Judge Willis Brown

Tad's Swimming Hole

A number of boys are enjoying themselves at the old swimming hole in the bend of the creek, disporting themselves on the bank and in the water minus bathing suits: clad only in nature's garb. Tad and Mark, two urchins, are not members of the swimming hole gang.

Bud's Recruit

This WWI home-front comedy is the earliest surviving film of King Vidor, who would later go on to make such classics as The Big Parade and The Crowd. A two-reeler, it's a propaganda comedy involving a little boy who can't wait to go fight against the Kaiser, and who sets an unrelentingly patriotic (and militaristic) example for his draft-age, feminized brother and peace-lovin' mother.

The Girl Who Won Out

Orphaned after the death of their mother, Nancy Grimm and her baby sister Ellen are taken to the country where Ellen is adopted by the wealthy Walsh family. Nancy keenly feels the loss of her sister, and when the judge rules that she cannot visit Ellen without permission, she throws herself onto a bench, winning the sympathy of young attorney Chester Noble. Nancy is then placed in the Wick's home where she is treated as a servant. Miserable, Nancy cuts off her hair and, dressed as a boy, runs away.

The Chocolate of the Gang

Thomas Bellamy, a small black boy, is denied membership in the P. D. Q. Club, a secret organization composed of white boys, because of his color, but this does not dampen his ardor.

The Spirit of '17

Davy Glidden is the son of the adjutant general in charge of an old soldier's home in a small town near the Top Copper mine. Davy idolizes Capt. Jerico Norton, an aged veteran of the home who entertains the boy with stories of his exploits in the Civil War. When Mrs. Edward and her daughter Flora come to visit Mrs. Glidden, Davy is smitten by Flora but she ignores him. Davy is bursting with patriotism by the stories told to him by the captain and is eager of doing something noble to attract Flora's attention. He finds the opportunity to accomplish both goals when he overhears two German spies, Carl Bender and Frank Schmale, plotting to create havoc in the mine by calling a strike and then dynamiting the mine. Enlisting the aid of his friend Capt. Norton, Davy provides the means for the old soldiers to serve their country once again.