Author Archive: Retro

Mae Marsh stars in this film based on the popular novel “In the Garden of Charity” by the Canadian writer Basil King. Produced by Vitagraph, it was the final American silent film for Marsh.What survives of the original 70-minute film is a 21-minute abridgment that was released in 1930 as “The Sea Repays.” The condensed version is a little hard to follow, but Marsh is married to Paul (Ben Hendricks, Jr.) who gets bored and goes off to India with his regiment. We see him there dallying with a married woman. After his discharge he’s en route for home but goes overboard and is washed up on an island where a woman (Laska Winter)takes him in. After a while he gets bored and decides to go home to Marsh. She takes him to Hunger Island and is supposed to tell people where they can pick him up … but she does not.She goes back to [...]

Enrico, a poor street singer, forsakes his sweetheart, Veronica, when he meets a fashionably-dressed young woman. A rich couple takes pity on the shabbily-dressed Veronica, and buys her a new gown. At a dance, Enrico sees Veronica in her new dress and tries to win her back.

Based loosely on the nursery rhyme: A fair is in progress, with refreshments, entertainment, and other activities. As the rest of the crowd is watching one of the acts, Tom steals a pig and runs off. He tries to hide, but he is chased by the crowd, and the pig also proves difficult to control. But Tom has some tricks up his sleeve that might give him a chance to escape.

In the south coast of England, a young woman, Margaret Catchpole (Lottie Lyell), is pursued by two men, the smuggler Will Laud (Raymond Longford) and the coastguard officer Lieutenant Barry (Augustus Neville). Laud is killed in a fight with coast guards and Margaret is sentenced to Botany Bay for horse stealing. She later marries Barry, who has since moved to Sydney, and becomes well-regarded for her hospital work.

Billy is on the bum. He sees a copper writing a ticket to a driver parked in front of a fire hydrant. The driver slips the cop some money to tear up the ticket. Billy acquires a fake fire plug and a policeman’s badge, and sets out to make some money.