Spottiswoode Aitken

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

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

A wanted Russian lieutenant becomes a masked vigilante seeking vengeance upon the man who stole his family's land, only to fall for his charming daughter.

Lord Angus Cameron's marriage to a woman of his titled Scottish class is thwarted by his secret marriage years before to Marion Hume, the housekeeper of the castle. Cameron attempts to repudiate the marriage, the only record of which is a certificate in the sunken wreck of a yacht, The White Heather. Marion goes to court to prove her claim and secure the rights of her son by Cameron, but is defeated. Alec McClintock, who is in love with Marion, and Cameron both want to recover the record, so they don diving suits and descend to the wreck. An underwater struggle ensues and Cameron severs his own air tube and drowns while attempting to cut off his rival's air supply. Alec then recovers the marriage record and wins Marion. —AFI

John Howard Payne leaves home and begins a career in the theater. Despite encouragement from his mother and his sweetheart, Payne begins leading a life of dissolute habits, which soon leads to ruin and misery. In deep despair, he recalls better days, and writes a song that later provides inspiration to several others in their own times of need.

Living in the New York slums with her lazy father, Bessie takes imaginary voyages to "Dream Valley" on a "yacht" she has built in the backyard. Gilbert Byfield, posing as a poor man while completing his book, falls in love with Bessie and secretly arranges for her to spend a month at the Byfield country estate.

A Canadian Mountie allows an innocent fugitive to escape with the women he loves.

A miner's happiness is destroyed when a rival steals his mine. He becomes obsessed with revenge, and plans a trap for the man who took his mine.

Trying to support her twin sisters on her own, Jane Neill lands a job working for a millionaire, but problems soon arise for the young girl when she declines the marriage proposal of the always-trustworthy Micky and falls in love with the millionaire's spoiled, lazy nephew. After she inherits the millionaire's estate along with much heartache, Jane finally comes to her senses and goes back to the ever-faithful Micky.

A parody of D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation", "I Am Not a Racist" rearranges the scenes of the classic movie and recreates its dialogues to criticize the racism in it and also in the world today. Freemenville is a little city somewhere in the USA. A city ashamed because of its past of slavery, but proud of being the first in the country to end it. There is an annual ball to celebrate this fact. And this year's ball may be the biggest ever, because of the possible presence of a big celebrity, who is coming to town to see the premiere of a play. However, the play happens to be D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation", a racist work that starts a series of events exposing the racism that still exists in the city, culminating in the recreation of the KKK.

Thwarted by his despotic uncle from continuing his love affair, a young man's thoughts turn dark as he dwells on ways to deal with his uncle. Increasingly convinced that murder is merely a natural part of life, he kills his uncle and hides the body. However, the man's conscience awakens; paranoia sets in and nightmarish visions begin to haunt him.

A nobleman posing as a necktie salesman falls in love with the daughter of a circus puppeteer, although he's already wed to the daughter of his country's war minister.

American mining engineer Blaze Derringer travels to the fictional South American country of Paragonia to reopen local mines. Upon arrival, he finds his company's office ransacked and the country's leader, President Valdez, overthrown and imprisoned following a coup.

Alisa Graeme journeys from Scotland to the U.S. to visit Jeremiah Wishart, an old wealthy friend of her grandfather. The invalid Jeremiah is charmed by Alisa and decides she would make a good wife for his favorite nephew, David. Without meeting Alisa, David refuses the arrangement and runs away. Later, Alisa also runs away rather than wed another of Jeremiah's nephews and meets a young billboard painter in the country.

The naive newspaper cub Clem lands a scoop when he's sent out to cover a murder. In his enthusiasm he writes that the main suspect is Jane. When she confronts Clem, she convinces him to help her prove her innocence.

In the future (1921), an alliance of several foreign countries plot to attack the US. American officials, coming to the realisation that the country is basically defenceless, offer $1,000,000 to anyone who can come up with a weapon to defeat the invaders. Winthrop Clavering, a writer and inventor, hears of the reward and tells his friend Bartholomew Thompson, a scientist and inventor who has been working on developing flying torpedo. However, enemy agents have also heard about Thompson's project, and set out to kill him and steal his plans. This film is now considered lost.

Senator John Coburn's son Steve, who associates more with gamblers, criminals and drug addicts than with his father's congressional cronies, impulsively murders his mistress' new lover. The senator tries to use his influence to have Steve acquitted, but all of the evidence firmly and correctly implicates him, and so the jury prepares to find Steve guilty without much deliberation. Before the verdict can be announced, however, Steve's mother rises in court to make an impassioned plea for her son. As a result, moved by the mother's grief, the jurors choose to ignore all of the evidence, and declare that Steve is not guilty.

This dramatic adventure finds the flirtatious Cherry O'Day as the daughter of the Shanghai saloon keeper Terrence. She works in the dive and entertains the patrons, sending them away after they cease to amuse her. Cherry falls for Gordon Deane, the American writer and adventurer who barely notices her.

No description available.

Gerald Cranston, a successful financier and industrialist who worked his way up through the ranks, enters into a marriage of convenience with Lady Hermione, from which he hopes to gain social prestige; Hermione, for her part, desires financial independence. Gordon Ibbotsleigh attempts to win Hermione's affection, while Hermione's cousin Angela directs her wiles toward Gerald. Both efforts fail, however, and the threat of financial ruin finally and firmly unites the Cranstons.

Film serial.

Society-girl thrillseeker Lydia's fun comes to an end when she accidentally causes the death of motorcycle policeman.

When Dorothy's Southern, aristocratic father Colonel Raleigh refuses to let her marry Forbes Stewart, a Northern gambler, the couple elopes. When Dorothy soon thereafter becomes pregnant, Forbes vows to reform, but authorities arrest him on a gambling charge, and he serves a year in prison. During that time, and just before the birth of the baby, a woman comes to Dorothy and claims to be Forbes' wife. Stunned, Dorothy returns to her father, but the colonel throws her out, and so, on her own, she has her baby, whom the community believes to be illegitimate. Convinced that she has sinned, Dorothy is about to kill herself when Forbes, just out of jail, finds her and explains that the other woman simply had been an ex-sweetheart trying to win him back.

Charity and her young brother are taken in by Merlin Durand, the son of a penurious millionaire, when their mother, a poor cleaning woman, dies. Charity is a strong believer in the world of fairy tales, and calls Merlin "The Prince". Merlin's cheapskate father cuts off his allowance until he gets a job and earns a salary, then leaves home for a "water cure". His servants immediately take a vacation, leaving the house empty, so Charity and Merlin hide there until Merlin can find a job. Charity begins to call the mansion "Charity Castle". They soon wind up involved with a strange cast of characters, including a burglar and an unemployed Shakespearean actor.

A lost Film. Mary Pickford plays a socialite who, having lost her fortune, takes a job as a Swedish cook. She falls in love with a chauffeur who, lo and behold, is a slumming millionaire.

A young girl living a secluded and unsophisticated life is suddenly thrust into a great wealth and a frightening social whirl.

Silent military romantic love triangle comedy (based on the story by Julien Josephson), about a soldier named Ulysses S. Grant Briggs, who comes from the south and enlists in the army. He and his best friend, who is from the north, compete for a beautiful stage actress, and risks court-martial to win her.

A young man raised in the American South discovers he is an Indian prince whose throne was taken by usurpers.

A mountain girl with an army-hating father, meets a handsome army captain, who teaches her how to love her country.

Alice Dane, a struggling English schoolteacher, is swept into a dangerous and complex marriage with Sir John Turnbull after witnessing a crime. Taken to South Africa amidst a Zulu uprising, she faces danger and betrayal, forcing her to navigate survival and complex relationships in a tense, life-altering situation.

A molly-coddle son of wealthy parents whose regeneration is brought about through being hit on the head and shipped off in a freight car in dress clothes. In this attire he hits a border town just at the time that his former sweetheart has been carried off on a transcontinental train by a band of Mexican bandits. He goes to her rescue, establishing his manhood when he manages to rescue her from the hands of the hold-up men.

Melissa Stark, a young girl in the Tennessee mountains tries to unite feuding families (Allisons & Watts) and help her preacher father, Jethro, while navigating romance with lawyer Tom Williams and a mistaken identity crisis that leads to her father's tragic death, after which the families reconcile. The story involves a newspaper ad for a dress, a mistaken identification of Jethro as a murder fugitive by a deputy sheriff, and a violent confrontation that ends with Jethro's innocence proven but his life lost.

A 1917 film directed by Chester Withey.

Lindy, an innocent girl reared in a small town, accepts a letter for her friend Mrs. Bates from wealthy landlady Mrs. Cribbley. Believing the letter to be an eviction notice, Lindy postpones delivery, but soon becomes terrified upon learning that mail theft is a felony, and that her dog has destroyed the letter.

Dean Randall is a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. When back he saves a family in a wagon train -- a father, daughter Grace, and three orphan children.

Humanitarian Roberta induces her father to hire former convict, Bill, as his gardener. When she leaves on vacation, Bill steals her jewelry and eventually sells a brooch to her boyfriend, Richard, who unknowingly gives it to her as a present.

Maryland Warren is kidnapped by a group of Yaqui Indians, and taken across the border to Mexico. In rescuing her, Robert Carr proves both his bravery and his loyalty to the United States.

Having endangered his life by foolishly gambling away funds entrusted to him by the Carbonari, an Italian secret society, London banker Bernard Huddlestone appeals to Northmour, an adventurer, for protection. Northmour takes Huddlestone and his daughter Clara to his castle in Scotland, offering them safety in return for Clara's hand in marriage. There Clara encounters Frank Cassilis, an old adversary of Northmour's, and falls in love. Trouble brews between the two men, but when the Carbonari discovers Huddlestone's hiding place and storms the castle, the fugitives band together to fight the avengers. Coming to the realization that only his sacrifice will appease the attackers, Huddlestone steps out and meets his death. Northmour, deciding that married life would prove too monotonous, gives up his claim on Clara to Cassilis.

Steve Carnan, secret owner of a notorious café, while attempting to seduce budding musician Ruth Revere, is shot and killed in a struggle with Ruth's sweetheart, Chief Deputy Hugh Waring. An unexpected confession from Ruth's father, whom Carnan had double-crossed, saves Waring.

Young Nella Babard is alone in her cabin, left there temporarily by her parents who have gone to the city. A pair of escaped convicts, fleeing from the police, come upon the cabin and duck inside. One of the pair, "Sporting Chance" Johnson, was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and he and Nella find themselves attracted to each other.

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

Avis Langley's dying mother begs her to look after Avis's errant brother and continues after death to reappear in spirit form to remind Avis of her promise. Avis follows her brother to New Zealand in hopes of protecting him from his own ways, but on the trip tragedy apparently strikes.

Nettie is beloved by all the boys in the mining camp. Magoon, a big, jovial miner, loves her most of all, however, and asks her to become his wife. Nettie is in love with Colter, a young Easterner, and though it pains her to do so, tells Magoon of the fact. Magoon leaves town to become sheriff of the adjoining county. A murder is committed in the mining camp, and Colter is unjustly accused. Nettie rescues him from jail and sends him to Magoon. The sheriff with admirable self-sacrifice hides his rival, and, when the posse arrives, points out what Nettie has done for the boys of the mining camp. Colter is released, and all the boys escort him back to Nettie.

Captain Manning, a seasoned salt, is ordered to remove his battered ship, the Swallow, from the town's harbor because of a superstition connected with it. The captain, who lives alone, visits the Mariner's Home and relates the story of how he came into possession of the schooner. Manning was the first mate on the yacht of a wealthy man when it encountered the Swallow at sea. He went on board, accompanied by the drug-addicted son of his employer, and discovered a mutinous crew and a disabled captain fighting for control of the ship. Manning took charge and brought the ship safely to port, after successfully putting down the mutineers by humiliating their leader, who had kept them in fear by practicing voodoo in the ship's hold. Manning later married the captain's daughter. Now he controls the ship.

Slum girl Mary is forced to steal for a living. After she swipes a rich society matron's necklace, she hides out at the home of a man who turns out to be the socialite's ex-fiancé.

Coast Patrol was a threadbare silent 5-reeler starring Kenneth MacDonald as an officer in the titular patrol. Nothing much happens really, except for a few misunderstandings, fistfights and boat chases.

An old man wills a map to his grandson, with instructions showing a buried treasure, but it is accidentally sold to a book store. The owner and her granddaughter Mary discover it. Mary and her boyfriend an aspiring author, meet the desperate grandson and agree to share the treasure.

In the Canadian province of Acadia, young Evangeline is betrothed to Gabriel. But before their wedding can take place, the British imprison the men and send them into exile with their lands forfeit to the Crown Evangeline follows the exiled men in hopes of finding her beloved, but even after he and the other Acadians are released in Louisiana, she cannot find him, always arriving at some locale just after he has departed. But she dedicates her life to searching the continent for the man she loves.

Shakespeare's tragedy of the Scots nobleman whose ambition leads him to betrayal, murder, and damnation.

Dreamer dairyman Phineas Dobbs of Cow Hollow suddenly acquires a fortune when oil is discovered on his ranch, and celebrates by throwing a party for the whole town. One day a young woman comes to town, delayed by train trouble. Dobbs rescues her from the town bully, and agrees to follow her to San Francisco.

Gretchen Ann runs away from her foster parents but is sheltered first by Bill Kelley, a train brakeman, then by elderly oilman Pete Sebastian. After Gretchen keeps Sebastian from being duped by a medium, he sends her to a fashionable school, asking that she agree to marry him when she returns.

A vivacious, carefree young girl is disgusted by the thought of growing old. In her despondency she adopts the motto "Who cares?" and does her best to live up to it, even after she marries the handsome and dashing Martin Grey.

Union soldiers march off to battle amid cheering crowds. After the battle turns against the Union Army, one soldier runs away, hiding in his girlfriend's house. Ashamed of his cowardice, he finds his courage and crosses enemy lines to bring help to his trapped comrades.

Actress Fay McMillan finds her child, Pauline, whom she deserted years ago, in an orphanage, but Monty, her financer, objects to her taking the girl back.

A young British girl born and raised in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's estate. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected.

Laline, a pretty young woman, falls in love with Dion, a young sculptor, but her mother wants her to marry a wealthy Englishman. Laline and Dion are visiting the gravesite of Laline's brother with a priest, and a cave-in traps the three in some long-abandoned underground barracks.

No description available.

A 1917 film directed by Paul Powell.

An old pioneer wants his brother's children whom he has never met to inherit his wealth, but a villain substitutes ringers for them.

Lillian Vale is the naïve and unworldly daughter of minister Josiah Vale. Swept off her feet by handsome Robert Powers, Lillian marries him, unaware that he is constitutionally incapable of fidelity. Led astray by vampish Hattie Lee, Powers follows his new paramour to the Big City -- the first of several bad decisions which culminate in disaster for the errant hero.

Instead of paying his landlady, a man invites a seamstress out for dinner. To tease him her colleagues appear uninvited at the restaurant. When the bill comes it is huge and costs the man all of his money, his watch and other belongings, while the seamstress doesn't even want him to walk her home. He goes home penniless and his landlady does not let him in: he has to sleep outside.