Adolphe Engers

Janus Fortuin is a goodhearted piano tuner married to a greedy landlady. Their daughter Polly is engaged to young songwriter George van Reen. When rich uncle Barend from Batavia makes a surprise visit — pretending to be a lodger called 'Van Santen' — the Fortuin family finds their lives turned upside down.

This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.

The guests at Count Otto von Trepow's East Prussian estate Gross-Ehrenfeld are Lord and Lady Ruthven, Mr Hendriks with his wife and foster-daughter Mariska, a gypsy they adopted years ago, Kundry, the fiancée of Otto's son Bernhard, and Count Stanislaus Larinski, who claims to be a Polish revolutionary wanted by the Russian government. A boating trip is organized but ends when the motor breaks down. While waiting for it to be repaired, the guests go to an inn run by Andreas and his daughter Käthe. Hendriks goes for a walk, sees the boat come back and that a man with a bent back leaves it. He notices that Kundry is afraid of Bernhard.

The likeable and carefree Grand Duke of Abacco is in dire straits. There is no money left to service the State's debt; the main creditor is looking forward to expropriating the entire Duchy. The marriage with Olga, Grand Duchess of Russia, would solve everything, but a crucial letter of hers about the engagement has been stolen. Besides, a bunch of revolutionaries and a dubious businessman have other plans regarding the Grand Duke. With the intrusion of adventurer Philipp Collins into the Grand Duke's affairs, a series of frantic chases, plots and counter-plots begins.

The son of a Countess runs away to join the circus and becomes a great trapeze artist. He returns years later and falls in love with a young woman.

Peter Gruber, a young tenor from Vienna, gives piano lessons to Daisy, the daughter of a dentist. They fall in love and when Gruber has to perform in Antwerp, Daisy follows him there. She pretends to be an American musician and manages to get a job with Gruber's orchestra. Daisy's worried father sets off in pursuit of his daughter, accompanied by a certain miss Lola.

Dolores gets a marriage proposal from the promising young doctor Lucas, but on the day of their marriage, she leaves him in the lurch and takes off with the South American dancer and adventurer Hugo Amadis. But Hugo treats her badly. Dolores leaves Hugo and begins a career as a dancer to make ends meet for her and her son. One day, the son gets sick, and the doctor who helps the child through the crisis is Doctor Lucas. Lucas and Delores decide to start over.

"Guilty" - Thomas Feld returns home after 16 years in prison to find his wife Magda and daughter Maria fell in the hands of Peter Cornelius, the owner of a cabaret. Lawyer Frank Peters falls in love with Maria.

A group of travelers find themselves stranded for the night at a deserted train station, which according to the old stationmaster, has been haunted for the last 20 years.

Explores the ethics of a Berlin street during the Weimar era and the struggle for survival in a shady environment.

Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.

The young Queen of Nlilrania and her consort, Prince Ferdinand, are deeply attached to each other, but a hectic youth in Vienna has left him with a flirtatious disposition. An old flame visits the palace, and the Queen apparently has justification for her jealousy. She orders her husband to remain in his apartments. He retaliates by returning the key of the door between their rooms. After a furious scene he departs for Vienna with the Countess. The Queen secretly follows with her aide-de-camp. in the train they encounter sonic officers, and the Queen not only dances, but at Vienna goes to the Arts Ball, where her husband awaits the Countess. Though masked, he recognizes her, and reconciliation ensues.

Jess Newton falls in love with Bruce Ravenhurst, but her father does not approve of the marriage. Bruce leaves for Africa to take part in an expedition, overcome with grief. Jess and her father also leave for Africa. There, Bruce and Jess's father become friends. Meanwhile, Bruce's cousin Hubert, who expects Bruce not to return, marries under Bruce's name in order to claim his inheritance. During an attack, Bruce goes missing and is presumed dead, and Jess returns to England, where Bruce is accused of bigamy. Fortunately, Bruce, who managed to escape despite being wounded, also returns, so that everything can be cleared up. The film has largely been lost – only a single fragment has survived.

The aging singer Clarina receives a new engagement from a cabaret called the Maison Mouche and must evade the advances of several overbearing men.

Based on the operetta of the same name.

One out of three silent adaptations of the novella "Les quatre diables" written by Danish author Herman Bang. The most famous one, although unfortunately lost, is without any doubt F.W. Murnau's "4 Devils". This German version, by Danish director A.W. Sandberg, was done eight years prior to Murnau's American one, and was a big success at the time.

The gorgeous 40-year-old Elsie Lindtner lives in a beautiful house, and is married to a respectable university professor. And yet, there’s something that nags her. She’s about to reach “the dangerous age”, when beauty begins to fade and boredom kicks in. She falls in love with a younger man and divorces her husband, but ends up hiding away in a country house where she can age in secret. (Stumfilm.dk)