Four Feathers

Bear

1993

Bear (10 minutes, 35 seconds) was Steve McQueen's first major film. Although not an overtly political work, for many viewers it raises sensitive issues about race, homoeroticism and violence. It depicts two naked men – one of whom is the artist – tussling and teasing one another in an encounter which shifts between tenderness and aggression. The film is silent but a series of stares, glances and winks between the protagonists creates an optical language of flirtation and threat.

The Valley of Doubt

1924

Dissipated youth Tommy Hilgrade is sent to the lumber lands in the Northwest by his father who hopes that hard living will reform his son. Accompanying Tommy is his sister Marion. Upon their arrival in Canada, lumber foreman Jack Macy is attracted to Marion but, unknown to her, he contributes to Tommy's addiction to drink and gambling. When Marion falls in love with French Canadian Jules Bonnivet after he rescues her from a fall through the ice, Macy schemes to destroy their romance by fabricating the story that Jules is responsible for Tommy's downfall.

You Find it Everywhere

1921

Andrew Gibson inherits problems when his father dies and leaves shares of his piano manufacturing business to his workmen. To add to his troubles, Andrew's girl, Nora Gorodna, is being pursued by José Ferra, one of the workmen; and Lila Normand, a society girl, tricks Andrew into proposing.

When Love Kills

1913

After a harsh argument between her and her father, a young girl with artistic talent leaves home for a new life.

How They Lie

1917

Black Magic

1929

On a South Seas island, "three white derelicts drink away memories of the past. After many adventures during which a girl enters the picture, the three are rehabilitated and everything turns out happily."

The Four Feathers

1921

When a British army officer, Harry Faversham, resigns his commission on the eve of his regiment's departure for service in the Sudan he is sent four white feathers of cowardice by his comrades and fiancee. In an attempt to redeem himself, Faversham travels out to the Sudan where he saves the lives of his former comrades.

The Fruitful Vine

1921

An old knight weds his dead friend's daughter but she gives herself to an Italian Don to bear an heir.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

1928

A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.

Battleship Potemkin

1925

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.

Nanook of the North

1922

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

October (Ten Days that Shook the World)

1928

Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.

Deserted at the Altar

1922

Anna Moore, a poor orphaned country girl, and her little brother, Tommy, live with hypocritical Squire Simpson, who conspires with his son to acquire the inheritance due the girl.

Three Hours

1927

Left penniless by her vengeful ex-husband, Madeline is forced to become a pickpocket to pay for a new wardrobe. One of her victims is a Mr. Finlay, who threatens to turn her over to the police -- until he hears Madeline's woeful tale of her cruel, possessive husband.

Cabiria

1914

Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?