Although not the first feature-length animated film, as is sometimes thought, it was the first cartoon to feature a character with an appealing personality. The appearance of a true character distinguished it from earlier animated "trick films", such as those of Blackton and Cohl, and makes it the predecessor to later popular cartoons such as those by Walt Disney. The film was also the first to be created using keyframe animation.
A hungry mosquito spots and follows a man on his way home. The mosquito slips into the room where the man is sleeping, and gets ready for a meal. His first attempts startle the man and wake him up, but the mosquito is very persistent.
In the gray dawn of an October day, as the inhabitants of a village street in Tripoli are engaged in the enjoyment of their several pursuits of life, an Arab rushes upon the peaceful scene, announcing that Italy has declared war against Turkey and that the Italian warships are now in the harbor, shelling the city.
Marie, a self-dependent girl, compromises herself by associating with Petro Maquin. She asks him to keep his promise to marry her. He ignores her and leaves the village to join a band of wreckers. The gossips circulate scandal about her, bringing reproach upon her name.
Young Irish physician Peter Blood is exiled as a slave to Barbados, where he and his friend Jeremy are purchased by Colonel Bishop at the behest of his niece Arabella. With other slaves he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the terror of the Caribbean privateers until offered a commission in the English Navy. He defeats the French at Port Royal, and as a reward he is named governor of Jamaica and marries Arabella.
A cartoonist draws faces and figures on a blackboard - and they come to life.
Cartoon figures announce, via comic strip balloons, that they will move - and move they do, in a wildly exaggerated style. Also known as "Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics".
Well-meaning but accident-prone bakery employee Larry is involved in numerous slapstick mishaps on the job. After accidentally causing the bakery owner to fall into a vat of cake batter Larry finds his job in jeopardy, but he redeems himself by foiling a robbery planned by the bakery foreman.
Robert Ware takes it upon himself to tame wild girl, Mag, to prove to his doubting friend Arnold, he can turn her into a graceful young lady. Later, when Arnold is in the war, he meets a pretty nurse who greatly impresses him. Back home he recalls the pleasant encounter to Robert, telling him of the gentle beauty he never forgot. Mag, now Margaret, overhears the story and reveals to Arnold, she was the nurse. The surprised Arnold now has to admit that Robert was right about gentling the little wild cat.
Larry in school and always gets in trouble until he falls asleep and dreams of when he's all grown up.
A bumbling sawmill employee tries to win the hand of the owner's daughter while staying out of the clutches of the mill's bullying foreman.
A traveler stays the night at a rural inn, but gets no rest as he is tormented by various spectres and mysterious happenings.
This domestic comedy depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on the weekly poker game.
A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.
The Suspect is a 1916 lost silent film directed by S. Rankin Drew. Set in France and Russia, the plot revolves around the cruelties of Russian Grand Duke Karatoff, known to friends and enemies alike as "the butcher." Sophie, leader of a band of revolutionaries, attempts to assassinate Karatoff but accidentally wounds his son Paul instead.
Someone in India is deciphering secret codes and passing information from London's Downing Street to the natives, so Captain Robert Kent comes down from London to investigate. He disguises himself as a Rajah, and Colonel Wentworth introduces him to the colony.
Lupin is the lover of Joan of the Apaches. She is attracted by Paul de Gafilet, nobleman and sculptor. She visits him in his studio and resolves to abandon her underworld career for his sake. Lupin vows revenge but is frustrated by Joan. The latter's affection for Paul turns to rage when she sees him embracing another woman. Joan joins with her confederates to steal some jewels from a statue of the Madonna in a church. She learns that the woman she is jealous of is Paul's sister, attempts to halt the robbery but fails. Paul is injured by the thieves and Joan held captive.
The household of Senator Walker consists of himself, his ward, Mary, and his nephew, Herbert. The other members of his household are John, an old servant, Lucy the maid, and a half dozen more servants. John is smitten with Lacy. She doesn't take him seriously, owing to the difference in their ages. Mr. Walker, rather old and feeble, draws up his will and leaves the bulk of his property to Mary and Herbert. He bequeaths $5,000 to his faithful servant John. Herbert is very fond of his uncle. The old gentleman is very much attached to Mary and very desirous that she and Herbert should be wed at the proper time.
Thousands of persons would die in the present if it were not for the memories of the past. Old Mrs. Merkle has one cherished reminder of bygone days, her wedding gown.
George Darrel presents Helen Gray, his fiancée, with a very valuable engagement ring of antique design, which is an heirloom. They have a serious quarrel over Dave Brower, one of her friends, and Darrel leaves for the west.
