Estelle Taylor

John Barrymore at the peak of his matinee-idol powers, swashbuckling through Borgia-era Italy as the legendary lover. Directed by Alan Crosland for Warner Bros., it's a lavish silent spectacle — duels, dungeons, and Lucrezia Borgia herself — but its place in history is technical: Don Juan was the first feature released with a synchronized Vitaphone musical score and sound effects, the experiment that led directly to The Jazz Singer a year later. Mary Astor and a young Myrna Loy are among the women pursued through its nearly two hours. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Adventure · Romance · Silent

John Gilbert stars as Edmond Dantès in this Fox Film Corporation adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's classic novel of wrongful imprisonment and revenge. Directed by Emmett J. Flynn, the film follows Dantès from his betrayal by jealous rivals, through years of solitary confinement in the Château d'If, to his transformation into the Count of Monte Cristo and his methodical vengeance against those who destroyed his life. Estelle Taylor plays Mercedes, the woman he loves. Long thought lost, a print surfaced in the Czech Republic and the film has been restored. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Adventure · Silent