The Light of Western Stars

Veteran action hero William Russell starred opposite his offscreen wife Helen Ferguson in this typical Fox oater about a miner who finds himself up against a master swindler (George Webb).

Two World War I veterans are wrongly accused of killing a rancher and arrested for murder. With the help of the rancher's daughter, they escape and set out to capture the real culprit.

This unusual melodrama with comic touches was based on Octavus Roy Cohen's novel The Iron Chance. Alan Beckwith (Rod La Rocque) is a war hero who is very much down on his luck. He makes a deal with big-time bootlegger Andrew North (Gustave von Seyffertitz) -- if North will give him a large sum of money, Beckwith will kill himself at the end of a year's time. He is to marry a girl of North's choosing and take out an insurance policy naming her as beneficiary; North will collect from the widow. The plot thickens when Beckwith and Beverly (Marguerite De La Motte), the girl North has him marry, actually fall in love. Beverly's brother, Johnny (Ray Hallor), teams up with Beckwith to steal one of North's cargos of rum. North and his men catch them and things look bad until revenue officers -- called on by Beverly -- show up. The North gang is rounded up and Beckwith looks forward to a long life with his wife.

Any movie that starts Jewish entertainer George Jessel as an Italian accordionist named Luigi can't be all bad. In love with the beautiful Margharita (Lila Lee), Luigi lands a job in the music store owned by the girl's uncle. Ultimately, however, our hero does the Pagliacci act when Margharita evinces a preference for handsome Pasquale (David Rollins). The film's best scene takes place in a nursery full of talented tots, a sequence that undoubtedly reminded Jessel of his days with Gus Edwards' "Schoolroom" act. Exercising his droit du seigneur, Georgie Jessel sings the title tune.

Vivienne Ware is defended by her ex-beau when she's accused of killing her faithless fiance.

Story of a trader who uncovers a scheme to blame the Indians for a Buffalo massacre.

A young woman who owns a coffee shop falls for a handsome young customer, unaware that he is a gangster.

Story of a Scottish coal miner-turned-Northwest Mounted Police Officer.

Johnny Carroll joins a gang of thieves and is arrested by Detective McQuade for picking Judge Kerrigan's pocket. However, the judge remembers Johnny from his hometown of Meadville, and persuades him to reform. The young man returns home, takes a job in a grocery store, and renews his romance with Betty Bedford. Later, Johnny's former gang arrive in town and again try to recruit him. They induce him to crack the safe in Mr. Bedford's store, threatening to reveal his criminal past if he refuses. Upon opening the safe, Johnny refuses to be a party to the crime and fights the gang. Betty hears the commotion and returns with help. After the thieves are captured, Johnny and Betty are married.

A family man becomes innocently involved in an embezzlement.

This part-talkie (17 minutes of dialogue in its 83-minute running time) tells the tale of Christina, the daughter of Dutch toymaker Niklaas. Much to her dad's dismay, Christina falls in love with sideshow huckster Jan. Likewise disapproving of the romance is Jan's jealous employer Mme. Bosman, who frames the young man on an embezzlement charge.

Cagney is a human dynamo as a drifter who helps save ailing Grace George from losing her newspaper. The pace is fast, and audiences of all ages will be pleased. The supporting cast, have all the small-town characterizations down pat -- with Margaret Hamilton a standout. Cagney himself, had genuine affection for this film, and listed it among his top five movie-making experiences at a retrospective the year before he died. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in 2013.

A criminal lawyer's wife is blackmailed when she is falsely accused of infidelity.

London's jewel thieves are under the thumb of a mysterious fence, who ruthlessly exposes any thief who crosses him. Desperate, Scotland Yard re-hires ex-Inspector Barrabal who, as a known drunkard, is ideally suited to go undercover with a faked criminal record (which may spoil his chances with lovely Carol Stedman).

A Swedish princess boards an ocean liner in Europe en route to an acting career in America and finds herself getting inconveniently attached to a bandleader returning home. To complicate matters, a blackmailer on board apparently knows she is not who she claims to be - and he has his sights set on other passengers with secrets of their own. In the meantime an escaped killer has stowed away under someone else's identity, and is killing again to cover his tracks; five international police detectives on board are heading the investigation to find him. When evidence points to the princess and bandleader, they must find the killer themselves - before he finds them.

The Victorian wife of a mad baron waits years for a British soldier sent to Egypt.