The Return of Ulysses

The Return of Ulysses 1909

5.50

When Troy has fallen and Ulysses sets sail for home, his ships are driven to different lands, where his adventures are numerous, keeping him away from his native land for ten years. As time rolls on without his return he is looked upon as dead by everyone except his wife, Queen Penelope, who firmly believes that her husband still lives and will some day return to her.

1909

Fun After the Wedding

Fun After the Wedding 1906

4.00

A delightful and typical farce film, ending with the usual Gallic chase.

1906

Les Travailleurs de la mer

Les Travailleurs de la mer 1918

1

Adapted from Hugo's eponym novel, the story concerns a Guernseyman named Gilliatt, a social outcast who falls in love with Deruchette, the niece of a local shipowner, Mess Lethierry. When Lethierry's ship is wrecked on the Roches Douvres, a perilous reef, Deruchette promises to marry whomever can salvage the ship's steam engine. Gilliatt eagerly volunteers, and the story follows both his physical trials and tribulations.

1918

A Bald Lie

A Bald Lie 1911

1

John Jones has a bald head and a jealous wife, which, to say the least, is a very bad combination. Also John has a long thirst and is very fond of the society of pretty young ladies. This leads to many unhappy occurrences in his home, and finally to a catastrophe.

1911

La Tosca

La Tosca 1909

1

Rome, June 1800. Floria Tosca is a celebrated opera singer, better known as La Tosca. Her lover is Mario Cavaradossi, a young artist and Bomapartist sympathizer. When the latter helps Angelotti, the leader of the opposition, to escape from prison and hides him in La Tosca's home, he antagonizes Baron Scarpia, the ruthless chief of police, all the more as his love for Tosca is unrequited. Scarpia has Mario arrested and condemned to death. Upset, Floria begs the Baron for her lover's life. He accepts to have the bullets of the firing squad replaced by blanks if... she sleeps with him. She agrees nominally but when she finds herself with Scarpia, she stabs him to death. She then goes to see Mario in his cell and lets him know about his phony execution. But Scarpia had had time to get the order reversed and in the early hours of the morning, Mario is executed in the proper manner. In despair, Tosca throws herself into the void...

1909

Max and Jane Want to Do Theater

Max and Jane Want to Do Theater 1911

5.40

Max is a stage struck youth, and because of a deep-seated desire to go on the stage, refuses to consent to a marriage his father has planned for him. The girl, whom Max has never met, is also stage struck, and entertains no wish of marrying him, though her mother is anxious to see her make the alliance. The parents finally manage to bring the young people together, and they, in turn, exert all their skill in an attempt to disgust each other. An accidental meeting between the two when they are off guard causes them to change their minds.

1911

La Terre

La Terre 1921

6.30

As Jean is walking across the countryside in search of work, he helps and befriends a young woman, Françoise, who is having trouble controlling the cow that she is leading. Jean finds work at a local farm, but he soon finds himself caught in the middle of the conflicts in Françoise's family.

1921

Germinal

Germinal 1913

5.20

Based on Emile Zola's novel, an uncompromisingly harsh and realistic story of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s.

1913

Loyalty

Loyalty 1914

6.50

Kaatje, the daughter of the miller Schoonejans, and Jef, a little shepherd, who live near Delft, are happy together. In a floral parade, the carriage the two children have decorated with tulips wins the first prize. The next day, during a thunderstorm, lightning destroys the mill and kills Schoonejans. A life of misery starts for his widow and daughter. Remembering how the theatre manager Boolmans had applauded the dancing of Kaatje and Jef at the floral parade, the widow takes her daughter to Amsterdam, where Boolmans engages Kaatje. The years pass, and Kate has become a famous dancer.

1914

J'accuse

J'accuse 1919

7.50

The story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.

1919

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty 1908

4.40

Based on the story of "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault. Titles read: The Christening of the Princess; The Good Fairies Fatal Prediction; The Royal Edict; The Princess is Sixteen Years Old; Searching for the Princess; The Prediction Comes True; Thou Shalt Sleep for a Hundred Years; A Hundred Years later the Prince Charming Goes Hunting; Prince Charming Dismisses His Escort; The Castle of Sleep; The Guard's Hall; You Have Been a Long Time Coming, prince; The Wedding of the Sleeping Beauty to Prince Charming.

1908

Romeo e Giulietta

Romeo e Giulietta 1912

5.00

The 1912 Italian version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.

1912

L'Assommoir

L'Assommoir 1908

5.60

Everyman Coupeau's attempts to stop drinking are routinely thwarted by the wicked and vengeful Virginie. Based on Zola's novel, Capellani's film is about the free fall of a group of working-class French folk into degradation and tragedy due to carelessness, jealousy, and alcohol abuse. At the time of its release, L'Assommoir was hugely successful.

1908

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast 1908

1

An old merchant gets lost in the forest and arrives at a magnificent garden where he sits and picks some magnificent roses. Suddenly, the hideous Beast emerges from the ground in a burst of flames and condemns him to death unless one of his three daughters agrees to marry him.

1908

The Last Volunteer

The Last Volunteer 1914

5.00

While traveling incognito through his kingdom, Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Tholberg becomes infatuated with Katrina, the daughter of innkeeper Hermann Ardelheim, but their idyll is interrupted by the arrival of a courier bearing the news that Austrania has threatened war. Katrina is heartbroken to discover the identity of her sweetheart whom she can never hope to marry. After Ludwig's departure, Katrina overhears the plotting of two spies and with the help of her brother Roalf, she confronts them. In the ensuing struggle, Katrina kills one of them, who turns out to be the Austranian ambassador. Although Katrina admits her crime, Marshal von Trump plans to execute Roalf in order to pacify the Austranians. Katrina appeals to Ludwig, who pardons Roalf over the advice of his counselors causing Austrania to declare war. A crucial battle is fought near the Ardelheim inn, during which Katrina becomes a heroine by signaling the advance of Ludwig's troops.

1914