The Sinking of the Lusitania - 1918

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Winsor McCay
Writer: Winsor McCay
Release Date: 20 July 1918 (USA)
Production Co: Universal Film Manufacturing Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Ship | Lusitania | Torpedo | U Boat | Sinking | Propaganda | Ocean Liner | Tragedy | Statue Of Liberty | Ship Wreck
Genres: Animation | Short
An animated depiction of the sinking of the Lusitania: In May 1915, the liner leaves the United States, headed for Liverpool with over 2000 passengers on board. As the ship nears its destination, she is struck and severely damaged by a torpedo from a German U-boat. Even as frantic efforts to evacuate the ship are underway, another torpedo strikes the ship, leading quickly to disaster.

The Sentimental Bloke - 1919

Country: Australia
Language: English
Director: Raymond Longford
Writers: C.J. Dennis (poem); Raymond Longford (writer); Lottie Lyell (writer)
Cast: Arthur Tauchert ...The Bloke; Lottie Lyell...Doreen; Gilbert Emery...Ginger Mick; Stanley Robinson...The Bloke's Friend; Harry Young...The Stror 'at Coot; Margaret Reid..Mother; Charles Keegan...Parson; William Coulter...Uncle Jim; Helen Fergus...Nurse; C.J. Dennis...Himself
Filming Locations: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (shots of sunsets & sunrises for the intertitles); Bondi, New South Wales, Australia (interiors) (open air sets); Hornsby Valley, New South Wales, Australia (orchard scenes) (near Sydney); Manly Beach, Manly, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; New South Wales, Australia; Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (as Royal Botanical Gardens); South Australia, Australia (shots of sunsets & sunrises for the intertitles); Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Wonderland City, Bondi, New South Wales, Australia (interiors) (open air sets); Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Production Co: Southern Cross Feature Film Company
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, the writers/directors/stars were the most successful film partnership in Australia at the time. This film broke all existing box office records after debuting on October 4 1919 at Melbourne Town Hall in Victoria.
In 1915 C.J.Dennis published a collection of poems telling the story of "The Sentimental Bloke". The poems are spoken by the Bloke himself, telling of his meeting with the girl who wins his heart, his courtship and marriage.
This black and white movie of the silent era captures the spirit of the poetry exactly. Near the beginning are the memorable words- 'The World 'as got me snouted, jist a treat! Cruel Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul, And all them Joys o' Life I 'eld so sweet Is up tha pole!
We soon have our Hero proclaiming-'Er name's Doreen! Well, spare me bloomin' days! You could've knocked me down wiv 'alf a brick

Isn't Life Wonderful - 1924

Country: USA
Language: English
Director: D.W. Griffith
Writers: D.W. Griffith, Geoffrey Moss (novel)
Stars: Carol Dempster, Neil Hamilton and Erville Alderson
Release Date: 5 December 1924 (USA)
Also known as: Como a Vida É Bela! (Portugal); Dawn (USA - working title);
Hát nem csodálatos az élet? (Hungary); Ist das Leben nicht wunderbar? (Germany).
Production Co: D.W. Griffith Productions
Sound Mix: Silent
Color: Black and White
Plot Keywords: Inflation | Poland | Poison Gas | Based On Novel
Genres: Drama | Romance
The story follows a Polish professor and his family who have become refugees in the aftermath of World War I. They try to survive in Germany during the period of the Great Inflation. Carol Dempster is Inga, a Polish war orphan who struggles to provide for the family that has taken her in, while accumulating a meager dowry from the rubble of depression-stricken Berlin so that she can marry Paul. Returning to his family, weakened by the battlefront's poisonous gases, Paul invests in his and Inga's future by tending a secret garden which he hopes will provide the resources for them to live, and which serves as a symbol of optimism for the two young lovers.

The Rough House - 1917

Country: USA
Language: English
Directors: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton
Writers: Buster Keaton, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (story), Joseph Anthony Roach (story)
Stars: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton and Al St. John
Release Date: 25 June 1917 (USA)
Also known as: Fatty chez lui (France); La casa tempestosa (Italy); La casa tempestuosa (Venezuela); Tres pies al gato (Spain-DVD title).
Filming Locations: Norma Talmadge Studio, New York City, New York, USA.
Production Co: Comique Film Company
Genres: Comedy | Short
Directorial debut of Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton hadn't yet solidified his "Great Stone Face" persona; he smiles, laughs, grimaces, and smirks. Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle performs a prototype of the "dancing dinner rolls" that Charles Chaplin used in The Gold Rush. Until "The Rough House" - thought to be lost - was rediscovered, Chaplin was credited with creating the gag.
Roscoe, his wife and his mother-in-law run a seaside resort. Buster plays a gardener who puts out a fire started by Roscoe, then a delivery boy who fights with the cook St. John, then a cop.