Grand Hotel...! 1927
German adaptation of Béla Balázs's Grand Hotel, which was later remade by MGM in 1932.
German adaptation of Béla Balázs's Grand Hotel, which was later remade by MGM in 1932.
The film was created as a compilation of footage that was, in some cases, nearly fifteen years old, and included stock footage such as medical reels containing footage of venereal diseases and films depicting white slavery. The basic plot was a cautionary tale about a young woman's journey into prostitution and white slavery, but, like the other films of the era, the plot was secondary to the sexual content. Many of the presentations were introduced at the front door, with live nude women in glass booths at the entrances. Inside, the films were usually accompanied by a medical slideshow about venereal disease and a lecture from an alleged sexual education specialist. This was a typical presentation template for the time, and set an example for later exploiters. (Wikipedia)
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
A gangster falls in love with the daughter of a former colleague who has quit the rackets. However, things aren't exactly what they appear to be.
A pair of gold prospectors (Max Davidson, Oliver Hardy) try to make their way in the big city. *Only reconstructed fragments exists.
Setting the standard for his later light-hearted biopics The Private Life of Henry VIII and Rembrandt, producer-director Alexander Korda steadfastly refuses to take any of The Private Life of Helen of Troy seriously. Maria Corda, wife of the director, plays the title character as a fetchingly underdressed coquette, oblivious to all the political turmoil she's causing when she allows the handsome Paris (Ricardo Cortez) to kidnap her. Meanwhile, poor King Menelaus (Lewis Stone), Helen's husband, stands by in stoic silence, just as he's done on previous occasions when his wife succumbed to the charms of various sexy suitors (one of whom is played by future cowboy star "Wild Bill" Elliot). Finally galvanized into action, Menelaus reclaims his bride, who seems none the worse for wear for her experiences.
Bruce Wilton, middle-aged, rich and famous, as a producer, has been rejected by Ada von Ruyt, a revue star. Finding an affection is developing between her and Longard, now down and out, he arranges to send the man to South America with a touring company. But again rejected by the woman he loves, he causes her to be supplanted by a rival, and in a passion dismisses his secretary, her old friend. The man, who has suffered much, shoots him. Longard, thinking Ada has fired the shot, attempts to take the blame, but the murderer commits suicide.
Are Brunettes Safe?
Silent film directed by Victor Schertzinger
Starry-eyed heiress Mary Astor yearns for a "cave man" who will treat her rough and make her like it.
At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Maryland Calvert is loved by Maj. Alan Kendrick, son of a Virginia general, and Capt. Fulton Thorpe. Nancy, whom Thorpe has loved unwisely, follows him to Washington and commits suicide when she learns he will not marry her; as a result, Alan is forced to request his resignation. When Fort Sumter is fired upon, Alan, who admires Lincoln's principles, joins the Union Army though his father is among the Secessionist leaders; as a result, he is estranged from Maryland. Thorpe, who has joined the Confederacy as a spy, is responsible for Alan's arrest, but Maryland victoriously comes to his aid by ringing the alarm bell.
The story is about a fake army colonel who blackmails Alvord into doing his bidding, including smearing a rancher and his pretty daughter .
In the Crimea, the Reds and the Whites aren't done fighting, and Jeanne discovers that the man she loves is a Bolshevik (when he kills her father). Penniless, she returns to Paris where she works for her uncle. Soon after, her lover Andreas is in France to organize the sailors in Toulon. So also is a thief, traitor, and libertine, Khalibiev, who wants to seduce Jeanne. His schemes, Jeanne and Andreas's naivete, and a lost diamond bring the lovers to the brink of tragedy.
During WWI, a French farm girl and a German P.O.W. fall in love.
An engineer develops a device that will disarm any electrically power device, in an attempt to prevent armed conflicts.
The Patent Leather Kid is a 1927 silent film which tells the story of a boxer who scoffs at fighting outside the ring... particularly for the United States once it enters World War I. Eventually, he is drafted, is shipped overseas, and performs a heroic act, which results in his being severely wounded.
Frank Fortune, a young rancher, is jailed along with two of his men for fighting with rival ranchers. Helen Marsden, daughter of a wealthy senator who is interested in prison reform, prevails on the judge to parole them into her custody and work at her ranch. Frank falls in love and, so as to stay on at the ranch, convinces her he is a notorious criminal. When the senator visits her with a large sum of money belonging to the state, three "reformed" crooks on the premises plan to steal it. Fortune's friends learn of the plot and decide to take the money for safekeeping, but Fortune intervenes; the real crooks do steal the funds, however, and depart with Helen in an automobile. Fortune overtakes the speeding car and rescues Helen.
A soldier returns home from World War I with a beautiful black horse that he saved on the battlefield, and names Thunderhoof. He enters the horse in a local race, hoping to earn enough money to save the family ranch of the girl he loves. However, the crooks intent on taking the ranch manage to capture a notorious wild horse and enter it in the same race, believing that it can beat Thunderhoof and thereby ensure that they're able to take the ranch.
Mabel plays an out-and-out crook, a "Girl Bandit," no less. And she quickly hooks up with a male partner in crime, in this case a Gentleman Crook played by perpetually grinning Creighton Hale. Mabel seems a little livelier in this film than in some of her other late works. In the very first scene we find her hitch-hiking, and she's forced to make a mad dash for cover when Hale's car nearly hits her. Soon they team up and crash a swanky party in a mansion to steal a jewel from the host's safe.