Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1912

5.78

Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.

1912

The Evidence of the Film

The Evidence of the Film 1913

6.06

A messenger boy is wrongfully accused of stealing bonds worth $20,000. Luckily, a film crew is shooting a moving picture on the same street. The boy's accuser has the police convinced, until...

1913

From Wash to Washington

From Wash to Washington 1914

1

With her week's wash only half done, Diana drops her work to peruse the Paris fashion magazines. Poring over the beautiful fashions delineated in the highly colored pages of the publications, Diana falls asleep. She dreams that she is wealthy and a society leader in Washington. A short film (273 meters) which marked James Cruze's debut as director.

1914

The Woman in White

The Woman in White 1917

5.50

The lead Florence La Badie plays dual roles. Clever editing is used for the scene where her two characters meet. La Badie, however, does appear twice within a scene via superimposition, but that's in a flashback-within-a-mirror scene. There are a couple such scenes where La Badie's reflection in the mirror reflects her reflective melancholy mood.

1917

The Coffin Ship

The Coffin Ship 1911

5.00

A love story filmed in Long Island Sound with a stowaway and a shipwreck.

1911

Rejuvenation

Rejuvenation 1912

1

A rich man who finds that there is nothing in life worth living for, is worse off than is a poor man in similar circumstances, for the poor man may he stricken with ambition, and in a last effort to attain fame and fortune, redeems himself. But what is a man to do if he has wealth, health, all the fame he desires, and yet looks at life through blue spectacles?

1912

The World and the Woman

The World and the Woman 1916

3.50

In "The World and the Woman", Jeanne Eagels plays Mary, a prostitute (which is implied by her walking the streets and being hassled by policemen) who reluctantly takes a better position at a country lodge as a maid. In this woodland community, she attends church and the path to Salvation becomes clear to her. Through Mary's faith, the injured folk of the countryside are healed. However, her old employer, whose lustful advances she'd previously spurned, still has designs on her.

1916

An Elusive Diamond

An Elusive Diamond 1914

5.00

A one-reel crime drama with crooks, ruses, kidnapping, escape, and a twist, all wrapped in a coherent narrative.

1914

The Man Without a Country

The Man Without a Country 1917

4.80

Convicted in a revolutionary conspiracy, a man rashly states that he wishes never again to hear the name of the United States of America. The judge grants him his wish, sentencing him to life aboard a ship always at sea, aboard with sailors under orders never to let him hear of his homeland in any way. The punishment nearly destroys him, while changing him thoroughly.

1917

King Lear

King Lear 1916

4.40

Silent adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear

1916

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray 1915

1

The Thanhouser Company's two-reel adaptation of Oscar Wilde's eponymous novel. “The plot is unusual, and even though none of the familiar epigrams of the author find their way into the subtitles there is an artistic flavor to the production. Dorian's picture shows evidence in the passing years of his selfish, dissipated life, though his own countenance remains unchanged. Harris Gordon handles the leading role effectively, and Helen Fulton was pleasing as the ill-fated young actress who won Dorian's heart." - The Moving Picture World, July 31, 1915.

1915

Cinderella

Cinderella 1911

6.40

Elaborately produced version of the well known George O. Nichols fairy tale interrupted by just a few summarizing intertitles, with Florence LaBadie and Harry Benham.

1911

The Cry of the Children

The Cry of the Children 1912

5.30

An indictment of the evils of child labor, the film was controversial in its time for its use of actual footage of children employed in a working mill.

1912

Joseph in the Land of Egypt

Joseph in the Land of Egypt 1914

5.00

Film realization of the Biblical story of Joseph, played here by future director James Cruze.

1914

The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop 1911

1

A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.

1911

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby 1912

5.80

With The Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield, both released in 1911, and Nicholas Nickleby in 1912, Thanhouser established itself as producer of the best Dickens adaptations in American film.

1912

Carmen

Carmen 1913

5.00

A three-reel version of the famous stage production. Don Jose, the hero of the famous book by Prosper Merimee, and Bizet's celebrated opera, was born in the Basque Provinces of Spain. He was a young, good-looking peasant, devoted to his old mother, and greatly in love with his pretty sweetheart, Mercedes. The plans of Jose and Mercedes for an early marriage were rudely dissipated by the news that the young man had been drafted for service in the Spanish army. Jose comforted his mother and Mercedes, telling them that he would soon return and they would never be separated again.

1913

Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit 1913

1

A short adaption of the novel by Charles Dickens.

1913

The Vicar of Wakefield

The Vicar of Wakefield 1910

3.00

Edwin Thanhouser re-made The Vicar of Wakefield in 1917 as a eight-reel feature film providing us with a frame of reference for the maturation of film language and cinematic techniques over the ensuing eight year period.

1910

The Decoy

The Decoy 1914

5.00

A rather complex interweaving of romance and crime is squeezed into one reel. A "respectable" couple of city "card sharpers" invite a distant country relative to visit, then use her as a pretty, unwitting decoy to lure rich victims. They flee town a step ahead of the law. At a resort, the innocent girl falls in love with the latest victim, but they help expose and apprehend the guilty parties.

1914