The Half-Breed

The Half-Breed 1916

5.80

In an attempt to brand himself as a serious actor, the smiling swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks starred in THE HALF-BREED (1916), a Western melodrama written by Anita Loos and directed with flair by Allan Dwan. Fairbanks stars as Lo Dorman, who has been ostracized from society because of this mixed ethnicity - his Native American mother was abandoned by his white father. When Lo catches the eye of the rich white debutante Nellie (Jewel Carmen), he becomes a target for the racist Sheriff Dunn (Sam De Grasse), who wants to break them up and take Nelli for his own. This love triangle becomes a quadrangle with the arrival of Teresa (Alma Rubens), who is on the run from the law. Through fire and fury Lo must decide who and what he truly loves.

1916

Joan the Woman

Joan the Woman 1916

5.60

A WWI English officer is inspired the night before a dangerous mission by a vision of Joan of Arc, whose story he relives.

1916

Rübezahl's Wedding

Rübezahl's Wedding 1916

5.00

In this film, the people of a Tyrolean town climb up into the nearby mountains, searching for a place where they can hold a picnic and a spring festival: ideally, a place where they can eventually erect dwellings and cultivate crops. Led by the local nobleman (Arthur Ehrens), they find an appropriate spot, and the festivities begin. Some children briefly perform a charming folk dance. Suddenly the Rübezahl arrives and threatens to kill all the townsfolk if they don't leave immediately.

1916

One A.M.

One A.M. 1916

6.74

A drunken homeowner has a difficult time getting about in his home after arriving home late at night.

1916

American Aristocracy

American Aristocracy 1916

4.00

A young man fights to overcome a piratical arms smuggler and to win the heart of a rich man's daughter.

1916

Mary and Gretel

Mary and Gretel 1916

5.80

Alice in Wonderland meets the Garden of Eden in this surreal fable of a drunk rabbit, bowling dwarfs, and the two bewildered girls of the title.

1916

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1916

6.20

Captain Nemo has built a fantastic submarine for his mission of revenge. He has traveled over 20,000 leagues in search of Charles Denver - a man who caused the death of Princess Daaker. Seeing what he had done, Denver took the daughter to his yacht and sailed away.

1916

The Rink

The Rink 1916

6.60

After amusements working in a restaurant, a waiter uses his lunch break to go roller skating.

1916

The Floorwalker

The Floorwalker 1916

6.40

An impecunious customer creates chaos in a department store while the manager and his assistant plot to steal the money kept in the establishment's safe.

1916

The Pawnshop

The Pawnshop 1916

6.60

A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric customers as he flirts with the pawnbroker's daughter, until a perfidious crook with bad intentions arrives at the pawnshop.

1916

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes 1916

6.30

When a couple of scammers hold young Alice Faulkner against her will to discover the whereabouts of letters whose dissemination could cause a scandal affecting the royal family, Sherlock Holmes decides to take over the case. (Considered lost, a copy was found in 2014, in the vaults of the Cinémathèque Française.)

1916

Judex

Judex 1916

6.84

When an unscrupulous banker ruins his family, a young man swears to bring him to justice, so he adopts a new identity, the mysterious Judex, and ominously disguised and sunk into the muddy path of vengeance, punishes the crooks and protects the innocents. (Originally a twelve-part epic serial.)

1916

Behind the Screen

Behind the Screen 1916

6.51

During the troubled shooting of several movies, David, the prop man's assistant, meets an aspiring actress who tries to find work in the studio. Things get messy when the stagehands decide to go on strike.

1916

Wife and Auto Trouble

Wife and Auto Trouble 1916

5.00

A mild-mannered man's problems with his domineering wife and mother-in-law lead to complications with the law.

1916

The Count

The Count 1916

6.20

A tailor's apprentice burns Count Broko's clothes while ironing them and the tailor fires him. Later, the tailor discovers a note explaining that the count cannot attend a dance party, so he dresses as such to take his place; but the apprentice has also gone to the mansion where the party is celebrated and bumps into the tailor in disguise…

1916

Where Are My Children?

Where Are My Children? 1916

6.02

Walton, the District Attorney, yearns to have children. Soon after defending an author on trial for publishing indecent literature, Walton discovers a secret his wife and her socialite friends have been hiding from him.

1916

Police

Police 1916

6.20

Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict convinces Charlie to help burglarize a house.

1916

The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West

The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West 1916

5.71

The Curse of Quon Gwon is the oldest known Chinese-American film and one of the earliest American silent features made by a woman. Only two reels of the film survive, and no intertitles are known to exist, making it difficult to parse out the exact plot. An article in the July 17, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World states that the film "deals with the curse of a Chinese god that follows his people because of the influence of western civilization." The film also touches on themes of Chinese assimilation into American society. Formally premiering in 1917, no distributor was willing to purchase a Chinese-American film without racial stereotypes. Considered a devastating financial failure, the film was only screened two more times until its rediscovery in 2004. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

1916