Lila Lee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
In 1918, she was chosen for a film contract by Hollywood film mogul Jesse Lasky for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later became Paramount Pictures. Her first feature, The Cruise of the Make-Believes, garnered the teenaged starlet much public acclaim and Lasky quickly sent Lee on an arduous publicity campaign. Critics lauded Lila for her wholesome persona and sympathetic character parts. Lee quickly rose to the ranks of leading lady and often starred opposite such matinee heavies as Conrad Nagel, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino. Lee bore more than a slight resemblance to Ann Little, a former Paramount star and frequent Reid co-star who was leaving the film business and at this stage in her career an even stronger resemblance to Marguerite Clark.
In 1922 Lee was cast as Carmen in the enormously popular film Blood and Sand, opposite matinee idol Rudolph Valentino and silent screen vamp Nita Naldi; Lee subsequently won the first WAMPAS Baby Stars award that year. Lee continued to be a highly popular leading lady throughout the 1920s and made scores of critically praised and widely watched films.
As the Roaring Twenties drew to a close, Lee's popularity began to wane and Lee positioned herself for the transition to talkies. She is one of the few leading ladies of the silent screen whose popularity did not nosedive with the coming of sound. She went back to working with the major studios and appeared, most notably, in The Unholy Three, in 1930, opposite Lon Chaney Sr. in his only talkie. However, a series of bad career choices and bouts of recurring tuberculosis and alcoholism hindered further projects and Lee was relegated to taking parts in mostly grade B movies.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.1866 |
| Birthday | 1905-07-25 |
| Place of Birth | Union Hill, New Jersey, USA |
| Also Known As | Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel, Augusta Appel, |
1926
Broken Hearts
10/1
A Jewish writer in Czarist Russia is forced to flee when the government comes after him for his "objectionable" writings. He emigrates to the US, wher...
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Broken Hearts
1928
The Little Wild Girl
10/1
Vacationing in the Canadian Northwest, a playwright and a songwriter both fall in love with Marie Cleste and take her back with them to New York when...
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The Little Wild Girl
1930
The Unholy Three
5.857/21
A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.
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The Unholy Three
1932
War Correspondent
5.5/2
In this war drama, a brave reporter tries to remain detached while covering the war in Shanghai. While there, he falls for an ex-streetwalker, but mus...
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War Correspondent
1922
Ebb Tide
8/1
An old skipper, Captain Davis, has as his companions two derelicts -- one, Huish, is a Cockney, and the other, Robert Herrick was once a gentleman. In...
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Ebb Tide
1922
Rent Free
9/1
A penniless artist moves into an abandoned house, but is discovered by the daughter of its former owner.
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Rent Free
1926
Fascinating Youth
9/1
Playboy Teddy Ward wants to marry Jeannie King, an artist, but his father wants him to marry Loris Lane, but tells Teddy he can marry whom he pleases...
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Fascinating Youth
1924
Another Man's Wife
7/1
Vengeful husband pursues, kidnaps his wife aboard a deserted ship when he becomes injured and taken aboard, then sinks in a collision following a figh...
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Another Man's Wife
1925
Coming Through
9/1
Because he wants a promotion, Tom Blackford marries Alice Rand, the daughter of his boss, John Rand. Rand is aware of Blackford's motivations and he s...
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Coming Through
1922
A Trip to Paramountown
7.75/4
Documentary short film depicting the filmmaking activity at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, featuring dozens of stars captured candidly and at wor...
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A Trip to Paramountown
1919
Male and Female
6.44/25
When an aristocratic family and their servants are shipwrecked, the butler becomes their ruler.
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Male and Female
1936
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
6.25/32
A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
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The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1933
Lone Cowboy
4/4
Young Scooter O’Neal, orphaned after his father’s suicide, is sent out West to live with family friend Dobe Jones. Unaware of his father’s fate Scoote...
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Lone Cowboy
1961
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
7/1
A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death.
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The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1935
The People's Enemy
7/2
Money was what gangster Vince M. Falcone wanted most and he did lay hands on millions of dollars by fair means or (mostly) foul. But once he became ri...
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The People's Enemy
1922
Blood and Sand
5.828/29
Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother's wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and tak...
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Blood and Sand
1919
The Lottery Man
10/1
Young Jack Wright offers his hand in marriage to the winner of a lottery, but after committing to the winner falls in love with another woman.
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The Lottery Man
1921
The Charm School
7/1
Austin Bevans, a lively car-salesman, suddenly finds himself heir to the Bevans School for Girls. Since Austin feels that acquiring grace and charm ar...
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The Charm School
1923
Hollywood
9/3
Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtim...
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Hollywood
1932
Radio Patrol
10/1
A policeman in need of money is persuaded to take a $1000 bribe to stay away the night a packing house is to be robbed.
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Radio Patrol
1932
Exposure
5.5/2
A reporter runs into a pretty young girl who has inherited her father's failing business. She wants to give it up, but he tries to convince her to mak...
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Exposure
1932
Officer Thirteen
6.6/5
A motorcycle policeman's partner is deliberately run off the road and killed by a member of a syndicate that controls the gambling--and much of the ju...
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Officer Thirteen
1919
The Secret Garden
10/1
A young British girl born and raised in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's estate....
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The Secret Garden
1925
The Midnight Girl
5.833/6
A corrupt art patron finds himself in love with the same girl as his stepson.
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The Midnight Girl
1929
Flight
6.611/9
Two Marine pilots in love with the same girl are assigned a mission to find a notorious bandit in Nicaragua. This early talkie from director Frank Cap...
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Flight
1934
I Can't Escape
7.5/2
An ex-convict, unable to get a good job because of his prison record, gets mixed up in a phony stock scam.
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I Can't Escape
1967
Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers
4.273/11
Darby Clyde Fenster and Jerry Martin are a pair of penniless nincompoop-drifters who hop a freight train on their way to Florida. Our intrepid heroes...
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Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers
1934
In Love with Life
6/2
Professor John Sylvestus Applegate has been dismissed from his college teaching position for objecting too loudly to the predominant part that footbal...
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In Love with Life
1928
The Adorable Cheat
9/1
The daughter of a wealthy industrialist wants to take over the company when her father retires, but the father--an old-fashioned sort who doesn't beli...
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The Adorable Cheat
1936
Country Gentlemen
5.5/4
After being run out of town after town for trying to sell worthless stock, two con artists breeze into the small town of Chesterville, where they find...
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Country Gentlemen
1932
Unholy Love
3.6/5
An adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have been renamed.
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Unholy Love
1934
Whirlpool
6.389/9
An ex-convict tries to connect with the daughter who doesn't even know he exists.
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Whirlpool
1932
False Faces
4.4/5
The philandering Dr. Silas Brenton is fired from his position at a large hospital and given 24 hours to vacate the state. He sets himself up in Chicag...
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False Faces
1921
Midsummer Madness
3.333/3
Because Bob Meredith (Jack Holt) spends all his time working, his wife Margaret (Lois Wilson) feels the romance has ebbed away from their marriage. On...
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Midsummer Madness
1928
Top Sergeant Mulligan
9/1
During World War I a vaudeville entertainer, Mickey, is helping to recruit officers for the army and finds himself in the service along with his femal...
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Top Sergeant Mulligan
1932
The Night of June 13
7.5/4
Elna Curry, once a concert pianist, develops an unfounded jealousy of neighbor, Trudie Morrow. Elna who suffers from neurasthenia, believes that Trudi...
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The Night of June 13
1929
The Show of Shows
6.75/4
Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the firs...
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The Show of Shows
1933
The Intruder
4.625/8
A murder is committed aboard a cruise ship just before it sinks in a storm. The survivors, including the killer, land on a mysterious jungle island.
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The Intruder
1929
Love, Live & Laugh
9/1
Any movie that starts Jewish entertainer George Jessel as an Italian accordionist named Luigi can't be all bad. In love with the beautiful Margharita...
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Love, Live & Laugh
1926
The New Klondike
6/3
Tom Kelly, a small-town baseball pitcher, is sent to a minor-league team in Florida, and fails to make the team. He starts dabbling in real estate, in...
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The New Klondike
1919
Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
6.313/8
American law clerks Anthony Hamilton Hawthorne and Rodney Blake are nearly broke in Monte Carlo when Hawthorne breaks the bank. While driving through...
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Hawthorne of the U.S.A.
1966
The Emperor's New Clothes
7/1
This is a straight version of the old fairy tale, with John Carradine as the Emperor. It was filmed in South Florida, with exteriors in Coral Gables a...
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The Emperor's New Clothes
1929
Drag
6.667/3
Young David Carroll takes over the publication of a local newspaper in Vermont. Although he is attracted to Dot, "the most sophisticated girl in town,...
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Drag
1930
The Gorilla
9/1
A series of murders that take place in an old, dark mansion are suspected of being committed by an ape. (lost film)
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The Gorilla
1933
Face in the Sky
5.75/4
Joe and Lucky travel around New England painting barns in exchange for an advertisement on one side. The meet Madge, who is cruelly treated by a her f...
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Face in the Sky
1921
The Dollar-a-Year Man
7/1
Hijinks surrounding the attendance of a Prince at a Yacht Club dinner.
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The Dollar-a-Year Man
1921
Gasoline Gus
8/1
Based on the comic strip character and his auto obsessed life.
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Gasoline Gus
1921
Crazy to Marry
7.75/2
A doctor who believes he can cure criminals takes on a big challenge.
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Crazy to Marry
1922
The Fast Freight
10/1
Unreleased in America, this was one of Arbuckle's last starring roles in a feature film.
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The Fast Freight
1928
The Black Pearl
10/1
A pearl stolen from an Indian idol results in nothing but trouble for its owner. After he receives death threats by note pinned to a dagger, he decide...
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The Black Pearl
1920
Terror Island
5.286/14
Inventor Harry Harper travels to the South Seas, where there is buried treasure belonging to a girl, Beverly West. Naturally, others are after the loo...
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Terror Island
1927
Million Dollar Mystery
7/1
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.
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Million Dollar Mystery
1933
The Iron Master
7/2
The wealthy owner of an iron foundry dies, and his greedy heirs are outraged when they find out that he left his entire estate not to them but to the...
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The Iron Master
1929
The Argyle Case
10/1
A multimillionaire is murdered, and his will leaves all his money to a beautiful young blonde. The murdered man's son thinks something is fishy, and a...
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The Argyle Case
1930
Those Who Dance
6.25/4
A policeman doubles as a gunman to get in with the mob.
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Those Who Dance
1937
Two Wise Maids
10/1
The two leading ladies are cast as Prudence and Agatha, a pair of old-fashioned schoolteachers in an old-fashioned small town. Disdaining the wimpy th...
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Two Wise Maids
1937
Nation Aflame
5.25/4
Believing they can make a ton of money, a gang of opportunists uses the country's racial and ethnic tensions to start a Ku Klux Klan-type organization...
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Nation Aflame
1930
Double Cross Roads
9/1
Ex-convict David Harvey attempts to go straight and settles in a small town where he meets and falls in love with Mary Carlyle. His former gang tries...
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Double Cross Roads
1929
Honky Tonk
10/1
Nightclub hostess Sophie Leonard educates her daughter Beth abroad and keeps her life secret for her. But suddenly the daughter shows up.
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Honky Tonk
1931
Misbehaving Ladies
9/1
Ellen, a young American girl who married a European prince and moved to his country, is preparing to return to the US, after having paid off all the d...
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Misbehaving Ladies
1929
Queen of the Night Clubs
8/1
Irked by the success of a brassy nightclub owner. her rivals set out to drive her out of business, and frame her for a murder in the bargain.
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Queen of the Night Clubs
1922
The Ghost Breaker
10/1
A young man and his manservant, escaping from a backwoods family feud, are persuaded by a beautiful young heiress to help her rid her newly-gained Spa...
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The Ghost Breaker
1928
Just Married
7/1
After many outrageous moments, a young girl marries her former acquaintance, not with her fiancee.
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Just Married
1923
The Ne'er-Do-Well
10/1
Disgusted with his spendthrift son, Kirk Anthony's father has Kirk shanghaied and taken to Panama, where he attracts the attention of Mrs. Edith Cortl...
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The Ne'er-Do-Well
1923
Woman-Proof
8/1
At sight of a woman, he got a ticket for speeding.
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Woman-Proof
1920
The Soul of Youth
5.222/9
Ed Simpson has been raised in an orphanage where he has caused much trouble. He can't stand living there anymore and runs away. On the streets, he fin...
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The Soul of Youth
1931
Woman Hungry
10/1
This film, believed lost, was based on William Vaughn Moody's 1906 play The Great Divide. The story was filmed as a silent film by MGM as The Great Di...
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Woman Hungry
1921
After the Show
8/1
After the Show was adapted from Rita Weiman's story "The Stage Door." Lila Lee plays Eileen, a starry-eyed young girl employed as a chorus dancer in N...
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After the Show
1927
One Increasing Purpose
10/1
Stars Edmund Lowe as WWI veteran Slim Paris. Though most of his comrades died in battle, Paris returns home with nary a scratch. This convinces him th...
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One Increasing Purpose
1930
Second Wife
7/3
A man's pregnant second wife gets upset when he decides to go overseas to his young son, who may be dying of typhoid fever.
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Second Wife
1922
The Dictator
8/1
A silent romantic adventure melodrama (from the play and novel by Richard Harding) about a womanizer who follows a beautiful Hispanic woman to her hom...
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The Dictator
1923
Homeward Bound
8/1
A group of seven people find themselves on a ship in the middle of an endless ocean, with no recollection of how they got there. (lost film)
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Homeward Bound
1929
The Sacred Flame
3.333/3
Colonel Maurice Taylor of the Royal Flying Corps is hopelessly injured in an airplane crash immediately following his marriage to Stella. Maurice is n...
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The Sacred Flame
1922
The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922
0/0
The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (1...
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The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922
1924
Love's Whirlpool
9/1
Toughened criminal Jim Reagan tries to persuade his brother, Larry, to go straight, but Larry attempts to rob a banker, Richard Milton, and is arreste...
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Love's Whirlpool
1924
Wandering Husbands
3/3
Diana Moreland, suspecting that her husband is cheating on her with Marilyn Foster, catches the two of them having a rendezvous at a roadhouse. Instea...
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Wandering Husbands
1929
Dark Streets
7.5/2
Pat and Danny McGlone are identical twin brothers, rivals and competitors in everything they do, and Pat grows up and becomes a policeman while Danny...
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Dark Streets
1922
One Glorious Day
9/1
Ek is a disembodied spirit, required to wait his turn in the boring cosmos until he is allowed to inhabit an earthly body. Impatient, he sneaks off to...
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One Glorious Day
1934
Stand Up and Cheer!
5.292/12
President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering...
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Stand Up and Cheer!
1920
The Prince Chap
7/1
An artist in England is torn between an old flame and the now grown up little girl he has adopted.
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The Prince Chap
1922
Back Home and Broke
9/1
When Tom Redding's wealthy father dies and it turns out that all he left Tom was a mountain of debts, all of his "friends" desert him--except young Ma...
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Back Home and Broke
1919
Jane Goes A-Wooing
7/1
Trying to support her twin sisters on her own, Jane Neill lands a job working for a millionaire, but problems soon arise for the young girl when she d...
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Jane Goes A-Wooing
1919
Puppy Love
7/1
Young Gloria O'Connell falls in love with her neighbor, James Oliver. She is sent to a small town to stay with her three spinster aunts, while James b...
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Puppy Love
1921
The Easy Road
7/1
Sailor and novelist Leonard Fayne marries wealthy Isabel Grace, whose riches hamper his creative faculties. On the suggestion of sculptress Katherine...
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The Easy Road
1922
Is Matrimony a Failure?
10/1
Mr. and Mrs. Amos Saxby's silver wedding anniversary is interrupted by the surprise elopement of their daughter Margaret with bank clerk Arthur Havila...
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Is Matrimony a Failure?
1925
Old Home Week
8/1
Tom Clark, the part owner of a luckless gas station in New York, returns to his place of birth for Old Home Week, posing as the millionaire president...
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Old Home Week
1928
Black Butterflies
7/1
An exposé of the "fake" or "wicked" Bohemian social circles, highlighting the moral consequences of their actions. The film features a "pleasure-seeki...
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Black Butterflies
1918
Such a Little Pirate
0/0
Planning on sailing his schooner, the Laughing Lass, to his ancestors' treasure island in the South Seas, veteran seaman Obadiah Wolf makes his last p...
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Such a Little Pirate
1919
A Daughter of the Wolf
10/1
A fur smuggler's daughter asks to accompany him on his trip to the US to sell his furs. She falls for Robert, a young man who has recently been dumped...
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A Daughter of the Wolf
1919
Rustling a Bride
7/1
When cowboy Nick McCredie notices in a second-hand book an inscription to "Emily, the prettiest girl in school," he writes to her and learns that she...
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Rustling a Bride
1918
The Cruise of the Make-Believes
0/0
Living in the New York slums with her lazy father, Bessie takes imaginary voyages to "Dream Valley" on a "yacht" she has built in the backyard. Gilber...
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The Cruise of the Make-Believes
1919
The Heart of Youth
10/1
Josephine Darchat lives with her Whipple grandparents in the country and loves Russ Prendergast, son of wealthy Calvin Prendergast, despite the disput...
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The Heart of Youth
1930
Murder Will Out
7/1
A wealthy young club man is engaged to a senator’s daughter but becomes involved with a gang of blackmailers.
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Murder Will Out
1935
Champagne for Breakfast
10/1
Always-broke racetrack tout shows his true colors when setting up an apartment for his girl friend.
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Champagne for Breakfast
1935
The Marriage Bargain
8/1
A young woman marries a man she detests in order to save her father from a murder charge.
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The Marriage Bargain
1928
The Man in Hobbles
8/1
The Man in Hobbles is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by George Archainbaud
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The Man in Hobbles
1928
United States Smith
8/1
United States Smith is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by Joseph Henabery and starring Eddie Gribbon, Lila Lee and Kenneth Harlan.
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United States Smith
1928
You Can’t Beat the Law
7/1
Jerry Judd, a young cop, is on the trail of a gang of stick-up men who rob jewelry stores. He falls in love with Patricia Barry, who it turns out is t...
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