The Flapper 1920
A Southern teen at a ritzy boarding school gets into mischief while acting the sophisticated grownup to impress a suave gentleman and match wits with a pair of jewel thieves.
A Southern teen at a ritzy boarding school gets into mischief while acting the sophisticated grownup to impress a suave gentleman and match wits with a pair of jewel thieves.
When multi-millionaire banker John Argyle is found brutally murdered in his home, suspicions are cast upon Mary Mazuret, his adopted daughter who became the sole beneficiary of his estate under his will, Argyle having quarrelled with his son Bruce. Just as the case begins to look black for Mary, Asche Kayton, a great private detective, is called in by Bruce and takes hold of the investigation.
For revenge, wealthy Osbert Gault marries Virginia Mynors, the daughter of a woman who had jilted him years earlier. Unaware of Gault's motives, Virginia consents to the marriage for the sake of her impoverished family.
Henry Baird, a young newspaperman with a second-hand car but little money, decides to raffle off the car at a county picnic, so that he can take out his sweetheart, Mabel Darrow, the daughter of a wealthy businessman. However, as soon as Henry gets the money, his tailor demands that he pay off his debt. Also, youngsters set the car on fire before he can give to the winner, Joseph Plant, whose wife Evelyn was formerly Henry's sweetheart.
Dissipated youth Tommy Hilgrade is sent to the lumber lands in the Northwest by his father who hopes that hard living will reform his son. Accompanying Tommy is his sister Marion. Upon their arrival in Canada, lumber foreman Jack Macy is attracted to Marion but, unknown to her, he contributes to Tommy's addiction to drink and gambling. When Marion falls in love with French Canadian Jules Bonnivet after he rescues her from a fall through the ice, Macy schemes to destroy their romance by fabricating the story that Jules is responsible for Tommy's downfall.
During an annual celebration in which English peasants and aristocrats mingle, the Duke of Loame is thrown from his horse and saved by Ivis Benson, the daughter of a tenant farmer. Both injured, they fall in love, to the dismay of his mother and Lady Eileen, his intended bride.
Capt. Deering, a British war hero whose exploits in the Arabian desert have earned him the nickname "The Man of Stone", returns home to London to discover that his fiancé, the wealthy Lady Mary Fortescue, has left him for another man. Devastated, he returns to the desert and begins to drink heavily, which results in his becoming gravely ill. He is cared for by the lovely Laila, an Arab woman who falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Lady Mary has broken up with the man she dumped Deering for and travels to the desert, determined to get him back and to let nothing stand in her way.
Headstrong Mavis Cole defying her grandfather runs away with the wealthy but caddish Herbert Whitman. Proving he’s no good Herbert plants a stolen necklace on Mavis and attempts to have her arrested when he comes under suspicion, so Mavis flees to a hunting lodge then entering into a marriage of convenience with Jimmy Ryder to hide her identity. Meanwhile, Herbert bribes ex-convict Steve La Marche to steal a jewel from Dorothy Grosscup but Jimmy captures the thief, though he claims innocence. Dorothy accuses Mavis of the theft, but she is cleared by Steve, resulting in Herbert's arrest.
Valerie West, a beautiful artist's model, falls for wealthy artist Louis Neville. However, his aristocratic family doesn't approve of the relationship and persuades Valerie to promise that she won't marry him. She does, however, tell Louis that she will become his common-law wife on a certain date the following summer. Complications ensue.
To please her once wealthy mother, Amy Terrell fraternizes with members of high society who find her entertaining because of her beauty and charm. At one of Mrs. Van Trant's house parties, Amy is requested by her hostess to amuse Andrew Masters, an influential businessman who has an aversion to society women. Impersonating an old-fashioned girl, Amy wins Masters until he learns of her deception and denounces her.
Upon being released from prison, Lawrence Hilliard takes the name of John Smith and looks for work, and falls in love with Irene Mason, a social secretary, but is reluctant to tell her about his past.
Frank Prentiss, a multi-millionaire who hates and distrusts women, convinces his adopted son, Jack, that they are detrimental to a man's success. The overworked Frank is forced to rest at the country home of his friend, Mr. Gray, where he meets and falls in love with the host's daughter, Kate. She refuses his proposal at first, but later accepts because her father, who has two younger children, is experiencing financial difficulties. Following the wedding, Kate is subjected to Frank's verbal abuse and seeks solace with Jack. Their friendship enrages Frank, who tortures them with his accusations. During a dinner party, Frank accuses Jack and Kate of being lovers in front of the male guests. Jack is restrained from accosting his father, but Frank suffers a fatal heart attack. Later, Jack and Kate fall in love and are married.
Spanish coquette Tula Moliana finds herself encumbered with two husbands, and to get a divorce from the first, Senator Wakefield, she engages Jim Blake, the fiancé of Helen, the senator's daughter, to be her correspondent. Jim agrees to help her but finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and has difficulty in making excuses to Helen for the numerous adventures in which he becomes involved, especially when a jealous rival pursuing Tula threatens his life. Matters are cleared up when Helen discovers he has been victimized, and Tula accepts her first husband. This film is lost.
A cautionary tale for aspiring flappers. Five of six reels survive.
The Country Cousin
Alice Chesterton is described as a "Baby Vamp" by the social set and engaged to boring Tom Carey. She flirts with many of the male guests idling at the Ives' Long Island house party, then encourages Terence O'Keefe, a playboy polo player from Ireland, to rendezvous with her in the city; they are seen together at the "Midnight Frolic". Because of this, Mrs. Ives convinces Alice's newly-arrived sister Betty to look after Alice.
When the benign headmistress of the county poor farm is discharged and replaced with a tyrant, John and Mary, two orphans who have lived there since infancy, decide to run away. Accompanied by a feeble old corporal from the farm, they are forced to seek refuge at the home of General Phillip Bingham when the old soldier becomes ill. After the corporal's death, the general promises to care for the two waifs. Mary becomes his protegee, and John his gardener. Friction develops between the two newcomers and Willing and his wife Jessica, a couple living with the general who hope to inherit his wealth, until one day the general notices a close resemblance between a portrait of his deceased son and John. It is discovered then that John is actually the general's grandson. Thus legitimized, John weds Mary, and the general is pleased with his newly acquired family.
The Last Door (1921)
Frederick Osborn is too busy to tend to his family duties and his wife Frances feels neglected. But Frederick's attention is caught when his wife takes up with a pair of companions to whom she is devoted, but whom he sees as more than a little shady.