Author Archive: Retro

Lear is an old man blind to his weaknesses. He decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to who recites the best declaration of love. Goneril and Regan pretend to love him but treat him cruelly. Cordelia is loyal but, confusing honesty with insolence, he disowns her.

Rip Van Winkle, a lazy American man, wanders off one day with his dog Wolf into the Kaatskill mountains where he runs into an odd group of men drinking and playing bowls. He drinks some of their mysterious brew and passes out. When he wakes up under a tree he is astonished to find that 20 years have passed and things are a lot different. This is a charming story about how America changed due to the cival war, only in a different and more subtle way than ever told before.

Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors. A key opens a small door: eventually, she’s through into a garden where a dog awaits. Later, in the rabbit’s home, her size is again a problem. She tries to help a nanny with a howling baby, then a Cheshire cat directs her to a tea party where the Mad Hatter and March Hare dunk a dormouse. Expelled from the party, Alice happens on a royal processional: all the cards in the deck precede the Queen of Hearts, who welcomes then turns on Alice and calls on the royal executioner. Alice must run for her life.

The little mender is betrothed to Tom, the fisherman, rejecting the suits of all the others. Tom, however, is weak, and finds that his old infatuation for Grace still haunts him. Grace has sacrificed all for her love for Tom, and when she sees him courting the little mender, she reminds him of his duty towards her. He realizes the strength of this and hints to the little mender that he is not worthy of her. Grace’s brother learns of her dishonor and attempts vengeance. A quarrel ensues between the men, and the little mender, ignorant of the cause, attempts to save her sweetheart from the anger of the brother, and her tender appeal turns him for the time from his purpose. The little mender learns, however, the cause and the truth of the other girl’s sorrow, and, smothering her own feelings, awakens Tom to his sense of duty, while she returns to mend the [...]

Gentleman burglar Raffles tries to get his hand on a priceless pearl.

A timid man goes to extreme lengths to get away from his domineering wife.

Robinson Crusoe and Friday fight with hostile natives, and eventually retire to their jungle cottage to relax.

It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Regular village “cut-ups” are those actor chaps and actresses. They don’t keep still a minute when they get loose on the village green at the Polo Grounds. The band begins to play and the procession starts from Madison Square in “buzz wagons” and keeps moving until they get to the grounds where every actress, actor and actorman in town passes in review before the grandstand of political and social celebrities there assembled. Here they come now: Eddie Foy, Bert Williams, Marie Dressler, Lew Fields, Marshall P. Wilder. George M. Cohan, Victor Moore. Jim Corbett, Tim Sullivan, Joe Humphreys, Emma Carus, Louis Mann, Terry McGovern, Annie Oakley, Irene Franklin and, well, just watch them as they pass by and you can pick them all out. This show takes in every show in Manhattan and the suburbs. There goes the wild men of Borneo in a Salome war dance. [...]