Lydia Knott – MRQE

Free and Equal

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This melodrama was made nine or ten years before its release, and one has to wonder why it was released at all. In the first three decades of the 1900s, the art of film was growing by leaps and bounds, so both the production and the exaggerated acting were very dated by 1925. The subject matter — whether African-Americans could function in white society — was not a popular one. Nowadays, the plot would make any but the most hardcore racist cringe. Northerner Judge Lowell (Charles K. French) believes that Negroes are the equals of whites and sets out to prove it by hiring an octoroon (Jack Richardson) as his secretary (apparently, trying to bring in a full-blooded African-American was beyond the sensibilities of 1910s Caucasians). The secretary turns out to be a rotten human being — he commits bigamy by secretly marrying the judge’s daughter (Gloria Hope), and then kills the maid. Judge Lowell comes to regret his idea, and the octoroon pays for his dastardly deeds.

Men Without Law

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Returning from the war, Buck finds his younger brother in trouble.

Rose of the World

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In India, Rosamond English learns that her husband Capt. Harry English has been killed in battle. After a time, she marries Sir Arthur Gerardine but is unable to forget her first husband, and gradually her love for him is rekindled, especially when she contrasts him to the pompous and elderly Sir Arthur.

The Primrose Path

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Alcoholic playboy Wallace MacDonald (as Bruce Armstrong) would like to sober up and become more responsible, after a drinking accident causes him to cripple little brother Pat Moore (as Jimmy Armstrong). Still, the lure of liquor makes him to sneak drinks at home, and go out partying with carefree showgirl Clara Bow (as Marilyn Merrill). He’s promised Ms. Bow he’ll quit drinking and gambling. Further complicating Mr. MacDonald’s life are the bad checks he’s been accumulating. Nasty Stuart Holmes (as Tom Canfield) and Tom Santschi (as “Big Joe” Snead) force MacDonald to join their diamond smuggling racket, in lieu of payment.

The Perfect Flapper

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

For quite a few years during the 1920s, Colleen Moore was the perfect flapper personified, and the title to this light comedy cashes in on that. (Of course, Moore eventually became bored with one-dimensional flapper roles and demanded something more serious — unfortunately the resulting film, So Big, didn’t do anywhere near as much box office as her comedies.) Tommie Lou Pember (Moore) doesn’t start off as a perfect flapper — in fact she’s anything but. She’s a sweet, old-fashioned girl who is quite disappointed because so few friends show up at her costume party. But things liven up when one of the boys pours some illicit hooch into the punch. Dick Trayle, Tommie’s brother-in-law (Sidney Chaplin, Charles Chaplin’s talented half-brother), innocently shares a few glasses with her and soon they are off in their Romeo and Juliet costumes, playing the balcony scene at the local roadhouse. This causes quite a scandal and infuriates Mrs. Trayle, Tommie’s sister (Phyllis Haver). To stop the talk, Tommie suggests that the family lawyer, Reed Andrews (Frank Mayo), pretend to be her sweetheart. Tommie actually is in love with Andrews, and she believes the way to catch him is to behave like a flapper. But Andrews is put off by her frivolous, irreverent behavior and tells her so. Tommie is devastated by his words, but he discovers that she is really the old-fashioned girl we saw at the film’s beginning and they are united.

Those Who Dance

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A federal agent assigned to stop a bootlegging gang joins forces with the gang leader’s wife and the sister of one of the ring’s truck drivers to break up the gang.

A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

When Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean, she decides to leave for Paris on her own. After spending a year in the city as a mistress of the wealthy Pierre Revel, she is reunited with Jean by chance. This leaves her with the choice between a glamorous life in Paris, and the true love she left behind.

Turn to the Right

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Joe is the son of a poor widow and in love with the daughter of the towns richest and meanest man. The couple is determined to marry and plan their dream house.

The Flirt

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Treats of the average, smalltown, middle class family life. Flirtatious Cora Madison is engaged to Richard Lindley but is attracted to Val Corliss, who has come to town to promote oil stock. When Cora’s father refuses to become involved, she forges his name on some papers, thus enabling Corliss to sell many shares.