Author Archive: Retro

Immigrant child’s mother dies on the boat ride to America, and facing deportation, the orphan flees Ellis Island, taking up with a crusty old sailor.

In this comedy, Constance Talmadge plays Babs, a girl who is thrown out of boarding school because she’s more interested in studying romance than she is in studying books. The object of her affections is Jim Winthrop (John Halliday), but before they can wed, he has to find suitable mates for his two plain sisters, Dorcas (Natalie Talmadge, Constance’s real-life sister) and Matilda (Fanny Bourke) — and Winthrop’s elderly aunt, too. To speed things up, Babs takes it upon herself to find them all men. This picture was adapted from a Mary Roberts Rhineheart story by scenarist Anita Loos.

Roy Somerville has turned out a rather interesting story that will hold the interest of the majority of audiences as produced by the Triangle-Fine Arts Company. It is a five-reel feature and was produced under the direction of C.M. and S.S. Franklin, with Norma Talmadge as the star. Cora (Norma Talmadge) is wedded to Arthur Vincent (Eugene Pallette) and there are two children. Vincent is the son of the president of a bank and is devoting the greater part of his time to Jane Courtenay, a cabaret dancer, who is willing to have him devote his time to her as long as he is a good provider. The wife, who has been sadly neglected, turns to her sister, who is wedded to Fred Brown, a young detective. His brother Charles, who works in the elder Vincent’s bank as a cashier, lives with them. He was Cora’s first love and has never quite recovered from the [...]

Classic German story of a hotel’s pompous doorman who is shamed when he is demoted to washroom attendant because of his age. English titles. Dir. F.W. Murnau.

Classic story of the man who sold his soul to Satan in return for youth. English titles. Dir. Vincente Minnelli.

This routine domestic drama was based on a stage play by Owen Davis. Jane Cornwall, a wealthy heiress (Virginia Valli), secretly uses her fortune to help her sweetheart, James Van Clinton (Forrest Stanley), perfect his invention — a “Tele-Vision-Scope” (a device which enables people to see each other while talking on the phone). After the device succeeds, Jane and Van Clinton wed and begin a family. After a few years of marriage, Van Clinton becomes bored and falls prey to the charms of Helen Newhall (Margaret Livingston). He neglects his business, forcing his partner to sell his half in order to save the company. To Van Clinton’s surprise, his partner isn’t Judge Seymour (George Fawcett), like he thought — it’s Jane. And Jane, who has discovered the affair (through the use of the Tele-Vision-Scope, no less), refuses to help him out. Now that he’s made a royal mess out of his life, Van Clinton buckles [...]

Eerie tale of woman suffering from schizophrenia. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

A young orphan girl, courted by an unpleasant older wealthy man who has a hold over her adoptive mother, falls in love with a young stranger at a party. Odd noises begin to be heard as a group of bootleggers clandestinely try to get away with their hidden loot. One of them is killed and the young man is suspected of being the killer.