Movies: Fred Esmelton

Boston Blackie is a former prison inmate campaigning to outlaw Warden Benton's infamous "Water Cross" torture. Benton, however, is successful in his attempt to have Blackie arrested and returned to the prison, but his evil schemes are ultimately thwa...

While building an irrigation system for a Southwestern desert community, an engineer vies with a local cowboy for the affections of a rancher's daughter....

Wealthy racing driver Tom Hayden loses his inheritance and his fiancé due to a wacky mishap on his wedding day....

The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity but worlds apart in society: Molly Helmer, the daughter of a thief, and Florence Banning, the daughter of the judge who sent Molly's father to prison. The girls' lives come together as they reach th...

Set during the 16th-century Spanish occupation of Flanders, the story concentrates on the fiercely patriotic Mark Van Ryke (Colman). Donning the guise of "Leatherface," a swashbuckling masked avenger, Van Ryke performs his derring-do on behalf of the...

Sydney Fairchild, the daughter of a woman who was once loved by three bachelors, surprises the men with a visit. Findley, Trumbull, and Gaunt honor their former sweetheart's last request by becoming Sydney's guardians....

A salesman is helped out of a jam with an angry customer by a wealthy playboy. In return, he agrees to help the playboy get a divorce from his wife, only to find himself falling for the girlfriend of the customer who got him in trouble in the first p...

Raffles is an English gentleman with a secret life—he is the notorious jewel thief known as "The Amateur Cracksman." While sailing from India to England accompanied by his friend, Bunny Manners, it is rumored that the infamous cracksman is aboard shi...

A pregnant American nurse living in London during WWI, believing her soldier-fiance has been killed in France, marries a wealthy aristocrat so her child will have a father....

Can Jack MacDowell, the first flying policeman on the force, save his dad from stop-at-nothing jewel thieves?...

The Misleading Widow is a 1919 silent film comedy starring Billie Burke as Betty Taradine. It was based on the 1917 stage play Billeted by F. Tennyson Jesse and H.M. Harwood. The film was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Param...

Real-life outlaw Joaquin Murietta, who (according to this film, anyway) is a latter-day Robin Hood, dedicated to driving land-grabbers and corrupt politicians out of Spanish California....

A woman thinks a small dog is an angel pet in this silent comedy....

The plot is motivated by a pearl necklace, which has caused the death and/or ruination of all its owners. The second screen appearance of detective Charlie Chan...

A young Irish immigrant gets a job as a conductor on a streetcar and fights off an attempt by crooks to take over the company, all the while pursuing the boss' beautiful daughter....

A low-key silent drama of a man seeking vengeance on the villain whose lies sent him to prison on the night of his wedding....

A woman with a gambling addiction finds that her daughter is threatened by the same tendencies....

Mrs. Penfield, better known as Penzie, is one of the inhabitants of a tenement neighborhood known as "the Custard Cup" because of its oval shape. Penzie is a widow who lost both her husband and son in the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919. She has ...

A 1917 film directed by Joseph A. Golden & Julius Steger...

The first time Al Jones sees Elizabeth Lowden, he becomes so distracted that he runs his car into a steamroller. The second time he sees her, Elizabeth's car frightens his horse, causing him to fall. .......