Harry L. Rattenberry

A compilation of thirteen rare silent films digitized by the Library of Congress, selected for the 2022 Domitor conference theme “Copy/Rights and Early Cinema.” Drawn from nitrate and safety film, the program spans comedies, trick films, and dramas exploring censorship, invention, adaptation, and social rights. Titles include: Pruning the Movies (Nestor, 1914); Imperial Japanese Dance (Edison, 1894); Early Edison Camera Tests (Edison, c.1890s); Censorship and its Absurdities (Edison, 1915); In Wrong (Crystal, 1914, dir. Phillips Smalley); Tillie’s Tomato Surprise (Lubin, 1915, dir. Howell Hansell); Indian Land Grab (Champion, 1910); The Stolen Play (Falcon Features, 1917, dir. Harry Harvey); And the Villain Still Pursued Her (Vitagraph, 1906, dir. J. Stuart Blackton); The Doll’s Revenge (Hepworth, 1907, dir. Lewin Fitzhamon); The Disintegrated Convict (Vitagraph, 1907); The Mexican Joan of Arc (Kalem, 1911, dir. Kenean Buel); and Fads and Fashions of 1900 (U.S., 1940s).

Eve Underhill quits her job in the "want ad" department of a San Francisco newspaper and heads for Eden, Arizona, to answer its advertisement for a lady mayor. Upon her arrival, the womanless town hails her as boss, and she initiates a cleanup campaign. A romance develops between her and Catamount Carson, mayor of the rival town of Catamount. Complications revolve about the efforts of Catamount Carson's evil cousin, Ambrose Carson, to inflame a dispute between the two towns over water rights.

Stan Laurel as a harness racing jockey who must win a big race.

Wide Open Spaces is a 1924 Western silent film starring Stan Laurel.

This northwoods comedy-drama, by way of a circus drama, was directed by John Griffith Wray for Thomas H. Ince, and stars Madge Bellamy.

Brick Hubbard, a "printer's devil", convinces his friend Sid Fletcher to invest in "The Gazette", a local newspaper. Sid pens an editorial that infuriates Ira Gates, a local banker and a power in the town--and who also happens to be the father of Vivian Gates, whom Sidney is in love with. To complicate matters, the bank is robbed and Sidney is suspected of the crime.

Elmer Slocum has just served a jail sentence for speeding. On his first day of liberty he encounters a physician whose car has broken down and offers to take him to his patient; he is pursued by motorcops for speeding, wrecks his car in a closed street, and knocks down and believes he has killed a policeman. Elmer boards a freight train and makes his way to a small town in Iowa, where he meets Margaret Andrews.....

A riotous comedy of social errors, as absurd as a butler's whiskers.

No plot available for this movie.

No plot available for this movie.