Phillips Smalley

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

An elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.

With the aid of his former law students, a professor-turned-prosecutor battles corruption and organized crime.

After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.

After years of questioning why people fear him, Death takes on human form so he can mingle among the mortals and find an answer. However, events soon spiral out of control as he falls in love with the beautiful young Grazia, the only woman not afraid of him. As he falls in love with her, her father sees him for what he is and begs him to return to his duties. Death must decide whether or not to seek his own happiness or sacrifice it so that Grazia may live.

Upon release from the penitentiary, Phillip Whitney tells his friend, Bennie, that he is going straight, and visits his lawyer brother John. Phillip looks up to John and while incarcerated maintained contact with him through a continental mailing agency. As John has no idea he was in prison, Phillip tells him that he has just returned from Japan.

An Italian immigrant studying the law gets mixed up with crooks.

A doctor has a rough time obtaining the money for his services in a lumber town until he delivers quintuplets.

Kitty Lorraine has one purpose in life: turning her daughter Shirley into a star. Kitty controls every aspect of the girl's nascent career -- even blackmailing a stage manager so that Shirley can take a more prestigious gig. But Kitty goes too far when she breaks up her daughter's budding relationship with sweet artist Warren Foster. Heartbroken, Shirley sets off on a series of disastrous but profitable relationships.

Dr. Gorman is a millionaire adventurer, traveling the world in search of dangerous game. His bored, beautiful, much younger wife entertains herself in the arms of other men. In turn, Gorman uses his animals to kill these men. When a New York City zoo suggests a fundraising gala, Gorman sees a prime opportunity to dispatch the dashing Roger and anyone else who might cross him.

A young couple pose as criminals in order to get the goods on their crooked bosses.

Con men Calvin Churchill and Clip McGurk know how to fix a horse-race or boxing match. Calvin wants to go straight and win back his estranged wife, but first the men must dodge a dogged IRS agent and bilk a bunch of aviation investors out of the backing boodle for a balloon excursion into the stratosphere.

A scientist named Hunter Hawk invents a device that can turn flesh to stone. While celebrating his discovery he becomes involved with a half naked leprechaun. On a trip to New York, Hunter and Meg (the leprechaun) decide to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and turn all of the Statues of Greek Gods into people. What follows in a drunken romp around New York with Medusa's severed head still in Perseus' hand.

Mary Smith is picked up by the police and is about to be sentenced, in night court, to jail for prostitution. But a stranger, Jimmie Martin, stands up and tells the judge that Mary was waiting for him and they were going to be married.

Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to divorce him. Concerned that Diane will now lose interest, Richard offers her an all-expense-paid cruise to Argentina so that she can think it over. While traveling, however, Diane falls in love with fellow traveler Mike. She resolves to come clean to Richard, but upon return she becomes conflicted when she finds out he was able to get divorced after all.

A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange will: only the man that picks the correct casket out of three (silver, gold, and lead) can marry her. Bassanio, unfortunately, is strapped for cash with which to go wooing, and Antonio wants to help, so Antonio borrows the money from Shylock, the money-lender. But Shylock has been nursing a grudge against Antonio's insults, and makes unusual terms to the loan. And when Antonio's business fails, those terms threaten his life, and it's up to Bassanio and Portia to save him.

Captain Drummond is travelling to Switzerland to marry his girlfriend. However, when a cargo containing dangerous explosives goes missing from its place, Drummond is forced to delay his plans.

A man meets the daughter of his lover and they begin to fall in love.

After the woman who raised him claims he's not her son, Richard searches for clues about his identity. Urged on by his mentor, Capt. Randolph Courtney, Richard focuses on Julia Trent Anders, a middle-aged actress who just might be his real mother. But soon, Richard begins to fall for Julia's stepdaughter. Amidst the upheaval, Richard schemes to return Julia to the stage -- but he's in for another big surprise.

Doctor Smith and his wife, Mary,depart a riverboat and are met by Phil Talbot. Phil informs Dr. Smith that Jessup, the only other white man in the village, has died while the doctor and his wife were off on a two-day holiday. Unknown to Smith, Jessup and his partner, Ross King, had a large cache of ivory tusks in the jungle, and he had told Phil about it. Meanwhile, Mary Smith has decided to steam-boat down the Congo River to Capetown for an extended holiday. Kuba, King's gun-bearer, asks Smith to write a letter to King, currently residing at a New York City Explorer's Club, and advise him that his partner has died. Talbot sends a letter to his stateside sweetheart, Diane Cameron, and her father, asking them to come to Africa and join him on an ivory-treasure expedition, and replenish their family-fortune lost in the recent stock-market crash. What Mr. Cameron and Diane don't know about Talbot is that his years in Africa have unhinged him...

While on trial for her life, a young woman recalls her tough upbringing and her involvement with the men who brought her to this current state of affairs.

A blackmailer falls in love with his female victim.

A young man is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family.

A trio of money-hungry women rent a luxurious penthouse, spending their dough on drink and debonair clothing, backbiting and catfighting as they steal each other's boyfriends.

As her first wedding anniversary approaches, a young wife begins to believe that her husband doesn't love her anymore, and she turns to a former suitor for comfort. Soon she makes up her mind to leave her husband, but when he is seriously injured she must decide if she really wants to end her marriage.

Someone is murdering the cast and crew of a new Hollywood movie, and the leading lady may be next. As a police detective locks down the lot and refuses to let anyone leave, the studio’s publicity head and his secretary attempt to solve the murders themselves.

An Austrian soldier must choose between a wealthy fiancee and a new girl who takes his fancy.

A European princess arrives in New York City to secure a much-needed loan for her country. She contracts the mumps, and an actress who looks exactly like her is hired to impersonate her.

Tim Goodwin and his wife Corrie are living in poverty when Tim's oil well strikes it rich. He soon works his way to the top of the social scale, but Corrie doesn't change at all--she stays a dour, drab woman with no social skills whatsoever. Tim gets so embarrassed by her that he hires a "social secretary" for her to teach her how to function in the social strata in which they find themselves.

Returning after a long absence, a man learns the woman he fell in love with on the ship going home is his stepmother.

Phillip Gresson is in the employ of the British secret service, while heroine Judith is a spy for the Enemy. Hoping to gain possession of the usual Secret Plans, Judith pretends to be in love with Phillip. Only after nursing the seriously wounded Phillip back to health does Judith come to the realization that she genuinely loves him.

In 1910 Manhattan, Victoria Van Brett, a bitter spinster heiress lives an isolated life with her sister Caroline. Her domineering urges go into overdrive when their half-brother Rip brings a new bride home to the family’s gloomy Fifth Avenue mansion, built by their late industrialist father. The title refers to a secret soundproofed chamber that the villainess uses to entrap her enemies.

J. Harrison Gray, a wealthy playboy and notorious womanizer, finally decides to find the "right" girl and settle down. He finds the right girl, Betty, who is a policeman's daughter. However, in his pursuit of her he is hit by a car, knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital, where a steady stream of ex-girlfriends visits to "take care" of him--which doesn't leave a particularly good impression on the woman he really loves.

Casino operator Johnny Lamb hires down-on-her-luck socialite Lucille Sutton as his casino hostess, in order to help her and to improve casino income. But Lamb's pals fear he may follow Lucille onto the straight-and-narrow path, which would not be good for business. So they hire Gert Malloy and Dictionary McKinney, a pair of con-artists, to manipulate Johnny back off the path of righteousness.

Charley Wyckham and Jack Chesney pressure fellow student Fancourt Babberly to pose as Charley's Brazilian Aunt Donna Lucia. Their purpose is to have a chaperone for their amorous visits with Amy and Kitty, niece and ward of crusty Stephen Spettigue. Complications begin when Fancourt, in drag, becomes the love object of old Spettigue and Sir Francis Chesney.

A chorus girl gains infamy after the suicide of her beau.

Mad scientist works on a death ray in his mountain hideaway.

A student is pressured into pretending to be a classmate's Aunt so he can act as a false chaperone.

Thirteen years after a dinner party in which the thirteenth guest failed to arrive, the remaining guests are being murdered one by one, and their bodies being placed at the same dinner table in the appropriate seats they occupied thirteen years prior.

A successful ex-boxer opens a high-class speakeasy in what once was the childhood home of a formerly rich society girl.

A group of jealous men conspire to defeat a romantic rival who has captured the attention of all of the ladies at a summer hotel. (Note: The majority of this film is considered lost. Only a fragment survives.)

Disapproving of the loose woman her father has married, Faith Ebbing leaves home and goes to work, but she later steals $5,000 in Liberty Bonds to pay off Duroc, a blackmailer threatening her mother, Cordelia Ebbing.

A mysterious phantom who calls himself The Reckoner vows to expose the crooked bankers who embezzled their company's funds.

A proud, pro-capital punishment district attorney with a 90% execution rate, finds himself wrongly convicted of murdering his estranged wife and sentenced to die. The woman he loves and his investigator rival for her affections rally to find the real killer, while he is confronted by the misery of life on death row.

Bill Bronson is a likable young bank clerk, whose congenital thirst for liquor is kept under control until he joins his wife Mary at getting blotto at a company party. From there it is a downward spiral.

Refusing to join his family in their new social life when Henry Dillingham suddenly becomes wealthy, Donald Dillingham causes even greater disapproval by marrying chorus girl Ardell Kendall. Learning that famous sculptor Gustaf Borgstrom wishes to use Ardell as model, the Dillinghams suddenly welcome Donald and Ardell to their estate. Donald surrenders to both the jazzy pleasures and the attentions of Maybelle Wescott, but Ardell remains aloof and in order to pay off Maybelle threatens Mr. Dillingham with exposure of his infatuation with a chorus girl.

At a wild surprise party John Hammond signs a note for his struggling friend, architect Richard Burton, but later denies his presence at the affair in order to preserve his reputation.

The story concerns the reformation of a fast woman who runs a gambling establishment. Her one fear is of death and her regeneration is brought about.

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.

High Stakes is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy drama produced and released by RKO Pictures. The picture was directed by Lowell Sherman who also stars and marks the last starring screen appearance of silent screen diva Mae Murray. It is based on a 1924 Broadway play that starred Sherman playing the same role he plays in this film.

An inept inventor and his stoic wife believe an oil well investment has paid off and that they've become wealthy overnight.

A carousel barker falls in love with a young woman. Both are fired from their jobs, and when the young woman becomes pregnant, the carousel barker tries to help pull off a robbery, which goes wrong. Because of the robbery, he dies, and after spending time in hell, is sent back to earth for one day to try to make amends. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Anita Gray is the spoiled daughter of a millionaire. Returning home from a party, her car breaks down and she is picked up by a stranger, who sells her his car for a diamond bracelet. The car has been stolen and the police arrest her, but she escapes and takes refuge on a freighter bound for China. She has no money and has to work her way there. Her father learns of her destination and hires Hamlin to bring her safely home.

Wrongfully blamed for the death of Col. John Randall, Cameo Kirby (Gilbert) must find the true villain and clear his name before he can declare his love for Adele (Olmstead), the dead man's daughter.

A chemist named Aratus invents a concoction that will turn creatures to stone, but only realizes the dangers of his creation when his wife falls victim to it.

A doctor's wife is arrested for educating impoverished women about birth control.

A former college football hero and his college sweetheart get married. Marital turmoil ensues as her criminal law practice soars while he cannot get his career as an architect off the ground. They separate, and the man begins making extra money by singing in a nightclub. When he is unjustly accused of murder, it is up to his estranged wife to defend him in court.

Dancer June Page is charged with the murder of gangster "Honest Ed" Baker. Allan Perry, an ambitious journalist at the dawn of his career, seeks at all costs to cover the case to obtain exclusivity and impress his hierarchy. He falls in love with the young woman, but Ed Baker's former friends, determined to take revenge, have not said their last word ...

Sam Starling (Owen Moore) is deep in debt, his wife Phoebe (Claire Windsor) is leaving him and still he is confident. When Phoebe boards a luxury yacht and is wooed by the captain, Sam comes aboard as a woman and tries to seduce the captain (in fact, a liquor smuggler), away from his wife.

Jeffrey and Glenda are two lovers about to embark on a three-day cruise to nowhere. Their plan is to be married on board by the ship's captain. As Glenda is packing to leave, she receives a threatening phone call from her obsessed, former lover Leo. Glenda confronts Leo and tells him that it's over. Leo, a high-powered attorney calls a hit man to have Jeffrey eliminated. Glenda knocks Leo over the head before he can give the hit man a name. Leo is dead. Glenda sneaks back into her apartment, goes off on the cruise with Jeffrey and pretends that all is swell. Leo's partner, Stephen Bessemer, suspects Glenda and follows her to the ship. Bessemer stages a mock trial aboard the ship and cleverly draws a confession from Glenda. Jeffrey, also an attorney, represents Glenda when she is arrested upon arriving on shore. A skeptical district attorney, and the fact that Jeffrey horsewhips the star witness (the hit man), combine to get Glenda completely off the hook.

Early Lois Weber film. Isaac and his faithful wife, Rachel, deplore that in America their children are forced to work on the Jewish Sabbath. Leah and Sam are not so strict as their parents and the old customs pall about their more American spirits. Sam is employed in a cloak house and secretly loves his employer's daughter, but she refuses to recognize him. Leah is loved by the handsome gentile floorwalker, and despite her father's objections, she marries him. Isaac orders Leah from the house. Later, the daughter of the cloak manufacturer marries an admirer and Sam is invited to the wedding. He drinks and disgraces himself, and returning home, is turned out by the heartbroken rabbi. He leaves, telling the old man that he will return when the father celebrated the Christian Christmas.

A songwriter has to come up with a full-length theatrical piece within a few days.

No description available.

Lydia Jansen is happily married to a young customs inspector, but she harbors a dark secret. She is addicted to smoking opium or in slang parlance “hop.” To keep her secret, she willingly pays the blackmail her maid extorts from her having learned of Lydia’s habit through her own fiancée who is part of the ring importing the devil’s brew. Something unknown to all is that the operation is run by Lydia’s father an important politician in the city where this all occurs. As her husband’s investigation tightens the noose on the organization Lydia faces a crisis.

Cynthia Warren, independently wealthy through her ability as an illustrator and poster artist, rebels against the premise that every woman is destined for matrimony and motherhood and decides she has as much right as a man to play around.

When Mona Frentiss dies, she has her confidante "Doctor Bobs" watch over her family, especially her youngest daughter Patricia. The family has been raised in a most unconventional manner, with Mona having a much younger lover and the father Ralph keeping his own lover on the side. As Patricia grows older, she attracts the attention of her mother's former lover, the much older (than Patricia, who in the book is in her early to mid teens) Carey Scott. Patricia tempts fate with her wild ways, nearly loses her virtue to a musician aboard an ocean-going boat, and is saved in time by Carey. Realizing that he is the man for her, she settles down into an experimental marriage.

Ann Hardy heads to the big city where she falls in love with Ted Wells, but she is heartbroken to learn he is just using her.

A man decides to live his life to the fullest in memory of his dead wife.

The prohibition is in full swing and Egypt Hagen, a new woman, is the constant subject of controversy in her religious small town. After a scandalous night of partying leaves her publicly shamed, she finds unlikely companionship in the town's new reverend. As their bond intensifies under the watchful eye of concerned townsfolk, her sullied reputation threatens his standing as a respected clergyman.

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 lovely fashion model's dreams of marital bliss are shattered when her fiance jilts her. To make matters worse, her father kills the cad and she gets accused of the crime.

When a bank executive disappears, he is accused of stealing a fortune from the bank. But his daughter and her criminologist friend set out to find her father and clear his name.

In the small farming community of Spring Valley, young Aurora Lane has caused a scandal by bearing a son by townsman Lucius Henderson, who refuses to marry her or even admit that he's the father. Shunned as a "sinful" woman by most of the town, she turns over her son, Don, to be raised by Miss Julia, the town librarian, who tells the boy that she's his "aunt". Don grows up and goes to college, and when he comes back home the town gossips begin a rumor-mongering campaign. When the town policeman tries to drive Aurora out of town he is found murdered, and Don is arrested for the crime.

Bob Hamilton gets into trouble when crooks cause the defeat of his father's horse in the Derby, and it is reported he is in with the crooks. The old man disowns him and his sweetheart, Patricia , breaks their engagement. So Bob and "Skipper", the also-suspected trainer, head for the western tracks, taking with them the horse Hamilton Senior forced them to buy, determined to make good and prove they are on the level.

A satire about the power of publicity. Robert Montgomery plays Jeff Bidwell, a dashing Broadway press agent who has his own private club where he cultivates the rich and powerful. With the help of his selfless ex-wife (Madge Evans), Jeff molds an illiterate, suicidal young woman (Sally Eilers) into a celebrity socialite.

When her husband, who founded the town's crusading local newspaper, doesn't come back from the French battlefields of World War I, a woman struggles to raise her two sons and keep the newspaper going. Matters are complicated by the fact that, several years later, one of the sons wants to turn the paper from its position as a hard-fighting champion of the working-class into an upscale society paper catering to the rich and powerful. Matters are complicated even further by rumors that their father was in fact NOT killed in France during the war but took another man's identity and is still living there.

Sir James Gilbert, a British peer, wagers that he can win the love of a particular young American woman for whom he has his heart set. Disguised as a chauffeur, James shows his love to Mary Burgess, niece of his wealthy employer, John Burgess. To obtain the consent of Mary's aunt, the couple involves her in a harmless trick. A villain threatens blackmail and attempts to pass himself off as the Sir James Gilbert. After a variety of adventures, the blackmailer's schemes are defeated. The young woman's hitherto hostile relatives are surprised and pleased when, instead of a chauffeur, Mary becomes the bride of Sir Gilbert.

Jimmy Nevins--once wealthy and now engaged to Doris Standish--is reduced to poverty and jilted by her when he is befriended by Mary Butler, the leader of a gang of crooks.

A thrilling drama of young love and the great sacrifice made by railroad workers that we may travel in safety. (Print ad- Evening News, Tonawanda, N.Y. 4 February 1931)

A play by Nina Wilcox Putnam was the source for the empire-building drama Golden Harvest. Ambitious grain trader Chris Martin corners the wheat market and becomes a millionaire. Outgrowing his humble farm beginnings, Chris makes a bid for respectability by marrying Chicago socialite Cynthia Flint.

An insecure wife fears her husband may be straying back to an old flame.

Businessman Carter Langford is violently jealous of his wife's attentions to other men, particularly young bachelor Philip Collamore.

Three men in succession propose marriage to Grace Darling; she accepts all! Since they are roommates, the three discover their problem in short order; when they return for an explanation, they're in for a surprise.

A young, unmarried theatrical couple befriend an out-of-work housekeeper and introduce her to another new acquaintance, a man of means, unaware that he is married and going through a messy divorce.

Young millionaire Harry Canby, returning from a cruise, finds a taxi without a driver on the docks and helps a young girl escape some ruffians who are pursuing her. She disappears, but Harry identifies her as Nancy Cornell from an inscribed cigarette case and finds the driver, who is then killed before he can reveal her whereabouts. Harry is suspected of the crime, but his guardian, Willoughby Thomson, vouches for him. At a society party given by Mrs. Jameson, Harry learns that the girl is a musical comedy star, but when he confronts her she denies knowledge of the taxi incident.

Guests at a luxury hotel are horrified when they witness a man literally "disappear into thin air." The vanished man's relatives hire a detective, who goes to the hotel to investigate the disappearance.

The lives of a stenographer and her boss are thrown into turmoil by reckless gossip.

During the American Revolution, an innkeeper's daughter learns of a plot to assassinate George Washington while he will be staying at her father's inn.

Early Lois Weber film.

Mabel Vandergrift moves from the country to the city and enrolls in an upscale college. She starts to hang around with a "fast" crowd, and one night at a party a young man picks her for his "conquest". She fends him off, but when he is later found dead she is charged with his murder. Her boyfriend from back home hears about her troubles and comes to the city to clear her name and find the real killer.

Eve, a beautiful young nightclub dancer, turns down a string of wealthy and powerful suitors for Robert, a poor but ambitious young man. What Eve doesn't know is that Robert is the son of a wealthy businessman and is just pretending to be poor to see if she really loves him. However, an item in the society pages gives away Robert's true identity. Complications ensue.

Based on a novel by William J. Locke, Stella Maris is a remake of the 1918 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name.

Haunting and hypnotic, this artistic gem recounts the lyrics from a popular 1898 song of the same name. Weber’s stylistics, including circular matte shots, foregrounding of the cross and the rosary, and placement of the characters within each shot bring to the film an enormous emotional and spiritual range.

Texas Ranger Bill Storm is sent to El Paso to ferret out a gang of counterfeiters thought to be working there and, on the way, gives a ride to New York socialite Beverly Dix, whose car has been wrecked on the road to El Paso. Bill quickly comes to suspect Earl Hanway and Lefty Waterman of passing bad bills; taking Beverly's father into his confidence, Bill identifies the counterfeiting plant, arrests Hanway and Waterman, and finds himself with his arms full of Beverly.

Pretty Ann, and Joe, the hostler, one day chance to meet. Strong is Joe, and simple, and Ann is shy and sweet. As man and maid have done before, they love, and marry, too. And live happy ever after? Ah, this tale is new to you! Yes, the tale is drear, prosaic; and so poetry won't do. A baby boy comes to bless the union. Joe is working in the stables when they tell him of his joy: his heart is gay and happy, and he tells the horses so. Then, it might be the angels were jealous of such mortal happiness; it might be the devil, seeing the stage so set, entered to play the leading role.

Disappointed that her daughter has not married into money, a mother meddles trying to make the girl unhappy with life in her new home, the economical housing development known as Honeymoon Flats.

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings.

Characters in the film attend a movie titled 'Life’s Mirror', where they see parallel, cautionary versions of their own lives. Only the first two of the original seven reels survive.

A wealthy New York City stockbroker who sets out to prove that women are corrupted by wealth.

A 1911 silent drama film written and directed by Edwin S. Porter and Lois Weber. Starring Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley, and Charles De Forrest.

After the death of her brother, "Tommy" Carlton makes the acquaintance of a neighbor, Harold Graypon, who invites her to a party. Tommy, who is a bit of a hoyden, attends the party in overalls and shocks the guests. Tommy is later ejected from her home and takes refuge in a shack in the mountains, where she makes rustic furniture for a living. Despite the interference of Grace, Tommy and Harold finds happiness with each other.

A woman known as Sunshine Molly gets a job in an oil field, and clashes with a belligerent employee named "Bull" Forrest. (Note: multiple reels of this film were damaged beyond repair. Only three reels remain, two of which are also heavily damaged.)

The story of a male painter who rises to fame after completing two portraits of his maid, a woman who later becomes his companion.

The baby daughter of Mrs. Norton, a widowed seamstress, dies. The sorrow-stricken mother gazes at the empty cradle and decides to replace the departed soul with an orphan child upon whom she can lavish the love, the rightful object of which the Great Giver and Taker has taken from her. She goes to the orphanage and asks to be given a baby girl, and is given one of the twin baby sisters. Richard Golden, a wealthy shirtwaist manufacturer, has an only son, a little boy, who yearns for a sister and continually begs his father to bring him a little sister to be a playmate to him, and the father, to satisfy the child's persistent pleading, goes to the orphan home and brings home the other little twin sister. Years roll by and both girls have grown to young womanhood in their different stations in life. Jack Golden, now grown to manhood, and knowing that the girl is only a foster sister, asks her to become his wife.