Henry B. Walthall

A D.W. Griffith silent feature built around the life of John Howard Payne, the impoverished songwriter who wrote "Home, Sweet Home," and three episodic stories in which the song redeems its hearers. Henry B. Walthall plays Payne, with Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, and Robert Harron in the surrounding tales. Shot by G.W. Bitzer and advertised at the time as the first "all-star" cast, the film was produced at the Reliance-Majestic studio and distributed by Mutual. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

A Kentucky horse breeder of the old school loses his fortune at the card table and pins everything on a colt that breaks down in the Futurity, then watches years later as the colt's offspring carries the hopes of his family and his trainer. John Ford directed this gentle Fox silent, one of his lesser-known works, with Henry B. Walthall as the breeder and J. Farrell MacDonald as the loyal trainer. Several real thoroughbreds appear, including the legendary Man o' War. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

A D.W. Griffith silent feature inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, particularly "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "Annabel Lee." A young man (Henry B. Walthall) lives under the tyrannical rule of his uncle, whose murder he plots and commits. But guilt gnaws at him—apparitions of Poe's vision haunt his waking hours, and the beating of a dead heart seems to echo from beneath the floorboards. Griffith blends psychological horror with pastoral romance, intercutting the nephew's torment with scenes of courtship with his sweetheart (Blanche Sweet). Cinematographer G.W. Bitzer's inventive use of tinting and irises gives the film a dreamlike, Expressionist quality that anticipates the German Expressionist movement. Released August 2, 1914, the film is in the public domain.

Horror · Drama · Crime · Silent

An early sound Paramount comedy-adventure based on Booth Tarkington's play Magnolia. Raised by Northern Quakers, a young Mississippi gentleman (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) refuses a duel and is disgraced, then returns years later disguised as a notorious riverboat rogue to win back his honor and his sweetheart (Mary Brian). Richard Wallace directed a cast that also includes Henry B. Walthall and Wallace Beery. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Romance · Drama

The first sound adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, produced on a Poverty Row budget by Larry Darmour. Former flapper star Colleen Moore plays the Puritan Hester Prynne, branded for bearing a child out of wedlock, with Hardie Albright as the minister who hides his guilt and Henry B. Walthall as her vengeful husband. The production reused sets and players from Victor Seastrom's 1926 silent version, and Walthall repeated his Chillingworth role. The film is in the public domain.

Drama