Pierre calls to take her back to the circus, she goes. Blackthorne misses her and starts out on a search. Max treats them both brutally, and is so jealous of Pierre that he lets him fall during an acrobatic feat. Pierre is injured, but recovers with Nita at his side. Blackthorne finds her and offers her a home again, but she says she will never leave Pierre. —Moving Picture World, November 25, 1922

Samson, an Israelite whose enormous strength is legendary, falls in love with Zorah, a Philistine, and marries her, overcoming his father Manoah's objections.

Crump's Colossal Combined Carnival Show barely survives financially by hiring thieves and pickpockets to rob customers. One day, clubman Jack Hamilton buys the circus when his car breaks down on his way to meet a deadline to avoid bankruptcy and he needs the circus tractor to haul his auto out of a ditch. Hamilton leads the circus to financial success and falls in love with Gypsy, the ticket-taker. To convince Jack to marry Gypsy, her supposed mother, fortune-teller Carlotta, says that she was kidnapped as a baby and shows Jack a photo in which he recognizes Gypsy's mother as the wife of Andrew Pomeroy, the financier who ruined him.

Texas Ranger William Sykes, nicknamed "Captain Bonfire," leads a posse in pursuit of Mexican bandits who have hijacked a gold shipment. The lawmen arrive at the Moreno ranch, where the gang leader, known as "the Vulture," has taken refuge with his gang. After convincing the rancher and his pretty daughter Guadalupe, that the Americans are anti-Mexican marauders, the outlaws make their escape. Guadalupe intends to kill William, but she soon realizes her mistake and falls in love with him.

The west is the stamping ground for Paul Temple and his thespian associates. He is talking with his sweetheart, Jane Dinsmore, as Alice Robinson, Jane's intimate friend, enters with a letter from an erstwhile associate, advising her to go to New York and accept a place in the chorus. A word from Temple, and Alice has made up her mind. She leaves for New York. Temple and Jane have been married some time and are living unhappily, apart from the old folks. The former's reputation as a heavy actor is wide, but drink has degraded him. Subsequently, Jane dies, due to Temple's abuse of her.

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.

An independent producer unwisely opens a can of worms after he decides to make a movie about the unsolved murder of a famous silent film director.

Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and celebrated for his horror films, becomes the subject of this documentary.

A promotional documentary short celebrating the 20th anniversary of Paramount Pictures, complete with a studio history, interviews with stars, and clips from upcoming films–some of which never came to fruition.

Buck Duane guns down the man who killed his father and flees from the law. He rescues a girl he once loved from outlaws, but the wife of outlaw chief has her own designs on him.

Molly Malone dances at a Coney Island sideshow to attract crowds. She loves Joe Holmquist, "The Human Submarine," as does Molly's mother Kate, the "Mystic Hindu Seeress." One day while Molly is dancing, her slipper hits the eye of an admirer who identifies himself as Chauncy Ewing. After arousing Joe's jealousy, Molly turns down Chauncy's proposal, because she still loves Joe, but when she sees Joe in a forced embrace with Kate, Molly elopes with Chauncy to his wealthy Aunt Henrietta's vacant Brooklyn home, planning to marry the next day.

The Riggs family, newly wealthy from Oklahoma oil, move to an estate in Ossining, New York, adjoining that of eligible bachelor Stephen Van Courtlandt, who wants to avoid marriage. Mrs. Riggs, anxious to break into society, wants her daughter Barbara to marry Stephen.

In this western, William Farnum plays yet another Zane Grey character. Duane Steele (Farnum) is a Texas Ranger who is determined to get the outlaws out of his part of the Lone Star state for good.

Young, introverted New York attorney Jimmie Pendleton is notoriously shy around women. Instead, he spends much of his time embarking on wild escapades with his friend, Herbert Austin. To fund these adventures, Jimmie frequently wires his eccentric Uncle Tobias in Kansabraska (a fictionalized Midwestern location) for emergency cash. Chaos ensues when Jimmie becomes engaged to Herbert’s sister, Mary. Following the engagement, Uncle Tobias unexpectedly arrives from the West. Jimmie is forced into a frantic, comical scramble to maintain appearances and conceal his true, wilder lifestyle—along with his careless spending habits—from his visiting uncle and his new in-laws.

A naive young lady comes to the big city but is unfortunately befriended by a couple who probably are up to no good. However, she is unaware of this and accepts their offer to help. Soon, and completely out of the blue, another crook accosts them--and the two men struggle until one of them is killed.