Margery Wilson

In the later stages of her research into the history of cinema made by women, Katja Raganelli became interested in Margery Wilson, then one of the very few living women who had been able to direct fiction features during the silent period. What survives of Wilson’s art is her acting. For her work as a director, besides sundry photos and newspaper clippings, we only have Wilson’s recollections, as recorded by Raganelli.

A documentary exploring the origins of the pioneers of women directors during the silent era.

About a woman whose life is almost ruined by the insinuations of a small-town gossip and a brother who falls in with bad company. The film ends with the woman being saved by her upstanding physician husband, whom she meets when her theatre troupe becomes stranded in the town.

Girl is held at mercy of gang of crooks, her only friend being a half-wit. A murder is committed and blame shifted to the girl. The half-wit has seen it but cannot remember. When he is cured, his testimony frees the girl.

Spaulding Nelson moves into an apartment after his uncle has been driven from it by the sounds of screams and whispers. Upon undertaking an investigation, he meets neighbor Barbara Bradford, whose sister Clara is being tormented by the recurring sounds of her dead husband Roldo's voice.

Drifter Edwin Drake, estranged from his family, has a prophetic vision and gets his life back on track. Eventually he meets Sarah Holmes, an acolyte of the power of positive thinking, in the boardinghouse where both reside. Sarah happens to befriend Edwin’s mother and after Mrs. Drake shows her a picture of Edwin Sarah arranges for them to be reunited bringing happiness to all.

Floss Brannon, expelled from college for mischievous conduct, marries Chester Framm, a struggling young student who aspires to be an orator. When Chester's salary as an insurance clerk proves insufficient for the couple's needs, Claire invents a complexion cream called "Angel Bloom." Deciding to combine Chester's oratory prowess with the promotion of Angel Bloom, Floss rents an elephant, coats it with the cream and plans to have Chester pitch the product from the back of the animal.

In this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel, adventurer Dick Gale (E.K. Lincoln) is traveling through the Southwest. He helps rescue Mercedes Castanada (Margery Wilson) from the clutches of notorious outlaw Rojas (Walter Long). Mercedes' fiancé, Captain George Thorne (Edward Coxen), entrusts her to Gale's care when he returns to duty.

Buddy McNair is so enchanted by the newspaper photos of New York society beauty Mrs. Pat Dyvenot that he decides to leave Colorado with his newly inherited fortune, travel to New York, and win her heart. On the train, some gamblers, apparently aided by a pretty girl named Martha, cheat Buddy out of a large sum, and in New York, his lack of eastern polish makes him appear foolish.

Ellen Shannon, the daughter of self-made Irish politician Pat Shannon, is engaged to Ted Breslin, but because Pat began his career as a menial laborer, Ted's mother, Mrs. J. De Barth Breslin, refuses to sanction the marriage. Heartbroken, Ted takes up drinking and gambling with "Poker" LeMoyne and Don Jackson, while Ellen attends a finishing school hoping to improve herself. While trying to elude her chaperone, Ellen unwittingly dashes into a man's hotel room, and from the window, she witnesses Don and "Poker" playing cards, while Ted lies unconscious from too much drink. When the two gamblers quarrel, Don kills "Poker," but Ted is accused of the crime.