The Pretenders

Mutiny

1917

Although Esther Whitaker is in love with Caleb Tilden, her sea captain father demands that she marry his first mate. However, Esther's grandfather encourages her and Caleb to marry in secret. After Grandfather Whitaker's death, Esther discovers she is pregnant. The captain, believing that she has disgraced the family, beats Caleb to death (at least that's what he assumes) and drags his daughter along on the ship. Afraid of the consequences, the captain refuses to go home and eventually the crew mutinies.

The Eternal Question

1916

Pierre Felix, a couturier, makes a $25,000 bet with Ralph Courtland that he can take a girl from the streets, dress her appropriately, and within three months have her accepted into society.

The Scarlet Woman

1916

Bank official Hanlin Davis is ruined in the stock market. Desperate, he fails to rob the bank but kills someone in the attempt. His wife Thora goes to D.A. Hastings to plead for a light sentence which the corrupt Hastings agrees to only if Thora gives herself to him. Upon his release the worthless Davis learning of her sacrifice divorces and turns her into the street. An outcast she becomes "the scarlet woman.” When wealthy crusader Robert Blake institutes an investigation exposing D.A. Hastings he is disbarred and decides to revenge himself upon Thora, considering her the cause of his downfall. Blackmailing unscrupulous society woman, Paula Gordon, he forces her to introduce Thora to Blake as a naïve woman while deceiving Thora that he knows about her past. After they marry Hastings denounces Thora, she flees, returning to her old life, but Blake, seeing her worth seeks her and they reunite.

Infatuation

1925

Infatuation is based on Caesar's Wife, a story by Somerset Maugham. Dazzlingly British socialite Viola Morgan falls madly in love with professional soldier Sir Arthur Little at a dinner party. The two marry, and before long Viola has relocated to Egypt with her husband. Soon bored by her hothouse existence, Viola succumbs to the attentions of young British attache Ronald Perry.

Mother, I Need You

1918

A young woman who became pregnant from an assault faces legal trouble and scandal after having an abortion.

For Husbands Only

1918

A sheltered young woman began a romance with a playboy, under the mistaken assumption that they'd get married. When she finds this isn't the case, she starts a feud with him which continues even after her marriage to somebody else.

Why I Would Not Marry

1918

Adele Moore pressured by her father to choose a husband among four men consults a fortune teller for advice. The crystal ball warns none are suitable so Adele does a flit. Settling in Vermont she opens a store. Business is slow but one day a passing salesman walks in and things begin to look up!

For the Freedom of the East

1918

In World War I China, Princess Tsu, who leads a secret group dedicated to eradicating German influence in China, learns that the Chinese viceroy, in order to further his own ambitions, has organized an army to help Germany win Russia. She steals their written agreement and smuggles it to American agent Robert Kenyon, with whom she has fallen in love. The princess' jealous fiancé, Prince Kang, tells her that Robert is betrothed to an American girl and, bent on revenge, she informs German agent Von Richtman that Robert possesses the secret papers. In Washington, Von Richtman sends his henchmen to apprehend Robert before he can reach the Secretary of State, but Princess Tsu, whose love of country has triumphed over her personal concerns, foils the plot. Aware of her great love for Prince Kang, she returns to China and marries him.

The Blinding Trail

1919

Flighty Helen Halverson decides that she wants to marry Big Jim McKenzie, the boss of the logging camp her father owns, after he is temporarily blinded after he crashes his toboggan into a tree in order to avoid hitting Helen. She convinces her cousin Adele--who is actually also in love with Jim--to get him to propose. Jim's sight returns and he and Helen marry, but on the day their child is to be born, he goes blind again. Frustrated by being married to a blind man, Helen falls in love with his assistant Jean Du Bray. Complications ensue.

The Reckless Lady

1926

Set amidst French resorts and featuring gambling casinos and an automobile race, a mother and wife develops a mania for gambling, much to the dismay of her husband and daughter. A lost film.

The Dancer of Paris

1926

The Ace of Cads

1926

An officer in the British Guards takes to drink when a friend and fellow officer convinces the woman they both love that he has another woman.

The Fall of the Romanoffs

1918

The overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in Russia was such big news that the then-fledgling art of cinema couldn't help but jump on it immediately and create a couple of dramatizations.

The Arm of the Law

1932

A reporter and a detective team up to solve the murder of a nightclub singer who had been involved in a divorce scandal.

The Gamblers

1929

A father-and-son team of cons gamble their firm’s assets. The son is caught investing money that doesn't belong to him and is indicted on a swindling charge. The plot gets spicy when the District Attorney handling the case is his former sweetheart's husband. This situation gives the DA an opportunity to prosecute his romantic rival.