Frank Powell

Film Fun

A nostalgic look at film clips from the Silent era.

A Fool There Was

John Schuyler, a happily married lawyer, is appointed diplomat and sent to England. Due to an unfortunate accident, his wife and child can not come along with him. On the ship to England, Schuyler meets the notorious Vampire - a relentless gold digger who causes the moral degradation of those she seduces, first fascinating and then draining the very life from her victims.

The Second Generation

Hugo Reid loves and is engaged to the fair Irene. Warned by his father that insanity runs in their family he chooses to break with her without sharing the reason why. Driven by his loneliness and despair, Hugo goes back to his former flame, Hazel Hamilton, a lady of loose character. Irene sees them together and hurt flees with Hugo in pursuit. At first anxious to win her back, Hugo eventually tells all to Irene’s mother, leaving the house for good. Shortly thereafter he falls into madness.

The Oath and the Man

A rich nobleman steals a perfume merchant's wife just prior to the French Revolution, in which the perfumer is a leader of the peasants. His priest made him swear an oath to leave vengeance to God, however.

Over Silent Paths

In the heart of the American west, a miner toils day after day at his rocker box while his young daughter keeps his camp. His daughter persuades him to return to civilization, where they may enjoy the fruits of their labor. Both are happy in the anticipation of what seems a bright future. While she's away, a desert wanderer appears at the camp, and at the sight of the old man weighing his gold is seized with cupidity. He himself had toiled long in the wilds, but with no success, so he demands that the old man divide his gains with him. This, of course, the miner decries, and the wanderer uses force to obtain the old man's gold. The wanderer collapses in the desert, only to be rescued by a certain young woman: the miner's daughter.

The Impalement

Bored by a doting wife who is too eager to please (she even puts a cigar in his mouth and lights it), Mr. Avery falls for a dancer, and is invited to a party she is throwing in his honor. Over her husband’s shoulder, the wife reads a letter from the dancer, with the telltale salutation "My dear boy", and threatens to poison herself if he goes. To show that he is not to be deterred by such a melodramatic trick, Avery takes the vial and pours the poison into a wine glass, saying if she decides to do this, why not do it with style? He then leaves, but not without misgivings. At the party the dancer offers him wine in a glass which looks exactly like the one he had handed to his suicidal spouse. This triggers an attack of conscience, and Avery rushes home, to find his wife in a swoon which he takes for her threat fulfilled. Madly, he bursts into the dancer’s party, confesses assisted suicide, and dies.

Faithful

Adonese is returning home from seeing the woman he is courting, and he is driving around a corner when his car accidentally brushes against the tramp 'Faithful' and knocks him over. Feeling sorry for him, Adonese helps him up and buys him a new suit of clothes. The naively innocent Faithful reads too much into this gesture, and he begins to follow his benefactor everywhere, expecting to receive future gifts.

In Old California

An historical dramatization of a Spanish woman during the reign of Spanish and Mexican owned California in the early 19th century.

The Man

Mildred lives with her husband, the prospector Steve Clark, in an out-of-the-way cabin in the mountains. She is affectionate and considerate, but her husband shows little if any concern for her, let alone love. A newcomer of friendly disposition and good humor one days runs into Clark and later finds Mildred by herself at home. Lonely and lovesick, she is overwhelmed by his lively attention and apparent affection.

The Last Deal

Owen Moore is addicted to gambling and about to lose his family and job because of it. James Kirkwood, his brother-in-law, shows up and cures him of his gambling fever.

The Rocky Road

The evils of drink cause a man to separate from his family. In time he becomes sober and prosperous. Then he meets and falls in love with a young woman, and they become engaged. Unbeknownst to him this young woman is his own daughter.

A Corner in Wheat

On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.

The Death Disc: A Story of the Cromwellian Period

During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, Catholic worship is forbidden on pain of death. Three soldiers are arrested as Catholics and condemned to die. Cromwell decides to spare two of them and to determine which should die by chance. The guards bring the first child they meet. Whichever soldier she gives the 'death disc' to shall die. Cromwell is charmed by the girl and gives her his signet ring. By chance the child is the daughter of one of the soldiers and gives the death disc to her father, because she thinks it's pretty. The child is returned home to her mother, who learns of her husband's pending execution and of the power of the ring. She rushes to the place of execution and saves her husband by producing the ring.

A Sweet Revenge

After being jilted for another, a woman sends her lover's old letters to the new fiancée and looks forward to the reaction. But when she spots her old lover's glove left behind, she has a change of heart and repents.

The Light That Came

A disfigured young woman with two beautiful sisters is courted by a blind man. Will he still love her when his sight is restored?

Nursing a Viper

During the French Revolution, a wealthy couple lives safely by professing republican beliefs. When a mob attacks a nearby chateau an aristocrat bursts into the couple's home. They save his life by disguising him as a servant, but he soon forces his attentions on the wife. Hearing their struggle, the husband intervenes and, stripping the aristocrat of his disguise, thrusts him outdoors to be killed by the mob.

Lines of White on a Sullen Sea

Soon after their engagement, Bill goes to sea, and Emily vows to stay true until his return. Unknown to her, Bill marries another woman from a different port. Emily waits faithfully for six years, finally becoming dangerously ill. When Bill suddenly appears in town with his family, Joe, who has loved Emily all along, forces Bill to make Emily's final moments happy by pretending he has returned to marry her.

In the Watches of the Night

An honest worker, John Whitney, finds himself unemployed and unable to provide for his family. Desperate, he robs a rich man's home and is arrested. One of the police officers is an old friend and accompanies Whitney home to allow a farewell with his wife. Humiliated, Whitney decides to kill himself and his family. The rich man learns of his desperate situation and arrives in time to save the family and drops the charges.

Fools of Fate

Fanny is the wife of Ben Webster, a trapper, and while he is an affectionate and dutiful husband, she yearns for something which appears better than her lot. She reasons: "Have I not youth and beauty and attainments far above this environment? Why should I be compelled to toil and struggle in this wilderness?"

The Broken Locket

George Peabody is a young man who has been giving free rein to his inclinations, the principal one being drink. One might have concluded he was lost, but there was the chance which the hand of Providence always bestows in the person of pretty little Ruth King, who had secretly loved George since their childhood days. She succeeds in persuading him from his reckless life, and he determines to cut off from his old loose companions by going out West and making a man of himself. Bidding Ruth and her mother good-bye, he realizes that he loves his little preserver and promises to return worthy of her love and confidence. They plight their troth with their first kiss and a heart shaped locket, which Ruth wears, she breaking it in two, giving George one side while she retains the other, which symbolized the reunion of their hearts with his return.

The Indian Runner's Romance

An Indian comforts a dying prospector in his last moments. In exchange, the prospector tells him the location of his gold claim. A group of cowboys tries to get the information and go as far as kidnapping the Indian's wife.

The Mended Lute

In an Indian tribe, a girl escapes from her father and suitor to be with the man she loves.

A Strange Meeting

Mary Rollins is torn between selfish depravity and righteous living. After she's coerced into helping with the burglary of her minister's apartment, she comes face to face with her misdeeds.

Tender Hearts

A country boy and a city boy are both courting the same girl. The girl sees the country boy's tender treatment of a wounded bird and chooses him.

The Cardinal's Conspiracy

A royal woman rejects her arranged marriage. The cardinal hatches a plan: the suitor will shave and change clothes. He arranges with 4 clowns to stage an attack on the princess which he easily repels. It works; the princess falls for him, especially when the cardinal arranges his arrest.

The Country Doctor

While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.

The Necklace

Mrs. Kendrick borrows a jeweled necklace from a friend for an important social event. The necklace is stolen, and Mr. Kendrick goes into debt to replace it. The thief discovers it's costume jewelry, but the Kendricks never learns the truth; Husband and wife struggle for years to pay off the huge debt.

The Way of Man

A woman is scarred in an accident and refuses to stand in the way of her lover's marriage to another.

The Faded Lilies

A disfigured violinist mistakes a token of appreciation for a love bouquet. When he realizes his mistake, he loses his mind.

The Son's Return

A son leaves to seek his fortune in the city. Many years later he returns and checks into his parents' inn. They don't recognize him, but noticing his fat wallet, plan to rob him.

His Duty

It's Bob Allen's twenty-first birthday. His mother and his brother Jack, a policeman present him with a cap, personalized with his initals in the lining. Jack then goes to work and Bob goes out also. Later in the evening, Jack is called to the scene of a robbery, where he finds the cap with his brother's initials. Dismayed by the idea that his brother is a thief, he goes home and confronts Bob with the evidence. Though it breaks their mother's heart, Jack does his duty and leads his brother out in handcuffs.

The Voice of the Violin

A music teacher is in love with Helen, one of his students, but she rejects him. In his hurt he joins an anarchist group who plan to blow up a rich capitalist's house. When he realizes it's Helen's house, he tries to stop the plan.

The Honor of Thieves

Mack Sennett appears as a man at the dance and a cop in this film produced by the Biograph Company.