Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber

Born: January 29, 1882
Died: October 14, 1949
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Fritz Reuter Leiber Sr. was an American actor. A Shakespearean actor on stage, he also had a successful career in film. He was the father of science fiction and fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr., who was also an actor for a time. Leiber and his wife spent much of their time touring in a Shakespearean acting company, known by the 1930s as Fritz Leiber & Co. Leiber made his film bow in 1916, playing Mercutio in the Francis X. Bushman version of “Romeo and Juliet.” With his piercing eyes and shock of white hair, Leiber seemed every inch the priests, professors, musical professors, and religious fanatics that he was frequently called upon to play in films. His many silent-era portrayals included Caesar in Theda Bara's 1917 “Cleopatra” and Solomon in the mammoth 1921 Betty Blythe vehicle “The Queen of Sheba.” He thrived as a character actor in sound films, usually in historical roles. In the film “Champagne Waltz” he portrayed an orchestra maestro; the role required him to play classical music on a violin and jazz on a clarinet. One of Leiber's larger assignments of the 1940s, and his most notable musical role, was as Franz Liszt in the Claude Rains' remake of “Phantom of the Opera” (1943). Leiber appears together with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in the wedding-feast scene of Greta Garbo's film “Camille” (1936) and in Warner Bros.' “The Great Garrick” (1937). Leiber also appeared with his son Fritz Leiber Jr. in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939), but Fritz Leiber Jr. was not credited for his small speaking part. Late in his career, Leiber performed briefly opposite Charles Chaplin as the priest who visits Monsieur Verdoux in his prison cell.

Movies for Fritz Leiber...

Devil's Doorway
Title: Devil's Doorway
Character: Mr. Poole
Released: September 15, 1950
Type: Movie
A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.
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Samson and Delilah
Title: Samson and Delilah
Character: Lord Sharif
Released: December 21, 1949
Type: Movie
When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.
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Bagdad
Title: Bagdad
Character: Emir
Released: November 23, 1949
Type: Movie
An Arab sheik's daughter (Maureen O'Hara) avenges his death, blamed on Hassan (Paul Christian) and his Black Riders.
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Bride of Vengeance
Title: Bride of Vengeance
Character: Filippo
Released: April 7, 1949
Type: Movie
The tiny independent duchy of Ferrara is located between Casare Borgia's Rome and Venice, and Borgia has plans to conquer Venice via Ferrara. He murders his sister's husband and makes it appear that Alfonso D'Este of Ferrara was behind the killing. To avenge herself against Ferrara and D'Este, Lucretia Borgia marries D'Este and intends to poison him. But...she falls in love with him.
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Song of India
Title: Song of India
Character: Nanaram
Released: February 28, 1949
Type: Movie
Jungle adventure drama about a young man and his wild animal friends attempting to thwart a government-approved hunting expedition.
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Inner Sanctum
Title: Inner Sanctum
Character: Dr. Valonius
Released: October 15, 1948
Type: Movie
A killer hides out in a small-town boarding house.
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Another Part of the Forest
Title: Another Part of the Forest
Character: Col. Isham
Released: May 18, 1948
Type: Movie
This 'prequel' to The Little Foxes tells how the ruthless members of the old-South Hubbard family got that way.
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To the Ends of the Earth
Title: To the Ends of the Earth
Character: Binda Sha
Released: February 7, 1948
Type: Movie
A treasury agent becomes obsessed with exposing an international drug ring.
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Adventures of Casanova
Title: Adventures of Casanova
Character: D'Anneci
Released: February 7, 1948
Type: Movie
Casanova, a young patriot in 18th-century Sicily, upon learning that his father and sister have been murdered, returns to Palermo and engages in guerilla tactics against the forces of the Governor. Lady Bianca, the Governor's daughter, is in love with one of the patriots, Lorenzo, and desires to escape from the palace. Her lady-in-waiting, Zanetta, enlists the aid of Casanova and he rescues them and takes them to the partisan's camp. The rebels are victorious. Lady Bianca makes plans to marry Lorenzo, and Casanova and Zanetta have similar plans.
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Monsieur Verdoux
Title: Monsieur Verdoux
Character: Father Fareaux
Released: September 26, 1947
Type: Movie
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.
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High Conquest
Title: High Conquest
Character: Priest
Released: June 21, 1947
Type: Movie
Love and adventure on the Matterhorn mountain.
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The Web
Title: The Web
Character: Leopold Kroner
Released: June 4, 1947
Type: Movie
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
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Dangerous Venture
Title: Dangerous Venture
Character: Chief Xeoli
Released: May 23, 1947
Type: Movie
Sue Morgan gets Hoppy and his friends to join their expedition looking for Indian artifacts. Expedition leader Atwood makes a deal with nearby cattle rustler Morgan to loot the Indian treasures instead and sell them. Hoppy is on to their plan and pretending to leave follows them. Not only is he outnumbered by Morgan's men, but California has himself about to be sacrificed in an Indian ritual.
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Bells of San Angelo
Title: Bells of San Angelo
Character: Padre
Released: April 15, 1947
Type: Movie
Gridley is mining silver from an old Mexican mine and bringing it into the USA thru a passage into his worthless mine. Border guard Rogers suspects Gridley and finally finds the secret entrance to the Mexican mine. He sends Lee Madison for help only to have her captured by Gridley. Trigger brings help that takes care of Gridley's men and now Roy has to rescue Madison.
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Humoresque
Title: Humoresque
Character: Hagerstrom
Released: January 25, 1947
Type: Movie
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
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Strange Journey
Title: Strange Journey
Character: Prof. Jenner
Released: October 3, 1946
Type: Movie
Reformed racketeer "Lucky" Leeds flees from the police when he thinks they are about to arrest him for a murder he didn't commit. He and his wife Patti fly to his privately-owned remote island and have to crash land. Also on the island is a group of shipwrecked people, including a German professor, his daughter, an English journalist, a wealthy widow, a sailor and a Nazi Agent.
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Angel on My Shoulder
Title: Angel on My Shoulder
Character: Chemist Who Poisoned Wife (uncredited)
Released: September 20, 1946
Type: Movie
The Devil arranges for a deceased gangster to return to Earth as a well-respected judge to make up for his previous life.
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A Scandal in Paris
Title: A Scandal in Paris
Character: Painter
Released: July 19, 1946
Type: Movie
A smooth-talking French thief wangles his way into an important position as prefect of police.
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Scarlet Street
Title: Scarlet Street
Character: Evangelist (uncredited)
Released: December 25, 1945
Type: Movie
Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.
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This Love of Ours
Title: This Love of Ours
Character: Dr. Bailey
Released: November 2, 1945
Type: Movie
At a convention, medical researcher Michel Touzac goes with colleagues to see stage caricaturist Targel, whose assistant Florence recognizes him...and attempts suicide. Saved by Touzac's new technique, Florence is revealed in a flashback as Michel's abandoned wife Karin, whom their daughter Susette thinks is dead. Can Susette cope if they now re-unite?
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The Spanish Main
Title: The Spanish Main
Character: Bishop
Released: October 1, 1945
Type: Movie
Laurent van Horn is the leader of a band of Dutch refugees on a ship seeking freedom in the Carolinas, when the ship is wrecked on the coast of Cartagene, governed by Don Juan Alvardo, a Spanish ruler. Alvarado has Laurent thrown in prison, but the latter escapes, and five-years later is a pirate leader. He poses as the navigator on a ship in which Contessa Francesca, daughter of a Mexican noble, is traveling on her way to marry Alvarado, whom she has never seen. Laurent's pirates capture the ship and Francesca, in order to save another ship, gives her hand-in-marriage to Laurent, who sails her to the pirate hideout. This irks his jealous pirate comrades Anne Bonney and Captain Benjamin Black. They overpower Laurent and send Francesca to Alvarado, and then Mario du Billar, a trusted right-hand man, makes a deal to deliver Laurent to Alvarado.
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The Cisco Kid Returns
Title: The Cisco Kid Returns
Character: The Padre
Released: February 16, 1945
Type: Movie
After several years' dormancy, the "Cisco Kid" western-film series returned to the screen with Monogram's The Cisco Kid Returns. Duncan Renaldo, actually Rumanian, starred as the Mexican "Robin Hood of the Old West", with Martin Garralaga as his corpulent sidekick Pancho. In the tradition of 20th Century-Fox's earlier "Cisco" efforts, our hero comes to the aid of an orphaned child, clears himself of a kidnapping charge, and proves that a "solid citizen" is in fact a criminal mastermind.
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Youth Runs Wild
Title: Youth Runs Wild
Character: Judge (uncredited)
Released: September 1, 1944
Type: Movie
The teens of a defense-plant town hop on the road to juvenile delinquency while their parents are busy with the war.
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Cry of the Werewolf
Title: Cry of the Werewolf
Character: Dr. Charles Morris (uncredited)
Released: August 17, 1944
Type: Movie
A young gypsy girl turns into a wolf to destroy her enemies.
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Cobra Woman
Title: Cobra Woman
Released: May 12, 1944
Type: Movie
A man (Jon Hall) tracks his kidnapped bride (Maria Montez) to a jungle island, where her twin is the high priestess.
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Phantom of the Opera
Title: Phantom of the Opera
Character: Franz Liszt
Released: August 12, 1943
Type: Movie
Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.
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First Comes Courage
Title: First Comes Courage
Character: Dr. Aanrud
Released: July 29, 1943
Type: Movie
Merle Oberon plays a Norwegian resistance figure in a small town, married to a Nazi commandant. When his superiors begin to suspect her, the Allies land an assassin to kill him -- an assassin who happens to be her former lover.
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Crossroads
Title: Crossroads
Character: Foreign Minister Deval (uncredited)
Released: July 23, 1942
Type: Movie
A French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.
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Aloma of the South Seas
Title: Aloma of the South Seas
Character: High Priest
Released: August 27, 1941
Type: Movie
A young South Seas native boy is sent to the U.S. for his education and returns to his island after his father dies to try to stop a revolution.
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Lady with Red Hair
Title: Lady with Red Hair
Character: Mr. Foster
Released: November 30, 1940
Type: Movie
An actress hopes to regain her lost son by making it to the top.
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The Sea Hawk
Title: The Sea Hawk
Character: Inquisitor
Released: August 10, 1940
Type: Movie
Dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love with Dona Maria, a beautiful Spanish royal he captures.
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All This, and Heaven Too
Title: All This, and Heaven Too
Character: Abbe Gallard
Released: July 5, 1940
Type: Movie
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.
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The Way of All Flesh
Title: The Way of All Flesh
Character: Max
Released: July 5, 1940
Type: Movie
Paul Kriza is a cashier of a bank in a small town, and the happy husband of Anna and the father of four children. He is sent to New York to deliver some securities for the bank. There, he is tagged as easy-pickings by a con-game gang and Mary Brown, gang accomplice, proves he is. Waking up in the morning he discovers he has been robbed of the securities and, when he confronts the gang, he is hit on the head and taken out to be left on a railroad track. He comes to, struggles with the henchman and the man is killed when a train comes roaring by. Paul escapes but his watch is found and he is reported as the dead man. But he can't go home again.
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Title: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Character: Old Nobleman
Released: December 29, 1939
Type: Movie
Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.
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Pack Up Your Troubles
Title: Pack Up Your Troubles
Character: Pierre Ferrand
Released: October 24, 1939
Type: Movie
Three American soldiers help a young girl deliver a secret message across enemy lines.
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Nurse Edith Cavell
Title: Nurse Edith Cavell
Character: Sadi Kirschen
Released: August 31, 1939
Type: Movie
British nurse Edith Cavell is stationed at a hospital in Brussels during World War I. When the son of a former patient escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp, she helps him flee to Holland. Outraged at the number of soldiers detained in the camps, Edith, along with a group of sympathizers, devises a plan to help the prisoners escape. As the group works to free the soldiers, Edith must keep her activities secret from the Germans
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They Made Her a Spy
Title: They Made Her a Spy
Character: Dr. Krull
Released: April 14, 1939
Type: Movie
When her brother is killed by sabotage, Irene Eaton (Sally Eilers) joins the secret service and goes undercover to unroot the culprits.
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Gateway
Title: Gateway
Character: Dr. Weilander
Released: August 5, 1938
Type: Movie
Irish immigrant meets returning war correspondent on a liner bound for New York. When she resists the amours of another passenger, charges result in her being detained at Ellis Island.
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Flight Into Nowhere
Title: Flight Into Nowhere
Character: Ti-Ana
Released: April 19, 1938
Type: Movie
When headstrong pilot Bill Kellogg disobeys orders and takes a plane to photograph potential landing fields in uncharted Latin American country, he ends up running out of gas and crashing. The members of a nearby tribal village save Bill from the wreckage, but arent willing to help him get home.
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The Jury's Secret
Title: The Jury's Secret
Character: John Morrow
Released: January 16, 1938
Type: Movie
A reporter covering a murder trial guesses that the murderer of a ruthless businessman is her ex-fiancé and persuades him to confess and clear the innocent man on trial.
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The Great Garrick
Title: The Great Garrick
Character: Horatio in 'Hamlet'
Released: October 30, 1937
Type: Movie
A British actor insults a French acting group only to fall victim to a prank that might destroy his career.
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The Prince and the Pauper
Title: The Prince and the Pauper
Character: Father Andrew
Released: April 30, 1937
Type: Movie
Two boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when young teenage Tom sneaks into the palace garden, he meets the prince. They change clothes with one another before the guards discover them and throw out the prince thinking he's the urchin. No one believes them when they try to tell the truth about which is which. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne.
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Under Southern Stars
Title: Under Southern Stars
Character: Stonewall Jackson
Released: February 20, 1937
Type: Movie
Set in the springtime of 1863 in Chancellorsville, Virginia during the War Between the States, this colorful short profiles the heroic Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson the night before he would meet his fate in battle.
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Champagne Waltz
Title: Champagne Waltz
Character: Franz Strauss
Released: February 5, 1937
Type: Movie
In Vienna, a new jazz club featuring American trumpeter Buzzy Bellew threatens the existence of its neighbor, the Waltz Palace, run by Franz Strauss and featuring his granddaughter, singer Elsa. Smitten by Elsa, Buzzy hides his identity and association with the club -- whose owner intends to buy out the Palace property. When Elsa accidentally learns who Buzzy really is, it appears he may have to return to America alone.
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Anthony Adverse
Title: Anthony Adverse
Character: Ouvrard
Released: August 26, 1936
Type: Movie
Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate Anthony and Angela and he embarks on a long journey, he must find his way back to her, no matter what the cost.
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Sins of Man
Title: Sins of Man
Character: Father Prior
Released: June 19, 1936
Type: Movie
Austrian church bell ringer Freyman loves music and wants his two sons (both played by Ameche) to love it too. The first goes to America and the second is born deaf-mute but gains hearing during WWI bombing.
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Down to the Sea
Title: Down to the Sea
Character: Gregory Pappas
Released: May 30, 1936
Type: Movie
Greek sponge divers in Tarpon Springs, Florida duel over diving methods and fight over the same girl, and only one will survive.
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Hearts in Bondage
Title: Hearts in Bondage
Character: Capt. John Ericsson
Released: May 26, 1936
Type: Movie
Best friends Kenneth Reynolds and Raymond Jordan are U.S. Navy officers, and Kenneth is engaged to Raymond's sister. But the eruption of the Civil War divides them, as Raymond stands by his native Virginia while Kenneth remains on duty as a Northern officer. Kenneth's uncle, John Ericsson, designs a new kind of ship, an ironclad he calls the Monitor. Eventually the war pits Kenneth, on board the Monitor, against his friend Raymond, serving aboard the South's own ironclad, the Merrimac (as it is called here). A naval battle ensues, one that will go down in history.
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The Story of Louis Pasteur
Title: The Story of Louis Pasteur
Character: Dr. Charbonnet
Released: February 22, 1936
Type: Movie
A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is caused by microbes, that sanitation is paramount and that at least some diseases can be cured by vaccinations.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Character: Gaspard
Released: December 25, 1935
Type: Movie
The exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in Paris. The action switches between London and Paris on the eve of the revolution where we witness 'the best of times and the worst of times' - love, hope, the uncaring French Aristocrats and the terror of a revolutionary citizen's army intent on exacting revenge.
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The Queen of Sheba
Title: The Queen of Sheba
Character: King Solomon
Released: April 10, 1921
Type: Movie
The story of the ill-fated romance between Solomon, king of Israel, and the Queen of Sheba.
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The Song of the Soul
Title: The Song of the Soul
Character: Jerry Wendover
Released: October 5, 1920
Type: Movie
Jerry Wendover, disfigured since childhood after his act of heroism in saving a little girl from a fire scarred his face, secludes himself in an old house in the Backwater district of Florida. One night he finds Barbara Seaforth, a young blind girl, lost in the swamps and takes her home. The two unfortunates fall in love, marry, and have a child. One day, a visiting doctor tells Jerry that Barbara's sight can be restored. The operation is performed successfully, but the doctor warns his patient to shield her eyes from the light or risk reversal of the surgery. Barbara, realizing her husband's dread of exposing his disfigurement to her, looks at her child and then permanently blinds herself by staring into the light, thus sacrificing her sight for the love of her husband.
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If I Were King
Title: If I Were King
Character: Louis XI
Released: August 9, 1920
Type: Movie
J. Gordon Edwards silent adventure melodrama about a famous poet who is allowed to rule France for a week!
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Cleopatra
Title: Cleopatra
Character: Caesar
Released: October 14, 1917
Type: Movie
The story of Cleopatra, the fabulous queen of Egypt, and the epic romances between her and the greatest men of Rome, Julius Caesar and Antony.
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Romeo and Juliet
Title: Romeo and Juliet
Character: Mercutio
Released: October 19, 1916
Type: Movie
Shakespeare's tragedy of two young people who fall desperately in love despite the ancient feud between their two families, and how the sins of the fathers bring disaster to their children.