A montage of 13 remarkable short films recently digitized by the Library of Congress, whose themes echo the program of the Domitor 2022 conference, entitled "Copy/rights and early cinema"

A former college football hero and his college sweetheart get married. Marital turmoil ensues as her criminal law practice soars while he cannot get his career as an architect off the ground. They separate, and the man begins making extra money by singing in a nightclub. When he is unjustly accused of murder, it is up to his estranged wife to defend him in court.

With the aid of his former law students, a professor-turned-prosecutor battles corruption and organized crime.

After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.

Captain Drummond is travelling to Switzerland to marry his girlfriend. However, when a cargo containing dangerous explosives goes missing from its place, Drummond is forced to delay his plans.

At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with daughter Cora. But the parents are like sand in the gears of their middle-aged children's well regulated households. Can the old folks take matters into their own hands?

An Italian immigrant studying the law gets mixed up with crooks.

A proud, pro-capital punishment district attorney with a 90% execution rate, finds himself wrongly convicted of murdering his estranged wife and sentenced to die. The woman he loves and his investigator rival for her affections rally to find the real killer, while he is confronted by the misery of life on death row.

A doctor has a rough time obtaining the money for his services in a lumber town until he delivers quintuplets.

The star of "Song of the Toreador" receives threatening messages that he will not survive the preview screening of the film. The studio publicist works with the Director, the Producer and the police, to discover who is behind the threats.

After the woman who raised him claims he's not her son, Richard searches for clues about his identity. Urged on by his mentor, Capt. Randolph Courtney, Richard focuses on Julia Trent Anders, a middle-aged actress who just might be his real mother. But soon, Richard begins to fall for Julia's stepdaughter. Amidst the upheaval, Richard schemes to return Julia to the stage -- but he's in for another big surprise.

Con men Calvin Churchill and Clip McGurk know how to fix a horse-race or boxing match. Calvin wants to go straight and win back his estranged wife, but first the men must dodge a dogged IRS agent and bilk a bunch of aviation investors out of the backing boodle for a balloon excursion into the stratosphere.

A scientist named Hunter Hawk invents a device that can turn flesh to stone. While celebrating his discovery he becomes involved with a half naked leprechaun. On a trip to New York, Hunter and Meg (the leprechaun) decide to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and turn all of the Statues of Greek Gods into people. What follows in a drunken romp around New York with Medusa's severed head still in Perseus' hand.

A man meets the daughter of his lover and they begin to fall in love.

Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to divorce him. Concerned that Diane will now lose interest, Richard offers her an all-expense-paid cruise to Argentina so that she can think it over. While traveling, however, Diane falls in love with fellow traveler Mike. She resolves to come clean to Richard, but upon return she becomes conflicted when she finds out he was able to get divorced after all.

A domineering money-bags' suppressed incestuous urges go into overdrive when her half-brother brings a new bride home to the family’s gloomy Fifth Avenue mansion. The title refers to a secret soundproofed chamber that the villainess uses to entrap her enemies.

Bob Hamilton gets into trouble when crooks cause the defeat of his father's horse in the Derby, and it is reported he is in with the crooks. The old man disowns him and his sweetheart, Patricia , breaks their engagement. So Bob and "Skipper", the also-suspected trainer, head for the western tracks, taking with them the horse Hamilton Senior forced them to buy, determined to make good and prove they are on the level.

When her husband, who founded the town's crusading local newspaper, doesn't come back from the French battlefields of World War I, a woman struggles to raise her two sons and keep the newspaper going. Matters are complicated by the fact that, several years later, one of the sons wants to turn the paper from its position as a hard-fighting champion of the working-class into an upscale society paper catering to the rich and powerful. Matters are complicated even further by rumors that their father was in fact NOT killed in France during the war but took another man's identity and is still living there.

A young, unmarried theatrical couple befriend an out-of-work housekeeper and introduce her to another new acquaintance, a man of means, unaware that he is married and going through a messy divorce.

Kitty Lorraine has one purpose in life: turning her daughter Shirley into a star. Kitty controls every aspect of the girl's nascent career -- even blackmailing a stage manager so that Shirley can take a more prestigious gig. But Kitty goes too far when she breaks up her daughter's budding relationship with sweet artist Warren Foster. Heartbroken, Shirley sets off on a series of disastrous but profitable relationships.

A play by Nina Wilcox Putnam was the source for the empire-building drama Golden Harvest. Ambitious grain trader Chris Martin corners the wheat market and becomes a millionaire. Outgrowing his humble farm beginnings, Chris makes a bid for respectability by marrying Chicago socialite Cynthia Flint.

A lovely fashion model's dreams of marital bliss are shattered when her fiance jilts her. To make matters worse, her father kills the cad and she gets accused of the crime.

A young woman is on trial for murder. In flashback, we learn of her struggles to overcome poverty as a teenager -- a mistaken arrest and prison term for shoplifting and lack of employment lead to involvement with gangsters. In a brothel, she meets a young lawyer, scion of a wealthy and prestigious family, who falls for her and helps her turn around her life. But her past catches up with her, and she must face the music rather than cause him scandal.

Dr. Gorman is a millionaire adventurer, traveling the world in search of dangerous game. His bored, beautiful, much younger wife entertains herself in the arms of other men. In turn, Gorman uses his animals to kill these men. When a New York City zoo suggests a fundraising gala, Gorman sees a prime opportunity to dispatch the dashing Roger and anyone else who might cross him.

Guests at a luxury hotel are horrified when they witness a man literally "disappear into thin air." The vanished man's relatives hire a detective, who goes to the hotel to investigate the disappearance.

A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl.

Mary Smith is picked up by the police and is about to be sentenced, in night court, to jail for prostitution. But a stranger, Jimmie Martin, stands up and tells the judge that Mary was waiting for him and they were going to be married.

Bill Bronson is a likable young bank clerk, whose congenital thirst for liquor is kept under control until he joins his wife Mary at getting blotto at a company party. From there it is a downward spiral.

Thirteen years after a dinner party in which the thirteenth guest failed to arrive, the remaining guests are being murdered one by one, and their bodies being placed at the same dinner table in the appropriate seats they occupied thirteen years prior.

Doctor Smith and his wife, Mary,depart a riverboat and are met by Phil Talbot. Phil informs Dr. Smith that Jessup, the only other white man in the village, has died while the doctor and his wife were off on a two-day holiday. Unknown to Smith, Jessup and his partner, Ross King, had a large cache of ivory tusks in the jungle, and he had told Phil about it. Meanwhile, Mary Smith has decided to steam-boat down the Congo River to Capetown for an extended holiday. Kuba, King's gun-bearer, asks Smith to write a letter to King, currently residing at a New York City Explorer's Club, and advise him that his partner has died. Talbot sends a letter to his stateside sweetheart, Diane Cameron, and her father, asking them to come to Africa and join him on an ivory-treasure expedition, and replenish their family-fortune lost in the recent stock-market crash. What Mr. Cameron and Diane don't know about Talbot is that his years in Africa have unhinged him...

Upon release from the penitentiary, Phillip Whitney tells his friend, Bennie, that he is going straight, and visits his lawyer brother John. Phillip looks up to John and while incarcerated maintained contact with him through a continental mailing agency. As John has no idea he was in prison, Phillip tells him that he has just returned from Japan.

Mad scientist works on a death ray in his mountain hideaway.

A trio of money-hungry women rent a luxurious penthouse, spending their dough on drink and debonair clothing, backbiting and catfighting as they steal each other's boyfriends.

High Stakes is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy drama produced and released by RKO Pictures. The picture was directed by Lowell Sherman who also stars and marks the last starring screen appearance of silent screen diva Mae Murray. It is based on a 1924 Broadway play that starred Sherman playing the same role he plays in this film.

A mysterious phantom who calls himself The Reckoner vows to expose the crooked bankers who embezzled their company's funds.

A young couple pose as criminals in order to get the goods on their crooked bosses.

A blackmailer falls in love with his female victim.

Dancer June Page is charged with the murder of gangster "Honest Ed" Baker. Allan Perry, an ambitious journalist at the dawn of his career, seeks at all costs to cover the case to obtain exclusivity and impress his hierarchy. He falls in love with the young woman, but Ed Baker's former friends, determined to take revenge, have not said their last word ...

An Austrian soldier must choose between a wealthy fiancee and a new girl who takes his fancy.

An inept inventor and his stoic wife believe an oil well investment has paid off and that they've become wealthy overnight.

A student is pressured into pretending to be a classmate's Aunt so he can act as a false chaperone.

A thrilling drama of young love and the great sacrifice made by railroad workers that we may travel in safety. (Print ad- Evening News, Tonawanda, N.Y. 4 February 1931)

A carousel barker falls in love with a young woman. Both are fired from their jobs, and when the young woman becomes pregnant, the carousel barker tries to help pull off a robbery, which goes wrong. Because of the robbery, he dies, and after spending time in hell, is sent back to earth for one day to try to make amends.

Two employees of a drum manufacturer cause havoc when they visit their boss's country estate.

Claire Tree spends the night in the hotel room of her friend and confidante, saying goodbye to him before her impending marriage the following day. When she returns to the hotel with her husband the following night, the house detective accuses her of prostitution and throws them out. Now Claire must explain everything to her unsympathetic husband.

A busload of passengers gets stranded in a snowstorm and take refuge in an abandoned church, where they run into a mysterious man who may be on the run from the law.

Phillip Gresson is in the employ of the British secret service, while heroine Judith is a spy for the Enemy. Hoping to gain possession of the usual Secret Plans, Judith pretends to be in love with Phillip. Only after nursing the seriously wounded Phillip back to health does Judith come to the realization that she genuinely loves him.

When a bank executive disappears, he is accused of stealing a fortune from the bank. But his daughter and her criminologist friend set out to find her father and clear his name.

Texas Ranger Bill Storm is sent to El Paso to ferret out a gang of counterfeiters thought to be working there and, on the way, gives a ride to New York socialite Beverly Dix, whose car has been wrecked on the road to El Paso. Bill quickly comes to suspect Earl Hanway and Lefty Waterman of passing bad bills; taking Beverly's father into his confidence, Bill identifies the counterfeiting plant, arrests Hanway and Waterman, and finds himself with his arms full of Beverly.

Eve, a beautiful young nightclub dancer, turns down a string of wealthy and powerful suitors for Robert, a poor but ambitious young man. What Eve doesn't know is that Robert is the son of a wealthy businessman and is just pretending to be poor to see if she really loves him. However, an item in the society pages gives away Robert's true identity. Complications ensue.

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Ray Sturgis, leader of the fashionable Long Island jazz set, is engaged to "Egypt" Hagen, an up-to-date girl in every respect. Egypt is arrested at a roadhouse raid, and at her mother's bidding, the Reverend Norman Lodge arranges for her freedom. At a fancy-dress ball, when Ray wears a costume made of newspaper headlines concerning her arrest, Egypt is offended. Seen constantly in the company of Reverend Lodge, her reputation causes church people to take up the matter with the bishop.

In the small farming community of Spring Valley, young Aurora Lane has caused a scandal by bearing a son by townsman Lucius Henderson, who refuses to marry her or even admit that he's the father. Shunned as a "sinful" woman by most of the town, she turns over her son, Don, to be raised by Miss Julia, the town librarian, who tells the boy that she's his "aunt". Don grows up and goes to college, and when he comes back home the town gossips begin a rumor-mongering campaign. When the town policeman tries to drive Aurora out of town he is found murdered, and Don is arrested for the crime.

George is a clerk who captures a bandit and in return gets the boss' daughter.

Anita Gray is the spoiled daughter of a millionaire. Returning home from a party, her car breaks down and she is picked up by a stranger, who sells her his car for a diamond bracelet. The car has been stolen and the police arrest her, but she escapes and takes refuge on a freighter bound for China. She has no money and has to work her way there. Her father learns of her destination and hires Hamlin to bring her safely home.

Sam Starling (Owen Moore) is deep in debt, his wife Phoebe (Claire Windsor) is leaving him and still he is confident. When Phoebe boards a luxury yacht and is wooed by the captain, Sam comes aboard as a woman and tries to seduce the captain (in fact, a liquor smuggler), away from his wife.

Chorus girl Jerry Lyon, is persuaded to pose as her look-alike, Jeanette Durant, a Broadway star whose husband, LeRoy Phillips, is a diamond thief. The impersonation results in Jerry's becoming innocently involved in a theft ring, and consequently she is suspected of murder. After a series of misadventures, Jerry proves her innocence.

Based on a novel by William J. Locke, Stella Maris is a remake of the 1918 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name.

After the death of her brother, "Tommy" Carlton makes the acquaintance of a neighbor, Harold Graypon, who invites her to a party. Tommy, who is a bit of a hoyden, attends the party in overalls and shocks the guests. Tommy is later ejected from her home and takes refuge in a shack in the mountains, where she makes rustic furniture for a living. Despite the interference of Grace, Tommy and Harold finds happiness with each other.

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings.

Refusing to join his family in their new social life when Henry Dillingham suddenly becomes wealthy, Donald Dillingham causes even greater disapproval by marrying chorus girl Ardell Kendall. Learning that famous sculptor Gustaf Borgstrom wishes to use Ardell as model, the Dillinghams suddenly welcome Donald and Ardell to their estate. Donald surrenders to both the jazzy pleasures and the attentions of Maybelle Wescott, but Ardell remains aloof and in order to pay off Maybelle threatens Mr. Dillingham with exposure of his infatuation with a chorus girl.

Wrongfully blamed for the death of Col. John Randall, Cameo Kirby (Gilbert) must find the true villain and clear his name before he can declare his love for Adele (Olmstead), the dead man's daughter.

Tim Goodwin and his wife Corrie are living in poverty when Tim's oil well strikes it rich. He soon works his way to the top of the social scale, but Corrie doesn't change at all--she stays a dour, drab woman with no social skills whatsoever. Tim gets so embarrassed by her that he hires a "social secretary" for her to teach her how to function in the social strata in which they find themselves.

Disapproving of the loose woman her father has married, Faith Ebbing leaves home and goes to work, but she later steals $5,000 in Liberty Bonds to pay off Duroc, a blackmailer threatening her mother, Cordelia Ebbing.

An insecure wife fears her husband may be straying back to an old flame.

A doctor's wife is arrested for educating impoverished women about birth control.

Bobby's mother dies and leaves him to care for the baby.

Characters in the film attend a movie titled 'Life’s Mirror', where they see parallel, cautionary versions of their own lives. Only the first two of the original seven reels survive.

A chorus girl gains infamy after the suicide of her beau.

A Cigarette - That's All

The lives of a stenographer and her boss are thrown into turmoil by reckless gossip.

A woman known as Sunshine Molly gets a job in an oil field, and clashes with a belligerent employee named "Bull" Forrest. (Note: multiple reels of this film were damaged beyond repair. Only three reels remain, two of which are also heavily damaged.)

Backstage drama

A group of jealous men conspire to defeat a romantic rival who has captured the attention of all of the ladies at a summer hotel. (Note: The majority of this film is considered lost. Only a fragment survives.)

Diana Grave's husband has left her, preferring any life to that of living with a woman who is not congenial to him. Howbeit, her husband gone is a different matter than her husband present. She commissioned a detective to locate him.

The Spider and Her Web is a 1914 silent film.

A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange will: only the man that picks the correct casket out of three (silver, gold, and lead) can marry her. Bassanio, unfortunately, is strapped for cash with which to go wooing, and Antonio wants to help, so Antonio borrows the money from Shylock, the money-lender. But Shylock has been nursing a grudge against Antonio's insults, and makes unusual terms to the loan. And when Antonio's business fails, those terms threaten his life, and it's up to Bassanio and Portia to save him.

Early Lois Weber film. Isaac and his faithful wife, Rachel, deplore that in America their children are forced to work on the Jewish Sabbath. Leah and Sam are not so strict as their parents and the old customs pall about their more American spirits. Sam is employed in a cloak house and secretly loves his employer's daughter, but she refuses to recognize him. Leah is loved by the handsome gentile floorwalker, and despite her father's objections, she marries him. Isaac orders Leah from the house. Later, the daughter of the cloak manufacturer marries an admirer and Sam is invited to the wedding. He drinks and disgraces himself, and returning home, is turned out by the heartbroken rabbi. He leaves, telling the old man that he will return when the father celebrated the Christian Christmas.

Three men in succession propose marriage to Grace Darling; she accepts all! Since they are roommates, the three discover their problem in short order; when they return for an explanation, they're in for a surprise.

Haunting and hypnotic, this artistic gem recounts the lyrics from a popular 1898 song of the same name. Weber’s stylistics, including circular matte shots, foregrounding of the cross and the rosary, and placement of the characters within each shot bring to the film an enormous emotional and spiritual range.

Alleged silent short adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel, first mentioned in a 1966 copy of Films In Review. Recent scholarship argues this film never existed and is erroneously included in the publication.

Early Lois Weber film.

A self-centred wealthy woman is transformed after she is confronted with the harsh reality of the living conditions endured by the employees of her husband's mill.

The Fine Feathers is a 1912 silent film dramatic short directed by and starring Lois Weber.

Pretty Ann, and Joe, the hostler, one day chance to meet. Strong is Joe, and simple, and Ann is shy and sweet. As man and maid have done before, they love, and marry, too. And live happy ever after? Ah, this tale is new to you! Yes, the tale is drear, prosaic; and so poetry won't do. A baby boy comes to bless the union. Joe is working in the stables when they tell him of his joy: his heart is gay and happy, and he tells the horses so. Then, it might be the angels were jealous of such mortal happiness; it might be the devil, seeing the stage so set, entered to play the leading role.

A marital romance in which a married artist woos the wife of another man.

Jack Norton had traveled the downgrade, had transgressed the laws of man, had trespassed the forbidden, and paid the penalty.

A 1911 silent drama film written and directed by Edwin S. Porter and Lois Weber. Starring Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley, and Charles De Forrest.

The baby daughter of Mrs. Norton, a widowed seamstress, dies. The sorrow-stricken mother gazes at the empty cradle and decides to replace the departed soul with an orphan child upon whom she can lavish the love, the rightful object of which the Great Giver and Taker has taken from her. She goes to the orphanage and asks to be given a baby girl, and is given one of the twin baby sisters. Richard Golden, a wealthy shirtwaist manufacturer, has an only son, a little boy, who yearns for a sister and continually begs his father to bring him a little sister to be a playmate to him, and the father, to satisfy the child's persistent pleading, goes to the orphan home and brings home the other little twin sister. Years roll by and both girls have grown to young womanhood in their different stations in life. Jack Golden, now grown to manhood, and knowing that the girl is only a foster sister, asks her to become his wife.

A chemist named Aratus invents a concoction that will turn creatures to stone, but only realizes the dangers of his creation when his wife falls victim to it.

During the American Revolution, an innkeeper's daughter learns of a plot to assassinate George Washington while he will be staying at her father's inn.

A 1910 short directed by D.W. griffith and starring Marion leonard.

Set in Rome, during the feudal period. The heroine, the daughter of an armor manufacturer, is in love with a humble tradesman. The resistance expressed by the armorer towards this romance inexorably leads to disaster for everyone concerned.

A 1910 short directed by Eugene Sanger and starring Marion Leonard.