The Musketeers of Pig Alley

The Musketeers of Pig Alley 1912

6.24

A man recognizes the thief who had previously robbed him as one of the men involved in an unrelated mob shootout.

1912

The Massacre

The Massacre 1912

5.90

The story of the massacre of an Indian village, and the ensuing retaliation.

1912

Judith of Bethulia

Judith of Bethulia 1914

6.30

Griffith adapts the story of the Apocryphal Book of Judith to the screen. During the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia by the Assyrian tyrant Holofernes, a widow named Judith forms a plan to stop the war as her people suffer in starvation, nearly ready to surrender.

1914

An Unseen Enemy

An Unseen Enemy 1912

5.60

The physician's death orphans his two adolescent daughters. Their older brother is able to convert some of the doctor's small estate to cash. But it is late in the day, and with the banks closed he stores the money in his father's household safe. The slatternly housekeeper, aware of the money, enlists a criminal acquaintance to crack the safe. She attempts to get into the adjacent room where the sisters tremble in fear, but finds that the door is locked. The drunken housekeeper menaces them by brandishing a gun through a hole in the wall.

1912

A Corner in Wheat

A Corner in Wheat 1909

6.20

On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.

1909

The Voice of the Violin

The Voice of the Violin 1909

4.71

A music teacher is in love with Helen, one of his students, but she rejects him. In his hurt he joins an anarchist group who plan to blow up a rich capitalist's house. When he realizes it's Helen's house, he tries to stop the plan.

1909

The Mothering Heart

The Mothering Heart 1913

5.80

A young couple struggle to get ahead, the wife always assuaging the troubles of her melancholy husband. As he climbs the ladder of success, he abandons the homely values and begins an affair with a beautiful woman. His wife leaves him, returning to her mother's home where she bears a child. When the husband is abandoned by his lady friend, remorse drives him to find his wife.

1913

His Trust

His Trust 1911

4.10

A Confederate officer is called off to war. He leaves his wife and daughter in the care of George, his faithful Negro servant. After the officer is killed in battle, George continues in his caring duties, faithful to his trust.

1911

The Old Actor

The Old Actor 1912

5.40

An elderly actor who lives with his wife and daughter is dismissed from his acting job because he is considered too old. On his way home from the theatre he panics at the thought of telling his family the bad news and decides to disguise himself as a beggar. His daughter's beau accidentally gives him a five dollar gold piece, thinking that it was a smaller coin. A chase ensues with a policeman, the daughter, and her beau in hot pursuit. When caught he is recognized by his shocked daughter, but is quickly forgiven by all. Meanwhile the actor hired to replace him has already been fired and a messenger is dispatched to rehire the Old Actor to the delight of his wife, daughter, and fellow actors.

1912

A Salutary Lesson

A Salutary Lesson 1910

1

During a stay at beach resort Mr. and Mrs. Randall neglect their daughter and follow their own interests. Mrs. Randall entertains the local minister, while Mr. Randall agrees to take his daughter on a walk along the beach. However, he is attracted by a flirtatious young woman, and the little girl wanders off on her own. She clambers onto a seaside rock where she falls asleep, unmindful of the incoming tide. Her parents at last notice her absence and begin searching for her. However, the incoming tide has by this time surrounded her rock, cutting her off from land. A lifeguard hears her cries and swims to the rescue just as the rising tide is about to engulf her. The child is returned to her parents, who receive from their near tragedy a salutary lesson in the importance of being more careful parents.

1910

The Unchanging Sea

The Unchanging Sea 1910

6.50

In this story set at a seaside fishing village and inspired by a Charles Kingsley poem, a young couple's happy life is turned about by an accident. The husband, although saved from drowning, loses his memory. A child is on the way, and soon a daughter is born to his wife. We watch the passage of time, as his daughter matures and his wife ages. The daughter becomes a lovely young woman, herself ready for marriage. One day on the beach, the familiarity of the sea and the surroundings triggers a return of her father's memory, and we are reminded that although people age and change, the sea and the ways of the fisherfolk remain eternal.

1910

What the Daisy Said

What the Daisy Said 1910

4.50

Two sisters want to know whether there is romance in their future. One sister pulls the petals off of a flower, while the other has her fortune told by a gypsy. When the gypsy tells the fortune so as to serve his own purposes, complications soon develop.

1910

The Lonely Villa

The Lonely Villa 1909

6.02

A gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home.

1909

The Sealed Room

The Sealed Room 1909

5.04

The Count sets out to make a private room for him and his Countess, built in such a way no one can see, hear, and most importantly, disturb them. But unbeknownst to the Count, his wife has set her eyes on the court minstrel. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” and Honoré de Balzac's “La Grande Breteche”.

1909

Sandow

Sandow 1896

5.17

Strong-man Eugene Sandow flexes his muscles and strikes a few poses in front of a black background. This was a short film shot by William K.L. Dickson for the American Mutoscope Company and is not the 1894 Edison film shot at the Black Maria.

1896

New York Subway

New York Subway 1905

5.76

The camera platform was on the front of a New York subway train following another train on the same track. Lighting is provided by a specially constructed work car on a parallel track. At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today's east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbuilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.

1905

The Girl and Her Trust

The Girl and Her Trust 1912

6.27

A train-station telegraphist warns the next station of approaching bandits.

1912

The Country Doctor

The Country Doctor 1909

6.17

While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.

1909

Sherlock Holmes Baffled

Sherlock Holmes Baffled 1900

5.20

Sherlock Holmes enters his drawing room to find it being burgled, but on confronting the villain is surprised when the latter disappears.

1900

The Sunbeam

The Sunbeam 1912

6.30

Set in a tenement, a lonely confirmed bachelor occupies a room across the hall from a dour spinster. Children run amok in the hallways playing pranks on the two. A little girl from the floor above, now alone in the world, brings the pair together and brightens their lives.

1912