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Movies on Sundays (1935)
Character: Charlie Chan (uncredited)
A short, introduced in Pennsylvania when the state had laws disallowing the screening of films on Sunday, to sway voters on a referendum to allow such screenings.
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A Passport to Hell (1932)
Character: Baron von Sydow, Police Commandant
Just prior to the outbreak of World War I, in the British West African town of Akkra, English woman Myra Carson becomes involved in a scandal and is deported. While Myra's ship is docked at Duala, in German West Africa, the war breaks out and she finds herself facing internment by the Germans.
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Good Time Charley (1927)
Character: Good Time Charley Keene
Song-and-dance man Charles Edward Keene (Good Time Charley) is bereft when his wife, Elaine, dies as a result of a fall incurred trying to evade the advances of Hartwell, her manager. Years later, his daughter, Rosita, becomes an overnight sensation as a result of her cafe act under Hartwell's management, and Charley is given a bit part in the show at her request.
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The Marriage Clause (1926)
Character: Max Ravenal
A Broadway actress becomes a star due to the guidance of her director. The two fall in love, but are prevented from marrying due to a clause put into her contract by her producer.
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Flower of Night (1925)
Character: Luke Rand
Triumph of the daughter of a cheated mine owner over a renegade and her love for the superintendent.
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The Yellow Ticket (1918)
Character: Baron Andrey
Anna Mirrel, a young Jewish girl in Czarist Russia, is forced to degrade herself in order to visit her father, whom she believes to be ill. She obtains a yellow passport, signifying that she is a prostitute.
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The Romance of Elaine (1915)
Character: N/A
The heroine had little time for romancing newspaper reporter Walter Jameson, what with Doctor X, alias Marcus Del Mar, threatening American democracy in general and master detective Craig Kennedy's designs for a new torpedo in particular. Whenever Doctor X has Elaine or Jameson in his grasp, they are inevitably saved in the nick of time by a mystery figure garbed in black.
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The Reapers (1916)
Character: James Shaw
Albert Jordan, publishing house manager, lavishes his salary on his adored wife, Rita, and little daughter Edna. She is a churchgoing woman, while his home and his family is his religion. While returning home one day, Jordan sees his little daughter in the path of an auto. He runs to snatch her from instant death. He saves her but is seriously injured himself.
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Pilgrim's Progress (1912)
Character: John Bunyon
Consists of two parts: Part One: The Life of John Bunyon (2 reels); Part Two: The Pilgrim's Progress (3 reels).
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In Search of Charlie Chan (2006)
Character: Charlie Chan (archive footage)
A documentary on the creation of the popular Charlie Chan detective character as well as the history of Chan films of the 1930s.
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Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) (1942)
Character: Self (archive footage)
The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of edition #1, then a tribute to movie people who have died in those 25 years. Finally there are tributes to the Screen Snapshots series by Cecil De Mille, Walt Disney, Louella Parsons and Rosalind Russell.
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Wheel of Chance (1928)
Character: Mosher Turkeltaub
A Russian family, the Turkeltaubs, emigrates to the US before the Communist revolution that overthrew the Czar. One of their twin sons, Schulke, disappears and is believed dead before they leave. After they settle into their new country, the family does well: the surviving twin, Nicholai, becomes a crusading District Attorney. One of the cases he is assigned to prosecute is that of small-time gangster Jacob Talinef, who has killed a former girlfriend of Nicholai's. Further investigation of the case, though, reveals a shocking secret.
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The Phantom Foe (1920)
Character: Uncle Leo Sealkirk
Janet Dale feels that there is a danger looming over her home but cannot put her finger on what it is. Days later her father disappears at her 18th birthday party; dematerializing into thin air before her eyes. She sets out to find him and grapples wit mobsters, psychics, murder, and family secrets.
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Sailor Izzy Murphy (1927)
Character: Perfume Manufacturer
Izzy Murphy is a street vendor of scents that falls in love with the beautiful woman (Audrey Ferris) whose picture adorns the perfume bottle he sells. After resourcefully tracing the beauty (whose father(Warner Oland) manufactures the perfume to a luxury yacht, he finds himself in the company of an escaped lunatic John Miljan) who has vowed to murder the perfume manufacturer in retaliation for all the flowers that have been lost in the making of the perfume.
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The Drums of Jeopardy (1931)
Character: Dr. Boris Karlov
A mad doctor is determined to take revenge on the family he believes is responsible for his daughter's death.
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A Million Bid (1927)
Character: Geoffrey Marsh
To satisfy her controlling mother and secure both of their futures, a daughter hesitantly enters a loveless marriage to a wealthy businessman. Years later, after she has uncovered and overcome her mother's deceptions and manipulations, her newfound happiness is threatened with the appearance of a mysterious "man from the sea."
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Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)
Character: Prince Achmed
Bulldog Drummond finds himself immersed in another adventure when he stumbles upon a corpse in the mysterious London mansion of Prince Achmed. Enlisting the help of his old friend Algy and the beautiful Lola, Drummond uncovers a scheme to ship illegal cargo into the country. He must rely on his cunning to survive when the prince offers a reward for his capture.
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Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
Character: Charlie Chan
Get ready for a Gold Medal murder mystery! This "tense, thrilling mystery" ('California Congress of Parents and Teachers') pits Charlie Chan against international spies who are using the Berlin Olympic games as the perfect cover...for cold-blooded murder!
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Dangerous Paradise (1930)
Character: Schomberg
Heyst, a hermit on his own tropical island, plays unwilling host to red-headed stowaway Alma. Danger looms...
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When a Man Loves (1927)
Character: André Lescaut
A nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan.
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The Fighting American (1924)
Character: Fu Shing
On the wager that he will propose marriage to any girl selected by his fraternity brothers, Bill finds himself making love to Mary, an old-fashioned girl who is secretly in love with him…
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Paramount on Parade (1930)
Character: Fu Manchu (Murder Will Out)
This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors
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Charlie Chan's Courage (1934)
Character: Charlie Chan
Charlie is hired to deliver a pearl necklace to a millionaire at his ranch. When murder intervenes he disguises himself as a Chinese servant and begins sleuthing.
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The Twin Pawns (1919)
Character: John Bent
A drama about twin sisters Daisy and Violet, who grow up unaware of each other's existence, one with their wealthy father and the other with their poor mother. The two sisters are manipulated by a criminal.
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Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
Character: Charlie Chan
Charlie's visit to Paris, ostensibly a vacation, is really a mission to investigate a bond-forgery racket. But his agent, apache dancer Nardi is killed before she can tell him much. The case, complicated by a false murder accusation for banker's daughter Yvette, climaxes with a strange journey through the Paris sewers.
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Twinkletoes (1926)
Character: Roseleaf
"Twinkletoes" Minasi wants to be a great dancer like her deceased mother. Twink meets Chuck Lightfoot, a noted prizefighter, who falls in love with her at first sight. She tries to avoid falling in love with Chuck, whose wife, Cissie, is a drunken harridan and more than a little bit spiteful. Meanwhile, Twink has secured a job in a singing-dancing act in a Limehouse theater, under the auspices of Roseleaf, who has more than just a protective interest in the girl. The jealous Cissie discovers that Twink's sign-painting father also has a night job as a burglar, and she turns him into the police. While a big success dancing on the stage, the arrest of her father has left her somewhat down in the dumps, and she decides to toss herself into the Thames. Possibly, the now-free Chuck, since Cissie has been killed in an accident, might come along and rescue her.
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Tell It to the Marines (1926)
Character: Chinese Bandit Chief
U.S. Marine Sergeant O'Hara has his hands full training raw recruits, one of whom, 'Skeets' Burns, is a particular thorn in his side. If Burns's lackadaisical approach to the military were not bad enough, he also makes advances on nurse Nora Dale, whom Sergeant O'Hara secretly loves. Nora is oblivious to O'Hara's feelings and is attracted to the handsome 'Skeet.' But an indiscretion turns her against him, and it takes an expedition to China and a battle with a warlord's bandit brigade to sort things out among the nurse and her two Marines.
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Patria (1917)
Character: Baron Huroki
Spies from Japan conspire to steal the Channing "preparedness" fortune and invade the United States, beginning in New York, then allying themselves with Mexicans across the border. They are stopped by the efforts of munitions factory heiress Patria Channing and U.S. Secret Service agent Donald Parr.
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Don Juan (1926)
Character: Cesare Borgia
If there was one thing that Don Juan de Marana learned from his father Don Jose, it was that women gave you three things - life, disillusionment and death. In his father's case it was his wife, Donna Isobel, and Donna Elvira who supplied the latter. Don Juan settled in Rome after attending the University of Pisa. Rome was run by the tyrannical Borgia family consisting of Caesar, Lucrezia and the Count Donati. Juan has his way with and was pursued by many women, but it is the one that he could not have that haunts him. It will be for her that he suffers the wrath of Borgia for ignoring Lucrezia and then killing Count Donati in a duel. For Adriana, they will both be condemned to death in the prison on the river Tigre.
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The Jazz Singer (1927)
Character: Cantor Rabinowitz
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
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Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933)
Character: Charlie Chan
When a good-for-nothing man named Dan is stabbed to death and his arm broken, Charlie Chan is on the case. His first clue comes from the victim's sister, who noticed a prowler wearing a glow-in-the-dark wristwatch.
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Infatuation (1925)
Character: Osman Pasha
Infatuation is based on Caesar's Wife, a story by Somerset Maugham. Dazzlingly British socialite Viola Morgan falls madly in love with professional soldier Sir Arthur Little at a dinner party. The two marry, and before long Viola has relocated to Egypt with her husband. Soon bored by her hothouse existence, Viola succumbs to the attentions of young British attache Ronald Perry.
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The Black Camel (1931)
Character: Charlie Chan
Movie star Shelah Fane is seeing wealthy Alan Jaynes while filming in Honolulu, Hawaii, but won't marry him without consulting famed psychic Tarneverro first. Enter inspector Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police, investigating the unsolved murder, three years earlier, of a Hollywood actor.
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Don Q Son of Zorro (1925)
Character: The Archduke Paul
Don Cesar De Vega crosses swords with a vicious member of the Queen's Guard, and steals the affection of a young heiress. When the officer frames the young upstart for murder, Don Cesar fakes his own death and retreats to the crumbling ruins of the family castle he plots his vengeance.
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The Big Gamble (1931)
Character: Andrew North
A gambler, hopelessly in debt, agrees to pay off his debt by allowing his creditor to take out a life insurance policy on him and collecting once the one-year suicide clause has elapsed.
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The Lightning Raider (1919)
Character: Wu Fang
A beautiful young woman is a daring master thief. She meets the young millionaire Thomas Babbington Norton, while fleeing from the scene of her latest theft.
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Man of the Forest (1926)
Character: Clint Beasley
Nancy Raynor (Georgia Hale) is arriving from the East to see her dying uncle. Clint Beasley (Oland) and his gang are determined to kidnap her before she reaches him.
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Complicated Women (2003)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.
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Beatrice Fairfax (1916)
Character: Detective
Beatrice Fairfax, the original advice-to-the-lovelorn reporter and her friend and not-so-secret admirer Jimmy Barton investigate calls for help and escape exotic perils and dangers. Episodes include exciting and fun stories of baby-napping, blackmail, jewel thievery, disguise, counterfeiting, and the long-unseen episode featuring entrancing cult starlet Olive Thomas and the real New York Yankees and Giants playing a game in the Polo Grounds.
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The Faker (1929)
Character: Hadrian
Rita Martin, the partner of a phony spiritualist who uses information supplied by her to gull and astonish the rubes, gets work as private secretary to John Clayton, a wealthy man who has just disinherited his worthless son, Frank, and left his entire fortune to his upright stepson, Bob Williams. At Frank's request, the spiritualist later performs for the elder Clayton a seance during which Rita impersonates the late Mrs. Clayton and arranges for a reconciliation between Frank and his father. Rita falls in love with Bob, however, and, in order to protect Bob's interests against Frank's, exposes the spiritualist as a faker. Frank is disgraced in his father's eyes, and Bob quickly forgives Rita for her past complicity in Frank's schemes.
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The Vagabond King (1930)
Character: Thibault
The story takes place in medieval France. Poet-rogue Francois Villon, sentenced to hang by King Louis XI for writing derogatory verses about him, is offered a temporary reprieve. His hanging will be postponed for 24 hours, and in that time he must defeat the invading Burgundians and win the love of the beautiful Katherine.
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Destruction (1915)
Character: Mr. Deleveau
Fernande marries a man and schemes to get his wealth when his expected death occurs. But he dies before he can change his will. She next tries to kill the son who inherits, but he outfoxes her.
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Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' (1999)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Starting with "The Wolf Man" (in 1941), Universal Studios made five movies featuring The Wolf Man, a character portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr. Monster by Moonlight! explores these movies. Rick Baker explains how the make-up was done on Chaney's character. Screenwriter Curtis Siodmak took very little from earlier werewolf legends, providing his own story for some of the films. This documentary displays clips from several other movies, including "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and "House of Dracula" (1945).
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Old San Francisco (1927)
Character: Chris Buckwell
In San Francisco, a villainous landowner with underworld connections seeks to steal the property of an old Spanish family.
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Sin (1915)
Character: Pietro
Italian peasant girl deserts her fiancé for wealthy gangster and departs for America.
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Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
Character: Charlie Chan
While visiting the circus with his family, Charlie is recruited by the big top's co-owner to investigate threatening letters that he's received.
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The Witness for the Defense (1919)
Character: Captain Ballantyne
Stella Derrick and Dick Hazelwood love each other, but their families want them to make better financial matches.
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Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
Character: Charlie Chan
When a prominent official is murdered at a banquet honoring Charle Chan, the detective and son Lee team up to expose an opium-smuggling ring.
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The Winding Stair (1925)
Character: Petras
Paul is a fearless French Foreign Legion officer. Ordered to quell a native uprising at a far-away outpost, he discovers that the revolt is actually a subterfuge hatched by the Arabs, so that the city under Paul's command will be left unguarded and defenseless.
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Dream of Love (1928)
Character: The Duke
A duke has deposed Prince Mauritz's father, so Mauritz spends his time in affairs with a countess, the duke's wife and a gypsy girl Adrienne. Years later she is a famous actress in a play resembling the sad story of their earlier relationship. He falls in love with her again. The jealous duchess and the duke arrange to have him shot by firing squad but revolutionaries save him and make him King.
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So This Is Marriage? (1924)
Character: King David
The only known copy of this film copy was reported to have been destroyed in the 1967 MGM Vault fire.
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The Studio Murder Mystery (1929)
Character: Rupert Borka
Philandering actor Richard Hardell is murdered at a movie studio. His jealous wife Blanche, his director Rupert Borka, and a girl he mistreated, Helen MacDonald, all have substantial reasons for having wanted him dead.
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Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
Character: Charlie Chan
While investigating the theft of antiquities from an ancient tomb excavation , Charlie discovers that the body of the expedition's leader concealed inside the mummy's wrappings.
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Curlytop (1924)
Character: Shanghai Dan
Big Bill Branigan, one of the tough characters of London's Limehouse district, falls in love with Curlytop because of her sweet innocence. He leaves his sweetheart, Bessie, for her and resolves to go straight. When he sets out to find a job, the jealous Bessie gets Curlytop drunk and hacks off her long curls.
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His Children's Children (1923)
Character: Dr. Dahl
Follows three generations of the Mayne family through the year 1921-22. The 81-year-old patriarch reminisces about his rough beginnings in post-Civil War railroading, son Rufus rides rough waters as a wealthy financier, and his wife and three daughters muddle through their New York high society life.
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Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
Character: Charlie Chan
Charlie steps in to solve the murder of a wealthy American found dead in a London hotel. Settings include London, Nice, San Remo, Honolulu and Hong Kong. Fast-paced with lots of wisecracking. The first film to star Warner Oland as Charlie Chan.
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Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961)
Character: Self (archive footage)
An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s.
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Chinatown Nights (1929)
Character: "Boston Charley" Wu
Joan Fry, a society woman, falls in love with Chuck Riley, the white-leader of a powerful gang in Chinatown, and he quickly drags her down into the depths with him. But seeing her so much in love with him causes him to realize he isl in love with her, and he determines to lift her up again. "Boston" Charley, the rival gang-leader, has other plans.
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Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
Character: Charlie Chan
A dangerous amnesiac escapes from an asylum, hides in the opera house, and is suspected of getting revenge on those who tried to murder him 13 years ago.
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Stand and Deliver (1928)
Character: Ghika - the Bandit Leader
Our heroine, Miss Velez (despite the fact that she seems to be just along for the ride) is much her usual over-eloquent self (how fortunate she has no sound track!), while Warner Oland makes such an impressive and villainously seedy bandit, he needs no sound track at all. We can just imagine his oily, purring accents all too well.
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The Eternal Question (1916)
Character: Pierre Felix
Pierre Felix, a couturier, makes a $25,000 bet with Ralph Courtland that he can take a girl from the streets, dress her appropriately, and within three months have her accepted into society.
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Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)
Character: Charlie Chan
Allen Colby, heir to a huge fortune, is presumed drowned after an ocean liner sinks off the coast of Honolulu. Mysteriously, Colby reappears at his mansion only to be murdered soon after. When his body is discovered during a seance, everyone in attendance becomes a suspect, and it's up to Chan to find the murderer before he or she strikes again.
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The Pride of Palomar (1922)
Character: Okada
A soldier inaccurately reported as dead returns home to his Spanish family’s estate in California, only to find his father deceased and his ancestral land in the hands of strangers.
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The Eternal Sapho (1916)
Character: H. Coudal
A scheme by a beautiful vamp to marry a wealthy young man fails, and the woman returns to her former lover, a sculptor. She is shocked to discover he has committed suicide, and the tragedy catapults her into insanity.
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Dishonored (1931)
Character: Colonel von Hindau
The Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
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The Avalanche (1919)
Character: Nick Delano
A woman with a gambling addiction finds that her daughter is threatened by the same tendencies.
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The Third Eye (1920)
Character: Curtis Steele / Malcolm Graw
A pretty movie star is stalked by a strange gang whose leader is infatuated with her in this superior Pathé serial written by genre specialist H.H. van Loan. Released in 15 chapters between May and August of 1920, the serial offered a glimpse into the still mysterious world of movie-making
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Daughter of the Dragon (1931)
Character: Fu Manchu
At her Chinese father's bidding, a woman goes to murder an enemy and meets a Scotland Yard detective.
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Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
Character: Charlie Chan
Returning from European exile where she avoided testifying against her criminal associates, a former singer with a tell-all diary is murdered to insure her silence.
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Mandalay (1934)
Character: Nick
Abandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to put her past behind her on a steamer to Mandalay.
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Charlie Chan's Chance (1932)
Character: Charlie Chan
Charlie is the intended murder victim here, and he avoids death only by chance. To find the murderer (since, of course, murder does occur), Charlie must outguess Scotland Yard and New York City police.
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Before Dawn (1933)
Character: Dr. Paul Cornelius
After the death of a gangster, those familiar with his million dollar stash start mysteriously dying. Police detectives with the help of a clairvoyant try to determine who, living or dead, is responsible.
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East Is West (1922)
Character: Charley Yong
She'd wink till hearts went on the blink. And staid professors couldn't think. And everywhere they'd stop to stare. And say "Some Chink!" when Ming Toy winked.
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Shanghai (1935)
Character: Ambassador Lun Sing
A New York socialite travels to Shanghai to visit her ailing aunt and falls in love with a Russian banker, who harbors a family secret.
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The Naulahka (1918)
Character: Maharajah
Trying to win the Three C's railroad line for his home town of Topaz, Colorado, Nicholas "Nick" Tarvin journeys to India to secure the famed jewel known as the Naulahka, which he plans to present to Mrs. Mutrie, the railroad president's wife.
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The Rise of Susan (1916)
Character: Sinclair La Salle
Susan takes the place of model and shows the clothes so well that she is asked to impersonate a Countess at a reception given by a customer.
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Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)
Character: Charlie Chan
Although Charlie and Lee are in Monaco for an art exhibit, they become caught up in a feud between rival financiers which involves the Chan's in a web of blackmail and murder.
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Shanghai Express (1932)
Character: Mr. Henry Chang
A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
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Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
Character: Charlie Chan
When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.
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Hurricane Hutch (1921)
Character: Clifton Marlow
Story concerns a paper mill, a mortgage and the struggle to obtain the lost formula for making paper from seaweed. Star is given opportunity to introduce many daredevil features.
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As Husbands Go (1934)
Character: Hippolitus Lomi
Lucille Lingard and her friend Emmie bid farewell to their European friends on their last night in Paris. Lucille has fallen for the debonair Ronald Derbyshire and dreads returning to her mundane Midwestern hometown in Iowa and her stolid husband Charles. Back in America, Lucille plans to get a divorce and is delighted when Ronald show up. However, he and Charles unexpectedly become close friends, and Ronald admits that he does not find Lucille as attractive as he did in Paris. He leaves the next day and Lucille stays with her husband, won over once more to her family life.
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The Mighty (1929)
Character: Sterky
In this melodrama set during WWI, a gangster joins the army and is promoted to major. He then returns from war torn Europe to tell a family that their beloved son had died in his arms during a battle. The major then falls in love with the late soldier's sister and decides to accept a position in town as the new police commissioner.
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Charlie Chan in London (1934)
Character: Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is sought out by Pamela Gray, a desperate young socialite whose brother Paul awaits execution for the murder of a weapons inventor. Pamela is convinced of his innocence.
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