John Howard Payne leaves home and begins a career in the theater. Despite encouragement from his mother and his sweetheart, Payne begins to lead a life of dissolute habits, and this soon leads to ruin and misery. In deep despair, he thinks of better days, and writes a song that later provides inspiration to several others in their own times of need.
A 1910 short directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Marion Leonard.
Harvy, the heavy, and Bella, the ingenue, of a cheap theatrical company are encumbered with an infant girl. The husband, a worthless, dissipated character, annoyed by the presence of the child and the care the wife is compelled to give it. deserts them both. The show then "busts" and the mother and the infant are left stranded in a small California town.
A feud between the families of Gourd and Fork Ranches
Set in Rome, during the feudal period. The heroine, the daughter of an armor manufacturer, is in love with a humble tradesman. The resistance expressed by the armorer towards this romance inexorably leads to disaster for everyone concerned.
A 1914 silent Western short
Shakespeare's tragedy of the Scots nobleman whose ambition leads him to betrayal, murder, and damnation.
Theatrical manager Isaac Shuman has a reputation for "taking advantage" of young girls who want to become stars on Broadway. Reporter Tom Warder investigates these stories and exposes Shuman in his newspaper.
Oliver and Elizabeth wed. He is a famous lawyer, careless of his personal conduct, but has implicit faith in Elizabeth. She is a woman of strong mind, a magazine writer of repute, and believes he should guide himself by the same code that governs her. Two of their associates are profligates, Charles, an artist, and Catherine. Oliver trifles with Catherine and this so embitters Elizabeth, that she pretends to receive the attentions of Charles, although it is made clear that she has remained pure. Nevertheless, she purposely permits her husband to believe otherwise. He has considered her like Caesar's wife, but his faith is shattered. A child is born to her and the father doubts its parentage.
Helen and Joe are in love. He receives a letter from his uncle offering him a good position in his law office. He shows Helen the letter and she shows him one from the Standard, also a check for a short story. They have a quarrel over a slight thing and he leaves for his uncle's place. Six years go by and Helen is now a very successful writer on a large daily.
When the Civil War was declared, it caused great consternation in the home of John Wilson, as he was of Southern birth, while his wife was a Northern woman, and she favored the Federal cause.
Secretly engaged to Bernice, Albert becomes infatuated with the gypsy Mina. The rich and jealous Renard is in love with Mina enticing her father to take revenge on Albert. A scuffle ensues during which Renard accidentally stabs Mina's father but allows everyone to believe Albert guilty of the crime. Bernice hears of the events and breaks off her engagement to Albert. He is pursued by the police until a last-minute confession saves him.
The Old Man is a 1914 film short
A poor widow dies, leaving her two young children, Bob and Mabel, in the care of a poor neighbor, who later is forced by circumstances to give them to an asylum. Twenty years pass and Jack, who has been adopted by a good family, has now gone into business for himself and is a rising young broker. He has been searching the detective agencies for his sister, without success, for some years. Mabel ran away from the asylum and has been brought up by a poor family, is without education and is now employed as a servant, and on a certain day is hanging clothes on a roof nearby a large office building, in which Bob has his office, and a small boy is flying his kite from the same rooftop.
When a stack of valuable bonds go missing from the Grant household, suspicion falls on little Carmen Grant's playmate Georgie, whose father is a poor ex-convict trying to go straight.
Kaintuck is a big mountaineer. He loves his sweetheart, Sue, with his whole simple, honest heart. One day an artist comes to sketch in their vicinity. He is immediately struck by Sue's beauty and asks permission to use her as his model. Kaintuck is not pleased with the idea, but the girl consents. When the artist secures board in Sue's home, Kaintuck's jealousy knows no bounds
Marie is a village girl, very religious. Her mother, fearing some man will make her unhappy (as she had been made by a man) made her promise on her deathbed that she would enter a nunnery. Marie considers that promise sacred and will allow nothing to interfere with her keeping that promise.
A young society swain is stolen away from the young blind girl he loves by a rapacious queen of the demi-monde who is only out for his wealth…at first. Soon enough, she falls for him and is purified by her feelings. Realizing she will ruin his life if they stay together, she commits suicide in the gray of the dawn, and he returns to his true love.
Jim Miller lives in a cheap tenement with his wife and his sister. They had been in a better position in other days, but Jim has developed into a morose half-drunken character, suspicious and high-tempered. The sister leaves her own husband and comes to live with Jim. However, she is jealous of her sister-in-law and goes out of her way to be mean to her, and to poison Jim's mind against the weak, pretty thing who is his wife. One day Jim gets out of a job and while he is out looking for work and the sister is away at her work in the factory, Mary, the wife, steals out determined to add to the common share, while her husband is in hard luck. She finds work painting clay figures, an art for which she shows some talent. But she is afraid of Jim's wildness and as soon as she collects money she secrets it for a rainy day. One day after she has worked hard and hoarded some money, the sister comes in unexpectedly upon her, and when Mary goes out of the room finds the money in an old vase.
