Threads of Fate

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.

Claire Tree spends the night in the hotel room of her friend and confidante, saying goodbye to him before her impending marriage the following day. When she returns to the hotel with her husband the following night, the house detective accuses her of prostitution and throws them out. Now Claire must explain everything to her unsympathetic husband.

A traitor is lurking somewhere aboard the USS Carolina, and Lt. Tom Randolph is determined to find the offender. First a revolutionary new piece of technology -- an electric firing device -- is sabotaged. Then one of the cruiser's crew is murdered. In order to catch the killer, the captain locks down the ship. With foreign dignitaries, corporate goons and even Tom's girlfriend, Betty, trapped on the vessel, there is no shortage of suspects.

Eddie Ellison is an ex-con who spent time in Sing-Sing prison. Kay marries him as soon as he serves his time. Five years later, Eddie and his ex-convict buddy Larry, have both gone straight, and Eddie and Kay have a beautiful little girl named Shirley. However, Welch has kept a close eye on them for years. He believes in "once a criminal, always a criminal." Then, when Eddie's employer's wife's pearls go missing, it comes out that Eddie and Larry both spent time in prison, and they're fired. Welch suspects that Eddie and Larry have something to do with the theft of the pearls. Will Welch prove that Eddie and Larry had something to do with the theft, or will the truth prevail?

Helen offers herself in marriage to the winner of a poker game in order to obtain money to replace what her brother has stolen. Antonio, a half-breed, is the winner, but Helen is saved from fulfilling her bet by Bruce Devereux when he doubles the stakes and wins the girl. She marries Bruce but leaves for New York when she finds the marriage to be a fake one. There she marries her previous music teacher, but he proves to be faithless, leaving her with a small son. Bruce returns and assures her he had not arranged for a fake marriage. Her present husband, not able to cope with the pressures of his many affairs, kills himself, leaving Helen free to remarry Bruce.

Stranded in the small town of Buckeye Junction young actress Madge Joy crawls upon a load of hay and falls asleep. Knocked unconscious when young farmer Robert Deep hitches up the wagon not realizing she’s inside she awakes in the Deep living room. "Ma" Deep takes to her at once, but old “Pa” Deep looks at her sternly. Claiming to be a runaway orphan rather than an actress she becomes a member of the family. Falling for Madge Robert confesses he dreams of being a playwright, that night his sister Susan, who has run away to be an actress, reappears. Pa Deep is furious when he finds out his daughter has been on the stage, but Madge reveals that she is herself an actress threatening to go away with Robert unless he makes up with his daughter. Eventually Madge finds fame in New York with Robert following with a play he knows is right.

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.

In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society.

After leaving Sing Sing for serving time for theft, The Boy drifts into a small Pennsylvania town and falls in love with Marie, an innocent local girl. The Boy leaves for New York, first obtaining Marie's promise to follow him in a week to become his wife. The Boy runs into some of his former associates in crime, however, and they hold him prisoner until they can pull off a big job. Meanwhile, Marie arrives in the city, and there is no one to meet her. Ashamed to return home, Marie supports herself by prostitution until she is reformed by a kindly priest, who, unknown to her, is also attempting to help The Boy, who has become a dope fiend. The Boy and Marie finally meet and are reconciled. The priest then sends for her parents, and Marie and The Boy are married.

After young Ruth Bowman's mother dies, the child is raised by Agatha Pixley, and in time, the girl falls in love with Agatha's son, Eric. While Eric is at sea with Captain Scudder on a boat owned by Jim and Hiram Hawley, a jealous villager spreads the tale that Ruth is illegitimate, and the townspeople inevitably snub her. Jim Hiram sets his boat on fire after its arrival in port so that he can collect insurance money, and Ruth, believing that Eric is on board, tries to rescue him. When Ruth and Eric escape safely, Captain Scudder reveals that he, Ruth's long-lost father, was legally married to her mother, which re-establishes Ruth's good name and enables her to marry Eric.

June, a young orphan, is befriended by Perry Bascom when he shares his lunch with her on the road to Rising Sun. They soon fall in love and marry, only to find out that a woman in Perry's past has come to town to make trouble. Teaming up with the local political bully, the schemers set out to make Perry's life miserable, but June sticks by her husband to the end.

Frank Mayne, a well-known artist, who had served a twenty-year sentence for a murder he did not commit, returns unexpectedly to his studio, where an amazing scene confronts him.

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...

A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless" spirit for being unloved. A heavenly power gives him a month on Earth to find one person to shed a tear for him before his fate is sealed.

George Anderson, a struggling author, works in the daytime as a clerk in the office of Emmet Standish, the publisher, and at night writes on his novel, "The Mortal Sin."

Helene Blair is the wife of a prominent businessman who neglects to give her much attention. He is thoroughly engrossed in business affairs. A day comes when she meets Duke Tremaine, clubman, man-about-town, and social parasite. And taking advantage of her husband's absence he attempts to assert his personality upon her impressionable heart. The result is society starts to gossip with the husband the last to learn of the affair. He loses faith in his wife for a time, but she shows herself eventually as completely misunderstood. After a brief separation Blair learns that Helene is above reproach. So a reconciliation takes place, but not until the trespasser is punished.

In the desolated wilds is a Trading Post, to which Oliver Thornton went to seek obscurity after being falsely convicted of a crime in the States. Fate brought him a wife, a girl from the wilds, and soon a child, and all was happy until his prison record became known to a villainous trapper who used this information to turn Thorton's wife against him. A lost film.

Echo, the orphaned "flower of no man's land," has been raised by an Indian foster father, Kahoma. Then, when opera singer Roy Talbot goes West to recover his health, Echo falls instantly in love and forgets all about Big Bill, her cowboy sweetheart. Roy marries Echo and takes her back East, but soon after returning to his adoring public, he loses all interest in her. Finally, Echo leaves Roy and goes back to the wilderness, where she discovers that Roy had already been married when they met and had deserted his wife years before. For so deceiving his adopted daughter, Kahoma tracks Roy down and kills him, while Echo forgets about her big-city unhappiness and returns to Big Bill, with whom she makes plans to marry.

Goaded by ambition for wealth, and the pleasure of her mother. Julia Long breaks her engagement with Jack Carter and marries George Bender, president of the National Bank.

This 15 chapter serial is considered to be "the last of the adult serials". Produced in Wilkes-Barre, PA., it has crisp editing, fast action, and carefully lit and composed interiors and lush pictorial exteriors. This is a serial of great complexity with the director, the photographer and title-maker always in absolute control. The extraordinary rhythmic momentum of the film is never lost despite the films complex plot turns. This is the best of the surviving serials from the silent era.

Rich, spoiled social butterfly Pamela Sayre lives the good life with her two maiden aunts. Bertie Holden, the somewhat slacker son of a wealthy couple, is in love with Pamela, who seems to prefer muscular, daredevil-type men, which Bertie definitely isn't. Pamela flirts with the wealthy but much older Charles Van Gordon in order to make Bertie jealous, but her plan seems to backfire.

Evelyn and her boyfriend William Bard are members of a small Shaker community. They rock the community one day when they announce that they want to get married and have children, in direct opposition to the Shaker prohibition against marriage and procreating. The Shakers drive the couple out of town, but before she leaves Evelyn gives birth to a daughter, Eve. Shortly afterward Evelyn dies, and the Shakers inform William that their daughter Eve has died also. William leaves town, but vows to take his revenge on the Shakers, whom he blames for the loss of his family.

The story of two young sisters, one a somewhat demure musician who is in love with a scoundrel who's no good for her, and the other a wild, free spirit who is the object of a shy young carpenter's affections.

Viola Dana plays Eleanor, a minister's daughter who comes to New York to visit her older sister, a successful businesswoman. Eleanor manages to get a job as a nurse in a major metropolitan hospital. One night, she is called upon to look after a drunken tourist, who turns out to be her hometown sweetheart Roger (Pat O'Malley).

A six-part adaptation of William J. Locke's novel "Where Love Is."

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.

Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done, Frankenstein is comforted by his fiancée; but on his wedding night he is visited by the monster.

The story begins in 1917 with Stan and Ollie being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War I. While in the Army, the pair befriend a man named Eddie Smith, who is killed by the enemy during a battle. After the war is over, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City, where they begin a quest to reunite Eddie's little daughter with her rightful family. The task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys discover just how many people in New York have the last name Smith.

A bandit disguises himself as an officer in an attempt to woo a saloon singer.

Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

Two playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore – until they meet a beautiful dancer.

Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!

Young bride Patricia Morley's flirtatious ways at a summer resort keep her husband Henry in a state of continual anxiety. At an old-fashioned barn dance, Patricia enacts the role of a chicken breaking out of an egg, and Henry's wrath explodes. After accusing her of being in love with another man, Henry returns to New York and files for divorce. Heartbroken, Patricia sends her friend Victoria French to tell Henry that she is dying.

The Jazz Age rages in this comedy film starring Viola Dana as the madcap title character madly dashing through a series of adventures.

Happy O'Brien, called "The Microbe," or "Mike" for short, a female street urchin who sells newspapers dressed as a boy to avoid harassment, is saved from arrest for fighting other newsboys in Chinatown by wealthy author DeWitt Spense. DeWitt, there to purchase drugs, is so moved by Mike's pugnacity, that he takes her to his mansion for literary inspiration. When DeWitt learns that Mike is a girl, he resolves to educate her. As Mike blossoms, DeWitt's attentions turn to love, to the dismay of Judith Winthrope, who wants to marry him, and his friend Robert Breton, who, with Judith, convinces Mike that DeWitt's writing is suffering because of her.

When a hypnotist named Norman Osgood mesmerizes a man named Harrison Kirke without his consent, Kirke threatens to kill him. Afraid for his life, Osgood hypnotizes another man named George Clayton and tells him he must murder Mr. Kirke one hour before the arrival of the dawn. Kirke is found murdered the next day, and Clayton starts to believe he was the murderer.

"Pep" Pepper, a romantic cowboy whose faculty for dreaming loses him his job, tries to emulate Don Quixote's courage after reading the Spanish classic.

As a baby, Patsy Smith is kidnapped by her father following a bitter quarrel with her mother. After her father dies at sea, a seafarer named Captain Barnaby places Patsy at Mrs. Duff's boardinghouse. She grows up working as a domestic drudge, deeply unhappy with her life. Inspired by Captain Barnaby's storytelling about Aladdin, Patsy sets out to find an old Oriental lamp that once belonged to her father. She learns that Mrs. Duff sold it to a junk peddler and goes to buy it back. Patsy rubs the lamp, unleashing a Genie. The Genie helps Patsy by providing her with fine clothing, exposing her abusive boardinghouse mistress, and eventually reuniting Patsy with her long-lost mother. With her life transformed, Patsy also finds romance with Harry, a young man who resides at the boardinghouse.

Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa is cast as an ancient Egyptian donkey boy in An Arabian Knight. The humble Hayakawa rescues high-born Lillian Hall from lascivious pasha Fred Jones. All this brouhaha is actually a dream experienced by Hall.