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Votes for Women (1912)
Character: N/A
Named by historian Kevin Brownlow as “the first important suffrage film”, this melodrama follows suffragist May Fillmore in her fight to sway Senator Herman, whose vote could pass a key reform bill. After exposing him and his fiancée Jane Wadsworth to the dire living conditions of a motherless tenement family—unsanitary housing, child labor, and workplace exploitation—Jane turns against her negligent fiancé and joins the suffrage cause. Ultimately, both Herman and Jane’s father are persuaded to support reform, and the film ends with the characters proudly taking part in a suffrage parade. (Note: This silent narrative film is distinct from Edison’s Votes for Women (1913), a Kinetophone short that recorded real suffragist leaders delivering speeches.)
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Draft 258 (1917)
Character: Mrs. Alden
Mary Alden and her brothers Matthew and George have extremely different political views. Matthew is a committed pacifist, and is constantly giving speeches against war. George is notified that his draft number, 258, has been called and to report for induction, but he refuses. Mary, on the other hand, is intensely patriotic and comes up with a plan to shame him into reporting for induction. Meanwhile, Matthew is being set up for a patsy by a gang of German secret agents, led by Van Bierman, who are planning to blow up an airplane factory.
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A Man's Duty (1912)
Character: Mrs. Wilson - the Mother
When the Civil War was declared, it caused great consternation in the home of John Wilson, as he was of Southern birth, while his wife was a Northern woman, and she favored the Federal cause.
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Springtime (1914)
Character: Marguerite
Madeline De Valette is betrothed to her father's cousin, Raoul De Valette, arrangements having been made when she was but a child. Valette requests his cousin's presence at his home to be presented to his fiancée. Raoul has been carrying on a love affair with L'Acadienne, a beautiful Creole who loves him devotedly. Much against his wishes, he is compelled to leave L'Acadienne. In spite of her pleadings and threats, he sets out for the Valette home.
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The Slacker (1917)
Character: Mrs. Christy
Robert Wallace, the elder son of a rich and indulgent father, marries Margaret Christy, a spirited patriot, so that he can escape the call to war. Discovering the reason for Robert's haste to get married, Margaret is appalled and resolves to bring home to her husband a sense of his personal responsibility. In order to instill patriotism in Robert, Margaret contrasts him with John Harding, the man who gave her up to go to war. When Robert protests his wife's tactics, Margaret accuses him of being a contemptible coward. The next day a German insults the American flag, and Robert, his sense of justice aroused, makes him salute it. He then bids Margaret farewell and marches off to war. Margaret sees him off without divulging the secret that she is pregnant, thus sacrificing her own welfare for that of her country.
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Alias Mrs. Jessop (1917)
Character: Ames, the Nurse
Lillian’s affluent parents raised Identical cousins Janet & Lillian Ford. Lillian marries Sir Anthony Jessop and settles in England. Jessop soon tires of Lillian's frivolity but loves their son Bobby. Under the pretense of visiting her dying father, Lillian travels to America, followed by her lover, Raymond Fleury, and they travel West together after she persuades Janet to impersonate her at Ford's deathbed. When Janet learns that Bobby has been hurt, she sails to England and cares for him. After Jessop's uncle dies, he returns as the Earl of Devon, and grows to love Janet, who he thinks is Lillian. Hearing of Jessop's good fortune, Lillian returns. After Fleury pursues and shoots her, Jessop proposes to Janet that they quietly marry and keep their past secret.
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The Pseudo Prodigal (1913)
Character: Sister of Mercy
The spoiled son of an indulgent father gives up his home and career after a quarrel and leaves home. He drifts down the path of life with vice and degradation as his companions. He meets a girl in a saloon whose life has always been in the depths and falls in love with her. This girl meets a sister of charity, who tells her of "The Light About the Throne," and urges her to reform, giving her a card and telling her to call on her at any time she needs help.
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All for a Girl (1915)
Character: Mrs. Van Espen
After a young man’s family loses their fortune, he is encouraged to court a wealthy woman who wants to escape the attention her wealth attracts. As the two grow closer, misunderstandings and unexpected events lead to a deep connection, with both learning valuable lessons about love, integrity, and wealth.
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At Cripple Creek (1912)
Character: Dynamite Ann
Belle Gordon, an orphan, finds an advertisement in the papers for a governess to apply to the Rev. Strong, at Cripple Creek, Col. She writes and has her fare advanced. Upon arriving there she finds the place consists of a crowd of disreputable miners and dance-hall girls. She learns that the advertisement was merely a trap to lure her out into the dance-hall of Martin Mason.
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Cyclone Higgins, D.D. (1918)
Character: The Widow Pryor
Anson Campbell returns from the seminary to a small village on the New England coast. When the puritanical villagers persecute Bess Morgan, a "fallen" woman, he sticks up for her, telling them that their form of "Christianity" isn't Christian at all. This has no effect on the bigoted villagers and they turn their anger on him. Complications ensue.
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Miss Robinson Crusoe (1917)
Character: Aunt Agatha
Rich, spoiled social butterfly Pamela Sayre lives the good life with her two maiden aunts. Bertie Holden, the somewhat slacker son of a wealthy couple, is in love with Pamela, who seems to prefer muscular, daredevil-type men, which Bertie definitely isn't. Pamela flirts with the wealthy but much older Charles Van Gordon in order to make Bertie jealous, but her plan seems to backfire.
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The Ordeal (1914)
Character: The Patriot's Mother
During the Franco-Prussian War, Jean Renyea wins the love of Helene, thus incurring the enmity of Pierre, her hunchbacked suitor.
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The Great Secret (1917)
Character: Mrs. Clarke
A wealthy young athlete comes to the aid of a beautiful heiress, whose fortune is being threatened by two arch villains, The Great Master and Doctor Zulph.
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