Rope of Sand

Murnau’s epic adaptation of Goethe’s tragedy stands with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis among the supreme achievements of German silent cinema. Gösta Ekman plays the alchemist who, his faith shaken in a time of plague, is offered the gift of healing and eternal youth… in exchange for his soul.

Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.

In Victorian England, Florence Nightingale's heroic measures slowly change the attitude towards nurses when it was considered a disreputable profession.

In Depression-era New York, painter Eben Adams despairs at his lack of success. One cold winter evening in Central Park, he meets enigmatic, old-fashioned Jennie Appleton, who captures his fancy when she asks him to wait for her to grow up. Soon after, Eben sells a sketch of Jennie to kindly art dealer Miss Spinny and, as he meets the oddly mutable Jennie in fleeting moments, begins to realize they share a special destiny.

Farmer Jabez Stone, about to lose his land, agrees to sell his soul to the devil, known as Mr. Scratch, who gives Jabez seven years to enjoy the fruits of his sale before he collects. Over that time, Jabez pays off his debts and helps many neighboring farmers, then becomes an advocate for the upstanding Sen. Daniel Webster. When Jabez's contract with Mr. Scratch concludes, he desperately turns to Webster to represent him in a trial for his soul.

Presented by Eastman Kodak, this show was a series of original scripts directed by acclaimed directors and featuring well-known performers. The stories ranged from musicals to comedies and dramas.

A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is caused by microbes, that sanitation is paramount and that at least some diseases can be cured by vaccinations.

Mary Marshall, serving six years for accidental manslaughter, is given a Christmas furlough to visit her closest relatives, her uncle and his family in a small Midwestern town. On the journey, she meets Zach Morgan, a troubled army sergeant on leave from a military hospital. Although his physical wounds have healed, he suffers from PTSD and is subject to panic attacks. The pair are attracted to one another and, in the warm atmosphere of the Christmas season friendship, blossoms into romance, but Mary is reluctant to tell him of her past and that she must shortly return to serve the remainder of her sentence.

Towards the end of the American Civil War, a rebel captain flees to Colorado to join a band of Southern mercenaries. He drags an innocent gold prospecting couple into trouble when the husband is accused of a murder he committed.

A fictionalized account of famous French writer Émile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair. After struggling to establish himself, Zola wins success documenting the unsavory side of Paris and settles into a comfortable upper-class life. However, his complacency is shaken when Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus is imprisoned for espionage. Realizing that Dreyfus is an innocent victim of anti-Semitism, Zola boldly pens an exposé, only to be charged with libel and now he must defend himself in a dramatic courtroom testimony.

Alan Quinton, a soldier stationed in Italy during World War II, writes love letters for his ineloquent friend, Roger, to his romantic interest at home, Victoria. Alan falls for Victoria through their correspondence despite his engagement to another. After being wounded, Alan returns home only to learn that Roger and Victoria have died under strange circumstances. However, an amnesiac named Singleton might hold the key to the mystery of their deaths.

War hero Danny Haley fleeces out-of-town dupes in a rigged poker game. He and his pals see Arthur Winant as an easy mark, but they've reckoned without Winant's homicidal brother, who wants revenge after Arthur commits suicide.

German scientist Paul Ehrlich makes remarkable advancements in the field of medical diagnostics with his research in cellular staining with dyes. His work results in new knowledge about tuberculosis, but also leads to his contraction of the disease. Ehrlich travels to Egypt, where he investigates diphtheria and earns more accolades. Eventually, his research in treating diseases leads to the development of a 'magic bullet' treatment for syphilis.

The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.

Baroness Teri von Horhenfels deals with the tedium of her aristocratic Vienna life with a long line of lovers. Her rich husband, Franz, seems oblivious. As she's just about to end her latest affair, the baroness gets a much-needed dose of adrenaline when she becomes the target of a charismatic thief. After staging a daring robbery, he makes off with not only the baroness's ring but also her heart.