Directed by R. G. Phillips • 1918 • United States
One of Ebony Film Corporation’s most ambitious comedies is, like most of their surviving work, tragically marred by the decomposition of the nitrate film stock. Fortunately, enough of the storyline shines through that it may still be appreciated as a clever knockabout comedy, and not solely as a crumbling historical relic. The caricatures of the Egyptians in this film and the Chinese laundryman in A RECKLESS ROVER suggest that producer Luther Pollard and his collaborators abided by the belief that turnabout is fair play.
Directed by C. N. David • 1918 • United States
Starring Sam Robinson
Chased from his apartment by a policeman, ne'er-do-well Rastus Jones (Sam Robinson) finds refuge in a Chinese laundry, where he wreaks havoc and has a memorable encounter with an improperly filled opium pipe. A RECKLESS ROVER p...
Directed by Harry A. Gant • 1921 • United States
Starring Clarence Brooks, Anita Thompson, Webb King
This precious four-minute clip represents the only surviving work of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company (founded in 1916 by brothers Noble and George Johnson). BY RIGHT OF BIRTH was the final pr...
Directed by Richard E. Norman • 1923 • United States
Only a single reel of Richard Norman’s seafaring thriller REGENERATION survives, and that reel is almost completely consumed with nitrate decomposition. But watching the decayed images pulse and swirl, the viewer cannot help but contemplate th...
