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

Her First Biscuits

Her First Biscuits 1909

2.75

A new bride has made a batch of biscuits. Her husband pretends to like them, so she delivers the rest to his office. But one bite of these biscuits makes you violently ill, and soon all his visitors (he runs a theatrical booking agency), plus the workmen at home, are ill; when she shows up at the office, they all go after her.

1909

Lines of White on a Sullen Sea

Lines of White on a Sullen Sea 1909

3.25

Soon after their engagement, Bill goes to sea, and Emily vows to stay true until his return. Unknown to her, Bill marries another woman from a different port. Emily waits faithfully for six years, finally becoming dangerously ill. When Bill suddenly appears in town with his family, Joe, who has loved Emily all along, forces Bill to make Emily's final moments happy by pretending he has returned to marry her.

1909

The Cord of Life

The Cord of Life 1909

3.50

Antonine, a worthless, good-for-nothing scoundrel, demands money of his cousin Galora, an energetic, provident husband and father. His demands are met with a positive rebuff, and when he becomes insistent be is forcibly ejected by Galora. As he leaves the tenement he vows to get even, and lies in wait until Galora has gone out on business. Climbing to the fifth floor, on which the Galoras live, he watches his chance, which comes when Mrs. Galora goes for an instant to visit a neighbor on the same floor. Darting into the apartment and raising the window he perceives the awful result of a drop to the ground, five stories below, and so evolves a plan that is dastardly in the extreme. Taking the infant child from the cradle, and placing it in a basket he lets it out with a short rope, the end of which he secures by letting the sash down on it, so that to raise the window would precipitate the baby to destruction.

1909

Napoleon, the Man of Destiny

Napoleon, the Man of Destiny 1909

3.00

Part two of Blackton's "The Life of Napoleon". After Waterloo, Napoleon reminisces. His triumphs are seen in flashback. The film ends with the exiled Napoleon overlooking the beach of St. Helena.

1909

The Life of Moses

The Life of Moses 1909

1.00

Released in five parts (The Persecution of the Children of Israel by the Egyptians, Forty Years in the Land of Midian, The Plagues of Egypt and the Deliverance of the Hebrews, The Victory of Israel, The Promised Land), 4 December 1909 to 19 February 1910. A Vitagraph advertisement in the Moving Picture World (31 Dec. 1909) refers to The Life of Moses as a "Biblical Film-de-Luxe". It is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.

1909

Nero, or The Fall of Rome

Nero, or The Fall of Rome 1909

5.50

Roman emperor Nero is used to getting what he wants. He has grown tired of his wife Octavia, and has become infatuated with Poppea. He succeeds in making Poppea the new empress, but soon he faces opposition from an outraged populace. Informed of the danger of an imminent popular uprising, Nero orders to set fire to the city, which he watches from a terrace, rejoicing and playing his lyra.

1909

Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy

Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy 1909

5.82

A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.

1909

The Light That Came

The Light That Came 1909

4.13

A disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters is courted by a blind man. Will he still love her when his sight is restored?

1909

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

Those Awful Hats

Those Awful Hats 1909

6.11

A pair of young ladies cause trouble at the cinema with their lavish hats.

1909

Mr. Jones Has a Card Party

Mr. Jones Has a Card Party 1909

2.50

Mr. Jones, since his last escapade, had made strenuous efforts to amend the reputation he had gained in the eyes of the ladies of the Temperance League. But Oh! the ordeal, for such it was, was telling on him, and his pent-up spirits were threatening ebullition, when at last the chance comes. The league arranges to attend a three-days' convention out of town, and when Mrs. Jones departs, Jones sends a note to Smith, telling him to bring the gang, and they would have a "Prayer Meeting," enjoining him not to forget the "fixings." Well, the gang are not long in putting in an appearance, for they feel that every minute's delay is a chunk lost from a golden opportunity for fun.

1909

Sweet and Twenty

Sweet and Twenty 1909

3.75

Alice misunderstands when she sees her sweetheart Frank accidentally kissing her sister, and gets upset. Frank claims he'll kill himself by throwing himself into the river, but gets cold feet when it comes time to actually do the deed. Fortunately for him, his girlfriend has come running worried after him, and all is forgiven between them.

1909

A Corner in Wheat

A Corner in Wheat 1909

6.16

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

Napoleon and the Empress Josephine

Napoleon and the Empress Josephine 1909

1

Part one of Blackton’s “The Life of Napoleon". Napoleon meets Josephine, falls in love with her, marries and then divorces her.

1909

The Curtain Pole

The Curtain Pole 1909

4.45

An upper class drawing room. A gentleman breaks the curtain pole and goes in search of a replacement, but he stops into a pub first. He buys a very long pole, and causes havoc everywhere he passes, accumulating an ever-growing entourage chasing him, until he escapes them through a bit of movie magic, only to discover that the pole has already been replaced.

1909

Ben's Kid

Ben's Kid 1909

6.00

Buck Minor was the most detested man in Wolf Hollow, partly because he was quarrelsome and treacherous, partly because he abused and neglected his little wife, Molly, whom all the camp adored, and for whose sake it tolerated Buck.

1909

The Mended Lute

The Mended Lute 1909

4.55

In an Indian tribe, a girl escapes from her father and suitor to be with the man she loves.

1909